Our Fish

No, we did not get a new pet. We had a fish once named Fishy but he passed on to fish heaven last year and he hasn't been replaced. Two kids, two full time jobs and one dog is enough for us at this point. The fish I'm referring to are the kiddos. Wow do Haley and Jackson love the water. Haley has no fear and is doing a great job swimming. We are still looking into swim lessons for the summer but at this rate I'm not too sure she needs them. She likes to go under the water and swim but doesn't understand the concept yet of coming up for a breath. The floaties worked for about a week and now she's decided they just hold her back. Jackson likes to splash in the water and chill in his float. It's a good way for the kids to burn some extra energy and get cooled off in this Texas heat. I'm thinking the blog will be full of pictures of the kids swimming this summer. Haley has a nice tan started even though SPF 50 is on her all the time. Jackson is still looking a little white but getting there slowly.

Here's what we've been doing for the past couple of weeks.

Haley and Jackson hanging out one morning

Haley checking out the spa

And her turtle, which has been banished to the garage. For some reason she doesn't like it and cries whenever we pull it out now. Good thing it was only $5 at Walmart.

Jackson hitching a ride on Daddy

Showing off the six pack

After swimming one afternoon I tried to get some updated shots of the kids together. They never seem to look at the camera at the same time.

Haley being a good big sister

Sweet

And in case we don't get enough water in the backyard, we take them to Market Street to play in the fountains.

Haley also has a new toy to show off outside the water. Grandma Vara, or Grandma from El Paso as Haley calls her, bought Haley a brand new big girl bike. Haley loves it! Matt and I are amazed at how well she can ride it. Thanks Grandma!!!!!

Wow I am getting so big

Look Mom, no hands

We had a great time this Memorial Day Weekend. Rob and Lauren came in from Austin to stay with us and we had a great mix of family and friends hanging out at the pool relaxing.

Jackson was enjoying his float playing with Daddy

Hanging out in the spa by himself. Yeah, he's cool like that.

Haley was in the pool non-stop as well but it turns out she didn't want to wear a swimsuit so all her pictures show her naked bum! That silly girl.

On Monday, we went to the lake, had family time and a nice steak cooked by Matt. Yum Yum.

Chilling in the shade

Laughing Jackson showing off his belly

Haley learned to float on the ball

Whew, that was a lot of pictures. Finally, a few quick stats about the kids. Jackson is on the move. He is crawling now though still slow so we don't have to worry too much about him getting too far or into too much trouble. Although today I did find him go straight for the outlet in the floor. Guess it's time to baby proof the house again.

And Haley is doing pretty good at potty training. On Saturday she went in the potty all day. However, she is nervous to go poopies in the potty and went in her pants on Sunday. That caused her to revert a little. We're still working on it but not pushing her too much.

Have a great week!!

Looks who's 6 months!

Wow, has it really been six months since Jackson was born? It's funny how quickly you forget what life was like before a new addition. I can barely remember what it was like to be a mother of 1 much less not a mother at all.
Jackson had a great 6 month checkup. The dr. said he looks wonderful and assured us boys are a different beast so keep our eyes out for all the trouble he will get into. I had already figured that one out. Jackson is a ball full of energy. He only has 2 speeds, full throttle jumping or crying cause he is hungry. Every once in awhile you can throw sleep in there but he isn't too fond of that one. When we were at his appointment it was hard for the dr. to listen to his heartbeat since he was jump jump jumping all around. Haley had been diagnosed with innocent heart murmurs before so I was interested to see if Jackson had them too but he wouldn't sit still long enough. Good thing they are "innocent" so no concern even if he had them. One funny story from his appt. I had to take Haley with me and when the dr. was checking out Jackson she tooted loud. I laughed and said, "Haley, did you toot?" She responded yes and the dr. laughed and told her it's ok to blame that on Jackson!

Here are his 6 month stats:
Weight: 17.3 lbs - 50%
Height: 27' - 50-75% (although he was squirming when the nurse took his height so I'm pretty sure she added a little to it)
Head: 17' - 25-50%
Sitting on his own
Rolling like crazy
No teeth yet
Eats EVERYTHING!

Matt calls this Jackson's "I wanna cheeseburger" face


Little man


What a big smile


Haley loves to give Jackson hugs. Looks like she is squeezing his food right out of him in this pic!

Never too early to start practicing with a football. The cheeseburger look is back. I think he wanted to eat the football but Haley quickly took it away so she could play with it :)

Haley gave Jackson keys instead, which was easier for him to eat

Haley playing on her tricycle in the garage while it was raining. Earlier in the day we went to a bike store to look for a bike for me and Haley found one she wanted. We were amazed how well she rode it. It was a big girl's bike with training wheels.

A couple of funny stories from this past week.

Every morning I have to put Haley's hair back so it isn't in her face. On Friday I managed to get them in pig tails and it looked so cute! Once she realized she had "two" pony tails she protested. I got her mind off of it somehow and off to Grandma's we went. Well, once she got to Grandma's house she said, "I not WANT pig tails" and took them out! I don't think I am ready for her to have an opinion yet on her hair styles! I want her to have cute pig tails forever.

And finally, the other day I dropped a full glass far of baby food on the tile. Well, as you can imagine the orange food went everywhere and the glass shattered too. I thought I got most up until Haley said Friday night, ouch! I looked at the bottom of her foot with Jackson on my lap and it was bleeding. Then I smelled something, looked down and noticed poop on my jeans?? Wow, Jackson's diaper had leaked and poop was EVERYWHERE! Which child to take care of first? Luckily Matt was there and he decided blood was better then cleaning up poop, which I don't blame him. We got everyone all cleaned up and off to the bath we went.

Good times at The Vara's!

Have a great week.

Haley's school program and a look back

On Tuesday my mom drove the kids back from Galveston so Haley could attend her end of the year program at school. I can't believe it has already been an entire school year! Since Haley was 1 when the school year began, she is in the Toddler Ones class. Her class is all kids that turned 2 before January so she is with kids her same age, which is nice. For the program the Toddler Ones and Younger Ones (those that turn 2 during 2010) sing 3 songs together. Haley did great at the Christmas Program but this time we didn't have as much luck. She already had a busy day and I had a feeling the no nap was going to catch up with her, which it did. Needless to say, Haley screamed the entire time, "I want my mommy". And of course she was right by the microphone so that was pretty much all you heard!! I should have known that would happen when she came home and told me, "Grandma told me to take a nap, but I didn't." Oh well, we are still very proud of our little girl and everything she accomplished this school year.

Let the tears flow...

The entire group

And we are still crying even sitting on the teacher's (Ms. Amy) lap :(

Although the end of the year program didn't go as planned, Haley had a great school year. Here is a look back courtesy of pictures her teacher took throughout the year

MW Toddler Ones Class

Making Christmas Tree Cones

Yum, M&Ms

When it is cold or rainy they have playtime in the gym. Of course Haley would pick the purple car

Or the Harley!

Going fishing with friends

Cowboy Cookout Day

Easter Egg hunting. This picture makes me laugh so much. Haley found one glove that morning when looking for shoes and said, "Oh, my glove". She then proceeded to wear it ALL day. When the teacher asked her why, her response was, "cause it matches my shoes!". Love it!!!

Yes, the glove is still on!

The school has lots of activities planned for the kids. A horse even came one day!

Haley giving it kisses

She LOVES to play outside

These last couple of weeks they have learned about safety. The fire department came and the kids got to check out a fire truck. It was a different dept then the one Jackson was born at. The police also came and the kids got a tour of the police car.

What great memories! Thanks to her teacher for trying to capture some moments with the kids.

Vacation...for the kids

Last Friday my mom and aunt took both kids plus my cousin's twin girls to Galveston for the week. So far they are having a blast. Haley doesn't like the waves hitting her but loves the swimming pool and just hanging out with the girls. Jackson took his first dip in the swimming pool and LOVES it. I figured since the little guy goes crazy with excitement as soon as he hears the bath water starting. He is going to be a fish just like Haley.
It's been quiet at our house but Matt and I are trying to stay busy taking care of things we can't do when the kids are around. On Saturday we finally painted Haley's room purple. She is going to be so excited when she gets home! She picked out the color from several swatches and so did I, not knowing Haley picked that same color :) While we miss the kids terribly, it's nice to have some couple time. We haven't had this much couple time since Haley was born. Good thing we get a teaser tomorrow and get to see the kids at Haley's end of the year school program. I'm not sure if it's just my personality or being a parent, but I'm nervous to watch her on stage! I want her to do so good and not be afraid when she is up there. She did wonderful during the Christmas program so I shouldn't be so nervous.

Here's a few pictures from a couple of weekends ago...

Haley getting on her glasses to help Daddy in the yard

Ready to help now Daddy

Silly girl

Jackson loves eating lately. Here he is gobbling down some carrots. Yum Yum.

Fun times, Vara style

Finally, I'm happy to report we are all 100% healthy again! Jackson had a nasty stomach bug for over a week. Poor guy ended up losing 1/2 a pound but now is quickly gaining that back. He has started sleeping through the night again too. I'm happy about that because it was extra hard getting up at 3am to feed him since he had been sleeping good prior to the bug. While Haley came down with a fever she never got the dreaded bug. Whew.
Now on to fun stuff. A couple of weeks ago we did our annual pictures in the bluebonnets. The patch we always hit up in Montgomery wasn't quite as good this year but we can't complain. Jackson was still under the weather so he didn't want to participate much as you can see from the pictures.

Haley holding Jackson while he is deciding which flower to eat

Pretty Princess Haley

What a big girl

Haley had fun playing in the stream holding her beloved Tiger hostage. Not sure what he did to deserve this threat but he came out dry :)

I pulled out Haley's old walker and Jackson has taken a liking to it. He loves to chew on the toys. It's so funny. He'll eye the bear, have a stare down with it, then try to eat it. He can really get the walker to move on the wood floors.

Unlike Grandma's walker built for giants, Jackson can actually reach the ground in this one.

Sometimes you just have to get out of the house. We took the kids to Market Street one day after work. We sat out at the fountains and enjoyed Pot Belly, yum yum. It was a little cool this day but Haley didn't mind. Jackson was checking out the water too....


You knew what was going to happen next! Jackson got a mouthful.

Most weekdays we find fun things to do around the house with the kids. Haley loves to go to the park or swing in the backyard. Haley found some of her older ride on toys and the perfect racetrack! ZOOM ZOOM

Switching out cars, same result...lots of fun.

To burn off extra energy she pushes me around.

While Haley is racing down the hall upstairs, Jackson is busy in the game room working on sitting up. Not bad for just turning 5 months old.

And when he's tired of sitting we work on tummy time...

and carpet swimming

After all that workout Jackson needs a snack. I think roasted duck is on the menu

Every once in awhile I start to feel crafty. This weekend I took the kids to Hobby Lobby. I'm making Jackson a sign for his room and I let Haley pick out whatever she wanted to paint. She picked out a birdhouse. She also picked out all sorts of colors to paint it. So off with the clothes, covered the table outside, and I let the artist come alive. She is very careful painting.

This was about two seconds before she started to paint her hand with all that blue paint on the brush. I couldn't figure out why she painted her hand then remembered all the art projects she does at school with her hand print. So off to the water hose we went for a scrub down.

Her finished product. Beautiful! It's perched on a tree waiting for it's first visitor.

Haley and Matt also had their first dip in the pool this weekend. It was quite cold so she didn't last long. We turned on the spa and she enjoyed that much better. Can't wait for it to warm up a little more. Have a great week!!