14, I mean 15 months and counting!

Yes, I’m doing Jack’s 15 month post before Max’s 3 year old post, even though Max’s came first this month—but 15 months is so much less traumatic for a mother. So I’m focusing on the easy and uneventful. Also I missed the 14 month update, oops! I’m not sure that ever happened with Max, but when I had Max, he was never like Jack… let me explain:

When I shower, Jack unrolls the toilet paper in both bathrooms in a matter of seconds. There is always a pile of unused but rather crumpled toilet paper on our vanities.  With Max, he’d just sit outside my shower and wait.
 Jack climbs up the green couch onto the desk and “plays” up there with pencils and pens like it’s no big deal. Max played with his toys or with things I gave him to play with, the end.
 Jack stands on his own, although he doesn’t walk, BUT he thinks he skillful enough at standing to stand “handsfree” on the stairs. Max would never do something as daring as stand on the steps—he has always been way too cautious for such shenanigans.
 If Jack sees any type of ledge, anywhere that we are, he will climb up and down it 2983764 times. Max would look at it and stay at my side.
 And Jack can make the most disastrous mess out of a pretzel. Singular. I don’t understand it and I can’t explain, but this child is so messy, it’s crazy. And there are not words for what happens when he eats “messy” food. Now Max wasn’t clean, but when compared to Jack, they’re in different leagues. 

So needless to say, Jack, in all his wonder and boyness and cuteness, keeps me on my toes. His personality is the best! Full of funny faces and drama and he already has a really great sense of humor. Not the sarcastic kind, but more the class clown. His “thing” this week is to fake sneeze with a big “ahh ahh ahh ahh choo!” and then grins. He always blows his nose (fake) every time he gets his hand on a tissue. It’s so cute.

Our little Jack is growing up so quickly right now. I love how they go through phases and then stall out for a couple weeks- I'm pretty sure God planned it that way because he knew mom-hearts couldn't take much more! He's lost his baby looks and has cruised right into the toddler-- his face is more grown up and his body is really thinning out-- the only rolls left is the one on his thigh, and luckily, his hands are still that baby chub. Even his hair is growing (finally!) and getting long in the back. That's right, he's rocking a baby mullet-- but don't worry, we'll take care of that before the GA/FLA game-- I wouldn't want him to be mistaken as a Gator fan, blah!

At nap time, Jack basically lunges for his bed because he's so happy to see it-- when I leave, he stands up and plays and jumps and dances for about 30 minutes-- talking and jabbering to himself the whole time. Then he hollers until I come back in, re-lay him down on his back and kiss him goodnight and then he's out for several hours. I love how he loves his bed and how he loves to sleep (it took us long enough to get to that!) and how he still needs his mama to tuck him in-- what a doll, that boy!

He gives the stank eye or the grumpiest face ever, just until he gets your full attention and then he grins, almost as a retraction of the first face. He throws crazy fits that are instantly over as soon as he gets what he wants and he is the king of arching his back, throwing himself backwards and thrashing about. But if I pop him, even though it’s ever so gentle, he’ll wail like I chopped off his arm and snuggle into my neck like a mistreated pup.

Prior to Jack, I was always “amazed” by moms who complained about keeping their house picked up or how much their children got into—I just thought that they weren’t keeping an eye on their children or they were sitting around on their rumps all day… NO, not true, they were just raising Jack-like children instead of Max- like children. I’m sure it has a lot to do with birth order, but these are two totally different characters for sure.

Jack is so much more loving and snuggly than Max ever was. Jack also prefers to be held a lot more than Max did at this age—obviously, Jack does like to explore, but if I sling him up on my hip and carry him about my day, he’s just as happy that way too.

Jack is also really content—he’ll sit in the stroller or in the car for really long periods of time- he’ll go with the flow for the most part. He also is “content” crawling and not talking. He understands so much, responds to so much, even says a word or two every now a then, but heaven forbid he actually cooperate in learning a thing or two. And he can take steps and has great balance, but if you ask him to walk, he just laughs and crawls away. For some reason, he reminds me a lot of his Uncle Sam, wonder why……

Jack knows where his nose is, he woofs every time he sees a dog, he dances if I tell him he’s about to see his Daddy, he’ll wave bye bye, and he says “uh oh” about a million times a day. Otherwise, he prefers to keep the “tricks” to a minimum, smirking at me when I ask him to perform instead. I just love his spunk, his stubbornness and the adventures that are ahead of us with this little man. And I just can’t get enough of how different my two boys are—I’ll never have this parenting thing figured out and I’ll always need God for wisdom when it comes to raising them. Being a parent to these two is such a gift—I am so blessed!

Oh my Jack, my love! How I adore your blue eyes and your chunky legs—I love that your fingernails are always dirty like you’ve been exploring caves or building something—I love how I always find leftovers from your previous meal in your hair or in your belly button. I love your smile and your adoration for me—and I just can’t tell you how much I adore you. You’re quite the boys—sent straight to me from our Heavenly Father. Regardless of how big you get, you’ll always be our “Baby Jack” and there is nothing you can do to make us stop loving you. And remember that God’s love is even more perfect than that! God loved you enough to send His Son—spend your life sharing this Good News! As Max would say, “We lub you FOREBBER!”

Happy 4th of July!

This year for the 4^th of July, we had a rather low key, family fun day with some great friends. We started off the morning with a McD’s breakfast of course… mainly because it was en route to our next destination, but Max is always game for pancakes and Chad loves a McDonald’s breakfast every now and then, so I bit the bullet and took one for the team. We got our breakfast to go and then headed just down our street to the downtown Woodstock parade the goes down main street.

There were lots of floats, and we had a great spot in the shade, and we were able to pull right up, park, get our spot, watch the whole parade, and then pull away in a matter of minutes. The longest part of the process was buckling both kids in, I kid you not! I was originally bummed not to be able to find a Peachtree Road Race number, but this ended up being way fun with about 1/10000 of the hassle.

The boys loved the parade and al the goodies, candy, waters, beads, and popscicles that were passed out. Max was ready to go back the next day and Jack sat still for the majority of it- which is a feat in itself and only had to get out and move about for the last few minutes.

Next, we headed home, got everyone into their swimming gear, packed up tons of food and half of our house, and headed over to the Krazberger’s house—this is Jill’s parents house. It has a great pool, beautiful outdoor space, lots of grass for cornhole and other fun games and PLENTY of rooms for all the kiddies to take their naps :)

We enjoyed the pool for a bit and snacked, then put all the kids down at the same time-- the joys of a house full of bedrooms! The it was adult time at the pool- and how lovely it was to float around and bask in the sun without having to watch any little people or take head counts every 5 seconds. 

There were 7/12ths of the Porton Posse there which always lends itself to good food-- we did the "cook out" right with Jonathan at the grill and everyone else in charge of all the sides and yumminess. We also celebrated Jill's birthday (actually on the 4th) and Ruth's birthday (on the 6th) with a delicious ice cream cake I found on Pinterest. Gosh, I sure do love Pinterest when it comes to friendly gatherings, food, decor, and recipes. What a gem! And who can argue with a fun holiday and celebrating the birth of wonderful, amazing friends?

I really love the 4th, love the weather, love our fun friends and my precious boys, time with my husband during a "work day", and I'm really thankful to the Kraxberger's for opening their home to us. We had a very happy 4th!

Beach Trip #1

Towards the end of July, I got a text from Jill on Saturday wondering if we wanted to go to the beach with them on Monday... as in 2 days from then. Of course my answer was a resounding "yes"!! But Chad said something about "business, breadwinner, mortgage, yadda yadda" and said he had to wrap things up at Lonestar Painting Inc, so we waited until Wednesday to head down. As soon as we were all 5 in the car, with the nose pointed due South, I was happy.

It was a really fun extra long weekend because the Spivas have boys like us, our boys play so well with Hudson, and we enjoy hanging out with Jonathan and Jill so much! We like to vacation the same way-- beach time, good food, and make sure the boys get the rest they need-- even if that's in a stroller, in the car, or in their beds by 7pm!

We did have a some rain-- so of course Jill and I got our toes done (y'all it costs $40 for a pedicure at the beach... we about died! In our parts, they're $20, tops!) We also lived it up at the beach club-- they brought you food and drinks, had cabanas and towels and umbrellas and an awesome pool for entertaining the boys.

All the boys turned into prunes and slept well and the babies really couldn't have been better if we paid them... except for their 5am wake up calls... losing that hour, plus the pack n' play in the closet sleeping arrangement was brutal... for the parents!

It was a great trip and we're so grateful for the getaway with friends :)

Summer 2012, in a nutshell

So I've managed to "catch up" as much as I'm going to catch up and in order to let bygone by bygones, I've decided to just summarize everything else in one long photoblog post... get ready!

Jack started eating his bed... and dirt... I guess I'm not feeding him enough :)

Max got his first bee sting- major bummer. (Although Max did handle it better than his mother...)

We had 7 trees removed in our front yard- it was a jungle for days before the tree guys got it all cleaned up!

One night I went to bed and got all snuggled in and put my arm under my pillow like I like to do... and then I found this:

It's the first time I've found a toy in my  bed, but I couldn't help but think that this was just the first of many "boy things"to invade my bed... at least it was an inanimate object (this time)!

Max became tricky

Jack learned to drive

As well as do this

And this

And this

But the boy can't manage to walk.... hmmmmm :)

We discovered this new fun aquatic center in Cumming

We found out Wendy from PP was expecting a baby... and a girl at that! Yay!

Max began climbing into Jack's crib, after dumping some toys in there... but neither of them can get out without help... works well for mom!

This happened after getting muddy outside... isn't this the cutest? I'd take a brood of 5 boys... actually I'd take these 5 boys if the Spivas would let me steal theirs :)

We celebrated Krispy Kreme's birthday with the Prusa ladies

As well as Cow Appreciation Day... isn't this the best looking herd you've ever seen? Moo!

Jack is into everything... even when I think he's strapped into his seat and couldn't possibly get into anything!

This includes finding tampons and using them as chew toys, wrapper and all! (This will be great for his wedding slide show some day!) (But let's be honest, by the time I allow him to get married- 2050- they probably won't be doing wedding slide shows anymore.)

Max had his first Pina Colada and Jack had his first popsicle-- they were hits all around!

And then Gabe finished off the summer by starting 4th grade. Seriously... where did the summer go?