Day 29 & 30...

Day 30 - Thankful for the blessings I have to enjoy even if it's just waking up each morning, 365 days a year.
It's funny how when you write down what you're thankful for each day, how much you tend to forget the simple things. I am so extremely privileged to have my health, family, friends, and the necessities I need to live.
I am also thankful for the 10 month old butter ball I've got jumping on my lap trying to give mommy kisses!!! :)

Day 29 - Thankful for my brother, for the love he's given me all of my life, and for that single relationship that made my decision to have two children so easy. I believe a sibling is simply the best gift a parent can give their children and although I know there will be days my boys fight and "hate" each other, that they will always HAVE each other...
(Thanks Mom for my brother, and thanks Deej for always being there for me).

Meet Marlin...

So, a few weeks ago I heard about a little Christmasey tradition called the Elf on the Shelf... When I first heard about this, a few years ago, I thought it was just a family's own personal tradition, but never really got in to the details of what it's all about... Two things: 1. Ingenious, and 2. WHY wasn't my mom the one who "invented" this game...

Ok, so as if children weren't scolded, and bribed and threatened enough at Christmastime, well now you have help. The whole Santa Claus is watching you thing works for a while, but pretty soon that whole thought is ignored, especially when YOU can't see HIM. Meet Marlin our "Scout Elf". Scout Elves are adopted and come to live with you and you only at the beginning of the Holidays. They are Santa's secret spy's who watch your children and report back to Santa Claus every night while the kids are sleeping... (Ingenious right!?!). When your Elf Scout returns late in the night or early in the morning back from the North Pole, he/she can have a lot of fun hiding in your home, and/or causing some pretty fun (innocent) mischief. There is a ton of things out there that I have heard these elves are capable of, but for the most part it's all fun and games. First thing in the morning, your are suppose to try and find where your elf is hiding (or where your elf landed after returning). So of course this is a fun game for the kids (and parents) when the morning starts. :) There is just ONE rule about your scout elf though. The one rule is that if you TOUCH your elf, he may lose his magical powers that allow him to report to Santa Claus. Of course Jax touched him, but that was BEFORE we named him, which is when the elf gets their magic... So they watch all that you do during the day, and can be placed in any room to keep an eye on them. On Christmas Eve is when they go back to the North Pole until next year.

So, without further adieu' this is Marlin. Marlin the Scout Elf. He came to live with us on Thanksgiving Night while we were at the Condo celebrating Thanksgismas!! He rang the doorbell, and waited for Jax to come to the door. Once we got him inside, we read the story that came with him. After the story was done we FINALLY got a name out of Jax. Thankfully MeMaw had a belated birthday present for Jax, and it was a set of letter books that were all about Disney Characters. Rachel pulled book by book out and searched through the books in hot pursuit of helping Jax pick a name for our elf. (It was like 10:30 by the time this whole thing went down, so Jaxon's attention span at that time was completely non-existent) BUT finally he settled on Marlin!!

Since being in our family, Marlin has been a lot of fun. He's played a few games, left Jax a note, and been a good spy for both Mommy and Santa! (I must admit though, he is kinda creepy looking).
If you haven't heard about the Elf on the Shelf, please check it out. It's really a cute story, and a lot of fun. I'm hoping to keep this a long lasting family tradition. We just watched the movie that came out on Thanksgiving, last night. (really wish I would have thought about this...)

Remember, even if you DON'T have an Scout Elf, Santa is STILL watching...

3 teeth...

Liam's finally cut his third tooth!!! :) If it's anything like the last two, I should be expecting number four in just a few days!! Maybe Liam will have his two front teeth for Christmas after-all...

Day 27 & 28...

Day 28 - Thankful for the gleam Jax has in his eyes about Christmas! Also very thankful that so far he's only asked Santa for one thing, (well two if you count Mack that Mommy and Daddy already gave him).

Day 27 - Thankful that all of the family that traveled over Thanksgiving weekend is all home, safe and sound! We had an amazing week visiting with family and friends!!!

Day 25...

Day 25 - 3 hours to get Jax FINALLY to sleep!!! Even through frustration, I am so absolutely in love with that little boy, especially when "I yuv you mommy" are his last words of the night... Yes, I'm thankful he is finally asleep!! :D

Day 24...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thankful for so much today. My amazing husband: my best friend, my "calmer" side, my heart. I could do so little without him by my side. My Bug: The joy of my life, the reason for countless smiles throughout the day, and my favorite 3 year old. My Baby Liam: My sweet little blessing, a true testament of what the Lord gives. Such a bundle of love and one I can't imagine our lives without.

My friends and family near and far, all of which have given me a reason to call them a friend and made me a better person.

My health, though not that of a typical 28 year old, but it could be worse, and I'm alive.

For food, shelter, and clothing on my back.

For the safety and health of my family members.

Mostly for my faith. I will always be on a journey of discovery, but I'm not judged by how little or much I know by the one that it matters to.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I miss my family back "home", but am grateful for my Southern Family, and getting to see most every one, and very much looking forward to the weekend with my in-laws in Gaitlinburg!! :)

Love you all, and am thankful for each and every one of you!

Shylah

Day 23...

Day 23 - Thankful, Dean and my Dad in Law made it safely over the mountains, and am praying for safe LATE travels for the rest of the family. They still have a few hours to go, but we'll all be together tomorrow to start our wonderful family tradition of Thanksgismas!!!

:)

Day 21 and 22...

Day 22 - Thankful to and for my bestie, Annette for so graciously allowing the boys and I to stay the night and visit. I miss this girl DAILY, and am so blessed to have the relationship with her, that even if it's weeks or months before we can catch up with each other, we can always pick right up where we started last...

Day 21 - Thankful for my far away friends for offering me piece of mind on my upcoming travels to WA, that despite the snow, the roads I will be traveling on are usually kept up pretty well and **hopefully** will be just fine...

Day 20...

Day 20 - Thankful for fingernails since I don't have a thimble...

Day 19...

Day 19 - Thankful for a fun day I had with Jax!! We attended two birthday parties, and despite skipping nap to be at the zoo, Jax was VERY good, and pretty well behaved!

I love being able to give him special Mommy and Son outings and today was exceptional for us both!!

He got to feed squirrel monkeys, a giraffe, camels, (himself a carrot and a grape), and lorikeets!! :)



Feeding the squirrel monkeys...






He loved the giraffe!!



And he even got to pet a baby Red Kangaroo!! :)

Day 18...

Day 18 - Thankful for a roof over my head, food on my table, electricity to heat my home, and clothes to cover my back!

It's getting colder outside, please remember those who are less fortunate. Donations to your local food bank, and clothing drop off's are always accepting items to help those in need!!

Day 17...

Day 17 - Thankful for all the blessings that God has given me over the past three years, and most importantly, for choosing me to be Jaxon's Mommy!

I still can't believe that Jax is three years old! He is so handsome, funny, talented, bright and loving. Jax has definitely made my life richer with all the joy he has brought to my world! I have learned so much through his eyes! I love you Bug!

Thank you Lord, for my beautiful son on this very day!! :)

Happy Birthday Jaxon...

On the day you turned 3…

On the day that you turned three,
We made your hand print for you to see
Just how much you had grown, since the day that you were born.
We looked into the mirror,
To see how BIG that you are now.
We took a picture for your baby book,
And practiced saying THREE.
We measured just how tall you are,
And put you on the scale.
37 inches tall today, and 28 lbs, Hooray!
We sang you Happy Birthday, and celebrated with a cake
We let you dress yourself today, oh the outfit that you made!
We asked you what you wanted to be
When you were all grown up like Daddy,
A RACE CAR Driver is what you said, as you raced around the house!
Before we tucked you into bed, we said a little prayer,
For you to have the best year yet, and enjoy all that you discover.

Happy Birthday Jaxon!
Mommy and Daddy love you SO much! We are so proud of all that you have learned in just 3 years, and can’t wait to see what this year holds for you.
Xoxo

Day 16...

Day 16 - Thankful that after 3 separate delays, and spending ALL day in an airport, that Dean is finally safe on the ground and driving home now!!!

I HATE when I have family up in the air, and I'm forced to wait patiently for a call or text letting me know they're safe and on land again!!!

He'll be home for less than 20 hours before heading back to the airport and onto another business trip for me to worry about!!! :)

Jaxon Dean turns 3!!!

Over the past weekend, we celebrated Jaxon's 3rd Birthday. We chose to do the 12th so that family could come... (You know, living in East TN, everything revolves around college football, and this Saturday is a huge rival football game between UT/Vandy haha)...

I was extremely worried that it would be a disaster since I've only ever just had family and Jax. I've never had other children, and this year we invited a few of his classmates, and one of his other play buddies. I had 5 kids total including Jax, and as they were walking in I freaked out, thinking of all the crying I was sure to hear!!! Surprisingly, the party was a success! Only a few tears from one little guy, and pretty much expected it with the unveiling of the Power Wheel!!!

A few nights before, I had started the preparations for the party. Jax of course wanted a Cars themed party, and not one to be simple, I gave him a full on CARS Party! I made a hand made "Pin the Tire on Lightning" game, made a Stop Light for the game "Red Light, Green Light", and really tested my patience by baking and assembling Mator Cupcakes! I also searched high and low for the best "Non-Crap" Goodie bags for the boys and found things at the dollar store that were all Disney Car's and actually good toy, vs. the typical noise makers, candy, etc... that usually just gets tossed in the garbage. I was quite proud of myself.

After everyone arrived, and the parents and I had a team effort talk, we got the party started! We let the kids mingle for a while, and shortly after I got their attention, we played Pin the Tire on Lightning, which was pretty entertaining! Jax did REALLY good for never playing before. Two of the kids were older brothers, and they clearly had the tilt your head up and be able to see method down... Ha! After that, we ran through Red Light, Green Light, and again, the bigger kids dominated that game as well. When we were done with the games, we got down to business with the Mator Cakes and homemade ice cream. Rachel, my sister in law, had been sending me links to all these amazing, easy, kid friendly crafts, and one of them, was ice cream in a bag. Minus one parent/kid bag having a leak and getting stuff every where, it was a success and hit the spot with the cakes! Talk about a guilt free way to eat ice cream... you have to really work hard for 5-10 minutes before you enjoy, which actually gives you a good work out, so the calories don't really count, right?

After the sugar high... we got Jax and the kids sat down for presents. Man oh Man! Jax made out like a bandit! He got so many awesome gifts! From board games, activity books, dress up clothes and of course Cars toys, he really got a lot! After that, we blind folded Jax and brought the boys outside for the big reveal of his new truck! I know I was counting down the seconds for this, and I was just as happy to see his face as he was to see his new truck! As soon as he climbed in, it was on! All the boys went racing to jump in and take a ride with the birthday boy!!! A little intense, but again, I saw that coming. Jax drove his friends around, and even shared the driving, and let one of the older boys show him how it was done!!! I've had such a blast with him over the last few days and his new toys! Of course the funniest is the fact that to a kid, it can be a $5 toy or a really, really expensive toy... Gramma sent Jax a box of presents and in that box was a baby's letter book, that has A-Z, 1-10 and shapes and colors... And what toy do you think he liked the best... Hahaha... So happy that learning still takes precedence over new TOYS! :) I mean he definitely LOVES his truck, but he has to take his new letters book to bed, in the truck and every where else we go!

Jaxon's actual birthday is just a day and a half away now... I can't believe how fast the years have gone! My little guy is growing so fast, and getting too big!!!

All in all, I'm happy his 3rd birthday was so much fun for him. His friends had a good time, and Jax loved seeing everyone!!

Happy Birthday Jax!! Mommy and Daddy and Baby Liam LOVE YOU!!

Pictures from his party are to the right on the side bar.

Day 15...

Day 15 - Thankful for the laughter I get from my children!

Watched Liam grab, squish, smash and make a good effort on getting his table food in his mouth. Slowly but surely, I think he filled himself up.

Parents - take time to watch your children discover. It's such an amazing show! Each new thing they learn and accomplish is just another blessing!

Oh, and then Jax shared his humongous sucker with Liam! It was fun pulling it out of his hair and de-sticking from the side of his face!!

Now it's bath time!! ;)

Day 14...

Day 14 - Thankful that Liam is feeling better and back to squealing at the top of his lungs!!

Yesterday he had a fever of 102.5, today it was down to 101.5, but was accompanied by throwing up twice today... :/

It must have been a 24 hour bug, and now I'm crossing my fingers that Jax and I avoid it!!

Day 13...

(For yesterday...) Day 13 - I am THANKFUL for the Mommy/Son time I get to enjoy EVERY day!!

Got to play outside with Jax for a few HOURS yesterday, and cuddle Liam (who has a fever, hoping w/a tooth shortly). Then after getting Liam put to bed, Jax and I had game and movie night. We watched a Leap Frog movie with letters, and played Ants in Pants and three games of Memory!!
Ants in the Pants is insanely hard!! I let Jax play 4 pieces, and took the other 12 thinking I would still win... NOPE! Jax was on 3 and I had only gotten 6 pieces in. That was also in about 30 minutes!! Then he "beat" me twice in memory!! :)

Love my job!!

Day 12...

Day 12 - Thankful for the friends and family we had today for Jaxon's birthday party! It was a huge success, and he had such a great time! His words were, "oh my birthday is my favorite like Mommy!" I am currently working on pictures and blog post from his party... :)

Day 11...

Day 11 - THANKFUL for all of our soldiers past and present who have fought, are fighting and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our country and our freedom.

Happy Veterans Day 11-11-11!!

Day 10...

Day 10 - THANKFUL that Dean is home from work, and that he is a very patient and calm husband.

HE can deal with the kids...

Day 9...

Day 9 - Thankful, that in a country full of different nationalities, that language means no barrier for a child...

Spent the morning at the park with the boys, and Jax and a little Romanian boy about the same size, had a ball chasing each other, swinging, sliding and throwing rocks in the creek together.

Gram-mama and I tried to carry on a conversation, but she spoke very little English, so all I gathered was the little boys name, age, and where his family is from. Jax was just happy to have someone to play with and both looked like they enjoyed their time!! There is so much to be learned through the eyes of a child...








Shylah

Day 8...

Day 8 - I am THANKFUL to have laughter and smiles fill my home... :)

Day 7...

Day 7 - Thankful for the paths that God opens in mine and my family's life... There will always be doors you hope will open, doors you don't expect to open, and the ones that are meant to be open...

Day 6...

Day 6 - Even though today started off as a day from hell, and the boys both teamed up on me, making getting any sleep a joke! I am THANKFUL for awakening to beautiful family photos, that are proof of what AWESOME is...

Day 5...

Day 5 - I am THANKFUL for a beautiful family on a beautiful day, and the fact we are all still alive after a three hour family photo shoot!!

Day 4...

Day 4 - I am thankful that Dean will be back home tonight, after a 3 day business trip. Yay!!! Parent/Child Ratio will be back to 1!!!

30 Days of Thankfulness...

There is a "challenge" going around on facebook, where you name one thing you are thankful for every day during the month of November. I don't typically do things like that on facebook, however I thought it was a cool "challenge" to do, so I thought I would share that on here as well. I will be posting something once a day...

Since I am behind a few days, I'll play catch up...

Day 3 - SO THANKFUL for my children. Both gave us a scare the day they were born, but both are here today for me to worry about now. They are both beautiful boys, such sweet souls, who have wonderful personalities I get to discover daily...

Day 2 - I am forever THANKFUL and grateful to my husband. He works hard to provide for our family, has never questioned my decision to become a stay at home mom, loves us all so amazingly, and is a fantabulous father.

Day 1 - I am THANKFUL for my family and friends. I have an amazing family both biological and married into, that I would not be where I am today without them.

Is it Spring yet?!?

Jax in his "Gas Mask" to avoid germs...

Well sadly, I am reporting that Jax will no longer be going to school this fall/winter.

After leaving Liam's Dr appt. yesterday, it was decided that I needed to pull Jax out of school for the cold and flu season because it's compromising Liam's health, badly.

Liam had his 9 month wellness checkup, and after learning that he is still fighting the congestion and breathing issues (wheezing, lung tightness, etc). and discovering he STILL has a lower bronchial infection, it seems to me and to Dr. Rick that exposing Liam to unnecessary germs and bugs is just asking for trouble and keeping him sick, so Dr. Rick asked me to withdrawal Jax from daycare/preschool until the cold/flu/rsv season comes to an end.

Yesterday was a hard day for me. Dr. Rick also diagnosed Liam with what is called Restrictive Airway Disease, which is a form of childhood asthma very common in premature babies, and specifically those who had under developed lungs at birth and other complications, which Liam clearly did. The good news is, most children outgrow the diagnosis usually by toddler age, before it really affects them and their lifestyle. The bad news is, it means for some sacrifices made by the family to keep Liam healthy. I now will have to be "THAT" Mom, who screens everyone for sicknesses, carries hand sanitizer, and attacks like a mama bear if someone tries to reach for my cub in anyway... Ok, maybe not that bad, but I do have to really enforce healthy habits before handling, touching, or visiting Liam. Hello even dryer skin and extra hand sanitizer!! :/

The worst is that Liam is close to being hospitalized for his breathing and the tightness in his lungs, and of course we don't want that. It wasn't clear to me that he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, but the way his lungs sounded to the doctor, it's developing into that, or he's being treated similarly. Now we must do breathing treatments every 6 hours vs. twice a day, and he is on yet another round of steroids and antibiotics to clear the excess fluid around his lungs and the tightness in his chest. Not only that, I have to pull Jax out of school. Unfortunately today is his last day. I didn't tell him why, I just told Jax that school was going to be out for the winter and the holiday's (not technically a lie right?), but starting next week, I will be taking him to Nana's to spend a few days each week doing "school" at her house, which will give Jax and I a break, and is still something special Jax can look forward to! :)

We will also hopefully be able to have play dates with some of his school mates, most importantly his BEST FRIEND Ryland. (Oh it breaks my heart, he talks about Ryland CONSTANTLY). But again, it's for Liam and his health is the number one factor.

We're hoping that after today, we can focus on getting Liam back on track, and that once he is healthy and 100% that we can keep him that way over this season... Once the initial risk is over, we can enroll Jax back in school and hopefully by then Liam's immune system will be stronger and we won't have this issue again...

Besides Liam being "broken". He is growing great height/weight wise. He actually lost some weight in the past few weeks with being sick and is 14lbs. 13oz which SUCKS, but Dr. Rick assured me it's ok, and that he is still on track. He is growing lengthwise just fine and is now 26" long (DJ and Amanda, has Kenley totally passed her cousin yet?!? lol). We also get to start table foods since Liam refuses any and ALL types of baby food other than cereal and sweet potatoes... so now I get to start again (hopefully with a different success rate) at having a good eater! Come on hamburgers and hot dogs!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Shylah

Halloween 2011...

Here are some pictures of the boys on Halloween! It was such a fun night. Early in October, we asked Jax what he thought he might want to dress up as or what he wanted to pretend to be for Halloween. He immediately said that he wanted to be a pirate, and that Baby Liam should be his parrot. Of course we had to go with that idea because who wouldn't, it was such a cute response!!!

So we set out to find Jax a costume that would actually fit him and a costume for Liam as well. After a few weeks procrastination on the prices of children's costume's and finding only one parrot costume for a baby that would have swallowed Liam whole, I decided to make Liam's costume, and we finally found a $10 costume for Jax! :) I can only imagine how much fun it will be next year to dress the boys up and take them trick or treating!!!Jax had some issues with Mommy making his face a mess, but after he saw himself in the mirror and the reactions people were giving him, he was okay with it. Liam did pretty good too! We went to Nana and Pop's house first to show off the boys. Lol... when Harrell opened the door and exclaimed there was a scary pirate at his door, Jax gave him the most confused look responding with, "I not Scarrrry. I am Jaxon! I not scary". He then decided to "trade" candy with Pop's rather than just accept a new piece. Apparently Jaxon works on a barter system as well...After we left Nana and Pop's, we decided to hit one neighborhood that had close houses for Jax to actually trick or treat at. He was very hesitant at first, and didn't quite know what to do, but I'd say by the third house, and the happy faces and that he was getting HANDFULS of candy, that he figured it out very quickly. Then he was running up driveways and to the doors, knocking, then turning his body away until someone opened the door. THEN he thought he got to go in EVERYONE'S house lol... It was fun night indeed!

We also stopped by Jaxon's school, but that didn't last very long. Last year it was great, they had a game factory set up just for toddlers, since they are typically too young to go door to door. This year it was like NYC in a small gym with lots of big kids knocking the little ones out of the way... I think we stayed 15 minutes before leaving and heading home. We hit a few more houses on the way home, and by 9:30 by little pirate was out!!!

Hope everyone had a good Halloween and lots of little spooks come by!

Shylah