Christmas fun

We had such a fun christmas. Jackson was very into Santa- but didn't hear Santa on the roof. Our Christmas started on Christmas eve at Nana & Papa's with our traditional Mexican meal. On Christmas morning we opened all our gifts here and then headed to Gram & Grandpa's for the rest of the day- brunch, xmas presents, naps and then the big christmas dinner where the Figueiredo's & my parents joined us. It was a great Christmas! Addison's new dollhouse. She is in love. I thought she would be a little too young for it- but she loves playing with it- especially the baby. Jackson with his cookies & "white" milk for Santa. Santa ate ALL the cookies! our christmas present... Nana & Papa got all the kids overalls w/ red shirts. Ashton has been begging for months. They all had to put them on for the rest of the night.

sick days & funny pictures

We have had a big bout of the stomach flu this weekend. It hit Jackson friday morning at 2am and hit me within 5 minutes of getting out of bed to help him throw up! I thought it was just my stomach sick from seeing/smelling him. Our bedroom was a revolving door all night long. Nathan running to help Jackson and me running to the bathroom. Nate had a waterfowl hunting trip planned for months this weekend- he left late friday afternoon and came home early Sat. afternoon with the stomach flu. We shipped Addison off to Nana & Papa's for the weekend and got her back last night because Nana was feeling "weird". Nathan is staying in the bedroom today in hopes that we can keep it away from Addison. After 2 days stuck in the house with mommy, Jackson was dying to get out of the house last night and we went to the Chapman Family (extended) xmas party. We didn't hug on anyone and hopefully didn't pass anything to anyone else. Jackson got a nerf shooter which he has had so much fun with today. Addison retrieves the balls as soon as he shoots them- a pretty nice set-up for him! Addison being silly this morning...

Addison's first haircut

Addison's first haircut was today! She did perfectly! We got all that whispy baby hair off and the back just does this little flip out. Kim (our hairdresser) gave both Addison & Jackson 2 suckers. Of course, I look at addison on the way home and she has both of them unwrapped and is sucking on them at the same time...

Fun w/ cousins

Friday night we had a sleepover- Ashton & Parker stayed the night and we finished setting up the tree (cause the night before took 2 hours to get our HUGE tree up!). Then we made sugar cookies (big mistake hindsight :) ) and had warm cider to drink. It was a fun night. Oh, and a picture of Addison & Parker in the tub- addison was laughing so hard at Parker I finally had to get the video camera out.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving day photoshoot. They were yelling "pumpkin pie" because we had to promise them pie if they took good pictures. I had to include this picture... I drove a Chapman van home the other night and Jackson had been waiting for this moment.

Camping Trip

We met our friends from Milwaukee 1/2 way and went camping this past weekend (we left Addison at home w/ Nana & Papa). When we realized it was going to rain all weekend we decided on cabins w/ kichens. BRILLANT plan! The rain didn't hinder the kids at all- and they had a blast. We were the only ones on this private cabin area so the kids had run of the place- and the adults got some great "adult time" talking. The rain mostly ended on Sat. night and I got my bonfire. Jackson misses Sophia and Olivia so much. We'll be planning another Iowa camping trip real soon.

Wedding Weekend

Two weeks ago my cousin Scott married his beautiful bride, Silva. We had a bunch of family come in (Dad's side) and had a great weekend. All of my grandpa's grandkids and great-grandkids (13 including one in belly that just popped out tuesday). It was the first time that all the great-grandkids got together and they had a blast.

more summer pictures

Catch up.

I took the summer off of blogging. Here is a brief synapsis of what we've been up to. May: ended preschool and waited for the beach club to open. We started our first of reunions in Wichita, KS visiting Nathan's family. June: Nate & I went on a weekend trip while the kids got spoiled at Gram's house. We enjoyed the hot weather at the pool and being outside. July: Uncle Robb visited for a long weekend. Jackson, Ashton & Parker had swim lessons everyday and we often stayed afterwards to swim more. We spent the month at the beach club and Jackson learned to swim- like a fish. He would rather swim than go down the waterslide! Addison loved it all and wanted to be very independent. She had no clue that she was about to drown. She has no fear. We took a vacation to Oklahoma for a family reunion. Jackson & cousins drove go-carts ALL BY THEMSELVES. Jackson fell in love with his older cousins and wanted to bring them home. August: Nate & I took another weekend trip to do a triathlon while they spent another weekend getting spoiled. We had another family reunion. And we celebrated Daddy's 31st birthday. We are gearing up for preschool to start, fall, jackson's birthday, and many fall trips- the major to Orlando and Disney the first week of October!

Texas trip- April 08

We had a super great time in Texas. A list of what all we did: shopped, played in the "park", waded and tubed in a river, went to Sea World (a favorite!), had a bonfire, went for sno-cones, saw a HUGE spider, had a tractor ride, played a lot more, got very dirty, ate a lot and slept a little. It was a kid-holiday. A lot of times there were 3 adults per 7 kids. Nathan & Phil joined us on the weekend. The temperature was perfect upper 70's and sunny. We hit Sea World with 4 adults and 7 kids on Friday. The kids were all really great. We saw dolphins, Shamu and more killer whales, sharks, fish, alligators, walruses, beluga whales, clydesdale horses and so much more. We stayed out of the splash zones and stayed perfectly warm. We took over the Reeves house and they were perfectly content with that! Gwen graciously gave up her room and Josie kindly let Gwen sleep in her room. Charlie could easily be forgotten about he's so content and sweet. The boys still talk about wanting to go back to Gwen & Josie's. Josie loved Addison most of all and would try to help her or play with her. We learned just how independent Addison was because she wanted no help at all from Josie. Nor did she appreciate anyone telling her she couldn't eat sand or anything else!

swim lessons!

We started swim lessons today! Jackson had big boy lessons all by himself. He was so excited and couldn't contain it- he was jumping up & down in the locker room saying "i'm so excited, i can't wait, mommy!". He did fantastic swimming and will be set for summer. After class he and his classmates got to sit in the hottub... what a big boy! Addison also did great for her very first lesson. She got really scared twice and started crying but was always able to settle down and continue kicking and splashing. She would jump to me (fall towards me) into the water, she could kick her feet so excitedly and she could almost pull in a swimming motion towards a toy. She didn't get the idea of blowing bubbles but she thought mommy was hilarious when she did it. Fun time and we're looking forward to spending a lot of time in the pool!

New Car

We finally got a vehicle that can hold more than just the 4 of us! Nate & I are going to pick it up tonight in Kansas City. It's a 2005 Toyota Sequoia. It seats 7 which means I can haul my kids & my nephews! We have several road trips planned for this year so we definitely needed something bigger- with a dvd player! Lately, Jackson has been telling us that he wants to sing his abc's. Preschool has gotten him into singing but he's very picky about when he sings, who hears him and you can never sing with him. Well, just now he was in his bed- not wanting to take a nap but staying in there anyway- and I hear him singing them "a, b, c, d... q,r,s, w, oh wait, that's not right...a, b, c, d...". It was quite hilarious listening outside his door. Well, its happening. A few months ago I didn't think it was going to happen... but it is. Daddy & Addy have something going on. The Daddy's girl thing has begun. I'm not sure what they have but they are tight. I'm not sure who is more smitten' with who. The other night Nate & I were butting heads with one another over each child. He used to be tough on her but now she nearly gets away with anything when daddy is around. She also has her hold on Papa- and I heard that she is working into Uncle Phil's heart too. I have to admit that she is quite sweet WHEN she chooses. And she can be very select in her choosing. She is her own little girl, with her own little ideas and her own BIG wants. I could still kiss her little face off nearly everyday. ugh... she's good.

Easter!

The kids spent Good Friday morning at Nana's house painting eggs and an egg hunt. They had a blast- as these pictures show. She got them all sunglasses that they l-o-v-e. On Sunday we drove to the Brodersens place and had an Easter egg hunt with all the cousins. It was freezing cold but the kids didn't notice. Then Uncle Gary got out his new HUGE green tractor and gave everyone (even adults) rides. Jackson was lucky enough to go twice because Mommy wanted to go! Jackson is doing a lot better. We ended our steroids and breathing treatments yesterday. He still has trouble running for a while and will start coughing and having some breathing difficulty. But once he calms down he's ready to race around again. Addison is talking up a storm. The only problem is its not in our language and she gets very frustrated at us. We keep getting teased by warm weather but it keeps going back to cold. We can't wait!

Sick boy

We've had an eventful few days. Jackson stayed home from pre school on Thursday- sick. When I got home he had just gone down for a nap but I decided to go in and see him anyway. Joan had told me that he was wheezing so I wanted to see/hear for myself. I went in and he was breathing so quickly and shallow. Something in me told me that I wanted to see him more- so I had him get up and come into the living room. I watched him for a few minutes and knew I needed to take him to the doctor. He was having an asthma attack! We came home with a breathing treatment and steriods. Dr. W said that we will not call it asthma yet because many kids have a one time attack but if it happens a few more times before summer then we'll have to talk more seriously about asthma. I don't like to admit this (and didn't of course to dr. w!) but Jackson was still sleeping with a binky. I couldn't let him do it with his breathing the way it was. Nate & I had been procrastinating getting rid of it anyway so this was the perfect time. It has been a rough few days but he has officially slept 4x without it! We had a party last night and he got to invite friends & family. I picked up balloons and got him a race rig (semi truck) w/ race car. So, we are a binky-free family and it feels great! The kids all went to Nana's house yesterday morning for painting easter eggs and an egg hunt. They all had a blast and came home very painted- and energized! Tomorrow we head to our Aunt, Uncles and cousins house for lunch and an egg hunt. The kids will have such a fantastic time.