Water Table

Jaden got this amazing present for his birthday. He played with it for the first time today, after we got home. He played with it for a good hour and a half...and still could have played with it much longer if I let him! No kidding: he LOVES this water activity table.

He was like this the whole time, playing with each piece and talking about while making sound effects. It was the cutest thing! In the second video, the "Go Navy" was all on his own. It cracked me up.

Go Navy!

We learned a few new phrases last week :)

Happy Birthday, sweet baby boy!!

July 24th: An early mini-party with just my little monkey and I.

To kick off the party: I blew up a handful of balloons and let Jaden run around in them and kick them all over the place. He was so excited when I came into the living room with my arms full of balloons and dropped them all over him. His face was pure amazement. That is when we both got all excited and started jumping around and having some fun.


Present time! I have been giving him little presents here and there all throughout the week. I figured he would be VERY overwhelmed if I had waited to have him open ALL of the presents in one sitting. So here are a couple that he opened today and couldn't stop playing with...

First experience with Legos!

Mr. Potato Head! His new favorite toy. Thank you Grandma and Papa!!

Watching "The Return to Snowy River". You thought I was kidding when I said this was his favorite movie in past posts? I wasn't.... :)

Now it is cake time! Since they were going to celebrate his birthday in Nursery with cupcakes, I decided NOT to go through the trouble of making a cake (although it wouldn't have been "trouble"; I would have loved to make and decorate an entire Birthday cake for him...and me). Anyway, I decided to warm up some Warm Delights, a little personal sized one, for Jaden...and one for me. He enjoyed it just the same as he would a regular cake, I'm sure! I don't think his mouth could open any wider...

July 25th: Jaden officially turns 2!!!

Enjoying his Birthday morning pancakes with strawberry syrup!

A few pictures from Nursery. They had a little celebration for him and his nursery friends with cupcakes. He was really excited to go to church on his special day......Well, he's actually excited to go every week, which I love!

Happy Birthday, my sweet little boy! You have blessed my life more than you could ever imagine. I love you with all of my heart and always will. Lots and lots of kisses to you!!

Also, I wanted to say thank you all so much for all of your love and support over the past couple of years. We have both been so grateful for all of you. There is no way we would be where we are without you. I can't emphasize or express enough how extremely blessed we are for having you in our lives. We love sharing our journey, adventures, and milestones with you all. Thanks again! We love you!!

Some Videos!

"Cool toys! Open...". Of course, when he gets super excited about anything, he has to go and do a little show-off :).

"I'm a big kid now!" I started potty training him the afternoon before this one. So this has been in the process for about 24 hrs. I am amazed at how quickly he caught on to it! He tells me everytime he has to go. I am so excited for him! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Two milestones hit within days of eachother: first he uses the bathroom to go, next he turns 2 years-old! I kind of wish they were a little more spread out--it was a huge thing to take in, for me :). Wow, my little monkey is a big boy now!

"The Return to Snowy River": This was definitely his request. He watches this every chance he gets. I love how focused he is when watching it. He had my computer cord and pretended it was his whip, like Jim Craig (lead character). He pretty much wants to be him.

"I no want..."

Jaden was galloping around the house on the stick-horse that Grandma made for him, so I wanted to capture that on video because it was the cutest thing! Right when he saw that I had pushed "record" on the camera and aimed it towards him, this is what I got..."I no want..."

"Weee!"

Happy Fourth of July!!

We had a wonderful, pretty quiet, 4th of July. We spent the day at church, and then came back home and had a great day together that was spent outside and, towards the evening, inside watching Return to Snowy River.







Some pictures taken before Church!




I want to take this opportunity to express the love that I have for this amazing country. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to grow up a "Navy Brat" and be surrounded by the military my entire life and to have a dad who served this country for the large majority of his life. There is so much that America offers that no other country in the world can offer. I am very blessed to be living in the United States and very proud to stand behind the servicemen and women who are fighting for our freedoms and defending this nation. I am SO proud to be an American. May God continue to bless America and continue to bless the troops and their families.


I hope you all had a fantastic and safe 4th of July weekend!