I'm in love!!

A friend of mine shared a link to this website on fb, and I have found myself absolutely glued to it, so I added it to my blogs that I follow.

http://shanty2chic.blogspot.com

Here is a project I found from following a couple of links, originating on that page. I am planning on doing since we are currently redoing our bathroom. My bathroom project started with Ben FINALLY putting in a new tile floor since ours for the last year has been the wood floor under the carpet I ruined when I was pregnant with Sam and left a bath running for 45 minutes. Since we were redoign 9ur floors, I decided the bathroom (which has never been painted and it still yucky builders off white) needed a fresh coat of paint. I bought a new shower curtain, rugs, and accessories to match and was just thinking abotu how to decorate the walls when this project came along.

Now to actually do it!! Well, it IS summertime and I HAVE been saying that I wanted to do stuff like this when I have more time. No time like the present right? I have been feeling particularly crafty lately...

One year and 2 months later...

My how they've grown, huh? They keep me laughing every day. Jackson is so truly sweet to Sam and Sam looks up to Jackson SOOO much. He follows him around everywhere. It is funny to see them interact and play with each other. Sometimes they are just being silly laughing at something that only they get, but it makes us all smile! I hope they always get along this well, but I won't count on it. :)

And then there was #2

I was awakened this morning to the sound of a frantic pounding on Jackson's door and him hollering, "MAMA! I need-a go pee-pee!" About a month ago we had put the childproof lock back on the inside door knob of his door because his newfound freedom was causing him to think it was time to get up every time he woke up, even if he happened to wake up at 5:30 am. Anyway, I rushed in to let him out and take him to go potty, and his diaper was dry, and he peed on th epotty...a lot! YAY, victory #1.

Later we dressed to go to the gym, taking a potty break before we left, and being the forgetful rushed mommy that I am, I did not remember to take him while we were there. We had to leave the gym early since Sam had suddenly decided that 45 minutes was way too long without mama. On the way home, we hit up Sonic and got a snack to help us be happy for our next errand, the car wash. After the car wash, we ran over for one thing at Wal-mart, but when we got there (at this point, I had completely forgotten about potty breaks and such), I noticed Jackson dancing around a lot. I said, "Jackson, do you need to go potty?" "Yes," he said, so we raced to the front of the dtore (we came in the side at the auto center) and we made it! Dry diaper, and LOTS of pee-pee. The time in which he had held it was almost 3 hours and that was with a sippy sup of juice and most of a small Sonic slush in his bladder! YAY, victory #2.

We got home, had lunch, and during which, Jackson said he needed to go potty again, so I got him down and helped him go, and again, DRY diaper and a successful #1 in the potty! YAY! Victory #3.

After lunch, he got really agitiated and danced around again, straining and saying that he needed a blanket - this means he needs to go poop and wants to hide himself from my view. We have not been pushing the #2 in the potty because he is so freaked out by it that he will simply NOT go. for days. We had to give him 2 doses of laxatives over 2 days one time to get him to finally just get it out, so we always encourage him to go no matter what for that need. But this time, he was in the middle of the act, so I just raced him into the bathroom, stripped him down and had him finish the push and let the #2fall in the potty, and we made it! No poop in the diaper, no screaming meltdown about pooping in the potty, and a technical successful poop in the potty! Now I know this isn't our end goal, but I'm hoping that maybe it is a step in teh right direction because he was so dang proud of that poop, you'd have thought he deserved a gold medal! Of course, I made a big deal about it, too, so here's hoping'! YAY! 4 potty victories at the Blake house today! Maybe, just maybe, we'll be completely pee-pee trained for GrandMollie next week and she'll only have to worry about poop accidents. (GrandMollie is keeping the boys for me Wed-Sat while I am at girls' camp next week.)

12 months of Samson Jay Blake

This is a little belated since Sam's birthday was actually May 22...Happy Birthday, Sam! You are sure a blessed addition to our eternal family. You are so happy, and funny, smart and loving! I don't know how we ever lived without you in our lives!

The sweetest thing...

is when Jackson randomly says, "Mama, you're my best friend." I just wanna squeeze him silly with hugs when he says that to me. He is also VERY into Book of Mormon stories right now. He likes all the fighting and action. :)

His favorite book is a Book of Mormon stories board book we got him. He loves the Alma the Younger story, and also frequently requests that Living Scriptures video as well. I'm not sure why he prefers that one over others, but that is his favorite.

Sam has added a few new words to his vocabulary lately, too. He shakes his little finger and says, "nonono," He walks over and says it to Jackson when he is in time out, he scolds the preschoolers with it, and he even does it when he is getting into something he knows he isn't suposed to get into. Think he has heard that a few times? ;)

Sam's other new word, which we rarely hear, but has been witnessed by GrandMollie, is "Peeeese." He doesn't really know how to use it yet, but hey, at least he can say it, right?

Sam is now a full fledged walker. He can even stand himslef up completely, without pulling himslef up. He is quite speedy now, too. He almost keeps up with the preschoolers running around. He loves to walk around and explore outside.

Today I took him tot he doctor tho because he had two goopy eyes that only seemed to be getting worse with time, and yes, he has a double bacterial eye infection. We got his one year stats while we were there tho. 24 lbs, 29.25 inches long, and 18 in head circumference.

Summer, I love you...

I love the sun, it just cheers me up. I don't even care that it is humid outside and I get sweaty just running errands. It gives me life and energy. If I could, I'd live in molten hot weather all my life, preferably near a beach somewhere, but I'm realistic, so I'll take Texas sumemrs.

I love the excuse to wear less clothes instead of bundling up in thousands of layers to stay warm. I love summer clothes: t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.

I love working out in the heat, and the challenge it presents in extra conditioning.

I love the smells of freshly cut grass, and grilled food wafting through the warm breeze.

I love summer food: fruit, like watermelon and strawberries that are SO good this time of year, and grilled foods: hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, etc.

I love to get a tan on my skin, and that I get to wear less makeup because of it.

I love outdoor water activities, going to the lake, and trips to Hurricane Harbor. I love to watch my kids laughing in the sprinkler. I love the excuse to play in my swimsuit all day.

I love the inherent laziness and lethary of summer, and yet, the flurry of fun activities that we get to do because we have so much time off.

I love outdoor projects and landscaping and time to do home improvements.

I love camping and hiking and all things outside, even if I get sweaty. I don't care, I like to sweat!!

I'm so excited for my summer break to begin! 8 more days!!

Missionary Conversation

Lately I have been really impressed with Jackson's mental abilities. He is remembering, recalling and understanding so much these days. He randomly tells me and/or Ben the activities of his day, things he liked/didn't like, when kids got in trouble, and what for, and things he learned. He is really turning into a little boy! I love it!

This evening when I put Jackson to bed, we went through our normal bedtime routine of bath, teeth brushing, book reading, and prayer. Tonight, as I tucked him in, I asked him if he wanted to sing a song before bed. He had been singing The Happy Family Primary Song lately and I didn't teach it to him, so I suggested we sing it, but he said, no, he wanted to sing, "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission."

So we sang that instead, and afterward I seized a teachable moment and said, "Do you know what a missionary is?"
"No, " he said.
"Missionaries are teachers, just like I am a teacher, but I teach kids about ABCs and counting, and when you are a missionary, you get to teach people about Heavenly Father and Jesus. Do you want to do that?"
"Yeah!" he said.
"You want to be a missionary?" I asked.
"Yeah, I want to be a missionary and teach my friends."
Very excited and a little proud, I said, "You do? That will make me and Heavenly Father so happy."
Still thinking, he said, "Yeah, I want to be a missionary...and I want to be Frosty the Snowman."

Hmmmph...maybe he doesn't quite understand as much as I thought. :)