...til...

...my new electrolux ergorapido stick vacuum...






















I used to have a Bissell wet/dry vac/mop thing...and it worked okay...I thought I loved it...and then it died (RIP)... I really needed a new one since Jude makes a HUGE mess at the dinner table (I will forever be stepping on dried peas and/or cheerios!!!) Went to Target and looked at their stick vacs...and decided on the electrolux. It seriously has changed my life. I actually look forward to Jude making a mess by his high chair so that I can suck it all up!!! Not only is it easy to maneuver- very smooth- but there's a detachable mini-dustbuster thingy with two attachments! This bad boy is hardcore- the suction is fantastic. Best $100 spent! Mine is orange...and I lurve it! ...Kelly Ripa eat your heart out!

...bffs...

Enjoyed having the Conner family over on Sunday to watch the Suns and LOST finale. We also got to Skype with the Walthos- who moved to Seattle in March. It's so awesome to have good friends...it's something that DLo and I prayed for when we were first married- to have lifelong friends who would challenge us and stretch us. We're so blessed to have the Conners and Walthos in our lives!

Jude is smitten with Miss Riley, too! Here are the lil bff's getting ready for bed:

...top5 tuesday...

Alright! It's my 2nd weekly TOP 5 Tuesday!!! I'm super proud of myself for remembering! Haha! This week...I'll be doing two different Top5's...you'll understand why:

Top 5 Things I'll miss about PVC:
5. Getting to be in the new building...
4. Greg's front tuck (bahahahahahah!)
3. Hanging out backstage w/ the Worship team...
2. PVC peeps- seriously some of the most loving people I have EVER met...
1. Worshipping next to my dad...


Top5 Things I look forward to at CCV:
5. Nancy.Custead. (nuff.said.)
4. Watching DLo learn and grow from his team...
3. Building new friendships...
2. Worshipping with my inlaws (don't see them enough!)
1. Watching my children grow in their faith...in the buildings that Derrick and I participated in our first sacrificial giving...it challenged us and grew OUR faith...and I believe God blessed us with our babies b/c of it... :)

#46

#46 Buy outdoor play stuff for the kids

Well...I think I pretty much wrote about this in my previous blog...but Jude (and Emme) are now the proud owners of a pirate ship water activity center...They also have a wicked awesome Mickey Mouse table and chairs...and a bucket full of other "stuff"...the only thing missing is a swing/slide type thing...but we'll wait until the kids are a lil older! :)

...big boy...

::sigh::

I don't think I'll ever get used to the fact that my babies are getting older...and learning SO much every day. Jude is outrageous. I mean...it's so hard for me to remember him being in the "Emme" stage...where he was learning to crawl and walk and eat with a spoon...::sigh:: not to mention even earlier- the cooing and drooling stage! Awww...WHY time WHY!? Why must you go at super warp speed?! I digress.

Jude is just the biggest loverloo ever. He is seriously so freakin' hilarious! He is such a smart kid and such a smart alec! I can tell he understands just about everything I say...and he TOTALLY knows right from wrong (most of the time)...and he knows when he's making bad choices- as he gives this maddeningly adorable face (squinty eyes and big teeth-only smile) when he gets caught! He's such a big helper- putting the bottle in the sink after I feed Emme and throwing trash away and getting the binky and and and ...the list goes on! He's been turning the DVD player/TV on in our bedroom for some time now...but now he even goes and changes DVD's when he's bored of what he's watching (and he knows he's only allowed to do that w/ his Elmo movies or Baby Einstein DVDs- momma doesn't so much like it when he touches the Disney movies!). One of my new favorite things (b/c it's so funny) is when he checks Emme's butt to see if she's gone poop! LOL...and sometimes...he checks mommy to see if she has too (for the record- I never have...) He's getting pretty good at telling me when HE's pooped too (potty training- watch out- I'm comin' at ya!)...although when I ask him (when I know he has) if he's pooped- he always says NO! But then will always let me check when I ask him (which to see how cute he his sticking his butt at me is just awesome!)

LOL. Anywho. It's so fun watching him play too...he's using his imagination more and more....it's so cute to see him carry around his "Elmo and Ernie" toys and make them talk to each other...or the long conversations he has on his Mickey cell- complete with laughter and "um um um"s It's seriously adorable. (Currently he's sitting in his Toy Story chair reading Judy Blume's Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing that he stole from my bookshelf...it's pretty comical) Homeslice is seriously so fun!

Since we got our backyard all niced up...we've been spending more time back there (in the evening when it cools down, of course)... Jude has quite the collection of outdoor toys now...and thanks to his Meema and Grandab, he has the cutest Mickey Mouse table and chairs to lounge in (We've even had dinner out there a few times...on his Mickey table...all three of us...it's pretty hilarious considering the size of the table!) Jude and I like to use the sidewalk chalk to decorate the patio with Sesame Street characters...and Jude is FABULOUS at watering mommy's dying flowers! lol. Recently, I'd been on the hunt for a water activity toy...the one I had chosen was out of stock for the past foreverandaday...but I finally found it...I think I had more fun then Jude did...although...he did enjoy trying to immerse his entire body into the water... silly boy!

Oh...man...I am lovin' life right now. Thank you, Jesus...for blessing me with amazing children...and thank you for such an amazing man for a husband and father to my angels.

and

Thank you, DLo...for working so hard so that I can stay home...I love you! We make beautiful babies together, don't we... :)

Enjoy some pix:

...quatre...

My baby girl is four months old. How is that even possible?! ::sigh::

Miss Em is growing up so fast. She is such a beautiful lil baby and her smile brightens up the entire room! Everything about her is so girlie- her smile, her eyes, her coos, her laugh...I just love it! It's amazing to me how similar her and Jude are...and yet how different this experience is...she just seems so so so much more of a "baby" than he was- maybe b/c he was a lot more...rotound...than she is?! No but really- everything seems to be happening so much quicker... milestones are popping up before I'm ready! For example- is it already time to move her into her own room?! Can it possibly be time for her to be teething (JW got teeth by 5 months)?! Is she really playing in the musical activity center?! Rice cereal already?! Oh my word!

I must say...I'm loving being a mommy of two more than I ever could have imagined. Emme fills my heart in ways I never dreamed...and watching her face light up when Jude is around....and watching Jude love on her and mimic my words of affection to Emme is just about my favorite thing in life.

Milestones? Emme is:
*laughing at momma
*standing with strong legs
*drooling up a storm
*about to start rice cereal
*cooing nonstop (we're going to have a chatterbox on our hands!)
*rolling from tummy to back
*almost rolling from back to tummy (she did once, but I think it was a fluke)
*STILL in size 2 diapers! (I'm pretty sure JW was in 4's by now!)
*SO attentive!
*sleeping 10 hours at night
*finally showing signs of boycotting being swaddled!
*drinking 60z every 4 hours
*wearing 3-6mo or 6mo clothing
*eating her hands like crazy!
*grabbing for toys


Miss Em,
If I could...I would stop time right now...as excited as I am to see what young lady you will grow up to become...I can't help but selfishly want to freeze this time in our lives...when your brother babbles up a storm and you smile at me with a look that says that I'm the best thing in your life! I'm so very blessed to be your mom...you are such a joy to be around...you are beautiful and sweet...smart and just precious. I pray that as you grow, you will be strong- that the pains you endure will grow you...I pray that you will be wise- that the choices you make will be "good" or that you will learn from the choices that are not so good...I pray that your life will be honoring to the Lord- that you will respect your body- that your heart will be broken for that which breaks the Lord's- that you will have a passion for serving our God. I love you, princess.
-Momma

::addition::

So...I was thinking about it last night...and...there are SO many more fun things that Jude says!!! Like:

shoo (bless you)
deyda (excuse me)
guttaguttaguttageeetar (guitar)

Homeslice is adorable! ;)