Waving and Crawling

8 Months Old

This little man is 8 months old today!!!

8 month stats:

(He hasn't been to the doctor this month, so I'm not sure of these stats, they are just my guesses.)

Height: 29 inches

Weight: 23 lbs.

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 12m or 18m (mostly 18m)

New Milestones This Month:

Waving "bye-bye"

Perfecting the "army crawl"

Still working on the "traditional crawl"

Going from laying down to sitting up with ease

Still fighting sleep

Still has separation anxiety

The "nasty" face (I need to get that on video.)

Cut teeth #s 7 & 8

Eats mostly table food

Experimenting with feeding himself

Can almost clap his hands

Says "no no", "da da", "um ma" (Mama), and "ba ba" (bottle)

New House--Before Pics

Please keep in mind that we didn't buy a foreclosure house that was move-in ready. Not even close. We bought one like you see on Flip This House. It needs a lot of work and it's not fancy by any means! But, we are not fancy people. With 3 kids, fancy is just not practical. Here is a glimpse of the house before.

**Please just click on the pictures to see the full view. Joshua is screaming because it's bedtime and I don't have time to go back and fix all of the pictures from photobucket**

This is the front of the house, looking from the street. We are planning on doing some landscaping, but that will happen after we move in. This will include flowers and boxwoods.

The Garage that will hopefully be enclosed soon.

A little closet off of the garage.

Living Room

This will be painted burgundy and trimmed in white. The stone wall will stay (too hard/expensive to remove) but the stone slab will be removed and a fireplace and mantle installed. Opposite of this stone wall is a plain wall that will be home to my beloved portrait of Scarlett O'Hara. :)

Kitchen

This will have stainless and black appliances, new hardware, new lighting, painted a goldish yellow, new glazed porcelain tile floors, and most likely new granite counter tops.

Dining Area

This will also be painted golish yellow because it flows into the kitchen.

Kids' Bathroom

This will be painted blue and have the same tile as the kitchen. We also removed the flower stickers, much to Olivia's dismay.

Olivia's Room

This will be painted pale pink with a chair rail. The bottome half will be pale and dark pink stripes. Her choice. It will also have new carpet.

Jacob's Room

This will be painted blue and decorated in a sports theme. We will include the Armuchee "Rockin' A" in white on one wall. (I can't find a picture of the "Rockin' A at the moment.) It will also have new carpet.

Master Bedroom

This will be painted blueish gray and will also have new carpet.

Master Bath

This will have the same tile as the kitchen, dining, and other bathroom. It will be painted khaki.

Back of the house

We hope to add on 2 more bedrooms, 1 bath, and a den/movie room. This will likely come off the right of the back door.

Another view of the back

Back yard

The back yard is completely fenced in. See that hill? That will be sooo much fun to sled down next winter!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

We love Dr. Seuss! We have so many Dr. Seuss books and I read them so often that I almost have them memorized!

Jacob's favorite is "The Cat in the Hat"

Olivia's favorite is "Horton Hears a Who"

Joshua's favorite is "The Foot Book"

Their school celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with Who Hair Day today. Both kids, but especially Olivia, had fun with this!!

This was my best attempt at Cindy Lou Who hair.

It was a hot mess when she got home!

Jacob just wanted his in little pony tails.
...which were all out by the end of the day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!!

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

-Dr. Seuss

Moving on Up...

Well, not to a deluxe apartment in the sky-iy-iy.

But, we are moving! It's been a great 4 years living in a small singlewide mobile home in my mother-in-law's backyard (no, really, it has) but sometimes good things must come to an end. She's better, healthwise, than she has been in many years and that was our purpose for being here. So, we found a foreclosure deal that we just couldn't pass up. And, it's in the same area we live in now so the kids won't have to switch schools. That was my biggest concern when we started house hunting. Our new house needs work but it's mostly cosmetic fixes. (new floors, paint, good cleaning, landscaping, etc.) It's still only 3 bedrooms (you do the math...we have 3 kids). Joshua will remain in our bedroom for now. We kinda like it like that though. He's our last baby, so we're holding on for dear life. :)

Mark had the cutest idea when we closed on the house. We told Jacob and Olivia that we didn't quite have enough money to pay for the house, so we would need to borrow $5 each from their piggy banks. But, since they paid for some of the house that meant they owned a part of it. We explained that owning a house was a big responsibility and that meant they needed to take care of it. They signed contracts at the bank and handed over their $5. It made them feel so grown up and really a part of buying our new house. Kudos to Daddy for coming up with that great idea!! Here is a little video of the mortgage banker reading their contracts to make sure they understand. We are a happy, but extremely busy family right now. And, I wouldn't have it any other way...

7 months!!

Joshua is 7 months old today!!!

Here are Joshua's

7 month stats:

Height: 28 inches

Weight: 21 lbs. 10 ozs.

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 12 months

New milestones this month:

rocking on his hands and knees

sitting up independently for long periods of time

rolling and scooting to get anywhere he wants to go

fighting sleep (ugh.)

seperation anxiety

trying to clap his hands

playing peek-a-boo with blankets

sitting up in the bathtub

eating "table food"

drinking from a straw

Joshua has been sick for over a week now. He has a really nasty cold and cough, so we've stayed in as much as possible. (This is why there wasn't a Thrifty Thursday last week or today.) And, since his last name is Layne,

cold/cough = breathing treatments

So, this is what my sweet baby was doing on his 7 month birthday. :(

He's been very happy during this sickness though. He still plays and plays all day long. Most who know him say he's the happiest baby they've ever met. Here is a short video of Joshua learning to clap his hands. So stinkin' cute!! I could just eat him up!!

Please excuse the voice in the background. I never knew how crazy I sound

when I'm playing with him!!

Joshua's 6 month Photo Shoot

I took Joshua to Berry College today for a photo shoot. I'm just now getting around to taking his 6 month pictures and he's almost 7 months old. :) We went to Swan Lake and it was such a beautiful day!! He isn't smiling in one.single.picture, but I think they are still good!

**Tooth #5 just popped through yesterday and he's cutting 5 more!

I wouldn't want to smile either...

He wanted to eat the leaves.

While I was taking pictures of him in front of Swan Lake, a beautiful swan came and sat down right behind him, perfectly in frame of the pictures I was taking!! How lucky is that?!?! We take pictures out there a lot and this has never happened.

He looks so big in these pictures! Why do they have to grow up? :(

Thrifty Thursday

Pictured Above:

1-Nike UGA football shirt (retail: $17.00) I paid $1.00
1-Ralph Lauren short sleeved tshirt (retail: $16.00) I paid $1.00
1-Ralph Lauren long sleeved button up (retail: $35.00) I paid $3.00
1-Petite Ami outfit with hat (retail:$25.00) I paid $2.00
1-GAP madras plaid shorts (retail:$20.99) I paid $1.00
1-Cherokee polo shirt (retail:$6.99) I paid $1.00

Retail for all of this would have been $120.98.

I paid $9.o0 plus tax!!

Friday Flashback

How did this baby...

...this toddler...

...this preschooler...

...turn into THIS little boy? Overnight.

It seems like he was born last month and now he's SEVEN years old! Time is going by way too fast for this Mommy...

Thrifty Thursday

Pictured above:

*1 Nike tshirt (retail: $12.00 each) I paid $.50 each.
Jacob is wearing the other Nike tshirt. I bought 2.
*1 Urban Pipeline tshirt (retail: $7.20) I paid $.50.
*1 Old Navy tshirt (retail: $5.00) I paid $1.00.
*1 pair Tommy Hilfiger shorts (retail: $26.89) I paid $.50.
*1 Chaps Ralph Lauren polo (retail: $14.99) I paid $2.00.
*1 Samara jon jon (retail: $6.99) I paid $1.00.
*2 pair Keds shoes (retail: $26.00 each) I paid $1.00 each.
*3 yards of sports fabric (retail: $4.59/yd) I paid $.50 for all 3 yards.
*2 Danielle Steel books (retail: $7.99 each) I paid $.50 each.
*2 Debbie McComber books (retail: $7.99 each) I paid $.50 each.

Retail for all of this would have been $182.80.

I PAID $10.50 + tax!!!!!

And, I found another thrift store to go to!! This has been a great week!!

Sweetness

Olivia: "Mommy, do you know what the most bestest day of my whole life was?"
Me: "No, Baby. What?"
Olivia: "The day Joshua was born. He's the best, most sweetest, cutest baby in the whole world!"

*insert Mommy tears here*

Thrifty Thursday

Thrifty Thursday is a new blog ritual I'm starting.

Let me start with a little bit of a back story.

I have a degree in Radiology and I worked full time until Olivia was born, 5 1/2 years ago. When she was born, Mark and I decided that I would stay at home with the kiddos. So, we went from 2 paychecks to 1 paycheck. That meant, we had to scale back our spending. When Jacob was a baby, everything he wore was name brand (Gap, Gymboree, Ralph Lauren, Nike, and every boutique brand you can think of). And, we went out to eat. A LOT. Obviously, we couldn't continue spending money like that. So, we stopped eating out. We only go to a restaurant 1 day per week and sometimes not at all. I cook every single night. I had a problem with dressing my kids though. I like name brands. Materialistic? Maybe a little. But, you can't beat the quality. Plus, the clothes are a lot cuter. I started buying my kids' clothes from eBay, but have since moved on to consignment sales and thrift stores. I find some awesome deals!! We have a great thrift store in town and another in a neighboring town. So, I go shopping at the thrift store once every week and I'm always surprised at what I find! And, I thought it would be fun to show you guys what I find every week too! Thrifty Thursdays.

This week was a good thrift store week for me! Here is a picture of what I found.

Here is what's pictured:

*3 Carter's sleeveless rompers (retail: $5.99) I paid $1.00 each.

*3 Land's End rompers (retail: $16.99) I paid $1.00 each.

*2 Carter's onesies (retail: $7.00) I paid $.50 each.

*2 GAP Curvy jeans--MY FAV!! (retail: $69.50) I paid $5.00 each.

Retail for all of this would have been: $221.94

I PAID $17.00 + tax!!!!!!!

I love love love thrift stores!!!!!

6 months old

Well, another month has come and gone and Joshua is 6 months old already! Time needs to slow down...

Here are his

6 month stats:

Height--28 inches

Weight--20 lbs. 12.5 ozs.

Diaper size--4

Clothing size--9 months (some 12 months)

New milestones this month:

Still trying to get on his hands and knees

Sitting up independently

Blowing raspberries

Separation anxiety

Rolling and rolling and rolling

Scooting to get wherever he wants to go

Eating more baby food (his favorites are broccoli and blueberries)

Starting to drink from a sippy cup

2 top teeth and cutting 2 more!

Living in the world, but not of the world

I had an epiphany this past week. I'm living my life OF the world instead of just IN the world. I have had strong convictions about the ever popular Facebook for a while now. I felt like God was telling me to take a break from it and all the potential drama it brings. I resisted. And resisted. And resisted. Truthfully, I'm addicted. Sure, there are worse things to become addicted to but this crazy addiction was changing me. And I didn't like who I was becoming. See, I joined Facebook a few years ago and it was great to be able to connect with old high school friends and keep up with friends and family that I don't see often. Unfortunately, it's become a site full of drama, whining, complaining, and generally distasteful words and actions. And, I am guilty of feeding into all of it. I'm disgusted at some of the things I've seen/read on Facebook and also ashamed of things that I have written myself. So, I deactivated my account. And, you know what? The world didn't end. There are still people posting statuses that are full of drama, whining, complaining, and distasteful words. But, I am no longer a part of it. And I'm happy. :)
During this epiphany, I read Romans 12:2.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." NIV

The world tries to squeeze us, as Christians, into a mold and if we are not alert and resisting the temptations, the world also has the power to form and shape us. In my case, into a person we don't want to be. The world (i.e. Satan) has an influence on our mind, on our emotions, and on our attitudes, and this influence ultimately shows in our conduct. Conduct begins with our attitudes, with our points of view, with our values, standards, and ideals. If those values, standards, and ideals contradict the way of God, we cannot resist the world's constant pressure to squeeze us into its mold. My Facebook conduct had become to contradict the way of God...the WILL of God in my life. And, I never want to willingly stray from that. So, I took a break from the one thing in my life that was holding me back from my God. And I don't regret it.

So, if you are here because you miss my postings on Facebook, don't expect the same rude comments that became the norm on my page. This blog will be about my family, my interests, my faith, and my journey to become closer to my Saviour.

In other news:

Joshua is 6 months old today!! I'll post later this week, after his checkup, with his 6 month stats and milestones. For now, I will leave you with this cute little fella laughing.

Christmas in Pictures

Joshua's first Christmas