life lately...

first of all, i can't get enough of this sweet face

at this very moment there is actually some silence in this house. jakson is up in his bed for a nap and i finally got henry to fall asleep in my arms for a little snooze. it seems like the boys are on opposite napping schedules this week which means that i am going to enjoy the peace and quiet.

so far life with two is crazy fun! there are moments i love and there are moments where i just have to stop and pray for some patience. i know i need to enjoy all of the moments even if i have jakson biting and hitting my leg while i am trying to calm henry down...i need to be thankful for the craziness.

jakson really is such a sweet brother. all he wants to do is love on henry, give him a paci or pat him on the head.

i know he means well, even if his pats start to become more like soft hits. but boy can that kid test my patience. the temper tantrums, the biting, the hitting...ohhh Lord, i know we will get through this, eventually :)


in other news, half marathon training has offically begun. josh was kind enough to run (sike, more like walk/jog) with me the other night. we did two miles and i felt like my body was going to fall apart. yup, i've got a LOT of work to do before this half in november. i am so excited that josh will be doing it with me this time. i love having a running parter, especially when he is my hot hubby ;)

and since we are pushing these guys during our training, the half should be a piece of cake when it gets here!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend. i will leave you with the verse that was my encouragement early this morning...

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12

Henry is 1 month!

Henry is so adorable and we are trying to soak up every moment with him especially since I now know how fast is flies by!

Here is what Henry is up to at 1 month...



-he was in newborn diapers but i just switched him over to 1's.

- he is in newborn clothes.



-he weighs 9.4 lbs

- he had his first sick visit last week :( poor guy wasn't feeling well and had a rash covering his body. ended up that he has reflux, the rash was my hormones leaving his body, and he has thrush. we are still working on getting rid of the thrush and reflux.



- he is still a happy baby for the most part but has his fussy moments. he is pretty spoiled and just wants to be held a lot!

- he takes a paci at times just to calm him down but usually ends up spitting it out.



- eating about every 3 hours and at night will sometimes go 4-5 hours.



- he is getting better at holding his head up.

-he went on his first camping trip this past weekend and did great!

- he coo'ed and smiled for the first time this past weekend.

-he still has a wrinkly head and i LOVE it!



Here are henry and jakson's comparison's at 1 month...





Henry, you are such a sweet little baby and we couldn't imagine life without you! I didn't know how i was going to be able to love another baby as much as Jakson but i figured that out instantly! I love watching you grow (: I am so blessed to be your mommy. we love you Henry Tate!

a girl, 3 boys, and 2 mutts went camping

this weekend we took our 19 month old, 1 month old and our 2 dogs camping along with my parents, my twin and her family.

my crazy 19 month old had an absolute blast. here he is getting ready to leave and was just a little excited :)

he didn't stop playing until he literally passed out for a nap or for bed. it was SO fun and we can't wait to do it again.

jakson got to do so many fun things while camping...

he played outside ALL day





he had fun on the boat



he roasted marshmellows for some yummy s'mores :)


he played with crickets


he went fishing


he held a slimy fish (yuck)


slept under the stars

and passed out wherever his head landed :)

he swam in the lake

he even ate rocks even though i think he quickly regretted that decision.

Henry did awesome this weekend too.




he is such an easy going little guy! Henry coo'ed for the first time while we sat under the canopy waiting for a storm to pass over us :) yay! i bet he will be a smiley little guy just like his big brother!

...day 3 of no shower, don't judge ;)

We even played with teeny tiny frogs


oh yeah and we ate, and ate and ATE!


here is a picture of jakson and henry tate's sweet cousin Tinsley Mae :)

we bought a new tent for this trip so that we could fit our blow up mattress, pack and play, and moses basket all in the same tent. thankfully the boys did great and we are going to have to start camping more often. we might wait until it gets a tad cooler though. we got lucky with the weather on friday and saturday because it really never got too hot. sunday was a different story though but of course it was still fun!

here is a funny jakson story about how smart he is getting. He is a clear example that it is caught not taught...

Jakson's cousins have paci's and about an hour after they left saturday night Jakson found one of their paci's. he picked it up, held it with his arm stretched out, ran up the camp site to the road where they had drove away and was running down the drive to go and find them to give them their paci back.

it was so cute!

and man has that boy started talking. He talks up a storm and has no clue why you can't understand what he is saying. We are slowly starting to catch onto some of his words but most of the time we just respond with, "oh really?!"

Sunday was our Father's Day celebration for all of the Father's in our family and my oldest brother josh's birthday!

Happy Father's day to my josh!

(this is a picture i took of the boys last week)

the boys on Father's day...

he is such an amazing dad to our little guys. they are so blessed to have him for their daddy. every day when he gets home from work he gives me a kiss and then immediately gets on the floor to play with jakson and love on henry. at night he always gives Jakson his bath and puts him to bed with a sweet little prayer. when i was pregnant and didn't feel well or have any energy josh helped me out with everything whether it was cooking, cleaning or laundry.

thank you Josh for being the godly husband and father that you are to me and the boys. i thank the Lord for you everyday. You work so hard so that i can stay home with our boys. i love you more with every passing day and can't wait to see where the Lord takes our family. We love you!

(the boys after a fun weekend of camping)

i hope you enjoyed your weekend and told all the father's in your life how much you love them and appreciate them :)

just a few of my favorite things :)

LOVE these gals.

this picture was taken a week ago at our VBS family night. it just reminds me of how truly blessed i am to live so close to them and to have such a wonderful relationship with the both of them. we tell each other EVERYTHING, vent to one another, cry together, laugh together...you get the picture, we're pretty tight ;)

i love you both so much
:)

please ignore my post baby chub...but i love this picture of jaks and i enjoying an icy-pop on the front porch!


and mr.henry tate enjoying the beautiful weather


jaks man studying up on his big brother book :)


i love my handsome HT



henry tate and daddy. (HT says, "peace")


my parents, Mimi and Pop, and their 8 grandkids. (#9 is currently on the way and will arrive in November!)


with love,
Elizabeth