Sunday, July 1, 2012

iPhone Photos.

Casey + I got the iPhone back in December.  We love it!  Love. it.  This is the first phone that I have been able to take great pictures on-the-go and email them or text them to family and friends.  Unfortunately, that means my professional camera rarely sees the day of light anymore.  Partly due to the fact that I have a toddler and a baby.  That doesn't leave me with a free hand to grab my camera.  But also because I always have my phone on me.

With both boys asleep, I found time to download photos from my phone.  I thought you would like to see some of my favorites.

 summer time.  hat time.

 boy band in the making.

lucas' afternoon with the mirror.
he had no idea i was taking pictures of him.

saturday morning love.


 liam love.

friday night = pizza night.

practicing his crawling technique.
he is so close!

sweet boy.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

My advice on potty training...

...avoid it at all cost!  Or wait until you HAVE to do it.
Say, before they leave for college.

 Luke's new underwear on our head!
We will do anything to get him potty trained.

Ok, not realistic?  Well, in my opinion, then you SHOULDN'T do it if:

 - you have a infant that likes to be held all the time 
(holding = happy; set him down = screaming!)

- you are the infants main source of milk 
(never fails - Luke always starts to pee when I am feeding Liam)

- your infant can roll over + fall off places if not placed "properly" 
(you never know when you are going to have to 
make a mad dash to the bathroom)

- your 2 year old is not the best communicator for his age
(by the time you know what he said, he has already gone to the bathroom)

 - your 2 year old is a 2 year old 
(hello terrible twos!)

 - you have responsibilities other than potty training 
(laundry, cooking, cleaning, ... the list goes on) 

 - you don't like the sound of your own voice or that of your husband's
(we are a broken record from the moment we wake up - "tell us if you have to go potty"; 
"potty Luke?"; "let's all go to the potty!")
... you get my point.

So it's been a month since we did the 3 DAY POTTY TRAINING PROGRAM.
We were expecting the worst for those 3 days.  We anticipated very
little sleep for the weekend, lots of "messes" and cabin fever from staying 
home for 3 days straight.

 Big Boy in Big Boy Underpants.

Surprisingly, Luke did really well; he did better than we anticipated.  
He immediately went into big boy underwear that Friday morning 
and hasn't been in a diaper since.  He made it through
the nights with no accidents.  He made it through his naps with no
accidents.  Yes, he had accidents in those 3 days, but that was expected.

Was he potty trained at the end of Sunday?  No.
Is he potty trained now a month later?  No.
Will he ever be?  I am beginning to wonder.
Is it too late to go back to diapers?  Believe me I have asked!

He has great teachers at his MDO who work with him as well.
They tell us he is really young to be potty training already and doing so well 
(not according to the PROGRAM).  His teacher also tell us to be 
patient with him (easy for them to say; he doesn't scream every time
they take him to the bathroom or scream NO! like he does with us).

This milestone is a great example of how you think life will turn out
and how life REALLY turns out.

Casey and I have learned a lot from this experience.  There has been 
more praying than usual at this house.  In our Young Families Class at 
church last week, we learned to count our trials as joy as we
work out our faith.  Maybe God is preventing it from "clicking" 
in Lucas until WE learn patience. 

We have heard people have kids who learn to master potty
training in 3 days.  Our son is not one of them.
That's ok.  We are happy to be only buying one size of diapers.
We just didn't anticipate the amount of laundry we would be doing
or the amount of trips we would be making to the bathroom.
I thought Lucas was ready to be potty trained.
I forgot to ask myself if I was ready.
Live and learn.

Too early to say, but I don't forsee Liam being potty 
trained until he moves out!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

My Boys!

My camera is full of shots of Liam...
and a few of Lucas too!

I finally downloaded them.

 Liam started rolling over and holding himself up
at 4 month old!

 Two peas in a pod.

The faces this kid makes!  He cracks us up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Bathing Beauty.

 A face this mother loves.

 This kid can't go anywhere without a truck.

 Fun in the sun shade.

Think he has outgrown the kiddie pool?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 All smiles.

Sweet Angel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Did you hear Granpa got a golf cart?  Cool!

 Taking a ride with daddy.

 Luke's obsession - cars + trucks.

one, two, three...

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Welcome Baby Allison!

Everyone is ecstatic that there is
a girl in the family... finally!

Welcome Allison Kate Jones.
We can't wait to drowned you in pink
+ love you to pieces.


Friday, May 25, 2012

Lucas + Liam.


The transition from being a single child to being a big brother
for Lucas has been seamless.
Lucas loves Liam.
Loves him.

Here are just a few shots of my boys together
from the past 4 months.

~Chillin' together~
They both look so small here.

~Brother shot~
 Luke's 2nd Birthday Photo Shoot.

"What are you looking at?"
Casey and I are in trouble.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Lucas Turns Two.

How did my baby boy get to be so big?  
It has been a month now since Luke turned two.  
And he wakes up everyday that much closer to being a BIG big boy.
We had a "Sundae at the Park" birthday party for him. 

 ~Birthday Boy enjoying his frozen treat~

At this point his birthday is still for the adults, but I will say these kids really 
get into the present thing - even at two!

~All the boys helping Luke open gifts~

It was hot to say the least.  And having ice cream outside of a freezer 
wasn't the best idea.  But needless to say, we had a great time celebrating Luke.

 ~A great day at the park~

~Cousin Brady w/ Lucas~

~Big Boy Turns 2!~

_______________________

Monday was his actual birthday.
So we had to make him feel special all over again - of course.

 ~Happy Birthday!~

~Birthday Pancakes!~

___________________

When Luke turned 1, I did a photo shoot with him in the backyard.
Do you remember this adorable photo?
So I decided I will do this every year on his birthday.  
At least I will try.

Here is his 2 year old photo.

Boy what a difference a year makes.
We love you Big Boy!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Braxton's Baptism.

We were so honored to be named
Braxton's God Parents at his Baptism a few weeks ago.  
We can't believe how much this little man has grown!  

Our little Brax has been dealing with some health issues and we just feel grateful to God that he is taking care of Brax and pray he will put his healing hands on him.

He is a strong little boy and we know God has great things in store for him.

Braxton, Megan, Brady + my brother, Chris.

 Big Brother Brady helping Baptize Braxton.

Grandma, Liam, PaPa + Lucas