Swimming at Kettelkamp's

Today Jayden and I went swimming with Katie and a little boy named Maddox that she was babysitting. Jayden was a fish in the water again today. I am sure he is going to love his swim lessons that start on Monday. A happy Mommy who enjoyed the sun while a happy boy got some exercise in the water!

Next week, Jayden is going to walk in his first parade for Katie's dad, Bruce who is running for sheriff. You can check out Bruce's website at: http://www.kettelkampforsheriff.com/

Livia

Livia got her face painted at Pawnee Prairie Days. She was so happy to have the chance to get a beautiful rainbow on her face. Tomorrow, Jayden and I will travel to Pawnee to watch Livia in the Tiny Little Miss Pawnee contest. We know that she is going to look very pretty in her dress.

Reagan's Little Miss Contest

Tonight we headed to Pawnee to watch Reagan in the Little Miss Pawnee contest. She had to do a group dance, walk on the stage by herself, and answer a question in front of the audience. Reagan by far was the best dancer in the group which was very evident to all of us! She looked so cute with her long curly hair down and her bangs pulled back. She ended up winning 1st place! We were so happy for her. She received a little 1st place trophy, flowers, a metal, and a cash prize!

Aunt Lori, Nanny, and Aunt Jane came with Jayden and I to watch. She was so happy to have all of us there. Both Reagan and Livia will enter in the pageant next year. I think Reagan has a good chance of winning the whole thing as she will have the experience. Maybe next year I can be her personal stylist :)~

Click here for Reagan's 1st Place Video! It is a little (ok a lot) shaky because a little boy was sitting on my lap and really didn't want me to video tape! Here is a video of her dance. She is in the front row for most of it. Again, very shaky. Sorry!

Sweet Little Boy

Click here for a video of Jayden and his little toy truck!

Today Jayden and I stopped by Curvey Real Estate to visit with my Dad and Kathy. While we were there, Jayden and his Grandpa played with a little toy truck which also means the little toy truck is now at our house! Jayden zoomed it around like a little toddler. It was so cute but also another sign that he is growing up. Click on the link above to see Jayden play with his little truck at home. He gets caught up in an obstacle but figures it out!

Videos of Jayden

Here are a few video links of Jayden that I took on my Flip video. It is much easier and quicker to download them on YouTube. Just follow the links below or visit: www.youtube.com/jodiacree for all of Jayden's videos.

Click here to see Jayden swimming at Kettelkamp's pool
Jayden dancing to Mickey Mouse song--Click here This is the short video--so he only dances a few times. The other one was going to take forever to download!

Soon I will catch Jayden on video playing in his new pool from his Grandpa. It is a big green pool with a slide. He loves it so much!

Swimming

Jayden enjoyed his first dip in a big pool tonight over at Meg & Bruce's house. We spent the evening with everyone before Suzy & Steve headed back to Canada. Meg grilled some delicious kabob's and we ate leftover graduation food. Yum! We watched the boys play a little basketball after swimming. Jayden was really worn out by this time. Aaron won 1 game of HORSE as he played versus my Dad who also won 1 and Beau who won 2.

First family pool shot. Jayden just loved the water. His little feet were just kicking the entire time!

We had to borrow Alex's floaty. Jayden's new one had a hole in it before he got to use it. Thanks, Alex!

It was a bit sunny so Jayden tried Grandpa's shades but decided against them. On Saturday he liked them. He didn't want his shades or a hat either!

Yea! I'm swimming!!!

J's First Pancake

Today marked Jayden's first breakfast that was not baby food. He picked at the pancake and took a few nibbles.

He really didn't care for the bites he took.

So he decided to throw it down on the ground and laugh. We will try again soon!

Congrats, Jordan!

Today Jordan graduated from high school. It was a beautiful day and perfect for the occasion. It is hard to believe that ten years ago, my friends and I were sitting in the same seats. Time sure does go fast!

Congrats Class of 2010! May all your dreams and wishes come true!

On Saturday, we celebrated Jordan's graduation with a party out at the farm. It was a great day with a perfect breeze. Jayden visited with Mollie, Madeline, and Jordan. We also were able to spend some time with Suzy, Steve, Lia, and Alex.

Congrats, Jordan! We are so proud of you!! Good luck with your college classes. We hope to be at your state police graduation in a few short years!

Working like Daddy

Every morning after breakfast Jayden gets down on the floor and plays with the new flooring. I think it is really funny. He must have watched Aaron work on the floors and wants to be a big boy like his Daddy or maybe it is fun to push around little pieces of flooring. Who knows! Anyway, I thought it was cute! It looks like we will have another construction worker on our hands in the near future!

Busy, busy, busy

I am loving every minute of summer break and we have been very busy! We have been working on flash cards....well at least looking at them!

Playing with Livia, Adan, and Reagan. Jayden also plays in his pack n' play each day for 10 to 20 minutes so I can get something accomplished such as eating lunch!

Playing on the teeter totter outside on the swing set. He loves to play outside!

He likes to climb up the slide like the big kids too.

Front Porch

Now that our house is no longer blue it is now time to add a front porch. Aaron found the design in the first picture and we thought it would work well with the style of our house. Hopefully, he can find the time for this new addition in order to help our house not look so flat. I am glad that we have had the opportunity to make more improvements to our home. Honestly, the picture doesn't do the house much justice. It looks so much better in person!

First Official Day of Summer Break

Today marked the first official day of summer break! This morning we didn't have to wake up at any certain time, but Aaron did! Even though it was our first weekday to sleep in J was wide awake at 6:15. We were able to get a lot accomplished today due to our early rise. We played, watched Mickey Mouse, ate breakfast, read books, ran to Wal-Mart, visited the bank, planted some flowers, ate lunch, went on a 3 mile walk, signed up for baby swim and stroller class, took a nap, did some cleaning, played some more, picked Madeline up from school, cooked Daddy dinner, ate dinner, played some more, went to Ace Hardware, and finally enjoyed Jayden's first ice cream cone of the season! Busy day to say the least. Maybe he will sleep good tonight! Let's hope! Jayden was so happy to play outside today. He loves his swing that his Nana bought for him.

He thought it was funny that I would hold up the ice cream cone for him to eat. He would laugh each time.

Mmmm, mmmm, good! Give me more!! He loved the ice cream.

Yum! Jayden's first ice cream cone of the season! He loved it--but made a few funny faces in between bites.

He got a new chair while we were at Ace Hardware. I couldn't pass up the sale ($4.99) plus it is the same style as our chairs. It made the perfect seat for an outside snack!

Lake Taylorville

Jayden went out on our boat for the first time this year. He didn't really care for the life jacket but managed to adjust. Although his time on the boat was limited to about 20 minutes, it was great for him to have the experience. He loved the wind in his face and held on tight. Jayden and Daddy splashed around in the water for a few minutes while we took a little stop.

He was happy after to be on shore. He was so happy he didn't even know I put his hat on him. He really hates his hat right now, but we will continue to put it on him everyday.

Playing in the water

The weather was beautiful this weekend and perfect for Jayden to play with his water toy. At first he wasn't sure about all of the water squirting on him, but then he decided it wasn't bad.

He tried to grab the water as it shot up.

Mia decided that she wanted a drink. I think she was a bit jealous of Jayden.

He was nice and decided he would share with Mia.

Knight's Action Park

While Aaron and I enjoyed a day at Lake Shelbyville with the Doan's and Doug & Amy, Jayden headed to my Mom's house. They played at home and then headed to Knight's Action Park just before evening. Jayden loved playing in the water. I can't wait to take him there! Thanks to my Mom, Dano, Cassidy, Reagan, Livia, and Adan for watching Jayden all day!

School's Out!

Today marked the last day of the 2009-2010 school year and the "first day" of school for Jayden. I am very excited to spend my summer at home with him as we are going to be busy with a variety of activities. I am going to miss my class from this year. They were a good group of students who worked really hard. They were smart, funny, artistic, talented, and over all a successful group of young people. Jayden entertained them in the cafeteria this morning when I handed out report cards. The kids were happy to see how much he has grown and he was happy to see them!

He got his picture taken at the front of the school. He even picked out his own outfit for his "first day" of 5th grade! He saw a lot of his friends at school today too. Payton, Madelyn, Hadley, Rosalie, and Layne all were at school too. It was very cute to see all of the little ones at school today.

It is going to be fun to take a picture of Jayden at the end of each school year until it is his REAL first day of school just to see how much he grows.

Before and After Part 1

Here are a few pictures of our blue house that is now tan! Yea :) We still have a new porch to build, landscaping to finish, and windows to paint. I'm thrilled to have a house that matches our garage.

So many people have driven by and stopped to tell us how much they love the change. I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't care for the big blue house! Thanks to our painter for getting the job done!

Adios Blue Siding!!!

I couldn't be more thrilled to be the proud owner of a tan house rather than a blue house. It is looking like our newest home improvement project will be done by the end of the week. Next up, a front porch. I will post before and after pictures of our house when it is finished. Some people think the color blue is perfect for our style of house, but I was more than ready for a change!

Jayden is 10 months old!!

Jayden is 10 months old today. He really has changed a lot in the last month and still surprises us everyday. We are so lucky to have such a good little boy!

1. I am not exactly sure how much he weighs right now, but he goes to the doctor this Friday, so I will know then. I am thinking he is 20 lbs and is 28 inches long.

2. He is wearing size 12 to 18 months clothing and still wearing a size 4 diaper. He is now helping put his arms inside his clothes and assisting with taking them off. He started doing this last month, but he is much better at it now. He likes to wiggle and squirm when he gets his diaper changed!

3. He is crawling and pulling up on everything! He loves to open cabinets and clear them out. He hasn't taken any steps on his own, but will walk fine when someone is holding his hands.

4. He loves his toys and can managed to play with different toys after being finished with one. He knows exactly how to put the eggs where they go on his farm as well as "shoot" baskets on his basketball hoop. He loves to play with his shapes and try to put them in his airplane. We now have Madeline's old swing set so he loves to swing and go down the slide. He has spent some time with his little friends Henry and Layne as well. Jayden steals toys from them right now, but soon both of them will be fighting back!

5. He still loves his bottles and is finally starting to hold them on his own. He loves to throw them too! He has been drinking from a little cup with a straw. He hasn't nursed in 2 weeks, so we are finished with that. Today he had 2 oz of whole milk with 2 oz of formula and no problems. I will continue to give him 2 oz of whole milk once a day this month.

6. He is doing much better with food. He loves mac n' cheese! We have allowed him to eat some nibbles of bread, crackers, baby puffs, and a few other foods. He has tried real food but isn't ready for it yet. We will continue to try and when he is ready, he will eat!

7. He officially has 2 teeth! We are waiting for more, but find it funny to see him with little white specks in his mouth. He likes to bite and those little teeth are sharp!

8. He still loves the bath and soon he will have his first pool adventure as we will be taking baby and mommy swim class at the park pool. Hopefully, he will be a water baby!

9. He continues to sleep in his own bed. He had been sleeping all night until 7 am for the past few weeks, but last week (starting Sunday night) he decided we needed a 3 am wake up call everyday last week (all the way until Saturday). He was then up at 5! Aaron and Jayden spend some quality 5 am time as I took the 3 am duty! Last night was the first night he slept until 6 am. Hopefully, I can get him on an 8 to 8 pattern. He really needs to be sleeping for 12 hours per night.

10. Jayden is still babbling a lot! He is really starting to understand that Aaron is dada and I am mama. He loves to laugh, smile, snuggle, and entertain the crowd. He is also starting to get attached to both of us. I hope he doesn't have a hard time when I go back to school in August after spending all summer with me. Only 5 more days of school left!!

To see Jayden's 9 months pictures go to: www.photographybykimjones.com

-Click photo galleries

-Click your proofs

-Click Jayden's 4th Session

Uncle Adam Visits!

Uncle Adam stopped by tonight for a visit before heading to Springfield to see some of his friends. He is going to stop back by on Saturday and spend the day. We haven't seen him since he was home at Christmas. Jayden was pretty happy to see his uncle tonight and enjoyed a nice dinner. Hopefully we will be able to fly out to Denver and visit sometime soon!