Junebugs

It is the month of June and the summer is in full swing! We have had super busy days and super lazy days and I find both to be equally wonderful and full of moments I don't want to forget. Sometimes I take a million pictures and sometimes I don't touch my camera at all because I want to be in the moment and not miss a thing hoping somehow my brain can soak it all up and lock it in forever. Here is what my little junebugs have been up to lately . . . .

June is a great month to "cowboy up" and say cheese!

When that June heat hits, it is the perfect time to eat snacks "bistro style" and

watch a little "Jake and the Neverland Pirates".



If you can make it out . . .  June is the perfect month to snuggle up in

the bed with your brother and read a good book!

 June is the perfect time for grocery cart races around the block!

 

June is the perfect time for popcorn with a cousin after a late morning swim!

 

 

 

 June is a great time to have a backyard camp out and roast some yummy marshmallows!

 

 

June is a great time to just be silly!

 

 

June is the perfect time to take the funny paper very seriously!

 

 

 June is the perfect time to get summer hair cuts and to get suited up for some beach time!

 

 

June is the perfect month for a sword fight after a great pirate show!

 

 

And finally, Evan thinks June is definitely the perfect month to pet a baby alligator!

 

The month is only half over. Wonder what else we will find to do? ~j

 

 (and a little side note . . . #1 I can not keep pants on my boys once they get inside and #2 we were potty training so I did not push the whole keep you pants on things . . .  so, sorry for all the undies shots!!)

 

 

Two Little Fish

We took a little weekend trip to Hilton Head several weeks ago, and I could not believe what a difference a year makes! The boys got right into the water (with swim vest and water rings in tow) and swam around like two little fish. I could not believe it! Last year the pool thing was still very hands on and something I could not do on my own with both of them. This year, I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time in the water!

Then we had a baseball on the beach lesson! This is the kind of baseball game I enjoy!!

Evan walks up to kids at the park, adults at the grocery store . . . .  basically whoever will listen and says

" I am Evan. My daddy is my baby!" (he means he is daddy's baby, i think) That little fella loves his time with his daddy!

After a fun filled weekend at the beach, these "little fish" were tuckered out! I love to watch them sleep because I can still see a smidgen of baby in those big boy faces!

Let the summer fun begin! ~j

Ahoy! Potty Talk

** disclaimer **

consider yourself warned . . . if potty talk bothers you, this post is not for you!! stop reading!

We did it! We are a diaperless household after 4 years of diaper duty!

My 2 boys were tough potty trainers and after some trail and error, research and asking lots of mamas who had already done it, I found what works for us. I use a method called 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jensen.

Evan would not even have the potty talk with me. He shut it down immediatley everytime I tried to bring it up. I finally decided he was 3 and I just had to jump in and do it.

 I had the bathroom door decorated when he came down the stairs that morning . . . . and he screamed!! I thought, "oh, this is going to be just horrible!!!"



We went with a pirate theme bc he loves a pirate potty book we have. He got a chocolate gold coin and a paper gold coin each time he went potty IN the potty!

  

                           

Then, I pulled out his favorite red Koolaid Burst drinks and told him he could drink as many as he wanted when he had on his big boy underwear . . . . he smiled and said "ok!"  and put on his crocodile big boys.
I was shocked! He proceded to drink 4 drinks and pee pee in the potty 13 times before lunch!

 Evan posing in his new "big boys"

 

Evan is ready to "make the grandest pee and poo in all the seven seas!"

"Arrrrrgh, Maties! "

 "Yo Ho! Yo Hee! I've got to make Pee Pee!"

A big smile after his first poo poo in the potty!!

(I know that is completely disgusting to talk about, but it is possiblely one of the the hugest milestones EVER, so it must be captured in pictures and words by this mama!!)

Happy Sailing from these Scurvy Pirates! Its all dry on deck aound here! ~j

Monster Bash

Evan had a birthday party at school last week. I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted and he said monster cupcakes! So, here is what I came up with . . .

His little school friends sang happy birthday to him and then we had a party!

The cupcakes were a hit with these little monsters!  ~j

Sweet Evan is Three!

My sweet boy, my youngest child, turned 3 yesterday! He added something special to my life the day he arrived - pure joy! After Bryce was so tiny, I dreamed and prayed and wished for a chubby little baby and when I saw him for the first time, I could not believe how beautifully God answered my prayers! His little baby face could not have been any rounder! My eyes first noticed his chubby, soft cheeks. Then my eyes moved to his cute double chin. My eyes finally rested on his forehead where he had a V of dark hair - a widow's peak - just like my mama's. I believe she kissed him right in the middle of his of his forehead before she sent him down from heaven to me.






His dark, thick, shaggy bangs now covers that remembrance of my mama . . .  but it is still there . . .  just like she will always be.

When it comes to life . . . . Evan is all in. He lives it up. He is sweet and cuddly and absolutely hilarious. He keeps the Whitaker household laughing. He is also, shall we say, "spirited"  and passionate as he expresses his wide range of emotions.

Happy Birthday E! Mama loves you! Just thinking of you warms my heart. You are a true blessing of pure joy that I will be forever grateful for.

~j

Happy Mother's Monday

I was planning to blog Sunday night something sweet and heartfelt about being a mama on mothers day. But, honestly, everyone was was quite grouchy and I was not feeling the happy mama warm fuzzies that night. I was kinda thinking "so much for sweet notions of mother's day" as the boys and I went outside to play in the sprinkler on Monday afternoon. Then, there it was, that happiness of motherhood washed over me as I watched my boys play in the sunshine and sprinkling water. Their brother bond is precious, their little conversations are hilarious, their faces sometimes angelic and sometimes filled with mischief!  I enjoy these days. I love being a mama!

They are great play mates, best friends, sweet brothers . . . . . and you can be sure they are plotting a plan!

Watching them play, their personalities are so clear. Bryce is content being the controller of the water. Evan is IN the water soaked from head to toe with in seconds. They are both screaming and laughing! They balance each other so well.

This is how wet Bryce got.

This is how wet Evan got!

 . . .  and this is why!

Bryce took his job as water controller very serious!

My friend Emily will probably laugh when she sees that this moment gave me the warm fuzzies bc she called about 30 minutes into the water fun and things were starting to fall apart! They were squirting each other, fussing over who would hold the squirting part, squirting the cat, squirting the front porch and then it was all tears and screams when I turned the water off! So, it all comes full circle, but I love to hang on the those precious moments of mamahood and soaked them up for all they are worth!

Happy Mother's Monday to Me!

Hope all of you had some sweet moments to remember forever on your Mother's Day! ~j