I gave the baby some food.

After my one failed attempt with the rice cereal a month ago, I decided to try a different food with Anna Joy. 

She is still not sitting up great (I know, she is almost 8 months old!) but I put her in her high chair anyway and fed her some sweet potatoes. 

She was a little unsure at first - about the food and the chair - but after I put a pillow and towel behind her back to help support her, she seemed to enjoy it a bit more. 

A few bites later, her clothes came off and she was smacking her lips for more.  My sweet, fat, happy baby.  Love her to pieces.

a few more

I can't wait to get the whole disk, but in the meantime, I am stealing from her page as she posts them. Pretty impressive for an 18 year old with no formal training! Going to miss this gem of a girl while she is away at school.

Let's talk fashion.

I will be the first to admit that I am no fashionista.  My typical wardrobe Monday-Friday consist of anything Ann Taylor Loft deems work appropriate.  When I am feeling fancy, I will add a cardigan and a fun necklace.  I believe the fashion world calls those "statement pieces". 

So with that said, it's fair to say you should listen to my advice knowing that I have no authority to speak about what others are wearing. 

But I can't keep silent any longer.

I work on a college campus and the fall semester started this week.  Students in their full glory are all around.  I was walking across the Drill Field the other day to a meeting that I almost didn't make on time because I was so distracted by the clothes these kids are wearing.

That last sentence makes me sound 90 years old.  Don't care.

 Let's discuss....

1) Short denim overalls.  I am sorry, did I miss something? Are these in style? Someone enlighten me.  I rocked my Guess? overalls (long and short) all through middle school, so I know the comfort level this amazing article of clothing provides. But that does not mean one should keep them in their closet. I see way cute and seemingly popular girls wearing them, so clearly these are back.  I just don't know....

2) On the same note, cut-off denim shorts.  These are not new on the scene.  I saw this last year, and I gotta be honest, I don't hate the look totally. I couldn't pull them off, but I see little college girls that wear them and wear them well. 
However, what I am seeing now is denim shorts paired with a tucked in tank-top and a braided belt. A braided belt! When I was in junior high, no outfit was complete without a braided belt, extra long so you could loop it.  Again I say, I just can't. 

3) Tall athletic socks.  Am I a nerd for still wearing ankle socks? I remember the times when you pulled your socks all the way up to your knee then scrunched them down to the perfect mid-calf length.  Apparently those times are back? And these tall socks come in a variety of colors.  This morning alone I saw black, pink (!!), and blue. 

4) Male graphic tanks. Men, do me a favor.  Just don't. To the dude I saw wearing a black tank top with neon letters that read "You mad, bro?", just stop it. Yes I am mad.  Put on an appropriate shirt.  And don't call me bro.

5) See through shirts. Ladies, it appears you forgot a crucial part of your outfit...your shirt.  What you didn't forget, thank the heavens, is your bra.  Unfortunately, none of us want to see it.  Now go cover yourselves up.

6) On the other end of the spectrum...oversized t-shirts. Girls, I get it. It's comfortable. I love a large t-shirt. IN THE COMFORT OF MY OWN HOME.  If you are wearing a shirt to class that could fit you and three of your closest friends at the same time, your shirt is too big.  It's safe to say you could go down a few (5) sizes.

It also appears all things neon are back.  I guess it's true what they say: All things old are new again.  If I see a college girl wearing a hot pink and lime green scrunchie in her side pony, I will officially throw in the towel and admit fashion defeat. 

family pictures

Last night a sweet former youth group member braved a teething baby, a wild three-year old, and a hot mama (as in, I was sweating profusely) to take pictures of our family.  She is so precious and is moving away to go to college on Wednesday and asked if she could take our picture before she leaves for school.  She is trying to build her portfolio.  Hey, girl, if you are brave enough to wrestle us during the witching hour after a full day of work and school, more power to you.

Family pictures with young kids can be crazy and sometimes stressful. Throw in late afternoon August humidity and a pair of skinny jeans that you have no business wearing postpartum, and you have the recipe for disaster.  But Olivia makes it work, and I am so thankful she shares her gift with us.


She just posted this picture. I can't wait to see more!

7 months

My baby is seven months old.

When did this happen?

Oh yeah, August 8th. And I am just now posting sweet baby's 7 month update.  Perhaps if I just don't post, she will remain this age? I love watching my children grow, develop and learn, but time needs to seriously chill the heck out.  It could go a little slower, for crying out loud. 

(I have to remind myself of that saying - long days, short years - when I am on hour number 2 of crying fighting bribing trying to get my eldest to bed.  Another post!)

At 7 months, Anna Joy:

• Is the sweetest baby ever. I know you think I am being dramatic. I am not! She is the most laid back, sweetest thing. So very rarely cries. I even asked Ms. Annie the other day if she ever cries during the day, thinking maybe she is more normal when I am not there.  She laughed and said "Anna Joy? Never. Only when she's hungry, and even then it's sweet". Bless her bones.
• Is not sitting up! Perhaps she is too laid back? Jones was crawling at 7 months! He was born wild.
• Likes her milk. With that said, she still nurses and takes pumped bottles at school, which means I am still pumping away in my office.  Three times a day. I still hate it, but thankful I work in a supportive place and that she takes a bottle with ease (unlike her brother who refused it. For a year.) 
• Thinks Jones is hilarious. Thank goodness, as he has no concept of personal space. Her laugh is contagious and she laughs at everything he does! So much love.

• Has no teeth. Sweet gummy baby. Again, Jones was working on tooth #5 when he was her age.  Oh the differences in my two.
• Eats nothing. I am still not feeding the baby food.  I have to get a grip. I have no reason not to other than I haven't made the time to make her food, and by golly, I feel like I have to make her food since I made Jones'.  Dumb.
• Sleeps like a champ. Oh my perfect baby. At the risk of sounding like I am bragging I must tell you that this angel has been sleeping through the night since before I came back to work when she was 12 weeks old.  I can only say this because Jones nursed through the night until he was almost 8 months.  
• Is a chunky monkey.  She wears a size 3 (or 2, sometimes) diaper and mostly 6-9 month clothes.
• Loves to take baths and kicks so hard.  This cracks her up.

I am just crazy over her.  We all are.  She is the calm in our storm, which is often a very loud storm. We are blessed beyond measure.

**Sorry for the I-phone pictures. Will get real ones downloaded soon!**

3 year old brain

This child.

He plays hard, loves fiercely and lives life fully. I am a little jealous of his fearless personality!

He is hilarious and insanely brilliant.

Last night he was being his usual wild self and was not obeying.  Trey made the comment "Jones, I don't want to have to pop you." To which Jones stopped what he was doing, looked at us like we were crazy and said: "Daddy! Don't be silly. I am not a blow-up toy! You can't pop me."

And just like that, he was out of trouble. I had to leave the room to control my laughter.  How does he come up with this stuff?

His response to me asking how his first day of PreK went? "I didn't hit anybody!" A successful day no matter how you look at it, no?
The way he loves his little sister melts me.

He is forever asking to hold her and give her kisses.  Whenever she starts to fuss, he starts singing to her, usually Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Jesus Loves Me, and she stops immediately and smiles at me.

Oh please love each other forever.

 Seeing all of the first day of school pictures has made me a bit weepy this morning. I am desperate for my babies to stay babies.  When Jones has pushed me to my limit and my nerves are completely shot and I want to scream, I pray I remind myself that too quickly he will no longer be a wild three year old, but a 15 year old who towers over me. It's true what they say - babies don't keep.

new-old fans

I haven't talked much about our new house on here other than we bought one and I saw a mouse in it.  I am slowly getting over my fear of walking into a room alone in fear of rodents and learning to love our home again.

A little backstory - we bought the house from a church member who passed away last fall.  He custom built this home in the 60's for his family of 5 and lived in it for the rest of his life.  We love it.  Walk-in closets in every room! Large walk-in closets! It may have been the 60's, but he had three daughters. He knew what was up. 

So while the man loved good storage space (God bless him) he also loved ceiling fans.  The only thing I can guess is that he came across a fan he liked, got a good price, and bought 25 of the exact same model.  For real.  The only rooms that do not have this ceiling fan are the foyer, living room and dinning room.  But no fear - there are two in the den and two in the kitchen to make up for the lack of fans in those rooms. The kitchen! Total unnecessary use of ugly brass ceiling fans.

Before

At any rate, they are everywhere.  And they are ugly. We knew, according to my husband's color-coded Excel budget worksheet,  that we couldn't immediately replace all of the ceiling fans with beautiful  new light fixtures. So one day, without my knowledge (or approval), Trey took down the fans, spray painted them and removed the ugly lights.  He called me in the middle of his little project to say that he was spray painting the fans.  I had my doubts and told him as such.  But he persevered, as he always does. Oh fearless frugal one.

When he couldn't find a replacement light cap (technical term) that fit the old ceiling fans, he called the number on the bottom of the light and told the company of his predicament.  They sent him the replacement parts - for free! Trey is convinced they were super nice business-men.  I am convinced that we are the only suckers that still have these old fans and took the time to call the 1-800 number printed from the 60's.

Whatever.  For $10 worth of spray paint, it looks like we have new ceiling fans.  Well done, frugal husband, well done.  For a quick fix, it works.

After

Except for the kitchen.  I am not putting up two fans in a kitchen  It's not even a large kitchen! I just don't understand. 

In other news, this is how Anna Joy sleeps.  I am obsessed.  I could watch her sleep all day. 

Also, she will be 7 months on Thursday.  She still is not sitting up on her own, which is fine by me. I just hold her all day. However, I was able to quickly snap this picture on my phone of her sitting up after church on Sunday. A few seconds after the picture she toppled over.  Have you seen her belly? Gravity, people.

She looks so old here.  Sweetest baby. Smiles literally all the time.  My heart just might explode.

First day of school

Jones started PreK today. 

He has been going to "school" now since he was 19 months old, but this seems like school-school, if you know what I mean.  He had legitimate school supplies to buy, not just baby wipes and Lysol.  He had to buy dry erase markers to use on his individual board so that he can practice his writing.
Writing! Like a college student or something.

It hit me that this was the first day of the rest of his (school) life.

Yes, I am that dramatic. Now excuse me while I go hide in the closet and cry myself ugly.


If you can imagine, I am not taking this whole PreK thing lightly.

I stay somewhat connected to the lives of the 7th-12th graders, and because of it, I know just a small portion of the challenges these kids face.

Growing up I didn't have to deal with Facebook. Or instagram. Or SnapChat (WHAT? This thing has trouble written all over it). If my friend or boyfriend wanted to talk to me, they called my house on my parent's landline and asked my daddy if I could come to the phone.  No text messages here at all hours of the night.  These kids have their entire lives - the good and the bad - plastered for all to see.  The amount of insecurities and competitions that come the pressures of social media is crazy. 

The stuff these teenagers today deal with is legit. It seems that there are far more temptations at their disposal than I ever experienced. Yes, I grew up in a bubble. But if I had it my way I would find that bubble and put my kids back in it and stay there until Jesus came.

Just today I heard of a sweet child struggling to fit in. Couldn't find his place in the scary world of middle school. How much do I want to just tell that kid that it is OK! There are far greater things in store for you! You are greater than your 6th grade social life! 

But to that kid, at this time, the struggles are real. So real.  And I hurt for him. I want to shake the mean kids by their shoulders and say "Be nice or go to time-out!". Then I want everyone to hold hands, sing a joyful song, and live happily ever after.

Because that's how we roll in my bubble.

Kids can be mean and the world is big and scary.  And I am not ready to send my kids out in it.

It's just Pre-K3, but I can't help but feel a little sad.  This got here way faster than I planned.  Wasn't he just born yesterday? And already he is wearing underwear and learning to write on dry erase boards at school?  I just can't even deal.

Thankfully, Anna Joy and I have come to an agreement that she is never to grow up.  I have seen the length of the shorts girls wear today.  I know what little amount of fabric goes in to making their skirts. She has agreed to wear smocked bubbles for life.  Good girl, Anna Joy, good girl.

Back to School Bash

A few of our friends got together last evening for a little Back to School Bash to kick off the new school year.  It was so much fun! We love going to the campground  - playground, basketball courts, splash pad...what's not to love? Elton grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and the kids played their hearts out.  Can't believe another summer is behind us.

In true Jones fashion, in the middle of a kickball game, we looked over and he was pant less, tee-teeing.  No shame, that one.  The little 4th grade girls giggled and we had to take Jones away to explain, yet again, when it is appropriate to take off our clothes, tee-tee outside, etc.

Bless him.
I am not sure how many cupcakes he consumed last night.  Two before dinner, I know.  Oh well.  You only start PreK once, right?


 We used bribery to get them all to sit still long enough for a picture.  Works every time!

Happy 2013 School Year!