Madison and Jackson turn 9

I blinked again and they got another year older.  Here they are on their 9th birthday/St. Patrick's day.

Jackson is seriously everything I could ask for in a son.  He is kind and gentle with animals and babies.  He is sensitive and caring and I wouldn't want him to be any other way.  He does love to push Madison's buttons and make her upset but if she's ever really sad over something he's the first to hug her and sometimes cry himself.  He is an extrovert like nothing I've ever seen.  He is obsessed with friends and being with people.  The only thing he's willing to do alone is play xbox or play on his phone.  He has a great outgoing personality and is very very funny.

Jackson had tryouts last spring for the town travel U10 soccer team and made one of the three teams along with his best friend James.  The team was fantastic and if I remember correctly they were undefeated (maybe lost one??) the whole fall season.  During the winter they joined an indoor soccer league for 5 months.  Somehow they did not do so well there.  They seemed to play much older kids and they just didn't stand a chance.  Also last spring Jackson had tryouts for a U9 team for his club soccer that he has been training with since kindergarten.  He made it and was very excited for his league games in the fall.  The team has some very good players but they always seemed to play teams with much older kids and they lost most games 20-1.  I believe they tied one game and it felt like a win.  That team did not join any winter leagues but they did have one tournament that didn't go well.  His spring league was supposed to start last Sunday but it was cancelled because of snow!  I don't care if they win their games or not I just hope the games are at least more evenly matched.  It's really hard on the boys.  Starting this week he is back to 4 practices a week between the two teams and 1-3 games every weekend.

Jackson does well in school but it's not his favorite thing in the world.  Just like his mama (although his grades may be a tad better than mine but we will see how he is as he gets older).  All of his teachers have loved him and I can't ask for any more than that.

Madison is such an easy kid.  Most of the time she's very serious and quiet and keeps to herself although she does have a very silly streak and will sometimes let loose and act crazy.  She is a classic introvert and much prefers to be alone.  She adores music and loves to listen to her playlist on her phone and sing while playing with legos.  Her grades are close to above grade level and she really adores school and learning.  She's also a great artist and gets really upset when they have to miss school on a day they have art.

Madison has a very special relationship with my mother.  They absolutely adore spending time with each other.  My mom says Madison doesn't stop talking the whole time they are together.  My mother loves to sew and do crafty things (that's not really my jam) so Madison really enjoys that.

Madison has been doing a recreational gymnastics class since she was 3 and still enjoys it.  Now she goes with two of her best friends Michelle (James' twin sister) and Lily.  Madison also does a modern dance class once a week which she loves.  I signed her up for guitar lessons too in the late fall and though she whines every time I tell her to practice she really likes learning it.  Her teacher says she's a natural and retains everything he teaches her even when she doesn't get a chance to practice it during the week.

As you can see our weeks are insanely busy and the thought of adding a baby and a move to it is a tad overwhelming but I'm grateful for lots of help from friends and family.

3rd grade is going to be the last grade they will be in the same class.  Their current teacher thinks they have different strengths and weaknesses and feels like they should each be placed with a teacher who will best fit their individual needs.  I agree with her so they will split up next year.  Madison will be thrilled but I think we may have an issue with Jackson.  I'm sure he will be fine in the long run but he's not going to like not being with her.

Their difference in personality is sometimes hard to referee.  He's always begging her to play with him but she wants to be alone so he usually ends up in tears with his feelings hurt.  I feel for both of them so it's hard to know how to handle the situation.

I couldn't be more proud of these kids and the people they are becoming and I couldn't love them more.

Announcement

This is the announcement I put on facebook on St. Patrick's day.  It was so fun seeing everyone's reactions.

16 Weeks

I'm 16 weeks now and even though it feels like a long road ahead with all we need to accomplish before this baby is born the time is flying.  He is apparently the size of an avocado at the moment.

At my 11 week appointment I had blood drawn to do the DNA testing to find out the gender and if the baby had any health issues.  They told me the results would be back in 5-10 days.  On the 9th day (March 14th) I called and they had just gotten the results in.  The wait was agonizing because once we found out we could tell Madison and Jackson and I was so excited to do that.  The results were that he is perfectly healthy and is male.  We told the kids that night.  Jackson was over the moon jumping up and down  yelling "We're having a baby brother!!!!"  Madison was confused I think.  Her reaction was much more reserved but that's normal for her personality anyway.

Chris and I have been having a difficult time deciding where to move.  By this point I would have hoped to already be at least close to moving in to a new house but we've spent so much time pleading our cases that we have made no progress.  Chris wants a nice new house in a neighborhood which in Peabody (and anywhere close to here) is out of our budget so he was hoping to move to a town about 40 minutes away from our families and all of my friends and all of the kids friends in order to find one in our budget.  I want a nice new house in a neighborhood too but my friends and family are WAY more important to me especially where I will now have THREE kids to take care of while he is at work (in Peabody....) all day long.

On January 19th I drove the kids to school in the morning.  I came back home and took the pregnancy test.  When I went to pick them up that afternoon, now knowing we needed a bigger house, there was a for sale sign on one of my favorite houses that I drive by everyday to get to school.  The sign was not there in the morning when I dropped them off.  My heart started racing and as soon as I parked my car I looked up the listing thinking it would never be in our budget because it's so big.  My jaw fell to the ground when I saw the price and that it had 4 bedrooms (It's listed as a 4 bedroom but it's actually 5!) and the pictures looked decent.  I immediately made an appointment to see it and fell in love.  The house is on a main road so Chris said absolutely not.  I spent the next two months daydreaming about the house and being so sad that I would probably never live in it.    Last week Chris and I finally had a long discussion about how unhappy the kids and I would be moving 40 (or more) minutes away and how incredibly happy I would be in the Peabody house.  He shockingly agreed to put an offer in on it!  I felt so much relief and was over the moon happy.  Until then I had no motivation to even do the things to our current house that need to be done to get it on the market.  In less that a week we have cleaned out the basement (with the help of my father), packed up some unnecessary items in the living room and kitchen and kids rooms and have a handy man here doing some odd jobs.  We still have a long list to go but it's all scheduled and is very doable.

We will be putting in an offer hopefully in the next week. The hard part was getting Chris to agree so hopefully the rest of the process goes smoothly!  The kids and all of our friends and family are so happy for us.  Fingers crossed this will be our new home for our new family!