…months that is, since I last wrote. I’ve been sitting around eating bonbons. So let me update you.
I will start with Joe first…He has been super busy at work lately. He has been out of town pretty regularly and is actually in Laredo hunting right now. He has been to Dallas, Panama, San Antonio, College Station and Laredo in the last few months. He has been fishing, hunting, grilling and using his smoker a lot too in his down time. All very manly and whatnot :) His work with the Young Men at church keeps him pretty occupied too but he loves every minute of it. Because of the busy schedule, we have been making the most of the time we have with him, so when he is home on the weekends they seem to fly by.
I’ll go next…I have been busy for the last few months with our new baby Lizzie and making our transition into a 5 person family. Honestly, it was a little rough at the beginning but mostly because I am pretty tough on myself and expect too much sometimes. I realized that I don’t have enough hands or time to do everything that I want to do so I have had to prioritize (therefore, no blog). I have started writing more often and in detail in a personal journal so I think I will make this more of a highlights page of our life. So, having said that let me give it to you quickly…or not so quickly since I am catching up!
I started my own preschool in August called Mrs. Wilson’s Day School. I have to say, its pretty awesome and I LOVE it. I can use my education and be at home with my kiddos so it is a win-win. I have 6 other students (besides Jojo) and they are great kids! Class is from 9-12 Tuesday-Thursday. Other than that, I have stayed pretty busy with my calling, planning curriculum, play dates, journaling, new sewing endeavors, and restarting the same novel about 5 times.
Emma’s turn…She is a 1st grader! She has a fantastic ‘seasoned’ teacher and is doing excellent. We couldn’t be more proud of her as she learns to be a responsible, hardworking student and a good friend too. A few months ago we finally taught her to ride a bike w/o training wheels and we go out to the culdesac almost every day to ride. She is an avid reader and can’t get enough of Ivy & Bean and Judy Moody. She has been taking dance (a combo ballet and jazz class) and has loved it. She was born to dance but I think formal training is not for her, she is more of an expressionist/interpretive dancer :) When dance ends in a couple of weeks she will start piano lessons. She’s been asking for over a year and is thrilled to start. She has a loose tooth at the moment (her first) and she can’t stop thinking about it! She gave a talk in church a few weeks ago on Agency and made us so proud as she stood tall and spoke confidently (can I bottle up that self-confidence and give it to her someday when she needs it?!). She is such a fun girl for me to have around. I let her stay up late every few nights just so we can hang out while the other kids are sleeping. We read together or do a craft or just sit and talk. We had a GNO a few weeks ago and we had the best time together. She is growing up in leaps and bounds and our conversations are pretty great. We got our nails painted, ate froyo at Swirll, and browsed Barnes and Noble. She said it was “pretty much the best date ever”. I thought so too. :)
Jojo is a pistol. He is charming and naughty all at the same time. I think he knows he has us wrapped around his little finger. That will be big trouble for me someday. He loves to have one-on-one time with us and almost explodes when Daddy comes home at night so they can wrestle or fly his remote control helicopter. He is doing great in preschool (i might be biased) and his new skill is writing his name. He really thinks that is great :) He loves to have his friends over for preschool and playing animals… or pretending to shoot animals with his nerf gun which he affectionately calls his “shoot-gun”. He loves snuggle up and read books and doing puzzles is his favorite quiet time activity. He and I take a short nap or two each week and it just might be my favorite activity ever. He is a man’s man and can’t get enough time with his dad, granddads, and uncles.
Lizzie Bizzie. She is the perfect 3rd baby. Sweet, happy, easy-going. She snuggles me when I want her to and plays when I need her to. She puts up with a lot of interrupted afternoon naps, long errand running and loud kids but she is great through it all. She has a sweet little personality and an infectous smile. Whenever someone looks and talks at her, she beams…maybe she lacks attention and gets over-excited when she gets some? I am a third child, I can understand that. You gotta do what you gotta do Lizzie. :) She reminds me a lot of my mom, though. Very sweet and always what I need to make me feel happy. Gotta love people like that. Lizzie is now 7 months old. She is learning to sit and can do it for short bouts on her own but falls occasionally. She has 2 teeth on the bottom which were rough on her coming in! She is moving all over the place now and can get where she wants to be in no time, though she isn’t crawling. She will roll and use her hands to change directions then roll some more. The past few days she has been getting up on her knees and bouncing so I think crawling is right down the road. If you ask Emma she will tell you that Lizzie says, “more”, “momma”, and “Emma”. She does say those things but just occasionally and I’m not sure she really gets it. She beams if you ask her to say something though :) funny girl. She is eating lots of solid food and I have been preparing her baby food. I don’t know why I didn’t do it with the other kids, it is so much more appetizing and not hard at all! She is a great eater and is growing like crazy. I don’t know how she got so old so fast but we sure are having a ball with her!
Look at the previous post for a bunch of pictures :)