The Phenomenom

I must say something about my little phenomenon Caiden. He makes me think of that old song "something like a phenomenon" (you have to sing it to get the full effect). I forget who sings it (LL I think?). Anyway, nothing can stop this little boy, yesterday he had a fever of 102.5 and you would have never known. I must admit on any given day he does give us a run for our money, but even with such a high fever he still can't be stopped. He was still in that toilet searching for something, what I will never know. And his acrobatics are amazing as he will climb up on everything and just find something to get into. The sure will and determination of Caiden will take him very far, I am definitely looking forward to the journey.

The latest funny thing that he does is that He thinks that he knows when he has to potty, as he has watched his brother go to the potty, so he now grabs at his diaper and makes these sounds like "uhuh". I humor him and say "you have to potty" and sit him on the potty. One day Jackson said to Caiden "you didn't even pull your pants down Caiden". I winked and said "Caiden went to potty Jackson" and he got it. So now he says after I take him to the potty "good job Caiden, you went potty, high five". I think it is the cutest thing. Hopefully it will lead to him getting out of those diapers soon!

It's me!

I know it has been a while, between going to Mississippi for Uncle Harold's 60th birthday bash, Jackson starting soccer, and succeeding in a great Valentine's night out with the Hubby and close friends, things have been pretty hectic around here. In regard to Jackson and soccer, I have figured out that "it's me", that is I am the reason that he does not want to participate at soccer practice and be fully engaged. I determine this as fact because my husband informed me excitedly when coming back from soccer practice a week ago that "Jackson was great!" "he did this and he did that", he even shook the coaches hand upon arriving and leaving- saying "thanks coach for the practice". Now I must reiterate that "it's me". I couldn't get him to barely touch that ball, let alone talk to anyone asides from "ummm"-meaning leave me alone. If I give him the benefit of the doubt, I would say he is just getting over bronchitis and an ear infection and didn't really want to be bothered. But if I were honest with myself, I would say that I think that It's official, and I have a momma's boy. We will see though because this Saturday is his first game and dad has to work, hopefully all will go well. I'll keep you posted.

Eboni's going away party

I finally am on my way to the party and miraculously made it on time. I am so excited to host this party because Eboni is the sweetest person I know and I would do anything for her. There are not many people who go out of there way to love and support people as she does. So Eb, Houston is definitely going to miss its Angel! This was a fun night as I got a chance to connect with my line sisters and a lot of old college friends who I hadn't seen in a while. Eboni had a great time and seemed really happy to get a chance to see everyone before she leaves in a couple of weeks. Eb has committed to doing a blog while in Australia, so we will get to be apart of her experience. Below are just a few pictures of the night.



Me and Line sister Rashandra



Me and Pressy



Me, Andrea, Bernie (LS), Chaka (LS), Rashandra(LS)



Me, Dee and Sherry



Me and Eboni

Before Eboni's Going Away Party

One of my very favorite people (Eboni) is moving to Australia for a year with her job and I threw her a going away party at Benjy's yesterday. Before I go into the great time I had at the party, first I will tell you how hectic the day went prior to the party. The morning started off with me trying to do some housecleaning and getting a handle on the loads of laundry that are never ending, while keeping an eye on four little people, as I was babysitting for some friends who have two girls. Caiden was working against me though because as I am folding he is unfolding. At one point I had a moment to sit and RSVP for the many birthday party invites that Jackson has coming up in the next couple of weeks (four parties in the next three weeks!) And I forgot to mention I am officially a soccer mom as Jackson starts soccer this week, yay first game Feb. 14! But anyway, I am sitting at the computer, Jackson is sitting next to me and all of a sudden I notice he is rocking back and forth and all of a sudden, he begins throwing up all over me :\. As I am taking him a bath he begins screaming bc there are oatmeal particles in the water from his involuntary food expulsion and for whatever reason he is afraid of it, so then I am bathing him outside the tub, while Caiden is splashing water all over the floor. After the bath, I guess he is feeling better bc at one point I lost him and he is running through the house with no clothes on "mooning" the girls. I finally catch him but then the girls are yelling to me "Ms. Renita Caiden is in the bathtub with his clothes on". I run to the bathroom, and there Caiden is soaking wet as he decided that he wasn't done with his bath. By the time I finished cleaning up the mess, catching Jackson and putting his clothes on, and cooking lunch for the little muchkins, I was exhausted. But lets not forget its tax time, so I had clients taxes to work on and a party to get ready for. And as I am trying to get out the door I realize that Jackson has a high fever and needs mommy to love on him. So that's what I did.

Jackson's 3rd Birthday

Today we celebrated Jackson's third birthday with a small group of close friends and family, and we had a wonderful time! We couldn't invite everyone we wanted to this time but had a good time with those that came. Jackson has been waiting all week for his birthday and asking everyday (are we going to my birthday party?). Asides from a certain someone (Granny) who always shows up and shows out (which is a story I could tell with a whole other blog), everything went really well. Jackson got a chance to ride on a train, flying cars, and airplanes- he had the time of his life. His favorite cousin, Brea, was a life saver as she took Jackson on all the rides and to play all the games. Leaving Norris and I, along with some of the other parents to go have some fun and ride the roller coaster. Anyway here are some pics of the party. And I know this is only the beginning of many more birthday parties to come, as I don't think we will be able to get away with not celebrating his birthday in the years to come.
(Lil MJ in the making!)



(Daddy and Jackson)

(The birthday boy)




(The Cousins)




(Nic and Savannah)





(Jackson and Granny-How can this little woman cause so much trouble-I will never know!)




(Laura and Kale)



(The Fellas having fun)



(Me and the boys)







(Obi and her boys)



(Bianca and Trey)



(Me and Big Sis)



(Janai and James)



(My little man Caiden)

Jackson's first day of pre-school

The new year is here and today is a day everyone is back to work and school. Jackson started his first day of preschool today (basically he moved from the 2yr old class to the 3yr old class-his birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks). When he got to school he walked in his new class very slowly and suspecting, but there were others from his class that had also moved up, so he warmed up quickly. This is a big deal for me because I really really messed up in trying to teach him his letters and sounds, as I got a little frustrated with him and he sensed that doing letters with mommy wasn't fun and now he will not go over letters with me anymore :(. I am so sad about this but I quickly learned my lesson. It is just that I am so concerned about him being prepared when he starts school and I just want the best for him academically, so I tend to get "overly" anxious. So in his new class they will be spending more time on letters and sounds, thank God. I have just decided to move on to numbers :) I will keep you posted on his progress.

Renita

Chittlin Fat

A new year is here and I am so tremendously blessed! I am not going to make resolutions, however, I do have a few goals in mind that I would like to get accomplished. One I will share, which is not only to eat better myself but to feed my family better. My darling husband mentioned the "chittlins" that he cooked and he did it out in the driveway and today I noticed a pile of "chittlin" fat on the driveway from where the pot had overflowed, this really grossed me out. While I will admit tasting them and they were pretty good, I have regretted it ever since and want to be a lot more mindful of the things I put in me and my families' body. If you hadn't noticed from the blogs food is very important around here, and we love a good meal. We are just going to have to figure out how to make it healthier. If you have any good recipes please send them along. I hope and pray that 2009 is a great year for you and your family!

Renita