Better than average day

I had such a fun day with Jackson and Kate this past Thursday. It was finally cool enough here in Kansas City to actually enjoy being outside. We took advantage of the weather and went to the local park. Jackson loves to slide and swing, and apparently Kate likes it too! We also ventured to the grocery store where Jackson actually enjoyed helping me shop as he "drove" the grocery cart. Special day with two special kids...

Jackson at 21 months

Jackson is my comedian. He loves to make people laugh. He loves to explore: has a recent fascination with bugs, likes hiding in cabinets, and goes everywhere he's not supposed to. Swimming might be his all-time favorite activity right now followed closely by bike rides and throwing rocks into a nearby pond. While Jackson is very active, he's also sweet. He loves reading his books. He adores his baby sister Kate and is very protective of her though we're still helping him learn that hitting her leg or head isn't acceptable when he's trying to express frustration. Poor Kate! He loves his Daddy, he calls me Jami (how did that ever start?!), and he enjoys posing for pictures. He makes our home so fun. Love my little man Jax.

Kate at 5 months

What can I say about my sweet Kate? She just melts my heart. I am so grateful for her and the good baby girl she is. At 5 months she's starting to babble. She sounds like an owl and has recently learned to drum roll her lips. She loves to roll over and appears to be on the verge of starting to scoot across the carpet. She's happy! She loves to smile which, in turn, makes me smile. She loves to hold hands and be near someone. She finds Jackson fascinating and watches him with great interest. She loves to eat and has ventured into solid foods finding apples and rice cereal to be quite tasty. Her laugh is endearing and she's quite ticklish. She's more mellow than Jackson, but I can sense an inner strength, a confidence of sorts, with her. So grateful I am blessed to have a little girl.

A week of lasts

The last full week of May was busy for us as we prepared to leave our home of three years in Iowa City and relocate to the Kansas City area for Jason's fellowship. It was a walk down memory lane for me as I reflected upon how drastically our lives changed during those few years. When we moved to Iowa, Jason and I had been married less than two years. I was still in graduate school, working for Children's Miracle Network and traveling throughout the U.S. But, in one short year we added Jackson, then Kate and let's just say our lives are much different now. Busier? Maybe. The chaos is just different now with two little ones who make our lives so much more entertaining. Before we left Iowa I had to do a few things I had come to love there: walk through our neighborhood, relish time in our first home, bask in the views of never-ending corn fields and rolling hills, boating, and biking to Coralville Lake. It was, in essence, a week of "lasts" but also the beginning of a lot of "firsts" for us as we made our way to our new home, our new life in beautiful Kansas City.

Jason's Birthday

We celebrated Jason's 33rd birthday on May 25. Jason had to work that day but found time that evening to take Jackson on a bike ride to the Coralville Lake (Jax loved it) and then we went out to dinner at Olive Garden. We gave up birthday cake for these Italian doughnuts with raspberry and chocolate sauce. YUMMY! I think we'll be going back for more real soon...

We're in Kansas

So much has happened in the past few weeks. Weeks of preparing for and talking about our move from Iowa City to Kansas intensified the last week of May. Even though I don't care to see another cardboard box or roll of moving tape for the foreseeable future, I'm glad this move allowed us a chance to de-clutter and simplify our lives. After two days of intense packing on May 25-26, we made our way to our new home in Kansas. And boy do we love it here! It's so nice to have warm weather, a pool within walking distance, and great shopping within minutes from our house (I'm talking about COSTCO, but others like Pottery Barn and cute kids clothing stores are nice, too). Jackson loves his new home and especially the pool. He can't wait to go "wimming" every day. Kate, on the other hand, has shown us another side of her since our arrival here. The quiet, easy-going, content to just lay on the floor and be quiet little girl has been replaced by a rather demanding diva who reminds me daily that girls are definitely more emotional than boys. I'm still sifting through boxes and Jason is still in Iowa finishing his residency. And, I'm trying to get used to having a baby monitor as the kids sleep downstairs. I panic if it doesn't go off (are they alive?) and then I don't sleep when it beeps all night (sigh). So, we still have a few kinks to iron out but we're happy to be in Kansas, missing our friends in Iowa, and excited about this next chapter in our lives.

Florida

Jason and I enjoyed a week in beautiful Florida. We loved the sunshine, exercising, studying (Jason), watching the Royal Wedding, meeting ophthalmologists, and spending time with family and friends. Jason found a specific kind of palm tree he just loves so I took a picture of it just in case we ever live in an area where we could plant one. We also went to an alligator and snake farm. Not a fan of either but I'm glad I was able to see them in person. We were also able to meet up with Eric and Amy and their family in Miami. Jason and Eric were both born at a hospital there and were able to re-visit it with their mom Sally. It was a special time for the three of them. So thankful for our time in the Sunshine State and we can't wait to go back :)