Well Baby, Vaccines, and a New Porch.

Jack had his 15 month well baby visit yesterday with Dr. Palacio. He weighed in at 22lbs 4oz and was 31 1/4 inches long. That puts him at the 15th percentile for weight and the 50th for height. He also has a 90th percentile head circumference. The Jones kids have a reputation for having big brains.

The only real concern this visit was that he has zero vocabulary. The doctor wants to wait until he is 18 months old to evaluate further. We have no doubt that he can hear and he understands what we are saying so hopefully he picks up some words soon.

Everyone had vaccines as well. In the past I made the foolish decision to delay or refuse vaccines and now we have to get caught up. This is especially hard for the girls who know what to expect. Everyone shed a few tears and some were more dramatic than others but nothing a trip next door to Sonic couldn't fix. Alexis is now officially caught up and Hannah only has the Hep A and B series to finish up before her 4 year old vaccines. Jack has a long way to go, but we are returning in 1 month for more vaccine fun.

While we were in the city we made a quick trip to Lowes. I have been asking for a front "porch" for quite some time and we finally bought the supplies and in one evening my amazing man finished up our new outdoor space. I bought some flowers today on clearance at Wal-Mart and it really spruced up our once boring front entryway. We will paint the wood the same color as the trim on the house but for now here are the before and after pictures...

We had a great week at school this week. Alexis breezed through all her work as usual and did a fabulous job memorizing a poem. We started a new grammar program and a new spelling program this week and she is doing great and our schedule still runs smoothly. Hannah learned to write the letters "H" and "A" and my hope is that by next week she will be writing her name. She is so excited!

With that, I leave you a picture of Jack whose smile does wonders for the heart.

Let's Catch Up....

Well, my last blog post here was in 2009. I remember exactly why this blog went dark and I will tell you in one simple word.

Facebook.

For the longest time I told Scott that I thought Facebook was dumb and I would never join. However, I ate crow in early 2009 and have been "social networking" ever since. I have made friends through Facebook and lost friends through Facebook. It became a habit. I NEEDED to know what was going on and I NEEDED to know several times a day. I vowed to quit but it lured me back. The loneliness, the isolation, the needed companionship that I longed for, I found disguised on Facebook. Finally, at the end of September I decided to say goodbye. It was time for a change. I needed to focus more on my family, on the new journey of homeschooling my children, and I needed to do it for me. I needed to know that I could survive without knowing which of my "friends" stopped at Starbucks this morning or which "friend" was disgruntled with his/her spouse, job, or life.

I realized that my life was here. I NEEDED to know the "status" of my children and my husband several times a day, not 135 of my closest friends. I needed to know that life wasn't boring without Facebook. I needed a new perspective. I had Scott change my password on September 30th and I haven't logged on since. I went through an initial withdrawal but now that I am 9 days in, I feel better than ever. My house has never been so clean and my kids are enjoying the more "unplugged" Mommy. My self imposed intervention has worked. I don't know how I will feel come the end of the month when I will allow myself to log back on. Maybe I will and maybe I won't but for today, life is better sans Facebook.

I am going to do my best to keep up with this blog. This will be the way that others can have a glimpse into our everyday lives. Here is a recap of our latest happenings....

Alexis is 5 and the sweetest, most tender hearted kid I have ever met. Just last night we caught a little segment on the Weather Channel about a kitten who had gotten his head trapped in a man hole cover after chasing a mouse. The rescue squad tried several maneuvers to get the kitten free but were unsuccessful. I looked over at Alexis and she was quietly crying. They did eventually get the kitten free and he was alive and well. The sympathy my child felt for the kitten was overwhelming to me and I cried right along with her.

Alexis is an official kindergartener. We are homeschooling and she is doing very well. She can read simple sentences, do basic addition in sums of less than 10, and her handwriting is beautiful. We also do a Bible program daily and she enjoys it. We are studying the stories of the Old Testament. The other day she said to me she would like to go to heaven and visit Jacob because "he sounds like a nice boy". I told her I would appreciate it if she waited a long while before she went to heaven.

She is also loving playing with her sister. She is quite the little boss but Hannah loves it. Actually Hannah cries when Alexis won't play with her. They are best friends and I hope they continue being best friends for life.

Hannah is a character. She is 3 years old and the most hilarious kid on the planet. Everything, and I mean everything, that comes out of her mouth is hilarious. Just the other day the girls were playing with Ron, our cat. He had escaped so Hannah went on to play with the puzzles. Alexis was momentarily distracted but less than a minute later she was wandering around asking where Ron went. Hannah, still playing with puzzles, very matter-of-factly said "he died". It took all I had not to burst into laughter. I did later but at that moment I had to reassure my tender hearted daughter that Ron was indeed not dead but had just escaped to the basement.

Hannah loves to do her "school work". She has an incredible attention span for a 3 year old. I have some fun workbooks for her and she will sit down and do several pages at one time. She asks to do her "new school" everyday and she excitedly exclaims "I love my new school!". She knows all her colors and shapes, she can count to 14, she draws "people", and she is learning her letters and numbers.

Jack is a boy. I really don't know what else to say. He started his life giving me gray hairs and he hasn't stopped. As soon as he figured out he could move, I found out I could never sit down. He is into everything and I mean everything. He climbs on everything, he loves to get the dog food and dog water, he gets a great deal of satisfaction from messing with the girls, and did I mention he climbs? He has fallen more times than I can count, he has cut his head open three times but never needed the ER or stitches, and consistently has a bruise somewhere. He eats all the time and finally sleeps through the night. He is a funny boy and although he is active and ornery, he melts my heart and I couldn't have asked for a better son.

We have a busy week ahead, full of fun and adventure and I will be sure to blog all about it. In the meantime, here are some new pictures.