Spring Day and Winter Coffee House

Today was such a pretty day! It was almost 60 degrees outside and sort of felt like a spring day. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and do a few fun things after MDO.

First, we stopped by and got a cupcake from a little cupcake bakery on the square. Brody loved his cupcake! Jillian wondered when she why she could not have one. A mouth full of cupcake! He left a little evidence around his mouth, too! After Brody finished his cupcake, we headed to the little park in my parents' neighborhood to play!Brody had lots of fun running out some energy! We stopped by my parents' house after we left the park. Brody mowed the yard for my parents while he was there! I know their dead yard was in desperate need of being mowed. :) Lately, Brody has been purposefully falling down. Once he is on the ground he will say, "I fall down. I me ok!" Ha! This is a picture of him after he "fell" in the yard. I think he sat there for 2 minutes telling us he was ok. :)Also, for all you local girls...

Our church, Cross Church, recently launched a new campus in our town this month. We now have 3 campuses in NWA! Our church's newest location is on Wedington Road in Fayetteville. The women’s ministry of Cross Church Fayetteville will is hosting a Winter Coffee House on Tuesday night, February 1st, at 6PM. Admission is free and they will be serving coffee and dessert.You will have the opportunity to register for Bible studies that evening, as well as hear about the church's vision for the women's ministry. If you are local and would like to attend, you can register here for the event!

Brody's table and a video

We recently bought Brody a little table. We thought it would be great for coloring and working puzzles as well as occasionally eating at it. He loves it! I don't think he as ever sat as long during a meal as he has at his new table. We move it to the kitchen when he eats. Here he is eating breakfast at it in the living room. He was watching 'Franklin' while he ate. :) Since Jillian will be needing a high chair in the next couple of months, we decided to start transitioning Brody out of his high chair.
We have bar stool chairs at our kitchen table so we may just get him a booster type seat for our table so he can eat at the table, but until then, he is loving having meals at this little table. I met some friends from MOPS at Panera this morning. I put Jillian in her room with a few toys while I got dressed. Brody wanted to go in and play with her so I told him that was fine. He ended up getting out all of her toys and then hoarding them. :) I was going through some videos on my computer today and found this one of Brody and Jillian. This was when she was 5 or 6 days old. Brody wanted to hold her while he watched tv. It's amazing to me that our busy boy could actually sit this still and be so calm and gentle while holding his new sister! Brody was getting his two year molars at this time so he chews his finger the entire video. Love teething! Ha!

Monday and Tuesday

Yesterday was my sweet mom's birthday! Jill, Jillian and I took her to lunch on her birthday while Brody was at MDO. Then, last night, my family met to eat dinner and celebrate. We brought a cake with us to the restaurant to have after we ate. I took my camera with me but realized I left my SD card in my laptop so I couldn't use my camera. These pictures are all from my phone so sorry for the nice quality! Ha!

Here is my mom's cake! It was so yummy! The birthday girl!
Brody helped her blow out the candle!
And of course, he wanted a bite of cake!
We had such a fun night celebrating with my mom! We are so thankful for all she does for us! She is a great mom and a wonderful Gigi to our kids.

She reminded me at lunch yesterday that it was a year ago yesterday that we told her and my dad we were pregnant with Jillian! We told them on her birthday cake. :)
This morning, we met some friends at a bounce play in town to play! My friend, Holly, has a little boy just a few months older than Brody and a little girl that is almost a month older than Jillian. We met to let the boys play together and to get out some energy! The boys are a lot alike! I always love talking to Holly because I'm pretty sure we have the same life! Ha! She can always relate to what we are going through at our house.

The little sisters were so good while the big brothers played! I never got a picture of the boys together because it was nearly impossible, but I did get this one of Brody. He always goes down inflatables on his belly! Tonight, we had some friends from church over for dinner! They have 3 kids 3 and under so between our two families there were 5 kids 3 and under! It was so much fun and the kids had a great time together. I didn't even think to take any pictures because we were so busy talking and taking care of our kids!:)

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Saturday

We have had a laid-back, lazy kind of Saturday. Those are always the best kind in my opinion!

I went to a shower for my friend, Sydney, this morning. She is due with Emerson Kate in just 3 short weeks! Some playgroup friends hosted the shower and it was perfect! I'm not going to share lots of pictures until Sydney does, since it was her special day, but trust me, It was SUPER cute!! Jillian Kate can hardly wait for her new best friend, Emerson Kate to get here!

After the shower, I came home and hung out most of the afternoon. The kids napped and I napped a little as well and watched TV with Josh. This evening we all went to Walmart to buy groceries for the week. We have gotten in the habit of going on Saturday afternoons or Saturday evenings. All 4 of us go and we get two shopping carts. Josh takes Jillian and I take Brody. Josh gets all our weekly staples and I get all of the ingredients for our meals for the week. We meet back-up to check out. It seriously takes like 15 minutes! I love it and I love the extra help! One of the managers told me tonight that we had a really organized system! Ha! Here is my little shopping buddy!

We got home from the store and ate supper. Brody wanted to hold Jillian before she got ready for bed. It makes me laugh when I see this picture because I would have flipped out if some 2 year old child held Brody like this when he was Jillian's age, but this time around I'm so laid back. Amazing what a 2nd child does to you. :) Don't all you moms with more than one child wish you knew with your 1st child what you know with your 2nd or 3rd children? I know I do! :)

This little miss has been rolling around like crazy this weekend. She is rolling both ways so she just rolls all over the floor. She also slept without her swaddle blanket for the first time last night and did great! She is just growing so fast!

Our little project for today was to hang this canvas in JK's room. There was one small wall left in her room that needed a little something on it. I ordered this 16x24 canvas and it came in this week.

I love the way it looks in her nursery! Since the picture on the canvas was taken in her room, it matches her room perfectly.

I think my last little project in her room is going to be changing out the handles on her dresser and replacing them with glass knobs and handles. I love the look of those!

Hope you all had a great Saturday!

Happy 4 Month, Jillian!

Jillian turned 4 months old on the 15th! It's crazy to me that it was a year this past Tuesday that we found out we were pregnant with her and now she is 4 months old! We celebrated with a snowflake cake in honor of winter! :)
Jillian even matched her cake in her new, cowl neck sweater dress.

She has such a sweet smile!

Her sweet face is looking so girly!

She has already started giving the pouty lip and puppy dog eyes. Her daddy buys this little act every time! :)

She has started taking notice of her cake! I think she a big bite! Such a happy girl!

Here is what you have been up to this month:

-You are wearing 3 month and some 3-6 month clothing.

-You are wearing a size 1 or 1-2 diaper.
-I don't know exactly how much you weigh but I bet it's around 14-15lbs. We go for your 4 month appointment soon so we will find out then!
-You used to look like a really big baby, but now you are starting to look really petite and girly. I think it's really sweet!

-You are still nursing exclusively and nursing really well. You nurse every 3 hours during.
-When we give you a pumped bottle you are taking 5 ounces at a time.
-You are still sleeping really well in your crib. You have now been sleeping in it for 3 months!
-You are sleeping 10-12 hours a night. You are a great sleeper, except you have started waking up when your pacifier falls out. You usually do this around 2:30 and 4:30. You stay awake until we put it back in your mouth and then you are asleep again within seconds.

-You are still taking regular naps between every 3 hour feeding cycle. We are going to work on extending your day wake time this month and getting into a good routine of just a morning and afternoon nap.

-We still swaddle you for naps and at night. You love to be swaddled!

-Because we have been so consistent with you sleeping in your crib for all naps and at night, you aren't a very good sleeper when we are out and about or when we are out of town. We usually have to come for your naps or you will not nap in your car seat. You love your own bed!
-You have started laughing so much this past month! You sound so girly when you laugh and squeal! It's so precious!

-You are drooling and chewing on your hand like crazy! Your little gums are white at the bottom but we haven't seen any bumps yet! I forgot how hard teething can be when you are little.
-You are such a happy baby!

-You are also an easy baby, but if you want something you are so dramatic! You really don't cry when you need something, you just scream...loudly! :)
-You rolled from you back to your stomach this month. You can now roll both ways, but you don't do it all that often! You just kind of roll from side to side.
-You have really started to try to sit-up lately when you are laying on your boppy! It's kind of funny to see your little body pulling itself up.

-You have started to enjoy playing with some of your toys. You usually just stare and swat at them but you are so happy when you do it.

-You have started to grab and hold on to things like necklaces and my hair!

-You have really started turning your head a trying to find us in the room when you hear voices.

-Your eyes are still really blue and your hair still looks like it's turning blond. We love it! You are also so fair complected.

-Your little personality is showing more and more each day.

-You love watching Brody play!

-You really love Brody and smile and coo at him when he is near you. The only time you don't seem to really like him is when you are tired and as soon as he walks in the room you start screaming! :) We joke and say you are going to be a big tattle tale! You also start blinking really fast when he gets near you. I think you are nervous and know you are about to get a face full of kisses! He loves you like crazy!

-We celebrated your first Christmas this past month and your first New Years!

-We adore you and we love you so very much!

Snow Day!

We woke-up to several inches of snow this morning! Since the schools were out, MDO was also cancelled, so we had an unexpected day at home. This was our 2nd snow day in 2 weeks.

When I went to get Brody out of bed this morning I told him there was a surprise outside. He ran to the window and was so excited to see all the snow! He quickly ate breakfast, I got him bundled-up, and we headed outside! It was so cute trying to see him walk through all the thick snow. It looks like he is giving me the thumbs-up but really his mitten was just stuck like that! Ha! Have y'all every tried putting mittens or gloves on a 2 year old? It's nearly impossible to get them on the correct way. After at least 10 attempts, I finally just stuck his whole hand into the mitten and just ignored the thumb hole. Trying to clean off his windshield so he could drive! :) He tried to mow the yard but the snow was just to high! He kept saying, "It stuck! It stuck!" The snow piled-up high on our patio furniture! (Notice he is still giving the thumbs-up! Ha!) He looked so little trekking around our backyard. His little feet! These rain boots have come in handy with the snow we have had last week and today! Jillian stayed warm inside while we played outside. I don't think she missed us! :)Brody and I had lunch and then we decided to do a little art project! I made snow flakes out of coffee filters and let Brody color them. Then we hung them in the kitchen using some raffia. I love seeing his artwork in our house! Josh worked today but he and Brody were able to play in the snow before it got too dark! They threw the ball!And played chase around the backyard!It was a fun ending to our snow day!