Two Days

I wish I had the patience to make videos like I've seen some of friends make on YouTube, but I'm happy with the Flipagram app on my iPhone. When I'm up after the boys and Larson are in bed, I enjoy piddling around with it.

Last night, I made a couple of little videos of my boys' birthdays.  It's such a wonderful feeling remembering both of those magical days.  I thought I would never have a baby.  Praise the Lord I now have two healthy, handsome boys.

Here are the two most beautiful days of my life.

   
   

Jubal's delivery was by a scheduled C-Section.  We had more time to plan and take pictures, which is why I have pictures of myself on the way to the hospital and being prepped for my delivery.

Gentry's delivery was more complicated.  He came into this world by emergency C-Section because I developed pre-eclampsia at the end of my pregnancy.  I went into my doctor's appointment, they ran some tests, told me not return to work, called me back the next morning and told me to come straight to the hospital.  I didn't have time to plan, Larson was the only one to take pictures, and most of my family didn't even make it to the hospital.  The surgery didn't go as easily, either, so I actually never got to meet my sweet Gentry (and remember it) until the next day.  Thank goodness my sister, nieces, and my best friend, Darla were there to love my baby for me until I could. :)

Read about their birth stories here & here.

Oh, January!

January, I've been waiting for you.

With all the hustle & bustle of the holidays, I was actually looking forward to January this year. This is strange because I usually dread January due to the weather, the lifelessness of beautiful flowers, trees, and grass, etc., and just plain boredom because we don't get to get out as much or have anything, such as birthdays, to look forward to during this month.

With two little, rambunctious boys, Halloween began the "holidays" for us.  It seemed like there wasn't enough hours in the day from about mid-October through New Year's day.  I welcomed January this year.  I welcomed the down time.  I welcomed not running around like a mad woman.  I needed a slow down.  Really.

Not much has been going on with our little family so far this year.  We've been keeping with our usual routine which consists of  work and daycare/preschool during the week, with family time being short-lived in the evenings because we only have a few hours after supper and baths.  We do spend lots of quality time together on the weekends, though.  We get out as much as possible and I just enjoy being able to love on my boys all day long. :)

The only pics I have to post right now are random pics from my phone and pictures I get throughout the day from the boys' teachers.  Since Gentry has moved up into the two year old class, he gets to see Jubal more during the day.  The teacher's think it's adorable how they look for each other after nap so they can hug, or how they find each other on the playground at recess and kiss through the fence.  They may fight (like brothers), but they love each other tremendously.

When they aired The Wizard Of Oz on TV right before Thanksgiving, Jubal got on a streak of wanting to watch it everyday.  He pitched a fit to watch it this particular morning when we got him to school, but they only had a VHS copy and there was no VHS player in the media room.  Later, his teacher sent me this pic to let me know he did get to watch a little of it after getting to his regular room.  He was a happy little boy.

Jubal was really into the whole Christmas thing this year.  He loved our tree and sat and stared at it often.  Even now, halfway through January, he's still begging me to put it back up.

This is one of Jubal's best buds at school, Ian.  If they're together, watch out!

Right after they moved Gentry into the K-2 class, I was worried about them putting him down for his nap.  I knew in the baby room, they would still rock him if need be.  His teacher said he laid right down and went to sleep.  

They had the kids a little Christmas party at school on the Monday before Christmas.  I made all kind of goodies for the boys to take.  Reindeer sugar cookies, Grinch sugar cookies, White Trash for the teachers, and the easy chocolate pretzel bites.  Looks like Gentry was enjoying the Cheetos, though.

Jubal thought the sugar cookies were so cool. 

He especially liked the the Grinch cookies. 

I wish I had taken pictures. :(

My babies.

Gentry standing in line with the bigger boys waiting to use the potty after nap. 

They took his sweater vest off for nap time.

Playtime after nap.

Larson & I both had to work on Christmas Eve.  I only had to work until lunch, though.  While the boys were basically the only ones at school that day, Mrs. Diane let Jubal help put every one's things in their cubbies.

He's such a good helper.  At school & at home.

They found each other.  Bubba sugars through the fence. :)

Taking care of the "baby".

Look, it's Spiderman!

His shiner from NYE is showing a little here.

Lawd, have mercy!  When Mrs. Glenda sent me this pic, I almost died!!!

Get my boy outta that dress! Ha! 

They found each other after nap.

He was "fixing" his tiny car.

All better!

This is another one of Jubal's best buds, Leo.

Looks like they're discussing what to build.

Wow!  Look at those building skills. ;)

He loves to read to us.

This was on an unusually warm Saturday while I was at work.  Larson sent me this pic of them riding the cement dog.

Gentry got his booster seat for the table from Santa

so he eats at the big table with us now.

My baby stumped his toe while running through the house about three weeks ago.  We've kept a close eye on it, but he's still going to lose his toenail. :(

This little fella loves to color.

After nap. 

Mrs. Diane said she loves watching them look for & find each other every day. 

She said it's just the sweetest thing how they love each other.

After nap again.

Last, but not least.  I found this picture of Jubal on my phone. 

It's officially his first selfie.  Ha!

That's all I have for now.  I don't mind only having pictures to show and not much to talk about.  I have about 2 1/2 weeks left to enjoy, then it's Superbowl party time, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and the list goes on.  I love to celebrate every holiday, big & small.  I'll be ready.  Thankful for rest now, though. :)

 

Bringing In 2014

Our New Year's Eve was spent in the presence of lots of little ones and I do believe it was my most favorite yet. All of the years that I spent partying up NYE was nothing compared to watching my boys and all their friends play and get excited about bringing in the new year.

We spent NYE at Michelle & Adam's.  They have four girls between them and our other friends that also came have girls as well.  There was one other boy other than Jubal & Gentry, but he was 13.  A lot older than my boys.  So, needless to say, my boys were outnumbered, but they had a blast.

I spent the earlier part of the day running around picking up the things I needed for punch and finger foods.  It was always a tradition in my home growing up to have punch on NYE.  I made sure to make it like my mama always made it, too.  I looked all over the place for champagne flutes for the kids, but everywhere in our small town was sold out.  Luckily, Kendra found some in her town and brought them with her.

It was seriously such a great time.  My mama was able to go be with us, too, which made it even more special.  We had ten kids, and 9 adults. Adam built a fire in the fire pit out back and the kids made S'mores.  It was fun!

Jubal got a shiner not even 20 minutes after we got there.  It was dark out already and he ran right into a post in the yard.  Dead on.  His little eye was swollen and started turning black right away.  He cried for a few minutes, but went right back to playing.  We had a few other incidents with the bigger kids getting hurt, too, but nothing major thankfully.  They all played hard.

  

You can't really tell in the pictures, but it looked pretty bad in person.  I felt so sorry for him.  But, like I said, he went right back to playing after only a few tears.

We had sparklers for the kiddos, too.  They were all running around the back yard with them, but Jubal chose to stand on the patio with his.  He's a little more cautious than the bigger kids.  I know we went through at least 10 boxes of sparklers.  Fun fun!

By about 10:30, all of the kids were starting to get tired.  Gentry usually goes down around 8:30, but there was just too much excitement.  You can bet he was getting cranky, though, so we let the kids go ahead and make a toast to the new year with their "champagne".  Jubal, of course, was right in the middle of it all. :)



Shouting "Happy New Year!!!"

Raising their glasses.

We took Mama home and made it home ourselves by 11:15.  Gentry fell asleep in Larson's arms on the way to the car, and Jubal was ready to snuggle as soon as we got in the door.  I swore I was going to stay awake until midnight this year, but my eyelids begged to differ.  The last time I looked at the clock it was 11:34.  Larson & I gave each other a kiss then because we knew we would never make it the last few minutes.

I had the best little time this year, though.  I bet next year will be even more fun.  I'm going to make the best out of it because I know one day they will want to spend NYE with their friends, not their parents.  I just hope I give them special memories to hold on to just like my mama & daddy did for us.

Here's a little glimpse in pictures of our 2013.  It's amazing how much the boys grew in a year.

Hope everyone has a great 2014!

Happy New Year!!!



Christmas Day~2013

Christmas morning arrived and Gentry was the first to wake up. I knew I better get a picture before we woke Jubal up because I wouldn't have a chance once they saw all their fun stuff from Santa.

Santa brought Jubal the shark & dinosaur books he asked for, a keyboard, and a new bicycle that is small enough for his little short-legged self to ride.  Ha!  Santa brought Gentry a boom box/karaoke, a booster seat so he can sit with us at the table like a big boy now (YAY!), and he even got a cute little tricycle that Larson nor I have to bend over to push because it has a parent handle.  Thanks, Santa! ;)

Then it was time for our boys to enjoy their Christmas morning.  I'm so thankful the Lord always provides.

It was a beautiful Christmas day, but it was cold that morning.  We tried going out to let them ride their new bikes, but the wind was so cold it felt like it would cut right through you.  Even Jubal wanted to go back inside to play instead.  That means it's cold.

Later, we went to pick up my mama and we all went to Larson's mama's house for lunch.  That woman knows she can cook.  We had a feast and enjoyed spending time with family.  The boys each got a few more presents from their Aunt Heather that they loved.  I was so thankful my mama was able to go with us.  That made it even better.

After spending most of the afternoon there, we took my mama home, and then went home to take a quick nap.  Then it was off to Papa's house.  We ate some more, the boys opened presents from Aunt Fefe, and we all sat and talked awhile.  Before long, it was time to go home.  The boys were tired and so were we.

It was a very exciting day!  I feel like the boys got all they could possibly need.  They were happy & content and that's what matters to us.