How was your week?

Ours was wonderful!

We had Jaxson's one year appointment, 3 inspections on our house, (we are still waiting for those results...so fingers crossed!), and our slab was poured on our new house!

Jaxson got his first tent.  I found it at Walgreens for less than $10...and he adores it!  Hubby puts it in the box each night, and every morning Jaxson goes up to the box and points at it like, "get this out of there!"  It is just the cutest thing.

He doesn't care if it is right side up or sideways...

and loves to play peek-a-boo...

So proud! 

He loves to drag it all over the house.

Even Daddy had some play time in the tent!

And...Jaxson had his first taste of an ice cream cone!

 Please Daddy, please!!!

I adore this picture.  I swear Jaxson is thinking...maybe if I lay up here and look super cute Daddy will stop eating all of the ice cream and will surely share some of it with me!!!

And...Jaxson brushed his teeth for the first time!  He loved it!

He really wanted to do it himself, but I got about 20ish seconds of brushing in!

Those were the highlights of our week!  My work is super stressful...3 more selling days left in the month!  Hubby's is really stressful right now, his fiscal year ends on Thursday and he is SO CLOSE to making his big conference trip.  Please say a little prayer for him.  We know that God will provide!

I hope you had a wonderful week too!  What do you have going on this weekend?  I am SO ready for a long one!

 

Wordless Wednesday

1 Year Check Up

Jaxson just had his one year check up!

He is a BIG BOY!

He weighs 23.14 lbs, and is  in the 89%.

He is 31 inches tall, and in the 87%.

He has a little bitty head though! 17.5 inches, 21%.

Sweet baby boy!

Our Doctor told us that we have three more months to still think of him as a baby.  He said at 15 months he is considered a little boy!

And, no more bottles.  We stopped formula a couple of weeks ago, no problem.  He loves milk!  So, I thought stopping the two bottles he got a day wouldn't be a big deal.  Boy, was I wrong!

He doesn't want milk out of a sippy cup.  Like, two sips.  He isn't crying for the bottle or anything, but he isn't interested in the sippy cup for his evening or morning milk.

Last night, Jaxson was crazy hyper.  And bottle time is when he starts to relax.  Hubby caved and gave him a bottle.  No more of that!!  hahaha

I think I am going to miss the bottle time more than Jaxson.  I live for the 20 minutes that we spend cuddling each morning before day care.  I think that is over.  That makes me so sad!

He is just growing up way too quickly!

My Little Daredevil...

My tiny little daredevil!

This boy is barely a year old and he is already doing 4 wheeler tricks!

Lord, please keep him safe over these next 20 years...and please help me keep my sanity!!!

My First Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was beyond perfect.  My parents were in town for Jaxson's birthday, so I got to spend time with my Mom!!  I couldn't have asked for more!

My mom had my Nana's old charm bracelet repaired and got me a charm with Jaxson's name and birthdate on it.  Truly a treasure.  I was so incredibly moved.  I have worn it each day and will treasure it always.  Hubby got me a very sweet card, and, my first Tory Burch bag!!!!  I love it so much!  It's been two years since I've bought a new bag, and with Jaxson's arrival, I really haven't treated myself.  I was so shocked and happy.  I love it!

Jaxon playing with Gamm-E

Jaxson and Gamm-E 

We spent the afternoon with Jeff's family, celebrating my mother in law.  His sister and her husband made a wonderful lunch and Jaxson had so much fun playing at their house.  They are just the best hosts!

Afterwards, we went by our new house to check out the progress on the lot.  Not too much going on, but they are moving forward!

We spent the eveing together, just the three of us, enjoying each other.  Thank you God for making me a mother!  I am so thankful!!  I am also thankful for my mom, who, without a doubt, taught me what a mother is.  There are so many times each and every day that I catch myself saying, singing or doing something with Jaxson, and I think, "wow, I sound just like mom!"  And I love it!  Thank you Mom, for showing me what a mother's love is.  You are my role model and I love you with all of my heart!

We Sold Our House!

God is amazing.  I am always in awe of how he works and how perfect his timing is.  I am so grateful to him.

We sold our house yesterday!  We signed the papers this morning!

You see, we decided a few months ago that we were ready for a new house.  We love this house, but we have absolutely grown out of it.  And, it was just time.  Hubby bought this house 7 years ago, a few months before we met.  It has become "our home" over the years, but I am beyond exciting to have a hosue that we chose together!  I've never bought a home before, so this whole process is really new and exciting for me.  We went to the design center picked out all of our colors and custom choices, and I can't wait to see everything put together!

Listing it was hard, and showing it with a baby and a doggie was a challenge!  We spent many evenings and weekends sitting in the car, eating Sonic (super healthy, right?), and then parking in the new neighborhood and walking around with Jaxson and Bandit.  There just are not a ton of places to go with a baby and a doggie!

But, we prayed and prayed that if it was in God's timing and plan that we would sell our home.  Everything has just worked so perfectly and I trust God completely.  And in that trust, he sold our home for more than we thought we would get in only 5 weeks!  Thank you, God.  You are amazing and we are so grateful!

We have to be out of this house on June 17th, and our new home won't be ready until August.  I think we are going live with Hubby's family in the meantime.  I am very concerned with how that is going to transpire.  What is it that Ben Franklin said?  Houseguests and fish both smell after 3 days?  Oh my gracious...it is going to be an interesting couple of months!!!!

Any tips on being great houseguests?  Have any of you had or been a guest for an extended amount of time?

Here are a couple of pictures of our lot, and our frame for our foundation.  The new neighborhood is so cool - everything is built around a huge lake.  We couldn't afford a home on the water, but our house is only a couple of blocks away from the lake, so that's exciting.  I can't wait!

Jaxson's Sweet Safari 1st Birthday

Jaxson's first birthday was so fun!  I enjoyed planning it so much! 

Decorating was all done Friday night and Saturday morning since our house is on the market, but we made due with what we had and I think it turned out great!

All of my closest, dearest friends were able to make it.  Brandy came all the way from Arizona, and Lenti drove in from Austin.  I am so grateful for these women.  We are all pledge sisters and have known each other for 12 years now.  Isn't that crazy?  I am so thankful to have them in my life, we have been through so much together!

Jaxson and one of his favorite people!  Don is his Godfather, and by far a favorite!!

Grandpa is another fave!  He and Jaxson played and played all weekend!

Grandpa and Aunt Vallie

The moment Alan and Kelly walked in the door Jaxson wanted Kelly to hold him. They are such precious friends and kind people!  It makes me so happy that they came to celebrate with us!

Sugar High!!!!

Jaxson LOVED his cake.  LOVED.  He hadn't had any sugar before, so this was very, very exciting for him.

Yummy mess.

Jaxson loved Addison.  Maybe they will date someday.  Only if he is a very nice boy.

Jaxson and Mommy

Yes, I made him wear this dumb hat, haha!  But just for a couple of pictures.

Everyone watching Jaxson getting ready to eat his cake.  Talk about an audience!

Jaxson with his Gigi.  I couldn't have facilitated this party without her!

Our welcome sign

Our home.

The spread.

Our favor boxes filled with animal crackers.  Thank you Mom and Val for stuffing them so cutie!!!

This picture isn't great, but it is the table by our front door.  We asked people to bring books to donate to our church instead of gifts, and those went into the blue basket.  On top of the table is my favorite part of the party (besides Jaxson of course), the sign in book.  I made a shutterfly book with all of our favorite pictures from his first little year of life.  It showed a few of our favorite things about him, and his favorite things so far.  Then I asked all of our guests to write him a little note.  Some of the notes were super sweet, and some are so funny.  I plan to do one each year.

I made these little frames for about $1 each.  I thought they turned out pretty cute!

This picture banner wasn't hard to make, and everyone just loved it!  I cried a little while I was putting it together, watching how much he has changed over the past year!

So, there were a few things that I ran out of time to do, but, overall, I'm really happy with how the party turned out.  More importantly, we had a wonderful afternoon with very special people.  Thanks to eveyone that came to celebrate with us!!

Happy Birthday Jaxson

One year ago...almost to the hour, my precious Jaxson Jeffrey was born.  I cannot believe a year has gone by.  It has been the most incredible year of my life.   I had no idea how incredible and full life could actually be.  Jaxson has taught me so much in such a short amount of time, and I am so very grateful.  I am humbled, honored, blessed and grateful that God chose Jeff and I to be his parents.

Today is bittersweet.  I am so proud of our little man, and so sad that a year has already passed.  I need time to SLOW DOWN!  I cried this morning thinking, wow, he isn't a baby anymore!  He is a little boy!  I am so grateful that God has watched over him this year and kept him healthy an safe.

Happy Birthday my precious little man!  You bring so much joy to our lives and I love you more and more each and everyday!

 

Happy Friday!

Hi Sweet Girls!

HAPPY FRIDAY to you all!

These past two weeks have been super long for me. How about you?

I'm so excited for this weekend....we are having Jaxson's First Birthday Party!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had so.much.fun. planning it. 

Our theme is Sweet Safari and I love it!

Here is a little peek at some of the cutie things I have been collecting!

Credit

Credit

I can't wait to get everything put together.  I promise that I will take lots and lots of pictures!

It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, and I'm hoping that it doesn't.  I'm not looking forward to cramming 40 people into our little house!

What are you guys doing this weekend?

Update on Submission

Submission seems to be a hot topic with many of you ladies.  I appreciate all of your viewpoints, opinions and life experiences more than you know.  Thank you so much for helping me.

I figure I owe you an update on how my struggle with submission is going :)

First, hubby and I sat down (at my request) to have a talk.  It did NOT go well.  I was cool, calm and collected, and he was not.  Somehow, he felt that I was attacking him.  He went completely in the opposite direction, saying that the house and Jaxson were absolutely my job, and how dare I ask him to do anything other than work and provide for this family.  Obviously, that did not sit well with me, because I work and provide an equal part to this family as well.  BUT - I said fine, I will not expect that of you, but I have been holding up my end of the respect bargain for over 2 months, and I don't feel that I am getting the love and appreciation from you that I need as encouragement to keep going, because it is a struggle for me.  His response (keep in mind this was out of anger), was well, you don't always get what you want so you are going to have to settle for what I give you.  Ouch.  So, at this point, I was crying and done.  And hurt. 

So, we hardly spoke for two days.  And I was so sad.  I wasn't angry at him, just hurt and sad, and feeling like I didn't know him at all. 

So, Saturday night, our anniversary celebration came, and I was still very upset but trying to put on a happy face.  Things were not right and he knew it.

So, after a few uncomfortable minutes at dinner, he brought up the conversation again.  He didn't exactly apologize, but he did say that he didn't mean what he said and that he didn't really believe that.  He is going to help more and appreciates my efforts to be respectful.  We both agreed that we just needed to relax a little and that things would go better.  And, he has been so incredibly helpful since then.  He has gotten up each morning and helped with Jaxson while I finish getting ready, and gotten the house ready in the mornings.  I feel so thankful that he has taken on more of those responsibilities.  It makes me love him and respect him even more.

So, things are much better right now.  I still struggle with being submissive and respectful, but I am working on it.  And, hubby is working on helping me.

I can't thank you all enough for your advice and support, and most importantly your prayers.  Thank you for helping me through this!

XOXO,

Michelle