Summertime Portraits 2015

My sister Jordan snapped some quick pics of us in June. 

I still need to get some of these framed. She did a great job! It was so hot and humid. I remember the kids kept getting close to bees. Asher wanted to run off and play. But we got some good ones. Thankfully Jordan is a patient Aunt. :) 

Violet is 8! I loved this dress on her. 

Zander is 4.5! My little handsome.

Asher is 2! This little guy has got his Mama's curly hair. 

Life is pretty Sweet

My family is sound asleep & I have a rare quiet moment. Feeling really happy and content. 

Thankful for God's love and blessings. 

Look at this scrumptious little cutie! Asher's first time to "sit with the pumpkins".  

Those big, brown eyes melt my heart. 

 Violet is now a first grader. This is our second year of homeschooling. We love it! 

So grateful for this season in our life.

 Zander will be 3 next month! Feels like his baby phase went by too fast. 

He wants a Jake & The Neverland Pirates birthday :)

 Violet & Zander decided to pull out a box of old clothes. They said it was a bubble bath. 

Of course, Asher needed to join them! 

Matt, Asher & I on our date a few weeks ago ;)

Asher is 2 Months Old

Our baby boy is growing so fast! I took staged "watch me grow" pics with Zander for his first year. Now it's Asher's turn! Wish I had been more creative when Violet was a baby. I took a ton of pictures of her as a baby but didn't really do comparison photos. 

Asher had a great, 2 month check up. He weighed 14 pounds,1 ounce. That's a big gain! He was 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth. As you can tell, he eats very often. During the day he nurses about every 2 hours. He's still sleeping in our bed with us. We have co-slept with all of our babies. I like to keep him close. Easier to wake up & feed him or change diapers this way. Zander is now sleeping on his toddler bed in our room since baby Asher took his spot. I think he's okay with it though. He likes his big boy bed :)

Asher at 2 Months Old

1. Loves to be held while he's awake. 
2. Has rolled from tummy to back a few times.
3. Smiles! Usually when we tickle his face.
4. Coos when he's happy & has a full belly.
5. Likes to stare at family pictures on the wall.
6. Gets lots of hugs & interrupted naps from his well meaning brother & sister. 
7. His eyes appear to be different colors. They went from being 1 brown & 1 blue. To now 1 brown & maybe green. 
8. He has a strawberry birth mark on the back of his neck.
9. Looks a lot like his big brother Zander.
10. Super Adorable in every way!

6 Years

 My family this past Mother's Day.

Wow, this was my 6th Mother's Day! 

Matt is not into cooking but he found a way to get me biscuits & gravy for breakfast. He had some help from Braums ;) That was really sweet. 

The Saturday before Mother's Day he & Violet were working on something in the garage. Violet kept their little secret. Then they gave me a hand painted candle, flowers and homemade bath goodies. I was impressed! Looked like they had a science experiment going on in the garage with their table set up with bowls and scented oils. 

Zander & Asher gifted me with hugs and kisses.

I'm so lucky these beautiful people are mine! 

Introducing Baby Asher Matthew!

Asher Matthew

was born on April 15, 2013 at 10:29am

7 pounds, 9 ounces. 

20 1/4 inches.

Look at this beautiful boy! 

 Happy Mama of 3 right here! 

Wow, this past month went by quick! It's been challenging but so wonderful too. A few nights ago I was holding my sweet, new baby. He was content with a full belly. Then he gave me a big grin outta nowhere! I started crying because it was just so sweet and my heart felt like it could burst because I love this baby so much. 

Every morning Violet & Zander come jumping onto our bed to snuggle up with Asher. They are crazy about him. Zander can be kinda rough with him. But most of the time he softly pets his head saying "That's Niiiice" or my favorite "I KISH HIM MOMMY!" Then he puts lots of wet kisses on him. Violet is a great big sis. She's very careful & makes sure to support his head when she holds him. She also helps him with his pacifier while mommy is busy driving the car. 

Asher is doing great with breastfeeding. I think it gets easier with each baby. He wants to nurse every 1-3 hours right now. He must get plenty to eat because he goes through lots of diapers. Still sleeping a lot during the day. At his weight check 1 week after his birth he had already surpassed his birth weight by over a pound. So thankful he is healthy & doing well. 

Loving these little ones.

~Jill

Our Christmas

 We started off Christmas our usual way of going to the Candlelight church service then dinner at Gigi & Bum Bum's. 

(I'll post Christmas Eve pics soon too) 

My mom has always passed out one gift to everyone to open on Christmas Eve and it's always new jammies! This year Violet was a little disappointed that her first gift wasn't a toy. Oh, well :) Gigi and Bum Bum got a new puppy and he kept the kids busy. 

 Santa brought a tractor with MegaBlocks for Zander and a horse with a doll for Violet! 

 Violet really wanted a friend for her American Girl doll. She named this one Emily then said, "I name lots of my dolls Emily." So cute.

 Zander thinks this "Hee-Haw" is his personal horse to ride! Haha. It's hilarious but I'm sure Zander exceeds the weight limit. We try to keep him off it. Here, he's wearing his Daddy's new hat with his Batman cape. He loves to play dress up with anything he finds. 

 Daddy and Violet figuring out her first Legos set. 

Our Little Batman! 

I found this cape and mask at a local craft fair. Zander loves it. 

We had to quietly take it off him after he fell asleep that night. 

 Something pretty cool happened on Christmas Day. It snowed! Yep, here in Texas. We got a few inches. It was mostly ice so not too fun to play in. But Violet was absolutely thrilled. 

We get to celebrate Christmas one more time tomorrow with my husband's family. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family & friends! 

~Jesus is the reason for the Season~

This Little Fella Turned 2

 Since his birthday landed on Black Friday we decided to throw his party the weekend before.We had an Airplane Party! Zander loves airplanes. I'll have to post more pictures of his party once I get them all organized and narrow down my favorites. 

 We waited for a boy for a long time in this family! I'm 1 of 4 girls. Our daughter Violet was the first grandchild on my side and my niece Brianna was the only grandchild on Matt's side. Needless to say we were pretty excited to get a boy! It's really neat to have one of each and see how different they are. 

Zander loves to stay busy. He's usually chasing his sister Violet with a toy or hiding somewhere playing games on the ipad. Outside time is very good for him to burn off some of that energy. He's also very sweet and quick to apologize if he thinks he hurt you. I'm happy he still enjoys to be held and cuddled. It melts my heart to see his arms reach up to me and he will say "need you". His voice is just adorable! He calls Violet "ilet". We all can't get enough of his dramatic facial expressions. He certainly is a character. I'm excited for him to be a big brother this April! When I ask what's in my belly? He will say "baby!" So sweet. 

Zander Facts

1. Favorite cartoon is Chuggington

2. loves bananas

3. still not enough hair for a First Haircut :)

4.  he's a sneaky phone thief! haha!

5. loves Elmo

We love you Zander Paul!!! Thankful that I'm your Mommy. 

Fall Fest 2012

On Halloween we did a little trick or treating on my parent's street. Violet was a Fairy and Zander was Thor. They were so cute walking together door to door. Violet had to tell everyone, "This is my brother Zander. He's 1 and this is his first time to trick or treat!" So sweet. This one lady really wanted to talk to Zander. She was asking him lots of questions. He dug into his bucket, pulled out the M&M's, told her "BYE!" and walked off. Haha, he really wanted some candy! 

 Then we went to our church for Fall Fest! Our church has a great set up with lots of games, bounce houses & free food. Gigi, Bum and Aunt Jordan went with the 4 of us. 

Violet and I sprayed some pink in our hair. Can you tell? 

 Zander kept picking these tiny toy horses instead of candy for his prize. He calls them Yee-Haw's.

 Daddy with his look-alike baby. Zander likes to cheese for the camera. 

We ended the night with Violet scaling to the top of this mountain!. She wasn't scared at all because "5 year olds can do anything." 

We are Expecting!

I'm currently pregnant with Baby #3! 

My due date is mid to late April 2013. I'm not sure yet. Looking forward to my Doctor visit next week. Violet will be 5 almost 6 this spring and Zander will be 2.5 years old. Violet is thrilled that we have a baby on the way! Matt and I have been planning to have 3 children. We are so thankful. 

I'm in week 8 and having lots of morning sickness. 

It's pretty bad. I don't want to cook or grocery shop. Today I picked up a sampler pack of prenatal vitamins. Praying that I can find a good brand that eases the nausea. 

Looking forward to the Second Trimester!

Summer Vacation

We went to Destin, Florida for summer vacation. It was heavenly! I've never seen a more clear ocean and white sand. My Mom & Dad went with us. They often go on beach cruise ships and even my mom agreed that Destin had the best sand! The 6 of us rented a mini van and road tripped it there! 

 Going there was a smoother ride since we left during the night while the kids slept. It took about 14 hours but we stopped for 2 in New Orleans for breakfast at one of our favorites, Cafe Du Monde! Nola has a special place in my parent's hearts since that was where they Honey Mooned.

 Violet and Zander played in the sand every day. I'd say that was their favorite. 

 Matt & I enjoying Life! 

 One of my new favorite pictures. Violet and Zander look way too cute! And Daddy is in the background. And that beautiful ocean.

 Both of the kids were very timid of the water. The waves were loud and Zander is sensitive to strange sounds. They always wanted to be held to get in the water. By the 5th day on the beach Violet was brave enough to get in the deep water & swim with floaties. She giggled with delight! We all clapped for her.

So Long Destin! We must meet again! 

The Bully

My daughter is about to start cheerleading with the Upwards team at our church. I'm one of the coaches and super excited! Well, cheerleading brings up some things in my past I'd like to forget. Don't get me wrong I loved the sport of cheering!

Back to the story. When I was in 6th grade there was a girl who went out of her way to make fun of me every chance she got. Once she put a love letter in my locker and signed it with initials of a boy I thought was cute just to embarrass me. Anyway..I always liked dance & cheerleading but we could never afford it. So many extra fees for costumes & such... I was the oldest of 4 girls. Well, my parents tell me to go for it and try out for 7th grade cheerleading. I was thrilled! My mom & aunt had been cheerleaders and I really wanted to get my chance.

The Bully found out I was going to try out. She would laugh at me with her friends during recess when I practiced and said I was too poor to be a cheerleader. One time I was rollerblading in my neighborhood and The Bully had her older sister (a cheerleader by the way) drive her Mustang on my street, they rolled down the window to yell that I was "Poor, Ugly, a Nerd!" This group of mean girls crushed my spirit.

My mom would pray with me about it. We would talk about how we would rather be rich with love than have nice cars or clothes. But it was hard! I'm sure the situation hurt my parent's as well. My dad worked all day and went to college at night. My mom was busy with us girls. They did their very best for us.

I went on to make the 7th grade cheer team and The Bully didn't! Well, pretty sure that made her despise me more. I had more tiffs with her in later years but that's a whole other story in itself!

A couple years ago I walked into Springcreek BarBQ with Violet on my hip and guess who I ran into! The Bully was working the register. I smiled her way and then she hid in the kitchen the entire time we were there.

So, what did I learn from this life lesson? God is bigger than any Bully! And that I will watch my children closely and raise them to treat others with kindness.

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.  The second most important command is this: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Zander is 20 Months

 My baby is now 20 months! 

He's a total toddler now. Always finding furniture to climb and things to throw! At his most recent check-up the nurse exclaimed "so much energy!" That's our Zander :) 

 He has a very silly personality and shows a lot of expression with his face.

 We LOVE his kissy face! This past week he has started saying "love you". So very sweet. 

 5 Things About Zander

1. He loves Elmo whom he calls "Melmo"
2. Favorite Food is bananas
3. Enjoys being in the pool
4. He loves to play with big sister "I-Let" 
5. 22 pounds & 33 inches tall