June 20

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Wow...  I am SO lucky.  I have the most amazing men in my life to wish a happy day to.

First, to my Father.  He gets first billing because he's been around the longest.  He also has had to put up with me in all of those very unflattering and ill-behaved teenage moments, and I had a LOT of those.  My Dad is not just the guy I go to when I need help, he's also one of the best friends.  I call him when I'm happy or sad, or when I have nothing to say at all.  He's one of those Dad's the everyone I know is jealous of, the kind who was never controlling, but also never too easy on me.

If you are a regular reader or if you know me personally, you know this year has been a tough one on my family.  I am forever grateful for my Dad in all of that, for a man who has EVERY RIGHT to completely fall apart, he has been inspiring.  The sadness does not rule him and that strength has flowed downhill to all of our family.

Dad, I love you more than you know, but I also have the utmost respect for you and the way you see life.  You inspire me.  Thanks for always just being there, even when I'm crazy!  Most importantly, thanks for being such a wonderful Grandpa to Jake, he is so lucky.


















Jess, thanks for being the most amazing "Da" to our little boy.  I knew when we got married that you were going to be a great Dad, but every single day you do something that is just spectacular, from your ability to put the BIGGEST smile on Jacob's face to the way that you care for him when he is hurt or sad.  I know that being a Dad has made you whole, we never knew that Jake was missing, until he came into our lives and changed them forever.

I appreciate that neither of us has to go at this parenting thing alone, we are true partners, which is funny since most of our parenting is done in opposite shifts.  I love how much you adore Jake, and how you never forget to adore me in the midst of our crazy lives!

Being that our 5 year wedding anniversary is just around the corner I am going to save the rest of my gushing for that blog!












Oh and stay tuned for the father's day gifts I made for Jess and my Dad, I can't show you them yet because Dad reads this blog and I haven't seen him to give it to him!

June 19

Can YOUR baby read?

Mine can! Well, sorta, kinda, not really.

He can, however, watch the Your Baby Can Read DVD's now!

A few months ago I found the Starter Disk of the set at Goodwill - SCORE!  I think it was $2.  Jake has been watching it off and on since then and really loves it.  He will do the motions and giggles at the dogs and everything.

So, while we were watching it on Sat with Lollie, I got an idea to check Craigslist to see if I could get the set for a reasonable price...

DOUBLE SCORE!

There was an ad for the whole set with extras for $65! Lollie immediately jumped on board and we loaded up into the car to meet the lady.  Guess what - the set was BRAND NEW - still in the wrapper!

So now that we have directions and know what to do - Jake is watching the DVD 2x a day and then in a month we'll move on to the next disk!

Stay tuned for updates....

June 18

We ended up at the pediatricians office today...  

Last night, when Jess was getting Jake ready for bed he noticed big white welts surrounded by warm red skin on our little boys thigh.  This pretty much alarmed both of us, but after taking pictures and sending them to a nurse friend we were assured that there was no reason to head to the ER, but that we needed to call the Dr in the morning.

By the morning he had them everywhere, but the ones on the thigh had gone away, so I called the Dr and was told to come in that afternoon!

Turns out, Jake basically had hives - the doctor called them something much more complicated, but basically he said to give him benedryl until the hives stopped coming back.

Talk about stressing a Momma out!

About 20 mins after a dose of benedryl the hives magically disappear - so I HOPE this doesn't last but a few days!  The benedryl seems to make him feel a little out of sorts... poor Boogie.

June 17

Today, I dusted off the old stroller and Jake and I headed out to the park!






This little boy is so much like his Daddy - he LOVES to just watch people... Other kids showed up and he was mesmerized...

June 16

Today we went to meet ANOTHER new baby!  Jake actually does pretty well with this, he gets a little jealous, but not too bad at all.

This is Decker at 2 days old...

Decker did not like it when I unswaddled him!

 Jake was also adorable today...

Daddy was outside mowing the grass and he climbed on his own into the kitchen window sill.

June 15

Jake also loves Layla!

In fact, every time he sees one of the dogs he hugs and kisses them - our dogs get more kisses from him than WE do!

It is adorable though!

Here he is hugging Layla's neck...  this was right after he smothered her in kisses!



Layla does not look amused... but she secretly loves it!

June 14

We discovered a new playground today!  Well, we knew it was there, but just never visited it.

Anyways, I think this is going to be great!  It's about 3/4 of a mile or so from the house, so I'm going to start trying to walk there with Jake in the stroller a few times a week.

June 13

Jake loves his Grandpa - and he has the shirt to prove it.

Don't worry Lollie - we are working on a shirt for you. :)

June 12

Jake's Grandpa came to visit today!  He came bearing gifts - a new CD burner for me (w/CD's) - so if I take pictures of you and you want a CD I can EASILY do that now!  YAY!

Then we went to a BBQ competition in Lockhart - that was fun, but HOT!  Arnold and his girlfriend Amy were judging and got Dad in on the action - he got to judge the finals for RIBS!  YUM!

I think reignited Jess' interest in participating in BBQ competitions, which is exciting!  Hopefully, they can get the pit done so maybe we can start in the fall when it cools off a little.

Jess has a bachelor party, so in the evening Dad, Jake and I went to dinner for my birthday dinner - I was really proud of my little guy because he is starting to be able to handle restaurants again!  Hopefully this keeps up!  :)

June 11

Today we got to meet some friends of ours newest addition!

Breele is an ADORABLE baby girl - I tried to steal her, but Jess put his foot down.

She was sleeping most of our visit - while I snuggled her of course, but I did snap this one photo of Breele in her Daddy's arms.

June 10

Got my new phone and it's glitchy.

In fact, it's messed up.

ARGH!

Craigslist did us wrong.... I can't complain too much though because I have bought more than my fair share of good deals off of it.  This just comes with the territory sometimes.

LUCKILY - I have wonderful friends who are shipping me a G1 to use - YAY!  Love you Nick and Wendy!  So, the phone debacle will soon end (hopefully). Now, I am going to start breaking Jake of the cell phone habit.  It really has gotten a bit out of control!

June 9

This blogging every day things had gotten tough!  

Sorry folks, but I promise I will try to do better! 

Anyways, yesterday was ok, today Jess is getting my new blackberry so I'm very excited about that!  

June 8

Today is my birthday!

Typically, I LOVE my birthday, I prefer to celebrate it for at least a week.

This year is most definitely different.  I'm not sure exactly why, a combination of things I suppose, none of which I can fix.  None the less, this year has flown by, but at the same time seems like it has been about 4 years all wrapped up into one.

So many things have changed in my life in the last year, but I guess that is just the way life goes...

The most obvious change can be seen in Jake...





Well... and the few lbs I have gained in that last year...

June 7

Talk about salt to a wound...  Did you all hear the news?!

There a new iPhone 4 coming out!?!?

Too bad we still have 6 months on our contract with another carrier, but I am SERIOUSLY excited about the new iPhone.

I know there are lot of people out there who love the droids, but other than the fact that the new iPhone is seriously amazing looking, I need one because I WORK AT APPLE!  I look like a total doofus with my blackberry at the office.  Imagine the funny looks I am getting with the Nokia.

Anyways, on a less technological front...  Jake has all of a sudden starting picking up on the sign language we have been half heartedly trying to teach him.

Currently he knows "more" and "eat" (although he often uses more in place of eat, but we're working on it) and we are teaching him "finished" and "thank you".

I'm trying to decide what to do next.

Any ideas from Mom's who have taught their kiddos to sign?

June 6

This morning was COMPLETELY lazy...  just what we needed!

Since my blackberry has DIED (Sad, I know), my Dad was sweet enough to send me this little jewel to use until I can get a new phone.

(Drumroll please...)



I know... you can be jealous.

Thanks again Dad!

June 5

The shower was a big success!   Of course I didn't take any pictures, but here is one of the whole group I stole from the Bride's facebook. ;)

This evening we (more specifically Jess) made dinner for my brother and his girlfriend and I must say that it was absolutely wonderful.  We just ate and then visited - I miss hanging out with my brother!

June 4

I love MARTHA!

Martha Stewart's wonderfully creative party ideas that is...

I'm making these : 

and this banner :

The colors of the wedding are black and pink with zebra print - so that's what I am using for the colors of the shower!

June 3

AHH!  I have a big fun creative project that I have to get done for the weekend - I am stressed and excited!

So, I LOVE LOVE LOVE planning parties, but lately I haven't had much going on.  A friend of mine is hosting a wedding shower and it got a little away from her so now I'm in charge of everything other than the food for SATURDAY!

I have been reading all of these fabulous blogs and have some great ideas, so as stressful as the next little bit is going to be, I am feeling excited about the challenge and getting some of my creative juices flowing again.

June 2

Today was a little blah...

Lately motivation and I have not been working together...

I've also been without a phone for this week, hopefully that will work itself out in the next few days.

June 1

And I thought I was a control freak! ;)


(it's a little fuzzy, but too funny not to share!)

May 31

Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks to all of you who serve and have served in the military - thanks for fighting for our country.

I also think that it is important to thank the military families - the wives and husbands who fight their own wars at home, while waiting for their soldiers to return.

May 30

We've been needing to do some serious work at my Dad's for MONTHS, luckily he is an amazingly patient man who has just been waiting his turn.  This weekend was it!

We took a long weekend and my hubby, Dad and I worked our tails off at his house.  I got a wild hair and rearranged the living room in the middle of the night Friday night, so that created quite a bit of cleaning and cleaning out.  We also finished demo-ing the guest bath, did some work on the outside of the house, put up a new set of blinds, and some other odds and ends.

Here are a few pics of the work in progress:

May 28

This evening we headed back to the town where Jess and I grew up and our families still live.

It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive, which is usually not TOO bad with the toddler on board. USUALLY.

This time it was like... well...  Like nails on a chalkboard bad.

B A D

He is having  hard time these days sitting still for that long, but my dear husband does not like to stop, so I ended up trying EVERYTHING to entertain this child. 

I put a movie on my laptop - he wanted to hold the laptop, he didn't care a thing about the movie.

I fed him cheese - he ate a bite and then fed it to the dogs.

We played peek a boo - for 30 seconds.

I gave him each of our phones - he called random people and screamed when I tried to hang up the phone.

My previously neat and tidy car is now a wasteland for everything within reach of me in the front seat.

What do you do to entertain your toddlers in the car?

May 27

I finished the dress!  YAY!  All in one night!

It isn't perfect, but I'm happy with it.

This is my first Pillow Case dress, and I know that I will make more of these because it was actually really easy to do for a novice like me.

I really enjoy sewing, but I am no good at working from a pattern.  I have made lots of costumes and things like that because I can just make it up as I go.  After consulting a few different sights online I just put my petal to the metal and went for it!

Here are the results...

What I started with:


Finished Product:

May 29

Today we worked a LOT at my Dad's, but I'll post more about that tomorrow.

We took Jake to the lake in the afternoon for a birthday party for Rylee, that was a lot of fun, but he was pooped from playing with Lollie all morning and it was HOT so we left fairly quickly.

Earlier in the day Jess was driving down the highway with the window down and got something in his eye.  After the party it was still watering a giving him trouble so after consulting a friend we decided to skip the ER and head in to see an optometrist who was on call.  THANK GOODNESS for that.  Poor Jess got a ton of relief and everything was fine.

We learned 2 lessons from that:
1. ALWAYS WEAR SUNGLASSES (SAFETY GLASSES) WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH THE WINDOWS DOWN AFTER CUTTING WOOD.

2. NEVER BOTHER WITH THE ER WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN YOUR EYE - OPTOMETRISTS ARE ALWAYS ON CALL (who would have known)

After a lovely dinner with my family we put an EXHAUSTED Jake to bed and I went and had drinks with one of my oldest friends Amanda.  It was lovely and I had been needing that time with her, without our munchkins.

Here is a pic from back in the day...  That was (and is always) our little group - the 2 girls are Amanda and myself.