An Apple a Day

melts my heart

2012-02-16T22:02:00.003-05:00

love my nephew mattme

could kiss those sweet cheeks all day

Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Son Date Night

2012-02-06T21:06:00.003-05:00

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!!

2012-02-03T14:33:00.005-05:00

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

2012-02-03T14:30:00.004-05:00

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!!!

2012-02-03T14:06:00.004-05:00

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!

people watching at the lake

2012-01-27T20:48:00.002-05:00

thankful

2012-01-24T20:25:00.003-05:00

...to God for days like today that are comfortable for toddlers to be outside longer than 5 minutes:)

"B" is for

2012-01-23T15:39:00.002-05:00

BIRTHDAY BOY AND BIRTHDAY GIRL!

more pics to come...but we're so thankful for our 1 and 2 year old babies who are growing so fast!!

fish face

2012-01-19T15:32:00.003-05:00

date night

2012-01-16T21:30:00.003-05:00

Seth took LJ on her first daddy-daughter date when she was just about 1 month old. They went to Chickfila with some other daddy's and their daughter's for the CFA Daddy Daughter Date Night.

Now, just shy of 2 years later, here she is getting ready for another date night to CFA with Seth.
Some ladies like to accentuate their cheekbones. LJ likes to highlight the neckline:)

Cherry chapstick is a favorite...especially if you like the taste of it, which she does so we have to watch her closely that she doesn't eat the chapstick but rather puts it ON her lips.

Added some bling...

Voila!

I met Seth one night after work and dropped her off at CFA for her date. Seth had brought her some beautiful pink gerbera daisies and a fruit pouch (her favorite treat these days)...what a dad!!
After dinner he took her over to the newly renovated Waverly Place to walk around and see the fountain, which apparently turns colors in the night light. He said she alternated between loving it and being completely terrified of it and ended up in his arms most of the time. I'm guessing he was sad she was scared but loved all the cuddle time:)

a thousand words

2012-01-09T20:38:00.003-05:00

love that jackman has to stand right at/under the tv as he watches baby einstein.

love that milana is wearing jack's winter tobogan. and that her shirt is tucked into the back of her diaper, which is hanging out of her sagging sweatpants.

love that nana is down on the floor playing with matthew, who unfortunately you can't see in the picture.

love that uncle john has his eye on lj and knows what's going on and just laughs.

but most of all i love lilly jo's face as she's currently hitting nana on the bottom. because aunt natalie told her to. because, if you can't tell, she's eating a chocolate and sprinkle covered pretzel. which is all over her hands.

nice one nat
:)

little bit 'o lj lovin'

2012-01-09T19:34:00.002-05:00

a word from lilly jo...

2011-12-29T21:20:00.002-05:00

that's right, we're having a GIRL! this afternoon seth and i were able to get a little preview of our daughter at the doctor's office. for the second time in a row, seth has beat me in the game of guessing the sex as we're watching the technician perform the ultrasound.
a HUGE shoutout to our brother-in-law john for watching his two kids and our two kids so seth and i could enjoy the visit alone and not have any meltdowns while waiting for the doctor. thank you uncle john!!!!

we had fun finding out that God has been forming miss amelia kate inside of me and we cannot wait to meet her in may! i am so curious what another girl will look like that is not lilly jo.

Praise God all seems to be going well in terms of amelia's growth, as far as doctor's can see. so we'll keep praying for her and look forward to the day we meet in person!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T21:52:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Sarver side of the family...
(left to right: uncle john, matthew, aunt natalie, milana, lilly jo, nana, rebecca, seth, jack, aunt cathy)

I hope this Christmas season has caused you to think and reflect upon the greatest gift of all - God's only Son, Jesus, sent to earth to save us from our sins!

Isaiah 9:6
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

and now for something completely different...

2011-12-13T13:23:00.004-05:00

ok, so it's not completely different if you consider the fact that we just had 2 back-to-back.

however, i know this one is completely different in that he/she is uniquely and wonderfully made by God and will look different than lilly jo and jack, and he/she will arive in late may.
nowhere near january like our first two. that's totally different, right?

seth and i have really enjoyed seeing lilly jo's reactions this time around, as opposed to when i was pregnant with jack and she was still a baby in lots of ways. but now, she knows where the baby is, she can say "baby", she likes to kiss (and blow on my belly) the baby, and i think that her love for the baby will only grow as he/she grows!

i am 16 wks and 1 day in these pictures above...and we'll find out the sex of the child at the end of december...we can't wait!

we're so thankful for God's blessing in giving us a 3rd child!

emotional

2011-12-07T22:26:00.003-05:00

you can tell it was an emotional Felton Stew Day football game for jack as he watched his dada play...

cold turkey

2011-12-04T15:17:00.004-05:00

no, we're not still eating it or anything, but we did get rid of lj's paci's on thanksgiving night. and voila, they're gone. we went with the method my mom used when she got rid of mine as a child. it seemed to fit well because, like myself as a kid, lilly jo is facinated with the trashman and also with throwing things away in the trash for us (quite a big helper she is!). so thxgiving night we brought her a trashcan and asked her to say 'bye bye' to her pacis and throw them in the trash. sure enough they all went in without a question. we talked that night about how the trashman would come the next day and take them away, and so we watched him when he came and said 'bye bye' to the paci's again. and she's never cried about them at all. not once. she does ask about them, but always with the curious sense that she knows the answer and we talk about it and remind her that we said 'bye bye' to them and that the trashman took them away. and she always says, "yeah." like she usually does in her cute voice.

i will say naptimes have been a tad shorter without the paci, and the girl will now talk for about an hour in bed each night. loudly (poor jack). but she doesn't ever cry or whine for them, so i'm not complaining!

cute kids

2011-11-14T13:45:00.002-05:00

yep. we got 'em.

fall fun

2011-11-09T10:25:00.002-05:00

sharing...it ain't easy

2011-11-05T13:36:00.002-04:00

but we're learning...

saturday morning

2011-10-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

breakfast and a concert {of sorts}

watching dada and cj practice for worship on sunday...always fun for the kiddos:)

mat-me

2011-10-28T13:50:00.004-04:00

lilly jo and jack's cousin mat-me (matthew) is such a stud. can't get enough...

cheeeeeeeeeeese!

2011-10-28T13:42:00.003-04:00

i think i've already used this title recently, but it's definitely a theme in lilly's life lately. she's all about taking some pictures. mostly with phones, but this particular day i was in the kitchen when i heard her saying, "cheeeeeeeese". i came in the living room to find her having put all her zoo animals on an end table, and was taking their picture with her camera.
so cute.
i love watching her learn.
and not using my camera for once:)

movin' right along...

2011-10-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

you know your daughter is living in the age of technology when...

2011-10-18T13:08:00.002-04:00

...she picks up the cordless house phone (yes, we do still have a house phone) and puts it out in front of her and says, "CHEEEEEEEEESE".

every kiss begins with "K"

2011-10-12T20:16:00.002-04:00

tonight we had dinner at crabtree mall and as we're walking around after dinner we pass KAY jewlers. we didn't realize it until we hear lilly jo saying, "kay, kay" (the letter "k"). we look up and sure enough, she had seen the very large lettering on the outside of the store, K-A-Y. she then proceeded to tell us she saw the letters "die, die" (letter "y") and the letter "a" as well.

we're daily amazed at how quickly she's learning to recognize letters. right now she knows about 95% of the alphabet. not in order, but she can tell you what the letter is if you show it to her, as well as retrieve a specified letter from the fridge magnets.

God's design is truly amazing.

waving

2011-10-11T21:11:00.003-04:00

hi and bye. it's jack's new thing.

ten-ten

2011-10-10T13:50:00.003-04:00

i'm so grateful for photography.

i love that i can look at this picture and remember exactly the conversation seth and i were having as we were walking down the isle toward the altar (seth came and got me from the end of the isle and walked me up to the altar since my dad was with Jesus and couldn't give me away). seth was looking at me saying, "don't look at natalie (my sister and matron of honor) because she's already bawling. and i was saying, "i know, i already did..."

i love that God has, for now, given me a short and long term memory, so i can look back and remember little details of the day we were married.
i loved every detail of the day we were married.
wouldn't change a thing.
i love that it was pouring in raleigh but we got married in benson and it only slightly sprinkled the hour before we got married. outside.

i love that God brought that man walking me down the isle into my life.
i love every day we've had since the day we were married (even the not-so-fun-ones) because they've shaped who we are as a couple and have hopefully been pleasing to the Lord.

i love you seth!

happy 3rd anniversary!

practicing yoga

2011-10-09T22:05:00.003-04:00

making cookies with au-nee

2011-10-06T15:46:00.004-04:00

last week au-nee (aunt natalie) made chocolate chip cookies with the girls...so domestic:)

they helped with every part...measuring/pouring dry ingredients....

mixing ingredients (lj was scared of the blender at first, but soon warmed up)...

cracking eggs...

and somewhere in there adding the chocolate chips...

before and after...classic!

thanks au-nee for helping lj learn to cook one of life's finest desserts!
we love you:)

a visit to danville!

2011-10-05T12:43:00.005-04:00

this past sunday we headed up to danville to visit the apple family! we had a great time hanging out together and enjoying some spaghetti for lunch. it was so much fun watching all the cousins play together, now that they're getting a little bit older!

aubree lyn and cody playing with trucks
aubree lyn and lilly jo loved playing with the magnetic alphabet on the fridge

dylan, looking more and more like a man everytime i see him, hanging out with great-grandma heffinger

miss aubree giving granny apple some lovin'

lilly jo showing great grandma how she knows some of the letters already!

apple cousins (minus christopher) from the left: dylan, cody, brayden, aubree lyn, lilly jo, jack

feeding time for jackman

uncle seth playing with the newest addition to the apple family - brayden noah - aka mr. smiley

you can't tell but we both have pigtails in. i can't help it. she's so cute i needed to match her.

playing baseball outside in the gorgeous fall weather

she's got a great coach:)

letting granny apple have a turn

no comment.

{ok one comment - the plastic wheels almost deflated when he sat on it, and there's not even any air in them.}

just waiting till he's old enough to hit that ball!
good grief he's so cute.

you can see, it was quite a full and fun few hours in danville:)

night-night

2011-10-01T21:00:00.001-04:00

this may be an all-time favorite picture of mine:)

10 years ago...

2011-10-01T20:32:00.004-04:00

kristen, jane and i graduated from cary high school...shewy. we must be adults now, or something, right?

here we are with matthew, kristen and luke bradham at the CHS 10 yr reunion picnic in cary today...my how time flies!

20 years

2011-09-27T13:46:00.008-04:00

20 years ago my family moved from phoenix, az to raleigh, nc because God had led my parents to start a vineyard church plant here. still can't believe it's been 20 years. God has done so much in that time and it was a joy to reunite and reminisce with friends (most of whom i consider family) that i haven't seen in awhile. on sunday seth and i took the kids back to my old church to celebrate with everyone...we had a great time! i wish i had been able to capture pictures of people i grew up with but with 2 small kiddos it just didn't happen. i'm sure i can get some copies from others there who had cameras:)

lj and milana went searching for little baby sheep in the haystack...quite the challenge but lilly jo was all in for it!

binanas dancin' with nana!

they rented a moonwalk which john and seth took the girls in before we left. let's just say we might be renting one of these for lj's birthday at somepoint. she and milana had an absolute blast in it!

gettin' some air under those feet!

the girls loved it so much they each went down the slide on their own (without respective dada's)! couldn't have asked for bigger smiles...

but when it was time to leave, both girls made this face -

and the boys were ready to go home as well but they weren't shedding any tears...just showing their cute monkey butts:)

Reading

2011-09-23T21:24:00.001-04:00

handsome little men

2011-09-20T21:18:00.004-04:00

hmmm, not sure why these turned out sideways...

reading with dada

2011-09-18T15:09:00.001-04:00

date night!

2011-09-17T13:27:00.003-04:00

last night my mom watched the kiddos for us so we could have a night out...it was wonderful! seth bought me some beautiful flowers (and some gerbera daisies for lj that i forgot to take a picture of) and then we went and had some jersey mikes before going out to southpoint to see 'the help'. i had heard lots of great reviews so i was eager to see it. it did not disappoint. pulled lots of heart strings and we walked out with a crowd of sniffling women:)
on our way back to raleigh we grabbed some starbucks for the road....yum city.
it was a great night out, baber!

arctic tundra cold

2011-09-16T13:31:00.003-04:00

ok so it wasn't quite that cold this morning, but it was downright chilly and windy so i bundled up the kids as we went on our walk to see the buses.

if you'll take notice, lj is doing just fine in the winter hat department (with room to grow). jackman however...well, i guess the newborn beanie is too small for this 8mo old with a rather large noggin. might need to get him a new one...

girls, beware

2011-09-13T10:25:00.003-04:00

i think we'll have our hands full with this heartbreaker:)

big 5-55

2011-09-11T23:30:00.003-04:00

just completed my first BIG 5-55 tonight with seth. took me like 26 min to do it. and that was with cheating on the sit-ups and doing girl pushups.
a few observations...
-honest truth, i'd rather give birth. with no epidural.
-seth is a beast and i don't know how he does this all the time.
-there's a good possibility i won't be able to move any part of my body 2 days from now.
-that will probably pose a problem seeing as i have given birth 2x. (which i loved much more than this exercise)

if you've never heard of the BIG 5-55, just google it. too tired to type out the description.

that's all. adios.

buuuhhh

2011-09-09T13:40:00.002-04:00

i've now figured out the exact time that 4 school buses come to pick up kids at the street behind ours. amazingly 3 out of the 4 come at just about the same time. lilly jo is quite facinated with buses, so this something she looks forward to each day. she used to look at me and say, "bah, bah" as she referred to the school buses. now, as she's getting older, her southern twang is setting in, and she now says, "buuuh, buuhhh", with the accent on the "uuu" sound. can't help but love it.

and a HUGE thanks to the Faircloths for giving us this amazing radio flyer wagon...the kids love it!

for seth

2011-09-08T13:48:00.003-04:00

because it's your favorite picture and your peanut misses you:)

photo taken by the wonderful and talented matt and meredith railey...check out their blog -mjrailey.wordpress.com

i've got lots more pics to post from when they came and photographed the kiddos. problem is my comp takes too long to upload a whole bunch of them bc they're such good quality:) but i'll put up more later!

let the record show...

2011-09-05T15:01:00.003-04:00

saturday while at my sister's place, we put ALL 4 KIDS { lj (19mo), binanas (17 mo), jackman (7 mo) and baby matthew (1 wk)} DOWN FOR A NAP AT THE SAME TIME.

we then enjoyed our lunch kid-free.

that's gotta be a world record or something, right?

go pack!!

2011-09-04T15:41:00.004-04:00

nice to see our new nephew matthew has the right allegiance from the start!

when i was a little girl...

2011-09-03T23:03:00.002-04:00

this was my dress.

now it's lj's dress. thanks for keeping this mom!

my sweet pea

2011-09-01T22:23:00.003-04:00

sometimes i look at pictures and i'm amazed and blessed that God gave me (and Seth) a daughter. he gave us lilly jo.

isn't He good?!

james 1.17 - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

lj's first fashion show

2011-08-27T21:20:00.002-04:00

lj seems to be entering the 'dress myself' phase of life. it's about to get interesting folks.

while i still have to dress her, she proceeded to pick out one article of clothing after the other today, bringing them to me one at a time to put on her. and after each article of clothing was put on, she immediately said, "dada. dada." and would walk out into the loft and show seth her latest outfit.

so cute.

just to clarify, she has on a onsie, then the purple/brown shirt, followed by the green/white tank. then some shorts, followed by 2 pair of bloomers. finished it off with 2 pair of socks on each foot and a rockin' hat from whitney. she wanted to put some pants on as well but i had to go make dinner...so this was the final outfit. rock it girl.

happy {30th} birthday my love

2011-08-26T15:00:00.002-04:00

so this year seth didn't get exactly what he wanted for his 30th birthday...a trip to wilkerson obgyn to find out the sex of our child. he's been spoiled the last 2 birthdays. don't even have a positive pregnancy test. sorry babe.

but he did get a nice dinner out with friends and lilly jo on sunday and a baseball game with the family and some friends tonight!
and a nephew yesterday. and a hurricane tomorrow.
so, lots of fun, just not exactly what he wanted:)

seth, i'm so thankful for you in my life. in our children's lives. you are a gracious, loving, humble, handsome man. you take care of your family in ways i never imagined. you take joy in serving in the roles God has given you. you take delight in your children. we are so thankful for you and we love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU!

matthew.joel.morreale.

2011-08-26T13:49:00.000-04:00

Praise God, Matthew Joel Morreale arrived yesterday at 2:37pm. He was 8lb 2oz, 20.5 in long and has a large head measuring in at 38 cm! He is such a handsome fella and John and Nat just love him to pieces already. Nat is doing well, all things considered, and Matthew is also doing just great.
More to come later, but without futher ado, our new little nephew...

past and present

2011-08-24T22:53:00.005-04:00

what to expect when you're expecting...

2011-08-22T21:01:00.003-04:00

the unexpected.

my niece milana (who is 2 months younger than lilly jo) was born 3 wks early.
her brother matthew is due day after tomorrow and seems content in his momma's belly.

dear matthew,
we're grew impatient 2.5 weeks ago when you weren't born.
please come soon.

xoxo,
aunt becky

ear piercing

2011-08-19T12:18:00.003-04:00

how do you tell your 19 month old to not scream at the table when your 7 month old LOVES to scream? i'm not just talking loud noises.

we've got EAR PIERCING SCREAMING MATCHES becoming commonplace at both lunch and dinner.

whew.

too loud for mommy and daddy's ears.

small gesture, big meaning

2011-08-15T10:16:00.002-04:00

friday night we met my sister, her hubby, their daughter and my mom for some pizza in cary before heading to the pool...
seth needed to get some cash for dinner so he ran next door to walmart...and apparently got lost in the way. or so i thought. took the man like 15 min to get cash. no joke. and 15 min is a long time when you're in a pizza joint w/ 2 wonderful yet small children, waiting to eat/feed them. patience started to ware, but thankfully he finally decided to join us.
with a card and small gift for me. awwwwwwww:)
it had been a rough couple of days for me as a mom, and in the grand scheme of things i know there are larger issues we'll face, but in the moment, those days were certainly a challenge.
that being said, seth got some cash and THEN proceeded to get me the sweetest card i think he's ever gotten me, along with a cd of my favorite singer from last season's american idol. don't judge.
but the card, simply stated, said this, "we don't do easy. we do interesting. we do challenging. we do hanging in. we do real life. and the inside said, "i'm glad we do." with a few more comments of his own...
almost started to cry in dominic's pizza.

i'm so thankful for the man God chose to give me to share in the joys and harships of this life here on earth...love you lou:)

you know it's time to do laundry when...

2011-08-13T22:32:00.003-04:00

you're almost 19 month old daughter is wearing your tshirt to bed...

(i will say this shirt is a kid's XL, which is why she's not completely swallowed by it)

and we're up!

2011-08-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

sitting, that is:)
these pics were taken 2 days ago and he's now a pro and we don't really use the boppy behind him anymore.
i can tell he loves the autonomy...i can't imagine how much he's going to love crawling and eventually walking!

cousin aubree lyn comes to visit!

2011-08-08T21:40:00.005-04:00

a couple of weekends ago we had the pleasure of having seth's mom, his brother robert and robert's daughter to come visit us for the day! we've not seen miss aubree since cousin dylan's birthday party earlier this spring, so it was lots of fun to play together again! the pictures are pretty much backwards in chronological order, but you get the gist. we started out inside, playing with dogs and toys, and having naptime and lunch. then later in the afternoon we enjoyed some time outside in the sprinkler (well lilly jo enjoyed the sprinkler, but aubree lyn not-so-much) and then racing our walkers. i love these girl's expressions as they're trucking it down the sidewalk...you can see the joy in their faces!!

i know it's no easy task taking a toddler out of town for the day, so we are especially grateful they made the journey to come see us for a few hours! thanks guys...we loved it!

screams of joy

2011-08-08T16:19:00.002-04:00

all done?

2011-08-04T21:15:00.001-04:00

lilly jo's amazing (and disgusting) new talent

2011-08-01T00:09:00.003-04:00

so this was completely blog-worthy the first time it happened, however time got away and it never got posted. a week later however, it's still happening and i feel a post is in order, ASAP.

recently we've had a problem with flies in our house, so i bought a fly swatter from target. it's nice. cheap. red. standard.
occasionally lilly jo will find a dead fly down by our back door and she'll pick it up and bring it to me and say "dahs, dahs" which means "trash". i'm like, ewww, thank you lilly jo. now let's go wash your hands.

well the other day she brought me what i thought was a dead fly. only when she handed it to me it promptly flew away. YES. it was not dead. begs the question, "how did she get the fly?"
well i watched that darn fly go over to our back door window and try and get out. and meanwhile lilly jo went right back over to the door and i watched her try and catch that darn fly for 30 seconds. and then she caught it! i could not believe it!!!!! right in front of my own two eyes.

grody to the max. back to the bathroom to wash her hands.

i kid you not she has caught about 5 so far in total.

and today seth was doing the dishes and called me over and said he had something to show me. low and behold he opens his hand and has a live fly in his hands. all he says to me is, "i think it runs in the family...."

hilarious. and nasty. surely this cannot be our family talent.

and i know on a few occasions wilbur has caught a few flies in his mouth as well.

moral of the story =

don't buy a fly swatter from target. just call the apples. we've got ya covered!

shhhhhhhhhh...

2011-07-30T21:04:00.002-04:00

baby jack is sleeping...

a couple weeks ago milana and lj were playing in jack's crib while he was sleeping in the pack 'n play in our room. i always ask lilly jo if she can say, "shhhhh" when jack is sleeping so she can learn that she needs to be quiet. so i told the girls to say "shhhh" and this is what we got. i love how differently they display their finger while saying "shhhhhh"....

so different. so cute.

Where's Jack? (alternate title #1 - Peek-a-boo, #2 - Escape!!, #3 - Ahhhhh! I'm a fun boy!)

2011-07-29T13:43:00.007-04:00

6 and 18 months

2011-07-25T21:44:00.006-04:00

today seth and i took the kids to their 6 mo and 18 mo check ups. they both did great and the appt didn't last very long at all. jackman got some shots but lj didn't need any this go round, whew!

stats:
jack lewis apple: weight - 16lb 7.5oz (25%), height - 25.5in (20%), head circ- 46cm (95%)
lilly jo apple: weight - 24lb6.4oz (50%), height - 32.5cm (75%), head circ - 48.5cm (90%)

jan 2011 (above) and july 2011 (below)

it's been interesting to look back and see what lilly jo was up to this time last year...

her stats were a bit different than jack - she was in the 75th% for wt (jack is in the 25th%) and in the 70th% for height (jack is in the 20th%). they both however, most definitely got the large head from dada:) lj was in the 90th% for head at 6mo and jack is in the 95th%!!

lj was sitting up at 6 mo and jack is almost there, but he's so darn active he throws himself back too often to sit up on his own:)
lj was also sleeping 10-11 hrs at night....which jack is not doing. he just started sleeping 7-8 hr at night LAST WEEK! this, as i mentioned before, has been the biggest change/challenge with jack. but God has been gracious and helped us get through this time and we are thankful it seems he's finally sleeping through the night:) it was right around the time lilly jo started sleeping through the night that we thought we'd love to have another child.
not so much this time around:)

lj at 6 mo (above) and jl at 6 mo (below)

lj is up to lots of talking these days...she is constantly learning new words...most recently is elbow ("be-bow"). seth and i love hearing her learn to prounounce new words...it's super cute. lilly loves playing with items that need to be organized or put into containers. she often will play with crayons and a tupperware container for over an hour - dumping them out and putting them back in. it's crazy the wheels that must be spinning in her head!

she also loves throwing the ball for wilbur, pushing around his water/food bowl, pulling out and putting back her clothes, vacuuming, feeding jackman (especially things like pretzels and crackers that he cannot have yet!), drawing with chalk, pushing jack in the swing, playing in the sprinkler, swimming in the pool, walking around the block with us in the evenings (that are not 100 degrees), eating (sometimes more snacks than meals), talking on the phone, rocking and burping her baby, giving kisses, taking toys from jack (but then giving them back), taking a shower, reading and watching little einsteins and patting her knees to give the rocket more power!! she is lots of fun and lots of work...we are so thankful for her:)

jackman is also growing leaps and bounds these days...and mostly all smiles and giggles. i just love it! he is doing great sitting in the bumbo, he likes playing on his stomach, he loves watching lilly jo play - he laughs at her a lot and i know he's just going to love playing with her as he gets older, he has started veggies last week and has eaten green beans, squash and carrots so far, he holds the bottle on his own, sleeps about 7-8 hr at night, takes 3 naps, loves his toes, loves watching little einsteins with lilly jo, gets tons of exercise in the baby einstein jumper, would love to eat table food if he could, gets into fun shouting matches with lilly jo at the dinner table, talks allllll the time, likes to go for strolls, loves being in the bathtub and pool, and loves getting lots of hugs and smooches from everyone:) he is such a blessing and has given us so much joy!

they're quite hoot, lj and jl, but, whew. i'm tired. goodnight.

a little this, a little that

2011-07-21T21:30:00.003-04:00

jackman snoozin' on our evening walk
lillypie and nana walking baby jack

mommy's cute secretary

a.k.a. "destroyer of the computer keys."

since this picture she has ripped off 5 more keys. lovely.

at least next week at her 18 mo. checkup i can tell the dr. that she has excellent fine motor skills, right?

handsome jack-a-man in his cute hand-me-down shorts.

blink x2

2011-07-18T20:25:00.004-04:00

yep. again, that's about all we did and our baby girl lilly jo is a year and a half today!
what a fun stage of life she's in right now...but more on she and jack next week after their 6 mo and 18 mo appts!

blink!

2011-07-17T22:27:00.004-04:00

i'm pretty sure that's all i did and now our baby boy jackman is 6 months today!!

the saying is true..."the days are long but the weeks (and months) are short."

sandbox

2011-07-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

found the classic turle sandbox on craigslist a couple months back...lj has enjoyed spending some of the cooler mornings playing in it, and jack can hardly wait to hop on in himself:)

shower time

2011-07-09T17:52:00.003-04:00

recently we've started to let lj take showers with us...and she absolutely loves them.

the other morning i was going to let her shower with me while jack was sleeping. so i took off her clothes in our bathroom and then turned the shower on. i went to put her clothes in the hamper and when i returned this is what i found...

the girl just couldn't wait 10 seconds until i got back to the bathroom! she got in with her diaper on, taggie in one hand and paci in the other...and just stood there mouth wide open letting the water trickle in!

peach ice cream

2011-06-30T15:02:00.003-04:00

just what the dr ordered for our sick little girl...

WHAT?! none for jackman? maybe if i froze some pureed peaches and breastmilk...

and now for a little bit of jackman...

2011-06-25T21:27:00.004-04:00

granny apple reminded me tonight that most posts have been about lilly jo lately...which is very true. not sure why that is, because there's definitely just as much going on with jack as there is lillypie...he's growing leaps and bounds these days...so without further ado, here is our 5 month old jackman!!!

lilly jo is growing more fond of jackman every day...and is learning to do lots of fun things with jack...like putting her glasses on him. and if you look very closely you'll see they have princesses on them. poor boy. he's in for a lot of girly fun for the next year:)

jack and seth sitting on the recliner for sale at our yard sale last weekend

jack found his feet a few months ago but has recently been going to town on his toes. i'm 99% sure he's been teething for a couple of months but nothing's popping up yet. lj had her first tooth by this time so i won't be shocked to feel a tooth anyday now. but we'll see...

tummy-time is muuuuch more enjoyable these days. he's so strong and enjoys playing with toys or watching lilly jo or wilbur while strengthening all his muscles.

we started oatmeal after his 4 month appt, but stopped for about a week because he wasn't going #2 as often:) but he's doing great now and really loves eating. he gets all jumpy when he sees the bowl and spoon...it's pretty funny. i think he's really going to enjoy other foods once we start them next month!

this was probably taken last month, but he's quite the bouncer in his baby einstein jumper! he's much more active in it than lilly jo was. but he's also got the lilly jo show in front of him so that probably helps his entertainment as well!

jack still gets up an average of once during the night but occasionally twice. (marj and donna, i think of yall often and wonder how you went to work all those days after the sleepless nights!!) this is completely different than lilly jo...that girl was a champ at sleeping at 8wks old. whew, that's been the hardest thing so far i think. but now that he's eating oatmeal and getting older and gaining more and more weight i think we're starting to turn the corner on his sleep habits...we'll see:)
he's still mr. social and loves to be held, loves to be outside, loves to watch lilly jo, loves to laugh...

he's such a blessing and a joy and even in the hard times God is teaching me that he's still a gift:)

welcome brayden noah apple!

2011-06-25T18:18:00.002-04:00

seth's brother robert, victoria and big sister aubree lyn welcomed brayden noah into their lives this morning at 10:04am~ and from what i hear it was quite a close call on getting to the hospital in time...maybe even closer than i was with jack! way to go victoria!!!

congratulations guys...and get ready:)

in just a few years...

2011-06-21T09:03:00.004-04:00

lilly jo will want to marry her daddy when she grows up.
jack will be helping seth tear down music equipment after church is over.
lilly jo will walk into preschool and kiss seth goodbye as she's running to play with her friends.
jackman will be helping seth fix things around the house as they fall apart.
lilly jo will be playing the guitar right alongside her dada.
jack lewis will be sitting on seth's lap as he's reading some book about church history or the revolutionary war.
they'll both be playing some kind of sport.

but for now all they know is that dada loves them.
kisses them.
plays with them.
tickles them.
hugs them.
feeds them.
and that's all they need to know:)

WHAT A TERRIFIC FATHER:)

double whammy

2011-06-16T09:24:00.001-04:00

tripped up on her crocs this morning and fell on the sidewalk...and bumped her head. again.
now we have a strawberry on both sides of the forehead.
thankfully her knees broke her fall this time and not her head.
poor little lady.

6.14.08

2011-06-14T17:05:00.003-04:00

happy 3rd anniversary to my wonderful sister and brother-in-law!

we love you guys:)

BONK!

2011-06-14T15:20:00.001-04:00

...more like BANG! CRASH! KABOOM!
lilly jo took her first big fall this morning, and it was 100% my fault. we were leaving the park and she wanted to walk down off the curb by herself. she's always been a cautious one when it comes to stepping down curbs and steps so the fact that she wanted to made me think for a second that she'd be able to make it off this curb safely, and i was proud of her for wanting to try. i defintely should have thought that through for more than a second. duh. i'll spare you the details of the grief i've been giving myself since 10am this morning...
but needless to say, she seems to be ok. i immediately called seth, who works right down the road from the park and he came over pronto. in the meantime i called my mom (who works at a pediatrican's office), our pediatrician, and my sister (an ICU nurse). bases covered.
i've been monitoring her and she's doing fine, but we'll still keep a close eye on her for the next 72 hrs like our pediatrician recommends.
when i think back over this morning i'm so thankful God was clearly watching over us. the fact that she didn't break her nose is an absolute miracle to me - her face truly broke her fall, there's no denying that. and it was wonderful that seth could come so quickly to see lilly jo and help me get it together.
she has a few other bumps and scrapes, but other than the enormous goose egg on her head, you wouldn't know anything happened this morning.
tough little girl she is!

happy (belated) birthday cousin dylan!

2011-06-03T09:45:00.004-04:00

a couple weekends ago we got to go meet up with the apple side of the family for lilly jo and jack lewis' cousin dylan's 5th birthday party:) it was great to see everyone and enjoy an afternoon together outside - the Lord was gracious and it wasn't even too hot for the babies!
unfortunately i didn't get pictures of everyone, but here are a few i managed to snap...

uncle seth helping open one of dylan's gifts, a nerf gun i think. (can't get this one to stay rotated correctly)

jack enjoying some time with aunt janice:)

and also some special time with granny apple

lj getting some grandma heffinger lovin'

happy birthday dylan...we love you!!!

these shoes were made for squeaking

2011-05-30T21:30:00.003-04:00

a friend of ours from church works for Squeak Me Shoes and was in need of some last minute pics for their upcoming catalog so she asked us if lilly jo could model a few shoes for her last week.
we met kate in wake forest and went out to southeastern seminary's campus to take the photos. it was quite a hot day but lilly jo did great and had fun walking around in the squeaky shoes! we got to keep the shoes she modeled in, and were also given a pair of wolfpack sandles as a thank you! we had a fun time and were blessed to get a few new pair of fun shoes!
here are a few pictures i managed to snap before jack had a meltdown...i'll post a few more when i get some from our kate.

she wasn't even posing here, but it looks cute for sure!

my sassy little lady:) - again, no posing on purpose.

ah ha! here's a meltdown picture for those that want to know that life isn't always fun and games over here. (but in her defense it was hot and almost lunchtime. who wouldn't want to cry?!)

pictures these days

2011-05-21T16:16:00.004-04:00

this pretty much sums up pictures we take when we try and get both kids in them...

picture #1 - distraction = bow in hair and sun in face

picture #2 - distraction = something on the ground and one kid looking at the camera (actually smiling!)

picture #3 - same distraction as before but second child is now not looking at the camera either. but mother recognizes this and just decides to look and smile anyways:)

and is it just me or does jack look like mario, jumping over the flower pot while trying to chase the mushroom before it goes off the screen? cracks me up!

lilly jo (1), seth (0)

2011-05-15T22:06:00.005-04:00

overheard/saw this interaction between lj and seth this afternoon...

background info = lilly jo doing something she wasn't supposed to (i think she hit seth or something)

seth: "lilly jo no mam. we don't do that.
lilly jo repeats the offense
seth more emphatically: "lilly jo NO! now tell dada you're sorry."
lilly jo's lip begins to quiver and eyes well up with tears
seth: "oh no, i hate it when her bottom lip does that. lilly jo come here.
lilly jo sits on seth's lap crying.
seth: "it's ok, i'm sorry."

i'm thinking, "wait, what just happened here?"

awww, the compassionate father vs the 15 mo old who's learning obedience.

we're learning this parenting thing as we go. it was a precious moment i thought. disciplining a child is no fun.

kid size

2011-05-10T21:59:00.004-04:00

let's just say my head is not very big, and let's also say lilly jo's head is not very small.

that is why the sunglasses from the dollar section at target fit us both just great!

but i'll be the first to say they look way cooler on her:)

my sunglasses have gone MIA so i actually needed to wear one of lilly jo's pair of glasses on our morning walk. too bad lj loves to wear both pair at the same time. no luck for mama.

love the face lj...naptime, huh?

pretty.

2011-05-09T21:10:00.004-04:00

obviously we think lilly jo is beautiful just as she is, however, she's recently discovered my jewelry and loves playing with my bracelets and necklaces...and we always tell her how pretty she looks:)
this isn't the clearest picture, but it's cute nonetheless!

grooming

2011-05-09T13:20:00.000-04:00

jack pays close attention while his nails are being trimmed...sometimes to the point of being cross-eyed.
love it:)

'tis the season...

2011-05-07T21:46:00.005-04:00

for strawberry picking!

today was absolutely gorgeous outside so we went to a local strawberry farm with my mom and each picked a bucket of strawberries for $8. it was, of course, lilly jo's first picking experience and i must say she was quite a pro. she's been picking berries off our holly bushes for about 2 months now so i'm guessing that's where she got the practice:) but it was quite a fun experience for her and really the harvest was plentiful so it didn't take too long to fill our buckets.

they smell so sweet and taste sooo good:)

our little senorita

2011-05-05T16:30:00.001-04:00

the month before lilly jo was born, my great friend brooke married her hubby jerren and they went to mexico for their honeymoon...and ];pp;brought back this cute dress for lj. we knew it would be at least a year before she fit into it, and it just happened that it fits perfectly today...and we met brooke at the park for a playdate.
so happy cinco de mayo:)
and thanks brooke and jerren!

brooke and lilly jo

seriously studdly

2011-05-04T22:56:00.004-04:00

just like his dad.

i think jack lewis is so dang cute i could just cry.

happy (late) easter

2011-05-04T22:24:00.002-04:00

after church on easter sunday we were able to go and visit with granny apple...we had a nice time having lunch and taking a stroll down to the creek near her house...and lilly jo loved smelling all the flowers right outside her door:)

we love you granny apple!

friends and babies

2011-05-04T08:52:00.005-04:00

back in march one of my best friends, kristen (and husband matthew) bradham delivered her first child, a boy named luke elijah! we've been friends since 2000 and it's been a joy to be close friends through so many life experiences...and having children so close together is no exception! we recently got to hang out with she and luke, along with my sister and milana, and little boy morreale on the way. it'll be fun to see these kids grow up together, especially if we ever get to move to apex:)

luke on left, jack on right
jack's horsing around and kicking luke. close buds already:)

3 friends, 4 babies and 1 on the way!

we're expecting...

2011-04-28T11:47:00.007-04:00

two nephews (or cousins, depending on who you ask) this summer!

(bet you thought i was going to say we're pregnant, didn't you?!)

this post is looooooong overdue, but here it is anyways...

seth's brother robert and his girlfriend victoria will be having their second child, a boy, around july 1st. aubree lyn is excited to meet her brother, brayden noah, and i'm sure will be a wonderful big sister!

also my sister, natalie, and her husband john will be having their second child, a boy, around the 24th of august. or if it's anything like milana, he'll come super early, around the first of august! milana loves her time with momma and dada but i know she's going to absolutely love her little brother (name to be finalized)!

it's been quite a full last year and a half in both my family and seth's family...

in nov 2009 my sister's sister-in-law and her husband had their first daughter.
in jan 2010 we had our first daughter.
in mar 2010 seth's younger brother and girlfriend had their first daughter.
in march 2010 my sister and her husband had their first daughter.
in july 2010 seth's older brother and his girlfriend had their first son.

in jan 2011 we had our first son.
in july 2011 seth's younger brother and his girlfriend are expecting their first son.
in aug 2011 my sister and her husband are expecting their first son.
and i'm not sure the month, but i believe also in aug 2011 my sister's sister-in-law and her husband are expecting their first son.

CRAAAAAAAZY!!!

following suit

2011-04-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

not only is jack a wolfpack fan, but apparently he also goes for the braves, just like his dada. shocking, i know.
nana gave us three braves onsies back when jack was in my belly.
boy was seth a happy man:)

mixed emotions

2011-04-20T20:36:00.006-04:00

so if i've ever given the impression that it's all fun and games having 2 kids (or even just one), i assure you it's not. don't hear me wrong - i count it a pure blessing and gift from God, both Lilly Jo and Jack Lewis. neither seth nor i deserve them and we are so thankful for their lives...they bring us so much joy.

but again, it's not all fun and games. many days are very hard. there are still fun and lots of cute moments of the day. but the days are very hard. to me at least. i rarely get a chance to take a picture of the kids as they're melting down when it's 15 min past naptime, or 5 minutes past feeding time. i'm too busy trying to get my act together to fix the screaming that's occuring, so pictures are not my first thought. i promise, however, that there are many of those moments:) i'll try and take a picture of it next time...

this past sunday seth and i dedicated Jack Lewis to the Lord at our church. this is where we stood in front of our church members and committed, by God's grace, to raise Jack up according to God's Word and his purposes. to pray for him. to love him with God's love. it was a very special time. we chose a verse of the Bible, Psalm 33:18, as a prayer for Jack's life -

"But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love..."

BUT.

not 2 hours after dedicating jack to the Lord (what i consider to be a highlight and honor in the life of a parent), we went to lunch with my mom and aunt cathy...and i had a meltdown in the restaurant and left. jack was hungry and fussy, and lilly jo was screaming because she didn't want to eat and it was past her bedtime. and i guess my nerves were shot and my patience was gone. so i told them i needed to leave and i got up, left my half-eaten plate of food and took jack home to feed him.

end. of. rope.

i.have.no.rope.

either way, you get my point.

so that afternoon my sister called and asked if she could watch lilly jo for me for not one but 2 nights. so i can take a few naps and help jack learn to take better naps.

ahhhh. sigh of relief. mixed with sadness.

it's humbling to again realize i need help and can't do it all on my own, all the time.

so tonight, seth and i are sitting watching A.I. and playing with jack, missing lilly jo and the sound she makes as she plays with every single toy in the house, as she runs her little fast feet to the bathroom to take a bath, as she screams with excitment when seth chases her and picks her up and throws her in the air.

but i'm thankful for the chance to breathe a bit and focus on jack. and that makes me think about everyone else who's been so helpful to me/us... my wonderful husband, my mom, seth's mom, carol, nat and john, brooke, austin, and so many, many more. people have helped with laundry, making meals, watching kids, changing diapers, letting me nap, etc.

i would have had many more breakdowns without you all!

one of the many pics nat has sent seth and i of peanut and binanas having tons of fun together:)

back from boone, pt 5

2011-04-18T21:19:00.006-04:00

i promise we didn't spend our entire vacation on the porch. i don't think i would have minded if we did, however, we were able to get out a couple days to do some sight-seeing. one day we went up to grandfather mountain with the kiddos. it was highly recommended by our friend debbie lowther so we figured it'd be a good idea:) we had no idea how neat it actually was until we got there...next time we go we'll be more prepared to spend the entire day on the mtn because there's so much to do and so much to take in!

above is a view of the mile high swinging bridge
the girls wore their "1" onsies:)

jackman and mama

the morreale's braved the swinging bridge and enjoyed seeing the view across the other side...we stayed to welcome their return:)

checking out the bears

relaxing at one of the many places you can pull off for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the view!

back from boone, pt 4

2011-04-18T21:02:00.002-04:00

for the most part the weather was amazing...warm enough for jackman to be half nakie outside:) love it...

mornings were spent on the porch in our pj's...aaaand sometimes afternoons on the porch were still spent in our pj's:) ahhh, life with toddlers....gotta love it!

back from boone, pt 3

2011-04-15T21:14:00.002-04:00

usually, once the girls were down for the night we got out the dessert and played some intense games of settlers of catan. jack joined us a couple of games and helped out her awesome autie natalie:)

back from boone, pt 2

2011-04-15T21:03:00.002-04:00

bubbles were a big hit on the porch...

back from boone

2011-04-15T20:47:00.002-04:00

this past week we went to boone with my sister, john and milana. back when i was first pregnant with lilly jo we went to a peach festival in a small town near carthage and we all entered a raffle to win various prizes. wouldn't you know nat would win the grand prize of a week in a condo in boone?! and then wouldn't you know she'd get pregant and find out her due date is the week before the condo vacation was scheduled? thankfully, they let her reschedule for a year later. so off we went...

we had a fabulously large porch that we took advantage of as much as possible. we blocked off the stairs and played outside quite a bit.

gangsta

2011-04-15T20:43:00.003-04:00

fo shizzle.

playing with dada

2011-04-15T13:59:00.003-04:00

melts my heart seeing them play together:)

cheerios

2011-03-30T14:58:00.002-04:00

make sibling pictures a little more bearable:)

paci thief

2011-03-30T13:56:00.002-04:00

jack's pacis=green

lilly jo's pacis=pink

lately we find it more common for lj to have a green paci in her mouth than a pink one...

stinker!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!

2011-03-28T13:45:00.003-04:00

to my best friend and the most wonderful, beautiful, hilarious sister in the world...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!