Happy 70th Birthday Granny!

WARNING: This may be the longest post in the history of blogs! Josh took 419 pictures Saturday, so this is just a blip in comparison to what I had to choose from. I made the pictures as small as I could to shorten the post, but you can always click on them to see them in full-size.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Granny's 70th Birthday party. We start off with some detail shots, move on to some fun family pictures, then there's Little J enjoying chocolate cake, and finally some pictures of 3 generations (which are always some of my favorites!).  Enjoy!

Congrats for making it all the way to the end!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to both of our moms and Granny! We love and appreciate you all very much!! I tried to send these pictures via email, but I'm not sure if it went through. Hope you like it!

I've had a wonderful Mother's Day! I can't think of a better way to celebrate than having Jeremiah dedicated and spending time with family. Not to mention Josh got me an Ergo!!! You know the thing I've blogged about before (here and here) because I need a new carrier for Little J since he's getting so big (I used the Baby Bjorn a TON!!). And I know you're thinking...why not just use the stroller? Well, we do sometimes but as I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a "crunchy" parent and enjoy "wearing" Little J (mostly because he really loves it!!!).

I have about a million pictures to go through from the past few days, so hopefully they will be up soon!

Haven't written too much this week. It's been kind of a dreary week and we haven't been up to much except ironing (I think I ironed ALL of Josh's work shirts Tuesday) & going to the doctor. We went yesterday for Jeremiah's InfantSee appointment and everything checked out great! They did have to dilate his eyes which wasn't much fun, but other than that it was good. 

The sun has FINALLY come out today, so we went walking/strolling with Jeremiah's buddy, Anna, and her mama (my buddy), Nicole, this morning...quite a light crowd for Brunch Bunch, but fun all the same!

Tomorrow we'll be enjoying Customer Celebration Day at Big J's work, which I'm SUPER excited about because they're having my FAVORTIE BBQ!!! Well, my fav BBQ for this part of the state at least :)

And of course this weekend will be loads of fun celebrating Granny's 70th Birthday Saturday and Jeremiah's Dedication, Perry's Birthday, & Mother's Day Sunday. I'm sure there will be LOTS of pictures to come.

It's GRILLING Time!!

A big THANK YOU to Mom & Jim for our Mother's Day/Anniversary/Father's Day present...a new gas grill!! We have been wanting a gas grill for quite some time, so we wasted no time in putting it to use. Tonight for dinner we had grilled pork chops, garlic-cheddar mashed potatoes, and a Caesar Salad with lettuce from the garden! As Rachael Ray would say...YUM-O!!!

4 burners + a side burner = awesome!

Josh, the grill master :)

How delicious does that pork chop look?? It was fabulous!!

9-Month Checkup

We had Little J's 9-month checkup this morning and everything was GREAT! Dr. Hunsinger (who normally finds something for us to work on & worry about) said he looked perfect! 

Here are his "stats":

Height - 29in (90%)

Weight - 19lb 10oz (50%)

Head - 18.5in (90%)

Poop!

This post will be free of pictures & for that you should thank me!

Friday night Little J was splashing around in his duck tub while I was trying to scrub every last ounce of dinner off of him. While lathering him up, I stood him up to clean his legs & bottom when all of a sudden poop came out - ACK!! There was poop floating around in the little ducky and he was full of suds! After a few minutes of sudsy J playing on the bathroom floor while I cleaned up poop from the tub, we eventually relocated to our big tub. OK...I've heard of this happening and while not thrilled to have it happen to me, not too big a deal.

Fast forward to tonight...We have been extremely lucky in the "naked-baby accidents" dept. Little J plays naked every night for 10-20 minutes just to let his diaper area air out a bit...we've done this for most of his life and he's only peed once (amazing...I know!). Tonight Big J was trying to help Little J get out of his hooded towel (he finds it funny to crawl around with it on his head), he noticed a little poop and then a LOT of poop! Thankfully he caught it in the towel...well most of it. We later found some more on the rug (YUCK!), but got that cleaned up.

So I think we've had enough out-of-diaper poop for a while. Ahhh...the joys of parenting!

But this cutie makes it all worth it!

And yes I know I said it would be picture-free, but I just couldn't help myself!

When I grow up...

I want to be just like Daddy! Little J has turned into quite the Daddy's boy recently and I think it's adorable! 

Check out what I caught him doing today...

Peeking out the window...

while Big J was mowing the grass. 

I'm sure Josh can't wait for Jeremiah to be old enough to help mow!

Of course then he decided he wanted to eat the pull from the blinds...boys! :)

Green Thumb? Let's hope so!

So we've embarked on a gardening adventure! I call it an adventure because I have never gardened in my life (I don't even keep up our front yard very well!). I like the idea of a garden, so I was so excited when Nana & Popa decided to have one this year that I could help in & learn the ropes! 

Nana first got the idea of a Square Foot Garden, so Popa built the frames, and we planted Broccoli, Cauliflower, Iceberg Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce (my fav!), Carrots, Radishes, Bell Peppers, Onions, Leeks, and probably some other things that I'm forgetting. We've already enjoyed a couple of salads with the Romaine Lettuce & Radishes (who knew I even liked radishes!).

Then Popa made a big garden (and I mean BIG!). We've been working in that for the past week or so planting tomatoes (LOTS!), squash, cucumbers, green beans (lots of these too!), watermelon, pumpkin, cantaloupe, peppers, and I can't remember what else. 

A picture just to show that I am actually working, helping, and learning!

So you may be thinking, what's Little J up to during all of this gardening? Well, he either naps or hangs out under the shade tree in his stroller or on a blanket. He loves every minute that we're outside!

Another one of his favorite things to do outside...SWING! He even took a little nap in this swing earlier this week. Isn't he just so CUTE!?!

Stay tuned for more gardening adventures, which will be turning into canning & freezing adventures before the summer is over. It's great to be a life-long learner! :)

One Year Ago...

I was preggers with Little J (who we affectionately referred to as Cletus back then). My fellow 7th Grade teachers thought it would be funny to dress like me for Twin Day at school - pregnant belly & all!! 

And the first person I saw that morning was the male teacher on the end...it was hilarious!

Happy 9 months!

Little J turned 9 months old today! I cannot believe it...it's getting so big & much more like a little boy instead of a baby lately!

To celebrate, we went to a local strawberry patch with Nana and picked 20 lbs of strawberries!! It was gorgeous (mainly because we picked at 9am before it got HOT!). Little J seemed to really enjoy himself - he's definitely an outdoor boy! 

Local Family Run Strawberry Patch

Little J enjoying being outside!

Nana & the owner picking strawberries.

Little J spent most of his time like this...

because he kept looking at that...

The owners were clearing out some land & he was VERY interested in all the big trucks!

Little J & Mommy :)

20 lbs of strawberries...YUMMY!!!