Three (toddler-y) Musketeers

Mary, Danielle and I decided last week that we should get our boys together to play and do some Valentine's Day stuff. So last night we headed over to Mary's house and the kids had a BLAST! We let them play, ordered pizza, let them do some stickers and coloring, frosted cookies and then ended the night with an impromptu bath to clean off the stickiness. These three boys really have the best time together. I often pray that they will grow up to be good friends who can support each other, lean on each other and be good influences on each other!!

Jax always has to hug his friends. And Max does too. So they basically wouldn't let go of each other. Ha! Ben wanted to join in the fun :)

This picture is a keeper for when they grow up!

Of course Jax had to lick all the frosting off his cookie

Notice how each of them has their hand in their mouth. It was near impossible to get a picture with more than one of them smiling. Although Ben and Max are smiling in this one, Jax is more focused on his sugar intake. He's nothing like his mama *wink*

Group shot- taken with the self timer. And set to take 5 pictures in a row. We did this about 4 times. We got 2 good ones :)

The boys were covered in pink frosting so we threw them all in the tub. Of course, they were splashing and playing and having a grand ol' time. I love this picture.

Jax- splashing. Max- thinks it's funny. Ben- not so sure.

Aren't these three boys are just too cute for words?!

Preparing for Disneyland!

Once hubs gets home and we are reunited as a family and we've gotten over the whole separation thing and we get to enjoy each other's company, we are taking Jax-man to DISNEYLAND! I know he's a little on the young side (he'll be 21 months when we go), but he loves Mih-tey Mouse and Mih-eeeee (Minnie), so I know that he will love it. We are going with both sets of grandparents so there will be lots of people to walk him around and keep him occupied while others wait in line for rides. I've been researching some toddler-y tips for D-land. So far, I've heard that renting a stroller seems to be the way to go, getting to the kiddie rides first thing is important, and taking advantage of the kid/mother resting areas.

Do you guys have any other tips that we should keep in mind?

I bought these shirts from Tator Tot's Boutique on Etsy. I LOVE how they turned out! They are borderline small-ish. They fit right now, but there's not a lot of room to spare... so I really hope the kid doesn't go through a growth spurt or anything. I paid good money for those shirts and he better get some good use out of them! I ordered size 24 months, specifically not 2T, because I was worried that 2T would be too big. But the 24 month shirts that she used are actually the same size as all of Jax's 18month shirts. So that's a bummer. BUT like I said, they fit now so I have high hopes that they'll still fit in a month! Aren't they adorable?!

I haven't been to D-land in about 7 years and I really can't wait to go back and see it through the eyes of my child!

SSMT

This year I've decided to participate in the Siesta Scripture Memory Team through Beth Moore's blog at Living Proof Ministries. On the first and fifteenth of each month, Beth posts a verse that she has chosen to memorize and then anyone else who wants to participate can post their own memorization verse in the comments section. Click on each of the red words above to read more about it directly from Beth. Basically, each person can choose their own verse to memorize or they can use Beth's verse. So, my point to all of this is that I am going to post my chosen verse on here as well. I have two verses so far... one from January 1st and one from the 15th. I thought I would let y'all know which ones I've chosen so that A)I can be held accountable to memorize them, and B)They could possibly be encouraging to someone. So here they are...

January 1st-

"Forget about what's happened. Don't keep going over old history. Be alert! Be present! I'm about to do something brand new. It's bursting out. Don't you see it? There it is. I'm making a road in the desert and rivers in the badlands"

-Isaiah 43:18-19 (Translation- The Message)

January 15th-

"You were taught... to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness"

-Ephesians 4:23-24 (Translation- NIV)

My goal is to get these posted on Beth's blog and this blog on the 1st and 15th of each month. I hope you guys enjoy!

This Past Week... in Randoms

Not a lot has been going on around these parts recently. We went to church on Sunday and Bible study on Tuesday morning and Jax did fantastic in the classroom! This is a new development and I couldn't be happier. It only took 19 months for him to finally realize that he could play, and then mommy would come back to get him. Ha! Here's some other randomness from the past week...

The last few days have been good because hubs is on his way home! He left his post and is now at the place that he will fly out of to come home. For now, it is just the infamous Army waiting game as to when he will get a flight and actually be home. Keep praying for his safety while he waits and while he travels. 6+ months of separation is finally coming to a close!

I received three free Zoya nail polishes! (Well, I paid shipping... but it still worked out to about $2.25 a bottle) I am LOVING the deep purplish color so far. I don't normally paint my fingernails, just toenails, but I wanted to try out this yummy winter color and it's awesome! I can't wait to dive into the other two colors. The pink might have to wait until spring/summer :)

We hung out with our best friends Max and Danielle over the weekend. The boys had a BLAST! They are both very rough-and-tumble and they love playing together. They chase each other and wrestle and hide from each other and terrorize the dogs and giggle the whole time. It's adorable!

Jax is very into a few new things recently. One is Nemo. Ever since he found these swimmy diapers from last summer, he has been asking to watch "Memo" all the time. He also likes to wear Nemo as a hat. Why not?!

Another thing he loves is to push the kitchen chairs around... and more specifically, to push one over to the sink and play in it!
He's such a stinker, but he's so darn cute! I mean, how can you resist this folded-armed cuteness?!


PS- Do you like the new bloggy design? Because I do. A lot. :)

Memories

I was uploading some Christmas videos to my computer from my Flip, and I started watching some videos from the past few months. I thought I would share a couple with you... because my kid is cute and you want to see it, of course :)

This first one is from October and I was having Jax say some of his words. I'm amazed at how much more he can say now, just over 2 months later!

This second one is him being classic Jax. He's silly and constantly making me laugh!

Today has been a rough day for me, so I was thankful for the smile that these videos brought to my face!

Giddy'up!

I heart CVS

It's no small secret around here how much I love CVS and their Extra Care Bucks rewards program. I know I haven't done a couponing post in some time... mostly because I don't have a lot of extra room right now for stocking up on products. I've really cut back on shopping and couponing, but last week and this week were an exception because CVS had great ads both weeks and I couldn't pass them up!

A few weeks ago I signed up to receive two coupons for free Excedrin products. A few days later, the coupon reset and I signed up again. I ended up receiving four coupons for free Excedrin. This just happened to coincide with CVS' ad last week to spend $20 in Excedrin products and receive a $10 ECB. (Read more about CVS'ing and ECB's HERE). I used my 4 coupons, paid nothing out of pocket and received a $10 ECB. So I basically got paid $10 to get 4 Excedrin products. Talk about a steal!

This week, I decided to carry over my $10 ECB toward some drinks and granola bars that were on sale. Here's how it went down...

Transaction #1

Purchased (3) Nature Valley granola bars @ 3/$10

- (3) $.50/1 coupons

- $.50 ECB from before

-$2 ECB from 2 weeks ago

Paid $6 oop, got $4 ECB back

Transaction #2

Purchased (3) Starbucks Frappucino 4-packs

Purchased (2) Izze sparkling fruit drink 4-packs

-(3) $1/1 Frappucino coupons

-(2) $1/1 Izze coupon

-$10 ECB from last week

-$4 ECB from previous transaction

Paid $3.15 oop, got $10 ECB back

SO, overall I got $39.42 worth of stuff for $9.15 (saved 77%), and I still have $10 ECB left... which means I am walking away with $.85 profit. HELLO! How could you not love CVS after something like that?!

Excited!

We are heading into the second week of January and I couldn't be more excited! The holidays are over and that means it's almost time for my hubby to come home!! This deployment has gone by relatively quickly, however I am so past the point of being ready to be home and together. I am desperately awaiting the day that my hubby walks off the plane and into our home again. On January 13th, he will have been gone for 6 months. As for his homecoming, I can't give many details because of OPSEC (operational security), but I can say that he's mostly packed and ready to go and he will be home by this time next month! This little guy is pretty excited too... can't you tell?! I'm not sure he really has any idea what's going on! Ha!

We actually got to talk to hubs today WITH VIDEO! It's been weeks since Jax has been able to see his daddy. The internet over there is very slow and with lots of people using it, Skype/GChat hardly ever works. But today it worked for 30 minutes! Jax was showing his daddy his "uck" (truck) and "tacto" (tractor) book. He was showing him his piano and playing songs for him. He was showing him his animal book and saying all his animal sounds. He has grown so much over the past 6 months and I know hubs is gonna have a blast seeing all the fun things Jax does. I can't wait to see it through his eyes.

As this deployment comes to an end, I am so thankful for all of you who have been praying for our family. These last 6 months have not always been easy, but we've gotten through them... and that is in part because of your love and support. Thank you for your continued prayers as hubs gets ready to head home and we transition back into our "real" life. It'll be here before we know it!

New Year's Day and baby Bennett

Happy January 6th y'all... I hope your new year has been treating you good thus far! Our New Year's day was fun. I got up first thing to make cinnamon rolls, which is a tradition for us. This year I decided to make The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I've made them before and they are so yummy (and soaked with a maple, coffee icing.. HEAVEN!)

While breakfast was baking and making the house smell yummy, we watched the Rose Parade. Another tradition in our house. This was Jax's first time seeing it! (Last year doesn't count since he was only 7 months old :) ) He liked the horsies the most and every time he saw one, he said "neeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiii" in his most high-pitched voice.

We spent the rest of the day lounging in our PJ's and watching football. It was a great day, and now this is the month that daddy comes home, so we couldn't be more excited!

I wanted to update you all on this little guy. I've been closely following Bennett's story since he was in his mommy's belly and decided to come out at 27 weeks. He is such a strong little guy! He has his first surgery today and he did FANTASTIC! They were able to intubate and extubate him without issues (which they were very nervous about) and he is recovering well with very little oxygen required and a smile on his face. Please continue to keep Bennett in your prayers as his parents want him healthy and home as soon as possible. He is 6 months old and they can't wait to bring him home to the rest of his siblings. Praise the Lord for progress and answered prayers!