Busy Summer!

Jael is growing up so fast! She is talking ALL THE TIME and repeats everything we say! She loves to go to the park to swing and go down the slide. She's potty training well and loves the marshmallows she gets as a reward! :-) She loves to test the boundaries mommy and daddy set but I guess that's all part of growing up! Even though I know that I NEVER tested the rules growing up. ;-)

We have found that she does not enjoy going to the pool! We've determined that it's the cold water which I can't say I blame her. As you can see her little friend is in the pool and she was just fine standing on the sidelines!

We had a fun 4th of July. I took Jael to a parade but she was more interested in walking around that she was in the parade. She didn't even notice when two huge spooked horses almost ran into the crowd where we were!!

Jael has also got to go to her Uncle Jim's high school graduation, Aunt Michele and Uncle AJ's wedding and spend a whole week with Grandma and Grandpa Benson this summer!

So far it's been a great summer!!

Our Poor Baby :-(

Well we had our first hospital experience with Jael and it was NO FUN! While on vacation in Iowa Jael started a double ear infection and got the aedno virus. That Friday night she spiked a fever of 104.6 so we took her to the ER. They ran TONS of tests and with no resolve sent us home with a follow-up appointment in the morning with a pediatrician. The next morning the ped. said she had a double ear infection. Two nights later we were back in the hospital because she was getting dehydrated and they put her on an IV. It was then that we found out the tests from Friday night showed she had the Aedno virus. It was not fun for anyone but fortunately we were surrounded by Luke's family! They were an ENORMOUS help as were all the prayers of my family and friends.

We made it through. Jael seems to be doing really well. She JUST finished the antibiotics for her ear infections and I plan to schedule an appointment with our pediatrician to be sure her ears are clear. She has been such a trooper through the entire experience! We love our little peanut!

Sledding!

I can shoot a basket!

We bought a potty chair!

So Jael is growing up so fast! She talks all the time! One of the things she has started to do is tell us when she is going to poop. Crazy huh?? She started by coming up to us and saying "poop" after she had finished. Now she comes up to us says "poop" and will go like 5 minutes later. I'm starting to sit her on her potty when she says poop just so she gets the idea. I won't make her stay there until she actually goes but hopefully this way she'll start to understand that if she needs to poop we sit on the potty.

Also, daddy has taught her how to make a basket. He put a small toy hoop on our banister and Jael will walk over to it when asked to make a basket and throw the ball in. She takes great pride her in accomplishment and loves to hear us praise her!

She is also clearly approaching the terrible twos. Or maybe if I start believing it's the terrific twos I'll make it through. She threw her first public tantrum in Walmart yesterday. What is it about Walmart and kids throwing tantrums. I guess I can kind of understand because Walmart makes me want to throw a tantrum! Turns out it's pretty embarrassing when they do that and it's pretty impossible to "reason" with a 14-month-old. She's old enough to throw a tantrum but not old enough to understand a strict "talking to". How convenient!

Despite her little quirks, we are loving her more and more everyday as she develops into her own little person. It's so fun to watch her grow and learn.