Playing at the Park

We recently went to a local park that for some reason I hadn't taken the boys to this summer.

Ayden had fun playing with his cousins.


Shockingly they all looked at me and smiled!

Ayden fell off the bottom of this slide twice! I would have though he learned his lesson the first time. He crashed into Carter at one point too.

End of Summer Project

So we've had this composite decking sitting in our driveway for at least a year. I know, I know, totally hillbilly! We had every intention of re-doing our existing deck and making it bigger, it just took a really long time to actually get around to doing it!

Andy found someone off of Craigslist to build the deck and
I took on a small landscaping project.

I had a little helper!

The deck came out GREAT and for the right price! We couldn't be happier!
There are still a few minor details that need finished. Lattice needs put up around the bottom and maybe eventually a railing.

So far Ayden's favorite thing to do is jump across the deck.

And how cute is this table and chairs?!?
My mom bought them for Ayden's upcoming birthday.

Bedtime Battles are Gone!

I am happy to report that Ayden's bedtime battles are over!

He's been going down super easy and sleeping all night once again since the beginning of the month!

Ahhhhh, it's been so nice!

I took his childproof door handle off. He now comes downstairs all by himself when he wakes up!

When Andy or I put him in bed for the night, he goes into hibernation. Poof, vanishes under the covers. It's quite funny actually!

I don't even keep the monitor on for him at night anymore.

My little boy is growing up...

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It most certainly has not been 2 weeks since I have blogged! You know since nothing new has been going on in my life...

I am so not procrastinating on planning Ayden's 2nd Birthday Party. Nope not me!
I have been planning for weeks...

There was not at least 4 loads of clean laundry piled high on top of my dryer this morning! I would never let our clean clothes sit there and get nice and wrinkled. And I wouldn't finally fold them and hope the wrinkles work themselves out! Nope not me!

I would never let Ayden walk around the house in just a diaper. Nope not me! He's always dressed and ready to impress.

I was totally not amused to see him walking around in said diaper with his shoes on. I definitely didn't help him put on his hoodie when he insisted on having it on. Nope not me!

What have you not been doing this week?

Toddler Tantrums

Enjoying a Starbucks Smoothie:..


Throwing a fit about who knows what.
I decided to see the humor in this one and photograph it...

5 Months

My baby boy Cohen. I see your little sponge brain soaking everything in all day long. You are a happy baby, just like your brother was. You do tend to think about it first before letting out that giggle. You do have a bit of a temper though. Once you get mad about something, you're mad. And if that means screaming in the car for a 30 min. trip, you'll do just that. Your have lost most of your beautiful dark hair. I hope it grows back soon.

You're still sleeping in your crib at least half of the night and sometimes I don't hear from you until 4 or 5am. Other times you wake up when we come to bed and then into our bed you come. You tend to wake up an hour into your afternoon nap and I usually bring you into bed and nurse you back to sleep. Bad habit? Maybe. But I know it won't last forever. You roll all over the place now. I can't leave you on the couch for a second! When you're on your belly those legs are moving. You just have to figure out how to get your arms moving. I haven't given you any solids yet. I "tried" once, against my better judgment (you were waking up so much at night) and on the recommendation of your pediatrician, even though I knew you weren't ready. Guess what, you weren't ready. I'll try again around 6 months. It's so much easier just to nurse you and you are growing just fine that way. I'm not looking forward to adding baby food to my purse again! I already carry around a whole lot less for you than I did when your brother was a baby. There really is no reason to carry around so much stuff!
I'll be back to report on you again next month!

What's going on in the world of Jess

Let's see. I have been watching way to much Mickey Mouse Club House, Handy Manny and Sponge Bob. The first two I actually like. Sponge Bob, not so much.

I can function a thousand times better on lack of sleep compared to Andy.

I am looking forward to fall TV which means I better get caught up on my reading.

Currently checked out from the library:
Dr. Bob's Drugless Guide to Balancing Female Hormones
Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson

Currently reading:
The Happiest Toddler on the Block

Passed on to me from my mom:
Three NCIS books by Mel Odom

and from my mother-in-law:
A few Jodi Picoult books (author of My Sister's Keeper)

Whew, that a lot of reading! Good thing my two boys don't keep me busy!

My landscaping looks like crap. Somehow I always find other more important things to tend to.
Seriously, I do enjoy it, it's just that sadly it's on the bottom of my list of priorities.

There is always laundry to do, a kitchen to clean, toys to pick up, mouths to feed, butts to wipe, errands to run, pictures to take, and so on.

Speaking of pictures, I just got Photoshop Elements and LOVE it!!! It's very user friendly. I'm also selling on ebay again and am gonna try really hard to not spend the money that comes in and buy a new camera...we'll see how that goes...

Oh and I just realized that today marks my two year anniversary of leaving my 9-5 job and advancing to the 24/7 one.

I love my boys and am so happy to be able to stay home and raise them. It's frustrating at times but as someone once told me, "The days are long but the years are short."