Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Special Day!

Today is Jordan's birthday!  Happy Birthday Jordan!  JM has been practicing saying "happy birthday!" all morning and then he says "cayke?!"  We already celebrated his birthday when we were in Alabama, so I'm not sure we're going to do another big birthday cake!

Jordan, I hope you have a happy, wonderful birthday today!  I love you so much and I'm so glad that you were born so that we could spend our lives together and raise these two cuties:


Thank you for all the little and big things you do for us each day, like take out the Diaper Genie!!  You are seriously the best dad to both of our boys and they light up so much when they hear your voice when you walk in from work.



Thank you for being the best husband, father, and friend!  I love you!


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Move Over Jordan, I Have A New Love!

Until I used my mom's steamer on our recent trip back home, I had never really even used one or even cared!  After using her steamer on her floors for like, 10 seconds, I knew I HAD to have one!  I'm not a big-time cleaner and I generally don't like to clean all the time, but having a steamer just makes life SO much easier, and I'm all for that!

And since Matthew started crawling while we were back home, I knew that once we got back home I was going to have to start researching to see which one I wanted.  After some research online I decided that the Shark Steam Pocket Mop was my dream steamer mop!  I am in LUUURVE!  And yes, I'm just doing this post because I want to!  It's just my humble opinion!



My Shark comes with a few different mop heads and one that's almost like shaggy terry cloth that I like to use on the hardwoods.  The best part about it is you don't use any chemicals, it's just water!  Afterwards, I just throw it in the washing machine and then hang it to dry until the next use.  It's also cool because when one side starts getting too dirty (as it always does for me!) you just flip the whole mop over and use the other side of the mop instead of having to put a new pad on!  It's also worked wonders on dried up baby foood/juice under Matthew's high chair.  I just pump the handle a few times and glide over it and it gets it up great!

It's so easy, you just fill it with water....


Put on your pad.....



Plug her in, the blue light comes on, and in about 30 seconds you're ready to start "mopping!"  I don't think I'll ever have another mop with chemicals in my house ever again!



One of my favorite parts is the handle that is pretty easy on your hands.  You can hold it a multitude of ways!  The simple motion of you pushing the handle is what triggers to steam to come out!



It turns pretty nicely too, so that it fits in corners.  It has a triangle-shaped attachement that works great in bathrooms, too.



I wish I had a big-time blog so that I could give one of these babies away, but also, not that many people read my blog!  I have just loved having it, so there was no way I couldn't do a post about it!


By the way, my mom has a Haan steamer and it worked great also!  It also has the pad that just velcroes on and then you throw it in the washer when you're done.  Jordan's mom also has a Shark steamer and she's also really liked hers, too!  It's a family affair!


 


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Roll Tide In July

This weekend we were invited to an Alabama Alumni BBQ through Jordan's work.  The hosts' have such a lovely home that is just beautiful.  It's the perfect size for hosting a large get-together.  We've been here before for ballgames and John Michael rolled over for the first time at their house during a ball game in Fall of 2008!

Our children were the only kids there and they did pretty well!  They were dressed in their Alabama gear and ready to eat and play!  We ate Bar-B-Q and hot dogs and met different people from The University of Alabama.  Some of us knew some of the same people, as we had grown up in towns that were right next to each other!

 

Matthew was way too interested to eat because he was obsessed with watching their cat!  John Michael liked him too and he kept poking at the cat and trying to pet him.  JM kept saying "mrow!"  He followed that poor cat around for most of the night!



John Michael wanted to go in the pool, but he settled for playing with their water fountains instead!



He had a really good time playing with the water and it kept him occupied for part of the evening!



A lot of people wanted to play with and hold Matthew!  He made several new friends with his smiling, happy face!



I finally received my Mabel's Labels in the mail!  I need to get around to labeling JM's things since he's going to be going to Mother's Day Out this fall!  So far, I love them!



And Friday, I was extra brave and took the boys shoe shopping!  John Michael outgrew his summer sandals that we bought like 2 1/2 months ago, so we had to go get some more!  JM does not do well with getting his feet sized, so it was an adventure.  All was well when we left and got juice and crackers!  And yes, JM gave Matthew his cup!



That's about all we did this weekend.  We hired a babysitter for only the 2nd time ever and Jordan and I had a night out Friday night.  We put the boys to bed and then went out for some dessert and coffee and then to Barnes and Noble.  It is just so hard to find time to get some quality time in with each other, especially when your family lives out of town!  We had a great time and it was so nice to reconnect and talk with each other!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Our Random Week!

We had a fun week of playgroup and making meals to take to new babies! I've condensed our week into a few pictures!  It's totally random, but fun!

While John Michael was napping, I was letting Matthew play around in the den.  I was watching him from the kitchen while I was cooking.  I stepped away to the fridge for one minute and this is what I found...

 


My baby had pulled up onto the fireplace and he was playing with the little rocks INSIDE the fireplace!!!  I freaked out.  I couldn't believe he had pulled up, first of all, and secondly I couldn't believe he pulled up on the firplace!



Bad, bad Mommy mistake!  He even had a rock in his hand!



Matthew is so silly lately.  He's into everything!  He loves to pull up and hang onto John Michael's little chair in the den.  I'm not sure JM is happy about that!



JM decided he wanted to hop up into Matthew's walker.  He got in and several different times this week!  I think he's just a little big for it!



These two boys make me smile everyday!  They are way too sweet and way too cute.



This week I finally got John Michael to complete an art project!  He HATES art projects and it's like torturing him to get him to do one.  He painted and colored just a little and then said "All done!"



I've been going through clothes and I found a huge pile of JM's old clothes that I thought Matthew wouldn't be wearing this summer, but I had no idea he would be so big!  He can wear John Michael's clothes from last summer.



These two love to play around in JM's crib after afternoon nap.  It's like our daily ritual!



This was just the first of many wrestling matches these two will have over the years!



Also, this week, Matthew started doing his "football" arms whenever we say "Yay!"  It cracks us up to no end!



Matthew loves to explore and Jordan handled the boys just fine while I went to a recipe exchange party for a bit on Tuesday night.  The boys played outside and Jordan and JM tended to our garden.



Such a serious, sweet face!



It looks like he's about to eat the lawnmower!



JM loves to be outside in the garden with his Dadin!



He is so proud to show off the tomato "balls"!  Our tomatoes had better hurry up and ripen because I can't wait much longer to eat them!



And once again....



on his favorite chair!



Verse O' the Day:



He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 112:7

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Swimming!

Last week we went to the pool a few nights after dinner, just to make things easier on me.  I'm having a hard time going by myself.  Matthew is mobile now and I'm just nervous with both of them.  I'm hoping next summer will be better because they'll be 1 1/2 and 3!  I think I'll be able to manage them much better then!

It's been so hot so it was nice to go in the evening and not have to put sunscreen and all that on!  We just jumped right in and had a great time!

Jordan got John Michael this suit and he wanted him to wear it so badly....the look on JM's face says it all:

 


He was less than thrilled with this huge contraption.  Plus, it hardly fit over his head!  I'm not sure we'll put him in it again!  Matthew was ready to swim as well!



Aunt Janna taught John Michael to kick, kick, kick!  He likes to kick to the side and hop out!



Jumping off the side is John Michael's favorite activity!  Another reason why it's a perk to go at night so that Jordan can help me with them!



Here's Matthew looking kind of serious about swimming!



Splashing around!



Happy Dad and two happy boys!  I couldn't be any luckier!



The two lights of my life!  Silly boys!



We had playgroup today and the boys are out like a light!  I have a huge shopping trip that I'm not looking forward to tonight, but it must be done!  We need food and John Michael needs his fruit! 


Verse O' the Day:  This is kind of a neat verse.  I don't think I've ever seen it before.  It's kind of hard to "just be still" with the way our lives are.  I guess sometimes that's all God wants from us.



The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Their Favorite Place!

Our favorite place seems to be our very own backyard!  We tend to go out at night when it's not too hot! I HATE the heat.  Ugh!  Last week we played out back while dinner cooked and the boys had such a good time!  Sometimes I feel like all I do is post pictures of our little red car, but both boys just love it so!

John Michael helped me water our new hibiscus plants!  None of them have flowers yet, though!  And yes, our poor yard is up past John Michael's ankles!  The grass has since been cut.  Hopefully Jordan wont' kill me for posting a picture with our grass needing a good cut!



 


He also watered himself!



Water is too much fun!



Jack enjoyed the sun too!  We're still waiting on our garden to produce some veggies.  It's looking pretty good!



Surprisingly, John Michael didn't freak out when Matthew got in his little red car.  They played together pretty well!



 



What a cutie!



John Michael has been such a big, big boy here lately!  Just precious!  Last summer we were having a harder time with behavioral issues.  This summer it's much better.  You hear so much about the "terrible two's" but starting around 14-15 mos was really hard on us with JM!



He looooves to help with just about anything we do, including watering our garden!



Tiny baby hands streeeetching, streeeetching to grab a blade of grass.



And this is just typical baby Matthew.  He is what we call a "face scruncher!"  We have no idea why he does it, but when he gets tickled about something his whole little face just scrunches up!



Hope you have a great day!  I'm having a little girl time tonight!  I'm going to a recipe exchange party and I know it's going to be so fun!  I just love it when I get a chance to sit around with some of my favorite girls from church.  I'm so blessed!


Verse O' The Day:



Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

James 5:14-15