Pintrest Explosion!

Our dinning room has had empty walls basically since we moved in. I had a few things upbut they just did not seem to go well. Enter Pintrest to save the day!

Here is the room before. Just kinda bare. Nothing fancy. The lighting in this picture is pretty bad, sorry!

I loved this idea, and the kids had so much fun helping me with it! I have it hanging on that blank wall to the right of that window in the picture. It is actually between two windows, but you can only see the one in this picture.

Then I worked on our family Bible center. I got a random scrap of wood and pray painted it yellow, then put a decal on it that says "For the Bible tells me so". I took an old mirror I had and used chalkboard paint on it. Ta da! Now we can write verses on it that we are looking at together! It is right at our table which is perfect for family meal time. Oh, and yes I did make roman shades out of cheap mini blinds. It was super easy!

 And here is my precious niece, Miss Ella! Yep, I know, you cold just kiss that face all day!

Are you being brave and trying out things on pintrest????

Crafty And Surrounded By Pregnancy!

 Have I mentioned that there are like 70 pregnant ladies at our church? (that may or may not be a tiny exaggeration) I am surrounded by big bellies and new babies! And these two things make me want to sew. I have been sewing a lot these days.


I started off with nursing covers. Lots and lots of nursing covers. So easy to make! I can't believe people pay $30.00 for these things!

Then I fell in love with making taggie type blankets. Also incredibly easy and I love how personal you can make them.  

Then I got brave and tried my hand at a boppy cover. When I finished I thought I was something else! I was so proud of myself. I made it start to finish in 45 min! Then I looked on Etsy and realized that lots of other people are making these covers too. Oh well, it is still fun to make them as gifts. 

And last but not least, look at these kids? Aren't they precious! Makes me sad to see how big they look in this picture.

Say Cheese!

"Jayce, say cheese."

Wordless Wednesday: Monkey See Monkey Do!

Monkey See...

Monkey Do...

But not without a little help from Daddy and his #1 helper ;-)

Yes, Jayce is wearing a tu-tu.... don't judge us!

Thing 1 & Thing 2

My girl and my boy are growing up way too fast. As Jayce gets older, photo shoots are harder and harder. Somehow I got these 2 shots of the kids in their new shirts just before the rain started the other evening.

Look Out Babe!

Hey

Babe

Don't

Move.

There

Is

Something

Behind

You

A

Giant

Shrimp!

No worries, he's friendly!

One Room Down!

...plenty more to go! I can't believe we have been in our house since January. I still feel like we are getting settled, even though we are quite settled. We have worked on different rooms trying to make them ours but I feel like the progress is slow. We have finished the play room, basically finished our bathroom (to the point we need to right now), finished the living room and finished Jayce's room. The kitchen is still an eye sore but it functions (for a single person, but hey it functions) and our bedroom has yet to be touched but we haven't lost sleep over it yet. Poor Lula Mae keeps asking us when we are going to paint her room so she is next on the list. When we took down the boarder in her room it really messed things up. We have a lot of work ahead of us to get her room ready to paint. She is being so patient but I am ready to give her the big girl room she deserves. But enough of my rambling, I came here to show you Jayce's room!

The owl was my inspiration for the room
(This picture is the only one that really shows the color of the room well. The lighting was horrible so just remember that when you look at the rest of the pictures. Continue on now...)

This is the owls tree

This is the other tree that balances out the other tree

View of both trees

Jayce's toy box, closet and shelf

You can't see it well but the painting says "Jayce"

Jayce's teeny tiny little bitty baby feet and his one year frame (minus his 12 month photo because I am slack and haven't printed pictures in... a while...)

Someone really loves his room :-)

Slow Progress

We have been living in our home for 6 months now. When we moved in I was overwhelmed at the amount of work that needed to be done inside and outside. Well, we are starting to finally see some of our work pay off. This is what the outside of the house looked like when we moved in. There was tons of overgrown shrubs, a crazy fence that needed to come down, the baby blue shutters were in desperate need of new paint.



So look at what we have now! We still have quite a long list of things to do, but we are happy to be seeing progress!


I will have a few pictures from the inside soon!

My Boy

I feel like I am constantly updating you on Lula Mae, and never tell you about Jayce. hangs head in shame So today is all about my boy. Jayce just turned a year old, and I still just can't believe it! He is growing up way too fast! He is quite a tiny little guy... even now, weighing 17 lbs and being only 27 inches tall. He takes after his Mommy I guess! He is a smart little man too, but he likes to keep it a secret. He is reading about 6 or 7 words.... when he wants to! Stubborn I tell ya, stubborn to the core! From the day he was born he has been quite attached to me. I guess I can't complain about that ;-) unless of course I need to get something done....

He is a cuddly little guy. He just loves to be held in general! He like to know someone is right there I guess. He is much more affectionate that his sister.

Some times he seems more needy than his sister. He is just 100% different than Lula Mae which I guess I was not really prepared for when he was born. I knew they would be different, but I thought some things would be the same.... WRONG! This guy is totally unique in what he likes, what he needs, what he prefers.

His favorite thing? Putting things in his mouth! It has been since he was able to get things to his mouth on his own!

No really... everything goes straight to the mouth!

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! He also really loves eating paper. We call him our billy goat. If he gets his hands on any paper product, he is going to eat it! Even cardboard... he will just gnaw on it until it is soft enough for him to eat! I can't leave this child alone with a book. Lets just say he really enjoys a good book ;-)

He sleeps with a stuffed Pluto so when we got to meet the real Pluto, he just laid all over him. He didn't want to let him go! He is quite the animal lover actually. He loves Eric and Heahter's dogs and is really loving out new cat. He is so gentle!


This boy is an outdoors-man. This may be the one thing he and Lula Mae have in common. Both my little ones love to be outside. I loathe being outside by the way... yep I'm that girl! While we were waiting to see the Fantasmic show at Disney Hollywood Studios... aka: THE most amazing show in the world... Jayce joined in on doing "the wave" with everyone. I think he would have a fun time at a ball game!


Typically, Jayce is grouchy. He has been since birth. I am not saying he is a bad baby, just cranky. There are times when he is super happy, but they are not that often. He isn't always crying... but whines a lot. When he smiles, I try to praise him and bask in it while it lasts. He has his good days where he is happier than normal, but for the most part I see this a lot...


This is his usual face. He is such a somber baby and keeps a serious look on his face most of the day. When I look at him I feel like he has an old soul. I feel like he is going to be a person who feels others pain. I feel like he will be one of those guys who is great to talk to and is always there with a shoulder to cry on.


I pray for his spirit daily. I pray so many things for him, but mostly I pray that he knows Jesus and loves him with all of his heart, all of his mind and all of his soul. Jayce could use your prayers too if you are a prayer warrior. Shortly after he was born he was diagnosed with reflux. Since then he has been on medication to help control it. Typically at a year a child is ready to be weaned from it... not sweet Jayce. He still needs it or he has horrible choking fits and grunts because the acid is hurting his throat. Pray for healing for him. It is getting better, but I want so badly for him to be medication free, for once. Also, he has eczema. It started off as just a few spots on his legs. Slowly it has covered his legs and feet. Then it creeped onto his arms... to his belly.... and now covering his neck and back. He scratches constantly and often has tiny cuts all over if I fail to trim his nails the moment they grow at all. I feel like my sweet baby is never comfortable. We just got a higher, stronger medication to put on him, but it is one of those things where I just want him to not need it at all. I want him to be normal and feel good. I know that God will heal him in His time, but I would ask you to pray for healing for him in this too. I think these two things kinda lead him to be a bit more grouchy.

I feel like Jayce needs me differently than Lula Mae did at his age. If I were being honest, I would say he needs me way more. I feel like maybe he will need me more for the rest of his life. I love this little guy to much! He knows just how to melt my heart :-)

So this is how Mr. Jayce is right now. Growing, changing and learning so fast!

Could We Add More Hours To The Day Please?

I am in the process of trying to make a vacation slide show of all our pictures. There are so many and I want you to see all of them! But posting that many photos would take.... well f-o-r-e-v-e-r! So, I thought I would just show you a few comparison photos for now.

Lula Mae's 1st birthday morning

Jayce's 1st birthday morning

Lula Mae swimming with Daddy 2009

Lula Mae swimming with Daddy 2011

Riding the carousel 2009

Riding the carousel 2011

Downtown Disney September 2009

Downtown Disney 2011

Now I am off to work on the budget, work on plans for Lula Mae's party this weekend, do some laundry, clean up a bit.... oh the list goes on! I hope your week has started off great!

Happy Birthday Jayce

The day before we went to Magic Kingdom in September of 2009 I get the positive test. I was so excited to tell Charlie in our favorite place. And this is how you began Jayce.

Then you grew and grew and grew. You gave me no sickness (sweet boy!) but nearly ruined my bladder with infection after infection (shame on you!). Overall my pregnancy was great. Sure towards the end I had trouble getting off the couch and had nothing that resembled ankles, but still it was great!

At 8:41 on May 4, 2010 you were born. Jayce Moreland had arrived! All 7 pounds (even) and 19 3/4 inches of you were perfect. Your labor was fantastic and your birth was even better! I enjoyed every moment of it! I also loved that every doctor and nurse that walked in the door wanted to know if you were a c-section baby because your head was so round. Nope :-) I just got you out fast!

Our family of 4 was together after 8 and a half long months of waiting.

Your sister was intrigued by you. She was pretty in love too (secretly).

Once we were home I began preparing you for your birthday trip to Disney World. Your blood cells are probably shaped like tiny Mickey Mouse heads.

I began taking a million pictures of you... and I haven't stopped!

When you have something so sweet to photograph why would you want to stop?

You and your sister bonded well.

And you began to grow....

... and change. And you began to look just like your momma.

You just kept getting bigger. We finally got your reflux under control and you were a much happier little guy.

Your first vacation was not so fun for you. You are your mothers child... the beach is not your favorite place in the world (mine either darling!).

Is it possible that your sweet face got cuter?

It was not long before you were attempting to get on the move. Scooting around came naturally to you. This is when your adventurous side came out :-)

Your best friend is your sister.... or at least you think so. She is starting to wonder about you getting into her toys and other things. She is rethinking this whole "big sister" job all of a sudden.

Crawling didn't last long and you went for the upright position. Standing up and cruising was so easy for you. Not to mentioned it was your favorite thing to do!

Your poor eczema kept getting worse and worse. Then, your dandruff started up. You are going to be my sensitive child for sure.

You just got so big so fast, looking like a little man. Could it be that my baby was really about to be walking?

You have grown so fast little one. You are such a boy. You love to explore, nothing seems to stop you or hold you back, you adore hats, baths make you giddy and being outside is your very favorite. You love to watch your sister play and love even more for her to play with you. Your laugh is musical and your smile is mystical. The fact that you can whistle is hilarious. I love to listen to you snore over the baby monitor. You are reading more words than you let on, but I'm okay with that.... you can be shy about it if you want. You love to play rough with your Daddy and to hug and snuggle with your Mommy. I am so blessed to be able to call you my son. God has given us an amazing year with you and I pray that he gives us many more. I pray that your heart is focused on God and you learn to serve others. I pray that you walk the path God has laid for you. I am excited to watch you grow and see what God has in store for you. I love you more than words can say.

Happy First Birthday Jayce!

I can't believe it has been a year....