firsts...

Jonathan has experienced a few "firsts" lately and I just have to share them. He had his first experience in the swimming pool - he's not a big fan... his trip in the pool lasted about 45 seconds - barely long enough for me to snap a shot of him! He also got to ride on a "tractor" at Grammy and Pa's house (lawn mower) - this was part of a week-long visit to Grammy and Pa's; another first for both the boys. We were away from them from Tuesday -Saturday (I did see them on Friday briefly before Billy and I headed off to Nashville for a wonderful relaxing evening to celebrate our fourth anniversary. We were a little nervous to leave them so long, BUT they had a blast and so did Grammy and Pa!!!!!

On a similar note, I can't make this post without saying I LOVE YOU SO MUCH to my awesome husband. I love our life and I love sharing everything about parenthood with you. Can't imagine anything different or better for our lives. You are a wonderful husband and the perfect daddy for our boys. What a role model you are for them - you will slowly teach them by example how to love other people, how to see the best in all situations (even when I see the glass as half empty), how to put others' needs and desires before theirs, and eventually, how to love their spouse in the way God would lead. You are amazing! I love you so much!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!!!!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Jonathan - Happy Birthday to you!!!! Big boy turned one yesterday and it was so much fun! I can't believe he's already one - really, this year has flown! He had so much fun at his party!!! He wore these cute little madras plaid shorts - all his shorts are so long because his leggies are SHORT!!!! They were precious. Here's a few pics from the day!

Thunderlight...

occasionally, I post about fun conversations with my little guy, Jacob... well, last night's was just too good not to share. We went to Target to pick up a few things for Big.Boy.Jonathan (I can't believe he's already 1!) On our way back home, it was thunderstorming - we kept trying to show Jacob the lightening as it was very very pretty (scary, but pretty!). Jacob started saying "where's the thunderlight" I thought that was SOOO cute - and I also think somewhere along the line, lightening got the wrong name - I think "thunderlight" is much more appropriate. Cute, huh?

babies - necessities or not???

Okay - so my friend Tiff recently created a post that inspired this one...she's a new mommy-to-be (YEAH for baby Keene) and went into Babies R Us and came out totally overwhelmed. There is so much to think about!!! So here's some of the things I either bought or received as a new mommy that just weren't as necessary as I thought they would be:
baby booties and baby shoes (maybe I'm a bad mom, but neither of my boys hardly ever wore shoes until they were crawling!!) I have a whole basket of shoes and booties that have never been worn!
Diaper genie - I know some people swear by them, but we rarely used ours and when we did, it was only for "pee" diapers - there's just something yucky about poopie diapers just sitting in a white trash can in the boys room - Kroger bags work like magic!!!
Blankets - i love baby blankets as they are so versatile, but seriously, I probably bought/received 25 blankets that were never ever used!!!! I ended up finding about 5 that Loved and used all the time.
Bottle Warmer - used it only once - a warm cup of water is MUCH easier, more portable and easier to explain to grandparents. :-)

Some things that I got and have used the heck out of: the pack n play -stays at the sitters - that's where they sleep!; extra car seat bases for the infant car seat - had one in each car and for the babysitter!; hooded towels - LOVE THEM!!!!; car organizer -thing that hangs on the back seat - great storage for toys and books as they get older; little tupperware dishes - great for snacks; spoons - I never seem to have enough - they seem to disappear!; tubes of diaper cream - seriously you need one in every room of the house (changing tables are over rated - the floor works much better for those wiggly little peeps!); extra pacis (if your baby uses one - be aware though...babies get to be very particular about the type of pacis they use!)

what about you???? Any thoughts on essentials for babies and toddlers? Any things I will just have to have as my boys get older???

Dear Jacob

Dear big boy,

Hi honey - it's mommy again -time for your monthly letter from me. :-) You are growing and changing so much! I just love watching you figuring out new things and learning so much. You have a very fun personality - some highlights from the last month:

You got a boo boo on your knee - you showed EVERYONE!!!! Even the lady at McAlisters who was checking us out. FUNNY! You were in Aunt Kelly and Uncle Shawn's wedding - you were hands down the CUTEST ring bearer ever. You loved your tuxedo. (Not a tux - you always corrected us when we called it a tux.) This letter's going to be a little different. Just so we never forget the funny things you say, I'm just going to make a list of them. It's so fun to hear you talk:

"manacain" (manaquin - you have this strange obsession with them...)

"How bout????" you always say this to us when you want something else.

"Member mommy? Member Daddy?"

"do you like jellyfish mommy?"

"Kissy Kiss" - hershey kiss

"this is a pork chop maker" - pointing to the grill

"salam" - salad - to you, a salad is cheese and bacon bits

"what time is it?" - you are actually showing some real smarts here - you know all the numbers

"2 more minutes"

"I need the troll" -(remote control)

And one of my all time favorites - "those aren't ducks mommy, those are geese." ahem - I stand corrected.

You are simply precious. Love you forever and always! You are and always will be my best little friend.
love, Mommy

Dear Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

Hi Sweet boy!!!!!!! I love you so much! You are just growing too fast! I can't believe you're going to be one in two weeks! It's really hard to believe. This time last year, I just couldn't wait to see what you would look like, to hold you and snuggle you. You exceeded all my expectations - you are perfect!

here are some of the really cute things you do and say right now:

You love balls - love to bounce them, throw them, catch them, chase them... so cute!

You are turning into a little bit of a TV junkie - you love watching praise baby - you get so excited when the other little babies come on. You wave your arms at them like you're trying to grab them.

You love to "cook" - when Mommy's in the kitchen, all I have to do is open up the shelf with the pots and pans and you just go to town. You get really big spoons and stir away - I don't know what you're cooking, but it sure is yummy!

You love the sandbox - I was a little nervous about letting you play with it, but you love it - you never even attempt to eat the sand (which is what I was afraid of!)

You love to walk in the laundry room and play with the garbage can - weird, I think, but it sure fascinates you!

You love to go on walks! You laugh at our shadows.

You DO NOT like to stand or walk in the grass - don't know why, but you really can't stand it.

You love wind chimes - you grab them every time you walk by.

You sometimes throw tantrums - like full blown tantrums - you scream, throw yourself back and cry - they only last about 10 seconds, but they are definitely tantrums. oh gosh - what's next???

YOU ARE SLEEPING SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! thank you thank you thank you for that!

You were "dedicated" to the Lord last weekend at church and we pray for you all the time. The verse we have chosen for you is Matt 22:37.

Baby boy, I love you so much! I'll be your best friend and biggest fan all the days of your life!

Love, Mommy

(here you are after finding a "treasure" in the laundry room!)

Being a mommy

Being a mommy is a great great thing. Mother's Day has always been fun, because I have a great mommy! The last three mommy days have been so special with my little sweeties! Yesterday, I got the sweetest gifts - first, Jacob made the most adorable card for me in Sunday school - I love it and will truly treasure it forever! Then, Billy made me a little scrapbook with some special pics of the boys - it's a pre-made Hallmark scrapbook with places to journal. He took so much time to write special messages all throughout the book. I love it!!!!! I promise, it's one of the things (after my boys of course) that I'd grab if our house was on fire. I really have the best husband in the world - sorry all you ladies. I really do have the best!!!!!

Mother's day was very special for lots of reasons - it was baby dedication day at church so we dedicated Jonathan to the Lord - Billy and I pray for our boys every day! We chose Matt. 22:37 as our life verse, so it's only fitting that it's the verse we pray over both our boys. The day was quite eventful... Billy had been out of town ALL week and was scheduled to fly in at 9:55. WELL, at 8:45, I got a message that his plane was delayed. Thank the Lord, he made it - with one minute to spare for baby dedication. Literally, he walked in at 10:59 - thank you Jesus!!! Then Jacob proceeded to run up and down the isles while we were on stage....i just knew that all eyes were on me, the MOTHER of that silly little person.

All in all though, as I reflect, being a mommy is my most important job. I sure am not perfect at it - in fact a lot of times I down right stink at it, but I try so hard to be a good mommy to these boys. I pray all the time for wisdom and the right "trick" that will help them be obedient and respectful. Lord help me with that one...

Here's a few shots from our special day. Thank you Jesus for the most wonderful family ever!!! I am blessed beyond imagination!

Easter Blessings

A penny for your thoughts...

Well, a new first as a mommy today. Jonathan almost swallowed a penny. See, he's a very curious young fella - much more curious than Jacob. Ms. Mary (our wonderful awesome babysitter) gave Jacob a couple of special coins for this piggy bank. He took them out of his pocket and of course Jonathan started exploring...I was in the other room during the event. I came in and Jonathan was chewing up a storm. I said "Jonathan honey, what do you have in your mouth." Jacob promptly and sweetly replied " my penny mommy. I gave it to Baby Jon - isn't that nice?" hmmmm. Yes, sweetie, it's so nice to share but OH MY GOSH HE HAS A PENNY IN HIS MOUTH!!!!!!!!! were my thoughts. I was able to remove the penny with no problem, but I was so freaked out...I was afraid we might me making a trip to the ole emergency room for operation penny extraction.

My kiddos keep things interesting - that's for sure!! I l-o-v-e every single second of being a mommy!

what we've been up to..

These boys sure are keeping us busy. They love love love each other. Jonathan is getting big enough to really go at it with his brother (as you can see above). He's just recently got big enough to return some "love" to his big bro! All I have to say is "ata boy, Jonathan - way to "get him back." They have a very special relationship - sometimes, they actualy play together - Jacob reads books to his bubby and Jonathan hangs on every word. They play together in the bathtub and with everything else. It never fails though that as soon as Jonathan picks up a toy, Jacob is quick to grab it. Oh sibling rivalry...at it's finest.

The bottom picture is one of my favorites - the boys love looking out the window - especially when they are waiting for a certain big blue car with their favorite person ever to drive up!

What a joy these two are. love my boys!!

VERY expensive 2 liter

Oh gosh - I have a confession of one of the dumbest things I've done in a long time. First of all, let me preface this with he fact that this week has been one of the busiest ever for us... Billy's got his HUGE mock trial tournament this weekend that he coordinates so he's worked late every night - really late. Crazy stuff - anyway, yesterday, he worked from 7:15am - 10:30 pm. He did stop by home briefly on his way from Louisville back to Frankfort and we had some pizza. He got home and I ran to get it so he could see the boys for a minute...well, being the sweet wife that I am, when I got to Papa Johns, I bought a 2 liter of coke for Billy because we were all out at home. The coke cost 2.95 - which I think is slightly ridiculous...oh but the story doesn't end there. I paid for my pizza, cheese sticks AND coke and promptly got back in the big blue van and went home. When I got home, I took the pizza in and Billy said "oh man, I wish we had some coke." Uggghhh - I slapped my head and said "ugggh - I bought one. A really expensive one and walked out of the darn store without it." SOOOOOOO, because it's been a really tough week for Billy and I know that he's totally addicted to caffeine, I marched back to the van and headed back to Papa Johns... well, when I was on the way, a car was zooming straight at me on Logan street and I had to swerve not to be hit head on...AND I KNOCKED THE PASSENGER MIRROR OFF THE BIG BLUE VAN as I promptly hit another parked car's side mirror. HORROR!!!! (confession - I kept driving - got the stupid coke, and brought it back home...I came back the same way and the car on Logan was still there - no damage to that mirror, praise the Lord!!!) The only thing worth salvaging... Billy drank the whole silly coke last night and this morning. :-)

Luckily it was only the mirror, but I can only imagine the nice bill we'll get from the Toyota dealer when we have to get the whole thing replaced - especially since it's electronic and all. So, that darn 2 liter is likely to cost a whopping $500 or something - if it's more than that, I'll just throw up...what a dumb thing to have to claim on insurance. Umm, "maam, can you tell me what happened to your mirror?" "well, I was driving to get a $3 coke and I hit a parked car..." WOW.

what a night.

Dear Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,
SWEET BABY BOY, I love you so much! You bring us so much joy - that smile of yours is just amazing - I love those little teeth - all 8 of them. You are quite a little chunk - weighing in at 22 1/2 pounds. You're about to catch up to your brother. :-)

You have lots of new favorites things - you're learning so much and I appreciate your curiosity. You love balls - and you're really quite coordinated. You can "catch" balls and can roll them back to me with ease. You love to chase them around all over the room and think it's just hysterical when mommy or daddy dribble the balls. I have a hunch that your love of balls will lead to a very special bond between you and your daddy.

You also LOVE LOVE LOVE your big brother and want to be everywhere he is. When he's in the room, you crawl up to him so fast and just climb all over him. It's really funny! It scares me to death because I'm afraid you'll get hurt, but you seem totally unphased. You also are very very curious. You love to pick up all mommy's 'prettys' - things you'll have to learn aren't for little boys. Redirection works well for you now though.

You love food - any food. Really, I think if I left you in your high chair all day long, you'd continue to eat and eat. You love noodles, bread, cheese - everything really. I'm proud that you eat so well.

One little word of advise - PLEASE PLEASE sleep all night long (just like you did last night.) I know you can do it!!! :-)

I love you to pieces my little friend!
MOMMY

Dear Jacob

Dear Jacob,
what a sweet boy you are - you have the most infectious laugh of anyone I've ever known. My favorite thing ever is when you and your bubby play and laugh together. Jacob, you are growing so fast. I love having conversations with you...here's a recent sample when we were in the car taking Jonathan to his 9 month check up.
mommy "Jacob - do you know that Easter is coming up?"
jacob"yeah I do. What's Easter mommy?"
mommy"Easter's very special honey - it's when we celebrate that Jesus is alive."
jacob" he's alive in mine heart."
mommy "absolutely - that's exactly where he wants to live."
jacob"mommy, does Jesus live in Dr. Robson's heart?"

PRECIOUS... just precious. I love how you are putting things together and trying to make sense of life. You are very curious and you started using the word "why" all the time just recently. I also love it when you say prayers before meals - it sounds like this..."god is great, god is good andajdlsjdflasjdofisdjfloajdf amen." You say it all so fast. It's hilarious and so sweet!!!

You love to be outside - I think you'd live out there if we'd let you. You even laid down on the porch yesterday and asked me to change your bottom ("bobbom"). You are just now expressing interest in your sandbox and love to pretend to make me cookies and special treats. You have quite the imagination.

You are a very very good boy, most all of the time. When you don't get your way, sometimes you scream and yell NO very emphatically, but you recover so well and can be so very sweet. I love it when you say "hold ya" which means please pick me up.

You, my little friend, are a big time daddy's boy. You and your daddy have so much fun together. I know you appreciate your special times at nite nite time - we do know that one day, you will totally sleep by yourself, but for now, Daddy sure does love telling stories with you.

We love you so much and are so appreciative that you are our little boy. We pray for you all the time - we pray for the man you'll become, that we'll be good parents and that you will have a very happy life.

love you little man!!!!
MOMMY

You know you're a mommy of little ones when...

1. You can't remember the last time you actually dried your hair with the blow dryer and wore it in a style other than the trusty pony tail.
2. You understand the need for clearly defined rules when it comes to playdoh.
3. You find puffs and cheerios in very strange places - your friend may even point out that one is stuck to your rear end on the way to church... (and you don't even think that's strange.)
4. You believe that shaving your legs is as big an accomplishment as getting your college degree. Seriously - can I get a witness on this one???
5. You believe that a little piece of paper with scribbles is WAY more valuable than any ole Picasso painting!
6. You find yourself actually wondering what today's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode will be about.
7. Your heart melts when your children play together - really play together. It's so cute!!!
8. Your heart breaks when your child has the sniffles and a bad cough might just send you over the edge.
9. Your idea of a fun Friday night now includes going to GattiLand or Chuck E Cheese.
10. You find yourself still watching your little sweeties sleep - there's nothing better than a sleeping angel.
11. You pray more than you ever have in your whole life - praying that you'll do the right thing, that they'll grow up and choose to love the Lord, that they'll never get their feelings hurt...really that they'll have the best, happiest life possible.
12. You can't wait for the next slobbery kiss or little arms reaching for you.

:-)

Friends forever!

If you are in our Sunday School class, you know that we are building a football team. Seriously - almost every child born to people in our class has been or will be a boy! It's very cool to think that these little people wll grow up together and will know each other so well. Here's a few shots of my boys and one of their best friends Walker Webb. We just know they'll grow up as close as their daddys are...how cool is that?

Dear Jonathan

Dear Baby Jonathan, (big 'on, nosy rosy, johnny p... you pick the nickname.)

You are growing so incredibly fast. You are a man on the move, let me tell you. You are crawling at absolute warp speed and can pull up and cruise all around the place as long as there's something to hang on... you've even stood by yourself for a few seconds. I know you'll be walking before we know it. Unbelievable.

You are such a sweet snuggly little guy. And SOOO happy! You have 8 teeth now and I just love your little cheesy grins where you show each of those cute little teeth to whoever will look!

For some reason, you've been on a little bit (no strike that - a complete) of a bottle strike these days - it's freaking me out a little, but maybe you're just ready to move on to the next big step - sippy cups. We've been trying to give you as much milk as possible in cereal, but I'm still a little worried. Don't grow up so fast, kiddo!!!

You continue to admire your big brother and love every second of attention he gives you - even if you get hurt in the process. :-) Not that he would do anything intentionally, but.... no one can make you laugh the way he does. It is a really neat relationship.

You are the best little baby - I love you with all my heart little bug. You are so curious and sweet - I hope that never goes away!!

Love you,
Mommy

Dear Jacob

It's time for themonthly insallment of my sentiments to my sweeties:

Dear Jacob,

How in the world are you already 2 1/2 years old? You are so grown up and I'm so proud to be your mommy. You make your daddy and me laugh at least 15 times each day. You are so smart and have a near perfect memory (especially when it comes to a treat you may have been promised.)

I'm amazed by your love for music. It is really precious. You have 4 guitars and play them all every day. You share with whoever's around too so we can sing songs and dance and be really silly. You have a great little voice - it's so cute. You like to sing he ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, How Great is our God, Famous One, and all the Imagination Movers' songs. You don't always know all the words, but you sure have the tunes down. we wonder if you might be the next Chris Tomlin...

I love the way you smile and play with your brother. Just last night, you sat in front of him and "read" him some books. Memories I will have forever include your first moments really playing together.

You have turned in to quite the picky eater (I have no idea where you might have gotten that from by the way...) - you don't even like pizza most days. oh my, what will we do? Good thing you LOVE "macanoni" - we eat it almost every meal.

We're still struggling with sleep issues in our house - you have your daddy wrapped right around your finger when it comes to nite nite time - your convinced that he has to lay down with you til you fall asleep...hmmm. We can't wait until you and your brother choose to sleep together.

We love you little man - you are a unique and funny little person. You are one of our best little friends ever!
Love,
mommy

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life and my very best friend in the whole wide world!! I feel so blessed to have Billy by my side through all the fun times in life (and not so fun times too). My awesome hubby arranged for my wonderful in-laws (really - they are wonderful - have to b the BEST in-laws on the planet) to baby sit the boys for us on Friday night and we went to dinner. We tried to make a rule not to talk about the boys, but all you parents know that's just not possible - but, we did manage to make it through without calling to check on them one single time. :-) It was a fantastic night - I'm so thankful for the man he is and the awesome daddy he is to our boys. No one could ask for a better role model! That's why God gave us boys, I'm convinced, so they might imitate their sweet daddy!!!!

Oh - as a bonus - a really big bonus - we got each other a laptop for V-day! Yippee - so now as soon as I can find my camera cord, I'll get to blog some pictures. We are so blessed - I love you crockels!!!!! You are and will forever be my very best friend.

My good friend Rachie passed this charge along -so I'll try to fulfill her request - to impart 10 pearls of wisdom about myself...okay maybe not ten pearls, but 10 honest facts, so here's my feeble attempt. I realized I'm not nearly as talented as my Rachie - no rapping for this chic! :-)

1. My weakness - BROWNIES!!! I have (on more than one occasion - and not just when I was pregnant) made brownies and eaten the WHOLE pan by myself sans the edges. I hate the edges. Poor Billy - he lifts up the lid or foil and to his surprise, they're all gone. yikes...

2. I hate the edges on anything - brownies, toast, anything really. Except cornbread - I only eat the edges on that stuff. weird, I know.

3. I have been out of the country three times- one trip logged more than 20000 skymiles - all the way to Zimbabwe, which is one of the most memorable times in my life and also when I realized I was madly in love with Billy, even though we'd only just met.

4. Once, in high school, my three best girlfriends and I were on America's Funniest People.

5. I had really big hair in the 7th grade (and 8th grade, I think). The kind of hair that you curl the bottom of your bangs down and flip the top part up as high as it would go.

6. I'm still a daddy's girl - always will be I think!

7. When I go "home" my mom still cooks me my favorite breakfast - gravy and biscuits. YUMMY!

8. I lived within 5 miles of both my grandparents when I was little and I loved all of them so much - I still have my granny - she's really sick, but I'm thankful to still have her.

9. One of the best things about being a parent is watching my parents be "Pa and Grammy" to our boys - I seriously think they like the boys better than me. :-)

10. I am the world's worst dishwasher loader - really. Billy (bless his patient little heart) always has to re-do it. So, conveniently, now, I just don't even bother. :-) Funny how that works - it used to work when I was a teenager too - I wasn't very good at mowing the yard. I always ran over stuff -so finally, my dad gave up and said I didn't ever have to do it.

11. I'd give my right arm for a full night's sleep and to sleep in - by sleep in, I mean sleep past 6 am!!!!! (I love my boys - but sheesh, they make me tired!!!)

Okay - I know's 11, but the last one is a bonus. Enjoy!

Daddy's Big Mistake

This past Saturday Daddy did something he will never do again. We were on our way home from Jerry and Amy's house to get some clothes for Jacob. We had been iced out of our house for several days and we needed a change of clothes for the big boy. We arrived home and Jonathan was a sleep, so I decided I would wait in the van with the boys. As mommy went inside to get Jacob some clothes, I unbuckled Jacob and asked him to go to the back of the van. For we were going to change his clothes so I figured I would give him a break and let him out of his car seat. He went to the back of the van and I asked him to watch me as I got the mail. I went outside, got the mail and came back to the van. Then mommy came out the front door and it was still very icy so I went to the steps to help her down. When we made it back to the van, Jacob was in the driver's seat with both hands on the wheel smiling from ear to ear. The van was running and the problem was, Jacob had somehow found the button to lock the van. Mommy and I both paniced for all the doors were locked. Daddy ran inside for the spare keys and ran outside and hit the unlock button, but I learned the doors will not unlock with that button while the van is running. At this point, Jacob had made his way over to the passenger's seat. Mommy somehow had Jacob push the button to let the window down and so mommy quickly unlocked the doors. Jacob thankfully loves buttons. This was one of the most panic-times I can remember, and thank the Lord everything was okay. I have never been so thankful for the fact that you have to have your foot on the break to get the van out of gear. You better believe I will never make that mistake again. Since then, I thought that I should have actually inserted the key into the van to unlock it, but at that moment in time, I was not thinking, not thinking at all.