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.

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.

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

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!

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.

Good morning!

will tries to get out of taking a nap.

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!

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.

open them, shut them

open them shut them
open them shut them
open them shut them
give a little clap

open them shut them
open them shut them
open them shut them
put them in your lap

creep them creep them creep them
right up to your chin
open up your little mouth
AHHH
but do not let them in!

future blackmail

will isms at 2 1/2

i can't know
a little bit
you only did a good job
i only want to watch my train video (the boy is obsessed with his alphabet train video)
no, my not
no, you're not
my not need to take a nap today
my not need to wash my hair
it's oat ay Heebe
i love you the most too

he loves his ABCs. he will sing the whole song. still can't pronounce C, G, P, and T. he used to sing the last line, "now my ABCs i love, next time won't you sing with me?"

Getting Ready for Phoebe

phoebe's room is finally ready. i think i have everything i need. i feel like i've been nesting for 8 months. we had to rearrange a few rooms, clean out some closets. plus, i know what's coming this time and i wanted to be really organized.

it's a good thing she is a girl, because i had lots of girly things.

phoebe has the nicest room in the house. i think it's the largest bedroom and it has crown molding.

this was me on friday night. 3 days shy of 38 weeks.

me, phoebe, and wild man

the other morning will and i were eating our oatmeal. i was finished and will asked me if i wanted more. i said, no, i'm full. he said, you have a baby in your belly. i said, yes. he said, i'm gonna take that baby out. i laughed and said, no, God is gonna take the baby out.

will is 2 1/2

we made chocolate reindeer cookies for the first time. some of will's reindeer had two noses and three eyes. now whenever i eat a peanut butter m&m, will asks me if i'm eating a nose.

he had a blast. it was very messy. it was worth it for the memory and the second round was very yummy. i hope we can do this again next year.

a picture of will in november - he is too big for that shirt now.

will is a little jackson pollock. i don't allow him to sit up on his desk anymore, but i wish i could. love action painting. inspiring.

this is my will! he is a lot of fun.


will is now 2 and a half! i don't know how much he weighs or his height because our appointment was cancelled due to the big snowstorm that hit atlanta this week. we got about 4 or 5 inches.

in the past three months will has become VERY active, bouncing and running and talking/singing nonstop it seems. for awhile he was taking about 2 naps a week. a few weeks ago i realized he still needed that nap (and i desperately needed it too!) so i began to try whatever i could to make him take a nap. this has worked for the most part and now he takes about 5 naps a week. he has also cut his last 4 molars since my last update. no more teething - yay! will's interest in the potty has diminished - now he has started not even telling me when his diaper is dirty. he simply does not care. so gross. maybe he'll realize it's gross soon.

he can spell his name - W I L L - that spells will cox!
he says mommy A LOT!
he still loves puzzles, books, playgrounds and music.
he likes to watch elmo and curious george (george monkey) in the morning.
he likes to tell his babydoll (my old cabbage patch doll) and stuffed animals to take a nap - he lays them down and tucks them in.
we have to watch what we say now because he will repeat it!
he loves repetition.

songs he knows and sings often: angels watching over me, go tell it on the mountain, kum ba ya, jingle bells, silent night, God is so good, o how i love Jesus

books he loves to read over and over and over and over: the little red caboose, the train to timbuctoo, mother goose, freight train, and many more. he enjoys goodnight moon and ten, nine, eight. he's getting into anything ABC lately too. he knows B is for baby, D is for daddy, M is for mommy, N is for nana, and W is for will.

he can be disagreeable, but responds to discipline. he is getting better at controlling emotion and cutting off the tears. he still struggles with "mine". but he is learning to ask to take turns.

will had his 30 month check up recently and is healthy as a horse. he is 30 lbs. and 36 inches tall.

and he will be a big brother very soon! praying for as smooth an adjustment as possible for him. and for me.

right now, we are ready for this snow to melt - it has been 5 days. at least today the temp got above 31 and hit 40 degrees.

Heart of Worship music service

this is the close of will's "singing" at church last sunday night. it was his first time doing anything like this. as you can see he sat down in the middle of it. but, i thought he did wonderful!!! and i know God was pleased.

God is Love

baby's growing up

i was looking through a lot of old pics last night. this one was taken exactly a year ago. made me cry! he was such a little baby then. i'm finally realizing they do grow up fast.

tractor bye bye video

will at 27 months

will is a talker! he talks in sentences more now. but, here are some of the cute things he says:

wash disher - dishwasher
wes her - yes sir
wes mant - yes ma'am
my welcome - your welcome
aint, are you? - train, where are you?
my wuv you - i love you
hee ya - see ya
have ood day - have a good day!
baby phoebe - baby evie
woorm - room
bottom - bottut
acket and ill - jack and jill
bite a one - vitamin


he also sings a lot - loves his Bible songs and nursery rhymes. he loves Bible school (church) and small group (my Bible study time at a different church). he loves going to the library for toddler time. i can take him in certain stores now without the stroller or buggy and he does okay - not great, but okay.
he is almost obsessed with his counting floor puzzle - he has to do it almost everyday and is needing less guidance with each try. the other toy he loves right now is his dump truck from uncle ben that makes noises and runs automatically. he loves his books and can "read" some of them like ten, nine, eight, goodnight moon, moo, baa, lalala, and his abc book. oh, and of course his nursery rhyme books - he knows some of those that he tries to recite. he also loves riding down the hill below our house on his "bike". he loves picking up sticks and pine cones and putting them in his wheelbarrow. he sits on the potty almost every night and sometimes a little pee comes out. he has all his teeth except the top molars in the way back. he weighs 30 lbs and is about 35 inches tall. he doesn't always take a nap - he just started getting out of his bed in the afternoon and playing in his room occasionally instead of taking a nap - but, hey, at least we still have our "alone" time. he sleeps 10-11 hours at night and takes a 2 hour nap 50% of the time. eating is not a problem if i do my part with planning mostly healthy meals. he doesn't always like to get dressed to go somewhere. he often runs away when it's time to brush teeth or change a diaper or get dressed.

what else, lee?

i think we both agree - he's a keeper. :0)

psalm 4:8

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."
Psalm 4:8

thank you, God, for reminding me of this verse through a friend recently.
you are my refuge and my peace.

faces of will

will's "silly face". just a funny face he likes to do.

lookin cool in his shades at the parade

will's spikey hairdo. he calls it his bikey hair.

just a cute boy. he loves sitting at the bar now that he can climb up on the stool. i think he's saying, "cheese" here.

will's "watching elmo face" elmo is so deep.