(Insert music to Sunrise, Sunset)

Just had to upload a few pictures of this sweet little man to the blog. Being the big 4 (Almost 5!) boy that he is, there is just no time to stop for a picture. The AH-mazingly talented Avery Davis took these for us a couple of months ago. You will be seeing a lot of these images for a while on the blog. I'm trying to space all the goodness out!

Jackson starts pre-K next week and he is super excited. Me? Not so much. Life is moving quickly, possibly a little too quickly for this mama. I'm a tad bit nostalgic that this time next year he will already be in kindergarten. I feel as though I have one more year to give him the firmest foundation possible before he is out in the world. (As much as a 5 year old is out in the world, but you get what I'm saying, right?) I just want to soak up every second of this next year. I'm sure once he is in school, time will fly by even more than it already does.

What's that you say???

Ace is 19 months old as of this past Sunday. Holy Moly. We're getting close to 2 and that is just crazy to me.

Little Acey man has quite the vocabulary, and since I use this blog as a sort of baby book I want to record some of these words.

- "Thigh! Thigh!" (translation: outside!)

- "eyesh" (translation: eyes or ice)

- "bye" (translation: of course it is bye. he says it with the greatest southern accent.)

- "ooouuff" (translation: off)

- "was aaat?" (translation: what's that. this could be his most favorite phrase.)

- "bawuul" (translation: ball. again, said with the most amazing southern drawl!)

- "mine" (no translation necessary. with an older brother, he had to learn this one quickly!)

- "ah oh" (translation: I've done something I shouldn't have! Come and fix it, Momma!)

These words are some of the most common, every day words that he uses. He also knows all of the members of our family (momma, daddy, jack jack, j.d.). He also uses a lot of signs and cues to let us know what he wants. He is quite the little talker. He is constantly "saying" something, even if he is the only one who can understand it!

Playing catch up!

We've had a fun and busy summer. I am most definitely looking forward to fall. I'm ready for cooler weather, Jackson's school to start back, and all of our activities that we attend starting back up. Here's a few pictures of what we have been up to!

Ace and his new obsession: shoes. He loves trying them on, hiding them (my favorite yellowbox flip flops in particular), carrying them around, etc. He is also demonstrating another one of his favorite things in this picture; cheesing for the camera. As soon as he sees a camera he starts saying, "teeeeeese". (Cheese!)

Painting/ eating paint. Thank goodness it is non-toxic! Jackson and Ace have kept me supplied with new art this summer!
Taking a bath in Nana's sink is a must while you're still small enough. I will have to find the picture I have of Jackson at this same age in the same spot!

A shot of why Kyle is hands down, the most fun Daddy. Ever. Who knew a commercial leaf blower can provide so much entertainment???




We've had some sweet friends over for play dates. Here are Reagan and Jackson making homemade pizza's for lunch.
More than anything else this summer, I have enjoyed just hanging out with my family. We know how to have a good time together, and I love that!

Brown Eye Boy

Summer Days

Today was a little cooler here. (Think 88 degrees. That is almost frigid to what it has been!) So I decided that the boys and I should enjoy some outdoor time. We had a little picnic and played, played, played at the park! We had the entire park to ourselves, which was so nice!

Beach Trip 2010

We headed down to the gulf the last week in May. It makes me so sad to think that it may be our last trip there for quite some time. I LOVE the gulf. The day we left was the day that oil was starting to reach the shore in Pensacola. We had a great time, and I'm so glad that we were able to get away for a week in the sun and sand!

Another day, another milestone!

I decided to give Ace a cup without a lid today... and he did GREAT! As great as any 15 month old could, of course! I put a small amount of milk into a plastic cup, and he only spilled the tiniest bit. He will by no means be drinking out of a cup primarily, but I think it would be fine while he is in his highchair! Way to go, Ace! You're getting so big!

Is this thing on???

So, it's been a while. I have had all kinds of good intentions of posting various things. Trust me, I have enough adorable pictures of the kids to fill up a million different posts. But for some reason, I have just been a little intimidated by the whole blog thing lately. Does that happen to anyone else?

I suppose it is due to the fact that I think my life is pretty cut and dry. I don't have a lot of witty things to say, or not much drama to report. So I start to think, what is the point? Does anyone really want to see more pictures of my kids or a unbelievably boring take on "favorite things" which is mostly products everyone has already tried.

So, I'm starting fresh. I have a little different outlook on this old blog. It's not that I was in it for the readership before. I just kind of got bogged down in the fact that no one wants to see the same thing every day. But now I'm viewing this as my scrapbook. I want to journal about my kids and document their lives through my perspective. And if no one reads or comments, it's ok. My plan is to print the blog out at the end of the year and this will be their photo albums/ baby books/ scrapbooks, etc.

And if you want to comment, that is great! =) If not, that is ok too!

So here we go with a new mindset! And to start off, here are the world's cutest little boys. It's my blog; I can make that statement!

I've got a monkey on my back.

Beth Moore rocks my world

I am so blessed to be in a weekly Bible study program called Community Bible Study, aka CBS. This is an international program, and I HIGHLY recommend finding this in your area and attending if you are able. A few weeks ago in class, we were discussing the fruits of the spirit. Our leader asked us to think about what fruit we needed to work on. One lady spoke about how she was always working on self control with her family. How she was generally a pretty patient person, but God had showed her that she needed to have more self control with her children and husband. This hit me right between the eyes. Another woman spoke about the same thing. She said that God had been showing her that being a wife and mother was her job and that she had to work harder on self control with her family. Wow... again.

Before this, I had always thought about self control as a physical thing. Like diet and exercise. And trust me, I could use a big dose of self control in that area too. But as those wonderful women showed me, self control goes farther than that.

How about I use a little self control in the mornings when my kids decide it is time to get up at 5am? Some mornings I huff out of the room making as much noise as possible because I think my husband should be up if I have to be.

Hello, Sarah. You are a mother to two small children. That is your job. Show some self control.

And what about showing some self control when you speak to your kids? Don't get irritated when Jackson has said "momma" about 168 times before it is even 7am. SELF CONTROL.

So needless to say, I've been working on the self control. And as per His usual, when God is working on something in me, he gives me a bazillion reminders. I read this on Beth Moore's blog this morning.

"My devotional time this morning was spent on the subject matter of anger. I thought to myself how life offers one opportunity after another to get hopping mad about something...or, more often, toward someone and what kind of price we pay. What kinds of words we say. Proverbs 16:32 (NET) says, "Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior, and one who controls his temper is better than one who captures a city." Let's quit blaming our hormones and our husbands and our workplaces and just bring our anger problems before God. Let's tell Him what we're mad about, repent for our reaction to it, ask Him to tend to us, heal us, free us. And, if the situation or relationship continues to be irresistibly, understandably infuriating, may He teach us how to refrain from sin in our anger until we can be loosed from it altogether.
For those of us who don't have one of those monumental, overwhelming reasons to be angry and we're just temperamental, irritable, and summarily lacking in self-control, sometimes it's just the matter of making a choice. As my grandmother used to say, we can get glad in the same clothes we got mad in.
Or, then again, we could just change clothes and see if that would help. One way or the other, it's time to get over it."

See that part right there in red? Yeah, that was straight to me. Thanks, Beth. I needed it. I don't have any reason to be angry. I am just easily irritated. And as Beth said, I can make a choice to not be that way. And I choose to do that, one situation at a time.

Sarah's Simple Pleasures

-The smell of hot pavement after an afternoon thunderstorm.
-Family dance parties
-When my hydrangea starts having blooms
-A clean house
-Cuddles from my sweet boys
-When Jackson tells me he loves me, for no reason at all
-The way Kyle smells
-Swimming
-Warm days at the park
-Spending an afternoon with my mom
-Pedicures
-Gardening, and being able to harvest
-Finding an unreal bargain
-Fresh, clean, sheets on the bed
-Open windows
-Summertime drives at dusk
-Waking up to birds chirping
-The smell of the beach & sunscreen
-Cooking something my family loves
-Fresh cut grass
-Someone commenting on how cute or well behaved my kids are
-Making silly plans for the future with Kyle

It cannot be...

Ace,

Happy 1st Birthday!!! As I type, the memories of the night you were born flood my mind. That night, knowing how I loved your big brother, I knew for sure that I would love you. I knew you would be darling. I knew that I would think you were the cutest thing that ever graced this earth. I knew you would be precious to your Daddy and me.

But I just didn't know how much. You have far exceeded anything I could have ever imagined. You have enriched our lives so much. Your spunk and personality keep us laughing. "Laid Back" is not a phrase that many would associate with you. You are constantly into something, constantly moving, constantly exploring. Life is an adventure everyday with you! You bring such joy to us, and to everyone who is around you.

I love, love, love you. I am so happy to be your Momma.

At 12 months you are:
*Walking. You started taking your first steps at 11 months, and it is old hat now. I love to watch you wobble around. SO CUTE!
*Babbling up a storm. You are constantly "saying" something. You try your hardest to convey what you are thinking. The only real words that I think you say are "mama", "dada", and "bugga". "Bugga" being for Jackson.
*You don't use the word "no", but you shake your head from side to side when you don't want something.
*You love to read books, play with anything your brother is playing with, and explore anywhere in the house.
*You love music and dance all the time.
*You can have a temper at times.
*I love you even when you have a temper =)
*You, along with your brother and father are still the lights of my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!