Maybe, in my particular sleepy state...why I'm not in bed I have NO idea, I have become a little too emotional.

But, as I sit here and do nothing substantial (is that even the word I am looking for?!) I think of how particular blessed I feel. Maybe it's because I have visited many blogs tonight of people going through struggles and life challenges far superior to what I have ever experienced.

I am lucky to (in no particular order)

• Have healthy children. No life threatening illnesses, incurable diseases or such. My heart aches at even the slightest pain they feel and I can't imagine what parents go through when their child is so sick.
• Have family and friends that are willing to travel 2 hours to celebrate Cameron's birthday even though everyone expect two people were from up north. I LOVE YOU GUYS!! It meant alot to have you here with us.
• A husband who digs thru the clearance racks with me for 10 minutes looking for the lost mittens that I think Nolan MUST have even though he wore it for 3 seconds and may never wear it again..but hey it was only 99 cents! He really does love me, doesn't he?
• Have Friends. I can't imagine life without my mommy friends or my non-mommy friends. They both keep me humble, sane and encourage me in their own "ways" A girl really couldn't have better ones.
• Have God...why me? Really? I've been chosen to serve an awesome God who is more awesome that I know! Yet, I fail miserably. I guess I am most thankful for His forgiveness time and time again. (on a side note: I often find myself comparing how I relate to my children and how it might be similar to how God sees me. You know, I always say, "I told you not to do that...I asked you to obey....God probably looks down, shake His head, and says the same things to me.)

Glad I got that off my chest. Now I can go to bed.

-Jaime

Are you a good wife?

The good wife's guide (Housekeeping monthly May 1955)

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welome needed.
  Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
• Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dustcloth over the tables.
  Over the colder months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacumn. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of comversation are more important than yours.
• Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out the dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax
• Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
• Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, sooothing and pleasant voice.
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity.
• Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always excersise his will with fainess and truthfulness. you have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

WOW WOW WOW! Looks like I would fail at lots of these...I am sure all of them actually. I love the one about the clean children and arranging his pillows. There are some good points here. Like being happy to see him or greeting him with complaint. I am just be glad I am a wife of today (with seperate) but equal roles :)

How would you measure up?

Edited vs. Non

No one was brave enough to guess. OR maybe it was all too obvious. Anyways, here they are. Edited Version:

Unedited:

Some more cute pics that I got: used Cameron's for his b-day card

(see http://jaimecreates.blogspot.com/)

This one is priceless to me. I can never get a "real" smile. I LOVE THIS!

(the truth is... his neck was sore and he really was almost stuck in that position :)

Nothing else new to report on. The weather here is yucky and cold so we have spent 0 time outdoors :( Hopefully with spring around the corner we will be able to get out to play.

I know. I am extremely boring this week. OR maybeI am this borning always:) Hope you all have a great rest of the week.

Jaime

Major moves

Wow! Can you believe my little chunky monkey 5 month old can FINALLY roll over!

***EDIT: WOW, The pic I originally posted seems to have contained some um....inappropriate material (um...sorry about that!) I didn't catch it when I first posted. Here is the G rated version :)***

I probably should have taken it down all together but now it's just funny, or at least to me :) That's what happens when your almost 2 yr old knows how to take off his diaper...

I took this pic of the boys the other day. I did some editing..not the best but I wanted to get them printed ASAP...(I had a coupon that was about to expire that night :) Can you guess what I did????
We have been doing some major renovations this weekend. Ok, they were pretty easy but they have made a huge impact! Hung some frames. New light fixtures in the playroom, hallway and kitchen. New paint in the playroom too! This was the color of the playroom before...not was I was hoping it would look like...too orange for it to flow with the rest of the house. I ended up choosing the top one for the walls. It is a warm brown and it looks very yummy :) I like it SOOO much better. I am still shopping for a few of the accesories, but will post pics of finished product when we are finished.

My boys

I got photoshop after Christmas and have been slowly playing around with it. I took these pics yesterday and plan to use them in the house somewhere but thought I would share what I did with them...

Hope all is well with all of you.

Jaime

Just wanted to share a few random things:

My Papa who just passed

A picture of me and my best friend on her wedding day.

{{ Shout out to Laina;) }}

Cameron "helping"

Me and the boys....not the best of pictures but I'll take what I can get when there is someone on the otherside to take one.

Snow Day! We got about 6 inches. Here that equals NO school :) Notice the look on Cameron's face...It's hard work having 3 at home ALL day. Ok, so I never "officially" got dressed, and neither did the kids...We watched "mobies" and played with playdoh and computer games...oh and momma took a nap when the 2 younger ones did. What a great day.

I managed to put off their "outing" till about 4 or so. By that time I could no longer convince Gavin that it was too cold, too much snow, not great snow for making snowmen...ok, ok. So I didn't want to deal with the mess and I worry about Cameron out there when its so cold. From the pics you can tell that he cared SO much. I am sure they are in their beds dreaming about daddy's promise to take them out tomorrow. You can find me and Nolan inside thanks!!!

Read this!

I must share this amazing blog that was shared with me.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

It is amazing to see such a love for God and a willingness to bow down to Him thru anything that comes their way. It really makes all our "big" problems seem so small. Their faith is unwavering.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

It isn't the road that they would have chose, for sure. But it was the path given. They are a living testament of the grace of God in ALL things.

I serve an awesome God.

Nolan

Wanted to put a smile on your face....

I can't believe that he is almost 5 months old.
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Eating LOTS (as you can tell) and already almost sitting up by himself.
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Loves his johnny jump up and car rides...and his brothers.

Hates his face wiped and not much else!

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Smiles all the time.

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He is a WONDERFUL easy going baby!

-

Couldn't have been blessed more.....

Wow! Sorry to the whole 2 people that actually visit my blog....This month has been quite busy with all the "little" stuff. Not much to report on. Just life...

Here are some pics to share what we've been up to:

Spirit week at school. We missed the first two days because of papa's funeral and viewing but came back just in time for zoo day (dressed as a bat) and class theme day. His is the "kingdom of Kindergarten" Gavin was a knight. Loved that the Halloween costume could be recycled :)

Now on solids....well sorta. This picture cracks me up....Nolan is actually doing really well with food. We stick to cereal most of the time but venture out to some veggies every now and then. He actually likes them unlike this picture portrays.We're potty training!! Sorta of....would love to share details but will spare you this time. Cameron is doing well it's me that needs to get with it...where has my baby gone?!? Speaking of Cameron...he has decided that every time he gets into bed he has to go potty :) Had to put a stop to it. He takes off all his clothes and waits....and waits....and waits. Too bad. This is how we found him one night. Guess he got tired of waiting. Hasn't done it again either.

Got to love the johnny jump up! It makes for a happy baby and mommy!

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 18th! Thanks to our good friends who came over and baby-sat. Imagine our surprise to come home to this and a clean house. I bet they slept good that night. I saw pictures of all the fun they had....imagine all our toys out at the same time :)

In our house since Christmas...a little (um...I mean big) car! The boys LOVE it!! It keeps them busy for hours. Last year it was the roller coaster car...this year this one! What's next?!? My poor walls. I think some touching up is in order this spring.

Our first loose tooth. OH MY!Just a few more priceless pics:

Until next time -me

Papa

My papa passed away this morning. We believe he was a believer. He is now at home with the Lord.

Please keep our family in your prayers.

2007: In Review

Wow! I can't believe that it is really 2008. Since this year seemed to really FLY by, I thought it would be fun to break it down and get a good look at 2007, where we've come and where we're going...


January came in with a boom! It was New Years Eve 2006 when we found out we were pregnant with baby #3. I really wanted a girl and was sure that THIS one was it. Me and Jason celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary on the 18th. We have a nice dinner out, but I am too nauseated to enjoy any of it!

February brought in lots of snow...our first blizzard as a family! It just so happened that we were housing a conference guest for our church's annual biblical training conference. Good thing he was good company, we got snowed in. I think we got over 2 1/2 feet of snow in 24 hours! February 20th, we celebrated Cameron's first birthday. On the 25th, we had a party to celebrate. We told everyone we were expecting with Cameron's shirt. It read, "I am the BIG brother" Took some longer than others....March brings warmer weather and lots of play time outside.

What good would April be, without good ol'baseball season. We make the trip up to Wrigley with both kids in tow! It was Cameron's first ballgame and he was LESS than enthused! We ended up hanging out in the city an extra day....seeing the children's museum and walking far more than we should have attempted with little ones. April brings good news of a sweet baby boy! I have my 20 week ultrasound and we find out we are having a little boy! Needless to say, once I saw his sweet little face, I wasn't at all disappointed that he...um...had extra luggage on board. We are officially due September 2nd..one day shy of Jason's b-day. In May we celebrate many milestones....It is one year since we graduated from Purdue! One year in our house! And my 24th birthday! We have made major improvements in updating the house, but still have lots of work to do.

June brings 2 big weddings. Let's just say 6 months pregnant and bridesmaid's dress shouldn't belong in the same sentence. Jess gets married in Key Largo, FL and me and Jason take the chance to get away for a whole week (thanks Big sis and dad for all your help :) Laina gets married in Mishawaka, IN 2 weeks later. I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Gavin started playing baseball this month and Jason was one of the coach's. Gavin really enjoyed it! The temps really heat up in July and so do the activities. My niece, Alyssa, and nephew, Evan, come spend the week with us. We are busy everyday with something! We hosted a huge Sunday school party with over 60 people. A kegger...Brown style....a root beer keg with lots of vanilla ice cream and LOTS of hot dogs. We also celebrate Gavin's 5th birthday! I can hardly believe I've been a mommy for five years..... Due in less than 4 weeks.... August is here before we know it and we are hard at work preparing for the baby. His nursery finally gets done by the end the month. The biggest accomplishment this month goes all to Gavin! He started Kindergarten at Faith Christian school. In September we welcomed the fifth member of our family. (A pic while in labor)Little Nolan William was born on September 2nd...my due date. Weighing in at 7lbs 3oz, he was my smallest :) I am smitten with my boys....Happy 28th birthday to Jason!!!!! Not much of a celebration with me in the hospital.

October comes and we decide that a "theme" is in order for Halloween....the Wizard of Oz. We go out with good friends of ours, they are here from Japan studying at Purdue. I think they enjoy our "American" holidays.November brings fall, but a few last days of unseasonably warm weather. We take advantage and head outside. Thanksgiving was celebrated at my sis's house with family that I don't get to see all at once. Cameron is talking more now and Gavin is almost reading. Nolan is getting bigger and bigger...almost 15 lbs! My photo card business is taking off. After making a friend's birth announcement I have already received quite a bit of orders...We celebrate our 5th year as Christians!

December is here already and we are looking forward to the holiday. Jason is off work from the 22nd to the 2nd of January. What a blessing to be able to spend time as a family. We make lots of trips up north and have lots of lazy days. No big New Years excitement this year. We spend the evening on the couch watching "the Office"

WOW WEEEEEE! That was alot! I can't believe how much my boys have grown and all the things we have squeezed into the year....and these are just the BIG things! Thanks for all the love and I hope that you and your family enjoy all the 2008 brings!

-Jaime