Last week John Michael came down with the stomach bug.  I went into freak out mode.  I HATE the stomach bug and the last one we had was by far the worst I’ve ever had, so I was really nervous that we would all catch it.  So far, we’re all good.  He didn’t feel good for about two days.  All of this happened to fall right on our four year wedding anniversary!  We thought for sure there would be no way we would be going anywhere to celebrate because we figured JM would still be sick or we’d be sick with it too.  Luckily, by the end of the second day JM was much better!

Because Uncle Judd is still here visiting, he offered to watch the baby monitors for us so we could go out to eat.  We were so excited to break free for just 2 hours or so!  We thought we wouldn’t be able to go out to celebrate at all so we were thrilled to be able to go eat together.

Poor JM didn’t feel well at all!

My brother has a friend that just happened to move up here this week so I got Robin to make her some cookies to welcome them to our area.  How cute are they?!  I know she liked them and was so surprised to get cookies her first week in a new place.  It’s hard to move somewhere where you don’t know a soul.

Even though JM was still a bit sick I let him go out and play in the rain.  I asked him if he wanted to go out and watch the storm (no thunder or lightning in sight!) and he said “Papa!”  I’ll tell you why: While we were back home visiting there was a horrible storm that blew up.  Dad had been outside working in the yard and garden so he just stayed outside and sat on the back porch to watch it.  I don’t know if this is normal or not, but I do the same thing.  Bad weather coming?  Oh, let me go outside and see what’s happening with it!  I guess I get it from him.  Back to my story, so JM sat outside with dad and eventually got brave enough to creep out from under the porch and he played and played in the rain!  He had the best time.  I’m glad that even though he’s young, he’s starting to make connections and remember his grandparents!

He had a great time and it was nice to get out of the house for just a little bit!  It cooled everything down too!!

So, we did end up getting to go out after all.  We have been married for 4 years now!  We dated for nearly 7 and every year just gets better and better.  God has been so good to us and I can’t wait to see what He’s got up His sleeve for us in the years to come.  I’m so lucky to have found my guy, and such a great guy at that!

 I was flipping through our picture folder for July and I realized there were tons and tons of random pictures that I never got a chance to post.  We had a fun July so I thought I’d share a little of the leftover pictures that never made the blog cut!

 Our garden is starting to bear fruit, or veggies really!  We have had quite a few zucchini and only one squash and then the squash plant died.  We have had a few little tomoatoes and just 2 regular sized tomatoes.  It’s fun to eat from your own garden.  We’re hoping next year we can add to it and do even more!

 After many weeks without a haircut, JM finally got a good trim!  He looks so grown up whenever he gets a good haircut!

 Matthew was just a happy baby in his sailboat outfit!

Matthew has been loving the swings at the park.  He mainly likes to watch JM swing!  Notice how he’s turned sideways to watch him!

Here’s Jordan pushing JM high up in the air!

And yes, this is the dog in the baby bed with John Michael.  I did not put him in there!  Jack liked it and JM liked it too.  Jack eventually fell asleep!

I thought this was a real sweet picture of John Michael playing with his favorite Mickey racer car.  For some reason, Pete is his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character right now.  I’m not sure why.  Pete’s the bad guy!!

This picture just kills me because it shows how truly big Matthew is getting.  He’s pulling up on everything!

We’ve been to Jump Zone a few times during Toddler Time.  JM loves to go and he had a blast sliding down all the slides.

That’s about it for leftover July pictures.  We have had a really busy weekend and it shows because my house is a wreck!  It’s time to get a few things in order, clean a little and then I’m thinking a good Sunday nap is in order during naptime!  Hope you had a fun weekend too!

Verse O’ the Day:

Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

How did we get camel spit on our car?!

 

Well, yesterday we decided we were up for some adventure so we headed to the Wild Wilderness Animal Safari in Gentry!  We had a blast!  I had no idea how fun it was and how many amazing things they had there.  We totally ran out of time so I decided we’ll have to come back on a Saturday with Jordan and spend a good portion of the day there!

On the way there we passed a herd of buffalo on a farm!  Buffalo are so cool!  John Michaled checked them out and then continued reading his book.  Would anyone happen to know why some buffalo are golden/blond color.  It’s very odd.

Even though it was 84,000 degrees outside, we were in the shade for the most part and there was a nice breeze, so we weren’t really that hot.  Both boys were ready for some animal-watchin’ with their hats on! 

John Michael had to get an up-close look at a  little monkey!  We did NOT join the line to have a turn to go in and pet them.  No thank you.

Sweet Baby Matthew and the monkey!

John Michael and Matthew seriously looking at this crazy monkey!  Eeek eeek John Michael kept saying!

I don’t have the room for tons of pictures, but we saw turtles, roosters, rabbits, chickens, and then these baby tigers!  Roar!

Matthew says “Hello!”  He looked so cute in his hat!

I petted the baby lion.  It’s probably the only time in my life that I will pet one, so I took advantage.  We didn’t have enough time, but they also had pony and camel rides that day!  I was looking forward to riding the camel with JM, but it didn’t work out.

Now, to the good stuff!  For some reason, this baby lemur (yes, wearing a tiny diaper) was JM’s favorite thing!  He loooved it!  He could stayed there for an hour just looking at him.  We had  to eventually pull him away from him and he cried and cried!  He was pretty cute, but we had other animals to see in the drive-through safari….

The whole reason we went to the safari was because Uncle Judd is here for a visit.  It would have been hard attempting this on my own!  I love to have help.  Judd helped and held John Michael as we slowly drove through the safari!  Here they are getting ready to drive through!

John Michael seems a little unsure of the ostrich, and I don’t blame them.  They all came up to the car, throughout the park, and I very much dislike them.  They have red beady eyes and look like Satan.

They had zebras and even zebra babies!  I thought it was cool that there were little babies in most of the areas we drove through!

Hello Mr. Camel!  You’re in my way!

Up close and personal!

This mama had a little baby with her. We were right next to her in the car!  I’m calling her a yak, but Judd swears it’s a Scotland Highlands cattle or something like that. 

As we drove out we saw lots of little prairie dogs and the little holes they dig!  Good-bye Safari!

We were surprised at how long it took us to drive through.  I wasn’t expecting it to take too long, but it did!  We were hungry and everyone was ready for lunch so we stopped off at a super-cute local pizza place on the adorable Main Street in Gentry.  There were a lot of antique places and some old hardware stores on Main Street.  I definitely want to go back one Saturday and just walk around!

John Michael played with the car driving games while we waited on our cheese pizza.

Judd tended to Matthew while I let John Michael pretend to play the driving video game.  In true southern fashion we ordered a pitcher of sweet tea because it was cheaper than getting two glasses!  I really liked this pizza place and I recommend it if you’re heading out to the Safari.  It was good!

After we ate pizza we had to make just one more stop.  We couldn’t leave without going to the Little Debbie factory outlet.  Let me tell you, it was so cool just to look at a whole store dedicated to Little Debbie.  I can personally thank Little Debbie for over half of my pregnany weight with Matthew.  I craved fudge rounds with a mighty passion, oh my!

We hung out in the car while Judd ran in and then he sat in the car with the boys while I ran in!  We were gone a good bit of the day but we had such a good time!  It’s nice to make memories with family!

I found Matthew standing in his crib this morning when I came in to get him.  He was also standing up this afternoon after naptime! 

He was also just sitting so sweet playing with his crib toy when I went in to get him after his morning nap!

And, as usual, John Michael wanted to go “up up up” into “Da-de Dadthew” bed!  They love to roll around together after nap!  It’s so darn cute!

Matthew also looooves the sit-n-spin.  It is his favorite toy and he loves to pull up on it and hold onto it!

And yes, I realize my pictures have a slight haze on them and I blame that on a certain two year old who stole my camera and put his finger prints all over it!  Matthew is starting to pull up on just about anything.  I can’t believe he’s getting so big and starting to do big boy things!

That’s all for tonight!  Have a pleasant tomorrow!

Verse O’ the Day:

Do not fear, only believe.

Mark 5:36

Today is Jordan’s birthday!  Happy Birthday Jordan!  JM has been practicing saying “happy birthday!” all morning and then he says “cayke?!”  We already celebrated his birthday when we were in Alabama, so I’m not sure we’re going to do another big birthday cake!

Jordan, I hope you have a happy, wonderful birthday today!  I love you so much and I’m so glad that you were born so that we could spend our lives together and raise these two cuties:

Thank you for all the little and big things you do for us each day, like take out the Diaper Genie!!  You are seriously the best dad to both of our boys and they light up so much when they hear your voice when you walk in from work.

Thank you for being the best husband, father, and friend!  I love you!

Until I used my mom’s steamer on our recent trip back home, I had never really even used one or even cared!  After using her steamer on her floors for like, 10 seconds, I knew I HAD to have one!  I’m not a big-time cleaner and I generally don’t like to clean all the time, but having a steamer just makes life SO much easier, and I’m all for that!

And since Matthew started crawling while we were back home, I knew that once we got back home I was going to have to start researching to see which one I wanted.  After some research online I decided that the Shark Steam Pocket Mop was my dream steamer mop!  I am in LUUURVE!  And yes, I’m just doing this post because I want to!  It’s just my humble opinion!

My Shark comes with a few different mop heads and one that’s almost like shaggy terry cloth that I like to use on the hardwoods.  The best part about it is you don’t use any chemicals, it’s just water!  Afterwards, I just throw it in the washing machine and then hang it to dry until the next use.  It’s also cool because when one side starts getting too dirty (as it always does for me!) you just flip the whole mop over and use the other side of the mop instead of having to put a new pad on!  It’s also worked wonders on dried up baby foood/juice under Matthew’s high chair.  I just pump the handle a few times and glide over it and it gets it up great!

It’s so easy, you just fill it with water….

Put on your pad…..

Plug her in, the blue light comes on, and in about 30 seconds you’re ready to start “mopping!”  I don’t think I’ll ever have another mop with chemicals in my house ever again!

One of my favorite parts is the handle that is pretty easy on your hands.  You can hold it a multitude of ways!  The simple motion of you pushing the handle is what triggers to steam to come out!

It turns pretty nicely too, so that it fits in corners.  It has a triangle-shaped attachement that works great in bathrooms, too.

I wish I had a big-time blog so that I could give one of these babies away, but also, not that many people read my blog!  I have just loved having it, so there was no way I couldn’t do a post about it!

By the way, my mom has a Haan steamer and it worked great also!  It also has the pad that just velcroes on and then you throw it in the washer when you’re done.  Jordan’s mom also has a Shark steamer and she’s also really liked hers, too!  It’s a family affair!

 

This weekend we were invited to an Alabama Alumni BBQ through Jordan’s work.  The hosts’ have such a lovely home that is just beautiful.  It’s the perfect size for hosting a large get-together.  We’ve been here before for ballgames and John Michael rolled over for the first time at their house during a ball game in Fall of 2008!

Our children were the only kids there and they did pretty well!  They were dressed in their Alabama gear and ready to eat and play!  We ate Bar-B-Q and hot dogs and met different people from The University of Alabama.  Some of us knew some of the same people, as we had grown up in towns that were right next to each other!

 

Matthew was way too interested to eat because he was obsessed with watching their cat!  John Michael liked him too and he kept poking at the cat and trying to pet him.  JM kept saying “mrow!”  He followed that poor cat around for most of the night!

John Michael wanted to go in the pool, but he settled for playing with their water fountains instead!

He had a really good time playing with the water and it kept him occupied for part of the evening!

A lot of people wanted to play with and hold Matthew!  He made several new friends with his smiling, happy face!

I finally received my Mabel’s Labels in the mail!  I need to get around to labeling JM’s things since he’s going to be going to Mother’s Day Out this fall!  So far, I love them!

And Friday, I was extra brave and took the boys shoe shopping!  John Michael outgrew his summer sandals that we bought like 2 1/2 months ago, so we had to go get some more!  JM does not do well with getting his feet sized, so it was an adventure.  All was well when we left and got juice and crackers!  And yes, JM gave Matthew his cup!

That’s about all we did this weekend.  We hired a babysitter for only the 2nd time ever and Jordan and I had a night out Friday night.  We put the boys to bed and then went out for some dessert and coffee and then to Barnes and Noble.  It is just so hard to find time to get some quality time in with each other, especially when your family lives out of town!  We had a great time and it was so nice to reconnect and talk with each other!

We had a fun week of playgroup and making meals to take to new babies! I’ve condensed our week into a few pictures!  It’s totally random, but fun!

While John Michael was napping, I was letting Matthew play around in the den.  I was watching him from the kitchen while I was cooking.  I stepped away to the fridge for one minute and this is what I found…

 

My baby had pulled up onto the fireplace and he was playing with the little rocks INSIDE the fireplace!!!  I freaked out.  I couldn’t believe he had pulled up, first of all, and secondly I couldn’t believe he pulled up on the firplace!

Bad, bad Mommy mistake!  He even had a rock in his hand!

Matthew is so silly lately.  He’s into everything!  He loves to pull up and hang onto John Michael’s little chair in the den.  I’m not sure JM is happy about that!

JM decided he wanted to hop up into Matthew’s walker.  He got in and several different times this week!  I think he’s just a little big for it!

These two boys make me smile everyday!  They are way too sweet and way too cute.

This week I finally got John Michael to complete an art project!  He HATES art projects and it’s like torturing him to get him to do one.  He painted and colored just a little and then said “All done!”

I’ve been going through clothes and I found a huge pile of JM’s old clothes that I thought Matthew wouldn’t be wearing this summer, but I had no idea he would be so big!  He can wear John Michael’s clothes from last summer.

These two love to play around in JM’s crib after afternoon nap.  It’s like our daily ritual!

This was just the first of many wrestling matches these two will have over the years!

Also, this week, Matthew started doing his “football” arms whenever we say “Yay!”  It cracks us up to no end!

Matthew loves to explore and Jordan handled the boys just fine while I went to a recipe exchange party for a bit on Tuesday night.  The boys played outside and Jordan and JM tended to our garden.

Such a serious, sweet face!

It looks like he’s about to eat the lawnmower!

JM loves to be outside in the garden with his Dadin!

He is so proud to show off the tomato “balls”!  Our tomatoes had better hurry up and ripen because I can’t wait much longer to eat them!

And once again….

on his favorite chair!

Verse O’ the Day:

He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 112:7

Last week we went to the pool a few nights after dinner, just to make things easier on me.  I’m having a hard time going by myself.  Matthew is mobile now and I’m just nervous with both of them.  I’m hoping next summer will be better because they’ll be 1 1/2 and 3!  I think I’ll be able to manage them much better then!

It’s been so hot so it was nice to go in the evening and not have to put sunscreen and all that on!  We just jumped right in and had a great time!

Jordan got John Michael this suit and he wanted him to wear it so badly….the look on JM’s face says it all:

 

He was less than thrilled with this huge contraption.  Plus, it hardly fit over his head!  I’m not sure we’ll put him in it again!  Matthew was ready to swim as well!

Aunt Janna taught John Michael to kick, kick, kick!  He likes to kick to the side and hop out!

Jumping off the side is John Michael’s favorite activity!  Another reason why it’s a perk to go at night so that Jordan can help me with them!

Here’s Matthew looking kind of serious about swimming!

Splashing around!

Happy Dad and two happy boys!  I couldn’t be any luckier!

The two lights of my life!  Silly boys!

We had playgroup today and the boys are out like a light!  I have a huge shopping trip that I’m not looking forward to tonight, but it must be done!  We need food and John Michael needs his fruit! 

Verse O’ the Day:  This is kind of a neat verse.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.  It’s kind of hard to “just be still” with the way our lives are.  I guess sometimes that’s all God wants from us.

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Our favorite place seems to be our very own backyard!  We tend to go out at night when it’s not too hot! I HATE the heat.  Ugh!  Last week we played out back while dinner cooked and the boys had such a good time!  Sometimes I feel like all I do is post pictures of our little red car, but both boys just love it so!

John Michael helped me water our new hibiscus plants!  None of them have flowers yet, though!  And yes, our poor yard is up past John Michael’s ankles!  The grass has since been cut.  Hopefully Jordan wont’ kill me for posting a picture with our grass needing a good cut!

 

He also watered himself!

Water is too much fun!

Jack enjoyed the sun too!  We’re still waiting on our garden to produce some veggies.  It’s looking pretty good!

Surprisingly, John Michael didn’t freak out when Matthew got in his little red car.  They played together pretty well!

 

What a cutie!

John Michael has been such a big, big boy here lately!  Just precious!  Last summer we were having a harder time with behavioral issues.  This summer it’s much better.  You hear so much about the “terrible two’s” but starting around 14-15 mos was really hard on us with JM!

He looooves to help with just about anything we do, including watering our garden!

Tiny baby hands streeeetching, streeeetching to grab a blade of grass.

And this is just typical baby Matthew.  He is what we call a “face scruncher!”  We have no idea why he does it, but when he gets tickled about something his whole little face just scrunches up!

Hope you have a great day!  I’m having a little girl time tonight!  I’m going to a recipe exchange party and I know it’s going to be so fun!  I just love it when I get a chance to sit around with some of my favorite girls from church.  I’m so blessed!

Verse O’ The Day:

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

James 5:14-15