Christmas Pictures, The weight-loss journey, and a few other things....

Boy, oh Boy...where do I start this blog? We'll start with Christmas pictures. It took a few tries, but I FINALLY got a few good pictures to place inside the Christmas cards this year! (And to share with the blog world too!)

The Weight-loss Journey has taken a surprise turn. As of this morning I am down 29.2lbs! Yay. Rejoice with me while you can because I have a little feeling that it won't last much longer because...........

Yes, you read that correctly! (And thanks to Elena and I'm sure her addiction to Pinterest for the Photo idea!) Jayton and Jonah will be big brothers at the end of June. That places me at about 11wks currently. As a side note to the weight-loss journey, I've actually lost around 10lbs since being pregnant. Don't freak out on me just yet... my Doc says it's perfectly ok. I'm eating healthier and not as much (Morning sickness....that last all day) so only natural that I would lose weight.

So, how many am I having this time?? 2..3...4..NOPE. Just 1! You may rest assured, there was just one little bean in there this time. JB refuses to believe it since he wasn't at the Dr appointment with me, but I have ASSURED him that one at a time is enough. I even asked the nurse "Are you SURE, there's just one baby?". She laughed and said "Yes".

Ok.. the adventure begins now! All advice is welcome :)

They are Officially 3!!

I know, it's hard to believe. Seems like I've been telling everyone they are 3 since September, but now I can honestly say it! My precious baby boys turned 3 years old last Sunday. I can hardly believe that 3 years have flown by since my little munchkins made their earthly debut.

Since I wasn't active in the blogger world back then (it was all about Myspace baby!) I would like to re-live all those moments for you right here and now.

So here it is. My Baby Boys: Their life... in pictures.

                                          Here they are the very first time I saw them. 11 weeks

                                             I think this is something like 20 weeks here

                                                                Birthday!

                                                                   

                                    

                                                               Going Home day! 

Baby's First Christmas

 

Jayton is singing "Joy to the World" here in case you couldn't figure it out.

 
                                           Below: February 2009, Dedication Service: 4 months old

                                           Below:        March 2009   5 months old

Above: 9 months old (Blogger is not being my friend today and won't let me load pictures they way I want! So I apologize that the pictures aren't centered and the captions aren't consistent.)
                                                      Below: 1 year old! Aren't they handsome?

               Below: 2 years Old! Seriously... can they get any cuter? I love these little boys!

          And now.... 3 years old (with Daddy!). And notice that Jayton still has his burp cloth!

Stay turned later for Birthday Party fun! It's hard to imagine life without these 2 crazy little boys. JB and I talk about it often: how life has changed since babies and what in the world did we do... actually DO.. before we had kids. But most importantly, what did we spend all of our money on before kids?!

I love you Jayton and Jonah! You two are Mommy's favorite little boys in the whole world!

Weight-loss Journey: Week #17, I believe.

No time for a long blog. Just wanted to stop in and keep you informed. As of Tuesday night, I was down 23lbs. That's 23 down and 97 to go! God is blessing me more and more everyday when I just learn to entrust all things (even my body) to Him. I feel so much better, eat more healthy, and my clothes fit better too! Since I've past the 20lbs mark, I'll go ahead and give you a "Before" picture.

                             This was taken June 15, 2011, one day after starting Weight Watchers

                             And.... this was taken a few days ago, around October 15, 2011.

Pretty convincing, huh? Looking at these pictures is the only way that I can really tell. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement!

Until, next time.....

Strawberry Pretzel Salad... and the dignity that went with it.

It all started so innocently: I needed to make a quick trip to the grocery store.

It was Monday, Bible study night, and yours truly was in charge of the dessert portion of the festivities. After deciding what to make it was determined that I needed a few things from the Pig. Seeing that Strawberry Pretzel salad contains Jello and needs time to "jell", there was no way  I could wait for JB to get home from work. I had to make a hasty decision and throw caution to the wind to make the quick trip ALONE with 2 little boys to the Grocery Store. (Note: this is not the first time I have done this...by the way. But other times have gone MUCH more smoothly. MUCH MUCH more smoothly).

They were excited about going to the store... a little TOO excited. I'll now clue you in why: JB will usually go to the store and take 1 boy (I repeat.. 1 boy) with him and let him push the little buggy. I saw this coming.. really I did, so when we pulled into the parking lot, I made it very clear that Mommy was in a hurry and that they were just going to sit in the big buggy. So far.. so good.

We enter the store. I grab Jayton and put him in the big buggy, and before I could scoop up Jonah... it happened. He saw the little buggy and was heading for it like it was the last cookie in the jar. Did he not remember our little discussion in the car? Of course not. Seeing Jonah with the little buggy (or "baby-one" as they call it), caused Jayton have the fit of all fits. "My push baby one... my push baby one" he screamed. Being the adaptable mother that I am, (And also disregarding my previous conversation with them in the car) I briefly thought "OK, there is only one little buggy, but maybe we can make this work if they will BOTH push the buggy and they will stop screaming and everyone will stop looking and I can get my shopping trip done without someone calling DHR". Alas.... this extremely complicated idea did NOT work, much to my avail. Jonah, did NOT want to share his little buggy and Jayton did not want to share it with Jonah.

Again, being the adaptable mother that I am, I totally abandoned the grocery store all together. Seriously.... I just left. Gone. Out the door. I scooped both boys up and headed for the hills car where we had another little chat, (which, I'm sad to say had about as much effect as the first little chat) about how we do NOT EVER EVER EVER do things like that in the store. I would have gone home, but like I said, I HAD to go back in there to buy groceries and reclaim my dignity. Face my fears. Show the world that I am, indeed, SuperMom!

Upon entering the store again one of the cashiers, obviously noting that I was indeed NOT SuperMom and that I was having trouble controlling my children, said "We have 2 little buggies now, if you want them". But.. I had firmly planted my feet down and wasn't moving on the issue. I declined her kind offer and stated that I would tote my groceries around in my purse before I let them have one of those buggies right now. (Now... I didn't really say that... but that's what I was thinking. I couldn't come up with a clever comeback at the moment since I was trying to remain invisible with 2 screaming toddlers, so I saved the really good ones for the Blog.)

I finished my shopping trip with 2 boys in a big buggy both screaming at the top of their lungs the whole time "My push baby one... wahhh(fake cry).. wahh... My push baby one...wahh...wahhh". Needless to say, it was the most embarrassing trip to the Pig I have ever been a part of, to date. I paid for my items, grabbed them both by the hand and dragged the back out to the car. By the time we went the 2 blocks home, we were all crying. I told them to take off their shoes and get to bed...now. Sensing my anger dissatisfaction of the trip, they decided it was time to obey Mommy, and they shed their shoes and crawled in bed.

When they woke up from their nap, they both apologized for their behavior in the store and promised never to do it again (stay tuned for future store-melt-down blogs that will make me regret writing this!!). Then I got some good snuggle time with my boys and finally made my Strawberry-pretzel salad... which was a hit, by the way! After the day that I'd had, though, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had tasted like poop.

One day, I'm sure I'll look back on this and laugh. I love my boys too much not to!

P.S: No employees of the Pig, or customers were harmed in the making of this melt-down. To all those present at 11:30am, 10-17-11, have my sincerest apologies and I'm glad we all made it out alive.

I really should be doing my homework...

Geez Louise, it's been a while since I've blogged. I tell you: I am knee waist  collar-bone deep in school work right about now. And if you can picture someone collar-bone deep in something, that usually means they are pert-near drowning. (You like the way I used that southern word "pert-near"? I'm not going to define it, because I gar-un-tee you all know what it means.). In fact, while writing this blog on the foreground, in the background my mind is saying "You've got a test tomorrow, a HUGE research paper due tomorrow, and 3 more chapters of Homework due... tomorrow. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" Well, self, I'm blabbing blogging about my life.

Family update: The boys are growing, as normal toddlers do. Their vocabulary is increasing everyday (and some of those words I can actually understand!) Although, there are still a few, what I like to call "Jonah-isms". I believe you'd heard me mention before about several, but for reference sake (and translations sake!) I'll give you a brief dictionary or rather Thesaurus .

"Chick Nolk" : Chocolate Milk
"Eye Ya": Jayton
"Dawn-Dawn" : Jonah
"Boo Boo": My mother, his Grand-ma (although she may sometimes be referred to as "G-ma")
"Duck-Duck": Uncle Nick
"Wayne Wayne" Michael Wayne
"Cease Toe": Cisgo
"Cheenk Tot": Pop Tart
"Dig Dump": Backhoe, tractor, etc.
"Push Dirt": Bull Dozer
"Budn Budn": Car

And the list goes on. He is quite the little creative fellow! Jayton is better at pronouncing his words correctly and rarely does Jayton just make a new word for something, like Jonah. However, several of the above words are used by both boys.

I have to tell you this funny story, though before I move on to something else. The other night, while sitting in a parking lot after it had rained, Jonah looks out the window and sees several cars parked on top of puddles. After hearing his Mama reiterate this point many MANY times, he proceeds to inform me (and you may have to use the above Thesaurus to translate a few words)
Jonah: "Uh-oh, Mama. Those Budn budns pee peed in the floor"
Me (wanting to use this as a learning opportunity):"I see, Jonah. They really shouldn't have done that, should they? Where should Pee pee go"
Jonah: "In the potty.------Mama, You gonna clean it up?"

Enough about kids (Don't worry... I'll post more about Jayton next time. Don't won't the little booger feeling left out!)

JB's birthday was this past weekend. Maybe I should do a tribute to JB blog? Hmm.. something to think about.

Weight-loss Update: Down 19.6lbs. Just a mere .4lbs away from the big 20! Hopefully, I reach that milestone next week. So, I'm a little behind on my goals, but I'm not going to let that discourage me. (Nutella does enough to discourage me, but I'll save that for a later blog!). Also, 20 inches lost and my pants are starting fall down by the end of the day. Still not enough to constitute buying new clothes or opening up the tubs with the "One day I will wear this again" label, but we're getting closer every week. For now, a belt should do fine.

Until we meet again........

Long Time, No Blog

Well, here I am. I know that all of you avid readers have been waiting on pins and needles for me to sit my tushie down and go on and on about our life. I know you are... admit it. After all, we have nothing better to do, right? Just kidding.

So what, might you say, does a woman who only works 1 day a week have ELSE to do besides blog, or knit, crochet, or make various other crafty homemade decor?? (Not that I do any of those things, mind you). I considered writing them all down, but figured I would get tired before I was done. Plus, it's probably not more than any of you other Mommies do. Most of my free time is spent doing homework in my quest to finally graduate college. All of my courses are online, so I have the opportunity to do it at home (in between "More Juice, pease" and "I dotta pee-pee in da Paaaaaahdee" and "My watch Bob and Lahwy"). However, It does mean that I spend a LOT of time on the computer. I try to spend as much time as I can with my boys, though, just to make sure they know that their Mommy's face is not silver and says "DELL" across the front. (I'm writing this as they are sleeping right now, so no need for me to feel guilty.) Sometimes I think that I've just got too much on my plate. But, not really. I'm blessed to be trusted with so much responsibility. That means that God has faith in ME to do His will in many things.

Ok enough about how busy I am, and why I haven't blogged (In fact, the only reason I have time to write this blog is I'm waiting on my Professor to e-mail me back about some questions I had for her!)

Weight-Loss Update:
As of Tuesday night, I'm down -17.6lbs. (Celebrations all around) As you may remember, at the beginning of my journey I posted some goals. The first one was that I would have lost 20lb by my anniversary. Did I make it? No. But that's ok. I got within 5 lbs. My next goal isn't until October 31st, so I'll just have to try a little harder to reach this one.

No pictures this post... sorry. 

5 Wonderful Years!

***I know this is normally the time that I would blog about The Weight-Loss, but I'll update on that in a later posting. Last time I left you here, I promised a blog to celebrate 5 years with JB so here goes!**

JB and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past Saturday September 3rd. 5 years!?! That seems both so far away, yet just like it was yesterday. I was trying to think of a clever way to write this blog, but I never could decide. Should I recap in detail our dating experience, or should I just hi-light the past 5 years all together? I finally narrowed it down to a time-line format. Here's the short version/time-line of our entire lives together

April 25, 2006: JB contacts me via email on a dating website
***I could go into a lot of detail on this, but we'll just have to save it for a later blog.
May 3, 2006: JB and I talk for the first time on the phone
May 13, 2006: JB and I meet for the first time and have our first date. Concert, bodyguards, Cracker Barrell, etc... you know. regular date night stuff.
May 20, 2006: JB and I have our 2nd date (alone, this time). By the end of the date I have 7 missed calls from people checking on me. Apparently JB seemed like a shady kind of character.
Memorial Day, 2006: Josh declares that he is in love with me, but I don't return the favor.

Friday after Memorial Day 2006: JB and I are in a fender-bender on our way to my VBS commencement. This causes me to be late and for a brief moment several people think I've been abducted by JB (Again... I really don't think he looks that's shady!)
1st week of June 2006:  I go to Myrtle Beach for a week with our Praise Band and discover that I miss JB terribly. Therefore, I must have been bit by the love bug also. I tell him that later in a phone call from the beach.
Last week of June, 2006: JB takes off on a Mission Trip to Alaska for 10 days.

July 10 2006: JB proposes and I accept. Wedding is scheduled for December 17, 2006

1st week of August, 2006: Wedding is rescheduled for September 3, 2006
Whole month of August: Chaos ensues as wedding plans and showers go into high gear at the sound of the wedding being moved up from 5 months to 5 weeks.
September 3, 2006: We Wed! At 3:00 pm on Sunday after church at Clairmont Springs

September 4-11,2006: The Honeymoon

End of September 2006: The Charge is added to our family after my discovery of a mouse trying to climb out of the garbage disposal

December 2006: Our first Christmas
September 2007: Our first Anniversary
Thanksgiving Day 2007: Sad news as JB and I realize that we've lost our first baby at 2 months pregnant.
April 12,2007: JB and I discover that we are having another baby
May 11, 2007: JB and I discover that we are having 2 babies!

November 20, 2008: Babies are here!

October 2010: JB and I move the family back to Clay County

OK, well that's pretty much the main points of our lives together. I know that there are several points that I left out, but I can't get them all in one blog. I can't wait to blog again in 2016 and let you all in on all the stuff from now until then! To all of those that are hoping to avoid the mushy-gushy you can stop reading now.

To JB: I love you so much! You're such a blessing to me and I don't know what I'd do without you. I love the Godly example that you set for our boys and I can only pray that they each grow up to be a Man of God like you. Thanks for 5 great years and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of our lives.