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Six Years Old

On the 29th of March, Rocco turned six years old.   At the time I was in the hospital.  I delivered Maverick on the 26th and had some complications.  Thankfully Carolyn, my mother-in-law, and Jason did a good job of seeing to it that Rocco's life resumed to as normal as could be under the circumstances.  He didn't even miss school that week.  Jason picked him up early the afternoon that his brother was born, but his schedule was not interupted that much.  Thursday, the day of his birthday, Carolyn even took chocolate chip cookies and some Capri Sun (Rocco's request)

to his class so that he could have a birthday party with his classmates.  Most afternoon's Rocco would come to the hospital to see me and his brother.  Boy was it good therapy to see that boy of mine! 

He would kiss on his brother's head and pat on him.  Towards the end of the week he even got up in the bed with me.  Having my two boys did my heart a whole lot of good even when I felt so very sick. 

Before I went into the hospital on Monday the 26th, we had Rocco's birthday party at our house on Saturday the 24th.  Jason did a great job preparing the garage, yard, and house for the event.  I was about 39 weeks pregnant at the time and not much help.  It turned out to be a successful party with plenty of family and friends from school.  Rocco chose a Power Rangers themed party.  

And here's one of the last pictures we took together as just a family of three.  Maverick was still in the womb (two days before he would be born).

Before I close, I had to write about a few things Rocco is doing lately.

1)  He is an excellent speller!  And he doesn't just spell words...he spells them backwards.  "L-O-O-H-C-S" Most kindergartners can't even spell SCHOOL forwards! 

2)  And speaking of spelling, he is always asking me, "Hey, mommy.  How do your 4th and 5th graders spell ......"  then he'll give me a certain word.  I've bragged on his spelling so much and told him time after time that even my 4th and 5th graders can't spell such words.  I'll usually spell the word wrong when he asks me that question, then he'll go, "Huh?  That's not right." Then, he will spell it correctly.

3)  He is the only boy in his class who has read enough library books and passed the tests to have earned 10 AR points.  This was a major accomplishment.  I guess he read over 20 books to do this and he can only take one book test a week.  We've been working on this for a while!

4)  Rocco is the most ticklish kid I know.  He's started getting me back lately though in my tickle spot on my neck.  He thinks it is so funny.

5)  He is quite the trickster lately.  But before he does something he usually lets you know something is up.  He'll ask, "Can I play a trick on you?"  Then, he'll go hide or act like he doesn't have something behind his back.  When April 1st came around we kept on hearing, "April Fools!"  This went on throughout most of April...not just on the first.

6)  His favorite video game is now Mario Baseball on the Wii.  He could play it for hours if we let him. He's so good he can win like 60 to 0.



We Were On Good Morning America!

So we submitted this video clip to GMA.  The idea was to show something about your life in just three words.  I was able to submit both of my miracles...and America saw it this morning on television.  To God be the glory for the great things He has done!

Rocco's Box Castle

Here's what we did with all of the boxes that the strollers, car seat, pack and play, and swing came in.  Rocco and I had lots of fun playing Power Rangers with this Shiba Castle.

5 Years 11 Months Old

My little boy is almost six, and I can't believe it.  So what's going on in Rocco's life lately?  He's doing really well in school.  Jason still gets him ready for school in the morning, and he decorates his apple toaster strudel like a football field.  Then, when they get to school he carries him in on his shoulders. 

He continues to do well in school - making A's on his spelling tests, making 100's and/or not missing more than one question on his AR tests, and hoping to be the leader.  That's right.  Every day I pick him up from school (now that I'm on rest with my pregnancy), the first thing he tells me is who the leader was.  Mrs. Bond randomly picks out a popsicle stick with a student's name on it to be the day's leader.  There are about 19 kids in his class, so once he's the leader he has to wait for everyone else to be the leader before it could possibly be his turn again.  And on the day when he is chosen as the leader, it's like the best day ever!  Rocco enjoys being a car rider.  I guess it beats having to stay at school an extra 30 minutes in my classroom when I was working.

The other day he experienced his first breakup.  It came a few days after Valentines Day.  Riley, his girlfriend since preK, told him that he wasn't her boyfriend anymore.  As he's telling me this from his car seat, my heart just broke.  I looked at him , and he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.  "Well, who needs her?" was my response, hoping he'd see it was alright.  He told me that he didn't want a girlfriend anyway...and that was that.  Riley had 3 boyfriends (Rocco, Will Cox, and Hayes Gunn).  This was well known; Rocco would often tell me.  At the school Valentine's party a few days prior, Hayes showered her with tons of gifts.  Rocco gave her nothing except a Power Rangers card, which he gave to everyone in his class.  After the break up he decided he didn't want any girls invited to his birthday party...boys only! (Below is a pic of Rocco and Riley.  Riley is holding the bear Hayes gave her.)

We have been so blessed to have a son who is so well behaved and respectful.  The other day, though, we had our first experience this school year with a behavior problem.  As soon as I picked him up he spilled it out.  He wasn't even buckled in his seat when he blurted out, "Mom, it's okay but I got my first minus today.  It was only one though."  I asked him what he did, and he said that he didn't remember.  Well, I knew good and well that he knew.  I opened up his agenda to find that he had been sliding on his knees during PE in the gym.  I told him I was disappointed but that he needed to learn from that and not do it again.  I reminded him that if he got more than 3 minuses he would not be able to go to the good behavior party.  And that's about all we said.  When Jason got home a few hours later, I asked Rocco if he wanted to tell his daddy something.  "No."  Well, I told Jason and we just briefly reminded him to not let it happen again.  That was it.  I couldn't scold him too hard.  For one he was so honest in letting me know and two, sliding on his knees?  There are things lots worse in this world.  Of course, I didn't let him know I thought that.  The bottom line is that he was doing something he was not supposed to, and we ultimately want him to be respectful of his teachers.   A week later I picked up Rocco from school.  "I've got some good news/surprise in my book bag, mom! I got a ticket to the good behavior party!"  I was so proud, and we high fived each other.

He continues to be very sweet with my belly.  He rubs on it and loves on his brother, he even told me the other day, "I can't wait 5 more weeks.  I want my brother now!"  One day he put his hand on my neck and felt my pulse.  "Hey mom!  I feel him kicking!"  I had to explain to him that he was really feeling my heartbeat.  I'm glad he enjoys feeling for the baby.  That makes me feel good because how he reacts to this new baby has been my biggest concern.  I don't want him to feel left out, second best, unloved, forgotten, etc.  That's why I often remind him how much he means to me. "Rocco, you are my first baby.  Maverick (his brother) is the second.  I had you first, and you are the one who made me a mommy.  You are so very special to me, and no matter how many babies I have I will always love you.  I'm crazy about you.  We're tight."  He kids back with me.  "That's not right," he'll say.  He'll point to himself and say, "Second," and point to my belly and say, "First."  We go back and forth laughing at who is right.  Instead of focusing on how "lucky" he is to be a big brother, I've told him that this baby is so blessed to have him as a brother.  I've bragged on him and told him how much Maverick is going to look up to him.  

I've had 3 baby showers thus far and Rocco has helped me open presents at all of them.  Thankfully, people have been thoughtful enough to give him presents, too.  He really liked that! It was good that not all of the attention was on the baby. 

I've had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions.  One day I was hurting with one.  I told him I was having a contraction. "Mom, a contraction is like i-s-n-'-t," he explained to me. 

Here's a quick list of things he likes:

1) watching Power Rangers Samurai on TV

2) playing with Power Rangers toys, especially in the tub

3) being called into the "Boxing Ring" and fighting imaginary nighloks with his sword

4)  chips, gum, crunchy (bacon, bread, etc)

5) American Idol tv show(he wants to be one of the judges when he grows up)

And so the next time I take his picture in this blue chair, he may not be an only child. 

5 Years 10 Months Old

Rocco is doing great in school this year.  Mrs. Bond is currently working with his class on money and how much each coin is worth.  He quickly picked it up.  He loves learning and really enjoys school.  On the way home from school (he often comes to my classroom at 3pm and we'll go home together at 3:30), we were talking about coins.  I was asking him how many pennies were in a quarter, how much a dime was worth, etc.  When I felt like I had asked him just about every combination that he could figure out, he asked me, "But mom...what about Mexican pesos?"  That boy is something. 

One afternoon he came in the bedroom asking me to tell him everything I knew about Abraham Lincoln.  Since they were learning about pennies, Mrs. Bond had taught the class about him.  I told him as much as I could think of...the Civil War, the Gettysburg Address, how I had gone to LMU University which was named after him, etc.  After some hesitation, I decided to tell him that a really mean man killed that president.  His eyes lit up and as he pointed his finger in the air and proclaimed, "John Wilkes Booth!"  I nearly fell in the floor.   And then a few days later he was using the word assassinated and pronouncing it correctly.  He is such a little sponge for knowledge!

Rocco also enjoys writing stories.  He is only in kindergarten, but he has learned how to spell many words, and those he doesn't know he will sound out.  On his spelling tests he has made perfect scores and even earned extra points for the bonus words.  He also knows how to capitalize proper nouns/beginning of sentences and punctuate.  The other night at church he wrote me a story.  It said, "Rocco    I love my mom.  I love my cat.  Day is Suday.  2012  tomoro is Monday" 

At night he plays a new computer game we got him for Christmas.  It was just $3 at TJ Maxx and worth every dollar.  The CD goes into the computer and lets him play all kinds of learning games on the kindergarten level.  It is by Jump Start.  His little character is a dinosaur, and he walks that little character all around the Jump Start world and earns gems by playing games with patterns, numbers, calendars, and words. 

One of his favorite things he loves to do is for me to "call him into the ring" to fight different Nighloks.  He takes his soft, sponge sword and beats up on these imaginary foes as if he is Kevin the blue Power Ranger. 

5 Years 9 Months Old

The little boy who used to be just into cars and trains is now into super heroes.  That's what he asked Santa for this year.  He is really into good guys/bad guys.  On TV, he's been watching the Power Rangers; he even has the action figures, which his grandnana bought him for Christmas.  Jason and I also bought him a few.  Now he has the green, blue, red, and golden Power Rangers.  He'll play with them and make kicking, punching, fighting sounds.

The little beanie baby next to him in the above picture has a story to go with it.  All of his life, Rocco has never had a stuffed animal.  I'm very allergic to them so we can't have them in the house.  As we were cleaning out and organizing our rooms for the baby boy, Rocco found some old beanie babies that I had collected.  He began playing with them...and even sleeping with them.  Most boys in kindergarten may be over small toy animals, but to Rocco this type of toy is pretty new to him.  His favorite one is Rhino. 

At night when we say our prayers, Rocco rarely wants to pray out loud.  "I'm saying my quietly."  Within a few seconds he'll be finished.  When I asked him if he prayed for anyone he'll sometime's say, "I prayed for the whole world."  When I do get him to say his prayers out loud they are so sweet.  He prays for various people in our family.  Lately, he's prayed for God to give strength to his grandnana and grandpapaw.  They have not been in good health.  How sweet that he remembers them in prayer. 

We're still Mario fans.  That's probably Rocco's favorite way to spend time with me.  He thinks we have to play it every day.

Christmas Day

Rocco woke up Christmas morning to find that Santa did indeed come.  He loaded up with super heroes & vehicles, a batman cave, racing motorcycles, a bb gun, some Monster trucks, Defiant trucks and ramp, a couple of books, and a Georgia bulldog stocking full of goodies. 



As soon as he checked out his new toys from Santa, he wanted to open up his presents from us.  This was his favorite part.  Perhaps we need to ask Santa to wrap up his presents next year.   :)  He was thrilled to find that he had so many to open! A few of the presents we got him were Spiderman and Angry Birds pajamas, a Spiderman costume, Mario/Luigi jogging suit, Iron Man transformer, Kindergartedn computer game, and Monster trucks.

Rocco was so excited the next morning to see that Santa ate his Hershey bar / Oreos and drank his milk. All the reindeer carrots were eaten except for one.  It was just nibbled on.  Rocco decided that this particular one belonged to Rudolph.  For some reason he wasn't as hungry as the "black noses." (This picture was taken Christmas Eve before we went to bed.)

 I bought Jason some clothes, and he got me some things for the baby.  We didn't have time for our tradition of eating a big breakfast because we had a worship service at church.  Christmas fell on a Sunday this year.  We headed to church for the 10:30 service.  It was surprisingly crowded.  Many came out to celebrate the true reason for the season...our Savior's birth!  Here we are Christmas day after church.

We thought we'd go out for lunch, but of course nothing was open except for Hardees and Waffle House.  Talk about a crowd!  We came home to eat sandwiches.  Gary and Carolyn came by to see what Rocco got for Christmas.  For supper, the three of us ate our traditional breakfast.  Great Christmas this year - so much to be thankful for...so many blessings!



Christmas Get Togethers

Christmas Day fell on a Sunday this year.  The Monday before the big day, Dec. 19th, we met at my in-law's house for our first Christmas get together.  Gary, Carolyn, Tonya, Ben, Sydney, Drew, Jason, Rocco, and pregnant me were there to celebrate.  Carolyn cooked a big, delicious meal with lots of yummy desserts.  The kids were so excited to open their gifts.  Nana and granddaddy & Aunt Ta and Uncle Ben spoiled Rocco with lots of great gifts.  Here's a picture of Rocco in front of nana's Christmas village. ( My camera went dead within minutes of getting here.  Tonya and her family weren't even there yet.  So...you don't get any big family pic.)

Our next get together was with my side of the family.  We met at my nana and papaw's house on Thursday night, Dec. 22.  My parents, my brother and his girl Daelyn, nana & papaw, and my dad's sister (Aunt Katy) were there with us to celebrate.  We decided to make things easy and just order pizza.  My papaw has not been in good health, and we were just grateful to have everyone here this year.  Being with family is one of God's biggest blessings, and I'm so thankful we were all together this season.   

   

Our last family get together was at papa's house.  Jason's extended family on his mother's side met there for a big celebration. 

 We draw names for this get together.  After our big meal, everyone dives in to see who got their name.  It was a lot of fun.  Around 9pm we all headed out because Santa came that night.  This was our Christmas eve family gathering.  The kids were giddy with excitement!

Christmas Lights

The three four of us (Jason, Rocco, baby Willis, and I) headed to Alabama tonight to enjoy some Christmas lights. First, we ate at a fish and grill restaurant. Afterwards we saw some lights at Noccalula Falls. I felt big and pregnant, and it was a little bit of a challenge at times to keep up with the boys. Baby Nitro (what we've been calling the baby since Rocco gave him the name a few months ago) and I have our own speed. . . and it's not a very fast one. 

Last year, Rocco and I took my mom to Callaway Gardens to see the lights.  We didn't make it there this year, and I'll admit Noccaula is not as nice...but to Rocco it was bigger than life.

 He was so excited to see it all lit up.  We rode on a train around the park to see the lights.  After that we walked to find the hot chocolate.  Thankfully they had a little swing we could rest in. 

 It was a memorable and fun night.  We just love Christmas lights...even if it's just riding around looking at various homes which are lit up.  Noccalula Falls was a great mini get-away. 

Christmas Musical

 It's the most wonderful time of the year!  That was the theme at this year's school musical.  Kindergarten through second grade were those singing this time around.  Kindergarteners opened up the musical.  They sang Jingle Bells, Feliz Navidad, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. 

They even got to play the kazoos for one of the songs, Jingle Bells. 

Working at the school has its perks.  I was able to sit up front because I was in charge of helping kids with their forgotten lines AND I got to blow snow after the last song.  Speaking of lines, Rocco had his first speaking part in a play.  Before the kids sang Feliz Navidad Rocco had to say, "Hey!  Do you know how chihuahas say Merry Christmas?....Fleas naughty dog."

                                 

Rocco and I had a good time preparing for the musical at home.  I found Feliz Navidad on an old CD of mine and we listened to it in the car over and over.  He would let it rip!  Of course we also picked up a few other favorites along the way that he didn't get to sing at the musical, like Have a Holly Jolly Christmas and Rudolph.  Rocco is on a big rhyming kick, so all season long I got to hear him change all the words. "Have a holly, bolly, brissmas" and "Tudolph the red nosed beindeer had a very shiny toe, and if you ever bawed it you would ever say it blowed."  

Make no mistake, though.  Even though he loves these silly songs he knows that Jesus being born is the real reason for Christmas!  We rode by a manger scene one afternoon.  "Hey mommy.  Christmas is really about Jesus.  It's nice that Santa comes and brings us toys, but that's not what Christmas is all about though." Smart boy!

Jason and I were at Rocco's musical, but he also had some special guests.  My parents came.  This was my mom's first time seeing my classroom.  They also brought my niece, Daelyn.  

 Rocco's nana also came for the special production.

 



Rocco laughing at TV show

5 Years and 8 Months Old

Rocco has become quite the philisopher.  The other day going down the road, he asked me this question from his car seat.  "Mommy, how old is God?"  I began to explain to him how God has always been and always will be.  He is God eternal, and he doesn't have an age.  "Huh?"  was his response.  Then he started to ask why people die.  Oh, me. 

Then the other day, once again from his car seat, he told me, "Hey mommy.  God is daddy and Son.  Jesus is God.  That's interesting isn't it!"

That's pretty good.  But what he said the other day made no sense and just made me crack up.  "Hey  mommy.  I'm pregnant.  I have a uterus." 

The latest thing he and his daddy do (tackling and playing football is still their all time favorite) is watch a show on the Speed channel called Dumbest Stuff on Wheels.  I don't care for the show because people on motorcycles, four wheelers, trucks, and the like are always having these horrible crashes.  It sends Rocco into a roaring laughter.  He gets so tickled that Jason and I just sit back and laugh because he is laughing. 

And I can't believe we are back to this, but Rocco is watching the Wiggles again.  His cousin (just turned 3) Sydney got him watching those crazy colored guys.  Maybe he'll get tired of them again. But for now, he's memorized the Big Red Boat DVD and even quotes it when he's not watching it.

We're into singing Christmas songs.  He has a Christmas musical next week so we've been working on several songs.  He's really good at "Feliz-noddy-dot", "Rudolph", "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", and "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas".  He's also learned "Go Tell It On the Mountain" at school. 

He can say the books of the New Testament for you, and he knows the Bible verse, "We love Him because He first loved us." 

I would say he is now glad that he has a brother coming soon.  We all laugh about what to name the baby because Rocco can come up with some hilarious names.  His latest?  Georgia Bulldog Nitro Flash Jase Willis.  Think it's long enough?

What are you thankful for?

We were in the car the other day and Rocco told me, "Hey mommy.  Will is thankful for the world."  Will is a boy in his class at school.  He and Rocco are good buddies.  I asked Rocco, "Well what did you say you were thankful for?"  "The American Flag and the United States of America.  I love our country."

Pretty profound for a five year old. 

5 Years 7 Months Old

This month Rocco has really been into numbers.  In fact, on our trip to Cozumel he came up with a game that he played every day.  The game was to see who could say the biggest.  Of course, he knew to win he had to be the last one to say his number; thus, he insisted that we go first.  "Uh, 2,492," I'd say.  Then, Jason would have to go.  "3,000."  Rocco would follow with something like, "5 million."  He was sure to win.  Once he learned the number centillion he used that number every time. 

And when he talks about anything, he'll ask you, "What's your favorite part?"  For example, he'll bring in something he's made or some toys he's playing with.  He wants you to comment on what you like best about it.  I think this is his way of just having conversation with you. 

One day he blew me away with his knowledge of compound words.  I didn't know he even knew what they were.  But he did!  He was telling me that homework, starfish, and T-Rex??  were compound words.  I'm not so sure about that last one, but I'm still pretty impressed that he knows that two words can come together to form a new word.

He's also big into saying the months of the year.  He has a little way that he goes through them - he says April "Apyeull."  By now he know the right way to say it, but he does it just to get me going. 

One fun thing he does a lot is to race me.  He does it all of a sudden when I'm not expecting it.  We'll be going in to get the mail and he'll say, "Race ya!  On your mark, get set, go!"  And just like that he beats me.  I didn't even know we were racing.  He'll just laugh as he runs ahead. 

He knows now that his baby brother can hear him even inside my womb.  Some times we'll be driving down the road and he'll say, "Hey, Baby Nitro.  What ya doing?"  (He says that we're going to name his brother Luigi Nitro.  I don't think so. ;)  At other times he comes right up to my belly and roars at this brother. 
We are so blessed to have Rocco in our lives.  Each month he brings more fun, laughter, made-up games, and just tons of happiness.  God is so good to give us this handsome, smart, funny little guy.

New blog

I'll still post here for a while, but since we're expecting another little one I thought I would begin a new blog.  This blog is just for Rocco.  If you want to know what's going on with us as a family of four, click on the link.....The Willis Four

Pumpkin and Halloween Fun

We had our annual pumpkin painting/carving at Papa's house with nana, granddaddy, and all the cousins.  After Sunday dinner, the kids hunted for candy filled pumpkins in the yard.  Rocco racked up on some goodies!  

 Sydney and Rocco really got into the painting.  They were the only two this year who painted a pumpkin.  The rest of us were busy carving. 

 I chose an owl pattern for this year's pumpkin.  I prepared the stencil work, and .....

 Jason did the cutting. 

 And look at our end results.  Blues Clues pumpkin was carved by Ben for Sydney.  JJ and her parents carved the only 'real' pumpkin.  Allison carved out the words "Trick or Treat", and ours is the last pumpkin on the right. 

 Drew worked on an All American flag stencil. 

 On Halloween day, Rocco dressed up as Luigi.  I was Brainy the Dwarf.  I know he wasn't one of the original dwarfs in Snow White, but all of the teachers chose a made up dwarf while our principal dressed as Snow White.  Our assistant principal was the wicked witch.  It was a lot of fun.  Thankfully, I was able to go on Rocco's field trip with him.  His class went to an assisted living home to trick-or-treat.  His kindergarten class missed science, so it all worked out that I missed very little teaching while I was gone. 

On Halloween night, we met at the bank at 5:30.  Most of the cousins went trick-or-treating together.  JJ, Drew, Chloe, Colston, Rocco, and Sydney walked all downtown to collect a lot of treats.  Susan, Terry, BJ, Tonya, Carolyn, Barry, Allison, Jason, and I walked along with them.  It was a fun night.  Afterwards we went to Carolyn and Gary's for some hot vegetable soup, cornbread, and hot dogs.  It was perfect for the chilly night.