Jacob's 4 and Taylor's 9 months!!!!!!

Spring Break!!! That's where we have been! The kids and I packed up and drove all the way down to Florida! We stopped at Aunt Kara's (which is about halfway) to spend the night, and made GREAT time!!! It was fun to see the kids back at church in their old SS classes. The boys miss their Lakeland buddies, and played and played and played all day with them. Taylor doesn't know a stranger so she was loving all the extra attention and new surroundings to explore! We drove back home on a Saturday which was Jacob's birthday. When we walked in the house, daddy had yellow and black balloons EVERYWHERE!!! There was also cupcakes and a HUGE Batman balloon attached to a big present. Jacob was so excited. He has been talking for months and months about how he wanted a "batman burfday". We were exhausted from traveling, but did have a fun time celebrating our little guy. Hardly can believe he is 4!!!!! Taylor also had a birthday on that day (sort of). She is now 9 months old! We went to the doctor this week and she is 17lbs exactly, and is 28 in. long. She is in the 16% for weight and 60% for height. Hmmmmm, sounds like a volleyball player to me :) She is doing SO much better with her food. She has decided that she likes oatmeal for breakfast (finally) and doesn't necessarily have to eat off a metal spoon (so glad THAT is over). She tells me she is "all done" by putting her arms up in the air. She is talking too. She calls her brothers Bubba, says Momma, Dadda, and Baba. She can do the Indian call and waves Bye Bye. We are working on blowing kisses and at this point she thinks it is hilarious but hasnt tried it yet. She has mastered crawling and is quite fast!! When you say her name she crawls away faster (little stinker). She cruises along the furniture and can stand by herself for about a second (does that count?). Her favorite thing to do is clap her hands. She does patty cake and loves the song if you're happy and you know it. I love the little clapping sound she makes. Jacob also went in for his 4 year check and he is a whopping 41 lbs and 43 in. long. He is in the 80% for height and 50% for weight. While he looks skin and bones the doctor says he was textbook perfect. She said they are suppose to look skinny at this age and they will beef up in the next couple years. I was surprised when she told me that most of the 4 year olds that come in are overweight. FOUR?? That's nuts!

Noah has started Tball. He LOVES it. He is doing very well too! It is definitely a "intro" to baseball. No outs, everybody bats, and no umpires, but he is getting it! We took the kids to the park yesterday and played catch and practiced hitting and we were surprised how well he was hitting. The biggest thing is, this is something he enjoys and looks forward to and it is not the Wii... ha ha.. just kidding. sort of :)

Anyway, the day after the birthday celebrations was Easter. What a joy to celebrate as a family Christ's Resurrection!!!!! The music and message at church were phenomenal! I was brought to tears several times. We had lunch at Outback, home for naps, then finished the day attending the production The Living Cross. We took the kids and while it was hard for them to sit still (especially Jacob), they were able to see the story of Christ's life and what was sacrificed for us. We have been talking with Noah about Christ and his relationship with him lately. This was a great tool.

Hope your celebrations were wonderful and memories made! We praise the Lord for family and His wonderful gift to us!!!

Gorgeous Sunset coming home from Noah's game.

Our big Tballer....

Blessings

Joy

FAMILY!

Easter Morning 2011

Our big 9 month old!

Farmer Jacob is FOUR!!!

She was looking at her blanket getting washed. So sweet.

Phew!

It has been a crazy few weeks here! Funny though, I can't recall what exactly we've been busy with, but I just know I am T.I.R.E.D.!!!! Noah started tball last week and absolutely loves it! This is the first time he has ever been on an organized team of any kind. (i know, shame on me) We've been practicing with him in the back yard (yes, BOTH mom and dad) and he has been doing pretty well! So, we get to practice, well, let me back up, on the way to practice Jacob was crying because HE wanted to play baseball too. It wasn't fair..... yada yada yada.... you get the point. When we get to the field, nobody knows what team is what. I have the stroller and the two boys and am trying to figure out where to go. That was fun. So, we get to our field and the coach calls a meeting with the parents. Would have been perfectly fine if a three year old wasn't pulling at my leg every 2 minutes wanting to play on the playground. It's worse when I try to ignore him because he lets out a cry, "Mommy, TALK TO ME!!!!!!" I think I threw some fruit snacks at him...honestly I don't remember, but he quieted down. So, it's time for Noah to start. He runs out to the field and is the first one in line to field grounders. I turn to watch him and he has his glove on the wrong hand, gets the ball and throws it under hand to the coach. UNDERHAND!!! Okay, I am being a little dramatic and taking this a bit too seriously. Oh, and I forgot to mention that about 5 minutes after practice started, half the team had to use the port a potty. Seriously, they were all lined up. It was quite funny.

I have taken another leap in my photography career and have started my own line of cards. Sometimes I get frustrated when trying to find the perfect card and then end up leaving the store with nothing. My cards are meant to be funny, encourage, and uplift. You can go to the site HERE. The company is called My Backyard Cards. I named it that because the cards are photos I have taken over the years, and most have them have been in my backyard. I am excited and orders are already coming in.

Nothing new on Taylor. She is almost 9 months. In fact, next Saturday is Jacob's 4th birthday and Taylor's 9 month birthday. She is starting to cruise a lot more along the furniture. OH!!!! AND, yesterday, she went on the potty! I AM NOT KIDDING. She was acting like she had to go, so I just thought, well, let's put you on there, and She WENT! HONEST TRUTH!!! She may never do it again, but I can definitely tell everybody she went on the potty at 8 months old! Like I said, Jacob is going to be 4. FOUR!!!! Last week we went in to get evaluated for Pre K. The teacher came out with him laughing and shaking her head. can't be a good sign. He was mad because he wanted to take the blocks home with him. What a nut. He is quite the character and often times pretends he is a pirate. Last week he had farm day at school (I took pics but havent uploaded them yet) and he was furious! He didn't want to be a farmer! He wanted to be a PIRATE! Well, he was a farmer because I told him that there are no pirates on the farm and pirates can't find Easter eggs as well as farmers can. That did it. He was in!

Well, there's the update. It is about 12:30 AM and I can NOT sleep. I had one of those Pepsi Max....yeah, like 3 hours ago!!!

8 months.

I know I say this every month, but really, this month has flown by! I think this has been the one month of the most "firsts". T is a sweet girl full of life! She will study your facial expressions, try to copy your actions, and gets so frustrated when she cant keep up with her super energetic brothers! She has mastered crawling and boy can this chick move! She is a pro at it and within the past few weeks has been pulling up on everything! She can get up quick but once she is up, she has no idea how to get "down", and usually ends up letting us know she is stuck by a quick scream. She will get you attention by her "dying cat call", seriously, you think she is dying, then you look at her and she flashes you the biggest grin. What a turkey! She refuses to eat cereal in the morning. Must be bananas, but will eat cereal and fruit or veggies for lunch and dinner. Oh, and the princess will ONLY eat with a metal spoon. Forget those plastic coated things, she like the feel of the metal on her teeth. I told you she was high maintenance! She started saying da, da, da and her favorite person in the whole world is her big brother Noah. Her favorite finger food is Rice Krispies and she has started to be 100% on formula. She loves the stuff. I don't get it, but she does great with it. She weighs about 17 lbs and just graduated to 6-9 month clothes. She is a daddy's girl and whenever he is in the room she just stares at him. Doesn't love to be held by him, but lights up whenever he gets home and he talks to her. We had to lower her crib (again!) because she loves to stand up in her bed and began pulling herself over. Crazy kid. We love our sissy! Happy 8 months baby girl!!!!!

Banana Bites

Okay, Miss T is 7 months old now. She is crawling all over the place, starting to pull up on things, and has 2 1/2 teeth (one of her front top teeth has been crawling it's way through, she looks hilarious because it's only one and it's not all there yet). Anyway, you would think she has mastered eating baby food! I mean, she IS almost 8 months old. My boys at her age were eating 3 times a day, one jar at each sitting, with Jacob I had to make his food thicker and add oatmeal because he was so hungry. WELL, Miss Priss has decided that she will NOT not not eat her baby food. I have tried everyday since the day I felt "she was ready", thinking, okay, today is the day. Nope. So, all that to say, I have tried to get creative when it comes time to feed her. She will not eat anything off the spoon, won't even open her mouth, but if you break small pieces off of whatever you are eating, she opens wide enough to park a car in there. The trick is, getting the pieces small enough so that she doesn't choke, and big enough so that she can see what I am putting in her mouth. So, every morning I cut up a banana into small, tiny little pieces, then I take a plastic bag and smash cherrios, or rice krispies, or corn chex (it really doesn't matter), then put the tiny bites in the plastic bag and shake it up. This coats the bananas so that they aren't quite as slippery, then I place all the "bites" in a bowl or on a plate. You can do it with any mushy slippery fruit or even cook vegetables. Sissy also wants "to do it all by herself", but she can't because she hasn't developed the pincer grasp, so I have to feed her by putting it on my finger and she pulls my finger in her mouth. High Maintenance I am telling you! It will be alot easier when I can just put the bites on her tray. Anyway, just wanted to share our little trick with the mom's out there who wanted to try something a little different. Happy Feeding!!!

frugal frugal frugal, cheap cheap cheap

For those of you who know me, know that I loooooove a good deal, and don't like to spend money! Often times if it is a Saturday morning, I am out garage saling (although I haven't been since Taylor has been born) or running over to Salvation army or the Goodwill. Occasionally I will also pick up something I may find on the side of the road. Don't judge me. I am not a hoarder. In fact, most times I will pick it up, clean it off and then sell it. So, you see trash, I see cash :) Anyway, I have been so happy lately with some of my findings, I thought I would share and post some pictures. I love looking at Goodwill for clothes for my kids. What's great about it is you pay the same amount for a Walmart brand shirt as you do a GAP or Ralph Lauren shirt AND if you take that GAP shirt to Once upon a Child, they give you $ for it. Amazing!!! The best thing about most Good Will stores is, all clothing 24 months and under are $1. One Dollar! So, you are really making a little bit of $ for your kids to look good. Don't get me wrong, you gotta hunt, and is hard especially when you have a fussy baby with you or a three year old running through the racks, but most times it isn't that hard. Also, kids clothes are $2. I found 10 pairs of GAP and Old Navy pants and shorts for Noah for next summer and school year. Clothes aren't the only thing to look for resale. Sometimes all the furniture needs is a good cleaning, or even a decent paint job. I know there are some people who "can't" do it, and must buy new, but for those of you who can, there are deals to be had!!! Happy Treasure Hunting!!!

Imaginarium (Thomas) Train Table with tracks $15. Sold $40

Butterfly Chair (you will see this later in a photo shoot :)) $6.00

Toy that plays different instruments and is currently running on the same batteries that came with it. $1.99

Coach Purse $3.00

(I don't like it, but bought it to sell)

GAP sweater dress, Old Navy jacket, Genuine Kids jacket, Carters dress, 3 Old Navy skirts (yes those are tags still on them!), Old Navy shirt, Gap pink pants, Children's Place jeans, Drum roll please $10.00

FREE (minus cushions and pillows): found this sofa, love seat, and chair on the side of the road. Painted it and enjoyed it for almost 2 years. Didn't make it hard to leave behind in FL.

FREE: Just needed a good wash with the pressure washer.

Sold for $35

FREE: Josh thought I was nuts when I came home with this thing in my car.

Sold for $50

FREE: found this guy outside a Storage Unit facility by the dumpster.

Sold for $20 (FAST)

$35: Found in Salvation army. Just needs some new bottom knobs. (Did I mention it matches her crib perfectly?!?!)

$20. Okay, this crib cost $180, however I bought a crib at a yard sale from some very organized grandparents, found out it was recalled, took it into Walmart with the receipt (the people had put the receipt in with the directions) and they gave me $180 cash with which I drove right over to Target and purchased this lovely crib. But, it still only cost me $20 and my time.

Leather Love Seat (without the two knuckle heads) $55

$5.00 BEFORE

About 6 more dollars and some time.

Goings on.....

There have been several things happening lately that I think, "hmmm, that would be a great thing to blog about", but then I never get around to it. So, here I am posting, and none of those "things" are popping up right now. Oh well. Our baby girl will be 7 months next week. She is crawling all over the place. She will start out on her hands and knees and then eventually get tired and army crawl to wherever she wants. She is determined to get whatever she has her sights on, and put it in her mouth! never fails. I have been fighting with her for almost a month about baby food. I tried rice cereal at first and she did, okay with it. Then we moved on to fruit and she will have absolutely NOTHING to do with it. So, I went back to rice cereal and now she refuses to eat it. Um, okaaaaay... So, we were at Moes last Monday (as we are every Monday for our burrito and drink for $5.55) and she was in the high chair staring at me eat. So, I took a piece of black bean and put it in her mouth. She chewed it, and chewed it, and chewed it, and wanted more. She would get so excited everytime I would put it near her mouth! Then, I thought I wonder if she would eat this rice? So, I tried it. The little stinker gobbled it right up. She probably had a couple tablespoons of rice and at least a tablespoon of black beans. Yes, Taylor has decided she will NOT be following the normal baby routine as her brothers did. (my boys were such good eaters in fact, I use to have to add cereal to Jacob's because he would just eat and eat). Sissy eats table food. She eats what we eat (minus the meat) and her momma's milk. I know it's crazy and weird, but it's working....
Noah has been sick. Well, I like to call it the 5 hour flu bug. He was sick for 5 straight hours running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Poor Kid. We made him a little bed in our room and when we would hear the moaning, we would run him to the bathroom. One of the last times he got sick he was actually in our bed and got yuckies all over the pillows, blankets, sheets, you name it. So, after we got everything cleaned up, sheets changed, new blankets, pillow cases, new jammies, Noah laid there and said, "I am really sorry mommy! Will you please forgive me for throwing up in your bed?" Bless his heart! I gave him a huge hug and told him that he didn't have to ask for forgiveness and I will always take care of him when he is sick. I kept him home from school and he woke up perfectly fine. Running around and eating just like normal. 5 hour flu......who knew? Jacob absolutely loved having him home today, they played and played. They are really into Mario Bros characters and they like to pretend to be them. Jacob will be Donkey Kong and Noah will be Bowser. Well, I overheard them playing today and Jacob said, "Um, excuse me Bowser, I have to go pee." Oh, little boys.... And here is our lives as of late in pictures :-)

Love this boy!!!

Just a glimpse of our silly 3 year old. We praise the Lord for this happy, sweet little boy!!!!!!

A Couple of Cheese Balls

Taylor has been making the silliest face lately and as I was going through old videos, I found that Noah use to make the SAME face when he was her age. Too cute to compare the two. I love my little cheeseballs!!!!!!!

NOAH

And this is his little sissy 5 years later.

6 months

Don't have a lot of time, but wanted to update the blog really quick while I was thinking about it. Our baby girl turned 6 months old last week! Too fast I tell you!!! She is a whopping 15 lbs 7 oz. and 25.75 inches long. Due to a snow storm, we were the only ones in the doctor's office, so the doctor took extra special time with her and watched her perform all her tricks. She is (and has been) rolling over both ways, just started getting up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, and we had to lower her crib two nights ago, because while she was playing, she figured out how to pull up and look over the side. I am so very thankful that I saw her do that!!! She is still 100% nursing and wants absolutely nothing to do with baby food. Doesn't matter how sweet I make it. She wants none of it! We try a couple times a day, so hopefully she will get the hang of it very soon. This is what her Big Brother Noah was at 6 months Click HERE and HERE is Jacob. The boys just LOVE her. They play with her and love to hold her. She thinks they are the best entertainment ever. I love watching her eyes light up when Noah comes home from school. She is a happy little girl who loves people. She enjoys her exersaucer and jumperoo, but her favorite thing to do is play with her toys in her crib. We Looooooooove Our Sissy!

Christmas 2010

Okay, I know January is half over, but we JUST returned home from Christmas vacation. Noah' s school was out from Dec 22- Jan 18th, so we took full advantage of that time and did quite a bit of traveling! We were suppose to head up north on December 26th, but decided to get up there a few days early to surprise my mom. Success. We left Wednesday about 3 pm, and ran into quite a bit of snow. West Virginia was especially bad with snow, wind, and wandering cows. Not kidding. We were in the middle of a snow storm and people on the left side of the road kept flashing their lights. We drove a little farther and passed a COW, that had wandered into the median. Can you imagine not being able to see but 5 feet in front of you, traveling 55 mph and BAM, theres a cow. God really protected us and we were able to make it to Lafayette,IN by 1:45 am. We were able to get a few hours sleep at our friend's house, then headed up to IL to surprise mom. She had only worked a half day, so we wanted to get there before she got home. We had parked our van in the garage so she didn't see it when she pulled in. The first thing she saw when she walked in the door was Jacob and Noah sitting in the chair yelling "surprise!". It was precious and she was very very shocked. We had a great time celebrating Christmas and New Years at my parent's house. We celebrated our 9th anniversary with a date night (which these days are very rare). Mom and dad watched the kids for us (even Taylor) so that we could go out. Little things like that mean so much!!!! Anyway, we stayed up there until the 2nd, then headed down to IN to visit with our friends. Josh had to be back to work early, so I was able to find him a cheap flight out of Indy on Tuesday. We headed back up to IL on Thursday, then drove up to northern Michigan to see my grandparents for the weekend. While we were there, we were literally DUMPED on with snow. My poor grandpa would just get done shoveling the driveway then it would start to snow again. Taylor also got to meet her aunt Abbey for the first time! We came home on Sunday night with colds and pink eye, so we decided to stay in IL and heal for a few extra days before going back to IN. We were able to spend the rest of our time in IN just lounging around and visiting, then headed back home on Sunday, before MLK day. PHEW! What a trip!!! The kids did so well on the trip both up and down. We have it down to a science. One Stop Shop is the key! They are starting to get the routine (even Taylor) down. We had such a great Christmas and visit with friends and family, but are happy to be back home and back into the routine. I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!!!!

Yeah for 9 years!!!!

Ready for Church!

Dad would sing to Taylor and she looooooooved it!

I am pretty sure Tom and Jerry was on!

Love us some Callan boys

Our sissy is now 5 months old!!!!

Christmas Morning hanging out in the Bumbo

Showing off her two teeth.

The attire of choice for the entire Callan visit!

Hanging out!

Kiss'n on her papa

Love this place!

Sweetheart.

Taylor got to meet her Aunt Abbey!!

Making Sugar Cookies with Grandma

Frosting and Sprinkles

This was a must!

Christmas Morning 2010