Bloggie Award!!

YAY!! my first blog award. thanks to sweet Amanda! i don't really know why she chose my blog, maybe she just likes reading about my adorable kiddos! but its fun to hear that someone likes my blog & nice to know that someone else is reading it. sometimes i feel like i'm writing for just myself, but i'm ok with that. i'm doing this to keep an online scrapbook about my family not necessarily for a huge fan base, Lord knows i'm no Kelly! anyways, thanks Amanda!! i'm flattered & excited to receive this little award!

check out Amanda's blog. she has 3 adorable kiddos & always has something encouraging to say that challenges my walk with t he Lord. i nominate Lindsay, Audra, Kacie, Brittany, Kayla, Ashley, Katie, Dina & Shannon.

here are the rules:

post it on your blog & then link to anyone you want to give the award to, just because you like to read their blog! what a fun way to share the blogs we love!

Thanks, Amanda!

Jovie is 1 month old!

sweet Jovie Claire, you are one month old today. i can not believe that it has already been an entire month since you arrived & entered our family. you have brought such joy to our lives. you have such a cuddly personality. your very favorite thing to do is be held & snuggled. i really love this about you. it can be exhausting & crazy when i have other things i need to do like take care of Jack, cook supper or housework but i don't mind. i love this stage of your life, i really do. you and Jack have adapted to each other really well, so far. his cry doesn't seem to bother you or wake you most times & your cry doesn't seem to bother him either. this is a blessing for me & daddy! you are a very petite girl, you were born with lots of dark brown hair & dark blue eyes. everyone always tells me how beautiful you are, but i already knew that!

lately, you have been spending a little bit more time awake during the day. only like 20-30 minutes at a time. you are a sleepy girl but i enjoy those moments when you look around the room or look at me, daddy or Jack. you are a very gassy baby & that has been your biggest struggle so far. the gas makes it hard for you to get to sleep or get comfortable & i feel so bad for you! i will be so glad when you outgrow it. you love to be swaddled tight or wrapped up really good in a blanket when you nap. you have a really distinct cry, it almost sounds like you are hoarse, daddy says you sound like a little duck! you wear a size newborn diaper & preemie clothing but you are starting to fit into some newborn stuff. you love your paci but aren't very good at holding it in your mouth yet. one major difference we have noticed between you & Jack is that you love to be warm, really warm. you sleep best when you are swaddled & then wrapped in an extra blanket. but Jack always loved to be cooler, he would kick off all his covers no matter how hard i tried to keep him warm. i wonder what else will be different about you two?!

we have put our lives on hold the past few weeks b/c we don't really want to get you out in public very much. you are so small & we don't want you to catch anything especially since its cold & flu season. sometimes we feel cabin fever but its worth it to make sure you are healthy. when we feel the need to get out we just load you & Jack in your car seats & drive around. you don't enjoy this b/c you hate the car seat!

we love you so much Jovie. you are a joy & a blessing in our lives. we can't imagine life without you & we are so excited to watch you grow & learn. we know the Lord has great plans for your life & we are praying that you serve Him all of your days.

Happy 1 month sweetheart!!

16 Months!!

Jack, today you are 16 months old!! good grief child. stop growing up. seriously, you're getting so big so fast & i just want to soak in all these moments with you, b/c before i know it you'll be going to kindergarten. but for right now, you're my sweet little 16 month old boy & we are really enjoying you. you are such a blessing to us!

you had your 15 month checkup when you were 15 1/2 months old. here are your stats from Dr Bubba:

weight: 21 lbs 8 oz

height: 30 inches

head: 46 cm

you are in the 15-25% in every category but Dr Bubba says this is perfect for your size!

who knew that 16 months could be so fun?! you have grown SO much this past month. you are doing so many new things & understanding so much. you are walking everywhere & trying to talk to us, but it just comes out as jibber jabber. but its so cute. i could listen to your sweet little voice all day long. you have so much energy & you are the busiest boy i have ever seen. but you sleep great at night & you nap 2-3 hours during the day. you wear a size 4 diaper & size 12 months clothes. you are eating so much better now, you will try anything that i put on your tray & most of the time you will eat it all. you are still a big drinker, you have several cups of milk & juice per day & Dr Bubba says thats ok.

you love music. dada brought home an old keyboard from church that is no longer being used & you absolutely love to play it. you get so excited when we turn it on & you are so proud when you hear sounds come from the keys. you also absolutely LOVE balls. i bet we have 9 bouncy balls around this house & you get so excited to play with each of them. you love it when we roll or throw the ball back & forth with you. our favorite thing that you do is bowl spinning. you get a plastic mixing bowl out of the cabinet, flick your wrist & spin it upside down on the floor. its hilarious. we don't know where you learned it but you are so good at it. you love to get a few bowls going at the same time. we just clap & say "Yay Jack, good job" which gets you more excited & you do it over & over again. its the best. everyone is so impressed by it. you still love to close doors & you insist on doing it every opportunity you get. you love to play in the cabinets, dishwasher, laundry room, pantry & bathrooms. you find fun in the most random places!

you have such a sweet & loving spirit. you are always giving kisses to everyone. you love to kiss Jovie, me, dad & Lola! and you will kiss any part of us. you give kisses to our knees, arms, fingers, heads & feet. you are just the sweetest. its such a blessing to see you love others. you give kisses to any baby you see, and all our family. they all love it.

you love to bring us any object, raise it up in the air & say "dat?". you are loving to hear us tell you all about whatever it is that you bring to us. we are trying to teach you colors & names of various things. you do know the difference between your red & green ball & you can point to the fan & lamp when we ask you where they are. you are now waving bye bye & its so cute! your favorite new game is for us to chase you. we say "i'm gonna get ya" you get the biggest grin on your face & then you take off as fast you can down the hallway, giggling the whole way. i bet we play this game 5 times a day! you also love to play on our bed. you sit up there & we leave the room, then run back in & tickle you. you just belly laugh & that draws us in to keep doing it. you are just so much fun.

your new favorite foods are: grapes, mandarin oranges, cheese quesadillas with avocado, ravioli, muffins, cereal bars, oatmeal, fish & chicken.

i tried giving you strawberries the other day & you aren't really into them. you've also gotten sick of peanut butter sandwiches. i'm having trouble getting you to eat veggies. you will try them but won't eat but just a few bites. except for avocado. so i try to sneak them in through juices or other foods.

you are THE best big brother. Jovie's cries don't seem to affect you. you sleep through them & keep on playing. you love to kiss on her all day & if me or daddy are holding her, you want to sit right next to us & love on her too. i hope that you two are always close. i'm so excited to watch ya'll grow up together.

we love you sweet boy. you are the best little boy ever. this is definitely our favorite stage with you. we are truly blessed to have such great kids. happy 16 months my love!!!

Valentine's Day!!

we had a pretty low key Vday this year. Jovie is only 3 weeks old, so we couldn't do much getting out & about. we had a fun Sunday at home though. Jack & I made Ben some devil's food cupcakes & we had a blast. later this week, Ben & I are getting to have a late Valentine's date & i'm so excited for some time out of the house with my love. yay! i am so thankful to have 3 wonderful valentines this year, they are the loves of my life & i am so blessed!!

here a few pics of me & Jack whippin up some cupcake goodness:

he wanted my mixing spoon but i wouldn't let him have it so i gave him a regular clean spoon & said "don't drop this in the bowl" & of course as soon as i turned my head, he dropped it right in the batter & then touched it to his face & everything else within his reach! owell, at least he had fun!

BUSTED!!

he was so excited that i gave him the spoon!

it was a tad bit messy!

he sure did a good job of getting the batter everywhere...

you must lick every inch of the spoon!

i think he loved it!

the final product. devil's food cupcakes with cream cheese icing! so yumm.

my littlest valentine. she was sad she couldn't have a cupcake!

hope you all had a special Valentine's Day with the ones you love!

Winter Wonderland

finally!!! after several "warnings" from mr. weatherman, we finally got some snow!! the schools already had several snow days stacked against them for only a few little flurries but today, we got TONS of snow!! and it was great! Jovie & I had a rough night last night & i was up, a lot, pacing the floors of the house, trying to soothe & calm my girl. usually, when this happens, i peep out the windows but this time i didn't. when i finally was able to get us both to sleep, Ben woke us up at about 8:30 am. he said "we had a blizzard!!" he said that he was about to take Lola out to pee when he looked outside and saw a blanket of snow covering everything. it was beautiful. we got about 7 inches!! so, we bundled up ourselves & Jack & headed out to play, for a few minutes. Jovie, of course, stayed inside!

Jack wasn't too sure about the snow. he didn't hate it & never cried but he certainly wasn't loving it. he just sort of sat there & looked around. he did have fun when Ben would throw the snow at Lola or when Ben would toss him up in the air. basically, as long as Ben was holding him, he loved it! i got some cute pictures before i had to run back in to soothe my screaming hungry girl.

we had a fun morning playing but the best part was being stuck in the house as a family. we were able to relax, watch movies, nap & head to bed early. thats a great day in my book!! here a few pictures of our snow day:

our little home covered in white.

all bundled up & ready to go play

not too sure about what's going on!

my 2 favorite boys

just chillin!

my little snow monkey!

having fun with dada

gotta love that little grin. dada always makes everything fun!

this is how Jovie spent her time while we played! poor girl! don't worry, i picked her up immediately & fed her. then she slept like a baby!

Jack Meets Jovie

i don't know why i was so nervous about Jack meeting Jovie. silly me. i just thought that Jack might accidentally hurt her or not be interested in her at all. but i should've known better b/c my boy is super sweet & oh so loving. their first meet was success, all the way around. he just kept saying "ohhhh, didi!" didi is his little way of saying baby. and its presh. he just wanted to look at her, touch her face & give her endless amounts of kisses. it blessed my heart over & over.

here are a few pictures of my 2 kiddos, meeting for the very first time!

i LOVE our family of 4! (scroll down for another new post!)