How Little Boys Eat

Sadie has never been a big eater. It took her forever to become interested in eating real food (and she was never interested in baby food). When she ate as a baby and as she eats now, she picks at her food, taking maybe a couple bites of each item. She rarely cleans her plate and when she does, we celebrate!

Then there is Cole. He became interested in food at around 10 months or so... VERY interested in food. And not the baby food type... the REAL deal. He still does not have any teeth, but it doesn't seem to bother him. :) Little boys are in an eating league of their own!!! Maybe you can relate....

- When it's time to eat, little boys kick their feet and flail their arms until their food is on their plate.
- When little boys run out of food they scream or squeal until they get more grub (forget any signing that they have been taught).
- Little boys can wake up from a dead sleep in the drive thru at DQ for a sweet treat.
- Instead of using a tidy pincer grip to get a bite, little boys take bites by the handful... usually with both hands full, one after the other.... the snarfing technique.
- A little boy's food mess is not contained to just the hands and face... you have to clean a boy up all the way to his armpits.
- Food truly makes this little boy VERY happy! :)

She's getting SO big!!!

Every now and then I start feeling a little anxious about how quickly Sadie is getting away from me... I mean, she's practically 18 and getting ready to go off to college... well, maybe notsomuch... but she is one step closer to going to college because tonight she is sleeping without her bed rail up!!! Look at her! How is this possible... you will note, however, I have added proper padding protection and tucked that sheet in real tight - just.in.case.


Dear Jesus.... please keep my little Sadie ever so safe tucked tightly into her bed tonight.

Coley turns ONE!

One year ago, after a super speedy (and scary) labor and delivery, we welcomed Cole William to our family. It doesn't seem possible that 365 days have gone by... until I think of that as being 365 days without sleep (okay, maybe just 362, but who's counting). Cole has brought incredible amounts of joy to our family and is such a blessing to us... here's a few pics of him at his party. The lighting under the pavilion and the super windy day didn't help with great pics... but here it goes!!! :)


We did a Tonka Truck themed party... with dirt cake. You can't see it, but we topped the tables with brown paper and Eric made truck prints using paint on the tables. It turned out cute.


A truck full of dirt cake... much easier than 5,000 stars for Strawberry Shortcake!!!


Very anti-climatic experience with the cake... we couldn't get the candle to stay lit because of the wind and he was pretty chill about the whole ordeal. :)


I finally fed him his first bite to get him going....


Then we dumped it out of his truck and he dug in...


Opening presents... we are thankful that he now has boy toys!!!


And a little help from our friends....

Never throw a ball over the house... EVER.

I don't have a whole lot of "naughty" childhood stories to share... I was pretty compliant, Brady and I didn't have too many squabbles (however, I did break his arm once), I didn't have any sisters to steal my underwear or traumatize me for the rest of my life... I guess you could say that I had a kinda boring childhood. There is one story I do recall though...

Brady and I must have been about 5 and 7... I was the oldest, therefore the wisest (Still am. Oh, and I'm the prettiest, too!). We were playing outside with a ball when one of us came up with the brilliant idea to see who could throw the ball over the roof into the back yard. Being the wisest, prettiest and SMARTEST of the two, I suggested that Brady try this first. He gave it a try, alright... the ball didn't quite make it over the roof... instead, it made it to the window. You can imagine the rest of the story from here. :)

Had a flashback of this event last week as Sadie was playing with one of our little friends, Hunter. She suggested they try to throw a ball over the house to which I replied... "Oh Sadie, we never throw a ball over the house... EVER."

Visit DQ TODAY!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that today is "Miracle Treat Day" at Dairy Queen. A portion of each Blizzard (at least $1 or more, depending on location) that is purchased goes to Children's Miracle Network to help children with medical needs.

Each year, Children's Miracle Network will give $500 to every child with a medical need. This organization helped us purchase 1/4 of Cole's helmet and their application process was a breeze compared to other grant organizations we were working with. Help bless a family today... and go eat a Blizzard!

Sonic Drink and Moz. Sticks, Anyone???

I HATE paying bills. It is perhaps the most mundane and depressing household responsibility I have come in contact with thus far.

When I was teaching, bill pay was Eric's job... then I started staying home with the children and it became my duty... I try to balance the checkbook and pay the bills weekly BUT it is the job I put off until the latest possible minute. The house has to be quiet. I have to pray that the process does not make me incredibly grouchy (which it normally does). And, I have to put on some tunes to try to make the process go by quickly.

Well, since this is a job I desperately despise... and I complain about it every week, Eric has agreed to start helping me with the process. We are trying to think of a way to make this job incredibly fun instead of dreadful... our conversation before he left for a meeting tonight...

E: Tonight's gonna be so fun!!!
Me: Why??? Because we're having nachos??? (We're trying out this seasons batch of salsa tonight.)
E: Noooo... because we're paying bills!!! We have to make this fun so we look forward to it every week!
Me: What can we do???
E: Maybe we should buy ourselves a really big Sonic drink and an order of Mozzarella Sticks to split every week.
Me: LOL... what if we don't have the extra money to buy a drink and Mozzarella Sticks?
E: Well, at least we won't know until we are done balancing the checkbook and paying the bills!!!

Seriously??? It looks like bill pay is going to take us to the poor house and make us fat!!! Looking forward to our first bill pay party tonight... if you want to join in, come on over... the entry fee is $25/head. We'll share our drink and Moz. Sticks with anyone who is interested!!!

She'll never be the same...

I am doing my best to feed my family the purest of foods. Please understand that I haven't jumped on the "everything organic" bandwagon, but I do my best to shop on the outer edge of the grocery store... make our own sweet treats (so I know what's in them)... purchase our beef from farmers that we trust... steer away from the high fructose corn syrups, other disgustingly modified ingredients and hormones put in foods (however, I haven't been able to kick my high fructose corn syrup beverage of choice... *gasp*).

Every now and then, you have to live life on the edge, though... before I knew all this information about processed food and the effects it has on children's bodies and their behaviors (and adult's bodies and behaviors, for that matter), I used to indulge in the Smucker's Uncrustables. I decided to purchase some of these the other day to throw in Eric's lunchbox (because sometimes I'm a lazy lunch maker) and I had planned to sneak a few of them for myself. Shhhh... don't tell anyone that I sometimes hide behind a cabinet sneaking treats.

Sadie spotted me putting the Smucker's treat into the cart and she couldn't believe that you could buy a sandwich "that you didn't have to make!" Oh the glee in her voice. She immediately wanted to try one when she got home.

After arriving home, we allowed for proper thawing time, unwrapped the perfectly round sandwich and putting everything I know about the importance of WHOLE WHEAT aside, I let my baby girl take her FIRST BITE OF WHITE BREAD.

Yes it's true, this health conscious mama fed her child white bread slathered in strawberry jelly full of high fructose corn syrup... and she's still alive... sometimes it's okay to live life on the edge. :)

1 John 4:9

Know what thrills my soul???

Listening to Miss Sadie play in the living room and then spout off, "1st John 4:9."

Curious as to if she could match the reference to the verse I asked her what it said and she replied... "God loves us and sent his only son Jesus."

Praying for her today that she would learn to love the Lord with all her heart, soul and mind. He is truly our only hope and salvation.

Don't mess with Q-Tips

Today Sadie was trying to sneak a Q-Tip out of the jar on the counter top....

Me: Sadie, remember what Aunt Erin said about that??? (Apparently they had a little conversation about Q-Tips last week when they were spending time together.)

*No Response*

Me: Q-Tips are not safe for little girls to use. It could hurt your ear and then you wouldn't be able to hear me talking to you anymore.

Sadie: I don't want to hear anymore.

Me: Well, I guess I could cut your ears off then. (That sounds so harsh as I write this!)

Sadie: That's a good idea. Just don't cut my head off when you're after my ears.

Me: Okay. I'll try not to.

Sadie Turns Three! :)

Seriously... how is it possible that three years can go by so quickly???

I will never forget welcoming little Sadie into our lives after praying so desperately for a child for well over a year... the moment seeing Eric hold her for the first time is forever etched into my mind (after 17 hours of labor, somehow he got to hold her first... what's up with that???). It seems that a wait makes the Lord's blessings so much more sweet. I am so thankful for this precious little life that God has entrusted to us.

Here's some highlights from Sadie's Birthday Party. She had decided several months ago that she had wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Party... so we ran with that and bought some stuff along the way. :) Up until a couple weeks ago she was cool with Strawberry until Eric's mom shared with her that her daddy had a Spider-man Party when he was 3... guess who then wanted Spider-man??? We decided that if she still liked Spider-man when she was 4 THEN we can celebrate Spider-man-style.

Here's the cake... I made my 1st attempt at doing a 500 thousand star cake. And it's Retro-Strawberry, nonetheless (I love how the things I grew up with are now RETRO!!!).
Savoring the moment....
Posing with the presents...
I think she really liked her Roller Skates....
And a little fun at the park with our friends...