What does the fox say?!?!

And now I will apologize for getting that song stuck in your head!!!  If you aren't familiar, you can look it up on youtube (Ylvis-what does the fox say).

So Andy was out of town for the last week for a work conference.  This was one of the videos we made for him while he was away.  It was a tough week for us (ok, mostly me!!) but Grandmom did come to the rescue and stayed with us one night.  It was fun having her down here as a distraction (especially since Julia had 2 days off from school for the snow!)  The kids were a big help shoveling the snow (I had no idea how long our driveway was until I had to shovel 5ish inches of snow off of it!!) 

As a fun surprise when Andy got home, we told the kids that we were going to go to an indoor water park for the night.  For Christmas, my parents had gotten us gift cards to a place called Francis Scott Key in Ocean City, MD.  They have an indoor pool with a pirate theme.  They also have awesome outdoor amenities too, but seeing as it is February, they were closed.

The kids had a great time!  They enjoyed swimming, going down the slide and having pizza for dinner.  I had a "Mom of the Year" moment (said sarcastically) when we got there and I realized that I had forgotten to pack Julia's swimsuit!  So she took it in stride and off we went to find a bathing suit.  Due to lack of other options....we had to venture into the world of bikinis!! 

 

 

This also happened to be the first time the kids have stayed in a hotel overnight.  Julia was awesome and was out like a light with no problem.  Jack was a different story!!  Andy left to go grab us some food, so I had turned out all the lights, turned the TV off and Jackson was almost asleep (as was I) when Andy returned with our food.  Jackson sits up, "what's that Daddy??"  "Food for Mommy & Daddy." "Can I have some?"  "Sure!"  So Jackson helps us eat our quesadilla and chicken wings!  He was also serenading us with some  'Call me Maybe" that happened to come on the TV.  He had a great time.  Andy put on Pawn Stars and he loved watching that!  Everything that was brought in, Jackson would ask, "Can I get that for my birthday?"  So for those of you who will ask in a couple months, Jackson would like a vintage motorcycle, a music box and a homemade replica tank!  We don't know what time Jackson actually went to sleep, but it was definitely after everyone else and it was close to 12 am.  We now know how things go down at Grandmom and Pop's when they spend the night!!

 

 

When we got home the next morning, Julia let me pull out her loose tooth, so we also had a visit from the tooth fairy over the weekend! 

 

 

So after a long week without Andy, we had a great weekend and I'm so happy to have our normal lives back!!! 

 

~Courtney

 

Playing catch up....

Holy Smokes!!!!!!!!

It has been since July 2012 that we have given our blog any love!!  This is crazy and ridiculous and also a testament to how quickly life happens!!

I was going to try to fill in the blanks of the last year and a half, but since I am having a really hard time remembering that long ago, I'll try to fill everyone in on the more recent events!

After discussing it for several years, Andy and I finally made the incredibly difficult, scary, yet exciting decision for me to take a 'hiatus' from my job as the athletic trainer at a local high school to stay home with the kids.  Andy's job has become more demanding and I worked every evening, so with Julia starting Kindergarten this year, we thought it might be nice for at least one of her parents to see her at some point during the day!!  Even though it seems counter-intuitive to stop working as my child starts school, it has been great and I love being able to be home when she gets home from school.  I have also enjoyed spending LOTS of time with Jackson and seeing him learn and grow and become the laid back, train loving, sweetheart that he is.

Julia has flourished in school and we have gotten rave reviews from her teacher.  She is an eager learner and has learned a ton in the short time she has been there.  We have learned that we are no longer safe to spell things that we don't want her or Jack to know about because she can more than likely figure out what we are spelling!!  Being in school has also allowed her to experience a few not so great things she wouldn't otherwise see or hear!  But I guess that comes with the territory!

She loves drawing, singing and dancing.  We keep trying to interest her in sports and she keeps telling us that she is going to be an "artiste"!!  Lately she has been going to watch Andy play volleyball on Sundays, so that has helped to get her more interested.  She also loves to play softball in the back yard, but gives us a strong "no" whenever we ask her if we should sign her up!  She also is really good at hitting the softball, so we hope she pursues it (I know she didn't get this skill from her mother!!).

Jackson on the other hand is all boy!!  He can't eat anything without getting it all over himself, if there is a puddle nearby, he WILL step in it and he loves tackling his daddy!!  He is all about trains right now.  He could play trains all day long!  He is also really into Jake and the Neverland Pirates at the moment.  For Christmas he got 2 pirate ships, some Jake figurines and a Captain Hook hook.  He loves playing with those and has played with them everyday since he got them.  I know I have spent too much time with him when I can clearly understand what he says and I have to translate for Andy!  Julia is also a pretty good translator, too!  But I love nothing more than when Jackson comes up to me and says "Mommy, I wuv you!"

Speaking of Christmas, this year was a whirlwind, but probably the best yet!  Julia came into our room that morning, like normal, and asked to put a show on.  We asked if she wanted to see if Santa came and she wasn't really interested!!  But then once we got downstairs, they had a great time.  We then went to my parents house to celebrate and then left their house to go to Connecticut.  Julia got a HUGE dollhouse and Jackson got a cozy coupe truck and gas pump, that he can't wait to play with outside!!  (They got other things too, but those were the biggies!!)

We did do our annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina again this year with our group of friends who have essentially become like family.  As always, we had a great time and never want to leave!!  This is always our favorite week of the year.  Unfortunately, we won't be going this summer, but we are definitely looking forward to making it happen again in the future.

Here are two videos of the kids.  This shows their personalities better than anything I could ever type!  The one is of Julia doing her impression of Andy(She is quite good at impressions!!) and the other is Jackson being a pirate.

 

 

 

So I know that this isn't everything that has happened, but I'm going to make it my mission to have more blog posts before another year and a half passes!!

~Courtney

Julia is 4 Years Old!!!

Four years ago, Courtney and I were blessed with the most beautiful, wonderful, smart, loving and of late, disagreeable, cantankerous and stubborn daughter you could ever ask for!  Truth is that she is an absolute sweetheart when she wants to be, but when she wants to dig her heels in, she can be a beast!  I tell people that she's 4 going on 17.

Last year, Julia's birthday party was a front used to surprise Courtney for her 30th birthday, so I suppose that it's only appropriate that Julia get two birthday parties this year.  This summer we got to spend a whole week with Auntie Liz, Uncle Nate, Luke and Batman...I mean Ben only to turn around the next Friday and head up to Connecticut to hang out with them some more.  While we were up there we had a small party for Julia with her Connecticut family followed by a second party the next weekend with her Maryland Family.  I hope she doesn't get used to this kind of treatment!

The kids playing together has been hilarious!  Their imaginations have been great!  They love playing dress up and it is so funny when Ben and Luke dress up in Julia's more feminine costumes.  Ben makes a great spider girl!  One day Julia and Ben decided to put on pillow cases and pretend they were mermaids.  It was pretty cute!  It's going to be great when Jackson is old enough to get in on the action with them.

Julia's Maryland party was pretty low key.  We did get a bounce house for Julia, Jack and Anna...and of course Daddy who hurt himself trying to do a flip in it...but it was a small intimate affair.  We took a major step with Julia though.  We got her a big girl bike for her birthday.  So far, the lessons have been good and she is improving, but this is definitely going to be a work in progress...stay tuned!

 -Andy

OBX 2012

I've decided that the key to having a pleasant vacation is...don't bring an infant!!!  Last year, then 6 week old Jackson was, shall I say...challenging.  But what a difference a year makes!  This year, thirteen month old Jackson was pretty fun and that's including the fact that when he arrived at the Outer Banks he greeted it by projectile vomiting all over everything...especially Mommy!

Apparently, Jack caught some kind of virus.  Thank GOD that he waited until we arrived to begin vomiting, as an episode like that in the car would have been awful!  He spiked a temperature and really wasn't himself, so after a couple days of this, we decided to visit the Emergency Room at the Outer Banks Hospital.  This was about as pleasant as a hospital trip could be.

There was not a soul in the waiting room when we arrived and the triage nurse was calling us back before we even completed the paperwork.  I feel like we saw every nurse and doctor in the place.  Jack got a strep test and a chest x-ray, had ear infection ruled out and we were advised to just let it run its course.  We were relieved that it was just a bug and nothing more serious.

The weather was pretty cool in the beginning of the week so by the time Jack was back to being himself it had warmed up and it was time for fun in the SUN!!!  This year, Julia became more daring in the water.  There was MUCH less whining from her this year as a result.

We got Jules her very own Boogie Board (after she had so much fun "surfing" on Luke's board) but the coolest thing that she and I did was spending about 45 minutes in the ocean swimming in the waves.  When she was trying to walk in, she got pummeled by a wave and when she came back up to the surface, I thought for sure that she was done.  But thankfully I was able to calm her down and carry her in.  From there, the only challenge was getting her out!

We took a trip to the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and decided to climb to the top with Luke, Ben and Julia.  Jules and Ben (aka Batman) just barely made the cut.  You needed to be a certain height to climb for safety reasons.  We were worried that the kids would have a problem with the 248 step climb to the top, especially since carrying anyone is not allowed.

Perhaps we also should have been deterred when we got there and an ambulance was there to deal with an "episode" that someone had along their journey to the top.  But we decided to go for it and I can't tell you how impressed I was with the three kids!  Luke led us all the way up and Ben and Julia listened so well!  We stopped at each landing to take a picture of the kids (and get a rest).  It had one of the coolest views I have ever seen!  This stop was particularly neat for me as this lighthouse was relocated in 1999.  They moved it further on shore to essentially keep it from being claimed by the sea.  One of the companies involved in that relocation if actually from Mardela in Wicomico County, MD.  This was the same company that relocated the Pemberton Cottage that Courtney and I used to live in.

One of the best parts of this vacation each year is the friends and family that we share our little cottage (see above picture for an example of homes in the area) with.  Everyone is so different, but we get along great.  Everyone does their own thing, but when we are together it's great and all the kids are getting to the point where they will just go off and play together.  It was a great week!

However, I would have to say that the highlight of the week was a flashback of sorts for me.  When Liz turned 21 (some 12 years ago), she decided to go out with the big boys for her indoctrination.  After just a few hours of "socializing" with my friends, she was in rare form and capped the night off by...well let's just say she didn't hold her liquor too well that night.

Since then, the Liz I know has been responsible.  I've never seen a repeat episode...until this year's vacation.  Her alcohol induced alter ego was out in full force after a couple rounds of the wholesome family card game "asshole".  The alcohol didn't stay with her long though!

I can't wait for next year!!!

-Andy

Summer Fun Has Just Begun!

 Memorial Day Weekend 2012...Just one week before our annual Outer Banks vacation and the kids are ready for summer!  As the mercury rises, Jackson's hair gets shorter.  It's a good thing that we have a resident barber / hairdresser in Mommy!

 Here is Julia and Mommy playing what I'm pretty sure is Julia's first game of catch with actual gloves!  I'm sure many more are to come this summer!  Daddy can't wait to get in on the action!

 We did some spring cleaning this weekend...mainly so that we don't come home from the beach to a messy house, but it was during this cleaning that Courtney made a critical mistake.  In less than four short years on this earth, Julia has amassed a rather large collection of artistic works and apparently each one is special to her.  When you combine that with the fact that Julia does not miss anything, you need to be careful throwing her artwork away while doing a little housework. 

I don't think that they were in the trash for more than about 30 seconds when Julia called Mommy on it and really let her have it!  The line was something like "I am VERY upset and I'm not happy!  And I am not going to say I'm sorry!"  Once we stopped laughing, we rescued the discarded works of art and told Julia to find a place to save them.  She brought them up to her room, pushed everything off the top of her dresser and spread out her gallery!  The girl is priceless!

 We broke out the sprinkler and slip n slide this weekend.  This was Jack's first go around with either of them, so we weren't sure how he'd react...well, he loved it!!!  Once he figured out what it was all about (which took about 3 minutes for each), he was all over it!  Sticking his head in, crawling down the slip n slide and doing belly flops into the pool at the end of the slide!  I can't wait to see what he makes of the ocean next weekend!

 Just like Julia, Jackson loves playing dress up.  Here he is sporting Julia's Spider Girl dress!  We're going to have to get him some boy superhero clothes!

-Andy

Who is Jackson?

There was a time before Jackson when there was time to do things like post a blog, go to the gym, clean the house, etc.  It was so much easier when one parent could offer relief to the other to allow for some decompression time.  Now, that opportunity is limited.

Let's face it...leaving one parent with both children is just too dangerous.  Jack and Julia are too smart, too fast and too cunning!  We prefer the divide and conquer method, in the interest of minimizing damages.  It's usually a race to be the one who "gets" Julia!

Jackson Paul Wisk is currently a 29" and 23 lb. newly walking, almost talking, one man wrecking crew!  He never stops...he's into everything...he's strong as an ox (that must be the polish in him)...and deceptively smart.  Don't believe me?  Come watch him for an hour and turn your head for just one moment!  The vigilance that he requires is downright exhausting!

He's a brick house!  With little block feet and quads like Varitek!  He bounces off walls, wrestles with Daddy and Julia, throws toys around and destroys any building block structures in his path...always with the biggest smile on his face!

He has a future in competitive eating.  He is currently eating twice what Julia eats in half the time.  And then when he's done, he scours the floor to pick up any morsel that he, his sister or Mia the cat have dropped.

He has turned into a talker.  His first words are Da-Da, Julia (pronounced "juya"), what's that ("wasdaaa") and beer.  He is clearly my son!  I was so proud yesterday when I was holding him and he took his two-finger pointer our, aimed it at my beer and said "wasdaa"?  I said "it's a beer".  He looked at me and smiled and said "a beer" just as clear as I did!

But my favorite Jack quality thus far is definitely his affinity for his sister!  She (not his parents) is the center of his universe.  He absolutely lights up when she comes into the room and I think that the feeling is mutual.  There are many things that I wish for my children, but one that is on the top of my list is that they develop and maintain a strong bond...that they love, respect, enjoy and look out for each other for their entire lives!

-Andy

Finally....

..a new blog post!!! After much hounding from my mother, I figured I better post a few pictures!! Our computer has had a virus all summer and we have not gotten around to getting it fixed, so we have had limited computer access; hence, the lack of blogs!

Other than being incredibly busy with Andy getting a promotion and me going back to work, things are pretty well. Jackson is growing like crazy and Julia is an incredible helper who is absolutely in love with her little brother.

I have been trying to keep up with monthly pictures of Jackson, so here are the 1st 4 months. Jackson enjoyed his first trip to the Outer Banks, NC at just over 1 month old. He slept most of the time, but he will have many more opportunities to enjoy in the sand castle making and all of the other fun things that happen at the beach!!

Jackson (& Julia) have also experienced their first earthquake and hurricane...all in the same week! We weren't real sure what to expect with Hurricane Irene predicted to hit Delmarva, so we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Turns out, we got the best! We only lost power for about 3 hours throughout the entire weekend. But we decided that we should sleep downstairs, just in case a tree decided to come through our roof (like I said, preparing for the worst!). So we told Julia that we were going to camp out and we even made her a little tent. She had such a great time sleeping downstairs and I fear that she is going to have a rude awakening if she ever actually goes camping!!! Here are her and Jackson hanging out in her "tent".

I realize this is a brief and scattered blog, but it's better than nothing!!! Hopefully my more thoughtful and creative writer of a husband will feel inspired by my post to update everyone on many of the fun times we have been having as a family of 4!!

~Courtney

Jackson Paul Wisk

We started this blog three years ago now and I just can't believe all that has happened in that time. The goal was for this journal to serve a dual purpose. First, we are fortunate to have friends and family from New England to North Carolina and it's great to give them a glimpse of how our family is growing and even some day-to-day life in the Maryland Wisk House. Second, and what may prove to be most important will be the opportunity for our children and hopefully even grandchildren to read about how they grew up.I'm not a photo guy...I'm definitely not a video guy. We have this awesome video camera that we don't use near enough! One thing that I've always done well and even somewhat enjoyed was writing. I think I'm pretty decent at it and one day this journal can be my gift to my children and hopefully, their children.So here we sit, on Sunday, May first with our five-day-old little man, Jackson. Born at 9:09 a.m. on April 26, 2011, he was twenty inches long and eight pounds two ounces. Naming this child was perhaps the toughest task that Courtney and I have taken on together thus far in our almost six years of marriage! I would say that Jack was pushing an hour old before he "officially" had a name. In fact, I was asked twice what his name was and actually had to reply, "I'm not sure".
I believe that there should be significance in names. Julia Elizabeth has significance in both of her names and now so does Jackson. Courtney's grandfather was named Jack and her father is Paul. That means that our son is named after two guys that are both about 6'5"...now I just need to tie his right hand behind his back and work on that nasty change-up!!!
It was kind of ironic that the doctor that performed JP's c-section was a Duke fan...given his Kemba nickname! I couldn't help but talk a little smack to her during the surgery, telling her that the only thing that would have made Uconn's championship sweeter this year would have been if they went through Duke to win it!

This may end up being my longest post ever. So much happened over four days in the hospital, but one thing was different than the last time. This time I was completely relaxed. Last time I had no idea which end was up, why she was crying or what I was supposed to do. This time both Courtney and I had far less anxiety. We just did what we needed to do.

I was caught off guard by the whole boy thing. Just like with Julia, I had the "pleasure" of changing the first diaper. Only thing was this time, he got the better of me. I forgot about all the warnings about boys peeing all over everything! He got me, he got his mom, he even got himself. He actually got his mom first. The first thing that he did upon delivery was relieve himself on his mom!Julia has been AWESOME with her little brother! She still refuses to hold him...I think she's afraid to hurt him, but that will come. She gives him lots of kisses and holds his hand. She spent a couple days with Grandmom and Pop and seemed to behave so well! They brought her to visit mommy a couple time and she was so well behaved in our small hospital room for 3 and 4 hours at a time that it was incredible! She is a pretty special little girl!
Through this whole experience, we have been so blessed with such giving family and friends! Clearly Grandmom and Pop went above and beyond in caring for Julia, but so many others sent gifts, food and most importantly to me, came to visit. Four days in the hospital is a long time...I don't care why you're there. I think that Courtney would agree that having visitors meant a lot!

So I had a couple mornings at home with Julia to get her ready for school and they were hysterical! The first time, we went downstairs and I put on one of her favorite shows, Super Why, to hold her attention while I went to shower. I told her that when I got out of my shower we would have breakfast.
I walk down the stairs after showering and I Jules greets me with a big "Hi Daddy". Then she says, "Look, I already ate breakfast!" There she was sitting on her Dora couch, covered and surrounded by powdered sugar! She definitely thought she was doing me a favor by going to the kitchen and helping herself to the bag of powdered donuts that were on the counter!

A couple days later, after we had gotten home, I wake up to some distant crying. I come down stairs to see Julia sitting on the floor in the kitchen with a box of cupcakes and cookies beside her. She was crying her eyes out because Mia had vomited and Julia was upset because "Mia's belly was hurting!" Apparently, our little helper came down, fed the cat and then started to feed herself when Mia got sick.

She's such a good kid, such a BIG helper and so much fun. But something tells me that the fun is just beginning as I can't wait to see how she and her brother grow together. My only hope is that she and Jackson are fortunate to have a relationship like my sister and I have. Sure...we drive each other nuts, but we have always made a pretty good team and always look out for each other!

So now I sit here, completing a post that has taken three different sessions to write...interruptions are frequent these days...reflecting on my family. Some call it the perfect family (one boy, one girl). Perfect or not, a couple things are certain, I have the perfect bride and partner, who continues to amaze me. In return, I do my best to drive her nuts! We are both all in and committed to raise these kids the best way that we can. These may be the most stressful days of our lives...certainly thus far, but these will be the best days of our lives!
-Andy

Teammates!

Spring has finally arrived on Delmarva. Soon we'll be complaining that it's too hot! Springtime home preparations are significantly accelerated this year given the nearing arrival of Kemba. There is lots to do and Julia has tried to help every step of the way! She even helped make her first snowman when 3" of snow interrupted our Spring a couple weeks ago.
On Monday I picked Jules up at daycare and told her that we needed to stop at Home Depot before going home. Part of me was expecting a tantrum of some sort. It was a nice day and I knew she wanted to go home and play outside. On the contrary, her response was to throw both arms in the air as she let out a loud "YEAH!"

I wanted to buy some manure and vegetables for the garden. As she sat in the nursery area, atop a pallet of mulch, I was loading the cart up with forty pound bags of sweet manure. She asks, "Daddy, what's that?" My answer of manure was not sufficient, so I elaborated that it was poop that we were going to mix into the garden because it makes the vegetables grow big. She accepted that answer, but later I realized that I may have to explain later on why we don't poop in the garden. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!Next, we went to pick out veggies. There were two other Dads there, each with a child around Julia's age. One child was running around like a maniac as dad filled his cart. The other was whining the entire time. But not my princess! Julia was by my side, picking out veggies, asking all sorts of questions and giving plenty of input:

• "What does that plant do?"
• "Can we get more tomatoes? I like those!"
• "That one looks sick. Let's get this one instead"
• "Are those peppers spicy? You like spicy peppers, don't you?"

We head over to the checkout and my little girl is standing there, hands on her hips and proud as a peacock. You see, she felt like she picked out each plant herself and she placed each one in the cart. I was standing, waiting our turn and actually thinking that it doesn't get much better than this...she was such a good girl! Little did I know that she was about to BLOW MY MIND!

She turns to me, hands still on her hips and says, (and I quote exactly!) "You know Daddy, you and I make a good team!" Then she walks around to the front of me, puts her arms around me, gives me a big hug and say, "I love you so much Daddy!"

The cashier had to call for the stock boy in the back to bring the mop and bucket up, because she melted me right there. The other ladies in line with us were beside themselves. There are moments in your life that you never forget. Most are major milestones or changes, but for me, few things top this moment. I will be able to hear those 16 words clear as a bell, feel the warmth of the day and smell that sweet manure in my memories for the rest of my life!We came home and Jules helped me till in the manure. We're planting this weekend if Mother Nature allows and I know she'll be by my side, up to her elbows in dirt and loving every minute of it! I also know that Courtney and I are raising this little girl the right way...not bad for a couple amateurs!

Now Kemba on the other hand...we'll see. He's starting off by trying to enter this world ass backwards! Stay tuned!

-Andy