Happy Birthday Heather!

Yesterday we celebrated Heather's 30th birthday.  She is the most loving wife, dedicated mother, and best friend and Jackson, Lincoln, and I are so fortunate to have her.  As you can tell by this blog, Heather seems to have such a natural gift when it comes to being a mother and it is so neat to see her grow in that role every day.  We love you H!  Happy Birthday!

Heather (aka "Ma-Ma") when she was first pregnant with lil' J

I used to think mice were so cute

Mice were alway so cute. Ratatouli, Feivel, Gus from Cinderella.  Plenty of children's songs have mice in them and they are always frolicking through the fields or just being cute little mice eating cheese. And then, you see one in your house and they are not cute anymore.  We have a recent increase in rats in our block and then saw a mouse inside, thankfully just when JB returned from Ireland. We trapped it on Thursday night and when JB woke on Friday to dispose of the trap it was GONE.  There's nothing like a mouse with a spinal cord injury limping around your house. Luckily we trapped it the next day and got rid of it right away this time. Several days later when JB and Jackson were in Massachusetts and Link was at Beth and Matt's, I woke at 1am to the sound of scratching by my bed. After 30 minutes of fearful investigation I realized there were mice in the walls and then the attic. (On a side-note, I realize that I feel much braver when Jackson is in the house; my momma lion switch turns on and I am willing to protect him at all costs).  I lay, wide-eyed in my room with a light on for the rest of the night and went to work the next day looking nervous, jumpy and strung-out.  JB was a gracious husband and took the 'mouse side' of the bed when he got home and we called the exterminator to assist us with mice outside and rats outside (hopefully only outside).  We have had peaceful sleep with no sign of mice since then! WHEW 

 J will finally sit down for some painting and coloring and we hang his art projects on the glass doors in the dining room. He is very proud and constantly points to his projects and smiles!

 We enjoyed a weekend in Hatteras and finally got to spend some time with the Dozier twins, Virginia and Luke, who have the brightest smiles!!! We enjoyed good meals, lots of Settlers, laying on the porch, good conversation that was occasionally broken by toddlers running around, paddle boarding and rest.  Happy birthday to Ross and thanks to Hannah for hosting! We are so blessed to have so many friends to go through life and raise our children with.  

 Dr. JB checks out his pint sized patient

"Chicks dig skinned knees"....and pink tutus. 

Airplane

 Courtesy of Ross (no worries, buddy), Jackson and I have been sick for 2 weeks which has been less-than-fun. J is also cutting his second set of molars and I really feel for this kid. We thought about working on eliminating his whining and clinginess this week but decided to delay it since this poor kid just really feels terrible. This has led us to spend most days inside, usually in just a diaper with a snot-rag nearby, and have some dance parties! 

We try to have some Montessori Mornings and today's was cleaning the dinosaurs with his scrub brush

 Finally, we are just amazed at how big our little guy is getting. He has grown another 2" in the past 3 months and is finally starting to lose some of his gigantic belly. He is no longer a baby and we just love our sweet, curious, kind toddler.  

Sweet summer time

Long time away from the blog. We spent much of July traveling (or having Jonathan away from home) and enjoying our last days before the start of his new job on July 31st. We are adjusting to our new normal: JB working 14/15 shift a month instead of 22, me working 10 hours per week instead of 20, and Jackson entering the "Terrific Two's".  We've been enjoying beach and pool days, the park, zoo and some time in Hatteras, which was great fun! We celebrated Jonathan's birthday (August 8th) with a dinner date at Costal Grill and watching Shark Week, Jonathan's perfect day.

We have been struggling with finding patience in having a 21 month-old at home and often find ourselves getting short with him and the whining, tantrums, "no" and hitting.  We are seeing some progress, although slowly, with him in speech therapy and hope that helps with his ability to ask for what he wants or tell us if he is hurting, frustrated, etc.  Until then, we continue to pray often and take a deep breath and figure out when to discipline, when to give grace and when to realize that he truly can't speak or is just acting like a child, which he is.  The good thing about this phase is that it has really made us trust in God more because we can't do this with our strength alone. 

Enjoying the pool with Max, who has the cutest cheeks you've ever seen! 

 J and BB. His favorite new phrase is, "Dada, Mama, BB".  

 What do you take on your morning run? Jackson takes a banana, cheerios and raisins, a homemade fruit/veggie smoothie and milk. No pants, though.  That would be too much.  

 We enjoyed a morning at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens water park with the Nurture Mom's Ministry from church. I am so grateful for this ever-expanding group of women, of all ages and stages, who meets for play dates and panel discussions on faith, marriage and motherhood. Please let me know if you would ever like to join in! It is so encouraging to be with other moms who have long left where we are, many who are right in the trenches with me and those who are coming along later in the journey of being a mother.   

 During one of J's naptimes, JB and I tackled the porch and painted every white thing including the swing, chairs and table. WHEW!! I think we got more paint on ourselves than we did on the railings but it looks great and was long overdue. Now, time to get out the 'porch red' and paint over our white streaks on the porch! 

 J and three dogs fighting for time in the pool 

 He is my most-excellent gardener.  The big tomatoes have been a fail (both rodents and lack of sun as they have been dominated by the cherry tomato bushes), as have the red, yellow and green peppers, but we have buckets-full of cherry tomatoes and herbs that have made for some delicious dinners! 

 J got in his car and said, "Bye Dad". Oh my, don't start so soon little one. 

 We finally enjoyed a playdate Sarah and her two kids (sadly, not pictured!) and Lael and Jordan joined us at the zoo. We enjoyed the bear, saw elephants up close and even got to see some 500# turtles mating....well, wasn't that a spectacle that you'll never forget!