Operation: Don't Grow Up is a failure.

My baby is no longer a baby. Little Miss Jessa has entered the toddler world. It's bittersweet.

I tried, and tried, and TRIED to keep Jessa from walking. I knew when she started walking she would no longer be a 'baby.' Why is this a big deal? Shouldn't I be encouraging her to talk?! Well, no. She's the last baby I'll ever have. I wanted to keep her a baby for as long as possible. Eh, it didn't work. She's a successful walker. She's talking more too, which is fine and dandy. The point of this post is to be deemed a loser. I tried to keep Jessa baby and failed, rightfully so. While I was a bit sad about the whole walking bit I'm really happy about the start of potty training. I suppose she'll be in the 'not a baby but always a baby' like the other two kids.

You know, I went through this with the other two kids, the OMG don't grow up! Ordeal was just as silly as this. Now that the initial shock is over I'm starting to look forward. Forward to what will come when she enters Kindergarten. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! It means I will be able to reclaim my life. I can get a job, rejoin the workforce! I'm giddy just thinking about this. What will I do? Will I continue on the path I had once started or completely start over? It's scary but the good kind, the anticipation over comes me.

Jessa is such a joyful girl. She is always smiling, she hardly cries and she loves peek-a-boo. As a parent we have the novelty of teaching out kids things, things that have nothing at all to do with development. I've successfully taught Jessa to do a pose and throw her hands up when I say "Superstar!" It IS fantastic.

Alexis is continuing to be the superstar that she always has been. She is doing great with her grades, she's received some awards for her positive demeanor, and she has been doing dance and yoga classes in her spare time. I'm so proud of her, she is so extremely amazing at just 6 years old... I can't even begin to image what she'll be like when she's 10! Heck, even the third grade, because second grade has been so incredible. Her personality is as big as her ambitions and she blows my mind with her plans for the future.

Trenton is a pretty standard kid, he is the milestone kid. He does everything according to the textbooks. He knows all of his letters and colors, he cant write most of his name an his coloring skills have improved leaps and bounds. He spends a lot of time outdoors, yes even when its 25 degrees out, and he climbs trees and digs holes. Trenton has the sweetest personality and he is a bit sensitive, but his sense of humor is off the charts! This kid thinks his penis is THE funniest thing ever. Luckily enough he never talks about his penis at church or school. Thank goodness, how the heck would I explain that?!

Chad is probably going to have back surgery soon. He has an appointment wit the surgeon on the 29th but I doubt he'll make it that long. The injections he's getting once a week and the physical therapy aren't doing anything. He's constantly in pain and ultra cranky. I don't take it personally, from what I understand one herniated disc is awful, I can only imagine what a handful feel like.

That pretty much sums up whats going on in the Macready household!

We had Jessa's 1st birthday celebration today!

Jessa had a little smash cake and a couple presents from us, I always keep the first few birthdays small and personal. Chad and I bought her a mini kitchen playset and the kids picked a play camera for her. She was pleased with the singing and the gifts. She was hesitant about the cake at first but after a few minutes she dug right into it like an animal. Although Jessa's birthday isn't until the 26th we decided with Thanksgiving and Black Friday next weekend its going to be rather chaotic, besides she has no concept of time! Ha.

We had the kids make us their Christmas List's and now we have a good idea what we're going to get for them. I know that we have a few MUST HAVE items and the rest is just whatever to the kids.

These are the days of our lives...

They're all together... that's a plus, right? It's obvious that they have no desire to be sitting together because they are all off in their own little worlds. They humor mama like good babies.

I made huge flower clips for my girls the other day. Alexis loves them! I should have mounted them on headbands for Alexis and my niece but it completely blew my mind. Whoops. I made smaller everyday flower clips too.


Jessa is used to having stuff on her head. Isn't this ridiculously HUGE?! Poor kid, never knows whats going to be stuck on her head.

I love these two! They're at the point where they play so well together and their communication has reached a whole new level. It's so funny to hear the conversations they have together.

Part of my little family. They're standing in some stream in Saratoga State Park. No, it's NOT the actual Saratoga Spring. That is actually located under a gazebo in the main park area :)

It's like us. We wait until the last minutes for everything. We sold my car in Arizona and had anticipated buying a new one when we had moved here. School starts in 2 weeks and I need a car, being a one car family sucks. Today, we're headed into the car buying world. It's actually my turn to choose the car but I have surrendered that privilege because I want a new fancy ride in a couple of years. In the meantime I'll happily roll my full sized SUV. Chad wants a Subaru STI... I think he is having a quarter life crisis and wants to relive his youth in a race car. I don't really care as long as all of my kids fit in the car. Wish us luck!

What does a baby look like with chicken pox?

Jessa just turned 8 months old, Jessa has the chicken pox, Jessa has not been vaccinated. Here is a picture, I had a really hard time finding pictures of chicken pox that were not puss infused are really nasty looking. My older daughter, Alexis, who is 6 recently had chicken pox. Alexis was vaccinated. Luckily Alexis had a very mild case and it didn't look any worse than 800+ mosquito bites all over her body. Alexis has started getting the marks on her face first and they quickly moved to the rest of her body. Jessa's chicken pox started on her lower stomach and the next day I had noticed it had move downward. Today Jessa has them all over her body, even the bottoms of her feet! When I was a kid my chicken pox looked very much like this, my parents confirmed, and nothing like the pictures on the internet. You can click HERE to see what the chicken pox looked like on my 6 year old.


I'm wondering if Trenton will get the chicken pox, he is not vaccinated either. I would like if they all three got it and then we could all be done with the chicken pox. I guess time will tell!

Chicken pox, sewing, kids!

I'm sure that Jessa has chicken pox now. Luckily, Alexis is just about done with the chicken pox, the itching has stopped and the spots are almost gone. I am glad Alexis had a mild case. Trenton is not showing any signs but I know that can change in an instant. I never had the doctor check Alexis to see if it really is the chicken pox bit it seems pretty clear, it is the chicken pox. It has to be now that Jessa has it too. The red dots never got puss filled or scabbed over. Jessa has not had any change in diet nor detergent and the bumps are exactly like Alexis'. Weird.

I made this pillow today, it turned out sorta of crappy because Jessa was all over me and the fabric. I need to sew after the kids go to bed. I'm thinking of buying a sewing machine soon but I will probably still hand sew a lot, I LOVE IT! I will probably let the kids have this pillow, they always get excited when they get the goods.

I have some fleece and some bright blue/green/yellow fabric that I'm going to make into a blanket for my next give away, I think. It's so cheery.

Jessa was rocking some boots the other day. She is not a little baby, she is in 12 month clothes and size 3 shoe. Jessa is so much taller than the other two when they were babies. I feel like she is growing too fast.

My little chunky bee baby!

The kids played in the water in the baby pool this morning, they had a blast. Trenton is really starting to loosen up, he is so goofy. Alexis always picks on him and he gets upset but now he he will make some joke about her butt or puffy hair and walk away. Thank God he acquired a sense of humor, I think he got it from my side of the family. Chad's family is a little on the dry side.

Since we had visited the water park last week Trenton has been gung-ho about water. He used to HATE water in his face. Not anymore! He carries the map around, from the park, and tells me he is going in this ride and that ride. He is so adventurous and bold... it seemed like it happened over night.

Kids are creative and weird.

Trenton spent a good hour or so describing to me what his TV stand should look like. Apparently the temporary one did not meet his three year old standards. After a long, and repetitive, description... I have gathered that he is interested in a short but taller, blackish or maybe orange, with baseball pictures, Mickey Mouse stickered, with lots of pictures of Kayleigh and Baby Stever (the BFF's youngest 2 children), french fry dispensing, shelfy thing to put toys on and hide stuff from Jessa with a built in refrigerator to store popstickles (popsicles) in. After talking about this for what seemed and eternity he insisted I take the table out of his room that his TV was on. Now he sits on his floor awaiting this revolutionary TV stand he dreamed up.


Alexis spent all morning in her room making this "sling." She reminds me of a sugar glider, I can't help but giggle when I see her in it, and she has spent almost all day swinging in it. I think it's awesome that she calls it a sling instead of a hammock because I wear Jessa in a sling all the time.

In other news, Jessa has a new love for the air conditioning vents and the air blowing through them. I was attempting to make a video f her going out the doggy door but she was distracted by the air blowing up at her through the floor.

So, I've decided to conduct a social experiment of sorts on Twitter. I tweeted something about killing my dog because he had misbehaved and I lose 26 followers. Today I said something about stuffing a baby in the oven and lost 11 followers in a few short minutes. New favorite game, I think so. New favorite hashtag is #socialexperiment. What do you suppose I shoud say next?

A post dedicated to Miss Jessa Eden.

Oh Jessa, she's so fun. She is quick to learn things and dedicated like her older sister. It started with the clicking, your brother sat down with you and clicked his tongue in your face for a good hour, you tried and tried to mimic him and one day you clicked. Now you click all the time. Now she has moved onto winking, it's so funny. It's an art, I'm sure she will be winking, successfully, in no time. She is trying to wink in the picture below.



I like when she fake cries to see is Alexis will come and entertain her. Alexis is like her second mother, she is always helping and she enjoys spending time with Jessa. The fake cry is annoying but it seems to work every time with her older sister.



Jessa seems to know she is the stuffing in the kid Oreo, she knows she is the baby and she think she runs this house. Well, she does a little! Once she gives that crooked little grin or makes eye contact we all have a tendency of melting like butter over popcorn.



Jessa has awesome dance moves too, I think she get's it from my BFL, Erin. She is mastering The Sprinkler and making Erin proud, no doubt!



Jessa is such a sweeet and easy baby, I'm blesses to have such a sweet baby in my life! Sometimes she is a pain in the ass but she was worth it in the long haul, I can't imagine life without her.