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

5 months old

Has another month went by already? Really!?! Man, time is going by way way way too fast! Joshua is 5 months old today. He's still the sweet little baby he's always been. Here are his

5 month stats:

Height--27.5 inches

Weight--20 lbs.

Diaper size--4

Clothing size--9 months

New milestones this month:

Trying to get his hands and knees

Sitting up with support, but not as much support

More consonant sounds (mama, nana)

Squealing

Separation anxiety (not fun for Mommy)

Eating baby food (peas, carrots, green beans, squash)

Putting his pacifier back in his mouth

Starting to hold his bottle

Grasping and playing with his toys

Playing with his feet

We brought out the high chair and Exersaucer this month also. We are so excited for Joshua's first Christmas and can't wait to see Jacob and Olivia's faces on Christmas morning!! Joshua's favorite toy is a stuffed bear ornament on the Christmas tree that we leave on the bottom branch and let him play underneath it. I'll post again tomorrow about our Christmas celebrations thus far. Right now, I have 2 sickies (Andrea and Jacob) who have been vomiting all morning. Yuck yuck yuck!!

Getting Organized: Take 2

My organization plan was a big fat FAIL. Apparently, the organized lady inside of me doesn't want to come out and play. I had it all planned out and I tried really hard to begin my journey to organization. It just didn't happen. I'll tell you what DID happen though. LIFE. That's what happened. My life is so chaotic and crazy right now that I don't know what day it is most of the time. Like today, for example, I was scrambling around trying to find ice cream cones (waffle ones) for Jacob's gingerbread house making party at school. His teacher had to have them by Thursday so I was panicking because TODAY is Thursday!! You should have seen me running around Food Lion trying to find ice cream cones because FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS if I don't get these cones there will be children who can't make the greatest gingerbread house ever and I will forever be known as "that lady who ruined Christmas for me when I was in 1st grade." Okay. Maybe not. But still, I needed those cones because it's Thursday!!! (They are on an end cap beside the ice cream, by the way.) As I was paying for the beloved cones, I looked at my phone and realized it's Wednesday. And, instead of feeling all relieved, I got back to my truck and bawled. I just want life to slow down. I'm tired. I'm ill. Did I mention I'm tired?

So, this is why The Great Organization Plan 2010 failed. I'm tired. Maybe it will happen in 2011. Happy Thursday!! (ha.)

Getting Organized

Those of you who know me (in real life), know that I live in a very small 3 bedroom 2 bath house with 3 (sometimes 4) children, a husband and 3 cats (they live outside). Needless to say, organization is key around here. Or, it SHOULD be. But it's not. I read a comment from someone recently that stated,

"I have a very organized person trapped somewhere in the clutter within…I hope someday to liberate her! I CRAVE order yet for some reason simply can not overcome the chaos…it’s maddening…"
This sums it up PERFECTLY. I want to get organized, but I take one look at everything that needs to be done, get tremendously overwhelmed, and decide to play on Facebook instead. (Just being real.)

My main concern is developing a cleaning schedule and a different way to organize my coupons. So, imagine my DELIGHT when I saw this post on a blog I've just starting reading. I love her Homemaking Binder and I have everything printed and ready to go for tomorrow. I even printed off new Chore Charts for Jacob and Olivia because they keep asking me when they can start doing chores again. Imagine that, kids who WANT to help...you don't see that much in kids these days.

And, I think I found an awesome new way to organize my coupons, using a binder and baseball card inserts. This is the website I found and I like their organizing tips.

I mentioned yesterday that I'm changing my grocery shopping plan and I'm so excited about it! Yes, it may seem boring to some but it works for me. Mark gets paid monthly, so I have always shopped for groceries monthly. Well, I've decided that I can save more money and cut my grocery budget even more by shopping weekly. My plan is to make a weekly meal menu based on what's on sale for that particular week. We'll see if that works and how much money I save. Wish me luck!!

4 months old!!!

I can't believe it!! Joshua is 4 months old! Where has the time gone??

I know I don't blog very often, but I'm trying. Really, I am. I need to get into a good blog schedule. I always think of great ideas to blog about but I never write them down and, therefore, forget them. Such is my life and Mommy brain. Anyway, back to Joshua...

Here are little man's (ha!)

4 months stats:

Height--26.5 inches

Weight--18lbs. 11ozs.
Diaper size--3

Clothing size--6-9 months (mostly 9 months)

New milestones this month:

Consonant sounds (baba, gaga, dada)

Engaging in "conversation" (Jacob and Olivia LOVE this!)

BOTH bottom teeth

Laughing out loud at anything (and everything...)

Eating rice cereal from a spoon (yum yum!)

His pediatrician is very pleased with his growth and development. He is the perfect size...of a 7 month old. HA! She's not concerned though because his height and weight are proportional. He was not happy with his shots yesterday and has been a total pill so far today. But I expected it, so I'm armed with infant's Tylenol and cuddle time.

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Joshua Evan.

This is his flirty, I-know-I'm-cute smile. :)

GO DAWGS!!

Today is a rainy, gloomy, yucky day. It matches Joshua's mood perfectly. So, we're hanging out at home in our pajamas until it's time to pick up Jacob and Olivia from school. I think I'm going to try Drunken Chicken for supper tonight. Oh, and I'm totally changing my grocery shopping plan. I'll blog about that tomorrow. Maybe.

And, I just realized exactly how boring my life is because I am SO excited to change my shopping plan. Yeah. Dull.

Our Year

So, I promised I would come back and get everyone updated on our past year. Here it goes...

Right after Thanksgiving last year, we found out we were expecting baby #3. This babe was planned (kinda), but we weren't expecting to get pregnant on the first try. Literally. My pregnancy was ok, but not great. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at around 6 months and that was a really hard pill to swallow. I was able to control my blood sugar by completely changing my diet so that I didn't have to give myself insulin shots. (Thank you Lord!) I felt pretty good, physically, throughout my pregnancy except towards the end. But, I don't know any woman who feels great towards the end of their pregnancy, especially in 90+ degrees in July!! My due date was August 2, 2010 and we did not find out the gender. Jacob and Olivia were so super excited! Jacob wanted a little brother and Olivia did too! So, on July 23, 2010 at 2:30am, I woke up with contractions 5 minutes apart and we headed to the hospital a few hours later. I was admitted at 5:26am. (This will hold significance later.) We thought my labor would go quickly because of Olivia's birth. (got to hospital at 8:15am and she was born at 9:33am) Well, we were mistaken. After 12 hours and MANY Facebook status updates, but only 2 pushes (!) Joshua Evan was born at 5:26pm. EXACTLY 12 hours after I was admitted. Joshua weighed 7 lbs. 7 ozs. and was 18.5 inches long. He looks exactly like Jacob! Joshua is almost 3 months old now and he is a precious addition to our family. He is a very easy going and content baby, who loves his mobile, swing, and stroller! He's smiling and laughing now. At his 2 month appointment, he weighed 12 lbs. 7 ozs. and was 23.5 inches long. So, he gained 5 lbs. and grew 5 inches in just 2 months!! Oh, we all just adore this sweet baby boy!

Now, Jacob started 1st grade in August and just turned 7 years old on October 1st. He is still the sweet boy he's always been. His teachers always comment on how well mannered and kind he is. We're doing something right! He is taking his role as big brother extremely seriously lately. He still eats, sleeps, and BREATHES baseball. He can now catch a ball in the air and he usually hits line drives into the outfield. He plays 1st base and just loves the game. The most important thing that happened to Jacob this year is that he was saved and baptized on March 21, 2010.

Olivia started Kindergarten in August and turned 5 years old on July 6th. She has really mellowed over the past year. She went from being the wild and crazy little diva that everyone loves to a cuddly (still wild) and mild mannered (still a little crazy) little girl and everyone still loves her. (She lost most of her diva attitude.) Her teachers say that she is one of the quietest kids in the class, which truly surprises us because she talks nonstop when she's home. We joke that she's making up for lost time when she gets home. She is playing her 2nd season of Tball and really enjoys the game when she's not playing in the dirt. On August 21, 2010, Olivia's best friend was killed in a car accident. This tragedy hit us really hard. Maddy was only 5 years old. Olivia has had a really hard time coping with this loss, so she gets grief counselling at school 3 days per week. Please pray for her because, as she gets older, she'll begin to understand more about death and she'll ask more in depth questions.

As for Mark and myself, we are just trying to survive with 3 kids and loving every moment of it. I still sew and embroider as much as I can in my free time. (free time. Ha!) Mark is head coach of Jacob's coach pitch baseball team and assistand coach of Olivia's Tball team. We're beginning to wonder if we should just pitch a tent at homeplate every night because we're always at the baseball field! So, that's what we've been doing lately. :)