A little change...

It's amazing what a little paint can do. We have been doing a bit of renovating around here. And by renovating, I mean we hire someone else to paint and build things the way and colors that we wanted. We have been debating painting the fireplace since we moved into this house, and finally took the dive. We don't regret it, yet. We also went back and forth on the outside, too, but I think it turned out well. And, we now have a rail around our porch, so William cannot run off the side again.

Happy Tuesday

Hazel had her first ear infection this week...she has been a little down in the dumps about it. Yesterday, she had to stay home from daycare, so I thought I would get a few pictures of her during naptime. She is a very good but very light sleeper. Even at night, if you go in to check on her she will open her eyes and look up at you like she's been wide awake the whole time. These two pictures are just moments apart...

Sleeping Beauty

Oh, hello there

And this, my friends, is how you eat Mexican food- double-fisted, head back so as to keep as much as possible in the mouth.

Yes, he ate that entire plate by himself.

A few more...

Here are a few more photos from our beach trip. My brother took some for us, too...Thanks, Daniel!

Vacation

We have been on a much needed and long awaited vacation! It was such a nice break to spend a whole week on the beach...with our wide brim hats and sunscreen, of course! William loved the sand, the waves, the boats, the pool...ok, he loved it all. And, the Haze was a trooper. She was happy to sleep on a towel or in someone's arms, and she loved the pool! She turned 7 months old yesterday. She has learned to sit herself up, but she is not completely sturdy once sitting. She tends to fall backwards and hit her head. She is scooting and getting up on her hands and feet like a little spider...not crawling yet, but it won't be long. Here are the pictures:

"I'm in a boat"

William is into boats for some reason right now. He gets in this little boat in his tub and uses his shovel as an oar. This just makes me laugh so much...

And, I didn't want Hazel to feel left out, so here are a few pictures of our gal...she is on the move these days!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mother's Day

Today is my 3rd Mother's Day as a mom, and I was again reminded of God's grace and provision in giving me these precious kiddo's. And, HJ and I were reminded of how grateful we are for our mothers...thank you, Gigi and Gran, for loving us and our kids. You are the best moms and grandmoms ever! We love you!

Here are some pics especially for the grandmoms:

Learning to sit up

Finally got a bow to stay in her fuzz


Planting

In his boat fishing...he set this up himself

P.S. Here are Hazel's stats from her 6 months appt, so I won't forget to add them later: weight 14.7 lbs (23%), length 26.5 (79%). William was the same length and 2 lbs heavier at this age...remember these cheeks?

Happy 1/2 of a Year!

This little gal is 6 months old today, and what a joy she is. We are so thankful for our sweet "Crazy Hazey"...she loves to be upright, and she is watching William all the time now. She even started scooting a little today. She does NOT like the pacie or being strapped into her carseat or the stroller. She is still working the mullet in the back, but has some decidedly blond hair coming in, too. William said she need a "birthday" (a cake), but we decided to hold off on that for now!

TGIT

Thursday again! I've fallen behind on the blogging of late. Here are a few photos of Easter weekend. We had a beautiful weekend celebrating Christ's death and resurrection and being reminded of the great hope we have in Him!

Guess where I've been?

Vegas, baby!

And even though I saw this...

and this (the water show at the Bellagio)

and even this (yep, that's a Kardashian)

What I was most excited about was coming home to this... and this!

hello.

We've been lying low this weekend. I finished my practice boards on Thursday, and I am enjoying not studying! William had an allergic reaction to something (pollen, antibiotics?) on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and woke up Thursday morning with his left eye swollen shut. So, before my test we made a trip to the pediatrician. The bottom left picture is him before we left for the doctor- he decided to wear his hood up which added to his already pitiful look. He charmed the ladies at the pharmacy by saying "This is the phaaaaarmacy" (lots of southern twang there). Then they asked him what his name was and he said, "Wilma Badrow Jones, the foeth (William Woodrow Jones, the fourth). He still calls himself Wilma...HJ tried to teach him to say William, but I'm glad he hasn't figured it out quite yet. Hazel is growing, growing...William fed her some of her cereal when I stepped out of the room a few days ago (top right pic)- that ended in quite a mess. In other very unexciting news for you readers, but fun for me, we got some new red chairs from IKEA. As William would say, I lub it.

Happy Sunday, Ya'll

I don't have much to report today. The house is messier than when the weekend started, there is more laundry to do than when the weekend started, and the dishes need to be washed. But, all that aside, we had a beautiful, warm weekend. Here are a few pics:

My boys watching some b-ball...

This could be major blackmail one day...William was "feeding" one of Hazel's dolls.

My favorite part is that he even got the boppy:)

And the award for biggest blow out goes to...Hazel!


What? I would never do that...

One last pic...the mo-mullet is back!

Four Months

Hazel turned four months old on Friday.

She is 13lbs 4oz and 25 1/2 inches long...long and skinny.

Baby Steps

I am learning to appreciate small accomplishments, especially those that are small steps to a larger goal. Here are a few from this week:
1. William is able to entertain himself for at least a few minutes now (and I don't have to close us all in his room and let him pull out all his toys to feed Hazel when I'm home with them by myself).

2. William likes to read to himself now...he flips through a book and says what he thinks each page should say. In his 3 little pigs book, he says "puff and puff, blooooooow the house down" on each page. When he was flipping through his Bible this weekend, he said "Jesus" on every page. I'm glad he knows the main point of the Bible is Jesus.

3. I really don't even count this as a small accomplishment...Hazel is finally sleeping through the night. Way to go, Hazel!

William got into a little scuffle at school...

Hazel in the carrier...so glad to be outside again!

That's all for tonight. Have a great week!

Don't know where he got this idea...

The Weekend in Pictures

(Click to enlarge)

Late Night

I love Thursday nights. I have conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, so I am usually studying after we put William and Hazel down on the other nights of the week. It's not technically a weekend night, but it almost is. In college, Thursday nights were for "Late Night" at the fraternity houses and maybe even a trip to Waffle House in the early morning because you knew you could catch up on your sleep over the weekend. Now, we get excited about eating pizza and watching The Office and 30 Rock. Lame? I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything...although a cheese and steak breakfast sandwich from WH does sound appealing. Hazel certainly likes a snack in the "wee smalls"...despite my best efforts, she still is not sleeping through the night.

Here are a few things I meant to document and didn't:

William's first shiner...so interested in taking pics that he's yawning

Trying to get a cousin pic with Santa...hilarious

L to R William, Hazel, Shepherd

Cooking Confessions

First of all, I'm just posting this pic first because (a) all three people are looking at the camera and that is a major accomplishment around here and (b) I love these cute freshly bathed kids.

So, here goes my first goal/domestic/confessions post. Until about 2 months ago, our nightly dinner strategy had turned into a disaster. Basically, I bought a bunch of random stuff at the grocery store (every few weeks) and then I got home about with William (before Hazel was born) and tried to decide what to make. If you have ever tried to plan a meal and then actually cook a meal with a tired and starving almost 2 year old, you know this was a disaster waiting to happen. Usually, it ended in crying (mostly on William's part but I won't say I did understand how he felt). So, when Hazel was born, I decided we needed a plan.

I started planning all the meals for the week on Sunday and then actually buying the food that I needed to make those meals...I know, genius. And, I started using my crockpot regularly on the days that I work later. I really did not think this would make that big of a difference, but it has. I am less stressed because I know what's for dinner, I am cooking at home more, we are actually using the groceries we buy and therefore saving money. I put all the meals on our google calendar, so HJ can see what we're having, too. We have also instituted Pizza Night on Thursdays because a certain little someone LOVES his pizza, and he especially loves taking a walk to the pizza place in our neighborhood.

I know everyone elso probably already did this, but if you don't, I would recommend trying it for a while. Here are a few new recipes that we have tried and liked:

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sundried Tomatoes

Spinach and Brie Chicken

Curry in the Crockpot

Autumn Sausage Casserole

If you have any favorite (and relatively easy) recipes...please share!