I'm a bad uncle

My two younger sisters each had their first child at the end of last year. Both girls and both ridiculously adorable. Austin is in Boston. Here she is with my sister Erica....



And Naia is in Maui. Here she is with my sister, Whitney...




Here I sit in Iowa.

I haven't met my nieces yet and it sucks. I haven't got on a plane (Boston would be one thing) but Maui a little more challenging. I would use the excuse that my wife is pregnant, which she is, so probably best to stay put at this point. I am sure that's something my sisters understand. Here's the issue though.

I blog everyday for work. I blog on here about once a week. My sisters read my blog almost daily, if not 3-5 times a week. (Google Analytics is cool for that kind of knowledge). I don't even go to my sisters blogs but once a month. I don't even comment on their sites. I get looking at about 3-4 of the pictures and these moments I am missing and well, I can't handle it. These sisters of mine who I watched go from nothing to great moms, with great men in their lives and beautiful children in their arms. And I'm missing it.

Now I'm NOT going to move from Iowa. My family loves it here, as do I. But I sure wish teleporting or cheaper airline tickets were available. Even if it was just for a day so I could see these little people, and see my sisters as moms. I mean seriously, look at these kids....

Bella getting better at reading....

Bella has had some struggles with reading. The school has a "Reading Lab" program that Bella participates in. Each night, Bella brings home a book and reads it to us. I too have seen the improvement.

We got this great note from her reading lab teacher.

Hi Daina and Josh,

My name is XXXX and I teach in one of the Reading Lab rooms at Maple Grove. It's been such a pleasure for me to meet Bella and to begin working with her. She's making wonderful progress! Thank you so much for your continued practice at home... it truly makes all the difference in helping young learners become successful in their reading and writing!

Sincerely,

XXXXX
Reading Teacher

Nice to know that other people think Bella is as wonderful as Daina and I do.

Rejected Christmas Newsletter Idea

Typically I write a Christmas newsletter. This year, I just didn't get to it. Well I did, but Daina wasn't a fan of my idea. I was going to do a Christmas letter this year in chart format. Daina wasn't buying what I was selling. Here was one of the charts. Maybe if I get enough positive response I can sell Daina the idea next December.

Florence Drive, my first blog love

I haven't been blogging here as much as I have in the past. But I have a good excuse. I've been working on my company's blog - AdMavericks.

I encourage you to check it out, and if you leave a comment, don't do so as Josh's mom!

Florence Drive will have more regular posts when the baby arrives. Pictures, anecdotes and the like.

Have great days!

A Mover and a Shaker

This baby is up all night, squirming inside of Daina. The baby moves so much more than the other kids did, and all three of the kids love watching her move around. Little punches and kicks, Daina's tummy looks like something out of an alien movie. Its definitely the highlight of the evening for the kids, sitting around watching the baby kick. Good times.

Daina has never looked better pregnant than she does now. The only place she looks pregnant is in her belly. The doctor says the baby is laying sideways. Regardless, this kid is treating Daina's stomach like a punching bag. If this kid is up all night we are going to have some pretty long days at the Fleming house!

What Bella Learns At School

I try to make it a habit of asking each kid about their day, how it went, what they learned, that sort of thing.

On Monday night I was talking to Bella about her day. She typically has the least amount of information for me. The usual is, I don't know, I did reading, and math and stuff. But Monday night was different.

"Dad, I learned about Marty Looger Kong"

"What?"

"Yeah, Marty Looger Kong. We talked about him today, it is Marty Looker Kong's day today."

"Oh, Martin Luther King!"

"Yeah, Marty Looger Kong"

"And what did you learn?"

"That white people have had it easier than black people. We talked about different water fountains and bathrooms for black people, and the story about the lady on the bus."

"Well, that's great, Bella, what do you think about that?"

"It doesn't matter where you sit on the bus, I would have just been happy to be on a bus. I wanted to ride the bus to school but mom wants to take me in the morning."

"No, Bella, what do you think about all the stories you heard about Martin Luther King?"

"He was a good man. Black people were treated mean, and that's not nice. Black people are the same as everyone else"

A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM!

Drewisms

Drew is now 3 1/2 and is starting to have opinions and thoughts on just about everything. Here are some Drewisms.

Anyone: Drew, you look very handsome.
Drew: I know

Anyone: Drew, you know I love you?
Drew: Yes, you told me.

Anyone: Drew, I need you to do ________
Drew: No say that!

Anyone: Drew, its time to get ready for night night
Drew: No its not!

Drew is a big fan of the Mickey Mouse Club House show on the Disney Channel. The show always ends with the characters dancing around to a song that the kids have called "Hot Dog" - the lyrics go something like, "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" and Drew dances with the characters. If you don't dance with Drew during this part of the show he takes it personally. Drew's dance looks a lot like Mickey's version where I tend to have a preference to Goofy's style. Go figure.

Here is Drew doing the Hot Dog dance:


Here is Drew giving a little attitude:


Here is Drew bowling with paper towels. If you eat at our house, bringing your own napkins is advised.