she's got spunk!

oh, what has happened to my sweet little girl, who did nothing wrong, and was pure joy??? well, the old hadley is growing up, and jumping right in to the terrible 2's.

she throws her toys and her food. she just started to hit. and when you say "no hit" to her, she will open her mouth as a threat to bite.



and my little angel has so many opinions now. she has spring fever and wants to be outside all the time. which would be wonderful if it was a bit warmer and sunny. but she will cry and point outside when it is pouring out.

yes, my little girl who always gave me hugs and kisses, is now biting my shoulder during love time. she is also beating on her brothers who just want to make her happy. her new favorite place to hang out is the bottom step... although she would never think of climbing the stairs in the past, and now she stands on the bottom step, and i know if she has the opportunity, up she will go.



i really hope we grow out of this phase soon... please!!!!

egg hunt

today mason's school had a little egg hunt. and you know, nothing says spring and egg hunt like 32 degrees.

it was chilly, but we bundled up and went. the kids had so much fun. and once hadley picked up 2 eggs, she was done. there was also a book fair in the school, so each boy got to pick out 3 books. it was a fun morning.

after hunting for eggs, we went to panera for lunch and then i took carter on a surprise date to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid. we just finished reading the book, and he was so excited to see that the movie came out. mason went home and watched Cars.

today was a good day...

St. Patrick's Day & Mason's Birthday

well, we sure have been busy here... we celebrated st. patrick's day, and mason's 4th b-day. something else amazing happened... after 4 days of heavy rain, the sun came out, and it warmed up. we have had so much fun playing outside!!!

here are some pictures from the last couple of days... hey, look... all 3 kids in one picture, and they actually look like they love each other.






HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON!!!!!
mason got two things for his birthday. the first was dj, from the movie Cars. it is one of the only car movie cars that he didn't have. craig found it online, but it was bigger than most of his, and craig was worried mason would be disappointed. he didn't care at all, he was in love!!!

if dj was the only thing he got for his b-day, he would have been a happy boy. we also gave him a nintendo ds. remember my post about him sneaking carter's? well, now he has his own.

carter was so excited that mason got a ds. he then offered to let mason have a sleepover in his room, so they could play together. it was very thoughtful, and from carter, that is a lot!!!







today was one of those days that i wish i could clone myself. i really wanted to go to mason's school to celebrate his birthday. and wouldn't you know it, the one field trip that carter's class takes all year is today. i couldn't be in two places at once, and craig had to stay home with hadley. i hated that i had to chose, but i decided that it was more important for me to be with mason today. carter got over it, and i promised i would try to go to the next event at school.

not only was it mason's b-day, but also his friend brady, and one of his teachers. brady's mom made cupcakes and i brought in a pinata. no longer do you need sticks to beat it open... it now has ribbons coming down, and only one will open the magic door. the kids had a blast!!!!





i just love mason so much!!! he is such a joy to be around. he is so happy and friendly. he looks up to his older brother, and wants to do everything that carter does. he is so good with hadley, and gives her hugs and kisses all day!!!

he loves school, and playing with his friends. he is doing a great job with his speech, and works really hard at it. i am so proud of the little boy he is becoming. his personality is so different than carter's. so far he hasn't hit any of the not-so-fun milestones such as terrible 2's or horrible 3's... i am optimistic that he will have another great year.

ok, off to watch The Office and relax!!!

our lacrosse star...

here is carter modeling his new lacrosse gear... i am really hoping he likes it.



last year he came home from school telling me all about lacrosse and how he played at gym. he was so excited and told me he wanted to play it. so, like any good mom i signed him up. it is not a cheap sport, and this year he will be playing in the intro league. next year, the price doubles. so i figured this would be the year to give it a whirl.

he is now unsure if he wants to play. of course he is. why? because he is carter, and that means he is afraid of the unknown.

so, we are hoping that he will love lacrosse, the way he has loved t-ball, soccer and basketball. he will also be playing baseball this year. it was a minor debate in our house. we are usually a one sport per season family. this is the first time we are letting him do both. craig is insistent that he has to play baseball this year, because it is the first year the coaches pitch and it is no longer t-ball. i want him to try lacrosse because of the price difference between this year and next. and let's not forget when i signed up last fall he really wanted to play.

so there, you have it... fingers crossed we make it through our first season. and if never plays lacrosse after this year, then mason will be happy to have all his brother's equipment. hey, they will be new to him.

new to you...

it's that time of year... cleaning out closets, dressers and going through clothes! it is spring time!! well, almost spring, but after a couple of nice days, we are all ready for it to come.

carter is now at the age where he doesn't outgrow things so fast. so he still has a good amount of clothes that fit him. he really needs some shorts, a couple of shirts and he'll be good to go. all of his pants are getting holes in knees... i have no idea what he does at recess, but he is now at the stage where there is very little to save for mason.

speaking of mason, he has a full wardrobe from carter. i think i counted 7 or 8 pairs of shorts, 2 swimsuits, and a handful of tops. we also found a bunch of new pj's. mason loves all his new clothes... and when he asks if they are new, we just say "new to you".

mason is our happy go-lucky boy. craig nicknamed him Mason "just happy to be here" Jacobs. he is the type of kid, who will walk us all around target or a toy store and show us everything that he thinks is cool, but never asks for a thing. carter on the other hand, expects the world and is constantly disappointed.

oh, and hadley needs everything! which i am glad, because i love buying her clothes. as i was putting away all the clothes she has outgrown, i was a little sad. i would love to see another little girl wear them all.

here are a couple of pictures from this week... you can tell we are from new england, because it only warmed up to the 50's and everyone had spring fever.

dad

my dad will be starting radiation and chemo on monday... he will receive radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks. he will also get a chemo iv pump. it sounds similar to the insulin pump, but i don't really know.

my dad's spirit seems good - or at least that is the front he is putting on for me. he is strong and i am sure we will make it though this difficult time.

thank you to all your thoughtful comments, emails, and notes... it really has meant a lot to me.

15 months

seriously, can i slow down time for a bit? how is hadley already 15 months old???





she is so much fun!!!! she is the happiest girl, loves her brothers, cuddles with her daddy, and is just my little side kick. she usually pulls out her hair on a daily basis... unless she is sporting the sprout, but her hair is getting a bit too long for that.


now that the weather is getting nice we have been able to go outside more. hadley is so funny! she is unsure of how to walk from the grass, to the driveway, then to the street. she was very interested in seeing all the shadows and the kids all running around on their bikes and scooters. i wish i had my camera outside yesterday, but i was enjoying the spring weather and didn't want to run back in to get it. the boys were spring babies, and learned to walk inside the same time as outside. hadley hasn't really been outside too much since she has been walking, and it really is a new experience for her.

speaking of slowing down time... how is mason going to be 4? he talks about his b-day all the time. he wants to be 6 like carter, but he will settle for turning 4.




tonight for dinner i made grilled cheese for me and the kids - so exciting i know!!! i got out some pickles, and mason wanted some, so he was eating them like crazy, then i cut up one for hadley, and she LOVED it!!! they were just little baby dills, so i handed her the whole pickle and she was on cloud 9.





she is signing "more" in the last picture... and yes, she pulled that bow out of her hair minutes later.

Thursday

my head hurts, my eyes hurt, and all i want to do is sleep... well, except at night when it is time to sleep and then of course i can't.

last night i heard a little voice in our room. "daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy..." i open my eyes, it was 2:30 am and mason was standing next to craig. i asked him what was wrong and he told me he just wanted to say good night to daddy. of course craig was sleeping through this whole conversation. back to bed he went.

the kids have said some funny things this week, and if i don't write them down, i will forget.

Mason: during bath time, he asked where hadley's "winky" was. hmmm... they have shared shared a bath since hadley was born. he is just noticing now that she doesn't have the same plumbing as him?

how cute is this... he tucks cookie in for a nap whenever we leave the house. who knew he was so nurturing. lol


Carter: a typical night of dinner time drama. carter eats way too slow, and argues about everything. it really is the most stressful time of the day. anyways, hadley and mason finished their soup and craig wasn't home yet. i was trying to get carter to hurry up and finish, and then he said to me "do you think you are the president of this family or something?" actually, i am thankyouverymuch.

spring is right around the corner, and even though it is snowing right now, if you don't buy spring/summer clothes soon, they will be all gone. so i did a little retail therapy yesterday, and made hadley put on a little fashion show for her dad and brothers. the boys kept telling her how cute she was and she was really hamming it up!!!

she also tried on her easter dress. my friend dallas lives in nantucket during the summer, and last year she sent this dress up for hadley. it is so pretty!!!






i am so looking forward to putting on my pj's and watching all my favorite thursday night tv. and i'll probably eat some oreos too.

why me? why us?

it's hard not to have some "why me?" moments when you are dealing with a difficult situation. i try not to let it get me down too much, but it still sucks.

my parents met with my dad's doctor today. the doctor wants to be very aggressive when treating the cancer, especially since he already had it 5 years ago. i remember the meeting with the doctor back then and her exact quote was "when the cancer returns, not if..."

so, they are going to do radiation/chemotherapy for 5 weeks, then give his body a break for 5-6 weeks and then surgery. we were really hoping they would just cut the tumor out, but it looks like the doctor wants to take out his whole colon and give him a colostomy. obviously, nobody would want that, but if it keeps him alive and we don't have to worry about it coming back again, then i guess we will have to deal with it. well, i won't have to deal with it, but he will, and we will support him and do what we can to help him.

have i mentioned how much i think this sucks?

i love my parents so much. they are great parents, amazing grandparents and i think craig would say they are really good in-laws. (right craig?) it just breaks my heart to see them deal with this. my dad is scared, and my mom gets very anxious. and there is nothing i can do to make things better.

ironically march is colorectal cancer awareness months, so please make sure your loved ones get a colonoscopy if they need one. my dad found out he had colon cancer at age 50 when he got his first colonoscopy.

books

i finally finished 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I thought it was ok... not the best book i have ever read. it was kinda slow moving, and the chapters seemed really long... but i finished it. so, onto my next book. hopefully it is as good as i have heard.

carter's school is doing a reading program, and he needs to read 600 pages at home by the end of march. craig and i read him Diary of a Wimpy Kid. it was a cute book and he loved it!!! we just found out the movie is coming out later this month, so that will be fun to see.


mason is obsessed with the movie Cars. every night he looks through his book, and talks about which cars he has and which ones he still needs. he also got new Cars movie pajamas that he just loves. he wants every day to be pajama day. it is so funny!!!


hadley wants to be just like her big brothers... she has 2 books that she loves. That's not my dolly... is her favorite. carter and mason both read it to her, and she carries it around everywhere.


today when we were on our way out the door, she went back to get a book to bring in the car with her. it is so cute!!!!

now, i just need to get craig a book so he can join in the fun!!!