Friday Fab 5 (Not on a Friday but still Fab).

Here's our update for the past few weeks.......

 
1. Date Night 

 Iron Man is brilliant, funny, witty, and loves technology, which makes him our family's favorite super hero. :)  Mark and I went to Iron Man 3 together for date night recently. It was action-packed and had a little romance too, which suits both of our fancies. 

After the movie, we went to one of our favorite burger chains, Red Robin.  I tried the Bleu Cheese somethin' or other Burger.  It was good for a change but I don't think I'd order it again.  I guess I'm not a huge bleu cheese fan (Sorry, Dad.  I know you love it!).  One of our favorite things about Red Robin is their endless fries with campfire sauce.  Our friend told us about their campfire sauce a few years ago and our lives have never been the same since.  :)

Thank you to the Reams Family for babysitting for us!  We're sure Jax enjoys our dates as much as we do (if not more) because he could care less if we leave or when we get back since he gets to play with the fun kids for a few hours!  Win-Win.

 2. Sea World--  I've been taking Jax to Sea World before our year pass runs out next month.  This time, we did the toddler water area and he met some fun Sesame Street characters! 

 

Jax could play with water all day every day, I think.  He loves when I turn the hose on to water the garden and flower pots.  These miniature fountains really put a big smile on his face.  He is also a friendly kid and enjoys playing with any kid who will pay attention to him (or try to avoid him). ha!  He kept trying to get into his "friend's" stroller to have some of their snacks.  I guess the ones I brought weren't quite exciting enough. :)  

 

Jax has never seen Sesame Street before but that didn't stop him from wanting to meet the characters up close!  He loved touching Bert and Ernie's noses and the Cookie Monster's eyes.  :)

3. Highlight--  I know I have put a picture like this on the blog several times but I feel like it's such a part of our daily life (and I have two of the most handsome guys in the world) that I'm posting yet another Daddy/Son Truck Picture....

 

It's the highlight of both of our days when dad gets home from work.  Jax gets super excited when daddy comes home in the green truck ("cuck...cuck...cuck...cuck").  He loves to meet him out in the driveway and "drive" on the steering wheel for a bit.  Mark even puts him in the truck bed to play for a bit sometimes when he's working in the yard.  We certainly have a vehicle-loving boy on our hands!

4.  Library Time--Jax has almost outgrown the baby story and play time and the library so I thought I should put a little picture in to remember these good days.  His favorite part is when we go in the big room and play with all sorts of new-to-us toys with all of the other babies.  I like it too because I can socialize with other moms.  These days, he'd rather stay out and play with the wooden train set that they have glued down to a small table instead of joining the other babies for singing time. ;)  He's the one in the bright green shirt.  fyi.

5.  Memorial Day BBQ--Last night we went to the Fielden's house for burgers and the fixins.  It was a nice evening.  The adults just ate and chatted and the kiddos played to their heart's content.  I decided to take my favorite chip/cracker dip from Our Best Bites website.  Mmmm....mmmm.  Highly recommended.  :) 

Nice end to our fun weekend with Scott and Kelsey visiting!!! (more on that later)

Fab 5--turned into 6: Play in May

1.  THE BOYS AND THEIR TOYS:

Mark: Recently, we (by we I mean Mark) bought a couple of  new saws for projects.  His big-boy toys now include circular, table, and miter saws! Wahoo!  He enjoys building things, tinkering around, and doing projects around the house.  I'm glad I have a hubby who is good at fixing things, figuring things out, and working hard to beautify our place.    

Jax: Our neighbor gave Jax "The Defender" racecar.  Isn't it cool?  To me it looks straight from my 90's childhood, which makes it even cooler, right?  The remote control part of it doesn't work anymore but Jax could care less at this point.  He just drives it around the house making racecar noises.  Also, we were flipping channels the other night and NASCAR was on ESPN.  Jax was seriously glued to the TV.  We laughed for a long time about it because generally things on the TV don't keep his attention for very long at all. Redneck...comin' right up...

 

2.  I finally printed out the extra pages I've been working on and I finished the baby book up to 12 months!!! Can I get a woo-woo?  It gives me some real satisfaction to finish projects and to top it off, Jax has looked at the book quite a bit, which makes me extra happy! 

 

3.  Family Outing:  We bought a season pass to the Zoo.  I think we've gone about 4 times so far.  It's a smaller zoo, which is just the right size for the little man at this point.   We picked Mark up from work and went together on a Monday evening.  It was beautiful weather and we had a good time.  Then we went back on post to Mark's softball game and it started POURING all of a sudden.  The game was canceled but it made for a memorable family night. :)

 

4.  Bubbles and sidewalk chalk have become a big interest for little Jax as of late.  The other day, we had a little sidewalk-chalk-paint-your face-war.  Jax was laughing so hard every time he drew on my nose.  I started getting him back and I just laughed to myself thinking, "don't even mess with mama" until I saw my own face.  I think Jax actually won!  :)

 

 

5.  Big Boy:  Jax loves to be "big" and wash his hands at the sink.  He also is a forward-facing carseat rider these days, which he's THRILLED about.  I couldn't believe how happy he was about it!  The kid couldn't stop smiling.  :) 

   

6.  Does this wall remind you of anything?  Joseph and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat by chance?    

You know the song...."Such a dazzling coat of many colors
How I love my coat of many colors.......It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ocher and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And red and yellow and green and brown
Scarlet and black and ocher and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And blue"

 

Well now I have my very own wall of many colors....such a dazzling wall of many colors....

I have finally picked one out!  Mark just kept laughing and shaking his head every time I walked in the door with yet another few paint samples in hand.  I know all of Home Depot's paint employees on a personal basis.  We're pretty much BFFs by now.  ;)

If you'd like to see me in my next show, just look for

JOSEPHINA and her WALL OF MANY COLORS

on broadway.  Hope you get front row seats.  I'll even wink at you while I'm performing.  Special treat.

Our home improvement activities deserve a post to itself.  So I'll just stop there.  

Mother's Day

 

Mother's Day this year was such a pleasant and relaxing day.  Mark was very sweet to go all out and pamper me.  He made me some delicious pancakes complete with buttermilk caramel syrup for breakfast.  We just hung out and chilled together, which I love to do.  I even took a nap before church!!!  He surprised me with these beautiful flowers the day before and they bloomed right on time.  Mark also surprised me by making me a necklace holder that is now hung up in our closet.  It was something I've wanted for a little while now and it was very sweet of him to make and put it up for me.  After a delightful church, we went all out with steak and potatoes for dinner.  I extremely very rarely buy steak at the store because it's so expensive but it was absolutely mouth-wateringly good!  So, we'll probably have it again for Father's Day, since Mark has already requested it. :)  That evening, we enjoyed some banana splits with some friends.  What a nice day!

I feel sort of hypocritical for enjoying Mothers Day as much as I do now because there were several years that I absolutely hated it.  But, I am so grateful to be able to be a mother.  It is a dream come true.  I'm also grateful to Jax's birth mother and birth grandmother for their charity.  It makes me cry just thinking about what a miracle our adoption is and was.  

I'm also thankful for the good women in my life who are such exemplary mothers and women.  I feel like I was given the best mom in the world.  Sincerely.  I'm thankful to my mother-in-law for her care and love for us.  I am deeply grateful for my sister and sister-in-laws who are an inspiration to me.  I love to think about our dear grandmothers, some who have passed on, and one who is still here but just not quite herself anymore. Those dear, dear women.  I'm also thankful to wonderful friends who honor motherhood.  The power of women is truly miraculous.  

Happy Mother's Day to women everywhere!

Nana Comes to Town

 

Nana came to visit and we had a great time!  

We spent one day at Brackenridge Park.  We went to the Japanese Tea Gardens, which I've been wanting to go to for a while now.  It was real pretty and free so we couldn't complain!  Diane amazes me with her knowledge of plants.  She seemed to know all (or most) of the plants growing around here.  Jax loved the fish ("shish") swimming in the pond as well as the waterfall. 

We took a stroll down to the mini-train station and zoo as well.  Diane treated us to a train ride. Jax was loving it (and I did too!)  We hopped off the train at the Tea Gardens and made our way back home.  What a fun day!  We also took a trip up to the temple, went on walks, spent some time downtown at the riverwalk, and ate yummy food while she was here.  She also was very kind to make me these brown and white houndstooth pillows.  Jax loved the extra attention.  Who could complain about more one-on-one play time?

 

THANKS FOR VISITING, NANA! 

We had a great time with you!

Fab 5: Fun in the Sun

 

1. Soldier Show

We went to the kickoff of the soldier show for the year.  It was fabulous!  I particularly liked the Disney tribute. Mark enjoyed any song that was more up-beat.  Jax loves music.  The opening song kept saying "Let's Go" and it was perfect since that is his new skill.  When we say "Let's....." he says "Go!"  We think it's absolutely adorable. Not biased or overly proud at all. ;)  Jax seemed to like the more upbeat songs as well.  He loved to clap and bounce/dance to the music.  Fun night!

2.  Sea World

We saw Shamu and everything!  Jax kept saying "woahh! woah!" over and over.  I think he is actually realizing some of what is going on in the shows now, which is a plus.  :)  He rode a carousel for the first time and seemed to absolutely love it.  He also played for a really long time in the kid section play area where they have a bunch of ropes to climb, tubes to crawl through, and slides to go down.    

 

We had to stop and see the ducks, since Jax really likes them.  "Qua Qua Qua!" 

3.  Backyard Pool Play

We got together with the cute kiddos we met at library for a back yard play date.  The kids seemed to love it (and the moms did too).  Jax loves the water!  The other day, I got a drink out of the hose and he started laughing his head off!  Now he "washes" his hands and puts his face right in the hose when I turn it on to water the plants.  This is such a fun age!  I feel like every stage of Jax's life I say that it's my favorite, but I really do mean it this time.  :)  I love how excited he gets as he explores and notices things for the first time.  It's just the simple pleasures of life that light his fire.  It's a joy to watch! 

 

Barging in so that he can drive the car too.  He loves this thing and he loved it in St. George too!  I need to buy him one.

 

Bonus Pic: Helping Dad mow the lawn.  

4. Pillow Love

I love pillows.  I'm sure Mark wishes I loved them less. Here are my newest purchases that go with the curtains that mom made last week.  Anyone else out there a pillow lovin' fool? 

 

5. Brush Em' Brush Em' Brush Em' 

His favorite time of day.  Jax loves to hold the toothbrush himself.  It's really funny that he hasn't quite figured out how to move it back and forth with his hand--he just sways his whole body instead and leaves the toothbrush in one spot.  :)  Whatever works, man!  

Fab Five: Mom, Max, Hives, Hair, and Look What I Can Do!

1. "Look what I can do!"  Jax can now reach and open the doors in our closet and master bathroom.  This  has been quite interesting.  He has enjoyed the toilet brush, grabbing toilet paper and either putting it in the toilet and flushing or running away with the strand of TP as fast as his cute chubby legs can carry him.

2.  This cute lady came to town!  My mom and I had a fantastic time together doing what we love.  Decorating, Shopping, Playing, Chatting, and Eating.  She graciously sewed some new curtains for me, which I love.  We also sewed a couple of pillows too.  We picked out some decorative baskets and changed around some of my furniture too.  I don't know what it is about her but it just helps to have her opinion and ideas to help me decorate my house.  We watched some March Madness basketball games too. It made me laugh because she was just like how I remember Benji growing up "I gotta check the score.  Hold on a second...I just have to watch the end of this game....just a minute.  It's almost over"  etc. etc. ha!  She's always been a sports fan and her competitiveness might only be blossoming as she grows older (and wiser).  :)

3.  We also both now have new looks.  We both had our hair trimmed and mom now has new summer outfits to wear thanks to Ross and Burlington.

   

 

4.  Jax had the hives for a few days....poor poor baby!  Luckily Dr. Geo and his knowledgeable wife helped us out by telling us what medicine to buy and he's doing much better.  Thanks Dr. Geo and your smart wife too!

  

5.  Max came over to play for a while on Thursday.  We first met Max and his sweet mommy Abby at the library.  We've been buds ever since.  Max is one month younger (but a whole lot taller) than Jax. :) 

The boys had a good time together throwing balls, climbing up the stairs, chasing each other around the couch, and playing peek-a-boo in the curtains.  We are thankful for good friends!  Max and Jax have a good ol' time together!

It's a good life!

Easters- Corpus Style

 Our nice friends, Abby and Ram, invited us to go to Corpus Christi with them for Easter weekend.  We were so grateful since we had made no plans.  It turned out to be a really fun weekend!  We joined in on their family parties and my friend's mom even got Jax an Easter basket! 

We started the weekend by meeting both sides of our friends' families.  They were very sweet to accommodate and include us for the weekend in their family celebrations.  As soon as we got there, we took Jax down by the water and played at the cute park near the beach.  That evening, Abby's mom made us the "special birthday Korean Beef" dish.  (I seem to have forgotten the true name of it).  It was delish!

We went to church on Sunday and Jax slept through almost all of it.  That explains the not-so-cute hair in the after-church pictures.  :)  The messages given at church were very uplifting.  It was nice to go to church and focus on the Savior for a little bit since it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of eggs and baskets.  I particularly love this video and message about Christ and the resurrection.  

  

We spent the afternoon with Ram's family at their big fiesta

Jax was OBSESSED with this little car thing!  He played with it for hours!  Luckily, Max was able to slip in some play time on it too. :)  We were introduced to cascarones, confetti-filled eggs, which were a hit!  They make a big mess but are way too much fun not to add to our Easter traditions from here on out!

 

Thanks for the great weekend!  Happy Easters!