PreK End of Year

The month of May is certainly a time of wrapping things up! Jaden and Cody's school year ended with a few special events. First was their school's spring program for preK-2nd grade. The evening program started with the boys' music teacher Ms. Fisher leading the preK kids in a couple songs.

Jaden and Cody are in the back row, slightly right of the middle.

I only took small sample videos of each of their songs. The first was "Everybody Praise the Lord."

The second song was "My God is So Big." 

And after two songs, that was it for Cody and Jaden's portion of the program! It seemed like a big effort for such a short time, but it was still fun to see the boys on stage.

The boys' last day of school began with chapel (which has been once a month all through the school year). Lots of parents attended this last one since they ended the chapel with a picture slideshow of all the Early Childhood classes. During the service, they also had the kids sing a few songs for the parents (different songs from the spring program). Cody sat back in the parent section with us (Grammy, Papa, and cousin Abby came along too). Here is Cody singing "Fishers of Men."

Once she got the hang of the actions, Abby joined in as well! She's excited to start Early Childhood next year at Salem, and we'll be happy to have her there!

Here's a quick video clip of the "Fishers of Men" song.

Jaden wanted to sit with his classmates that morning, so I didn't get any great pics of him. You can see him in orange near the middle of the picture.

On the last week of school, the boys' teachers took these graduation pics of them. Cody apparently wasn't in the mood for smiling well that day! :) These boys sure grew up during the course of the year!

Here is our last-day-of-school pic. The boys are wearing their school's theme shirts (which we were encouraged to wear for every chapel day). Cody and Jaden loved their preK experience and both have said that they'll miss school over the summer. Next stop... kindergarten!! :)

Soccer Party

After Cody and Jaden's final soccer game, the coach's wife organized a team party that was a kids' dream. The sugar overload included large donuts, a whole bagful (per kid!) of donut holes, juice boxes, and a bag of candy.

Not surprisingly, Cody and Jaden were thrilled about the donuts and all the sugary treats!

After snacking for a bit, the coach presented each player with a personalized trophy. I don't think Jaden and Cody have ever been more proud of anything!

Jaden with Coach Nunez

Cody and Coach Nunez

The undefeated Pirates:
Cody, Preston, Mason, Grayson, Brayden, Aiden, Riley, Bella, Conner, Jaden

Jaden and Cody proudly showed their trophies off to anyone who came to our home for the next several weeks afterwards. Some days, they even carried the trophies around the house with them.

We were thankful for a great coach, talented teammates, and a committed group of parents (our team was always the timeliest when arriving for any morning game!). It was a great first-ever soccer season. We look forward to another round of soccer next school year!

Two Months Old

Happy Two Months, Sweet Adley Grace!

       The month of April was a wonderful month of getting to know our little daughter better-- figuring out her patterns and determining what makes her happy. We are loving having this girl as part of our family! Here are some current facts about Adley:

   PHYSICAL

• 14 lbs. and 24 inches long
• Likes to stretch legs and "climb up" Mommy or Daddy's chest 
• Not a big fan of tummy time 
• Enjoys kicking and moving arms when lying on the floor
• Loves gripping onto Mommy or Daddy's fingers
• Found her fist and loves sucking on it!
• Transitioned to size 2 diapers

SLEEPING HABITS

• Had one glorious night of sleeping through the night! (10:30-5:00)
• Most nights sleeps for one longer stretch (4-6 hours) then stays awake for 1-2 hours in the wee early hours of morning
• Doesn't typically fall asleep easily at night/ needs to be bounced
• Calms down best when swaddled and given a pacifier
• Naps are very inconsistent-- between 15 minutes to 2 hours

SOCIAL

• Started making cute cooing noises
• Holds gaze for longer stretches and can track people and objects
• Had her first smile at 7 weeks old

Actual day of her first smile, though didn't smile nearly as well for the camera!

OTHER

• Can be content in the bouncer or swing for longer stretches (esp. after eating!)
• LOTS of spit-up this month
• Loves taking baths now that we no longer use the bath hammock
• Likes listening to music at night and in the car
• Favorite place to be is in someone's arms; second favorite is the bouncer

Adorable outfit borrowed from cousin Abby!

Adley's big brothers continue to be so proud of her! Now that Adley has better neck control, Jaden and Cody enjoy holding her in a sitting position. Adley is very content lounging out with her brothers this way and can sit with them through the reading of an entire book.

 We all adore this precious 2-month-old and can't wait to see how she continues to grow and develop. We love you so much, sweet girl!

Soccer Highlights

Jaden and Cody's soccer season this spring consisted of 10 games, and by the end, their little team ended up being undefeated. This fact certainly contributed to our boys' enjoyment of the game during their first exposure to soccer! It was fun seeing Cody and Jaden's growth over the course of the season. Plus, with so much of our attention devoted to Adley this spring, Jason and I were happy to have something special just for Jaden and Cody. Here is their team of fellow 4 and 5 year olds during a practice.

The Pirates:
Aiden, Bella, Riley, Grayson, Cody, Jaden, Mason, Brayden, Conner, Preston

JADEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

Early on in the season, Jaden developed a knack for defensive playing, often chasing after his opponents if they were on a break-away and kicking the ball out of bounds before the players could score. If the ball was coming downfield towards him, Jaden would often back up to position himself between the ball and the opposing goal. He was always thinking defense! Jaden also got a lot of practice doing kick-ins. He was an alert little player who put a lot of thought into the game. I loved watching him run across the field with an eager bounce in his step. Jaden scored a few goals during the season, too! We were quite proud of our #8 soccer player!

CODY'S HIGHLIGHTS

Cody was our quick offensive player this season. He scored his first goal during game #2 (the game that Mommy and Daddy missed because we were in the hospital with Adley!) and then got on a roll. Cody scored at least one goal during every game after that too, with the exception of just the very last game. After every goal, Cody would make a small fist pump and then give a BIG smile over to the sidelines. Defensively, our little #10 player kept good tabs on his opponents and quickly chased them down if they got away with the ball. Cody was also so much fun to watch on the sidelines. Even when he wasn't in the game, he would watch every move intently, shout out directions to other players, and jump out of his seat to cheer on his teammates. Even though no one ever really announced or posted any score, Cody always kept track of how many goals each team had. He was a motivated and competitive little player. We were very proud of our little #10!

BOTH BOYS

Being on a soccer team made our boys think about soccer a LOT! All of a sudden, they wanted to kick their soccer balls all the time at home. They even developed a game of at-home "animal soccer" (using their stuffed animals to hit one of Adley's soft little balls across the floor into a goal). It has been fun for us to watch their little sports minds begin to develop. :)

On the soccer field, the boys' coach most often played Cody and Jaden at separate times. We think this was so he didn't have to worry about telling them apart! For whatever reason he did it, it was nice for this mommy and daddy to always have a kid on the field to watch. It kept their games much more interesting! :) During a handful of games, however, the coach did put our boys in the game together. A few times they even passed the ball to each other. Most often, though, both boys were just among the giant herd of children that was always surrounding the ball.

 

Jaden and Cody were blessed to have LOTS of family fan support for their games. The boys loved having family members cheer for them on the sidelines. What an encouraging family! (Uncle Jon, Aunt Chelsea and Isaiah made it out for a couple of games too, but we missed taking their picture. Sorry, guys!)

Uncle Matt-- likely our most enthusiastic fan! :)

 Grandma and Grandpa get the award for traveling the farthest to the game!

Nathan, Ryan and Ian designed their own #8 and #10 signs for our boys. So cute!

Cody, Abby, Uncle Andrew, Grammy, Adley, Jaden, Papa, Daddy

Grammy and Papa came to almost every game! They often cashed in on some cuddle time with our littlest fan. :)

After she was born and out of the hospital, this little sweetie didn't miss a game!

Our biggest fan crew came out for the boys' final game. Thanks, everyone!

We appreciated the boys' coach, Coach Nunez, for his gentle, encouraging spirit and for his commitment to coaching even with a torn ACL.

Way to go, Pirates, for a great soccer season! :)