My Man, The Best Man

A few weeks ago, Jerry's best friend, who also happens to be his cousin, got married.

Jerry was best man for the groom, Mike, who I happened to know before I knew Jerry. Are you following?

Jerry, Mike and I all graduated the same year from a huge high school. I didn't know Jerry, but I actually had several classes with his cousin Mike. Mike and I were on the "take as many AP/Honors classes as you can" track, while Jerry was on the "get me out of here as fast as you can" plan. Little did I know how later in my marriage I would so appreciate Jerry's laid back, non-overachieving approach to life. He balances me out perfectly.

(I had to include the above pic for our friends Mandy and Justice...she always does the hand on the belly pose too...much to the dismay of our men!)

One highlight of the wedding weekend was getting to hang out with the pastor who married us 10 years ago. We sure wish he and his family lived closer. Here is a shot of Jason and Jerry.

Mike met and fell in love with a beautiful, Jesus-following woman and they had a beautiful wedding. Jerry gave a great toast and looked super handsome in his tuxedo.

Our kids did pretty good through the wedding and reception. Jade nodded off on Uncle Brad for a bit and liked being teased by Uncle Blaine as well.

It was the first wedding Lily and Jade had ever attended. Lily was awestruck by Jessica and her wedding gown the entire time. "Aunt Jessica", as Lily calls her, was so patient with her ever present clingy pre-school guest.

Notice who is sitting on her lap while Uncle Mike is playing a few songs? God bless that woman!

It wasn't the first time that the family had decorated a car though. I'm not sure if Jessica was aware of the full family tradition. Payback time.

I won't give names, Jessica, but let's just say that most of the helpers are pictured in this post. You'll be glad to know that one of them revealed to me that thongs were cheaper than bras, so that might explain some of the contents of your car!

Mike and Jess, your wedding was an amazing, worshipful, Christ-centered event. Thank you for letting my man be your best man...he was honored. Love you guys!

Blog Identity Crisis

Why do you blog?

I started this one as sort of an electronic scrapbook...a way to relieve the guilt that my girls' baby books are pretty much bare. And organized photo albums? Good luck. At least here I could throw down some info with a date and a few photos attached to it.

Then I started using it more as a journal of the funny things that parenting brings your way. The crazy things your children say and do that make you laugh. Because crying isn't as fun of an option.

Then FaceBook came along. Has FaceBook hurt anyone else's blogging identity? I feel like I can upload personal photos there and journal our outings, and just keep this more of a general mom blog...but then again not everyone has a FB account. Mainly my mom.

She is still waiting to see pictures from several little events and even a few big ones that just can't be put into a concise and hopefully funny post.

So, just consider this fair warning. The next few posts may look like photo dumps. My blog is in an identity crisis.

24 months

I'm sure this is the most unoriginal thing I could say, but I cannot believe my baby is two. So I'll just make it 24 months. That sounds a bit younger, right?


Jade, we love you so much and enjoyed celebrating your second birthday with a Winnie the Pooh party on July 4th. We enjoyed cake and water balloon fun after sweating like crazy at the parade. You were so excited to take a peek at your cake. When we got it out you immediately marched over to the silverware drawer and pulled out a spoon. You were ready for a bite!

Here is Daddy protecting the coolers full of water balloons until it was time to start.

We did your party early. Monday was your actual birthday and you enjoyed getting some special phone calls and birthday cards in the mail.

In honor of turning 24 months old, here are 24 things that your daddy and I always want to remember about you at this precious stage:

1. You have several little things you say with the cutest voice, including: "What happened, Mama? Aw, man. Are you okay, Dada?". I must get them recorded on video though because it is really the way you say them that makes it so sweet.

2. You are still a great sleeper...sleeping about 11 hours at night and then about 2 hours in the afternoon. You are so sweet when you wake up and usually announce loudly, "I wake up!"...and we are so glad you did.

3. You are such a cuddle muffin. You are especially cuddly when we sing and rock at night.

4. Some of your favorite songs that you sing with me are Twinkle Star (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star), Mary Lamb (Mary Had a Little Lamb), Jesus Lamb (I am Jesus' Little Lamb), and Bonnie Ocean (My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean).

5. You are very amazing with your hands. Diligent about working puzzles and turning the pieces until they fit just right.

6. You are also great at putting on your shoes and buckling the top part of your car seat. You protest if I try to help you.

7. You are still a good eater. You love hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, broccoli and yogurt.

8. When it comes to drinks, you prefer water...except for the warmed milk you guzzle down every morning and night.

9. I don't know your exact stats, but you are taller than most kids your age, where some 2T clothes but fill out 3Ts well, and weigh about 30 pounds.

10. You can show an attitude like no other. If you trip and fall or are bumped into, you shout, "No! No push me!" in a scolding fashion to whoever is closest to you.

11. You also show distress when daddy or mommy plays with other kids.

12. You still love puppies of all kinds. I am thankful that we just have a few of the stuffed variety right now. I know if Daddy ever shows up with a live puppy that he will blame it on you!

13. You are also still very in love with Winnie the Pooh although you usually are okay with leaving him in your crib for the day.

14. That is not the case for your "bay-bay"....your beloved yellow blankie...it still travels with you most places. And we turn around to get it if we are close to home and have forgotten it.

15. You do not know your colors yet, but sometimes guess them correctly.

16. You are able to identify hearts and triangles by name.

17. You are able to answer 3 catechism questions and part of the fourth one. You are so sweet when you answer them...another thing I need to get on video. (1. Who made you? God. 2. What else did God make? God made all things. 3. Why did God make you and all things? For his own glory.)

18. You have several nicknames around here. Jader. Jader-Tater. Jayda. Sissy. Sister. Lily most often calls you Mrs. Jayda though...we are not sure how she came up with that...but you love it.

19. You have changed Gramma Jean's name from Gramma to "Grammer". She loves it! Also, when you have been around Papa, you start to call Paw, Papa, instead. It is all confusing I'm sure. So far, Memmy and NeNe have remained unchanged.

20. You are not potty trained yet, but are very aware of when you have tinkled or pooped. No matter which you have done though you always exclaim, "I poo pooed"! This is not so fun when you shout it out at a restaurant...usually when you have just tinkled a little bit. Potty training is on my agenda. (3 grey hairs just sprouted)

21. You love your dad's new pick up truck. You always comment about trucks now on the road and LOVE to go for a ride with daddy.

22. You also love the water. You are fearless. Last weekend you let us put you under water several times without fussing at all. You also jumped off the side to us and floated on your tummy and back. We had to stop you from walking into deeper water when it got up to your chin!

23. You are so cute when you try to run. It looks more like a skip or a horse trot than a run.

24. You really enjoyed your party...especially when everyone sang to you. You blew out your candle right way.

Here you are trying to carry as many of your new presents as possible.

We love you and your sweet precious spirit. We can't imagine life without you Jader!

The 4th on the 5th...or something like that.

I just downloaded a few hundred pictures to my computer. As I contemplated posting them in order of occurrence, the thought crossed my mind that you probably aren't going to be interested about the 4th of July come September when I finally catch up...hey, you probably aren't even interested in the 4th today...but here it is anyway. Earlier photos are just going to have to wait.

This marked the 4th year that our family paired up with my sister's family and participated in our town's Independence Day Children's Parade. The idea is that you decorate your bike, wagon, stroller, motorized Jeep, or whatever and walk a couple of blocks with your kids, while pretending not to melt. Then you find a shady spot at the end to enjoy hotdogs, popcorn and lemonade while trying to convince your kids that although the bounce house slide is white, it will surely burn their backside all the way down.

Last year's celebration can be found here. Thank God I wasn't blogging the previous year...when we attended two days prior to having Jade. My Old Navy t-shirt just didn't do justice for my belly that year. (Oh, my! I just went to grab the link for that post. Lo and behold, I had gone back and scanned in pictures of my pregnant self for that post. Why, oh why?!?)

This year we didn't stay long because Jade's party followed the parade. I will be rethinking that for future years. Nothing like greeting guests while completing drenched in sweat and smelling your absolute finest.

Here is our day in pictures:

Little Sis in her red and blue. Never mind the fact that she wanted to wear sister's yellow flipflops.

Big sister ready to go.

Doing a little decorating.

3 cousins on the stairs.
The family.
Heading to the starting line-up.

Kelly and Avery getting pics before the sweat started dripping. Who am I kidding? That started on the way from the door to the car.

Sisters.

Waiting in the shade before the signal to begin.

And we're off.

I wish I could have fit in the wagon. Jerry is glad I didn't.

The grandparents reluctantly came out of the shade too.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the 101 degree heat.

I'm sure Jade was wishing she had a thumbsicle.

Later my mom said, "Well, Kerry, I'm glad I got to experience this with you guys...ONCE".

At least we weren't wearing spray painted fur.

Jade cooling off Papa with some ice water.

She got such a kick out of dripping water on his face and legs.

We headed home on a shady trail.

And Jade traded her thumb for a bottled water.

Hey, she's an aging woman...staying hydrated is important to ward off those wrinkles.

Hello there.

Wow. This week flew by.

I was reminded tonight by my one faithful blog reader, my mom, that I hadn't posted all week. She had been hoping to see pictures of a special wedding we were a part of last weekend. Oh yes, those pictures and tons of other ones are all awaiting download. Multiple posts are swimming in my head, but we've been too busy actually swimming and living life to pause and record it.

Round 3 of swimming lessons are over for Lily. I broke my own rule though and purchased 4 private lessons. I know, I know. I said I was ready for a break. But I can see a glimmer of hope in her and feel like we should capture the momentum. Shoot, we've been at this since January, whats a few more dollars and days now?

We spent the morning at the pool as a family today and she was gaining confidence by the minute. Jade was the superstar though...that child is fearless. We had so much fun.

Tomorrow it is off to the town's children's parade and festivities and then back home for Jade's second birthday party. My baby will be two on Monday. *tear*

It will be a simple Winnie the Pooh party with some backyard water balloon fun. My Mom and Jerry are really hating me now for wanting to do the water balloons. So far my excuse for not joining them has worked. I seriously CANNOT tie a balloon...not even a regular balloon...much less a water balloon.

So I am paying my mom and her sore fingers back with this little post. Thanks for all your help Mom!

I am going back to living life...here's to getting it all recorded later! Enjoy your holiday!