Too many projects...

We have had a few projects that we have been wanting to get done, and since we are going out of town for so long, we decided to get them done before we leave. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but during all the work, I wasn't so sure anymore. At least now they are done! When we get back from Washington I will only have 5 weeks left until this baby comes so I am glad Justin is so much more on top of things and not wanting to procrastinate.

Old wall...

New wall...

I LOVE our new pictures we had printed!! Thanks Ang :) And I think the new frames make the wall look so much better.

Old room...

New room...

We painted Jack's dresser and bed navy blue. I'm really happy with how they turned out. It took me about a year to decide what to pain them. Justin has been trying to do this forever and I could never make up my mind. Finally he helped me decide, and I love it. We also moved some rugs around and put the striped one in the baby's room.

This wall used to have a big ugly shelf that got banished to the attic. Now Jack's books are organized and he has a cute little place to play.

I bought some canvas from a major sale at Michael's and Justin and I painted them. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about Justin helping me paint them but he did awesome! It was really fun to do it together and we were actually surprised how much we liked them after we were done.

We got this chair from some friends and decided to paint it for the baby's room. I was originally going to reupholster it because the cushions were really dirty. Justin thought maybe we should try to wash the cushions and they came perfectly clean!!! I am SO GLAD I didn't have to cover them. Justin saved me a lot of grief from a project I have no idea how to do. Now I just need a little baby to rock to sleep! :)

We also painted the crib. This was such a pain. It was hard to sand and paint all of the rails. Glad this project is done. I think I am all done with projects for a while. We just have a few finishing touches to put on the baby's room and we are all ready for him (as far as his room goes).

Now Justin is off to Guatemala and Jack and I are off to Washington! Justin will be there for 2 weeks and will come back to Ohio for 10 days before joining us in Washington for my brother's wedding. We have a lot to look forward to these next couple months! I am glad all of this is behind us.

Now we get to play! :)

Primary Songs

We sing primary songs to Jack before bedtime and nap time. He LOVES them. I have tried and tried for months to get him singing them on camera but he would never do it for us. Finally one morning I bribed him with M&M's and he did it! I couldn't believe it. It didn't even take that many M&M's. Anyways, everytime I hear him sing these songs it makes me just melt. I love his little singing voice. He loves music and he is always playing the DJ in our car and has a request for a certain song about every two minutes. And he asks "What song is this?" even though he knows the answer, about every 30 seconds. I hope he always loves music and will keep singing with us... it is just too darn cute!

And of course we had to throw in a little gymnastics in the middle... I think it's hilarious that he actually thinks he is doing a real cartwheel and a real somersault.

Rolling Ridge Ranch

Rolling Ridge Ranch is an 80 acre Amish farm out in Holmes County. It is the funnest place! We have been a couple of times in the past little while and have loved it. When we first got there, we went and looked around the petting zoo area. They let you hold and touch everything from baby ducks, to little goats, donkeys, sheep and chickens.

This peacock was just walking around, not in a cage or anything. I was glad we got to see him with his feathers out.

Jack trying to catch the goat.

After the petting zoo part, you hop on horse drawn wagon to see the rest of the animals on the farm. Justin was petting a zonkey. Donkey + Zebra = Zonkey. Weird, huh?!

Our cute little Amish driver

This is the wagon that was in front of us. See the camel on the left? Where did this guy get these animals??

No that is some BIG horns!! I don't know how they even keep their head up.

Feeding the deer. It is so fun because all the animals just come right up to you. These deer were trying to climb up the steps on the back of the wagon.

Jack and I feeding an elk. The one in the back behind us is a white elk. I didn't even know they existed.

Justin feeding the deer that were wanting to get in the wagon.

Spencer and Suzy came with us the second time. This picture will give you an idea how big these horns were!!

We also saw crocodiles, llamas, buffulo, mammoth donkeys (they are huge!) emus, ostrichs, pot belly pigs, monkeys, Indian antelope, a brahma bull, and a bunch of others I don't even remember the name of. It is one of my favorite things we have done here in Ohio. Have I ever mentioned that I love Ohio? :)

4th of July

We started our 4th of July at the church for breakfast and a bike parade for the little kids. All the kids were supposed to decorate their bikes. Jack didn't exactly decorate his own, but I thought it was cute!!

Justin pushing Jack in the parade. Jack doesn't look very excited. He had a serious face the whole time. Maybe he doesn't like to be in the spotlight?

After the breakfast we took Jack home for a nap and then headed to the Mecham's for a BBQ. We had the best food!! It was so good. Then, it was off to Solon to watch the fireworks.

Maybe we can try sparklers again next year... Jack loved to watch them, but would NOT get close.

Brittany and me

We had a fun 4th. It is one of my favorite holidays!! There is just something about being out in the nice weather, eating yummy food and watching the fireworks. I love it!

Lake Farm Park

A while ago, we went the Lake Farm Park in Kirtland. They have all kinds of farm animals for you to look at, horse and wagon rides, pony rides, and the weekend that we went they had a dog show.

It was fun to see what this dog could do with a frisbee!

My sister Angie taught Jack to try and find Cookie Monster in her camera so he would look at her. Apparently he thinks Cookie Monster lives in my camera too because that is what he is pointing at here. :)

Jack called all the pigs Wilbur, from Charolette's Web. This pig was huge!

I wasn't sure if Jack would like a pony ride but he did! He had a pretty serious look on his face but he still talks about when got to ride a horse named Sunshine. I was surprised he even stayed on it the whole time!

This was the biggest, fattest bunny I have ever seen! You can't tell in this picture but it was huge! He has got to be the Easter Bunny!

In need of some change

As you can see, I am getting rounder by the minute!! I was in desperate need of some changes with myself, and unfortunately the only thing I have full control of right now is my hair. I'm not brave enough to chop it off just yet, so the only thing left to do is go brown. :)

I love it...it was just what I needed.

24 weeks
...really? And I have to go how much longer?!!

Outdoor Fun

We do not miss winter at all around here!! We have been loving being outside and just being able to have fun and not be stuck inside the house.

We went to the pool for the first time this summer. Jack jumped right in! He must have forgot that last year, he was scared of the water...which I was very happy with. I had to bribe him after two hours to get out of the pool. He loved it! I think we will be spending a lot of time there this summer.

Love the new swim suit!! ...thanks Mom. :)

He was super excited about his towel for some reason today (from G. Heaton), and wanted to walk with it wrapped around him. He doesn't know how to hold it up yet, so I had to wrap it and tuck it in on the top. He looked really funny, but would not let me take it off.

We have also been having fun at Justin's softball games. His friend Jackson always brings this little tee and we have a hard time actually letting Jackson play with it. We might need to get one of our own!

Jack loves to throw any kind of ball. We were at the park the other day and he was practicing his football skills with Justin. I LOVE these faces! You have to click on it to make it big to get the full effect. They are priceless. :) The funny thing is, he was actually catching it!

Oh man...I can't stop laughing at this picture!

We also found a super cool cemetery close by our house. Usually cemeteries are a little spooky, but this one was so beautiful. It was huge! We had fun just walking around enjoying the scenery.

Needless to say, I never want summer to end! Besides the fact that this baby is supposed to come in the fall, I could deal with it being summer forever.

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!