Okay, so I have posted some small updates and some fun pictures here and there, but figured it was time for a REAL update!
Things have been going well here. My summer is sadly drawing to a close. I am excited, yet nervous about school starting back up. Luckily my first two weeks back are going to be fairly easy....I think! I have meetings my first week back and then I have a half day meeting and a half day of planning (or possibly with students, not sure yet). I am not lesson planning yet though, so that is a LITTLE easier to swallow!
This year, we are ending summer with a BASH! No, really! Stephen, Jesstine and I all have August birthdays. Unfortunately the first day of school is on my birthday (although as mentioned above, I have a week of meetings the week before and don't likely work ON my birthday, so it is not that big of a deal). So, I thought that it was going to be a pretty busy time. We may be starting a tradition. We picked a date between Stephen and I's birthdays and decided we would have a joint birthday party and just invite a couple of our close friends over for some water play (for the kids and the kids at heart) and grilled burgers and dogs. Well, the date we originally thought of was usurped by one of said friends that we were going to invite. So it turns out we are ACTUALLY having a birthday bash on Stephen's birthday. Then we will do a small family celebration on Jesstine's actual birthday. I turn 30 this year, so who knows what my husband has up his sleeves (if anything) for my actual birthday. So, we have that to look forward to next weekend.
Jesstine: She has been learning to read. Grandmom is doing a fine job of teaching her and I think she has finally reached that point where it is exciting and she sees the amount of praise she gets so she tries harder and harder! Now, she is technically still 3, so she does have her moments where it just doesn't strike her fancy! That is usually when we play a game of "crazy chef." She didn't pass her swimming lessons, but all she has to do to pass is to float on her back unassisted for 10 seconds and swim 7 feet on her back unassisted. Then she will pass to the next level. I considered putting her in swim lessons again this winter. We will see how that goes! She is really into the movie Brave now. I have had to read the book every day since we bought it! She will really enjoy her birthday gifts! Family members, if you are needing ideas, please contact me. I have PLENTY in mind!
Emmitt: He is still teething. Yes, nearly 5 months after the first tooth made a short appearance, he still has NO teeth! I am about to go crazy! He screams constantly. I don't mean cry. I mean he YELLS. Most of the time I think it is out of frustration. In any case, it is very difficult to drive with him bellowing in the back seat! Egads! He is starting to hold his own more. I mean his own bottle, his own straw cup and perhaps the BEST accomplishment...his own paci! That's right. He can take it out (which he could do at 4 months) AND put it back in! This is great for us! Sometimes he will start to cry out anywhere from 5-6:45 in the morning (before we are ready to get up). Lately (knock on wood) he has stopped after a little while. We can only assume it is because he has found and reinserted his pacifier! Sometimes we still have to go in and put one in his mouth because he can't find it. That is his cue that it is not time to get up yet. And this week he slept from 8:45 PM-8:45 AM without waking up at all! That is a FIRST! I was thrilled! It was shortly after a night of NO sleep while we took a short trip to see my brother graduate (details on that in the pictures below).
So here are some pictures:
As I briefly mentioned above, we went to OKC for a super fast trip. My baby brother joined the Marines and had to report and swear in on my mom's birthday, July 23. It was an eventful, tiring, and disappointing trip. We managed to have a little fun before the sleep deprivation and time crunch got the best of us though!
Two heads are better than one.
These are semi-twin cousins (Jesstine on the left and Charis on the right). "Twin cousins" is my sister's term for cousins born around the same time. Jesstine and Charis are just a month and a half apart.
This is my older sister, Grace, her son, Conrad (8) and daughter Alexis (6) with Emmitt! They were having a pretty good time. Conrad just got new glasses. Lexi couldn't stop talking baby talk to Emmitt. He enjoyed his time with his Aunt Grace!
Here comes double trouble again.
We stayed overnight and the next day was when the swearing in ceremony was to take place. It was a LONG night! Emmitt was agitated by something. We have a few theories, but I don't think he has slept this badly since he was sick at 7 weeks of age! I think we got MAYBE four hours of sleep and 3 of that was uninterrupted! He either ate something (cinnamon perhaps) that didn't agree with him and had a belly ache, or wasn't used to the sounds of people snoring (we shared a room with my mom and pops). Then we got up earlier than we were used to and headed down to the cattle herding building where Greg was to be sworn in.
It was a full waiting room. These young men and women are here to join all different branches of the military. Some of the people are parents and loved ones of the soon-to-be service applicants.
Grace had to head off to work before she could see anything take place.
Sorry for the weird angle. This girl was a girl that Greg met on the bus ride down from Wichita. She was only 17 and joining the Marines. She didn't have any family or friends there to support her. She tagged along with us and got along with us quite well. I don't remember her name as it was a Hispanic name that I had trouble committing to memory. She really liked Emmit and Jesstine.
My mom and pops with my little brother. We unfortunately had to leave before we could see him swear in (the whole purpose of the trip). My mom had to be to work at 3 so we needed to be back by 2. He was supposed to swear in at 11:30. We couldn't stay past 11.
Emmitt has a new containment system! Stephen calls it the "octagon!" This is something that Grandmom decided would work best to contain Emmitt at her house. Since she would only be needing it a handful of times, I agreed to pay half so that we could use it on a mostly permanent basis at our house. Works pretty well!
(I have NO idea why this keeps happening, but I try to turn a picture the correct way and it doesn't translate to the blog after it uploads. I am sorry!) If you turn your head sideways, you can read Emmitt's new shirt. It says, "I love my aunts!" It originally only said, "aunt," but seeing as he has more than one and I didn't want anyone to feel slighted plus the fact that the shirt has more than one actual ant on it, I added the "s" to the end! Will be passing this down to my sister who just gave birth to her THIRD boy!
Jesstine was working on some farm animal words with Grandmom. Grandmom found her some beautiful pictures and set up a grassy scene with a blue sky for her to place her farm stickers on and make a farm scene. Turned out fantastic (all the way down to the number code sticker that was at the bottom of the sticker sheet).
There is a semi-annual kid's consignment sale here called Mulberry Bush Consignment. I have had off and on luck at finding things. This season was no different. I was FINALLY able to find my skinny long legged girl some pants! She wasn't too thrilled with the jeans (which she called, "A little boyish."), but I pulled out these and she was in LOVE! She calls them her "Stephanie" pants (google image search LAZY TOWN)! She had to wear them THAT day even though it was over 100 degrees out
Here is one of the things I found for Emmitt. I wasted no time putting his hats on it! (I used the level on it and it was level, but it sure doesn't look very level to me. The picture above is apparently level as well...)
He also got a pair of shoes. He is wearing them in the "Ride 'Em Cowboy" picture in the last post!
I have been blessed to get to start reading more to Emmitt. He is starting to pay attention instead of just grabbing at things and yelling his trademark yell.
I hope to make a silhouette picture with this soon. I saw an idea on a blog and want to give it a try. I though her hair would be perfect for one. Will let you know more on that if or when I actually do it!
In Him,
The Hutchins Family
