wee hands

I was "pinspired", as I like to call it, by a poem I read on Pinterest.

I searched high and low on the internet for an already made one of these things to just print out. I couldn't find one!!

So I made one. I'm gonna print it and put it in my kitchen. :) I love it.

Happy Tuesday, friends! 5 more days till Christmas!!

Mary, Did You Know?

Since becoming a mother of a baby boy of my own, the words to this song have resonated so deep within my soul. I could not even fathom living in Mary's shoes. Knowing that she was holding the Savior of the world, a perfect tiny child that would someday be the Living Sacrifice for all mankind..."Heaven's Perfect Lamb". I know that as a Protestant, myself... I very often mark Mary off as just another Bible character. But Mary, she was the MOTHER of our SAVIOR. She was created by God to carry Him and mother Him. And since becoming a mommy, it has really struck me hard just how VERY special of a lady she was. She was chosen for, and took upon the single most important mothering responsibility in the history of all mankind. Take the time and really read these words. Try and put yourself in her shoes for just a second.


Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water? 
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters? 
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? 
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man? 
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand? 
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod? 
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again. 
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? 
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations? 
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? 
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM. 

Do you think she did? Do you think that the young teenager, Mary, really knew what was ahead for her in her years to come as a mother? Since she was highly favored by the Lord, then certainly she had heard the stories of the Messiah and what the Scriptures said of Him. Of course she knew. Could you even imagine knowing what she knew? Living through what she lived through? Anytime he fell and scraped his knee, sending him out to run errands alone, can you imagine how responsible she must have felt? I seriously can not imagine any of it. If you have never listened to this song while holding your own little sleeping baby boy (or baby girl, if you aren't lucky ;-) enough to have yourself a boy), well, then... I suggest you put it on your list of things to do before you can't. I can not listen to this song without shedding at least a tear.


Only watch this video if you were able to tolerate the movie, The Passion of The Christ. Parts of it are very graphic. But so was what our Savior went through that day on Golgotha. Again, this is a very, very graphic video. I don't think our human minds could ever come close to comprehending what Mary went through as the mother of  Jesus Christ; but I think this video comes as close as a small idea of that. 


This is NOT a video to watch with small children around. <--that was my disclaimer.

I don't know if that was as rough on you, as it was on me. Wow. To lighten things up a bit... did you know... (no pun intended) that this song was written by the Christian comedian, Mark Lowry? It was news to me. :)

Mister Bear

LOOK who finally made it home!!! We accidentally left him at Nena and Bop's in the wash on Saturday just before Jake got sick. He cried and cried for bear while he was sick, so Nena & Bop mailed him to Jake so he didn't have to wait anymore. Welcome home, Mister Bear!!!!

Merry Christmas From Us!!

This year I made our Christmas cards way early, and started sending them early too. I like to clear things off my to-do lists, what can I say?! we made our cards on Picaboo.com (because we had a killer deal of a Groupon) but I have to say... I LOVE these cards! I loved our card equally as much last year, though. :) Still, good to know I have options when there are sales. ;) Since we can't send a card out to everyone out there, here's the next best thing! 

Happy Tuesday, friends!

The BEST Santa

Have you ever taken your kid to see Santa to be greeted by "elves" who rush you to stick your kid in Santa's lap, jump out of the picture, demand that absolutely no pictures be taken while your child is on another man's lap, snap the picture and rush you off? I know I have. And then they want you to purchase their 4x6 or 5x7 for $10-$20 or a package for $30!! I understand $10 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but for an experience like that... I feel like I just paid them to torture my kid and make me mad. All I want is to document my kid's experience with Santa... not be suckered into a $30 package deal. I am not in this for a photo shoot, I'm in this to get my kid a chance to sit on Santa's lap. What happened to just going to see Santa? The experience, in general, should be enjoyable for everyone. At least I think it should. :) I also wanted to go when Derick could go with us, because I wanted him to be able to see it too. So, we knew anywhere we went would be pretty busy in the evening time. Sure, I could have gone anywhere in the afternoon while everyone is napping or at school or work and probably gotten to take plenty of time, etc. But going to the same place that evening and taking time... not gonna happen.

Because we always knew of our favorite place/Santa, we never took Jake to another Santa. Well, we were recently somewhere that had a Santa, and we thought, heck we'll just do it here. Wrong. It turned out ok, but we were asked not to take any pictures. Ok, so now I have to purchase a picture if I want to remember this. Not only did that make mad... Santa's beard was so fake I'm pretty sure my 22 month old could tell.

Well, if you're with me on the above, and have never taken your kid to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops... well, then let me just tell you... STOP going to the mall, and START going to Bass Pro!! Not only is Santa super nice, he is a classic Santa (real beard, not the fake retarded silky beard). He is super nice and he talks to your kid. The background/Santa setup is also insanely awesome! It isn't like all the fake cheapo mall stuff. Seriously, it's awesome. I'll let you see for yourself in the photos I took. :) They take TIME to get a good picture for you. Then they allow YOU time to take your own pictures. I brought my professional quality camera with me this time and they ENCOURAGED me to take pictures. I am not kidding. I was bashful at first, saying, "Is it ok to take pictures if I leave my flash off?" The sweet Santa's helper delightfully said, "Oh, honey you take as many pictures as you want and use the flash if you need! You guys stand wherever you want, we'll make it work". That's right, guys... they encourage you to take your own pictures. He talks to your kid and they all make sure you've gotten what you want out of the experience. Then you go to pick up your FREE (YES, that is correct... FREE) 4x6 photo of your kiddo with Santa, PLUS a coupon for a free kid's meal. This is not a joke... this is all free. And if the classic Santa, friendly elves, get to take pictures, free photo, and free meal is not enough... they also do a craft for the kids, and there are games and toys to play with while you wait. There was remote control cars, a race track with other remote control cars, a fun little shooting game like you'd see at Chuck E Cheese, oh and also a train-Jake loved that one. And THEN, as if all the above isn't enough, you can go look at the big wall of giant fish afterward.

Needless to say, we had a blast. As always! It is really nice that there are still places out there that seem to genuinely care about their customers and aren't just itching to make every single dollar possible. THAT is how you keep good business. Because I could be buying a jacket (my request for Christmas) anywhere online and for probably cheaper, but I do believe I will be going back there to make my purchase.

The first one is obviously our favorite Santa. Much more relaxed on both parts. The second, check out that beard! No glasses, and didn't even wait for Jake to get settled into his lap before they snapped the picture. That's also the only picture I could take. It's a picture of their picture. And it cost $10 for ONE picture. Really? I wasn't even sure if I had the option not to buy it, I just wanted a my kid to get to meet Santa Claus, not get suckered into buying something. Whatever, it was just a few bucks. Still a sucky picture though! The free ones are WAY better. :)

Last year and this year. These are pictures of the picture that give you (for free, if you don't remember) :)

Picture I took last year. I didn't know I could use my big camera so I didn't bring it.

Those big ole reindeer and everything else are not a backdrop. They're really big fake (possibly dead, but I hope they're just fake lol) ones. Makes for an awesome picture!! 

Love it! And love that I got to capture it. 

22 months!

Another month has gone by?? Oh my... another month has gone by. People, in just TWO short months, my baby will be TWO! As in YEARS OLD!! Can someone please tell me how this has happened? And why on earth does time seem to go faster every day? :) Probably because the days get more fun and more awesome by the day.

Jake, on December 6, 2010

On this very day, one year ago, Jake went from toddling 10-15 steps to being a full time walker. On this day last year, it was like Jake just woke up and took off. After that day, he very rarely crawled again. So, today marks the day of toddlerhood for Jake. He became a full-time toddler one year ago, today. :)

Jake at 22 months...
Still weighs 28 pounds
Is 37 inches tall
Talks in full sentences and ideas
LOVES "Bickey House" and Minnie
Obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba...still
Loves trucks (and things that go) and making the appropriate truck noises.
Favorite people to play with - Braxton, Kale, Bop, and of course.. Dada.
Remembers people's names better than I do, sometimes
LOVES to sing and dance
Can sing a large majority of the ABC's (some are jumbled, but he's getting pretty good)
Can count to 10 on his own (I will actually hear him spontaneously doing this on his own a lot of the time)
Can identify green, brown, yellow, and red
Can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" in its entirety on his own
Loves to read books
Most requested song by Jake - "Jesus Loves Me"
Loves to play pretend, i.e.: talking on phone, building forts and pretending to knock on the door, eating, etc. It's cute.
Still sleeps like a champ. Goes to bed around 9:30 and gets up 7:45-8:30. Naps 3-4 hours in the afternoon--it is a glorious thing, that I do NOT take for granted!
You REFUSE to discuss or have anything to do with the potty.
You wear mostly size 2T in clothes, and size 6 in shoes.

Jake Pickle, you are becoming one of the coolest kids I've ever met! You are so smart, so fun, so sweet, and so loving. Your Daddy and I are so proud of the kid you are! You make us happier than we ever thought possible!


Well, guys that's it for us for today! Happy Tuesday! We are going to see (the best) Santa tonight...exciting!!

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Twinkle, Twinkle

I can not even believe how quickly little toddler people learn things! It is seriously overnight. Sometimes even over-nap! Since Jake was a tiny little thing, I have sung "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to him each night. I know he has recognized it for many months now. He would request "Uppa, Uppa" (Up above) and then it changed to asking for "Tinkle, Tinkle". The video below was taken a few weeks ago. I happened to have my phone in hand while we were reading, singing and saying bedtime prayers. Most nights I don't take it in there because he will try to play on it, but I think we had just finished FaceTime with his my parents. I don't know how or why I happened to get this on video, but I'm so glad I did!! This is Jake (and me, so please don't judge my terrible singing!!) singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". Focus on the ridiculously cute 20 month old.

Shutter Time in My Free Time

I've been a bit busy with picture taking lately! I thought I'd add a little taste of what I've been up to. I do photography on the side. On the very side. lol I'm a wife and mom first, nurse second, and third... if I have time, photographer. :) I am extremely cheap compared to other on location photographers. I only charge enough to pay for my time and effort, basically. I love to take pictures. It is a HUGE stress reliever for me. An outlet of sorts for a lot of things. Not to mention, I get to meet really neat people!

I totally got this idea from Pinterest. :) Isn't it awesome?!

Such a natural!

Beautiful family with extremely photogenic girls!

Jake's best friend :)

of course I had to add some of my little guy!

He definitely has his fair share of camera time. lol

There ya have it! A few of my favorites from my recent work. Hope you liked!!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Jake's Favorite Books

There is kind of an obsession with books in our house in this stage of toddler-hood. It has been going on for quite some time. I LOVE it so much, most the time. I used to long for the day Jake would bring me a book and ask to have it read. And at first, I enjoyed every time he'd do it. And I hate to say this... but there are so many times where I'm like, "kid, we read that book 5 times in a row... five minutes ago!" I know they like repetition and to hear momma's voice, etc, but sometimes it is a bit much. :) I'm sure one day I'll give anything to go back and do it over, so I try my hardest to enjoy it, even if we are rereading it for the 10th time that day.

Jake loves all books. But there are 4 books that he is just crazy about. And he has a special name for each book. He will randomly ask for these books, even when they are not in sight; especially at night time. :)

This book is called "cocoon".

Because of this page. And it is hilarious to hear him say it.

This sweet, sweet book is called, "Honey".

This book, that we have read at bedtime since he was teeny tiny, is called... "Moon".

And this book is called "BOOK". When he asks for Book, this is what he wants. And he knows every thing inside this book (besides the emotions page, I don't like it, so we always skip it ha!)

Of course he loves to turn the pages. And at the end of every book, he loves to close it and say, "THE END". So stinkin' cute.

Tonight we are trick-or-treating with Jake's buddies. Pictures to come soon of my handy costume making in action.


Happy Halloween Monday, friends!!

A Jake Kind of Day

We have hit the terrible-twos as if we were running full force and hit a brick wall. I knew my day was coming, and maybe all moms feel this way, but I feel as if I've done something wrong! Did I not spend enough time with him reading, playing outside, working on words and skills? Did I let him watch too much TV? Do I have his schedule too flexible? Do we need to go back to the very rigid scheduling? Why is he acting out like this? And WHO is this child?!

Deep down, I know that it's nothing I've done (right?!). But I still ask myself all these questions.

So, I decided, for the sake of all things Jake... that we would just have ourselves a Jake kind of day this afternoon. So, when we got home from Mops, we did whatever he wanted to do. Because, truthfully, we never do that. We do what mommy wants. I get little to no opposition, but I thought, what the heck... his attitude is not in tip-top shape and, honestly, I need some time to enjoy him rather than feel like I'm constantly in "no" mode or redirection mode. So, this is how we spent our afternoon. :)

Outside. It is his favorite place. Isn't it every little boy's? So much to explore! I wish I'd started taking pictures earlier than this. When we first went outside, we had a picnic. Then he took his chips and put them on his little lawn mower and pushed the chips all over the backyard until they fell off the mower. And then he ate them off the ground, in perfect little boy fashion.

Of COURSE we colored.

We played ball.

We looked at bugs.

We swung in the swing (notice chalk still in hand).

Shoved every piece of chalk inside of the dump truck's cab.

pushed the dump truck around with chalk in cab and lawn sign in back.

Pushed the ball in the dump truck.
FYI our big outside truck came from the Goodwill--love that place!!

Now, don't get me wrong... we go outside frequently. But today we spent literally hours outside. Like, we postponed nap time just to be doing what Jake wanted. This was quite a feat for me. In fact, I spoke with both my parents during this time, both of which were very shocked I'd let Jake stay "up" for so long. Haha. I don't feel like I'm that rigid. Maybe I'm more rigid than I thought! Anyway, we enjoyed our little fun time. And I enjoyed be able to enjoy my little boy during this crazy time of terrible twos.

Accidental and on Purpose

I was inspired by Pinterest today after "pinning" this.

I followed the link it provided and it took me to a blog and then to flickr.com. At first, I didn't really care for a lot of the letters it had shown, because I really prefer the "accidental letters and numbers" and the ones I had linked to were less accidental and more on purpose. So, my example will be mixed with accidentals and purposeful letters and numbers. Go here for accidental numbers and letters. You can really just search flickr for just about any of the letters or numbers. Some are easier to find than others. It took me a good 2 hours (yes, ashamedly, I burned away two hours of my day doing this... but wait till you see it!!!) to get mine just how I wanted it. Well, between that and all my other social media catching-up I had to do.

Here's mine!! I plan to blow it up and put it on the wall above the couch.

Ooooh, I LOVE it!!!!

Happy Monday, friends!

DJ Lance Rock

Halloween is fast approaching!! It really caught me off guard a few days ago while I was looking at costumes online with a friend. I have really loved the idea of making Jake's costumes just because I can. Last year, Jake was very bald and chubby and naturally made a great little Charlie Brown. 

See...

Last year, he had no favorite shows, or special things yet. Boy, what a difference a year makes!!! There are tons of things he loves and could be for halloween, but there IS one thing he could not live without. And if you know Jake very well, you know that thing is Yo Gabba Gabba!! I had decided he would be DJ Lance Rock. Allow me to jog your memory, or perhaps introduce you to DJ Lance.

I am fully aware that DJ Lance, along with all the other Gabbaland friends, are way creepy, but Jake LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba, so I do too!!

I have never made a full outfit before. I am crafty, sure. But I've never made real clothes before. So, I decided I'd just use a pre-made costume, as much as I really didn't want to. I actually even borrowed one from a friend. This is the costume I'd borrowed. 

It's a really cute costume and I totally would have used it, if I hadn't made THIS!...

Now trust me, up close, it is nothing special. BUT I did complete the goal of making his costume! The glue hasn't dried yet, so the ROCK is a little light still, but I LOVE how it turned out! All we need is a turtleneck to go underneath and white shoes. I used the borrowed costume as my prototype. 

See!...

Ok, the best part... I made this costume out of two women's long-sleeved shirts from Goodwill. Not kidding!! I just used my favorite pair of Jake's pants and one of his shirts that fits really well as my "pattern". It took me all morning to complete. I worked on it from 9:00-1:00. My favorite part, other than I made it, is that it was upcycled from the ugliest Halloween shirts you've ever seen!

I wish I'd have taken a picture of the shirts from before, but this is all I have... the leftovers.

Ok so I had seen this little homemade costume and I loved how the sleeves and the pants did not gather at the bottom. So, it kind of was my inspiration. Isn't this little guy cute!?

I still have to make a boombox, but that ought to be a piece of cake, comparatively. 

I'm sure there is no way I could recreate it, I'm happy I'm done with it. It was quite a challenge with the little mess running around trying to help me make his costume. I can't wait to see it on him!!

Happy Tuesday, friends!