Last summer he conquered swimming, and this summer we planned to tackle bike riding minus the training wheels! He's doing great and summer's just begun!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May
"Mom, I got sand in my eyes."
"Seriously, mom... sand!"
I cannot believe it is already the middle of May! Where does the time go? Meanwhile, as time flies by, my kids get huge! My little Juder is getting so big and is just the sweetest little boy I know. His heart is so big and he is so compassionate. He lost something of mine today and was apologizing to me and was just crying his eyes out. He said, "mom, I'm just so sorry I did that". He wasn't trying to avoid a spanking or punishment, he genuinely felt bad. I could tell. It made me feel bad for coming down hard on him. Sometimes it's hard to remember that Mr. independent/do-it himself is only four years old. Just a little boy. I had to check his fingers this morning to make sure that the little dimples where his knuckles are were still there. That's my sign that he's still little. I love those little dimps! Jude's been SO independent lately. He's been dressing himself, clothes, underwear, socks and shoes since he was two years old, but now he wants no help with anything! He gets himself in and out of the car and carseat. He even unstraps Rhett if he has time before I get to him first. He makes his own bed now and carries his clean clothes to his room after they've been folded. He serves himself water and ice out of the refrigerator door, and clears his plate from the table after a meal. He can recognize and point out every letter in uppercase and lowercase and writes them too. He LOVES to write and draw. He especially likes drawing boats. All of his pictures are very detailed! He can write his name and usually writes the 'j' backwards which always brings a smile to my face. He is my first born and my best friend. I'm just not ready for him to be all grown up and leave me for school. I have so enjoyed our time together, and am so thankful that God gave him to me to raise!
My car has back up censors, and today we were backing up in the car and I was turned around looking in all of my blind spots to make sure I didn't hit a parked car. Very frankly Jude said, "mom, the car will beep if you are going to hit something, you don't have to look all around." Seriously, what four year old thinks of these things? I just love him to pieces, every last detail of his inquisitive mind and sweet, loving and sensitive heart!
Rhett just waking up from a night's ride in the car on the way back from Florida. Whole gangs here...hippo, blankie and paci:).
Rhett is all of the sudden like a different child. He's still a great sleeper and super sweet, but he is talking up a storm! Sentences are repeated by this one daily, and he says almost every word we ask him to say. Rhett is our affectionate baby. He has always loved to lay his head down on our shoulders and sometimes will just lay down in the middle of the floor if he feels so inclined to do so. He's a hugger and a kisser! He loves to snuggle blankets and pillows and most definitely loves stuffed animals! Who knew? I used to think stuffed animals were junk because Jude never played with them or cared about them in any way, but Rhett loves them! His favorite is 'hippo', a soft hippopotamus given to Jude as a baby, but he will not turn away any soft and furry friend. He has liked anything we've shown him and loves to snuggle them. When I get him out of his crib in the morning he reaches back in for hippo every time! He has also been known to get attached to blankets and a certain paci that gets resurrected ever so often! I adore how sweet and affectionate he is, and I hope that he doesn't outgrow that anytime soon.
It's hard to believe that Jude was sleeping in a queen size bed at Rhett's age! I have no intention of taking Rhett out of his crib anytime soon. Jude was climbing out and hurling his body to the floor, so we switched him out for safety reasons, but Rhett just seems way to young for this.
We are so excited for summer at our house. I can't wait to spend our days at the pool, grill out at night, sit out on the back porch on summer nights and watch the boys chase fireflies, late evening walks, our long trip to Illinois, summer's 5th night in Utica Square and spending time with friends. What could be better? Bring it on!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Mother's Day 2011
At the beach in Seaside
I had the BEST Mother's Day this year!!! We spent the weekend at the beach with our kids and friends, and it was just the sweetest time. Also, the beach happens to be my favorite place on this earth, so it worked out perfectly to coincide with Mother's Day!
I decided to to create gifts for our moms this year. When I was little I had a teacher who would trace each and every kid's silhouette from an overhead projector onto paper, and we would cut them out and give them to our moms for mother's day. I didn't have an overhead, or the photoshop program that makes them digitally, but I found a way to make them myself. I just love the way they turned out and I had to make some for me as well! The one below was for Dallas' mom, and my mom got the same thing, but I made hers into magnets.
This was a simple project but time consuming to get every hair and curve cut out right. All I did was snap a profile picture, upload the photo onto my computer, tape a piece of white paper to my screen, trace the profile with a pencil, cut it out on the white paper, trace it onto black paper with a pencil, cut that out and glue it to a lighter color of linen card stock. Voila....homemade silhouette that I will treasure forever! I still have the ones I made for my mom. I plan on framing them someday after I retrace them (Let's just say I wasn't the craftiest kid in the world with scissors in 2nd grade:)).
I love personal gifts like this, and I hope our mom's enjoyed getting them too!
Hope all you moms out there had a wonderful day!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Baby names...
I am in no way pregnant or thinking about being pregnant anytime soon, but baby names have been on my brain. This is a rarity for me, seeing as how I usually have the hardest time coming up with names for our children! We didn't have Rhett's name set in stone until about 6 weeks before my due date, but even then we weren't 100%. Rhett was almost Pierce or Jamie (ended up not being Jamie because it broke two of our rules), and Jude was going to be Andrew. It's just SO hard choosing a name that they will have for a lifetime! BIG job if you ask me.
Dallas and I have some cardinal rules when it comes to naming humans...rules that make naming them even more difficult!
1. Semi-original and not overused (I am a Sarah after-all)
2. Nothing too strange, weird, off the wall or unique.
3. We don't alter spellings.
4. Easy to pronounce and recognize. I don't want my kid having to explain the pronunciation of their name through-out life.
5. It should have a good meaning. I'm a big believer in this.
6. I am weird about names being shortened or not the name on the certificate. I like the name to be the name, but I have nothing against others doing this and I think it's cute, it's just my preference for my kids. I think this stems from a little boy I used to babysit. His name was one thing and they called him something completely different. When it came time for him to go to school they started calling him by his birth name, and I think I am seriously the last person still calling him the name from 10 years ago:). This is less of a priority for Dallas.
7. The name has to be something that looks good on a resume. I feel so sorry for kids named things that look uneducated or strange on a resume. They don't stand a chance!
8. No names with the same first letter. I'm not into the whole matching names thing, but again, I don't mind if others are. I think I could use a 'J' or an 'R' on a 3rd kid since the first two clearly have different letters, but it was hard on the second because there are SO many 'J' names out there.
9. We don't name our kids after Cities. Dallas always got the question, "Are you going to name your son Austin or Houston since your name is Dallas?" My boyfriend in high school was named Raleigh, so my dad always joked that I only liked guys named after cities. Again, just a personal choice, which stinks because I really like the name London, but we'll have to stick to the rules.
10. Nothing cutesy or trendy for boys. We like solid and strong names for boys.
All three times I was pregnant I had absolutely zero girl names! Zero! Like we would have had to name her Sarah Jr. because there were no other options. I don't know why, maybe God was preparing me for my boys, but girl names have just not come easy for me. Since I had such trouble coming up with girl options I have been determined to be on the lookout and make mental notes when I hear cute ones that I would even remotely consider. I have been jotting them down in a notebook since my memory fails me so often:), and I'm shocked to look at them all and see what types of names I like. I guess for girls I like older, sort of classic (?) names. Here's the rundown.
1. Ruby
2. Clara
3. Greta
4. Trudy
5. Grace
6. Lola
Clara was my great-great Aunt's name who was influential in teaching that side of my family about Jesus. She lived with my grandparents until she passed away, and I always love to hear stories about her. It's a little close to Claire, which is too high on the social security website of popular names for me, but it could still make it someday since it's a good solid family name.
Greta most likely won't make the cut since it basically has Rhett spelled out in the name, but I think it's really cute and there's a super cute lady on Rachael Ray named Greta!
Grace is too popular for us too, but it would probably be more of a middle name. Katherine would likely be a middle name too since it is my Grandma's, mine and my niece Hope's.
Dallas' grandma's name is Lola and I like it, but the meaning is no good and my good friend named her dog Lola, soooo I'm thinking that probably wouldn't make it to the birth certificate.
I'm not planning to have a girl, nor do I expect to or care one way or another whether our next child is female or male, but I am excited to have some options if we do run into needing a girl name down the road.
Our boy name is probably pretty set, but I need to start keeping track of good boy names too. Here's what I like.
1. Bo
Thankfully I should have some time before this becomes a serious matter needing a decision made:). I just think it's fun to think about!
Dallas and I have some cardinal rules when it comes to naming humans...rules that make naming them even more difficult!
1. Semi-original and not overused (I am a Sarah after-all)
2. Nothing too strange, weird, off the wall or unique.
3. We don't alter spellings.
4. Easy to pronounce and recognize. I don't want my kid having to explain the pronunciation of their name through-out life.
5. It should have a good meaning. I'm a big believer in this.
6. I am weird about names being shortened or not the name on the certificate. I like the name to be the name, but I have nothing against others doing this and I think it's cute, it's just my preference for my kids. I think this stems from a little boy I used to babysit. His name was one thing and they called him something completely different. When it came time for him to go to school they started calling him by his birth name, and I think I am seriously the last person still calling him the name from 10 years ago:). This is less of a priority for Dallas.
7. The name has to be something that looks good on a resume. I feel so sorry for kids named things that look uneducated or strange on a resume. They don't stand a chance!
8. No names with the same first letter. I'm not into the whole matching names thing, but again, I don't mind if others are. I think I could use a 'J' or an 'R' on a 3rd kid since the first two clearly have different letters, but it was hard on the second because there are SO many 'J' names out there.
9. We don't name our kids after Cities. Dallas always got the question, "Are you going to name your son Austin or Houston since your name is Dallas?" My boyfriend in high school was named Raleigh, so my dad always joked that I only liked guys named after cities. Again, just a personal choice, which stinks because I really like the name London, but we'll have to stick to the rules.
10. Nothing cutesy or trendy for boys. We like solid and strong names for boys.
All three times I was pregnant I had absolutely zero girl names! Zero! Like we would have had to name her Sarah Jr. because there were no other options. I don't know why, maybe God was preparing me for my boys, but girl names have just not come easy for me. Since I had such trouble coming up with girl options I have been determined to be on the lookout and make mental notes when I hear cute ones that I would even remotely consider. I have been jotting them down in a notebook since my memory fails me so often:), and I'm shocked to look at them all and see what types of names I like. I guess for girls I like older, sort of classic (?) names. Here's the rundown.
1. Ruby
2. Clara
3. Greta
4. Trudy
5. Grace
6. Lola
Clara was my great-great Aunt's name who was influential in teaching that side of my family about Jesus. She lived with my grandparents until she passed away, and I always love to hear stories about her. It's a little close to Claire, which is too high on the social security website of popular names for me, but it could still make it someday since it's a good solid family name.
Greta most likely won't make the cut since it basically has Rhett spelled out in the name, but I think it's really cute and there's a super cute lady on Rachael Ray named Greta!
Grace is too popular for us too, but it would probably be more of a middle name. Katherine would likely be a middle name too since it is my Grandma's, mine and my niece Hope's.
Dallas' grandma's name is Lola and I like it, but the meaning is no good and my good friend named her dog Lola, soooo I'm thinking that probably wouldn't make it to the birth certificate.
I'm not planning to have a girl, nor do I expect to or care one way or another whether our next child is female or male, but I am excited to have some options if we do run into needing a girl name down the road.
Our boy name is probably pretty set, but I need to start keeping track of good boy names too. Here's what I like.
1. Bo
Thankfully I should have some time before this becomes a serious matter needing a decision made:). I just think it's fun to think about!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Puppy-tales
We recently had a puppy in our house...for 24 hours. She was staying with us to keep her a surprise for Dallas' grandma. All of her kids and grandkids chipped in and got her a long-hair Chihuahua named Brownie. She is super cute and my kiddos fell in love with her instantly!
On the way to take Brownie to surprise Mamaw, Jude was pleading his case to keep the dog at our house. He asked, "What if she is scared?" I explained that she wouldn't be because Mamaw would take care of her. He came back with, "What if she's scared of Mamaw?" I said that she would not be, and he asked, "But what about when she sees the oldness all over Mamaw?" I nearly spit my drink all over the windshield....where does he come up with this stuff??
Rhett spoke his first sentence yesterday! I can't for the life of me remember what it was, but it will come back to me. I know it was three words. I seriously have an issue with my brain and remembering things lately. I do, however, remember Jude's first sentence. We were on the way home from Illinois after Thanksgiving, so he was 21 months old, and he said, "I wanna drive dada's car." I really can't believe I remember that so clearly, but I remember Dallas and I both whipped our heads around in disbelief! After that day he was talking in paragraphs! It's like he was sitting around soaking everything in for months until he was ready to let it all out:).
I decided this morning that I have the best kids in the whole world! Sure, they have their quarks, and one in particular is especially spunky, but they are the best! I am SO blessed to spend every minute of every day taking care of them! To me there is no greater job!!!
On the way to take Brownie to surprise Mamaw, Jude was pleading his case to keep the dog at our house. He asked, "What if she is scared?" I explained that she wouldn't be because Mamaw would take care of her. He came back with, "What if she's scared of Mamaw?" I said that she would not be, and he asked, "But what about when she sees the oldness all over Mamaw?" I nearly spit my drink all over the windshield....where does he come up with this stuff??
Rhett spoke his first sentence yesterday! I can't for the life of me remember what it was, but it will come back to me. I know it was three words. I seriously have an issue with my brain and remembering things lately. I do, however, remember Jude's first sentence. We were on the way home from Illinois after Thanksgiving, so he was 21 months old, and he said, "I wanna drive dada's car." I really can't believe I remember that so clearly, but I remember Dallas and I both whipped our heads around in disbelief! After that day he was talking in paragraphs! It's like he was sitting around soaking everything in for months until he was ready to let it all out:).
I decided this morning that I have the best kids in the whole world! Sure, they have their quarks, and one in particular is especially spunky, but they are the best! I am SO blessed to spend every minute of every day taking care of them! To me there is no greater job!!!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Hey O Daddio!
All tuckered out!
Rhett still doesn't look so sure:).
Grandpa fixed Juder's hair all weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)