A Long-Overdue Kid Update

Since at one time this was a place to keep up with our (too fast) growing children, I figured there's no time like the present to do a very long overdue update on my favorite kids on the planet.

Jake turns 6 in March, has half a year of kindergarten under his belt, two less teeth in his head, loves Legos, Playstation, Wii, and the iPad, and has recently taken an interest in karate, so we are exploring that as an option in the near future. He is still the sweetest, most kind-hearted child I know, and makes friends with everyone, which also makes him a bit of my emotional one. His best one-liner here recently was on New Years Eve when his aunt asked him if he wanted an extra scoop of ice cream and he responded with, "Sure, I'm not driving." He's my buddy and makes us all laugh all the time, and he loves his sisters (particularly the new one) so much.

And then there's Miss LillyLilly-bug. Oh my that she is a handful... in a good way most of the time. She turned 4 in September and is seriously a twirling ball of all that sparkles, skipping and flipping everywhere she goes. Dresses are the only acceptable wardrobe choice, unless I force her into a pair of pants, and if the dress goes all the way to the floor like a princess, that's even better. She loves to play pretend (and can do it for hours, just like her mama used to do), color and draw, play dress-up, and ride her bike. She recently learned to whistle and shows off her new trick to anyone that will watch. She's begging to go to dance class, and cannot wait to start pre-K, asking about once a week whether it's her turn to go to school yet. She's pretty witty also, but mostly just over-the-top dramatic, and keeps life interesting and fun.

And oh sweet, sweet AnnieB. I know she's ours and I'm bias, but ask anyone who knows her and they'll agree that she is the world's BEST baby. That little thing smiles about everything, and even when she's getting "fussy," it's almost as if she tries to make herself laugh to get herself to stop crying. It's kind of comical actually. We've decided that she has Jake's determination to accomplish things, but without his tendency to get frustrated and mad when he can't do it right away. So it's his drive with Lilly's more chilled out personality, so she's pretty happy while she's trying, but loves to figure things out. That's probably why she was my 5-month sitter, 6-month crawler, and 7-month stander and cruiser. She babbles mostly "da-da-da-da-da" (of course) but she also sometimes does "ba-ba-ba" and my favorite, "mmmmm-ma-ma-ma-ma." It's music to my ears. We haven't decided yet if she's going to have Jake's volume, but she sure can squeal for happiness sake! She started out as my smallest, but has caught right up, weighing in at 19 pounds at our last check-up. She's still my little thumb-sucker, which is a big change from my paci-loving other two, but it sure does come in handy and I don't have to constantly search for the magical baby soother, since she can always find it herself. She has stolen everyone's hearts for sure.

It's crazy for me to think that we have been parents for almost six years! I always rolled my eyes when people said "they grow up to fast," thinking it was so cliche, but now I know why they say it. It's the truest statement ever. While I would love for them to stay little, I thank God everyday that they are healthy and growing, and I love seeing more and more of who they were created to be with each passing day. Who knew a person could love this much?

"I See a Church..."

My heart could burst this morning. Here lately, I have felt the nudge to get on this blog a little bit more often, not just to keep this up as a personal journal about my family's adventures, but to write a little more often about how to do this whole motherhood thing in a way that is God-honoring. How to better pour the Word into our kids, and how to really make it worship. For the longest time I could never really pinpoint where I wanted this to go or what I wanted it to be about (particularly because it was started purely just to keep my family updated on what our family has been up to), and lately I have just felt in my heart that this is the direction I'm supposed to go. The thing is, nobody ever feels worthy enough to try and lead people in this way. I mean, I mess up DAILY. I have times when I feel like I'm knocking it out of the park, routinely getting up early and spending time with God before having to do all of my mommy duties (and honestly therefore doing them better because of a more joyful attitude), and then I have those nights when I lay down and wonder what I did all day. I think I just came to the realization that even if I did get up at 5am every single day, and even if I did read my Bible every single morning, and even if I was the most consistent, self-disciplined woman in the world, I would still have nights like that. And to be honest, no matter how hard I try, I guarantee there are going to be days where I would rather choose (and probably still will) to sit on the couch and watch  mindless TV shows instead of actively investing in and leading my children. I just really hope that over time that happens less and less. I want first and foremost what I do at home to matter, and if I can help other moms along the way find the joy in the Lord through their own journey, then I want to be a vehicle to help them, too. Even if I sometimes don't get it perfect myself.

But back to my heart bursting...

Last night I heard Josh and Jacob talking up in Josh's office. This is not a rare thing, as Jake really loves to go sit up there with Daddy and pretends to do work. But this time it sounded different. Jake was speaking with a different rhythm in his voice, and as I walked up the stairs a bit, it sounded like he was... well... preaching.  And then I heard him say, "I see a church..."

Jake has rarely sat in "big church" with me to listen to his daddy preach. He is usually back in our (awesome) kids' ministry having his own lesson, but does see glimpses of his sermons from time to time via web videos or non-Sunday morning events, like our volunteer rallies or times of prayer. On our three-year-anniversary, Josh preached a message about the church that he sees, and he used this "I see a church" phrase repeatedly. It would give you chills if you listened to it. But the crazy thing is, Jake wasn't in there, nor do I think that he has ever seen that message, and if he has, it would have been a super short snippet. But on a day when I wonder if what we do at home matters, and if we are leading our children in the right direction, and if they will end up following God and developing a faith of their own, God gave us a moment that I will cherish forever. God let us know loud and clear that it's more about what we do, and how we live our daily lives, than it is about what we tell him to do. We ccan teach him right from wrong all we want, or we can live for Him, so that He will also live to serve and love God by our example. On his daddy's podcast microphone, up in his daddy's office, this little five-year-old boy of ours preached his very first sermon, with no help from either one of us. God can use anyone to speak to us. And thanks to my little boy, my feelings have been confirmed. I don't get it right all the time, but we sure do the best we can.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we have and I hope the link works! I may have to try and upload it differently if it causes any problems:

Click here to listen to Jake's Sermon

And if you want to hear Josh's version, or any of his messages actually, you can download our new handy-dandy TurningPoint Church app! I particularly recommend last weekend's message!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/turningpoint-church-app/id610741417?mt=8

Our Budding Photographer

Jake has been savvy with our iPhones since before he could walk or talk, and my camera roll has been filled with different portions of his face on many occasions now. I've deleted hundreds, if not thousands by now, of pictures of just his cheek, up his nose, many of his forehead, and sometimes his shoes when he does not have the camera flipped around. The other day, however, I came across a few that were, well, almost artistic:

I am not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, but this boy might just have an artistic eye! Or maybe I'm just another crazy mom who thinks her child is a creative genius. Either way, I had to share!

Five On Friday: Kids Say the Darndest Things

One of my sorority sisters from my college days writes an incredibly successful and awesome blog called Hello! Happiness. I've been reading it for years now and it's so full of great fashion finds, home decorating, beauty tips, party-planning ideas, and adorable pictures and stories of her cute little family. She is the brain behind the "Five on Friday" link-up that you may have seen on several other blogs, and I have decided to jump on the bandwagon, with a focus on the silly things my kids say. With Jake being 4 and Lilly being a super-chatty 2 1/2-year-old, they are constantly making us laugh. I don't know how many times in a week one of us says, "we need to write that down or we'll forget it." So this is going to be my attempt (and notice I say attempt because I have come to terms with the fact that consistency is not my strong-suit) to document these things that I never want to forget. My "Five on Friday" posts will be about them, their stories and cute phrases, and the ways they make me smile. I hope their antics make you smile, too. 

Here lately, Jake has been on a  bit of a roll with the funny things he says, so this first Five on Friday is dedicated to him:

One.

While in Florida last week, we switched hotels three times. The first hotel was Disney's Art of Animation, so we were pretty sure nothing else would compare. Upon checking into our second hotel, which was an Embassy Suites, Jake put his hands on his hips, looked around the lobby, shook his head, and said (loudly… which is the only volume Jake has), "Wow, Daddy. This joint is nice!" Other guests checking in as well as the staff got a big kick out of it.

Two.

Yesterday I told Jake that he could finish his MarioKart race and could race one more, but then he'd have to turn it off. He was trying to talk me into letting him have more then one race, but I told him no, he could only have the one more. I then said, "Show me how it's done, buddy." He took the expression literally and began to show me how to steer, what buttons to push to make the car go, and how to get "questions" that turn into prizes. He then handed me the wheel and said, "now you try." I was the one who taught him how to play MarioKart, and just love that he took what I said so literally!

Three.

Jake still does not pronounce L's, and they come out as W's instead. I absolutely love it. It will be a sad day when he calls his sister "Lilly" instead of "Wi-wee," because I know that day is probably coming soon. I am going to miss it. A few weeks ago in the car we were practicing letters and I asked him what "whistle" started with. Fully confident, he answered "L." Well played, son. 

Four.

Jake has been watching "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" for awhile now, and so when he plays, he likes to set booby traps, or "movie traps" as he calls them. A couple of days ago, we started correcting him, telling him that it's "booby trap" and not "movie trap." He'd remember for awhile and then later in the day forget again. After correcting him yesterday evening, I heard him repeating the word "booby" under his breath, I guess as a way to remember it. Way to go, Parents, your son is now repetitively saying booby. Awesome.

Five.

Jake's has two favorite "naughty" words right now. The first is "underpants," which I am totally okay with. And the other? Well, I can't really explain it… it's "tutu"… or more like "tooo-toooo" (said in a crazy Jake voice). He loves to call people "too-too" or say, "Haha- you're just a too-toooo!" Yeah, I totally don't get it. Last week he was saying that over and over again and so I finally stopped him and asked, "Jake, what exactly is a too-too?" He thought for a second and then explained quite simply that "it's when there's a lion in your underpants and it roars."                       Well, there you have it.

Bed Head

It never fails... whenever I see Jake's bed-head of hair:

It reminds me of this:

Does that mean there is something wrong with me???  But mmmm, a bloomin' onion sure sounds good about now!

I'm always a little sad to see that mop go, but as soon as we give Jake his "summer cut," it sure is nice to see more of that face everyday!

*Sidenote: the long-haired photo is an older picture of Jake. He has been paci-free since April and we're so very proud!

MarioKart - Jake Style

Two weeks ago while watching Wreck It Ralph for the millionth time, we thought it might be fun for Jake to actually see a racing game, like the one in the movie. My mom has a Wii at her house, so we hooked it up for him, gave him a remote, and let him have at it. After a few pretty rough attempts, we gave him an inactive remote and sat behind him as we played, making him think that he was actually driving. He immediately loved it, which is pretty awesome for me since I now have an excuse to play MarioKart just about everyday! Although he still drives on occasion, he actually much prefers watching others play as long as he gets to pick the character, car, and course. And in true Jake fashion, you have to know his language for things in order to know what he's asking. For example, the red guy is Mario and the green guy is Luigi (obviously). When choosing a car, he frequently says, "no not that one" until you land on the one he wants. And you have to know the boards pretty well to know that "play snakes" means Koopa Cape, "leaves" means Maple Treeway, "moon" means Rainbow Road, "mud" means Waluigi's Stadium, and so on. It totally threw our sitter off the other night, but she managed to figure most of them out. On certain boards, he also loves to purposely drive off cliffs into the water or do the course backwards... apparently both activities are hilarious!

The other day I was making lunch in the kitchen when I looked up and realized that our little man had actually become quite good at driving on his own! I was oddly proud and had to take a video:

I sent it to my mom with a text that said, "Looks like you have some competition!" since she loves to play, too. Looks like my son just might turn out to be a gamer, but I hope it's always stuff that I can play with him! I probably should enjoy it while I can! 

Kiddo Update: Jake - 3 Years

I'm about two months behind on my kiddo update, but it's better late than never! Jake turned 3 on March 15th and is as feisty as ever! As for his stats, he's still off the charts (above the 98th percentile) for height, weight, and head size, coming in at 42 inches tall and weighing 40 pounds! He's certainly one of the biggest kids in his class, but still asks to be picked up from time to time and I gladly oblige, reminding myself that I probably won't be able to do that sooner than I'd like. Here are some things I always want to remember about Jake at three:

Little dude still loves trains, but now loves cars and his excavator (and yes, he calls it that) just as much. He often picks one of those things to take to bed with him each night.

Speaking of bed time, we no longer need our "paci" or a cup of milk to go to bed. Our story is that his paci was given to the baby dolphins (which he loved when we visited the Atlanta Aquarium) because they needed them more than he did. It only took about three days of fussing and then on about the fourth night his bed time prayer was, "Dear God, thank you for the baby dolphin who has my paci. Amen," which I took to mean we had turned a corner. A few days later I found him hiding in a corner clutching one that he had found somewhere in the house, but even though he had it in his hands, he would not put it in his mouth. I shot him "the look" and he brought it over to Lilly, shoved it in her mouth, and said, "Here you go, Lilly. This is for yours."

And speaking of "the look".... they say you can discipline your child with a single look. Yes, this was true for about a day and I had perfected mine. And then instead of it working, Jake would shoot the look back to me and I would crack up. Now when he's mad he gives me the look... oh boy! The look is funny enough, but I think I always laugh because the kid WILL. NOT. BREAK. character... it's amazing! He now knows that he gets in trouble for making that face, so we'll have to figure something else out in the future!

The school year is coming to a close and we'll be sad to see it end. He is always so excited to go and loves to learn. His favorite thing at school is art, which is surprising based on his very first art project... we've come a long way I guess! He often lists off the names of his school friends on our way to or from school and has imaginary conversations with his teachers at home.

Jake with one of his school art projects

Oh that imagination... there is nothing I love more than watching Jake play! All of his cars, figurines, etc. now talk to each other and their conversations are hysterical. Sometimes they even get in trouble!

Potty training has been an adventure. We were good to go in January and then we went to Jacksonville in April and something set us back. I think we're back on track though and I'm confident that we will be doing all of our business (as opposed to just the wet stuff) this summer. I'm proud of our independent little guy.

Jake definitely has favorite things and foods, and once he gets stuck on something, that's all he wants for days or even weeks. For books it has been Dr. Seuss' ABC book and Harold and the Purple Crayon. For movies we've been watching a lot of Wreck it Ralph and just recently added Meet the Robinson's to the repertoire. Any Disney/Pixar movie is still a win with him. Favorite foods include apples, mandarin oranges, watermelon (most fruit really), ham and cheese sandwiches, animal crackers, and cereal with milk. I can almost guarantee that he'll ask for one of those items during every meal.

He's starting to sing some other songs, but the Alphabet is still the one we hear the most. He can identify every letter and its sound, and also tell you words that start with that letter as well as tell you what a word starts with. He's trying his hardest to figure out how to sound out words, which has been so much fun!

We attempted a team sport this spring (against our better judgement) and sure enough, Jake was more interested in running around like a crazy person than standing in line and participating. I can't say I blame him! The frustrating part for me is that he can dribble a soccer ball like a mad man when he's at home, but refuses to do it at practice. Oh well. Guess we'll wait a few more years!

His favorite people are still his cousins, Kevin and Kyle, and of course Adam. Last time the two of them were together Adam asked, "Jake, are you my best friend?" which melted my heart. They are two peas in a pod and have even had their first sleepover! He also loves his "Quint" (Quinton) who went to Jacksonville with us.

So far it seems that his future career is still either going to be in ministry, or in medicine (which is funny because those were his daddy's two choices before he figured it out). He still loves to be up on the platform at TPC (when we let him) and he also loves visiting the doctor... he even asks to go!

I must say, three has been so much fun so far! I feel like Jake got his "terrible two's" out way early, and now that his communication is improving, he is much less frustrated which eliminates a lot of tantrums. He still uses his "Jake language" when he gets really excited to tell us something, but other than that, it's mostly full sentences and some of the funniest phrases! For example:

Josh: Jake, it's time to go to bed.

Jake: What are you nuts???

I love listening to the conversations between him and his sister or his friends. Jake and Lilly play incredibly well together aside from the occasional scream over a toy or a shove from big brother, but all in all, they love each other immensely. Nothing makes me happier.

So those are the highlights of our dude right now... just happy, happy and oh so much fun! So far I'm LOVING free (and hope I don't eat my words later!). 

He's "OSO" Special

March just seems to be getting away from us this year. Between lots of travels, wedding festivities, and the crazy schedules that can come from pastoring a church, our calendar has been full. Thankfully we had the foresight to just have a small family gathering for Jake's birthday this year rather than a full blown party like in year's past. While they were fun and we'll surely do it again in the future, his best buddy is his cousin anyway, so as long as he was in town, Jake would be one happy boy.

 

While we did not have a "theme," the one thing I refused to skimp on was the cake. Growing up, my mom made THE BEST cakes for us... she has a gift. As soon as Jake was born I knew that decorating a special cake for my kids each year was one tradition that would continue. Jake really does not request anything in particular yet (and if you asked him, he'll tell you that it's everyone else's birthday but his!), so I just went with what he's been requesting the most on TV lately.

"Mo Spessy Oso, please, Mommy?"

 

That's "More Special Agent Oso, please, Mommy?" in Jake-talk. Have I told you how much I love Jake-talk? He still uses so many of his own words, even when he knows the real word. I'll be a little sad once he starts speaking in full-on proper sentences. *sigh*

 

But I digress... what's that you say? You don't know who Special Agent Oso is? Yeah, I would not have either a year ago! You can find him on Disney Jr. and essentially he's the "unique, stuffed bear. He's on a special assignment to help a kid somewhere..." Oh sorry, mom-with-a-toddler, did I get that stuck in your head? My apologies.

 

If you're still lost, here's a picture:

Cute, eh? And my rock-star mom just so happens to still have the teddy-bear pan that she used for my Care Bear cake back in 1985... who says hanging onto things doesn't pay off? It worked perfectly:

And Jake? The dude absolutely loved it! He knew who is was right off the bat and then immediately said, "can we cut Oso?" Our growing boy has priorities!

 

Thankfully we made sure it lasted long enough to actually make it to the party where he graciously shared it with his Aunt Mindy who had a birthday last week, too.

I still can't believe this kid is three... to me he'll always be my Little Sweet Baby Jake.

My Mom's Cooler Than Your Mom

Case in point... she got us Bon Jovi tickets for Christmas this year, which we got to finally use last night. Quite possibly the best concert I've ever been to in my life... he played for three straight hours and played every single song we could think of that we wanted to hear. I don't think that man ever ages... and he ran around that stage, danced, and belted out every song and hardly appeared to break a sweat. Plus, the visual effects were quite incredible!

And in case you didn't know, Bon Jovi is Josh's all time favorite band since he was a kid, so to say he was excited is an understatement.  Both of us loved the show, but people watching was just as much, if not more, fun. In Josh's words... "Bon Jovi has aged well. His fans, not so much." I guess 80's rockers die hard and we saw a lot of leather, big hair, neon, and even a pair of leopard-skin spandex pants... on a 40ish year old woman no less. Yes, it was epic.  And for your Friday viewing pleasure, here's a little clip of everyone's favorite classic... with a shaky hand and lots of obnoxious singing... it was way too hard to just video and not sing along:

He's still going strong... we saw fans from about 6-years-old to the cute 70ish year old couple that sat right behind us. It was pretty awesome.

And last but not least, I want to give BIG shout out to my birthday boy today... 

My Jake is THREE !!!!

(where does the time go?)!!!!  I'll do a more "official" birthday post after we celebrate this weekend, but I couldn't post today without giving him a little love. Looks like we're set up for a really great weekend around here!

Kiddo Update: Jake

I feel like it's been forever since I did any updates on the kids! The funny thing is that this blog started out as solely a family blog and it continues to change and grow into something I never expected. It works though, so we'll go with it. But since it has been awhile, I'm going to take this week to write down a few things about my two favorite little ones... starting with Jake:

Age:

2 and a half... turns 3 in March

Size:

BIG. As always. I'm not sure what his height and weight is, but he's in 4T and 5T clothes... the boy just keep growing!

Milestones:

We have potty-trained! Woo-hooo! It only took a few days, and after recommendations from friends, we used the sticker-chart method. I downloaded and printed our chart here (but there are TONS online if you just Google image search "potty chart"), and if you want more information on how we did it (not that we're experts), just leave a comment and I will do a full post. Granted, we haven't tackled going #2 on the potty (too much info?), but I'm content with what we've mastered so far. Any advice on the second part of this endeavor is much appreciated.

Puts on and takes off his own shoes

Still rocks the alphabet, and can now tell us things that start with each letter. Not all of them, but many.

He's still amazing at using the iPhone or any kind of video game... future techie in the making!

Fully understands emotions - we can say, "Show us happy" and he smiles or "angry" and he scowls, etc. It's actually quite entertaining and so much more effective in photos than having him say "cheese!"

Has gotten really great about manners... uses "thank-you," "excuse me," and "sorry" correctly. We still have to remind him most of the time to say "please," but then he'll say "May I have some ____ please?"

 Loves to:

"Bone-crushing" tackle - we have to watch him with his sister!

Watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, the Incredibles, and the "Chick-munks".

Play with his trains - Percy is his favorite and sometimes goes to bed with him.

Attempt to ride his bike. We cannot wait for some warmer weather so he can really master that skill!

Wear his cowboy boots... often with only his big-boy underwear. There's not much cuter.

Draw, paint, or do anything artistic.

 

Go to school and have days with PawPaw. He likes to get out and do things, so his twice-a-week preschool class and Tuesdays with his PawPaw are special times that he loves.

Favorites:

Songs: the Alphabet, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy and You Know It. Occasionally he'll sing something that we didn't know he knew, and occasionally he'll sing songs that he makes up or that we don't recognize! I love it.
 

Books: If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, The Monster at the End of This Book, his toddler Bible
 

Food: Apples! Corndogs or hotdogs, turkey sandwiches, "Fry Fries," ice cream sandwiches.

People: His cousins! He loves his "Danny" (Kevin... we have NO idea why he calls him Danny, but he always has), Kya (Kyle), Adam, and has recently taken an interest in baby Sam.

Things he says:

"C'mon, Mommy, c'mon!" - any time he wants me to go anywhere with him.

"Now that's more like it."

"You got it, dude." - Yes, these children of the 80's taught him that!

"Do you see __________ anywhere?" - when he's looking for something, or even after he spots it.

"You're funny!"

"I'm okay." - anytime he is crying because he got hurt.
 

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Not yet"

"Oh no! It's terrible! What are we gonna do?" - can be said for a minor or major situation. Usually minor.
"It's for yours" - (it's for you)
 

"Ouch! Double ouch!" - whenever he falls or gets hurt. I have no idea where that came from!
 

"It's right there! In the fridge! It's RIGHT. THERE!" - anytime he wants me to get him a snack.
 

"I hear my Wiwian (Lillian)! Mommy, will you go get my baby?" - when she's in her crib and he hears her.

"Wook! It's a Monsters Truck!" - anytime he sees a big truck (ever since Daddy and PawPaw took him to the truck rally that came to town. He also points at semi's and tells us they're freight cars, points out every bridge, tell us red means "stop" and green means "go", and gets upset if we make a wrong turn on the way to somewhere (such as Gramma's house). I'm amazed at his directional skills!

Think he looks like his PawPaw much???

Antidotes:

I got dressed up for a reception I was going to and walked into the kitchen where he was playing on the floor. He saw my feet first and I was wearing heels (which I never do anymore). When he looked up and saw that it was me he exclaimed, "Mommy! You're a princess!" It might be my best Jake-moment to date!

The church auditorium was being repainted and I brought the kids over to visit Josh. Jake wanted to paint so bad, so Josh let him do about two strokes and then he was asked to come with me into another area. Before leaving, Jake looked at Josh and said, "Okay. Daddy, I love painting!" He just wanted to make sure Josh knew who to ask if he needed more help.

When visiting family in New York, I was trying to get him to say prayers for everyone before dinner. My cousin Courtney tried to encourage him and said, "Jake, pray for us!" He looked at her and replied, "You pray!"
 

He loves his Toy Story cowboy boots. One day he was getting frustrated that he couldn't get his jeans tucked in and when I asked him what was wrong he exclaimed, "I need my snakes in my boots!" Apparently he thinks that the "snake" in Woody's boot is his pant leg!

Every night before bed his prayer is almost always the same: "Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for my friends. Thank you for TurningPoint Church. Thank you for Gramma's house. In Jesus' name, Amen." Sometimes when he's tired, we pray for him, and when it gets too long he cuts in with "In Jesus' name," as if to tell us that it's time to wrap it up!

I know I'm missing so much... and I know this is more entertaining for me than for anyone else, but this kid is just so funny, so dramatic, and so over-the-top that I just don't want to forget any of it! He cracks us up daily and I could not imagine life without his antics. Gosh I love this kid!

See-Kee-Gam-Moo

Bet you've never seen that blog post title before!

A few weeks ago, Jake started talking about the "See-Kee-Gam-Moo" (which is the best way I can sound it out). At first, I thought it was just a word he made up, but it continued to come up in conversations. I even caught it on film once:

See? He was very serious about it, and very frustrated that I did not know what he was talking about (side note: isn't he just the cutest?... and sorry it is blurry for some reason). The only clues we got was that it was "scary" and that sometimes Jake would hear it at the door and then hide under a blanket. It was bizarre to say the least.

Over Thanksgiving I mentioned that my friend Christie and her two sweet kids came to visit. She was over when Jake brought it up and she immediately knew the answer to our mystery:

"Jake, do you mean the Silly Gilly Gumbo?" she asked. And was then nice enough to catch this small part of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on camera to send to me later. I was amazed at her mommy translating skills (and Clubhouse knowledge as I thought I had all episodes memorized by now).

I'm thankful for my other mommy-friends for all kinds of reasons, but it's at times like this that I realize how much I need other moms in my life. They can relate to what I'm going through whether it's sleep deprivation, the "terrible two's" (which aren't so terrible by the way), feeding and diapering questions (yes, we discuss bodily functions quite a bit), and my favorite, the fun stuff like this. We can swap stories about the funny things our kids have been doing or saying and laugh about the times that we don't quite react in a mommy-of-the-year manner. It's a club that I'm proud to be a part of, and I love dearly.

Looking back at the years that I've known Christie, we couldn't help but laugh about this. We met when we were fresh out of college, starting our first jobs, and had years to go before we'd meet our husbands. We used to discuss fashion, celebrities, dating, and what our weekend plans would be. We've made countless girls' trips to Disney (some of the best weekends of my pre-married life), had many sleepovers, and used to enjoy many lazy Saturdays lounging on the couch watching movies like "The Holiday," our personal favorite. It's amazing to see us know, years later, being wives and moms and truly understanding who we are, who we want to be, and what we value in life. My how times have changed, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Some friends last the test of time and she is one of many... and she's great at 2-year-old translating if you ever need her services.

If you're a mom and you're reading this today, just be reminded that some days we don't have it all together, but if we stick together, we can get through anything. Be blessed this week and know that you're doing the best you can!

Stats

It's been awhile since I did an update on the kids, and since we just had our 1-year and 2 1/2 year appointments last week (which was late for those appointments), I thought I'd at least cover the stats.

Jake: 2 1/2

Height: 40 1/2" (>95%)
Weight: 38 lbs (95%)

We have a big boy on our hands!

Loves: Apples (we need a fridge lock!), cereal with milk, "ice dream," the Incredibles (he literally thinks he is Dash and even says "the Dash likes", school, the playground (well, any outdoor activity really), his pacifier, his cousin Adam, going to Grandma/Grandpa's or PawPaw's house, riding in Daddy's car (the jeep), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the Alphabet and everything having to do with letters, his train tracks, "washing" the sink dishes, the iPhone/iPad, singing/talking into anything that resembles a microphone (hmmm... where did he get that from?)

 Not so fond of: not getting to do/have anything mentioned above, potty-training. He has perfected the art of the (fake) temper tantrum... he is such a ham-bone

Lilly: 1

Height: 30" (90%)

Weight: 24 lbs (95%)

She's trying to keep up with her brother!

 Loves: Ice cream!, dogs, any toy that lights up or makes music, to dance, listening to music or looking at pictures on the iPhone, starting to get excited when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on, her brother (big time!), riding on her power-scooter, her "bobby" which is her cup or pacifier (depending on which one she is reaching for), twirling her hair, saying the C-A-T-S Cats Cats Cats! cheer, K-cups (she sucks the coffee out... see the photo on our Instagram stream... and no, I don't feed these to her, she just gets a hold of one sometimes), talking on the phone, yogurt, climbing on things (mainly the coffee table), sticking her tonge out.... and this is techinically a 13-month thing, but our baby girl just started walking! She literally went from zero interest in it to walking across the room in a matter of two days. It's still more of a party-trick thank a mode of transportation, but she's starting to get more and more daring. She is now up to 8 teeth, says "Mama, Daddy, Thank-You (over and over and over again), makes (what she thinks is) a dog sound, Uh-Oh, Hello, Bye Bye, Night Night (Ny-Ny)" and can repeat or imitate just about any sound/word that you make.

Not so fond of: Putting pants on/getting dressed or going to bed.

They are at such fun ages right now. I'm exhausted from keeping a constant eye on them, but there is rarely a dull moment. I don't look forward to being cooped up inside during the winter months, so we might just have to explore the city a little and find some new things to do. Two is twice the work, but twice the fun... but no, we're not planning on having any more for awhile (if not forever... depends on if you talk to me or the husband), so we're just enjoying these two everyday.

And because kid posts are so much better when there are videos involved, here is one of Lilly on her powerwheel and taking a few steps (although she does not perform well when there are cameras involved):

Decor on the Cheap

Happy Monday, y'all! Yes, I said "y'all" and to my defense, I used that word long before moving to the bluegrass. Besides, if you've ever visited Lexington you'd see that it's really not all that redneck... it's more Midwestern with some South mixed in... or what I like to call perfection. But I digress...

Today I thought I'd post a few projects that I've been working on around the house. As a disclaimer, let me just say that my level of craftiness is pretty low and most of my projects end up looking fairly... well... home-made. But, these are just a few things that I'm quite proud of:

A few months ago, we moved Lilly out of Jake's room so they'd both have their own space. Since Lilly's walls were bare, I had a blank slate and wanted to work with what we had... hanging these four pictures close together did the trick:

(Going clockwise)-

Top Left: old mirror we had with an Uppercase Living decal (a bird on a limb since it's hard to see)

Bottom Left: Cross-stitched prayer that my mom made for me and hung in my room as a baby. We painted the yellow frame dark brown to match eveything else

Bottom Right: A picture of Lil in a $5 Wal-Mart frame. Their frames are cheap (and you can tell sometimes) but they work.

Top Right: Used to be the picture below, but I covered it with a piece of scrapbook paper, used a stencil to paint on the chandelier, and voila!

Next up was a garage sale find for $4. I mod-podged the Miami Dolphins portion to match the letters that I did awhile back (seen here) and we actually had the "Faith, Hope, and Love" wooden cut-outs already (and Josh made them). The woods matched perfectly, too! I do want to print out her monogram on a circle and stick that on there, but you get the gist here:

I also used cheap frame-less frames (if that's how you describe them?) and a mat to frame one of her birth announcements and a greeting card and hung those alongside a canvas my (much more talented) sister, Mindy, made:

Her room is bright, sunny, and happy... just like our little Lil.

Next up was Jake's space. He still had quite a bit of stuff on his walls from before she moved out, but there was one big wall that I really wanted to update. Since he loves trains, I Googled "train stencil" and came across a pretty basic design. I printed them at home, cut them out, and used acrylic paint on very cheap corkboard tiles.  I used a ruler and a permanent marker for the tracks. Hereis the result:



We already had the "Train up your child..." picture and the "Let him sleep" vinyl expression and metal board is also from Uppercase Living. Are you starting to see a trend? Yeah, this is why I sell the stuff!

My only other note-worthy project involved an 8x10 frame that had broken glass, a mat, and some scrapbook paper. Ever wonder what to do with a fram that has lost its glass? I covered the matting in contact paper and then printed out my favorite quote from one of Jake's favorite books (On The Night You Were Born). Then I mod-podged over it all with a paint brush and spray-acrylic'ed (is that a word?) it to no end. It's hard as a rock and the frame has life again!

So no, they are not perfect, but I definitely love the way everything turned out! It's amazing what you can do with things you already have... just go through your closets and find old frames, mirrors, etc. that you haven't used in years and get creative! With some glue, a printer, and a little imagination you can turn old junk into something worth putting on display. The next room I'm working on is our guest bedroom / my office, so hopefully I'll have updates to post soon!

Have a great start to your week!