strawberry ice cream on the gravel road

we love going to visit the morreales in carthage...and do things the country way:)

thanks aunt natalie for the treat....deeeeelish!

practicing

lj loves strolling her baby around the block these days...her baby amelia...

:)

mean mommy

took all 5 rocks out of my mouth, along with some of the dirt as well.

the injustice of it all.

mommy/daddy date night

yep.
we had one.
it was fantastic!
we swapped babysitting nights with some friends this week so we could each enjoy a night out with our spouses.
i can tell we're getting older and our family is growing based on the fact that our date night included a trip to a couple of car dealerships to look at minivans.
it also included dinner (before the dealerships) and a stop at goodberrys on the way home...yum city!
i swore i'd never drive a minivan but it looks as though that may be changing...we'll have to see...

first sensory box - oatmeal

found this idea from my friend shelly king's blog and decided to try it out on lj and milana last saturday. our oatmeal sensory box (which wasn't as large as i'd like, but i didn't want to buy a bigger one yet) was a hit and the girls loved scooping the oatmeal in various containers, looking for some plastic rings, and maybe eating a little bit:)

melts my heart

love my nephew mattme

could kiss those sweet cheeks all day

Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Son Date Night

Tonight we met Seth at ChickfilA so he and LJ could have another daddy-daughter date night. We decided I'd take Jackman on a mommy-son date as well and we'd just do the same things, but be in separate places so we could each spend time with our dates. It was a great plan, and for the most part, worked out really well. I will say, however, that the dinner part happened quite differently in my mind. But at the end of the night, I was thankful with how everything went and had fun looking back and laughing at how chaotic it was:)
Trying to be brief...here's a quick synopsis, from my point of view...

We arrive at CFA at 6pm and as I'm driving around the parking lot I see that it's insanely packed for CFA's Daddy-Daughter Date Night and think to myself, "Aaaand, I'll be taking Jack to Moe's instead:)"
Seth meets us at the car with flowers and a juice packet for LJ - her favorites! We decide I should just eat there with Jack so we can both go to Waverly afterwards and walk around with our dates. Ok, that's fine...it won't be too bad.
Walk into CFA and realize that tonight's event was one in which you were supposed to register for, but Seth accidentally forgot that part. Thankfully one of the hostesses was super kind and found a seat for Seth and LJ right away. Below is one of the best shots I could quickly snag. If you can picture it, here I am in the middle of a sea of daddy's, daughters, the balloon man, CFA hostesses galore, trying to balance holding the camera with one hand while I have the diaper bag wrapped around one shoulder and Jack in the other hand who is not fitting on my waist any easier each day Amelia gets bigger and bigger. And also as I'm doing this, the balloon man decides to make Jack a fishing pole balloon...so cute. But alas I don't have a picture of it. As Seth and LJ decid to move tables so he could sit at a table with a high chair, I decide it's my que to go get my food and find my own table.
As I'm turning around trying to get out of the masses, I hear a big "POP!" and realize Jack has now popped 1 of 2 parts of his balloon pole. In his mouth. As he's chewing on it. Does he care? Nope. Picks up the other part and starts biting on it as well.
So I get in line and finally order my food, which Amelia is practically screaming for by now. Can't decide what to get - trying to be cheap, and yet get what we can both eat. Jack is squirming ever so much, not wanting to be waiting for anything in my arms. I get my food, grab some utensils, napkins, etc and walk to the other half of CFA where guests who aren't daddy's/daughters are allowed to sit - diaper bag still hanging on, Jack barely hanging on, and now a tray in my hand.
POP! The other balloon pops in Jack's mouth. Still doesn't care. (and yes, I threw the pieces away).
Can't find a table. Seriously, they're all taken. On the brink of a meltdown. Almost go to Seth with tears in my eyes saying, what do I do? Decide I don't want to mess up his date time with LJ, so I keep wandering and eventually move someone's stuff over and sit at a table with CFA boxes on it. I figure someone will look at me and have pity if this was there table.
Ahhh, finally shove fries in my mouth as I'm feeding Jack part of our 8pc nugget. About to start on my soup when I realize I didn't get a spoon. Can't leave Jack there so I just wait to ask someone behind me to get me one as they're getting their own condiments.
Down that soup in record time and then soon after realize Jack has eaten 6.5 of our 8 nuggets. Hmmm. Why didn't I think about what a good eater he is when I was in line? Dern. Oh well...
Well, Jack finally finishes our nuggets and drinks his juice packet while watching the cow go back and forth, and staring at all the lovely little ladies getting their faces painted right behind us. Such a sweet thing for those girls! Not much later, Jack's decided he's done being polite and brings out his loud screaming noises for all to hear. Fit right in with all the other shrieking girls:) Seth hears him from the other side of the restaurant and appears behind me with the pacifier. Whew!
Bout 2 min later I'm thinking we should start cleaning up in hopes that Seth and Lj migtht be done soon...So I gather our stuff, bag back on shoulder, Jack in other arm and head toward the trash to throw away our things. Jack about squirms out of my arms so I put him down and of course he heads towards the door, which is completely the opposite way from teh trash. I try and chase him down with the tray in my hand and I hear this lady behind me tell her husband to get my tray. Awww, bless them. He looks at me and says, "we've been there! let me take your tray!" Thank you Lord. Tray goes to man, I go after Jack.
We run by an elderly couple who comments on how cute he is and makes the ever popular elderly comment, "I can take you home with me." Most of the time that comment completely weirds me out. Tonight it didn't. Maybe it's because he made them smile. Maybe it's because the old man's name was Joe and so was my dad's. Made me think for a minute about how he took me on dates even when I was in college. Man I miss him. Anyways, they were sweet.
Seth and Lj are finally done and we make our way toward the door. The old couple sees that LJ is ours as well and comments on how cute they both are and asks Seth and i if we have grandparents:)
We continue our way out and all of a sudden the noise stops and we are in the 'CFA bubble', if you will. Just us 4 (and Amelia). Between the outer door and the door that goes into CFA. No one even tries to come in or out. And we just stand in there for about a minute, talking about our dates and how differently they are/how they went. We laugh at how LJ was pretty terrified of the cow. She didn't even want to sit across from Seth she was so scared. He eventually told her to tell the cow "bye bye" when he came around to get her to calm down:)
Jack, on the other hand loved the cow. Stared at him all night.
LJ ate a good dinner but when she was done, handed everyhting to Seth. Didn't even finish her chocolate milk. All done. Gave it to Seth!
Jack ate all my nuggets.
LJ is talking about the playground and Jack is on the floor playing with the doorstop. Groddy.

All of a sudden we see a man and his 2 kids tryiing to get into CFA and realize they can't get in. LJ has locked the door as Seth and I are sharing a quite minute, laughing and reminicing:)

After CFA we went over to Waverly place to walk around with our dates. It really is beautiful now that they've remodeled. The fountains have lights that change colors, there's beautiful landscaping, a playground and nice walkways...
I went my way with Jack and Seth went his with Lj. I tried to get pics of them, but really, not many turned out bc it was too dark for my camera and how far away they were. And I had to keep my eye on fast Jackman. But it was fun and both kiddos loved it. Lj didn't want to leave. But Seth had one more treat for his date - he took her to Michaels and bought her a puzzle. Let her pick it out. She picked an ABC puzzle (which she already has one but this is a different one).
I took Jack home and passed on going to Michaels. But I did, however, swing through the CFA drive through and get me and Amelia a chicken sandwhich for the ride home:)

Ahhhh. Lovely night.

I'll love remembering all the details of this fun date night:)

But may re-think a mommy-son date night to CFA on such a high-profile night next time...

:)

bday post #3 - Lilly Jo is TWO!!

Having a 2 year old makes me, on some level, feel old and like I'm not a newbie at being a parent anymore. Thankfully that feeling only lasts about 2 seconds before I'm quickly reminded that I'm definitely still a newbie parent and I daily need to rely on God's strength, grace, love and truth lest I crumble at anything that goes wrong or isn't easy. Which is probably 90% of the time.
Lilly Jo has been such a blessing to Seth and I - seeing her grow and change over the past 2 years has brought immense joy to our lives! Lilly Jo is a kindhearted, curious, people watcher who clearly soaks in every part of life she sees, feels, hears, smells and tastes! She has hit a huge growth spurt in her social development just over the last 2 weeks and she is talking non-stop. She tries to repeat everything you say, no matter how long the sentence. Just as with any other stage she's gone through, I absolutely love this stage! Trying as it may be to hear her repeat a phrase over and over for 20 minutes, I know she's learning so much by doing it, and I love hearing her remember things she learned a day ago or a week ago, and repeat them with excitement!
Like Jack, she had her 2 yr checkup today and also did amazing well. Thankfully she only had one vaccination, which she did great at, only whimpering slightly until she too got her 'juice' packet. She's such a trooper - we were both so proud!
Her stats are that she, too, has a large noggin (96%), is 1 inch shy of being 3 ft tall (75%), and weighs just over 27 lbs (50%). She too was very attentive to the dr as she was examined, but kept reminding us that she wanted a bandaid (not sure if she would have longed for that bandaid so much if she knew why it came to her!).
As I've mentioned before, she is much more aware that we're having a baby this go-round, and she loves mentioning her sister Amelia Katelynn, and has named her babies Amelia as well:) She pointed to my belly again today and I think can tell that it's beginning to grow a lot more. Seth and I cannot wait to see her face when she meets Amelia Katelynn and sees that she's a real person, and that, Lord willing, we'll bring her home in late May!! I know she's absolutely going to love taking care of her little sister!
We're going to begin potty training tomorrow so we'll see how this new stage goes for Lilly Jo (and for mommy and daddy)!

bday post #2 - our two one-year olds

For about 12 hours each year we will have 2 kids the same age, that are not twins. Here they are brushing their teeth before bed, the night before Lilly Jo turned 2!

birthday post #1 of probably many...Jack Lewis!!!

Hard to believe a whole year has passed since Jackman {quickly} entered this world (for more on that click HERE)! It's true that time flies a little faster when you have more than one. Jack is such a joy in our lives - he's full of laughs, loud noises and energy and he just loves his big sister! Jack had his 1 yr checkup today and it went well...got 1 finger prick, in which is only response was to look at the nurse with mouth wide open as if she didn't know who he was and that she just hurt him. But no tears. Just shock. He sat very still as our dr looked in his eyes, ears, listened to his heart and belly and checked his boy parts. Taking it all in I guess:) By the time the 3 vaccinations came around he was beyond tired and so they were zero fun. But alas Seth and I came prepared with his favorite treat - "juice" packet from the store, just like the one pictured above that he got for his birthday. Who doesn't love a healthy snack for a treat?!

Jack's stats are basically that he still has a large noggin (>97%), and a small body (25% for both height and weight)! Cute little man he is:)

Jack eats only what we eat and has for awhile...he was not a fan of baby food like Lilly Jo was. He eats like a champ, most of the time eating more than LJ, drinks whole milk, and sleeps about 11 hrs a night, taking 1 short nap in the morning and a quasi-long nap in the afternoon at the same time LJ does.
He's all boy and I love it. And it exhausts me:) Can't wait to see how he reacts to meeting his baby sister in May!