trick or treating

halloween!

will loved trick or treating. he wanted to go everyday that week.

subway and airport

a few weeks ago lee took will on his first subway ride. they rode it to the airport to watch the planes. just because.
will likes airplanes and he loves trains! he came home and told me he rode the elevated train. i love that he is at the age where fun is so simple. just a ride on a subway train and walking around an airport and watching planes was so wonderful in his eyes. i hope he will always be excited about life the way he is now.

coffee mug paintings

jake, they're about done. might need to de-Christmas some of the colors. wanted you to see.

baby talk

clapping

monday pics

a little longer - jenn johnson - a must listen

A Little Longer
Jenn Johnson

What can I do for You?
What can I bring to You?
What kind of song would you like me to sing?

'Cause I'll dance a dance for You
Pour out my love to You
What can I do for You beautiful king?

'Cause I... can't thank You enough.
I can't thank You enough

All of the words that I find... and I can't thank You enough.
No matter how I try... I can't thank You enough.
Then I hear You sing to me

"You... don't have to do a thing
Just simply be with me and let those things go
'Cause they can wait another minute

Wait... this moment is too sweet
Would you please stay here with Me
And love on Me a little longer
I'd love to be with you a little longer
'Cause I'm in love with you"

one version says:

you don't have to do a thing. just simply be with me and let the housework go, the kids can wait another minute, wait - this moment is too sweet...

speaks volumes to me about how much Jesus just wants to be in relationship with us. be still and know. don't be a martha doing work work work for him, be a mary at his feet, with him, soaking in and receiving Him.

hold me, jamie grace - will's version

here is will singing his version of "hold me" by jamie grace. this is his favorite song and has been ever since the first time he heard it a couple months ago.

if you don't know the song very well, it may sound like a lot of nothing.

if you do know the song, i think you'll get a kick out of it.

the seventh month

september - the seventh month - it was a busy one with lots of changes for miss phoebe.

in her seventh month of life,

phoebe started crawling,

got her first tooth,

got her first ear infection,

started pulling up and standing.

and her hair is getting much longer!

i'm trying to get her to take just two long naps a day, but most days she insists that she still needs two naps and a small third nap.

she is 8 months old today. she is nearing 17 lbs.

she likes to get in her 24 oz of formula a day - sometimes a little less. and she will eat solids three meals a day - 2-3 Tablespoons or ounces at a time. i was trying to bump up her solids and decrease her milk but the doc said to keep her near 24 oz milk a day.

now on to month 8...

will's sayings at three years old

"mommy, hold me with standing up!" (mommy, hold me while standing up!) - this basically means, "i'm jealous of baby sister. give me the attention you give to her."

"let's go to chaganooga!" (let's go to chattanooga!) - we stopped in chattanooga a few weeks ago on our way to see my brother's baby. coolidge park is a lot of fun. they have a great carousel, park, walking bridge over the tennessee river, and a riverboat that is a hotel that you can walk on. he still talks about the gang plank.

those people are loving each other - this is what will says whenever he sees two people on a motorcycle.

let's go to puglix - publix

"that's God's carwash" - he says this when it rains

"that's a cemement truck"

"it's upside side down"

"i'm a train! i'm a long long train. look at all my passenger cars." - yeah, this one disturbs me a little bit. he follows this with making very accurate train sound effects, walking and running pretending to be a train.

and other things about will:

the frustrating things -

the boy is strong willed! he always has a better idea. he's either going 0 miles per hour or 100. he is famous for parking lot tantrums because he often times will not hold my hand or he runs away from me. therefore he gets dragged to the car.

his main job right now is to get whatever phoebe has or is headed towards or is looking at - and put it on a table or chair out of her reach. he had good intentions at first, but now it has turned ugly.

the cool things -

he is very accepting of people
he is not scared of the dark
he is not scared of mascots - big fuzzy creatures (like i was at three years old)
he can go 12 hours without peeing

also, he really struggles getting dressed himself. we are working on it.
he cannot blow his nose!
he is a little scared of the carwash.
he will not take a nap anymore unless he is sick - he gets 11 hours at night.

baby photoshoot

we borrowed grandma's nice camera and took a few hundred pictures this afternoon. we got three really awesome ones! she's crawling now so that made things a little difficult. this is phoebe a few days shy of 8 months old.

funny faces

i have to blink, mommy.

my kids rarely wear pants in the warm months when we are at the house. yes, i guess i am lazy in this way. i am trying to teach will how to put on his pants by himself. it takes a lot of patience on my part.

phoebe has always loved sticking her tongue out. now she has started sticking it out sideways. will is doing something funny with his tongue in this pic as well - he likes to act like phoebe sometimes.

underbite cuteness

and took away my sim

name that tune...

becoming mobile

this is a glimpse into my everyday world. complete with little boy only in underwear squealing at the end of the video so be sure to turn your volume down. this video was taken a few weeks ago. she scoots around much quicker now and can go from her belly to sitting on her bottom.

baby girl smile

phoebe

phoebe is a joy. she is such a girly thing. with dainty little fingers and toes. narrow feet and a big bottom. a tiny thing, but chunky.

her smile is the best.

Preschooler Painting

a couple of months ago, i let will paint the background of this canvas with yellow and blue paint to make green! (he is using cheapo tempera paint). a few days ago, i let him have some red paint (his favorite color). i did not tell him what to paint. this is what he did - a self portrait! of two wills, he says.

he painted legs first. then he painted hair. then the body. then the arms. he painted the figure on the left first.

preschooler painting tip - let them paint in their underwear - to prevent staining clothes! (it also keeps them a little cooler when it is 95 degrees outside!!)

painting makes me so happy. watching will paint fills me up!

beautiful!

weddings

my youngest brother got married last november. my oldest brother got married this past march. these are pictures mostly from march - the mississippi wedding. shots were taken by my sister - in - law, laura brown!

dancing with cousin, felicity, at the atlanta wedding in november.

cake boss at the cox house

i love making birthday cakes for my son. i look forward to making them for my daughter!
above is his first birthday cake - caterpillar!
this was made by using two bundt cakes that were cut and pieced together to make the squiggly worm. i used spice drops for feet and oreo sticks for the antennae.

when he turned two, he had a tractor birthday cake. both of his grandpas have tractors and we had a garden that year so he got to see his papa plow which was very exciting.

just this past weekend we had a race car birthday party for his third birthday.
i learn a lot when i make each cake. and each one is thrown together at the last minute.
cake boss has definitely inspired me to do more challenging cakes. this cake took me two hours to build and ice. looking back i realized a much easier way to build it. but, with the help of some family in town and a picture of lightning mcqueen - oh, and a lot of icing - it came together. really i just started out with the idea of a race car. and i knew i wanted donuts for the tires and a spoiler on the back. it is red because will keeps saying his favorite color is red.

some lessons learned - if you're gonna have red cake, get some strong food coloring and get ready to see red everywhere!
it is okay to bake and decorate the night before and let the cake sit out until the next day. this was wonderful news to me this year.
whipped icing is not the best stuff to decorate with. i used store bought this year to save time which was important, but in the future i need to perfect a homemade icing.

more cakes to come. i get to make two next year!

will's prayer tonight

dear Jesus,
thank you for prayers. thank you for supper and i ate it all up. then, i took daddy's nose off and ate it all up. thank you for mommy's walk and she liked that.
in Jesus name, amen.

had to write it down before i forgot. classic!
side note - taking daddy's nose off and eating it is one of the games they play.
okay, lee just said he doesn't eat will's nose - he instead throws it down the stairs. had to clarify.

scrambled waffles

what's for breakfast?
scrambled blueberry waffles.
make waffles as you normally would - you'll just need to use a very old waffle iron that barely works.
they tasted good.

when you're smiling...

statue elivery

my children are so different!

will - left handed, outie, loud, big nose, light hair, hated tummy time, wild

phoebe - i know it's early but i think she's right handed, way innie, cool, calm, ears poke out, small nose, dark hair, loves tummy time

their similarities - independent, alert and curious, beautiful!!!!

what's for lunch?

here we have leftover sauteed veggies (squash, red pepper, black beans, corn) with shredded monterrey jack cheese on top. dill snackers and lays stax are a wonderful combo. with a side of fresh strawberries. not pictured - 2 pieces of homemade lemon poppyseed bread!

Good morning!

will tries to get out of taking a nap.

pizza quesadilla

i haven't done a serious grocery trip in awhile. i'm tired of sandwiches and i'm actually out of peanut butter and lunchmeat anyway. so i had to be creative today.

this is a whole wheat tortilla with mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni sprinkled with oregano. broil it in the oven for about 5 minutes. fold in half and slice like a quesadilla. serve with carrot sticks and raisins and there's your toddler's lunch for the day!

how to use your bachelor of fine arts as a stay at home mom

will is potty trained but he still has trouble sometimes stopping play to go poo poo. i decided to make this chart so that if he goes 5 days in a row with no accidents, then he gets a caboose to add to his thomas the train take n play set. he really likes looking at his chart.

i knew i got that B.F.A. for something!

perfect peace

stay close by my side
keep your eyes on me
though this life is hard
i will give you perfect peace

in this time of trial
pain that no one sees
trust me when i say
i will give you perfect peace

and you'll never walk alone
and you'll never be in need
though i may not calm the storms around you
you can hide in me
burdens that you bear
offer no relief
let me bear your load
cause i will give you perfect peace
stay close by my side
and you'll never walk alone
keep your eyes on me
and you will never be in need
though this life is hard
know that i will always give you perfect peace
i will give you perfect peace

perfect peace
song by Laura Story

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:6-8

²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. matthew 11:28-29

babies don't keep

"The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

i read this today and cried. having a second one has made me realize how they are babies only for a little while. what a gift they are. what a miracle they are. how sweet and short this time is.

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3 New Living Translation

victoria bryant camping

water was cold. will got in and played, but it took a little persuading. a toy bucket helped.

Rice Creek

phoebe's first camping trip. 12 weeks old. she did great. she is such a trooper.

victoria bryant state park campground

i enjoy camping. grew up camping every summer. this was a good trip despite a very cold first night - 45 degrees - and the fact that our air mattress deflated every 4 hours. but, it really showed me how much my babies can handle. they did better in the cold than i did, and they slept through the air mattress blower.

it was a great opportunity for family to get together, to get away, and to enjoy outdoors. and it always makes me appreciate my home more - makes me see how easy i have it.