Simple Pleasures

Here are a few pics that I took of Johnathan before taking back my camera...as you can tell, they are a little fuzzy, but you can still enjoy seeing his sweet little face as he enjoys an "ice cream" cone. Also, Johnathan is turning into quite the little helper! See how good he is at washing the dishes?! ENJOY!

Pillow Talk

Okay people, I think that I may be a bit of a sewing/design genius...well maybe not, but last night I made three of the most beautiful pillows I have ever seen! Haha! I drew some sketches up a few days ago of what I wanted them to look like, and after I finished sewing them yesterday evening, I surpassed even my own expectations. And---get this---they only cost about $15 dollars...and that's only because I had to buy the pillow forms and a few pieces of trim. I re-purposed some old robin's egg blue curtain fabric, made use of some sewing supplies I already had on hand, and used some lovely white antique buttons that used to be my great-grandmother's. All of that, combined with the espresso colored lace and rick-rack that I bought, turned into something simply charming! (I would post pics, but my new camera [a Nikon] just wasn't cutting it and we returned it...so I'll be researching what kind of camera to get, and until then I will just leave you in anticipation!).

The first pillow I made is a 14x14 inch pillow. I cut out a silhouette of a cute little bird, sitting on a leafed branch out of dark brown felt and applied that to the front of my pillow fabric. Then after some hemming and such, I sewed all my fabric pieces together using the rick-rack as my trim around the edge of the pillow. This was a bit tricky, as I have never sewn any sort of piping or anything around a pillow...heck, this was my first time to even make a pillow! But, after snipping off the last lingering thread, I turned the pillow right side out, and I was filled with such satisfaction! It was just what I wanted, and more!

The second pillow (my favorite) is a 12"x16". I designed it to where the opening is in the front, two pieces of fabric overlap to create sort of what a button down shirt looks like. And then, I used 4 vintage buttons, along with the brown rick-rack to "close" or button up the pillow. I sewed a single piece of espresso-colored lace down the front opposite the buttons, covering up the ends of the "hooks" made out of rick-rack to wrap around the buttons and keep the pillow closed. The total effect is really beautiful, and it looks very vintage. I like this one because of the added fact that the buttons used to be my great-grandma, Grace's!

The third pillow is much like the second, but without the buttons and with a piece of rick-rack also sewn alongside the lace. It is simple, yet stunning and it compliments the whole set quite beautifully. I can't wait for my new bedding to come in so that I can display my pillows properly! Our new bedding is a lovely white matelasse with matching pillow shams. I am going to buy (or make) two medium sized espresso brown pillows to put in front of the white shams, and then I'll place my 3 (gorgeous!) robin's egg blue pillows in front. The whole package should be as pretty as a picture!

I really can't wait to show you guys pictures of what I've been creating. I've also made a few other things for around the house, but will talk about those things later...I need to make the most of Johnathan's nap time right now, and go do some stuff around here! I'll be back though, don't you worry! ;)

Just because you have something...

Last night I had a lot of time to myself. Johnathan went down early, and Aaron was up at work until almost 11pm delivering a baby of one of his patients...(side note: Aaron performed his first unassisted C-Section! I'm talking he was the surgeon! How cool is that!!! Can you believe that he is able to do that?!!! It's so cool that he is able to do surgeries, and a major one at that! Mom and baby are doing great, and Aaron is the #1 doctor in the world...or at least in my heart!)...anyways, back to my night.

Since I had some time alone, I continued my decorating quest, and I also had time to reflect on what's in my house. First of all, I was thinking that just because you have something doesn't mean you have to have it out. Certain areas of my house were looking a little too cluttered for me, and I realized that I can put things away, out of eyesight, and be okay with that. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I realized that just because you have something doesn't mean you have to keep it! Therefore, I have an ever-growing garage sale/give-away pile in my sun room. I have been gathering up stuff for months that could be used better by someone else, and I really need to have a sale sometime soon...of course that presents a problem when I have a little toddler running about. Plus, Aaron already said that I need to do the sale on a weekend that he's working...he doesn't like garage sales! ;)

Anywho, just a few thoughts I've had while cleaning/decorating/de-cluttering!

"Grammy Style"

Several months ago, when Johnathan was a wee baby, he got a pretty bad diaper rash while we were up visiting my folks. I remember changing one of his wet diapers, after my mom had changed him previously, and upon opening up the diaper I was shocked (in a good way) at how much of the diaper rash cream was still on his little bum. I guess I started to laugh or something, because my mom came over and said something like "I'm not going to let him have a rash on my watch!" She had put so much desitin on him it looked like his bottom was iced like a cake! Well, it worked, and the rash went away quick!

Anyways, Johnathan has another nappy rash, and every time I change his diaper I think of my mom, and I slather on the ointment "Grammy-Style!" The other day when I told Aaron that I thought that Johnathan's rash was getting better, he even said "the other night when I changed him, I put on the cream Grammy-Style!" So, Grammy, thanks for warming our thoughts with something as simple as putting on diaper rash cream! You're the BEST!!! We love you!

Decorating Do-Over Continued

Since my last post I have been brainstorming on ways to re-create my home to fit what I can now confidently say is my own style. And, in doing so, I have discovered a few things that I already had laying around my house that were just shouting to be used...and now that my ears have been opened to their cries, I have been able to display them properly. Poor things, they were hidden in my hope chest, but now they can grace my home with their loveliness!

My latest "creation" is the center piece for my dining room table. The table itself is fantastic. Our neighbors gave it to us since it was just sitting, unused, under a bed in their home. It is a beautiful dark-stained wood, solid as they come, with lovely carvings on the legs and has a sculpted top. Anyways, I did have a few things on the surface of the table to break up the expanse of shiny wood, but wasn't really happy with what the total package looked like. So, yesterday afternoon, after a brainstorming session, I came up with an idea that is still in the works, but what I have created so far is already making me smile! I was able to use some decorative jars that I had in the garage, some vintage recipes cards from my hope chest, some wine bottle corks, some tea light candles and a package of coffee beans. It might sound like an interesting combo, but I promise it works! I'll try to post pics when it's completed.

It's amazing what you can find around your house that can be totally transformed into something different than its original use. Or, perhaps there are things that you forgot even existed that can be used for their original purpose, and you just need a little reminder to use them. That's what I have been discovering the last couple of days. I went through my hope chest and found several "gems" that I am totally excited to use. The first thing is a set of antique/vintage recipe cards from my great-grandmother, Grace. They are now part of the ensemble that "grace" my dining room table, displayed in a glass jar. I found several recipes in her own hand writing, and one of the recipes that you can read through the jar is dated 11/02/1959...pretty cool!

I also found a set of vintage pillow cases that came from my great-grandma Norwood's home. They are simply lovely, with little birdies and flowers stitched on their edges. I totally forgot that I had these, and I can't wait to use them on our new bedding...which is another story...

...I am in love with JC Penney's online Outlet! I found some beautiful bedding...a quilt and 2 shams that totaled less than $60...with free shipping!!! Pretty amazing. They should be getting here later this week, and I have already designed some pillows that will be made out of some curtains that are going to be re-purposed for a new use! Also, I am in the works making a wall hanging to go over our bed that will be made out of an old cabinet door...it might sound a little weird, but the design I have in my head is fool-proof! I can't wait to see it all put together. So far this past weekend has been a decorating success, and I only spent a little over 58 bucks and have gotten way more than that in return. I'm totally stoked!

My Style

For several years now I have been trying to define my decorating style. My trouble is that I have always liked way too many different things that don't necessarily fit into the "same" category. I used to love the New England/Americana theme...red, white and blue, lighthouses and such. That has been out the window for several years now, but I haven't really had the time/money to re-do my house...plus, I was still struggling with what exactly I wanted my home to look like. Well, in the last few weeks I have finally found my style...and it was a style that I was sort of leaning toward all along - I call it Country Cottage, and I am in love with it now! It's not country in the sense of chickens and pigs on dish towel with a cheesy saying, and it definitely doesn't include what you might think of as "traditional" country colors...navys, reds, golds and yellows. Nope, that's NOT my style. Country Cottage, as I define it, is a unique collection of antiques and new items that are soft on the eyes, and that make you feel like you're surrounded with peace and tranquility. Things that define your life, and things that make you feel at home. My new color palette for my home consists (or will consist) of classic whites and creams, my new favorite color-muted turquoise-, robin's egg blue, greens and browns to add a bit of masculine touch...I can't have Aaron living in a doll house! I love having a soft color palette with a few pops of color such as a bright coral or red...just the right amount of contrast to keep everything from becoming too mundane.

Currently I have "re-made" my dining room since it didn't need too much work. I didn't really add much, but the few touches that I was able to make have made me very happy. I have been working on the kitchen, and it is currently my favorite room in the house, but it still needs a little work to get to where I can call it finished. My next quest is our bedroom. I really want to brighten it up, and so I pretty much have to start from scratch...new linens on the bed, and a few new accessories to tie my style together. I am getting really excited about decorating my home in a way that reflects me, and making it a place where others feel welcomed and like they belong. Some of the biggest challenges are 1) money...obviously I can't spend a fortune (actually I can't spend much at all!), so I have to be very wise with my choices and try to make things myself as I go. 2) We rent our home, so I can't really make any cosmetic changes to the actual house, I can just add to what is already here. 3) Baby-friendliness! There is a lot that I would love to do but just can't because, well, we have a toddler who loves to get into everything! So I have to consider that when making my changes.

Anyways, I just thought I would share my discovery! I am always striving toward making a home that Aaron loves to come back to, and a place that encourages and uplifts Johnathan to be the boy and man that he will become some day. Of course, how my home is decorated does not largely play a roll in those things, but if I can make my heart as "homey" as my house, then maybe I will be in a place that allows me to overflow into others' lives. I sure hope so!

Uh, Oh! He's Saying...

..."No, no!" Yep, that dreadful word is finally coming out of my little baby's mouth. And no wonder when he hears..."No, no Johnathan, don't climb on the table...No, no Monkey, you can't play with the outlets...No, no Honey, don't stick food in your ears." And the list of "no's" could go on, and on! I was trying to not say no with him, and I was attempting to get the message across other ways...but "please, do not do that" just wasn't cutting it, and "no" was the only thing that came to mind otherwise. So, he's not even a year and a half, and he's already saying no back to me! What ever am I going to do?!

You may have noticed a lack of substantial information over the last couple of weeks...I think my last post was on my birthday, and that was a little over a week ago. Well, we have been busy here...just not the good kind of busy. About 2 weeks ago Aaron landed in the hospital with a rather stubborn kidney stone that decided it wanted to put up quite a fight before being forced out! Aaron was pretty sick, and I felt sort of sick too...but only because my over-dramatized imagination had convinced me he was dying! After several, (several!), talks with one of Aaron's doctor friends, I was reassured that he was going to be okay, but I wasn't fully convinced until Aaron's lab work came back showing that he was indeed getting better. Phew! Also, just as Aaron started to recoup, Johnathan came down with a double ear infection and a throat infection! Poor thing! He still has a nasty cough, but his little ears seem to be on the mend. Thank goodness for modern meds that really kick those infections where it counts! :)

Also in the past couple of weeks we've had some more company! Grant was able to join us down here in CC for about 3 days, and was here for my birthday...3 years in a row he has trekked down here to celebrate with me! Aaron's mom and aunt also spent a couple days with us, and spent some time out in our yard "taming" the growth that has been allowed to take over pretty much everything since (and before) we moved in. It looks so much better now, and we're very appreciative of their efforts!

In other news, I did receive a camera for my birthday, so be looking soon for some new updated pictures. I know that it has been too long since you last saw our beautiful little boy! He has sure grown in the last month, and is becoming quite a feisty little guy...just like his mama! Haha! Love you all!

Ain't it Great, I'm 28!!!

Today marks my 28th Birthday, and with the passing of another year I have been reflecting on all that I have to be thankful for...a precious family who loves me, a wonderful husband who adores me, and a sweet baby boy who calls me mama! Lots to be grateful for, that's for sure! So happy birthday to me! Thank you Jesus for watching over me these past 28 years, and for loving me enough to give me the chance to live (with YOU!) for eternity!

Cleaning & Candles

I like to clean...let me rephrase that, I love to clean. Yeah, I'm a weirdo, but I find amazing satisfaction in maintaining and having a clean home! I guess that's a good thing since I'm a homemaker - it would sort of stink if I hated my job! I love it though, and I have a little ritual that I perform when a room is clean. I love yummy scents...and I adore candles...especially the TYLER Candle Co. candles, they are the best! So, whenever I finished cleaning a particular room, I light a candle in it. I guess it is sort of my reward for a job well done. Occasionally I will light a candle in a "dirty" room, but then I feel like I'm cheating, so I get motivated to tidy it up and then enjoy the wonderful scents that fill the clean room.

Anyways, it may be a little odd, but that's what I do! Oh, and I love coordinating the scents with the room...for example, I enjoy fresh fruity or citrusy scents in the kitchen, but prefer warmer more mellow scents in the living room. The bathroom usually has a more floral/citrus scented candle, and the bedrooms almost always have a more perfumey smelling candle lit in them. I have also taken to creating some of my own scents using essential oils and aromatherapy. Most of the blends that I have come up with contain two or more of the following oils...Bergamot (love it!), Peppermint (so nice and fresh!), Clove (mmm, yummy!), Orange, Lime, Tangerine, Lemon (citrus heaven), Rose Absolute (okay, can we say delicious?!), Lavender (lovely!) and Cinnamon (delish!). It has been a lot of fun to play around with different oils and to see what happens when they blend together. My favorite mix so far has been a bergamot/rose absolute/orange blend. It smells quite heavenly, and fills the room very quickly with its aroma! Yum!

So now you know a little quirk of mine. Feel free to share some of your own! :)

Welcome to the World...

...precious Levi Samuel Sutphin!!! Yes, Gwen and Matt have another healthy, beautiful baby boy. He arrived earlier today, and I hear that he's just the cutest thing, and that he resembles his big brother, Miles! I couldn't be prouder, and I can't wait to see pictures of my precious new little nephew. You are already loved so much, little one, and you have a whole big family just waiting to see you in person!!!

Love to all!!!

I am already in love with his little face!

Making "Mema Plants"

Several years ago my grandma, Mema, gave me a Pothos plant that she had rooted and potted herself from one of her own plants. It was beautiful and the perfect plant for me since I was somewhat neglectful in watering it on a regular basis---Pothos are very forgiving though, and perk right up again once remembered!

Mema is a pro at "making" these lovely plants...and had at one point over 50 in her house - I counted! Her plants always look so beautiful, the leaves shiny and full. So, since Mema has such a green thumb when it comes to these, I lovingly refer to them as "Mema Plants." They remind me of her whenever I see them...which is quite often...and here's why...

...okay, back to my original plant from Mema...One day I decided to try out what Mema had told me, and so I snipped a few leaves and stems off and put them into a glass of water. And you know what?! Several days later I saw tiny little roots growing, reaching toward the bottom of the glass. After that first experience I was hooked, and now growing my "Mema Plants" has become almost an obsession. I love it. I love to watch them grow from little rootlings to being potted in a proper plant home. I love it so much that at last count (which was yesterday!) I have over 50 pothos in my own home now! 28 in permanent "homes" and 23 in glass jars, growing until they're ready to settle down for good too.

So, thank you Mema for starting me out on my own green thumb journey. You have helped to cultivate in me a love of growing things, and maybe someday my own grand-kids will fondly think of me whenever they see a "Mema Plant." I love you!

Mama's Boy

Today I enjoyed a lot of time with my little Mama's boy. Although, when Johnathan is older, I hope that he doesn't turn out to be a Mama's boy...at least in the sense that he is still living at home when he's thirty, depending on me to do his laundry, cook his food, etc. For now though, I am cherishing the time I have with my little man. Some days Johnathan is little Mr. Independent, but not this morning. He sat on the couch with me and we had a lovely conversation about what we could see around the room---the soccer ball, the football, the bouncy balls, the basket ball (you can tell we have a lot of balls!)...and we also talked about what we could see outside through the window...today is trash-day, so we watched the garbage men come and pick up our trash...Johnathan perked up as soon as he heard the rumble of the truck, and we waited on the couch until we saw it outside.

Johnathan is pointing at everything these days, and as we sat together on the couch he would point at things, say what they were and then say some other words that I haven't quite figured out yet. It was so cute to just be able to talk to him without him running around, especially since I got a lot of snuggle time in between chatting! And then, when he finally did want to get down off the couch, he still wanted me to be close by, and grabbed my hand to hold as he walked around...PRECIOUS!!!

We have a couple new words to add to Johnathan's vocabulary list: bug (sounds like buh), and boo-boo (that's our word for nursing! haha!). His verbal skills are really starting to shine, and I am enjoying getting to communicate with him more now through talking. In other news, Johnathan has all of his 12M molars now too. He just got the top and bottom molars on the right side within the last week or so, and I'm hoping that this translates into some better sleep at night, both for him and for me!

We aren't doing too much these days aside from "normal life." It is getting really hot here, yet thankfully it isn't too humid like usual since we are having a serious drought here. So even though we need the rain, I am glad that the heat is relatively dry and also that the mosquitos haven't caused their normal pestiness like they do when we get some good rain. Hope that you all are doing well, enjoying summer and keeping cool!

Wearing Off

When Aaron first started his residency over a year ago he was given a pager. The first time that he got paged while at home I sort of thought it was cool...I got to hear him speak his "doctor talk" to the nurse who paged him, telling her what needed to be done with the patient in question. Well, now that we're a year down the road, the "cool factor" is definitely wearing off. Whenever I hear that pager buzzing I just want to chuck it out the window sometimes. It almost always goes off when Aaron and I are trying to catch up after he's just returned from another long days work. Mid-sentence that thing will go off, *buzz, buzz, buzz*, and I don't wait around to hear the doctor talk, because I know what it sounds like by now. Our conversation, which a lot of times has barely started usually gets forgotten, and my growing annoyance with that dang pager keeps being fueled. I think that patience is a virtue that I definitely need to work on since I'm pretty sure that Aaron will have a pager attached to his hip, or at least in the vicinity, for years to come. Cool, huh? Not so much!

*Okay, done with my venting, I'm good to go!*

"Hi"

Lately I've noticed that Johnathan really likes to "talk" on the phone. Whenever my cell phone is within reach, or whenever he sees his little telephone, he will pick it up (flip it open if it's my phone) and say "Hi!" He then proceeds to have a little conversation and then ends with "Bye-bye." It is absolutely adorable, and some more proof that he is indeed watching what I do and copying it! I guess I need to stay on top of my game so that he has a good example! Haha!

On a not-so-happy note, Johnathan currently has an ear-infection...his 4th...in his left ear. We caught it pretty early on though, so he seems to be doing okay after a few days on his antibiotics. I hate to have him sick, for whatever reason, and I will be glad once he is feeling all better again.

Today is the graduation ceremony for the doctors at Aaron's hospital who have completed their 3 years of residency. In only 2 short years Aaron will join them in the ranks of "real doctors!" For now though, he is a second year resident...or an upper-level as they are sometimes called! Woohoo!!!

Enjoying Summer

The last several weeks have been very busy here. First off, a couple of weeks ago we had some visitors...Auntie Gaily and Uncle Gaffin paid us a visit! Yay! We had a good couple of days with them, did a few uniquely "Corpus" outings...the Aquarium, the beach and Gatherings (the cutest little gift shop ever!). It was wonderful, and as always we totally loved spending time with some of our dear family! We love you, Gail and Matthew!

Then, during Gail and Matt's visit I got the news that we were going to have some more visitors!!! Yay! Gwen (and baby in tummy), Matt and Miles headed down south to enjoy some of the Corpus Christi charm...and to see us, of course! We did another round of CC, saw the Aquarium, went to the beach, and although we didn't hit Gatherings again, we did manage to visit a park or two...boys and parks, they go hand in hand! Gwen captured a lot of our 4+ days together on camera...ours is still broken, thus the absent pics from Gail and Matt's visit...and I think that you'll be able to see just what a wonderful time we all had. We love you guys!!!

Me, Gwen and the Boys at the Aquarium!
Johnathan staring at the dolphins swimming.
Miles and Johnathan...that orange ball was a favorite toy to play with and share!
Playing in the sand!
Building a sand castle with Mommy!
Miles eating his "snack"...a cookie! Must be nice to be on vacation!
Johnathan also enjoying his snack!
The men, grilling up some dogs!
Miles, racing to catch a wave!
Johnathan was NOT afraid of the ocean...at all!
Feet in Sand!
Cute little guy!
Sweet cousins!
I love his teeth in this one! CUTE!!!

Mrs. Fix-it!

We all know that moms wear many hats---mommy, wife, cook, maid, personal finance manager, and the list could go on...and on...and on...and on! Okay, you get the point, we do a lot! Well today I played the role of plumber! Let me explain...

...as I was feeding Johnathan his lunch, I heard what sounded like an explosion---coming from his you-know-where. Aah, just another day in the life of me! Haha! After he finished eating I prepared to get him out and change his dirty diaper...and that's when I saw it...brown ooze dripping down the front of his high-chair, and upon further investigation I could see it oozing all the way up the back of his shirt! YUCK! I ran to the bathroom and got the water going, and then carefully carried my dirty little Monkey into the tub...I plopped him in, clothes and all. Little bits of yuck started floating in the water, and as I un-clothed Johnathan and tried to rinse off the nastiness and wash it down the drain I discovered we had a problem...a slow, very slow drain. I had noticed this in the past day or so, but didn't really think about it until it was too late! After several attempts to clean out the tub I was somewhat successful. And, after drying off Baby J. and sticking him in his Pack'n'Play to play for a while, I put on my "plumber's hat" (no crack involved) and got to work.

Several weeks ago I played this same role. Only that time it was a whole lot easier to play. I went out to Home Depot and bought a drain auger...a nice little instrument that is very handy in cleaning out some of the gunk that accumulates in old drains and pipes and slows them down. It was a nice, quick job---20 minutes, drain all cleaned and parts put back in place. I thought that today's job would be easy too...and it would have been if an old piece of pipe hadn't fallen off of the back-side of the tub and down into the abyss otherwise known as the space between our house and the ground underneath! What to do???!!! Well, as any smart-thinking-quick-on-her-feet woman would do I went fishing...hanger duct-taped to an old curtain rod fishing! I peeked through the opening from Johnathan's closet to the space beneath the tub, and I fished! And it worked, first time too!

After I "fished" the needed pipe off of the ground I went about screwing back together the pieces that I had taken apart. It was a frustrating time, but I sort of felt good knowing that I had accomplished a "manly" task all by myself. I'm not quite sure if I have totally fixed the slow-drain for good or not, but for now the tub is clean and I'm feeling quite smug about being a Mrs. Fix-it!

Window to the Soul

I'm sure I'm not the first one to say this, nor the last that will feel it, but I truly believe that music is the window to the soul. It evokes so many emotions and feelings, brings back long-forgotten memories, and can provide a perk to pick you up when you're feeling down. It allows us to communicate our feelings with each other, and to give praise to the ONE who created us to enjoy one of life's biggest joys---music!

It is somewhat mysterious how one medium can cause so many differing emotions. Lately I have been listening to the Anna and the King Soundtrack. I purchased it via Amazon.com, and as soon as I hit that "Place Order" button I started to actually crave listening to the music...I almost went to the store to purchase the CD before the one I ordered got here, that's how much I wanted to listen to it. I got it on Monday, and have listened to the whole CD multiple times since. It has provided something that I think that I have been needing for a while. Time to reflect on how I'm doing emotionally. And, upon reflection, I guess I'm doing okay...at least I'm doing "normal" for me. There are bits of happiness, love and even a little bit of sadness that I've found in myself, yet overall there is an extreme sense of thankfulness that I feel for all that God has blessed me with. Anyways, I love music, love what it does to me when I'm surrounded by it, and I love enjoying one of life's simple pleasures!

Here are some of my music favorites right now:
-Anna and the King Soundtrack, especially the "Execution" song, track 15 I think
-Grace, a song that I'm learning to play on the piano right now, it is simply beautiful
-East to West, from Casting Crowns' album The Altar and the Door, I pretty much love anything by Casting Crowns, their music really makes me think about how I'm living the Christian life

Well, those were just my thoughts today about music. Now it's time to go work on some of that thankfulness that I'm feeling, and go enjoy taking care of the precious baby that God has blessed me with!

'Ant'ics

The past several weeks I have noticed a sparse little trail of ants crawling on my kitchen counter close to the sink area. While I pride myself on having a fairly clean kitchen, those little ants seem to be able to find even the smallest little speck of a crumb. When I first saw those little critters, I thought I'd try to do something to get rid of them, but here it is a few weeks later and they are still here. I haven't gotten rid of them, and in fact I've even started to enjoy their appearance as they run to and fro getting food for their ant hill friends.

One day I noticed that whenever I'd come into the kitchen they would all scurry back into the small crack in the window where they had come from. I just thought that they were scared of the "big giant" that I am to them, and found it curious that each time I showed up they would all run away. Yesterday morning I walked into the kitchen, saw the typical little trail of ants and waited around for them to go running...but they didn't, they stayed. Hmm, I started to wonder why they chose this time to be brave, and then I figured it out. I hadn't washed my hands yet, so the water hadn't been turned on---time to test a theory. I turned on the water and sprayed it close to where the ants were walking down into the sink, and you know what, they all turned around and ran for the hills! It was so funny! Also, whenever an ant was walking toward the sink the ones running for dear life would stop right in front of them, and, as if they were having a little conversation, both ants would touch antennas and then they would head back to the hill together. Amazing! This happened with each set of ants passing each other...except for one really stubborn ant who had to see the water for himself, and then he turned around and headed back home.

Another cute thing that I have never seen ants to is give themselves a bath. Last night after I had "scared" another little group of ants back home, I noticed that on the way back almost every one of them stopped by tiny, minute little droplets of water. They all got on their back legs, and as they were standing straight up they would dip their front legs into the water and then wash off their face and antennae. Isn't that amazing?! They even had tiny little ant shadows! Haha! Anyways, I've been enjoying some of God's smallest creation, and have marveled at how wonderful He made them, and much more so how wonderful He has made me. So, the next time you see a little trail of ants, take a moment and watch how they live. I promise you will marvel at God's handiwork too!

What a Weekend!

We had a fantastic weekend! It was one of those rare occasions where Aaron actually had Saturday off...I know, amazing, right?! Right now he is on a rotation that gives him only 2 days off out of 28! Dang! It's not too bad during the week since he usually gets home around 5:30 or so, but the weekends have been a little tough. Anyways, this past Saturday was the first day Aaron has had off in 2 weeks, so we wanted to really enjoy it...and we did!

Saturday afternoon STARS hosted a family movie day, and we went to go see the new Night at the Museum movie. The movie was great, Johnathan did totally wonderful and sat in his booster through the whole thing, and Aaron and I were able to have a good time too. If you're wondering what STARS is, it stands for South Texas Association of Resident Spouses, and it is a program designed to bring the residents and families of the residents together through different events/parties/get-togethers. I have been helping out with it this past year, and have been able to meet a lot of really nice people. This year I'm taking over STARS since my sweet friend, Blanca, who has been running it is moving. I'm excited about this opportunity, and thankful that I'll have a new friend, Tiffany, who will be helping me! Yay!

Okay, moving on with our fun weekend...

...Saturday evening we went to a bonfire on the beach, and if you've never been to one of those, let me tell you they are a blast! We went along with several other residents and their families, and we all had a great time. The moon was gorgeous shining over the water, the fire was awesome and provided some warmth from the chilly ocean breeze. Once again, Johnathan was a champ and did great during our evening out. He really enjoyed playing in the sand, and was able to hang out with some of his little buddies building sand castles. After playing for quite a while, Johnathan got a little sleepy and following a moonlit walk on the beach in his stroller, he fell asleep for an hour or so. We left the beach around 1:15 in the morning! On the way back home our friend's car died, so we stopped on the side of the road to wait for another friend to come tow them back home. It was fun, although I do feel bad on my friend's behalf since her car has to be fixed, but we used the extra time together to continue our wonderful evening. Someone got a bag of Doritos out and some dip, and we passed the bag around and laughed and had a grand ol' time on the side of the road! Haha! We got home Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 3:00! Aaron had to be at work at 7:00 so we all hit the hay asap. It was a fun evening, and one that I'm sure we'll remember for a long time.

Sunday wasn't too noteworthy, except that Johnathan did take a 4 hour long nap!!! I guess all the partying from the day before had him really worn out! Haha! I did go check on him a couple times during his nap just to make sure he was okay. He woke up really hungry since he had slept straight through lunch and snack-time. After I filled his little belly up he was good to go and just had fun playing and hanging out with me. Aaron returned home from work around 3 in the afternoon, and he was exhausted! After a quick cat nap he was ready to go too, and we all enjoyed the rest of the day together.

Well, that was our weekend more or less. It was so nice to have Aaron home all Saturday, and I'm already looking forward to the next Saturday that he has off---in two weeks!

High-Five!

This afternoon I went into Johnathan's room to get him up from his nap. He was in a really happy mood and was jumping up and down in his crib when he saw me walk in the room---too cute! I walked up to him, and he gave me a little playful shove in his excitement. I put up my hand and said "don't push your mommy" in a silly voice, and this is what he said to me. . ."high-five!" Wow! I walked closer, hand still up, and he smacked it with his own little "five" and said high-five again! Clear as day! This is the first time that he has said a new word all on his own, meaning that he didn't just hear me say it and then repeat it. I am so proud of him!!! His little vocabulary is expanding rapidly and includes the following:

1) Bo
2) Dada
3) All-done
4) Bye-Bye
5) Thank-you (Edited original post to add this one that I forgot! Thanks, Jamye!)
6) Ball
7) Hi
8) More
9) Agua
10) High-five

That's the order that he's said them in too. He will also say mama, but I'm not sure if he knows for sure that mama means me! Haha! I'd like to think that he knows, but won't write it down as a for sure quite yet!

Mealtime Meltdowns

Yesterday dawned bright and early, and as Johnathan played contently in his Pack-n-Play I prepared his breakfast...french toast, strawberry & banana chunks and yummy soy yogurt. When the food was all ready to eat, I went to get Monkey and carried him into the kitchen. On the way there, he saw his new football and I guess decided in his little head that it was time to play, and not time to eat...and then the meltdown came. I tried putting him into his chair, but he started throwing a major fit. A squirming like mad, throwing his head back fit! Aah!!! Once I got him into the chair he was really angry! I waited for a little while, until it seemed as if he had calmed down, and then I gave him his food...well, I guess he had just been giving me the silent treatment, because he was still angry, and as soon as the food was on the tray he picked it up in fist-fulls, and threw it all on the floor! I gave his little hand a pat and told him "no" and explained that we don't throw our food when we're angry...I'm not sure how much he can understand, but I have a feeling it is a lot more than he lets on! After a second "calming down" period I tried giving him more food...this time it got all mushed into his hair and then thrown on the floor! Where did my sweet little baby go??? After a couple more calm-down/fit cycles I eventually got him to eat a little, and then he got washed up and put down on the floor to play...and then what do you know, he was back to the sweet little gentle loving baby that I'd known. Phew, at least he got his fit out of the way for the day, and we could proceed with our routine in peace...or could we???

Johnathan's morning nap went well, and after he woke up, per our "schedule" we went to go eat lunch. I was so sure that lunch time would go smoothly, and had put the stresses over the morning meal out of my mind. Well, lunch did not go as I had hoped and I felt an extreme sense of deja vu as Johnathan threw another series of small tantrums! I had even made him one of his favorite lunches, and he still threw a fit! Can you believe it?!

I can now say that we are definitely in the discipline phase of parenting...but what is the most effective and loving way to discipline such a young child? Any good books that some of you been-there-done-that parents can recommend? I sort of know what I would like my parenting style to be, but don't know if it's proper to implement certain practices quite yet...I do believe in spankings, but would a baby understand that? For now I think I'll hold off on those, but I need some other ways that I can let Johnathan know what I expect of him, and what he is allowed/not allowed to do. *Sigh* I guess one of the keys is being consistent with whichever "practice" I use, and trying to stay calm and disciplining him in love and not in frustration.

Wow, I sure do have a renewed sense of thanks toward my own parents! Thank you for loving me enough to correct me when I was wrong, and for always letting me know how much you cared for me even through the disciplining years. I can remember y'all telling me "this hurts me more than it hurts you" and I always thought, "yeah, right!" Well, now I know! Love you guys!

He is Bilingual! Haha!!!

For several weeks now, whenever I am talking to Johnathan---usually asking him a question---I will ask the question in both English and in Spanish. My Spanish is extremely limited (but I hope to change that soon) so most of my questions are fairly short...such as "do you want some water?" or "quieres agua?" Well, today, all of my dual questions paid off! I asked Johnathan if he was thirsty and if he wanted some water/agua...and he said "agua!" He kept repeating the word agua over and over, and I was sooo proud of him! Now I know for sure that I need to keep this bilingual habit up, and hopefully before long we'll both be speaking in both languages!

Fun at Papi & Nana's

When we were up in Dallas a couple of weeks ago Johnathan and I were able to spend some time with Baby J's Papi and Nana...Aaron's folks for those of you who don't know. We all had a great time, and of course lots of pictures were taken to capture the cuteness of everyone's favorite little Monkey! Here are some of my favorites:

Don't you just fall in love when you look into those big brown eyes?!!
My precious little angel!
What a cute little baby in the basket!
I LOVE this little face!
Me and my little Monkey-boy!
My favorite little dude!
What a cute little chubby-bubby-belly!
Johnathan and his Nana.
He LOVED pushing the toy basket around...too cute!
About to attempt to walk...(he started walking the day after this pic was taken!).
Just my size!
Staring up at his adoring Nana.
Playing piano with Papi.
I think that Johnathan might be a future Van Cliburn!!!

"Dropped Call"

Today, the phrase "dropped call" got a brand new meaning...

...Johnathan had just finished "making a stinky", and as soon as I smelled the lovely aroma I went to get a new diaper and wipes. Now, Johnathan doesn't like getting his diaper changed, not at all. He wriggles, twists and squirms, and I have to work really hard to keep him still enough to get all the gunk off his little bum. Also, I have on occasion been known to speak a little too loudly to try to keep him from going all over the place---I always feel bad when I do that, and usually end up asking Johnathan to forgive me when we're all done. Anyways, one of the things that works more often than not to keep Johnathan distracted while I'm changing his diaper is playing with my cell phone. He likes to open and close it, push the buttons and listen to the noise the keys make. So, today, before I wrestled him to the floor, I gave him my phone to play with. All was going well until Johnathan decided that the phone just wasn't that interesting anymore, and before I could stop him, he dropped it---right into his very stinky, very mushy dirty diaper! EEWWW! It was so disgusting, and as I plucked it out of the mess I knew that the cell phone playing days during the diaper changes were over. So over! I don't think that my poor phone will ever be the same, and you can bet that I won't hear the phrase *dropped call* without smiling a little from now on! :)

My Lil' Tot!

Johnathan is officially a walker! Although he will still crawl, depending on the circumstance or terrain, he now mainly prefers to walk to get to his destination. It is so incredibly adorable, and I have enjoyed so much watching the evolution if you will of his learning to walk. He is still a little wobbly on his feet, and is prone to fall down quite a bit, but he gets right up and starts again! Here is a picture that my dad took that captures some of Johnathan's first steps. I love how his little foot is up in the air...precious! Also, another thing that I love about this picture is Johnathan's hair. I was going to cut it when we were up in Dallas, but after thinking it over, I really couldn't bring myself to do it. I love how it curls up behind his ears when he gets a little sweaty, and I think that it makes him look still sort of like a baby...even though he is clearly growing up! We'll see when the shears make their appearance, but for now we'll keep his baby curls on his head where they belong!

Safe & Delicious!

Yesterday I went grocery shopping at Sun Harvest, our local health food store. My main purpose for going there was to try to find some new "safe" foods for Johnathan to eat. With his extreme milk allergy I have had to be very aware of what is going into his little mouth, and as a result we have stuck to a pretty routine diet with him. Lately though, I have had the desire to expand what he can eat, and so I figured that a trip to Sun Harvest was in order. After browsing the aisles I discovered so many things that he will be able to eat...and I bought a lot of them! My favorite finds were the cheese and yogurt that they offered---both made with soy! They had so many yummy looking soy based foods, and I'm sure that in time we'll be trying most of them. I went ahead and bought some soy ice cream too so that Aaron can watch Johnathan enjoy it just like I did when Gwenny bought it for Baby J. when we were up in Dallas.

Here are the pictures that I got of Miles and Johnathan enjoying their treat from Gwen. Sadly, our camera broke before I could take any more, so you don't get to see the boys with their ice cream mustaches and beards that they ended up having. Here they are though, enjoying the cold-and-sticky-sweet-goodness of soy:

Johnathan got his ice cream cone first, but he didn't quite know what to do with it...Miles was looking on thinking..."just let me at it, and I'll show you how!"

See Johnathan, this is how you eat it!
Oh, and Johnathan, when you lick all the ice cream down,
you eat the cone and then there's more ice cream inside!

You've Done it Right if the Rice is White!

Okay, I know that this might sound a little random, but I know the perfect way to figure out whether your kitchen floor is clean or not---sweep up cooked white rice (thrown on the floor by a baby, or yourself, it doesn't matter), and then tell me if it comes up into the dust pan white...or is it a little gray and dirty looking!

Earlier today I was in cleaning mode...I'm almost always in cleaning mode, but today was different. With Johnathan's newly acquired two-legged mobility, I figured that it was time to broaden his horizons with a new baby-safe zone. Up until now I've really only let him roam on his own (with supervision of course) in the living room. All other areas (aside from his bedroom) have been off limits when it comes to being on the floor. Well, today that all changed, and the kitchen became a new safe(er) zone for Johnathan to play. I'm still working on getting all "my" cabinets baby-proofed, but it'll happen soon!

Yesterday I made Johnathan his own little cabinet, and supplied it with child sized pans, bowls, tins and rolling pins. I figured that if he is going to play in the kitchen, he might as well have something that he is allowed to "get into" and some items that will encourage creative play at the same time. Johnathan's little cupboard now sits right next to the fridge, and when I'm in the kitchen cooking or cleaning, he is able to play right there with me! It's so adorable, and I just love that he has his own little special place to keep his things. Too cute!

Anyways, back to today, and to my cleaning tip! With the knowledge that our kitchen floors were going to be a place that Johnathan was going to spending a bit more time toddling and crawling around on, I wanted to make sure that they were in tip-top shape, squeaky clean and the type of surface that you could eat off of...'cause, let's face it, when a baby sees something on the floor, it almost always goes into his mouth! I'm not advocating letting your child eat off of the floor, but if it's bound to happen at some time, the least you can do is make sure the floor is clean! This morning I vacuumed, swept, wiped and mopped the floor, and I was pretty sure that I had done a good job of it too. Well, this afternoon I proved myself right! I had made some rice to go along with our evening meal and decided to give a little to Johnathan to see if he liked it. He did, but in the process of enjoying it some ended up on the floor...perfect! Time to test my cleanliness!!! After he was all finished, I went to grab the broom and sweep up those bright white grains of rice, and you know what?---they came up clean as a whistle! Woohoo! Now I know that my floors are clean! Course I'll have to keep on mopping them pretty often to keep 'em that way, but I feel good right now knowing that Baby J. has a clean place to play! Who knew that rice was good for something more than just eating and throwing at people after weddings!

(NOTE: I didn't eat the rice off the floor, although I'm sure I could have!).

Absence Explained

Wow, it's been about 3 weeks since I last posted! That might just be a record! We sure have been busy these past weeks, especially the last week and a half. We just returned Monday afternoon from a 10 day trip back up to Big D, and like I have said before, Dorothy was right, there is no place quite like home. Johnathan and I had a wonderful time visiting our family, and I thought I'd recap our trip here for those of you interested (and for those of you who are uninterested...well, too bad!). I want to document a few of Johnathan's "firsts", so if you just want to read those, then scroll thru the bold print!:

Thursday, May 7th: Drove to pick up Grandma Evelyn who was going up to Grand Prairie so that she could catch a ride to David's (Aaron's brother) graduation the following weekend. We picked her up so that she could stay with us and be able to leave with us bright and early Friday morning. Johnathan took his first steps all by himself...and Aaron was the first one to see him do it! Yay!

Friday, May 8th: I only got about 3 hours total of sleep (thanks to Johnathan getting his bottom, second from the middle tooth on the left side...his left lateral incisor I believe). This left him, haha, get it, "left him", quite crabby, and so I got only 3 hours or so of sleep altogether! Yikes! We started off on our "road trip", not quite so bright and early, but we were off nonetheless. After an uneventful trip (with lots of prayer and caffeine to make it up without falling asleep), we dropped Grandma Evelyn off in G.P., and then we headed to Gail's house to work on a "secret project" that was set to be revealed on Monday...more on that later! Friday evening (late-ish) we got to our final destination...Grammy and Grandpa's house! Yay!

Saturday, May 9th: Went with Gwenny and Miles to Gail's house to continue some work on our little secret. Saturday evening Gwenny and I went to Greta's performance of Oklahoma the Musical...and boy, was it fantastic!!! I really was amazing, and I had a great time...shoeless and all! Inside story, no time to explain here!

Sunday, May 10th: Happy Mother's Day to Me---and all you other wonderful mothers out there!!! I was able to spend some time with my own dear mother, and I felt loved beyond measure from the little guy who makes each of my days a huge ball of joy!

Monday, May 11th: Okay, so here's the deal with the secret project---for weeks my dad, siblings and myself had been planning a special night to honor my mother for all her many years of dedicating herself to teaching us. 23 years y'all! Wow! We reserved a special table at Olive Garden where we were going to celebrate our night with our teacher! The siblings were going to have a "game night" at Gwen's, and Mom was expecting a "date night" with Dad on Monday...what she didn't know was that the plans were set in motion as we all schemed to get dressed up and ready to meet her and Dad at the restaurant. We all pitched in and made a totally fantastic scrapbook, full of memories from our school days. Long story short, Mom was totally surprised, the night was perfect, and the scrapbook gift was a blessing to Mom and us too! It was awesome...and she was totally surprised! PERFECT!!! We love you, MOM!!!

Tuesday, May 12th: Just hung out at Mom and Dad's, and made a couple of t-shirts...they are pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

Wednesday, May 13th: Made some t-shirts for the boys---Miles' says "Stink Happens" and has a little skunk on it, and Johnathan's says "Monkey Business" with a cute little monkey on it. Miles and Johnathan became quite good buddies over the course of our week+ there, and it was a joy to watch them actually play together! Miles is such a sweetie, and has so many cute little antics. Another first for all you bold-print readers - Johnathan had his first ice cream cone!!! Gwenny found some soy ice cream, and Johnny loved it to the max! Thanks, Auntie Gwen!

Thursday, May 14th: Johnathan visited his Nana, Papi, two great-grandmas, Celia and Evelyn & his great-aunt, Karen! We were able to go to Grand Prairie for dinner, and spent some time hanging out with Aaron's family. Johnathan had a great time with his adoring grand parents, and I had fun too! Oh, and Thursday was the day that I first heard Johnathan saying "thank you" quite distinctly. His little vocabulary is growing!

Friday, May 15th: Happy Birthday, Gloria!!! We celebrated Gloey's b-day in the morning, and that evening we went over to Gwen's and Matt's for a real sibling get together...all the scheming for our "siblings night" on Monday made us want to do it for real. So we did, and it was a blast! Johnathan was a bit crabby as the night wore on, so I tried to put him down for a nap...that didn't go over well, so I got him up, fed him some Sour Patch Kids...I know, bad Mommy, but the cute little face he made while eating them was priceless...and, after enjoying the sweet goodness, lo and behold, he started to walk!!! Yep, Johnathan began walking while hopped up on sugar! He stayed up until almost 1 o'clock and had the time of his life! Haha!!!

Saturday, May 16th: Happy Graduation, Glenna!!! Happy Graduation, David!!! We went to Geenzne's graduation, and were so proud of her as she walked across the stage, a high school graduate!!! Uncle David was in our thoughts Saturday as he graduated from Sam Houston State University. Yay David!!! That evening we all celebrated with Glenna, enjoying a graduation dinner at my folk's, and after some encouragement from his uncle Gaffin, Johnathan continued to walk...25 continuous steps was the record that he set!

Sunday, May 17th: Heard Johnathan saying "ball" when he saw the volleyball out in the garage at my folk's! Yay, Monkey! Way to go!!! Celebrated Gloria's (belated) birthday with a family lunch. It's a "tradition" in our family to celebrate birthdays multiple times if you're able to! Fun stuff, and just another excuse to get everyone together! That afternoon, after packing everything up, we headed to Johnathan's Tia & Tio's. We wanted to congratulate David on graduating, and we needed to pick up Grandma Evelyn who had stayed over after the graduation. Plus, I'm always ready for an excuse to see my sweet heart of a niece, Ava!!! We had fun hanging out with all of them, and enjoyed watching Johnathan and Ava interact with each other. Ava is such a cutie pie, and she is brilliant too! She talks really well, is obedient and just all around adorable! We love you, sweet Ava Joy!

Monday, May 18th: Yay! The day we get to see Aaron/Daddy again! We left David and Kayla's, dropped Grandma off on our way back, and arrived home safe and sound by 2:15 in the afternoon. It was wonderful to see Aaron after our absence, and Johnathan was more than happy to be out of his car seat...he did fantastic on our drive, and I was very thankful that he was such a trooper! I love you, sweet boy!

Anyways, that's our little trip in a nutshell...quite a big nutshell, anyways...lots more happened, of course, but I just don't have enough time (or patience) to be able to write it all down! Love y'all!