Days of my life

Life is so grand. I have been so incredibly blest with an ambitious husband, 2 hilarious and beautiful boys, so happily situated surrounded by family and wonderful friends. I've been lucky enough lately to spend a lot of one on one time with my boys.

Jack is just so excited about life and yells all the time. We're working very hard on volume control and learning how to be reverent. He is still completely obsessed with Toy Story and we've added another 2 sets of "Buzz and Woody"s to our collection. He's decided he has to sleep with his door open and yells "MOOOOOM" from his doorway in the morning to alert me he is up and ready to be released. He has become so independent and insists on doing things himself. He's gotten this ATTITUDE and tells me "NO". When did this start?! He has also learned how to work the DVD player and VCR. Nice.
Some of his favorite things right now are: flying (running around the house with arms outstretched singing 'You Can Fly' at the top of his lungs), stealing things he knows are off limits (like a screw driver, sharpened pencils, or DVDs) and hiding them under his shirt then telling me "go away". Little stinker! Where does he learn this stuff?!
Every night we read 2 stories and sing 2 songs. Our songs of choice right now are "You Can Fly" and "Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Me". That's right...I sing about plundering and squandering to my 2 year old before bed time. Oh well.
He has learned please and thank you, loves to hop and skip, climb and jump. He is all boy and such a handful. There's never a dull moment with the Jackster around!!

Tucker is over 7 months old and probably the sweetest baby there ever was!! He is 28 inches long, and 17.5 lbs. 90% for height, 50% for weight. He scoots and rolls and sits just like some big kid! He is so close to crawling and rocks back and forth on all fours. Everything within reach goes directly to his mouth, including toes, entire fists, any and all toys. He has the sweetest gummy grin and that big dimple in his right cheek! He sleeps fabulously and is already eating me out of house and home. I love squeezing his chubby thighs and smooching his sweet smiling cheeks!






It's amazing how I can be so utterly exhausted, yet so happy. I am in fact writing this while Jack is upstairs making a horrible ruckus and woke Tucker up and now they're both screaming. It never ends...

Tuck turns 6 months!!

My oh-so-fabulous sister came in town this past week while her hubby was away on business. And because Jess is the photographer in the family, I didn't even bring my camera out once the entire time she was here. We had such a fun week though filled with taming the 5 kids, going to Ikea, Chow Baby, Nordstrom Rack, letting the babes run around the fountains at Mall of GA, swimming lots at Grammies and even managed to fit a photo shoot into our many adventures. And I'm so glad because look at how cute he is!! Click here to go to Jessica's photography blog:

http://daisylanephotography-jessica.blogspot.com

Isn't she amazing?

Memorial Day Trip to the Beach!!

I realize it has taken me entirely too long to post this, but better late than never right?? For our fabulous three day weekend in May, we took our friends Matt and Kristen and my brother Daniel and Melissa down to our beach house to enjoy the glorious beach. And glorious it was!! We braved one rather terrifying rain storm huddled together behind our umbrella/shield from the torrential wind and rain. We laughed a lot, ate delicious sea food, and learned what good liars everyone are thanks to a rousing game of Malarkey.
Impressive really!

Here are a few pictures compliments of Kristen since I'm so terrible at toting my camera around.

Enjoying an afternoon in Seaside after the guys left.

Why have 2 when you can have three??

And no I don't mean children.

Jack's new best friend and CONSTANT companion is Woody. I don't even own Toy Story (which is unfortunate because it is one of my favorite movies) and yet Jack has seen it enough to become obsessed! So thanks to doting grandparents and a treat from Jon and I at Disney World, we now have 3 sets of Buzz and Woody in varying sizes.

It is adorable to see my little boy become so attached to something and play make believe. He will get out of bed at night to play with Woody just a little longer. He is constantly by his side: sitting at the table for dinner (in his own chair mind you), strapped into his car seat ("needs to be safe" is what Jack tells me), and tucked into bed next to him every night. My favorite is what he's picked up on from the movie. He speaks on behalf of Woody saying: "howdy little lady", "reach for the sky!", and my favorite "some body's poisoned the water hole!".

He also plays with Buzz and runs around (pretending to fly of coarse) saying "to infinity and beyond!" He also yells "I'm a super hero!!" but I'm not really sure where that came from.

It is so much fun the older he get to watch him learn and the different things he picks up on. He gets very upset if Jon and I yell (for those of you who don't REALLY know me....I can get a bit spirited. Jon puts up with me) and tells us to "stop it!". He sings along with music in the car, his favorite being "Ima Be" by the Black Eyed Peas. Don't judge.

He loves to drive when we go out to Grammie and Pops house and is getting....better.

Do you think he's inherited his mama's dramatic side?

Jack has become such a good big brother and loves to make Tucker laugh and doesn't intentionally hurt him any more. This is a WONDERFUL improvement.

Tucker on the other hand, is just the cutest thing ever!!!! I can't even remember what life was like without him! He is rolling all around and loves sucking on his toes. He will actually shove both feet in his mouth at once and just go to town. Here he is at his 4 month doctor's appointment:

Tuck weighs 15lbs 5oz and is in the 75% for height. We've started him on rice cereal and he gobbles it up! He seriously attacks the spoon!

Tucker is such a joy. He is outright laughing now and gives the sweetest smiles. I positively adore him and have decided he's never allowed to grow up. He is just far to precious as my roley baby!!

In other news, I have bell peppers and tomatoes sprouting in my potted garden and LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES that I have growing up my front walk:

These are crappy phone pictures and don't do them justice. They are spectacular!!

So hopefully, this eye candy will help with SELLING OUR HOUSE! That's right, our house is officially on the market! YIKES!

Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!!!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Disney fanatic. We've been so excited to take Jack to the "happiest place on earth" to have all his little dreams come true. Seeing Disney World through the eyes of my toddler was probably the funnest thing I've ever done!! Don't get me wrong, I still fast-passed my way into all my favorite rides, but I more-so enjoyed watching Jack soak it all in.

My entire family, minus our faithful missionary Lucas, but including Daniel's brave girlfriend Melissa, trekked on down to Orlando to enjoy some time together among the Disney magic. We rented a 7 bedroom house with a pool, hot tub and blu ray player. SWEET! Our first day all together was Sunday, Mother's Day. Our men made us a fantastic meal of chicken and vegetables, garnished with an assortment of Treasures Chocolates. Now that's my kind of appetizer. My boys gave me a gift certificate to get a much needed massage, and daddy took over kid duty for the entire day. Preeeeetty fantastic!

Day 1 we went to Magic Kingdom. As suspected, Jack LOVED the Peter Pan ride and it's a small world. He also loved some chill time as we rode the tram around tomorrow land. He would have stayed there all day on the "train" if we'd let him. He was such a big boy and rode all the little people roller coasters. I couldn't believe how grown up he seemed. The best part of the day was watching mom on the big screen bleating "baa" in the Monsters, Inc. comedy club. My face seriously hurt from laughing so hard.Tucker enjoyed some down time on our picnic lunch on Tom Sawyers Island.

Day 2 we changed things up a bit and went to Sea World. The shows were fantastic and I'm now ready to pursue my dream of being a dolphin physical therapist in Hawaii. I discovered this as my calling in life in college but by then I was too established with this wife/mother thing. Hmmm not much has changed. Dang! Day 3 we went to my favorite park, Epcot. Jack couldn't get enough of the Nemo ride and tolerated the rest of the day of me enjoying Soarin' and the World Showcase.

That night we ate at our faaaavorite restaurant in Morocco. I got hummus, falafel and pureed eggplant. So fantastic! And I find myself inspired to take up belly dancing...
Day 4, we went to Blizzard Beach. Jack was such a big boy and went down the rides all by himself in his little tube! I however found the lazy river not so lazy as Tucker SCREAMED every time he got wet. Needless to say, we didn't last long and called it an early day to go home and SLEEP.

Day 5 - HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS! We went straight to the new Toy Story ride. It was freaking awesome and totally worth the 30 min wait in the equally cool line. We of coarse made time for the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Tower. The best part of the entire trip was there at Playhouse Disney Live. Jack was absolutely in heaven. He was singing along and patting to help rocket go faster. He danced and jumped and had a great time. We had just as much fun as he did!!

Day 6, yes, day SIX of straight parks, we went to Animal Kingdom. We rushed to the safari ride first thing, and saw more animals then I've ever seen on this ride. So cool!! We made time for the rest of our favorites, and took went to the fantastic Lion King Show. Jack loved loved it and was singing along with Timon.

We finished off our trip with dinner at Rainforest Cafe which was super fabulous. We had such a great time and can't wait to go again!! "See ya real soon!"

Our First Family Camping Trip

It took us 2 and 1/2 years to build up the courage to take Jack camping. Jon and I both love camping and hiking, but love our sleep a little bit more. So we've been very reluctant to take our wild Jack man to sleep in a tent. But we finally toughed up and went for it!

We trekked out to Buckeye Ranch with some friends and looked for the perfect camping spot that was calling our name. It wasn't hard to find seeing as it was the only one with a fire pit. So we set up tents and get our tin foil dinner cookin'! Perfect weather, great company and hilarious children made for a fantastic evening. Jack of coarse refused to go to sleep in his tent all by himself, so we let him stay up with us big kids until we all decided to turn in. Jack however was no where near ready to sleep despite it being 3 hours past his bed time. Jon was in the tent with him, and Tuck and I had our own tent. For the next 2+ hours I heard Jack singing every song he knows including "We will we will rock you" and anything he could sing to the tune of "jingle bells", interluded by Jon saying "It's time to go to sleep!! I MEAN it this time!!" Jack was obviously way too enthralled with the idea of sleeping outside to go to sleep. And just like clock work, kid was up with the sun. Our day of hiking was off to a good start! :)Very sceptical of this sleeping outdoors stuff.First time snarfer--learned from the best!

After our scrambled eggs and sausage breakfast, we broke camp and headed to Hard Labor Creek for some hiking. We selected a grooling 1 miler and our toddlers made it almost the whole way by themselves! We enjoyed a delicious picnic, then called it a day for everyone to go home and sleep.

Jack got to ride most of the way. Lucky kid!
They climbed and conquered!Hiking is sure exhausting, even for the littlest!And may I just say how much I LOVE the south land in the springtime!! Despite the yellow haze that's causing even non allergenic folk a headache, everything is green and blooming and positively glorious. The dogwoods and cherry trees are positively bursting with blooms, not to mention my rose bushes!! I'm so excited my perennials have come back and in full swing! Hooray!

All in all I'd say our trip was a glorious success and we can't wait to do it again, except next time WITHOUT CHILDREN. :)

Easter Time

It has been so fun having a kid old enough to get excited about holidays. Because I love any reason to celebrate, and my hubby rolls his eyes (but happily goes along with) all of my silly traditions, it's been awesome having another little person to get excited about things.

We braved the task of decorating easter eggs with a rowdy toddler, and I think it's safe to say I had more fun than everyone. Jack was so excited to hold the egg and was so angry when he had to just sit there and LOOK at it while he waited for the dye to dry. Patience is not one of his strong suites. I'm afraid he inherited that trait from me. Easter morning we awoke to find that the sneaky little bunny had hidden Jack's basket!! After searching high and low, it was finally retrieved and Jack was way more entertained with the plastic duckies holding the candy than the actual candy.

Breakfast was strawberry buckwheat pancakes made to look like bunnies of coarse! As I was putting on the "cotton tail" Jon says: "is that what they say to do?" Not really sure who "they" is. I guess he thinks there's a master book k of "mommy" that gives any and all clever instructions.
Easter Sunday we spent at my parents house enjoying conference. And because they're "yard" is a far more proper hunting ground than my dinky 1/8th of an acre, we did our egg hunt there. The day was absolutely glorious and Jack had so much fun hunting and taking all of the eggs. He was the only child hunting so luckily there were no "who saw it first" drama. Whew!Pictures of my boys in their adorable Easter outfits to come!