Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer 2

Every now and then there are things I just feel must be documented, even if they are boring. The kids looked pretty cute the other day before church so in the madness of trying to make it to our 9 a.m. meeting on time we took a picture. They never look this good after church!

Jack is 2!!

It's kinda old news, but I'm just getting to putting the pictures up for Jack's birthday on the 20th of June. Have I mentioned how much I love this boy?


I've only had two 2-year-olds, but I sure have enjoyed this age with both of them. Jack is so eager to communicate these days and he loves to do things himself. He's quite the climber and even though I hate climbing I sometimes quietly watch him because it's so fun to see him celebrate when he reaches his goal. He always lets out an energetic "yeah!" at the top.



Jack LOVES Curious George books, so we had a Curious George party for him with pizza, swimming, and an ice cream cake. We had just received our refrigerator that morning so I waited until just before dinner to take the cake over and put it in the freezer. It was still pretty soft when I pulled it out. Cutting it was crazy because it was melting so fast in the heat and then to top it off Jack wouldn't even touch it. I specifically did the ice cream cake because Jack does not like cake or bread, but does like ice cream. Stinker. Story of my life feeding Jack. He still managed to have red and yellow icing all over himself! He seemed so excited about the cake until he realized we were suppose to eat it.


The cars, planes, ambulances, and farm equipment he received from friends sent his little brain into overload. We didn't even bother opening his gifts from us for a few days just to let him recover from the excitement.

All of the excitement surrounding Jack's birthday has led to CONSTANT conversation about when Addie's birthday will be, what kind of party she will have and what gifts we will give her. She's even talked about what gifts Jack can give her.


I know I've mentioned it before, but Jack is our clown. If he even suspects his actions will entertain, you better watch out. Here he is wearing the baby swim ring on his head. It's so funny to me watching the way he anticipates us laughing at him. He knows he's funny.


We feel so blessed to have Jack in our family. I can't imagine life without him!

Best Birthday Ever

Yesterday I turned 32 and it was a great day. As I get older I'm trying to expect less and less from my birthdays, but yesterday I got so much attention from friends and family. It really felt like a celebration all day. One friend sent me Godiva. Another brought over Le Madeleine for lunch, along with a pair of hot red shoes. Tonight a group of girls is taking me to dinner. Top it all off with closing on our house today and I'd say it's been a good birthday!

Here is a self portrait of my 32 year old self. I'm totally saying "smile" through my teeth...can't tell at all, right?

I'm definitely hoping to use the same title for all of my birthdays in the future. :)

Motherhood 103

I had a moment of clarity yesterday while I was trying to get Addie to clean up the monstrous mess she had created in the play room. As background, I am looking forward to being rid of a play room in my house. It is nothing but a room Addie goes into, messes up, and leaves to come stand under my feet. It's just a room that is constantly rotating between a neatness and total disaster, but she won't actually "play" in there because she hates being so far from me.

Mom: Addie, stop playing around and pick up your toys...NOW. (4th or 5th time asking)

Addie: Just a minute, I need to check something on my computer really quick.

The "computer" is of the Little Einstein variety and she was completely serious. I have a love/hate relationship with these moments. I love them because they are funny and make me smile when I'm otherwise annoyed. I hate them because they humble me as I realize she truly has no idea why mom is so annoyed.

Dance Recital 2010

I feel like I've accomplished some sort of rite of passage having made it through recital week. Talk about intense...the dress rehearsal alone was stressing me out. All I could think was "they're only three!?!" Alas, it's over and it was a lot of fun. My mom put me in ballet when I was three and I didn't make it past the mid-year in-studio recital for just the parents so I had low expectations going into this. She totally surprised me.

Me and my ballerina. She was so excited about her make up, especially the mascara. Their ballet dance was to the song "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas. Lame, lame, lame. Even the little girls looked bored.

Not sure why Addie is the only one striking this particular pose, but it is one of her favorite moves so maybe she was just improvising. These girls were all sooooo hilariously cute.

For three years old it was pretty amazing how well they did.

I just love this picture of all the little ballerinas on stage.

Daddy and his tap dancer.

The tap dance was to the song "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles. Much better than the Pocahontas song. At least when the girls didn't know what to do to this one they had fun tapping their toes to the beat.

I like this picture because they look like they're having so much fun. What's not to love about sequins, makeup, bright lights and stomping your feet when you are 3?

The teacher was off to the right of this picture showing them what to do...can you tell?

Little cuties.

Jack was so NOT impressed. He almost ran up onto the stage when Addie came on for her first song. He kept saying "Ahhhhh!" (his name for Addie) and trying to get to her.

Grandma, Nana and Addie posing for a shot. Addie loved it SO much that Grandma Clarkson and Nana came to her recital.

*Thanks to my friend Deanna who has older girls and the wisdom to know you need a super dooper zoom lens for these events. She supplied all stage shots. I'll be better prepared next time. :)

Dallas Zoo

Our play group went to the Dallas Zoo this week and we had such a great time. The weather was beautiful, the zoo was shady, it was perfect!

The Children's Zoo had a fun water play area that the kids really enjoyed.

Jack loves birds...can you tell?

Sleeping turtles.

The one moving turtle.

The four 3 year-olds in attendance.

Tomorrow we have dance dress rehearsal, then the big recital on Saturday...oh the excitement is in the air! I got my hair done tonight and Addie swooned over it when I got home. While I put Jack to bed she told Anthony that my hair looked really pretty, just like hers. We drink confidence by the gallons here...let's hope that prevails on Saturday onstage! :)

Clown

Jack is our clown. Earlier this week I took this picture with my phone while I was getting ready. I started him on nasal spray last week for his allergies, which we think/hope will stop his ear infections from occurring. I envisioned pinning him down to administer the medicine, but from the get go he was into it. He just sits still waiting for me to spray the trigger, then after each nostril he says "ow!" While I was getting ready he found some straightening serum for my hair, took the lid off, and stuck it in his nose.

Last night at dinner he started yelling "Ma, ma, ma!!" over and over. I looked over to see him with his shirt raised up pointing to a pea he had stuck in his belly button. The look of pride and mischief was priceless. I am so looking forward to the fun this little boy will bring into our lives!

Living the Dream

Last Wednesday, Anthony got yet another email from a local realtor about a new house on the market. This one was different though. As he looked at it he thought, "Julie is going to want this house." Have I ever mentioned that I'm married to a very smart person? This story cannot properly be told without also explaining that we have been pursuing another property for over two months now. Anthony had good reasons not to forward the email...but HE DID!

And yay for me. Friday I saw the house twice, then we went back and made an offer on Saturday. I knew it was our house! We've been saving ideas for years, mostly from movies and magazines. Some of my favorites:

Something's Gotta Give

Something's Gotta Give

Father of the Bride

Home Alone

Give me white windowpanes, black shutters, bookshelves, and wood floors. Traditional, classic, whatever you want to call it. I didn't realize how stuck on these things I was until I started looking at houses. As luck would have it, after months of looking at "Old World Texas" architecture (whatever that is?) I found this:




With a little planning we hope to turn this:

Into something more like this:

Something's Gotta Give (Again!)

And my favorite part this summer will be...
I'm so very excited right now. We're closing May 28. My mom, sister, husband and many friends have had to hear me whining all of this year about not finding the house. They were all too fancy, too dark, too big, too something! I'm so grateful for this turn of events. I'll be holding my breath until closing!

Checking Out

Mondays lately have been particularly insane. I usually clean and do laundry to recover from the weekend, which bothers my Addie who wakes every day wondering "what we're going to do fun for her." This past Monday was particularly crazy and while we were getting dinner on the table I made a comment to Anthony that I was ready to check out for the day.

As I got Addie ready for bed she asked me if I was leaving the house. I told her "no" and asked why she asked that. "Aren't you going to go to the grocery store?" she asked.

"No, Addie, we went to the grocery store this morning."

"But you said you were going to check out."

Totally caught me off guard the way she had been eaves dropping on my conversation with Anthony. Yikes!

The Foot

Here is a picture of Jack all ready for bed tonight, left foot in hand as he waited for family prayers. Anthony thinks it's funny to take his favorite foot away from him and see if he can find it. Tonight he even asked me to find a safety pin so that he could pin the dog with the back left foot missing. Mean Daddy.

Jack

I have to take a moment and document some things about this little boy I love so much. He is quickly approaching his second birthday and I feel like I've hardly documented anything other than his tremendous love for cars. Jack is perfectly happy when left alone in his little world of cars. I love walking through parking lots with him because he points to every single car we pass with excitement.

Jack's comfort object is a stuffed dog he found at my mother's house in the toy box. I had been unsuccessful in finding something he really latched onto until we were visiting my mother last year. Strange...he just loved this silly little dog. So the dog came with extra wear to begin with and it is looking really rough these days, even after a good bath. Jack still does the sign for dog (patting his leg with his hand) when he says dog. When he is really tired, he wants his dog and rubs his pointer finger on the LEFT BACK foot of the dog. Seriously...the other feet get no love. It's crazy to watch his little ritual when I sit him on my lap to read at night. He immediately grabs the left back foot with his left hand and rubs it with his right pointer finger. This is something I've been promising myself I would document for months - it's so strange to watch! I'm dreading the day something happens to the dog.

I am loving having a little boy. He is constantly running, jumping, climbing, throwing, digging...you name it. Sometimes I just close my eyes when he's doing something in fear of the outcome, but he almost always makes the jump or climb he's attempting. He can do just about anything he tries to do. So fun having a boy!

A Genius Stole My Camera

My talented sister took these pictures with my camera while she was here last week. So much better than my pictures. I'm not even smart enough to know how to edit them, though I don't think they need much! Emily and her kiddos came up on Wednesday and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We had a great visit and I think the kids enjoyed each other. We shopped, did plenty of playgrounds, rode bicycles, went to the Dallas Arboretum, and to the Harbor here in Rockwall. Everyone was tired, but I think that's usually a good sign that a lot of fun was had. :)

I love this sequence of pictures Emily captured. Jane has lots of "owies" and they were quite the topic of conversation for the trip. Apparently, simply carrying a Hello Kitty band aid around helps them feel better. The girl cracks me up!

Easter 2010

Jack very quickly figured out how to open the eggs and shove the 3 small candies they held into his mouth before we could stop him!

Intensity of the hunt...

We had a quiet Easter this year. Easter Sunday fell on the same weekend as our church's semi-annual General Conference. Instead of getting all dressed up in our Easter frocks for church, we stayed home to hear from a living prophet. It was everything I needed to hear.

Easter had a different spin this year because it was a week after the funeral services for my Granddad Clarkson. Seems like I can never get a moment to myself to write anything down about his passing, but I can't let time keep passing me by either. So much can be said about my Granddad, but mostly I feel blessed because I knew him. He helped me with science projects, came to all of my sporting events, and shook hands with some of the goofiest guys I dated in high school. He advised me on every major decision of my life and always let me know he was confident I would make the right choice. No doubt he prayed for me on more than one occasion! He was a significant player in my life and I am truly grateful for that. I hope that my children will have the opportunity to be influenced my their grandparents as much as I've been influenced by mine.

Granddad with Matthew at Christmas in 2004.

The messages from General Conference about Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and His Resurrection were particularly powerful to me this year with the loss of someone I love so close. I cannot fully express my gratitude for families and a loving Father in Heaven who sent His Son to die for all of us. I'll miss Granddad, but I feel peace knowing we will meet again.