A Boy's Best Friend

It is no secret that J's favorite person in the world is DADDY! From the moment they laid eyes on each other it was love at first site!!

This is a daily site... Daddy coming through the doors and J (puppies in tow) waiting to see him.

Hugs Hugs and

MORE HUGS

J's "Samori" kiss which is basically touching foreheads. He especially likes to do this to his sissy!!

I have always loved how special J and N's relationship is. They are truly best buddies, however there are 2 new best buddies on the horizon that are going to vie Daddy a run for his money!! And they are:

Miss Lola!

And Miss Lilly!

J just loves loves loves his puppies! Every morning we have to say lots of "hi doggy" "hi poopy (puppy)" and lots of hugs or attempted hugs because Lilly and Lola aren' quite as certain about squeezes from J as he is about giving them. But truly his Daddy and his puppy's are 3 of his best friends. They all bring big smiles to his face and so much joy to his little heart. I LOVE seeing him light up when he sees them!

I had to add this picture because really does it get any cuter than this little boy???!! SOOOOO in love with this little person!

Grandma to the Rescue!

Grandma E came down for a very quick 48 hour trip to help us with the kiddos while I was gone for a work event. I realized just under a week ago that I had made a scheduling mistake with our nanny and although I thought I had coverage for the little peeps, opps I did not! That is when Grandma E to the rescue happened. We sent her a very enticing email offering her the exclusive opportunity to watch a 5.5 month old and 22 month old (sounds fun right??!) and she took the bait! It was such a blessing to focus on my work and know the kids where in good hands. J loves his Grandma E very much and in fact likes to follow her around and hollar at the gate when she tries to go to the bathroom alone (how dare she!). Grandma E reads to him, plays with him, creates with him and just entertains his every fun wish. It is a special treat for J to have her here. She also got a chance to know B better and after a few hours she warmed right up and they had a good ol time. I am so grateful for 2 sets of grandparents that love our kids so much and jump at the chance to spend time with them and create such special memories. Thanks Grandma E!

B's arm looks a bit uncomfortable in this pic, but she loves her brother!

J played "pennies" with Grandma E which involves putting them in and out of the container and other places. This is a very fun game for him

Kitty Cupcake warmed right up to Grandma

Smiles all around

Grandma E with her favorite grandkids (and only)

Love this happy picture

J enjoying Grandma's special spaghetti sauce that she brought with her!

Happy kids and a happy Mommy too! Thanks Grandma E!

Big Girl's Don't Cry

We finally got B in for her "4" month appointment even though she is actually closer to 6 months. Travel and coughs etc held up this appointment so we were looking forward to seeing how our Cupcake was doing! We were delighted to find out that Cupcake is now in the 40% for both weight and height! This is after a 2 month "weight gain plan" (wouldn't it be fun to be on one of those!!). B is doing just lovely and progressing nicely. We noticed a week ago that her right foot/ankle seems to be turning out. We asked the doctor and she referred us to an orthopedic who we will see Aug 1st. Hopefully nothing is wrong or it will be a simple fix with special shoes or a brace. We are trusting the Lord with our sweet B who brings us insurmountable joy!!

B Rocking Kayla Rose Design

Love this little outfit and she loves her daddy!

She really really likes her excersisor!

She loves to play on the floor especially when her brother comes over and plays with her too! She recently started to army crawl and is getting around on the floor quite nicely!

One Man's Trash...

I like to find "Treasures" these include items at the consignment shop, craigslist and sometimes just plan old trash yard sales (you know your a redneck when...). There is no shame in my bargain game and nothing is off limits! I have found so many great deals on kids stuff for a fraction of the price and I also sell EVERYTHING ( and I do mean everything!) on craigslist, often using that money to buy more needed and un-needed kids items! J loves the items I find and he also loves just trash in general and uses it to entertain himself. So kinda random but fun!

J LOVES his $3 slide that I got at a trash yard sale... I mean this is the south we are talking about!

Found this treasure at the consignment shop and works like a charm!

And then there are empty cartons, water bottles, containers etc. Anthing with a cap J loves! I mean why even buy toys when you can just dumpter dive! (joke)

Love his little spirit!

You Know Your Getting Old...

When you LOVE to COUPON! Yes it is hard to believe but N and I absolutely LOVE to coupon. We took a class from a professional couponer about 6 weeks ago and it has really changed our life. We look at grocery shopping totally different now. On average we are saving around 70% on all our groceries, diapers, formula, toiletries and household items. It is hard to believe and it does not involve dumpster diving for coupons or couponing for hours on end etc. It involves planning and really wanting and believing in saving money. On average I spend about 2 hours a week couponing and than about 45 min shopping. It has been so fun and rewarding!

Total spent $3!

Spent $70 (retail: $181)

FREE!! Only paid tax!

Pretty amazing savings!

Spent $81 (retail: $223)

If you ever have a chance to take a coupon class from a professional totally worth it! It really is so much fun!!

The Joys of a Sharpie Pen

J has become quite the little Dennis the Menace lately. He is on the go 100% of the time and I find myself self saying, "No J", "Don't touch that", "Put that down", "No sir" and "Oh my goodness no no no!" several times a day! One of our recent memorable events involved a sharpie pen, our couch and of course J! Our Nanny who helps a few times a week was here and she went to put B down to sleep. When she got back downstairs J had somehow managed to get on top of the table, retrieve a blue sharpie pen, get back down and scribble all over our couch, and I do mean all over! Ever cushion and several pillows had huge scribbles on them. He also decided the floor needed some sharpie love. Needless to say our sweet Nanny, who is excellent and we love, was mortified!!! I am sure she thought it was curtains for her. But N and I could hardly be mad, this could have happened to us easily because this was the  first time J managed to figure out how to get on the table!!! Luckily with N's diligent work (3 hours long!) and a little (ok ALOT) of rubbing alcohol, he was able to get the marker out. We are hoping with a professional clean the dull "dirty" look our couch has will permanently be gone!
I find that most days I am in a cold sweat by the time N gets home from work. If it is not going up and down several times to put B down for her nap (Ever 1.5 hours) it is chasing after J, cleaning up a spill, trying to stop some kind of atomic bomb going off that J has created. It is an interesting time in the E household! I fall into bed at night and can't believe what I use to do with my time pre kids. I  mean really, what the heck did I do with all my time??? (shower daily? Sleep more than 5 hours a night? Sit down and eat slowly? hmmmm, those might be it).
It is all worth it though...sharpie pen and all!

This little face melts my heart. I mean really is he mine???!!

This series of pics are so funny cause they are a great example of his little mischievous mind at work!

Notice an empty pill bottle in his hand. He LOVES to take the caps off!

 

Hmmmm, what's over there I can get into?

We Love you J! You bring so much sunshine into

our life!!

Happy Birthday America

We are home from our marathon trip to the Motherland, but that will have to wait for another post! Before we left we took some (clearly) unprofessional pictures on the state capitol grounds, which I think are so lovely. It is almost a comedy act with a 22 month old and a 5 month old but I still feel like it was worth the time, effort and sweat! Thanks B for being such an awesome photographer!

She is an American woman!

She found this ribbon very amusing!

Look at this little love

One of the few pictures he cooperated for

Future president of America

If not looking at the camera or cooperating qualified as an excellent picture we would always have award winning snaps!!

On the 4th of July we went to an Art & the Park, ate awesome Indian tacos and had a fun cookout with family and the H's. Interestingly enough this was the first year in 6 years I did not see one fireworks (last time was when I was stranded in a run down French hotel after we missed our flight coming back from our awesome Mediterranean cruise!) J was a disaster and we decided to forgee the fun capital celebration and put him to bed on schedule. N and I enjoyed a night on the couch and to bed early. Yes we live an exciting life.

Our Motherland trip is over and we are back in the DIRRTTTY South. SOOOOOOOOO good to be home where there are baby gates and fabric that is not beautiful and expensive that can be ruined with pens and markers.

Clean Air

We have been having a great time in the Motherland where the air is so clean! Coming from a busy city that also has a pollution problem we marvel at how clean the air is up here. Of course there is only .5 million people in the entire state so that may be part of it!

J has been LOVING the outdoors and is outside at any and every opportunity!

J poured water on himself or abour 30 mins straight! He loved the pool and needless to say we will be purchasing a bigger one for our backyard when we get home. He entertained himself in the pool for 2 hours!

He was very amused by the water and pouring it in and out of the pool over and over again

Helping Papa mow was J's favorite thing of all time. He is just obsessed with the lawn mower and when lawn mowing fun is over it usually leads to a massive 2 year old breakdown. We only hope his love for mowing will last well into his teenage years.

awww yes what's better than a pool, a hose to add more water in and out of the pool. J LOVED this!

Cousin time has been very amusing. It usually involves my J tormenting his cousin J. This includes stealing his animal crackers, toys and pretty much everything else he has! This picture is very indicative of their current personalities!

awww another classic picture of J in his heaven. Outside, with Papa digging in the dirt. These are very precious moments!

Cousin's watching some Sesame Street!

J's love for his sister is so evident. The already have such a special relationship! They have loved being in the Motherland together.

J loves J's wagon and has enjoyed several rides up and down the street, back and forth to Miss B's house and Gram Gram's house.

Papa and Gram Gram with their 2 boys

Sweet pic on the beautiful State Capitol Grounds.

 

the 6 of us trying to get our kids to cooperate...yes it was nearly impossible as this picture indicates

Look at this darling little face! This little boy melts my heart!

B with with GiGi

Kisses!!

Our time in the Motherland is drawing to a end but we have enjoyed ourselves. We are exited to get back to our routine and back to the DIRRRTTYY South but have had a wonderful time with family!!