Burning Lungs, a Birthday, and Fun Weekends

• Love those pictures of my boys. Ben sent me the second one while I was warming up Jack's nighttime bottle last night and they were getting fresh air on the porch. Love.
• We have an action packed weekend ahead of us--a birthday party for a friend's 3 year old boy, and a wedding celebration! Can't wait to show off my little boy and see some friends.
• We had an awesome weekend with Ben's family visiting. But oh my gosh are things crazy with a toddler and a baby! Jack definitely got 'toughened up' last weekend.
• I ran 3 times in the last two weeks! Okay so 3 times in 2 weeks...not all that impressive, and they were only for 10 minutes each, but it felt so good to feel that burn in my lungs again. Yes. I felt a burn after 10 minutes.
• Last but not least....HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE BROTHER MATTHEW! You're ridiculously smart, fun, kind, patient (you put up with a lot of weeeeiiird stuff living with all girls) and you do the BEST impersonations out of anyone I know! Especially impersonations of mom--(sorry mom!), but really, you can easily bring me, John, Karen, or Mel to tears in seconds from laughing so hard. You have such a bright future ahead of you. I'm proud to be your big sis. Love you!

Matt being patient while Karen and Mel act like zombies.

Hahahaha more zombie pics-they are going to kill me.

*Linking up with Darci, Natasha, Christina, & April again for 5 on Friday and Lauren for High Five for Friday!

Bedtime

"Wow-that boy is a fighter," Ben breathlessly confessed as he walked into the kitchen. I was getting dinner ready last night as Ben gave Jack his bedtime bottle and put him to sleep. As both boys were upstairs, I could hear Jack's grunts and whines through the baby monitor. That boy will fight off sleep with every ounce of energy he has until he is completely wiped out.

Within ten minutes of Ben being downstairs, we both heard Jack start to cry.

"Want me to try?" I asked Ben.

I went upstairs and walked into Jack's room. The room was dark, fan going, and the sound of waves crashing were coming from his sleep machine. As I bent and kissed his cheek, my sweet boy locked eyes with mine and smiled. I gave him his pacifier and brushed his hair back a few times.

He smiled wide, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

And my heart just about melted right out of my chest.

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Cloth Diapers

Happy Wednesday ya'll!

Blogging over at Nerd and Healthnut today on my experience with cloth diapers so far.
Go check it out and let me know if you have any other questions about them!

What I Like About This Town

Walking 10 minutes to meet friends for coffee.
Looking out at the water while catching up on life.
Watching their girls chase a ball in the grass.
Taking pictures of my boy as he fights to stay asleep.
Browsing the cutest shops on my way back.

These are some of my favorite things.

Weirdest Search Keyword

You know how sometimes you really reeeallly want to share something hilarious and you don't know how to preface it so you just blurt it out and everyone looks at you strange?!

Well...

little boy pee pee in my brother's mouth

I couldn't even make that up if I tried. Someone seriously googled that phrase and made it to my blog-my blogger stats traffic sources said so!! And so I think I get the award for blogger who writes about the weirdest things ever. Actually, Ben gets that award because it must have been his post that brought that person here.

Dear concerned brother,

We need to be best friends. Like stat. I google some of the weirdest nonsense and you just made me feel like I'm not alone. So please, if you are reading this, email me and let's both finally take a deep breath and exhale because we just might be two peas in a pod. BF4L.

Sincerely,

Another weirdo

Hi my name is Nicole and I am really nice. And I love cats!

What Do You Do When Your Baby Won't Wake Up?

Take pictures of him and blog about it. Duh.

I talked about in this post how we have been dealing with the 30 minute intruder. Jack sometimes makes up for his short naps during the day with 1 long nap. During the first hour of this long nap I am very productive and grateful to get things done. The second hour I start to get lazy and catch up on blogs, facebook, etc. By the third hour, I start talking on the phone really loud, putting clothes away in his room, accidentally slamming the door, etc.

At two hours and 50 minutes into his long nap today he started to stir and I thought this is it, I can finally play with my boy, so I ran upstairs, threw open his door along with the blinds, and yelled, "Baby Jack! I've been waiting for you to wake up for SO long!!!" (Yes-I call him 'baby Jack' 90% of the time.)

He grunted a few times, shot his legs in the air, and then they slowly lowered back down to the crib while his head fell to the side and he passed back out.

Come on!!!

5 quick things

Siblings. Aww, remember when Jack was still in my belly?!

5 things I'm happy about on this beautiful fall Friday:

• Ben is home! Whether it's a night's duty or a 6 month deployment, separation is for the birds. Jack and I missed Ben last night while he was on duty and are happy to have him back home.
• We have family visiting this weekend and they haven't met Jack yet. It's so fun seeing the people we love meet the boy we adore.
• My little brother and sister are going to homecoming this weekend! And my brother has a date!! It's his senior year and his first school dance-pretty big deal! Matthew-I know you are going to be a gentleman and make your sisters proud. Melanie-make sure those two are dancing an arm's width apart. And knock 'em dead in those new heals! But seriously, no twerking. Don't even think about it.
• Jack and I conquered the grocery store this week. I had been avoiding it ever since Ben went back to work. So many things to fear during that first grocery store trip. Will the car seat fit in the grocery cart? What if the kid starts screaming while I'm in the check-out line? Where do I put the groceries if the car seat is in the cart? Turns out Jack is a great shopper-he slept the whole time! 
• It's Friday and the temperatures are finally dropping here in the south. Hope ya'll have a fabulous weekend!

*Linking up with Darci, Natasha, Christina, & April!

Jumping Jack

He started smiling!!! This is the first one I've caught on film-but he has done quite a few big, open mouth smiles!

Ben and I have our own 'games' we play with Jack. Ben's games are his own and so are mine. For example, Jack and I sing this song (kind of more like a chant), "Baby Jack, Baby Jack, you don't wanna nap!" when he is starting to get fussy right before nap time. It's my 'let's try to extend play time' song. I swing his legs around when I sing it and make goofy faces at him. Anyways, he loves it. And it's our thing. Ben doesn't sing that song. Only I do. Get it?

So Ben has this game he plays with Jack called 'Jumping Jack!' where he sits Jack on his stomach and every time Jack pushes off with his legs Ben makes him fly into the air while saying "Jumping Jack!!!" It's really cute. Jack tries so hard to show his dad how strong he is- his arms start shaking, he gets this real serious look on his face, purses his lips and makes fists with his hands. It's adorable.

Well Ben had duty last night. And Jack begged for momma to play Jumping Jack with him.
How could I say no to those eyes!?

11 hours

That is the face of a boy who just woke up after sleeping for 11 hours. Eleven!!!
So let me ask you this-why have I been up since 4:45?! It's madness!!
I know that sleep is good for development and whatever, but I think I'm going to start waking him up a few times during the night so he doesn't grow too much. And so I don't miss him so much.

Maybe I'm a Little Selfish...

Happy Monday! I know most people dread Mondays, but to be honest, I get kinda giddy when I wake up Monday morning and realize I get to play with Jack all day and I don't have to share him. With anyone.
Selfish much??

Don't get me wrong, I love all of the extra time Jack gets to spend with Ben and that we get as a family on the weekends, along with the breaks I get here and there to go to the grocery store, shower without worrying that Jack is crying, etc. But then Monday morning comes, and he's ALL MINE!!!!!!

Anyways.

Here is what our weekend looked like.

I could really just stare at him allll day.

LOVE the weekends when Ben gets Jack in the morning and brings him in bed for snuggles....although Jack is usually STARVING so this doesn't last long.

Jack's second church service and he did SO great!

How was yours?

P.S. Be sure to check out Gratefully Inspired for my first ever guest post--it's on my pregnancy must have's!

*Linking up with Sami for weekend shenanigans! 

My View

There's this field surrounded by the most beautiful trees and homes just a few blocks from our house that we love to walk to. Jack and I have fun cheering Ben on and giving him high fives as he runs past us.



 



 

I spy a cute Marine...

 

The only thing on my to-do list for the weekend is to enjoy this view.
Happy Friday!

Pray

Jack woke up with a hungry belly at 3:00 this morning. As I sat with him in the recliner and listened to all of the night noises that came from our dark house and the crickets outside the window, I looked at his sweet face and couldn't help but think about the thousands of families that went to sleep 12 years ago not realizing it was their last night with their loved ones. Did they kiss them goodnight? Did they tell them they loved them?
You better believe I held Jack extra tight before I put him back to sleep and snuggled up extra close to Ben when I went back to bed.

I hope everyone who reads this will say a prayer for the families and friends who lost a loved one that day.
I pray they look to Jesus for peace and rest.


Matthew 11:28-30  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

1 Month: Lessons Learned

*8lbs 9oz (as of Aug 28)/ so close to smiling (smiles in his sleep or while feeding, but hasn't held eye contact and smiled simultaneously yet)/ so close to coo-ing (I keep telling myself that)/ loves being outside*

• Prioritize naptime duties: No nap is guaranteed, so make sure to do what is most important on your to-do list during the first nap, i.e. shower if it's been a few days and you have an appointment later on...learned this one the hard way
• Expectations are not a good thing: Just because the cute little man took 2 hour naps yesterday, if you expect him to do the same today you are going to be very confused/frustrated when he decides to only take 30 minute naps
• Good burps don't mean a thing:Don't let that burp-that-was-almost-louder-than-your-husband's-burps trick you, there's still a good chance his entire breakfast will end up on your shirt, down your shirt, on your back, or on your comforter
• The 45 minute intruder is NO joke:If you don't know what it is, lucky you and google it...if this nasty foe wouldn't leave your little one alone during daytime naps, did you have any successes dealing with it?
• What worked today may not/probably won't work tomorrow:It's ok! Move on and try something else
• As soon as you start getting cocky/confident, he will pull the rug right out from underneath you: Don't even go there, just don't
• Having a supportive husband who gives you foot rubs during the middle-of-the-night feed on the weekend is truly something to be thankful for (now that I blogged about it does that mean it can become a regular occurrence Ben??)
• Think you've had a hard day? Go ahead, look into those eyes and tell me if it doesn't turn into the best day you've ever had...works every time

Top 7

Happy Friday!

We received Jack's pictures from the photographer and she did an AMAZING job! I had to use every ounce of my willpower to fight the urge to share all 60 of the pictures-so here are my favorites.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We are going to attempt bringing the cute boy to church for the first time and I'm kind of nervous--wish us luck!

 

 

Time To Clean!

I have wanted to make an all-purpose cleaner for a really long time. I think Ben also really wanted me to make one because he was the only one who cleaned the bathrooms during my first and second trimester. To be honest, I procrastinated doing so because there is just something about the toxic smell and blue color that comes from most bathroom cleaners that just shouts clean. I had come across a lot of other DIY cleaners that just didn't make me feel comfortable leaving my foaming gives-me-a-headache-every-time-I-use-it cleaner.
But then I found this one. And the ingredients seemed like a pretty clean combination. So I tried it out, and guess what?! It even had a strong, clean smell to it!!
I use this cleaner on the counters, sink, showers, toilets, and I love it! It leaves everything sparkling white and is even great on the grime on your shower tiles...just spray it on and let it sit for a few hours.

All Purpose Household Cleaner
found here

1 1/2 cups rubbing alcohol
1 1/2 cups hydrogen peroxide
2 tbsp liquid castile soap
3/4 tsp peppermint essential oil (adds extra antibacterial action!)

1. Mix everything together and shake well for each use!

All of these ingredients can be bought on Amazon or you should be able to find the liquid castile soap and essential oil at your local health foods store.

Long Weekend Fun

 

 

This sweet boy had such a fun weekend visiting with his Nana and Grandpa D--Ben's parents. We went for walks, played on his activity mat, read books, gave Jack another bath, and visited a few restaurants! It was the perfect way to spend our long weekend.

I really thought this would be the weekend we would get a smile out of the boy, but he held out!