4th of July

Okay I know I look like a huge dork in that helmet but I had to post this picture because this is a very very rare occasion. James and I went on a date... with no kids... just us. We traveled on the back roads of Hinesville via motor scooter to go see Transformers. It was awesome!


For the 4th of July we traveled to Flaglar Beach Florida to be with James' aunt and uncle and their 9 kids with spouses and their 18 grandchildren. They had rented a beach house and invited us to join them so we went for a couple of days.






Jonas discovered some baby kittens in our backyard one morning. He scared the mother cat off and then had hours of fun watching and petting the kittens. He kept trying to feed them small sticks. Then the mother came back and moved each kitten one by one to a new and more safe location.



Here are some pictures of some of Savannah's new skills (sitting up and crawling). I call her my crazy baby cause I just can't keep a hold of that girl anymore. When she's really sleepy she'll lay on my shoulder and go to sleep otherwise she is on the move.










For Tyler

We went camping in the middle of a Georgia Summer! We are certifiably insane. It was James' idea of course. Luckily there was a lake next to our campsite and we would walk down there and suddenly it would be a lot more breezy and it felt pretty good. There were all of these little crabs running around the boat ramp so Jonas had lots of fun chasing those.



this is where Savannah hangs out. She is not quite crawling on hands and knees yet but she can still scoot around really well.



Jonas came up to me with a ball in his shirt so I asked him if he was having a baby. He looked at his stomach and said, " oh this? This is just my brain. "




After it rains here we get tons of tiny frogs jumping around our driveway. Jonas likes to collect them in his wheelbarrow.


Savannah's fake laugh

Jonas' new fav quote "laugh it up fuzzball"

random stuff

I haven't had much time to blog recently so I guess my new thing is to wait for a long time and then post a whole bunch of stuff. This month has gone by so fast. We had so much going on and I recently started working part time and am still trying to get used to that. I don't even work that much but I'm always stressed out about it.






Jonas received a hand me down tractor from a friend who was moving away! We had to talk him into riding it at first but once he got the hang of it he loved it.



This picture was courtesy of Jonas. James and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary. We went out to dinner and came home for ice cream cake.


Savvy chillin in her high chair. She's starting to eat baby food!




Our garden is actually growing! No thanks to me.
James and I also planted a magnolia tree in our back yard to somewhat block the view of the buildings going in right behind us. We love the beautiful magnolia trees they have here because of their big white blossoms.


Something I got used to in Michigan when we lived in student housing is getting together for BBQs. I love to see kids running around and playing together with popsicles in their hands. We recently hosted a BBQ with some friends and this is a picture of the cute kids with sticky popsicle hands.





You can't see it very well but our friend Heidi who gave us the tractor before they moved away also came and painted this cute tree on Savannah's wall. Thanks Heidi.I also had to take a picture of the kids in their cute new outfits from Grandma. Thanks Grandma!

Easter and Disney World

I don't know who was more excited for Disney world- me or Jonas. Okay it was me. Despite all the craziness of taking two little ones on a trip we had a great time and it was fun to experience Disney World. Our favorite rides were the finding Nemo ride and the toy story ride. Savannah just took everything in with a wide eyed expression for two days and by the third she had had enough. Jonas loved the rides and meeting Mickey but got tired of walking and just really really wanted to go swiming.

notes to self for future vacations:

1-don't begin vacation sleep deprived
2-don't let your three year old begin vacation sleep deprived
3- don't pay for expensive theme park tickets when your child prefers the hotel pool

Spring Time

The weather here has been great for quite a while now. We're trying to enjoy it before it becomes beastly hot. We've even planted a garden in the back which is our first attempt at gardening. Due to the fact that we can barely keep our house plants alive I'm not too optimistic but we'll give it our best shot. Actually James is doing all the work so far. Thanks honey! And as you can see from the pictures, Jonas thinks he knows how to garden. He likes to do his gardening in oversized boots.

Actually we have just been very busy lately so anytime we can get out and just enjoy being outdoors it helps me to feel less stressed. Lately I've been feeling like I just go from one worry to the next until it wears me down. Conference was a great time to relax and put things back into perspective. I really enjoyed the thoughts about faith and putting your trust in the Lord. I have to keep reminding myself of that. I also keep reminding myself about our soon to be vacation to Disney World. Woo Hoo!! I'm counting the days.

Typical Jonas

I just wanted to record a funny incident so typical of Jonas' personality so I'm going to share it. Last week James was gone again with the brigade. It was dinner time and we had just gotten back from Wal Mart where I quickly went to get some orajel to stop my teething 3 month old from screaming in pain. As we got out of the car Jonas started playing in the driveway. I told him to come inside so of course he starts running away from me. We don't have sidewalks here so he starts running down the street in the gutter. He ran into the circle next to our house. Meanwhile the next door neighbor kid is playing with his super huge fast remote control truck. As it speeds past him, Jonas flies into a panic crying and screaming and running right towards the road where a car is coming. Luckily the car saw him and pretty much came to a complete stop. I picked Jonas up and explained what a remote control car was and pointed out the remote in the boy's hand. Jonas quickly calmed down and immediately following his last shudder and sniffle he tells me, "I wish I had a remote control car". Ya have to know the kid, but this is so his personality-defiant, high strung, very strong willed, and strangely fascinated with things that scare him. Of course he's got a lot of very good qualities as well which make him very lovable. So exasperating but so lovable at the same time.

Imaginary friend

So I'm probably the only person to ever post a 12 pack of toilet paper on their blog. The reason being that this 12 pack is a member of the family. As soon as I brought it home from the store Jonas started calling it his brother. First, he saved it from a bunch of fires (he really likes fireman), then he started throwing it around the room and pretending to wrestle with it. After that I kept seeing it in different parts of the house. I finally took it back and put it in my bathroom where it stayed for a few days until I had to actually open it and take a roll out. I was doing my hair the other day when Jonas walks into the bathroom and gets this shocked and hurt look on his face and exclaims, "what did you do to my brother?!" Sorry pal. Next time get an imaginary friend. They last longer. So have any other children made friends out of household objects or is this just a weird Jonas thing?









attempt at putting on his darth vader costume without help

Cute Kids

We have been busy busy lately. We finally found some friends in our neighborhood for Jonas. They have a boy who is just older than him and also a son who is younger. We had a fun playdate with them. Usually I have to worry about Jonas being a bully towards younger kids but this time the younger boy hurt Jonas. I'm hoping that something clicked. Today we were at a play place and Jonas was actually giving hugs to a younger child. Maybe he's becoming more gentle??? We can only hope.

Savannah is starting to like books, loves to watch Jonas, and she is also starting to jabber....sometimes quite loudly.

new hobby

2 Months old




I've been meaning to put a picture of our dresser on here. The reason being that we found it in one of the many antique stores in Savannah before Savannah was born for her room. We got it for a great price considering that it's solid wood, but it looked old and beat up. James and I (ok mostly James) spent time together in the evenings refinishing it. We both love the way it turned out and only wish that we had taken a before picture. We're thinking of making refinishing a new hobby.

Savannah Smiles

Jonas breakdancing



Jonas "reading" his favorite book about tractors to baby Zoovanna Noel








This post is for my mom who wanted to see some pictures of Savannah smiling. It's so fun to see her little personality come out and how different she is from how Jonas was as a baby. She is definitely more relaxed about things than he was. For example, she doesn't freak out with every diaper change and bath. However, she is much harder to put to sleep. She wants to be awake and where the action is.