We had a wonderful date night, thanks for all the Happy Anniversary's and if you love Starbucks and you like pumpkin, you must try the pumpkin spice latte. I could have sat in Barnes&Noble all night just drinking those. Bye bye mocha frap but just until Fall's over!
If I had a scanner I would gladly share wedding and pre-wedding pictures but I don't (maybe next year!) so you will just have to be satisfied with a video clip of our offspring. I'm sure no one will mind!
James can:
Say uh-oh when his sister falls over!
Eat any and everything with out any teeth!
Crawl as fast as his sister!
Eat a biter biscuit in record time!
Successfully crawl down the step down in the kitchen by himself with out toppling on his face!
Call me mananna!
Read books out loud!
Completely ignore me when I say NO!
Drink from a cup with no handles!
Talk louder when the vacuum is running!
Take his sister's pappy!
Yesterday we went outside for a couple of hours and they really enjoyed it. Thanks to the gnats, the ridiculous heat and of late, the love bugs, we haven't ventured out in a while so it was a nice change of scenery. These last few days have been nice and cool around here in the mornings and you can feel Fall in the air. I love the change of seasons. God certainly was gracious to give us different seasons, wasn't He?
James used to be scared of the grass but not any more. I can only hope that he feels the same way about the sand at the beach next year as he feels about the grass now! He crawled a long way on the hard, prickly grass just to get to a blue can of motor oil! With the camo and the love for motor oil I think we are well on our way to raising a good old Georgia boy! (sorry if that offends you guys in Mississippi and Louisiana but tis what it tis!)
Finally found something that Audrey wont do. Crawl on the grass.
I am thanking God today though that He has blessed me with a sense of humor even in the most challenging circumstances! I can't help but laugh at James who for 1 minute or so forgets that he must be touching me to feel okay and ventures off to play in toy land. All of a sudden he sees me and realizes he's not touching me and his world starts to crumble. Or he could be really enjoying himself playing with the toys hanging off the exercauser until his overly exuberant sister bumps into, him knocking his pappy out to which she grabs, sticks in her mouth and scurries away leaving him pappless and completely crushed. Bless his heart he is having the toughest time today.
I can't help but laugh at Audrey who is happy as a lark until she sees her brother in my lap and starts having jealousy issues which lands two whinny babies in my lap. (At least she's not trying to push James out of my lap yet!) She has tumbled on her face a million times already today (I'm attributing her extra clumsiness to the Benadryl) and barely makes a peep. But let James be playing with a toy she wants and the tears start flowing like a stream!
While James and Matthew stayed glued to the t.v. watching Mickey Mouse!
She's got that look in her again!
Okay mom, one more picture.
He saw some puffs that somehow missed his mouth during his snack and knew he shouldn't let them go to waste! Once he got in, he sat and ate how ever many were down there (hope it was all puffs!) and then made his way out like it was no big thing. Audrey hasn't even figured out that trick yet. Score one for James!
I was telling someone just this morning how he sits up on his knees instead of his rear and I believe it is because his head is so big! He struggles all the time keeping his balance with that big old noggin. Bless his heart. He has about 4 blue/black marks on his forehead from where he topples over because he can't get his balance. I can only hope he eventually grows out of this. I don't think they will let you play football if you keep falling on your head. Wait a minute, maybe the big head will be my ticket OUT of that one and on to something a bit safer that his daddy likes!!
Don't you know how much I love to look down at my daughter and have her give me a big old toothy grin only to see little black legs hanging off those pretty little lips? I shutter to think at what she has eaten with out me knowing. This morning while we were out walking, I stopped the stroller and got down next to them to talk about what we were seeing. Much to my dismay Audrey had little black legs hanging off her lips so I stuck my finger in her mouth and pulled out a love bug. Since love bugs are so "loving" I knew its mate was still in there. And it was!
Every year on this day I spend the morning hours of 8 to about 10 glued to the television. With a constant stream of tears running down my face I watch all the footage that the news channels broadcast of the horrific acts that we, as a nation, witnessed on that infamous day. It's my way of paying tribute to all those who lost their lives that day. It never gets any easier. I always get that same gut wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach. Memories come flooding back to me as I remember how scary it was to know MY country was under attack. I'll never forget how horrible it was to watch all those innocent people running for their lives and seeing the look of shear terror on their smutty faces. And then watching the towers fall and imagining all of the lives being lost at that moment. I'll never forget the sinking feeling I had as I learned of the attack on the Pentagon and then of United Flight 93 going down in that Pennsylvania Field. I didn't loose a loved one on that day. I wasn't directly affected by the attacks. But my neighbors were and my heart will always grieve for them. I have a cousin and a step brother who are currently serving in our military. I pray for them to be kept safe and try to let them know when I speak with them how thankful I am to them for risking their lives to keep me and my family safe. I am so proud of them! When Jon sees one of our service men or woman out and about, he always makes a point to go up to them and personally thank them and shake their hand.
It was a time of uncertainty and unrest in our free country. My daddy called a prayer meeting at Cool Springs that night and there were so many people there. We were all searching for answers and comfort that night. I remember sitting in the pew sobbing actually wondering if this was going to be one of the last times I could sit in this place safely. It was also a time of great patriotism throughout the land. Every where I looked I could see those beautiful red, white, and blue colors streaming from somewhere. I even had a little flag taped to the antenna of my car and proudly drove many a mile with it flapping in the wind. I had a flag on my front porch and a couple in my house. For weeks I would sob every time Lee Greenwood and Alan Jackson came over the radio singing their Patriotic songs which was at least once a day. Those country music station dj's are so patriotic. One out of Macon still plays the National Anthem every day at 12:00 p.m. sharp! This morning while watching my beloved FOX news, one of the commentators talked about how patriotic every one was in those days and months after 9/11. Then he brought up the fact that most people have lost that "patriotic fire" we had for our country after 9/11. He's right and I am guilty. I feel ashamed that I no longer have any American flag of any sort on my vehicle. Ashamed that I don't have one flying from my front porch or displayed in my house somewhere. I love my country greatly and am so blessed and so proud to be an American. I'm going to Wal-Mart TODAY to buy some flags and I am going to hang them proudly where I can see them every day and always be reminded. Hope you will be inspired to do the same!We have some 40 days left until we go to the polls and vote on probably the most crucial election our nation has ever been faced with. I wont speak everything that's on my mind about the issue because since your reading my blog there is a 99.999% chance that you know what I mean and share my opinions. But I will say let us all be in constant prayer that our next president will be a praying, God-honoring, God-fearing, stable minded man who will seek God's guidance and that the PEOPLE of The United States of America will do the same.
Now a days I have to endure comments like:
I do get some very nice and pleasant comments though. People are always telling me how beautiful my children are and what good babies they are. We get lots of "Oh look how cute she is pulling his hair like that!" and "Oh I bet you have a lot of fun with these two!" So it's not all bad but seriously sometimes you have to wonder what in the world some people are thinking!
Every time I take his picture now he makes this face first!
Notice what or rather WHO she is stepping on!
Watching him play and try to eat with that sock over his little hand made me short of breath every time. He was so pitiful. Not because he was crying but because he was so brave. He didn't fuss about not being able to use that hand, he learned that he couldn't so he was eating and drinking with one hand. Jon said he reminded him of a civil war solider that had had his hand blown off and was left with just a nubbin!
Yesterday when Jon got home he took the band aid off to let his finger air out and the poor little buddy was going around gently poking things with that finger to see if it still hurt! We went out side last night and Jon put James up on his shoulders. James usually grips Jon's hair with both hands but Jon said this time he only felt the left hand and two fingers from the right hand. (Are you crying yet?!)
Today he is going around with that finger poked out like he is pointing at things. He did eat with it this morning at breakfast so I think it is defiantly on its way to being all mended! Just for the record his little sister has shown NO mercy for him during this time of turmoil. She continues to crawl on him, push him down and take his pappy and whatever toy he is playing with at the moment. Now I know she has no idea what has happened to her bubby and is just carrying on as usual. But it makes it a little hard to watch knowing he has a boo-boo so he has gotten picked up quite a few times after she gets finished with him! Bless her little heart, she's like a bulldozer!
