A Week of Activities in Photos

This is a beast, but it was a fun week- lest I forget it in the grand scheme of things....

Below are my gals right after we returned from Uncle B & Aunt L's wedding- before everyone took a million hour long nap. Whenever Jax is reading a Dora book, Hilly grabs one too. And they read together. If H can't find one, she grabs Jackie's. What's a gal to do?

Monday we had our play date at P's house with Will, P, her little sis Hannah and M. Hilly camps at that table- after everyone else is done with their food, she swipes the scraps she desires off of their plates like a little orphan child. It melts my heart every time. And Jax... this play date had a bit of drama (as a play date consisting of four 3 year olds absolutely will)- at one point, 2 of her buds were fighting and I caught her watching out of the corner of her eye. She saw me see her and gave me this little smile- not a mean smile, just a "Eeeks!!" smile. She is not a particularly confrontational girl. Unlike her sis.

On Tuesday we babysat our old neighbor, B, for a few hours. I LOVE his mom, but he is so terrible- I just cannot mince words here. He was throwing a ball in the house as hard as he could (after I asked him to stop), leaping off couches/over baby gates, throwing play-doh so it hit the ceiling and encouraging Jax to do same, rubbing play-doh in our fireplace grate and mashing it into our rug, etc.. I had no choice but to be a hard ass with this kid. He was furious with me for ruining his good time (???) by the end so he started saying terribly rude things to my Jackie. Crossed The Line. Jackie acts out for 2 people: Me and Jim. If you are not me or Jim, she is trying to please you and get you to like her. As her mother, I don't want her looking for approval on this earth from anyone who isn't herself. She is so sensitive, I don't even like anyone to correct her other than me or Jim. I told B his behavior that morning was awful and unacceptable and that I know he knows how to act like a good boy and I fully expect him to act like a good boy for the rest of the time he is at my house, whether he wants to come back or not. He just stared at me. Jackie, being the sweet soul that she is, smiled and said, "Mommmmyyyyy!" as if I was being silly. Hell no, sister. ANYWAY, when his mom came I gave her a report of his behavior. She is a sweet angel- unfortunately to him too. As she was asking him to apologize, he was kicking our shutters. She asked him to stop. He continued. 5 more times she asked him to stop. He continued. Then he said, 'One more time.' Kicked it. Walked away. She did nothing. In fact, I'm fairly certain she took him to the pool that afternoon. ?????????? I MEAN. Anyway, Jim asked how I can be friends with someone who is raising her child to be like this. I just really like her. And it makes me sad that I am never letting her kid come over here again. Of course, watch- I will go into labor at 3am and they will be the people we have to call! Haha. But seriously- I would sooner drive myself to hospital and labor for a few hours alone until we were able to reach someone else. Okay, I am done ranting about a 5 year old now.

That night, Jax started 'nastics at a new gym (her old gym doesn't offer summer classes). She LOVED this class. I have no idea why she loved this gym so much but she's asked to return almost every day since last Tuesday. Her class starts at 5:30pm, so there is ample time to nap and eat dinner and arrive refreshed.

Below is the screen we are able to watch her on. Jim said, 'I love how the TV is on top of a TV.' Haha- class all the way!

Coloring with Dada after gym.

Then on Wednesday was Jax's very last LG class ever, I think. While Jackie really loved it and came out of her shell these past few months, she seems to like hardcore gymnastics better. Never know, though. Hillers and I read that Sesame book, which we also own, about 100x this class. Oh, prior to this class, we met our friends at a park. At the park, Jax ran over to me panting and said, 'There you are! P needs help!' I followed her and P was on top of a slide, wanting to hold my hand so she could come down. Jack cheered her on. When P mustered the courage to go down on her own the next time, Jack was at the bottom of the slide, encouraging her and clapping. Their friendship melts my heart- these are the types of relationships I hope to encourage in her life (as opposed to an abusive, dysfunctional relationship with a 5 year old who shall remain nameless... ).

Below, the girls in the basement during one of our delightful tornado watches. I locked Lou upstairs during one tornado watch bc I was mad at her for sneaking into the basement and peeing. After the watch/warning, we emerged from the basement to find Lou alive and well, passed out on the couch. Typical.

Thursday night the girls ate watermelon. And I couldn't stop taking pics.

On Friday, we met our friends at the DCM. I started to feel super super sick, so we went back to P's house where Tiffany was kind enough to watch the girls while I went to the hospital for a quick check up. I was having shooting pains down my stomach and was super nauseous. It was awesome.

Anyway, Tiffany told me Jackie really opened up to her and talked to her non-stop. This makes me really happy because it takes a lot for her to show her true chatterbox ways. Tiffany is awesome, so I can't really blame her. And that baby H below? Jackie loves her and is so good with her.

Tiffany told me that the baby (who turns 1 this week) took a book from Hilly and Hilly yelled "Mine!" I told her next time to feel free to chuck Hillers into time out. It's tough to be a Hilly, with everybody always stealing your stuff- either old kids who pay you no respect, or babies who don't know better. But when it comes to babies, she has to learn to be gentle and forgiving.

After a liter of fluid in an IV and some Zofran (about 2.5 hours or so), they got my contractions to space out and I was good to go. 36 weeks, 1 day is too early for Ben to come. I sort of want to be induced on July 9.

Saturday morning we went to Uncle Bill's 80th birthday party. I love Hilly in this dress. Jackie was wearing a super cute one too, but I didn't get a pic. I still wasn't feeling so hot.

Anyway, today for Father's Day I forced Jim to go with us to Chuck E. Cheese. And guess what? We were only there for 45 minutes or so and he had a blast and the girls were spent.

Oh, and the biggest news ever????? JACKIE WEARS BIG GIRL UNDIES AND PEES ON THE POTTY! She doesn't poop on the potty yet, but whatevs. She basically potty trained herself. Kept asking to pee on the potty. I would say, "Later" or "But you're wearing a diaper. Just pee in that." Reverse psychology, my friends. Anyway, she pees like a champ. This is the first time in 21.5 months that I'm not changing the diapers of 2 children and it is AWESOME! And also short-lived. Because, God-willing, I will soon be changing the diaper of someone who will probably inadvertently pee in my face. :)