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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

Here is one: a typical, good day for us around here.

6:30 am

At least one kid is awake, usually Penelope. Jonah is not far behind.  Some days I think they must have walkie-talkies and plan waking up just minutes apart.  No break for mommy in the morning.  I’ve already been up at 4 or 5am with Penny, so when I hear cries again at 6am, I am already tired. Once Jonah is awake, I hear the typical “HEY MOMMY!” coming from his room.  He won’t get out of bed on his own (thank you Lord), so I go in and get him up.  We head straight to the couch for “T.B.” and Jonah gets to watch a couple of shows while he drinks his milk and eats a banana (yes, every day). I feed Penny and/or lay on the couch half asleep.

8:00 am

On a good day, the TV is turned off and we start playtime.  If mommy is really slow-moving that morning, then Jonah gets a bonus show. Penny has been playing on her mat, talking to her toys and to me.  She is ready for her morning nap.  Once she is quiet, I join Jonah in the play room.  I’m usually sipping on coffee at this point but still in pj’s.  This time of the day is what we call “mommy-Jonah time”.  He gets so excited about it.  I always try to do a special art project or play with something messy (like play doh or rice).  I can give him my full attention, which he absolutely loves, and he gets to do something that he chooses. It’s a great way to start our day off and makes sure he knows he is important.

9:30 am

Penny is up again from her nap.  I get her dressed as well as Jonah and myself.  (This is on a good day, remember? Not good days involve jammies til naptime.) If I have any errands to run, this is when we do them.  I don’t like running errands in the afternoon.  I am not a fan of traffic.  This is also the happiest time of day for Penny, so she will do well getting in and out of her carseat.  Some days, instead of errands, we will visit my grandparents.  Jonah calls them Grandma and Grandpa.  They really look forward to our visit and love helping me out by holding the baby and entertaining Jonah.

11:30 am

I like to be back at home by now.  Penny will be ready for her nap.  Jonah will start getting hungry and fussy.  If we aren’t home by now, then I expect meltdowns.  I get Penny to sleep, fix lunch for Jonah (and sometimes even myself), and get him prepped for “rest time.”  I don’t get to call it nap time anymore but “rest time” seems to be just fine.  We get a cup of milk, a stack of books, and (hopefully) one on one time together before his rest.  He is usually asleep by 12:30 or 1:00 pm and will sleep until 2ish.  Remember, this is a good day.

As any stay at home mom will tell you, rest/nap time is sacred.  It is my one chance during my 14 hour work day to breathe, be alone, have quiet, and, oh yeah, get things done.  I try my hardest to relax, nap, catch up on my blogs, or work on a project.  I do NOT clean the house at this time or do other “chores”.  I try to focus on keeping myself sane and happy, so the rest of the day goes well.  I may prep dinner at this time, but that is rare.

2:30 pm

Both kids are definitely up by now.  Jonah may watch another show when he wakes up, or he will choose to have more art time.  We play inside for a bit, and I try to figure out a plan for dinner.  Lately that has been planning where we will go out to eat. On a good day, it will mean checking the status of whatever is in the crock pot.  I like to head outside by 3:30 pm, and we try to stay out for at least an hour.  Both kids LOVE being outside.  We may play with the neighbors or with Jonah’s sensory table (sand, corn, etc).  Other days, we may head to my mom’s for playtime over there, especially on long days when I am really tired.

5:00 pm

We are back inside and putting the final touches on dinner.  Penny is taking her third and final nap of the day.  It is usually pretty short but ensures that I get to eat dinner and feed Jonah. After dinner we read Bible stories and then have more play time.

6:00 pm

I’m usually getting pretty desperate around this time and start running out of fun things to do.  BATH TIME! I hope for long, playful baths: first for Penny while Jonah plays at the sink and then for Jonah.  This is all I can do to keep everybody happy and has really been working for me lately.  Both kids get their last bit of energy out and it signals that bed time is near.  We NEVER have issues about going to sleep.  They are both tired and eager to wind down.

7:00 pm

Quiet time.  Penny is probably in bed and asleep.  Jonah is in jammies and ready to read books.  He is so tired by now.  We read 3-4 books, say prayers, sing a song, and say goodnight.  He talks/sings himself to sleep and is OUT by 7:30pm at the latest.

Now, the kids are asleep, but mommy is not quite done yet.  This is when I clean up, do dishes, finish laundry, prep meals, shower, etc.  I work until about 8:30 pm and then CRASH on the couch to catch up on shows, Facebook, or a regular book. I try to be in bed by 10:30 pm because Penny will be up around midnight to eat again.  And then again at 4ish.  Sleep is precious and well-deserved. It’s been a long but awesome day.  I LOVE this job and wouldn’t trade it for the world!

____________

So, that’s it! And just a side note.  I am happily married and my husband is a wonderful father.  I didn’t mention him in our routine because his work schedule is pretty crazy.  Some days he is with us in the morning/afternoon.  Some days he gets home for dinner.  Some days he gets home super late.  Some days he has to sleep in and work a night shift. He is always around at some point, and the kids love every second of it.  Jonah especially loves his daddy time, and I love seeing them play together.  I also love the extra set of hands!

Another quick note: I breastfeed exclusively, so Penny eats every few hours throughout the day.  Just didn’t want anyone thinking I never feed my child.

I do have to make one excuse.  Her name is Penelope.

Penelope Marie was born on August 15th, weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs, 12 oz.  Our sweet, baby girl entered the world very dramatically (a story for another day) and has made our family so much brighter.

Jonah is so in love with his little sister.  I imagine them being best friends in the future.  They already “play together” in their own way. She watches every move he makes, and he gives her kisses and tells her that he is a “sweet big brother.”

Penelope, or “Penny” as we like to call her, is 16 weeks old now! Wow, that flew by! She has made up for her birth weight like you wouldn’t believe.  Baby + squishy rolls = mommy heaven.

We are finally getting a nice, little routine around here.  Going from one to two kids was as challenging as I’d heard.  Jonah became king of the tantrums for a few weeks, which I’m assuming was his coping mechanism for all the “new” around here.  Josh also started working a TON more, which has made my days very long.  Now, the days are fairly predictable, Jonah is over his extreme behavior (with the occasional meltdown here and there), Penny is sleeping well, and I’m used to the long days.  I’m so happy to have two kiddos to hang out with!

Life is good right now.  We are healthy and happy.  With Christmas in the air, our days are full of fun and excitement.  And lots of art projects. I can’t wait to catch up and show you a little of our world.

All photos (except the first) were provided by the oh-so-talented Landry Photography!

Continue reading for all the details…

Yay! A girl! We are so thrilled, and can’t wait to plan the nursery, pick a name, and gather sweet little girl things. Jonah is now learning the word “sister”, and we will spend the next 4 months trying to get him to understand what’s going on.  I can’t wait to see him as a big brother.

And now, for a quick rundown of the party.  I went with a pink and blue theme (no surprise there), but kept everything really fun and simple.  Guests were greeted by a “he or she” wreath at the door.

Once they walked in, they were asked to vote on who they thought Baby #2 would be.  The group was pretty much split down the middle the whole evening.

The dessert table was set up with pink on one side and blue on the other.  I hung the colorful spheres above the table because I thought they were fun.

I also taped up a few of baby’s ultrasound pictures.  The “evidence” ultrasound pic was still sealed up in an envelope at this point.

Guests were asked to take a blue or pink felt circle pin to represent their vote throughout the night.  It was fun to see which “team” each person was on.

Dinner was simple.  We ordered jambalaya from the Jambalaya Shoppe, along with potato salad and rolls.  Other than pink and blue cupcakes, I made pink-dressed strawberries (dipped in pink-tinted white chocolate) and blueberry crumble bars.

After we dined and let the anticipation build (and build!!), we went out back to reveal the gender.  Josh and I had decided we wanted to find out the gender when everyone else did.  A friend of mine was in charge of preparing the box of balloons.  She was the first and only person to know the gender during the party, and she did a great job at keeping a straight face the entire time.  We had no clue!

We were so surprised! Josh and I really thought we were going to have another boy (even though we told everyone we didn’t have a guess).  As you can see from both of our faces, we were shocked and overjoyed.

It was one of the best parties ever! The entire evening was full of suspense and anticipation.  We are so thankful for everyone who came and shared this special occasion with us. We won’t ever forget it.

His first baguette

Our basic routine goes a little like this: When Josh is home (after work and on weekends), he speaks to Jonah strictly in French.  He talks about things they are doing, asks him questions, and now that Jonah is talking– he asks him to answer him in French.  Josh reads Jonah French books before bed.  We listen to French children’s music in the car every so often and have even found a few French videos that Jonah enjoys watching.  When Jonah is with me during the day, he rarely speaks French.  He may count or say some words in French, but for the most part he seems to know that mommy speaks one way and daddy speaks another.

Goodnight Moon-- in French!

We have not noticed any confusion or speech delay because of this, which many people seem to worry about when teaching young children another language.  Josh has done a lot of research on the topic and has found that multiple languages actually can improve a child’s speech and language recognition.  Jonah understands both of us perfectly.  And he can easily switch from one language to the next when we are both home interacting with him.

Now that Jonah is starting to talk and say his little phrases, we are really excited to see how his French develops.  From the words we have heard him say in French, we have already noticed a perfect little French accent.  It really is incredible how well he is doing.  This video is his most recent display of his French skills: counting to ten!

As far as where we plan on going from here, we really aren’t sure yet.  There are only a couple of French-immersion schools in the Baton Rouge area, so it is hard to say if we will have French as part of his school day.  I know Josh will continue what he’s doing because he loves doing it, but beyond that we just aren’t sure yet.  As long as Jonah is still enjoying French and responding well, we will continue.  So, I guess we will just see how it goes!

Here is another cute video of Jonah making animal sounds when asked in French.

Final verdict: we are staying put!  We felt that the most important thing for our family right now was to build up our savings and get the rest of our student loans paid off before we upgrade to a larger, more expensive home.  Once that decision was made, my eyes were opened to the potential of this little house, and we have every other “problem” solved or in the works to be solved! How cool is that?!

1. Toys, Toys, Toys

One of our big issues was not having a proper play space for Jonah.  We toyed (hehe) with the idea of converting the guestroom/office space to a playroom, but didn’t want to lose an entire bedroom to play things.  The toys were taking up so much of the living room that I was going crazy, but I just couldn’t figure out what to do apart from donating all the toys and making Jonah play with pillows and kitchen utensils for the rest of his toddler years.

Then one day I’m standing in our kitchen staring at the large dining area which houses our very large dining table.  We ate at a corner of that table a few nights a week as a family.  We had guests over and used the table maybe once a month.  If I squinted away the table, I saw this huge, empty space just waiting to do more.  So what does the pregnant, crazy lady do? I take the table apart and move it OUT, and our playroom is born. 

Just try to imagine a large table here right under the window.  Now that it is gone, Jonah has a place for his play kitchen, table, and toys.  We bought a little bench for seating and threw down a rug.  It makes the space feel like it is supposed to be there and cozies it up a bit. And don’t worry, we still get to eat.  We pulled the dining room chairs up to the “bar” and have the perfect spot for our casual little dinners.

The other great part about this plan is that our dining table is not gone.  We pushed it into a corner of the guestroom but can pretty easily pull it back out and set it up if we have a dinner party.  Problem #1 solved, and Jonah loves it!

2. Where Does Baby Sleep?

The other big problem was that we wanted to maintain our guestroom/office, but still needed a space for baby.  Here is the plan so far.  Baby will stay in our room in the cradle for at least 6 weeks.  After that, we will remove guestbed from guestroom and set up crib.  Baby will sleep in one half of the room, while the office area stays intact in the other half of the room.  Eventually, we want to get a sofabed for that room, so that we can still have guests over.  But I figured we could fit that in the room with the crib with a little rearranging.  I feel much better about not over-planning this aspect of our dilemma because we really won’t know how baby sleeps best until baby arrives.  This is what we have for now, and I am totally happy with the idea!

3. Save Money

With our plan to make this house work for as long as possible, we are going to be saving close to $500 a month than if we moved to a larger house.  That adds up really fast!  I’m so glad we didn’t make a rash decision and move without really giving this house a chance.

I know things can always change in a heartbeat, but we are so happy with this decision as of now.  Thanks again to everyone who gave their input and encouraged us to stay.  And hooray for play spaces that were right in front of our eyes the whole time! Who knew?!