Category Archives: Family

Ack! We’re Moving!

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Well, about two weeks ago we finally decided we should move to a bigger house.  The 1100 sq ft was starting to feel REALLY tight.  Jonah was running out of room to play, and Penny is going to be mobile soon.  We are just really outgrowing this space.

So, we thought we would start looking for a new rental (yes, we are still renting!), and I started checking Craigslist every couple of days to see what was out there with no intention of making any decisions anytime soon.

Then we looked at a few places. Just to see what they were like.

Then we found THE place.

With the rental market as it is in Baton Rouge, you really can’t pass up a nice place at your price point when you see it.  We said yes, and they said yes, and we signed the marriage license lease.  It was beautiful and FAST!  I have exactly 1.3 days to pack and get settled in the new house.  Yeah, that’s the ridiculous-I’m-freaking-out part.

We will have a few days after that to move smaller items, but we want to start sleeping at the new house Saturday night! Eeeek! I’m excited and overwhelmed but really excited. Can’t wait to show you pics next week!

ps- I brought both of my babies home to our current house.  I’m going to really miss this place. :(

pps- If you are looking for a great little starter home in the Baton Rouge area, email me!

Our Family Revolution

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Something has hit me.  Hard.  We have been fighting a cold/runny nose/cough for almost a month now.  All of us- even sweet baby girl.  I know this has been a bad cold season for everyone all over the country, but COME ON!? We should be better by now.  Our immune systems should be better than this.  We are young, fit, living in middle class America, and “healthy”.  So why are we getting so sick?

My mama bear instincts have kicked in full force.  I will do everything in my power right now to make my family and myself better.  After doing a lot of reading and thinking, I am seeing more and more how our diet and lifestyle are holding us back from optimal health.  The food we are eating has just been making us weaker.  And who knows what all the “junk” has done to our bodies long term.  My babies deserve the absolute BEST I can give them. They trust me to feed them what their bodies are designed to eat and thrive on.  I have been failing them.

And what about our lifestyle? So what if it is a little cold outside? Why have we been spending the majority of our day inside and sedentary? We are so blessed to live in the south and have mild winters, yet I don’t take advantage of them.  I’m too lazy to get dressed and get the kids and myself fresh air and sunshine. This is COMMON SENSE!!

We are radically changing our diet and lifestyle starting NOW.  We are switching to a real-food, grain free diet.  I spent the weekend making meal plans, researching, and most importantly throwing away all the JUNK! What’s funny is I don’t even buy “junk food” except for a box of cookies or graham crackers.  But, there were things hidden: leftover Christmas candy, syrup, frozen waffles, “fruit” chewies, salad dressing, cake mix.  Anything with sugar, flour, or weird science ingredients are OUT.  Yes, it’s radical. But if we keep letting things slide, then I blink and realize all Jonah has consumed in a day is a peanut butter waffle, chicken nuggets, a peanut butter sandwich, some applesauce, a banana, and two cups of milk.  Ack! No wonder this child is still sick.

We will be greatly increasing our fresh fruits and veggies.  We will be cooking A LOT.  We will be trying new foods. We will also be playing outside a lot more, increasing our Vitamin D intake, and getting some much needed exercise.

We will be doing this as a family.  I hope to learn a lot as we go.

My prayer is that this radical change will radically improve our health.  I’m tired of coughing and having a runny nose EVERYDAY.  I’m tired of being tired.  We should be living better and in the most healthy way possible.  We owe it to ourselves and to the God who created us.  If you are interested in these ideas, google any of the following: primal diet, paleo diet, real food.

Bahamas Vacation, Part 1

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I can’t believe I get to write this post.  We actually took a vacation to the Bahamas!  All of us.  It was an amazing trip and a destination that has always been at the top of my list. The fact that we actually talked about then planned then WENT to this place amazes me and makes me really proud.  Who says you can’t travel with young kids and have an amazing time?! So, here is part one of our fabulous and much-needed vacation.

We flew to Nassau on January 10: me, Josh, the two kiddos, and Josh’s mom.  We like to travel but we aren’t crazy, so we asked “SuSu” to come along for an extra set of hands.  Spoiler alert: we couldn’t have done this trip without her! (Thanks again, SuSu for all your help!)

walk to the bus stop

wow, people LIVE here!!

We stayed in a townhouse that we rented through homeaway.com.  It was a great find for a great price and just a few minutes walk to the nearest bus stop.  The house had two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and living room.  It was the perfect “home away from home” for our bunch.  On Friday, our first full day, we headed out bright and early to the nearby Sheraton resort.  We paid for a day pass which included access to their beach, pools, and a room to use for the day.  There was a little, private beach right by our town home, but it would have been too crazy to go back and forth with the kids all day.  This way, we could stay put and enjoy a day at the beach.

Sheraton Resort

The Sheraton was beautiful and the beach was stunning, but the weather was not very friendly.  It was super windy and almost cold! We kept Penny in the room most of the day, but Jonah enjoyed some sand and pool time with daddy.  I was definitely discouraged this day.  This was not the weather I had hoped for.  Luckily, by the afternoon, the sun came back out and the day improved.  Jonah ate a popsicle for lunch.  We lazed around and rested.  No place I would rather be!

ready for the beach

pretty girl relaxing

Jonah’s “lunch”

swimming with daddy

When we were ready to head back to our townhouse, we accidentally boarded a bus heading East.  Believe me, when you are tired with two very unhappy kids, this is the last thing you want to happen.  We ended up all the way downtown, surrounded by the crazy cruise ship people, and kicking ourselves for our mistake.  Josh helped make the best of it and insisted we stay and eat downtown and just take a taxi back home later.  Little did we know this would be what all our dinners looked like on the trip: Penny asleep, Jo playing on the iphone to keep him from whining, mommy and SuSu exhausted.

a typical dinner for us

Saturday started out to be a much better day.  The weather was gorgeous, and I was getting to check something off of my “life list”.  Today was DOLPHIN DAY!!

We boarded a boat at 8:30am headed to Blue Lagoon Island, a private island that is home to a dolphin and sea lion habitat. That morning there was a small group with us, which made us feel like we had the island all to ourselves.  I signed up for a “dolphin encounter” where you get to play and interact with a dolphin in a small group setting.  It has always been a dream of mine to pet a dolphin or whale.  But I actually got to dance with, hug, and feed the dolphin.  It was thrilling!! Jonah had the option to come with me, but opted out at the last minute.  He preferred to watch from afar, but he was so close and in his mini-wet suit that I think he felt like he did it all too!

on our way! (poor Penny)

yes, the water is that blue!

meeting our dolphin

(Ok, I hope you can find Jo in the above pic.  I think I’m buying him a wet suit.  IT IS SO CUTE!!)

dolphin kiss

dolphin hug

he felt so cool!

dolphin dance

dolphin feeding

After the dolphin experience, we enjoyed the rest of the morning/early afternoon on the island’s beach.  Penny had her first sand experience.  Jonah enjoyed playing in the calm water, even though it was really cold! The day was so beautiful and definitely one of the highlights from our trip.

our napping girl

she loved the sand

he loved finding rocks

look at daddy!

my handsome, but very tired boy

And then that evening, I got sick.  Ugh.  Like feeling yucky, have the chills, want to sleep kind of sick.  I toughed it out so Josh and I could have a dinner date, but I definitely wasn’t up for much.  At this point, I was hoping the rest of my trip wouldn’t be ruined.  To be continued…

 

Sheraton photo from here.

Christmas 2012

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We had a very eventful holiday this year.  Lots of family and food and festivities. I’m still trying to process it all.  We had such a great week, but I really feel like I didn’t capture it well.  I guess with two kids running around, it is much harder to get decent pictures let alone cute ones.  Sometimes I wish I could hire a photographer to follow us around.  But that’s not real life.  So, New Year’s resolution: take better pictures.

Our Christmas was divided into two days.  Christmas day with my family.  The day after Christmas was spent with Josh’s family.  I’m so glad we were able to dedicate full days to each family and not worry about driving around and being stressed.  Jonah and Penelope were spoiled rotten by their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  They were smothered with attention and perfect gifts.  Isn’t it crazy how happy you get to see your children happy?!

Christmas morning at our house was quick but sweet.  We don’t like to overload on gifts since the kids get so much from the rest of the family, so they each got a “big” gift and then a few smaller things.  I like to have everything set up and really try to make the morning feel special.  Jonah doesn’t quite grasp Santa Claus yet, and we don’t really like to push it.  Penny was cute and happy as always.

We spent the rest of the morning at my parent’s house, where the kids opened presents with their cousins.  My parents bought Jonah an awesome play house for the backyard.  He was so excited.  It will be much loved and used by both kiddos.  I can’t wait to see them playing house together.

The rest of the day was spent with our GIANT family on my mom’s side.  There were 40+ people.  It is always crazy and wonderful.

The next day we woke up early and made the one hour drive to be with Josh’s sweet family.  I really lucked out with my in-laws.  They made the day so special for the kids and cooked a fantastic meal for us.  Jonah’s PaPa built him a custom train table! He was so excited when he realized he got to take it home and could play with it everyday.

The best gift this year: having my sweet family to share Christmas with.  I love my babies and their daddy.

And this year brought our sweet Penelope.  She is such a joy EVERY.DAY. I’ve never met a happier baby.

We are so blessed to have our two, beautiful children in our arms. It breaks my heart thinking of those sweet families that didn’t get that gift this year. No matter what happens we always have hope thanks to a little baby in a manger.  Wishing you a late Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

 

Jonah’s Second Birthday

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Let’s go back in time, shall we? Jonah turned two on October 1st, about a month after Miss P was born.  I knew from the beginning of my pregnancy that Jonah would not be having an elaborate birthday like last year’s.  The week leading up to his birthday, I invited immediate family for cake at a nearby park.  That was it.  No other plans. No theme. Just Jonah turning two.

Well, then the mommy guilt set in.  I had to do something.  So, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  I figured we could at least make the cake extra special.  He wanted a Brobee cake from the show Yo Gabba Gabba (one of his favorites over the summer).  I decided I would pick up a few decorations to go along with his cake.  Then the ideas started spilling, one thing lead to another, and a rainbow colored, Yo Gabba Gabba birthday was born! Yep, that’s mommy guilt for you.

We still kept the party really simple and the guest list small, but adding some extra special touches really made the party fun and made Jonah feel like a king! And since I’m better with pictures, I will just describe the party photo-style and add my thoughts as they come.

The party took place at a nearby park.  It was pretty empty that day (thanks to an LSU game on TV), so we had our pick of the pavilion and picnic tables.  To start the party off with a bang, we set up a yarn installation right before the guests arrived.  I got the idea here and knew that a rainbow colored birthday would be the perfect place to do this.  The yarn trail began at the parking lot, looped around trees and benches, and circled around our pavillion. Josh’s brother and his girlfriend were a huge help in getting this done! The kids absolutely loved it.  When they arrived, I told them to “follow the rainbow” to Jonah’s party.  They couldn’t get enough.

Oh, my sweet birthday boy…chewing on skittles.  In addition to those chewy little gems, I had colored goldfish, veggie sticks, and a fruit plate for snacks.  I told everyone just to come for cake, so people weren’t expecting a meal, but it was nice to have a few little things to munch on.

As you can see from the table, Yo Gabba Gabba was not an understatement.  Along with YGG tablecloths and balloons, we had the coolest Brobee cake ever, with a bonus sheet cake (in case an extra 20 people showed up!) Josh’s dad made AND decorated both cakes.  Is he amazing or what?!

I made a few YGG-inspired cake pops.  I loved the googly eyes.

For drinks, I chose an assortment of rainbow-colored sodas in glass bottles. I think the adults had fun choosing their favorite flavor.

Having the party at the park was really great for all the kids.  They were free to run around and play.  We brought a couple of bouncy balls and a little bike to ride.  I also planned an activity that would bring all the kids back together.  Painting is one of Jonah’s favorite activities, so I set up a paint-your-own-pumpkin table.  The kids LOVED it.  By the end of the party, their pumpkins were all dry and ready to take home.

After painting, we sang happy birthday, and Jonah blew out his candles!

My sweet boy.  I’m so proud of him and amazed by him every day.  He is sensitive and caring but can be so funny and silly.  He is so smart and such a fast learner.  He brings joy, singing, and laughter to our house every day.  We couldn’t imagine our lives without him.  We love you Jonah! Happy 2nd birthday all over again!!

So there you have it!  A rainbow-colored, Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party made just for Jonah! I’m so glad I took a little time, spent a little money, and made a few extra special touches.  The party was simple yet memorable, and most importantly Jonah had a blast and knew he was special and loved! Thanks again to everyone who came and who helped.  We love you guys!