Introducing Micah!

It has been quite a while since I posted anything about my new sweet boy. Why? Well... because I like pictures and my scanner/printer has been out of ink. Who knew it wouldn't SCAN if it was out of ink?!? 

So, back in June (19.5 weeks) we went in to find out if our little one was a boy or a girl... and its a BOY! Yeah! It took us about a week of going back and forth on different names that begin with J to realize that wasn't going to work. So... we came up with Micah Daniel! The criteria for baby names were that we wanted something biblical, something that there probably wouldn't be 12 other kids in his class with the same name, and something really cute! Also, Daniel is my maiden name so that was easy! We are so excited and so in love! 

For those who are sonogram challenged his head on the left looking at you, booty down and to the right.  The round things are hands above his face. 

These two photos were from earlier this month (32ish weeks). You can see his face really well. Although I wish I had a video because seeing him on the screen was so much better! So, what does Jeremy have to say about all this? He is so excited. He tells us how he is going to play with him, but probably won't be sharing his toys (I mean, lets keeps our expectations real!) Jeremy loves to feel him kick and can't wait to meet his little brother!

This time still facing you but the top of his head is on the right. And Micah's hand is on his face. 

Better profile picture. 

Since I know you really want to see a maternity shot... here you go. I really don't like profile pictures, so I'll give you the angle that I see...

Me and Micah! 

As of today, we have 31 days on our count down! So far everything has gone amazing and I've been so excited to not be on bed rest, and other than some hip and joint pain I've been good to go! So we are praying for an easy 31 days!

Introducing Sprinkle!

Well, we have a new member of the family! When we found out I was pregnant, we looked up how big the baby would be at that point, and well, it was the size of a sprinkle. So, that is how we got the name!

Yesterday, Joey and I took Jeremy to the doctor's office to get a picture of our new sweet little angel. Jeremy was so excited to finally get to see something—although he had no idea how this was going to work.
While we were getting the ultrasound, Sprinkle was moving around so much! We saw little arms and legs going at full speed and his or her little tummy looked like it was doing a hula dance. It was so sweet! My favorite picture we got was the one below. His or her head is on the left and you can see hands and feet! I couldn't believe how much and how well we could see everything!

Fun Friday Fotos! vol. 7

Surprise! That is three positives...

New Year. New Blogs. New Lifestyle.

Well, hello there old blog. It's been quite some time since we've gotten together. A lot has happened in the past few months. So much to tell you... so much I want to say.

Where to begin....

I guess we should start with Happy New Year! I'm not much for resolutions, but I will try to be better about getting around to say hi. Next non-resolution is that once and for all, this family is getting on the right track for health and nutrition. Thanks to a friend of Joey's, Joey is totally on board and we are moving in the right direction! Whoo-hoo! But, enough about that....

I'm guessing you are wondering what my excuse is. I have a some really good ones. The first is that I got pneumonia the week after my birthday. It took me nearly a month to get over it! I hadn't felt that bad in YEARS! I was so wimpy that for a couple of days I wasn't able to walk from the bed to the bathroom by myself.

And my next excuse is that I lost my job the Monday after Thanksgiving. I've been very confused about what to say, how to say it, and how to have integrity while saying it. So, when you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.. right? Well, I have something to say now. Things happen. Sometimes bad things that aren't your fault. So, here is what I've been clinging to...

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, betenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For
“ He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil"

1 Peter 3:8-17

So, where does that put me now, you ask? Well, I'm spending a lot of time focusing on my family and on living a simpler, cleaner, easier lifestyle. I'm excited about my job title being limited to MOM and WIFE for the meantime!

Well, there you have it. That's the tough stuff that has been holding me back from blogging. So, I guess now that that is out in the open its time to catch up and move on! Next stop: the happenings of this past Thanksgiving!

October Update

All summer long, I had ton's of blogs I wanted to post and no time to post them. Now, two months into school/work and I have nothing in particular to post but I find myself sitting here with nothing to do. Jeremy is riding his bike with the neighborhood kids and I can watch him from our dining room table. Its like a breath of fresh air! So, I guess its time for a little update on life at our house.

Elaine's Work:

The school year started off crazy. Some hurt feelings and a lot of confusion. But God is good and He made everything right. I won't go into any specifics but I have learned that when someone hurts your feelings its best to just tell them up front. Anyway, I've ended up with a really amazing class this year and I love each and every one of those little guys. Crazy, but true.

Jeremy's school:

Jeremy started a new school again this year. He is so resilient with all the changes we have put him through. He loves his teacher! She is very organized and has these guys whipped into shape! She has a very quiet authority which is what serves him best. We had a rough start academically, but we've made amazing progress this past month! I even went to a couple of classes at a school for dyslexia not because he has dyslexia but just to help me figure out the way he learns best.

Joey:

Joey has been doing lots of projects around the house. I keep thinking of things that would be cool and telling Joey, "Wouldn't it be cool if... we had cabinets in the garage, or drawers under the futon, etc." And within a few weeks we suddenly have those things. He really loves designing and building things out of wood. He is so awesome!

Other updates:

I had an amazing girls weekend at the beach this month. It was so relaxing to not have anyone who needed me to do something, or a to do list, or a plan. Just girl chat with amazing friends, and shopping at the Destin outlets. (No pictures were taken to protect the innocent—ha ha!) Great times though!

Mimi and I have been giving Jeremy piano lessons and it is going really well! She comes over on Sunday afternoons for his weekly lesson and gives us our assignment. I do the daily portion and most of the teaching and instruction. Who knew those 8 years of lessons that I begrudgingly took would actually be helpful in the future??? Here is a short video below of the song we learned last week. He can do a really good job of site reading and then playing by ear!

My amazing husband bought me the new iPhone 4s. Its like having a new friend, so I had to throw that in too.

We've started a little chart with Jeremy to help him earn a small allowance, learn to save, tithe, and to be responsible. He really enjoys it and it doesn't cost that much! For every point he earns he gets $0.10. The most he has earned in one week was $2.70! So, totally affordable too!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my new house? We've been living here for almost 6 months and the more we live here the more I love it! I can't wait for the Christmas season to get here and be able to decorate for Christmas! This will be our first Christmas together that we can fit a tree bigger than 4 ft tall!

Next weekend is Halloween and I have yet to work on a costume for Jeremy. He wants to be John Cooper from Skillet AGAIN and I can't find his little vest I made last year. I guess I'd better get to work!

Well, I guess that is it for October! Hopefully I'll have something more to update soon.

Toothless

Jeremy finally lost his first tooth! It was quite the ordeal to get it out... here is the video below. When Jeremy puts the camera down is when he realized it was out!

***WARNING***

This video may not be for the faint of heart.

Summer Update

This summer has not been at all what I thought it would be like. After our trip, things have been happening at a whirlwind pace. First of all, we got home from the road trip with Uncle David and Aunt Wanda. Three days later we were in the road again to visit Sarah in North Carolina.

I completely forgot about throwing Jeremy a birthday party... I know, I am an awful mom. Well, we ended up throwing a last minute family party with just the family (including the Blessings and the Naylors). Jeremy was upset that all of his friends from school weren't there, but he had fun anyway. I will do better next year... I promise!

So, my mom's house has been on the market since the beginning of the year. It is officially under contract now. She is going to buy our house and we are now looking for somewhere to live. We close on her house August 6th and on ours August 9the So in the meantime we are all going to be one big happy family until we find somewhere to live.

School will be starting all too quickly and we've barely had time to enjoy the summer. Speaking of school, we hadn't registered Jeremy for school yet because we don't know where we will be living. I've been a little worried about it, but my prayer has been that God would make it clear where He wants Jeremy to go to school. I decided last Friday to go to the school we are already zoned for and just register him. Of course, I didn't have all my paperwork, so I had to wait until Monday. Friday afternoon in the mail we got a letter from Florida High. We had written this school off since he didn't get in in April, but we were excited when Jeremy got in. He was excited until he figured out that this is the "Seminoles school" and he is a Gators fan.

So, there is my update. My explanation for my lack of blogging. I am sitting here surrounded by boxes and cellophane. No pictures on the walls. No china in the cabinets. We are going to need a lot of prayer for the next few months.

Jeremy's First Day of Kindergarten

I promise I haven't abandoned you or forgotten you, my blogger friends! The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind. When we arrived back in town I had about 9 days to unpack, detox from our month long trip, and get ready to go back to work. So, I have had to put blogging on the back burner for several weeks, but I'm back and ready to catch up on everything I've missed!

So, today is JEREMY'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN! I cannot believe we are at this point already! My little boy is all growed up!

Jeremy's cubby at school with his name on it and everything!These are his teachers, Mrs. Daleen and Mrs. Kristen. He is the luckiest boy in the world to have this team for teachers. I have never met a more patient, loving and gifted pair in my life.
So, he had an amazing day. Lots of fun and he loves his teacher's already! It is going to be a great year!

Jeremy's Preschool Graduation

I don't know where the time has gone, but we are at the end of our school year. Today was Jeremy's VPK graduation. We had the sweetest ceremony and all the kids look like little angels in their caps and gowns. At the end of this post are a couple short clips of Jeremy's graduation. (Its isn't the best quality because it was taken on my cellphone.)As the kids are walking up on the stage our director, Mrs. Pam, announces each kids name, where they are going to school, and what they want to be when they grow up. Jeremy wanted to be a preschool teacher. It was definitely one of my most proud mommy moments!Can you see that face beaming? I wonder if he is as proud of himself as we are of him!This is Jeremy's whole class. At the end all of the kids got on stage and sang a few songs including a thank you song to the teachers. There couldn't have been a dry eye in the crowd. Jeremy receiving his diploma.
Jeremy is the one that falls off the stage about a minute into the performance.

A week of firsts...

This has been a crazy week of learning and doing new things. It all started off with Tuesday night, Jeremy had his first t-ball practice. I am working on uploading pictures from the first practice (I had my camera with no memory card... UGH!) but here are a few pictures from today's practice. I can't believe we are finally playing t-ball!Next crazy first that we had this week actually began two weeks ago. Jeremy's buddy, Ryker, has a really cool toy called a Glider Rider. It is like a bike but it has no training wheels and no peddles. It helps kids learn to use their balance. Jeremy borrowed Ryker's Glider for about two weeks and used it for 30 minutes every day. And now.... we are riding a real bike with just two wheels! I wish you could see his face! He has the look of complete excitement and terror at the same time. I didn't think his eyes could get any bigger!Our next crazy first is is that Jeremy ran a 7 minute mile. Our church holds a chairity 5k and 10k race every year. And they have a one mile "fun run" for kids and people who want to participate but maybe aren't up for a run around our hilly town. Well, Jeremy wasn't registered to enter the race, and let me add, he wasn't dressed for it either in his jeans and church boots. But when everyone lined up to start he was so excited and jumping around that mom told him to take off. He ran the whole thing and kept up near the lead. We aren't exactly sure of his official time (if anyone saw him finish PLEASE let me know) but it was somewhere between 6:45 and 7:15 minutes. I have heard that if he would have been entered he would have placed first in his age group and received a trophy.
I just want to add how much I love my little monkey and how proud of him I am! I know I can hear the groaning from here about how much I'm bragging about my little man... but hey, it's my blog! That's what its for!

Around the House, the fall edition

The past few weeks my AMAZING husband has been working on a new project. Surprisingly, he loves doing woodwork. I think his favorite part is being able to do something, complete it and be able to see what he made. Uncle David let Joey borrow a bunch of tools, and the picture below is an adirondack chair that he built. I think we should go in the chair building business. In May, for Mother's day and our anniversary, Joey got me a satsuma tree. I am very happy to report that we have four big satsumas on it ready to be picked. The sad part is that there are only four and I hate to pick them because then I won't have any left.

Getting Bigger

Jeremy loves to talk about getting older and getting bigger. He wants to know when he is going to get bigger like his daddy or like Eric... or whoever he is talking about that day. Yesterday in the car on the way home from school Jeremy said "mommy, I want to be bigger tomorrow." Ahhh! What is he thinking??? I explained to him that we all need to grow slowly so we know what we need to be older. Doesn't he know those things are scary to a mommy!

Picture Perfect

Taking a cast off is so easy a Mimi could do it...

We made it through five very long weeks in a cast, and we have finally gotten it off! I am so proud of my little monster for never complaining through 36 days worth of baths and not being able to jump strait into the pool. (Although, it really seemed like we were getting off easy with the cast cover.)Jeremy was really excited to have Mimi their to help take his cast off. My mom was running late to meet us, so I asked if we "could wait on Mimi to take the cast off." So when Mimi showed up, he handed my mom the saw and said that since we waited on her, she could take it off.

And she really did help take it off.

I was really supprised that Jeremy's arm wasn't nasty and scale-y, and it really wasn't pail, but their were spots where he must have been tanner and that skin wore off. I guess the few times when he got the cast really wet and we had to vacuum it out kind of helped keep it clean.
The x-rays show that we are right on target. His arm is healing, although it is not completely healed yet.

No More Monkeys Jumping Off The Monkey Bars!

Tuesday we went to Wakulla Springs with friends (click here to see the post about that trip,) and we had a pretty good time. Our trip ended with Jeremy falling off the monkey bars. He landed really hard on his arm but it never swelled, so I thought he was fine. I was wrong. Today we went to the doctor and had it x-rayed and found out he has a Greenstick fracture.

Greenstick fracture - Technically defined as the bending of a bone with incomplete fracture involving the convex side of the curve only, green stick fractures are characterized by a break in the bone which partially extends across and then along the length of the bone forming the characteristic fracture pattern for which it is named. So, if you look at the picture below there is a bump or "buckle" circled. The doctor said that part is supposed to be smooth and that is where the fracture is.

So, we went to the orthopedist and had a cast put on. Everyone in the office was so sweet to Jeremy and joked around with him. He picked out the dark blue cast to be like batman (hey, it made since to him.) I had to have the doctor sit my little monkey down and explain to him that he still can't jump around or whack people with his cast. It will probably put a little damper on our swimming fun, and really, what else is there to do in Florida in August??? But we should be done with the cast in four weeks. I am so proud of Jeremy for being a big boy all day!

Because I never want to forget....

As I was putting Jeremy to bed tonight, I was giving him goodnight kisses. He laughed at me the way only a four year-old can and said with the most sarcastic little voice, "Mommy, I'm not even your boyfriend!"

My Smart Little Man!

Jeremy learned how to write his name today! He held his marker by himself and wrote his name on his Father's Day card. (At school we celebrate Father's day a little early at school since we aren't in school in July.) Jeremy isn't into art and stuff like that so it has been a struggle to get him to practice writing. We are really proud Jeremy he is growing up so fast!

Happy Easter, Love Jeremy!

Here is the Easter story according to Jeremy.

Post 200!

Here it is, the 200th Post. Thank you all for reading and keeping up with our lives. Please leave me some feedback and tell me what you would like to see in the next 100 posts!

Thanks,
Joey, Elaine, Jeremy, Jude and all the fish!

My Big Boy!

Well, I am am offically saying it now... Jeremy is Potty Trained! He actually has been trained for a few weeks. Actually since before his birthday. I just wanted to wait to say it until I was absolutely sure. Now, the only times diapers or pullups are allowed are at naptime and bedtime and really long car rides (over an hour).


Also, Jeremy LOVES his new bed. He hasn't fallen out either, which I am extremely suprised about. This is a picture of the one time he almost fell out. I did move him before he landed on the floor. It is so hard to believe he is already three and is big enough to sleep in his own bed.