The Jessups

Art Museum Date

2012-01-31T17:36:00.002-05:00

So, on our date out together last Saturday evening, we decided to change it up a bit and go over to the Art Museum. The admission is free and we have heard from a ton of people that it's really great!

Nothing against museums or people who love art... the Jessups just aren't art people. We enjoy history museums and such, but put us in a building filled with weird picture after picture of splotches and messy lines and we are lost. Most of them looked like a painting you might find hanging up in a kindergarten class. That's the skill level that the paintings were. To be truthfully honest I really can't believe where art has gone to these days and that these pictures are museum worthy. There were even security guards walking around! They most be worth something, but I wouldn't pay $2 for them when I could give my 9 month old son a crayon and get the same thing.

The best part is, my dear husband will read every single description and plaque describing each picture, the mood and what it meant and the artist's thoughts. I thought we were going to be there all night. I am the type of person that will just walk through a museum and I'm done. I've seen everything and am ready to go. Sebron will take his time and silently read each thing even if he thinks the pictures is hideous.

We passed by a certain painting that was left most blank with an ugly splotch in the middle. Another couple was studying it and the lady kept saying "this one is so calming and pure." ?????? It is hard for me to take it seriously and Seeb and I shared a good laugh over several of the master pieces.

It was a fun date. : )

A little sunshine

2012-01-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

It has been in the lovely upper 60's this weekend, and we enjoyed every second of our Saturday together as a family. We started out the morning with a nice long run through Umstead, followed by plates of hot waffles with melted butter and warm syrup. Delicious! Hot waffles are my weakness on Saturday!

We went back in the afternoon just to have fun together. Jancsi is such a blast right now. He notices when people are laughing and busts out laughing because obviously, it's the thing to do! He is getting into everything and having a great time doing so. We are so blessed.

I could not love this two boys more.

We topped off the day with a fun date night. Baby free. : )

Happy Birthday! X4

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

-Jancsi hanging out with Opa, playing with cup measures.

-Nana with the grandkids...J-Man and Zoey

We drove down to Waxhaw to celebrate the family's Janurary birthdays. We have 4 this month. My Dad, Grammy, Aunt Carleen & Bekah. We all met at Opa and Nana's house on Saturday for a joined birthday celebration.

-Playing with Aunt Joy

My Aunt Carleen and Uncle Jay had never met Jancsi or Zoey before. It was such a special time with them and for Jancsi to meet my Aunt and Uncle. I have such wonderful memories of playing in the mountain river by their cabin, exploring gold mines and racing four wheelers in the valley. My Uncle is fighting cancer, and it is amazing to see their faith and love for each other through this battle.

My dear Grandmother celebrated her 96th birthday! She is such a blessing! It's hard to believe that it was 8 years ago that we got rid of a ton of toys and turned our playroom into an apartment for Grammy to come live with us. She is such a blessing and still our Groovy Gram!

Uncle Jay can really make any noise you could ever want to hear. Jancsi loved listening to his duck sounds! J-Man learned how to crawl up the stairs during our stay and finally figured out the whole sign language for asking 'more.' Yay! Hopefully now we'll be asking nicely for food! : )

It was such a wonderful weekend. Short, but wonderful! Family is so important and I am grateful we have such wonderful family on all sides.

-Grammy, with her daughters.

This mountain of laundry was there to greet me upon my return to the house. Jancsi sat by the couch and laughed while I folded. He is so much happier now that he can really get around. He is crawling everywhere and standing by everything.

Tuesday night bath time..... Two anxious kiddos waiting for the tub to fill. I am blessed.

Cat food, toast and green beans.....

2012-01-18T11:04:00.000-05:00

It's just another Wednesday morning. I've got both boys and Jancsi has already fallen from the table twice and bloodied his lip. Just to clarify, he wasn't ON the table. He was standing and holding onto it, got distracted and fell face first to the floor. There were many tears shed which required snuggles from Mama. Bryce likes to join in with sympathy tears for his friend, which results in both boys in tears. It's just another day. : )

Jancsi decided to give cat food a try yesterday. Bryce has a kitty at his house and J-Man discovered the food and water bowls by the fridge yesterday afternoon. He was completely fascinated by them and I had to bring him back to the living room several times. I was busy with Bryce and I watched as Jancsi made a beeline for the kitchen and the cat food. I told him not to touch and he stopped. I looked back to Bryce and in a split second, I heard the food in the bowl clink..... I walked over and emptied his hands and told him no again before bringing him back to the living room. I had looked at him closed mouth before putting him down with Bryce, but he was doing some sort of talking noise so I wasn't worried. He didn't want his binkie when I offered it, but he was busy playing so I didn't think anything of it. After we'd been playing for a minute or so, I noticed Jancsi was chewing on something. I did the finger sweep and low and behold, 8-9 little food pellets fell out! Glad I discovered them before he actually had a chance to eat them.... though I'm not going to be too surprised if I find a pellet or two in a diaper today or tomorrow....

In other news, my home wrecking has continued I'm sad to say. I have burnt numerous pieces of toast, killed them actually. It's pretty sad when the first words out of my Mom's mouth after hearing that the Longmires were out of town for the weekend was "Don't burn the house down."

That's not even the worst of it. Monday, I left Jancsi up stairs with Beth and Lily while I went down to get baby food out of the fridge. I managed to drop the container of green beans on the floor in the laundry room. It shattered and beans went everywhere. So, what dose this super Mama do? I grab the broom and the dustpan and sweep the green messy goo up and dump it into the trash can. The broom is now covered and the trash can filled. I put the broom on the deck out back with the thought of "I'll clean it this afternoon." I ran back up stairs telling myself to take the trash out later..... Yep neither one happened.

Poor Bethany went down stairs yesterday afternoon to find the broom and smelled an awful dyeing decaying oder that was filling the downstairs. After searching everywhere, she located my disaster in the trash can. Her words to me later were "Now that was something real special!" After she somehow stomached the disposal of the green trash, she discovered the broom.....which was now completely crusted over with the stuff. I am so blessed with friends that love me and clean up after my disasters.

When Seeb got home last night, Beth told him how much she loved me and how she was going to miss me when we no longer lived together.... his response?..... "Gracie? What did she do now?"

MILA Minutes- Testimonies

2012-01-16T15:28:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about this beginning season in my Lifemax business. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work from our home and feel so blessed to be able to be a stay at home Mama. I am in the building faze right now, still getting familiar with the ins and outs and training. I am so excited about encouraging other stay at home moms that yes, we can do something to help our husbands and family's financially! We can be business owners and be a mom at the same time! Love that!

I wanted to share two testimonies from people that have recently begun eating MILA. I love hearing from people who are noticing dramatic health benefits once they add the incredible nutrition into their diets that MILA offers!

"What doesMILA, the miracle seed, have to offer? This question, often asked by many, is aquestion that I asked. After sampling MILA for two days, I was hooked. Okay, somaybe this immediate response to MILA was partially out of curiosity to see ifthis product would actually benefit my health and lifestyle in all the waysthat my sweet distributor informed me about.

After twoweeks of taking MILA, I noticed positive results, including:

§ A decrease in my appetite, resulting in adecrease in my weight

§ An increase in energy, resulting in an increasein my physical endurance

§ Practically, I am no longer fatigued throughoutthe day, improving my mental awareness

It has beentwo months and I am still seeing positive benefits resulting from MILA. Iencourage everyone to try this wonderful product and personally experience thelife changing health benefits it has to offer." -MW

"My friend recommended Mila to me and based on her enthusiasm and healthy glow I tried it. After a week of putting it in my drink every morning I was hooked. I began looking forward to my morning Mila scoop. My skin started to have the glow and I noticed I wasnot craving sweet or salty foods at snacktime. The most apparent thing that happened is i take it with me on vacation. Mila- Add that to your packing check off list!" -SZ

In today's food industry, it is so hard to find healthy food that has not been genetically modified, pumped with growth steroids or drowned in pesticides. MILA is non-GMO and pesticide free. My kiddo is getting 3,000mg of Omega 3's, which are essential fatty acids every day! IN A FOOD SOURCE! Can't get better then that!

Twitterpated.....9 months

2012-01-10T08:33:00.001-05:00

I seriously love this kid. I'm smitten. I'm obsessed. I'm completely addicted to his smile and wild about his laugh. My little man is 9 months old today. It's funny how the 9 months that you are pregnant are the longest, most drawn out months of your life; but as soon as that little person is in your arms, life speeds up to 100mph! We've had two ear infections this past month, first the left ear, then the right. We had a follow-up appointment yesterday after our ER trip and he now has a double ear infection. Poor little guy. I pray we find a antibiotic that works before we run out of choices.

We were also sent home with a nebulizer and are supposed to use it 3 times a day for a week...The Doctor obviously doesn't have children. Trying to keep that mask on a baby's face is like trying to put an angry tiger in a diaper. I have never wanted to cry more then when I had to force it on his face while Daddy held him down. Awful.

Daddy had a great idea and he wore the mask while Jancsi just held the mouth piece in his mouth. Worked out MUCH better and he thought it was great that Daddy was doing it too!

-this picture was taken right after Christmas.....first learning to stand up and doing the splits.

His new love is pulling up on everything and has really mastered the art. He has absolutely no fear and laughs as he does 'no hands.' Oh dear. I can already see into his future of scraped up knees and black eyes. He laughs the entire time as he starts to lean further and further to one side... that smile is still intact until his head hits the floor. Why listen to Mama and hold on? Life is so much more fun on the edge!

-dinner with friends over. kiddos kept themselves entertained in the corner. (I used to be Will's nanny.)

We have a household bet going on right now pending on when the kiddo will walk. The boys are sure Jancsi will be up on his feet taking steps by February 1st. So, the bet is this: if by Feb. 1st Jancsi can stand on his own and take two steps without holding onto anyone or thing, the guys win and I have run five miles while drinking down a whole bottle of water (my worst nightmare and basically impossible for me to do is drink while running.), Beth has to eat a twinkie (her nightmare). For some reason I feel that my loss is way more awful then her loss....this will have to be discussed! However, we ladies are totally smarter then the men and we know there is no way Jancsi will be walking by the 1st. So, when the boys lose, they will make us a 3 course dinner. : ) The whole time all this was being discussed, Jancsi sat there in the middle of the room and laughed at us! Love him!

-getting into places we shouldn't

He has started to turn a new corner and wants to eat everything we big people are eating. It is funny and cute as he starts to do his food dance, but we are realizing we need to start addressing it as it is turning into a crying fit if he doesn't get a crumb. We are working on 'more' and 'please' in sign language to ask nicely instead of the growls and screams. : )

-family hike on Sunday

I cannot even begin to describe the butterflies in my heart when he squeals with excitement on seeing me and his Daddy after picking up at Sunday school or after a date night. The best feeling in the world.

I am so thankful that Jancsi is a cuddly baby. Melts my heart when he snuggles into me neck and wraps his baby arms around me and squeezes. If you are lying on the floor he will more then likely crawl over and put his head on your leg or stomach and just cuddle for a few minutes. I love those times.

I cannot say how much I love weekends now. With Sebron home they have taken on a whole new meaning! Saturday we headed out to Tobacco Road for a 10 mile run. He handled the baby and the dog (my hero). Saturday night was the ER run and so Sunday we kept it quiet and later on that afternoon went on a family hike through our favorite State Park.

Jancsi has been saying 'Da da' constantly the past two days. I know he loves having his Daddy around and misses him when he's working during the week.

Happy 9 months Buddy!

Thankful

2012-01-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

Last night we had our first experience with an ER trip with the kiddo. Jancsi has been getting over a cough that has been hanging on from a cold that went around a week or so ago. Yesterday, it was much worse and he seemed out of breath. By 7pm Sebron had him in the tub and he was wheezing so badly he was having labored breathing. He especially had difficulty when laying on his back. To ease both our minds before putting him to bed, we decided to take him in just to make sure nothing more serious was going on. As his Mama, I told myself he was fine, we just wanted to have him checked out, but I was fighting fearful panic. I sat in the back seat with him while Sebron drove, and Jancsi was completely out of breath. He sounded like he had just finished running a 10 mile run. We prayed together in the back seat and poor baby was so tired! We were getting him ready for bed when we decided to take him in.

I kept reminding myself that he was breathing, he was smiling, alert and breathing. He was breathing. My one fear was that with him being so tired, I was worried he would lose it and start crying and then not be able to catch his breath. The nurse checked him out right when we arrived and because of his symptoms, we were bumped to the front of the line. Thank goodness because even then, we still sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes.

*pictures were taken with me phone.... excuse the bad clarity.

-J-man in his hospital gown.

When they finally called us back, they attached a monitor to his big toe to read his blood pressure and heart rate. He loved the fact that his toe was glowing with a bright red light and it was a constant battle to keep him from ripping it off! The next three hours he received a breathing treatment (nebulizer), an x-ray (to make sure it wasn't pneumonia), was poked, prodded, swabbed, and even got to wear a tiny hospital gown (adorable). I know without a doubt that the Lord was with us last night. Jancsi was exhausted and never once shed a tear or got upset, even though several of the test were very scary for him. Every nurse and doctor received a smile. He dozed off twice while we were waiting on test results. The doctor told us we were right to bring him in and that he definitely needed the breathing treatment to open his airways. He has bronchitis and they sent us home with a baby inhaler.

-taking a snooze.

We finally got home at midnight and he fell right to sleep. He was up ever hour after that, I think too much stimulation; so neither one of us slept well. I'm hoping he'll take some long naps today.

So thankful the Lord was with us and nothing was too serious.

My own little corner

2012-01-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

I just went back and found this draft I started back in August! lol I'll do my best to add the new pics and update you on the progress of the nursery! These pictures seem forever ago!

Jancsi's little corner was a project that began shortly after our move in July.... This poor child has never had a room to call his own. First it was Mom and Dad's room, then a closet. I know, I know, we really do love him I promise! This new house has just one bedroom downstairs and then a really large main room. We were wondering how it all was going to work out, but with two bright husbands in the house they soon came up with something. They created a room by building two walls and closing off one of the corners of the large room. Easier said then done because it had to be built so that 1) it could be taken down when we move out and 2) so that it didn't do any damage to the walls, ceiling and brand new laminate floor.

Here's me just slightly excited about having a nursery for the little guy! (Jancis was just 3-4 months old in this one! Watching the guys build!)

I love this next picture because it really says a lot about our husbands.,,, Bob used to be in construction and Sebron has been doing manual labor for forever. Both these guys know the number 1 rule: protective foot ware! And yet here they are using table saws, hammers and all sorts of crazy stuff and they're in flip-flops and five fingers. Way to go guys!

Well in just a few hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoon the guys had the frame all put together and up in the corner. They put strips of rubber along the surfaces that touched walls, ceiling and floor- protecting everything. The entire thing is basically free standing being only attached at the corner. But, being in a corner it is just as sturdy as if it were nailed to every wall!

Jancsi was fascinated by the whole thing and we spent several hours just watching the guys build.

Monday night after work, dinner and putting the two Littles to bed, we went at it again. This time with drywall! The guys cut and attached while I came behind and filled in the screws with putty.

-Love the pj pants.....

-Seeb's buddy Rob came into town that weekend and helped put up drywall!

The whole thing was really a group effort!

Later, Beth and I came behind and painted. The inside is still unfinished since we decided to save money and not hang drywall on the inside walls. I am still undecided as to what I am going to do with the 2x4's. Possibly hang sheets or something.

-Finished product.... so far.

This is the day that the Lord has made

2012-01-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling happy today. Not that I don't normally, but today I've got that 'you can't get me down' feeling. I love that. Runny noses, fussy babies, laundry, come what may, I'm feeling good. : ) I realized today that I never posted pictures of our home... horrible me... today is as fine a day as any I suppose, so here you go!

-Our living room.

For those that might not know, we live in the downstairs of a split level home with another family of three (friends of ours). Other then the bedroom, bathroom and laundry room, the main living area is one large room. I was wondering how I was going to decorate and place everything to make it homey, but in the end I think it turned out rather nice. : )

-Kitchen/computer area

We ended up braking the room down into sections and having a small living area in one corner, kitchen table and work area in another as well as Jancsi's room and play area on the other side.

-Front half of the big room.

-The front wall of Jancsi's room.

This will have to be a separate post on it's own. We didn't have a room for Jancsi, so the guys built a free standing room in one of the back corners of the big room.

-The play area that opens out to the back yard and deck.

Jancsi bought the carpet with all his craigslist diaper and random baby objects sales. It's been wonderful to have since both boys can play on it!

-Another view.

-The doorway to Jancsi's room and other half of the play area.

-Our little hallway: master bedroom first door on the right. Bathroom in the middle and laundry room at the end. The laundry room acts not only as the laundry area, but also holds our family's fridge, is storage and pet supplies. Such a blessing to have a large mud room area.

-Master bedroom.

-Stair way up to the front door as well as to the Longmires.

(Bedroom is strait ahead with coat closet to the right.)

In other random news, I love walking into our laundry room and seeing a whole running store apparel section hanging up to dry. For some weird reason it makes me smile to see all the bright colors of running tights, jackets, tops and shorts up on their hangers. I am really enjoying running right now. Feeling a bit of pressure with the miles I have to do in order to be ready for March's marathon, but overall feeling good! The Longmires fly out for the Disney Marathon this weekend! I am so excited for them and especially Beth as she completes her goal after having Lily! I love how our conversations these days are about blisters, muscles and shoes. I know that must sound weird if you aren't a runner, but when you've got a big 26.2 mile race staring you in the face it's easy to worry about little things like going up the stairs to fast and pulling something!

Sebron has been braving the cold days at work this week. He comes home half frozen even with his coveralls over three layers! Even poor Bob rides his bike to work and someone took his cloves as a joke yesterday and he had to ride home without them. With the wind chill it was in the teens. Not so funny if you ask me.

Today I wish we lived closer to family. I do every day, but something about today and seeing Jancsi doing all the new things he is up to makes me want to have everyone here to enjoy it. Grandpa Jessup and Meme, and Nana and Opa. We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents and grandparents. I hope this new year is filled with wonderful times where we can all be together!

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28:7

I've been a bit of a home wrecker lately...

2012-01-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

Not in the breaking-family-apart way, but literally wrecking the home. More like the kitchen. Ask any of my house mates, it's been bad lately. It all started when I almost burned the house down while making baby food for Jancsi last week. We had just got back from our Christmas travels and the day had gotten away with me. I decided to throw together some apples and blueberries while Seeb had J-Man in the tub. I peeled and sliced the apples and dumped everything in a pot. Put it on the stove and then went to help Sebron get the little man ready for bed. Ten minuets later Jancsi is diapered, pj-ed, nursed and in bed and Seeb and I are exhausted. It's 8pm. We totally crash in bed and are asleep in no time.

I didn't wake up until 4am with a sinking and alarming feeling that I had forgotten something. It dawns on me that I never turned off the baby food sitting on the stove. I start panicking and wondering if I need to go upstairs to turn everything off. I'm sitting there in bed and I'm so tired. So, I do the mature and responsible thing as a Mama- I sniff the air. I truly believe that God gave Moms a better nose then most. We can smell a dirty diaper a mile away and any type of dangerous burning gas/electric/fire smells way before most highly trained humans. After a moment or two I am relived to find that there are no burning smells filling the house. 'Beth must have taken them off. We're good.' I'm asleep again in seconds.

Thank the Lord the Longmires were up watching TV when I decided to burn the house down. They smelled something burning and were able to turn off the stove before much damage was down. Yes I about ruined the pot and the applesauce was black as coal.

My home wrecking rampage took off from there. So far I've dumped food everywhere, sent spoons and spatulas flying from bowls and pans, sent food flying up the wall, left toast in the toaster until it resembled ash (almost burned the house down again...), left food out all night and ruined meals. It has been pretty epic and I have been the brunt of many jokes around here. The saddest part of it all is that I sincerely have no idea what is happening. I feel like I've totally traded places with some kitchen/house wife dweeb. Things are just going wrong and breaking all over the place! lol

Here's to hoping that this will be short lived and that the Longmires will always be home when I try to burn the house down.

MILA Minutes- 2012

2012-01-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

I am am so excited about hitting this new year off with a bang with my Lifemax business! I have never done anything like this before and am learning so much as I go. I am determined to give it my all and see where it will take me. If you are a stay at home Mama looking for something to do whether it is to meet new people, try your hand at your own business, help out the family financially or all of the above, I highly encourage you look at Lifemax! I have been blown away by not only the company itself, but the leaders, the information, training, our product, and so much more! I really had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to jump in and go for it. I felt completely in over my head and terrified! Now, I am so glad I made the leap of faith and am so thankful for Sebron's encouragement as I ventured out of my comfort zone into the unknown! I could seriously be the poster child for the saying 'If I can do it, you can do it!' I have met so many incredible people and am now working with several of my very dearest friends!

I am truly excited and can't wait to see what this new year holds for me and my team! Below is a business overview with some of the company's top Distributors. It is very informative about Lifemax as well as the whole raw food, MILA.

The big tub

2011-12-31T16:33:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be starting the new year off with my dear husband home on the weekends! He ended his weekend job at Starbucks and it's the first time in over 4 years that Sebron hasn't had to work weekends. Praise God.

We kept looking at each other today saying I can't believe you're here! It is wonderful! It's like Christmas all over again! Never take your weekends with your husband for-granted.

The Longmires had some extra passes to the aquatic center, so this morning after Beth and I got back from a run, we piled babies and towels into the car and headed to the pool. What fun! They have a warm pool especially for little ones so it was perfect! It takes Jancsi a good 30-40 minutes to get brave enough to release his death grip from my neck.

When that happens, he starts to actually love the water and slashing around! He does great with being dunked and loved watching the other little ones nearby. I love doing things like this with him. New things, and seeing how he responds and enjoys them! So fun!

I'm excited for this new year and praying the Lord will continue to lead and direct us where He would.

Over the River and Through the Woods

2011-12-28T14:33:00.001-05:00

....to Opa and Nana's house we go!

-17 stockings this year

The Great Martin Christmas was ON this year which means Mom and Dad, all 8 siblings, 3 spouses and 4 grandkids were all under one roof for the weekend!

-Uncles Sam, John & Josiah with Zoey, Levi, Jancsi & Isaac.

It was busy. It was loud. It was crazy. It was wonderful. It is so neat to think back to Christmas's past and see how we have all changed and yet in many ways are the same. We no longer sit at the edge of the stairs at 5am, waiting for Mom and Dad to tell us we can come down. This year, the three little uncles (6'+ John, Zi and Sam) pleaded to be allowed to sleep in till at least 8am!

The grandkids are still too young to fully grasp what is going on. Isaac is close though and possibly by next year I can see him being super excited!

-getting ready to pull taffy.

People ask me all the time what is was like growing up with a big family. It's hard to explain. I don't think you could ever fully understand unless you had experienced it yourself. I know it's probably different for everyone, but for me it was perfect. I treasure these times where we are all together. I am so thankful for my parents who listened to the Lord instead of others on the advice of how big their family was supposed to be. I can't imagine life without any one of my siblings. And now as our family grows with each new little addition, it is even more wonderful.

-wrestle time with Uncle John.

I was laughing to myself as I watched Sebron join in all the talking and laughing with five different cooking/baking ventures all going on at the same time in the kitchen that seems tiny when you get a bunch of tall people in it. Hard to believe this is the same guy that just 3 Christmas' ago, I was having to go hunt him down and would find him hiding out in some out of the way room.... taking a break from all the craziness. As an only child, he was a bit overwhelmed. Not now. : )

Jancsi had the biggest blast of his life with a million people to hold him, play with, feed him and just simple go crazy over him. That boy loves attention. His big cousin Isaac was a huge source of entertainment for him and they enjoyed playing 'house' with Isaac's new kitchen set as they cooked up all sorts of sweet concoctions!

-'baking' in the kitchen.

There were three new additions this year. We are so very richly blessed. It is going to be such fun to watch all the cousins grow up together!

-newbies: Levi John, Zoey Bree & Jancsi Sebron.

-Opa's Christmas bread.

-Zoey Bree, enjoying some tummy time.

I couldn't get over how small Zoey and Levi seemed compared to Jancsi. So much fun to hold a baby again! Zoey wants to be a part of everything, and Levi wants to cuddle and sleep all day. So thankful the Lord put them into our family!

-Snuggling with Levi after a morning run.

-The entire crew. 2011

We drove home late Monday and it's back to real life with the two boys, laundry, house cleaning, and just 'stuff.' Jancsi woke me up at 1am this morning screaming. After a few minutes, thinking he would cry it out, he only got louder. I went in to check on him and hello! there he was standing up in his crib! I picked him up and he was so tired! He was asleep as soon as I out him back on his mattress. He is pulling up on everything but hasn't figured out how to get back down once he's up. Poor guy. He is trilled with this new discovery and the whole world has gotten way more exciting!

Going through the day thinking of sweet memories from our Christmas weekend at home!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T13:21:00.000-05:00

One of our dear friends, Tab Brown, took these family pictures for us over Thanksgiving while we were at Grandpa's farm. She always does such a beautiful job and I love how they turned out! We are so incredibly blessed to have Jancsi here with us this Christmas!

Nana and Opa's house is full of babies this year with four grandchildren. Love being home with a full house! Merry Christmas! From our home to yours!

The Prince and his Pink Ride.

2011-12-20T22:07:00.000-05:00

Lily got a cute little princess car from grandparents for Christmas, complete with lights, music and dancing princesses. Jancsi is in love with it and all he wants to do is ride. It works out really well because all Lily wants to do is push. It keeps them busy for hours as they go up and down the hall, under the kitchen table and all over the house.

And, just because..... Tuesday nights the kidlets are mine and we have fun!

Nana and Opa come to town

2011-12-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

I feel so thankful for today. I'm all cozy sitting in the Longmire's lounge chair upstairs, with a class of cranberry juice (my favorite) and a thick slice of Wittebür (my Dad's famous Swedish Christmas bread). Jancsi is down stairs napping, and the house in quiet. My parents spent the weekend with us and it was such an incredible blessing to have some quality time with them since next weekend we have to share them with the rest of the family!

my brother John drove my Mom up and spent the night with us as well.

I love watching Nana and Opa love on my kiddo. It's the same deep love and passion I saw as a child growing up. Each new little baby that arrived into the family was greeted and lavished with that love. It is never ending and knows no bounds. It blessed me growing up with parents that loved me with that love. It means even more to see it with Jancsi. Everything he does is greeted with laughs and rewarded with kisses. I love how my Dad holds him up and tickles his tummy and how my Mom sings to him. We are blessed.

Nana, Jancsi & Opa after Church

Some people can be easily overwhelmed when they come over to visit. With two babies in this house, it is anything but calm and quiet! There is always some little person wanting to be held, someone getting into things they shouldn't and someone bumping their head on one thing or another. I've seen a couple people become flustered very quickly. Not my Mom. This lady raised 8 kids and it takes a lot to fluster her. I kept Lily on Saturday morning while Bob and Bethany did a long run. My Mom jumped right in and cleaned, cooked, cuddled and fed- acting like her youngest back at home wasn't 17 and she does this every day.

bread making: Dad, Sebron & Bob (learning from the Master!)

Dad brought all the ingrediants and his bread maker with him, and Saturday afternoon, him and Sebron began the long process of making the Wittebür. Dad has been making this bread every Christmas since as long as I can remember. My Mom is Swedish and grew up with her family baking it during the holidays. Dad fell in love with it while they were dating and quickly became the bread maker and mastered the art! Sebron lives for this stuff and loves watching and helping where he can. He is determined to be our family's bread maker- which is totally fine by me. I don't have the patience for it.

It was a wonderful weekend and went by too fast. It was the first time Nana and Opa had seen our new home, so it was fun showing them around and just fellow shipping.

Nana loves to read to the grandkids. I have wonderful memories of many adventures Mom read to us kids over the years. I never enjoyed reading, but loved being read aloud to.

Oh Mondays....

2011-12-12T14:46:00.000-05:00

I love Mondays. I really do. Yes they tend to be crazy, but I love starting off another week getting everything organized and cleaned. Start the day off with a run and then on to other things! I have been out of running for almost three weeks now with a knee injury. I am just now feeling up to running and Beth was so gracious to keep Jancsi on Friday and allow me to go on a nice, slow run. It felt amazing! My knee felt great and I was so encouraged! I am training for a marathon in March and I was worried this was going to set me back.

I love Mondays because Bethany and I get to run together and start off the week right! Today was freezing, but we bundled up the kiddos and headed off to the lake. It feels so good to be back and for my knee to feel great! Thank you Lord! We are so blessed to have such amazing kids who put up with their running fanatic Mamas.

After the run, it's nap time for the kiddo and 'baby-free-get-things-done' time for me. After nap time we hit up the grocery store and get all our week's supply of food. (I misjudged last week and we had pretty much no food over the weekend... still not sure how that one happened! ha!) Jancsi loves the grocery store and smiling at everyone we pass! Jancsi is a big eater and it's all I can do to keep him in food.

J-Man's food this week- not pictured are a whole bunch of bananas. Most weeks I have to hit the store again to pick up reinforcements.

Shopping and baby food making takes up most of our early part of the day. The rest of the afternoon is laundry, errands, cleaning and whatever else we need to get done before we start work for the week on Tuesday. I made the Martin famous chocolate sauce on Saturday to be given away as Christmas gifts and had a bit left over. I love how even though there is not a single tub of ice cream in the entire house, the sauce is still disappearing! We have all been guilty of eating a spoonful here and there. Good stuff!

In other news, Jancsi has started eating little baby crackers and LOVES them! I think he loves the fact that he can feed himself! So great! Whenever I've got the need to keep him busy, I just hand him one and it keeps him entertained for 5 minutes!

8 Months

2011-12-10T09:13:00.001-05:00

We are 8 months old today. Crazy. Jancsi has entered a new faze here lately where he has totally figured out that he can let me know if he doesn't like something. He is going through a mommy-clingy thing lately and his one want in life is to be held by Mama and do everything with me....in my arms. As soon as I start to bend over in order to put him on the floor, he starts crying. It soon escalades into a full down and out tantrum with angry, leg thrashing cries of rage.

We are continuing to work through it each day and take the attitude as it comes. This has made it a bit more difficult to do anything really, meal preparation takes three times as long, laundry, house cleaning, everything. I am constantly getting interrupted to discipline and have heart to heart talks with the kidlet. This is what I am finding most challenging. How do you really discipline effectively and explain things to an 8 month old? The Lord is showing the way, and I know this is a chapter we must work through no matter how difficult or tiring. We also got our first ear infection this week. So that was adding to it all as well. He had a fever of 102 and was just not himself at all. I took him in to the doctor and he saw it right away. Poor guy. We filled him up with Tylenol, antibiotics and ear drops and he slept better the first night and woke up more himself. Last night was a totally different story and we were up most of the night. : )

Jancsi is really on the move these days and I found him exploring the up stairs the other day while I working on somethings in the kitchen. He is a great trash finder and seems to discover everything from old tissues, to tiny specks of dirt. Everything goes into the mouth so I'm really having to really keep things off the floor. He's pulling up more but not quite sure of himself on his feet so he usually takes a tumble.... another thing to watch for.

He absolutely LOVES his Daddy! He will be in tears with me and Sebron will walk in the door from work and the whole world becomes a better place! He lights up and is a constant laughing and giggle boy with his Dad. I love it.

He has a smile for everyone, even strangers in the grocery store. His favorite sounds right now are "Ma ma" and Da da" - I think because Seeb and I make such a big deal about it whenever he says them. : )

Nothing has changed other then he used to be a little porker and now he's a skinny-mini. I still put him in pants that are a bit too big, and he still crawls out of them.....

He is so much fun and has a laugh that is the cutest thing you've ever heard- he never fails to let out a belly one whenever you pretend to bite his toes.... I could do that all day. He has the sparkliest eyes that dance when he smiles. I love how he holds on tight and nestles into my neck after just waking up. Oh baby boy you bless me! I love doing life with you.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T15:53:00.001-05:00

I love Christmas! I can easily say it is my favorite holiday by far. I still feel like a little kid, waiting for that special day. This year is extra special because of Jancsi being here.

We picked out our tree on our way home from Thanksgiving. Jancsi was a grump and fussy from being in the car for several hours, so that was nice. He cheered up a bit as we walked through the forest of beautifully smelling trees.

After picking out the most perfect of perfect trees, we got it home and set up in no time. After fighting with the lights were all up and everything was ready, we put the first ornament on!

This lil guy decided to join us this year. So cute.

I love how our ornament collection has grown from last year and each Christmas we add new ones. Jancsi could really care less about the tree to be honest. I must admit, I was a little disappointed. Yes, I was worried he would go crazy and try to rip things off and pull up on the tree, but he hardly even looks at it. I thought he would like the lights, but he glanced at them for only a few minutes.

I love having a real tree and how it fills our home with a Christmasy scent. It's wonderful! I've had Christmas music on pretty much 24/7 and love how all the songs are happy and cheerful. So many songs these days are dark and depressing, it's nice to have a change.

Dear Meme,

2011-12-08T07:45:00.001-05:00

Thank you SO much for my new car seat! It is just about the comfiest thing ever! It's still sitting in our living room because Mom says it's a pretty spiffy seat and she needs Daddy to help put it in the car. But, that doesn't stop me from using it....Mama got a ton of stuff done the other day cuz I just sat in it and didn't want to get out.

Daddy calls it my little man lounge chair and Mom and Dad both wish they had one in big people sizes. I've got a ton of more room to move around and it has these really great little side 'pillows' that I can sleep on when I get tired while on the go. I'm totally the coolest kid on the block now! Well, once Dad puts it in my ride of course.

I love you SO much Meme! You're the best Meme EVER!
XXOO

Jancsi

Just because...

2011-12-06T14:20:00.001-05:00

Love him. Love Them.

My new love

2011-12-02T20:38:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure my incredible mother-in-law is my new favorite person ever! Because of her, I am the new proud owner of this beautiful bad boy:

You can say it, he is gorgeous. Christmas came early for me this year. Today in fact. It was wonderful. This blog is about to be bombarded with pictures. Get ready. I'm so excited!

The new kid

2011-12-02T08:55:00.001-05:00

So I'm the worst Auntie ever. I never announced the arrival of the new kid-

Levi John was born November 1st to my dear sister and brother-in-law, Faith and Mike. He looks a lot like his big brother Isaac in this picture. The group of cousins is growing!

The Lord has blessed our family with three new little ones this year, Jancsi, Zoey and Levi. God is so good! I can't wait for Christmas to get my hands on this little guy!

Looking back

2011-11-30T13:43:00.001-05:00

Jancsi and I are home for a sick day today. Jancsi was passed around by 98576732357 people over Thanksgiving and he must have picked something up. The majority of the day has been very tearful. Poor little man has a horrible cough and runny nose and just wants to be held all day. He has cried most of the day so far, but he is now sleeping so I'm staying hopeful that the afternoon will be better!

On to happy things....

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving and were blessed to see all of Sebron's family. Both Grandpa and Meme and both sides of the family! It was a busy long weekend, but wonderful just the same. We crashed at Grandpa's farm house and loved spending time with him. We always take a long walk around the property while we are there and take turns passing J-Man around. The land there is so pretty with the hills, fields and creek. I can just picture Sebron as a child running around the woods playing.

Thursday morning we headed over to Sebron's cousin's house where all the Jessups were meeting for a Thanksgiving breakfast. The food was deliscous this year! Eggs, fruit salad, biscuits, gravy, hash-brown casserole, monkey bread, all kinds of deserts and all sorts of mouth watering goodness! Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face!

Meme came into town later that evening, bringing ham, mashed potatoes, peas and more food! We all enjoyed another wonderful meal in Grandpa's kitchen. The next few days we spent most of the day over at Sebron's Aunt's house where his mom was staying. We hadn't seen Meme since Jancsi was only 5 weeks old.

It was wonderful to see them bond this visit and Meme won some major brownie points with Jancsi when she got him up early from a nap while I was out. : ) She had him drinking water from a water bottle which was fantastic because hydrating has been an issue lately since he refuses to drink from a bottle or sippy cup. Later when we got home, we tried giving him a water bottle and he flat out refused to drink it.... I guess Meme has the magic touch.

Saturday was the Greene (Seeb's mom's side) family Thanksgiving. The food was again incredible and fellowship was wonderful. We saw a lot of family we don't get to see often and Jancsi was the star of the show. After dinner we all headed over to the baseball fields to play some nice family ball games..... I ended the game by slamming the ball right into the pitcher's side. Yikes, that was an accident! At least the pitcher was Sebron's like 6.7 foot cousin!

We drove back home Sunday afternoon. Got our Christmas tree along the way (pictures coming soon) and decorated the house! Now it's Christmas season, and it's wonderful!

Overalls.... they're in

2011-11-28T17:24:00.001-05:00

Oh I do love a man in overalls.... especially one as good lookin' as this mister. : )

All my husband wants for Christmas is to farm.

Grandpa

2011-11-28T11:48:00.001-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving on the farm with Grandpa Jessup. Every time we go, Jancsi gets more and more into his Grandpa! I love seeing him light up with a smile when ever Dad J. comes around!

Grandpa took him on a tour of all his tractors- the red one was his favorite and he was so excited that he was difficult to hold onto as his kicked and squirmed. I know it wont be long until he's be waving at me from up there as he heads off to work with Grandpa!

Both Grandpa and Meme were on top of washing toys before J-Man got ahold of them and rescuing him from eager little cousins. I quickly found out I had nothing to worry about when they were around.

This little guy loves his Grandpa!

Their special spot to chat is on the front porch.

Pals.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T12:50:00.001-05:00

So thankful for these dudes....

This next picture I truly believe is a small glimpse into my future life with boys....oh yes, the wrestling has already begun.

Let it be known- they were having FUN! My child was not ganging up on Bryce and they were both laughing. : )

All I want for Christmas...

2011-11-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

is my two front teeth!

A bit early, but we got just that! Yesterday we found our first tooth! Jancsi was chewing on my finger and I felt something hard. After pinning him down and examining his smile, there it was! I was so excited and we had to document the moment!

Bryce was here, so he got to celebrate too! The boys had no idea what all the fuss was about. Found a second one this morning. Our little person is growing up too fast.

Santa

2011-11-17T19:04:00.001-05:00

Christmas is my all time favorite holiday. I love decorating the house and the Christmas music and lights, everything! I am out of this world excited to have Jancsi here with us this year! I am dying to bring out our Christmas stuff and put it around the house, but am trying to find the will power to wait until after Thanksgiving. That was a rule in our house growing up- no Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving. Today I had to bend that rule just a smidge. I found myself in a place I NEVER thought I would ever be in. A group I never thought I would be a part of. A line. Today I actually stood in line so Jancsi could see Santa. My siblings and I weren't raised believing in Santa and in fact, I can remember making jokes about other kids my age that thought he was real. Horrible, I know.

(waiting to see the big man)

Santa (aka Ron Campbell, Sebron's law professor at State) had seen Sebron at work the other week and told us to bring Jancsi by to see him and to wear NC State stuff. So, J-Man and I decided to go this afternoon after a very rainy and dreary day indoors. It cleared up right before we left and was nice and cold for our Santa visit. I am convinced that it has to be cold on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and since we were seeing Santa it made sense that it was cold. : )

I am so glad we got there early. Santa fans are ridiculous! Seriously, parents were getting upset if someone skipped in line. Their children were dressed up in their fancy little dresses, tights and sunday shoes and kaki pants and sweaters. Oh dear, here we were in our State hat and underarmer pants. Although I can honestly say I will probably not be doing the Santa pictures with the rest of our kiddos, we really had fun. There was a high school band and a small group of guys playing guitars and singing Christmas carols.

Here you go grandparents- Just for you!

(J was really into his glasses and beard)

We stayed around afterwards for awhile and listened to the Christmas music. I have so much to be thankful for. Love this boy.

Jancsi was pretty cold, so we warmed up in a hot bath when we got home.

Diaper Dates

2011-11-15T19:50:00.001-05:00

I keep Lily on Tuesday nights while Bob and Beth have their Bible study with their small group. Sebron was late getting home tonight, so it was just me and the kidlets. We spent a long time in the bubble bath. Jancsi has been a grump this week ever since getting shots yesterday. He was finally happy to swim around in the tub, so we stayed in there a looonnnnngggg time. : ) Mama needed a break from all the fussing. When I finally took them out, I let them run around in their diapers.

Our house has been so incredibly hot today. It has been in the 70's this week and our house feels like we're in hawaii! I didn't have the heart to put them in their warm pj's. They were pretty cute scampering around in their underwear!

They are both in bed now, the house is quiet, and I can relax....... if only the house wasn't so hot.

Epic train ride

2011-11-14T16:06:00.001-05:00

Jancsi was unbelievable on the train ride to Charlotte. He far surpassed how I thought he would do. He spent the three hour ride laughing at all the other passengers, trying to dive into the aisle, chatting with the little boys across from us and impressing their grandmother with his cute faces. : ) I spent the three hours, keeping him from diving into the aisle, wiping slobber and drool and chatting with the grandmother across the way.

We even survived nursing in the train's bathroom. Wow. Just walking down the aisle while the train was moving, with a baby was a miracle we even made it to the bathroom. I stood there and jammed myself in the corner of the bathroom with my knees bent and legs braced against the train's wild movements. It was an experience to say the least, but we never fell over!

The ride home was very exciting. We left from the Charlotte station right after the Panther football game. They lost. It turns out that a bunch of fans take the train in to the city to watch the games... We were on the 5 o'clock train which was packed with angry, excited and somewhat intoxicated fans. Our car for some reason attracted the wild people. We boarded the train and as I grabbed a seat I could hear people behind me talking about the game, calls that were made and certain players and plays. As we waited for the train to start, the conversation became more heated as of course every one had different opinions and point of views.

We started off and things just went wild after that. People were playing loud music, challenging each other over players, dancing, asking for dance partners and yelling at one another. It was my lucky night and just like me to choose the perfect car. : )

An hour into the ride, the security officer gets called back to our car and gives everyone a stern talking to. Of course all the adults and mature one aboard start pointing fingers and everyone continues to get even more upset and loud. The next stop, they escorted two men who were causing most of the problems off the train (everyone clapped as they walked down the aisle- again, real mature I know.). At this same stop, 5 police officers came on board and just walked down the length of the car glaring at everyone as if to scare us into submission. Fun times. Jancsi thought the whole thing was fantastic and kept laughing at the worst possible times- when the guys were escorted off and when the police walked by. The only noise on that car was my son laughing.

We made it back to Raleigh later that night and Jancsi did amazing again! So proud of him!

Being real

2011-11-13T10:58:00.001-05:00

It is so hard to let go. Places and things that are so very special. Friends. It is hard, almost impossible at times to move on from the past. So many wonderful memories and experiences. I love keeping up this blog. What you read is what you get. I love how I can always be honest and just write. How the readers take what is written is up to them. Today I feel the need to write. To write down my thoughts. Feelings. This week I realized it is time to let go of something that has been so very dear. So much a part of me. In a single moment, what I had thought and hoped would be a joyous event, turned sour in an instant. I was talking about it with Sebron later and he told me he thought it was time to move on, let go. Forgive. Realize things will never be the way I want them to be. The way they used to be. The little girl inside me was angry when I heard him say this because there is a huge part of me that wants to fix it all, to go back in time and change everything. I was angry at the circumstances and the reasons why things aren't the way I want them to be. I was upset because I knew, deep down, that Sebron was right. It is time to let things go, forgive, time to put things down and walk away. And yet doing so feels like I'm ripping a piece of my heart out and leaving it by the side of the road to be trampled and stomped on. I thought I was over it all. Had moved on. This week I was sent back in time in an instant. Memories, emails, conversations. So much hurt and frustration. I thought I had done the whole forgiveness thing. So why am I still angry? I felt like a little kid telling Sebron it's just not fair.

Life is not fair. Things happen. Life happens. I am so thankful for the Lord and His example to love others. His example of forgiveness. I am thankful for my husband and his words of wisdom. It is time to forgive. For real this time.

7 months

2011-11-10T10:59:00.000-05:00

Happy seven months Buddy!

We are celebrating by taking the train down to Charlotte to visit with Aunt Hopie, Aunt Joy, Uncle Zi and Uncle Sam! Woohoo! Waxhaw, here we come!

Mr. Cow

2011-11-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

Jancsi has a stuffed cow that was given to me at one of my baby showers. Mr. Cow, as I have always referred to him as, was always our tummy time friend and now resides in J-Man's crib. Several times a day when he goes down for naps, it is not uncommon to here Jancsi having conversations with his spotted friend as he tells him about his day. He is so cute to listen too and gets so excited while he talks to Mr. Cow.

Anyway, not too long ago, Sebron was home and we were all playing on the floor. I made a comment to Jancsi something about how much fun Mr. Cow was. My husband looks at me and the following conversation took place:

Sebron: "Honey, I think the correct term would be 'Mr. Bull.'"
Me: "But he's Mr. Cow. We've always called him Mr. Cow."
Sebron: "Grace, we both know that a 'cow' is female and a 'bull' is male, so technically you can't have a 'Mr. Cow'. I mean, seriously, we're going to be living on a farm. Our kid needs to know the right terminology."
My sweet dear husband then picks up Mr. Cow, flips him over and after glancing at his underside, he looks at Jancsi and says: "well I guess technically we don't know if he is a bull or a steer. Mommy and I will discuss this later and get back to you."

We never discussed it and Mr. Cow is still Mr. Cow.

Birthdays and sparks

2011-11-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a whirlwind of a week so far. We started off the weekend with Miss Lily's birthday! That's right, the smiley little girly whose laughter fills our house, is now a big one-year-old! I can remember the night she came home from the hospital like it was yesterday. She is such a blessing in our home and I am so thankful for her little life. May the Lord continue to bless you dear girl as you grow.

How special for our families to be living together during this big milestone in her life!

The teething has calmed down some this week for which I am extremely grateful. Still no teeth for Jancsi, but both kiddos seem more themselves these past few days. Jancsi has really figured out this whole scooting thing and more times then not, I'll leave the room to change laundry or put something in the trash and when I come back, he is across the room pulling things off the book shelf or pulling on the computer cord... this is a big one lately. I know we need to baby proof the house but there is also the need for Baby to know what he is not allowed to touch/play with. He is fascinated with cords and will spot them across the room and make a beeline for them. I'll pick him up and have him look me in the eye and tell him "No no Jancsi. We don't play with cords." I say this as stern as I can. My submissive child does nothing but looks me square in the eye and laughs at me- like we're playing a game. Oh dear. I shouldn't be surprised, but part of me was expecting (hoping) he would be like most of the other little kids who I've seen the same punishment just melt them and they burst into tears. So I'm looking back at my child who is belly laughing at me and I see myself looking at me. Jancsi is me. Lord give me wisdom as I raise this child.

In other exciting news, our jeep hasn't been cranking this week. I took it over to a greenway last night after work and Jancsi and I enjoyed a great run only to come back and be stranded when the car would not start. Seeb had to come to our rescue and we stood out in the cold and the dark trying to see with the light of our cell phone the negative and positive signs on the batterie so we could jump it. We both have lots of experience jumping cars, but I'm not going to lie, it always makes me nervous. So, to make a long story short. We are trying to get the car started, in the dark, our child is screaming bloody murder in the back seat because he is exhausted and hungry, the ends of the cable touch and spark, we both yell, I'm most certain we are both going to explode both cars and ourselves and pleading with Sebron to call AAA. After all was said and done, we both survived. The jeep was jumped. And the cables only sparked two other times. : )

Goodbye sleep. Hope we meet again soon.

2011-11-04T04:21:00.000-04:00

The baby is cutting teeth. The whole week can be summed up in that one little sentence. It's 4:03 am and he can't be soothed. One thing I'm finding out as a Mom- when the baby cries at night, you can't just block it out and fall back to sleep. There is this inner something that keeps you wide awake, listening to every peep, scream and burp coming from your most precious of gifts sleeping in the next room. Or in this case, sleepless gift. : ) It's been a long night. And it's raining which for some reason makes it seem so much more dreary.

I finally got Jancsi's little corner room painted. Wow. That tiny project only took me 4 months. I'll post pictures soon. It's wonderful to not just have ugly drywall. I also just got our first picture of Jancsi printed and framed for the house. I know. Horrible mom award goes right here. I've printed pictures of him, but they've been for grandparents and friends. It just dawned on me the other day that we didn't have one single picture of our kiddo in the house. Sad. And to make it worse, it arrived before our wedding pictures which should be arriving later this afternoon. I just realized I must be up for some type of award.

Playing under the table during our recent mountain trip.

I was watching Jancsi yesterday playing on the kitchen floor while I made dinner. He is so cute I seriously can't stand it. I love him so much! There are so many times where reality hits me and I realize all over again that I get to be his mom. I get to be the one to hold his hand, help him explore and try new things. To watch him grown. What an incredible gift. With that gift sometimes comes nights like these.

Thank you Lord for this little boy crying in the next room. Thank you for his life. Thank you that we get to cut teeth together.

Here is to hoping the rain continues so my Man can have a day off from landscaping and hang out with the little guy and me. : )

another day with babies

2011-11-02T20:19:00.000-04:00

Lily came down the other morning to play with the boys and I..... she keeps us all in line.

I love how these next couple of pictures totally show Jancsi and Lily's relationship, and Bryce just sits calmly in the back looking on. Awesome!

Love these kiddos!

My little laundry helper.

jeans malfunction....

2011-11-01T09:32:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when your mom puts you in pants that are just a might too big.... you crawl right out of them in the middle of your exploring adventure.

Happy Tuesday!

Mountain weekend recap

2011-11-01T09:21:00.000-04:00

I still have so many pictures from our weekend in the mountains that I'd really love to share.... please forgive me for the 9878798655 pictures in this post. : )

Sebron's cousin Tasha stopped by with her little guy, Jacob. He was into kissing Jancsi.

Our trip to the mountains was so refreshing. So wonderful to spend time as a family and enjoy the beautiful mountains! The mornings were chilly in the 20's but as the day would go on it would warm up to the perfect hiking temperature. We did two hikes, the first was on Friday afternoon and was a nice short stretch-your-legs-after-driving-to-the-mountains-hike! We drove up part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, parked and then hiked down to the Cascades. A beautiful waterfall where you can hike down the whole way alongside it!

Saturday we drove over to Grandfather Mountain with the intention of going to the actual park and going out onto the mountain overlook. We hit a ton of tourist traffic and supposedly everyone else wanted to see Grandfather Mountain too! So we decided we'd go around to the back of the mountain and hike up the far less traveled trails! It was awesome!

We had packed a picnic lunch which we totally destroyed before we packed up the kiddos into their backpacks and started up! What a beautiful hike! There were hardly any other hikers and we quickly left the sound of the road and were completely lost in the beauty of the mountains! The Littles did great and both took naps during the hike which lasted most of the afternoon.

On our way back to the house we stopped in at the Mast General Store, one of Seeb and I's favorite places! It is so much fun taking Jancsi to all these special places for the first time. We are still working on our Christmas tree decoration collection and have been picking up things from places that are special to us. We found a really pretty old fashioned bell at the store that will look awesome on our tree this year!

This little people loved the mountains! They are so much fun, can't believe we get to be their parents.

We spent that evening playing Settlers after the kids had been put to bed. What a fun game and the competition got pretty intense there for awhile! : ) I have been going through a key lime pie craze lately so I brought one up with us and we all stuffed our faces! I have found that you don't feel so bad doing so when everyone else is doing it too. : )

Sunday morning before church we drove over to the Daniel Boone Inn and again ate our fill of the amazing endless plates of eggs, country ham, biscuits and gravy, jelly, apples, cinnamon buns, pancakes and who knows what else that I forgot! Incredible! It was wonderful to spend time at the little mountain church that Sebron's grandfather had been a preacher at. We were blessed to be able to see several aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

It was such a great get away and I know we are all looking forward to going again.

Rubber ducky

2011-10-30T19:50:00.000-04:00

I always loved that little song:

Rubber ducky, you're the one,

who makes bath time lots of fun!

Rubber ducky I'm awfully fond of you!

I can see it all now, 15 years down the road and we'll be visiting with the Longmires. We'll start talking about old times and when we used to live together. Then these old bath pictures will come out of some dark corner and will be passed around while we adults laugh and talk about days gone by, all while poor Lily and Jancsi blush with embarrassment.

While we were in the mountains we just couldn't resist putting these two cute kiddos in the tub together! This is one of Lily's favorite times of the day and Jancsi is just starting to really enjoy splashing around. The had a grand old time screaming at each other, and laughing and splashing.

Lily is pulling up on everything and Jancsi want to do everything that she is doing, so of course he is attempting to pull up on things too.... we just aren't too successful as of yet. I seriously cannot get over how incredibly cute they are! We are so greatly blessed!

Falling Leaves

2011-10-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Little leaves fall softly down
Red and yellow, orange and brown
Whirling, twirling round and round
Falling softly to the ground

Little leaves fall softly down
To make a carpet on the ground.
Then, swish, the wind comes whistling by
And sends them dancing to the sky.

I remember as a little kid, my mom let my siblings and I sleep out in a giant pile of leaves we had spent all day raking. We built a tent over the top out of a tarp and had a grand old time staying up late talking until we collapsed into the crunchy mound and fell asleep in the chilly fall air.

The mountains were covered in leaves this past weekend and I had all these grand ideas that Jancsi was going to love a good pile of leaves as much as his mama did! I was just slightly wrong.

The 'crunch' that was so fun for me, was terrifying for him. Poor guy.

He decided after hugs from mom that as long as he could eat the leaves, it was cool.

Still not sold on them though.

Falling in love.... again

2011-10-24T15:21:00.000-04:00

Our weekend started on Thursday night when Sebron got off work, we left the baby with the Longmires, and headed off to the fair! What a treat to be able to steal away with my man for a few hours! We totally ate our hearts out with funnel cakes, kettle corn and fudge. We've been going to this same tiny fudge booth every year. They have every type of fudge you could ever imagine! Seeb and I always pick a little bar and share it. We finally found them (they had moved this year) and after a long hard 5 minutes of sampling, thinking, and going back and forth with my man, we finally decided on the peanut butter chocolate fudge (AMAZING!) Before we left I asked the man who owned it if he had any water, he answered no, but then leaned in and asked if I liked the oreo fudge. I had no idea why he was asking but answered that I did. He winked at me and tossed in a bar into our bag and handed it over without us paying for it. I joked with Sebron and told him it pays to be cute! : )

We had such a fabulous time just being together and walking hand in hand around the fair grounds. I truly believe the best time to go to the fair is at night. Every ride, tent and booth is lit up with lights and I always feel like a little kid! Plus, the crowds are less. We finished the evening watching the fireworks display. Fantastic!

Friday morning, we all packed up and headed to the mountains! The Longmires had never been before and we were privileged to take them to Sebron's grandma's house to share the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains with them!

We did several hikes and just enjoyed the beautiful mountain Fall. I cannot tell you how wonderfully amazing it is to spend an entire weekend with my best friend without work interrupting our time. The house up there has no TV or internet and it is so nice to just 'be'. I love watching my husband come alive as soon as our jeep starts climbing the foothills. He is such a mountain boy and just loves being up there.

I can't believe that next month we'll have been married for a year and a half! Incredible! Everyday that passes, my boys become more and more dear to me. Time is so precious! I found myself falling in love with Sebron all over again. I praise God for him and for our love.

He blows me away all the time. One the drive home yesterday and out of the blue, he asked if he could bless me. He started this shortly after we were married. We would stop what we were doing and tell each other how the other person had blessed us that day, week or whatever. It has been such a special thing for both of us. Sebron asked if he could bless me, and for the next 20 minutes my husband spoke the most beautiful blessings over me. Telling me how much he appreciated me, my work, all that I do around the house and so many wonderful words!

Pressing on

2011-10-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

Some weeks are just harder then others. As my weekend is on the horizon, I am packing for a family get away trip to the mountains. The boys (Jancsi and Bryce) have been fussy this week. Not sure if it's teeth or just because they can! : ) Somewhere in between bottles, naps, diapers and Old Mcdonald, I'm throwing clothes in the suitcase. I can't wait to get away from Raleigh for a few days and enjoy hiking and cold mountain nights! Sometimes it's just nice to change things up a bit, brake up the normal routine.

God has been showing me so much of Himself this week. He has been there through the sleepless nights and the long days following when I felt I couldn't go another step. He has been there through my struggles to trust Him with the ones I love the most. He has been reminding me daily that as much as I love them and worry about them, are they not even more precious to Him? Does He not see ALL things? Nothing escapes His notice or can slip by. He is holding all of us in the palm of His hands and wipes away the tears and leads us on toward upward ground. My God is amazing like that.

Throughout the week, the Lord has reminded me that He loves me. Little rays of sunshine, I got to have a morning with my husband when is rained and he got to go in to work late. Because of the same rain, he came home early and Jancsi got to see his Daddy for the first time in three days. A hug from a friend. A smile from one of these precious kiddos I'm blessed to watch. An early morning run. Just simple, every day things. Rays of sunshine in the midst of rain. Thank you Lord!

Tonight is date night with my man! Been looking forward to it all week! Tomorrow is goodbye Raleigh, hello mountains!

MILA. The Miracle Seed.

2011-10-18T21:11:00.000-04:00

So a couple days ago I posted about becoming an Independent Distributor for MILA by Lifemax. I wanted to go into more detail and tell you a bit more about what exactly MILA is and why I've gotten involved.

I was first introduced to MILA over this past summer when Bethany gave us a bag to try. She had recently started eating it and was seeing some amazing health benefits from it. She was so excited and all I heard about on our runs together was MILA this and MILA that and all about this incredible food (love ya girl!). So, Beth gave us a bag and Seeb and I decided to give it a month trial period. My dear husband has suffered with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) all his life. We have tried everything from prescription drugs, over the counter stuff, fiber shakes, pills, powders, you name it, we tried it. Nothing helped him and only left him with an upset stomach. I was very curious to see how the MILA would effect him. The very first day of eating MILA, Sebron came to me and was just so excited to tell me how great he felt and how he really already noticed a huge difference. I was amazed that not only was it helping, but that it was helping so quickly. We continued eating it everyday and Sebron continued to sing it's praises! I on the other hand, didn't notice anything until I'd been eating it for about 3 weeks or so. All of a sudden I realized I wasn't craving sweets like usual. This is HUGE for me! Anyone that knows me can tell you! I could seriously live very happily on candy and baked goodies. Horrible I know but the truth is what it is. I never even noticed it until I had gone a whole week without craving or eating something really sweet. This of course amazed me. Another big thing I noticed was the fact that I dropped 9lbs without trying, caring, or changing anything in my exercise or diet (other than MILA). Yes, I've been running, but I've been running since Jancsi was 5 weeks old and never dropped weight like this. I also started noticing that I have more stamina, energy and endurance in my running and everyday activities. Beth and I would go for a 14 mile run and we would both feel super! I noticed my legs didn't burn the next day and I would actually feel like going out and doing another hard run instead of taking a day off. I was amazed at how incredible I was feeling just in general, so I started doing some research and talking with Beth who is a fount of information on the subject.

MILA is is proprietary blend of Salvia hispanica L., commonly known as chia. It is not a supplement. It is a FDA approved whole raw food. It is a functional food, meaning that it feeds your body on the cellular level. MILA is packed with Omega-3s. With over 3,000MG per serving, MILA is the safest and highest source of Omegas on the planet! Why is this important? Because Omega-3s are essential fatty acids that our bodies need to perform at our optimal level. Because we do not make Omega-3s, our cells have to get these essential fatty acids from outside sources.... ie: what we eat. What is even more interesting is the fact that in a recent study, it was found that only 5% of Americans are consuming Omega-3s! That means that 95% of our population aren't getting these essential fatty acids and are not functioning at their optimal level! Yikes! I was blown way by this. Not only is MILA an excellent source for Omega-3s, but it is loaded with fiber- both soluble and insoluble. This is so important for colon health, to prevent colon cancer, balances blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol. This is why it has been so incredibly helpful for Sebron. The fiber also controls the rate your body absorbs carbohydrates which is how it improves energy and endurance. It is also packed with protein, antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. Protein builds up, maintains, and replaces the tissues in your body. Antioxidants have an anti aging effect while boosting your immune system and decrease inflammation. Phytonutrients are cancer fighters. Vitamins and minerals are another immune booster, as well as aid in growth and development and cell function.

When you feed your body all these essential goodies, your body is able to balance itself out and perform and operate the way we were created. Because of this, people eating it are seeing so many health benefits including weight loss, cholesterol is lowering and blood sugar and blood pressure is balancing out. You can check out a bunch of testimonials at this website: seed for change Fascinating! MILA is truly an incredible food and is changing lives all over the world! It is completely plant based and grown organically. Because it is a food, it is completely safe for pregnant women, nursing moms and kids! I give it to Jancsi every morning in his breakfast. I love how it's not a pill. MILA has more nutrition per serving than most people get in a week!

Gram per gram, MILA has:
8x more omega-3s than Atlantic farmed or wild salmon
6x more calcium than milk
3x more iron than spinach
2x more potassium than bananas
15x more magnesium than broccoli
2x more fiber than bran flakes
6x more protein than kidney beans
2x more selenium than flax seed
9x more phosphorous than milk
More antioxidants than blueberries

After seeing how MILA has benefitted our family, I have been so excited about sharing this incredible food with our friends, family and just everyone! I joined the Lifemax business and am now an Independent Distributor for MILA and am so excited about the business opportunity! I can still be a stay at home mom, while helping Sebron with our income! I can devote as much time and energy as I want/can each day, which as a mom and nanny is essential for me to be able to do this!

You can check out my website here or you can click on the MILA picture on the right side of my blog page. Both websites are a great way to find out more about MILA, the Miracle Seed.

Ramblin' Rose 1/2 Marathon

2011-10-16T20:55:00.000-04:00

Ever since I had Jancsi it has been my goal to do another 1/2 marathon. Bethany was already planning on running the Ramblin' Rose and convinced me to train and run it with her. What fun to have been able to do all our training together! We had shirts printed with our MILA design and they were ready in time for today's race! They turned out awesome and we couldn't be happier!

This morning bright and early found us bundling up the kiddos and driving to Durham for the race! It was super cold out and we just piled on the clothes over the babies pj's for extra warmth. Sebron was on baby duty this race and it was so wonderful knowing that they were with him and having a grand old time while we ran!

I have been so excited about this race and was hoping to be under two hours, but more importantly, just wanted to have fun with it! The horn blew and we were off! Bob took off and Beth and I settled into our pace. I love running with a friend and we chatted back and forth and the first 4 miles flew by! 1/2 marathons are so much fun and if you've never done one, I really encourage you to do so! A million people turn out to cheer you on along the course and the whole atmosphere is so exciting! This race even had a live band that played as we started and was there at the finish line as well!

Bethany has been having some leg pain the past couple days and we really weren't sure she was going to be able to run. She was a trooper though and started out and we were keeping up a good pace. Around mile 7 she decided to stop and stretch it out for a minute so I kept going.

Right before the race started, the director said something about it being a great course and a little hilly at the end. He lied. Oh he lied horribly! Not only was it hilly the entire course, but it was killer hilly! The type of hills that make you wanna stop and forget about ever running again. The kind that make you question your sanity. All I can say is that I am so glad that normally I push Jancsi in the jogger up hills- so I felt I had some advantage and knew I could dig deep to get to the top.

Sebron and the kids found me a few time during the race and were there to cheer me up the last hill to the finish. Crossed the line in 1:54:00! So happy and excited to have met my goal! Time wise and post pregnancy! Bethany crossed shortly after and I was so proud and amazed at her ability to really push through and finish strong despite her injury. Bob of course did awesome and made the whole thing look easy.

The kiddos did awesome and never complained about being in the cold or waking up so early. Aren't they cute in their pj's?

I always feel so great after a good long race! We were all pretty hungry by the time we got home and waffles were on everyone's mind! So waffles it was!

Love these guys!

NC State Fair

2011-10-15T07:57:00.000-04:00

It's Fair season here in North Carolina! One of my favorite times of year! Jancsi had his 6 month check up a few days ago and on our way to the Doctor's office we could see all the rides and booths being set up at the fair grounds. Makes me giddy just thinking about it!

Friday, we met my sibs Joy and Sam who drove up with our friends the Allison family. What a treat to see everyone and for Jancsi to spend time with his Aunt and Uncle! Sebron had to work so we missed him horribly, but are looking forward to our date night next week to see the fireworks display!

Of course I had to take Jancsi to all the agricultural areas of the fair and visit all the animals, petting zoos, farm equipment etc. There was so much going on with the crowds, music, flags and all the other fair craziness that it was difficult to get Jancsi to actually look at the animals. I'm desperately pointing out the piglets to him and all he cares about is laughing at the little girl beside us who is having a tantrum.... the cows weren't very exciting to him either and all he wanted to do was try to suck on the fence. One day kiddo, you will love the fair as much as your Daddy and I.

Tradition that we made our way into the cattle show building as soon as we got into the fair. I loved showing Jancsi where his Mama used to show cows and live during past fairs. Fun times! (This is where he decided to eat the fence.)

Checking out the turkeys in the poultry tent with Aunt Joy.

We watched a couple pig shows and I was reminded why I'm not a huge fan of hogs. Still, fun to watch!

I love how our state is still such a huge agricultural state! It's so awesome to go through all the rows of veggies and livestock. I cannot wait to get our kids involved in 4-H and have them showing goats and cattle and what not. The biggest watermelon was 282 lbs! Just 9lbs short of the world record! Incredible!

I am totally not a ride person, but I do like to just walk through the breeze ways and watch in horror at all the people and little kids flying around on the terrifying rides. I never could stomach rides and on the few that I have done I have spent the entire ride, praying in terror that I would survive. I finally came to the conclusion that it's just not worth it to put myself through the near death experience. So, I just watch.

Jancsi was fantastic! We were there for 7 hours and he never fussed once! He napped twice in the stroller and was happy the rest on the time to watch all the goings on. He wore his carhartt overalls his cousin Isaac passed down to him. Cutest clothes ever!

I love this fair and how special it is for Sebron and I. Two years ago today, my Man took me out onto the boardwalk in the middle of the floral display and asked me to marry him. Life has never been the same since! Love him!

Right after Seeb proposed October 15, 2009.

6 Months

2011-10-10T12:41:00.000-04:00

Dear Jancsi,

Today you are six months old. Six whole months. I was reminded today when I saw you sitting all by yourself with your toys, just how fast time goes by. I treasure each and every moment with you. Yes we've had our tough times of no sleep, both of us grumpy and out of sorts as we figure out each new stage of life and new routine. But even in the midst of screaming fits and dirty diapers, we can't get enough of each other. I love that. When you wrap your little arms around my neck and burrow your face into me. I want to bottle it all up so that one day when you're all grown up with a family of your own, I can open it and all the bottled up sunshine will come pouring out and fill our house again!

You are so funny and your sense of humor keeps your Daddy and I laughing even when we're exhausted! We ask each other every day how we are so blessed to have you in our lives. You make parenting such a joy and I can't wait each morning to start a new day with you.

I don't think I will ever be able to fully show you how much I truly love you Jancsi. I can tell you 100 times every day, kiss you a trillion times and smother you in hugs. And yet, I know I will disappoint you. I wont always be everything you need. You are going to get upset at me and be hurt. My prayer is that through my love, you will see the love of our Savior. He will never disappoint you and will be all you ever need. He will be there for you when I cannot be. Run to Him kiddo. Run to Him each and every day of your life. That is my prayer for you son, that you will be a man after God's own heart. That you will seek Christ in everything you do, and you will put Him first in your life. I pray you will be a great leader for our Lord.

I am not perfect. I am by far a perfect Mama. I'm sorry that you are somewhat of a quinine pig for your Daddy and I as we figure out this whole parenting thing. I know the Lord has a reason why He chose you to be our first though. You are physically strong as well as strong willed and stubborn. You have a heart of gold and a spark for life and people. You are an energy giver and quick to laugh. The Lord has mighty plans for you Jancsi. Live your life for Him and He will bless you above and beyond anything you can even begin to imagine. He will prosper you and never let you go hungry. He will protect and lead you.

I love you Jancsi. So much so, that it hurts.
I cannot thank the Lord enough for you.

All my love,
Mama

Life

2011-10-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

Since I started down this road of Motherhood, there have been so many days where there just haven't been nearly enough hours to get everything done, and just as many days that seem like they are never going to end! The nights are the same- either Jancsi is up all night and I can't wait for the sun to show it's face so the endless night of screaming babies will be over and done forever. Then there are the nights where he sleeps and the alarm goes off way to early and it's everything I can do to keep myself from pulling the covers over my head and calling a time out or a pause to the day.

Jancsi is so busy these days. He is not officially crawling, but he can really move around in circles and somehow manages to scoot around some. He is sitting up by himself and whatever is in his reach his is sure to get into.

He is my little work partner and three days a week we nanny for Bryce. So Tuesday through Thursday are pretty full days and I'm up to my elbows in spit-up and diapers. I am so blessed and so thankful the Lord brought a family into my life that would allow me to bring Jancsi with me. Huge answer to prayer. On top of that, I have started a new business as an Independent Distributor for MILA by Lifemax. You can check out my website here. I am so excited about this and have been really spending every spare minute I have getting this up and running. I'll be posting on this more later! Stay tuned!

Sebron is working full time as a crew boss over at the landscaping company. He has a really good crew and has been enjoying being back with them. We don't see him much as he is also working weekends at Starbucks, but we are so thankful he has work when so many are laid off right now. We are blessed. I am looking forward to the day where he'll have a more normal job and we'll see him more often!

We are 3 months into our co-living adventure! What a fun and tremendous blessing to be living with friends! There is always something going on- a baby crying, a baby to play with, someone to talk to, ask advise, cook with, run with, movie nights and the list goes on! Yes, we are still find ourselves playing musical cars as we can't seem to figure out who has to leave somewhere first so we are constantly moving cars so people can get out. Our friendly mailman refuses to deliver the mail if people park in the cul-de-sac, so we all have to squish into our small driveway.

I am so thankful for where the Lord has us right now. Yes, the days can be hard, but I have an amazing, loving husband who supports me in everything and loves me so unconditionally, a son who is such a incredible blessing and brings so much life to our lives, and a Lord and Savior who is always there, surrounding me with His love and holding me in His hands.

Here's to another week!

Phillip's Farm

2011-10-08T13:03:00.000-04:00

While on the way to Church last Sunday, we discovered Phillip's Farm. They have a pumpkin patch, corn maze with hayrides, pony rides, and all sorts of fun kiddo stuff! We decided that we would go the following weekend to get Jancsi a pumpkin. I've been looking forward to it allll week! Sebron got home just in time on Friday for us to go! I had almost given up hope since he is working today and Sunday afternoon. We loaded the kiddo up and headed to the farm! I was WAY more excited then Jancsi and Sebron asked me several times if I had eaten cups of sugar before we left..... you get the picture.

I love Fall and pumpkin patches. Brings back all the wonderful memories of growing up working on Hunter Farm and all the pumpkins, school children and work. Good old honest work. Love it. I've been looking forward to bringing J-Man to get a pumpkin since he was born!

It is so much more fun to go to stuff like pumpkin patches when you have kids! Sebron and I were talking as we walked through the corn maze that we would have come anyway, but you see everything through totally new eyes when you take your kiddo! It also gives us an awesome excuse to be the big kids that we are! I was sure Jancsi would love the whole thing! .......

This was Jancsi's first response to our trip to the pumpkin patch. He wanted to make it clear how he felt about the whole experience. He came around though and ended up thinking the orange balls were pretty cool.

I made a beeline for the goats as soon as I caught sight of them. I raised dairy goats growing up and there is really nothing cuter then baby kids jumping around. I've told Seeb a hundred times that as soon as we get our farm, I'm buying goats! Jancsi had never seen them before, so I didn't want to just walk right up and stick them in his face and completely traumatize the poor child. If Daddy was going to let us get goats, this had to be a good experience! I should never have worried- Jancsi got one look at the goats and started reaching for them and laughing! He LOVED them! Points for me towards getting goats!

The corn maze was pretty cool to J-Man, and he couldn't take his eyes off those weird tall green stalks that hung over his head!

Yes, I think our kiddo will fit into the farm scene just fine!

Veggie Tales

2011-10-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

This child LOVES food. He is completely and whole heartedly all about food. It's been so much fun to try new veggies and see his reactions. I am making all his food by steaming the veggies and then blending them in the food processor. I was a bit worried at first that it was just going to be one more thing that I had to do, but it has been so easy and I love knowing that Jancsi is eating fresh produce and not processed canned stuff full of preservatives. I am still wanting nursing to be his main substance right now so I'm just doing rice cereal in the morning and a veggie at night. As soon as I put him in his booster seat he goes crazy! Legs kicking, arms flying around, squealing and laughing. So cute.

So far we've done carrots, green beans, yellow squash, butternut squash, zucchini, peas and sweet potatoes. He has loved everything except the green beans. He must get that from his Mama.... always been my least favorite. I'll usually do two veggies per week, so this week I did butternut squash and green beans. One night we'll do squash, the next we'll do beans.

He hates the beans. The funny thing is that he is SO excited about food that each bite he opens wide and is so excited. Beans go in and he face completely changes and he fusses. But then he is just excited for the next bite as if he thinks it's going to be different. Sorry kiddo. That's what's for dinner.

I did have a night where I was having to do half a spoon of squash with half a spoon of beans in order to get the beans in him. We were doing great until he started choking. He started gaging and I gave him a little pat on the back. He continued to gag and his face started getting red. I patted harder, all of a sudan I could tell he wasn't getting air in any more and I had this moment of panic. His face got bright red and he was gaging with his mouth open. I yanked him out of his chair with visions of me doing CPR on my child... all my years of lifeguard training to only have to do it on my own kiddo! I said a quick prayer and started really pounding on his little back draping him over my arm. Beth's parents were in town and they were all standing there I think getting ready to jump in if needed. It only took two pounds before he threw up a good sized chunk of green beans. The whole scary process only lasted less then a minute, but it was enough for me to say dinner was over.

It dawned on me later that my kiddo is more like me then I think sometimes. I was reminded of the story my Mom tells of me when I was 4 or 5-years-old and how I stuffed my green beans in my cheek, ate my ice cream for dessert and then went and spit the beans in the bathroom trash.... Mom found them. I don't know what happened next, but when I thought if that story I really began to think that Jancsi was holding all those beans in his mouth and only swallowing the squash. Little stinker. Needles to say, he didn't get away with it and we had beans the next night. He fussed and complained, but I was very careful to make sure between bites that he was actually swallowing. Other then that, he has loved everything. I think peas are his favorite so far.

This is what happens when you decide to stay up through your last afternoon nap. Poor kiddo, fell asleep in the middle of dinner.

So many peoples

2011-10-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

We had a jam packed weekend of friends and family! Sebron's Aunt Melisa was in town on business and stopped in for dinner two nights last week! It was so special to see her since we hadn't had a visit since Jancsi was only 5 weeks old. Lets just say that J-Man got a lot of lovin' in the short time Aunt Melisa was here! My dear friend Lauren came on the train for the weekend and Lily's grandparents were also staying at the house for the weekend! So we had a full house and it was awesome!

I kept telling Jancsi that we were on our way to pick up Anne of Green Gables! He totally didn't get it, but trust me, he'll be watching that movie before he leaves home! : ) It was so much fun to have Lauren here and we just enjoyed hanging out, playing with the kiddo, catching up on life and such.

Love her! Can't believe we've known each other since I was like 12-years-old! Good thing we're friends, because L has some stories on me.... but I've got some good ones on her too. : )

Sunday afternoon we headed out to Umstead State Park, one of my favorite trails to run. I haven't been able to run them since having Jancsi since the trails are not jogger accessible, so it was super fun to go hiking instead! We put the kid in the backpack and set out! The whole weekend was BEAUTIFUL! It would just hit 70 during the day with a really nice cool breeze. Perfect for hiking!

The trails are gorgeous this time of year and the leaves have just a hint of color! I love how you can get lost at Umstead away from the roads, traffic and people. Just beautiful. If you are from this area and haven't already, you really need to check it out!

Lauren went crazy with water pictures! : ) The river is beautiful and the trail runs along it for a good stretch.

Jancsi was a champ and although he can hardly see over the pack, he was content to pull my hair and laugh at the random hikers we passed.

With so many visitors staying in the house, Jancsi has been completely doted on the entire weekend! He just soaks it up and loves every second of the attention. Now it's Tuesday and Bryce is here (napping) and it's time to share the love. Sharing is so tough for these little kiddos- especially sharing their Mommy. But, we always get back into the swing of things and the two boys are happy to play together.

Sunday school

2011-09-26T15:38:00.000-04:00

Well I guess the technical term is 'nursery.' Jancsi went for the first time ever while Seeb and I enjoyed a baby free Church service two weeks ago- it's amazing how much more I get out of the sermon when I'm not concentrating on keeping a kiddo quiet. It still didn't make it any easier handing my child over to complete strangers in the nursery. I found myself kissing him all over like I was leaving for a week. As I handed him to one of the babysitters, I had this urge to not let go and have them all fill out questionnaires with essay questions and the whole deal. My heart hurt when instead of crying, he smiled at the lady. How could he be happy? Didn't he know I was leaving him for 60 whole minutes!

As we walked away down the hall, I told Sebron "Wow, this is what it feels like to be big parents." Sebron took my hand with his head hung low and answered that he felt horrible about it. So the two of us walked towards the service trying to act like it was no big deal, but both on the verge of crying. I spent the entire service scanning the overhead screen for Jancsi's number to pop up, a call from the nursery to come get him for whatever reason. I thought about going and checking on him, to make sure he was ok, to secretly spy on the nursery caregivers to see that they were doing their job and treating my boy with love. This boy that means the world to his daddy and I. The service passed and there was no call. No red number in the corner of the screen. We walked back down the hall to find a laughing, happy kiddo.

I've been struggling lately with fear. My mind races about different things that could happen to Jancsi and how I need to protect him. I find myself thinking at different times, 'ok, if this happened what would I do? how would I respond?' One time when I was running by myself I found myself fearing that around every corner might be a kidnapper and I needed to have an escape route planned out and ready to activate. It's hard for me to leave him because I'm positive no one can take care of him as well as I do. Nothing can possibly happen to him on my clock.

The Lord has been working on me. Jancsi is not mine. Yes I need to care for him, meet his needs, protect him. But it is not all my responsibility. Jancsi belongs to the Lord. He is God's gift to Sebron and I, but he is not ours. It is something I have to do every single day. It is the hardest thing I've had to do. Give my child to God. When, in all honesty, who else is better to care for Jancsi, to watch over him, love and protect him then our Shepherd and Lord? I know all this, and yet it is a struggle.

Yesterday at Church, I handed my little man over to the nursery worker and although I still felt like crying, I wasn't worried about him. He is the Lord's little lamb and I know the Good Shepherd is watching over him.

Zoey

2011-09-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

Seriously? Can she be any cuter? My niece, Zoey Bree, arrived September 12th! She just couldn't wait to meet her Aunt Grace, so she arrived two whole weeks early. Jancsi and I drove down to meet her yesterday and let me tell you- she is the littlest bundle of adorableness there is. She is so tiny, 6 lbs. 9 oz. After carrying around J-Man, Zoey was like holding a little cloud. So excited to finally have a little girly in the mix!

Real life

2011-09-17T20:54:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here at the computer listening to my kiddo who is supposed to be napping.... instead he is playing in his crib and rolling around and banging into the sides. This week has felt so long at times and short at others. It's been filled with work, running, races, cooking, sleepless nights, wife and mommy duties, and just real life.

I have been so encouraged this week by God's gift to us through friendship. Sebron was recently laid off due to his company ending their clients contract and not having another to replace it. So, the past two weeks we have revisited a place I feel like I know all too well and would have been fine never having to visit it again. We hit the job hunt hard and sent out applications, resumes and cover letters. We had interviews and phone calls. I was getting so discouraged. Sebron called up his old landscaping boss and was told that he always had a job with the company wether it was for a week or six years. Thank you Lord for friends like that.

The twins- Jancsi and Bryce in their matching baseball outfits this past week.

I have also been so blessed to be living with such a dear friend, Beth. You know, everyone is always so curious when we say we live with another family. They want to know how in the world does it all work. Does everyone get along? The number one question that Beth and I get asked is how in the world do you share a kitchen? A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is what our kitchen looks like most days at meal time.....

Okay. Not really. We actually get along. : ) So many people ask me how it works so here is a little idea.... Because of Sebron's weird work schedule, we tend to eat later then the Longmires. So by the time I start cooking, they've already eaten. Most days though if we are cooking at the same time, the kitchen looks like this- two babies lying, sitting, crawling around the kitchen with baby toys spread around to keep them busy while the Mama's cook. We moms step over and around the action, asking each other who needs the oven or stove that night. We wash dishes while we go and pick up crying kiddos in between mashing the potatoes and loading the dishwasher. Somewhere in there the Dads come home hungry, and add even more life and fun to the mix. At the end of the day, we all have dinner, no one is hurt, everyone fed and happy. : ) This week we did meals together to save on the grocery bills. We planned the meals and then split the groceries. It was awesome! Bethany is the better cook between the two of us which works out for me because I get free cooking lessons every night!

Last night was a big night for the munchkin- we had rice cereal! To say that he liked it would be an understatement. He devoured it. He loved it. He was rAvEnOuS! Not only did he eat it, but it was the way he ate that I found hilarious.... he would lunge forward for it with his mouth open wide and would grab at my hands and the spoon trying to pull it towards him. In between bites he'd look at me as if he was saying "where has this stuff been all my life?" He ate two helpings.

I was planning on waiting to start foods until he was 6 months old, but the way he has been sleeping lately and with suggestions from Nana and Aunt Faith, we're giving food a try. He has been getting up every two/three hours and acts starved and screams. Needless to say, Sebron and I haven't been getting much sleep these past few weeks. So, I'm introducing a bit of food at night to hopefully help hold him longer. He seemed to sleep better last night, but it was only the first time we tried it, so I'll be curious to see if it helps more in the long run.

Speaking of runs... Bethany and I are in the middle of our training for our half marathon next month! We've been doing a lot of long runs together and I love having such a dear friend and sister in the Lord to run with! On Friday the NCSU XC Club team raced out at our home xc course (just 3 miles from our house). I have been practicing with the team once or twice a week at night on the days I have to be at work early. I was really wanting to race that course and beat my time that I did in early June (my first race after Jancsi). I was however a bit nervous of the idea of running with the team and racing other varsity teams. To be honest, my pride was the only thing holding me back. Shallow, I know. Well when Bethany figured it out she told me she wasn't going to let me get away with that. So, Friday evening found both of us out on the field, on the starting line of the Wolfpack Invitational 5k.

The gun went off and we started off down the hill. Then something crazy happened- Funny background story here.... during our runs together, when racing comes up in conversation, I tell Bethany about how competitive I am and how I will train with someone forever but how I'd rather die then let them beat me. Again- shallow. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that when I say all this, Beth always says how she's not that way at all and that she's more of a team player and blah blah blah. So we start the race and I'm out to beat my time and Bethany is out for what I thought was just a good time. Well we start down the hill and Beth flies by me! I mean she's killin' it! My first thought was "Are you serious?" Competing against her had not been in my plans, but she was basically asking me to!

I was having a rough race from the start and Beth saw it and immediately jumped in and paced me! She pushed me in all the hard, yet perfect places. There was no way I would have kept up that pace if it had not been for her. It was so cool though because then later on in the race when she was having a harder time, I paced her. We pretty much beasted the last hill and came in almost 3 minutes under my time I wanted and just 3 seconds shy of beating my over all PR! I was so excited! Beth was amazing- although from now on, I'm not believing all her 'not competitive. team player' mumbo jumbo. Whatever. At least she knew what she was dealing with. I was honest. Thanks girl.

This was a weekend of races. So, Beth and I did the 5k on Friday, then today, Bob, Beth and Seeb did another 5k in Raleigh. I was on baby duty and kept the kiddos. It was 56 degrees and pouring down freezing rain! We spent the entire race hanging out under different vender tents making friends. They were awesome! They spent the whole time laughing at each other and me. So cute!

Everyone ran great and Sebron came in 2nd over all! I love living with another family that enjoys the same things we do and we can all enjoy them together.

One of these days things will be different. The whole job hunting thing will be over. The sleepless nights and screaming little ones will be a thing of the past. I am so thankful for friends who love and support us. Life is real. Life is good.

2,977

2011-09-11T08:04:00.000-04:00

My thoughts are never far from the events that happened that Tuesday morning on this day every year. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. My heart always breaks for the families that lost loved ones in the attacks on our country that day, ten years ago. 2,977 lives lost. Sebron and I watched a short video that was making it's way around facebook about a pilot that had requested flight 11- one of the airplanes that crashed into the trade center. In the last minute, another pilot requested and was given that flight, thus saving the life of the first pilot unknown to him at the time.

It was after watching that video and watching Jancsi playing on the floor that I thought of the men that took over the cockpit that day. What were their thoughts that morning when they woke up? What was the motivating factor that kept them to carry through? To give up their lives and take so many with them.

Those men had families. I don't know if they were married or not, but they had sisters and brothers. They had a mother. As I watched Jancsi laughing and playing, I thought about their mothers. Would they have done something different when those men were boys if they had known what they would do that day? Those boys were loved. Someone tucked them in at night and held their hand when they were little. They could have been doing something different that day, but instead they boarded those planes with the single intension of bringing destruction and death.

Whether or not the religion of those men and their families thought highly of their actions that day, I can't help but think of those mothers and how the news hit them. No matter what, I know there was sadness. There was a feeling of loss. That sense of brokenness. The incredibly feeling of emptiness knowing their boys were gone. Forever.

Jancsi has his whole life ahead of him. He will constantly be faced with decisions he has to make. What type of man will he be? There are days where I am overwhelmed at the responsibility of raising him to be a man of character. A man after God's own heart- that is my prayer. It is our job as parents to bring him up in the way he should go, so that when he is old he will not depart from it. I feel so unworthy for that calling.

Lord be with those families. The families on both sides. Be with us mothers. Give us wisdom as we raise this next generation.

5 Months

2011-09-10T15:27:00.001-04:00

I can't believe Jancsi is already 5 months old! Some days I feel like I'm going to wake up to get him out of his crib and he'll be a little one-year-old already! Love him so much!

J & Lily

This week has been a bit exhausting- I think he is starting that wonderful chapter of teething. I'm so glad non of us remember teething. Sounds awful, poor little guy. He has been so fussy, clingy and hasn't been sleeping well. Everything goes in his mouth and I'm just hoping it will all be over for his sake. Who am I kidding? For ALL our sakes. : )

Other then the whole tooth thing, Jancsi has been a happy little guy like normal. He is getting so close to scooting! He gets his feet pushing but hasn't got the hands going at the same time. He can turn all the way around now so he can face any direction he wants.

He's also an expert at going backwards.... gets himself into some tight spots at times (under the couch). Any day now kiddo!

He's weighing in over 18 pounds now and is really a chunk to carry around. He is loud LoUd LOUD and often just makes noise to make noise. I think he's gonna be ready for some foods next month and watches people eating like it's going out of business! He wants to grab at and hold everything that Mama has, and laughs when we tell him no (oh dear).

He is really beginning to enjoy his time in the jogger and loves to sit up more so he can see thing as we run by. Him and Lily talk back and forth from time to time as the Mamas push.

His face lights up when Sebron pushes the jogger on the weekends...... I think he has a love for speed. Really he lights up whenever his Dad is around and I love how Jancsi loves him!

Bath time is way more fun now and has taken on a whole new meaning since he has figured out he can be on his tummy and play with toys. He gets frustrated when they float away. : ) Bath time is usually pretty fun for myself as well... three times now I've turned on the water for the tub and the shower will cover me in cold water. Fantastic. It always ends the same way- me screaming with surprise and shock and then yelling for a towel.

J-Man & Bryce

He LOVES sitting on Daddy's shoulders and laughs the whole time! It's pretty cute. We also discovered today that Jancsi likes to help mow the lawn.....

I am so excited to see Jancsi's personality coming out more each day. We are so blessed beyond measure. Just can't imagine life without this lil' guy.

Grandpa's Farm

2011-09-07T20:40:00.000-04:00

We got to go to Grandpa's farm over Labor Day weekend to celebrate his birthday. What a wonderful, refreshing weekend! It's always so amazing to pull on the old jeans and boots and walk around Dad Jessup's place. The land is truly beautiful and I can just see Jancsi in a few years out there in the woods having all sorts of adventures.

I have to say, J-Man loves his Grandpa! He will sit with him for hours and not fuss, squirm or anything. He is completely content. I love the friendship they already have. We went on a family hike through the property one afternoon, and Dad brought out one of Sebron'e old hats for Jancsi to wear.

He watched us (Seeb and I) over Grandpa's shoulder the whole way. He had this little smirk on his adorable face as if he knew how cool he was wearing a hat like Daddy and Grandpa! Love him!

Saturday night we drove over to Jessup Mill, recently bought by none other but our old landlord of the house we were fixing up.

Andrew has big plans for the mill and already has it fixed up so that people can camp on the property and tube down the river. He has movies on the lawn and different bands and such that come and preform. Sebron's dad has been going over there a lot and actually been helping out with the fixing up project.

We had a wonderful evening touring the huge mill which had so much cool stuff in it! There were a lot of campers, bonfires and a band singing. Jancsi had a great time being shown off by and hanging out with Grandpa. He was such a good sport and when bedtime came and passed he just fell asleep in our arms and didn't start to fuss until almost 10pm! He is so great!

One of the days we were there, Dad brought out his cool bike and we all went for a spin around the fields. Brought back fun memories of mudding and crazy stuff on the farm back home. I'm not gonna lie though, I did almost wipe out on a turn.... thankfully no one saw me. :)

We are so blessed with such a wonderful Dad, father-in-law and Grandpa. He is such a blessing and loves us with that real love. He is a wonderful listener, always listening to our problems, our stories, our dreams. He gives advice and is always there for us. I'm so glad that Jancsi has such a wonderful Grandpa and for me, an incredible father-in-law.

Crib drama

2011-09-02T19:04:00.000-04:00

So I've totally taken on a new role in Jancsi's life. I've been enlisted into the CRS. Crib Rescue Squad... It's a night shift. All night. Every night. Although I'm sometimes called to service during the day as well.

Jancsi hates being on his back now and that means when he's sleeping as well. He hasn't figured out how to roll from his tummy to his back yet, so after he flips over in his crib he starts fussing to be flipped back over again (he likes sleeping on his side). Here's where the CRS comes in. I have to go in and rescue the child and flip him into a position that he'll sleep in. Not as simple as you may think. Because he's rolling all over the place he gets into some tight spots.

I've made rescues with limbs stuck in between bars, faces smooshed into corners, baby bodies stuck against the side of the crib caught mid flip. It's pretty heart braking really, but funny at the same time. I'll hear crying at 2am and rush in to find him stuck in a corner of the crib kicking and pushing himself with his feet which causes him to bang his head into the bars. Poor little guy. I'm looking forward to the day when he can just do his own thing and Mom doesn't have get up every hour and I can retire from the CRS.

Jancsi is SO big and is weighing over 18 pounds! Everyone can't believe he's not yet 5 months. I'm always getting asked what I'm feeding the kid....

As you can see, he feeds himself. Toes are the big hit on the menu right now.

Celebrating Zoey

2011-08-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

Jancsi and I went home to Waxhaw yet again for another weekend! We Martin ladies hosted a shower for my dear sister in law and my little niece, Zoey. CANNOT WAIT TO MEET HER! Everything was so pink which was crazy fun!

We are all super excited about having a little girly around the house at family get togethers! Bekah is so stinkin' cute and I can't believe how great she looks! I was blessed to be able to be home for the special occasion. It's always wonderful to see old faces too! It was great to see friends and reconnect.

My dear friend, Lauren, with the little man.

The rest of the weekend was just fun family time. It's been such a treat to have been with my family the past THREE weekends! First a friend's wedding and my parents anniversary, then the reunion and then the shower! Whew! Crazy!

(I love how you can be totally goofy with sisters and no one thinks less of you or tells you you're acting immature. : ) )

I've totally gotten into the routine of unpack on Sunday and pack back up on Friday. Jancsi has been a total champ and I'm so proud of how he's done with all the travel and going from place to place. He is fantastic in the car on road trips and sleeps almost the whole ride.

Laughs with Aunt Hopie

I was so excited when this lady called me! I'd tried getting up with her the last time I was in town but being the mayor of Weddington and running a farm keep her pretty busy. : ) I grew up working for Nancy on Hunter Farm and somewhere between scooping poop, planting strawberries, pulling all nighters with sick calves and thousands of school kids, we became friends. : ) She is one of the main reasons I went to NC State and majored in agriculture.

There was a nice breeze from the hurricane as we visited on the front porch. Jancsi slept the entire visit. What a little party pooper. : )

Uncle Sam- a lot of people say they look alike?

Opa!

Wednesday....

2011-08-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

The house is baby silent. Both Jancsi and Lily are down for the night and Bryce has gone home. I'm eating dinner as I type and going over the day in my mind and waiting for my man to get off work. It'll be another late night for him. He is still working several nights a week over at Starbucks and doesn't get home until 10:30 or 11pm.

The other day was unplanned 'green day'. They looked like twins.

My days are filled with baby boys, spit-up (funny story on this later), and trying to adjust to the new routine. It's been great having Bryce here and so far the little guys entertain each other. They babble back and forth, and grab at each others heads if I put them too close.

Jancsi is really into this toy lately... I have no idea what it is supposed to be, but it's his favorite right now. He is obsessed with trying to break it apart and he gets all out of breath trying to do so. After awhile he gets super frustrated and melts into tears. The past couple days we've had to play with it in short spurts.

I've been running with the NCSU XC club team this week in the evenings since with work I can't do my normal morning runs. They just started practices this week and it's been fun to go out and see everyone again. It must look a little strange to see a pack of runners running around campus- one with a baby jogger trying to fit in with all the new freshman in their much too tiny booty spandex shorts. I've not been out of school very long at all, but it always shocks me how everyone tries to wear as little and show off as much as they possibly can. Not just the runners either. It's all over campus. I find it sad that everyone seems to have the mindset that this is how they need to present themselves.

Anyway, the runs have been good, but a serious kick in the behind. I'm not used to running my training runs at my race pace which is what everyone has been doing this week. Granted it is the first week of practice and all the newbies come in wanting to show off their skills. So everyone does these insane runs the first week to let everyone know what their made of and not to be out done by anyone else. Stupid, but we're all guilty. We're all dying but no one will admit it and then we get back and cool down we're all like "good run! felt great!" and it's not until we get to our cars or dorm rooms that we fall down and die. Well I'm kinda over those days. I'm no longer ashamed to tell my running buddy "hey, I'm dying over here, I'm gonna slow down." Oh the freedom! It's wonderful!

Okay- funny spit-up story.... I get to xc practice the other night and I'm holding Jancsi while everyone is still gathering at our meeting place on campus. He is going crazy and laughing and babbling into my shoulder. (Love him!) Anyway- mid laugh, he spits-up ALL over me and my cute running top. It's covering my whole front and running down my leg. Fantastic. Any other day I would have gotten a cloth and cleaned it up. Well that day, both Bryce and J-Man had been more spit-upy then normal and I'd changed shirts twice. So by that time of day I was over it and really could care less. So I just ran my hand over it and sort of smashed it into my clothes so there wouldn't be rivers running everywhere. Gross I know. Well later in the run I've got this crazy swarm of nats all around me and driving me crazy. I'm the only one they are bothering and I can't figure out why..... oh yeah.... Thanks kiddo. : ) Never again.

Martin Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-22T13:48:00.000-04:00

We packed up our little family on Friday and headed over to Williamsburg, VA to celebrate my Oma's (grandmother) 85th birthday! We celebrated a bit early so that all my dad's siblings and their families could get together before school started. It was a wonderful weekend of family, cousins, swimming, visiting Colonial Williamsburg and just catching up with everyone. There were 4 new second cousins I'd never met as well as a new husband and a new wife of cousins I'd never met. Saturday night we had a fancy (delicious) dinner in honor of Oma's birthday. It was wonderful to be all together to celebrate her! It is so difficult to watch my grandmother's memory slipping away and I cherish every minute we get to spend with her. She adored Jancsi and it blessed me so much to be able to finally introduce them! Every little noise he made she was positive he was tired and she was always worried he wasn't getting enough sleep! He napped at the pool Saturday afternoon, and Oma spent time holding him in his nest of towels on one of the pool chairs. Precious.

Sebron and I had a king size suite at the hotel we all stayed at. One word: Marvelous. We both decided that when we strike it rich, the first thing we're buying it a king bed. I got lost in it both nights and in order to get my morning kiss I literally had to search out my husband in that massive land of mattress, sheets and down comforter! Jancsi slept incredibly in his pack'n play and didn't wake up once until 6:45 am! Amazing!

Everyone had to head out pretty early Sunday morning. Because we only had a three hour drive back to Raleigh, we decided to take our time and go back to Colonial Williamsburg.

Sebron had never been before that weekend, so we walked up the streets and went into the little shops on Duke of Gloucester Street. So much rich history there. Seeb loved it.

On our way out we had to stop by at our favorite candy store EVER. This place has everything and it's my family's tradition to go get caramel apples after touring CW. Perfect ending to a perfect trip.

Dad Jessup gave us a GPS for Christmas last year and we love it! However this was our first "big" trip that we had ever used it on. I put in our address for home and started following the directions.... I began to notice very quickly that it was taking us a different way home then we had come. I looked at the map on the screen and told Sebron "well it looks like it has us going over a really long bridge because the whole screen up ahead is blue." That really long bridge was actually a 3o minute ferry ride across the river. What? Well we had no idea where we were going, but decided to have fun! We got out of the car once we had parked and watched other boats as we went along.

Right after this picture was taken, Sebron pulled Jancsi away to change positions and his t-shirt was soaked green. Yay, again. Jancsi had not done anything diaper wise in 3 days. I new the storm was coming it was just a matter of time. Well it came and was a pretty good one too. I had to throw Jancsi's outfit away it was so bad and Sebron had to change shirts. So, most of the ferry ride found us in the back of the jeep, emptying out bags of luggage trying to find new clothes, diapers and wipes. The wind off the river was running through all the parked cars like a wind tunnel and I was trying to change my son while keeping my shirt from blowing up to my chin at the same time. It was an interestingly fun ferry ride to say the least.

We spent a good two hours driving through the beautiful country side of Virginia and several farms and farm land were for sale along the lonely roads. We called one place and found out that the farm of only 21 acres was going for just under $700,000! Thanks but no thanks!

Sebron and I have been talking a lot more of our farm lately. We'll lie in bed and whisper our dreams of horses, cows and crops. I just finished a book my mom gave me called "The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball. It's her story of leaving her city life, marrying a farmer and moving out to a 500 acer farm in NY. It sort of fed my fire I guess and this past week I'm been feeling so antsy to get out there and just do it. Start farming that is. We've both got farm fever and it didn't help to drive by all those "For Sale" signs in VA. God's timing is perfect and I must rest in Him.

Until then.... I will keep dreaming, planning, saving and praying.

Left overs

2011-08-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

These wedding pictures were left out of the visit home post.... A friend of mine took these and I just recently got them in my inbox and wanted to post'm. : ) Thanks Malia!

The happy couple! Elizabeth & Sergio Castillo

Siblings representing the Martin bunch:

L to R John, Me, Zi, Joy & Sam

Friends

and again.... John was the wedding video guy. Hence the camera and camera thingy. This is his second wedding he has done and he makes incredible wedding videos for the couple. Did I mention he is going into film? He's amazing!

Sisters

I'm finding it's fun to dress up every once in awhile. : ) Exchanging the spit-up tshirt for a cute dress and earrings.

Bryce

2011-08-17T21:14:00.000-04:00

Meet Bryce:

He just turned 3 months old as of today and he is one cute kiddo. His smiles are seriously the cutest and he's got the bluest little eyes. We're still getting to know each other, but I love him already! So does J-Man. : )

This was our first week as Bryce's nanny and he now makes the third family of boys I've nannied for. This time around I've got a little helper that tags along just for the fun there is to be had when there's another little guy to hang out with.

I am so blessed and thankful to be able to take Jancsi along with me- what a privilege. We had a lot of fun this week figuring out the new routine and learning Bryce's schedule. He takes incredible naps and I'm hoping with all my might that it'll rub off on the J-Man. Our days were filled with drool, spit up (x 2!), diapers, blowing bubbles, talking, group tummy time and so much more! My hat is off to mothers of twins. I love when they just stop what they are doing, look at each other and just start talking like they are having a conversation.

I have a feeling these dudes are gonna be best little buddies as they grow and will soon be double trouble crawling around!

Much needed visit

2011-08-16T21:30:00.001-04:00

Jancsi and I drove down to Waxhaw last Wednesday to Opa and Nana's house. I have been looking forward to this visit for like FOREVER! Since we weren't able to make it to the family beach trip in June, I've been having family withdrawals. My friend Liz was getting married Wednesday night, so I left the kiddo with Nana and headed out after dinner with some of the sibs to enjoy the beautiful service out at a state park we grew up camping at. I am so excited for Liz and her new husband Sergio!

Faith and Isaac drove in Wednesday night and were at the house by the time we got back from the wedding. I hadn't seen them since the end of May when we all met over at my brother's (Ethan) house for his birthday.

Thursday was spent splashing around in Nana's pool and catching up with siblings and the nephew. Isaac is obsessed with our pony, Dodger. He calls him 'Horse' and 'Dahdah'. We took several trips out to the barn to visit and feed treats to the favorite pet by far at Nana and Opa's. Isaac wasn't too sure of Jancsi- he was a little jealous of toys and attention being paid to the new kid. I can't say that I blame him- for almost two years he has been the only grandchild and has had everyone's devout attention. He did better as the weekend went on and even offered Jancsi a few toys one day! : )

Opa with his grandsons!

Friday, I got to pick up this cute guy at the train station.

Sebron had to stay in Raleigh to work and took the train down to Charlotte for the weekend! Yay! Jancsi was SO excited to see his Daddy and laughed at everything his Dad said and did that weekend. Love them.

And, Sebron totally won the "Favorite Uncle" award when he played trucks with Isaac that afternoon. The two of them pushed trucks through the down stairs of the house for close to an hour. : )

Later in the pool, Isaac broke down when he couldn't keep swimming with JUST Uncle Seeb. Precious- although I had to keep reminding Sebron not to let it go to his head! After all, I am the favorite Aunt because I do all the horse stuff with Isaac. : )

Saturday was Opa and Nana's anniversary so we woke to find Dunkin Donuts for breakfast! A Martin family favorite! I am SO incredibly blessed to have such wonderful parents who are still so very much in love with each other and have a Christ centered relationship. What an example for me as a wife and for Jancsi. Thank you Lord for them and may You bless them with many more happy years to come!

My brother in law, Mike, flew in from business meetings in CA and my Dad picked him up at the airport. So good to have everyone together. (We were only missing my brother and sis in law, Ethan and Bekah.)

Saturday evening my brother John had a going away party as he gets ready to head off to college this week! He is going to Regent University in VA and is entering as a junior. So proud of him and excited about this new chapter in his life! Anyway, back to the party- It was awesome to see some faces I hadn't seen in awhile since living in Raleigh.

And, I have to admit, I LOVE showing off the kid. Is that horribly vain? Because if it is I seriously need some prayers- my heart bursts with pride (and love) to show Jancsi off to people. I can't help it, he is seriously the cutest kid out there. : ) Oh my gosh I love that boy!

Anyway..... we girls enjoyed catching up while the guys played soccer and basketball, eating pizza, karaoke and playing 4 men on a couch. Great times!

Sunday we just visited and enjoyed each others company. I love going home to Waxhaw. There is always someone to talk with and something going on. If you come from a large family, you know what I'm talking about. Before we left, I just had to get J-Man on the pony. Seeb and I are hoping to take Dodger with us when the Lord provides us with land. I have many wonderful memories of riding, grooming, chasing him down the road, being bucked off and bitten by this little guy. It only seems right that Jancsi would take over! Dodger wasn't too sure of the little squirming, squealing munchkin I placed on his back, but he was a trooper and no one was bucked off! I have a feeling they are going to be buddies and hope Dodger sticks around to have many (supervised) adventures with J-Man!

We got home Sunday evening and prepared for a new work week. Today was my first official day as Bryce's nanny! I must say the first day went very well and they both only cried at the same time once! Yay! We leave Friday for VA for the Martin family reunion! I'm extremely excited and haven't seen most of my Dad's family since our wedding last year. I'm thrilled to have another 'baby show off' session! : )

Jancsi hardly slept at all while we were at my parents and was up crying every hour. I thought it was the fact that he is older now and probably realizes he is in a new place and bed, but it has continued here at home too. I saw every hour on the clock the other night and am really missing my sleep. I am hoping and praying this is a short phase and he'll be sleeping better soon. He was completely exhausted today so maybe tonight will be the end of this nonsense!

4 Months!

2011-08-09T21:02:00.000-04:00

Early morning snuggles with Daddy.

Our house family

Oh my goodness! Jancsi is 4 months old already! I still cannot describe how much incredible joy such a tiny person has brought to our home, lives and family. Thank you Lord for this kiddo!

Jancsi is SO loud! I took him to Starbucks to visit with Daddy last night and his happy shrieks were filling the place to the point that I was considering leaving before I made the quiet coffee drinkers angry! He has a smile for everyone that melts my heart. There are so many times that I am filled with an overwhelming love for this child that I just start crying. I would do anything for this kiddo. I am constantly reminded of the love our Lord has for us. I am so thankful the Lord has given me the opportunity to see such a tiny glimpse of how He loves us. Incredible.

We are getting onto a pretty good routine here lately. We get up early, say goodbye to the husbands and Beth and I head out on a run with the Littles. It's so awesome to be living with another running Mama!

Beth and Lily

She's been running my legs off here lately which is awesome! I needed a little kick in the pants to get me going on my half marathon training- we're doing a half in October so it was high time I bumped up my milage. Speaking of running, we were out the other morning and just 3 minutes into our run we rounded the bend and the trail was completely flooded out from a rain we had two days before. We tried the whole walking around thing but that was impossible. So we did the next best thing- just went through it.

Jancsi and I

There were fish from the lake literally swimming on the trail! After our run Jancsi has somewhat set his own schedule where he is up for an hour or two and then naps for 30-40 minutes and we do this all day until bed time at 8pm. It's been working out great and it's nice to have a routine.

He is loving tummy time more and more and is reaching for things he wants. It's great with toys but I'm already seeing it becoming an issue with hair, earrings, dinner plates, shopping lists, cups and whatever else Mom or Dad is holding. : )

His favorite thing to do out in public lately is talk (shriek) as loud as he can into my shoulder. He burrows his little face into my neck and lets my eardrum have it. In the meantime, he is drooling up a storm and by the time he comes up for air, I've got a warm river running down my arm. Fantastic!

We were able to go pickup our mail at the old house the other day and it just so happened that our neighbor was in and J-Man and I were able to have a nice visit while we waited for the rain storm to pass. We love Miss Cathy and Jancsi thinks she's awesome!

He is changing more each day and I just want to bottle up everything he does so I can keep is for always. He is so scrumptious I can't stand it! He has figured out how to suck his fingers instead of the entire fist and I think it's so cool that he sucks the same two fingers my sister Joy did as a baby!

Sunday afternoon naps......

Love these boys! Happy 4 months J-Man!

Uncle Rob comes to town!

2011-08-09T17:35:00.000-04:00

Sebron's buddy, Rob came into town and spent the weekend with us. What a great sport to put up with two crying babies at night! It was a fantastic weekend and Sebron had a ball catching up with his old college buddy! Jancsi LOVED his Uncle Rob and the weekend was full of J-Man giggles and smiles for his new found friend! Rob is one of those awesome people that just dives into his friend's lives and isn't afraid of spit-up, dirty diapers or tons of dog hair. He even jumped in and helped out with the construction going on in our neck of the house....more on that later....we've been up to our elbows in drywall... pics coming soon.

We were blessed to have Sebron off work the entire weekend which was SO MUCH FUN! We ran, ate, shopped, ate, cooked, ate, watched movies, hung out and ate some more! Rob made an excellent pasta dinner Saturday night and we seriously stuffed our faces.

I am so thankful Sebron has such great, strong Christian friends. He started off this new work week so refreshed and encouraged and I know Rob played a huge role in that. We are blessed.

The Babysitter

2011-08-03T09:56:00.001-04:00

He has flaws?

2011-07-31T17:57:00.000-04:00

So the day finally arrived where this Mommy found out her sweet kiddo isn't perfect. That in all honesty, this boy has flaws. It was a hard pill to swallow- I mean seriously this child has been the sweetest, most smiley, eager to please little person ever! He totally had me fooled. Okay so maybe not completely fooled. I knew the wickedness would come out eventually and we'd have to deal with it but this early? Oh dear.

It all started last night when Sebron and I got the opportunity to go out on a dinner date together and leave the child home with Bob, Beth and Lily. We got all dressed up, left Jancsi sweetly napping in his crib and headed out on the town. We had just ordered our dinner when I got the call from Bob: "he's pretty much been screaming since we offered him the bottle." I started panicking thinking this is not my child. Something must be horribly wrong! Sebron and I decided the best thing was for me to drive home, feed him and see what was up. The whole time I'm driving back to the house I'm wondering what could possibly be wrong that he would be screaming? He never screams unless something is up. By the time I get home, Bob has calmed him down and his little face was so sad. Let me tell you, his little eyes were all red and puffy and he looked completely exhausted. I took him down stairs and fed him and afterward, he was all smiles so I decided to leave him again and rejoin Sebron for dinner. Fine. No more baby drama that night.

Today, we got home from church and I had been thinking about what Beth had said how he had gotten all worked up over the bottle issue. He has taken several bottles for me in the past without a problem so I was wondering what might have been going on the night before. I decided to try it myself to see what type of reaction I'd get...... Well I got a reaction all right. He took one look at that thing and let out a scream and began the whole body thrashing, legs kicking thing and before I knew it, my perfect adorable son was having a full blown out tantrum right there in my arms. Wow. I immediately saw through it- this was not a "I'm not feeling well", this was "I AM ANGRY! HOW DARE YOU GIVE ME THIS THING!" Wow.

I knew right away this was something I'd have to work him through no matter how long it took. It became an issue of 'I totally don't care if you ever take a bottle, but the attitude has got to change. You don't scream at Mommy.' Well it took a good 15-20 minutes before he would take the bottle in his mouth without having a fit. He never actually drank anything, but the rage was gone. I'll accept that. Mom 1 Baby 0. Later, I put him down for a nap and again, the huge fit of screaming and fussing. Gosh this parenting thing is tough. He was in his crib screaming off and on (more on) for over an hour and a half before he finally realized I wasn't giving in. Mom 2 Baby 0. This kid is stubborn. I mean Seeb and I are both stubborn yes, but don't two negatives make a positive? Obviously not in this case. I've got my work cut out for me. Again, wow. As a parent, you love your kids so incredibly much. It was all I could do to not give in and pick him up, cuddle him, kiss him. I know the battle is tough, but he will be better off for it in the long run.

While I was sitting there, listening to my child screaming, I began to panic thinking of the challenges ahead. If he's like this at 4 months what will he be like at 4 years?? Yikes. It dawned on me. I'm raising me. I was an awful little kid. Truly. Stubborn to the core and I remember long heart to heart talks with both my parents throughout my growing up years about my attitude. Sorry Mom and Dad. I understand now the trials I must have put you through. The constant testing of your patience and discipline. Thank you for dealing with me in the right, positive way so I now have the ability and knowledge to deal with Jancsi.

Bring it on little man. Your Mama is just as stubborn and hard headed as you.... and then some.

Mommy Moments

2011-07-28T20:43:00.000-04:00

This is how we dressed up to visit with Daddy tonight at Starbucks. Cute huh? I totally had a mommy moment. I'll explain.....

I actually had him all dressed up super cute. We pulled into the parking lot at Starbucks, got him out of his car seat and walked in. No sooner had we sat down with Sebron when I saw it. The wave of green creeping up his back.... that can mean only one awful thing. So we headed out to the jeep and opened up the back. Of course I had extra diapers. Of course I had taken the clean extra outfit out of the diaper bag that very morning. And of course I had also taken out the wipes. Fantastic. So, I had to use the next best thing.... his already soiled outfit- just happened to be one of my favorites. So I'm doing my best to wipe my poor child's tushy clean in the back of the car with his shirt while the whole time dirt and Mr. Fluffy hair is getting stuck to his bum. Jancsi thinks it's all just loads of fun and is smiling away at his frantic parents trying their best to clean him. So, dirt, hair and all he did get a clean diaper but now had no shirt. That's ok we had shorts! So that's how we visited with Dad on the job tonight. Fun times.

We go to leave and on opening the car door I'm struck with a kick to the stomach, worst smell you've ever experienced in your life. Yup. Another mommy moment. In all the excitement, I'd left the poopy shirt and awful diaper just sitting in the back of the car. Now for those of you who don't live here, it was like 104 today. So that stuff had been baking in the car over our hour or so visit at Starbucks. The ride home was awesome to say the least and I think I'm a front running for the worst mommy award. : )

Craigslist Mania

2011-07-26T12:34:00.000-04:00

So I mentioned before that I have been slightly addicted to craigslist this summer... Well the obsession has gotten worse. Now, instead of just looking for great deals, I'm making great deals. That's right. I'm selling stuff like crazy. It all started when I came across a bunch of outgrown diapers. I had several sets that Jancsi had grown out of. I decided hey why not try to make a few bucks and put them on craigslist. I checked the prices they were going for at the sore and posted the price a few dollars cheaper. Bam! Within 5 minutes I had three moms emailing me that were interested in buying them! Wow! Thus began the wild selling spree! I continued to get emails about the diapers long after they were gone and it really made me think. What else do I have around here that might be worth a few $$.

Now in my defense, at the time, my husband was not working so I was a bit overly excited about all the riches to be made! I went over to visit Sebron at Starbucks that night and he asked how the day had gone. I had to tell him that the entire house was turned upside down and was a mess. When he asked why all I could do was answer: "I'm looking for stuff to sell on craigslist." And sell I did! I sold a pillow that we never use, my old dorm chair from collage, more diapers, obnoxious loud baby toys, baby clothes that Jancsi would never use and a whole host of other things. Poor Sebron was worried I would sell the house out from under us... probably would have tried too, except we were renting and I'm sure there is probably some sort of penalty for that. : )

Anyway, with my earnings I purchased a super nice 5x7 rug for the new house, groceries, lunch for myself, lunch for the husband, a baby gift for a shower, a pair of much needed shorts, new diapers, and moving boxes! I felt so resourceful!

I told Jancsi he was already earning his keep- the rug itself was bought just with his diapers!

Backtrack Blessings

2011-07-26T12:14:00.000-04:00

I wanted to backtrack a bit before posting more about our new house and praise the Lord for great things He has done! The Lord totally provided and Sebron started his new job the week before our move. The company saw his resume online and actually contacted him! He is now doing marketing for a company that sells agricultural products. Thankfully he was able to get the Monday of our move off but still managed to work a 40 hr work week as well as the 30 hours he was scheduled over at Starbucks. My goodness it was a long week with out him! We are so thankful to the Lord for always providing for our every need! I am also so blessed to have had almost the entire summer with Sebron at home! That's the one benefit to being jobless.... you're home! What a treat and wonderful family experience to be at home together every day! Of course there there interviews and resume drop offs but for the most part we were together and I am so thankful.

*****************

Here on the home front, Jancsi has totally come alive with noise. The whole house is filled with his squawks and squeals. I believe he thinks that everyone is hear to talk/listen to him. He is especially fond of the very high pitched squeals that pierce Mommy's eardrums and could seriously break glass. He is super cute when he does it though and puts everything into it. The first night in the house we were saying goodnight to Beth and she was telling me something that had happened that day. Jancsi got the late night giggles and was laughing at everything Beth said. As soon as she would open her mouth- he laughed! So stinkin' cute.

Barrels, Babies and Cribs

2011-07-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

The Saturday before our move we did a family trip to the Hunt Horse Complex at the State Fair grounds to watch a friend from school run barrels. What fun to pull out my boots and jeans again. I tell you what, after awhile of not wearing them, I realize all over again that I was seriously made to wear boots. Really. It makes me crazy impatient to have our own farm someday and work the land- can't wait for that day! I wasn't able to get a good picture of anyone racing, so I stole one off the internet. : )

Anyway, back to the barrels.... we stayed for a few hours and got to watch several runs as well as visit with our friends Lauren and Ryan. Hadn't seen them since my graduation so it was awesome to reconnect! Jancsi wasn't too interested in the horses and slept in Daddy's lap most of the time. It was a lot of fun to go as a family and just relax.

The day after our move I just couldn't wait any longer to put Jancsi's crib together. It was a gift from Meme (Sebron's mom) back at our mountain shower in March. It's been sitting in the box for months waiting for enough space to set it up. So bright and early I pulled it out and started the building process. : )

Beth and Lily came down and helped out. Lily and Jancsi were both still in their pj's...so cute and Lily kept trying to hold J's hand. Precious.

The crib inspectors.

Finished project. Love.

Jancsi has never had a crib before and has been sleeping in a pac-n-play. I was so excited about it I put him to bed 30 minutes early that night! : )

This past Saturday I drove over to Fayettville for my dear sister-in-law's baby shower. My niece Zoey is going to be the first little girly (granddaughter/niece) born into our family and I just know she will be completely adorable! Can't wait for September!

As much as I love little boy clothes, it was so much fun picking out a little dress! Yay! The shower was so full of pink it was awesome! Bekah looks incredible and you'd have no idea she is so close to her due date! This little girly is so blessed to have such an awesome Mommy!

As you can see, besides our move we've been staying pretty busy!

Movin' and Groovin'

2011-07-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

We are officially moved into the new house as of this past Monday! If you would like to read the story of house hunting and how the Lord provided, go on over to Beth's blog and read the post "The story of our house." The move itself went extremely smooth and for that I am SO thankful! Jancsi was a bit fussy on moving day and I realized all over again how much he has changed in just a short time. Our last move, he was only five weeks old and slept through the entire thing. Now at three months he is Mr. Wanna-Be-In-Your-Business. It's somewhat a challenge trying to load boxes with a child wanting this that and the other the entire time. He finally fell asleep and we were able to get things finished. He was clingy the next day and would fuss whenever I left the room. This and the fact that Sebron worked a 70 hr work week made unpacking a bit more difficult, but all in all it went well and we're almost done! Beth and I divided the kitchen and I think it is going to work out perfectly! I will be posting more on the house with pictures coming soon!

Jancsi celebrated our first day in the new house by rolling over! Three times! My little guy is soon to be on the move. It's so amazing watching him learn, grow and discover his world and abilities! Lily is a huge source of entertainment for our little guy. At 8 months, she is all over the place and J-Man is quite fascinated with her. I am so excited to see how their friendship develops as they grow and are able to really play together!

Midnight visiter

2011-07-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

Last night we had an unwelcome midnight visiter....

I woke to a strange sound at 1:30am to see the outline of a cat sitting on the bed RIGHT by my face! We do not have a cat. I about had a heart attack! The thing jumped off the bed and onto the dresser. I sat up and poked Sebron.

Me: "Sebron wake up!"

Seeb: "mmmm"

M: "Honey there's a cat in here!"

S: "mmmm huh?"

M: "CAT! over there on the dresser!"

S: "You're dreaming. Turn on the light."

I turn on the light and there's the cat walking on the dresser.

S: "IS THAT A CAT?!"

M: "How did it get in here?"

S: "Wait, is that a black cat?"

M: "yeah."

S: "Great."

At this point the cat jumped off the dresser and started heading over in Sebron's direction. My poor husband is timid of cats. Don't tell him I told you. It's supposed to be our secret. (He had a bad experience with wild cats). Oh well. :) When my dear Man sees the cat heading over his way, he about jumps into my lap! Some fierce protecter that one is! He proceeds to point to the bedroom door and yells at the cat "OUT!" I start laughing and say maybe that would work with a dog, but a cat is a totally different story.

I get out of bed and call the cat to the door and put him out. I figured out he must of gotten in through the dog door in the kitchen... usually we have the table pulled against it but had moved it to paint the wall. Thank goodness it was a friendly house cat!

Poor Sebron.... we're moving in with two cats tomorrow. : )

Bumbos and boxes

2011-07-14T12:50:00.000-04:00

Sebron has been at training this week for a new job. (more on that later) So me and J-Man have had a lot of quality time together! Of course because of our move coming up and a washer, dryer and huge fridge sitting in the middle of the living room, along with a zillion boxes, Mom (me) feels like we are living in a zoo!

Tummy time with our friend, Mr. Cow

We've been making due though and just go about our day through the maze. I'm finding that when you have a baby, you do a lot of "baby" things. This week we've done a lot of tummy time, naps, eating, diaper explosions (to the armpits if you can believe it), walks, runs, and just all around baby talking and messing around!

Jancsi about has a fit now when he is lying down. That boy wants to be up! We are in the middle of the struggle as to when do we pick him up and carry him everywhere and when do we let him cry because Mom and Dad have to do something.... That little temper is coming out all ready. Oh dear. He loves his bumbo- another craigslist steal! It has just the right amount of support to help him out yet give him that independence feeling!

He loves chewing on fabrics.

lol Holding onto his ring for dear life! Must have been worried Mom was going to take it away! My big boy. Love him. Love that face. I've totally turned into one of those sappy moms.

Three months..... already!

2011-07-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

I can't believe our little guy turned 3 months yesterday! Time has flown. Jancsi is such an incredible blessing. I just can't say it enough. Thank you Lord for him, thank you. He is quite the tank and weighs more then 16lbs already. He is getting stronger each day and pulls his head up as though he is sitting up. He does this all day.... I think rolling over may be in his near future.

We've started an 8 pm bed time which is going really well so far. It's nice having some just Mommy and Daddy time in the evenings for us to talk and catch up. Jancsi loves his jumperoo and wants to sit up so bad- I keep telling him he's got to roll over first. : ) He is such a joy I cannot even begin to describe. My little friend. He "talks" all the time now and has figured out that he can be quite loud. I love being somewhere in the house and hearing him and Sebron having serious conversations in the other room. Does my heart good.

We had our first outing in the jogger without the car seat. I wanted to dance and cry at the same time. Dance because the jogger is now 800lbs lighter for running and cry because it means my baby is growing up and not needing his car seat attachment any more.

We had a jam packed weekend complete with Cow Appreciation Day, a race and a trip to the mountains. It all started on Friday, which happened to be the annual Chic-fil-a Cow Appreciation Day. Back home (Waxhaw) this is huge and we go all out. A bunch of us get together and go crazy with the spots! I've done this for several years and come July, I'm always on the lookout for when they announce the special day! This year Sebron and J-Man got to join in the fun! Because of our move, everything is packed and we had to make due with permanent marker colored spots taped onto white t-shirts.... not as good as years past, but hey, you make due with what you've got right?!

Jancsi wasn't too thrilled but he was a good sport and we got free meals which is always awesome! Bob, Beth and Lily joined us and their cow costumes really put ours to shame lol but we all had a lot of fun! All the spots must have wore J-Man out- he slept through the entire meal!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out to the Wake Med XC course for Denny's Challenge 5k! This was my first race after having Jancsi so I was pretty nervous as to how it would go. Seeb and I are using this one as a benchmark for this year's xc race season. Sebron came in 5th overall and I was the 10th woman overall! I beat the time I wanted by over a minute and a half so I was happy! The course has a killer hill you have to climb twice. The first time is right after mile one so it's not too horribly bad, but the second time is at the very end of the race with the finish line at the top. Awful.

The whole way up I'm fighting with myself mentally- "you are so all over this hill! You've pushed Jancsi up bigger ones. You've had a baby, you can totally do this. This hill has nothing on you!" Whew! I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was going to lose my toast and peanut butter that second go round.

Bob and Beth came out to cheer us on and look after the kid..... who slept almost the entire race. Thanks for cheering us on kiddo! I can't wait to get him out there!

After the race we packed up and drove up to the mountains. We had to pick up the washer and dryer for the new house we are moving into next week, as well as all Jancsi's older sized clothes we left when we thought we would be moving there. We spent Saturday evening hiking trails off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Beautiful! Jancsi loved it and kicked and punched the entire time! I started out carrying him, but the way down was just that....down. The entire hike back was up the mountain. So guess who got to do the honors?

The mountains were beautiful and is was so refreshing to just be out in nature and enjoy God's creation!

Okay, I know you are all probably saying enough with the hiking pictures! I'll restrain from posting more! But all in all, we had a blast sharing our mountains for the first time with our boy.

I am so happy to have more clothes for Jancsi! We were running out of larger sized outfits. I had also left a bunch of blankets and baby toys I'd received at our shower up there. Jancsi had no idea what to do with all the colors and crazy fun things we surrounded him with! The best part? None of the newbies make noise!! I am a huge believer in none noise makers!

We also enjoyed Church on Sunday morning and visiting with all of our dear family and friends. Jancsi got to spend some quality time with Sebron's Aunt Linda. We love her!

This last picture was too cute not to post. We are constantly being told that we have the happiest baby. That may be true, but even happy babies have their moments. That little face gets me every time.

Happy 3 months kiddo!

Barefoot and crazy

2011-07-06T20:28:00.000-04:00

This post is going to be somewhat random. I had some pictures of things we've been up to lately so I wanted to post them.

This past weekend our XC coach from our NCSU club team had us over for a cook out and pool party. A bunch of Sebron's running buddies were there and it was Jancsi's first time in a pool. He wasn't so sure at first, but warmed up to it quickly and seemed to really enjoy it. I stripped him down to his diaper afterwards and he fell asleep on my lap while we old people talked. I am so thankful that he is such an easy going baby and doesn't have a huge routine needed to fall asleep.

While babysitting for our little friend Lily, Jancsi tried out her jumperoo and LOVED it! He is all about his independence lately which goes as far as wanting to sit upright and this cool thing gave him just that! It had a ton of bright animals to look at and tug and the seat gave him enough support. Being the savvy money saving Mom that am (trying), I went on craigslist and found the exact jumperoo for $35! Score! It was next to new and in super condition. I picked it up last night and cleaned and scrubbed the whole thing down with sanitizer wipes! Just to be safe! : )

I have found a whole new world on craigslist. It can be dangerously fun to look up things. Right now I am in the market for a good double jogger. NO! I'm not pregnant! I want to stop that rumor before it even starts! : ) No, the Lord blessed me to be able to pick up a part time nanny position with another little guy who is a month younger then J-Man. I'll start in August so I'm looking for a jogger to make getting out of the house with two little ones easier.

Love him SO much! I am so unworthy to be called his Mama. Thank you Lord.

We had our neighbor, Miss Cathy over for lunch one day and Jancsi thoroughly enjoyed her loving! We are going to miss her when we move in the next week or two. We had garden fresh lasagna. Delicious! Since this house doesn't have an oven I've been experimenting with stovetop recipes. I have found 47578608 that I like off the Betty Crocker website. If you're looking for fast, easy, yummy meals, head over that way- you won't be disappointed!

Like father like son.... this is the hat that Seeb was wearing that first time I met him. I tease him that it's the reason I fell for him- I just can't resist a good lookin' guy in a cowboy hat. Now I have two of them (good looking guys that is)!

I know this one is a bit dark, but I just love J's face in it! Helping Daddy make breakfast one morning. Waffles- Yummy!

Speaking of moving- yes we are doing it again! We'll be moving in with this little lady.... Well not just her. Her parents will be there too! We've mentioned our friends Bob and Bethany before. The Lord has been leading and directing all of us and we will be moving into a house together! I am more then excited for the adventures that are headed our way!

Wont life be fun with these two crazy kids? They'll be like brother and sister! Awesome! It was last September that I met Bob and Beth over at the lake during one of my many pregnant walks. I was 10 weeks along and Bethany was about 5 weeks out from her due date. She was doing lunges and squats on the bridge as I walked up. I don't know why, but I said something like "I should be doing some of those!" We ended up chatting for a few minutes about our pregnancies and I mentioned something like I'd be praying for her. We parted ways and I kept walking. I remembered some advice my Mom had given me years ago: "when you tell someone you will pray for them, do it right away before you forget." I did just that and it was right after I had finished my prayer that a man with a big dog ran by. He stopped a few feet in front of me, turned back to me and asked if I was 10 weeks pregnant. Totally not creepy right?! We laugh about this now because the man was Bod, Beth's husband and she had told him to run and get me. I remember thinking 'how in the world does this guy know I'm pregnant? I've got no bump yet!' We met back up at the end of our walk and ended up talking for close to an hour. Such a cool couple! They ended up inviting Sebron and I to dinner, then we had them over, they had us, then we kept Rocky while Lily Grace came into the world- and so a friendship was formed!

Never in a million years would I have thought when talking that first day out on the trail with Beth, that a year later we would be living together! God is so good! We praise the Lord for this amazing family and are so thankful to be sharing in this experience with them!

***Wanted to shout out to the lady that asked about my jogger and travel system. We have a baby trend that I love! The jogger is great! I don't know if I would go with the baby trend car seat again. It is very narrow and I think we'll be needing to get a bigger one soon on account that Jancsi is getting to big for it. A friend of mine got the jogger but went with a different seat and it worked fine with the jogger as a system! Hope this helps! I tried to leave you a comment but it wouldn't let me go to your blog. Blessings! ***