Life Lately

I realized, I haven't posted in a few weeks so I wanted to update the blog on a few things we have been up to lately.

A couple weeks ago, we went to "Mommy and Me Mondays" at the Dallas Arboretum. I can't find any info about it on their website, but every Monday they have face painting, a petting zoo, and usually some additional activity. As I was just looking at the website, I discovered they have some activities in the Children's Garden on certain days that are science related. I may need to check one of those out. I also have heard wonderful things about their summer camps, and I plan to enroll Emma in one as soon as I can figure out our summer schedule. Here are our pics from the Arboretum. The tulips are out and they are beautiful right now!

Emma getting her face painted

Butterfly Emma

I was shocked that Luke actually touched all the animals this time! 

Luke insisted on having his picture taken by the car. :)

Had to stop and smell the tulips.

Love

Harvey was there too. ;)

We also took our annual Bluebonnet picture. (Harvey was napping, but I didn't really want to lay him down in the field anyway. #becausesnakes)

Last weekend, we participated in an Easter Egg hunt at First United Methodist Richardson. We loved the egg hunt, did NOT love the human dressed as a bunny (nor would we go into the gym where the bunny was therefore we also did not bounce in the bounce houses), we did love the face painting, but mama did NOT love waiting in line for an hour. We packed our lunches and had a picnic afterwards with some friends of ours since Brian was golfing and her husband was out of town. #golfwidow

Ready to hunt!

Luke would only hunt for blue eggs. :)

Emma and her friend Collins on the firetruck.

Worth the one hour wait?

Cutest bunny foo foo I've ever seen.

On Sunday, we took the kids to the "Day Out with Thomas" event in Grapevine. We rode "Thomas," got to see some electronic trains, get our face painted (again… seriously. I even tried to bribe Emma out of the line. #nodice), and saw a pretty creepy looking Sir Topham Hat (from a distance.) Afterwards, we had lunch at Jake's on Main Street and we must be finally getting accustomed to this 3 kid thing because Brian and I both thought our lunch was actually enjoyable. (Just kidding, I'm sure it was just luck.) It made for a very fun morning, and Emma remarked, "Thomas came a long way- all the way from the island of Sodor!"

Ready to ride!

Showing us their tickets.

"Hi Thomas!"

We ran into some of our best friends! So fun!

Even Harvey liked the train ride. ;)

There he is- all the way from the island of Sodor! ;)

More face painting...

Luke, the kindest kid in the world, chose this
toy so he could give the pink one to Emma.

Emma and Cindy

Emma with Cindy and Jack (and Davis)

Whew. We have had an eventful last few weeks. Emma also started soccer so I'll have to dig up some of those pictures for a post. She enjoys it for the most part, but cries when someone takes the ball from her. (We need to work on that whole "team sport" thing.) Our life is crazy busy, sometimes it is SO fun, and sometimes it is SO stressful, but every day my heart is SO full. I can't complain. Except when I'm tired, and then there is wine. ;)

XOXO,

Lexi

Harvey's Baptism

Harvey had his baptism last Sunday, October 12th at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church by the same pastor who baptized Emma and Luke. It was really neat to see Emma and Luke's faces during the baptism. (Although, Emma later proclaimed, "It was just water. I thought it was going to be a baptism.") Not so funny story- I planned a birthday dinner for Brian the evening before AND Sunday happened to be daylight savings… so Brian and I were basically running on less than zero sleep. Talk about poor planning. I did manage to sneak a 2 hour nap in that afternoon so all was okay. All in all it was a really lovely morning. After church, we had our immediate family over for cake to celebrate our sweet boy's big day.

Family pic

The cake was beautiful!
(It was from Market Street; great price AND tasty!)

Grammie and Harvey Alexander
(Alexander is Grammie's maiden name.)

Harvey with Aunt Ree Ree

Harvey and cousin Caroline

"May the Lord bless you and keep you safe, take your hand when need be, and fill your heart with His love." 

XOXO,

Lexi

A day in the life...

Today was a fun Tuesday so I thought I would share some of what we did…

First, we woke up and all hell broke lose. I mean not really, but it definitely isn't all roses in the morning in our house. I mean I have 3 kids. One being an Emma…

We finally get out the door and got Emma to school and (Surprise!) there was an art show. Good thing I didn't have Tuesday morning plans because this totally slipped my mind. It was actually really cute and I was very impressed. Don't ask me what Emma made, some kind of volcano? Anyone read Spanish?

Emma with her artwork

Showing her artwork to Luke

Then the boys and I had a few errands to run. First, we went to Market Street to order a cake for Harvey's baptism and y'all. The stars aligned because there was a fire truck in the parking lot, AND Luke had on his fireman rain boots.

Luke with the fire truck

Next up, we ran into Gap to make a couple exchanges… and make a few purchases. #sorrybrian.

Then we headed over to Emler for swim lessons. Luke was SO excited and kept saying "my turn now?" while we waited. I'm so glad he has decided he likes swim lessons after all. It's way more fun for everyone involved.

"my turn now?"

Harvey having a little floor time poolside. #poorthirdchild

After swim, we ran home for lunch and naps for the boys. I had to wake up the boys to go get Emma, which is pretty much the WORST. We picked up Emma and headed to speech. On the way out of speech this happened:

Me: "Emma, can I take your picture?"
Emma: "No."
Me: "Fine, whatever." (walk away)
Emma: "I was waiting on you to offer me candy."

No candy sister. I did get a pic of those great curls though.

After speech, we headed home and ordered pizza for dinner since Brian was working late. I'll leave you with a pic of Harvey in the tub. Because those rolls. #allthehearteyes

Harvey loves bath time!

Happy Fat Tuesday! For Lent, I decided to give up Facebook. I feel like this will be the hardest thing I have ever done. Really though.

I am debating on how I am going to continue sharing this blog. I plan to continue blogging, not sure if I will share on Facebook or wait until Easter though. I guess we will see how strong I am!

XOXO,

Lexi

Fun Friday!

Luke's typical speech session was rescheduled for yesterday, which meant that the boys and I had a free morning while Emma was at school. We decided, well I decided to take them to check out this consignment shop in Dallas called Small Pockets. I follow them on instagram and have even purchased a few items off of instagram from the shop, but have yet to make it to the store. (Side story: I even purchased a Christmas bubble for Harvey and messaged to ask if they had any matching big sister dresses and she so kindly pulled several dresses that matched and then shipped my purchases to me!)

Emma's dress was purchased at Small Pockets.
(I don't have a good picture of Harvey's bubble.)

Back to my Friday… I had seen on instagram that every Friday from 10:30-11:00 they have a story time so I thought we would shop and listen to the story and then head home. Well, we arrived at 10:00 when they opened and they immediately asked Luke if he wanted to play with trains in the lower level of the store (I could totally keep an eye on him, don't worry)… ummmm yes he would, thanks. I shopped and found a few things to purchase #sorrybrian and then Harvey and I went downstairs to sit with Luke during story time. The gal in charge read two stories about "pizza" and Luke soaked up every minute! Then she led the kiddos in a craft where they made "pizza" using paper plates, construction paper shredded (for cheese of course), stickers for pepperoni, and paint for the sauce. Suuuuper cute. I was not expecting a craft, or at least not more than a coloring page! When Luke finished his pizza, she even wrapped it in foil. We will definitely be returning, and very soon!

Story time

Adding tomato sauce

Adding shredded cheese

We had such a good time and everyone was in good spirits so we wondered next door to a little sandwich place called East Hampton Sandwich Co. I had a turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich and it was delicious. Luke had a grilled cheese. We both had some amazing chips, and Luke loved his blueberry lemonade. We will definitely be going back. Probably next Friday, who wants to join?!

My lunch date

Entertaining each other while mama polishes off her sandwich… and licks her plate.

All in all, it was a fun morning and one we will repeat soon. I already have the Friday of spring break on my calendar so Emma can enjoy the fun too!

XOXO,
Lexi

Luke Jackson

Now that I'm caught up on Emma, up next is Luke. Luke is now 2.5. I'm not sure where to start with Luke. About a year ago, I started questioning Luke's expressive speech. I can't remember exactly what he was saying (or wasn't saying) but I knew he was behind. (Cue the reason for the blog- so I'll remember what on earth was going on with our life when I had 3 littles at home.) He also had 5 ear infections in 9 months. I remember this specifically because his pediatrician suggested that when they have 6 within a year that we should see an ENT. Well, I figured the odds were good he would have a 6th in the 3 months so I went ahead and made an appointment with an ENT. He failed his hearing test in both ears and had a  noticeable amount of fluid, therefore the ENT did recommend tubes. We went ahead and had this done in March of 2016. (He has since passed his hearing test twice.) Poor guy- the ENT said we probably sounded like we were under water. All I can imagine are the way the adults sound in "Charlie Brown." No wonder, he had a speech delay! We also began speech at Bliss Speech in North Dallas.

Fast forward to now. He has been in speech at Bliss for about a year now. He also just began at the Callier Center at UTD. We have been VERY impressed with Callier and I am on the wait list to add an additional session there. We are also wait listed for a class called "Talking Toddlers." This class focuses on kiddos ages 2-3 who have an expressive speech delay. It only has 4 toddlers and each toddler has group goals as well as individual goals. Unfortunately, we are still wait listed for this class, but hope to get into the summer session. Luke is making a lot of progress, he is started to "talk" a lot more, speaking in sentences of 5-6 words. However, they are difficult to understand as he often leaves off the ends of words. His therapists are focusing on completing words and articulation in order to make his language more clear. We are excited that he will be in preschool next year, because I think he will benefit from a classroom experience as well.

Luke just started gymnastics a few weeks ago and LOVES it. His first day, he cried when it was over. His class warms up with Emma's, but then separates and he does great. (The same child who doesn't like to go to Target because he is worried I'll leave him. Serious separation anxiety.)

Luke also started swim lessons a few weeks ago and he cried the first 3-4 lessons, but today he did GREAT. He was all smiles and laughed the entire time. He has the same teacher who taught Emma to swim at Emler. Again, we LOVE Emler. Can't say enough good things. We also love Ms. Sara. If you go to the Plano location, request her.

Luke loves the color blue. He loves trains, cars, planes… any vehicle really. He is very sensitive and kind. He always thinks of others and will often bring me a blanket if he thinks I'm cold, or Harvey a  burp cloth if he spits up. I don't think he has ever gotten a snack without getting two to give one to Emma. I'm starting to think no matter how much we try to teach kindness, some of it has to be innate. He is still my "squishy," and I love his cuddles. I hope he cuddles me forever. Like when he's 18, he better still cuddle me. (Cue the tears.) Okay, let me find some recent pictures of Luke!  I can't for the life of me figure out how to change the order of these so I apologize that they aren't in order… sigh.

Luke got a balance bike in the spring of 2016 and loves it! 

Luke and baby Harvey

More of Luke and Harvey

Rosemary Beach 2016

Rosemary Beach 2016

Announcing baby #3!

XOXO,

Lexi