Just a few days from 2!

I wish that my blogs didn't all start with something along the lines of "It's been so long", "I am a bad blogger", or "Sorry", but they do.  I often think to myself "I should blog about this" or upload pictures, but inevitably something else comes up.  Whether it be the attention stealing toddler or work or a tv show that has been in my DVR for over 6 weeks that my husband threatens to delete or a stronger desire to sleep....something else always comes up!  This past year I have not been a great blogger and although I would love to make promises to be better, I am pretty sure sporadic is as much as I can promise!  In reality it may be time to say bye-bye to the old blog, but there is a part of me that refuses to let go!  So for now....I will continue with my random updates!  Just know...I wish it was more!

And now...on to the update-

This Sunday Miss Josie turns 2 years old!  How is that possible?  This past year has been so much fun with her!  Josie's personality and character have really developed over the past 12 months and she is truly blossoming into a funny, energetic, happy little girl (most of the time).  

Josie started taking Gymnastic classes about two weeks ago and so far she loves it!  It's absolutely hysterical and completely exhausting (for Brandon and I)!  

Josie speaks pretty well for a 2 year old, at least in my opinion.  She strings several words together and speaks in sentences more often then not.  She has a wide variety of words she uses and I am always impressed with her memory.  Just the other day she reminded me that they sprayed water on her hair when she got it cut.......back in June.  She is FINALLY paci free (going on about 5 weeks)!  And she only a stone's throw from being potty trained!  We have days where she uses the potty 95% of the time, and days where she only uses it when it's convenient.  I think she will be diaper free by the end of the year!  Or at least....that's my hope!

Speaking of hair.....it's long.  We have had it cut twice now.  Once last Thanksgiving when we were in IL and again in June.  Both times no more than one inch was cut.  Next time we are in IL we will likely get it cut again.  I would love to chop off several inches and give her hair a chance to grow back healthy and strong, but I am not certain I can convince her dad of that.  

She is so very strong willed, already!  There will always be a part of me that says that's the redhead in her, although it may also have a lot to do with the fact that she is 2!  Josie can throw a fit with the best of them.  And, yes, it's terribly embarrassing.  But, for the most part, it's typical 2-year old behavior.  I have several friends who tell me the Terrible 2's are nothing compared to the Terrible 3's.  Oh great...that just means this next year she will perfect the art of tantrums and come back in another year to truly test our patience!

She loves her friends at school and her family and I love her loyalty already!  Josie is a very sweet little girl and I can't wait to see her grow up and into the person she was meant to be.  Brandon and I hope that we can eventually give her a little brother or sister, but that won't be happening anytime soon!  We are often reminded that she is our little miracle baby!  The one we were never guaranteed!  But she has certainly changed our lives for the best!  She has taught us so much and tested us many times, and at the end of each day she fills our hearts!  Happy Birthday sweet Josie!  Although you are only 2 years old, you are already the most amazing little person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing!  We love you! 

My Fall Favorites

Fall is by far my favorite time of year!  My perfect day would be waking up to a cool morning then progressing into an afternoon where jeans and a long sleeve shirt is comfortable attire.  Those are the days I long for during the dog days of summer.  We aren't quite there yet, but we are getting close!

One of my all time favorite fall recipes is White Chicken Chili!  Oh my, it's so good!  I swear I could eat this dish every day.  I started using Southern Living's "White Lightening Chicken Chili" recipe about two years ago and have never looked back!  We serve this with fresh from the oven cornbread and a dab of sour cream.  It just doesn't get much better than this!





I love that this recipe is so easy and quick to throw together! 



I generally buy two rotisserie chickens and use the meat I can pull from both.  It saves me a little bit of time and hassel!  

1 large sweet onion, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 4 cups shredded cooked chicken

• 2 (14 1/2-oz.) cans chicken broth

• 2 (4.5-oz.) cans chopped green chiles

• 1 (1.25-oz.) package white chicken chili seasoning mix

• 3 (16-oz.) cans navy beans

Sauté onion and garlic in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in chicken, next 3 ingredients, and 2 cans navy beans. Coarsely mash remaining can navy beans, and stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring often; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.


I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  Happy Fall, Y'all!


My failed attempt at photography

I thought it would be a good idea to try and take some pictures of Jojo myself.  Not only was it not a great idea, it was basically a disaster.  I now realize hiring a photographer to ensure the pictures are good is much easier on Mama. 

We decided to head out to a local wildlife refuge to take our pictures.  There is a sunflower field that, if caught during bloom, is breath taking.  Unfortunately we may have waited just a day or two too long, not that I got Jo to sit still long enough to enjoy the sunflowers!  I had all sorts of fun print outs to keep Jo's attention while taking her picture, then forgot them all in the car (a lot of good that did me).  She was more interested in playing in the barn or looking anywhere BUT at me.

So....out of the 150 pictures I took (seriously...no joke), here are a few of the decent ones.  Shewww.....that child is exhausting. 

Our little stinker!  Exhausting as she may be, we love her to the moon and back!

This is pretty much it for pictures of Jo and sunflowers....ha!

 



My last attempt to get her picture....in the parking lot!

 



 

This is a look at the area we were in and the sunflower field that we missed by just a day or two!

 

 

The picture below is my absolute favorite! 

21.5 months of life

Babycenter.com continues to send me weekly updates on what my child is likely doing for her age. I signed up for the weekly email when I was pregnant with Josie, and now, 21 ½ months after she was born (I know this, because I just got my email), I still get the updates. Each week when the email arrives, I think to myself “I should finally unsubscribe”, but I never do.

She’s 21 months and 2 weeks old and we are running, full speed, towards her second birthday. Josie no longer walks anywhere. Everywhere she goes; she’s running… or doing a cute toddler version of running. Her little legs are so short (she comes by this naturally) and when she runs I swear they are moving 2x’s as fast as anything else.  For me, it’s also a constant heart attack waiting to happen. Although she is a fast little runner already, she is also a bit clumsy (this, too, she comes by naturally). I get at least two phone calls a week letting me know she’s taken a tumble at school. She usually lands on her head and ends up with scraps and knots….and a popsicle. Brandon and I are suspicious that she might be intentionally falling down, just for the popsicles.

She’s a smart kid. And, yes, I realize all parents think that about their kids. She loves to read, which makes us very happy. She often asks for the “Bears Dancing” book, which is actually “On the Night You Were Born”. And just in the last week she has really gotten excited about her letters. She can count to 10 (on a good day). She has a great memory and I am often caught off guard on how much she can remember. Whether it is something I said in context that she later repeats or just remembering an animal noise she only heard once, she has a pretty sharp memory, already.

She loves to “jump” and watching her figure this out takes me straight to my happy place. Brandon has been trying to teach her how to skip, which is also a delight! And watching her play hop-scotch is hilarious! She can sing (sort of) the Happy Birthday song and if she sees cake or cupcakes, she immediately sings the song.

Our little monkey is well on her way to being potty trained. She uses the potty several times a day, although we aren’t quite ready to take the plunge into big girl underwear. I have a feeling we will have a couple of long weekends this fall where we don’t leave the house as we try to get her fully trained. As long as football is on the TV, I am pretty sure her Daddy will be fine with that! She is also doing well with limited paci use. She still uses the paci in the car and for bedtime. We have three paci’s at the house and all three of them have holes in them. She isn’t too fond of using a “broken” (as she calls it) paci and this has made the transition a little easier. Again….sometime this fall we are going to have to finally give up the paci. This one might be harder than getting her potty trained.

I look back at her this time last year and she is like a completely different child. Nothing in this world makes me more proud, brings me greater happiness or can bring me crashing to my knees quite like my child. I cannot wait to see what this world has in store for her, because I can guarantee, she has every intention of taking it by storm!

No need to get cocky

It's amazing how even after 19 months with countless colds, stomach viruses, rashes and fevers (we really love daycare) we can still feel helpless when presented with new illnesses.  This past weekend was a big one for our family (more on that later) and we were practically busy from sun-up to sun-down Friday and Saturday.  She missed a nap and definitely didn't eat her normal meals and certainly came way off her normal schedule.  So when Josie started having issues late Saturday night, we just assumed it was from over exhausted (no nap and lots of play time).  We quickly came to understand that whatever was going on wasn't just being tired.  She was uncomfortable.  Brandon was scared she was in a lot of pain.  I didn't know what to think, but she was screaming.  And most of the time she was screaming for me, while I was holding her.  This really broke my heart (and kind of freaked me out).  I won't lie....I considered taking her to the hospital.  We didn't know what else to do.  We had never experienced this with her before.  Almost as quickly as we got her settled down and back to sleep, she was up having another episode.  This went on all night long.  The screaming/crying episodes were accompanied with thrashing of her arms and legs.  It was awful.  And really scary. 

Brandon noticed her little feet had a red rash and he wondered if she had gotten a virus.  I had determined she must be suffering with gas after having eaten terrible that day and no major BM.  I probably shouldn't quit my day job to become a doctor. So much for mother's intuition. 

By morning Josie had blisters all over her little mouth, hands and feet.  She also had a diaper rash to rival most others she has experienced.  I spent most of the morning texting family and friends who had spent the two previous days loving on our baby.  There is nothing quite like an early morning wake up call "Hey...the kid is sick.  Hope yours don't get it".  We spent all day Sunday lounging around and trying to stay as low-key as possible.  I have watched enough Barney to satisfy several lifetimes. 

This morning we headed off to the doctor to confirm that, indeed, the little peanut has Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease.  This fun filled virus has a 3-6 day incubation period.  She likely caught it from someone at daycare last week and had it for several days before showing signs.  I called daycare this morning to give them the head's up and they told me they had already sent 2 kids home with the same symptoms.

All it takes is one virus to remind you that you don't have it figured out.  When Jo was a little baby and we experienced sicknesses and illnesses for the first time I was always so scared.  Are we doing things right?  Did we give her the right medicine? But, after a while,  you get used to these things and you don't question your actions.  Just when we thought we had it all under control.......she threw us a curve ball.  Babies are good like that...always keeping us on our toes.  It will take a few days, but she will get better.  And we will build our confidence up again.  And once again, she will remind us that we don't know all the answers. 





Summer has landed.

Oh man....this is bad.  I haven't blogged a single word in quite a while.  I got on this blog today and realized I started a draft back on May 28th.  Just a draft.  The first line read "Summer is quickly approaching".  This is so bad that I can't even use this draft as a starting point.  At this point, Summer has approached.  It's here.  In fact, it's so the middle of Summer already that when I went Hobby Lobby this week, they already had their fall/Christmas shelves stocked.  It's so Summer, it's almost Christmas (according to Hobby Lobby). 

So, I apologize.  Summer life has taken over.  Babies stay up later and later.  Dinners get pushed back.  Mommies get tired earlier.  Feel free to insert whatever excuse makes you comfortable with my laziness.  I assure you, it will likely apply! 

We spent a glorious week at the beach with my family.  Josie LOVED every minute of it, as did we.  There was a point this past year that we were not 100% convinced my amazing Grandma, or GG as she is known by the little ones, would be here for our annual trip.  My Grandma is 93 years old.  She was born in 1920.  Take a second to let that sink in.  1920.  Oh, the things she has seen in her lifetime.  She's truly an amazing woman for so many, many things.  This past year she suffered from two strokes.  At the age of 92.  It scared us all.  She has been a healthy woman all her life and the thought of her being ill or physically disabled or even mentally interrupted nearly brought our family to our knees.  But....by the Grace of God, at 93 beautiful years old, she is well.  She uses a cane, but only occasionally, to get around now.  Other than that, GG is as healthy as she should be.  She's remarkable.  It's just that simple.

Here is GG (great grandma) with 4 of her 9 Great Grandchildren.  That's my little Jojo on the far right.

We keep pictures on our fridge.  Just a random assortment of people who have given us pictures or ones that we are particularly fond of.  There is a picture of GG on our fridge.  Prior to going to the beach we would talk about all the people in the pictures.  When asked who she was, Josie learned that's "GG".  When we arrived at the beach, she knew immediately who this woman was!  It warmed my heart. 

All the family had a blast at the beach.  Josie spent most of her mornings covered from head to toe in sand.  She ate sand by the shovel full.  Had the sand contained any nutritional value what so ever, I would have bagged it and brought it home.  At least that way she would be eating something she actually WANTED to eat (ahh...the life of a newly picky eater).  I am not sure I have ever seen any one child so interested in consuming sand.  She loved everything about it!  She wanted to dig and fill buckets and eat!  She was content!  And so were we!

Since the arrival of Summer our lives seem to have doubled in busy.  I feel like it's my mission to be going.  All the time.  I want to be doing something.  Outside.  All.  The.  Time.  Our weekends stay booked and it makes me happy!  I love to feel like we are constantly moving.  It makes those random lazy Saturdays or Sundays so much more special.  And as most Summers do, this Summer has brought it's inevitable heat!  Usually mid-July becomes a time where people try to stay indoors as much as possible.  So far we have not experienced the sweltering heat, but I am sure it is due to arrive any day.  What do you do with a toddler who only wants to be outside in 90+ degree temperatures?  Sprinklers? 

This summer has brought on some fun new changes for us, also.  Our little lady is no longer sleeping in her crib, but instead in the crib converted to a toddler bed.  It's a pretty big deal, so if you didn't already go "OHhhhhh", feel free to do so now.  I'll wait.  We are also inching ever so close to being potty trained.  She goes on the potty 2-3 times at school each day and usually once for us at home.  Again...it's a big deal (at least in our worlds)! 

Later this month we will celebrate my Mom's 65th Birthday!  We are planning a big party and I cannot wait for us to all come together to celebrate this amazing woman!  I will do a post all about the party later!  It's going to be so much fun!  These days I am living for our Summer nights and weekends!  Some where in between I will try to find more time to blog!  Like during work hours.  Ha!



I am throwing in this last picture because I just adore it!



 

Growing up

It is hard to believe that my sweet husband and I are once again celebrating birthdays.  Where does the time go?  I find it hard to believe that another year has passed, we are this much older, and our daughter is nearly 18 months.

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband.  Thank you for being you.  You always make me laugh and your sense of humor is only one of the many reasons I am head over heels in love with you.  You are such a fantastic husband.  Before Josie was born, I thought I couldn't possibly love you more.  But, now, I see you with her and my heart swells.  Being a Dad comes so very nature to you.  It's like you were born to be a parent!  Josie loves you so much and I love watching her face light up when she sees you!  She laughs hardest and longest when playing with you.....and there is nothing sweeter!

I will cherish the fact that I get to watch the relationship between the two of you grow as she grows.  She is by far the most perfect and amazing gift you could have ever given to me!  Thank you!  Thank you for your continued love, patience, support and happiness.  Thank you for Josie.  Thank you for the life we get to have as a family of three!  It's more than I could have ever dreamed of.....and I am grateful!

Happy Birthday, my love! 

And now....a picture of our little sweetie (because it's my birthday and I can do what I want) showing off her super long hair!  Doesn't she look so grown up with all that hair?  Sweet girl!