What's Up Wednesday!

I'm trying to get back in the groove of blogging so I'm linking up with Shay, Mel, and Schaeffer for What's Up Wednesday!!

1) What we're eating this week...

We are eating slow cooker chicken tortilla soup, spaghetti in the crockpot, sausage and butternut squash pasta, spinach and swiss meatballs, and chicken enchilada skillet. Bonus these all can be made gluten and dairy free for those that need those diet changes =).

2) What I'm reminiscing about...

Next month (March 9 to be exact) will be our 10 year dating anniversary! Our first date was on that day and then a year and a half later we were married! Crazy how time flies!

We were babies! 

3) What I'm loving....

As much as I am a winter girl and LOVE snow and sweaters, I have enjoyed this beautiful weather we have been having this month. We have found ourselves outside on the swings or going on outdoor outings frequently.

4) What we've been up to...

Besides outdoor play time, we have been doing a little bit of school time with E. I haven't done a lot because I'm letting her be little but we do some stuff and we read a lot!!!

Graphing and counting conversation hearts last week..

5) What I'm dreading...

Nothing specific!

6) What I'm working on..

J's first birthday is a little over 3 months away. I'm trying to narrow down a theme and can't decide between Dr. Seuss or Curious George. Anyone want to weigh in on this?

7) What I'm excited about...

My mom is coming to visit for a week!! I'm so excited! Lots of time with my mom and then maybe I can sneak away to organize the kids closets for the spring while she plays with the kiddos. It's the little things..

8) What I'm watching/reading...

I'm reading Big Little Lies for a book club I am in and then I am also reading Fervent that was recommended to me. So far I like them both...

9) What I'm listening to...

Has anyone ever heard of Seeds of Worship?? A friend of mine talked about them last fall and I decided to get a couple of them for stocking stuffers for the kids. These are phenomenal!! It is scripture set to music, and I can't say enough about it. Our favorite that we have on repeat in the car is the Character of God CD.  I will catch E singing the songs and she belts them out in the car. Get these for your kids, your friends, yourself! They are great!

10) What I'm wearing...

I ordered this necklace off Jane. com a couple of weeks ago, and it finally came last week. It is a teething necklace that babies can safely chew. It has been amazing, and J has chewed on it a lot. I'm even thinking about getting another one.

11) What I'm doing this weekend...

I plan on watching Fuller House and then not much else is going on!

12) What I'm looking forward to next month...

Birthday celebrations and Easter. We can't wait!


13) What else is new....

I think I've covered it all.

14) What is your favorite Easter tradition? 

The past 3 years I have done the Resurrection Eggs and done a Resurrection Garden with E and I can't wait to do it with J this year. The Resurrection Eggs we bought at Hobby Lobby, and we did one each day leading up to Easter. Our Resurrection Garden we made on Good Friday and put Jesus on the cross (wooden figure I have)  and then buried him in a tomb that night and then on Sunday morning we go to get him out and discover he is not there for He is risen!!!





Last year opening the tomb and discovering it was empty!!



Opening up the last egg which is empty representing the empty tomb!

Happy Wednesday friends!!

Valentine's Day

Ever since having kids, we have celebrated Valentine's Day as a family. I want my kids to know that it doesn't have to be about romantic love, but about celebrating the people in your life that you love. Most importantly, I want them to know that we love because He first loved us. So all that to say, I try to make Valentine's Day a big deal for us.

Before I get to the actual day though I just have to talk about the cuteness of these pictures. Our HOA has a Daddy/daughter dance every year and Jason took E this year. It was the weekend before Valentine's Day, and she was beyond excited!!

A girl and her daddy

Ok back to the day - I decorated the dining table the night before! 

The kids get little small presents at the beginning of the day. E was pretty excited about she got. She got a Paw Patrol book and then a basketball net and balls for the bath tub.

J got some pajamas and a cute little dinosaur book. 

I made some red velvet donuts (gluten and dairy free I might add), and they were delicious! We also had eggs and sausage too.

We then headed to church and did our normal lunch and nap/rest time routine. We then spent the afternoon playing outside and getting a few pictures. 

We had a really yummy dinner and a great dessert but I forgot to take a pictures. (Fail) It was a fun day. I can't wait for next year!!

Life lately

 I can't believe it's already 2016!!!! Nothing major has been going around our house, but here is our life lately. 

When I took J's 7 month pictures, E wanted to get her picture done too. My precious little princess. 

My silly littles. J really likes the rubber handle of E's cup and E wanted to take a drink. 

This is my view when we go shopping. Now that J is sitting up in the cart, E wants to ride in the back. =)

E bought a soccer ball with some of her Christmas money and is very excited about it. She has been telling me that she wants to play soccer in the spring for several months now.

We baked cookies the other day. These were gluten and dairy free and very delicious!

E was patiently for the cookies to be done. Ha!

We have an official crawler now!!! Agh!! I caught him mid exploring =)

I absolutely love this picture. While E is in her dance class, all the siblings of the other girls want to come over and check out J. They love him. One even said that they wish he was their brother. He is already popular with the ladies.

7 months!

I seem to be putting these out about 2 weeks afterwards - at least its consistent.

Dear J,
You are 7 months old now! You are closer to one! I can't even begin to tell you how sad this makes me but it's been so fun to see you grow this month.

Oh J - you are a high maintenance sleeper -haha! You need human contact to sleep. One of us holds you on the couch all night long and we usually take shifts. We try to put you in your bed and you wake up within 30 minutes. We are going to try to break you of this habit but for now we know it is just a season. You still wake up between 6:30 and 7 in the morning most days. Naps are still the same,  but your last nap is very rarely happening now even though you still need it. You fight it with every breath in you =) You still eat every 3 hours during the day and then eat 1-2 times at night. You haven't had solid foods yet. We will probably try them next month.

You are a very happy baby! You have started to get upset if I am not within a 5 foot radius of you or leave the room. It's so sad so you've been spending more time in the boba with me if E can't distract you. You still LOVE your sister. You will stop fussing when she talks or sings to you. It's so sweet. You are great sitter. You will sit for a very long time and play with your toys. You can reach for toys way out of your base of support and then push yourself back up into sitting. You can even get yourself back into sitting from hand and knees and are starting to be able to do it from your back. You are SO CLOSE to crawling on your hands and knees. You get up on your hands and knees and will rock back and forth and move your hands forward and then either do like a frog hop or get on your belly and drag yourself forward with your hands. It's pretty cute. You play well with your hands and everything goes in your mouth. You still love your lion blankie/lovie. Other favorite toys: triangular manipulative toy, ball with a rattle in it, chew toys, and any toys that play music. You love Lucye the dog. You watch her as she walks around and you are really interested in her. You reach and touch her when she gets close. You love it when I sing Jesus Loves Me to you and you like Patty Cake too. You have said "Mama" a lot this month but I don't know if it's purposeful or more so just practicing your sounds. I pretend that it's real for my mama heart.

You got your Doc Band off on December 23rd!! We thought we were going to have to have a 2nd band, but they took pictures and measurements and said that you looked great and no second band was needed! We were so excited! You celebrated your first Christmas this month. You enjoyed eating the wrapping paper than the actual presents. Ha! You met Santa for the first time, went to Ice at the Gaylord and your first Christmas parade. You also got sick for the first time. As in, throw up and diarrhea sick. It went through me and your sister first and I was hoping it would bypass you but it didn't. After about 2 days, you were feeling better.

You wear 6 month and 6-9 month clothes mainly but there are some 9 month clothes you can wear too. You are 27 inches tall and 17 pounds 11 ounces (both in 37% percentile)

We love you sweet boy!!

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy 

E is 3

*She turned 3 in August, I just finally was able to finish it now - fail*

Oh my sweet E,
You are 3 years old. I can't even fathom this. I feel like I had you yesterday and now you are this tiny little person with this big personality with your own opinions. I am so thankful I get to be your mother and watch you grow.

This year has been a big year for you. You have changed so much physically, emotionally, and intellectually. You talk and can express yourself so well. People are amazed at how well you speak for your age. You are really funny and say some of the funniest things. I wish I could remember half the stuff you say ( I will do better this next year) but you make us laugh constantly. One of my favorites was when we were coming home from church one wee, and we asked you what you learned in church that morning. You said "God wants to talk with us" and then we asked what Bible story you were told.  And you said "It was, It was....."Impossible! Impossible! For plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage!" Oh my goodness...we started cracking up! For what's its worth, the story was Jesus feeding the 5000 so in a way it was impossible, but God made it possible. Hehe.

You have so much energy. You wake up between 6 - 6:30 every day ready to start the day. You are definitely more of a morning person than me. You still take a nap for about 2 hours in the afternoon, and go to bed at 7 (but fall asleep after 8). You were potty trained in February. You had it down within about 5 days. Although you still don't want to poop in the potty (you prefer to do it in your diaper despite every bribe that I can think of), I know it will come in time. You also are going to sleep by yourself!! In May, we started checking on you about every 15 minutes instead of us lying in there with you until you fell asleep and you did so well with it!!!! We were so proud of you!

You became a big sister this year and what a WONDERFUL big sister you are! You are such a nurturer to your little brother. You love to hold him and take care of him. If he gets upset, you will run to him and check on him and sing him songs.  You are SO good with him. I love watching you with him, and I can't wait to see your relationship blossom. It is so precious. I pray that you will always love your brother and that you will always have a close relationship with him.

Some of your favorite things:
You love cars. You have a huge lunch box full of little hot wheel cars that you will carry around and play with.
You love stuffed animals. Love them. We have had to limit you to two stuffed animals in your bed each night otherwise you would pile them all in your bed and you would have no room to sleep. Some times you will change stuffed animals every night, and sometimes the same two will stick around for a week or 2.
You love baby dolls. You love to take care of them. So precious!
You had your first full year of dance and you loved it! You were so precious in your recital. You were so beautiful and so precious.
You love to play outside. We have a swing set, a sand box, and you have like to ride your scooter and tricycle.
You love to read. We read books a lot. We go to the library to pick out new books all the time. You can even "read" some of the books that we read on repeat =)
You love to color, draw, paint, and play with play doh.
Your favorite shows are Mickey Mouse and Doc McStuffins. You saw Cinderella for the first time and loved it. You love the Rodger and Hammerstein musical version too!
Your favorite foods would probably be chicken nuggets, potato soup, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, and your fake cheese. (You still have a dairy allergy so we find alternatives for it)

You are so smart sweet girl. You can count up to about 18 and then one to one for something up to 11. You know about 8-9 letters. Your vocabulary is through the roof. You pick up on things so quickly and can remember things that happened months plus remember things that I have said and repeat them back to me. You are so very strong willed and determined. Some days that means we butt heads but I know this will get you far in life. You are so very passionate, caring, and nurturing.

Most of all, my sweet E, I am so you glad are my daughter. I look forward to this next year to see how you will grow. My prayers for you are that you will know how deeply loved you are by your mom and dad but most importantly by your heavenly Father. I pray that He will lead your life and that you will take your passionate spirit to serve Him. I love you my sweet girl.

5 and 6 months!

It's a double up post again. Mom fail. Especially considering he turns 7 months tomorrow. (At least the pics are on time) *I've had this written for awhile but I just haven't had time to download the pics from my camera on to my computer* Guess what my new year resolution is this year?!

Dear J,
You are 5 months old! You are so much fun and such a joy! We love you so much!

You wake up around 6:45 and 7 each morning and still wake up twice a night to feed. Your nap schedule is still the same: 1-2 small naps in the morning, a long nap while E rests, and then sometimes a small nap before dinner. You only nap in the Boba (my carrier) during the day except during the long nap when you just lie on my chest. We have tried putting you in your bed and you will immediately wake up. You eat 2 1/2-3 hours during the day from mommy. Your reflux is getting better but you still like to be held a majority of the night. You will sleep maybe 1-2 hours in your bed in our room.

You love to laugh! You think E is still so funny,  and you love to laugh at the silly things she does, and she happily obliges! You also love to happy scream. It's how you talk right now and we all think it is so cute and funny. You are pushing way up on those arms in tummy time,  and you are rolling everywhere!! I can put you on a blanket in the middle of the living room, and you will be across the room before I know it. You are so very curious about the things around you and use your new rolling status to go exploring. You are holding things well in your hands, and shaking rattles or other toys. You will sit with support against back and will tolerate sitting in the bebo seat for about 5 minutes. You can sit with just your hands supporting you for a few seconds before you topple over.

You are tolerating your car seat a lot better and only have major scream out tantrums every so often. You still love your lion toy and love a little key plastic set that you chew on a lot. You visited your first pumpkin patch  and visited my alma mater this month.

Your biggest change this month was getting your Doc Band. I noticed that your head shape was off about a week after you were born, and at 2 months I took you to cranial technologies. They took pictures and recommended a Doc Band to help correct your head shape, but we had to wait until you turned 4 months.  You have had it on for about 2 weeks and you are starting to get used to it! I hope you don't have to wear it for long.

You wear 3-6 month with some 6 months thrown in there sometimes. You wear size 2 diapers or cloth diapers. No official weight or height this month but I bet you are around 16 pounds.

We love you sweet boy. You are such a blessing!


Love,
Mommy and Daddy


Dear J,

Happy HALF BIRTHDAY sweet boy!! I can't believe you have been here a half a year already. Time is flying.

You still wake up around the same time of 6:45-7. You still wake up two times a night to feed usually between 1-2 and then at 5. You  will nap maybe once in the morning for 30-45 minutes and then one long nap in the afternoon while E's napping and then sometimes a short nap around 4:30or 5 for about 30 minutes. You will only sleep in the boba or if I'm holding you during the day. You also sleep in your pack and play in our room for only about an 1-2 hours a night. The rest of the night me or your daddy holds you on the couch in the living room. Oh sweet boy - you just need contact with one of us to sleep. One day I hope that you will sleep in your bed a lot more but for now we get our sleep together. =) You are eating about every 3 hours during the day. You are starting to reach and grab things out of mommy's hands when I'm trying to drink or eat. You are probably ready for foods but it is taking me a little longer to be ready!

You are a charmer!  You will talk and smile at almost anybody. You are pretty go with the flow and have only gotten upset a couple of times when I hand you off to people that you don't know well. Stranger danger is starting to appear but it's not full blown just yet. You still think your sister is the funniest person ever! It is so precious and sweet to see you guys together. You are trying to get up on your hands and knees. You stick your head on the floor and then push your knees up and stick your bottom up in the air and then fling forward! You roll everywhere and are pretty mobile with just that. The day you turned 6 months (November 27) you decided that you could sit all by yourself without hand support and play and not fall over for several minutes. Before that day, you would sit for a few seconds and then be done because rolling was way more important.  You grab things and hold things well with your hands. You love to play patty cake with mommy while I do the motions. Your favorite toys are still your lion that you like to chew on, a chew toy with lots of rubber and wooden parts to it, and you like the Baby Einstein piano/activity toy.

You are tolerating your Doc Band well but you had to be out of it for two weeks because of a bug bite that turned into staph. You kind of think you are indestructible with that helmet on though and during your hour off time each day you always end up bumping your head on something and you get so upset because your helmet wasn't there to protect you! You had your first Halloween and your first Thanksgiving this month. We enjoyed celebrating them with you. We didn't dress you up for Halloween this year because I like you to pick out your own. I can't wait to see what you decide to pick out next year! You also are now sitting up in your high chair at the table with us. I think you like being able to see us all while we eat together. You will play with toys and talk to us while you are up there. I'm sure you will be eating food up there soon!

You wear 6 month clothing and size 2 diapers or cloth diapers. You were weighed in early November and were 16 pounds 5 ounces. I'm sure you have added to that by now.

We love you our little charmer!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy