E is EXCITING!

I am a little behind here. We recently (not sure I should say recently) did the letter E. We started by doing our standard E stickers on a construction paper E. Not very exciting.

Next, I came up with what I thought was a clever idea! Shocking I know. Anywho, I found one of Bob's gray socks. Ollie stuffed it with some leftover batting from a craft project. I took three paper plates, one was left hole and two I cut into elephant ears. Next, I had ollie paint them gray. When it dried, we stapled on the ears and I cut an x in the center of face where we stuffed the sock for the ears. I then drew on a face. Absolutely adorable!

Finally, I saved 3 egg shells. I washed them thoroughly with soapy water. I had Ollie put glue on the page. Then, one at a time I put the egg shells down and let him smash them with his hand. This was great fun for my two year old. When it dried, he painted it. It turned out really cool. I enjoy helping him create 2-dimensional art with different mediums! Even my former art teacher hubby was impressed!

It's Jesus' Birthday!

Today we celebrated Jesus' birthday with a group of moms and kids from our Bible study. The party started at 10 am and we had the best time! Too often I think we get so wrapped up in presents that we forget the reason we celebrate: The birth of our Savior.

We started with a bit of free play before decorating party hats with stickers. I have found that stickers are THE best craft item to have around for preschool age kids. They absolutely cannot get enough of them.

Next, we had a bit more free play before we decorated a heart ornament and talked about how Jesus came to earth because of his great love for us. I bought the ornaments at Hobby Lobby for $0.33 a piece. We used markers to decorate them. Paint would have been a disaster! The kids seemed to really like the crafts.

We had a lunch of soup, bread and salad before we wore our hats and sung happy birthday to Jesus. I wish I had thought to get out my video camera. IT was precious. The kids decorated and devoured cupcakes before running away to work off a bit of that yummy goodness.

All in all, it was a fun morning. Unfortunately, I was a bad photographer and did not take near enough pictures. I guess there is always next year!

Yippee!

My Great Big STOMPING...

We did D this week. We started the week by decorating a construction paper D with Dinosaur stickers. Now for those of you who don't know Ollie, he LOVES dinosaurs. Completely infatuated so our first day with D was a hit. Later when we spelled dinosaur out on the fridge he ran and started pulling his stickers off the D and putting them on the fridge. He's so funny.

Next he created a construction paper dog. This did not get the same enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, I think he did it just to make me happy. Poor kid!

Finally, we did two things in one day. I got him a Melissa and Doug dinosaur floor puzzle. We did this together. He was fascinated with it once it was put together. The puzzle is 4 feet long and has many dinosaurs on it.

Lastly, we made great BIG STOMPING DINOSAUR FEET! That phrase comes from a song on Ollie's favorite show Dinosaur Train. We used 4 big grocery bags, 8 white triangles and some tape. We glued 4 white triangles onto the side of the bottom of the bag like nails. We put one bag into another opposite. So the opening of one bag goes towards the back of another. Then I cut holes for the feet. I used tape to reinforce the feet. So CUTE! I do think I should have used lunch sized bags for him. he could hardly walk!

Big Boy

My little baby Dawson is already 2 months old. He is growing so unbelievably fast! He went on Monday to his 2 month appointment. I was lucky enough to take both children. Ollie behaved very well and just got a little worried when the doctor had to dig a stitch (left my the NICU) out of Dawson's belly button.

Dawson is growing quite well. Here are his stats:

Weight-

Birth: 6lbs 14oz 3 weeks: 7lbs 11oz - 15% 2 months: 11lbs 13oz - 52%

Length-

Birth: 19.25 inches 3 weeks: 21inches-48% 2 months: 23.5 inches- 70%

He is smiling cooing and throws out and occasional laugh. He is sweet and wonderful. I didn't realize my heart could love two people like this!

C is for...

Last week, Ollie and I had a blast learning about the letter C. And encouragingly he is now able to tell me the letter's name and sound for A,B & C. This week, we decorated a C with Cheerios. Many of them got eaten and it was quite enjoyable.

We also made two camels. We started with one but Ollie wanted the "Mama" to have a baby so we made another. He was able to put the neck, head and humps in the correct places. I think the camel was his favorite project this week.

Finally, he made a caterpillar by painting half of an egg carton and adding a piece of pipe cleaner for antennas.

It's really exciting watching him learn. I love this time together. It's great to see him run to his Daddy each night and drag him over to the window to show him his new artwork and talk about it. Right now, learning is fun and I hope it stays that way!

They grow a little too fast

Last night, I did my nightly ritual of checking on my Ollie bear before bed. I noticed he didn't have sleep dog, only a slew of other stuffed animals. I went to get sleep dog and brought it back to his room so he'd have it if he woke up in the night. On my way, I started thinking about how one day he won't want sleep dog anymore. One day I won't get to hold him. One day he'll leave home and I'll be left with only sleep dog to remind me of what a wonderfully sweet little boy I have. I love him so much. Even though my days are tough sometimes, I don't want either of my babies to grow up and leave me. I want to hug them, hold them and play with them forever. I praise God every day for them. They are truly a gift.

B!

Ollie and I did the letter B last week. He loves his learning time. We started the week by talking about B and finding things that started with the "b" sound. He & I went around and taped letter bs on everything from his backhoe to my butt! This activity was somewhat short lived as his attention span is short but we still enjoyed it.

We also made a boat using a half circle, a triangle and a pipe cleaner. We not only talked about the sound the B made but we also discussed the shapes we used to create our boat. Ollie decorated the boat after.

Ollie's favorite activity was making the butterfly. Ollie first used his watercolor paints to paint a coffee filter. Then we cut a pipe cleaner in half and used it to wrap around the middle of the coffee filter.

Finally, Ollie decorated a letter B with band-aids. Kids love band-aids so this was quite the treat.

Fun Facial Expressions

Here's sweet baby Dawson and some of his first smiles as well as some funny expressions!

Back to Letters

After a long break from learning letters, we are finally back at it! We took a look at A last week. Ollie loves learning and enjoys doing the crafts. He isn't quite getting what each letter says but that's ok with me. It's just about exposure right now. He has plenty of time to learn letters. he is too busy learning about Okapis, Kentrosaurus, and a strange bird called Cock-of-the-Rock (don't laugh!). Here is what we learned this week.

The first day we created an A-eating Alligator. He loved this. We even made the jaw movable. and created letter squares. Ollie had to pick which were A's for the alligator to eat. He did great.

We made a snack called an apple smile. To make this snack I took two apple slices, some peanut butter and a few small marshmallows. Ollie mostly picked the marshmallows off. For some reason I can't get the picture to come in right! Sorry!

We also made paper airplanes and flew them around the house. It was a stitch to watch Ollie learn to fly it. He thought the airplane was the best thing since...since..Dinosaur Train! LOL

Finally we made an A and Ollie put animal stickers on it.

All in all, A was a lot of fun. He can identify the letter both lower case and uppercase but still struggles with the sound. Like I said, it's about having fun and exposure!

Fall Fun!

Here is a video of all the fun we had in October! It sure was a great month. Everything from hay rides to pumpkin carving...even a little brother who came home. He is worthy of my praise!

Kid Pics

A Few Good Questions

A week ago Sunday, our Pastor spoke about growing your faith. He talked about how people don't just magically grow into extremely faithful people. We make financial plans, career plans, even family plans but how many of us make faith plans?

He posed a few questions to get us planning. I've thought and thought but I'm not sure how to answer them! What do you think?

1. How do you plan to reach your neighbors?

2. What's your plan to spiritually develop your children?

3. How do you plan to grow your marriage?

4. How do you plan to develop your quiet time?

As for number 4, he talked about how he knew what he wanted his time with God to look like & then took baby steps. To be honest, Im not even sure what I think it should look like. What are your thoughts?

Bob & I plan to sit & discuss we just haven't had time yet! Imagine that. Maybe this week. When we do, I'll let you have a look!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This morning we brought the boys to Iowa Orchards for a hayride, some games & pumpkin pickin'. I of course dressed us like it is October but it feels like summer so we were all a little on the warm side. This pumpkin patch has a hayride that takes you to a little area with slides, face painting and a "cornbox" (imagine sandbox with corn instead of sand). Ollie had a great time. He picked a pumpkin for him and one for Dawson. Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

Rejoicing

Yesterday, after 16 days in the NICU (not counting yesterday), we took our little guy home. Sixteen days feels like an eternity when you are split in two. Now I realize that there are people who have much longer stays in the NICU and some who don't leave with a baby. I am thankful we did. I cried driving home with him in the van. What an amazing day and I really think it was that much sweeter because I now know how hard it is to leave a baby and go home.

Oliver loves his baby brother. He asks to hold him and kisses him all the time. It is so adorable. He also "reads" to Dawson and shares his toys by piling them on his chest. My favorite is when he says something like, "Want a turn with the train Dawson?" The way he says Dawson is awesome.

It's amazing how your love isn't split when you have another child, it's multiplied. We give all the praise and glory to Him who saves.

Let's talk bout something else

So I've done a lot of whining and blubbering over the last two weeks and thought maybe you'd want to hear about my other child. Ollie has faired remarkably well and has gotten the priviledge of spending extra time with his Auntie Jade, Grandma Carol and Nana while I've been at the hospital. Lucky for me, I've gotten to spend some time with him too! He is growing and changing so much.

One of the most exciting moments was when we had went to watch a backhoe work down the street and the driver let ollie in the cab! Ollie even got to put his hands on the driver's hands while he lifted and dumped the bucket. As one would expect, I of course did not have a camera with me. But, I did happen to have one when we went to babiesrus and they had a little tractor dealy. So here is one of that!

Yesterday, Ollie and I went on an adventure to sculpture park in downtown Des Moines. We really enjoyed looking at (& attempting to climb on) each sculpture. I took a bunch of pictures of my guy.