The Bush's

Jake's 3rd Birthday Party!

2012-01-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

We had Jake's 3rd birthday party at the McWane Center on Saturday. I was a little apprehensive about it because it was our first time to do a party outside our home & I've never been to a birthday party there. They did a good job & I LOVED just being able to show up, hang out with guests at the party & then have them clean up! I was a little bummed that they had strict rules about no hanging things & no balloons (which basically meant no decorations). Which of course once we got there, they said of course we could hang things (darn me being a rule follower!). So I threw up a little photo banner that I had planned hanging from the tablecloth. Oh well, my pocketbook is smiling at least. The best part of the party is all of our friends & family that joined us. Jake had been so excited about the party and he was not disappointed. He loved playing with his friends & especially loved the cake. Thank you everyone who came and made his day so special.

With our McWane package, you got to pick a "specialist" to come & do a party demonstration. We picked a "bubble-ologist ".

Playing with the bubble tub in the party room

Sweet Samuel & Hill enjoying some bubbles

Jake refused to let me get a picture of him standing still

Jake spent the entire time of everyone singing Happy Birthday to him drinking his juice box

Jake & Jude

Emily Grace & Addie

Emily & Marrell

Anna James

Enjoying the birthday cake

He really enjoyed it

The setup was very nice. One part of the room was used for the birthday cake and the other part of the room the kids could just play in. It allowed for plenty of room for the adults. We had the party room for an hour then everyone got to go enjoy the children's museum.

My attempt at a group picture

Jude & Connor

The McWane employees gave our guests some noise makers. The kids of course used them as everything but. They were swords, golf clubs, wands, etc...

Connor & Jake playing in the museum

Jake & Marrell

Cousins! Marrell, Maddox & Jake

The kids playing

Dancing

The Strickland's spent the night with us. Jake was excited to have Addie spend the night.

Addie trying to kiss Jake

Happy Birthday Party Jake! We love you!!

Good-bye 2011

2012-01-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

Recap of previous years posts (click title to go back):
2008 Surprises
2009 Happiness
2010 Peace
2011 Change

2011 was definitely a year of changes. We started the year celebrating Jake's 2nd birthday with his "friends" birthday party in Chattanooga. It was bittersweet, because we knew that it would be the last big gathering with our friends in our Chattanooga house. In January Jake & I moved down to Birmingham to join Robbie who had been there since November. We went from a 3 bed / 2 ½ bath 2 story house to a 2 bed / 2 bath corporate furnished apartment. I went from working outside the home in the corporate office 50 hours a week to part time remote working from home about 35 hours a week. Jake went to full time daycare to Mother’s Day Out at Valleydale every morning from 9:30-1:30. All of this in 1 month. We adjusted fine & were just enjoying all being back under the same roof. In the spring, we welcomed new little friends Tharp & Harper. Robbie & I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in April. In May, our time in the corporate apartment was up & since our house in Chattanooga had still not sold, we moved in with Robbie’s parents. With the new location & being the summer, Jake changed Mother’s Day Out programs & started attending Asbury Tues-Wed-Thurs from 9:30-1:30. In July our house sold. Praise!! Also in the summer, we welcomed new little friends Lucy & Hill. In August we took a mini-family vacation with my best friend Stephanie & her family to the beach. In September we bought our house & moved in. Yea to having room again! Also September Robbie celebrated his 33rd birthday and Jake started his permanent Mother’s Day Out program at Westwood and he loves it the best! In the winter, I celebrated my 33rd birthday & we welcomed new little friends Mia & Mary. We celebrated Jake's 3rd birthday with a small party with our families. He will have his big birthday party in January & he is so excited. Robbie & I ended the year with friends on Ono Island for New Year's.

Some of the changes were fun, some were stressful, but they were all part of God’s plan for our life. So good-bye 2011!!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Christmas!

2011-12-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

This has been a very special Christmas for us. We are all together, finally settled in a location we will hopefully be in for more than 6 months. Jake is at such a fun age. He is exploring & starting to figure things out. Jake understands parts of Christmas, but not all. His school focused on the birth of Jesus instead of Santa Clause. They didn't "outlaw" Santa, they just didn't talk about him or make him the focus. We don't really have any Santa decorations, so while Jake knows who Santa is, he really doesn't understand that Santa comes & brings gifts. And that is fine with me. I know in the next few years, Santa will become a bigger deal to him. But right now, I'll take & cherish the fact that he could care less if Santa visited him or not and was more excited to talk about baby Jesus. I thought maybe after Christmas morning, when he saw the presents Santa brought, he would get it. He didn't. We asked him what Santa brought him & he said "nothing". We asked him who brought him those presents & he started naming his grandparents.

Santa brought Jake 2 big gifts - a V Tech tablet (basically an iPad for toddlers) and a train table & track. We wanted a table that could grow with Jake & be used for things other than trains. My husband (a person after my own heart) couldn't find one in a store he liked, so he decided to make it. We finally fell into bed around 2:00 AM Christmas morning. We really did feel like Christmas elves. We were not just putting together a child's toy, we were making it. (And when I say "we", I actually mean just Robbie. I was no help. I was up working on my own projects.)

There are actually lots of trains & a little city that goes with the train track, but Santa knew since we would be moving it to Jake's room after Christmas morning, he left those in the box.

Christmas Morning!

Jake Christmas Morning - I was sooooo excited to see what Jake thought when he saw all of his toys. He just kept standing in front of them looking at them, saying he liked it. Then he turned around & saw his old toys in a basket in the back of the room & proclaimed "oh my toys, I want to play with them!" and ran to them. We had to tell him he had to play with his new toys today. Once we got things out from under the tree, he started to slowly start playing with them. I guess it was a little overwhelming for him.

He is better than me on the tablet. I was having trouble just getting it to come on.

I actually made a breakfast dish for Christmas morning. It was my first time to bake from scratch. I'm not going to lie. I cannot taste the difference. Definitely going with the mix next time.

The Bush's came over & saw Jake's gifts that Santa brought him. Then we headed down to Prattville to celebrate Christmas with my family.

Our family

Can you tell they were excited?

After the tornado went through

Nana & Gran's big gift to the grand kids was this McDonald's restaurant set. The kids were about as efficient and organized as most fast food restaurants are.

My grandmother's sister, Aunt Virgina, gave the granddaughters some of her old wigs to play with. They reminded me of the Golden Girls.

The Hollon Family (can you tell a little boy who is over-stimulated?)

Some of Jake's favorite gifts....

He got a camera from Mimi & Granddad

My sister got Jake the cute pajamas that he is wearing in these pictures (which I love!). Her husband told her there was no way they were going to be the aunt & uncle that just bought their nieces/nephews clothes. So they ventured out to Target to purchase "fun" gifts. Well they succeeded. They got Jake a car that lights up, makes noises & drives off. It also has no on/off switch or volume control. I'll make sure he brings it to their house the next time he stays with them.

Cousin Jackson got Jake the Diesel's Thomas movie for his birthday. We've only watched it 100 times so far. A little 2 page flyer came with the DVD. Jake loves it & "reads" it all the time. He is so funny with it.

He got lots of cars for Christmas

I love to find the random places he will have them all lined up

My parents got him for his birthday the garbage truck from Toy Story 3 with a talking Lotso on the front. Love a gift that combines 2 joys... Garbage Trucks & Toy Story

For his birthday, Aunt Lindsey & Uncle Brooks got Jake a sword fighting costume. I was taking these pictures while sword fighting with him. (He only has 1 sword, which he always gets & whoever is fighting him, has to just fight with the sword holder.)

Mimi & Granddad got him a talking globe & karaoke machine

My parents got him a boxing Sponge Bob air bag & blowup gloves. It's hilarious to watch him box.

Jackson got Jake a paper foldup train track with miniture Thomas trains. Jake loves it.

My parents big gift to Jake was a grill. He is so excited about it, but it has been too cold & rainy to put it together & out by Dad's grill. Every time he sees it, he asks me if he can "cook it".

Another combination love of 2 things - Scooby Doo & Pirates

Jake still has some gifts that we are trying to space out & give him. I want him to be able to enjoy his gifts & not feel overwhelmed by too many at once. But he keeps finding them & insisting on opening them. So we do. He is a very lucky little boy to have so many people spoil him rotten.

Through all of the busy craziness of Christmas, we tried to stay true & focused on the reason we celebrate Christmas. How very lucky we are, that God gave his most precious gift, his son, a perfect being, to be born into a world full of sin, so that he could save us and give us eternal life.

How very lucky we are.

Week leading up to Christmas...

2011-12-29T22:34:00.002-05:00

Christmas Decor

One of the fun things about moving into a new house is finding the new places to decorate. I don't go overboard, but I do love a few & simple little Christmas decorations.

Front of our house

We kept it simple, just a few wreaths on the windows

We did not have close to enough ornaments to decorate the tree (the backside is completely bare). This tree was much bigger than what we've had in the past because we had more room. Add on top of that that when I opened the box, half of our ornaments were broken (completely our fault, when I packed them up 2 years ago, I wasn't packing them for a move). So it just looked a little sparse. I was too cheap to go buy more because I knew they would be on sale the week after Christmas.

Christmas Cards... LOVE!!

Jake loves the Little People nativity scene. I highly recommend it.

Jake is funny, one of the wise men is carrying what looks like a vase of gold. Jake thinks that it is a bottle for baby Jesus. He kept telling Jesus to drink his milk. He also gave all of the people their fair share of time on top of the manger where the angel is supposed to go.

Christmas Projects

A.K.A... things that take me twice as long as I think they will & twice as much money had I not just purchased them from the store.

The wall college that I made (with Robbie's help cutting the wood) for my mom

These stocking holders were a little harder to make then they looked in the picture, but worth it. Thanks again Robbie for being my saw man.

I'm starting to learn to applique. I love it, I just don't have much time for it. Plus I'm very slow at it because I have no idea what I'm doing.

(Note to self - start working on Christmas projects in September! Not the week of Christmas.)

Christmas at the Bush's

Robbie's sister & her family were staying in Chattanooga Christmas weekend, so they decided to come down to Birmingham the weekend before Christmas so we could do the Bush Family Christmas.

Jake loves his cousin Jackson. They played & played all day long.

Christmas Dinner Setting

Just a few gifts...

Jake liked to open gifts once they were started. But he would get hung up wanting to play with whatever he just opened.

Jake's Granddad Jake & GG Kathy gave him a Leap Frog touch screen. It just so happens, that is what we gave Connor for his birthday. When we bought it for Connor, Jake LOVED it. He cried when we wrapped it. So when he opened his very own, he kept calling it Connor's. He still calls it Connor's toy.

During the Week

Jake's school had their Christmas party on Tuesday, and then let out early. He'll be home with me for 2 weeks. Usually I like working the week before & after Christmas because the office is quiet and I can get a lot done. The last 2 weeks have been anything but quiet at work and having Jake home all day has made it, well.... interesting. He has popped in on a few conference calls, sent a few blank emails. We have ventured out a little though...

We went to the neighborhood golf course clubhouse & saw Santa. I think Jake was nervous for the elf woman.

It rained that day, so I let him put on his rain boots & go outside & play

Mommy birthday gift idea for Jake - a raincoat that fits

I really meant to put this photo on his birthday update but forgot. I wanted to remember all of the items that he just HAS to sleep with. These are the regulars - Hippo pillow, Pig, Curious George, Llama Llama, Puppy, Puppy's Sister, Buzz, Woody & T-Rex. Since Christmas, we've also added a talking Mator. These are just the regulars. Each night, there are about 5 extra guests that get an invite. Usually its cars, but sometimes it is a magazine, a plane, his socks. He is very random. After he goes to sleep, I go in & remove half of it & put it at the foot of his bed. When he gets up in the morning, it's his daily challenge to see how many of the items from his bed he can carry to our bed. Robbie & I love it when talking Mator wakes us up at 5:00 AM telling us he passed gas. And Mator does not talk in an indoor voice.

Cousin Photo Shoot

I have so much respect for photographers. That is one thing I could never do. Unfortunately, I don't have my act enough together to actually arrange for someone to come take pictures, so I get stuck doing it at the last minute. I was trying to get some good shots of the kids for my mom's Christmas present.

Jake, Maddox & Marrell

Sweet cousins. (What was really happening - Maddox was choking Marrell & Jake. Marrell was crying & trying to get away.)

Playing ring around the rosy. (What was really happening - they just liked to fall on the ground. And they got completely dirty doing so.)

Looking for adventure. (What they were really doing - trying to get away from me from taking pictures.)

Laughing. (What they were really doing - about to throw leaves on me.)

Going for a walk. (What they were really doing - Maddox was bringing back Jake from trying to run away.)

Hugs. (What they were really doing - hiding under the covers, fighting and then popping out.)

Fighting. (What they were really doing - fighting. Jake & my dad love to play fight.)

Nana & her munchkins

Zoo Lights

Friday night, Robbie & I, along with the Bush's took Jake to the zoo to see the safari lights. He was very interested until he saw the train ride by. After that, there was nothing he wanted to do except ride the train. We had a lot of fun though & he seemed to really enjoy it.

Looking at the lights

Jake with Granddad & Mimi

Finally... on the train!

When you walked in or out, they had snow falling. Jake was very intrigued.

Merry Christmas from the Bush's!

Happy Birthday Jake

2011-12-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

Jake turned 3 on Christmas Eve. His birthday being the day before Christmas presents some challenges, and I'm still trying to find that balance. But, it does make the Christmas holidays so much more special.

His friend Grant sent him a Toy Story birthday card in the mail. Jake was so funny about it. He was so excited about it and just kept walking around with it. He kept telling me he was "reading" it.

On December 23rd, we had a mini family only birthday party for Jake. We'll have his big birthday party in January, but we always try to have a little something & cake around his actual birthday. Mimi & Granddad came over, as well as Nana, Gran and his cousins Maddox & Marrell.

Happy Birthday Banner

Mimi made him a train cake. Isn't it the cutest?!?!

Blowing out the candles

Thankfully Marrell was there to help him open some of his birthday presents.

Jake at 3 years old:

Sleep: We start getting ready for bed around 7:30-8:00. We take a bath, read some books, get all the animals ready for bed. He is usually pretty good about going to sleep on his own, but some nights he will cry when we tell him he has to go to bed. He usually sleeps until about 5:00 and then comes into our room. We don't really fight it, we let him climb into bed with us for that last hour or two. Sometimes he will come in around 2:00 and those times we do take him back to his room. He is a very sound sleeper. One night, Robbie was in the garage working & the fire alarms in the house went off. Our fire alarms are extremely loud and there is one right outside Jake's room. He didn't even stir. He still takes a nap. Usually once we get home from Mother's Day Out, so it's usually between during 1:00-3:00.
Eat: He has definitely become a more picky eater as he has gotten older. Long gone are my happy days of him loving grilled chicken & vegetables. About the only thing he will eat for dinner is mac & cheese, chicken & fries or a Gerber Toddler Meal. He loves all of the typical toddler foods... gummies, fruit, goldfish, applesauce & yogurt.
Play: He loves to play with his toys. He is still into trains, LOVES cars, still loves balls, coloring & looking at books. He is really good about playing by himself. On Monday's I have to work in the mornings & that is not a day he goes to MDO, so it's just me & him. He is pretty good about playing by himself in his room while I work in the office. Sometimes I feel guilty, but I hope that he at least gets a few positive traits from it. He loves to play with older boys. He thinks that they are very cool. He is in no way interested in any kids younger than him, unless it is a baby that he can hold. Also, he loves to sword fight & tackle. We have to remind him that there are only certain places & times that those things are socially acceptable!
School: His school has been an answered prayer. Any mom that has dropped off a screaming child knows the heartache & worry it can cause. So it is an absolute joy for me when I drop him off & he is so excited. He loves his teacher Mrs. Michelle and she is so awesome. He talks about the kids in his class. His favorite friends are Carson, Miller & Riley Grace. I love to hear him talk about them.
Talking: He talks up a storm. You can understand most of what he says, but he still throws in some gibberish. He of course mispronounces things, so that can make it hard to understand him, but it also makes it very funny when you figure out what he is saying. He has got "please" & "thank you" down pat. We are working on "yes sir, non sire, yes mam, no mam". So far he only says "yes sir". So any time he answers with a yes, no matter if you are a boy or girl, you get a "yes sir". And usually it is a slight yell. But I'll take it. He also copies things we say. Like "do you understand?" and "you need to calm down". Those are always pretty funny.
Potty Training: Oh potty training. It has been a very slow process for us. Maybe if I pushed it more consistently, we would have gotten further faster, but between trying to balance everything, we are just doing the best we can. He is pretty much completely trained on peeing in the potty. He will not go if we are at a place that doesn't have a kiddie potty, but he holds it until we are home. I know that it probably not the healthiest, but at least he is not peeing in his underwear. He has pooped in the potty only a few times. Every time he does, we celebrate & he gets treat. I'll think we've turned the corner, and then the next day he'll poop in his underwear. So we'll still working on that.

The past 3 years have been the 3 greatest years of my life. I laughed, worried, loved, hugged more than I ever thought possible. And because of a little blond haired, blue eyed surprise souvenir from Mexico. Love you Jake Bush & Happy Birthday!

My Year in Review... by Jake Bush

2011-12-24T15:09:00.001-05:00

So I'm the big 0-3 today. I thought my mom would update this for my birthday, but her & dad are running around working on something in the garage that they won't let me enter. I guess they don't trust Santa to do his job. So I guess I'll update my own birthday post. What a year it has been. There have been lots of changes. Changes in locations, changes in schools, changes in me. Here is a look back at my year as a 2-year-old (2 is so last year)....

The day I turned 2 - December 24, 2010. Before Christmas Eve service with my old man & old woman.

Christmas Day with my Granddad

My big birthday party in January in Chattanooga. I look ridiculous.

These are my best friends in Chattanooga. I miss those peeps.

In January, we moved into an apartment in Birmingham. Not sure why, but we did.

Also in January, we traveled down to Enterprise, AL for my great grandmother's 100th birthday party. How come she doesn't have to wear a ridiculous hat?

Me & my old man on Valentine's Day

Also in February, I traveled down to Fairhop to visit my best Fairhope friend Grant.

In March, I traveled down to Hattiesburg to visit my best Hattiesburg friend Gabe

Our moms were running around crazy trying to get a group picture of us boys. They were totally cramping our style of picking up chicks. We look like idiots all cramped at the bottom of a slide. Good job moms.

When we moved into the corporate apartment, my parents were too lazy to move my bed, so they crammed me into a pac-in-play. Then my old woman left that pac-in-play in Hattiesburg. So I unexpectedly get my first big boy room for a month. Pretty cool, huh? Mom says this is what my college apartment will probably look like.

Not much privacy in a apartment, so I had to create my own man cave. Stay out mom & dad!

Also in March, we traveled up to Chattanooga where I got my first kiss. How embarrassing that there were 4 adults standing around taking pictures of it. Get a life people! (And give me some privacy)

I celebrated Easter in Prattville with my cousins Maddox & Marrell

I also celebrated Easter in Birmingham with my Mimi

On Mother's Day, we moved out of the apartment and into my Mimi & Granddad's house. Who moves in with their parents?!? Mom & I both look rough.

In May, we traveled down to Fairhope to go to Day Out with Thomas. Grant & I had a blast!

My parents are suckers & let me go to Day Out with Thomas in Chattanooga too. Here is Connor & me. I love when its to my advantage that my mom & dad travel so much!

There is nothing cooler than hanging out by the pool in your briefs, throwing around a few water balloons. This is why I love to hang out with my best Chattanooga friend Connor.

Dancing the night away at a wedding

May was a busy month. We also went down south to the Bush Family Reunion. My cousin Jackson likes to show me ropes with videos.

Bush Family Reunion. Thanks for holding me like a tool dad.

This is the man I'm named after. My great grandfather Jake.

I perfected my pouty face

Did some more dancing at a different wedding. Wish these bridesmaids were not all my cousins.

My Birmingham pals Anna James & Jude came over for a summer playdate in June

Jude is my mini-me twin, just a year younger. I like to show him the ropes.

My last day at Valleydale Mother's Day Out

My first day at Asbury Mother's Day Out, summer program (my mom doesn't think I know my name, so she sews it on everything)

Also in June, my girlfriend Addie came down to Birmingham to visit me. I knew I should have been more dedicated to P90X.

Hanging out with some of my favorite people - Marrell, Maddox & Nana

I spent the 4th of July in Chattanooga. We went to Pops on the River and enjoyed some watermelon, music & fireworks.

In August we headed back to Chattanooga for my girlfriend's birthday party. This girl cracks me up!

My best Chattanooga friends - Addie, Connor & me

In August, we went down to the beach with best pal Grant. We just finished a little surfing.

Grant & me

In September we moved into our new house & I started my new school Westwood.

In September, I went to the first Auburn football game of the season

Also in September, we celebrated my other great grandmother's 80th birthday party. Again, why am I the birthday person that has to wear a hat at their birthday party?

Me & my best Auburn pal Henry. Can't wait until our parents retire & let us start planning the tailgates.

Sometimes my parents don't want to take me to the games (I can't imagine why). That's fine, I'm pretty sure I was having more fun than them anyway. Hanging out at the park with my cousins.

I love going out in the yacht with Gran. Except when he hogs the oar.

Also in October, my pal Connor came to visit me

I'm trying to start a new fashion trend - pj shirt, underwear & fireman boots. Don't knock it until you try it.

Halloween. Really mom?? This is the outfit you picked out? I better get more candy for looking like this.

I went to my 3rd Auburn game this season in November

Me & my boys. We will rule this tailgate one day.

My cousin Jackson & me

I ended my year as a two year at my school's Thanksgiving program. I rocked it out.

Too bad I can't update through today with pictures, but somebody [MOM] hasn't transferred the December pictures from the camera to the computer yet. Good job. You will just have to take my word that December so far as been a blast. I hung out at my best pal Connor's birthday party. I've also gone to see Santa at least 10 times, always with someone new who wants to "see" me see Santa. Thanks parents & grandparents for keeping the overpriced mall Santas in business. I do like that big guy though. Not sure what he does or his purpose, but he gives me a candy cane each time, so I'll take it! Yesterday all of my grandparents & Maddox & Marrell came up and we had a mini-birthday party for me. Thanks guys, my birthday is actually today. I did have fun rocking it out though, even if it was a day early. I sure do love those guys. Last night, we went to see the lights at the zoo. Pretty cool, especially riding the train.

So there you have it. The past 365 days of my life. It's been a good one. I would sign off with a sappy statement that has been repeated at least 20 times in this blog, but this is Jake writing, not mom. So see ya! Going to watch Cars 2 for the 1,495th time.

Update on Karlie

2011-12-21T17:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack up posts. I was hoping that this week would be slow with work, so I could get caught up, but so far, no such luck. Things have been crazy, but truly enjoyable. After last year, being separated from Robbie while he was in Birmingham & Jake & I were still in Chattanooga, I will never take us all being together at the holidays for granted. But speaking of being together for the holidays, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to keep sweet Karlie in your prayers.(Previous post here) It seemed like things were getting better. She was even released from the hospital, but they stayed in Birmingham so she could continue dialysis. Unfortunately, they started having some set backs, so Karlie is back in the hospital. Right now, she is battling blood clots, kidney problems and other setbacks. Evidently even though the HUS has left her body, it is having a tough time recovering from all of the havoc it left behind. My heart breaks for this precious family. But I have been amazed at their family's strength and faith through all of this. I leave you with 2 different posts. One from Karlie's mom Kacey and the other from Karlie's aunt, Krissi. Krissi is keeping Karlie's older sister while Kacey & Jason are in Birmingham with Karlie. Krissi keeps everyone updated on how Karlie is doing and what she specifically needs prayers for. Their faith is such a reminder that during this holiday of running around, running crazy, the reason we celebrate this season is because of the birth of our Savior. And it is that Savior that never leaves our side and gives us the strength to get through the tough times. I've been reminded of that daily through these sweet, sweet friends posts.

Update from Kacey 11/24
Okay this is Kacey and I have had a hard time being able to sit down and type out what's on my mind. There are always a million things going thru my head that it is too hard to clarify and hardly have the time to do so, but today is a very special day and I just wanted to make sure all of y'all know how THANKFUL we are for each one of you who has continuously prayed for our daughter, Karlie. It ...has been so amazing to see how God has ministered to so many people thru our precious 3 yr old and the overflowing love he has poured into us through all of you. I know some of you feel bad we are having to spend Thanksgiving here at the hospital but I don't want you to feel that way at all. This thanksgiving is one I will never forget, that's for sure, but I also have come to know how thankful I truly am for all my Father God has done. I have always been so thankful for my family and friends but it has been taken to a whole new level now. I praise God for ALL things and rejoice in Him always. God purposely puts people in our lives for a reason and He has shown me why since this all started with Karlie. Now not only am I thankful for my family and friends but for all of these people I have never even met who have joined us in prayer for our little girl. We are so humbled by all the thoughts, prayers, texts, emails, donations, food, etc. There is just not even a word that can ever express how appreciative we are for each of you! God has taught me SO much through this journey and I am so much closer to Him than I ever have been. He is my strength that is getting me through each day. I have always been a strong believer in prayer but my faith has grown so much through Karlie's sickness. I have witnessed so many more answered prayers right in front of my own eyes in the last month than I ever have in my lifetime. God has been with us every step of the way and has been our rock. We have leaned on Him for comfort and He ALWAYS provides it. I have had some weak moments but my God always picks me up and gives me strength. I have always loved singing "Jesus Loves Me" to my girls but it touches me in so many more ways than it ever has and it is also a reminder of how much he loves me too- such a simple song but such a huge meaning. I am so very thankful I have a relationship with Christ. That is the most amazing thing anyone can ever have and hope you all have been able to grow closer to our Lord or even begin a new life with Christ. I could NOT get through this on my own but because I have Christ in my life that is what gets me thru this and keeps me going.

For with God nothing will be impossible Luke 1:37

God Bless you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Update from Krissi 12/14

Ok I talked to Kacey a little while ago. She seemed much better than yesterday. She said she could definitely feel the prayers bc she had more strength today. So please keep those prayers going up. She said a huge praise was that Karlie hasn't been in anymore pain today. Praise Him! The pain yesterday they believe was air from colonoscopy that was trapped and couldn't get out bc of stricture. They put a bigger tube in her nose to get some of that out so she's not hurting anymore. Her heart rate and bp have come down but not where they should be. So continue praying for them to be stable. As far as the blood clot, they are checking her blood level every 6 hours to know of they to adjust her dose of heparin. I believe they have had to adjust it up twice. Please pray the clot will dissolve. Dr said it could take months for it to go away but pray God will dissolve it do quickly that Drs will be surprised and can only be explained by God's healing hands. Dr. King is great and very sympathetic to all Karlie has gone through. He doesn't want to rush the surgery and really wants to deal with the clot first. But if she is under distress or pain again then they will move quicker on that. The KUB did show a bowel obstruction so just continue praying that will not get any worse. She has had a low grade fever all day but has come down without Tylenol so that's a Praise. They did cultures to test for infection. Pray there is no infection. She has been poked on alot since they aren't using pic line which is sad that she has to deal with again. So pray for comfort and strength. Up until a few minutes ago, she had not gone potty in 3 days but just went so that's a Praise too. Every decision they make right now has a risk. There is no easy answer to her situation so pray for guidance and wisdom for Drs from the Great Physician. They haven't heard back on results of the Echo yet so pray those results will be good. Also her creatnine level has inched up a little bit so pray for her kidneys to be protected.

The past 2 days have been rough but God has wrapped His arms around each of us to comfort us. I know I have felt His Presence. He is Emmanuel. He is with us. Through our weakness, He is made strong. We know Our God is bigger than all of this. He is stronger and He is healer. He knew this was coming and was not surprised. It's easy to ask "why"or say "enough already" but we have to come back again to this is in His plan and her healing in His timing. His timing is perfect but that doesn't mean it always lines up with our timing. We have to wait patiently on the Lord and continue to Praise Him and pray. Through her healing we want God to have all the glory and are ready to be disciples for Him. So many people have been changed while riding this roller coaster of emotions with us. Thats what He wants. He wants a heart change. He wants our hearts and our forever. God, I am yours. Take me and mold me and use me to glorify You and work for your kingdom. God we surrender to you our lives, our weaknesses and our hearts. Please continue work in Karlie's body to bring her back to the perfect body you created for her. Lay your healing hands on her God and restore her back to health. Continue to lift up Kacey and Jason and be their refuge and their strength.

Everyone please remain in prayer for Karlie. Don't just read the updates and feel sad for her and our family, read them and pray. Pray fervently and pray often. This has changed my prayer life forever. Pray without ceasing until Karlie is completely restored and back home with us. Don't let up when you see a positive update. Praise Him through it all and join this army and the body of Christ as we intercede for Karlie.

Love you all,

Krissi

Connor's Party

2011-12-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

We were in Chattanooga over the weekend to visit with friends and on Sunday attend Connor's birthday party. To say Jake has been excited about this birthday party is an understatement. He loves his friends Addie & Connor and has been so excited to see them. He talked about it every day the week leading up to it. Saturday night, he had fun rocking out with Addie. We got some hilarious video of them, I just have to figure out how to download videos from our video camera to the computer! On Sunday was the day of the big party. Jake had so much fun!!

The birthday boy - Connor

Addie cheering Jake on

Connor & Jake!

Before we left, I wanted to get a picture of Jake, Connor & Addie together, but Jake refused. He was upset because he thought that going to Connor's party also meant we were going to Connor's house after the party. He loves his friends so much and I loved seeing them play together. Happy Birthday Connor!!

2011 Football Season Week 12

2011-12-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's our favorite game of the year. I'm amazed at how many people think that I would jump sides just because I married an Auburn fan. Never. Never ever. But I do love this rivalry. Robbie & I both talked about how we couldn't wait to take Jake to his first Alabama/Auburn game. I have no idea what that poor child will wear! The excitement, the history, the fans. It is so much fun. Robbie & I both grew up going to this game (just pulling for different teams). I love being in the stadium and watching everyone go so crazy. The excitement in the air is the best. And it is even more fun when your team wins.

Again, I failed at camera duty. Only picture of the day. Robbie & I with our friends Jeff & Lara.

Giving Thanks

2011-12-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Jake's Mother's Day Out school had their Thanksgiving program. It was so sweet! Since Jake's class is the youngest, they were on the front row. Jake was right in the middle. I wasn't sure how he would do. Sometimes he will ham it up and other times he'll act real shy. There was not a shy bone in his body Tuesday. He sang, he danced, he clapped. I was so proud of him!

Robbie had a meeting during that time, so he couldn't come. But all 4 of Jake's grandparents were there. As we were all sitting there, I couldn't help but look & be so thankful that Jake has 2 sets of grandparents that love & adore him so much. It is one of the things that I am most grateful for that we moved to Birmingham. It gives them a lot more time to hang out together. And there is no way I could have my schedule without the help of our parents. They've driven out of the way, rearranged schedules, given up their vacation days & moved mountains to help me out. The words "thank you" could never express the amount of gratitude that I have towards them. And it makes me so happy to see Jake's face light up when he sees Mimi, Granddad, Nana & Gran. He loves them so much & I think they are pretty fond of him too. When he saw them all after the program, he ran up to them & gave them each a hug. Love:)

Left to Right:

Granddad - Jake loves to help Granddad walk the dogs, drive the car & throw the ball around

Mimi - Jake loves to help Mimi make cookies, water the plants & go to the Briarwood football games

Nana - Jake loves when Nana reads to him, rocks him & he loves riding in her magical car

Gran - Jake loves riding the trail wagon, feeding the ducks & going out in the row boat

I know that these are such special memories that he is making with each of them. I love the things that they are teaching him, the love they give him and the support they lift him up with. They are precious grandparents to a very lucky little boy.

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children. Deuteronomy 4:9

*****

Jake's program was on Tuesday. Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Bush's in Birmingham. On Friday, we headed down to Auburn and attended the Alabama/Auburn game on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to Prattville to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Number of special memories made = countless. Number of pictures I took - 0. (I've got to get better at that!)

Here & There....

2011-11-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

I know I sound like a broken record, but... things have been CRAZY! Football traveling is our norm for fall. The twists are the new house (which still looks like we just moved in) & the work travel for both Robbie & I. One week, Robbie & I were both out of town for work, in the same city, but never saw each other. But, I'm super excited because the holidays are coming up & they are my FAVORITE! Come on December!!

Jake loves matchbox cars. Too bad they love his hair too. -Disclaimer- Jake's hair is WAY too
long. This child has the fastest growing hair. I just got it cut & it is already back in his eyes. Is
there a way to slow a child's hair down from growing?

Too small pajama shirt... check. Underwear... check. Fireman boots... check. It's gonna be a good day.

Guess you can tell this is our uniform on the non-Mom's Day Out days

Over the weekend, we tried to get some pictures of Jake for our Christmas card

What's new with my almost 3 year old?

*Loves to say "please honey?"

*Loves the Little Golden Books from the Chick-fil-a kids meal

*Has been entertaining us with his Turkey song from school

*Wants to eat macaroni & cheese for dinner every night

*Has started wanted to bring over 20 toys to bed

*We left Puppy over at Mimi's house, so to get Jake to go to sleep, we had to give him a different lovie & tell him it was "Puppy's brother". For some reason, Jake insists on calling it "Puppy's sister". It worked though & we made it through the night without puppy.

*Gets excited when he sees Santa, but doesn't understand who he is

2011 Football Season Week 11

2011-11-22T21:00:00.000-05:00

Our Auburn tailgating crew is full of little boys. Seeing the kids play together makes the Auburn weekends so special & enjoyable. The thing I love about the Auburn tailgating group, is it 3 generations long. At each of our tailgates, we have parents & we have kids. It is a great mix. And hopefully a tradition that will keep on going.

Cole (6 years) & John Gregory (6 months)

Hill (2 months)

Owen (almost 2)

Alex (2 1/2)

Jake (3)

Henry (almost 4)

The boys (missing Cole & John Gregory)

Great friends from college

The Bush's

Jake at the game

Jake & Aunt Andrea

This is what happens when the football game falls right during your nap time

Back at the RV, rested up

Henry, Owen & Jake

Jake & cousin Jackson

I can't believe we only have 1 game left. The season has flown by! The Alabama/Auburn game is always so much fun. I can't wait!

2011 Football Season Week 10

2011-11-22T18:32:00.001-05:00

This was a very special football week. We took the RV out of Auburn & headed down to my college town of Troy, AL. How I ended up at Troy, is a true testament to God's plan sometimes being different from what we plan. My whole life, I planned on attending the University of Alabama. That is where all of my family had graduated from and I grew up loving that school. I was accepted & ready to go. Then, at the last minute, I did something that would make any parent cringe and I changed my mind to go to a college to follow my high-school boyfriend. Surprisingly (HA!), we broke up after the first few weeks of school & I was heart-broken. Due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn't transfer from Troy to Alabama mid-year, so I decided I'd wait until the end of the year. ~~After weeping uncontrollably for several weeks over my broken heart~~, I decided I might as well venture out & meet some of the sisters in the sorority that I had pledged. As they say, the rest is history. During that freshman year that I thought I would be so miserable, I met the most amazing group of girls that would become my best friends. By the end of the year, I decided that Troy was not so bad. In fact, it was absolutely perfect. And each year, I met more friends, had more fun, and made more memories. I see these girls often (but not often enough!), but rarely is it in Troy. So it is always fun when we can make it down for a game. The last game we went to was when Robbie & I were engaged, so it's been a long time coming! And the weekend did not disappoint.

We got to use our Troy flag!

Maybe not as big as our normal Auburn tailgate, but just as special

Halloween

2011-11-03T21:57:00.000-04:00

We had a great 1st Halloween in our new house. I was super excited because I figured this is my last Halloween to pick out Jake's costume. His first Halloween he was a kangaroo and his second Halloween he was a shark. I wanted him to be an armadillo this year, but evidently, armadillo costumes for toddlers are not that popular. But I did find a scooby doo costume that was pretty cute. I bought the biggest toddler size they had, and thankfully tried it on Jake before Halloween. WAY too small. So then began the quick hunt for a new costume. Everything in the toddler sizes were too small & all of the kid sizes looked too old for him (evidently full body costumes are not popular in kid sizes). I finally found a monkey costume that I squeezed Jake into. After lots of ~~bribing~~ negotiating, I won & he wore the costume. He did make a pretty cute monkey & he got lots of candy. So we both had a happy Halloween!

How do I get this thing off?

Seriously?!? Can I please take this costume off now?

Jake did really good trick-or-treating. He loved going up & ringing the doorbell. The biggest challenge was keeping him from barging into people's houses when they opened their doors. As soon as they would open the door, he would just walk on in. He has asked me every day since if we can go ring doorbells & get candy. It's going to be a long 364 days until he can ring doorbells & get more candy. He has also thoroughly enjoyed the candy. We never keep candy at the house ~~and I'm sure no grandparents ever give him chocolate,~~ so he gets so excited when he eats it. He kept telling me "it's so good mommy". I'm glad he's enjoying it, but bummed that means less for me to sneak away to eat. I guess that's a good thing.

Hope everyone had a GREAT Halloween!

2011 Football Season - Week 8

2011-11-03T21:30:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we had very special friends at the tailgate... Robbie's best friend from high school & his wife came down to visit us from Delaware. We loved having Robbie & Denise at the tailgate! It is aways so much fun when they are around and we just had such a good time. Such special friends!

The Robbie's. Not only do they have the same nickname, but they also have the same real first &
middle names - Robert Charles. If that's not BFF material, then I don't know what is?!

Friends Come to Visit!!

2011-11-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

Two weekends ago we had our very good friends from Chattanooga come visit us. Jake was so excited to see his friend Connor! They had such a good time playing together. Saturday morning while the guys played golf, Margaret & I took Jake & Connor to the McWane Center. They boys loved it! And it was so much fun to see them playing together. Love their friendship and love the friendship us parents have! Very good times:)

Prayers Needed Please

2011-10-25T23:10:00.000-04:00

If you are reading this, please stop & take a moment to pray for Karlie Gill. Karlie is 3-years-old and fighting for her life at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. Karlie's mom, Kacey, & her aunt, Krissi & I went to college together and were in the same sorority & pledge class. This is such a sweet & precious family and my heart is breaking for them. A little over a week ago, Karlie was taken to the hospital in Montgomery for dehydration, diarrhea & vomiting. She was then airlifted to Children's due to kidney failure. Doctors determined that she is fighting two parasites, which has caused a condition called HUS. They have faced many challenges since the diagnoses like blood pressure issues, fever, infection, CT scans, etc... It brings tears to my eyes to think of a little child going through something that is causing them so much pain. Please pray for Karlie's healing and for the doctors & nurses who work with her. Please also pray for Karlie's family. I can't imagine what Kacey & Jason are going through and how hard it must be for Kacey not to hold her baby girl and take that pain away. Keep in your prayers Karlie's 6-year-old sister Kaylee who is back in Montgomery. I imagine that she is scared, confused & misses her mom, dad & sister. And lastly, please pray for their extended family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. They are a very close family. Kacey's sister Krissi is keeping everyone updated while holding down the home front in Montgomery. I've been amazed at Krissi's strength. And through it all, they are using this trying time in their life as a witnessing tool, declaring their faith and trust in God. Please pray for sweet little Karlie. You can follow her progress on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/prayingforkarlie?sk=wall.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

2011 Football Season - Week 6

2011-10-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

BIG Weekend! Florida was the biggest Auburn home game so far. My parents watched Jake for the weekend (pictures below) so we could both go to the game. I LOVE the big home games at night because the crowd is always large & we have the whole day to tailgate! We had over 50 people at the tailgate, tons of great food and a great time.

LOTS of food

Seafood gumbo was the main dish

We've gone green at the tailgate

So, was Jake missing us? This is what all he was doing at Nana & Gran's while we were away...

Going to the park with his cousin Marrell

Swinging on a tire swing with Marrell & his other cousin Maddox

Best of cousins, best of friends

Going over the Shake Shake bridge (if you have a child that loves Thomas, you know what I'm referring to!)

Playing cars with Gran

Watching Alabama football with Gran

Driving the trail wagon

To go feed the ducks

To go out in the row boat

They only have 1 paddle, so both Gran & Jake have to fight over it. Whenever it's "Jake's turn", they basically just go in circles in the middle of the pond.

Gran finally got a turn so they could paddle to shore

"Hey, Gran's busy putting the boat up....

...now how do you crank this thing?"

Do you think he missed us? (And yes, my mom was there! She was busy taking all the pictures!) Thank you guys!!

2011 Football Season - Week 5

2011-10-11T18:45:00.000-04:00

(Pretend this post was written Sunday, October 2)

Finally! A weekend at home. This was our first weekend home since buying the house. Not that we got much done. I've been having to travel during the week for business & Robbie has been super busy at work. So the weekend came around & all we wanted to do was hang out with friends (& meet the newest little tailgate member Hill) & watch football! Completely worth it! (Until Sunday night when I see that our house still looks like we just moved in!)

I love the way he concentrates on any car or train

Getting ready to play some football with Granddad

Ready? Set...

Throw...

Catch!

2011 Football Season - Week 4

2011-10-11T18:32:00.000-04:00

(Pretend this post was written Sunday, September 25)

Very fun weekend! We had our good friends from Chattanooga, the Strickland's join us this weekend. They came down Friday to Birmingham to see the house & hang out. Then we headed over to Auburn Saturday for the game & spent the night in Auburn at the RV. We had a great time!

Jake & Henry

I wish the picture was clearer. Jake & Henry were playing in Henry's grandfather's SUV. Henry was wearing Phil's straw hat & driving. They were too cute!

Zach, Robbie & Chad

Zach, Kimberly, me & Robbie

Henry driving the RV with his unruly passenger

Such good buds! We are lucky to tailgate with such special friends!

Judy & Robbie's tailgate birthday cake

3 Months Until 3 Years

2011-10-11T17:50:00.000-04:00

(Pretend this post was written on Saturday, September 24)

I cannot believe that Jake will be 3 years old in 3 months. He is growing so fast. I have meant to write this for ~~months~~ weeks. Jake is changing so much so quickly, I have to be better at writing it all down. These are just such precious times, I'm so scared that I'll get too busy to stop & enjoy it & remember it. So to help jog my memory, here is where he is at, at 33 months.

Typical boy. LOVES cars, balls, outside, climbing, running, etc... When we were unpacking some attic boxes, we found some old matchbox cars of Robbie's. Jake has had the best time playing with them. He loves to make them crash. He will lay on the floor on his stomach playing with them for the longest time. He loves for you to throw a ball to him. He new thing is when you throw the ball, if he misses, he falls on the ground like he was tackled. Love it, already understands pass interference.

Loves to read. He is a very good memorizer (is that a word?). At first it was just picture books with rhyming words. But he can actually read most of his books. I'd like to proudly boast that my child can read, but he can't. He just has a very good memory when it comes to books & pictures! I feel like I need to introduce some new books to him. No wonder he can read the ones we have, because we read them all the time! Funny thing is, we actually have tons of books! (My mom was a children's librarian) We just read them all the time.

Loves to color. He colors with the jumbo crayons or the the Crayola Mess Free Wonder Markers. (I love these things just about as much as he does! [the mess free part!])

We are getting back on schedule with the sleeping. He has adjusted pretty well to the new house. I've been very proud of him for napping. They are building a house right beside us. Between the noise of the hammering/sawing and their Mexican music jam fest, it is a little loud. He sleeps through it though. Usually he is so tired from school, he won't even fight me on it. Bed time is still a work in progress. He will not fall asleep unless one of us is in there with him. Laying on the floor until a toddler goes to bed is not the most comfortable thing in the world, but yet it never fails, whoever gets bedtime duty always ends up falling asleep on the floor. I've put up with it this first month, because I wanted him to adjust to being in the new house & in his new room. I'm scared we started a bad habit though. I just don't know how to keep him in his bed. As soon as we leave the room, he is out of the bed looking for us. Once he is asleep though, he is sleeping through the night. Yea! No more joining mom & dad at 3 in the morning!
Still has very good manners. I love it when he says "excuse me" and "thank you so very much". Other favorite things I love to hear him say are "have a good day!", "oh brother", "you found my [mommy, daddy, car, etc...]", "hold you".
He has started singing a lot lately. He won't sing if you ask him to, you just have to catch him doing it. Usually it is when he is supposed to be sleeping. His favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the ABC's, I've Been Working on the Railroad, BINGO & the Wheels on the Bus.
He was doing great on the potty training. Then he relapsed. Bad. But we are back on track & almost where we were before the relapse. I would say that we are 95% potty trained when we are at home & he has to pee. 50% when we are at home & he has to poop. 0% out in public. (I'm too scared to try)
He is completely loving his new school. The other 2 mom's day out programs we went to in Birmingham, were both very good, but he never seemed to clicked. It was never was bad enough that I felt like he should stop going, I just didn't feel like he loved it. He loves this one. I'm not sure what about it makes it different, but he loves it. I think one thing is his teacher. He loves Ms. Michelle. And she is awesome. He gets upset if she is not the one to get him out of the car in the morning. As soon as he sees her, he runs full speed up to her & gives her a huge hug. It melts my heart and makes me so happy. He loves music class & the playground. He tells me he wants to go see his friends in the morning. As soon as I pick him up, he is blabbering away about everything he did. Love it!
This child can talk! He will talk to anyone at anytime. Sometimes he gets to talking too fast & you can't understand him. And sometimes he gets very excited & talks super loud. But he got both of those from me, so what can I do?

So things are going really well. We of course have our moments of tantrums, pouting, brattiness, but overall, I could not have asked for a sweeter, happier little boy. I just love him to pieces & cherish all of these moments.

Happy Birthday Mimi & Daddy

2011-10-11T16:40:00.001-04:00

(Pretend this post was written on Friday, September 23)

Two very special people have birthdays in September. Happy Birthday Mimi & Robbie!! Mimi's birthday was September 22 & Robbie's birthday was September 23.

Mimi (Robbie's mom)

Mimi w/ her 1st grandson - Jackson

Mimi w/ her 2nd grandson - Jake

Happy Birthday Mimi!!

Robbie

I cannot believe how much Robbie & Jake look alike at this age!

This picture makes me laugh, because Jake has the same problem with his belly hanging out of his pj shirt!

Happy Birthday Robbie/Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Maw-Maw!

2011-10-11T15:40:00.002-04:00

(Pretend this post was written on Saturday, September 17)

We had my grandmother's 80th birthday party on Saturday. It was a wonderful party to celebrate a wonderful woman. My grandmother is something super special. I have such great memories growing up, playing at her house. My cousins & I would play in her jewelry and high heels (yes, my grandmother wore high heels!). My sweet Maw-Maw would never complain even though I'm sure we probably lost over half of her jewelry. She was at all of my dance & piano recitals, graduations, etc... Always so supportive. But what I love the most is her heart of gold. I love her very much and was very excited to celebrate a very special birthday with her.

Isabella & Maddox. The only ones willing to cooperate with pictures.

Maw-Maw's family... 2 sons, 2 daughter-in-laws (who planned the party), 5 grandchildren (+ spouses) & 5 great-grand children

Trying to get 20 people to all look at the camera is impossible!

Trying to get a picture of the 5 great grand children was even harder

Getting even worse. We gave up.

My sister Lindsey & her husband Brooks

Lindsey & me

My sister-in-law Leigh Ann, Lindsey & me

The birthday girl while we were all singing happy birthday

Wishing Tree

Happy Birthday Maw-Maw!! I love you so very, very much!

When the person cutting your hair says "uh oh"

2011-09-14T00:12:00.000-04:00

I want to explain my horrible hair in the pictures below. So, about 2 weeks ago, I was at the Aveda Institute having one of their students highlight & cut my hair. You can't beat the deal. Yes it takes forever & yes it is not as great as a salon, but since I've gone to part-time (therefore cutting my salary), I just couldn't justify my $160+ hair appointments every 6 weeks. (I tried, but Robbie wasn't going for it). So the Aveda Institute is a great deal. This is my 2nd time going, but 1st time getting my hair cut. I guess that's why they say "you get what you pay for".

The highlights were okay. The initial hair cut was okay. Then came the bangs.

I had shown the student a picture of this...

And walked out with something more similar to this...

As the girl went to cut my bangs (which I showed her the picture & said that I wanted them pushed to the side & way past my eyes), she pulls my hair the opposite way across my face, & cuts in slope to above my eye. And says "uh-oh, let me get my instructor". I do not know if she was absent on bang cutting day, but I have no idea what she was doing. Then her instructor had the nerve to tell me "well, you probably just aren't used to having bangs". Um, I've had these types of bangs tons of time. But the bang cut they just gave me looked the same as when my dad cut my bangs in 2nd grade. Both = too short & uneven. So now it is just a mess to try to fix. I've manage to push them kind of to the side, but tiny short hair can only stretch so far.

I'm trying to remember how long it took my bangs to grow out in 2nd grade.

2011 Football Season - Week 2

2011-09-13T23:14:00.001-04:00

We were back in Auburn last weekend for the Auburn/MS State game. Another fun weekend with friends!

Robbie & his Sister - Andrea

The Bush's

Our family

Thinking hard about lining up the cars

Just hanging out at Aubie's feet

Jake & Alex

Hanging out with Bruiser under the table

Taking a little nap while everyone is at the game

And folks are back & ready to play!

Jake & Aunt Andrea

Alex, Jake & Owen playing (or rolling over each other)

Jake, Alex & Owen

Just relaxing on Aubie...

... or under

Not ready for bed anytime soon!

It was a super nice weekend before things get crazy! We had our final walk through on the house on Monday. We close on Thursday, our furniture is moved in on Friday, we travel for my grandmother's 80th birthday party on Saturday, I leave for a 1-day out of town trip the next Monday, we are back in Auburn that following weekend & then I head to Chattanooga for the week for business. Hopefully we'll be moved in by Christmas:).

9-11

2011-09-12T00:10:00.000-04:00

I think that everyone can remember where they were / what they were doing when they found out the news that planes had hit the World Trade Center. I was living in Montgomery, AL, in my first year out of college, working as an assistant manager for Victoria’s Secret. I had scheduled myself for the closing shift, so that I could spend the morning getting 4 new tires for my car (m y 1st post-graduation big purchase!). I was sitting in this dinky little waiting room reading Mechanics Digest & Highlights for Kids while they worked on my tires. One of the workers came in & turned on this tiny 13” TV and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. When the first plane hit, it was like “oops, what an accident”. Then we watched in horror as a second plane hit. Then it was like “uh-oh, this is bad”. Thankfully they were almost done with my car, so I paid & left. It was scary & sad, but I didn’t know anyone who lived in NY & I didn’t understand just how much those actions of that day, would change our world forever. At time, Victoria’s Secret was owned by Limited Brands, and since we had stores in the World Trade Center, they went ahead & closed all stores throughout the US. I really wasn’t that worried, until I heard them talking about all of the major cities that could be the next target. One of them was Chicago. I knew my dad was in Chicago on business meeting in those very types of large business buildings. Thankfully, they were all safe, just stranded! (His company ended up sending a van from Montgomery to Chicago to pick them up & drive them back home.) Each hour I watched TV, the more serious it became to me. The fear, the sadness, the questions, the anger, the pride. The events of that day changed our lives forever.

I can remember as a little girl, walking with my dad all the way up to the gate for him to board a plane & we would be waiting there for him to arrive (& we were probably parked curbside). You could pack shampoo as large as you wanted and probably even a kitchen sink. The job I have today is really in existence because of the events of 9/11. Because I work for a prepaid card in which individuals can load, transfer & remove funds, we fall under similar guidelines of a financial institution. A little over a month after 9/11, the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law. Because of it, I have to make sure that every person that has one of our cards can be identified and is not on an OFAC watchlist. I have to monitor cardholders card activity for large loads or transfers and anything international. Each month, I run all of our cardholders through a database of watchlists to confirm that none of our cardholders are on a list. It is scary to look at the thousands of people on those lists who want to hurt America.

A few months ago I was in NY & DC for business. I was at a dinner party with some lobbyists, many who work in both NY & DC. To hear their stories of what they went through, their families, their friends. They all knew someone who passed away that day. It was fascinating, but so heart-breaking. I had never talked to anyone who was actually in NY, much less actually in the area when it happened. It was very eye-opening.

And I close my rambling post with just how proud I am to be a United States citizen. We might not have made all of the right decisions since 9/11 and I’m sure there are some things we would have done differently, but I’m so proud of the way everyone came together as Americans. It didn’t matter if you were Republican or Democrat, black or white, Baptist or Jewish. If you were an American citizen, we were on the same team. And I hope that we never forget that bond. And I’m so proud and grateful for all of those men & women that leave the comfort of their home, their families & their safeness to go fight to protect this county and to keep us all safe. God bless them and God bless America.

2011 Football Season - Week 1

2011-09-11T23:56:00.001-04:00

Here we are... our Labor Day weekend started where Robbie has spent the last 32 years, I've spent the last 6 years & Jake has spent the last 3 years... Auburn, AL. The last year, our lives have been so crazy and inconsistent, I was actually looking forward to the fall just so we could have some routine & normalcy in our lives. Plus, who doesn't get excited about college football. Even if you don't like football, you got to love the food, the friends, the parties. I love all of it. And even though I'm not an Auburn fan* (and never will be), I feel very lucky to get to experience the games, the tailgating, the RV. Hello Football Season!

Helping daddy set up the tents

Dad's little helper

This year we've added a kids area. Not only is our tailgate in the middle of an RV field with cars & RVs, but our spot is on the corner of the main road. There is so much going on, needless to say you have got to keep a super close eye on the kiddos. So we added a tent over to the side away from the road, put plastic fence around it & added some toys. You still have to keep a close eye, but at least it helps!

Trying to get a family picture. Fail....

Fail again

Trying to get a picture of the boys. Not working so great.

Close. We at least got a picture with 2 of 3 looking.
Henry was making funny faces.

We took Jake to the game. It's his 4th Auburn game he's attended. He was pretty overwhelmed & unsure at first. But it didn't take him long until he got into it. And cheered. And got restless. And got hot. And got tired. We made it until half time.

I tried to get the annual picture of the Bush's, but as you can see,
it was my 100th failed picture of the day.
(And yes, I do think it is kind of funny that Jake is frowning at Auburn.)

Watching the game with Daddy

*I know I make this disclaimer every year, but I feel like it is a must. I am NOT an Auburn fan. I never have been and never will be and Robbie would never want that to change. I love my husband, I love my in-laws, I love our Auburn friends, I love us all hanging out & tailgating, I love watching our kids play together, I love the fellowship. I do not like Auburn, I hate the color orange, I hate the weagle weagle chant. But you can't love everything in life. And as long as your loves outweigh your dislikes, then life is just fine. Hope everyone has a GREAT football season and have fun cheering for your favorite team!

We have an announcement to make....

2011-09-01T17:03:00.005-04:00

We are happy to announce a new addition to our family.....

A house!

That's right. We are giving up being nomads & squatters. We have bought a house. We put the offer in a few weeks ago & should hopefully close on the 15th. We are actually a few months ahead of schedule but life just kind of guides you sometimes. (Well, I hope it was guiding me & I just wasn't pushing it!) It is the neighborhood Ballantrae, which offers a golf course, swim, playground & walking trails. It seemed like a great neighborhood to raise a family. Our original plan was to build (but building evidently is WAY more expensive then picking out a new house that the builder had already built!) The builder was offering a great price on a new spec house, he had built some neat features like an outdoor kitchen and when the interest rates on existing homes dropped below 4%, we felt like the decision was right. We made an offer (with a few requests) and the builder accepted. Yahoo! We are having them do a few things like continue the hardwoods into the master bedroom & replace the electric range with a gas one. But we are very happy with the house & think that it will be great for our family. So far, the experience has been great and everyone we have worked with have been awesome. But, I've gone through this enough times to know that lots of things can happen before a closing! So once we have successfully closed, I'll list out all of the different people & companies we've used. I love giving praise (or complaints!). Hopefully these last 2 weeks will go as great as the first 2 weeks went!

First Day of School

2011-08-31T17:40:00.004-04:00

Yesterday (8/30) was Jake's first day of school this year. I was excited because this is the first time he has had an actual "first day of school". Always before, he was in daycare, so they went to school year round. He didn't start going to Mother's Day Out until we moved to Birmingham, so that happened in the middle of the year. But this was an actual first day of school. He is going to Westwood Baptist Church 3 days a week. His teacher is Ms. Michelle. (And he calls her "teacher". I was asking him about her and he kept just calling her "teacher". This morning I pointed her out at drop off & asked him what her name was. He said "teacher" matter of factly.) So far I've been very impressed with the school & with Ms. Michelle. And I love to hear Jake ramble on when I pick him up & ask him if he had fun. Hopefully the school year will go as smoothly as the first 2 days have gone!

First day of school

I am always amazed when we buy Jake new tennis shoes. They always seem so much bigger than the previous years! This was the first year that I think the length was actually bigger than the width! (And evidently, with that comes a $20 increase. That's right, New Balance up to size 10 is considered 'infant' size & are $39.99. Above size 10 (Jake is a size 11 wide) is considered 'kid' size & are $59.99. Really?!?! A $20 increase? I thought the store was ripping me off at first, but then realized after research that was the price. I love New Balance & I like for Jake to wear tennis shoes to MDO, so we will live with it, but geeze! I paid more for his tennis shoes than I did for my own!)

Comparison of last year's shoes (size 8) to this year (size 11). As you can see, we definitely get our money's worth!

Happy Birthday Siblings!

2011-08-31T16:40:00.005-04:00

Both mine & Robbie's siblings all have birthdays in August. Happy Birthday Andrea, Billy & Lindsey! I know that we don't tell them enough how much we love & miss them (& we obviously don't take enough pictures of them!). We've got some pretty awesome siblings & we sure do love them a lot.

First up, on the 13th was Robbie's sister Andrea's birthday. Andrea is one busy lady. How she juggles it all, I have no idea. She is an ER nurse, is going back to get her master's, her husband is a restaurant manager, so they both work crazy hours and to top it off, she is the mother to one of the sweetest little boys in the world - Jackson! Andrea is so much fun and has been so sweet & welcoming ever since I met her younger brother!

On the 23rd, was my brother Billy's birthday. My brother is a little over 3 years older than me. We have always been super close. Now, we fought like cats & dogs growing up of course, but we have always had a tight bond. He has always looked out for me, even when I didn't want him to (do you know how many guys he scared off in high school?!?!). Big brothers are a parents dream if they are going to have a little girl! I would listen to my big brother way sooner than my parents (I mean, WHAT did they know?). He was also much more in the social scene than a parent could be, so he could definitely be a nark. Plus, I never wanted to disappoint him. I've always looked up to Billy and his opinion matters a lot to me. Even to this day. He is principal of a high school and I'm amazed at how much he cares about that school, the students and their success. (And he is my go-to person for parent etiquette at school!)

Lastly, on the 30th, my younger sister Lindsey celebrated her 25th birthday. Lindsey is 7 years younger than me and when her little surprise self came along, I was in that awkward stage of childhood, where I was too old to think a little sibling was neat & new and too young to really do something helpful like babysit. We always seemed to be in different stages of life growing up. She was in elementary school when I was in high school. I was in college when she was in high school. We both did get married within 3 months of each though! Over the years, we have grown much closer. Now, we are very very different, but I've come to realize that we are also very much alike with certain things. I can remember growing up, I would give Lindsey my hand-me-down clothes (about 5 years out of style), and she would be so excited. Now I'm asking her for fashion advice & begging for her castoff Tory Burch flats. Lindsey & her husband Brooks married pretty soon after they both graduated from Alabama. Usually I would say that you miss out on a lot if you marry that quickly out of college, but boy they have one fun life! They love to take last minute weekend trips to places like Vegas & Miami. She has a closet to die for which includes things like Christian Louboutin shoes. Because they don't have kids yet, they can do fun things like turn a bedroom into a closet. They live in Atlanta in a great part of town where they are remodeling their townhouse. She definitely makes young & married cool. But my favorite thing about Lindsey is her huge heart. Growing up, it would drive me crazy that she would get her feelings hurt so easily, but now I appreciate it because I know that she just really cares about people. Believe me... she is a MUCH sweeter person than me. But don't let that sweetness fool you, she definitely has a feisty side! Lindsey teachers school in Atlanta and I'm so proud at how much she loves those kids and everything she does for them. Every time we hang out, I just love it and wished that we could hang out more often. But they are one of the few people that I know that keep a busier schedule than us! If you want a good laugh, you MUST read her blog (http://teachchic.blogspot.com/). A lot of times I catch up on blogs while I'm putting Jake to sleep (yes, I know... great parenting job!) and I don't know how many times I've about woken him up because I was dying laughing at her blog. She writes with the angle that teachers can be fashionable. I love that blog & I especially love her so very much.

Potty Training for Dummies (which = me)

2011-08-24T16:09:00.003-04:00

Yes, I'm going to be 'that' mom that writes a whole blog on potty training. To me, potty training is a HUGE accomplishment & anyone that has done it deserves a pat on the back! (Unless you were able to do it in 1 day. In that case, I just roll my eyes:).) Anyway, there are not that many milestones that actually save you money. And switching from diapers to underwear counts! Plus, I like reading things that work & don't work for other people, so I thought that I would include what worked for us, what didn't & what we still need work on!

To Begin. I bought a 7-pack of underwear. Now, I felt like in most cases, the underwear always seems to be falling off the kid because it's too big while they are beginning toilet training. So I bought Jake the 2T/3T size. WAY too small. They are skin tight on him. They look like old man tighty- whities (except with a Cars design!). They look hilarious on him. All well, they were $11, so he is stuck with them. (I'm not that mean of a mom, I've since gone back & bought him some 4T size & they fit much better. But I'm still making him wear the 2T/3T as backup. We WILL get our money's worth!)

We were using the method of giving Jake a gummy bear if he was dry (I checked each hour) & a 2 gummy worms if he peed in the potty.

We were going to give this a shot. If we were not making progress in 2 weeks, I was just going to put it up & try again after he turned 3 (or 10).

Day 1. By lunch time, we had gone through 5 of the underwear. Each time he would pee in his underwear, he would insist that he had "potty-d" and needed a gummy worm. Um, no, it doesn't work that way. You have to pee IN the potty, not in your underwear. Jake has been waking up dry from his naps for a few months now, so I knew that was my prime time to show him. Sure enough, he peed in the potty once he got up from his nap. I went crazy with praise & treats. He then proceeded to pee in his underwear for the rest of the day. How in the world can the kid figure out if he has a booger, he needs to pick it & give it to me to throw away, but can't figure out to put his pee in a toilet? All well, maybe day 2 will be better.

Day 2. Jake had 2 accidents in the morning, but then actually told me when he had to pee. It's very strange. He will not pee in the potty if you sit him on it. He'll only do it when he tells you he needs to go. Doesn't matter to me, as long as he tells me! He did really well the rest of the day & only had about 2 more accidents. Maybe he is getting the hang of this.

Day 3. Jake told me each time he had to go to the bathroom up until lunch. I was elated! I patted myself on the back & declared I must be a super mom because he was potty trained by just day 3. Yea, not so much. He proceeded to pee in his underwear 4 times in a row. All well, nothing like a kid to knock you off your high horse! The tough thing with Jake, is if he has to potty, he will tell you "I poo-pooed". Unfortunately, he also tells you that when he has actually pooped. So when he tells you "I poo-pooed" you have to guess if you just need to quickly pull down his underwear & put him on the potty or slowly pull off his poop filled underwear. Choose wrong = Gross.

Day 4. I had to go out of town for the day for a business meeting, so Jake spent the day at my mom's. My mom keeps my niece (who is 3 months older then Jake) 3 days a week & had her that day too. I didn't think about it that my mom would have 2 toddler's potty training. Oops. Sorry mom! The stories are pretty funny from that day though! (Probably not appropriate to share on here.) Jake & Marrell both did good though & kept up their progress. Thanks Nana! (I expect for my mom to retire from retirement at any time!)

Day 5. Doing better each day. I actually didn't have to wash all of the underwear that day. He only had 2 accidents.

Weekend. Completely digressed. It turns out, he'll only tell Robbie or I (or I guess my mom) if he needs to potty. So if we're not around, he'll just use the bathroom wherever.

Week 2. We are back on track & doing good. Still only averaging about 2 accidents a day. One is poop. I don't know how to get him to realize he is pooping & he needs to sit on the toilet to do it. Usually the other one will be when I'm on a conference call & am not around to either ask him if he needs to go or for him to tell me he has to.

Next Steps. Getting Jake to poop in the toilet. Peeing in a toilet if we are out of the house. (What do you do? Bring with you a toddler potty seat cover? Hold him over the toilet?)

What didn't work for us (Note: everyone & every situation is different. What works great for one will not work for someone else & vice versa. This is just what did/didn't work for us.)

I introduced the potty way too early. I didn't try potty training Jake, but I went ahead & bought one about 8 months ago just so he could get use to seeing it. (In my defense, he was the youngest in his daycare class & the others were starting to potty train, so I figured he might want to as well.) My plan backfired. Once I got ready to actually potty train, the potty was nothing new or exciting. To Jake, it was his Barcalounger, not a toilet. So we bought a new one that looked different & he seemed to get more excited about it. We got the Fisher Price Fun to Learn Potty & have been very pleased. (Not to let barcalounger go to waste, we use it as the backup on the first floor of the house.)

I didn't make potty training a priority. Before we got focused last week, I would kind of try, but then get busy & forget. I was not consistent. I ended up getting frustrated, but it was my fault.

I was using pull-ups. Now don't get me wrong, we will use pull-ups down the road (for car trips & night), but the problem with potty training with them was Jake didn't mind peeing in them. If fact, I think he preferred it, because it meant that he got put on a new one (he loved that they had Cars on them). So once I got serious about it, I used underwear & he gets a lot more uncomfortable peeing in them then pull-ups.

So, I figure like we almost have phase I down. It has certainly been an adventure & I'm pretty sure we will have to have the Bush's carpet professional cleaned. Slowly but surely we will get there!

Vacation at the Beach

2011-08-22T15:30:00.007-04:00

We planned a little mini-vacation for the beach & got a great deal on a condo price from a friend that was way bigger then what we needed. So, we invited one of my best friends who lives not too far away, to come join us. I'm so glad they did! It was so nice to not only be at the beach as a family, but to also share it with one of my favorite people in this world. Stephanie & I have been best friends since we met our freshman year at college as sorority pledges. I cannot believe that we've been best friends for 14 years now! We both found out we were pregnant within days of each other. Our due dates were 2 days apart, but Jake ended up coming early, so the boys have about a 3 week age difference. It is so much fun to see them carry on the friendship (even if they are only 2!!)

I'm pretty sure they were talking about picking up girls at the beach

Beach time & in no mood for pictures Playing in the ocean

Playing in the sand

Before dinner

Best friends!

Love it :)

Our family (Jake refused to look at any camera. Lovely)

Stephanie & me with our families

Pre dinner cocktail of crackers

Just lounging back

Or sitting by the window (Both boys ended up playing up there & looking out the windows. We didn't realized that it was covered in dust. They had brown all over the skin, their clothes, everywhere. It was a dusty mess!)

Camel ride outside a party shack

Jake & Daddy

Grant & Jake with Jonathan

Being brave going out into the ocean

Sharing a Popsicle

Grant was not amused with my picture taking

Such a fun time

Thank you Jonathan, Stephanie & Grant making our vacation much more memorable!! We love you guys & miss you!!

Happy Birthday Addie!

2011-08-09T21:50:00.009-04:00

We were in Chattanooga over the weekend for Addie's birthday. It was a great reunion with special friends to celebrate a very special little girl's birthday.

Birthday Girl!!

Great friends excited to be reunited
Jake & Connor
Off to go find trouble

Sweet Jonathan!

Addie loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to her

Jake & Addie

Bubbles!

My sweet little boy

Just hanging out...

...telling secrets...

...laughing our heads off!!

Sweet joy

The dads trying to put together Addie's Cozy Coupe

Close enough

Still trying

Sweet friends

Love these 3 kiddos so much. Such special friends...

Just taking his girl out for their date

Playing a little wii before bed

We have such special friends in Chattanooga. We love & miss them so much!! It was so great to see everyone!

Good-bye July

2011-08-05T11:52:00.003-04:00

Because Robbie & I both work in business & Jake goes to school year round, the summer months are really no different then all of the others except they are much hotter! Sometimes it makes me sad that I will never have another summer vacation, but at least I don't have to get sad when it ends! I do like though that the months June, July & August just seem to be more laid back. Therefore, I still LOVE summer even though I don't get a summer vacation. But this summer has been tough & I have to admit, I'm glad July is over. I had 2 huge projects at work that both happened to fall into the month of July. So I spent all of June & July preparing. Add on top of that selling the house (PRAISE!!), but the buyers moving up the closing date 2 weeks, meant we were scrambling to get everything ready. Thankfully we had a relocation company moving us, but it was still hectic trying to get everything ready. (But again, we are so so so thankful to get the house sold & moved out, so we are happy no matter how crazy it was!) Add onto that a few other bumps along the way. But, July is gone & I now get to try to celebrate the last month of summer!

We are kicking our August off with a trip to see Jake's Chattanooga girlfriend Addie for her 2nd birthday. Jake's closest friends in Chattanooga were Addie & Connor. He has seen them both since we left, but the 3 of them have not had a chance to hang out all together. He is so excited to see them!! (And of course Robbie & I are so excited to see their parents who just happen to be some of our closest friends in Chattanooga as well!) Then next week, we FINALLY get to go on a vacation. I feel like some people are already on their 5th or 6th vacation of the year. We are heading down to the beach for a few days. And I'm super excited because we will be joined by one of my best friends Stephanie & her family! YAHOO!!

Here's to last few days of summer! We are certainly going to try to make them count!

Miscellaneous

2011-08-03T16:09:00.007-04:00

Jake moments from the last 3 weeks...

One morning I couldn't find Jake. I finally found him on Mimi & Granddad's bed. They had left the paper on it.

He loves to "read" the paper. (Which really means he loves to destroy it making it impossible for anyone else to read.)

Jake's cousin Jackson came to visit for a week. The Bush's bought them a slip-n-slide. There is a reason the box said for 5 & up. This 2-year-old completely did not get it. (These are completely posed shots!)

He would run, stop & then fall down & lay there. He did like the sprinkler at the end though

I found him one day like this with his feet propped up

My office space is in the bonus room right behind this sofa. But the desk faces the wall, so if Jake is playing, my back is usually to him. I was working one day & heard Jake "fake snoring". I tried around & found this...

It's his new place to watch movies

Bed before (we have the mattress on the ground & he was still able to climb out)

Bed after (we are all much happier!)

I thought this was sweet. I went up to check on him one night, & he was using Llama as a pillow.

Jake loves for you to sing to him, but he hardly ever sings. I just barely caught him singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Mommy & Jake Weekend

2011-08-03T15:52:00.004-04:00

Two weekends ago, Robbie was in Chicago for a guy's weekend & the Bush's were in Michigan for vacation. So it was just Jake & I together all weekend. I had been in Chattanooga for work the week before & I was having to go back the week after. So I was looking forward to a weekend that was just the 2 of us. I tried to plan a little outing for us each day. We had so much fun! (With only a few hiccups of course!)

Our first hiccup was our Friday outing. I planned for us to go to the Galleria where Jake loves to ride the little mall train & the carousal (and maybe selfishly I could pop into a few stores). We make our way to the train loading station & Jake is so excited. That is when I realize that I forgot to get cash to ride the train. Have you ever tried explaining an ATM to a 2-year-old? I had no choice but to leave the train station so we could walk ACROSS the mall to the ATM to get cash. Needless to say, Jake did not understand & was not happy. He starts yelling & shaking his umbrella stroller so bad it was about to tip over. So I get the bright idea to get him out & carry him. Carrying a 42-pound mass as he is screaming & clawing at me to try to get down while pushing the stroller was not easy. I felt like I was wrestling Hulk Hogan. He was trying so hard to get down & I was wearing a sundress. I'm pretty sure we flashed everyone at the mall. And when I say he was yelling, I mean a yelling cry. Not just crying, not just yelling, but both of them combined. He was being SO loud. At least when you are so focused on trying to get to your destination with a screaming child, you don't notice as much all of the glares from other shoppers. But you know they are glaring. Their are 2 types.... The ones glaring at you in annoyance because they don't have kids (which was me 5 years ago) & those with a sympathetic/relief look. Sympathetic because they have probably been there, but relieved that they are not there now! So we FINALLY make it to the ATM, which happens to be right beside the carousal. Jake darts off towards it with me running behind (with still no cash). He runs under the rope to the carousal that was about to start. The sweet lady behind the counter gave us a free token so Jake could ride. The carousal was full, so I just threw Jake on the nearest animal. He was fine for about 2 turns until he looked back & realized that the elephant (his favorite) was 2 behind him & he was not on it. So he starts getting upset again. He is trying to get off the animal he was riding & kept crying "my elephant". I'm not very tall, so trying to keep him on this animal going up & down was not easy. I didn't think that it was EVER going to end. Again, lots of stares. I wanted to scream "I'm not rewarding my child for bad behavior! I made him skip his nap so we could get back on schedule. I did this!" But you can't, you just have to let them stare like you have a horrible child. Thankfully, the carousal tied him over long enough for me to stop by the ATM. We finally got to ride the train, we rode the carousal again & got the elephant (& I paid the nice lady back!). Certainly wasn't our finest outing, but he still had a good time (while he wasn't screaming).

But on to the happy times! On Saturday we played outside for a long time. First I filled up a tub with soapy water. I let Jake wash his bath toys. He love it! Another cheap outside activity!!

The Bush's bough Jake & Jackson a slip-n-slide. Jake never got the hang of running, slipping then sliding. But, he did like sitting on it playing with the sprinkler on it. (Please excuse the bare bum. For some reason, he is going through a stage that as soon as his swimsuit & swim diaper are wet, he wants to take them off. Figured in the privacy of the back yard, it was okay. Hopefully he gets this out of his system before the beach.)

Just doing a little nude sunbathing

And a drink of water

We also went to Tree Top (which is a family adventure center with video games, go carts, putt-putt, etc....) It was a little too old for Jake, but he still had a great time. He was fine just pretending to play the games & hit the buttons. Fine with me (& my wallet!). I was so busy trying to keep up with him, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures.

It was such a nice weekend & so nice to get to spend some time just the 2 of us. Jake is growing up so fast, so I just want to savor all of these moments.

Chad & Melanie's Baby Shower

2011-07-14T00:33:00.005-04:00

Our good friends from Auburn (who are moving to Birmingham!) are getting ready to welcome their first baby boy. Yea! So our tailgating group threw them a shower in Auburn over the weekend at Summer & Gary's house. It was so much fun & so good to visit with everyone. These are such sweet & special friends to us!! And we can't wait to meet & welcome little Graydon!

Because I love decor, I'll start with those pictures first (their nursery theme is sock monkeys)...

The menu cards

The banner

The door sign

The honoree, Melanie and her mom & sisterThe female hostesses & honoree

We Sold Our House!!

2011-07-14T00:31:00.002-04:00

The closing date was July 6. I was too scared to write anything about it before that, because I didn't want to jinx anything! More about the house to come later....

4th of July

2011-07-14T00:08:00.006-04:00

We were in Chattanooga over the 4th of July weekend. Sunday night, we went to the annual Pops in the Park in downtown Chattanooga along the river front. It is so much fun & I highly recommend it! Robbie has been going long before we met, but we've also gone every year since we met. The first year we were dating, the 2nd year we were engaged, the 3rd year we were pregnant, the 4th year we had a baby, the 5th year we had a toddler & now our 6th year will be the last one:(. (Unless they move it to the weekend!!) We've changed a lot over these last 6 pops, but we've always celebrated with great friends, lots of laughs & the best memories.

Jake & Connor playing with the trains

Since having kids, we like to sit in the back so they have plenty of room to run around & play. Connor & Jake had so much fun running up & down the little hill behind us. It's amazing what will entertain a toddler!Connor, Andy, Jake & Robbie

Eating watermelon

Jake & Connor loved playing with Mr. Chris' hat. Of course they love to mess with the couple with no kids!Making Chris do push ups with the boys on their back. Great, Chris & Alli are never going to want kids now!Connor!

Jake watching fireworks on daddy's shoulders

Jake - 2.5 years

Jake - 18 months

Jake - 6 months

Jake - 2 1/2 Years

2011-06-24T10:29:00.005-04:00

So, I wrote this post a few weeks ago, but wasn't able to finish it & post it. I knew I should have started it 2 months ago so it would be ready to post on his actual half birthday. He is changing so much! In italics are the things that have already changed since I started this post. So now, I just have to pretend like I actually posted it June 24...

Jake is 2 1/2 today. 30 months old. 130 weeks old. He is complete toddler. Sweet, hard headed, impressionable, laughable, moody, lovable. He is our little souvenir from Mexico & I can't imagine our life without him. There are moments when I want to beat my head against the wall, but there are so many more moments that I just cling to and want to hold on to forever. The way he talks, laughs, looks at me, looks at the world, learns, loves. I wish I could bottle it. I never want to forget the way it makes me feel. Since he is 30 months, here are 30 things about him...

1) He loves movies. Toy Story is his favorite. (It was his favorite 3 weeks ago.)

2) Granddad got him Cars the other day & he really enjoyed watching it too. He calls Lightening McQueen "Queen" & Mator "Lator". (He was obsessed with everything Cars related last week. But that was last week.)

3) Now he loves Gnomeo & Juliet this week. For some reason, he calls Gnomeo "Pinocchio" and Juliet "Julia". So he will always ask if he can watch "Pinocchio & Julia".

4) I swear our child is not a couch potato! A lot of times it will be on & he will start watching it, but then start playing. I think he really likes the music parts of the movies. I'd love it if he never watched TV, but it is a LIFE SAVER for car rides & conference calls!

5) He loves to play outside. He asks to go "outside" at least 20 times a day. He of course has outdoor time at school & then I try to take him out around 4:00 if work permits. Even at 4:00, he is still pouring sweat. Poor thing!

6) He loves to go to the park. His favorite are the swings.

7) He loves to color. He gets such look of concentration. I love to watch him color, but I hate the mess. Yes, crayons have created some of our biggest messes. Jake loves to dump them out of the box, so they always get stepped on. He also loves to color in the car. Which we always forget & then in return get a huge melted mess.

8) He loves for you to read to him. He loves to "read" his favorite books back to you.

9) His eating is okay. Sometimes he will not eat anything, other times he eats everything.

10) His new treat & favorite thing is popcorn. He also especially loves gummies & yogurt (which he calls "sogurt". He combined the words 'so good' & 'yogurt').

11) Sometimes he will still take a mid-day nap, but not usually. I don't fight him too hard on it, because he goes to bed so much better if he doesn't take a nap. I do make him lie down & rest though for at least an hour. (He stayed with my mom this week & she got him back on a nap schedule. Yea mom!!)

12) We stink at potty training. I'm actually going to break down & buy a advice book. I think that we are going with Potty Wise. I'm really not in panic mood yet, I feel like we have time. I'm just frustrated, because he shows all of the signs that he is ready. He just likes peeing in a diaper I guess. (Our sweet friends Gary & Summer let us borrow their potty training book 'Potty Wise'. I feel pretty comfortable using ANYthing they suggest because they have 2 of the sweetest kindest most well behaved kids! I've read the book, so we are going to start trying! We'll see how it goes!)

13) He is enjoying his new Mom's Day Out program. His favorite things are the playground & the buggy rides.

14) He loves the Bush's cat, named Tiger. Since the cat's name is Tiger, Jake feels like he needs to growl at Tiger (in a friendly way). Tiger & Jake have a love/hate relationship. Jake loves Tiger & Tiger hates Jake.

15) Jake is bossy. His favorite person to boss around is me. Throughout the day I hear "come on mommy", "stop it mommy", "over here mommy", "no mommy", etc...

16) Next favorite to boss are the Bush's 2 dogs, Champ & Bruiser. He is very bossy. They will be no where close & Jake will start bossing them.

17) He doesn't like to sing or dance too much. (Can't blame him, neither do I.) But I love it when I do catch him doing either one.

18) He loves for you to sing to him. But only the songs he requests. And he requests the same ones in the same order every time. Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children & Swing Low.

19) He usually wakes up around 4:00 AM & wants to get in bed with us. I don't fight it, because selfishly, I want the additional 2 hours of sleep & I know that he will fall back asleep.

20) We start getting ready for bed around 7:30 PM. We take a bath, read books & then lay down. Our sleeping arrangement is not ideal, but we are doing the best we can. Jake is upstairs in the huge bonus room, while we are all downstairs. I think that is why he has had so many sleeping problems since we moved in the Bush's. So for now, to get him to go to sleep, you just have to be upstairs. Usually, I'll just work on some work stuff out of his sight while he falls asleep. He can't see me, but he can hear me if I try to leave before he is asleep! We can't let him just cry it out, because he will climb out of his crib (which we need to bite the bullet & go ahead & turn it into a toddler bed). It think if he was in his own room, he would be fine. But he is in the big bonus room (which also houses my office & his playroom). So, we are just doing the best we can. (We broke down & converted the crib to a toddler bed. We are trying it out for the first time tonight.)

21) He calls DVDs 'DDDs'. He is every DVD's nightmare. I don't know how many DVD's he has ruined. He is obsessed with carrying them around. I don't think we have 1 DVD that still works without skipping.

22) He can say his whole name. He'll either tell you his name is Jake Bush or Jacob William. He'll also tell you how old he is.

23) He can say his ABCs & pick out all of the letters & numbers. He will spell out STOP, Netflix, etc...

24) He LOVES trains. He would rather watch Chuggington then Thomas, but he loves playing with the Thomas trains. He gets so excited if he sees any kind of train & you read him a book about trains. He loves when we pass railroad tracks. How come before I had him, it seemed like I would get stopped by trains ALL the time. I've been so hoping to get stopped by a train with Jake with me, and of course it hasn't happened. I guess Birmingham doesn't have as many train tracks as Chattanooga.

25) His love of garbage trucks comes a close second to trains.

26) He repeats everything. Usually it is pretty funny. Sometimes it is kind of embarrassing.

27) I love watching him in the mornings when Robbie leaves. He has to hug him, then chest bump him, then hand blow it up. Next he has to tell him he loves him & lastly tell him 'have a good day!'. I love it!

28) He gets things easily confused. Like if he wants you to hold him, he says 'hold you'. And if we are upstairs, he'll tell me 'go upstairs'.

29) My very favorite thing he says is "Hey MOMMY!" in a high pitch voice whenever he sees me. It doesn't matter if he hasn't seen me in a few days or in a few seconds. You still get the excited face, hug & welcome.

30) He makes us laugh, he makes us worry, he makes us feel loved. And we sure do love that sweet little boy back.

Addie comes to visit!

2011-06-23T16:30:00.009-04:00

Jake's good ole pal Addie (& our good ole friends, her parents) come to visit us in Birmingham from Chattanooga over the weekend. Jake & Addie had such much fun being reunited (& us parents had a pretty good time ourselves!).

As soon as Addie got into town Friday night, her & Jake picked right up where they left off. Running, laughing, screaming... They kept running up & down the Bush's front hallway.

Getting ready to go to bed Friday night. They were hugging & of course I was either a second too early with the picture or a second too late. On Saturday, the boys went to play golf & us girls (& Jake) went to the McWane Center. The kids had such a great time!

Jake's favorite... the water

New exhibit: Bubbles. It was really neat & the kids loved it.Huge body bubble (that you can't see!)

Exhibit that is way too old for the kids, but they don't care. They just liked that they could see themselves on the big TV.

Digging for fossilsJake loved the train display

Huge lite bright

Playing the piano

Jake got to go down the huge slide from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor (last time we were there it was closed).After we got home, ate lunch & took naps, the real fun began. Jake & Addie played outside all afternoon. They were having the best time.

Cooling off with PopsiclesSo tired they had to take "naps" on the cement!

The Bush's were nice enough to watch the kids so us adults could go out to dinner Saturday night. Good thing the kids were so wiped out! Addie was asleep before we even left & Jake wasn't too far behind!

We were so happy that the S family came to visit us! 2 weekends with 2 visits from our Chattanooga friends in a row! We made such special friends while we were in Chattanooga. I know that we live in a different city now & won't see each other as often, but I hope that we always stay close & are always able to pick right up where we left off. Thank you Zach, Kimberly & Addie for the visit! We had such a great time!!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:01:00.013-04:00

"A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." -Billy Graham

Happy Father's Day!

Robbie & his dadRobbie & his grandfather Jake & Granddad

Jake & Granddad JakeThe Bush men

My dad & me

Gran & Jake

Daddy & Jake

Oh how wonderful these men are. Robbie & I have been so blessed to have been raised by such strong Christian men and Jake & I are very lucky that Robbie seems to be following in their footsteps.

Monogrammed Items for Sale

2011-06-16T18:53:00.003-04:00

This post breaks my heart to write. I've gone back & forth what to do with Jake's monogrammed clothes. I know it sounds crazy, but I just love things monogrammed. Many of the items were gifts, so they are just very special to me. But what am I seriously going to do with them? It's not like our next child will be named Jake. And am I seriously going to hold on to them until Jake has a child & hopes he names it Jake? They will just sit in a box in the attic until I take them out to see yellow stains all over them. So I figure I should give them to a good home (and at least try to re-coop a small portion of all the money I've spent!). So... if you know anyone with a child named Jake, let me know & make an offer!

1) Airplane long sleeve tee (size 24M) (Matches red check pants below)
2) Reindeer long sleeve tee (size 24 M) & Red/White check pants
3) Green check jon jon (size 9M)
4) Brown corduroy long jon jon (handmade, probably around size 12M)
Gerber stripe onesie (size 0-3M), Brown short sleeve shirt (size 18M), Red long sleeve tee (size 12M), Christmas pajamas (size 2T), 2 bibs, burp cloth & hat

I also have things that are monogrammed with his initials. JWB & jBw. Light blue corduroy overalls (size 0-3M), Navy overalls (size 3-6M) & Red/Brown long sleeve tee & corduroy pants (size 18-24M). Also a bib & burp cloth.

Summer Fun

2011-06-16T18:06:00.008-04:00

Jake has been working on his baseball skills

(Right now, he switches up if he will bat left or right handed. So either he will have some natural talent or is just naturally confused.) Which ever way he bats, he usually ends up accidentally hitting someone or something.

Running the bases On Friday during the day, I invited some friends over to bring the kids & let them play outside. The kids had fun & it was so nice to break away from the computer!

Jake & Anna James 'painting'. I stole this idea from Jake's spring MDO. Take a bucket of water & some paint brushes & let the kids "paint". They can paint the patio, the bricks, whatever! Jake loves it. It is free, not messy (if done outside) & never runs out. So I love it too!

Sweet baby Tharp

Jude & Jake hitting the pool

Anna James rocking her baby brother Tharp

Jake had to show Jude Mimi & Granddad's dog Champ (who was put away in their bathroom so the kids could play). I'm sure the Bush's appreciated toddler's in their bedroom!

You probably don't win parents of the year award when you let your child sword fight with his golf club. But I figure we lost that award a long time ago.

Our good friend Lara came to visit us from Chattanooga Saturday night. We had such a great time!! (I looks like I've never seen sunlight)

Jake has a new "seat". We have got to get this kid his own chair.

Just him & his garbage truck. He is OBSESSED with garbage trucks. One day while he was home with me, I heard the garbage truck coming down the street. I made the mistake of telling Jake & opening the shutters so he could see it. He was screaming he was so excited. (Why did I pay $40 for Thomas, I could have just taken him to the Waste Management plant?) Of course once it left, he cried, he pouted, he asked 100 times "where did the garbage truck go?".

On Tuesday (6/14) he started his summer Mother's Day Out program. We've been so happy with it! He has cried each morning, but like usual, after a minute or 2 he is fine. He is going Tu/W/Th from 9:30-1:30. But what is cool about this one is 1) there is a carpool line, so you can just drop them off, you don't have to go inside & 2) they offer the option for your child to come in an hour early & stay up to 2 hours late. I love it! Especially on the days that I have several conference calls. Because there is nothing like being on a conference call having you child stand outside the closed door yelling "knock knock mommy".

He LOVES to color. He always looks so serious when coloring.

Life is such a roller coaster

2011-06-07T23:52:00.005-04:00

Life is such a roller coaster. Jake's expression pretty much sums up the last few weeks. Let me explain....

I feel foolish even writing about it. It's not like anything horrible happened. It has just been a little tough & I've had a few pity parties. It all started with the beginning of my non-existent summer vacation. (Oh how I curse Melrose Place & Amanda Woodward [Heather Locklear] for ever making me think that majoring in business meant you would work in a big advertising firm, wear cute suits & make lots of money doing nothing.) In business, the only thing summer vacation means is traffic is a little less in the mornings. So when you work from home, you don't even get that advantage! It just so happens that I have 2 very big projects coming up in July. Which means a lot of stress & long hours leading up to that. I was just kind of bummed out because I wanted summer to mean playing outside & going to the pool (that we don't have). It didn't help matters that Jake has been in between Daycares waiting for his summer program to start. I felt so guilty letting him watch that many videos while playing, but I didn't have much choice. Jake has had a hard time getting adjusted & his sleeping has been so off. I know I can't get too mad at him. He is only 2, he has moved twice in the last 6 months & is completely off schedule. But at the same time, he is a typical toddler, which can drive you to frustration. It seemed like each day, a new thing went wrong (computer crashing, Jake emptying 3 large totes of folded clothes, etc...). I was the one who took the pay cut & wanted to go part time & all I was doing was working. If I played with Jake, I was neglecting work. If I worked, I was neglecting Jake. I just felt like I was in a no win situation. Even writing this, I feel so silly & selfish. I know that there are so many others out there that are struggling with so much tougher stuff. I know that they would trade days in a heart beat & never complain. So each day I took a shower (because that is the one place I can't check my blackberry & Jake is terrified of the shower) and cry. I'd have my little pity party. Then I would get out of the shower & put on my big girl pants. So much of it is the "mommy" guilt. I think no matter what your situation is, there will always be stuff that you will feel guilty about. I think as mom's we put so much pressure on ourselves to be everything to everyone. And when you feel like you fail, it just hits you pretty hard. But, it usually just takes a few things to remind you how lucky you are.

So the last few days have been this... On Wednesday, we had our annual check up with Jake's surgeon at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. I cannot say enough great things about that hospital & staff. They are amazing & have been every time. They are so quick & are always on time. And they have such a nice staff. The doctors, the nurses, even the receptionist. I don't know what is in the water, but they are the happiest people. (Now, I realize that other when Jake was born, I've never been in the hospital, so I don't have a lot to compare to.) The appointment going so smoothly was a nice turn around from the last few weeks. But also, when you go to a children's hospital, you realize how lucky you are for your child's health. Things could be so much worse. It just really helped snap me out of my rut & my daily pity party. We've got some good news on the house selling front, so we are just keeping our fingers crossed. Jake started Mom's Day Out this week again, so that has been a complete life saver. We've ended up letting him skip his daytime nap so that it is easier for him to go to bed at night. While it makes me so sad to loose that nap, it makes me happy for him to go to bed at a normal bedtime & stay in bed. We are getting adjusted to living with the Bush's & we've increased their Internet speed since that was one of the reasons my computer kept locking up. (Hey, it's the little things that make your day go better.)

Point of my long post? Just to remind myself that I'm not perfect, my life is not perfect & everything is not always going to work out perfectly. But I have a Heavenly Father who is perfect. And he will never give me more then I can handle.

Tiffany's Wedding

2011-06-07T23:51:00.002-04:00

On Saturday was my cousin's Tiffany's wedding. It was held at a gorgeous house outside of Montgomery. Everything was so beautiful! I was taking candid shots for my Aunt Deborah, so I had bought a memory stick that I could just give directly to her. I didn't think about that would mean I would have no pictures on my memory stick! So, I had to swipe some pictures from my sister's blog. Unfortunately, she did not have any pictures of the actual lovely bride & groom. But she did have some pretty funny pictures of the kids.

It was a wee bit hot. Especially for hot natured Jake. His jon jon kept coming unbuttoned at the bottom, so he certainly ran with it. Peep show... free of charge.

Not one to let her cousin flash by himself, Marrell decided to join the peep show as well
The kids dancing

Sunday after church. Nana & her grandkids!

The kids dancing. So cute!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-06T23:11:00.008-04:00

The Bush family has a big family reunion every 3 years in Eufaula, AL and it is held at an outdoor resort which also includes an RV park. Robbie's parents had their RV, his Uncle Mike & Aunt Sylvia brought their RV & Granddad Jake & GG Kathy brought their RV. It certainly makes an interesting twist to a family reunion. At the family reunion 3 years ago, Robbie & I had just taken a pregnancy test to find out we were pregnant. Because we had not gone to the doctor yet, we were not telling anyone. And I spent the whole weekend writing thank you notes from our wedding. What a difference 3 years later!

We got down to Eufaula late Friday evening. Saturday, Robbie's sister & nephew Jackson join everyone. Jake had so much fun playing with Jackson. He loves his big cousin so much! And Jackson was so sweet to play with him all day long. By the end of the day Saturday, Jake was dirty, sweaty & one tired little boy.

Playing with bubbles with Jackson

A little baseball with Daddy

See... I told you he was sweaty & dirty. Enjoying a late night Popsicle. Passed out...

Enjoying a movie after bath & before bed with Jackson

On Sunday was the family reunion. There was over 100 Bush's there! Unfortunately, I hardly got to speak to any of them. The reunion is held at one of the picnic pavilions which is also right beside a park. So needless to say, Robbie & I spent the whole time chasing Jake. In 100 degree heat.

Before the reunion, still in the RV, Jake is totally engrossed in Toy Story (he is obsessed with that movie)

Granddad Jake, Jake & Robbie

Robbie, Jake, me, Uncle Mike, Aunt Sylvia, Robbie's parents, Andrea, Jackson, GG Kathy & Granddad Jake (we missed Mike & Sylvia's kids!!)

We headed back to Birmingham Sunday after the reunion. We stopped by Auburn for a late lunch / early dinner stop to see friends. I LOVE when we get to see our Auburn friends outside of football season. I can't wait to see them again next month when we host a baby shower for Chad & Melanie!! And it was so cute to see Jake & Henry sharing trains. I wished I had gotten a picture of it. Sweet friends!

We had a few low key Monday (Memorial Day). We basically just hung out & tried to stay cool. Jake did the best job. (Please excuse that he is just in a swim diaper. I have no idea where I packed the swimsuits in the midst of our moving.)

Just chilling out eating some iceLater that day (I guess I was too lazy to ever dress Jake) it was so funny. Jake had lined up all of his trains. He was so serious about it.

What a GREAT Memorial Day!

Chattanooga Weekend

2011-05-27T11:26:00.015-04:00

So what does Jake do if he is at home when I'm working?

Why, play in a bath tub with no water. Of course!He also gets into stuff like tape....

He is obsessed with Toy Story right now. Especially Buzz & Woody. Woody hopped on for a ride with Jake. (Yes, I know that he is about 2 sizes too big for this toy. He loves it though & won't let us put it up.)

The end of the year party for his M/W/F Mom's Day Out class. He was in a much better mood this time.

Teacher gifts

We moved in with the Bush's Mother's Day Weekend. I don't know who looked more terrified - the cat or the housekeeper. I feel sorry for both. We are very thankful that the Bush's were kind enough to take in a homeless family of 3. Jake has had a tough time sleeping (we are still trying to figure out the best/safest room for him) so that's made for some hard last few weeks. But it is getting better. One thing Jake loves about staying with Mimi & Granddad? He gets to play with their dogs! He loves to walk Champ.Robbie & his friends from Chattanooga get together each year (well, this is the 2nd year) for a guys weekend of competing & injuring themselves, in which they call Man Olympics. I needed to come up to Chattanooga to work in the corporate office a few days, plus I wanted to take Jake to Thomas, so Jake & I tagged along. Since we have no cable at our house, our friends Andy & Margaret invited us to stay with them. Robbie & Andy were gone most of the weekend. Margaret & I and the kids had so much fun!! We just hung out, talked, the kids played. It was very relaxing and nice just to get to hang out.

On Saturday we took the boys to A Day Out With Thomas. (I wish that when I found out I was having a boy, that all those times I said "having a boy will save us so much money because I won't spend it on clothes!" someone would have informed me that I would too spend a ton of money, it would just be on Thomas related items. EVERYTHING related to that train is so expensive!) I'm living & learning. Jake went to Thomas when we were down in Fairhope but that was a different type of train. The Chattanooga was a real enclosed train. I thought that Jake would love it. He did for the first 5 minutes. But when we were going through the woods, he lost interest. Big time. Which meant I was trying to keep him from running up & down the aisle. Not to mention, the train was going so slow, so I think he just got bored. He couldn't see Thomas, so he didn't realize Thomas was pulling us (actually, I don't even know if Thomas was pulling us). Lesson learned - if Day Out With Thomas is an open train in the middle of action, go for it. If it is a real train, off to the side, skip it. Jake had more fun just walking around looking at all of the different trains since it was a real train station. I would still go, I just wouldn't spend the $40 on tickets to ride the train.

Jake & Connor were amazed at all of the different trains. They would have been happy just walking around looking at them (and my wallet would have been happier too).

They loved playing with the train sets

Jake did get super excited when we first got on the train

This is pretty much all the boys did while we were inside. Play with trains. Connor has a big train set in his room, so they both had room to play & not get in too many fights.

They also spent a lot of time outside playing. Margaret gave them water balloons to play with. They loved them!

It was such a fun weekend! Robbie & Andy's team won the Man Olympics (It's okay to laugh. We're just thankful that none of them got hurt.) Jake & Connor had so much fun playing together and it was so nice to get to just hang out with Margaret. We are usually in a group setting, so its not often that we get to just sit back & hang out. It was such a great weekend! Thank you guys for the great time & wonderful friendship!