Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Jaxen

Before we start receiving phone calls from the grandparents - I thought I would post some pictures of Jaxen. I know it has been awhile.


Jaxen was playing in his room, sitting on his stool...
which was super cute!

The other night Nik and Jaxen were playing with Nik's hat...



I caught Nik and Jaxen playing on Sunday afternoon (hence Nik's dress socks).
Nik was throwing the ball against our kitchen island and catching it.
Then he would hand the ball to Jaxen and he would try to do the same thing.
It was pretty funny!



Jaxen passed out the other morning.
He was sleeping so peacefully.

Last night Jaxen grabbed my pots and carried them in the living room.
He then put them and himself on the couch, with a travel shampoo bottle 
(note to self: need to finish unpacking!) and started drumming away!




Okay grandparents...hope your happy to see pics of this little boy, finally!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Home!

It is so nice to....

  • be in my own bed, with my own pillow, with my cutie husband :)
  • not be living in a 220(ish) square foot space with 2 teenage girls and one bathroom
  • have Jaxen sleeping in his own room - going on 13 hours right now
  • be able to do my laundry
  • sleep more than 6 hours and not be the last one to bed and the first one up

All that to say...we are glad to be back home!!!

It was a fantastic mission trip with our teens. And I take back what I said a couple weeks ago about being in the hottest town in Texas. I have discovered the actual hottest (and most humid) town in Texas. It is Beaumont. 

I can't wait to share more about our trip with you. But for now... I have big plans.

My plans include....
  • take a nap (or two)
  • catch up on pinterest
  • read all the blogs I follow
  • drink lots of water
  • relax and play with jaxen
  • not leave my house for 24 hours

I'm sure there is much more I need to do but I do plan on relaxing today. Hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Whirlwind

What a whirlwind life has been lately!

And nothing says "WHIRLWIND" than being on a youth mission trip with a 1 year old. I tell you what... Somedays I just don't know what I'm thinking!!!

Thankfully, we have some of the best teenagers and they are so kind and patient and helpful with Jaxen. They make trips like this much easier.

And it has been fun! We hit the ground running early yesterday morning planning and prepping for a  water day with a Boys Home and a Girls Home (2 different events). It all went well. Except for one minor accident Saturday morning...I had to take a teen to the Emergency Room! He fell and cut his head. Only two staples were needed and he is doing fine. Jaxen went with me and I know the Lord was watching over me because Jaxen slept the ENTIRE time we were at the hospital...and it was not a super short visit! I had no idea how I was going to contain Jaxen while trying to take care of our teen, in a hospital. I could only imagine that it would not be pleasant! Thank the Lord, though, it all worked out amazingly!

Currently, I am sitting in a hotel room while Jaxen naps. The rest of the crew is out on the streets handing out sack lunches and homemade cookies to those who are homeless or just don't have any food. I do wish I could be with our group, loving on these people, meeting a need in their life. But my job as a mom has to come first. That is the struggle I am having lately. Wanting to DO, but needing to be a MOM. I am learning.

I am anxious to hear from our 10 teens and 3 other adult sponsors how things went. What an amazing  opportunity for them to minister to others.

Tomorrow we have a free day and are going to head to the beach for some fun in the sun! We have a whole lot of activities planned for the next few days. I am looking forward to it!

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Some of you have asked how I am feeling after my root canal. That's a hard question to answer. I guess I am feeling some better. My tooth does not hurt, but I am still having some pain where my infection was. I have finished my second round of antibiotics. I just don't know if it is better or not. Not a very good answer... but that's all I have!

Nik, Jaxen and I are all struggling this week with allergies. Nik has a sore throat, Jaxen has a runny nose and congestion and I have congestion and a headache. I hope we will get some relief soon.

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I have taken pictures and have lots to share with you about our trip...but it will have to wait until another time.

I now have to plan a shopping list so when Jaxen wakes up we can go to the store and then fix dinner for everyone. I just wanted to hop on here, give a few updates, and say hello!


Monday, July 15, 2013

Favorite Day

Today was one of my favorite kind of days. No matter if it is spring, summer, fall or winter - I love a good rainy day! It was cloudy and the soft rain stayed until late afternoon. It has been a nice relief from the hot 100's we have had!

Although I love this kind of day...it did not turn out so good.

Nik and I had plans this morning. I was calling it a 'date' (anything we do now without Jaxen is autiomatically a date in my mind!). We were supposed to go play tennis this morning while Jaxen was away at preschool camp (because tennis is one thing we cannot do with a 1 year old!). But the rain stopped us.

So we went to the grocery store instead. Romantic, I tell you - Ha!

Then the day got better.

I went to the dentist and found out I need to have a root canal and crown on one of my back teeth. It basically got 'hurt' during the pulling of my wisdom teeth. The root canal is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I have shed a few tears over this root canal (just keeping it honest). I get nervous and anxious over stuff like this. So - say a little prayer for me and my nerves tomorrow afternoon, please. It is scheduled for 3pm.

And then on an (actual) good note...

We went to a birthday party for one of Jaxen's friends tonight. They had fun pushing him in the police car!




Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Jaxen This Week

SUNDAY - All ready for church!


MONDAY - A new favorite toy!


 TUESDAY - Nik fed him some chocolate. See it under his chin?


WEDNESDAY - Pics with Nik and I before we headed to work...in his mismatched pajamas!



Hope you have a good Thursday....the weekend is almost here!!!


Sunday, July 7, 2013

Road Trip

Saturday we met up with some of our favorite and longest friends...Chris and Kylee!

We decided to meet in the hottest town in Texas (or so it felt) on a Saturday in July. We met in a town that only Nik was vaguely familiar with, with no real plans. That is friendship right there.

The morning started with a stop at a garage sale to get breakfast tacos. It sounds funny but this lady is legit. She makes homemade tamales and salsa and goes to different garage sales selling her food. She always shows up at our church's garage sale with a trunk load of fresh, hot tamales. And they disappear. We call her the "Tamale Lady" and know that she can be found on the weekends at garage sales. I finally asked her name (and told her what we lovingly call her) at our last garage sale. We had a good visit, getting to know each other. It was then that she told me she was having her own garage sale this weekend and was going to be selling her breakfast tacos. On her homemade tortillas. (I'm finally wrapping this entirely too long of story up). So before we headed out of town we stopped by her garage sale and bought breakfast tacos and salsa. Yummy. And yes, I have a picture for those that are still reading this paragraph.


We then stopped for some morning pick-me-up drinks (coffee for Nik; tea for me) because we needed them. We are having sleeping issues with Jaxen again. Last night was no better. But we are going to power-through and work this out. 


I actually feel like I did 1 year ago with him waking up (as a newborn) every 3 hours to eat. No he is not eating this time...he is waking up screaming at me and won't stop. Almost the same.

Back to the road trip.

I texted Kylee a message that said "We r on our way!!!" And then took a picture of it. Nik looked at me like I was crazy. I had taken a picture of our taco, our drink and now my phone. He asked if the whole day was going to be like this. I said probably - Remember, I have a blog! 


And then I took a picture of us.


And then Jaxen. He was such a good sport to look at the camera for me. And I have to give myself props for this photo. Look how good I did, from the front seat!


Yes, that is a measuring cup in his hands. What can I say? He is entertained by almost anything!

So we finally met up with Chris and Kylee about 11am. We met at the Farmers Market because who doesn't like a good Farmers Market? They sell lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and homemade goodies like the Pecan Sticky Bun and Chocolate Whoopie Pie that Nik and I purchased. I can honestly say that I don't go to the Farmers Market for the vegetables. Funny huh, most people do! Jaxen enjoyed walking around seeing everything.


Then we drove through town to see what they had for lunch. We ended up with Barbeque. Jaxen was happy because he got to run up and down this ramp like 20 times while we decided what to get.


We had a great long lunch (it was air-conditioned so we took full advantage). We caught up on each other lives and everyone else's lives that we mutually know. We looked at pictures and just had a great time!

After lunch we needed to walk a bit. So what better place to walk than to go shopping?! Kylee is my ultimate shopping buddy anyway. So that is what we did. And we had fun.

Then we stopped for son-cones from a stand on the street. You cannot see it in the pictures, but this stand was packed with people the whole time. And now we know why. The sno cones were so good. We don't have a good sno cone place like this one in Temple. Jaxen was napping (because he did not sleep the night before) and missed out on most of the sno cone time. I did have a bit left in mine when we woke up so I fed him some. It was coconut.


We went to a really nice park with a playground after sno cones so Jaxen could run around a play. It was fun for Chris and Kylee to get to see and know Jaxen. They were both so great with him.

When we decided it was time to part ways, I asked if I could get a picture with them and Jaxen.


Great picture (above)!

Then I took this one.


He is not too sure of Chris!

And then tried to get away!


Then I decided that Kylee and I needed a picture with Jaxen.





And then Jaxen got down and ran around for awhile. Ha!

Here are the boys.

Thank you, Chris and Kylee, for meeting up with us. I enjoyed so much seeing you guys. Next time, we will have to meet in the winter, though!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

This & That

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope you are having a fun day celebrating.

We are pretty low key here today. Nik is out playing Disc Golf, Jaxen is napping and I'm in-between trying to be productive and just sitting on the couch, watching TV! We played outside in the water earlier today - but tonight we have no plans. It's a little sad because we normally get together with a group of people to watch fireworks...but half the group is out of town and the other half is sick. So... we will just see what tonight brings. I'm honestly okay staying inside and catching up on some rest and family time. But if something spontaneous comes up, I know we are in!

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Monday I scheduled an appointment with the dentist because I had been having really bad pain in the area where my left wisdom teeth were taken out. Come to find out, I have an infection! I am now on antibiotics and I am finally feeling some relief from the pain. Hopefully the infection will clear up soon. I go back on Monday so they can check on it.

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Nik had to go out of town on Monday for some work stuff so Jaxen and I tagged along. And good thing I did...because we got to go shopping!

I received some money for my birthday and got to use some of it. I found a cute new shirt and 2 watches! I really just needed one watch but it was buy one, get the second half off. A pretty good deal. So I ended up with 2 watches!


During our Rummage Sale last week, I made a quick decision the night before to sell our dishes. I really liked my dishes, but just wanted something different. So we sold them, and with the money I made off the Rummage Sale, we purchased new dishes and silverware! So much fun!


And while we were out shopping, we had to purchase a new little toy for Jaxen.



We have plans this weekend to see some of our favorite friends, Chris & Kylee! Hope you have a good weekend, too!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Freedom Picnic

Sunday afternoon our church had their annual 4th of July Freedom Picnic. It is so much fun every year! We gather together on a beautiful piece of land on the outskirts of town; they cook brisket and sausage; everyone brings sides and desserts to share; we eat, visit and play games; and we normally stay until sundown!
 
I did not get any great pictures this year of the event (as a whole)...because I was chasing a 1 year old... but I did get some cute pictures of Jaxen!
 
 
Jaxen, staying hydrated in the heat!


Jaxen and his (girl) friend, Evie

Pretty cute, huh?
 
I did get one picture of some people at the tables visiting

There was so much for Jaxen to check out -
It was hard keeping up with him!

Jaxen and another (girl) friend, Sophie

I've got to keep an eye on him and his friends!