I miss you so, my taggy blue.  

Please bid Olivia well.

You gave me comfort,

through thick and thin.

From the time of constantly carrying you,

to the having you only at night.

Take care my taggy blue,

I’ll miss you so. 

 

How does a single parent manage to handle two kids? All I can say is I don’t know how. Take the simple thing as having Jayden needing to go to the bathroom. We stopped near Ft. Dodge on the way back and had some McDonalds (I know, I usually dislike eating there, but it’s quick and the kids usually eat something there). Well, about half way through our lunch, Jayden needed to go use the bathroom. Not a big deal if Kim and I were both there. Obviously, I took Josie (with chicken nugget in hand) in with Jayden and I. Everything worked out okay, but still, it’s not fun having to deal with both of them at the same time…making sure Josie doesn’t touch something she shouldn’t and keeping her chicken nugget off the floor.

All in all, the kids were pretty good for the whole weekend. But, it sure is nice having Kim back home.

Josie started making some funny tongue noises the other day so I thought I’d share them with you. Enjoy the video.

Funny Tongue Noises from Kevin Minnis on Vimeo.

Till next time…

On a brighter note, Josie’s all better now and constantly grazes the cereal boxes whenever she can. She’s also trying to talk more. You can kind of understand somethings that she says. She’ll make the sound a cow, sheep, monkey and horse make. And she’s also said tractor. She does play with Jayden’s toys quite a bit.

Only 9 days till Christmas!

Yesterday we took our annual trip to Howell’s Tree Farm to get the kids their pumpkins and to have some fun playing with all the stuff they have setup. While there we also saw Amy and Zach Larson so that was cool. It had rained the night before and it was pretty muddy, but we had a good time anyway and washed our shoes when we got home.

More pictures can be seen at the Halloween 2007 Picture Set.

Karrie, my sister, made a surprise visit to my Parent’s home and it happened to fall on the same weekend that we had Jayden’s B-Day party so she was able to make it too.

Jayden wasn’t the only one to have fun during his birthday weekend. Josie likes wearing his hat and does a pretty good job modeling it.

They also both had fun with shaving cream in the bath tub. If you’re ever looking for something fun for the kids during bath time, shaving cream is another option.

And of course after a long day’s work, you just gotta take a rest from it all. Jayden feel asleep on his pillow in the living room during the middle of the day.

We made the trek north to my Parent’s home the first week of September and had a great time. My Aunt and Uncle, Iris and Gary Baxter had their 40th Wedding Anniversary party so we went and helped them celebrate.

It was a great weekend to go up as the weather was perfect. Jayden and Josie got to go outside and checkout the farm. Jayden helped Grandpa feed the calves and Josie got to play on the trampoline and other toys.

We also got to play with Great Grandpa’s four wheeler.

And Jayden got to ride on Uncle Kelly’s forklift with Brianna and Madison.

More recently, Jayden has started riding his bike. It’s getting different going on walks now as he’d rather ride his bike over riding in the wagon with Josie. The next thing we need to work on with him is using his brakes. Instead of pushing back on the peddles, he puts his feet down only and his toes touch the ground. He’s also trying to use the potty more. We’re gaining ground which is good. Josie has been trying to say more words, “Belbo” for Elmo, baby, and “Daday” for Jayden, “Belba” for belly button and bubbles. She’s cruising like none other and would climb up on anything if she were allowed. She got another tooth on her left side so she now has 6. We’re hoping she’ll get some more on her right side. We’ve also concluded that she’s a Daddy’s Girl. The minute I get home from work she’s at my feet if she isn’t eating.

More pictures of can be found under Jayden’s Birthday and at our trip up north links.

Jayden now asks for a Dewski whenever Kim goes into Quicktrip or Kum & Go to get her fountain Dew. I’d say that’s a pretty good accomplishment. He’s almost there with using the peddles on his trike and bike. If only he were there with potty training. We’re hoping that a switch will flip and he’ll want to finally use his “big-boy scibbies”. He talks about everyone else using the potty, but still no go. He still has the occasional melt down, but, knock on wood, they don’t seem as frequent as before. He’s also looking forward to his birthday and now asks for things for it.

Josie has started to walk on her own. She does mostly walking now instead of crawling. It’s fun to watch her make her tiny steps. She’s kind of wobbly at times, but is doing a pretty good job so far. She’s also good at getting into trouble. It won’t be uncommon to turn your back for a second and find her standing on top of the kid’s picnic table. She is learning a lot fast. She’s also good at being a Daddy’s girl.

House painting is done for the most part. I painted the back last week so the “normal” areas to paint are done. I’ll probably try and get the garage door and the concrete part of the foundation done sometime before it snows. I also have to make a cover for the sandbox. I’m tired of looking at the blue tarp that covers it now.

A lot has been going on with Josie too. Josie got baptized on May 27th with her Grandpa and Grandma’s and Aunt Chris and Kacie watching along. She had surgery on a blocked tear duct on June 6th. It went very well and by the next day we could tell a difference already. It was nerve racking none-the-less, but everything turned out okay. Josie now has 3 teeth and is working on her fourth. They haven’t been too difficult which is nice.

Yesterday Josie turned one. I took the day off of work so that I could be with her and Jayden and Kim. We went to the Jordan Creek area to get Josie’s 1 year photos and then went and hung out at the Jordan Creek Mall for a bit. The kids played in the play area and Josie got to make a teddy bear. After coming home we went to Big Creek State Park to play in the water and beach.

We’ve had fun building a sandbox for the kids. I think Josie was more interested in it at first, but now, they both seem to like it. It helps when Jayden’s friends come over and play in it too.

 Oh, and we reverted back to a minivan. We were so cramped in our Pontiac Vibe so we traded for a Chrysler Town & Country.

So, all in all we’ve had a very busy month. Hopefully the summer will get a little quieter, which I’m sure it will once the house is done being painted.

Back at the home ranch…the kids are doing pretty well. Josie is working on getting some teeth now so Sunday night was a tiring night as she didn’t want to sleep much. It amazes me how growing teeth can be so painful. Josie’s also crawling all over the place including going up any and all stairs she can find. Of course she can’t come back down yet, so we have to run up and get her.

Jayden has been keeping his end of the deal up being an almost 3 year old; the almost daily melt down and his big brother attitude. He is as curious as ever and loves to “do things on his own”. In his words, “I will do it!”.

Kim was very busy taking care of the kids last week, as well as, organizing a garage sale (Jayden’s pile and Josie’s Pile). It went over pretty well and we got rid of quite a bit of stuff. It amazes me how much stuff one accumulates having kids.

It’s good to be back in the groove now, but the Florida trip was fun. See more pictures in the Informatica Set