Playgroup used to be SO much fun for me.  It was a great way for me to connect with our friends from Sunday School and let JM play.  Not so much anymore.  John Michael has decided that he wants to freak out and cling to me and whine for the WHOLE time. 

I’m not sure what’s going on with him.  I’m not sure if it’s the big crowd or if he’s still adjusting to Matthew being around and having my attention.  Either way, I’m exhausted when we get home!  He’s just so whiny and it’s really hard to divide my time between the two!

Last week Tracy hosted all of us for a Valentine’s Play Group and it was just too cute.  She had everything just perfect and all the Valentine’s decorations were precious.  She even had each child a little apron monogrammed with their name on it.  Too cute! 

Each child got to decorate their own cupcake.  After Matthew finally fell asleep and JM stopped whining, we decorated our cupcake with all kinds of red, sprinkly goodies!

JM and his good ole pal Braxton decorated theirs together.  They’re so cute!

John Michael enjoyed his.  Yum!

I SO love this idea.  Tracy put little heart candies in the bottom of her drink dispenser.  I’m totally going to steal that idea one day!

Here’s some of the kiddos decorating their cupcakes!

And here’s our little man all ready for bedtime.  I could just eat him up in his stretchy blue footed sleeper.  Little boys in footed sleepers are just too precious!

Sunday we ventured to church…late as usual.  We parked so far away and there were NO seats anywhere.  We went up to the balcony and we had to ask a man to move over so I could sit on the end with Matthew’s carrier.  I hope our lateness gets better from here on out, but I doubt it.

The nursing room at church was locked so 3 of us from Sunday School were told to go to the Bride’s room right off the sanctury.  It was nice to have some quite time with two sweet friends while we all fed our babies the old-fashioned way!  It took me forever to feed Matthew, change him and then talk a little bit and then head to Sunday School.  I thought I had missed the whole thing!  Luckily, Matthew fell asleep on Jordan a little bit after we got there!

John Michael wore his snowman smocked romper to church in honor of all the snow we’re having today!

And now that he’s getting older he carries his little backpack to church!

Sunday night was a bit of a mess for me.  I spent most of the afternoon baking.  I made a homemade chocolate pie with meringue and everything!  I also made sausage balls to take to our Sunday School class Super Bowl party. 

Both boys slept kind of late into the afternoon so we were in a mad dash to get out of here to get there on time.  What happened next almost made me cry.  As Jordan put the pedal to the metal to get us out of the garage and down the driveway, a book that was on the dashboard literally flew across the dash and straight into my lap where I was holding my warm chocolate pie.

There sat the book on top of the pie…meringue everywhere and a big hole in the pie.  Both babies are screaming by now and Jordan and I weren’t too nice to each other at this point, I have to admit.  I took the pie anyway and just explained what happened and told everyone not to eat the part with a hole in it!  It was good anyway, but it sure was a mess.  Everything seems to happen when you’re in a hurry.

All the wome had a great time talking and talking and talking some more during the Super Bowl.  I don’t think we ever looked over at the TV once!  We have such a wonderful Sunday School class and they have meant the world to us since we moved up here.

Verse O’ the Day:

But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

1 John 2:5

Since I thought I had an evil virus on my computer, I have not opened it since Friday and that was HARD to do!  Jordan finally checked it out tonight and he couldn’t find anything, so I’m good to go now! 

I wanted to share Matthew’s birth announcement with everyone!  I’m finally getting around to posting it for everyone to see.  I hope you like it as much as we do!

We worked hard on our birth announcement (although it’s taken me forever to get every last one of them out!) and Jordan did a fantastic job on it!  Thank you Jordan for working so hard on it to make it great!  I love you!

I just love these pictures.  I love seeing our two boys together!  I hope you enjoy it!  We had a great time tonight at our Sunday School class Super Bowl party.  As usual, us women didn’t watch a lick of TV.  How could we when we had such good food and conversation to attend to? 

We are awaiting yet another several inches of snow to fall in the next day.  Good times!  Come on Spring!

What do red, buff, and green and squirrels have in common?  Well, it’s the colors and mascot of my college sorority!  A very sweet girl somehow was able to find Alpha Gamma Delta alumni living all throughout Northwest Arkansas and we finally all got together the other night for dinner.

Ever since I moved up here I kept wondering if there was an alumni chapter in the area.  I even looked around online but I never found anything.

It was so nice to have a night out and talk with other women…my own sorority sisters, none the less.  Yes, we are all different ages, went to different colleges, and we’re in different walks of life, but we’re still sisters!

I truly enjoyed myself.  I left Jordan at home with a bottle for Matthew and he was none too happy about it (Matthew, not Jordan!)  so I had to leave a bit early to head back home to feed him.  Jordan did a very good job juggling both boys and keeping Matthew from eating his own hand from hunger!

One exciting aspect of the night was finding out there was another Psi Alum living up here.  Who knew!  We talked about the ghost stories from the house, (which were exactly the same years later when I was there), the sleeping porch, and the ugly basement! 

It was a great night out of the house for this tired mom.  I’m hoping we can start getting together quarterly to celebrate being a squirrel!

Verse O’ the Day:

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

I had a really fun evening tonight.  I got out of the house and met up with some wonderful women.  I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have a picture to share!   It was so nice to get out of the house for a bit and have some adult conversation!

Not too much going on here.  Still getting Matthew all better from his cold.  We’re almost there, I can feel it!

I took these cute pictures the other day when I was putting Matthew down for some tummy time.  Everytime he goes on the floor on a little blanket for tummy time John Michael has to come roll in the floor beside him…

and apparently so does Jack!  He’s always right by our boy’s sides!  What a good fluff.

Matthew was just smiling away at Jordan the other night.  He really lights up when Jordan comes home from work.  Even though he’s really little, I think he already knows his voice!

And here’s JM bustin’ a Star Wars move with these little flashlights that plug into the wall.  He loves them!

And now, good night!  I’m tired and I’m pretty confused by the “Lost” premiere tonight.  I’ve got so many theories running through my head!

With all this cold weather and snow on the ground outside, I needed something to melt my heart, and this picture did it for me!

I’ve noticed more and more that John Michael has been giving Matthew kisses on his head and patting his head when we’re not really noticing or asking him to.  A real big brother!  He also has been patting his head or holding his hand when he cries.  Matthew usually doesn’t cry at all, but with this nasty cold he’s had some moments of crying!

The feeling appears to be mutual.  Matthew always has his eyes on John Michael.  He follows his movements and really watches him.  Now, we still have our moments of me saying, “please don’t sit on baby brother” or “You cannot swing his swing that high!” but overall JM is adapting pretty well!

 I hope they’ll be each other’s best friends as they grow up together.  How blessed we are to have two precious boys!  I never thought I really wanted a house full of boys, but I wouldn’t take anything else.  Little boys are awesome.  I would probably say the same if I had girls, but still!

Last week I noticed Matthew is now able to lift his little fists to bat at his little toys on the bar of his bouncy seat!  He’s awake a lot more, even though JM still calls him “Night Night!”  He still loves to be held and he’s most happy just being held nice and tight with a blanket.  He loves to be warm! 

 Last week he weighed in at 15 pounds 7 ounces!  There’s no telling how long he is.  He’s seriously very long.  When we go for his 2 month check-up I’m sure he’ll be off the charts!  Happy Monday!

Verse O’ the Day:

The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-

So far today it’s been snowing for hours!  We are so lucky that we did not get as much of the ice as they thought we would get last night.  Just a little ice, then some freezing rain, and then early this morning it started snowing and it hasn’t slowed down since! 

Being from Alabama, it’s still so weird to me to see this much snow!  I’m still not used to it.  Both kiddos are napping, Jordan is working hard from home, and I’m cleaning and blogging.  We have frozen brunswick stew defrosting to eat tonight and maybe a movie to watch.  We stayed up late last night to watch a movie because we knew it would be a snow day today!  I just love snow days when Jordan is at home with us, it’s my most favorite times!

Have a happy weekend.  I think we’ll be snug in our warm house throughout the weekend!

Verse O the Day:  (Oooh, this is a good one.  I have it on our fridge and I see it about a million times a day while making breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then getting juice out for John Michael!  I’m trying hard to memorize more scripture, but it’s hard work!)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

*Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments from my last post.  It’s food for thought.  Great suggestions!

Well, we are in for the duration!  We’ve got a mountain of groceries, picked up meds for both babies, took Matthew to the doctor for his cough, and got some more dog food for Jack!  We are just waiting on the freezing rain, sleet, and then snow to get here.  Old Man Winter, bring it on!  I keep wondering how bad it will be.

Exactly one year ago we had a pretty bad ice storm.  I took some really awesome pictures.  We had never been in ice that was that thick before!  Click here to check it out from last year!

Last week we had a huge pile of medicine, hand sanitizer, and tissues in our kitchen!

I decided to perk up our kitchen a bit and so I bought some beautiful purple tulips.  They are still around, although it’s probably time to throw them out!  It only took Jordan 3 whole days to notice we had a big bouquet of flowers in our kitchen and a few in a vase in the bedroom!

Unfortunately, Jordan taught John Michael how to play Wii and he just loooves it.  We let him play Wii baseball (or ah-ball as he calls it) and he is actually really good.  For 20 months old I think he does quite well at throwing the ball and he tries pretty hard to hit it.  Of course, we think he’s the smartest kid on the block!

It was cute until he decided that he would rather sit and play the Wii.  Talk about lazy!  I guess he figures what’s the point in standing?!  It’s kind of like the way he won’t sort shapes in his shape sorter bucket since he learned he can just open the top and put them in.  He’s no dummy!

Matthew just hung out in his swing while John Micahel played.

Swing it!

I hope our ice storm is not too bad.  As long as we don’t lose power we’ll be just fine!  I keep hoping our good friend down the road doesn’t go into labor.  I hope that baby stays put until next week.  I would be freaking out right now if I was due with all this ice and snow coming our way!  Have a happy rest of the week!

Verse O the Day:

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Philippians 2:13

I’ll be brutally honest with you, internets, I’ve been having a hard finding a little time for “me” here lately.  Matthew is a really good, easy baby so I don’t know why I’m complaining!  By the time we finally get him down at night it’s at least 8:45 or so.

So, you tend to some laundry, wipe down counters, try to fold or hang up laundry and all of a sudden it’s 10:00.  That means it’s bedtime for sure.  I’m trying to find that balance of spending QT with hubby but also having a little time to just sit and be with me and myself at the end of the day.  Jordan helps me SO much.  He does more laundry than any husband I know.  He’s always helping and even asks me what he can do to help me.  I am so fortunate and lucky to have such a great guy!  But, even with his help, there’s always stuff to do at night that takes so much time!

Tonight, I was totally selfish and I made my escape to Starbucks to do some blogging, journaling, and all around Me-ness!  After both kiddos were down for the count I said good-bye to hubby and headed out the door for just a bit.

I keep hoping that everything is going to click with being a new mom of two.  Matthew is easy and great, but it’s the time issues I’m having that is the problem.   Is it me, or will this be something that will come together over time?

Here’s the dream, or goal if you will:

Spend time with Jordan at night after both babies are in bed, have a clean kitchen with no dishes in the sink, keep up with the laundry, have a little time to do something for me, and most importantly find some time to spend on a quiet time with God, which is so important, but it’s slipping big-time. 

These little guys are so worth all the days of having no make-up on or Jordan coming home to a messy house with books and toys on the floor!

I keep telling myself (& it’s so important to remember) blink and you’ll miss it.  I already blinked and JM is almost 2.  Times flies and before long our kids will be teenagers and not want to be around us at all so we have to make the most of all the time that we do have!

Now, don’t even get me started on finding time for the gym.  That’s another blog post.

What have we been up to?  Well, I finally cleared out our camera and I must say I have not done a great job of taking pictures this past week. 

JM has been sick for a week now but luckily my in-laws made a trip to see us and I could not be more grateful.  Between a super whiny, sick John Michael and then Matthew needing love and attention and feeding, we have run ourselves ragged this week!  Luckily we got JM to the doctor this afternoon and we started antibiotics tonight so I think he’ll be on the mend here in a day or so.  I sure hope so.

Until then we’ll be hanging around the house for another day or two to get completely well!

I had some random pictures from a few weeks ago since I don’t have anything interesting or too new to post!

During the snow that kept us inside for days on end JM helped me make brownies!

We played basketball with baby Matthew!

And Matthew smiled and hung out in his Santa pjs…these pictures are a few weeks old and yes, I let him wear Santa pjs after Christmas!

I attempted an art project with JM that turned into a disaster…it’s cool whip plus food coloring and he was supposed to “paint” with it.  He totally didn’t get it but he ate it!

We also let him paint for real and he did a good job!

We had a little bit warmer weather come our way so we made a mad dash to play outside!  YES!  Finally, warm weather!

Warm weather means red car time in the backyard!

Even Jack got to enjoy the weather.

Because JM had been in the house for so many days on end, we decided we needed to go somewhere where JM couldn’t get anyone else sick (like to the birthday party we had been invited to!) so we ran to the mall for a little bit and it was nice to just get out of the house for a bit.

He enjoyed watching the cotton candy machine but he refused to eat it or touch it.

Matthew hung out while we did a bit of shopping. By the way, we got fantastic deals at Children’s Place.  Half off of reduced prices is my kind of sale!

And JM made Dada proud by choosing the Jeep to ride in at the mall!

Thank you, Lord, for Tylenol I thought to myself as I rocked John Michael for the fourth time that night.  His fever was still pretty high for him to have had Motrin and Tylenol.  It was this very basic, common drug that was helping him and saving his life by bringing his temperature down to a reasonable level.

As we rocked in our warm house, in our comfy chair, and he in his little boy footed pajamas it made my heart heart for Haiti.  Not just in a normal, I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-watching-on-TV hurt but now it was a Mama’s heart and it hit me in my heart.

I just kept thinking and thinking about how there’s got to be dozens of Haitian mothers right this very moment who would give their right arm for a dose of Tylenol for the babies…to bring their fever down or to heal them from a wound they received in the rubble.

Sitting there rocking it made even the smallest things seem absurd compared to what these poor, devastated people are going through.  Absurd that my faucet should sit and run as I brush my teeth while they have none.  Absurd as I open my pantry to see what we’re going to have for lunch, when they have none.  Absurd to worry about even small, little things when they literally have nothing.

I had not kept up with what was going on too much and we haven’t really even had Fox News on because we don’t have the TV on too much during the day and I just really didn’t want to watch the devastation over and over all day long.  When I finally sat down and clicked around online I have to admit I was truly shocked at the number of dead that I saw.  I naively thought the numbers would be in the thousands…not in the hundreds of thousands.

So, I’m left with being grateful every single day of our lives.  Grateful we live in the greatest country in the world, grateful to God for our health and for the fact that we have so much, and grateful for my family. 

I don’t know why bad things happen and I don’t know why people have to suffer.  I do know God is there and He is more mighty than any disaster.  It is a helpless feeling to have to just sit and watch and know all I can really do is pray and donate to organizations like The Red Cross or Compassion.

Until I have all the answers, I’m going to continue being grateful for the Tylenol that lines my linen closet and the clean water that flows from my sink.  It’s the little things in life that are beautiful, isn’t it?

Verse O’ the Day:

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philipians  4:6