No!

Trying to get a smile...sorry the picture is dark.

Fun in the laundry basket

Wes took his phone away from spoiled boy...Jay fell apart....Wes gave the phone back...Jay took it but was still completely offended...Wes laid down beside him for moral support

Jay stole daddy's drink and took a walk around the park

Standing on the table pouring all of the chips out....me sighing and hanging my head

Posing for the camera

I didn't post this with the others but I thought it was so cute....."MiMi, don't go!!"

I have been slack on pictures this week, one because I lost the camera for a few days, two because unless you wanted picture after picture of Jay getting in trouble, there wasn't much to see. He has learned that when we say "no" he has a decision to make...to obey or not to obey. Unfortunately, he has decided the "not to obey" option more times than I can count. So, as a result, popping of hands and scolding are now the norm in this house. And like any bona-fide drama king, he absolutely falls apart after he is so undeservingly punished. So, we are in a competition right now to see which one of us is the most stubborn and much to his dismay, I am determined to show him who is boss (as if I will actually ever win that argument). I was thinking this week how great it would be if I could just send him to "toddler training school" like you can with your dog. Just drop him off on a Monday and by Friday he is a new child, one who thrives on obeying commands and who's only goal is to please me. Oh how wonderful that would be!

And if the whole "no is a suggestion" thing wasn't enough, he can climb!!! Which means when I put the phone (or knife) on the table to get it away from him...no biggie...he will simply find a chair, push it over to where he wants it, and climb to the forbidden object. In fact, he prefers to get things off of counters himself rather than try to tell me what he wants. The other day we were over at Katie and Larry's having supper and instead of pointing to the chips, he just climbed up on the table and grabbed some himself. Not to mention that I cannot talk on the phone with him anywhere in sight unless I want a 20min fight over who holds it because he is certain that it is only his phone. So I am about to call in Super Nanny and see if she can just come do my job for me.

And by the way, today Wes and I have been married 6 years!!!

Walking on the beach (this is a sequel to the one several months back of him crawling down the beach)....again, he is loving his freedom.

A lot to catch up on...

Mimi and Jay! He LOVED the fountain in Charleston...we could not keep him out of it.

He got to destroy some college students' sandcastle and had a blast.

Running through the water!

A little more brave now...

He ran from the waves every time, but then went right back to the water to splash!

The cutest man on the beach!

He had french fries with ketchup for supper that night....that counts as a vegetable in our world

First walk on the beach...an instant party.

We had to take turns running after him

Fun at home...helping Mimi vacuum

He dumped all of his toys out of the basket and used it as his chair

The day I realized I had lost the war....nothing is beyond his reach now.

Putting on make-up. He does this every morning with me. (Wes is very proud) ;)

I am just now getting a chance to update the blog and may not get as much done as I hope since Jay is wide awake right now. I have a lot of pictures from our week with mom and a few just around the house. We had so much fun with MiMi last week. Jay had constant attention and I had constant help! It was wonderful. :) We shampooed carpet, cleaned furniture, cleaned my car, organized and framed a ton of pictures, went to the zoo, to Charleston, to the beach, and played, played, played! We even got to catch up with the Fuller's on the way to the beach and it was so good to see them (my old youth minister from NBC).

Right now Jay is holding his bear and rocking on his horse. He is really learning so much lately. I can't even keep up with everything. He mimics everything we do. I am realizing how much of a clean freak I am now that Jay copies everything I do. I'm pretty sure he knows how to use every cleaning tool in the house. The other day he was watching me wipe the table so I gave him the washcloth and put him on the table. He scrubbed as hard as he could and thought it was the greatest thing. It was so cute. Speaking of the table, he learned how to climb on top of it a few weeks ago and it has been a full-time job keeping him from climbing on it every chance he gets. The other day Wes and I were dosing on the couch while he played. All of the sudden, I hear slurping, jump up, and find him sitting on the table drinking my tea out of the glass!

He says a few more words now...out, done, mom, thank you (sound like ta-yoo), moo (he thinks all animals moo...the dog, cat, ducks), whoa, and no (not excited about that one). The other day Wes was on call and I was bathing him. He stood up (meaning he's ready to get out) but pushed me away and cried. I kept asking if he wanted out and finally he screamed, "Dada out! Dada out!" It was pitiful....he only wanted his daddy. That was the first time he said "out".

He also can climb up the stairs on his toddler slide all by himself (mom taught him this and the first 20 times he thought it was hilarious to fall off of the stairs so she would catch him). He can get out of the tub with one of us as a stabilizer. He knows how to turn on/off the printer now and will do that over and over until I stop him (I'm waiting on it to crash from command overload). He still says uh-oh all the time and uses it to get out of trouble...earlier he was on the table and I told him not to take the cover off of my herb garden, he looked at me, looked back at the garden, hesitated, and then took the cover off, looked back at me and said, Uh-oh! I told him that was not uh-oh, that was on purpose. He does that anytime he knows he did not obey me. And, I confess, sometimes he is just so darn cute, it does get him out of trouble. :) That is all for now...he is insisting that I play with him...I'll do more later.

vacuuming for real this time

Helping unload the dishwasher

Crying because I made him come inside

Too tired to talk

Eating his favorite food....spaghetti. This is him asking for more. He is trying to feed me a piece of Jake's food....yummy

Watching Jake eat...he loves this for some reason

Brushing his teeth for the hundredth time that day

Fun at IHOP

"Give me the camera!"

Watching tv in his bumbo which he is way to big for.

Here are pictures from the last week. There aren't many and they definitely aren't super creative but it is all I can offer today. The truth is, I am just tired. A good tired, but, tired none-the-less. My little sweetie pie has been running for a week straight. I don't know how his little body can continue to go like it does but he is showing no promise of slowing down in the near future. I was talking to a friend the other day comparing how he is now to when he was a newborn. I was so exhausted then....and I am so exhausted now. The difference is that this part is sooooo much more fun! He is so funny and goofy. He tries to scare me and plays "jokes" on me. He gives me wet kisses all day. He plays chase and screams with laughter when I catch him. He loves to say "hey!" in the most drawn out southern accent you can imagine. He gets so excited when I put his shoes on knowing we are about to do something fun. He flirts with EVERYONE he sees, no matter where we are. He loves to "help" me around the house. He mimics more and more of what we do everyday. It is just so fun and flat out hilarious. My house is constantly a wreck, drawers and cabinets emptied, Cheerios all over the floor, and some days I can't even tell you if I had anything to eat or, God forbid, used the bathroom, but it is the most fun I've ever had. So, I said all of this to say, I have no energy left to tell clever jokes or narrate our daily life but just know that we are having a party every day here at 187 Sweetoak. ;)

Mothers

I couldn't help but be taken in by Wes' old pictures today. Mrs. Lynn, I know that it is rare for a son to tell his mom how he feels about her. I always roll my eyes when we pick out Mother's Day cards and he goes straight to the funny ones. I say, "why don't you get a sweet one?" and he says, "they just aren't me". And you know that is so true. But, I see much he loves you in those quiet moments when we talk about our parents getting older and he has to look away at the mention of you. And how he becomes so protective of you anytime you are hurting. And the look in his eyes when he sees you as we pull up to your house on our visits to GA. And the way he talks about his sweetest childhood memories of camping trips with more food and supplies than an army would need, playing way to many jokes on you, his favorite meals, your constant presence even in the small things, difficult conversations that he always knew you would bring a calm to, going to work with you at VSU, and then helping you build the centers...he is so proud of you and all that you have accomplished. It is the kind of love I pray Jay has for me one day. So, thank you, from me, for raising such a precious son and for always being there for both of us unconditionally. You are so loved.

Mothers

Mom,

As I was looking at these old pictures I relived some of the best days of my life. For some reason, God chose to give you the three most stubborn people in the world to be your family and, somehow, you continued to love and nurture us every day. Through the fighting, crying, pouting...hugs, kisses, and laughter....games, jokes, spend-the-night parties...you always made us feel so important and loved. I was wondering today why I don't tell you how much you mean to me more often and after seeing these pictures I realized, we are usually just too busy having fun!

Some of my favorites memories are...

-Listening to you talk as I feel asleep on your lap

-Hearing your laugh from anywhere in the house

-You bringing me saltines and coke when I was sick

-The day you taught me how to shave my legs and the "right" way to put on blush

-Going to Taco Bell every time Dad was out of town (like it was our special place)

-Laughing uncontrollably at absolutely nothing (usually with Dad and Kurt rolling their eyes in the background)

-Coming home after some of the saddest days at school and KNOWING that you would be there waiting to give me the hug I so desperately needed (I came home often in college pretending to want a free meal knowing that I really just wanted my mama's arms around me saying "I love you so much"....you will never know what those impromptu hugs mean to me)

-Seeing how beautiful you were at my wedding

-That first week that Jay was born and you stayed with me, being my rock, as I tried to be a mom for the first time in my life

-The relief I felt that day in January when you told me you would quit your job so that you could come help me anytime I need you...and I can't wait to start our monthly adventures.

And so, here is a glimpse of my favorite memories of us. And mom, I don't know what I would do without you.

to me, you've always been the prettiest lady in the world... Remember the shark we saw from the air!!! I loved having you by my side that day.

Two women that showed me how to live life with dignity and grace...my mom and my sweet Granny June

Proud moments...

Fun days...

Goofy days...

Three generations...

A mom loved by her children

PS. Wouldn't Granny June have loved the blog! It probably would have crashed after all of the pictures she would make me upload though. :)