Sunday dinner

I love Sundays.  Josh is home, we get to go to church, get some things done around the house, run errands together, and we have the time to make a delicious dinner on the grill.  Today was no exception, except for the church part...we were all too tired when we woke up this morning to make it.  We got to spend the day at the pool with Josh's mom and brother yesterday and I think the sun took it's tole on Jeffery and me.  By the way, he had so much fun playing in the water.  I think he is going to be a little fish like his daddy!

Okay, so back to Sundays.  Tonight we decided to grill squash, zucchini, and pork chops.  We used marinade from Town and Country in Greensboro, recommended to us by Uncle Jeff and Diane (thank you!) and it was delicious!!  We also had spinach salad with sunflower seeds and blue cheese crumbles.  I don't think I had ever tried blue cheese before because it looks/smells gross, but Josh convinced me to try it tonight on my salad.  I was shocked at how much I liked it.  The cheese mixed with sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette was a party in my mouth.  Jeffery scarfed down several pieces of zucchini and squash (I am so proud of my veggie-loving toddler) and he also enjoyed some spaghetti-o's.  I know, I know, but I didn't want to feed him pork chops just yet (he only has 5 teeth).  He loved his dinner as much as we loved ours and I got a few hilarious pictures of him feeding himself.

Happy Sunday evening!  We are ready for another crazy week. 

1st Mother's Day

     My first Mother's Day was wonderful.  As usual, Josh did a fabulous job of gift giving.  I got a beautiful necklace with a cross made out of diamonds.   It's so nice and Jeffery picked it out...even better.  :-)  I also got another surprise.  Josh had our favorite picture enlarged and put onto a canvas to hang in our house.  It's actually the picture that I have at the top of my blog, taken by my lovely friend Meg Cline!  It is so sweet.  I just love my little family!
     We had a nice, relaxing morning together and then we got to visit our mamas too.  We visited with my parents for a while and Jeffery showed off his new walking-with-assistance skills.  He loves to push his little V-tech learning walker around and around!  After he took a short nap we headed over to Josh's mom's for a delicious dinner.  It had been a while since I had steak and potatoes and it did not disappoint.  I had a wonderful day and definitely felt the love.  I got sweet cards from Josh and Jeffery and from my mother-in-law.  None of them quite compared to the surprise that was waiting for me when I picked up Jeffery on Monday afternoon.  He thought it would be nice to give me one last Mother's Day gift.

     Quite possibly the sweetest gift I have ever been given.  I cried my eyes out while reading the poem in the car.  I think I will keep this for the rest of my life.  You really can't understand the love that a parent feels for their child until you have your own!  I am so in love with this little boy.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there who are in love with their little boys/girls, no matter how old they are!

Birthday Planning!

I can not believe that Jeffery is already 10.5 months old.  I know everyone says that it goes by so fast, but I honestly can't believe it has almost been a year.  I feel lots of things when I think about his rapidly approaching birthday: sadness, excitement, disbelief, pride.  It's hard to explain it.  I am so proud of my little boy and the loving, smart person he is becoming right before my eyes.  I am so excited for him that he is growing up and learning how to do new things.  But, I am also sad that my days of calling him "my baby" are almost over.  I told Josh last night, I don't really want to have another baby- I just want to rewind Jeffery back to his newborn days and do it all over again. 

Anyway, it is exciting to think about his birthday coming up, especially planning the party!  I love planning/hosting events and crafting so of course I am enjoying the process of 1st birthday preparation because I get to do lots of planning, organizing, and crafting.  We have chosen Ernie and Rubber Ducky for our theme because that is Jeffery's favorite.  He LOVES Ernie and he loves to watch Ernie sing the rubber ducky song.  We discovered this when he was only 4 months old and I was just browsing YouTube videos for songs to sing with baby.  For some reason, the rubber ducky song caught his eye and it was like trying to get Josh's attention when there is a Braves game on the television.  After his surgery in November we gave him a little Ernie doll as a get well gift and his eyes just lit up like he found his new best friend.  He still loves his Ernie and drags him around the house with him while he plays.  And so, my party theme was born.  :)  

Unfortunately, Ernie is not the most popular Sesame Street character (thanks a lot, Elmo) so it has been a challenge to find any decorations/accessories that feature him and not the rest of the Sesame Street gang.  Apparently, rubber ducky birthdays are VERY popular, so I have kind of focused on that and will be throwing in a few random Ernie touches to tie it all together.   So far I have made a birthday wreathe our of multicolored balloons (a super east project and SO cute), blue and yellow tissue paper pom poms (also super easy), and a rubber ducky banner for the mantle.  Yes, I made the entire banner, even the rubber duckies (Josh thought I printed them out).  I like how everything has turned out so far!  So, my nap-time craft projects will continue until I have enough decorations to ensure that there will be no mistaking what the theme of this party is.     

My first post!

I decided to try the blogging thing just because if people are as interested in my life as I think they are, this is long overdue!  Hopefully it will at least help keep family and close friends updated on the happenings in our household.  

We had J's 9 month check-up today and he is doing great.  He is around the 85th percentile for his length, weight, and head circumference.  Today, he weighed in at a hefty 21lbs5oz.  It's hard to believe he has gained 14 pounds since his birthday.  Having a 9 month old is so much fun.  He is so happy.  He sleeps through the night.  He loves reading, eating, and banging things together.  He sleeps through the night.  He loves to give us kisses and snuggle a little bit.  He is the cutest little crawler you have ever seen.  He laughs and smiles all the time.  And, did I mention he sleeps through the night?  There are things I miss about having a newborn, but the sleep schedule is not one of them.

I am so proud of my soon to be toddler.  Of course, everyone thinks their child is the smartest thing to ever walk the face of the Earth; but mine...well, he totally is.  I can't even explain the pride he fills me with.  He waved today.  It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.  He was so proud of himself for discovering how to do it, he just kept doing it over and over, alternating hands.  I was so excited to show Josh his new trick when he got home and fortunately, he performed on demand.  When you tell him to "Say hi!" he gives a big wave.  I am so proud.  He is becoming more independent every day.  I love watching how excited he gets when he figures out how to do something for the first time.  Last week he finally pulled himself up to stand.  He has been pulling himself up to his knees for a while, but the first time he stood up he looked like he had just won the MegaMillions (which we did not, by the way).  Just look at how happy he was!

Every day he discovers something new.  He helps keep me grounded and reminds me what is really important in this world.  

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."
--William Saroyan