Updates….

The birthday party and festivities are over…Mother’s Day Out has begun, and John has started having a swinging time in gymnastics!

The birthday party was some crazy fun last week.  I like to think that Randy and I have a large home….especially the dining room and den area but when you add 20 twenty people…the rooms tend to shrink.  John had a blast but he was overwhelmed and didn’t understand why he would unwrap a gift…have to put it aside…and unwrap another gift!  John was very blessed with many gifts…so many that some went straight to the attic for Christmas!  Thomas the Train was the big hit and he loves playing with his trains everyday…and every night he has to give them all a kiss goodnight – it is very sweet! 

I am so thankful that my sister quit teaching school and became a photographer.  She took all the photos – which turned out great!  I(Thanks LeeLee!  I love the pictures!)

 Here’s John and his cousin Bennett. This is a perfect picture of John blowing his candle out!

John started gymnastics last week.  The class is offered through the college and it is a Mommy & Me class.  The first class didn’t go so well…John was too busy exploring and checking things out – the teacher said that was very normal.  This week….was excellent!  John did some new things…like letting me push him like a wheelbarrow, hanging & swinging from the uneven bars, and walking on a balancing beam like he had done that sort of thing a million times before.  It was so much fun!  I am looking forward to next week.

The next big adventure this week was Mother’s Day Out - MDO. Randy and I decided earlier this year that it was time for John to start making some little friends and doing new things.  Randy and I went all over Amarillo looking at different MDO classes this spring and nothing seemed like a fit…plus most classes were  full before registration even opened!!  My best buddy Melissa sent me and several other “Mommy” friends an e-mail telling us that she would be teaching a MDO class at the church were her kiddos went to MDO and would love to have our kiddos there.  Without hesitation Randy and I decided to sign John up…we had never seen the place but we trusted Melissa judgment! 

So John went to his first play date on Tuesday and Melissa was right – it was perfect!  Have you ever walked in a place and it just felt right…you knew you had made the right decision?  That’s how it was for me & Randy…and John.  John immediately went to Ms. Melissa and started playing puzzles & games…he did not even bat an eye when we left.  (Side note…I did good – no tears but Randy –well we won’t go there….it was precious.  If you would have told me 5 years ago that Randy Hare would be like he is over a baby I would have thought you were nuts!  It is the most amazing thing!!)  When we picked John up he was pretty mad at us…when we walked in the room he glanced at us and did not come running…you could tell he had been crying.  Apparently there were issues with nap time - they nap between 11 and 12 and John has never napped that early.  John usually only naps at home…he never naps at my folks house or anywhere else.  Melissa told me not to worry that they would figure something out..she said John played good and had fun all day.  I think John has a new friend Ethan…they go to MDO and gymnastic class together – maybe this will be his buddy.

For what it is worth…I am the oldest Mother BY FAR in all of these classes!  I look around and all of these other Mother’s can’t be past 25…ugh….I feel so old.  I go to WW today…I am positive I gained weight this week…I have worked out everyday but Randy bought some Oreo’s…something I have never craved before!  Needless to say I asked Randy to never bring those home again…leave them at the store…or his office!

Here are some random pictures of John…sleeping.