Temper tantrums and final exams

Jackson has started throwing terrible temper tantrums. Today, he spent the majority of the day screaming "NOOOOOOO!" and flailing around on the ground. It is so hard not to laugh when he screams and throws himself on top of Ryan. Alas, I keep most oy chuckles to myself. The saddest part for me was having Ryan ask me, "so does this mean that the fun is over?" I'm convinced it returns some day, but for now, life is filled with temper tantrums and dramatic little boy fits. The picture on today's blog is Jackson finally sitting quietly watching basketball. This was after an eternity of screaming.

Another big piece of news: miss iza has been at the vet hospital since Friday. She's very sick with early kidney failure, but she is doing much better on special food, medicine, and fluids hopefully she'll come home tomorrow.

In other news, I finish my last two classes of this semester this week. I have a big project and a final exam both due on Wednesday. Thankfully, the end is in sight!!

With love,
Anna

Wonderful Day at the Office

I had the most amazing day t work today. I was subbing at the Northwest Akron branch, and I had a dad and a youn boy approach the circulation desk to find out if the 5 year old could get his first library card!! I had a wonderful time helping him get his jest library card, have a tour around the library, learn how JFIC books are organized (by author's last name) and choose some books. I even gave him an awesome book suggestion that he "had to have" before he left the library... A nonfiction!! :)

What a great day at the library!! :)

With love,
Anna

Short and Sweet

Just a quick update so you know we're still alive...

Jackson had a good day at school then enjoyed going down the slide on the big kids playground in our complex. He and Daddy were quite muddy afterwards, but it was still fun.

Parker ran around town with Mommy today on errands and really enjoyed the short walk (cut short because Jackson yet again wasn't into it).

While Parker napped Anna walked with a friend to a nearby nail salon for a manicure, then got some new business cards made. All this in prep for her OLC (library) conference tomorrow which she is über excited about.

And Ryan had a very productive day at work.

A perfect day

Today was just about as perfect as it can get...

We started out by going to the zoo. It meant pushing the boys naps back but it was just too nice a day to pass up. The boys shared the double stroller and got out for a bit as well. Jackson's favorite part was feeding the goats, while Parker just enjoyed watching everything (and getting a small stuffed elephant as souvenir of his first real zoo trip).

After the zoo we went to O'Charley's for lunch. Parker ended up only getting a 20 minute nap (normally his morning nap is 2.5 hours), but he and Jackson were absolutely great at lunch. We also had a wonderful server who knew how to handle families with small children. So it meant that Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy their lunches too!

Next we went to the park--like I said, it was a gorgeous day. Parker enjoyed his first swing ride, see-sawing with Jackson, and sitting on the slide. Jackson just loved being outdoors and climbing on everything.

We soon left and both boys were quick and easy to go down for naps, giving Mommy time for a nap and Daddy time to get some chores done and rest. After naps we played outside until Mema and Grandpa came over for a grill-out. Again the boys did great during the meal and we all had fun hanging out.

Soon enough the boys went to bed and Anna and Ryan got a date night (two weeks running). We watched "The Accidental Husband" which was a good light comedy before finally calling it a day.

Now we just need to figure out how to make everyday just like this day. 😃

Happy Birthday Parker!

Here is yesterday's belated post...

Parker turned 8 months old on Friday. He had a really wonderful day. Ryan played Mr Mom hung out with Parker all day while Anna worked on 3 essays for her final for one class.

Parker took Daddy out to the grocery store and Babies-R-Us and both boys were very well behaved. Parker also did a great job sleeping: he went down for his nap without any fussing, took a nap in the car after dinner, and finally went to bed without fussing. Somehow even getting to bed at 1:00am turned into both parents getting 7 hours of sleep straight!

Anna also went to the faculty meeting at her school yesterday where she was able to present a wonderful idea she has. Okay--thats an understatement--it's actually a totally awesome amazing idea that well save to tell you about at another date.

Now we're off to the zoo to celebrate St Patty's Day and enjoy this beautiful weather.

Long Overdue Update

Hello everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since we've updated things. Life has been just crazy as you'll find out shortly. First off, this blog comes to you from Ryan--I'm making an effort to be more involved in helping keep this blog up-to-date. So without further ado, here's a recap of the past couple of weeks...

Anna had major wrist surgery on Feb 15. While Anna was in the OR, Ryan was in the ER--he slipped on black ice that morning and fractured his left shoulder. Recovery has been really tough for us both but we're slowly getting better. We're very thankful to our family and friends who have been able to help us out during these challenging times.

We've all been passing around a virus of some sort for the past couple of weeks. Jackson and Anna have been fighting 103 fevers and now Parker is starting to catch it. Ryan has luckily not gotten it that bad and Anna is hopefully coming over the hump.

Jackson is cutting 8 teeth right now: 2 in each section. That is just making all his illness that much worse, but soon he'll have a full mouth of chompers.

Now that we've removed tomatoes from Parker's diet he's doing much better--he's like a whole new baby. He's sleeping the night more often and going to sleep on his own in his crib. There's still room for improvement but his sleep training is going well.

Anna's grad school has been going well. Since I'm writing this I get to brag: at her "career night" she interviewed with the top 6 groups for a practicum position and all 6 offered her their spots! I'm so proud of Anna and it was a great affirmation for her.

Lastly, we both got iPhones! Anna said she wanted one and talked me onto it too. I am so thankful she did because I love it. I also love that Verizon decided to give us unlimited data for the same price as 2gb. Even better though is that I'm updating the blog from my iPhone!

Best wishes to all and stay tuned!