Almost two months

since I've written?! Yikes! Thanks to Ren for reminding me I took on this responsibility. Now I will catch you up on our lives since March 7: St. Patty's Day, Shrine Circus, Branson, spring break, St. Louis, Supercross, City Museum, St. Louis Zoo, Three Doors Down concert, finally some sun, Marine Corps family day, a growing puppy (30 pounds now), growing kids, a new KTM 50 cc, Tony Roi's Elvis Experience, The Haygoods, Cassandre Voice of an Angel, Springfield Cardinals babseball, tea party at the Titanic museum, "a day in K" kindergarten orientation, still no fence, swim lessons, gymnastics, soccer, 13.5 school days left. Whew! It's been a jam-packed-full-of-fun couple months. I'll spend the next few days posting some pictures to document our experiences. xo

Our week without Kris

is almost over. He is actually in town, but can't come home until tomorrow am. He spent the week at Ft. Chaffee playing with guns and grenades, and I spent the week chasing kids and dog.

Jasper is fitting into the family nicely. He knows to go potty outside with the occasional accident, and he knows what SIT means at least 50% of the time. The best news is he now sleeps for 7-8 hours at night...yahoo!

The flu is going around right now and it landed at the babysitter's house, so I stayed home most of the week with the kids. Aunt Brenda also stayed for 2 days to help out (she is a lifesaver) and we all enjoyed her visit.

The weather was beautiful this week!! I'm talking 60's, 70's, and sunny. What a relief from the winter blues. Kailey earned a ribbon in gymnastics this week for mastering her back walkover! We were very excited, but wish Kris could've been here to see it.

Jayden and Jasper are already asleep, Kailey's watching tv, and the rain is moving in, so I'm going to spring forward and go to bed. Night!

We broke down

and bought a dog! He's a 6-week old black lab and his name is Jasper Forrest Tate. For those of you who are muttering about my Twilight obsession...although that has something to do with it, Jasper is also the county in which Kris and I got married. All together now: "Awww."

Anyway, so far he's a pretty good dog and seems to be picking up the potty thing fairly quickly. The kids love him and it's hilarious to watch him chase them around the house. Heehee...they are exercising each other. I am so smart!

In other news, we have been so busy lately! Spring break is coming March 21 and I can't wait. We'll be spending the weekend in St. Louis: Supercross, Zoo, City Museum. FUN! Until next time (I promise it won't be a month)...

Yes, I totally forgot

about my blog. Oops. The holidays sped by like an Indy car, but it was great. We enjoyed a plethora of family time and activities. We did not have a 'White Christmas' (much to Kris's dismay and my relief), but we did have a few 60 degree+sunny days to enjoy outdoor activities. Kailey and Jayden went ice skating for the first time, as did Kris. Kailey hated it at first ("I so don't like this, Mom!"), but by the end of the day, she was speeding around the rink with me and asking if she could take lessons. Jayden wasn't a fan, but he was a good sport.

I went back to school on January 5 and Kailey started school on January 6. She is a peer tutor for a couple little girls who have down syndrome (and 3 boys) at the school. She loves it and her teacher says she is doing a great job. Jayden fluctuates between being sad and distraught that he can't go to school too; however, I think he's enjoying the alone time with dad for a few hours every morning. I'm definitely not ready to have both kids in school! Now that I remembered the blog, I will return soon. Until next time...

Getting into the holiday spirit

comes easily when you have kids. We hope this video helps you to get in the spirit (or atleast makes you smile). xo

Yes we are!

We are definitely in the Christmas spirit! We've been busy with Christmas decorations, crafts, and cooking. Tonight we made and decorated train cakes - it was a messy, sugary blast! Each kid had a train to decorate and Mom and Dad helped them. By the time we were finished decorating, we were much too sick (and the kids were much too sugar-buzzed) to try the cakes, so we get to admire their beauty for another day.

Does anyone know what happened

to November? Wow - it's been a month since my last post?! Let's see if I can remember what happened in the past month...
Jayden spent much of November in the doctor's office &/or urgent care. He had strep, a rash, peeling skin, a fever, lung problems, another rash, etc. The poor little guy hasn't slowed down much with everything that's going on, and continues to grow up in front of our eyes. He is being treated for asthma, although he wasn't diagnosed...the doc wants his lungs to be strong for the cold/flu season. One Sunday he was wheezing so badly it came out as a whistle and reminded me of my brother Jake when he was young. It was very scary. Jayden gets better at talking every day. He definitely speaks in sentences, but it's hard to understand much of what he's saying. He has learned a Christmas song, which I'll record and put up here.
Kailey has been testing her limits a little bit lately, but it's been pretty mild. I have a funny story from the other night - she snuck into the cookie sprinkles and ate some, which turned her lips green. I asked her why her lips were green and she said, "I don't want you to get mad." (Keep in mind I was worried about poison or something). So I said, I won't be mad, but I need to know what happened. She immediately admitted that she snuck into the cabinet for the sprinkles, and she was clearly worried about the consequences. I was so relieved that's all it was and so proud that she told me the truth, I couldn't help but smile. I told her I was not mad and I thanked her for telling the truth, but said she'd have to tell Kris. When she told him what she did and he asked what I did, she said, "Mommy just laughed and told me she's glad I told the truth." Oops.
Kris and I have both been busy with work, house, and fun. We celebrated Mema's 90th birthday in mid-November and it was a lovely, emotional party. It was just the 4 of us on Thanksgiving Thursday which was really nice. We then joined the Schmidt side of Kris' family on Friday for Thanksgiving dinner. We did not do any Black Friday shopping this year and instead hung around the house and spent time with friends. I'll be back before the end of 2008, I swear. xo