We're kicking off summer...

with a destination wedding...Anna Kate and J.R. are going to stay with Jon's parents, the pets are staying with my parents and Caroline is coming with us (so she can eat). I'm having the usual pre-travel anxiety like, "What will happen to my children if our plane crashes?" and "Maybe I should just stay home because I hate packing and being away from home and being away from friends and especially being away from my kids." More when (if) we get back :)

So I watched this video last night in the middle of the night b/c I couldn't sleep and it was spot on addressing some questions and issues I have been dealing with b/c I feel so much more vulnerable living here on this earth after becoming a mom...I can't imagine anything worse than something happening to Jon, me or my children and us not getting to be a family together. So it's a mom with young children and terminal cancer and her thoughts. I kind of feel like it has changed my life.

Anna Kate's last day of preschool...

with her dear sweet teachers Mrs. Jeanne and Mrs. Ana and her bf Trey. She LOVED preschool this year on Friday mornings.

She did not love wearing her hair back this day...she only wants to wear it down (but it looks so scraggly and ragga-muffin). She tells me it itches and hurts and makes her hot and she cries and screams when I put it back...I've tried all forms of bribery, so the ONLY thing that works is, "Wear it back and leave it that way or get a spanking," but that feels so harsh when it's just hair...does anyone have any good ideas??

Happy Memorial Day...

We were blessed to have our dear friend Obie visit this weekend!!! I love the military and so appreciate their service and sacrifice.

J.R.'s first "sentence"...

"Don't want to." He likes to use it a lot. That boy has got a mind of his own. He also says, "Hey baby" to Caroline whenever he sees her :)

Caroline meets her aunts...

Jen and Charissa (Jon's younger sisters) came by to visit us this weekend with Sugar...this picture is so cute because Jon and his sisters are holding our kids in the same birth-order (except J.R. is in the middle and Jon was the oldest) :) So fun :)

J.R.'s 1st trip to the dentist...

To check his "bruised tooth" from the fall...

Caroline's 2mo Well-check...

She's in the 95% and such a cute little chunky monkey :) Oh I love the kids' pediatrician/our family doctor, Dr. Hampton! I think Caroline sensed shots were coming...

So I ask Jon what he's reading the other day...

and this is the title:

"Equitable Jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery; Comprising Its Rise, Progress, and Final Establishment: To Which is Prefixed, with a View to the Elucidation of the Main Subject, a Concise Account of the Leading Doctrines of the Common Law and of the Course of Procedure in the Courts of Common Law in Regard to Civil Rights; with an Attempt to Trace Them to Their Sources; and in Which the Various Alterations Made by the Legislature Down to the Present Day Are Noticed"

Can you believe that's all just the title for one book? It was written in 1846. I have always thought Jon was a genius...but seriously, now I KNOW he is...I can't even read the title without taking tylenol because it hurts my brain so bad to try and figure out what in the world it's actually saying...

Dance recital, Mother's Day, swingset and the E.R...

Anna Kate's 1st dance recital was this weekend...she did great and was the most excited about how she'd get her own bouquet of flowers afterwards (she read about that in a book about ballet recitals at the library). Thankfully Papa came and brought flowers and a camera because we forgot both.

My hormones got the best of me on Mother's Day. I had my heart set on going to a new restaurant called Another Broken Egg for brunch after church and it kind of broke my heart when the wait was too long for our toddlers to hold out, and so we went to the Chinese Buffet next door and I left that restaurant in tears after there was a hair in my rice, a sewage problem in the bathroom and the fish tank in the front with giant goldfish that really make me lose my appetite for some reason...so I ate some Girl Scout Cookies for lunch which was fine and it's really so trivial and I have so much to be thankful for and don't even need Mother's Day because I have everything I need...and just think about all those precious mothers in 3rd world countries that have nothing to eat or feed their children (more tears), BUT thankfully it ended on a better note with a family trip to Central Market where we ate dinner (without tears).

The swingset had to be completely disassembled to get it into our backyard, but with the help of our handy neighbor Pat, Kenny, and Jon's dad, Jon had the swingset up and running Sunday afternoon...and we planned a swingset debut party for Monday morning, but it was raining and...

J.R. took his first trip to the E.R. He fell off our bed (note: not the new swingset) on Monday morning while I was reading to all three kids and nursing Caroline so I couldn't catch him when he went over head first as he was climbing around. I thought he'd be fine, but he came up gushing blood from somewhere in his face. Thankfully Jon still hadn't left for work yet and could assess the damage (but when my children bleed profusely it makes me feel so faint). And Jon said, "He bit all the way through his lower lip...take him to the emergency room right now and I'll take care of the girls." So off we went to good ole Medical City Children's E.R. Boy is he tough...when those doctors inspected his lip, he didn't let out a peep (he didn't like being held down when they glued it back together though). And so we borrowed the movie Cars (he loves cars) from our friends and all was going well...until today when he went down the slide head-first and landed on his face and re-bit through it!!!

So my computer is broken and I can't upload pictures of all this ghory eventfulness, but it sure is great to have a blog when your kids are sleeping and you have mountains of laundry to be folded but just aren't in the mood to tackle those mountains....

Our "new' swingset...

I found it on Craigslist for $100 and it's in our neighborhood and we pick it up Saturday at 9am!!! (If I can find a truck/trailer to haul it) I CAN'T WAIT!!!! THE KIDS ARE GOING TO LOVE IT!!!

J.R. calls thunder...

"bears." So cute.

Caroline is...

getting really big!! I just love her fuzzy hair on top. She sleeps really well...at least 10pm-5am every night! The 3rd baby is so easy compared to the 1st or 2nd baby b/c the first two kids entertain each other and Jon and I are just so much more comfortable with the baby routine thing...

Caroline loves it when her sister just sits and talks to her...Anna Kate will go on and on about princesses and her family and the things they'll do together when Caroline gets big :)

I remember when J.R. was this age, Anna Kate couldn't talk yet, and she started her "hitting phase." They are so cute little, but things like that remind me that it's good that they grow out of the "terrible twos" :) And thankfully J.R. doesn't seem to be a hitter...but he can yell *really loud* when he doesn't get what he wants :)

THE REST OF MY LIFE LAST WEEK:

• Our chronic kitchen sink and laundry room plumbing issues put a "damper" things.
• I'll be wearing a ponytail ONLY for the forseeable future b/c I got an awful haircut. Jon makes fun of me b/c I get impulsive and want short hair and just tell the hairdresser to "Make it cute and fun." Apparently those words do NOT convey the right "picture."
  

We have mint growing in our side yard...

...and there's tons of it in this spot every spring...so I showed Anna Kate how you could just eat these leaves and they taste like her favorite flavor "pepper-minute." She's crazy about dental floss, gum, etc... I've caught her tasting other leaves since and I hope we break that before she spots the oleander right across the alley ;)

J.R. loves...

mud and dirt. That's all I can say.

Caroline's Sip N See...

Libby had a really sweet little Sip N See for Caroline with a four dear mom friends...it was so special.

She made my favorite food...spinach and chicken crepes!! And my mom made a sock tree centerpiece.

Sarah made an awesome cake with fondant icing!!!!!!! Anna Kate says she wants one just like it for her 4th birthday with a princess on top instead of a onesie :)

And Libby made this super cute diaper wreath...can I get a "Hello Martha Stewart??" Caroline was sad when her party was over :)

One of my favorite people...

is my OB/GYN who delivered J.R. and Caroline...I just love her. I feel so blessed to have had such special wonderful doctors that have delivered my children b/c my OB/GYN in Virgnia that delivered Anna Kate was a great man that I really love, too.
Dr. Chhutani with Caroline at 6 weeks.

J.R. came with us for the appt. too. He really wanted me to open this tampon b/c he thought it was a snack.

Our last MOPS mtg :(

was last Friday...I had the BEST (and most fertile!) group this year (pictured) and loved them so much! I can't wait til it starts again in the fall!!!