Happy Birthday Jack!

Jack had his 2nd birthday on June 8, and we celebrated while Angie was in town. He was SO excited to have a birthday "pawty" complete with balloons. We had been talking about it for a week or so before so he was very anxious for the day to actually come.

I had to help him blow out his candle because as you can see, his blowing skills aren't the best. :)

After we sang Happy Birthday to him, he barely picked at his cupcake. He didn't like the confetti in the frosting, which is by far the best part! It was funny to watch him lick the frosting and spit out the little confetti. He took about 3 bites and was done. I gave him another cupcake the next day with no frosting on it (which he called a muffin) and he scarfed it! What little 2 year old doesn't like frosting? He wouldn't eat the ice cream either.

Angie and I were super excited about the cute decorations! One of the best parts of a party is making it cute! We had fun putting it together.

Jack loved the balloons! He has been playing with them ever since the party.

Grandma and Grandpa Brownell sent some presents with Angie that he opened at the party. He was in heaven! Thanks for all the gifts mom... he has loved them. :)

I have to admit I have been dreading the "terrible two's" and now I see why. For the past month or so, Jack has slowly been acting a little more naughty by the day. Screaming at the top of his lungs, telling me "No!" for everything, hitting (only Justin and I), and just not listening at all. Justin would go to put his PJ's on and Jack's response would be, "Don't you dare put my pajama's on!" He learned that from me telling him "Don't you dare throw that at me." Nice, huh? Well all the naughtiness came to a climax the weekend Angie was here (of course) and he was SO NAUGHTY all weekend. We tried to take some family pictures and the whole time Jack is yelling at Angie, "Don't you dare take a picture for me!!!!!" He says "for" instead of "of". We were looking through the pictures and one picture he would be yelling and Justin and I were smiling. The next one, I am turned trying to get Jack to knock it off, and the one after that, I would be smiling again. It was a vicious cycle that unfortunately did not end. Who knows if we even got one single picture where we are all looking at the camera with a half way decent look on our faces. Good luck with the editing Angie! :) Well, Justin and I just could not take it any more and something had to be done. Time outs were pretty much a joke. He stays there but it hardly even phases him. We needed something a little more mean...so we started putting tabasco sauce on his mouth when he was screaming and being extra naughty. You might think that is cruel and mean, but it works. He caught on real fast and we have only had to do it a couple of times since Angie left. It is the only thing that has really gotten through to Jack. I'm sorry if you think I am a horrible mother, but I just cannot put up with him acting like that!! It was driving us crazy!!! You never want to be the mom with the horrible kid, and I was slowly creaping to that point. Needless to say, I feel like I am getting my sweet little boy back. Even though he just turned two, I hope the wost is behind me. It's probably not, but I can still hope, right? The past couple weeks he has been so good and has been a lot better at listening and has barely ever screamed. I feel like we have made some serious progress and we are now a happy family again. :) I love you Jack, but please don't ever act like that again...I like you much better the way you are now!

Here are a few things besides being naughty that Jack is doing at this age:

-weighs a whopping 26 lbs

-LOVES to sing!! Especially primary songs. He knows all the words to a bunch of songs

-loves to go to nursery
-always has to sleep with yellow bear, blue bear, bunny rabbit, his dog Buddy, dog Sophie and "soft blankie"

-would play outside all day if I would let him

-loves to get up in his car seat by himself

-will jump off of anything

-says "Thank you" all the time

-does not want to be in his stroller unless it involves getting food and snacks

-knows all the letters in the alphabet and can sing the song

-does not like to have dirt on his hands or his feet

-loves cars, tractors, airplanes, trains...anything that moves

-enjoys watching the movie Cars, Winnie the Pooh, Madagascar, 101 Dalmations, and Charlotte's Web

-still takes a nap (thank heavens)

-talks in full sentences (I love his little voice)

-helps us out but throwing away his diapers, putting things in the sink, and cleaning up his toys (sometimes)

-loves sidewalk chalk and playdough

-a great eater... loves all fruit and quite a few veggies

-very content in the car and loves to play "I Spy..."

-always wants his Dad to put him to bed

-gives really good kisses

-LOVES raisins and grapes

-loves animals

-absolutley hates the swings

-plays Red Light, Green Light

-loves all sports

-one of his favorite phrases right now is "Will you play with me Mama/Daddy?"

-will finally go down a slide by himself

Happy Birthday Jack!

We love you so much. Our family would definitely be boring without you. Thanks for always keeping us entertained!

Indian's Game

Last weekend my sister, Angie, came to see us and Friday night we went to the Indian's game. We drove down with blue skies and 80 degree weather. Unfortunately, when we got to our seats, it started POURING down rain! The cloud came out of no where and there was an hour and a half rain delay. We also got swarmed by some nasty little bugs. They were EVERYWHERE!! Luckily, they went away after a little while and we were able to enjoy the game. This is Angie trying to keep the bugs away!

Rain delay.

Trying to pass the time during the delay.

We were teaching Jack to yell "Go Indian's!! Boo Yankees!!" This is his yelling face. We were cracking up watching him...it was hilarious!

Pillow Project

Last night, I turned this....

...into this! I have been searching for some pillows for my couch and I knew what I wanted but could not find any anywhere! So I went into JoAnn's and when I saw this fabric I knew that was exactly what I wanted. I am super happy with how they turned out and I love them on my couch!

I just have to make a note that I bough the fabric yesterday and actually made the project the same day and blogged about the next day. Who am I? I am the biggest procrastinator on the face of this earth (which I give credit to my family for). That never happens!!
Maybe I'm turning over a new leaf?

Memorial Day at Lakeside

We spent Memorial Day weekend with the Bjarnason's and some of Suzy's family in Lakeside, OH. It is a cute little gated community right on Lake Erie. It only took us about an hour and a half to get there, so the drive wasn't bad at all.

We had great weather and spent the weekend playing outside, eating super yummy food, and trying to enjoy Justin's last few days before he had to go back to school. :(

Spencer, Suzy, Jack and Justin
We rented golf carts and had a scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, we came in second. It was very close though!!

Cute little baby Sydney enjoying the swings...

...and grouchy Jack yelling at us to get him out!! Where has my sweet little innocent boy gone??

We watched the Memorial Day parade go down the street...all 45 seconds of it. No joke, it consisted of a few veteran's, a high school band, two fire trucks and an ambulance. Jack could not have been happier to see the fire trucks go by though. He was loving it!

Down at the dock.

They have the cutest little park area that also has shuffle board courts. We had never played but it was so much fun! Even though we got our butts kicked by Spencer and Suzy, who have played before, it was a blast. Even Jack loved it. They had cute little sticks for the little guys to play with. So fun!

Little Sydney trying to keep warm.
She is a little doll!! She makes me excited for a sweet, little innocent baby to hold, that won't scream at me and tell me "No!" all the time.

Memorial Day gun salute.

Throwing rocks into Lake Erie.

The scenery was beautiful, as it usually is here in Ohio. Extremely windy by the lake though! Notice my nice stringy, wind blown hair. :)

Thanks for inviting us Spencer and Suzy! We had so much fun!!!

Hooray for Justin!

Justin is on break right now after successfully completing his first two years of Dental School!! I can't tell you enough how proud I am of him for sticking with it and making it through with flying colors. Dental school is not easy, and I am always amazed at how well Justin does. This last semester was supposed to be the hardest one, and it was evident with the sleepless nights he endured staying up to study. He is a super hard worker, especially when it comes to education. I am proud that he is my husband and I am super lucky to have him in my life. These past two years have flown by so fast, I can't hardly believe we have come this far. Jack was only six weeks old when we moved here and now he will be two and we have another one on the way. We have loved it here and hopefully we will enjoy these next two years as much as the first two!! Especially since I will now have a husband at night!! For that part alone, I am ecstatic.

Congratulations Justin!!
You are officially on the down hill side to being a dentist!! Woo Hoo!!

Huntington Beach, OH

My friend, Sara, told me about a fun little beach on Lake Eerie and we decided to check it out this week on Justin's break. It was cloudy and had rained earlier that day but we were still able to have fun just being outside and letting Jack run around. It is extremely beautiful there!
Downtown Cleveland in the background.

Jack absolutely loves to be outside doing anything. He was all smiles until we got back in the car and his shoes were full of sand! He was not happy that his feet were all dirty.

I love having Justin home on break!!! I get so spoiled and just want to cry when he has to go back to school.

Birthday Banner

My friend, Suzy, and I got together to take on a sewing project. Both of us got a sewing machine for Christmas and neither of us really know how to use it very well. :) But we thought this seemed like a simple enough project!

We cut out our material, sewed the edges of the triangles, and used white fabric with iron on stuff to adhere it to the triangles. Then we used a quilting binding for the top.

After we ironed on the letters, the white didn't seem to stand out as much, so I bought a fabric pen and drew stitches around the edges of all the letters. I thought that would be a lot easier and a lot quicker than actually sewing them myself. I took the slacker's way out, basically.

I thought it turned out super cute and I can't wait to use it at Jack's birthday party in a couple weeks!!

Sursprise Visit!

The other day, I got a phone call from Claire saying she was going to be in town for a day while Dustin had some meetings. She asked if she could come hang out and of course I was so excited!! Dustin just graduated with his Master's and they are moving to Atlanta, GA so it might be a while before we get to see them again. We spent the day in Chagrin Falls, eating lunch, feeding the geese, and getting some super yummy peanut butter ice cream! Thank you for coming Claire!! It is always so fun to see you! Good luck in Atlanta and congratulations again to Dustin!!

PS. I love her hair! If I hadn't spent the last two years growing mine back out (I know, it's pathetic that it's still only this long!) then I would cut it right now. Hmm...maybe after this baby comes...

Utah

A few weeks ago, we traveled to Utah to watch Steph and Adam's kids for them while they took a trip to Mexico. Jack and I traveled together while Justin followed shortly after so he could catch another day of school. Jack did SO WELL on the plane! Both there and back. We had a layover but on one of the flights there and back, he got a little scared during take off so he wanted to lay on my shoulder. Well, both times he did that he fell asleep and never moved his head off my shoulder. He slept the whole way, which I was so grateful for. The other two, we just watched movies, read books and played with the window. I was also lucky to have an empty seat next to me so I could have a break from holding him.

They have an awesome back yard which Jack took full advantage of the whole time we were there. He loved to run around with the kids and play in the grass.

The kids were so good with Jack! It is nice to be there where I don't have to entertain him at all! The kids took over and made sure he was having fun.

We were super lucky that Sharla had a doctors appointment in Salt Lake the same day we were getting there. Al and Sharla picked us up from the airport and stayed with us a couple days. We are so GLAD that they did!! Sharla was a huge help to me and we were happy to see as much family as possible in one trip!

Whitney came down from Rexburg to go to a concert with her friends and she also stayed with us for a night. We had fun staying up late and being goofy. :) That's what my family does best!...the goofy part.

Wow....nerds :)

Bob and Denise came down right after AL and Sharla left. I don't know what I would have done without Sharla and Denise! They were so helpful to have around. Thank you!!!
Justin didn't tell his parents that he was coming and boy were they surprised. They had no idea even though Justin had given it away about five times! I am so glad that Justin decided to come out with us. We had so much fun!

I was also able to meet up with a bunch of my cousins that I haven't seen in years. It was so good to see everyone!! Thank you for making an effort to get together even though it was only for a night. We had fun eating food, catching up and of course laughing! Never a dull moment with these guys!

My cousin Holly had her baby shortly before we got there. Preston is such a cutie! I love all of his hair!! Congrats Holly and Shane!

Here is the other set of cousins. Thanks again for letting us invade your house and eat your food! It was a blast. Hopefully it won't be another three years before we get to see you again!!

We are having....

...another BOY! That's right, there's no pink ruffles in this family yet. We are super excited to be having another boy! Jack has been so much fun (and a little naughty) and we couldn't be happier to be welcoming another little guy into the family. In a couple days, I will be half way, at twenty weeks and time is flying by. Our ultra sound on Tuesday went really well and baby boy seemed to be healthy and strong. I am slowly getting my appetite back, which I love, and pickles seem to be tasting extra good. We were on our way to a friend's house tonight and I grabbed a little cup full of them to eat in the car....weird, I know! As far as names go, we have no idea. The only two we really like, we will be on someone's bad list if we use them, so we are at square one. If you hear any cute boy names, send them my way!