Crib Jumper- The end of an era

Well, we hit another turning point this weekend. Saturday morning Steve went to get some kolaches because we were going to have a garage sale. We had heard Jace get up but he usually lays there a while talking to his Pooh doll, so I decided to get the dogs fed. Then all of a sudden I am thinking, wow, it seems like Jace's voice is not coming through the monitor and sure enough I turn around and he is walking down the hallway- that little turkey got out of his crib somehow. And then again at nap time he did it again, so we rocked him to sleep (which we never do). But after his nap Steve went in to get him and sure enough there he was with one leg already over sitting at the top. Luckily we already had the toddler bed conversion kit, and though we dreaded making that leap, I was just so afraid he would hurt himself trying to get out of the crib. So he is officially done with cribs- much earlier than we would have ever expected. Saturday night we dreaded bed time, but luckily it was a non event- we just put him down, he stayed there and went to sleep. But this morning I went out and got a video monitor- I am much more paranoid now that if I hear a noise he is getting into something- so far it works well, I love it. Naps are a little more challenging, but we never had a good routine around it like bed time, so I think we need to start it, like they have it at school. I am thinking if they can get 15 kids to sleep on cots all together for 2 hours, we can get him to take a nap in his bed, right? Well, tonight he did well going to bed again (knock on wood) so I would rather have nap challenges than bedtime challenges for now.


This weekend was very busy (for us anyway). We had a room full of stuff to sell, since one of the guest rooms will become Jace's new room in May, so we can convert the nursery to Kylie's room. Most of it sold at the garage sale, except the bed, so for 2 hours that was pretty good. We cut the garage sale off early so we could go to Jace's daycare fundraiser festival before he had to nap. I think he liked it- but it was hard to tell since I think he was a little on the tired side. That evening we ended up at PF Chang's- my favorite. I had packed all kind of things for Jace not knowing how Chinese food would go. But we ordered some kid friendly dishes (not spicy) and lucked out that he took a great liking to Lo Mein noodles.

Some random picss from the weekend....







Monday we got some upsetting news. One of Jace's teachers, Mrs. Maggie, had died in a car accident over the weekend. It turns out her family was in Mexico for a wedding, and everyone in her van died when it appears they tried to out beat a train at a crossing. Her husband was driving, and also in the van were her two small children, her mom and dad and two siblings. Very sad. She took care of Jace when he was an infant- we loved her. She always had a funny story for me everyday about Jace- it usually entailed him spitting up a whole bottle on her, which is a lot to endure when it is not your kid, but she seemed to really like him which made me as a mom feel so much better about taking him to daycare. She was only 27, so sad. Just a reminder to not take things for granted and just slow down- it is not worth it.

When it Rains it Pours

Well, not much excitement this weekend, except for the rain! The weatherman had been saying we would get some, and did we ever. On Saturday morning we all headed out to run some errands, and while it was overcast and a little rainy, it was not that bad. After lunch we headed home for Jace's nap and then it started. For about three hours it just rained sheets. Our street filled up near the end, which made me nervous, but it did not hardly move into the driveway. We watched cars trying to drive by and waiting for them to stall. We were supposed to go out for a nice dinner that night, and the babysitter even called to make sure we were still going. But it quit after a while, and we still made it out for dinner with blue skies even making an appearance. The news reports today said Pearland got 8 inches.

Jace was moving a mile a minute this weekend. I am not sure where all the energy came from. One funny moment was when we were in Carter's shopping this weekend. They have a hop-skotch patter on the floor, and Steve was trying to teach him how to do it. He was trying really hard and beamed with pride when he thought he had gotten it down. It was hilarious to watch.

Easter Games and Baby Names

Happy Easter everyone. Well, after the weatherman scared us all into believing it would be a horrible weather day we ended up with 15 minutes of rain and the rest of the day was blue skies- what a great day.

Jace started his day with opening gifts from the Easter Bunny. The favorite was a toy vacuum- not a masculine toy (as my husband pointed out) but he loves it. The other toy was a Big Wheel- his feet do not even come close to touching the pedals so that one got packed away in the afternoon because mom and dad were already tired of pushing him around on it.

Then there was an egg hunt- after much practice, starting with grandma and grandpa two weeks ago, daycare and then at the neighbors yesterday, he did good, and was so excited to get those two M&Ms in the egg.

Well, I think we have settled on the girl's name..... Kylie Rose. So we no longer have to call her "the girl".

Watch Out for That Ostrich

Today it was nice outside so we ventured out to a wildlife park outside of Alvin, about 30 minutes from us. What an adventure. You drive through the gate, where you pay and buy buckets of food, and even before you get to the parking lot there are various animals to greet you. We were shocked how close they got to the car- especially a giant Ostrich. Steve had the food with him up front, so when it looked like the Ostrich was going to stretch his neck into the car to get the food he started rolling up his window, and meanwhile I am taking pictures so I was caught off guard when the Ostrich was suddenly up close and personal looking right at me for food. We got away without getting pecked, and needless to say we both laughed so hard all the way to the parking lot.



So then you park and they take you on a tram through the rest of the park. We rode in the back of the truck, pulling the tram, and because we were sitting a little higher our encounters were not quite as personal, which was a little disappointing, but then there were times we were glad to be where we were- who knew camels were so friendly (or maybe they just wanted breakfast).



The only animals you did not get too close to was the rhinoceros, lemurs, and giraffe. But besides that we had deer, lamas, camels, buffalo, zebras, emus, etc coming right up to us eating out of the feed buckets. It was pretty neat.