Update

I just thought rather than sending a ton of emails I'd put a little update here. Sorry for mis-spellings.
I had surgery Sunday morning. Early...like 7am. I had never been in so much pain. The leg pain is better now, I can move and walk. YAY. Incision still hurts and it's hard to get around. Never thought I'd use a bedpan in my 30's!! haha. (before surgery). Staying at my parents house. They are the best and helping a lot. With me, Nick, and kids. My parents took kids to Em's softball game tonight and Nick helped me shower and change. so nice to sit together for a few minutes!
I can't wait to recover. I want to go home this weekend, but dr was very concerned about wild kids, so best to be here while it's quiet.Plan to go home sunday. Nick's mom coming sunday and monday to help. Thank goodness for family, friends, nanny, etc. I don't know what we would do.
Thanks to all who have offered to help, brought a meal, plan to bring a meal, etc. SO appreciated!!
I can't lift, bend, or be alone with kids for six weeks so it will be hard! I love NIck so much and he always steps up when needed.
Well, feel free to email, text or call either of us :)
Lots of love and pray for fast recovery so this is the end of this back pain bs. (sorry).
Blog may be neglected for a while too!

Surgery tomorrow...please pray

It's a long story but over the last week my back has gone from bad to worse to unbearable. I had to take an ambulance on Friday to the hospital bc I could not move. I had an MRI and it shows I blew out the same disc as before and it's sitting on a nerve. I can only lay in my side so surgery is required ASAP. I have been lying down for 48 hours now. Surgery tomorrow morning. Please pray it goes well. I think I am in complete shock still that it happened so fast with no time to prepare! I am worried about kids, nick, risks of repeat surgery, etc. I just can't believe it. Please pray for me, kids, nick, my family, and a smooth recovery so I can go home. My kids need me and are both mamma's boys right now so it breaks my heart not being there for them. Thank you!!!!! Love, Jennifer

Washington D.C. Trip

Nick's "reward" trip this year was in Washington DC (May 5-8th). It used to be in Hawaii for like 8 years. The first year he made it, it was going to be in Hawaii. Then with the market crashing, they cancelled the whole thing. The next year it was in Arizona at a spa...and the year after that. That was fun, but not kid-friendly. Then Disneyworld which was fun. Now here. Now the TOP TOP people (like over $1m producers) go to Hawaii and the next group is Nick's. The very top used to go to like Istanbul Turkey, France, etc. so Hawaii is probably a step down for them. I just wanted to go to Hawaii.

 I was so close to getting to go to Hawaii that I could smell it. Maybe for our 10 or 15 year anniversary? We'll see. Going on their dime is a lot more fun.

Anyway, we have a fun time just getting away and having some alone time. I slept in LATE. The day we left the kids woke us up at 5:10am. I slept on the plane. We were only up until 10pm that night and I slept till 11 am the next morning. That is NOT like me at all. I never am able to sleep in anymore. Nick came back from a class expecting me to be ready for lunch and when he walked in to me still sleeping...he basically yelled WTF at me!! haha. I actually woke up at 8am when he brought me breakfast, ate it in bed, watched GMA for five minutes, and fell back asleep. I didn't take many pictures, but here are some from our day of sightseeing. We met up with some friends for lunch on Sunday. They ended up coming out walking with us, which was really nice. Besides, without them there to help us get back to our subway line place, we would have been in big trouble. It was confusing. LPL and a wholesaler paid for three nice dinners, a few lunches, and breakfast. We didn't have to spend too much on food. We went shopping in Georgetown...I'm the only one who didn't get anything. I got Hunter a Northface coat for fall and Nick got a pair of shoes there too. I also discovered a store called Vineyard Vines. It's WAY preppy, but I love it. It's also way expensive. Nick should be happy that he was with me or I may have gone nuts, but I was too scared of him getting mad. I did get the kids a few things each though--I couldn't resist. I am sure we'll be back in DC again when our kids are old enough to learn about this stuff. 

Washington Monument. I made a paper mache of this in the 2nd grade. Or maybe it was 6th grade. Anyway, I just remember making it. 

 In front of the Monument. Isn't my husband mature? The funny part was our friends and Nick were giggling and I didn't even know why. I must have been oblivious. Or it was those two bloody mary's I had with lunch.  

 The WWII Memorial is somewhat new....it was really pretty and neat. 

 The fountain of the WWII Memorial. 

 At the bottom of the Lincoln Monument...the pond was covered for construction :-(

 Joe & Julie live in Baltimore and came to meet up with us. Nick and Joe lived together at U of M. Joe met Julie in Baltimore. They got married last August and we had a great time in Baltimore for their wedding. 

 In front of Lincoln Monument. 

 Here I was standing at the top of the Lincoln Monument steps. Too bad it was cloudy and the construction and cover on pond. 

 I think this was part of the Vietnam War Memorial (that or Korea). On the wall of the Vietnam Memorial they have thousands of names engraved. People walk by in silence as a tradition/respect or those we've lost. It is pretty emotional seeing all those names and knowing so many people, so young, gave their lives for our freedom. It's truly amazing! 

Well, hopefully I can get up some neat Mother's Day pictures before too long!! 

I just randomly brought my camera...

We are back safe and sound from DC in case you thought I was MIA. I was so busy before I left! Anyway, last week when Nick was gone one evening I was playing with the kids on the deck and I decided to bring my camera out and randomly started taking pictures of them. They also met a caterpillar friend who was the subject of several pictures!

 The kids were both fighting over holding him. At one point I thought Mr. Caterpillar might get broken in half. They played with it for at least 45 minutes. Cheap thrills. 

 I was just messing around with camera settings and got some cute ones of Jack. 

Minus the dirt on his face--I think he was eating it when I wasn't looking. 

 He has the most precious cheeks, lips, eyelashes, etc. I can't believe he's mine!!! 

 Love the smile too...he's so handsome!! 

 Our little two year old now wears underwear in the house. We don't go out yet without a diaper, but we're working on it. I can't believe both of my boys are out of diapers (almost). It actually is making me a bit sad that Jack is getting bigger and learning so much all the time--he's not my little baby anymore. 

 We usually watch one (or two) episodes of Curious George around 7:15pm. They eat an apple and/or yogurt popsicles and wind down. Poor Jack has two messed up toes like his daddy. I fear the second one will overlap the third on both feet. I already asked the dr and nothing we can do, but at least we know who to blame. 

 My other handsome guy--he needs a haircut :)

 Chopper was our baby before we had babies. 

Poor dog. He looks sad, but his life is not that bad. Not as good as it used to be, but not bad. His bottom teeth are really messed up. The gums have grown over the teeth. We had them cut back once and they grew right back over. He still eats fine, but we do worry about bacteria and other yucky stuff getting in there. 

 

Potty training update and a few other things :)

When I got home from work yesterday Julie said Jack was doing well with the potty training. He had used the potty a few times with her. I let him go naked (with shirt on) for quite a while with no luck. Then they were outside for quite a while and he had a diaper on, so not a ton of opportunity to try. I wanted to stay in and practice all night, but once he saw Nick and Hunter outside he wanted to go out. He did pee a little bit on the floor, but oh well. 

Such a silly boy! I was giving him lots of water and milk. We kept trying to sit on the potty every 20 minutes or so. He loves to flush the toilet, turn the sink water on, wash his hands, etc., so this playing in the bathroom thing is pretty fun for him I'm sure.  

He can climb on the toilet pretty well by himself

 I haven't really seen this technique before, but that's fine. Julie's friend taught her kids this way so I'm not one to complain as long as it's working! Hey, cleaning out the kid potty is gross anyway, so straight to this potty is fine with me. He can sit and balance way better sitting this way...much less risk of falling in than the other way. 

 Jack really wanted to go outside to help Nick and Hunter plant some trees. Nick got some new trees to go along the house by our sun room. It looks like a tall silo from the back, so I'm excited to see how it looks once the trees are done. Hunter was very helpful. They loaded up the extra dirt in his John Deere tractor and took it back to the woods and dumped it. Hunter was really good! 

 I can't wait to embarrass him with these when he gets older!! 

 Last night he would not put on underwear, but this morning after Hunter helped me convince him, he put these on. Jack was up before 6am, so I was drying my hair in the kitchen and he is trying to be sneaky here. 

It was hilarious. He took a tub of Cool Whip out of the freezer, sat with it on the floor, opened it, took a one finger swipe in it, licked it, put the lid back on, and put it back away. I was cracking up b/c he thought he was being clever and I couldn't even get mad. Jack used the potty once for me this morning before I left. He pooped on the floor, so we'll have to work on that. At least it was on the hardwood floor and easy to clean up. 

On another note, Hunter is doing AWESOME with his two new discipline techniques (marbles and 1-2-3 magic system). He is still going to timeout, but it seems like not as much. I can see he gets very upset now if he has to go to timeout. The marbles are also working really well. He loves earning his rewards. He even makes his bed now, which I know he should have been doing, but whatever! He got to go to Chuck E. Cheese Saturday night. Monday he earned a prize from the bucket (glow in the dark snakes and a tootsie pop). Today he'll get to 15 and I think Julie is going to take them to get ice cream later. He really wants Qdoba for some reason, so I'm guessing we'll end up there on Friday night for dinner as his reward. I have no idea, but he was in tears last night wanting Qdoba, but we didn't go out. 

Nick and I are leaving Saturday around noon for Washington DC. We are super excited. Thanks to my mom and dad for watching the kids. We leave Saturday and come back Tuesday afternoon. Julie will be there Monday and Tuesday during the day, so that will help my mom so she can go home for the day. Before kids I never would have said this, but I'm excited just to get on the plane so I can peacefully read a book. We plan to see some sights, sleep, eat some meals in peace, maybe go to the spa in the hotel, and just relax. I've been SO tired lately it's not even funny. I'm just so looking forward to getting away and I've never been there, so I'm excited!! Please pray my kids are good for my parents and that Hunter be good with his new discipline systems with them. 

Big News and Fun with Julie

Our awesome nanny, Julie, took these pictures of the kids with her cell phone and sent to me. I just love to see what they are up to and how much fun they are having. She is so good with them and both kids LOVE her. There are times when Jack will want her to do something instead of me. I don't get jealous at all, I'm just so thrilled they like her as much as they do! They both run to the door when she arrives in the morning. Yesterday we were chatting for a little bit and she said something about giving Jack bear hugs on Friday when he goes for a nap b/c she misses them over the weekend (and he's usually still sleeping on Fridays when she leaves). That totally melts my heart. I know it's a job, but I also know she really cares about our kids and am just so thankful that we met someone like her. I have to say I love my alone time with Jack when Hunter is at school. Julie actually gets excited when Hunter is off school b/c she feels guilty that Hunter doesn't get to do all the fun things that Jack does. (I feel NO guilt at all)!!I keep trying to get Jack to say her name and this morning Hunter said her nickname should be "gaga". That's what Hunter used to call our first nanny, Monica, when he couldn't say her name. I guess he thinks Jack should call Julie the same thing. I guess we'll have to see what Jack comes up with!! Thank you Julie for being so wonderful with our boys. Now I'm just counting on her to potty train Jack....just joking!!!!!!!

OK...the funniest part about this post is that I had typed the above early this morning. I hadn't finished the post, but then I got a text from Julie around 10am saying since the weather was yucky they were going to stay home and work on potty training. How crazy is that?!?!?!? After I had typed that above!!! So I got this picture from Julie--The BIG NEWS is that Jack has used the potty several times today!!!! I'm so happy and excited. So is Julie. We were laughing over text about how funny it is that we are both so excited about him going pee pee on the potty. I remember Monica and I doing the same thing. I got lots of pictures from Monica including Hunter's first poo poo...I was laughing hysterically. Is it weird that I haven't had to potty train either of my kids? I am thrilled b/c I don't have a lot of patience, so I appreciate anything anyone does to make my life easier!!

Julie said he's so proud of himself...I can't wait to see him do this tonight!!!

Jack above at the Hands on Museum

Jack with Mr. Potato Head's tongue in his mouth. Too funny! 

I think Julie has more pictures of my kids together in this post than I have in my life. They are so cute! 

Hunter at this park by our house. They stop on the way home from school sometimes. 

County Farm Park

The kids at Hands On Museum

Silly boys!! 

I love this one b/c Hunter isn't usually all that nice to Jack and he's cuddling. Then Jack is probably wondering what in the world is going on

Sharing a snack in the sunroom

Thanks Julie!!! You are awesome and we appreciate you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!!