Catch Up

So as promised, I'm going to try to catch up on several things in multiple posts.

This one will mainly be about pregnancy and baby girl.

We are still somewhat shocked and in awe of God's goodness and blessing over our growing daughter. Each night we pray with the boys and Chris would always pray "and please help it to be a girl." Josh had told us he thought it was a girl from the get go. And I'm not going to lie, I'd been praying that it was since before I knew I was pregnant.

All that said, we were both trusting in God and bracing ourselves for a different outcome the morning of the ultrasound. Every part of me wanted to be worried and anxious but over and over I just gave it over to God and trusted that no matter what the situation was, it was what it was because of His love for us and because He would be most glorified through that. And that is better than anything I could desire or imagine.

My sweet nurse doing the ultrasound knew what we were there for and got right down to business. Baby girl was being shy and kept her legs glued shut for the first five minutes. She would start to squirm, but nothing enough to get the "money shot". The nurse was about ready to tell me what it and prefaced it with "I'm 85% sure..." I told her not to tell me unless she was 100%, especially if it was a girl.

After two boys I'm fairly familiar with what they look like on an ultrasound, and I was watching like a hawk and didn't see anything familiar. I didn't want to get my hopes up yet, but they were already inching there. Apparently Chris' were too because at this point he had stood up from his chair and moved over right by the screen. About that time our nurse got the shot she was looking for and proudly announced to us that it was a girl.

Daddy grinned, and me (the non-crier) may have teared up. God is so good.

Pregnancy and the process surrounding it is definitely not easy on me. I try to be a trooper but admittedly have rough days and when I'm so ready to be normal again. It was such a blessing that in all that we'd been through God chose to not just answer our prayer to make it clear that He had heard us, and had been walking through it all with us. I'm still in awe of his goodness and mercy.

As far as I go there are some overall similarities to my other pregnancies, and some differences. I had my typical all day sickness really bad the first 13 weeks. Lots of days where I ask myself what the heck I was thinking doing this again. Exhaustion as well and feeling like a failure that I couldn't do anything more than sit on the couch most days.

About 13 weeks it let up a bit and I was able to return to a certain level of normal functionality. With both the boys I usually didn't feel completely normal until about 20 weeks and then it was smooth sailing until the last month or so. 20 weeks have come and gone with this one and I still am really tired and wake up most morning with stomach aches. Food is still not very appealing to me, and I'm tired of having to force food in my body every 3 hours. Which if you know anything about me, you know this is a very different relationship with food than I normally have.

Overall though I'm getting a long pretty well. While it gets really frustrating to have my house messier and less stuff done, I'm trying to be thankful for the miracle inside of me and treasure even the rough parts.

We're getting started on the nursery soon, with the hopes to have the majority of it finished before the holidays, but we'll see.

We're still enjoying all the girliness coming our way!

A quick glimpse at what is going on with us:

http://cupkatesforyou.blogspot.com/2010/09/getting-real.html

Also, we finally got a new computer after the other one had been crapping out on us for months. This will allow more blogging since it no longer takes my computer 15 minutes to start up and shuts down on it's own after being on 2 minutes.

More details about the generalities listed in the blog post above hopefully coming soon.

Also, in cased you missed it... we're having a BABY GIRL!!!!

Almost there

Well it's Friday, and I think we may survive this whole school business, but I'm not going to lie...it's been rough!



The hardest part has been changing sleep patterns. Josh has difficulty falling asleep before 9pm, which means he's running about 2 hours short on sleep every night. I keep hoping his body will take over from exhaustion soon and let him sleep. It's been hard for me too as my body is still demanding extra levels of rest. Being a night owl myself it's hard to get in the habit of going to be 2 hours earlier than I typically do.



We're also used to either running errands, heading to the park or going out for a treat at night. All of which the school hours do not allow. Daddy comes home, we eat dinner, clean up, play a little and then start the bedtime process. We miss fun family time just as much as the boys!

I'm also used to a preschool environment where they are extra loving and helpful and give you a run down of your kids day- every day. That's not the case with elementary school. I don't get a rundown each day, and Josh is so exhausted from it all I can barely get two sentences about his 6+ hours there out of him. It's hard to have such little information.



Dropping him off in the morning has been pretty difficult as well. The first day I still had my child lock on the car door so I had to get out and hold up the car pool line while I let him out. Once he gets out, he doesn't know where to go, so he's depending on a teacher to help him. So far the teachers haven't been the quickest to come help. So I have to unwillingly inch off seeing my little boy confused and disoriented looking for help. Thankfully a teacher usually comes and helps by the time I have to completely pull away...but I'm sure it's not an easy way to start the morning, for him or me.

Today was big though, and much needed encouragement! He got out of the car, didn't pause to look for a teacher but marched straight to his hallway door and proceeded right in. He knew what he was doing. We're all figuring it out, slowly but surely.

I'm so very thankful to have friends down here that have been through it. They empathize with the difficulty of it, but encourage me that it will get better...at a month they hit their stride. It will seem routine, they will share more about what they learned and we will understand more about how the school works. Between that and his morning departure we are ending the week on an up note.

Plus baseball practice starts today. Something the whole family is looking forward to. It will be nice for Josh to get out and have some fun playing with friends and enjoying his favorite sport. Chris enjoys coaching as well, and Jack has dirt, rocks, a playground and big boys to watch. He couldn't enjoy it more, plus he's getting a pretty good arm and already demanding I practice with him as well.

Looking forward to the weekend to get refreshed!

Official

Well, it's official...I officially have a kindergartner.

Josh told Jack this morning that he couldn't play with him today and would miss him. He said "I'm going to real school to learn." He did so great getting up and getting ready. I walked him in with all of his school supplies, and so I could get a few pictures. He walked right into his room with no fussing or looks back, then went with his teacher straight to his spot at his table.

I was doing okay until I hit the hallway. It was really happening. Then we got home and Jack started yelling for Josh. That about put me over as well. It will be a major transition for all of us. The biggest of which will probably be the sleep schedule.

It's begun. I'm pretty sure we just entered the most difficult phase of parenting.

His backpack was already hurting him

Outside his classrom, his teacher is Mrs. Barron

I'm going to take the opportunity to explain our schooling choices, and why we chose what we chose. Each choice with each child is very individualized, this is just our approach with Josh.

Schooling is the most difficult choice I think we've had to make as parents so far. Mainly because in most situations there is a best option that ends in win-win. Schooling isn't that way. No matter what choice you make you are going to be giving up something, and in my opinion all the somethings are pretty big things to have to give up. In our opinion, this is what we were looking at giving up with each option:

Public- a limited cookie cutter education, no control of exposure (which is usually too much too soon)

Homeschool-their ability to start learning how to interact with the real world, taking our little light out of a place that desperately needs it, limitations of us being the main educators

Private- Um, money! And there are usually some of the same issues that public schools have

That's a very abbreviated version, and our point of view. For Josh we decided public schools would be the best option for now. We're open to evaluation at any point necessary.

There is lots of letting go. I can't keep my hands over his ears, or decide what people he can and can't be around to limit exposure. I don't get to control what he is taught. I don't get to have a say in much that goes on in that school. Which is making my prayer life much stronger : )

It also means the second he hits that car door we are communicating, open, honest, raw conversation about what his little mind is having to process through. We have to be much more diligent with the limited amount of time we now have.

With all the fears and hesitations I have about this new transition, I think they are just that- mine. Josh is excited and ready to learn. I think he is going to love school and do great!

Change

Lots of changes are coming in the Kelly home.

We are enjoying our last day with a preschooler because Josh starts kindergarten tomorrow.

Baseball starts back up with practice on Friday and our little all star can't wait to rejoin most of his old team mates on their new team the Marlins.

We're going to be a part of a new church plant, which means leaving our old church.

And most importantly we're adding to our numbers come beginning of February.

Will try to update on all these changes coming our way!

Jack is 2!

So I'm late with this blog. Big surprise. I'm done making excuses for my delay in blogging. I'm a mom to two very active boys, have dinner on the table about every night, have a relatively clean house, am involved in ministry, maintain friendships and a good marriage, and run a small cupcake business. And I do a pretty good job at all of that. So what if I suck at blogging?

My baby turned two on June 22. Is that weird that I still sometimes forget his birthday? I always want to make it the 21. Mainly because I went into the hospital on the 21 and the whole way there I was thinking that would be what his birthday was. But the little booger stuck it out until 12:37 (I'm pretty sure on the 7). Been throwing me off ever since. Maybe I'll have it down by the time he's 5.

Early on we thought Jack might be our shy more reserved child. Any hopes of that have been forgotten in the last couple of months as Jack quite proudly will yell at the top of his lungs in stores, flirt with the grocery check out lady and walk right up to give Mr. Bob a high five on the way into church.

We didn't do a huge party for him this year, mainly because we're trying an "every other" approach to birthday parties. Especially since all of ours are so close together, not only are they expensive, they're a lot of work. And the boys usually seem to have just as much, if not more fun having some sort of fun family outing together. On the day of Jack got a cupcake with a candle, then that Friday we went as a family to see Toy Story 3 in the theater. It was Jack's first time in the theater, and he seemed to love it! He got super excited for the dinosaur (Rex)! He sat entirely still for every bit of 3/4 of the movie. I'm sure the popcorn, coke, twizzlers and peanut m&m's helped keep his attention.

Jack is a little firecracker these days. We seem to make kids with spunk, and we love it! Conversations in the car are impossible because he's talking almost nonstop these days. Lots of "mommy, look, tree!", yelling at his brother or playing with his choo-choo-train. He's getting very good at expressing himself and is daily increasing in his ability to "use his words" instead of just breaking down into tears, throwing a fit or hitting out of anger. He loves to tackle daddy and "fight"with his brother. He does just about everything Josh does and has a full range or Iron Man noises he can make just like big brother.

He's at that wonderful point where something can keep his attention span for an extended period of time, like movies or books. He loves to play and go all day long, but still will make time to snuggle with mommy and daddy.

He loves trains, and tractors and trucks, but also enjoys all the superhero stuff- mainly because big brother does. He drinks like none other. If he goes more than an hour without a drink can down and entire sippy of ice water- his favorite. He eats fruit like it's candy, doesn't like macaroni and cheese but loves chicken and potatoes. So far he listens great and has pretty good control over his emotions, meaning fits are easily diffused. He delays going to bed and asks multiple "mommy...?" questions as I try to get out the door. He has his daddy's sense of humor and loves to make people laugh.

We're already well into the discipline process, but sometimes he's so cute and has such an adorable look he gives us we can't help but break down in laughter. We regularly get stopped by people telling us how cute Jack is. Then they see Josh and they tell us how adorable both our boys are. We try to act humble, but...we know.

Most people rip the twos, but I really enjoy them there's so many fun things you get to teach them and they can interact so much more. We are very thankful for our precious two year old!

Once I found out I was having a boy I started noticing the behavior of older boys, using them as a basis to decide what my boys would and would not do.

They wouldn't run into other people and not say excuse me, they wouldn't run around in public places unattended, and they wouldn't be into all the superhero stuff.

Ah the bliss of pre-parental naivete.

I still make efforts in the other two areas, but the superhero thing is a lost cause. Before I thought kids being into superheros meant they were watching the shows, always wanting to kill things, an every one of their shirts had some sort of good guy or villain on it.

I'm slowly learning. Josh doesn't watch the cartoons. And thankfully we no longer have TV so I don't have to fight the fight of why not. He has watched a VERY mom and dad edited version of Iron Man 1. And it made us the coolest parents ever. He has a FEW shirts that have super guys on it, but his bedding, towels, church clothes and the majority of his every day clothes are superhero free. I cave on PJ's.

Jack has followed his big brother, and even though he's just under two is already loving every thing super hero related. He knows how to say Iron Man and Spider Man and well as "tower of power". He also can distinguish between Iron Man and Spider man.

And I'm okay with all of it. I some what understand (as well as a girl can) that it fulfills the battles between good and evil in them. I love that it's an in for me in giving them insight into the gospel (God and Jesus were the superest super guys EVER and they beat ALL the bad guys). I also love that they want to be good, and protect and be strong and brave. Every thing I want my boys to be.

I was drinking out of one of the many superhero cups we had the other day. This one happened to be Spider Man, and Josh told me..."mom Spider Man's your favorite, right? Because he's red...". While red is my favorite color I found myself thinking about the fact that I never imagined myself enjoying superheros in the least. But they're my favorite because they're my boys favorite.

For some reason Josh has started calling his veins "wires". He'll tell us he can see all his wires in his body. No amount of convincing can make him believe they are veins. They are wires. And the other day he told me he really wanted to be Iron Man. Not just pretend be Iron Man, but for real be Iron Man.

I hope one day he gets to be a real life super guy.

Where Has the Time Gone?

A month and a half since I've posted? That is ridiculous! As has been our lives!

In the past month we've been out of town for a week and a half, been to a funeral, a wedding, had Josh's last baseball game, had Josh's 5th birthday party, been to two birthday parties, baked for three weddings, helped friends walk through major tragedy, had Josh's last day of school, and lots more!

It seems ridiculous to try to catch up all at once so future posts may becoming on some of those. For now, I'll give you an update on where we are:

Home, and resting! We've finally settled into a summer routine (after a bumpy first week!). It's been very relaxed with lots of fun random happenings.

This morning was National Donut Day so for breakfast the boys and I headed over to Krispy Kreme for our free (and a few more) donuts. It's been so nice to have the ability to just do random things with the boys! I feel like I have a lot more "cool mom" points for it as well! (sorry these aren't great they are from my phone)

Right now my favorite thing Josh is doing is praying, his prayers are awesome, they usually go some thing like this "Dear God please keep all my friends, and family, and all my people safe, please help me get another game ball, please help all the bad guys turn into good guys and help the good guys beat the bad guys, thank you for my Iron Man, and Spiderman and my legos and my house and mommy and daddy and brother, sorry for the bad things I did, thank you for dying on the cross, please come live in my heart, amen."

It's pretty much awesome!

Jacker (our nickname for him) it jabbering up a storm and putting small sentences together. His usually consist of "No, it's mine", "all done eating", and" "Josh hurt me". Josh also always needed encouragement praying but Jack is a champ about it. He wants to pray all the time and never let us forget to. He'll even ask at random moments throughout the day "pway?". I love it.

So that's a quick glimpse. Hopefully I'll get more details up for y'all next week!

We are finally getting Jack dedicated today. It's kind of a process at our church, and you don't always know when they are doing it...and life is crazy so we're just now doing it.

I'm not sure if it seems more meaningful when they are younger, or older. I feel like it's really just a public declaration of the way we've decided to parent. Jack already prays every night, and we read lots of Jesus stories...so it doesn't seem like some huge thing...other than going public with it. On the other hand it's neat to know that when they pray over him, he knows what praying is and will have a small idea of what is going on.

It also feels a little weird without having any family here for it...maybe that makes it feel like less of an ordeal. Thankfully we have really good friends that are going to help us watch Josh and take pictures and videos.

I'm excited to do it, and to have it done. I've been feeling like a bad parent not having done it sooner.

Excited to know we've "officially" committed Jack to God!

Over a month with no posts. Sorry. Life has been crazy, and May looks to be the same...however summer is just around the corner!

In that time we have had Easter, I went on a mission trip, and we had Chris's 30th birthday.

Highlights:

-Easter was crazy since I was getting ready to leave at 5am Monday morning after it. Thankfully I was able to talk a lot about it the week leading up to it. Josh seemed to get what it was all for, and Jack's still too young.

-My trip was great...so much to cover, but it was really awesome getting to see the students in action and how God is working in, and through them, and even calling some of them. However I think the best reward from going was the statement Josh made after I got home. He was asked if he wanted me to go again and he responded "No....but I want you to be able to tell more people about Jesus." I guess he's good with me leaving if I'm at least telling them about Jesus : ) And then to make Daddy proud he followed it up with "...but not to where you went because they have the Phillies and I don't like them."

- We threw Chris a surprise party for his birthday. It was nice to celebrate with friends here but I think we are both looking forward to having a more laid back quiet celebration in STL. Or maybe not so quiet depending on what mood the STL fans are in!

Jack is talking up a storm, and can communicate just about any of his needs or wants which is very nice. He also went pee on the potty for the first time last week. Who knows if it will keep up, but so far he's pretty good about telling us when he goes (after the fact, so we need to work on timing). He regularly gets told when we are out and about that he's too pretty to be a boy. I think it's a good thing. Chris thinks we need to cut his hair.

Josh is doing great in school, and is super smart. He read a lot of words and knows basic math. We just picked up his kindergarten enrollment forms (tear). So weird that he is that old. It seems like just yesterday I had the kid! He's been doing amazing at baseball. Since spring break every time he has been up to bat he has hit a home run off the coaches pitch. 4 home runs! I think having Pujols' number helps him!

So that's our life, busy but wonderful. I think we are all looking forward to summer to rest a little bit. Spring is like Christmas with all the birthdays and other events for us, and on top of it we are throwing two trips (mine to Philly, and one to STL in may) a month of weddings (for me) and lots of ministry projects.

Hopefully it won't be another month before I update again!

Both of my boys have been showing such a heart for the Lord recently. I feel so grateful.

We pray over them every night that the Lord would reveal His glory to them and for their salvation.

Every night Josh prays a prayer that he makes up that generally goes something like: Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross, I'm sorry for the bad things I've done, please come live in my heart. He usually follows it up with additional requests but that's the gist of it, almost every night.

His momma happens to missionally minded and tries to teach him about some of what is going on the world and how he can help. Imagine my surprise (and delight) when out of the blue he ran up to me and told me we needed to get food and toys for the kids in Haiti.

When something is wrong he wants to pray for it. He's been sick recently and he wanted to call Chris's grandpa (who taught him how to pray, and has quite the legacy of prayer) otherwise known as Papa Ted and ask him to pray for him. What joy to watch my 4 3/4 year old bow his head and be prayed for by his great grandpa.

Jack also seems to have a heart for prayer. Every night I get ready to rock him he wants to pray. That boy will not let me forget or skip a night! Even if it's 10:30 and he can barley keep his eyes open, you better believe we are going to "pway".

If there is nothing else I have done right as a mom it brings me inexplicable joy to know that so far we have been given the grace to impart a heart for the Lord to our boys.

I adore my boys. Boys are crazy and messy and non stop. But they are fun, and mine happen to be especially sweet and mostly surprisingly well behaved.

I'm not quite as thrilled with how quickly time seems to be whizzing by though.

Josh has started t-ball and is all boy (no little) in his helmet and cleats. Between that and his starting kindergarten in the fall I am painfully aware of the fact that my oldest is now a school aged kid. I'm thrilled to be able to get unsolicited "I love you's" and hugs still. He will still occasionally snuggle with me as well. Lucky me.

It's been a lot of fun to see him in baseball. It's so his thing. And soccer so wasn't. He never kicked things around. However he was throwing things shortly after 6 months. Even though it's a bit slower sport that involves a lot more technique and things to remember he already seems to be holding his own on the field. And daddy (coach Chris) couldn't be happier.

Jack has apparently hit the terrible two's early (although I never thought they were all that terrible). He's started showing his defiant side and isn't the least bit timid about telling me "no" or looking me in the eye while he disobeys. It seems much more bearable having been through it once and knowing the key to it: unwavering discipline and boundaries. No giving in!

While I love having a toddler it's been hard to know there's hardly any baby left. Maybe this is why the youngests are usually spoiled: because the parents have learned how quickly it all goes by and what to hold on to as much of the baby phase as they can. I get it now. We're not doing that, but I get it.

I do love that he still wants me to rock with him before he goes to sleep. Mind you instead of quietly snuggling it's now filled with praying and talking, but I'll take it. As soon as we hit the rocker he asks me to "pway". He folds his hands and closes his eyes for about a second, but usually stays quiet (as long as big brother isn't around). He says "Jeus" when trying to "in Jesus name", but his favorite part is "AMEN", which he nails. And yells.

I love the phases both of them are in. I just wish I could slow down my own life to take more of it in!

Jack is transitioning from calling me "mama", or "ma" when he's yelling at me to "mommy".

The only issue being that what in his mind sounds like "mommy" actually comes out sounding much more like "money".

I'll take it.

It's been a fun filled few weeks.

Jack is caught in limbo between a few remaining signs of babyishness (like falling asleep in my arms, and needing me every time he hurts himself) and full fledged toddlerdom.

When we tell him love you, he will reply, "wuv wu". When I was trying to get him to say it to me just before he fell asleep the other night all he would do is respond by making farting noises with his mouth.

He is repeating (literally) every word we say. We're trying to encourage him to put more words together so this is a typical scenario at dinner: (Chris) I (Jack) I (Chris) want (Jack)wanT (Chris) down. (Jack) dow.

His favorite word is "no". But he doesn't seem to quite get the concept of the word. He tells us "no" for everything. We'll ask him if he wants to eat (when we know he's hungry)- no, if he wants to play- no, if he wants down from dinner- no. He also says "no" like Andy from The Office. It sounds like "noo-wa".

Both the boys loved playing in the unexpected 4 inches of snow we got a week ago. It was nice to see Jack warm up to it this time around. He still wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but at least he enjoyed himself.

Josh also enjoyed his first day playing "hookie" for one of his best friends birthday party today.

He showed himself to be of a child of a technically advanced generation with a great one liner the other day. He got a kids digital camera for Christmas and had been using it the other day and he turned to me and told me "hey mom, we should put these up on facebook".

He starts t-ball tomorrow with his first practice. We're preparing ourselves for the major schedule adjustment.

Transitioning into being parents of a school-aged child is not with out it's difficulties!

I feel like there is a lot to update on and yet I can't think of words to do it justice or even specific examples.

Chris and I both have been marveling at the changes in Jack. He's officially a little boy and getting into almost as much trouble as his brother. His biggest word to date is "cupcake". Go figure.

We had a fun instance the other day when I went to get him up from his nap. He'd has a dirty diaper and had decided to take it off. And play with it. And get it e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. Nothing else in life can prepare you for some of the experiences of motherhood. On the bright side, I remember Josh did that once and it wasn't too much longer before he started potty training.

Josh has been doing so good at school and we are so proud of him. Not that he's not always good but this semester they have started "quiet time" during lunch. They put a timer on for ten minutes and the kids are supposed to sit still and be quiet. Well for those of you who have met my oldest know this might as well have been asking the impossible. The first few weeks were pretty rough. We started having consequences/rewards for his behavior after he got home. It was hit and miss for awhile, but for the last four days of school he has stayed on green every day! Quite the accomplishment for the little man.

He also really enjoyed having his friends (and their parents) over for a Super Bowl party on Sunday. One of his best friends came over and he loves getting time to hang out with him.

We are so ready for it to start warming up and stop raining so we can get back outside and have fun with friends more. It's hard to keep boys cooped up!

I've been doing double takes recently with Jack. His hair is getting longer and right now is styled very similarly to how Josh's was at the same age. I was thinking I'd have an easier at toddlerdom with Jack since he was an easier baby that Josh, but I think I may have been mistaken in that assumption.

He acts so much like Josh did at that age, running as fast as his little feet will carry him, bumping into all sorts of things on a regular basis, testing the boundaries of "no", relishing in making people laugh and repeating whatever behavior elicited it. He's jabbering up a storm when he's around us or other people that are familiar, but shys up around new people. He's started putting two words together like "up, please" and is working on multi-syllable words like "cracker" and can name pretty much every one of his body parts.

His cute (albeit sometimes obnoxious) habit that he has is when he wants you to hold him he stands in front of you with his arms reaching up. If you are at something like a counter (which as a cook I regularly am) he pushes and wedges himself in there until he has placed himself between you and the counter disabling ones ability to get anything done. And then he looks at you with his baby blues and says "u" over and over. Which is his way of saying up.

Josh's funniest moment recently was when he came home singing "Pants on the Ground" from school. For those of you not in the know it's a song that was on American Idol. Even though he occasionally gets to watch some of Idol, he missed that part so I guess one of the kids at school started it. He told us his teacher was singing it as well. I think this is just the beginning of all sorts of "fun" things he'll learn at school.

We've had a fairly mellow and healthy couple of weeks, we almost don't know what to do with ourselves!

Josh has officially started reading. His interest level isn't as high as I would like (meaning he'll entertain you through a few words and then he looses patience, I can't imagine where he gets that from...) but he'll let you read to him all day long plus progress is progress and I'm pretty proud of him! He points out letters everywhere and his favorite book for me to read to him is the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (by C.S. Lewis). A non-picture book. I'm so proud!

He has also been praying some very entertaining prayers recently. Some snippets are: "please help the people in Haiti and watch over my family and help none of their cities to catch on fire." and "please help Sonic and all my superhero friends beat up all the bad guys" plus " please help my head to feel better and Dad, don't EVER do that again, okay?!".

The last one he was praying after him and Chris had been building Hot Wheels race tracks and he was standing on a chair to reach the tracks. He climbed up too fast and fell between the chair onto the fireplace. Scared us really bad we thought he had dislocated his shoulder or broke his arm or something, thankfully it was just some really bad bumps and bruises on his head, shoulder, elbow and hand.

Jack's letting more and more of his personality shine through and there is a lot of feistiness coming out in it (I personally applaud a little feistiness so don't read that negatively). He knows how to pretend to fuss to get Josh in trouble, he can fake cry or pout to try to get his way and he also will come lean on you and look up at you with his adorable baby blue eyes and just gently rub your leg until you cave and pick him up. The boy knows how to work it.

He's also reached the age where he has the patience to read books so it's been fun getting to read to both him and Josh together and working on creating a bedtime routine that we can do with both of them. Transitioning Jack out of the rocking phase into the bedtime story phase.

Jack is also fascinated with the potty. He follows everyone in there when they go and comments on whatever business you're doing in there. Whenever someone goes he always wants us to take his diaper off and let him try to go too. He's also started going off in a place and standing with his knees slightly bent when he has to go #2. It's really funny to watch if you catch him, but if he sees you watching him he freaks out and starts crying and won't stop until you change him. I'm not sure if all that means anything, he may very well not end up being potty trained until he's 2 1/2 but it's interesting to see him catching on so quick and being aware.

That's pretty much life with us. We've been doing some painting around the house as well and it's nice to start getting (and having the time to) get some things done around the house again. I think I've gone through almost every closet and gotten it organized in the last two months. I'm not sure what it is about Christmas that makes the amount of stuff we have more noticeable, but I'm not a fan of clutter or junk so there have been lots of Goodwill trips.

I find organization with two boys plays a large role in my sanity. Now if I could just figure out what to do about laundry.

Check out what Josh and I did today on my CupKates (my business) blog:

I had to make an emergency trip to the dentist yesterday. That was a first (strangely).

While at church Jack fell and hit his mouth really bad. We thought it was just a bumped lip and it would be fine, but when we tried to feed him lunch he couldn't eat or drink he was in so much pain.

We thought the next morning would be better since mouth injuries tend to heal pretty quickly, but when he took a bite of something he started crying. After checking things out a little bit I realized that the pain seemed to be coming mostly from his teeth. Great.

Long story short, the visit was much less traumatic than I was expecting (expectation courtesy of Josh) it to be. One tooth is loose, but thankfully the root isn't broken. However they won't know for about a month (when we have to go back) if it's damaged the nerve endings or blood supply (which would make it turn brown).

Add additional medical bills boys incur to post below.

I have heard several people comment on how girls are more expensive to have than boys. Mainly because of the cost of the wedding.

I disagree with that. Not only do the guys parents have to cover the rehearsal, but there is one major factor that everyone fails to take into consideration about the expense of boys:

All of the money you have to pay to fix or replace all of the many, many, many things that the boys destroy!

In the last 24 hours Josh has managed to tear a hole in our couch and sit on silly putty which was on the afghan my grandma made me, in his new superman costume he got for Christmas.

So in case your counting, mom gets to either fix or replace a couch, an afghan, and a superman outfit. Although I will not be replacing the silly putty.

So I'm kind of anal about what I feed my kids. Not obsessive, but I don't like them to have junk. I know if I can make it it's going to be way better than anything I could buy that's full of preservatives and artificial coloring and other kinds of yucky stuff. My two biggest "no-no's" are hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, mainly because it easily weeds out a lot of junk.

Chris had a big party at his work this week and they were pushing food off on employees. I guess from his college days he's always enjoyed chewy chips ahoy, and when they were up for grabs gladly took them off their hands. He also decided he would bring them home.

He brought them in to get them checked, and I told them I didn't think it was a good idea (high fructose corn syrup, plus we still had several homemade desserts left over from the holidays), but the kids had already spotted them. I told Josh they weren't very good because the had high fructose corn syrup, but of course he didn't care.

After eating them he looked over at me and claimed "mmmm, I love high corn syrup!"

Happy New Years!

We're off to par-tay tonight. Excited to be with friends, and the boys!

We are all still getting back to normal habits, the boys in particular. Normal sleeping, eating, and um... other bodily function related issues.

Jack has had some rather odoriferous incidents recently. There was one in particular today that made me anxious for potty training.

Josh told me several times within a few short minutes how much Jack stinked, then he finally came to me and said "mom, I don't like the smell of him". Me neither Josh.

Hope your New Year smells better than ours!

Shew. A week of nonstop visitors from both sides of the family and we are pooped.

We had a great, and tiring Christmas. The boys both took long naps today to prove it.

We are looking forward to heading out to some friends house (with the boys) tomorrow night to celebrate New Years with some friends (of ours and the boys). I still feel like it's a luxury to get to do that!

The boys have been full of new things that they are up to. Josh is officially reading now. I think we are up to two words (other than his and Jack's names) and counting. Every where he sees letters he reads them. Reminds me of what I did when trying to learn Russian.

Jack repeats virtually everything you say and wants to do everything big brother does, this includes jumping off the stairs, jumping on the bed, throwing things, and shooting things (he knows how to make a gun with his fingers and make the shooting noise). He has also told me several times when he has poopies, which I'm hoping means I get to start potty training sooner rather than later. My favorite new things of his are the animal noises. We taught him how to make animal noises, and those are hilarious. The best is how he roars like a tiger. He does it in his throat so it sounds like a real roar. Precious.

I treasure how well the boys play together. Josh told me the other day that Jack was his best friend. I think Josh returning to school will be rough on Jack for a few days, he's loved having his big brother to play with and get in to trouble with.

Hope everyone had Merry Christmas and that ya'll get to enjoy your New Year!

Lord. Have. Mercy.

Josh had his Christmas party today and got a new book about Jesus' Birthday. After reading it we were talking about God and Jesus and related issues. We were talking about how the bad guys beat Jesus up and how he died on a cross, and off that how sometimes it takes more strength not to beat people up (since Jesus could have). Somehow that spun off into how tough God was and I told Josh God was the strongest guys ever, and he goes "no, I'm stronger than God is". Shortly after that I was telling him how we needed to love and obey God and Jesus because that is how we get to heaven and he proceeds to tell me he doesn't want to go to heaven.

Somebody tell me how you parent through that? It always cracks me up when people try to say kids aren't sinful. The sinful and rebellious heart in my child is quite present today.

So if anyone feel like praying for mercy for my oldest child, it could definitely be used!

*edit* he did pray and ask for forgiveness. He told Jesus he was sorry for the bad things he said

Okay, recap of the last month:

The trip to STL was probably the most successful we have had to date. The boys did quite well on both legs of the drive (with the exception of hotel sleeping, but that wasn't in the car) and managed to stay healthy and fairly happy most of their stay. Such a relief!

Josh was sick most of the month. He had to take two rounds of antibiotics for an ear infection (as did Jack) and 5 days after being off the antibiotics we had to go back into the doctor and get on more for... walking pneumonia. Thankfully he is back to himself!

We've been busy finishing up all of our Christmas obligations and after Wednesday are looking forward to a schedule free week. I tried to be intentional about having the week before off where we could hang out and make memories without being stressed. We're excited to have everyone down here for the holidays. Really excited about getting to celebrate Christmas in my own house!

Josh and Jack are Pete and Re Pete right now. They play together all the time, and if one goes somewhere the other goes off to find him. It's fun to watch them and their camaraderie. They have their tiffs, but for the most part I really am amazed at how well they get a long. Such a blessing.

We've been rocking out the Charlie Brown cartoons recently. At one point Lucy tells Charlie that he's so stupid, Josh heard it and gasped and looked up at me and said "that's not nice! Where is her mommy?!"

Hopefully I will slide back into the blogging mindset and have some more cute stories about the boys soon!

So my kids are STILL sick. Apparently the antibiotics they were taking didn't work. We're on another round and if this doesn't kick it then they will have to be injected with antibiotics. It would be super if they were better by the time we left for Thanksgiving!

Thankfully Josh is at least showing a little improvement. He still has a fever but he's being a lot nicer and has more energy to run and play. I think he must have came up and told me he loved me at least 4 times yesterday which is miraculous after the week we had. Mind you I found out he had been sneaking bites of cookies I had made for a bake sale and he may have been trying to cover for that, but I'll take what I can get!

Josh had his Thanksgiving feast today at school. They dressed up as indians, he was super cute. I almost didn't take him to school today since he still wasn't feeling well, but I'm glad he made it. Even if I did have to carry him through the food line.

Jack has officially lost his last bit of babyishness to him. I looked at him the other day and was struck by what a little man he looked like. He's loosing his baby potbelly and really slimming out, which makes him look like a toddler. He's still in the phase of wanting to scream for everything he wants but he knows how to say "please" now and we're trying to make him ask for whatever it is he wants instead of just screaming. We're getting there.

So that's our life right now. Trying to get ready for our trip, half excited, half anxious. Our kids don't do so well traveling. They don't sleep as well in new places and want to be in on all the action. Their eating is also usually pretty off and they run on a pretty constant sugar high. Sometimes it makes it more difficult for Chris and I to enjoy the holiday since we are so busy running interference. Hopefully this trip will go smoother. At the very least the drive should be, I think the extra space in our new car will really help the 10 hour drive the be less claustrophobic feeling.

I'm so grateful for our car. I fit 200 cupcakes in it last night, 75 brownies and 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies. And I still had room for 4 people. Maybe a smoother ride will help start the trip on a better note. Here's hoping.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

*edit* I went into the other room to check on Josh and he had chocolate on his face. He gets in BIG trouble for getting into things on the counter without asking (since I have a cupcake business and he once drank over half a bottle of Tylenol). I ask him to open his mouth and you could see the cookie in his teeth and smell it on his breath. The problem is, I have NO IDEA where he got this cookie. Nothing on the counters has been touched or moved, it's a mystery cookie that is untraceable. Chris said maybe we shouldn't punish him because of the sheer amazingness of his feat. We think he may have a place he hides things in or something. The kid is so stinking smart. DO YOU SEE WHAT I'M DEALING WITH?!

It's been a L.O.N.G. week.

Not only have the boys (all 3 of them) been sick for almost a full week, but we have hit some interesting phases with the boys as well.

Jack has been screaming virtually non stop. He's getting a couple of teeth in, as well as being at the awkward stage where he knows he can just yell to get what he wants, but he also knows enough words to be able to ask for it. This results in him screaming and me constantly getting onto him to "ask!".

He also really likes to yell my name a lot. He calls me "ma" most of the time. Chris always laughs at it because he thinks Jack sounds like a New Yorker when he says it.

Josh has hit a(nother) phase of very poor listening. Amidst his inability to listen there have also been some infuriating behavior thrown in the midst of it. The first one was that he just decided to randomly pee on the carpet. I still can't wrap my mind around why or how... there are some things I just don't understand. The second was that he decided to take a sharpie to our couch. Mind you the sharpie was in my purse (which he knows he's not supposed to get into) and he drew on the couch (of which he KNOWS we only color on paper). Thankfully some BRILLIANT person invented microfiber of which we were intuitive enough to buy. A little bit of rubbing alcohol took it right out. For the record I have removed chocolate, olive oil, tomato sauce, pen, sharpie, snot, and only God knows what else from our couches all except the sharpie with nothing more than water.

I've had people on a regular basis tell me that I'm going to miss this phase when my kids are teenagers and they can talk back. Meanwhile I'm thinking they're crazy because if they knew Josh they would know how much talking back I get. My only hope is that the consistent discipline we do know will make life when they are teenagers a little easier.

There have been too many times this past week where I have questioned my mommy skills and if I'm a complete failure. Parenting is not an easy business, at least not with my children. For whatever reason it seems as though God has entrusted us with more challenging children than other people seem to have. I try to trust that means he's given me the capability to come out the other side a sane person, with well behaved kids. This week has required a lot of trust and faith.

So you know how in that last post, I talked about Jack being a daredevil and it becoming problematic? Yeah, that turned out to be true.

So Friday he fell out of the shopping cart. He kept standing up in the front and he can get out of the buckles, so I put him in the back, because at the lowest part it was up to his chest, and I thought for sure it wasn't mathematically possible for him to fall out, plus he was mainly sitting and playing with a toy. I was wrong. I guess he leaned over the end while I looked away for 30 seconds and flipped out onto his back, getting a nice little chunk out of the top of his head.

Then, yesterday, I had the back door cracked open because I had been cooking and it had gotten smokey in the house. I guess he had gotten outside, which wouldn't be a big deal (we have a fence) except when he went to come back in he tripped over the mat and hit his forehead on the ledge of the door that's covered in metal.

The doctor told us to go straight to Scottish Rite (the kids hospital here, and a 45 minute drive NOT in rush hour traffic). I asked them if I could have a doc check it out to make sure it needed stitches, since I knew it was borderline. They would, as long as I was there by 5. It was 4:30, my kids had no clothes on and I was watching a baby girl who was still napping and the doctors office is every bit of a 20 minute drive not in rush hour traffic. Long story short, by the grace of God we made it there and he didn't have to have stitches.

At this rate I'm going to have DCFS called on me! I'm seriously considering bubble wrap...

So I've discovered two potentially problematic attributes of my children in the past couple of days.

Jack apparently is a dare devil. We went to the park, and he will climb all the way up to the big slides BY HIMSELF. Not only does he get himself up there, but he proceeds to throw himself right on down them. And not always int he regular sliding procedure. Sometimes he decides to turn around on his stomach and go down. This is a little unnerving for me. The kid isn't even a year and a half old and I'm not sure he need to be sliding down slides by himself that are a story high. Not to mention he doesn't even wait to make sure Chris or I are there. Josh had some fears that we wanted to be better about not letting take root in Jack. Apparently we went a little overboard in the prevention. Now we need to work on reinstating some healthy fear.

Last night we had small group, at the end I was asking the babysitters how he did. They looked sheepishly at one another and proceeded to tell me that him and one of the girls were sitting in the corner kissing each other on the cheek. In Josh's defense after interrogating him in the car he wasn't doing the kissing he was just letting himself be kissed on the cheek. Still not ok, but better. After the babysitters told me that one of the other moms piped up that her middle daughter refers to Josh as her boyfriend. So apparently I have a ladies man. I thought the only fighting off of the opposite sex I would have to do was for my mythical (at this point) daughter. Apparently I was wrong. How young is too young to have to start talking about relationships? And does this mean Chris and I should stop kissing in front of him? How am I already asking these questions?! This is all too soon!!!

Conversations with a pint-sized sports fan:

Josh: mom, I can't be friends with Tristan any more.

Me: why not?

Josh: because he likes the other Georgia team, the bee team (that would be Georgia Tech yellow jackets for all you non-Georgia dwellers) and he doesn't like my team.


Thank goodness we live in a football focused state and happen to like the most popular team. If he had this issue with baseball, poor kid wouldn't have any friends. Not a whole lot of Cards fans in GA.

I've know for a while now that Jack was right on the precipice of busting out all kind of language skills. Mainly because Josh went through the same thing, but we've been repeating a bunch of words to him and he just seemed to be mulling them over.

Well this weekend was his weekend. It all started with "nigh nigh" the weekend before (see post below). This weekend we've had apple, baby, baseball (no joke), night night (more pronounced), more, shoe, and more that I am probably loosing track of.

It's been fun to be able to understand what it is he wants and communicate with him more clearly, but on the other hand that was my final "he's still a baby" thing. I pretty much got nothing but a full fledged toddler now. Good thing he's an adorable and fun one.

Josh informed me the other day that he does like girls now and they're not so bad. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing now.

We've had a crazy month of October but things are finally settling down now. I'm looking forward to being more attentive to the boys adorableness to document it better in the coming weeks. I haven't had as much time to just hang with them and I really miss that.

So busy.

Here are a few highlights:

We were getting Jack ready for bed, and I told him to tell Daddy "night, night", and he looked at him and said "nigh, nigh". So sweet.

Josh has some pretty impressive vocabulary but I think my favorite phrase of his is "sawed". As in "mommy, I sawed a big truck". Who needs proper grammar when you have cute phrases like that?

Within the last couple of weeks the boys have started working together a little too well. They have definitely started tag teaming me, which I am not ready for yet.

Hopefully more to come soon.

Josh doesn't get the whole"girlfriend" concept. Praise the Lord. And if he all of a sudden figures it out, he won't be getting to put it into practice for a long, long time. Like 16.

That said...there's this girl. Her name is Annabelle, and she is the sweetest most fun thing ever. I want to steal her. Every time I see her she gives me hugs and I get to get my little girl fix. Apparently Josh sees something similar. When he talks about his friends, she is one of the first to be mentioned, and every Wednesday he always asks if Annabelle is going to be at church.

We were grabbing a quick dinner before church last night and Josh and I were chatting. I asked him if he was excited to get to see his friends. He told me he was, especially Annabelle. I asked why that was, and he looked up me and said "because I love her."

He also looks at her differently than his other friends, he gets all excited and giddy when he's around her, and everything he does he wants to show her, and make sure that she is watching when he does something tough or cool. He holds doors open for her and tries to take care of her any way he can.

I'm not sure what to make of it all, but it's sweet to see his chivalrous side coming out.

April, at her birthday party

June 2009 NexGen Leaders Appreciation Lunch

Fourth of July

Annabelle's mom, my friend Heather, always refers to them as "sweet friends" and I think they definitely are that.

Lots to update on this week.

Most importantly, our car situation. The Honda is officially gone, and letting it go was somewhat bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, we were more than happy to see the car gone after the headache it has been for the last several years. However, there were lots of memories that went with that car. We had it when we got married, had Josh, it moved with us to CT, survived an attempted car jacking, had Jack and moved to GA. And so much in between.

We ended up getting a Nissan Pathfinder on Monday evening. We love it! Not only is it a great family car, but there are so many features about it we love. We plan on having this car for a very long time and we both are very happy with what we got. And of course my studly husband got an amazing price on it too. We feel very blessed! Especially after having that Honda, it feel like we are driving in the lap of luxury, although that may be the seat warmers : )

There has been a ton of rain down here a lots of flooding. So far we have been unaffected by it other than the occasional travel inconvenience. It's made for a nice mellow week since Josh's soccer practice and game were canceled as a result.

I got to take Josh to see the Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs movie today, which he loved. On the way back home he was talking about the boys in his class and how they play together, and I asked him if he played with any girls. He told me no he didn't, since they are bad guys. Well what about mommy I asked? He said he could play with me since I'm his mommy. What a relief. He is full into the whole good guy/bad guy concept right now. He's been learning lots at school, and most recently is starting practicing writing. He's gotten through A's and B's (lower case and upper case), and knows how to write his full name (which is a big deal since those s's have been hard!).

Jack had his 15 month doctors appointment yesterday. He was 25% weight, 50% height, and 95% for his head. That's my boy. Almost all of his appointments have resulted in those statistics. I love this age he's at right now. I've always said my favorite age range is the 1-2year time frame (although I'm loving age 4 more and more). I love watching his little personality emerge, and boy is it ever. I was working on something the other day and he crawled up on the couch and kept flinging himself on my lap. He is getting more and more outgoing, as well as talkative. He doesn't put up with Josh's stuff, and if Josh takes a toy from him Jack will yell at him and try to take it back, while throwing in a few hits at the same time. He's very sensitive to any sort of discipline, much more so than Josh was. Josh would laugh at us and do whatever it was we had told him not to while Jack either listens, or at the least bit of reprimanding pouts or even cries. He has such a sweet and loving disposition about him.

The last couple weeks have been stressful so it's been nice to have this one calm down a little bit, and have the peace of the car situation being taken care of. Other than a lack of sunshine right now, life is good.

Time for the Kelly Family Sports Rundown.

This time of year is kind of like the mecca of sports I think. Baseball is at the peak of it's action with the race for who's going to win the division title, and football season is in full swing. It's rare to see anything but some sort of game on out TV during the weekend, and the TV seems to be on almost constantly, even if no one is in front of it (that way when Chris walks by it he can see the scores).

So here is where we stand.

Baseball:
Our first team loyalty is with (and always will be with) the St. Louis Cardinals. If this game is on we more often that not will be in front of it. I have a whole soap box on why they're the best team in baseball, but I think most of our readers are in STL, so no explanation necessary.

Our AL (american league) team that we pull for is the Boston Red Sox. We liked them before leaving STL, but living in CT and going to a few games only intensified our appreciation. As much as we like the Red Sox however, if they are playing the Cards... forget about it.

Chris will also occasionally still root for the Giants, but seeing as how they pretty much stink, and the town of St. Louis and I have indoctrinated him with enough Cardinal love and loyalty, these happenings are few and far between.

College Football:

This is practically a religion down here. It is insane how crazy people are about their football down here. Shortly after we moved down here we knew we just wouldn't fit in if we didn't have an SEC team we pulled for. After weighing the pros and cons, and Chris going to a game, our alliance now lies with the UGA Georgia Bulldogs.

I also pull for Mizzou.

NFL:

Let's be honest, the Rams aren't really a STL team. Not only do they stink, I'm just not a fan of the organization and how they run it. On the flip side, I've been really impressed with the Falcons organization and how they run things. Especially when the whole Michael Vick thing went down, I thought they handled it very gracefully (and that was before we moved to ATL), between that and the fact that they are actually good, we root for them.

Chris occasionally roots for the 49ers, but again, seeing as how they stink, it's not usually given much TV time.

So that's the lineup. Josh knows almost all of our teams by names and can recognize them. He was yelling for the Falcons Sunday afternoon, and the Cardinals on Sunday night (thank you ESPN). He gets into the games, it's pretty cute.

What team do you pull for?

I have two very snuggly boys today. And I love it.

I'm not sure if it's still not feeling 100% normal with Josh, or if it's being in school and having time away from mom that is making him want to spend more time with me, but whatever it is, I will take it!

He was snuggling with me and I asked him if when he was as tall as daddy he would still give his mommy hugs. He said yes. I said what about when you are playing sports in high school and have a girlfriend? Yes. What about when you are married, and have kids? Still yes. Sweet, but I told him that I wouldn't ask for them at weird times and would draw healthy boundaries. I figured it's a fair exchange.

Josh also memorized his first bible verse for school today. Genesis 1:1. I'm so proud! He is also working on writing the letter "A". Upper and lower case. We are also working on lower case "s" because it's in his name, which he needs to be able to write, and apparently it's quite difficult for him.

So that's our life. Glad to be getting back into somewhat of a routine now, and not wondering about the unknown.

The Toyota is fixed and we are looking for a "new" car to replace the Honda. RIP Honda.

Lord have mercy, has it been a week.

I think it has probably been one of the most crazy weeks of my adult life.

There has been some high points, and some very low points.

Recap time:

Monday- doesn't count because it was labor day

Tuesday- Josh's first day of preschool, he will be going four days a week from 9:30 to 1:30. Big stuff. He did great, and he loved it, I was so proud of him.

I also had cupcakes that I had to deliver that day, as well as making some more for my bible study the next day as well as an appetizer. I also had to write up the recipes for a book that we are making for our bible study group.

Chris noticed his car acting funny, and made plans to get a ride to work the next morning, so we dropped his car off that night at our mechanics.

I noticed Jack wasn't feeling very well.

Wednesday- drop Josh off bright and early, he was a little bit more apprehensive the next day, figuring out the routine, but was great as soon as we pulled up. Rushed over to bible study. Rushed home to squeeze in an hour nap for Jack, rushed to pick Josh up (I am so thankful our preschool is less than a mile away from our house!) and rushed home again.

Upon getting home, I had to feed the kids, get Jack down for another nap, get them packed up for the evening, and prepare for my small group girls that night. I also had to leave earlier than normal to go pick up Chris. During that time we find out that Chris's car is pretty much toast. So now we have to get a new car. A year earlier than thought we would need to.

So I picked up Chris, and we grabbed a quick dinner at Chick-Fil-A. He dropped the kids and I off at church and headed out to the music store where he could pick up some things he needed for the lesson he has been teaching on Friday night. Pick us up at 9:30, and head home. Exhausted.

Thursday- relaxing day. Drop off Josh, go to Target, Costco, and Kroger, and get home in time to get Jack a two hour nap before Josh's pick up time. Awesome. Finally feeling some of the benefits of having one kid in preschool. Pick up Josh and head home. Jack finally acting like he's feeling a little better, but I can tell Josh is on the downhill slope, but still hoping it won't hit him that bad. I get a call that I need to bring snack and drinks to the soccer game on Saturday. Except there are nut, dairy and egg allergies (?!) on his team. Start racking my brain for options. Pack picnic dinner, go pick up Chris again (since we shouldn't drive his car) and head to soccer fields for practice. Pick up a DQ treat and head home. Josh crashing hard.

Friday- Josh wakes up with a fever and I decide to keep him out from school, and make a doctors appointment. Head to the doctors. Am there a long time. Pick up Panera for lunch and head to Walmart to search for snacks to feed team impossible. Home to get the kids fed. One of my small group girls comes over an hour or so later, all the while I'm staying updated through texts and facebook about the impending arrival of my new niece or nephew. We hang out while the kids run around and I try to get dinner made, waiting for Chris to get home from teaching his lesson. We all hung out over dinner (chicken and dumplings with the kids and Chris being under the weather) and then after dessert rejoiced over the birth of our new niece, Anna Leigh Kelly. Chris was a rockstar and got the kids to bed while I hung out a little more.

Saturday- Everybody wakes up early feeling lousy. We decide to scrape together and head to Josh's first game. Josh doesn't eat any breakfast, and is obviously feeling lousy. Jack has three teeth coming in and is ridiculously cranky. It's going to be a rough day. We get to the game and our assistant coach is out. Our head coach asks Chris if he'd be willing to help out, and of course rockstar husband steps up. The game is in direct sunlight and it is bright, hot and humid. The boys start going down fast. Thankfully the game is only an hour. In the last 10 minutes of the game Josh comes off the field crying. He was done. He also didn't understand why daddy couldn't pick him up on the field. His team did win though.

We come home and pretty much crashed the rest of the day.

Sunday- We miss church because we didn't want to expose anyone else. Lounge around morning. Mid-afternoon we finally motivate ourselves to get out of the house. We decide to go look at an SUV at a dealership (since we are in need of a car). Halfway there our Camry (the reliable car) starts making a really weird noise. Chris pulls over and checks it out, and while we can't figure out what it is, we know it's not good, and decide to head home. While praying. While on the way we hatch the plan for me to jump out real quick and grab the Honda to follow him to the dealership right around the corner. As soon as I jump out of the car, there is a loud click and the motor dies. I motion to Chris asking if he did that and he replies no. Stink. Our neighbor with a truck towed us over to the mechanics.

So that is how our week ended. First week of preschool in the books, first soccer practice and game in the books, two broken cars, and a new niece, and a sick family.

I am glad this week is over.

My kids are awesome.

Seriously.

I know I realize that I am biased because they are mine, but I've seen people that don't even know them get a huge kick out of watching them.

Sure they have their faults. Who doesn't. But as a whole...they rock.

They have tons of personality. They are very expressive. They (well, Josh, Jack's not quite old enough to tell) have a passion for the Lord. They both have some of the best smiles I have ever seen. They listen, not always willingly, but eventually, they will listen. They both have sweet dispositions, and like to snuggle. They have both shown a curiosity and hunger to learn. They are hilarious, and love to make people laugh. They enjoy interacting with people and like to have fun.

I love my kids, and I think they are great.

I don't like being in situations where people don't look for the good in my kids.

Good Night.

We started off kind of rushed, but ended with a bang. Wednesdays are crazy. I have bible study in the morning, and youth at night. Chris has to leave right at 5pm (a rarity these days) to come help me feed the kids so I can get them out the door by 6pm with me. It gives him some down time, and the kids get to play with their friends. Any how, getting in the car is always a big relief.

I had a great night with the girls and the kids were in great moods, and didn't cry at all when we had to leave. They were being so good I thought I would do a fun mommy splurge, so we stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way home. We rolled down the windows and rocked out to some Lincoln Brewster. I love that Josh is thrilled with loud music and a beautiful night blowing in the windows. A boy after my heart!

We walked in the door to the song "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey blasting and Chris vacuuming. Now that's sexy. I dropped the donuts, and the kids and we all joined in singing and dancing. After about 3 more repeats and a quick sugar rush, it was off to bed for the boys.

Good times in the Kelly house.

Right now I am sitting with the sweetest baby snuggled up in my lap, and typing one handed. But it's worth it for the snuggles. He has his legs around me and is laying his head on my chest. It smells like the cinnamon oatmeal he had for breakfast. I love that Jack still loves to snuggle so much. For some reason I thought that once we hit that 1 year mark it would all be downhill.

Thankfully I was wrong. He still wants me to rock him before he goes to sleep at night, and he will still fall asleep on me. When I've been away for a little while, all he wants me to do is to hold him. It's awesome. And the reason I need to have a girl. I'm way too addicted to this whole snuggling thing, and I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure after about the age of 5, my boys are not going to be down with the amount of snuggling their mom wants.

Josh has been cracking people up with one line, that bears explanation. There is a commercial for some oil company where a guy walks around and slaps people with the oil dipstick from a car and says "start thinking with your dipstick, jimmy." Chris thinks this commercial is hilarious, which of course means Josh does too, so he's been running around telling people to "start thinking with your wipstick jimmy". The best part is his face when he says it, he mimicks the face of the guy on the commercial, and it is hilarious! He makes kids and adults laugh with this one.

We were taking off in the airplane, and got through the clouds when Josh looked over and told us:

"I can see where God and Jesus live!"

I made ravioli tonight for dinner. We sat down, and Josh asked for some "rolyoli" (read, rolypoly without the "p").

Generally I try to encourage him to proper English, but that one was so cute, we let it slide.

Jack's favorite thing to do in the car right now is to howl like a coyote. He's really loud and he thinks it's hilarious. We'll look back to try to tell him to be more quiet (because it's seriously ear piercing) and he just cracks up when we turn around and then it's impossible for us not to laugh, and the whole process starts over.

My kids may be extremely active and somewhat mischievous, but they sure are cute. And full of personality!

We were just cleaning up dinner and Josh walked in with my small bible exclaiming: mommy, I read this whole bible!" Intrigued Chris and I asked what it said, and here is the story that proceeded:

"God and Jesus were in the world fighting and a guy came and fighted Jesus and hit and made him bleed, but he (Jesus) got up and wiped it off, and then He (Jesus) got him(the bad guy)"

Interestingly, it's not too far off.

I should have updated on this a couple of weeks ago, but I have been really busy, and I didn't want to get ahead of myself. But I think it's official that we are a pull-up (for night time) and bottle free house! Woo Hoo! It feels weird to be without the bottles in particular since those have been a part of our lives for the last four years (Josh used an empty one to fall asleep until he was 3, reason #37 why Jack was never allowed to fall asleep with bottles).

My grocery budget in particular is happy to be without the pull-ups. Those suckers are expensive. I still have a pile of coupons if anyone is interested.

Jack is walking around everywhere and gains more and more stable each day. He's learning more new words and loves to play with his big brother. I pray that they will continue to be so close as they get older.

As much as I wanted a girl with our second pregnancy, I'm very thankful God had another plan. I don't think Josh would have known what to do with a girl just yet (we are at an overwhelming peak of the gun phase) and it's so fun to see them becoming so close, something I'm not sure would have happened right away with a girl. Plus this way I get to make them share a room. Muahahaha.

I feel like other than that there isn't much substantial to update on. I'm not sure if it's a lack of funny comments, or a lack of time to write them down. Maybe a little bit of both. Josh has been in a little bit of funk attitude wise for a little while and there has been more whining than jokes. Hopefully we are over that soon.

Yesterday Josh was eating lunch and told me that he was going to eat a whole bunch so God and Jesus would get really full.

Sometimes I think he gets his stomach and his heart confused, either that or he just thinks they are all connected.

I'll argue that theology at a later date. Maybe after Anatomy class. At least he was looking out for them, I guess.

After a lack of play dates with vacations, and even a hiatus from youth (where he goes and plays with his friends in the provided childcare) Josh got his friend fix this week.

Three of his best friends are Samantha, Jeremy and Annabelle. Those four love to play together at every youth function their mommies are at. This week Josh got a play date with them (and other friends) and got to see them during a small group leader training.

Tonight he gets to see his favorite babysitter too. Which mommy and daddy are pretty excited about! I think this will be the first time since STL that we are going to go out with friends. A night out is a pretty big novelty, but to do it with company is extra special. It will be nice to communicate without having to feed someone, talk over little people, or be interrupted with necessary disciplinary actions. Oh to be a real adult again.

Jack is walking almost exclusively now. He seems a little more unstable that Josh did at first, but it's cute to watch him quite literally toddle around.

Daddy is so proud because he is already throwing balls. We've got another one with a really good arm. Daddy is going to have to start restricting the throwing, no matter how proud he is though if he wants to keep his flat screen in tact!

Not too much else to update on. Just keeping busy with all the school start up activities going on for Josh (gulp) and me with the youth. This school year is going to bring lots of changes. I hope we all adjust well!

Two sick kiddos here. Supposedly just a bad cold, but at least for Josh it is one whopper of a cold. I haven't seen anything other than the stomach flu take him down this hard before.

All he wants to do is drink VitaminWater and lay on the couch and watch Bolt.

Currently Panera's chicken noodle soup is helping to make it all better.

He's funny even when he is sick though. Jack was about to throw something on the floor (which we have been getting onto him for rather harshly since I have estimated that I spend at least one hour every day cleaning him the chair and the floor up after he eats) and I yelled at him"no" to get his attention. Apparently I scared Josh too because he looks over at me and tell me that he had the "pee scared out of me".

Speaking of Jack, I'm not sure how that little trickster has become a master of stairs without even being fully stable on his feet yet, but he has done just that. He's stealthy too. We have to keep the gate up at all times. Chris came home from work and I had just brought Jack downstairs and left the gate down. In the course of going to tell Chris "hi" Jack had already crawled over to the stairs and gotten all the way up them. I run over to find where he is to see him sitting nicely at the top of the stairs grinning at me and clapping for himself. So much for the idea of less busy mornings while Josh is in preschool.

We also got a letter yesterday informing us that Josh will be playing for the Tornadoes soccer team this fall. He's going to look so handsome running aimlessly back and forth on the field.

Now I have to go clean up the disaster in my kitchen that is the result of two sick kids eating lunch. I'd been trying to avoid it with blogging, but there is only so much a girl can say, and so much more that I've got to do.

School starts back here is less than a month. Geez. Normally that date wouldn't effect me, but this year it does. Not only do I volunteer with the high school ministry and the start date of school is correlated to the start date of small groups, but Josh starts school this year.

Mind you it is just preschool, but it's 4 days a week. That's a lot. I'm trying not to think about it because when I do it makes me want to do crazy things. And he's playing soccer. So while last year the start of school came and went without much notice, this year it will bring a busier schedule, trips to a soccer field for practice, lonelier days, and Saturday morning soccer games.

It's so funny Chris and I always talked about these days with excitement, but admittedly I'm getting a little apprehensive now that they are here. I'm sure it's mostly the intimidation of change, and I'll love the freedom and excitement of our new schedule. But like it or not, there is no more escaping the fact that Josh is growing up.

Normalcy for the most part has been restored in the Kelly household. I'm restocked on my usual grocery supply, after this afternoon the house will be completely clean (I use that phrase loosely, meaning that it will have been completely cleaned at one point, not that it still is), we are back on our typical eating and sleeping schedule and have already finished testing the boundaries.

I think it's a little crazy how it takes nearly as long as you were gone on your vacation to recover from it. Again using the term vacation loosely. If you have ever been on to youth camp you know what I mean.

Last night we had a lovely family evening. It's rare that we all have a really good night at the same time. Either Chris is stressed from work, or has something else on his mind, I'm thinking about what kind of cupcakes I'm going to make or how to explain apologetics to 15 year old girls, or one of the kids is fussing because of teeth, they are tired, or just because.

But last night the stars aligned. We had a nice dinner, of which everyone ate well, and then headed over to Dairy Queen to pick up a treat. We took it over to this area in historic Buford where train tracks run right through the historic area. On either side of it there are large areas of grass and benches. We took our treats there and the kids played in the grass, being incredibly sweet to one another while Chris and I got to hang out and talk. The boys got to see two trains go by within a couple feet of them.

We came home and Chris and the boys played with these little plastic army soldier guys (which I got in the Target $1 section, they have a bunch of great stuff for boys right now, those and foam swords). Jack joined in trying to make shooting noises which Chris coined as chemical warfare in the form of spit. Even bedtime went fairly smoothly.

These nights, however few and far between make it all worth it.

I'm home, we're home, and resuming a state of normalcy.

I'll try to do a quick summary here with more in depth posts later.

Camp was good, but for reasons other than I expected it to be, and it was a very different experience that what I had in mind.

Savannah was AMAZING! I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but since our honeymoon, Chris and I have never gone anywhere just the two of us. It was a much needed time away, and what a blessing it was!

It was great to come back home, I got quite the greeting from Josh. I don't think he stopped wanting to be close to me for the first 24 hours and even after that he will still randomly come up to me and tell me he missed me. Jack on the other hand wouldn't have anything to do with me at first. He refused to look at me and gave me a bit of an attitude like he was mad at me for leaving him. After the first couple hours though he was his normal self.

Now if I can get all the laundry finished, and the house all clean, we'll be in business.

We've had a problem recently with Josh occasionally picking his nose and then feeling then need to ingest the results. Gross I know, but necessary information for the story.

Chris had been getting onto him extra hard recently to help him try to kick the habit. After having the incident happen a couple of times today, Chris finally just asked Josh, why do you do that? To which Josh replied:

"Daddy, sometimes I just get hungry and I need to."

Our kid has an excuse for everything.


In other news, I leave Monday for camp, and then on Friday Chris is meeting me half way and we're headed to Savannah to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Things will be silent for a little bit.

Hope everyone has a great Fourth of July!

I'm making fourth of July cupcakes today. Josh was asking why I was making red cupcakes, and I was explaining to him the holiday and why we celebrate it. I told him that not everyone gets to live in a country where they are free to worship and love God or whomever they want. He thought about it for a minute and then responded with a very sincere and concerned, "aw, that's sad". What's sad? I asked, wanting to make sure he got the concept. "That some people don't get to love God".

Yes it is.

Josh has been coming up to me randomly throughout the day to tell me:

"Mommy, your my best mommy."

I'm not sure what that means, but I like it.