The Winters' World

Potty Training 101

2012-02-14T12:04:00.007-06:00

I bit the bullet and started potty-training Jameston on Friday of last week...he's 2 1/3 years-old-now and has been waking up dry pretty consistently from nap/night-time slumber, so I figured he is ready (and since we have another little one coming along who will be in diapers, we've been talking about how he can pass down his unused diapers to his baby brother. Just one of the many little motivating statements we have tried lately :-) I know there's a book out there called, "Potty Train in Three Days," so I thought, since I am off on Fridays and since we didn't have any doctors' appointments or obligations this weekend, now was as good as a time as ever. So, after doing some research and reading various websites and books I already had, I felt armed and ready (i.e., towels everywhere and shoes on)!

We have been talking about it with him for awhile now (he went #2 in the potty right before he turned 2 (and wasn't quite ready), and it scared him! So, we backed up a little, but have been having "potty talk" since then. All last week, I kept saying saying how he would get to wear his "big boy underwear" when we were at home from work/school. And how we could do the "potty dance," our version of a vegetables song on Sesame Street, afterwards. And, more importantly, how he could watch "Woody and Buzz" and get a treat each time he went. He seemed excited!

BUT...after five accidents on Friday morning (he was solely in his pajama shirt and skivvies) we both felt like this:

I thought about jumping ship right around lunch time, thinking he just wasn't ready yet...and telling myself that it would be just fine if we waited another couple months (especially if Brett was home with me for several weeks once Blake arrives :-) However, I stuck to my guns and prayed that JW would have a revelation over nap-time!

Fortunately, something clicked, and he went the rest of the afternoon/evening without any accidents! He has gotten more comfortable wearing only his big-boy underwear, and he will tell us (or do his "gotta-pee" dance) when he has to go. He woke up dry this morning and went potty right away...up until then, it has taken lots of convincing in the morning for some reason, but gets easier throughout the day. Next up, tackling "Poo-Poo in the potty!" Oh, the joys of parenthood :-)

Excuse me as I took a picture of both Jameston's and Boomer's rear-ends!

Things that seemed to work best for us:

Setting the timer for every 15 minutes (at first) and now every 30 minutes (since he's been successful at emptying his bladder!) When he hears it go off, we head to the bathroom, and he at least attempts to go
"Elmo's Potty World" We've been watching this since summer, so a lot of the topics came up during our "potty talks"
Cheerios in the toilet! Yes, you heard me right :-) I had a friend on Facebook mention that her son liked aiming at Fruit Loops. He does not stand to go quite yet, but it made it more fun for him to "go" and flush!
A Potty/Sticker chart and a subsequent "treat," such as a piece of candy, getting to play a game on my phone, or watching his "new" movie Toy Story (we've had the movie for over a month now, hoping it would get him motivated to try)
Lots of praise/excitement and resulting "potty dances!" The boy likes to groove :-)

One of our guy friends (who does not have kids yet :-) recommended we provide good "reading material" for him to not mind hanging out in the bathroom...does the iPad count?!

Let me tell you the revelations I had just over these past few days: You must resort to things you never dreamed of, like racing cars on the toilet lid and hanging out in the most undesirable part of your house for HOURS on end...and it is EXHAUSTING!! Both JW and I (Brett was out of town to Lubbock on Sunday) took a long nap after church!

We were going a little stir-crazy with being couped up indoors for almost three straight days (the cold weather made it a little easier on Jameston not wanting to go outside much, thank goodness!) so we did some arts and crafts and "cleaning" projects together:

Valentine's cards: Red handprints

(Somewhat) in the shape of hearts

Jameston made these for his Daddy, grandparents, Aunt Maggie, and several of his teachers at school

We were getting pretty delirious by Sunday evening but wanted to take a picture to send it to Brett, who was enjoying the snow in West Texas. The grainy, self-portrait:

And he thought it would be neat to cover Mommy's quickly growing baby belly with his Elmo stickers. Let's just say, we were ready to get out of the house on Monday!

And I am happy to report that he did very well yesterday, even at daycare! I was worried about that transition to outside of the house, but he has done well so far. I know it is still soon, but five days in and we are seeing some great progress! So proud of our (soon-to-be-potty-trained) BIG boy!

It only took me a year!

2012-02-09T22:23:00.009-06:00

Okay, okay...it took me a year to get my booty in gear and actually sit down to do this (that's how long we've been in our house), but really only 2 1/2 hours to paint (two weekends ago during Jameston's nap). I have had the canvas and paint for who-knows-how-long but never really sat down to get it DONE.

Finally, the duck picture for the boys' bathroom!

I also painted the nursery wall last weekend (bad pic thanks to the ceiling fan/light)

Also done while Jameston napped...still have some touch-ups, but the bulk of it is DONE!

And, here is a sneak-peek of the bedding/theme for Blake's room :-)

I have some little crafts to finish in order to complete the nursery, and I have since marked off two big "organizational tasks" on my to-do list...I believe nesting has arrived in full force!

Jameston's Jargon (and hobbies)

2012-02-09T22:03:00.006-06:00

Okay, since I'm on a blogging roll, I might as well add the latest funny/cute/silly statements and hobbies/happenings from our pride and joy:

Lately, we have been up to a lot of karaoke'ing (the child loves his new-to-him Bible Songs book and microphone that he received for Christmas :-)

Lego-building,

and Playground visiting!

His language skills continue to amaze me, but I may be a little biased :-) The boy is obsessed with his puzzles lately (have I blogged about that yet?), and to say that he could put together 50 a day might be an understatement. He received several for Christmas where the pieces fit flush together, instead of the cut-out ones. He is in love! And this Mommy loves seeing him light up when he finishes one. Once he's done, he'll exclaim, "Look, Mommy! I did it!"

I think the little guy is becoming more and more aware that he's about to have to share the spotlight with his baby brother. His teacher at daycare told me Monday that, when they were talking about what he did this past weekend over lunch, Jameston said, "I played with Mommy, and Daddy, and baby Blake." She said, "Oh, really. Who is Baby Blake?" He then said matter-of-factly, "He my baby brother. He's in Mommy's tummy. I give him hugs!" Too sweet!

Another reference that comes to mind is when he he said, "Baby Blake is hungry, too?" after I told him I was getting really hungry right about dinner time. Well, yes, Jameston. That is why your Mommy seems to eat ALL the time :-)

JW's love of sports seems to grow by the day (well, maybe hour), as he cannot get enough of basketball, golf, soccer, and football these days. I have resigned to the fact, especially since I am outnumbered by boys, that the rule of "No throwing the ball in the house" does not apply to Nerf sporting goods. Hey, they are soft :-) During weeknights, after we all get home from our long days, you can hear the following statements throughout the house and backyard:

"I'm gonna kick it all the way!"

"Hut-hut...hand-off...touchdown!"

"I made it. I made a basket!"

Jameston's other love, besides sports, these days is music. As already stated, he loves to sing (if you rode around in the car with us, you would quickly learn this as we have a Children's CD with 30+ Bible songs that he belts out the best he can!). He also likes to dance! I mean, he is adorable as he grooves to the beat!

Several weekends ago, we met up with some of Brett's co-workers at a Bavarian restaurant, and there was a "band" that consisted of two older men, one playing the accordion and the other the drums. He was not one-bit interested in the food...the boy wanted to boogy! As we left, he was sure to tell them, "Thank you. That music is good."

Some very-frequent statements as of late are:

"Mommy/Daddy, I wanna show you some-fin."

"Why-yyy."

(He has started saying this pretty much after any statement, but mostly any directions we give him.

After so many "Why's" I have to get creative!)

"Okay!"

He says this a lot, like after every conversation. Maybe so he can have the last word!

"Mommy, what you talking about?"

Many friends/family can attest that Jameston likes to be a part of our conversations :-)

Cute, frequent sentences we hear these days:

"Save it for later."

He says this after we wrap up an activity that he may not be quite ready to quit (i.e., before dinner, nap, etc.)

"Catch the light."

He'll say this as he is blowing us a kiss from his bed when we are saying goodnight to him while standing at the door to his room (where the hallway light is on). So sweet!

I'll leave you with some funny ones. One night we were enjoying an ice-cream treat, which we do if he has had a really good day (and which I have been known to indulge in a little more these days all thanks to pregnancy:-) He was eating his ice cream out of his bowl and dropped a little on his shirt. He quickly said, "Lick my shirt, Boomer," after which both of us laughed hysterically! Don't know where he got that one from! Maybe be he knows that Boomer is quick to "vacuum up" any dropped food on the kitchen floor :-)

One night this past week, I was getting him ready for bed. I asked him if I could use his toothbrush (I think he was distracted and him thinking I may borrow something of his usually gets him back on track), and he said, "You're too big for that, Mommy." This is something he's been hearing a lot lately in regards to him wearing diapers!

This boy lights up our lives!!

First doctors' visits, times two

2012-02-03T13:15:00.007-06:00

Several weeks back, Jameston had the luxury of going to two different specialists within a matter of about a week and a half (thanks to insurance and the start of the year, and some underlying concerns because of his parents' genes :-) I was anxious about how he would do, but, thankfully, he handled it like a champ (and has since talked about wanting to go back)!

First up was the pediatric ophthalmologist (I did not take any pictures during the testing, as he was sitting in my lap for most of it. But he sure loved the trains! I think we figured out Baby Brother's gift to him when he arrives :-)

We had to schedule him with the ophthalmologist because he did not pass his vision screening for one eye at his two-year check-up, three months ago. And his Daddy's entire family wears glasses, so we thought it'd be good to know. Dr. Chen did a comprehensive exam (and employed a lot of the same techniques we use when testing children's hearing), and she was impressed at how well Jameston cooperated for being "a two-year-old." What can I say, the boy likes new adventures :-)

After she dilated his eyes, and after being there what seemed like forever, the verdict is that our little fella has a slight astigmatism for his right eye and is somewhat near-sighted, both of which she said are common in childhood and that he should outgrow. Phew, I guess these are the only glasses he'll be sporting for awhile! The next Friday we were off to another doc, the pediatric dentist. We, too, held off on this since JW was not on our dental plan last year. Anywho, this Mommy is missing both laterals (her mother AND paternal grandmother each had one missing, left or right, so she and her brother did not grow theirs in). So, we thought it'd be good to know if Jameston inherited this...and I've been told this is a good age to take them.

Again, JW was a trooper for the entire appointment. He especially loved the waiting room!

I did not get any pictures of the actual appointment because it was a kids-only area (as long as you/the child are comfortable with that...they had the exam room set up like a big playroom, with a library in one corner, a movie station in another, and a balloon artist in another...Mr. Independent Jameston had a FIELD DAY, to say the least)!

The dentist was great, and Jameston has since talked about going there again about 20 times! Glad he likes the dentist more than most people do :-) Good news is that he does have the laterals that will grown in after his baby teeth---another phew!

Showing off his balloon animal!

After our dentist visit, we headed off to United Market Street for some grocery shopping

and a lunch date!

So proud of my big boy!

Merry Christmas to me!

2012-02-01T08:17:00.003-06:00

My thoughtful husband gave me, in my mind, one of the best gifts he could have thought of: prenatal yoga classes! I have only been going two weeks, but, let me tell you, I feel like a brand new woman (who, I might add, already feels very pregnant only at 27-weeks) every time I get done with the class!

(By the way, that picture is not me :-)

Even though he is right in the middle of busy season (and working 80-90 hours a week), he is home from work on Tuesday nights in time for me to go and "relax" for almost two hours. And it has been just that...time for me to step away from this crazy-busy thing we call life and focus on me and this baby boy. Soooo thoughtful of Brett! One of the many reasons I love him :-)

I have definitely felt the toll of this second pregnancy more than when I was pregnant with Jameston. I keep hearing each subsequent pregnancy is harder than the previous...makes sense! But maybe, just maybe, this yoga class will help me feel like I can make it to 40 weeks!!

Stickers=Gold!

2012-01-27T14:23:00.006-06:00

Our little guy is OBSESSED with stickers at this age. Not just your average, "I wanna wear one on my shirt" kind of obsession. It's more of a, "Let me see what surface does not have any stickers so I can cover it" kind of obsession. Cute that he's into that "craft?" Yes. But this could get messy people (as seen below. Hey, I was able to cook dinner while he did this :-) As an example, I found a sticker on my jacket right before we walked into church the other morning!

With Brett working his crazy public-CPA-firm hours right now, and me getting bigger (i.e., less agile) by the day, Jameston has had some "terrible two" moments lately. I believe a lot of this has to do with the fact that my sweet, loving little boy is sensing there is about to be a change in our household, so he's being SUPER clingy as well lately (which has intensified his mood swings)!Daily battles include: getting dressed in the morning (since we have to wake him up to leave by 7:20, this makes for a ROUGH start to both of our days), eating what is on his plate, and sleeping all night in his new room/bed (this became a problem after the holidays---I realized I never posted about that...post to come). I wanted to incorporate his fondness of stickers into our daily routine. Thus, here are our "Good Behavior" charts for the next 8 weeks!

Monday was our first "go" at it, and I will say it has helped immensely. If he is acting out, I remind him of the stickers and say, "Wouldn't it be sad if we didn't get to put a sticker on the chart?" It tends to nip whatever fit he's throwing in the bud, AND he actually anticipates these "problem areas" with the hopes he gets a sticker out of the deal. Hopefully, as it becomes more of routine, the reminders will be less and less :-)

AND, since potty-training is on the horizon, I plan to add that to the daily "activities" very soon!

Outdoor fun!

2012-01-19T09:33:00.003-06:00

We have had some mild temperatures over the last couple of weeks (hoping it stays that way). Needless to say, Jameston was excited about getting outside for some playground fun!

We went to one of the playgrounds in our neighborhood three consecutive days! I tell ya, the boy needs wide open spaces :-)

Love this one...

and this one...

Such a big boy!

One Saturday morning, for a change, we went out to the backyard to blow some bubbles. This is something he never seems to grow tired of either!

I am thankful that winters are pretty mild here in Texas, or else Jameston might want to move!

Jameston's Jargon

2012-01-19T06:51:00.006-06:00

Goodness, I wish I had a pen and paper with me at all times to write this stuff down so I don't forget. Either that, or a photographic memory (which applies to being to memorize things you hear as well...something I did not know and had to google :-) That would make this blogging thing a little easier! Our boy is talking more and more like a big kid these days, with proper grammar and all. He even has some verb tenses down-pat, but he still says, "I ove you" when he trying to say his endearment really quickly (like at bedtime). Too cute to correct!

A couple of things Jameston has said lately are:

"I'm going to help Mommy first."

He said this to Brett on Sunday night when Brett asked him if he wanted to throw the football. I was folding laundry on the floor, and JW was ever-so kindly "helping" me. Let's just say, I love his wanting to contribute to daily chores, but I was glad when he joined his Daddy to toss the pigskin.

"I wanna read my Jungle pop-up book all myself."

He has been wanting to read by himself before his afternoon nap (when he's at home) for several weeks now. So, we will read a story or two, and then I will give him his favorite book for that day, usually, his Children's Bible or the pop-up book (pictured below) that he received from Brett's grandparents for Christmas. I go back in about 15-20 minutes later to find him like this...

I've noticed that our little fella is quite bossy. He does not say things in a mean way, just really more of direct statements. I noticed this last weekend when we were playing soccer in the backyard. He kept saying, "Stand by the tree, Mommy." Or "Kick it to me, Mommy!" The list could go on and on...

Oh, and he says "Mommy" after everything! I mean EVERYTHING. Questions, statements, etc. I could listen to this all day long, but anyone else who hears it notices the preponderance of the word "Mommy." One sweet example from the other day: we were brushing his crazy hair one morning, and he wanted to brush mine. Afterwards he said, "You're so pretty, Mommy." A compliment that made my day!

Lately, he'll say, "Mommy, I want to hear a story about... ." It has replaced the "sing a song about..." phase from a couple of months ago. Some nights, after a long day, I feel like my story-telling skills are really being put to the test by a 2-year-old! One thing is for sure, his imagination is definitely present in full force!

Lately I have noticed that he gives out unsolicited "thank you's" more and more. Music to my ears! He also says, "Excuse me, Mommy" a lot. For instance, he say this if he steps in front of me when we are playing on the floor in the play room. So polite!

Here's to less pregnancy brain and me retaining more and more of what our talkative toddler says at this age!

JW sings!

2012-01-13T14:00:00.006-06:00

I hope he's not too embarrassed when he's older of my catching his every song these days. I've been meaning to record him singing for about a month now, but you know how that goes...He likes to sing songs really fast and loudly (for emphasis, I guess?) Other songs in his repertoire are, "Oh, Happy Day!" and "Hakuna Matata." Those are on the checklist next. Enjoy!

Christmas 2011 (a.k.a., longest post ever!)

2012-01-11T21:26:00.002-06:00

On Christmas Eve Eve, we loaded up and headed to Love Field and flew to Midland (and then drove the two hours to Balmorhea). Jameston had to be up and at 'em earlier than usual, but he was in good spirits! And he wanted to "ride" the moving walkways. With our seven bags, we improvised!

He flew when he was 9-months-old for the first time, so this was a different experience---and more fun! He kept saying, "We going to fly in the sky?!"

For any toddler to remain still for over an hour, you must come prepared. I brought a portable DVD player from work, but, in all the hustle and bustle the day before, I forgot to charge it. So, we fell back on the iPad. He has an Elmo ABC game he plays on there. Phew!

Laura Bush was on our flight! We knew something was up when we saw all of the security as we were loading the plane. We thought that was pretty cool she flew Southwest even with her entourage :-)

Once in Midland we loaded up the rental and drove to the Davis Mountains. It was a perfect time (as planned) for Jameston to snooze. Another phew!

Glad he napped, because once we arrived, the family festivities began!

Lots of games with cousins (and aunts :-)

There was card playing,

(mainly Go Fish and Slap Jack)

(of course these two were a little young to understand the rules :-)

domino playing,

(big cousin, Riley, was a great teacher)

reading

(second cousin, Kaelen, was a hit with all the little ones!)

(and Lauren was a favorite, as well :-)

and even a potato peeling contest!

The Turnboughs can make even the most mundane of tasks a fun competition :-)

One thing is for sure, lots of great memories were made!

Here is a picture of Ruby and Jameston taking a piggy-back ride on Papa's back:

Movie ("quiet") time

One of the BEST parts about our stay was that it snowed on the night of the 23rd!

The kiddos had fun outside on Christmas Eve morning,and the views of the Davis Mountains were spectacular!

Of course, it didn't stay long, since it had been in the upper 50's earlier that week. But, hey, we had a (temporarily) White Christmas!

JW had fun (ahem, thanks to Brett) learning how to throw snowballs!Pure joy!King of the Hill (or bottom half of the snowman)!

Me and my little guy!

My two guys

The matriarch of the Turnbough family, GiGi. She will be 93-years-old in March, and has 43 direct descendants, with 2 more on the way in the Spring :-)

And then there are also the 17 people who have married into the family as well...our group at church on Sunday morning!

For this year's festivities, about 55 could make it. And Christmas Eve night was a fun (and loud) gathering. Santa Clause (a.k.a., Uncle Larry) even made a pit stop to see the kids!

Jameston was relieved to find out that Santa thought he was a good boy this year!

And he was sweet enough to go back and give Santa a hug after he received his present :-)

Riley got a new guitar!

The only thing J kept asking for this year...Simba!

Luckily, his Mommy found this back in November (so she was relieved!)

16 of the 19 great-grandkids (#19, Wyatt Winters, was born three days later in Oklahoma! And great-grandbabies #20 and #21, both boys, are due in February and April). These family gatherings are just going to get better and better (and bigger and bigger)!

More presents!

Jameston, who is following in his Daddy's footsteps, loves his tools!

He received a new drill, measuring tape and goggles

and made quick work of them!

Then on to the White Elephant shenanigans! It took probably an hour and a half with 55 people :-)

Action shot!

I think we know what to get JW next year (maybe not in pink :-) The boy is on a music kick as of late!

Christmas Day

Wide open spaces and a ride-along airplane. This boy was in heaven!

We celebrated with the Stewart side of the family on New Year's Day. This is the third year we have done this, and it works out nicely. As in, we are not driving all over creation within a 3-4 day span in order to get from family 1 to family 2, etc.

Dad and Glenda went all out for us this year...I guess we had all been pretty good :-)

Jameston modeling the "Santa's Helper" hat, since he helped pass out presents this year

Lynnlee and Aspen checking out their gifts

What can I say, the boy loves monkeys!

He received a duck caller in his stocking (along with many other fun gadgets). Fun!

Helping Mommy open her gifts (one of them being a Texas Tech necklace)

Playing pool with Pops (while we made sure he did not toss any off the table)!

Giving Aspen a goodbye hug. These two love each other!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season! Until next year's...

First (crush) kiss...

2012-01-10T08:14:00.007-06:00

No, no, not mine and Brett's...Jameston's! Never did I think that I would be writing about this when he is 2, but here we are. So, let me preface this by saying that we are a lovey-dovey family (or so I am and the rest of the Stewarts), and JW has come to believe that we hug when we say bye to family and friends, and he thinks that hugs come with kisses. So, he makes sure to give me a big smooch at night when I tuck him in, and even when he's running off to another room of the house. And he gives his Daddy kisses on the cheek. SO cute!

Anywho, I was picking him up from "school"/daycare yesterday afternoon, and he ran to me to give me a hug (like he usually does) and we headed to get his backpack and lunch bag from another room. As we were getting his stuff, he saw his friend, Skye's, backpack and told me, "Mommy, I want to tell Skye 'bye.'" I said okay and we headed back to the classroom (I needed to sign him out anyways). He peered into the classroom and said, "Bye, Skye!" after which she came running to the door. She proceeded to give him a hug, and as he turned around to leave, he went back for another hug and planted a kiss on her cheek! His teacher and I chuckled and both said, "Aw, how sweet!"

But his reaction afterwards is what was most priceless. He then ran to me, wrapped his arms around me as if he wanted me to pick him up, and buried his head on my neck. At that point I realized that it wasn't like a kiss he gives me or other family members because he was being bashful about it. That realization became even more true when he picked his head up from my shoulder and his cheeks were flushed. Oh my, I think my little boy has his first CRUSH! Thank goodness the kiss was only on the cheek :-) Seriously, it was the cutest thing ever (although I did not expect it to happen already)!

"Chis-mas" at Daddy's work

2012-01-09T21:27:00.001-06:00

One Friday morning Jameston and I made a trip up to the Galleria to do a little shopping and meet Brett for lunch. JW was mesmerized by all the activity, especially the ice-skaters! It was a quick but festive trip. We've gone every year to see the "big tree" and we plan on continuing those visits as long as we live in the metroplex (it's really one of the only times I can stand to go to the Galleria, despite the traffic and crowds :-)

Twas the night (or three nights) before Christmas...

2012-01-05T21:59:00.003-06:00

We headed out of town for Christmas to be with Brett's mom's side of the family on Friday, the 23rd, so we decided to do our little family's Christmas that Thursday night. To kick it off, Jameston watched a video email from none other than Santa Clause himself. It was fun for all of us :-)After that we all opened our gifts from each other. Here is JW thumbing through his new "David and Goliah" book. Love him and his crazy hair!

My helpers, Boomer and Jameston, were sure to help Brett spoil me. Prenatal yoga coming up for me and a new Vera Bradley bag, yippee!

Don't know where or who he learned it from, but the boy knows how to tear through some wrapping paper and move on to the next gift!

His new horse puppet, to go along with his horse-themed big boy room!

Now on to the stocking and one of his favorite finds: the slinky!

Hew as super excited about his M&M candy cane :-)

Big boy underwear for the potty-training that is, hopefully, around the corner!

After it was all said and done, Jameston was too wound up to go to bed quite yet. So, we let him stay up a little later, and he decided to serenade us with his karaoke to his new Bible Songs book. Wish I would have recorded it on video!

The next morning we had to wake him up before his usual time to load up and head to the airport. He came downstairs to this surprise from "Monkey Elf," what he so lovingly named our Elf on the Shelf this holiday season. We received him last Christmas, but I figured JW was a little too young at that time. JW had a to-go bowl of "snow donuts" (and some fruit of course) along with a cold milk for the road. Also, Santa wrote him a letter that we read aloud...it stated that Santa would see Jamseton in two days (in Balmorhea), but Mommy didn't know that there would be a Santa at Dallas Love Field airport that morning (at 7 a.m.!) to take (free) pictures with :-)He did pretty well with the concept of behaving extra well so that Monkey Elf could give a good report to Santa each night, but here's hoping that next year he's a little less attached to the elf (as seen in the picture below...he always wanted to hug him)The tradition started this year, but I am thinking Jameston will be more excited next year about it! What a special celebration we had at home...stay tuned for our adventures with the Turnboughs and Stewarts (more posts to come)!

Christmas fun in the kitchen

2012-01-04T21:51:00.002-06:00

So, with Christmas comes lots of baking of course. And baking just isn't the same these days without my lil' helper around! I made Oreo cookie bars for my co-workers. And JW sure had a grand ole time smashing them with a meat tenderizer :-)

I think the treats turned out even better thanks to our little boy's help :-)

Also, one afternoon after work, I had the last-minute thought (so there was not enough forethought involved, as you'll see from the outcome :-) to have JW build a gingerbread/graham cracker house. I do work right around the corner from a grocery store, so I was able to grab some gum drops and such, but little did I know that the graham crackers we already had at home would not be what my "how-to" guide called for. Oh well, our house turned out to be more like a shack!

Anyways, as you can see, Jameston was quite excited to get to play with the food (and eat some of the end result): All in all, he was very focused, and I must say he was pretty determined to make sure the house was standing upright...can we say perfectionist?!

Of course the best part is placing (and eating) the candy coating!

Excited to show off his project!

The website I checked beforehand also mentioned adding snow (powdered sugar) to the lawn. Before we did that, Jameston got his golf flag to make the wind blow. So clever!

Our version of snow:

We had a blast (for about 30 minutes), and Jameston was even so kind to help Mommy clean up our mess. Love that boy!

Baby boy Winters will be named...

2011-12-27T07:54:00.006-06:00

Blake Everett Winters!

After much debate (and some indecision on Brett's part :-) we mutually decided on a name for our next little guy about a week ago (we wanted to wait until Christmas to tell our families). Jameston, who has not mastered the consonant cluster combinations such as /bl/, lovingly refers to him as "Baby B-yake." Love it!

Everett is a name I have loved for a looong time, so I knew if we had another boy that I would like to use it as his middle name. Another reason I like the name is that it just so happens to share the last four letters of my handsome hubby's name :-) We didn't want to use it for his first name, since it could be shortened into Rhett, which sounds too much like Brett. So, it will be his middle name. In regards to Blake, we wanted to choose a one-syllable name, since Everett and Winters are fairly long, and we debated for a long time (okay, it felt like a long time, but it was only for a couple of weeks) between three first names. If we have another boy (since we have always said we'd love to have three kids), we've got a named picked out for him already as well!

Now that we've settled on his name, it's time to get the nursery ready! Jameston successfully transitioned to his big boy room the second week of December (which was earlier than we had originally planned on moving him, BUT---a post to come on that!), so the nursery is ready for an overhaul. I'm thinking lots of blues (which I did not do for Jamston's room), greens, browns and whites to go along with the black furniture we already have. I did use a lot of greens and browns in JW's baby room, so I'll be keeping a lot of the accessories (for which my fiscal-minded husband is thankful :-). Right now, I'm debating between going with a transportation or dinosaur theme. Stay tuned...

Merry Christmas from the Winters

2011-12-21T21:22:00.003-06:00

We just barely got these out before Christmas, all because I wanted to wait until we found out the gender of our little bambino :-)

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with lots of great memories!

Birthday parties, babies, and baby showers, oh my!

2011-12-20T21:08:00.010-06:00

This post goes back a ways, and I'd be lying to say I remember how far back (and would have to search through my calendar to get the dates right) so I'm just going to write about it and get it out of my drafts :-)

Back in mid-November my friend, Lindi, and I drove to Abilene to visit our friend, Wendy, and her family. She had triplet girls in late September, and all of them were home from the hospital after four weeks (praise God)! Maddie, Lily, and Aubrey were ready for visitors, so Lindi and I decided we wanted to help out Wendy and R.J. a bit. This was the only picture we took, as we were pretty busy :-) We took over for one of the night shifts (and they so kindly let us) so they could get an uninterrupted night's sleep. All I have to say is that I was worn out just after 24 hours, but I was amazed how good the babies were (and how calm and collected the parents of four girls 2-years-old and under were)! They go through about 30 bottles a day and who knows how many burp clothes and diapers?! It was great to see them in person, as we have been getting the cutest picture updates through email :-)

I also helped hostess my cousin Allison's baby shower the next day (three of our family members and friends are expecting baby boys during the last week of December-our little guy will have a lot of boys around his age to play with)! It was a lovely gathering, with lots of great company, food and baby talk, but I seemed to have been too busy to take pictures during the actual shower. Oops!

Here is a snapshot of the beautiful mom-to-be at, I believe, 35 weeks! She is due any.minute.now...

Jameston was invited to our sweet neighbor Avanti's 5th birthday party at Jump for Joy.

He had a blast!

It was our first, but definitely not last, trip there. We will be back!

Here Comes Santa Clause

2011-12-19T12:36:00.001-06:00

Two Fridays ago, we headed to Jameston's school for "Spaghetti with Santa." They had two different seatings for dinner, andwe chose the later one so we could get some activities in before we ate :-) He loved the bean bag tossing games, as we hung out there more than anywhere else!And his Daddy had fun helping him, too!

And he even switched it up and threw with both hands!Mrs. Clause read "The Polar Express" to a group. Jameston was right at the front and even got up a couple of times to point to the picturesHe "wrote" a letter to Santa that we mailed that nightHe loves Thomas the Train, which was also on display in the Polar Express roomGetting him to sit on Santa's lap took some time this year (he was excited up until we went into that room). But nothing a good ole game of catch with the photographer couldn't fix! We loved it-no long lines, no crazy prices. Easy breezy!This year's picture:And for comparison's-sake, last year'sand the year before, when he was two-months-old and snoozing!

Jameston's going to have a...

2011-12-09T13:26:00.012-06:00

Baby Brother!! Isn't he perfect?!

We went in this morning for our almost-20 week sonogram and saw our little boy, who was being bashful for the camera (maybe it was because it was bright and early AND he was up late moving around into the early morning hours. We even saw him yawing- so cute! I have been feeling his movements for over two weeks now, and it is incredible. Absolutely one of the BEST parts of pregnancy! Jameston felt him kick the other night :-) The sonographer said that this baby must be quite the little mover and shaker already. Baby boy Winters #2 looked "perfect" in her words, for which we are SO grateful! Praise God!!

To celebrate our little family of three went to breakfast (since Jameston was up at 6:30 eager to start our day) before my appointment. Here he is hardly able to contain his excitement:

We were sure to get "baby brudder" a new shirt afterwards. Jameston was a great little helper at the store, but they didn't have the exact onesie I wanted. Oh well, we settled on this one, which I think is the new motto of our household: Almost naptime (as you can tell by JW's eyes) but he's very proud to show off his "Big Brother" shirt and his little brother's as well:

This Mommy is quickly getting more and more outnumbered! Here is a belly pic from 16 weeks. I hope to take one every 4 weeks, but it is a little more difficult to remember these days (as opposed with the first pregnancy when I may have taken one every 2 weeks :-)

I am feeling great and have gained about 10 pounds so far. I have a long torso, so our little soccer player has lots 'o room to stretch out in there :-) I am measuring right on track as well, so the due date is still slated for late April.

We have yet to give our second son a moniker as of yet; we have a few in the running and hope to tell family and friends his name over the Christmas holiday!

Gearing up for Christmas!

2011-12-06T22:01:00.005-06:00

Two weekends ago, right after we got back from Thanksgiving, we decked out the house for Christmas! Brett put out the outside lights that afternoon while I decorated the house. That Sunday night, we headed to a local church to find a tree! Part of the proceeds go to the youth group :-)

Jameston found the perfect sized tree for him, but this Mommy wanted something a little larger :-)

The guys goofing around and dancing to the Christmas music

What a cutie pie---he loves his Snoopy hat that he received from Granny and Pops last year for Christmas!

We settled on this 8.5 foot Douglas fir tree-It was on sale (I think) because it was a little lopsided :-)

Doesn't look too crooked, does it? Pardon the Elmo balloon in the background!

That night, we decorated the tree while listening to Christmas music in the living room by the warm fire (Jameston helped Daddy build it with his toolbox), and Jameston tried hot chocolate (and marshmallows) for the first time. It was love at first taste!

My boys

Giving the tree a hug

Posing in his new PJ's that first night in front of the tree

And we had fun decorating the "little tree" upstairs several nights later while Brett was out of town.

He had a BLAST setting up the nativity, but I failed to take any pictures (probably because I was on edge to make sure he didn't break any of the figures :-) And he was sure to give the second tree a goodnight hug as well!

What a fun time we had this year gearing up for Christmas! And we are sure to turn the outside, tree, and stairway lights on as soon as we get home each afternoon/night. We have also started the tradition of "Elf on the Shelf" (Jameston has lovingly named him Monkey Elf :-) Although the books talks about not handling the elf (who is supposed to be in a location that is to "watch after" Jameston during the day to see if he's been a good boy so that Monkey Elf can report back to Santa at night, Jameston LOVES telling everyone about him (so we have been guilty of taking him to daycare :-)

Thanksgiving in the Panhandle

2011-12-06T12:36:00.004-06:00

For Thanksgiving we loaded up and headed 6 hours northwest to Plainview, where Brett's grandparents live, on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Jameston and I made the trek there (and stayed the night with my sister in Wichita Falls so that we could break up the trip after a long Wednesday at school/work), and Brett flew there on Thursday morning thanks to his work schedule.

As always, JW was a great little traveler! I made CD's of Bible songs, Lion King hits, and Sesame Street Christmas music for the drive. We listened to some of those songs probably 15 times! And we played our, "Mommy, sing about...(insert anything from horsies, to school buses, to birds, to his socks)" some of the way as well. Here he is snoozing that Thursday morning (so glad he did, since our Thanksgiving meal was smack-dab in the middle of nap-time)!

When we got there, JW got busy playing! Bubbles were popular,

As were "wagon" rides with Ian, Gage, and Xanthis (a boy from the Lubbock Children's home, where Aunt Kayla works)

Papa is a hit with the kids! I love this picture showing how intent the boys were listening to him...

The only family pic I got that day, since I got sick later in the afternoon...not fun having a stomach bug on one of the biggest eating days of the year! I am saving up my appetite now for Christmas already :-)

Memaw and Pappy, Great Aunt Patricia, and the great-grandkids, Ian, Gage, Jameston, and 2-month-old, Mallory Kate, whom we met for the first time that day!

Let's just say, Friday I was pretty worthless while others played outside, watched football, ate some more :-) On Saturday, we headed to see Pappy, who is at an assisted living home now due to Alzheimer's. Four generations!

Jameston had a BLAST playing catch with him!

Love it!

We ended up leaving earlier than planned, since Brett flew there but drove me and Jameston back (since I was not up for the challenge), so that we could get back to Dallas for the Tech/Baylor game at Cowboys' stadium. As always, we had a wonderful time seeing family, and look forward to our next time together. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Thankful

2011-11-29T21:51:00.000-06:00

I know I am about a week late on this, but, hey, I could not let this holiday pass by without some blogging on my part (and I was sick all last week, so I guess I have an "excuse"). I realize, more and more it seems with each passing year, just how blessed and thankful I am for all that I have. I have been humbled several times, whether it be by some life event, a person or group of people, etc., so much that I feel the need to thank God every day. I am SO THANKFUL for the following:

My awesome, supportive and protective hubby (who just so happened to wait on me hand and foot and took care of me when I was sick last week). He is such a great, Godly example for Jameston, and he is so good to us. I am a lucky gal!

My sweet, tender-hearted little boy. I realized more than ever this past year how blessed I am to be a mother, especially Jameston's "Mommy." He is pure joy!

My friends...they keep me grounded and stay connected (even when I am not the best phone communicator :-)

A roof over my head and food on the table. Cliche, I know,but I take these for granted when I should be SO grateful.

My mom, dad, and step-mom...I feel very loved every time I talk to, see them. Although the dynamics are not ideal, I appreciate my upbringing and how they helped shape me into the person I am today.

My siblings...they are my rock (and a reminder, too, of how much time flies). Oh to be young again and carefree! When we all four get together, which may only be several times a year, it feels like we haven't skipped a beat!

My in-laws...they are, hands-down, the best anyone could ever wish for. Brett's parents and grandparents are my own. I know God led me to Brett for many reasons, them included.

This baby we have been blessed with...such a precious gift from God. We are so excited to meet him/her in April! And the blessing of God's timing...because Brett will be able to be home more in April with the new baby as opposed to this time of year when he is jet-setting all over the place.

My job...although I wish I could stay at home exclusively, I do love what I do, knowing that I am changing people's lives by way of helping them hear. That is why I chose this profession. Many of my patients are like family to me as well. And my co-workers are great, too. Could not be more blessed on this front!

Jameston's "school"...they love on him like he is their own child, and he LOVES going (my feelings might be different if he dreaded going) and he THRIVES there. I am so thankful knowing that he is in good hands when I am away from him. I am so thankful it is another place where he learns about God, and that he feels safe there as well.

Our church...we have been members there about five years now. Our church family has become our extended family, and we feel so blessed to be a part of Prestoncrest.

Oh, and Boomer, our dog...we had to give up Marlie in the summer due to our hectic schedules. And Boomer has loved all the extra attention! I love how Jameston loves on Boomer, and I feel safer at night because of ole Boom-Boom (even if his hearing and eyesight are going), especially when Brett is traveling.

Some daily/weekly happenings I am thankful for...Picking up Jameston from school each day and the smile he gives me. And how he runs to me with his arms up when he sees me at the door to give me a big bear hug. Makes my heart melt each and every time. Watching him learn something new and the joy it brings him (and us). His desire to want to "help you, Mommy" even with mundane house-chores from folding clothes to wiping down the counter tops in the kitchen. Love it! How he breaks out in song and dance at the drop of a hat. How JW sings/or tries to sing the intro to "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King in the car or at home. Our "snuggle" time in the early hours of the morning. Our nightly prayers. Getting home from work/school at night and having as much fun as we can for the next 2-3 hours before his bedtime. My Fridays off and the freedom it gives me to spend more time with the little guy. I could fill a whole lifetime with these memories!!!

And some generic, maybe trivial to some, things in life that I appreciate (some particular to this time of year): a fire going in the fire place, the smell of a real Christmas tree, the ability to put presents under that tree, a hot meal (especially if I don't have to cook it!), being outdoors, an uninterrupted night's sleep/shower, 9:00 p.m. when I get some "me" time, although that time has been turning into bedtime as of late:-), my new Dirt Devil vacuum (my early Christmas present to myself!) that allows me to get after the stairs (and all the dog hair) in a record time compared to my old one!

And things I am especially grateful for over the last several months: Sprite, Halloween candy, Italian food, Tylenol for my headaches, nasal strips since my allergies have been out of control (again) with this pregnancy, the deli at Tom Thumb, which happens to be right around the corner from my office, back/foot massages from Brett, maternity clothes (even if it was WAY earlier this time around, just maybe as early as week 10 :-), Oreos (thanks to these and that Halloween candy is probably why I had to break out the maternity clothes earlier :-), my new OB doctor and her nurse, Jill, and, last but not least, the priceless and unforgettable sound of the baby's healthy heartbeat. My thankful-while-pregnant list could go on and on!

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."

Jameston's Jargon

2011-11-29T06:50:00.001-06:00

With the holidays upon us (and Christmas parties and programs and packing and baking taking up "free time") I have neglected the blog. But I have several posts up my sleeve (once I get around to uploading the 200+ pictures from the last two weeks to our computer). For the time being, here is a long overdue update on Jameston's latest language feats (or the ones I remembered at least):"Where's my hammer/saw/scewdiver? I'm gonna fix it." What can I say? The boy still loves his tool box (and Santa may be bringing him a tape measure and drill/goggles for Christmas, too)! "Snuggle me, Mommy." He'll say this when he's on the couch, when I'm busy in the kitchen getting his breakfast ready or cleaning up the mess after dinner. Music to my ears, and a reminder that those things can wait.

Jameston knows his ABC's, can sing all the way through, and can recognize all letters and say their corresponding sounds! Thanks to the sponge letters we use in the bathtub, the Letter Factory DVD from LeapFrog and the magnet toy for the fridge, and us singing it every morning/night when we brush his teeth. Can you tell I am proud!

"Don't sing it, Mommy/Daddy." He has said this many of times when we are listening to his Bible songs or the Lion King soundtrack in the car. Even my own child thinks I have a bad singing voice!

Last week when I was getting his socks and shoes on, we bumped heads. I said, "Oops! Ouch, that hurt. Are you okay?" He looked at me in the most loving way, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "It's okay, Mommy. We love each other."

Girls' Night Out

2011-11-22T07:05:00.001-06:00

Two weekends ago some girlfriends and I headed out to dinner and to a concert for some Saturday night fun! We went to Grimaldi's downtown and then made the long trek (it took about an hour to go about 4 miles because of some awesome traffic) over to Fair Park to see the Zac Brown Band. The weather was perfect and the company even better. Can't want to do it again sometime soon!

Amy, Sharon, me, and Hattie attempting to take a self-portait. One of many takes!

Fall Festival

2011-11-09T12:15:00.003-06:00

Oh my, I forgot to add this to the blog (I often do that once I upload the pics to Facebook)! On Saturday, October 15th, Jameston's daycare had a Fall Festival. We were debating on going to the State Fair that morning instead, but we opted for the cheaper and closer option---and I think all three of us were glad we did!

When we got there, JW did his best Farmer Joe impression :-)

They had a petting zoo, one which we could actually go inside! Jameston was timid at first with the goats,

but then our little Texas Ranger fan livened up a bit, especially when he saw "Billy the Bunny Rabbit!"

He has named all rabbits "Billy," as we see them a lot from our backyard. Love it! As you can see, this bunny ate his Wheaties!

Then on to the llamas! Jameston was insistent on being like the big kids and he so badly wanted to go down the slide. Luckily, his Daddy didn't mind hoisting him up there!

Ready, set,

Whee!A couple of firemen and women from the Plano Fire Department were there and gave us a tour of the firetruck

This was one of Jameston's FAVORITE things of the morning!

Love it!

The obligatory scarecrow, pumpkins and hay bale picture

And what is a Fall Festival without a jump house? At Easter, JW would have not part in them, but NOT this time around...

Fearless!

Our little baseball player had to make a pitstop in the ball pit!We had a great time as a family at the Fall Festival---looking forward to next year's!

Halloween weekend

2011-11-04T14:10:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was chock-full of activities, and we even skipped a few...JW, my mom, and I headed to the Arboretum again on Friday morning. We had to take advantage of our membership since it expired on Monday. We plan to renew it, just not until the Spring :-)

Here is Jameston busy people-watching!

He copied a girl in this picture who was getting her picture taken by her Mom right next to him. Luckily, they did not mind :-)

We were able to get there early enough this time to not have to wait a day and a half in line for the Cinderella carriage. He thought it was fun! Counting the pumpkins

Big boy

Again, he copies a boy who was there right before he was (at least he let me take his picture---usually he's off as I am pressing "click")

The hay bales were a hit again for our second trip!

Oh, and we caught the last part of the puppet show they put on as you walk out. He LOVED it and probably could have sat there for another 30 minutes!

Over the weekend, we did some fun Fall crafts which included pumpkin painting

And carving!

He was a little weary at first of the slimy pumpkin seeds, but then he dug right int!

The he "helped" me bake the seeds-we do this every year! I don't think we eat them all, but they are fun to make and sure smell good!

On Sunday we were lucky enough to see FOUR hot air balloons (there are only three in the picture) from our driveway. Fun!

Sunday night we headed over to the Kerns for a Halloween party. The kids did well for pictures :-)

They had a BLAST playing outside

and swinging at the pinata

Jackpot!

"Mom, I could have sworn there was more candy in here." :-)

Monday night, we headed to Emmie's house for her 2nd birthday party. For some reason I didn't take any pictures :-( Then we headed home and went around the block for Jameston's first real trick-or-treating experience. Love it!

We hope you all had a wonderful, sweet Hallowee as well :-) He did so well!

My guys!

Love it!

Unfortunately, Jameston's love of M&M's grew from this weekend (that is really one of the only candies I'll let him have). We hope to incorporate his chocolate love for when we being potty-training :-)

What a great weekend! Ready for next year :-)

It's a small town on Saturday night

2011-11-04T13:55:00.001-05:00

Several Saturdays back, we met up with one of Brett's co-workers and his family at Watters Creek in Allen (They have free, live music on Saturday nights--and it is usually really good!) Jameston was wondering where his friends were: We have gone there several times before, and we have learned that our little fella likes to boogie! Don't know what dance this is? His break-dancing moves, I guess...

Jamseton and Victoria hit it off!

Here he is showing off!

So sweet!

The best group picture we could get (Jameston doing the squint, Victoria, and her twin, Alexandria)

Alexandria finally warmed up to Jameston, enough to let him sit on her lap!

Easy as 1-2-3

2011-11-03T12:11:00.001-05:00

Jameston is on a serious roll when it comes to his ABC's. I think we can attribute a lot of this to teeth brushing and technology. Yep, you heard me right :-) I would say we've been singing the alphabet usually twice a day when we brush his teeth for about a year now, and he LOVES his LeapFrog magnet game for the fridge and his LeapFrog Learning Letters DVD Whatever it is that has worked, the boy knows about 2/3 of the alphabet by recognition and can say those letters and corresponding sounds. I hope to get it on video soon, but that may be awhile! I never imagined how fun it would be to watch my child learn new things. I am such a proud Mommy, can you tell?!

Jackson!

2011-11-03T12:08:00.002-05:00

Jameston LOVES his buddy, Jackson! We met his Mommy and Daddy at church before J&J were both born, and we have gotten to be so close with them. The boys are about 10 weeks apart in age, so they have similar interests and activity levels :-) We try to meet up with them as much as we can!

Several Saturdays back we headed over to their place and they played to their hearts' content! Playground, ball pit, Jackson's toys at home: these boys had a blast! Here are a few pictures of them on the playground:

We look forward to watching these two grow up together as friends!

The Change-Up

2011-11-02T21:47:00.001-05:00

To say that we watched a lot of baseball over the last month would be the understatement of the millennium. We became even bigger Ranger fans, especially Jameston :-) I am going to "throw out" some baseball terminology here by calling a "change-up" when it comes to predicting the gender of our next baby. I did go out on a limb and boldly state that I think that our next little one is a BOY. However, I have had a change of heart since then for several reasons.

1) Lack of hunger (I was hungry ALL.THE.TIME, like middle-of-the-night hungry during my pregnancy with JW)

2) My continued nausea (I have been nauseated at all hours of the day, even after I eat). Crazy

3) The name game: I am set on a boy's name, so I have been thinking more about girls' names...I have a front-runner, but Brett is not so sold on it yet.

That being said, I am confessing that I could have be wrong with my preliminary guess. Not saying that I 100% think it is a girl, but I'm saying that I will be surprised either way :-) I knew it was a boy my first pregnancy (dreams, hunch, who knows?). But this time, I am not so certain. Kinda fun that way. I guess we will find out in a month or so!!

Pumpkins!

2011-10-29T13:41:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago we headed to the Arboretum on a Friday morning. My mom is living near there right now, so she was happy to go with us! JW had a great time and was off for the races as soon as we got there!

He loved the horses near Cinderella's carriage

The boy would not slow down,

and we saw a lot of this

Him jumping off of the hay was his favorite thing to do there!

I bet he jumped 30 times!

Family pictures, although Jameston was scoping out some more hay bales to jump off of :-)

Such a big boy!

He loved the big pumpkins,

and wanted to help move them :-)

He said this one had grape on it (um, I don't know what kind of grapes he's thinking about!)

He even picked me a flower while we were there. Oops!

I would call it a successful trip! This boy was tuckered out (as seen by the upside-down sunglasses) and conked out before his normal naptime on the way home :-)

Big Brother pictures

2011-10-20T21:35:00.002-05:00

One Saturday morning about two weekends ago, Jameston and I took to the backyard to take some "BIG BROTHER" pictures. Here are the ones that made the "Good-Enough-To-Include-Online" cut:

This is how he reacted when we told him the news :-)

He is taking his new title very seriously!

In the middle of saying "Big Brudder!" Doesn't slow down unless he's tired

Being a silly boy! This is what I got when I asked him to go, "Shh..." It's more like a teeth-brushing pose :-)Celebrating the news!

From this,

to this in no time flat. LOOOVE it!

Big brother pics would not be the same without some BUBBLES!

This boy is excited and cannot wait until April/May!

Fall is here!

2011-10-18T21:15:00.001-05:00

With the nicer weather, we have been trekking to the neighborhood playground quite a bit lately. Our little fella is no longer so little...he's very independent (and busy) while we are there!

He's interested in the little playground (for ages 2-5) for maybe 5 minutes...

Whee!

Then it's off to the big playground (for ages 5-12) where I have to watch him like a hawk!

The boy knows his X's and O's already thanks to the Tic-Tac-Toe game :-)

We know it's fall because there have been several sightings of hot air balloons in our 'hood (we are right by the Nature Preserve where they often take off). You can hear them coming before you actually see them. So cool!

Again, big playground obsessed!

"Look mom, it's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a lion in the clouds!"

We also hit up a Fall Festival at Calloway's nursery several weekends back after we went to the zoo. He didn't know where to begin when we got there...Obligatory pumpkin picturesDecorating his own pumpkin

Which I have proudly put on our front porch :-)

He was OBSESSED with a balloon he found!Thankfully it popped in the car on the way home :-)

We are welcoming Fall with open arms!

Fun in the Sand

2011-10-17T21:25:00.001-05:00

So Brett built Jameston a sandbox a little over a month ago for his 2nd birthday, and we have had definitely had our fair share of mornings, afternoons and evenings playing outside in the sandbox in these cooler temps.

"Welcome to my sandbox!"

"Now if only mom remembered her camera more often..."

He loves burying our feet and his. Silly boy!

Action shot!

Especially with the recent rain, Boomer has been known to cool off and hang out there!

We build castles, load up his front-loader truck, dig holes, you name it!I think we can safely say that this boy loves him some sandbox time! We know it will come in handy for years to come!!

The Zoo, Round Two!

2011-10-13T21:25:00.001-05:00

Two weekends ago we took advantage of a Google deal (Adult tickets to the Dallas Zoo for a whopping $1) and met up with one of Brett's co-workers and his family one Saturday morning.

We decided to avoid traffic and took DART downtown. It was Jameston's first "train" ride. He loved it and surprisingly sat pretty still!

We went back in May, but it was amazing to see the difference in Jameston's response to the "Am-mulls" this time around! The African Safari part is pretty cool I might add.

Elephants!

My boys headed to the next spot-love it!

Time to feed the giraffes

We splurged and spent $5 (hey, it's for a good cause) to buy them some food. Jameston kept saying, "I give giraffe lettuce." Too cute!

Off to see the lions and cheetahsHe wasn't timid ONE BIT when it came to how close he was to the lioness. Wow!

We then made sure to catch the Bird Show, which many people recommended to us.

Owl in motion:

The show as a little loud, but it did not disappoint! And the last animal we saw before we left were the "Lingos!" as Jameston calls them :-)

All in all, a successful (and affordable) trip. That boy was tuckered out! We will probably get a season pass next summer since his admission will still be free :-)

Needless to say, with his current love for all things animals (from his Lego's to books), I succumbed to buying "The Lion King" on blue-ray last week when it was released. And, shamelessly, we have watched it two times in the last week!

Jameston's Jargon

2011-10-13T09:22:00.009-05:00

Again, I'm behind on keeping up with some comical and cute things JW has said lately. Some of these go almost a month back, but we've been busy (and I've been a little more tired as of late :-)

"Good job, Mommy!"

He told me this one morning after I cut up his bananas for breakfast. So sweet (and unsolicited)! Also, he's been more giving with his "Bless yous!" and "Thank you, Mommies." LOVE my courteous (and inquisitive, as seen in the pictures below) little boy!

One night as I was preparing dinner, he held up the egg slicer (he likes to empty drawers in the kitchen to "help" me as seen in the picture below) and said, "Go outside, Mommy?" I said, "We can go outside after supper. What do you want to do outside?" He replied, "Scoop Boomer's poo-poo!" as he held of the kitchen tool.

I guess he thought it looked a little like the mini garden shovel Brett uses as a pooper-scooper. TMI? Sorry if you thought so, I thought it was too funny not to share!

One afternoon at the playground, I was pushing him in the swing and he said, "Look, Mommy!" (I hear this about 50 times a day :-) as he pointed to the sky. I said,

"What do you see?"

"El-phant."

"You see an elephant?"

"Yep."

"What else do you see?"

"Lion."

"Really? Where do you see them?"

"In clouds."

Oh that imagination!!

And, finally, we hear the following several times a week during dinner at night:

"Get back, Jack-Boomer!"

Fireman with Play-doh

2011-10-13T08:45:00.002-05:00

Jameston received a fireman hat from his Pops and Gigi for his birthday. The boy would wear it every hour of every day if he could!Here he is showing us his water hose skills with Daddy in the backyard Love it how he tries to copy Brett in all he does :-) He also received a Play-doh kit from his buddy, Jackson. To say the boy likes it would be a HUGE understatement! And Mommy loves it because it keeps him occupied a good 20-30 minutes (more than any other activity we've ever had) so I can cook dinner :-)

Ready,Set,Squeeze! I think I'm going to have to remember this one for future gifts to his friends. A must!

Jameston's got a secret...

2011-10-09T12:24:00.006-05:00

that we've been keeping for awhile now.

He's going to be a BIG BROTHER come April or May!!

This is how he reacted when we told him the big news :-)

I am about 11 weeks now, and the due date is May 1st (perfect timing considering Brett is a CPA and finishes "busy season" in April)! I am measuring a little ahead of that, so who knows what month our sweet baby will be born in. Kinda fun to not know! We found out the good news on August 19th, and I had a sonogram at almost 9 weeks on September 23rd at which the baby's heart rate was measuring 169 bpm. We heard the heartbeat this past Friday, and it was 170 bpm. BEST SOUND EVER!! What wonderful news! I have been feeling good, just super tired---which I think that mainly has something to do with working full-time and also taking care of a very busy toddler! I am a tad bit more nauseous this time around as compared to when I was pregnant with Jameston, but it is manageable. Right now, I am feeling that we are going to have another BOY (based on how I felt during my first pregnancy. I know, I know, every pregnancy is different, so we'll see)!

When asked if he would like a baby brother or sister, Jameston changes his mind daily :-) I know he will be so happy either way, as will we. We'll find out in the next two months!! Can't wait to learn more about the "bay-beee," as JW says it. He will kiss my tummy and pat it softly. So sweet!

8 week sonogram

"For this child we prayed." 1 Samuel 1:27

And our prayers were answered. God is good!!

2-year-pics and Austin: Labor Day Weekend

2011-10-04T21:35:00.006-05:00

For Labor Day we loaded up and headed down to Austin/Lake Travis for the weekend. While we were there, I figured I would take Jameston's 2-year pics in the great outdoors that Sunday morning before church. Here they are!

You looking at me, Mom?

So serious (it was early)

My first attempt to get him to smile!

Second attempt!

And we got one

Rock pond? You know who would not miss out on this opportunity!

Action shot!

So dapper

Love this one!

Aunt Kayla and Brett's grandmother and aunt were also there that weekend. Jameston had a BLAST with his aunt, as she taught him how to "fly" an airplane

Unfortunately, as we were packing up to leave on Sunday, Brett's parents noticed smoke in the distance.

There was a wildfire not two miles from there house! It was the same afternoon that the one occurred in Bastrop. His parents received a recorded message phone call from the sheriff that advised everyone to evacuate

So his parents packed up what they could and prepare for evacuation. Luckily they ended up being a safe distance from the fire, which was across a river. The fire ended up closing down Highway 71 and damaged over 60 homes. So scary!

Jameston, Brett and Papa (and Boomer) on the hilltop near Willie Nelson's old property checking out the smoke/distance.

I am so thankful we were safe!

Fall Training and Sunset Cruises

2011-10-04T21:05:00.006-05:00

So, several weeks back we moved all of our work out equipment from the garage upstairs to one part of the media room, and Jameston thought Brett working out was the coooolest thing in the world! So, what did he do? He tried to copy Brett's every move. Hilarious!

Daddy even made Jameston his very own weight (with foam)

Crunch time!

Nice workout, Daddy!

Lately, the boy has been obsessed with Gatorade (we bought a bunch at Costco). This would be a great photo op for a commercial, don't you think? :-)

Jameston has been enjoying some sunset cruises lately in his truck that he received from his cousins Riley and Ruby

He his slowly learning how to push the gas AND steer at the same time :-)

Waving "bye" to Boomer

Love this active little boy!

Jameston at 2

2011-09-30T14:37:00.012-05:00

So, I have been putting off this post not only due to a serious time crunch in life as of late, but also because I just may be in a little bit of denial that our little fella is TWO. Wow. So hard to believe it has been two full years since we welcomed him into our lives. We have loved every minute of it!

Jameston's birth day-September 20, 2009

One year old!

Labor Day, 2011 (almost 2!)

It really is amazing how quickly they grow in what seems like a short amount of time. I am in constant gratitude for the blessing he's been to us. So, now onto what he's doing at a whopping 2-years-old!

His stats:

Weight: 30 lbs. (75%)

He's has been hanging around at this weight for awhile now

Height: 36 and 3/4 inches (97%)!!

Head: 90%

On the verge of a size 8 shoe, wears size 5 diapers,

and 24 months to 2T clothes

Doc said: He's doing great! Healthy, happy, and talkative little boy :-) She noticed that he's way exceeding the 50 words expected at 2 years-old. As we left he said, "Bye, Dr. Poole!" He won over all the nurses, as well, by doing excellent with his flu vaccine. His left eye did show a stigmatism again, so we have an appointment with a pediatric opthamologist soon. If he's anything like his Daddy, we think he'll need glasses eventually...

These days, our boy continues to be all over the place, very active and very inquisitive. The ONLY times he really sits still are when he's really tired or watching Mickey Mouse or his Leap Frog DVD :-)

His current interests:

This isn't new by any means, but he still LOVES his tools! And I'm surprised, because this hobby has gone on for 4 months or so now. He is also obsessed lately with putting lids on things! Dancing! Oh, the boy has some moves!! Don't know where he got them, but he sure can boogy!

To "Wrestle"

(mainly his Daddy, although his cousins are often opponents as well )

Anything with music

His playroom!

I love it, too, because I can get stuff DONE while he's in there :-)

Boom-Boom...

He loves Boomer Bear and has started to talk to him like a person. So cute!

Reading!!

The boy can't get enough of his books. His current favorites are his Jungle book, a Danish book from Granny and Papa, Goofy Baby, and the Berenstain Bears collection he received for his birthday

Lego's and Puzzles

Like the tools, these has been constants in our household for some time now. Guess I need to also believe it about boys' obsession with lincoln logs :-)

The water

(baths, inflatable pool, swimming pool, puddles: whatever form there is).

Too bad the hot weather is coming to an end-not really!

MILESTONES

Counts from 1-10 and sometimes to 14
Knows 5 colors pretty well (depends on the day and sometimes he tries to trick us as if he doesn't know. Silly boy): Green, blue, yellow, red and white
Sings some of his ABC's. He knows the ending, that's for sure! He also knows the letters K and I from recognition and says what they are

All four second molars are in (thank goodness!) Caused some interrupted nights between 21-23 months or so)
Speaking of sleep, he gets about 10 hours at night (never much more) and still takes a good 2 1/2-3 hour nap after lunch. PHEW!

Talking in complete sentences. Has also started using (correctly that is) pronouns, adjective placement, and possessive pronouns (like, "mine" unfortunately). As a speech-language major, I LOVE this! I'll try to keep up with his latest and greatest statements with our "Jameston's Jargon" posts! Sentences I could listen to on repeat are, "Sit by me, Mommy," "Tome (come) on Daddy/Mommy," "Hold you, Daddy/Mommy," and "Watch this/What's this, Mommy?" Other favorite phrases are his "pair-a-jama's", "moon 'n back" (when we tuck him in at night). Some not-so popular phrases are "Mommy, I don't want water" (when I'm making his juice) and his backseat driving "Slow down, Mommy/Daddy." Kinda endearing, but kinda not.

Still continues to eat like a pro! Loves all fruits, except melon, and he's on an applesauce kick as of late. Veggies, well, that's another story. We get 2 in a day, usually. Oh, and the boy LOVES him some tomato soup.

He loves Mexican and Italian, like his parents. Here he is at Chipotle (eating some of Mommy's dish :-)

Potty-training is at a standstill. He went #2 in the potty several weeks back, and it scared the poop out of him, literally and figuratively. So, right now he asks for a diaper when he has to go (if he is in the buff or we are in the middle of changing him). Will probably get serious about it at the beginning of the year.
His hair is FINALLY growing out (and he looks less like Trump), and he's even getting little curls in the back :-)

Things I want to remember about Jameston at this age:

He's becoming more independent, although we went through a clingy phase in late summer. He will help me get him dressed or undressed, and we often hear him say, "Jameston do it."
His love of Jesus. We read from his Bible often, and he is so cute when he's praying! Some of his favorite songs these days are "Jesus loves me" and "This Little Light of Mine"
He is a perfectionist. Think I've mentioned this before, but he has to do everything exactly right, which comes in handy when he's picking up his toys :-)
Jameston's memory! He surprises us with the factoids and peoples' names he retains, even days later.
And his imagination. So fun seeing it at work when he's playing and through the conversations we have.

Jameston Wade, you are our pride and joy. The sunshine in our lives. All of those cliches parents use to describe their children. You fit the bill. We love you more than words can adequately express, and we look forward to watching you grow. We are forever grateful God has entrusted us with you, and we hope to raise you up as He has intended for all of us. Thank for being such a delight (yes, even during your terrible-two fits :-) We love you, JW!

Jameston's 2nd Birthday Party :-)

2011-09-23T14:03:00.012-05:00

Saturday morning started off with some rainy weather, which hampered our Plano Balloon Festival plans all weekend. But Jameston and Layne, who came in the night before for the birthday celebrations, didn't mind. That morning Jameston spotted one of his birthday presents that he wasn't supposed to see until Tuesday, his actual birthday (this silly Mommy cleaned it up the day before, since it was from Once Upon A Child and forgot it was still in the backyard---oops). I think JW loves his new work bench :-)

The birthday party was in the late afternoon, and tool-themed, of course, for our little Craftsman!

I used last year's birthday banner again,

with pictures from this past year on the flip side

The weather was perfect, so the kids enjoyed some play time outdoors...Riley, Charlotte, and Jameston kicking the ball (that didn't make the picture),

Jackson, Ruby and JW in our new sandbox

Cousin love, or rough-housing

Layne, Charlotte, and Emmie observing something noteworthy in the backyard

There's the ball!

My dear friend, Lindi, and her little girl, Vaughn, who was a little too small to take part in the children's play outside

But she found some things to do inside, or her parents did :-)

Obligatory cousin picture

And family picture...the best one we could get!

Now, on to the food! Since it is the beginning of the college football season (and the Texas Tech game might have been on upstairs) and since Jameston always seems to have a hankering for Italian pies) we had pizzas and salads (along with some healthier finger food options for the kiddos). And no t0ol-themed party is complete with a toolbox cake, made at Rejoice Bakery in downtown Plano

Singing "Happy Birthday"

He was in AMAZEMENT from everyone singing to him...he was speechless for a little bit!

Diggin' into the cake and ice cream

Jameston was showered with some presents from his family and sweet friends

"Thanks, Bea for my new sweater! Tech colors are a must for fall fashion."

The boy received two bulldozers from his cousins and a front-loader from Gigi and Pops...they know him and his new-found love for the sandbox his Daddy built for him!

He received several books, new Legos, puzzles, a play-dough set...and we've played with all of them since last Saturday! But the biggest hit of the party? The tissue paper. From ages 2-5, the kids could not get enough!

Their firefighter hats (could not find construction hats) filled with party favors :-)

And if that wasn't enough birthday festivities for one day, the City of Plano also put on a fireworks show for the would-be Balloon Festival...and we could see them from our driveway!

The kids were up past 9:00 (hey, it's not every night they get to see each other) and had a blast!

So did the adults who were still with us :-)

Riley clapping after what we thought was the finale

Layne skipping around

Our little Red Raiders! I think they had enough sugar and cousin excitement to last them a few weeks :-)

These two LOVE each other...the oldest and the youngest, but not for long with a baby cousin due in December.

So sweet!

What a day! The kids had so much fun, as did we, and we were sad to see everyone go on Sunday. What a blessing it is to be close enough to get together for special occasions, such a birthday parties! We had a wonderful day filled with memories, great friends, decent food, and lots of love! And we think Jameston had a pretty memorable day, too :-)

Wow...

2011-09-21T21:39:00.004-05:00

So, to say that this has been one of the busiest weeks in a LONG time would a be a huge understatement. I happened to a get caught up on blogging just last week, but with weekend birthday festivities, having family in town, traveling and being gone again this coming weekend, and Jameston's actual birthday yesterday, we've been too busy lately to slow down. And work? Don't get me started on work. Well, I guess I started it myself, didn't I?

Now, I am back to being WAY behind on blogging. Therefore, in order to at least commemorate, for the time being, Jameston turning 2, I am just going to copy and paste my Facebook post from yesterday. Pardon me, friends, who have already read it:

Two years ago today, Jameston came into this world, and our lives have been richly blessed ever since. He brings us so much joy, makes us smile, and causes us to give thanks to God every day. Happy 2nd birthday, JW (although you don't have a Facebook account)! Thank goodness he won't get a real set of wheels for another 14 years :-)

Isn't he a cutie pie?!

I hope to post his "2-years-old" and birthday party blogs very soon!

Playdough and fingerpainting!

2011-09-10T14:21:00.000-05:00

So, I have FINALLY caught up on my blogging, thanks to some free-time (at work). This post just makes me smile! Our little boy is one for getting his hands dirty and trying new (and messy) things! He LOVES playing with play dough, especially with his Mimi!

Action shot!

She taught him how to make "Goose Eggs,"

And a funny nose. Love this picture!Fridays are our FUN days...when Mommy is home and gets to pull out all the stops and spend a whole day at home with her little guy. With the brutal summer we've had, we've done a lot of indoor activities, one of them being FINGER-PAINTING!

He fingerpaints a lot at school, but I don't have any pictures to prove it :-( So, I was sure to break out the new camera for some pictures one Friday morning.

"Look, Mommy!"

See what kind of mess I can make :-)

Silly boy!It is funny to watch, the boy is a perfectionist (don't know where he gets that from?) and he's really into stacking these days!

Good times had by all, and I know we'll have many, many more play-dough and fingerpainting days in our future :-)

A few of his favorite things: The Top Ten list

2011-09-08T14:06:00.002-05:00

I recently did a Facebook post including these pictures (and several more), and I couldn't not carry it over to the blog. So, without further ado, below are some of our little boy's favorites things as of late. Enjoy!

Wearing anyone else's shoes but his own
Lining up and playing with any kind of ball. We think he is showing signs of perfectionism. I've mentioned how he likes to line up his stuffed animals in his room on his toy box, I think.
Playing piano with his Daddy
His "letters!" He also has a LeapFrog DVD that goes along with his magnetic toy on the fridge
Piggy-back rides! Who didn't like those as kids?!
LEGOS! Yep, still a favorite! :-)
Reading. The boy cannot get enough reading in during the day. Love it!
"Helping" Mommy in the kitchen
ANYTHING with music, as mentioned earlier with the piano. Here he is dancing with the maracas from Pops and GG. And he LOVES to clap his hands and dances at the end of most songs. Tooooo cute!
"Helping" Mom fold laundry. I know I spend probably twice the time folding it with his help, but it is a chore of mine that he likes, so it's a win-win :-)

Love this little guy and all his favorites!

Splash park!

2011-09-07T21:41:00.001-05:00

These pictures are long overdue, but I have to include them on the blog! Several Fridays ago (okay, maybe 4), Charlotte and her Mommy, Hattie, came over and we headed to the Allen splash park about 5 miles from our house. It was awesome! Free, not too crowded, and lots of space for Jameston to run off some energy. My kind of place :-)

Here are some pictures of our little ones having a field day:

The spiral tunnel was a big hit with Jameston!

They couldn't get enough of filling up their buckets

He was pondering whether or not he would run to another fountain

And he's off!All done!

Then back home for lunch and a quick picture in dry clothes :-) Thanks, Hattie and Charlotte, for a fun morning!

Hoops with Daddy!

2011-09-06T12:53:00.001-05:00

JW's latest craze is playing basketball, especially with his Dad! He received the indoor goal from Uncle Jared and his cousin, Layne, about a month ago. And the boy can't get enough! It is nice to have another indoor activity with the heat that we've had.

Gearing up!

He even likes to shoot "reverse" baskets, as we call them :-)

Warming up with DaddyHe shoots (with Boomer's help), he scores! Great teamwork, guys!

Jameston's Jargon

2011-09-06T06:27:00.006-05:00

So, here is my weekly blog about Jameston's growing vocabulary (it may become bi-weekly; although I can find lots of good material, I can't find the time to blog as much as I'd like to).

Below are a couple of the sentences he's been stating lately:

He waves when we wave to someone, and he wants to shake everyone's hand that we shake. He'll also so "Hi" and "Bye" to every teacher and friend at daycare in the mornings/afternoon (he's got a good memory for names)! Very courteous, that Jameston :-)

This is usually what follows when we greet someone who is unfamiliar (and familiar, too):

"How y'all?"

"Nice do meet you!"

We'll even have this conversation many times at night at the dinner table :-)

Some of my favorites from this past week:

"Mommy, Daddy, Boomer (Elmo, doggy, dolphin (members of his night-time brigade) the list could go on ) night-night, too." He does not fight going to bed at night, but he seems to settle faster if we say that we are going "night-night" as well.

"Mommy, get your coffee." He said this one morning last week, when we were leaving one room of the house for another, and after I told him, "Jameston, don't forget your milk."

Oh, and he is saying "Yep" and "Nope" a lot more lately. Seriously. To almost everything we say. I guess I need to ask more open-ended questions!

"My Tourtney (for Courtney)," "My Bett" or "My Babe" for Brett. I think I've said this one before, but it cracks me up how he thinks Brett's name is "Babe!"

This is my favorite, from our conversation the other night before we went on our family bike ride. Brett was airing up the tires on my bike and the chariot, so we had his car running so that we could use the pump (it's a standard). Jameston climbed in the front seat and said,

"I driving, Mommy!"

I replied, "Are you?"

He said, "Yep."

I said, "Okay, Bye-Bye."

He proceeded to say, "Shut the door, Mommy." and "Get in the back, Mommy," and "Bye, Mommy!"

Bossy boy, but it is so great to be able to carry on full conversations with him now. Wow, makes me smile!

Summer time

2011-09-04T12:41:00.003-05:00

Ha! My mom is forgetful and did not post this earlier in the summer. Oops!

Jameston and Apsen had a lot of fun this summer! They had fun destroying the playroom :-) Coloring! Eating...

Swimming in the backyard (redneck baths as we call them :-)

On the way to the community pool!

Headed home!

What a fun summer!!

Two 2-year-olds' birthday parties!

2011-08-26T13:26:00.003-05:00

In July Jameston was invited to celebrate his buddy, Jackson's, birthday. The boys had fun playing in Jackson's new pool in the backyard, as seen in the following pictures.

"WHEE!"

They also had fun throwing and chasing balls in the yard after swimming!

They enjoyed eating yummy hot dogs and bar-b-q inside, and

they especially got a kick out of the special visit from Elmo. Well, Jackson, did for sure!Although Jameston loves Elmo on TV, he didn't having much to do with Elmo in real-life. He wouldn't go near him to hug him or sit on his lap. The most he would do was give Elmo a five (while hanging on for dear life to Brett)!]They boys ended the party with some delicious ice cream and cake! Thanks, Jackson, for inviting us :-)

And at the beginning of August, we headed up to Cache, OK, to celebrate our niece, Layne's, 2nd birthday. Sweet cousins holding hands!

Here our the cuties getting ready for the pool (and playing with the kitchen sets):JW was OBSESSED with the bead necklaces he found at Layne's house. He's not used to seeing those :-)

And Jameston's mommy was OBSESSED with taking pictures with her new dSLR camera that weekend (and ever since)! Here's a good one of Miss Layne:

We enjoyed a little bit of a "cool front" that evening, so the kiddos had a blast playing outdoor!

The birthday day!

Jameston playing hoops with Uncle Jared

Layne loved her new "Fairy Princess" backpack

These cousins could play for so long together...they also had fun reading to us :-)

Now we are gearing up for our little fella's birthday in less than a month. Can't believe it, but whether I am in denial or not, it's coming!

Lakin' it!

2011-08-18T08:33:00.005-05:00

The last Saturday in July we headed to Lake Ray Hubbard to meet up with some of Brett's co-workers. Thank goodness we were by water because it was another triple digit day!

My boys were ready for the water! We took Jameston's inflatable pool to set in the shade. He had fun, as usual :-)

But Lance, Oksana and their three daughter brought something that blew Jameston away: a modern Slip 'N Side!

Checking it out first

Daddy helping himWhee!!

Headed to the "big water"

All geared up and ready to go

Must take time for a juice break!

Afterwards, we hung out on their beautiful lawn taking in the scenery

Headed home We hope to get a couple more trips in before the end of summer!

Jameston's Jargon

2011-08-14T21:31:00.016-05:00

Thus begins my chronicling of our not-so-little-anymore boy and his growing vocabulary. I've been meaning to start this for the last month, and I wish I had a memory that retained every cute (and surprising) thing he has said so far. Let's hope I can keep this up, and that I can keep up with him! He has been "talking" in sentences, 3-5 words max but mostly unintelligibly (mimicking intonation), for some time now. I would say, though, that over the last month his "jargon" has become more and more recognizable. We have our typical, everyday conversations that revolve around the dog, eating, playing, etc., and then we have had some quite random discussions, say, about Mommy's driving...cracks us up! We have learned that he wants to repeat everything, I mean everything, we say, as you'll see from examples below. Enjoy!

Music to my ears:

"Daddy/Mommy/Jameston (sounds more like Jason)/Boomer's funny/silly!"

"Let's pray." ~ Makes my heart smile :-)

"Go again." ~ when we are doing something he loves, like jumping in the pool, chasing each other, etc.

"Turn light off." EVERY time we leave the room, even if we're coming back :-)

When I get to be home with him all day, I hear the following at least twenty times a day:

"Watch this, Mommy!"

"You doing, Mommy?"

Sentences we'd rather not hear twenty times a day:

"Don't want it."

"Not Jameston's."

"My juice, my doggy, my toolbox {insert the name of any object or proper noun}." Was endearing at first when it was, "my Daddy/Mommy" but further exacerbates our sharing issues

Examples of sentences that quickly reminded me how fast he's growing and learning:

"Boomer eat the ice."~ after we dropped a piece from the ice-maker

"Mommy, wipe your feet." ~ after we came inside Saturday morning when it was raining, and he pointed to the rug Words/sentences that crack us up:

He'll exclaim, "BABE" (more like "Bayeb") after he hears me do so when I'm talking to Brett from another room

"Mommy, slow down!" ~if I have to brake strongly.

Don't know where he gets some of this stuff, but we are having a riot of a time deciphering it all!

Papa love

2011-08-12T14:10:00.000-05:00

One thing is for sure...Jameston loves his PaPa! When he came to visit for a conference recently, JW didn't want him to leave!

Reading his "Honk, Honk!" (i.e., Cars) book

Helping PaPa and Daddy put together the rocking chairs

Running to...

catch up with both of them. Classic!

And they all just so happened to be wearing blue. Love it!

Time stand still, time speed up

2011-08-11T21:24:00.011-05:00

Lately, I have felt torn between these two sentiments when it comes to Father Time.

Regarding the first statement, it seems that Jameston is growing by leaps and bounds, and all I want to do is push the "Pause" button and keep him at this age. Although he is still little, and reminds us of that fact weekly (okay, maybe bi-weekly) with his Not-So-"Terrible-Two" tantrums, I feel that he has transformed from a baby to a little boy in no time flat. I often find myself wanting to rock him to sleep some nights just so I can make sure he still needs his Mommy (although I know he needs me and Brett in different ways now), and then I quickly have to tell myself, "He's not little anymore." :-( These realizations have started to occur even more, especially when I get my weekly emails from Parents.com talking about starting pre-school! What?! OH, and he is talking in sentences AND talking back (I didn't think that started until they were teenagers)! He doesn't do much of the latter, but when he does, it is hard to believe. Hard to believe that our little boy will be 2-years-old next month. Sigh. I really do know now first-hand what "grown-ups" and parents were talking about when they told me that children "grow up so fast."

On the other hand, I feel like time is going by at a snail's pace when it comes to me moving on from our miscarriage. It seems like it happened so long ago when, in fact, it was just four months ago. Four months?! When we got the news in late March, I hoped so much that we would be pregnant again by now. Hard to believe I would be 7 months along now. It has been really tough, and I know that we will never forget the loss and the pain. But...I feel that I will be able to move on more when we have something to look forward to instead of being reminded of the heartbreak of the past.

The past four months have felt like an eternity. I used to have a fortune cookie quote in my car in college that stated "Time heals all wounds." I don't know if I fully agree, but I do know that time eases the pain. I am reading a book called, "When the Hurt Runs Deep," by Kay Arthur, given to me by my mother-in-law. It is a good read for anyone, currently grieving or not. I highly recommend it for those who are needing comfort from a scriptural stance or looking to help someone during a difficult time.

Over the last several months, I have learned a lot about myself---some days I feel more normal while other days I feel slightly insane from all of the emotions. I feel that I have learned, as I have posted before, the true definition of patience. And, trust, oh trust...we have had the bible verse, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5)" in our house for four years now...but it wasn't until recently that I have really listened to and understood this verse.

More important than learning more about myself, I have grown in my faith. I have been through some tough things before this (my parent's divorce, family issues, etc.), but nothing as difficult as the last four months have been. I am not writing this so that others feel sorry for me; I guess I am writing to let people (mainly myself) know that healing takes time. I know that I will get through this with God's help. He knows what is best for our family. And, although I like to plan and be in control, HE is in control. I am still working on this patience thing, but what I know is that God's timing will be perfect. Even if it is later than we had hoped for, it will be perfect!

The days when I am sad about the past or anxious about the future, I think of the song, "Praise You in this Storm," by Casting Crowns. I know this "storm" I am experiencing will pass, and that many others have gone through something far more difficult. This song, which is based off of the scripture at the top of our blog, really speaks to me about placing all of our trust in our God and realizing the blessings we have. If you haven't heard it, I recommend you take a listen. It is a great song for anyone who has ever gone through a trial before, which, I am pretty sure, we all have. Here are my favorite lines from the song:

"...I barely hear You whisper through the rain,

"I'm with you"

and as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise

the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus: ...and every tear I've cried

You hold in your hand

You never left my side

and though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

...I lift my eyes onto the hills

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."

This song and the book I just finished give me hope and the knowledge that, one day, the suffering we experience will be redeemed in ways we cannot even begin to imagine.

Guatemala 2011

2011-08-09T21:22:00.004-05:00

Finally, my Guatemala post. Here are some of my favorite pictures (I could have had a record post if I had included all of my favorites) from our annual trip, in no particular order:

Flying in to Guatemala City on a Friday night with volcanoes in the background~Beautiful!

We toured Antigua and some of the churches on Saturday

and later in the week on one of our off days

And we usually strolled around town each night after we got back from clinic

Clinic days: We would leave somewhere between 6:30 and 8 a.m., depending on how far the town was from Antigua, and would be greeted by lines of people who had gotten up way earlier than we had that morning...

I probably saw anywhere from 30-50 patients a day, from ages 6 months to 80+ years old

I had an Audiology graduate student from Tech with me this year...Nathan was a trooper and made my life a lot easier since he is fluent in Spanish. Don't know what I did without him that past two trips!

We met some amazing people while we were there

We go to serve but are served by them by way of their kindness, patience, and gratitude

Preciousness

While I was focused on all-things-ears, Brett was able to finally be a part of the Construction Team this year, since Nathan was my assistant. Here he is trying to paint a basketball court with lots of inquisitive kiddos observing:

He had to make a game out of it so that they wouldn't step on the paint. So, he had the boys "guard" the lines. Love it!

Another great picture

Brett and I stayed an extra day, when we had time to relax, and went to do more sightseeing

The team

Again, we were blessed to be able to make this trip this year. Again, we were humbled by how grateful the people there are. For what little they have in possessions, they make up with their faith and actions to others. We are so thankful to get to be a part of it all, and we look forward to many more summer trips there!

To Granny and Papa's House

2011-08-03T21:42:00.002-05:00

While Brett and I were away in Guatemala for the mission trip (still working on getting pictures from that trip from others who went so a post is coming soon!), Brett's parents were ever-so-kind to keep the little guy for us. They drove to Dallas from Austin, picked us up and took us to the airport so we could say our goodbyes, and then headed back to Austin.

Before they left town, they hit up Bass Pro Shop, where JW posed with Papa and took a stationary spin in one of the show boats :-)

They also picked up Ruby and Riley and kept them for the week. Awesome times and memories for these three!

On the road again...

On Sunday after church, they went to Krause Springs to check out the 32 springs and both man-made and natural spring pools.

JW can recommend that it's a great place to take a good nap!

That week, we were told that Jameston and Ruby had some sharing difficulties. Since there were two brooms, there probably wasn't a "Mine" spat during this picture:

Also that week, they had fun modeling hats,

playing in the pool,

building in the sand box,

and JW had a grand ole time on the scooter and with the blocks Papa made for him!

He lived the good life and got a home-made smoothie almost every day

Can't resist a good photo-op!

Riding back to Dallas with JW in his carseat and the girls in their boosters.

Cousin love!

Once back in the metroplex, Jameston also got to see his cousin, Layne, who came to town with her Mommy and Daddy for a friend's wedding.

Gotta love these tow-headed cuties, especially in their Hawaiian print outfits!

That Sunday JW kept saying, "Mommy and Daddy. Airport. Mala (for Guatemala)!" Here he is waiting and watching with Papa

Reunited!! We were SO READY to get back home to our sweet boy!

I think he was happy to see us, too :-)

We probably missed him more than he missed us, but we don't want to leave him for that long again anytime soon!

Shower, times three!

2011-07-26T08:09:00.008-05:00

The last weekend of June, Jameston and I traveled to Abilene to meet up with my grad school gals to throw a surprise shower for our dear friend, Wendy. Thankfully, JW snoozed on the way, which was perfect since he didn't get an afternoon nap that day because of all the festivities! Wendy is expecting triplet girls. Yes, TRIPLETS! And, yes, all girls! They already have a sweet two-year-old little girl, Riley, who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby sisters. Whew, I am exhausted just thinking about how busy they will be come September!

At 22 weeks, Wendy was already the size many women are for a full-term pregnancy for a singleton. And with the excitement and subsequent anxiety, she still seems to have it all together!

The pretty Mommy modeling the Three-Peas-in-a-Pod cake above, and triplet stroller below

We headed to Rosa's for lunch, where the kiddos had a great time playing in the extra chairs!

Adam and Riley

Once we got back to their house, we showered them with gifts, and then played in the backyard for a hot 10 minutes!

Once back inside, the boys decided they really liked Ms. Riley's tea set...too cute!

Jameston guarding the ball against Riley. They were all over the place-like I said, no afternoon nap!

Our little cuties! Adam (2 1/2), Jameston (21 months), Vaughn (7 months), and Riley (2)

Love my dear Audiology school friends!

We will join forces again in the coming months and head out to Abilene when those sweet baby girls make their arrival! Her doctor is hoping she makes it to 30 weeks, but Wendy plans to do everything she can to get to 35. We are praying for her and RJ as they gear up for their newest additions. Love you guys and can't wait to meet your little ones!

Counting!

2011-07-25T06:37:00.003-05:00

Our little fella is sure interested in counting! I feel he got good practice counting horses in the fields to/from our house from his daycare, and also by counting the stairs in our new home. Plus, his Daddy sure likes numbers, too :-) Here he is showing us how he can count to 10:

He has even counted to 14 on a couple of occasions, but he's not consistent quite yet on those. Because of his love for counting (and coins), I joke with Brett that he may be a future financial advisor, CPA, or banker :-)

Pure joy is...

2011-07-20T06:16:00.002-05:00

Playing in the sprinklers at night before bedtime!

Our little fella cannot. get. enough.

And this Mommy has been known to run through it with him several times.

Could never grow tired of the expressions and excitement he gets from it. I could get over the clean up of wet grass everywhere though :-)

Oh, and he loves streaking, too! Nah, we just didn't have a swim diaper on hand, and his regular diaper was weighing him down!

5 YEARS and the 4th!

2011-07-08T10:03:00.001-05:00

Last Friday Brett and I celebrated our 5th anniversary!

July 1, 2006

I am so lucky to have this great guy by my side, and I thank God for putting us together. He is such a wonderful husband and father, the hardest working and smartest person I know, and he's pretty easy on the eyes, I might add :-) I am so blessed!

To celebrate, Brett and I went on a date to Seasons 52 in Plano and out to a movie while my dad and step mom kept Jameston. We are headed to Guatemala today for a week of mission work and also vacation while Brett's parents keep the little guy. We are sure going to miss him!

Here he is modeling in one of our new rocking chairs (my gift to Brett for our anniversary. They are made of wood (traditional gift for 5 years) and match our new shutters. Bonus!)On Sunday we began our 4th of July festivities by heading out to Royse City to be with our in-laws...Amanda caught us trying to take our picture,

And she did a better job with her camera :-)

They had an awesome waterslide for the bigger kids, but that didn't stop Miss Riley from helping Jameston go on it. They had a BLAST!

It also had a bounce house attached to it. At Easter, JW would have nothing to do with the bounce house at his daycare; however, he was all about it this time around!

He and his Daddy had a great time shooting hoops, too!

A patriotic picture for the scrapbook

Cousin love (and food sharing :-)

Oh, did he ever have fun riding on Riley's Barbie car. Love it!

We did not stay for fireworks because Jameston rolled his ankle while running around :-( He's okay now, but I foresee many more injuries in our future since he is one active little boy!

On Monday we went to our community pool in the morning, and after Jameston's late nap, we ran errands and went to dinner. Since he snoozed til 4, we thought we would do a little pool time again after we rode our bikes that evening. I bought a bigger inflatable pool for this summer, and this was his first time to try it out.

He loves this swimming duck (thanks, Lindi!)

Plano's firework show was in plain view from our driveway. We camped out on our new rocking chairs and watched the show. Awesome!

Even Jameston was able to catch the beginning of the show since he was up until 9:30 or so, and he repeatedly exclaimed "Bire-worts!"

Love my boys! Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. Can't wait til next year!!

New York, NY

2011-07-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

The first weekend of June I headed to NYC for a girls' trip with three of my high school gal pals. We went to Vegas two summers ago, and they went to Cali without me last year. Jessica and I met up at DFW, and we flew in on a Thursday morning.

Headed into the city!

We rode the Port Authority bus into Manhattan and walked eight or so blocks to Clarisse's apartment in the Theater District

Thursday night, us three headed to see Wicked, which was a whopping two blocks away. All I have to say is, "WOW." It was awesome to say the least!

After the show, we walked around Times Square. That place was so busy, loud and bright. And it is that way all the time, I hear!

The next morning, Jess and I headed to 30 Rock/NBC studios. Pretty cool to see it all in person :-)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

It was absolutely stunning!

We also headed out after lunch to go shopping, so we got in plenty of subway travel...so many people, everywhere!

For dinner on Friday, we ate at one of Brett's firm's clients: Rosa Mexicana. So good!

Saturday morning, Rebecca came in from D.C., and we quickly headed to brunch at Vintage. Again, delicious. Don't think I had a bad meal one time while we were there!

Of course, the bottomless (okay, 2) bellinis and mimosas made it even better :-)

The mommies in the group

Saturday night we headed out for a night out on the town in the Lower East Side. We started off at Stanton Social, a tapas restaurant. YUM!

Then we headed to Greenwich Village

Sunday Morning we took a stroll around the Upper West Side and Central Park. LOVED that area!

We made a stop at the famous Levaine bakery. $4 cookies and worth every penny (and calorie :-)

Could get used to this part of NYC!

Love my girls!

We hope to continue our girls' trip annually (or every other year). It was such a wonderful and relaxing trip to be able to visit with my girlfriends in person, and I can't wait until the next time!!

Jameston, the Toolman Toddler

2011-07-06T21:14:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned the boy loves hammers?! Or any other toy from his "tu-box." Seriously, this obsession has gone on for quite some time, and he's yet to grow tired of them. But, on the other hand, I don't think I could ever tire of hearing him exclaim, "Hamma!" and "hamma-time" (yep, we coached him on that one) randomly throughout the day :-)

"Practicing" with Daddy's

Showing us how it's done!

Outdoors and indoors, doesn't matter!

At least he's learning that safety comes first!

Hit that nail (I mean, screw) on the head!

Even in his jean diaper, Jameston is willing to fix anything for us with his "scewdivah"

Love my little Mr. Fix-it!