Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mommy and Ava time!

I started taking J.Riley to Kindermusik as soon as we found ourselves living in Johnson City again. My friend Karen had been taking her daughter Karly since she was 3 months old and they loved it. So here we go, J.Riley was 6 months old and already in an organized sport :) Well we LOVE IT! Im not sure who enjoyed it more first, him or me? It was so great to get out and meet new moms. Our playgroup actually formed out of the very first Kindermusik class we took. J.Riley attended for two years and in January I decided it was Ava's turn. So now on Tuesday nights Ava and mommy get to go out for girl time, no its not shopping yet, but it is good for now! Ava is the youngest in her class right now but she hangs with the other kids well. She is so friendly to everyone, basically she walks into a room and walks out with at least 2 new friends.
Miss. Jodi is Ava's teacher, her demeanor is so sweet and loving and Ava could really spend the entire 45 minutes on her lap if I let her. We sing and dance and play instruments and there is a short story-time. I look forward to this time every week with her and every week it makes me realize that she is not a baby anymore! She is learning so quickly and can hold her own so well. 
I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do these things with my children. Here are some pictures of our time at Kindermusik.



Playing with the hoops
The class playing with bells
Ava, Miss Karen and Karly
The class listening closely
Playing with the bells

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Let's get this party started

We had such a great time today! We hosted 12 of J.Riley's friends for his 3rd Birthday party!

Theme: Circus
Menu: Hotdogs, fruit kabobs, popcorn and big top cupcakes
Entertainment: Mr. Bill and Body the dog
Place: Our home


Dear J.Riley

Whew...I am totally exhausted, but I figured I better blog before the day becomes a blur.

February 21, 2009

J.Riley, 
Where to start. You are growing up so fast right before our eyes. You talk, and run, potty, go to school, brush your teeth..all of this and plenty more on your own. Three years ago you came into this world and God choose us to be your parents and you to be our child. There were so many trying times at the beginning but for that one reason we kept going. I can't explain to you how much your mommy and daddy love you, you will one day understand. When you say "mommy I love you so much" or " Jesus is special" or "My family thinks I am special" All of these things make my heart jump and help me to understand the love of a child. You have taught us more in the last three years then I could have ever possibly imagined. You bring us so much joy, laughter, tears and moments where I think I could rip all my hair out but I would not trade you for anything. A gift of from God, the ultimate gift, trusting us to raise you while you are here with us so that you may serve our God to the best of your ability. You will fail, you will win, you will break up, you will love, you will do things you will not tell your mommy about, you will cheat, you will lie, you will succeed, you will fight for your sister, You will do something you are not proud of, you will dance, you will sing when you think no one is listening, whatever it is you are doing or you have done, we will always being praying for your heart. J.Riley, I have had so much fun watching you grow into a little boy, I am forever thankful for the gift of being your mom! I love you~Mommy

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Wordless Wednesday


Nana joined j.Riley and I for a day at our local Hands On Museum!






Playing catch up with some pictures!
This was valentines Day morning. Daddy surprised us with breakfast from PAL's in the morning..mmm nothing like biscuits and gravy...the kids LOVE IT! I had also made some bannana chip muffins in the shape of hearts. It was a great morning just to hang out and love on each other!








Thursday, February 12, 2009

Our week in a nutshell



I know it is not Friday yet, but I am going to go ahead and post this in fear that I may not have time tomorow.

Brent has been in West Virgina since Tuesday. So we have been on our own. This makes things very interesting. Although I have to say it was so much easier this time then the last time he was gone, which was quite a while ago.

Monday: J.Riley had a follow up appointment with Dr. Abdel (GI doctor). He has been off all medications for almost a month now!! We waited an hour and a half (with both kids) in the waiting room for the doctor to feel J.Riley's belly, ask me how J.Riley was doing and to take my 20$ co pay. Needless to day we are so thankful that our little boy is healthy again and hopefully we will not be visiting this office again!

We went to Dustan and Renee's house for dinner. This is Brent's brother and his wife. This is the very first time we were invited to their home. Renee cooked a roast with some veggies and the kids had fun visiting with all THREE dogs!

Tuesday: Ava had her 18 month appointment with Dr. Blackwell. Ava's stats are the following
Weight 20lbs..yes this is in the 5th %...I need to ask my mom to get out my charts..I mean are we really that SKINNY!?
Height: 34' which is the 97%....Brent and I spent the evening arguing what sport she was going to play.

She got only one shot because I am spacing them out..and everything else was great!
Tuesday night was Kindermusik with Ava. This is mommy and Ava time, I will post more about this another time.

Thursday: I had my monthly M2M meeting at church. Which I have grown to look forward to. This is a time for Moms of pre schoolers at our church to get together, enjoy a devotion and to listen to a guest speaker. 

J.Riley had his very first Valentines Day at school! Oh it was so cute! Here are some pictures.



The flowers he picked out for his teacher Mrs. Lisa who he adores!


Opening his treat bag from school!


Terrible picture I know. These are the bags of strawberry popcorn I made for his class.


Thankful Thursday!

Every Thursday I am going to start my post by sharing three things I am thankful for. 

1.  I am thankful for our heavenly father's mercy and grace. I cannot even comprehend the fact that I can do nothing to earn this. It is simply a gift that I am forever grateful for.

2. I am thankful for my husband. He works so incredibly hard for us to be able to have everything we "need". He loves his children more and more everyday. Some days I say to myself "could a man be anymore in love with his children?" Then the following day I can see he is even more in love with them than the day before. He never gives up on me, he is my rock.

3. I am thankful for my Mom. It is so true that you will never understand how much your mother loves you until you have children of your own. I am so thankful for all of the sacrifices that she has made for our family. My children are so blessed to have her as their Nana!

Now, we do this same routine with J.Riley and Ava every night during our prayer time. We go around and each person has to tell what they are thankful for for that day. Hopefully teaching our children how to be grateful..something I was not very good at as a child! Lately we have noticed that J.Riley has said the exact same thing word for word oooohhh for the last month. It goes like this:

Mom: J.Riley what are you thankful for today?

J.Riley: I am thankful for food, a warm house, Mommy, Daddy and Ava.

Ok,the first time he said this we were just over joyed..thinking "this is what they mean when they say how rewarding parenting is." HA..our littte manipulator really just learned how to say exactly what mommy and daddy want to hear. We now encourage him to say something different every night!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sunday Silence





It is sunday afternoon and I am enjoying the peace and quiet of nap time, the sun shining through my windows onto my CLEAN floors, and the smell of Lysol.  We got home from church this morning and I did a speed cleaning of the downstairs, ya know the kind where you wipe down your kitchen, vac, clean floors then let lysol sit in your sink so it smells like you have cleaned every nook and corner of your house?? YES, I know I am not the only one that lets lysol sit in the sink!!!

I wanted to blog about our weekend, Brent and I had a night out on Friday night. Yes, our group of friends have begun to turn 30! Our friend Ben Berry threw a surprise 30th birthday party for his wife Meredith. We had a great time! It was so fun to dance the night away and act like you didn't have to get up with two babies in the morning. And that is exactly what we did! I am pretty sure we won't have another night like that for awhile, but it was refreshing! 

On Saturday, once I felt well enough to get out of bed! We realized it was 60 degrees out! C'mon spring! So we packed up the kids, grabbed some lunch and went to the park! We have several parks in our area and try to mix it up for J.Riley. So we headed over to the tree streets to play at South Side. It felt so good to be outside enjoying fresh air and watching the kids. Ava is now climbing and trying to keep up with her big brother as much as possible. J. Riley is climbing on things I think he is too little for,  but he never ceases to amaze me. He is so strong and agile. Even trying to do the monkey bars alone!! 

This morning we headed out to church, on time I might add! I love ending the weekend with worshiping our Lord. He has blessed us immensely and I pray that we will love others though our actions so that they may feel the love of the lord.


Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Trip to the dentist

I took J.Riley to the dentist for the first time on Monday morning. I cannot say enough about how great he did!! He sat up in the chair first, no problem. The hygienist was great at her job, she made him feel so comfortable. She showed him how everything worked before she used it, he choose chocolate mint toothpaste, and opened his mouth exactly the way he was suppose to! These are the times where I am like "who is this kid"? He amazed me! His teeth looked wonderful, no cavities!! 

Then it was my turn. I sat in the chair and He sat on top of me and watched Diego the entire time. He was so patient! Mommy on the other hand needs to do a little bit better job brushing! Two cavities?!?! I have never had one in my life!! Is this what children do to you?!