Kindergarten Graduation

Yes, Jackson is in first grade now but I still have to post his graduation pictures!! Of course, John-William, Michael, Adam and I were there along with Grandma and Grandpa and Ninny. Unfortunately, due to the timing (8:30 a.m.!), others weren't able to be there due to work and family obligations. It was a great ceremony, though, and the kids did a great job of walking aross the stage to get their diplomas. The kindergarten teachers put together a Powerpoint presentation of the kids and some of their activites during the year. Since most of the pictures were of multiple children, I won't post all of them because the other kids' faces are visible. However, here are a couple of Jackson from the presentation:

And his brothers waiting patiently for the ceremony to start:

The happy graduate himself, with his usual silly grin:

Can you believe it?

And, family photos when it was all said and done:

More Catching Up

I have a few minutes, so I thought I'd catch up on a few things I missed in spring and early summer.

Jackson and Michael both played t-ball this year and enjoyed it a lot. Jackson did really well and he even made it to All Stars this year. Michael participated so well this year, it's amazing the difference between last year and this. He hit the ball all by himself and ran the bases without accompaniment (is that a word???). Here are a few pics:

Jackson playing during the regular season:

Michael playing t-ball:

Jackson during All-Stars:

We thought this was a cute shot of the All Star team, waiting on the game before them to finish. Jackson's number 8, sitting down.

I also have some pictures of the AR (Accelerated Reading) party that John-William and Jackson were both able to attend at the end of the school year. The party is for those kids who've read enough books and scored enough points on tests on those books. John-William had to have at least 100 points (some books are only half a point!) and Jackson had to have at least 25. I'm proud to say they both made it without difficulty. And, of course, since we spend a good bit of time at the school helping out, Michael got to join in the fun, too!

Water on grass and dirt make for dirty little boys but boy do they have fun!

Guess What?????

I found out yesterday that a friend works in the radiology department of our local hospital. Knowing that our next OB appointment and ultrasound isn't until next week, she offered to give us an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby. She would have done it yesterday, but Adam wasn't available and I couldn't go without him and the boys. So, we set it up for today. Here's what we found out....

Yep, that's right -- our fourth boy!!! And that's perfectly fine by us. John-William and Jackson were both hoping for a sister but Michael has wanted another brother the whole time. I won't lie and say that I haven't dreamt of having a little girl, but I honestly just want a healthy baby. And, according to the ultrasound today, it looks as though he's perfectly healthy!! We saw lots of movement and a perfectly beating heart with a rate of 146 bpm. He was drinking the amniotic fluid, sticking his tongue out (can you believe it??) and kicking and squirming around. We also saw him actively sucking his thumb. On top of all of that, he measured about a week ahead as well. We'll still have our diagnostic ultrasound at the doctor's office next week, but this was just a bonus ultrasound that we got lucky with!! Here are some pictures from today:

This is his profile with him looking up.

And, one a little more up close.

And, here's proof that he's a boy. We saw this several times and at different angles, there's no mistaking what he is!! That's his left leg with leg bones and foot bones visible just under the arrow. You can see a portion of his right leg to the left of the arrow. And, the arrow points to the "goods"!

This one is a little farther away but you can see the "I am a boy" at the bottom!

First Day of School

Well, the boys have been back in school for a little while now and they're all enjoying it. Michael really loves preschool and looks forward to it everyday. John-William and Jackson started the day before Michael did, so I actually have two days of pictures from their first day of school.

John-William and Jackson on their first day of school and then Michael standing with them. For some reason, my camera never takes good pictures in our living room.













Outside on John-William and Jackson's first day.



John-William and Jackson both really enjoy school and love their teachers. Here they are, ready to start learning!
























Michael's first day of school.




Michael's class wasn't ready to sit down just yet when we left him the first morning, so here's a picture of him and a really good friend. It sure helps to already know someone in your class!

Last Day of Summer Vacation

I know I still have catching up to do, but I want to post some current stuff, too. School started back last week, so we had a fun day the day before. It was Trent's birthday (and my dad's and Tommy's, too), so I took the boys to Ninny's for lunch and then we swam that afternoon. We had a good day before they had to go back to school.

The boys floating:

Diving:

Michael swimming:

Jackson's Field Trip to the Zoo

The kindergarten classes went to the Birmingham Zoo for their spring field trip. I was able to go and spend the day with Jackson, which was a very nice treat. While there, we had lunch (hot dogs and chips) and saw lots of animals, of course. Some of the more notable ones:

Butterflies! The zoo now has a butterfly garden that you can walk through and observe many different butterfly species.

Believe it or not, the butterflies are actually shipped overnight in these wax paper envelopes. The lady who was releasing them would slip her thumb in and flip the butterfly out (over flowers) in a way that she didn't touch it's wings.

Another new exhibit is the anteater. The kids enjoyed watching him roam around his area and get into the water.

Of course, we saw lots of different types of primates. There were a lot of monkeys playing and trying to entertain us. I think the funniest were the gorilla and orangatan. Here's Jamie, the gorilla. And Jackson, the gorilla imitator.

I don't know this orangatan's name, but he ate his broccoli for lunch. Did you?

One of Jackson's favorite animals has always been the cheetah, because it can run 70 mph. We went by the cheetah exhibit twice so he could get a good look.

One more new exhibit had fruit bats inside. The boys (Jackson and his friend Kyle) really loved watching them crawl around and eat the fruit.

Do you ever feel like this?

And you can't go to the zoo without seeing some green-slime covered animals. Jackson enjoys all animals (they're one of his passions right now) but he really likes the alligators. In with the alligators were little frogs, hiding in the slime. I guess that's a good way to protect yourself from becoming someone else's dinner.