Cooking 101

Yesterday JD and I made our first batch of chocolate cookies together.  I let him wear one part of his birthday present from us a little early and we went to work.  Here are some of the pics:

For Love of the Game

I think it is in his blood.  My son LOVES baseball.  This makes sense to anyone that knows his Daddy and/or Pap-pa.  Morgan played baseball his whole life and holds records at Harding University, and my dad has a passion for the game, specifically the St. Louis Cardinals.  It is such a treat for me to watch my favorite boys enjoy this past time together. 

J.David and I have been to almost more games than anyone else in the family this year.  With all of my parent's travels, morgan's travels, and season tickets, JD and I got really lucky!!  Its been such a fun season to watch and he LOVES it!  Last weekend we got the chance to go with just my Dad.  He had just returned from Singapore and was so excited to share a day at Busch Stadium with JDavid.  WHAT A DAY!!  Aside from the fact that we won (GO CARDS!!) Morgan and I (team effort) caught a foul ball, Pap-pa took him to build a Fred Bird (build a bear @the ball field, which also happened to be a special day there so we received a free autograph teddy bear for later use), and he got a Matt Holliday photo ball that they handed out to the first 25000.  AWESOME!!  JDavid sat with Pap-pa and watched almost the entire game.  He will cheer and CHARGE...so cute.  I don't think he understands what is going on, but reguardless he loves to watch it.  That is the 2nd game he has literally watched from start to finish, and since we've been home he has asked to watch "beesball" on TV, talks about it non stop, and watched some of the post season games with his Daddy.  Like I said...it is in his blood.  ha ha.  Here are some of the cute pics from last Saturday: 

27

Thanks to everyone for my birthday wishes yesterday.  I had the BEST day!!  Morgan made me a cake with pink icing all made from scratch, I got my favorite pizza (Dewey's), and so many wonderful cards and gifts.  I am so blessed with such a wonderful family!! As I was thinking about the last year and realizing all the changes that have occurred I thought it might be funny to share.  I give J.David updates so why not a mommy update?  ha ha ha...so here it goes...enjoy!

1.  I must have a least one cup of coffee everyday with at least 1/4 of the cup being my favorite creamer. 
2.  My days of drinking that coffee while watching the Today Show have now been replaced with Finding Nemo, Handy Manny, and The Incredibles (whatever the mood of the day is)
3.  "Jammin" in the car is no longer to the Top 40 or my favorite country station, but to Veggie Tales, and Colin Buchanan (a fun Kids praise CD from Australia...check it out!!)
4.  Did I mention that all of that is occurring in my minivan??
5.  When I go shopping I still walk out of the mall with bags of goodies, only very rarely is any of it for me. (It's not my fault that they makes kids' clothes so stinkin cute)
6.  My most used phrases during the day are "no", "sit on your bottom", "say ..please and thank you", and "I LOVE YOU!!"
7.  My daily accomplishments are no longer how much I sold or what I helped someone design but the amount of laundry I completed, how many blocks we could stack before they could fall over, and teaching JD something new.
8.  Talking on the phone consists of constant interuptions..."mama, mama...where's daddy?" (repeat 50 more times as fast as you can)
9.  Spending time with friends is a great skill...we can eat, feed our kids, answer their questions, and still maintain the subject matter at hand, even if it means we spend 30 minutes simply exchanging our greetings.
10.  Nights out with the hubby may be limited, but date nights consisting of a movie and ice cream after JD is sleeping are among my favorites!

Some may look at this list and wonder how I keep my sanity.  I look at this list and wonder what I did to deserve such a wonderful life!!  The hugs and kisses I receive daily from my almost two year old are what make me even more excited to continue to add to this list of change.  My life will never be what it used to be...and I couldn't be more thankful for that. The years ahead are far too exciting to ever wish for the past...so bring on the birthdays, because if this is what getting older holds, I'm ALL IN!!!

Humpty Dumpty

This week J.David received his first cast!  That's right, he fractured his forearm!  Poor thing.  Wednesday he fell off the kitchen chair onto the hardwood (he has had so much interest in my parent's kitchen chairs since we've been here).  He's got a pretty high tolerance for pain so i knew when  he kept crying and showing me his "boom" that something was wrong.  We went to the Dr. office that evening and everything appeared ok, there was no swelling, brusing, or deformity anywhere.  So we went home and gave it that night thinking he maybe just jammed it or brused his wrist real bad....WRONG!  Still hurting after a short night in mom and dad's bed we went to gete xrays.  FRACTURE!!  One of the bones in his forearm is fractured a little below his elbow and the top of it is angled pretty badly.  OUCH!!  I think he handled the pain better than I would have.  He would only cringe or wimper when pressure was applied and proceeded to play like normal.  Now he has a red cast ( in honor of Cardinal post season and the fact that Fred bird was his comfort toy of the day yesterday) and thinks it is so cool.  He wants to show everyone, including the dogs and Morgan (again) as his first order of business this morning.  ha ha.  Now that he has it on its like he's always had it, such a boy!!  I just have to follow behind him to keep him from climbing on things, which is his #1 activity everyday....I'm in trouble!  Here is a picture of our little touch guy!!

Hoo-dee-nee

I don't really know how to correctly spell the title of this post, so I simply sounded it out.  this is a pictureless post given that we have no photo of the sneaky sneakiness of my son.  My son that has officially learned to climb OUT of his pack n play!!  We are staying at my parents' house this week and the little booger climbed out twice!!  The first time I found him standing at the top of the stairs (don't even want to think about it) and the second standing at the gate now living in his doorway.  We still have a few more nights to go, so hopefully he will lose interest in this "new trick" before we get back to his crib.  I can't even imagine.  I am not quite ready for a big boy bed and all the freedoms that go with that.  ha ha.  Not to mention I have not even decided how I am going to decorate his big boy room!!  (priorities, of course) 

A day at the farm!

A few weekends ago Morgan took J.David out to the family farm with my Dad/Pap-pa.  JD got to help Pap-pa water his grape vines and also got to visit some of my cousin's animals.  He had sooo much fun being out there with the boys.  Here are some of the pics they came back with.  I love the tractor pic!

Simply J.David

It's been a while since I have done a post 100% about JD.  So here is what our amazing toddler is up to at 22+ months old:

LOVES:

waffles

The Little Mermaid and Cars

being outside

climbing and running

Helicopters and Airplanes (he can hear them coming before anyone else and won't stop til he finds it)

milk, especially if its chocolate

his wagon

play kitchens (he asks to go to the nursery at church by saying..."kitchen, kitchen"

Jaxon, the dog is the first  thing he asks about in the morning

Daddy, duh!

Puzzles

his new tee-pee

veggie tales

sing and dance

anything that looks like a ball, especially and basketball or baseball

Fred Bird @ the Cardinal games (this is a new development) 

hats

sunglasses

shoes

yogurt (good tip moms: drinkable yogurts with a straw pushed through the foil)

getting his picture taken  "CHEESE"

Some of my favorite things he does:

He gives the best "monster" hugs.  He will wrap his arms around my kneck and sqeeze so hard!  I love it!!  He is a snuggler and I am so thankful for that.

He is funny.  His sense of humor is hilarious.

His facial expressions

His is Mr. Independent.  This is as wonderful as it is challenging

He is talking soo much now!  We are still trying to "translate" a lot of it but it is becoming easier to get it.  It is so funny to watch him think of other ways to communicate what he is trying to say.

He loves talking on the phone, he asks to talk to who ever is on the other end.  "phone mama,  I phone."

He sings all the time and dances.  He will hear music and start singing to it, hilarious!!  He loves to sing veggie tales.  I will say parts and pause and he will fill the words or phrases..adorable!

ok, now this one is hilarious, so brace yourselves:

J.David thinks he is magic.  He will wave his hand and say "aaaahhhh" (Abra-ca-da-bra).  Well. of course we encourage this, so he believes that he opens and closes the van doors. (they are operated with the key remote)  It is routine now for him to open and close the door each time he gets in and out.  Now he will even blow to lock it.  cruel? maybe.  Funny?  You Bet!  We need to get it on video, only since he has been doing it for so long now the excitement in his face is starting to fade.  Sometimes he even looks at me what i ask him to open it as though it is a chore.  ha ha ha.  oh well!

This is long..sorry!  Just needed to get this stuff in the record books!