Around These Parts

Measuring our almost 40 inch little man

We are amazed at how much Boston's tree is blooming this year!  

Eating out a lot.  Putting a stop to that stat.

Bostons first time using toothpaste.  He rinses and spits awesome-ly.

These guys melting me.

Most likely this is my "do" these days. #fishtailbraid

Edamame and sushi dates.

Lots and lots of redneck pool time.

"Fixing" his airplanes that he and daddy crashed.

He's obsessed with his rain boots lately.  

Jumping with his bff, Cash.

New yard-work gloves for helping daddy in the yard.

And, of course, ice cream treats galore.  

xo

You Should Know

1) I eat with my left hand but do everything else with my right hand.  Weird, I know.  

2) I'm fully addicted to ice cream.  Mostly Marble Slab.  It's the best ice cream around, hands down.  Nothing compares.  Nothing.  I am always craving their strawberry shortcake.  Shortbread, strawberry sauce, fresh strawberries with coconut ice cream topped with whipped cream and a cherry on top.  DE-licious and A-ddicting.  You should try it.  And well, if you don't have a marble slab creamery around you, sorry.  So sorry.

3) I wanted to have 4 children when I grew up.  Now that I'm grown up, not so much.  I'm getting too old to spit out 4 children. :)

4) Jeremy and I don't go to bed without each other (unless he's traveling, obvi).  It's a pact we made long long ago....oh about 12 years ago.  If one of us is tired then we both go to bed.  Me going to bed and him in the living room watching tv would be way foreign to us and a no-no.  We both agree and love the idea of always getting in bed together at the same time.  Most times, we watch a show in bed together and then I fall asleep while he continues watching tv.

5) We are finally done with cloth diapers.  I'd have to say that we were kinda done when Boston turned 2 even though we have used them every so often since then.  But this month, we are officially done.  I'll be packing them away and putting them in the attic next month when I pack up his 2 year clothing since he's in size 3.  It was fun while it lasted and saved us some pretty pennies but hopefully we won't be in disposables much longer.

6) I love that we read Boston's baby bible to him every night and he can easily identify David, Goliath, Daniel and the lions, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Noah and his arc.  It's amazing what his little brain absorbs and learns.

7) I'm barely 5 feet tall and I kinda love it.....most of the time.  Except when I'm in dressing rooms trying on jeans and they are always way too long, or when I gain a single pound and you can tell because it shows easily.  Those are the times I wish I had just a few inches in height, not much but just a few.

8) Everyday we listen to music here at home (throughout the day we have it playing in the background) and we jam out to our "Jesus music" as Boston likes to call it.  Gateway's Forever Yours CD is ah-mazing!  Seriously, it's awesome.

9) I've spend my hours lately sewing, sewing, sewing!  And loving every minute.

10) And.....because a post can't be a "post" without at least one picture!

a day at the park with my little lover boy

xo

This and That

A post about "this and that" or "odds and ends" if you will.

- I have finally updated the last 4 months of Letters to Boston.  Hallelujah!  You can check'em out here: 21 Months, 22 Months, 23 Months and 24 Months

- My, oh my....I've been smitten with these moccasins every since Boston could wear shoes.  They are the moccasins of all moccasins.  Also known as Freshly Picked moccasins.  :)  I've wanted a pair but never wanted to shell out 60 buckaroos for them.  Until recently.  I did it.  I went against the advice of Jer, our money maker, the guy that brings home the bacon, my sugar daddy.... and got a pair for Boston.

It's love.  And I'm beyond excited for Boston to sport these for the next several months since they go with anything and everything.  He might even sleep with them.  Best thing: they fit his little big feet perfectly!  #obsessedisanunderstatement

- My cousins, mom and aunt all decided to go Black Friday shopping around midnight on Thanksgiving evening.  We picked up some killer deals.  I got so much at such a discount!  I got home at 5:30am and still didn't get to go to all the stores I wanted.  But Jer and I went back the next day.  :)  One of the things that I got were these jeans that I'd been wanting FOR-eva!  And I pretty much scored the biggest discount ever at the Gap with this purchase.

You see, they are called the 1969 Sexy Boyfriend Jeans and they are originally $69.95 per pair.  Let's just say I got both pairs in two different washes for under sixty bones!!!

This is what happened.....Wednesday evening I was cruising Gap's website and noticed that they already had their jeans on sale for Black Friday.  I looked to see if their boyfriend jeans were on sale and they were!  They were a little over $27.00.  I freaked.  Panicked thinking that I must buy them right then and there because that was a killer deal, but I thought I should wait to make sure they fit me before going through the hassle of having to return them if they didn't work out.  Looking back, I took a huge risk of them being sold out online come Friday.  So Friday, while Jer and I were out having our Black Friday date day we stopped in and I tried them on.  LOVED THEM!  But I noticed that they weren't as cheap IN the store (they were $43) as they were online (I have no clue why the prices were so different).  So to keep myself from thinking I was going crazy, I told Jer to open his Gap App on his iPhone, he scanned the bar code with his phone and these boyfriend jeans pulled up with a price of 27 dollars and some change!!!  So the clerk said he would honor that lower website price for us.  Eeeepp!!!!  So that's when I decided to get TWO pairs.  Oh and Jer picked up a pair of jeans too.  We got 3 pairs of jeans for under $90!  Now if you see me in these jeans multiple times a week, that's because they are so comfy and versatile for this momma of a toddler boy.  :)

- Recently I went a few days thinking that I could be pregnant.  Ha.  I had been nauseous during the morning and day time hours.  But knew I wasn't pregnant for "monthly reasons" so I decided I was going to find out where my nausea was coming from.  I always tend to the drive Jer crazy by thinking the worst (like having some kind of deadly disease).  For whatever reason, something told me to stop drinking my morning cup of coffee.  So I did.  Walla!  Bam!  No more nausea.  Holy smokes.....now what am I going to do with out it?  Well....I'm going to buy a different kind of coffee.  Maybe it's something about Folgers that's making me feel ill or maybe our huge coffee canister is old and I've been drinking old coffee.

*update: I'm now starting to think its caffeine in general because I can't even drink a diet soda or tea without later feeling super nauseous an hour or two later.  Jer thinks it could be the acidity and possible heartburn (I've never had heartburn so I'm not exactly sure what it feels like).  Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?  Could this be some medical mystery, ha? :)*

- Jer LOVES these target brand chocolate shakes.  He takes one out of the fridge every morning on his way out the door and drinks them on his drive to work.  We keep a stock pile of them.  I've been horrible at dieting so I've started drinking these shakes here lately.  They are delish.  I'm trying to drink one in the morning and for lunch with a snack in between.  We'll see how long this lasts.  

- A few weeks ago, we had a Pink event at our church.  It's where all the women in our church come together, worship and listen to a speaker about various topics.  They are always so fun.  That night I went with a few of my mom's group (you might recognize Meghan next to me, she tends to be a regular on this blog) girlfriends.  We had dinner before hand and then went to the church afterward.  It was such a lovely evening spending time with these awesome girlfriends alone while the babies were with their daddy's.  They are beautiful inside and out.  And I'm thankful for each of them.

- Get this:  this sweet girl recognized me from my blog.  I got a big kick out of it.  Meghan and I walked into Starbucks after our Pink Night and on our way out with our coffees in hand, this sweet girls boyfriend asked if I had a blog called Our Love and Our Blessing.  Then she said, "I follow you and thought you looked familiar!"  And she went on to say, "when you follow a blog you kinda feel like you know them."  And I couldn't agree with her more.  I follow blogs and always feel like we are friends because I know so much of their families.  Best part, she said, "your little boy is so cute!"  So sweet that she even mentioned my son.  :)  So I had Meg take our picture.

Thank you to the girl that I failed to get your name from!!!

And, yeah, I felt kinda like one of those cool kids.  ;)

- I recently made my Instagram account public.  :)  Come follow us: @jenanncook

- Simply put: I've been really thankful lately for the life He has given me.  You already know that I attend two "moms" groups.  One on Tuesdays and one on Thursdays.  The other day, I was sitting at one of them and starting thinking about how blessed I am to be here with these wonderful groups of women in the middle of the morning while my son is in the children's ministry being well taken care of.  I never want to take this season of my life for granted.  It's truly the best season yet.

- It's hilarious to hear Boston yell "go, go!" at the tv when he sees a football game.  He's seen Jer yell at the tv one too many times during a football game.  Guess he thinks that's what you do when watching football.  Ha.  Its apparent that the kid watches everything we do even when we don't realize it!

- Boston has been lacking in the vegetable-eating-department so I decided to take matters into my own hands.  These have been on his menu lately (among others.  I change it up a little for him so he doesn't get burnt out of the same ol' taste):

*i also add: flaxseed mill, greek yogurt, one banana and ice*

- I have so many project posts sitting in draft form that I don't even know which one to post first.  I might just dedicate a whole week to project posts.  But that might get a little too boring.  Stay tuned.

- These were ordered, delivered and now have been mailed.  Booyah!  Still shocked I got them out before the end of November.  I decided to go plain this year.  Typically our Christmas cards have multiple pictures of events that happened that year.  This year, I decided on only two pictures.  The second picture is on the back.  They are our family pictures from our little family photo shoot we did ourselves while in Florida last month.  I have a whole post dedicated to all of the photos we captured while doing our shoot.  :)

front

back (it's smaller than the picture on the front)

- Our church has an annual fall festival where they have lots of bounce houses, carnival rides and games.  This was our second year to go and we always have a great time.  We met up with some friends and the kids had a blast.  Boston is at the point where when he gets on a ride and its over he doesn't want to get off.  He wants to go again.  He hasn't gotten the concept down that other people are standing in line waiting to get on next.  Best part: seeing Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboy player) there with his family playing games.  I mean, how cool is that?!  I've known he goes to our church but since we usually go on Saturday evenings we never get to see him.  I might have drooled a little bit.

- Speaking of drooling....I love the love these guys have for each other.  He was so happy to see dada after he got home from work.  This is how they greet each other.  They fall over onto one another. :)

-  This is up and sittin' pretty in our living room!  (more on that later)  Royal blue, baby blue, gold and silver is our theme this year.  

This and That

-  As much as I didn't like it, I had to pack up the rest of B's clothing that he's outgrown.  I'm not ready for him to grow up.  But happy that he's growing healthy.  It's a bittersweet kinda feeling.  (more about how and what I packed in a later post)

- If you are looking for high quality furniture, pillows, home accessories, iPad cases, luggage, rugs, cookware, towels, bedding....any type of houseware at low prices you have to check out Joss & Main.
I finally ordered this cute/low priced iPad case.  Saving almost 60 bucks had me at hello.  The most important decision was which color I wanted.  I couldn't decide between a brown leather case or this pewter case.  But after my coin toss, my decision was the pewter one below (how cute is that?!).  So excited to get it and use it to protect my new love.

BODHI

ENDS IN

1 DAYS, 11 HRS

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Ultra Thin Smart iPad Easel in Pewter

$39.95 $99.00

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Details

Bring your technology essentials to go with the Ultra Thin Smart iPad Easel, showcasing a rich pebble leather cover and streamlined silhouette.

• Product: Easel for iPad 1 and 5
• Construction Material: Pebble leather
• Color: Pewter
• Features:
  • Easy access to buttons and ports
  • Magnetic cover turns iPad on and off
• Dimensions: 9" H x 7.5" W x 0.5" D
• Cleaning and Care: Wipe clean with damp cloth
• Shipping: This item ships small parcel
• Expected Arrival Date: Between 10/30/2012 and 11/07/2012
• Return Policy: This item is final sale and cannot be returned

- We had a nice surprise on our doorstep a few days ago and received our order of thank you cards to send out to everyone for their gift to Boston for his birthday.  We are so very thankful to everyone that came and showed him thoughtfulness by their gift.  I have always written our "thank you's" from Boston, since they are his gifts.  :)  And yes, he tells me what to write.  ;)

- Over the weekend, we finally opened up a savings account for Boston.  Over the span of his life, we've often gotten money for him (birthday's, Christmas, etc.) that we've kept for him in hopes of opening his account.  Our goal is to deposit a certain amount of money each year on his birthday from us.  It'll be an automatic deposit so that it's always growing and drawing a little bit of interest.  

- For the life of me I couldn't figure out what Boston should be this year for halloween.  Last year he was a giraffe and a zebra.  This year is another animal.  An owl!  I fell in love with this owl costume when I saw it.  My mind was made up and I ordered it right then.  I can.not.wait to see him in this costume.  Might be the last year I can choose his costume.  :)

-  Over the weekend, we got to spend a few hours with Boston's best bud, Cash.  He's such a sweet and smart little fella.  So excited for these two boys to grow up being friends.  One of the things that we did was fly 2 of Boston's remote control airplanes (from both of his grandparents) that he got from his birthday.  Unfortunately, they were flown and then crashed.  ha.  But it was fun (for the dads) while it lasted.

This and That

--Today we are headed to Tulsa, OK (about 4.5 hours away) with Jer for a deposition he has tomorrow.  Four and a half hours in the car with a 20 month old should be interesting.

--Boston turned 20 months old on Saturday!!  postcomingsoon!

--This past weekend we celebrated my nephew, Noah's, 3rd birthday party.  Boston always has fun with his cousin.  Since Boston and Noah are both into trains (Thomas) we took them yesterday to ride the train.  It was loads of fun!

--I'd love for y'all to come follow us on twitter!  It's a fun way to share what's going on with us almost daily.

--I have been terrible with my dieting.  But it's Monday and I'm determined to get back on track.  Especially since I now have 4 months until we are on the beach in Florida.

--We have finally x-nayed the b.o.t.t.l.t.e.s from Boston.  Cold Turkey.  Hasta La Vista.  Gone.  Bye Bye.  It's been a long time coming.  Oddly, the thought of it has been hard for me.  Since B never took a pacifier, his Dr. Brown bottles were his pacifier.  He would finish his milk and then suck on the bottles while walking around and playing.  They would comfort him in car rides and before going to sleep for naps and at night.  He loved them.  And by taking them away, I felt like I was taking his best friend(s) away.  Crazy/Silly, I know.  It truly makes me sad for him.  But, we've done it and we're not looking back!

Now I just need to find a good sippy cup that he'll like and want to use.  He was always all about the "bottles" before.  Nothing compared.

--I'm excited to show you a project or two this week, that we've created.  You'll have to tell me what you all thing about them!

--I have so many friends that are getting pregnant with their 2nd babies, lately.  Is it weird that I'm not even an ounce ready for another one?  I'm enjoying focusing on B these days.  I don't want to give up that focus right now.  Some days I wonder if I'll ever be ready.  ha.

--Baked broccoli!!!  So yum.  Broccoli, crushed garlic and salt.  Broil for 10 minutes until the garlic caramelizes and voila.....you have a bowl of awesome-ness.

--Be sure to check out my sidebar on the right.  I've added a few new blogs that I'm following!

--I'm so thankful that Boston still takes 2 naps a day.  I'm not sure how I will function when he switches to one.  I already feel like I don't get enough done while he's sleeping during both naps.

--Boston's Temper.....OY!!!  It's been a category 5 lately.  I'm not sure where he's learned it but he has slapped my face and pulled my hair a few times during his fit of rage.  No bueno.  Unacceptable.  So, we started "time out" and it started off rough.  He thought it was a game.  When he would try to get down, we would pick him up and put him back on, and he would laugh at us.  After about a week now, I think he's getting the idea.  Fingers crossed we don't have to do time out very often.

Are there any tips that you all can give on disciplining a head strong toddler???  I'm all ears.

--I still can't decide on a paint color.

--Guess what Monday it is?!  It's the first Monday of the month. And you know what that means.....curb/trash hunting!  Since we are leaving today to OK, we won't have time to walk the neighborhood, so we'll be driving it later.  ha.

Linking up with:
Carissa
Little Moments Like This

Happy Monday!