"I Apologize"

This was a conversation between AJ and I a few days ago... (back story- I was exhausted for some reason and AJ had this party blower that he was playing with. That wasn't a problem till he started blowing it in my face. Over and over and over...)
Me: AJ, please stop blowing that in my face.
AJ: bloooooooowww
Me: AJ, I mean it. Please stop doing that.
AJ: bloooooowwwww
Me: AJ, seriously. I really want you to stop blowing that in my face, right now!
AJ: bllllooooowwww (hehehh!)
Me: If you do that ONE MORE TIME, you're going to time out. I'm serious! (I was quite stern and serious)

He stands back, takes a moment to think and then says..."Mom, I apologize" And he didn't do it again :)

It was really a great way to change my attitude. I was tired and kinda cranky- not that he should have done that to me especially after I'd asked him not to 3 times. But his apology and the way that he did it all on his own and with so much sincerity really made me so proud and so happy. I told him how thankful I was and how much I appreciated it. Such a nice boy:)

Easter 2012

We had an awesome Easter! We woke up early and AJ was so excited to see that the Easter bunny had come! In his basket were some really awesome things; a great Veggie Tales book, Star wars & Spiderman underwear, pool toys, a new place mat, and of course candy. After he looked through it all he started to realize that the bunny also hid all of his eggs he had decorated the day before, so he started to hunt for them :)  Here's a little video on some of it:




AJ started to get a little cold that morning so I changed our plans and he went to Grandmas while I went to church. They had fun playing for a bit and then after church we all headed down to Kris & Joy's house for brunch. It's become our tradition and it's always so fun! The kids all play so well together and the adults chat, eat and drink mimosas :) Then, after brunch, we have another egg hunt outside (we got VERY lucky with great weather). AJ decided he'd be Batman the entire day which was pretty darn cute! After that, he and Maddy played in the sprinklers :) It was truly a great day!

Spring Pictures

New Star Wars PJ's :)

At the mall with Grandma

Waiting to see the Easter Bunny

That afternoon, Papa was in charge and let him make "Mud Tea"

It was kinda messy....

He was in heaven!

Then he told Papa he could hose him off...

Papa took him up on it :)

Hahaa! So funny!

Easter Egg Hunt

This weekend our church put on an Easter Egg Hunt at the local high school. I knew I didn't have AJ that day, so I volunteered to help out. This was the 5th year our church has done it, but only the first time I attended. It was huge! They stuffed over 40,000 eggs and spread them over the entire football field and then had a helicopter come and drop 6,000 more eggs while everyone watched! There were hundreds of people there and we were lucky that the weather was perfect! In fact, it was hot.

I got a nice surprise when Jason texted me saying they were there :) I had mentioned it to Jason as something fun they could do, but didn't think he would bring AJ. It made my day to see my boy!

Here is a picture of the football field, before the kids arrived...

Daddy & AJ

After the hunt!

My mom and I brought AJ to see the Easter Bunny- he loved giving him high 5's and chatted with him about the Lego's he hoped would be in his Easter basket ;)

Swim Lessons

We took a few months off from any extra activities with the holidays and just life being so busy. But AJ has just started back with swim lessons. We're trying a new place called Smile Fish Swim School. I've heard REALLY good things about it so we gave it a shot. AJ's first class was last Thursday and so far, I'm completely impressed! There are only 4 kids in the class and his teacher is awesome. He's fun, but also no nonsense. It's one day a week for 30 minutes. He could stand to go twice a week, but we can't commit to that and it's pricey. Unlike the Rec Center, where he was going previously,  Smile Fish guarantees they learn to swim or they actually give you money back. I don't expect that will happen, but it's nice to know.
I took a few video of AJ last week- they really don't do it justice. He did SO well and I was, once again, SO proud!

This was the FIRST thing he did in class. And keep in mind, he hasn't been in swim lessons since last October. And this was a new pool and new instructor. I was internally panicking because he was basically out there in the pool alone while the instructor was helping another kid get started. I didn't want AJ to know I was freaking out so I did my best to hide it, all the while preparing to jump in the pool if he let go of the buoy! Later, I told the teacher my fear and he said, "Don't worry- I can get across the entire pool in 5 seconds! He can do it and it builds their confidence". He was right :)


Here is he jumping off the side and doing the "monkey crawl" back to the steps :)

Tracing Letters

I picked this up from school yesterday and was very impressed! (3yrs, 9 months)

Baby Kitty

AJ has this new found love for cats.. Well, not so much actual cats; more like being a kitty. For the past month or so, he's been, at times, acting like he's a kitty. I'm mama kitty and he's baby kitty. My mom is Grandma kitty and so on.... It's so darn cute!
The first week or so I just thought it was funny and that it wouldn't last. Just another little funny phase. But this has lasted a while. I kinda want to dissect it and see where this kitty thing is coming from- we don't have cats, we don't talk about cats, we don't read cat books- but at the end of the day, who cares where it came from. And really, it's just my silly little boy having an awesome imagination :)

We'll be hanging out and he'll meow to me. And I meow back! I'm a trained mama kitty :) We purr to each other! And it's so loving. He'll meow and then say "I love you mama kitty" and I say it back.

Last night we went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner and after dinner we were all sitting on the couch and AJ crawled up into my moms lap (like a kitty) and she was petting his hair and he fell asleep! He was all curled up and cozy and warm and being petted. He's such a sweet, loving, caring, adorable little kitty :)