Pre-school!

Today was Master Jaxon's first day of pre-school.  The day got started bright and early for this mama, whose brain was too busy with a to-do list to sleep.  (and by bright and early, I mean before 7 lol)  So up out of bed I went and started to put myself together.  I mean it's the first day of school...don't all of the moms want to look nice?  Isn't it all about US anyways?? ( I kid) As I am going through my morning routine, I am listening intently for the pitter patter (which also could be known as a herd of buffalo) which alerts me that the the kids are awake. Generally this is no later than 7:05.  Today, OF COURSE, would be the day that poor Jaxo, my early bird, decides is a good day for sleeping in.  Into the room the Daddy went in hopes of gently waking the boy.  And he did a fine job!  Jax, Cam, Justin and I were, all 4 of us Up, Dressed and Breakfasted (&coffeed for those of us whom are dependent) by 7:35!  For those of you are privy to our normal daily routine know that this is nothing short of a miracle.  My fingers are crossed we keep it up.
As the Mommy, I got the privilege of walking Jaxon up to his classroom for the first time.  We walked in hands full of first day stuff (cubby necessities, back pack, lunch box).  He found his cubby, stashed his stuff and walked right into the hands of his teacher.  NEVER ONCE LOOKING BACK!  Here's where I started to panic...but wait WAIT...what about my good bye kiss?? My hug?? The velcro child attaching to my leg in a screaming panic??  It didn't happen.  Jax sat up straight and proudly at the Circle time rug and gave me a thumbs up.  That was it...my signal to leave.  But I just couldn't do it.  And so I asked him..."Bubba...is it time for Mommy to leave?"  to which he replied "Yeah Mom, you gotta GO"  So I blew him a kiss and told him I would be back for him...and I think that he just knew it.  He knows that no matter what milestone he's reaching for or what new challenge he's ready to take on, I will never just leave him there...I will always be back, ready and waiting for my hug and kiss.

Jaxon is 4.

(long over due...but here we go!)

10 things to know about 4 year old Jaxon Mathew Simmons

1.  You are a professional when it comes to identifying vehicles.  Fire truck, fire engine, different tractors, motorcycle vs. dirt bike.  You are the expert!  I dare anyone to try to slip an incorrect label past you!

2. Speaking of vehicles, you are still obsessed.  With all things that operate on wheels.  You love your dirt bike (yes you have a dirt bike with NO training wheels.  As well as a peddle bike (also sans training wheels).  

3.  Favorite food this year?? You guessed it.  Grilled cheese is still at the top.  However you have refined your tastes and now prefer "Manny's grilled cheese" (Manny is a fabulous server at the Club)  The sandwich is not complete, however, without a side of Papa dip (also known as ranch dip).  Morning, noon or night when asked what you would like to eat 9 times out of 10 you will say Grilled Cheese.

4. When you grow up you have decided that you will either be a dirt bike racer like Uncle Max or possibly a race car driver.  The second option changes often...fireman, policeman, helicopter pilot.  But always a dirt bike rider. And by the way, that scares your poor mother more than the other three choices!!

5. You are the inventor of new words/phrases.  The things that exit your mouth crack me up and make me shake my head daily.  You are just really beginning to realize just how your words effect others.  You are trying your hand at joke telling (haven't exactly gotten this down yet) because you really love to make other laugh.  You say the sweetest things without realizing just how wise, genuine and sweet you are being.  You are also working on the opposite of sweet.  Angry words are rearing their ugly heads.  But since you often make up these words, I silently chuckle at your creativity.  Oh.  Favorite made up word to date---Brozin.  The word you made up to describe Wyatt. A cousin who's like a brother=brozin

6. I add in your love for music every year but this year has hit a new extreme.  I am impressed with your singing voice and your ability to remember and sing lyrics!  You also have a wonderfully developing sense of rhythm. (Aunt B is very proud!)  

7. You are a FISH!  You started out the summer not wanting to put your face in the water.  You would not even get into the beach area without a floaty on.  And then one day you changed your mind.  You are such a strong swimmer.  You have a great kick.  You love to hang out on the bottom of the pool.  You are still working on using your arms (your stoke) and also love to use a snorkel mask.  You are very confident in the water.  I'm proud of the way you have pushed through your comfort zone and found something fabulously fun that you are so good at!

8. Your imagination is on overload!  You have the best imagination play.  You lead your sister in all types of different adventures.  There are many fires that have been successfully extinguished thanks to you and your firefighting partner.  Another favorite is talking Camren into playing the part of some type of pet for you (dog, cat, and I seem to remember a cow?)  To help with your playtime, we have set up a dress-up area in the play room so that you guys can transform into any character you desire.

9. Your best things.  Camren, Wyatt, your bunnies, bike rides, grilled cheese, the color red, LEGOS (ugh...these tiny little pieces should have had their own number!), nectarines, mango, Paw Patrol (new cartoon), Team Umizoomi, snuggles, reading books.

10. Jaxon, my son, you are all heart and extremes.  You feel everything jumbo sized.  You LOVE or you HATE (even though this isn't a word you use).  There is very little grey in your world.  And I love this about you.  I love the deep commitment to your emotions and your fierce resolve.  And I love watching as your world grows bigger, as your views on life become more broad, as you open your arms to include more VIP's into your life and as your self-confidence blossoms daily.  I am excited to be the Guide to your journey...as I know that you will continue to bring great excitement to my day, brightness to my life and a love deeper than I have ever known.

Diaper Daze...

It has come to my attention that I am no longer in a "Diaper Daze" since both of the kids are in underwear.  SO...I will be on the hunt for a new, equally wonderful blog name.  All suggestions should go in the suggestion box to be reviewed by management! ;-)  Stay tuned...

Our Girl is TWO

Singing "Happy Birthday to ME"
**Red chair pictures will have to wait until the camera cord is unpacked**

10 things to know about Two year old Camren.

1.  You are a chatter box.  It amazes me the things that you say and repeat.  You have me constantly (although not often enough) checking my words and phrases for content.  Jaxon is your favorite person to parrot, much to his fierce irritation.  He doesn't understand that you are only imitating him and it always turns into a yelling match.

2. Singing and Dancing.  These definitely run in your blood.  You love dance parties and shaking your little booty.  You are also getting pretty good at singing a lot of our favorite songs' lyrics. Dynamite is still a favorite in the house and you have mastered the majority of the song.  I am on a serious mission to get video of you singing this song and shaking your fists for emphasis.

3. Dairy is still off the menu at our house.  After 2 milk trials that resulted in body rashes, we took you to your allergist who tested you.  We got the official word that you, are indeed, allergic to all forms of dairy.  We celebrated the news by purchasing an EPI pen.  Not exactly the way we saw things going...but it's such a part of you and us that we don't even really think twice about it.  It's become second nature to check labels of EVERYTHING (remind me to tell you the McDs story someday)

thank goodness you like sushi!

4. You LOVE your Bubba.  He is your best bud, your go to guy.  You love to wrestle with him, irritate him and follow him around.  If you are separated from each other for any amount of time, you ask for him constantly.  You call him Bubba, but will also use Jaxon when you are serious.  Watching the two of you together makes me happy from the inside out.

5. Your independent streak has only gotten wider and deeper since your last birthday.  There is a stool in our house that has become your favorite tool.  You have learned that you can pick up that stool and take it anywhere in the house to get exactly what you want.   Wash your hands, get and apple off the counter, turn lights off/on...nothing is out of your reach (literally).

6. As rough and tumble as you are, you have a girly-girl side that has taken me by surprise. You love necklaces, hair bows, lotion, and hand sanitizer.  You have an opinion on your clothing (a very strong opinion) and love to try on shoes.  I have almost completely stopped shopping for you with out you with me.  Your opinion and sense of style is so strong, that if you don't approve of an article of clothing there is no bribery big enough to get it on you.  Mornings can be a little...um...tense. ;-)

7.  Speaking of your sense of style, you are SO into leg warmers.  Well...warmer.  You love to wear one.  Just one.  Always on your right leg.  This is something that you started yourself one hot July day. (HOT) But as I mentioned in number 6-you have a strong opinion (read: temper tantrum) and this day I chose to pick my battles (something I am getting very good at thanks to you!)  And so off we went to visit Daddy at the fire station, you sporting a leg warmer on your right leg and Jaxon with one on his arm.  I have since purchased more in the same colors as your wardrobe.  This way you always appear to match and no more power struggles over your accessories!

8.  You are Diaper free!! One day back in the Spring you just decided that you wanted to do everything  that Bubba does, including going potty in the back yard.  So you did.  (again, pick my battles) Just about 5mo later and you still prefer going potty outside, standing up, just like Daddy and Bubba.  I'm thankful that the weather has forced you into sweats, shoes and inside making your trips to the inside potty more of a habit. (ok...slight over-exaggeration...you do like to potty outside, but you use the inside toilet 99.9% of the time now. And more often than not, you do that all by your self from start to finish!)

9.  'Zilla.  The name still fits.  If anything, it fits you better now than it did when I gave you the silly term of endearment.  I haven't seen another child who can literally walk into a room and destroy it in such a short time.  Toys, books, dresser drawers.  None of these stand a chance against your determination to "reorganize" rooms.  You are also a fierce hoarder, stashing half-eaten apples and shoe (yes...only 1 of the pair) in the craziest of places.  You are always the person we go to when something is missing.

10.  But this 'Zilla-ness, this determination and drive is one of my favorite things about you. You just don't quit.  And that, my daughter, (when used for good, not evil) is going to take you far in life...You are everything that I could want in a girl-child. You keep me in a constant state of shock and awe.  I can see you doing great things in life.  Working hard, playing hard, sleeping hard, laughing harder, loving completely and being deeply and totally loved back.  You are my BEST girl.

Summer...

It has come and gone without this blog of mine and I coming face to face once.  Not one time have I sat down to start a blog or up load pictures.  And even though it has crossed my mind a time or two, I've stayed away.  Not because I don't want to record the memories my children have been making or because I am keeping things from you, dear reader.  It has been simply that WE have been making memories.  We have been IN those memories so completely this summer, that sitting down to write about them seemed to take away rather than add too.  I found that I was much more focused on the doing "for blogs sake" than for the actual memories sake.  And because of that I was missing out on the doing...I was too busy recording.  We didn't take any big trip, we didn't do anything glamorous.  We just lived.  And it was awesome.  But I am never one to deny people from enjoying our children...so here are the Cliff Notes of our summer, photo style.

 Daddy took Jax to his first Hill Climb race to watch Uncle Max.  The kid was hooked instantly!

 Gram took us to Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose.  The kids had a great time on the rides.  We need to check this place out again...so much to see and do.

 One of the big trees in the front yard came down...twice. While Justin was at work.  

 Thank God for emergency leave.  Jax was a huge help cleaning up the mess.

 B took us to the Oakland Zoo.  Can't wait to become members there...such a cool place.

 MeeMaw and Mamoo came to our house to celebrate 4th of July.  Jax took on the roll of safety officer and made sure everyone was safe during fireworks.

 He was not the biggest fan of those loud guys...

 Jaxon got the honor of being invited to stand at attention with the crew of FFD Truck 11 during a San Jose FF's funeral procession.  It was a proud moment for this Mama.

 B and Meemaw came for a visit and we tried out the StoryLand and PlayLand parks that are in Fresno.  We had to wait patiently for the rides to open.

 But after the waiting was over, we all had a great time and rode lots of rides (perhaps too many for this Mommy and her sensitive stomach)

 This backhoe tractor toy was the biggest hit with Jax and Camren.  They (with help from Meemaw) had a great time moving sand from one spot to another.

Summer ended with a family trip to Pismo.  In all our years of trips, Justin and I hadn't ever camped without the accompaniment of friends...so this was a nice change of pace.  We got to really spend time and enjoy our kids.  Definitely something we will do again.

Who needs "L's"?

Not I.  Nor does Jaxon, as far as I am concerned.  There are so many things about my little (sigh) boy that aren't so little any more.  For one, his legs dangle down to my knees when I hold him, when I get to hold him.  He has opinions about everything.  He corrects my terminology when I am incorrectly identifying a vehicle. (No, that's a dirt bike Mom)  But the thing that makes me stop in my tracks and notice just how grown up he is becoming is the correct  pronunciation of words.  For now, P's stand in for F's (Past for Fast) and S's are still hard.  But I can deal with those.  Here are the words/phrases that will break my heart to hear spoken correctly.

~ Handy Mmm-nanny.  It cracks me up every time. And hard as he tries, he can't get rid of that "N" sound.

~Toe-got (forgot).  As in "Mom, I almost toe-got my hat."

~Titer (Sister)  I just love hearing him say anything about Camren.

and the kicker

~Yub...I Yub you. The day I hear the word LOVE come out of his mouth...It will be all over. 

 Water works galore.  Water works just thinking about it...so correct pronunciation be damned.  I'll keep my Bub 3 as long as humanly possible.  

**Spell Checker had a field day with this post! ;-) **

Zilla the Artist

There really isn't much more to say.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.  

Ok...you all know me better than that.  I do have a few things to say.

A.  Yes...she really was as messy as she appears.

B. Yes...I did watch her do both works of art, in entirety.  I figure she will have more than enough years and people telling her how and where to do art, so why not let her explore.

C. Crayola is AMAZING.  Both times the art medium wiped right off.  The markers gave me a much bigger scare than the paint surprisingly enough.

D.  We will do it again and again and again. The more "MOM" I get, the more I realize that a mess is just the clean up after the FUN.  Not always my favorite part of the day, but if we don't have any fun in learning then we are really missing out.  So stay tuned for more art work and messy learning!

Easter at Gram's

Easter weekend was spent in the Bay Area at Gram's home.  

 Cousin Wyatt came to play with Jaxon and Camren.  They had a blast playing out in the yard and enjoying the gorgeous weather.

 Camren and Wyatt proved to be Double Trouble!  They spent a lot of time helping Bob-o fill this pipe with pea gravel.  Okay...maybe it didn't help him but it sure kept the little kids entertained and in one spot for a while!

 The whole brood got to try their hand at dying Easter Eggs.  Some did better than others (Jaxon).  Some tried to eat the eggs (Camren) and some tried to drink the dye (Wyatt).  The end result was very pretty and delicious, according to the kiddos who ate all the eggs!

 The next morning Gram snuck in some early morning snuggles while we waited for the Easter Bunny to arrive.

 The Easter Bunny did a great job and delivered the most adorable baskets filled with dairy free candy for the kids! (a more difficult chore than you might imagine)

 Jax and Camren waited patiently while Daddy made sure that the Easter Bunny hid his eggs in all the right places. 

 Jax took off immediately at a sprint and collected the majority of the eggs.

 While Sister took a little bit of time to fully understand the concept of hunt and gather.

It was a great way to celebrate the Easter Holiday!

'Zilla's 18mo Red Chair Pics!

That's right!  We've made it to yet another Red Chair Picture.  Camren Grace Marie is 18 months old.  As you can see, she is still quiet the little Ham.  At 18mo, Camren loves the camera and will mug it up while saying her version of "Cheese" which cracks me up given that she's never had a piece of actual cheese.  However, this dairy allergy isn't slowing her down when it comes to food.  This girl loves to eat and will try just about anything (as long as Jaxon isn't around to influence her).  Edamame, asparagus, kiwi and fish are some of her more recent culinary loves.  

Still the ever moving monkey, Camren seems to have realized that Jax is a great subject for study.  She is definitely in a "Monkey See, Monkey Do" kid.  If Jax' jumps, so does 'Zilla.  Jaxon dances, Camren dances.  Jax says he's finished eating...suddenly Cam's full too.  Super cute and super frustrating to watch all at the same time!  But don't let this phase fool you.  She is still an "I can do it" kid.

"I can do its" of late... dress her self and  undress herself.  Picking out her clothing daily. Take off her diaper (she's super interested in potty training and has had quiet a bit of success, fingers crossed!)  Putting on and taking off shoes.  Also, she is a firm believer that she is now too old for this hand-holding stuff and tries to bolt anytime we are in a situation where I want/need control over her.  The girl is one parking lot dash away from giving me a heart attack. And I am positive that this will not be the last time that Camren engages in a heart stopping activity, nor will it be the last time that we result to spanking for running in a car infested parking lot. :-(

At 24lbs and 32 3/4inches tall, Camren is a shrieking tornado of activity.  As I've said before...she is a girl of passion and extremes.  Running or sleeping.  Happy or angry. Loves it or hates it.  And I for one am glad that she is passionate and voices her opinion (loudly) because I know that Camren is destined for greatness and these traits will help her achieve it with flair!

Easter Eggs

The Friday before Easter Dad was working, the weather was beautiful and the kids (ok...kids and I) were getting a little stir crazy. So out came the egg dying kit! The kids had a great time. Jax loved actually dying the eggs. Camren was at her 'Zilla best, and throroughly enjoyed smashing the eggs together and attempting to drink the dyes.

Jax was very proud of his color creations.

Camren with a death grip on a particularly flattering shade of green. (and thank goodness it was flattering since she got it everywhere!)

The results of their joint efforts. Colors by Jax. "Distressing" by Camren!

*I swear to my self and my children that we won't attempt 1 adult egg dying for many years to come. I am sporting a few grey hairs as a result of this year's session!*

Spring Break Get away

This year for Meemaw and Mamoo's Easter Break the family vacationed in Aptos. We had such a great time at Hidden Beach last year, we decided to do it again!

This is the walk that we took every day (ok multiple times a day) to Hidden Beach. Just up the hill from this spot is a playground that Jax and Camren frequented as well.

The weather was gorgeous and our days were filled with baseball on the beach, running in the waves and sand castle building.

Technically, the majority of construction done was on ramps and race tracks for the kids sand cars...but sand castles just sounds so much more nostalgic than race tracks! ;-) Also built was a baseball luge type of track that had a tunnel under a sand berm and everything! Jax loved it. Camren just really loved stuffing sand in her pockets. Which I'll consider a huge improvement over stuffing her cheeks!

Sand smuggling

These tired kiddies generally hitched their rides home! Playing in the sun and sand proved to be exhausting business.

On our final night the group took a trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk. This year, Jax and Camren were old enough to ride the kiddie rides! They had a blast "driving" the cars.

Jax took his driving so serious! Even turning the wheel in the direction that the car was "turning" He posted up like a cool guy as soon as his seat belt went on.

And what's a trip to the Board Walk with out playing some carnival games? Near the kiddie rides, they have games just for kiddos like Jax and Camren (and B and Tia and Daddy and Meemaw and Mamoo). This one was a huge Go-Fish game that everyone had a blast playing and winning toys!

This vacation has quickly turned into one of our favorite destinations. Such a relaxing week...This Mama can't wait to go back!