Jonnie & Emily

What EVERY wife needs to know...

2010-01-28T20:29:00.005-06:00

Lady friends - get this book: The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Dr. Laura puts it to us straight and tells us exactly what we need to hear regarding our marriages and husbands. The entire book is excellent, but I have a love/hate relationship with chapter 6, so I thought I'd share.
It's the inevitable sex chapter, but before Dr. Laura tells us what we need to know about our husbands' needs, she discusses the "frump syndrome". This disease is frequently contracted by married women, especially after children.
I'll list the symptoms so you can determine if you have contracted this ailment:
-wearing flannel socks & pj's or sweats & oversized t-shirts to bed
-not shaving legs or grooming nails
-not washing or styling hair
-not wearing make-up for your husband
-using the toilet with him in the room
-not wearing perfume
-not wearing cute, sexy clothes around the house
-(gaining huge amounts of weight)
She says that this condition is worrisome because women "embrace the notion that once they are married, they are entitled to be loved, adored, protected, romanced, and provided for without any effort on their part to create the (right) environment." I'm nervous. I have a few of the symptoms. I DO NOT want it to turn into the full blown disease.
Dr. Laura says that what attracts men to women is their femininity (so then why do we lose that once we are married?). She also says that "the unwillingness to accept responsibility for the upkeep of one's physical or emotional well-being should be met with consternation (shock, confusion) by a spouse because it's an assault on the marital covenant." (Wow.) And she goes on to say that the way that women take care of and present themselves expresses the love that their husbands need. She is serious about this issue of caring for our selves and our bodies.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, ladies. She gets into our business without apology! She is pro-marriage, pro-husbands, pro-families all the way. She is not a Christian, but her principles are straight from the Bible. If you are looking to improve your marriage, and want new ways to show your husband how much you adore him, get this book. He will l-o-v-e you for it! And you can thank me later.

Birthday Suit(s)

2009-11-20T09:25:00.006-06:00

My dad's birthday was last week, and in honor of him, we all showed up to his birthday party in sweat clothes. My dad thinks sweats are as fancy as anyone should ever have to dress. Bless him.

This is us, pretending to be normal.

This is us, being more like ourselves.

Dancing Monster

2009-11-04T10:43:00.003-06:00

We went to a Halloween party and Ella Rose was dressed up as a little green monster. She had a hard time convincing anyone that she was scary.

Jonathan was Richard Simmons and I was Excited About Christmas. Neither of us had a hard time convincing anyone that we were scary. His shorty shorts and my big behind jeans and blue eye shadow were enough to scare anyone.

My man and me

My sisters and me - taking the kids trick 'r treating before the Halloveen party

A Vapor

2009-10-29T20:58:00.004-05:00

Today I realized that this year is almost.over. Whaaaaat??? Just yesterday Ella Rose turned one. Tomorrow is Christmas. January is birthday number two. Isaac is 4 months next week! Is it just me or does time go even faster once you have kids...and then double fast once you have two. How sad. My kids are going to be grown in a minute. I don't like it.

I wanna keep this...

and this.

Stop growing babies!

My Baby Daddy

2009-10-16T11:58:00.004-05:00

My superawesomefun bff Jessica (503 Photography) was in town in early September and snapped these shots of Jonnie with our babies. I think they PERFECTLY depict his fathering style. He is so sweet, attentive, and loving to our babes. Ella Rose and Isaac have completely captured his heart, and that's just one more reason he has captured my heart.

Oh man. I LOVE my baby daddy. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful man in our lives.

ER's new hobby

2009-09-26T19:21:00.002-05:00

I bet there aren't many other 1 1/2 year olds who change their 3-month old brother's diapers.

Cooley-O

2009-09-26T18:43:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took today of our little fella. He is 11 weeks and 6 days today, and he is one happy little guy. :)

My bff Mandi got Isaac this fabulous onesie, Cooley-O! We love it! (Cooley is his middle name, after Jonathan's grandfather.)

Adventures of Jenny & Emily

2009-09-14T21:16:00.010-05:00

Last weekend I got to go on a much needed girlfriend date with Jenny while our husands stayed at home with all the kids. We went to Candace's wedding. And what more perfect outing for two bffs who love food, fun, and photos?? None that I can think of.

On our way to the wedding we decided that since we don't get out much, we should document our evening with a little photojournalism. So here was our night (in pictures)...and I think you'll be able to tell that we don't get out much...

Us on our way to the wedding

Us leaving the wedding (Dangit! We forgot to take a picture AT the wedding!)

Jenny showing off her spanx in the parking lot of the church

Me laughing hysterically at Jenny

Jenny & me with the Bride - Candace (Bennett) Joseph

Jenny & me with Josh - our other date that we picked up at the wedding

Us reallllllllly enjoying our wedding cake. We unashamedly asked for corner pieces, and we got 'em.

J-Hen, K-Full, and E-Wil having a blast. K-Full settled for hanging with us when Tina wasn't around.

What the? Don't ask...

The Photobooth

Girls just wanna have fun. (Tina, Jen, me, & Kristi)

Dance #1: Get yo groove own...

Dance #2: Doin' the butt

Dance #3, and it looks like we have a wannabe back there (nice one, Mer).

Our 4th and final dance, a slow one. We were without spouses, but that wasn't gonna keep us off the flo. At this point we were concerned that some of the other guests may have been concerned about us.

Us - being exhausted, waiting for the bride and groom to make their grand exit

Tina lovin' on Kev's cheek

Us being grossed out by Tina & Kevin's PDA.

Ohohh say can you see....

Me getting excited to hold a sparkler, and to see Candace leave

Wait. I gotta concentrate so I don't set anyone on fire (Jenny!).

Jenny inserting herself in front of the getaway car to take one last picture. I'm pretty sure by this point every other guest at the wedding thought we had lost our minds.

Good times, Jenny. You are one FUN date. But since I have 2 kids and you have 3 1/2, this may be our last date for a while...

Photographically Challenged

2009-08-22T20:27:00.005-05:00

You'd think that we would be able to get a good shot in one take...afterall, Jessica is a pro-fessional and I reallllly like to take pictures (and do it quite often). But after this "photo session", I realized that we are quite photographically challenged when it comes to setting up the self timer to take pictures of ourselves. It literally took more than 15 pictures to get one good shot (where we were actually ready and looking at the camera). I like candids though, and we got plenty of those!

Love you, Jess. Miss you already! Can't wait to see you Thursday. Mwah!

Jess getting in place so I could know where to set the camera, but then I forgot to set it to self-timer and when I pushed the button it just took a regular ole picture. Duh #1.

Seriously?

We had no idea The Cakes was back there making a fool of himself.

Why do we keep moving back so far?

Fantastical, finally.

4 week old Isaac

2009-08-07T21:37:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our new little Isaac. He is fluffing right up!

Wilson World

2009-08-03T11:07:00.003-05:00

I take it back. Isaac does spit up...often. And he does occasionally blow out his diaper. I knew it was a-comin' but I had hoped I missed out those baby blessings.
Everything is going pretty well here in Wilson World however. Ella Rose still hasn't bit or slapped or kicked or fell on or head-butted Isaac (yet). I just knew that she was gonna be ultra angry that he is in her house being taken care of by her mommy and daddy. But actually, I think she kind of likes him. She has adjusted quite nicely. Isaac is only 4 weeks old, so she could morph in to an angry toddler-monster, but hopefully she will remain a sweetie.
The big change with Ella Rose is that she has become a sold out 100% Daddy's Girl. She is seriously so attached to him, and I (secretly) think it is so precious. What's not too precious is when she busted on the kitchen floor (as she does at least 6 times a day) and I quickly ran over to her to make it all better, and that little girl proceeded to run away from me, flailing her arms and screaming! She ran to her daddy - like I can't make it better or something. Only daddy can?? What's going on here? Most kids will take any pity they can get...but not her. She only wants Daddy's pity. But I do think it's pretty cute. I worked long and hard at getting her to fall in love with her daddy. When he is at work, we talk about him and look at pictures of him. When the phone rings, it's always Daddy. And and after lunch I tell her at least 100 times "Daddy's gonna be home soon". Daddy is the superstar around here, and apparently she has now caught on.

I feel bad-good.

2009-07-15T20:24:00.004-05:00

But not just had a baby and my crotch & nips hurt bad. Like, my little cowboy is really good and he sleeps well and eats well and doesn't spit up and never blows out his diaper bad-good. Why is that bad, you ask. I have heard so many horror stories (and lived my own the first 6 weeks of Ella Rose's life) that I was worr-ied about baby #2. People call and ask how I am, and other than tiiiiiirrrrrrrreeed, things are going well. So many have said, "don't worry, it gets easier"... but I don't think it does. Truth be told, it's pretty easy right now. I haven't reallllllly had to experience the depth and breadth of what my life is about to look like. Honey has been here since we got home from the hospital, and today Nana arrived. My mom said it best when she said that I don't have to adjust to a new baby (I've done this before and I can handle it). I have to adjust to a newborn AND an 18-month old. Yowza. What the heck is in store for me?! And she's an active little darling.
Bottom line, sometimes I'm tempted to act like things are worse than they are, because that's what everyone expects to hear, but I ain't a hurtin'...yet.
HOWEVER, if you really want to know how I am, call me a week from today and I will have had a good 3 days by myself of newborn & 18-monther... and that's when I'll need to hear that it gets better.
And God bless all of you who have offered to bring us dinner. I'm gonna be flat. on. my. back by dinner time after the help leaves.

Introducing Isaac Cooley!

2009-07-09T21:58:00.005-05:00

Much to our surprise (or my at least to my surprise - I was CERTAIN that I would not go in to labor, but be induced next Monday :), Isaac was born on Sunday night, July 5th at 10:35pm. He weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. What a relief to get him out of my belly!

The last picture of Isaac in the belly - taken while I was in labor at my parent's house :)

Don't I look happy? Welllll...it's was a fake smile...in lots of pain!

What a relief to have him O-U-T of the belly!

Our little sweet bundle of tiny weenie joy!

Ella Rose's first contact with Isaac...taking the opportunity to "ponk ponk" his nose.

Daddy & Isaac

Our happy family

Whew!

2009-06-30T22:20:00.002-05:00

Big belly, big belly, big bellllllll-ay!
This belly is a good bit bigger than I had thought. It took seeing it in a picture to realize that I'm a bonified biggin'.
38 weeks, 4 days and counting...

Yes, that is a gun over Isaac's bed. It was my dad's toy gun when he was little, so we mounted it and there she hangs. :)

Such is Life.

2009-06-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

I went to the Antique Mall in Bartlett today and by the time I got ER out of the car, into the stroller, through the hot parking lot, and down the first aisle, I had to use the bathroom really bad (so is the life of a pregnant lady). So after we went potty, we left the restroom and then browsed through several of the booths, me pointing out everything and naming it for ER. "Look, Ella Rose, a fan...it feels good, doesn't it? It's cool...ohhhh, and look, baby, see the little stool...it's for little hineys to sit on..." Then, we slowly proceeded on down the aisle, where we strolled passed a large mirror...and, much to my SHOCK and EMBARASSMENT, saw that the back of my skirt was tucked entirely into my (pregnancy) granny panties. ...my life.

33 Weeks Picture

2009-06-03T09:00:00.003-05:00

Pregnant belly update: I am 35 weeks tomorrow...but below is a picture of Jenny (my skinny b/f/f) and me before our date to a mutual friend's baby shower. I was 33 weeks when this picture was taken. And when I was wearing that shirt, I thought it was cute...but now that I'm looking at a picture of me in it, it looks more like a coral-colored tent. I should have turned little more to the side. ...Only 5 more weeks of tent-wearing.

30

2009-05-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

Our little family, bunny blanket and all, on my 30th birthday.
(Ella Rose was falling apart [due to it being an hour and a half past her bedtime], so in an attempt to soothe her for a quick pic, we handed over "bunny".)

Wherever she is when she gets bunny, becomes her bed.

I am 31 weeks pregnant in these pictures.

30 weeks

2009-04-28T09:23:00.002-05:00

Here we are...getting ready to leave for a hot date...or as hot a date as you can have being as big as a house.
I am 30 weeks in this picture, and not quite as swoll up yet as I was with Ella Rose at 30 weeks. Don't get me wrong...there are parts of me that are swollen (the nose, for instance, annnnnnnnd a few other parts...) but all in all, I am doing pretty well. What you can't see in this picture, because I have cleverly cropped them out, are the bulging, purple varicose veins in my leg. Lovely.

P.S. Do I have a hottie for a husband or what?

Laugh So Hard I Cry...a lot!

2009-04-06T22:13:00.003-05:00

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/the-lawrence-welk-show/727501/

Eww.

2009-03-17T09:09:00.004-05:00

I wanna wear this...
Ahhhh... so dreamy.

Not this...
This has ewwww written all over it.

Maternity clothes are ugly and they make me feel worse than I already do. Can I get a witness? Sick.

(These are the summertime clothing thoughts on my mind...)

Wedding Dress Pics...5 years later

2009-03-11T09:05:00.005-05:00

Back in the early fall of last year, I was planning a little something special for Jonathan's and my 5-year anniversary. During one of her trips in town, Jess and I plotted and planned. We waited for the perfect time to sneak my wedding dress out of the house so I could have a few special pictures taken in it...for Jonnie. When we got home, I left the dress in the car and headed inside. We made small talk with Jonathan hoping he wouldn't ask to many detailed questions about what we had been doing. Jessica immediatley began downloading the pics to her computer, and just as they were finishing up, Jonnie walked over and saw them. He was so confused and asked what in the world the pictures were for. (To his credit, they were taken in bizarre locations so I could understand his confusion.) I tried to convince him that Jessica was at our wedding 5 years ago (Jess & I didn't even know each other then), but he didn't buy it. He just accused us of scheming and lying - but he never could figure out why. Needless to say, it ruined the surprise and I didn't end up using them. Talk about disappointment.
Anywho, I wanted to post a link to some of these pics that Jessica just recently posted on her blog. She made me look waaaaaaay better than in real life and she deserves some credit for it! Girl's got skills. I was so squished in to that dress (still breast feeding in those days) so she had to "take care of" quite a few elements in the pictures to make them print worthy. She. is. goooood.
I finally showed all the pictures to Jonathan last night and he was quite impressed (mostly with the parts that were squished in ;).

Patience has paid off!

2009-03-09T09:53:00.008-05:00

Finally! ...

Anyone who knows me knows that I've been wanting a new kitchen table since, ohhh, the first year of our marriage. We moved into this house when we had been married only 7 months, and then the itch began. The kitchen table we were using was the table that my family used as a breakfast table in the early 80's. Old school, and tiny! We only intended to use it while we were in our apartment, but then after moving in to our house, purchasing a new one got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. My mom helped me fancy the table up a bit, but there is only so much that can be done to a press board-top table with metal legs, and chairs that don't even fit the average-sized butt. That table set has been painted and reupholstered so many times it's embarassing. But it worked. We always had somewhere to eat. And memories. Everyone has that piece of furniture that is totally embarrassing and doesn't match the rest of the house, but that provided lots of memories. This was it.

But now, 5 years later...tadaa!

It's a big ole black round table for 6 - just what I wanted!! Thanks, Jonnie! (And it also doubles as a jungle gym for Ella Rose. What a bonus.)

The oldie...

Such is life.

2009-03-08T21:14:00.008-05:00

My current dilemas:
~I want warm weather, but don't want to wear warm weather clothes.
~I want Isaac to hurry, but I don't want to wish Ella Rose's life away.
~I love having babies, but I hate being pregnant.
~I want to organize everything in my house, but don't want to do it.
~I want to be a really good cook, but have little confidence in myself.
~I know God loves me for free, but I still want to work for it.
~I want to be fun, but I'm not when I'm pregnant.
~I want to serve others more, but I am self-involved.
~I want to be more trendy and stylish, but I don't know how.
~I love to play outside, but what can a babe that doesn't walk yet do?
~I want to be a hottie for J, but pregnancy is the antithesis of hot.
~I want skills, but I'm not motivated to develop them.
~I want to go to bed earlier, but I hate washing my face.

One thing that isn't a dilema for me? Where I get my hair did. Kristi... She always makes me feel better about myself...err, at least my hair. Talk about skills. High-lighting skills.
(I know. This is completely unrelated to the above statements, but I love my new blonde {and my friend Kristi}, annnnd you know that a picture makes every post better.)

We're having a boy...oh yeah, oh yeah...

2009-02-16T16:40:00.005-06:00

Jonathan was certain we were having another girl, but sure enough, we aren't!
We went in for our ultrasound last Wednesday and they said "it's a boy!". What relief! We have a girl, we have a boy - the next two can just come on and be whatever they want! PLUS the added bonus of now knowing that everything looks healthy and normal...phew! What a load off!
So we have Isaac Cooley...or Isaac William. We aren't sure yet. But maybe we'll have to wait until we get a look at him and see if he looks like a Cooley or a William (both family names on Jonnie's side, by the way). We had Isaac picked out even before we had Ella Rose. It means laughter. How appropriate - laughter! I love it!
So that's our big news lately. And it's BIG. J-Cakes can't wipe the smile off his face.

Birfday Girl

2009-02-08T20:44:00.004-06:00

I love having friends who are one step ahead of me, most of the time. (Alright, sometimes it makes me jealous, but mostly, it's a good thing.) Take Jenny, for example. She is one of my verrrry b/f/fs, and she is a step ahead of me in a lot of areas. But one particular area that concerns me these days is the dreaded 30.
She and I have mourned "30" for a whole year. Jenny turned 30 at the beginning of this month - 3 months before me. (You're a good friend for doing that, Jenn.) So, although I'm not quite there yet, she is...and she says it's not that bad afterall (but she wasn't as big as a house like I will be, thanks to baby #2). But, I guess if she can do it, I can do it (not until May though!).

Jenny had a surprise 30th birthday party...and was totally surprised! I know, most people are surprised at their surprise party...but you see, Jenny had asked her husband, err demanded rather, a surprise 30th party on her 29th birthday, so she should not have been surprised at all. But her family and friends are sooooo good, that she was as surprised as she could be. (And believe me, she tried to get it out of everyone if she was having a party, but no one caved.) Her face was pricelass.

Ryan & Kristi, Kelley & Jenny, Jonnie & Me

(P.S. - If you recognize Kelley, it's because he's FAMOUS!! You can see his big ole face on the Highpoint billboard on I-40 as you are getting on 240!)

These Days

2009-01-26T08:40:00.007-06:00

I think I may be the most boring pregnant person in existence. Poor Jonnie. I apologize for it quite frequently, but it never makes me feel better. Of course, he denies that I am boring...but I know that he is just trying to make me feel better. And it doesn't work - I know I'm boring.
The good news is (for all of you who know that I am also a very miserable pregnant person) I am starting to feel so much better. Pregnancy, for me, is no fun in weeks 6-18 or 20. But I am 16 weeks - almost - and I feel the yuck falling off!
I don't want to bore any of you who read this to death, but I just wanted to update you on where I am these days. I don't blog a lot and I didn't want you to think I had forgotten you. I'm just boring.
On a very unboring note, I have started a new Beth Moore Bible study and am loving it. It's called Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman. I totally recommend it (even though I am only in my first week :). I am doing this study with a bunch of other ladies at Highpoint. Yesssss! Finally get to be there!

This picture is completely unrelated, but every blog post is more fun with a picture...

These my girls! They are two of my very best friends - Kristi and Jenny. Love you two!! And neither are pregnant, but I hope one of them to be in the near future. And the other is just habitually pregnant, so she probably will be too, in no time. :)

So annoying.

2009-01-08T19:26:00.002-06:00

I know from personal experience that it is pretty annoying when you frequent someone's blog and then all of a sudden, they stop blogging.
I'm the annoying one now. I've had comments from friends so I thought I'd at least blog about not blogging. Not that life is uneventful, but I really just don't feel like sitting at a computer these days. If you're a close friend (or maybe just an acquaintance), you know that I don't have the easiest pregnancies. And now that I'm in the midst of one, I'm just blah. I feel pretty yuck all the time and it rubs off everything - and unfortunately blogging was one of the first things to go...but no worries (as if any of you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for my next blog post to pop up) I will be back at it again soon. Hopefully this pregnancy funk will disappear soon and I'll be back to my self. Ant THEN I'll get everyone updated on all the excitement in Wilson World.
Ella Rose is turning ONE on Saturday, so that is the next exciting (albeit sad) event in our house. We are having a snow angel party that I have been decorating for all week. Any of you who know me well know that I am such a sucker for getting all in to this sort of thing. Ella Rose isn't even going to give a care, but nonetheless, she will have glass jars of snow and coffee filter snowflakes everywhere she looks. :) I'll post pictures next week...

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-18T17:48:00.002-06:00

My first family...

My second family...

My whole family...

Geriatrics & Boring Sharks

2008-12-12T13:11:00.007-06:00

My best gal pal Jessica and I met in Nashville last week to have a little girl time, do some (minor) shopping...and mostly just lay around on our behinds. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel with the entire elderly population in the US of A. I'm certain there was a geriatic convention that they forgot to mention to me when I made the reservations.

We went to the Aquarium restaurant that night because the concierge told us it was a great place to eat, and while we were at it, we could see some sharks and other sea creatures.

This is how we felt about the place...

The food was terrible...and the sharks just swam in circles. Boring.

Our suggestions to you - - -

1. Don't go to this restaurant. 2. Don't listen to the concierge.

The next day we went to the Opry Mills mall to do a little (pathetic) shopping with every old person staying at the hotel with us. I guess they were shuttled over. Even still, we were seriously the bummiest, slowest movin' shoppers there. I'm pretty sure we complained the entire time...about everything. But we realized why we are such good friends - all we want to do is lay around and no one else would like us because we are whiners...so we found each other.

Anyway, we went to Johnny Rockets in the mall to eat lunch, and it's a frightening place. This is how we feel about their abrupt, uncoordinated dancing around the restaurant...

Our trip ended sooner than I expected because Jessica's possessive husband wanted her home so he could see her. So what that they hadn't seen each other in a week and a half. (That's what he gets for being a fancy pants doctor. That's NOT my fault, but I was the one punished.) But we had a good time despite that. We always do...even if we just lay on our butts. :)

Love you, Jess.

Big (big) News!

2008-11-29T22:11:00.003-06:00

That's right...that little baby floating around over there to the left is what the baby in my belly looks like. Yes...there is a baby in my belly, people...that means...I'm pregnant! I have a TEN MONTH OLD and baby #2 is due mid-July! Ella Rose and her new little sibling will be 18 months apart. I am currently about 7 1/2 weeks. We just now started telling folks, so if you're a good friend and I haven't told you yet, you're getting a phone call tomorrow! I just couldn't wait any longer to put that cute little widget on my blog!

So now you know.

2008-11-21T13:06:00.006-06:00

Ohhh no. I was tagged for this by my (previously) sweet friend Brandie, and because I'm a good sport, I'm gonna do it. But don't JUDGE me. The thing is, I am supposed to pick the 4th picture out of the 4th picture folder on my computer, post it, then explain what the picture is about...so here goes.
Digital cameras are wonderful - so many capabilities. I've been known to take a picture of myself in an outfit to see if I like it or not before I settle on it - and don't act like you've never done that. Well, in this picture, I was taking a picture of my hair to see if it looked decent from the side. (When I uploaded all my pictures from my camera, it was on there - I didn't intentionally save it.) So like I said, don't judge me. Now you know how weird I am, but I'm sure you do weird things too.

And I am supposed to tag 4 friends to do the same. Soooo, the lucky 4 are:

Katey Overstreet
Faith Long
Liz Vollmer
Jessica Cudzilo (don't act like your blog's too fancy for this)

If your fella was with my fella...

2008-11-17T08:33:00.008-06:00

over the weekend, then he has asked for this recipe...and requested that I place it on my blog for you to take down ;). So gals, do your wifely duty - copy it down and surprise him with some yummy goodness this next weekend - he'll love you for it!

These are the (easiest) most scrumptous bits of ooey gooey chocolatey goodness you've ever tasted. Seriously.

chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup veg oil

1/3 bag of chocolate chips (or more or less depending on your taste)

powdered sugar

Mix all the junk in together - put it in the freezer for 10 or so minutes to let it harden a bit (and it will be easier to work with). Scoop into balls and drop each ball into powdered sugar and roll it all around. Place powdered sugar-covered dough balls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. (They will look a little doughy when they come out of the oven, but they will harden up a bit - so don't overcook them!)

P.S.- You can also make this same recipe with lemon cake mix. My favorite! All you need to do is nix the chocolate chips, and add 1 teaspoon lemon extract or a bit of lemon juice. Yum-my!

Trust me, gal pals - these are a hit everywhere I take them...and no one has to know how easy they are to make!

This is a picture of what they look like. I decided to make some today to take to a small group leader training event that Jonnie and I are going to tonight, so thought I'd give you a glimpse of the bit of heaven of which you are about to partake.

Handsome Little Devil

2008-11-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

My nephew Connor, who isn't really a devil, but is handsome. ;)

I'm not proud at all. I don't know why you would think that.

MSU Tailgating

2008-11-06T20:42:00.002-06:00

Last weekend, we took Ella Rose to her first tailgate. She's her father's daughter - she loved it. ;)
We met up with some of our sweet (fun!) friends and hung out a bit before the game. It was nice to see everyone, as we are spread out all over the south. We love you all!!

Ella Rose can be happy anywhere just as long as we bring the puffs along...

B/F/Fs: The Overstreets, the Kennedys, the Flowers, the Butlers

that's us, and the Maxwells

Who would've ever thought...

2008-10-30T11:11:00.004-05:00

that I would be so excited about a dead deer?! I grew up in a family where when my dad happened to spot a deer on the side of the road (alive, of course) we would stop and gaze at it as if it were the most magnificent creature God ever created. We did not even speak of someone willingly shooting a deer. I mean, the nerve! So I don't know how it is that I ended up marrying someone whose passion in life is shooting DEER! Now, that's not to say that the first time I was around when Jonnie brought home a dead deer, I didn't sit in the driveway, pet it and cry...cause I did. But I'm over it. I've come full circle.

So I know that most of the people who read this blog - and by most, I mean all but like one - are female, so pardon me if this is terribly boring...but I am so proud of MY man! He went on a big deer hunting trip in northern Missouri with his dad this week and he brought.home.a.biggin! And by biggin, I mean a big ole, 13-point, 250 pound buck! It's huge! I am sooooo excited for him! It's what those in the hunting world refer to as a "buck of a lifetime". (And it's a good feeling to get so genuinely excited about what my Jonnie-cakes loves. That must mean I reeeeeeeally love him, right??)

All that to say...who'da thought that I'd be so excited about a dead deer?!

Happy Halloweeny

2008-10-22T11:40:00.003-05:00

My niece, Molly Popilicious...

Getting practiced up to get some candy...

The (future) Wilson Round Table

2008-10-15T13:41:00.005-05:00

I have been dreaming, for quite some time now, about a pretty, black, round kitchen table. I loooooove round tables. You can see everyone else so much better than at your standard rectangular table. Good for family meetings...or game night! ;)

I'm seeing all four of our (future) kids around a table like this one day (nix the chandelier).

Polarized lenses or none at all!

2008-10-12T21:11:00.002-05:00

I loooove sunglasses...and even more than that I loooove polarized lenses - didn't know it until I married an eye doctor though. So, piece of advice: If you don't have polarized sunglasses, get some and they will change.your. life!

The thoughtful J-cakes brought these home for me as a surprise. Love them, love him!!

Ella Rose doesn't yet have polarized lenses on her Disney princess glasses...but soon.

Compulsion: an irresistible impulse to act

2008-10-02T13:17:00.010-05:00

Two things I am compelled to do while Jonnie is away:
sleep and Target-shop.
Before I had a baby, these were the two things I was drawn to when The Cakes would go away on hunting trips. But now that there's Ella Rose, Target just ain't the same...and sleeping...not so much. However, since I am baby free until tonight around 11pm, I have reaccquainted myself with sleep and baby-free Target shopping (aimlessly wandering, cart-free, with no time limit).

Lovely.

Something (mom-ish) to get excited about!

2008-10-01T09:48:00.004-05:00

As you all know, I have an 8 1/2 month old baby girl who is the absolute light of my life. However, she has gotten quite a bit more active, and quite a bit more opinionated over the last three weeks. A change that is absolutely welcome, but completely exhausting.
As you all may or may not know, I have the most loving, sweet, considerate, fantastically wonderful husband a gal could ask for...and uhmm....he's hot (but that's not my point). Because he is so wonderful (and obviously cares about my sanity), he is taking Ella Rose on a little overnight Daddy trip today for a full day and a half! That's right, I have a full day and a half off! (Eat your hearts out, ladies! He's mine.)

Now...it is absolutely beside the point that he is taking her to Starkville where his sweet mother will do all the baby-keeping while he plays in the woods and shoots his arrows and innocent, unsuspecting deer. The point is that he is taking her.

I am going to lay around and do nothing....sleep in...run errands (alone)...do nothing...take a nap...whatever I want, because I can. But if any of you moms out there have any suggestions for how I can use my time wastefully while I'm off, let me know.

So, if you are a fellow mom, you can agree...THIS is something to get excited about!

I'm one of those really annnoying aunts...

2008-09-11T11:41:00.004-05:00

who thinks her niece is the cutest niece there is...and because she's the cutest, everyone wants to see lots of pictures of her. Annoying, that's me.
These pictures are from yesterday, when Molly stayed at my house for a bit and we did a "makeover", complete with hair-do, make-up, and a spa pedicure. All of that deserves a photo session!

She's cute, but she sure knows how to pout! (Buuuut...if you're gonna pout, you better be cute!)

"I'm going home!"

(P.S. - Did you notice that grass?! It's like fluffy carpet thanks to my very talented grounds-keeper hubby.)

My Favorite Parts

2008-09-04T20:40:00.007-05:00

As a stay-at-home mom, I am usually looking at pretty much the same things every day...and most of the time that means I'm spending most of my day staring at my baby. I have heard just about every mom I know say something like "you just can't understand until you have your own..." and oh, how true. She takes my breath away.
Although I am in love with every little square inch of Ella Rose, in the last (almost) 8 months I have picked out a few of my favorite of her baby parts. Parts that make me smile every time I look at them. So literally...I am smiling all day long.

#1 Gums. I l-o-v-e Ella Rose's gums. Seeing them means that she is smiling really big, so big that it seems as though her cheeks are about to pop.

#2 Chubby Cheeks. No explanation needed. I mean, look at 'em.

#3 Cankles. They remind me of when I was pregnant. (Oh puh-lease. Don't act you didn't notice them.)

#4 Thunder Thighs. My baby is a good eater.

#5 Tiny Little Feet. Aaaaaah...they represent so much. Besides the fact that they are so cute that we actually put them in our mouths, they will take Ella Rose so many places in her lifetime. I can't believe they start out so tiny.

#6 Fat Baby Arm. They're just so cute. I love that I can put a bracelet on Ella Rose's arm and it gets lost in the roll between her arm and hand.

#7 Thumbs. I don't know why, I have just fallen in love with her little thumbs. They are so tiny, but perfectly formed. Amazing.

#8 Eyes, Nose, Mouth. Okay, I know...but she's beautiful. I can't help it.

Isn't God amazing? How can any woman carry a baby in her womb, see how perfectly formed her baby is and not believe that there is a God who creates us, loves us, and cares about every intricate detail of our lives? I don't understand it.

Our Jonathans

2008-09-01T14:15:00.004-05:00

Yeah, my sister and I both married Jonathans...

Last night at my younger sister's birthday dinner, I was attempting to get some good pics of us gals with our hubbies. This is what I got. Apparently "jonathans" have a severe picture-taking disability. We should have known...

Anytime is the right time for a sister pic.

The birthday girl, Brian, and Connor

Kathleen is 26 now, and I c-a-n-n-o-t believe it. I still think of her as my 8-year old little sister (who Melissa and I bossed around and used as our maid servant). You've come a long way, little sister. I'm proud of you. Wink. (Oh, and that's her beau, Brian, up there. He's practically a brother-in-law...but noooooot yet.)

My Girls.

2008-08-27T20:44:00.005-05:00

These are some of my dearest and best friends. I have been blessed enough to be in a small group with them for over three years now (along with all of our husbands). Our group has become a group of close friends and I am so grateful for each of these ladies. And it doesn't hurt that we have a blast together.

Jenny, Me, Amanda (8 mo preggo), Shannon, & Kristi

I met Jenny at Highpoint Church. She and her husband Kelley decided to join the small group that Jonnie and I were forming back in 2005. However, Jenny and I have known of each other for a long time. We used to play (very competetive :) church basketball in the same league together when we were in our early teens. She called me basketball barbie...but not to my face. The baby in the picture above that Kristi is holding is Jenny's 7 day old baby. That's Jenny for you - never going to miss a get together, even if she has just had a baby. She is the most laid-back, easy to be around, fun-loving, servant-hearted, peopley person friend a girl could ever have. She says just what she is thinking, so you always know where you stand with her. She really knows how to love her friends, AND how to have a good time. Everyone loves Jenny! (P.S. In the three years our small group has been meeting, Jenny & Kelley have had THREE kids!)

Amanda and I go way back...at least 11 years now. (Wow...that's a long time now that I think about it.) She and I were in the same college group together at Bartlett Baptist church back in the day. I remember when she and her boyfriend Ben (now hubby) joined our college group. I was so drawn to her friendliness and sense of humor. She is one of those people that everyone just loves because she is so sincere. Amanda never seems in a rush if you are talking to her, but acts as though you are the only thing going on in her life. She is always an excellent listener and when you're hurting, Amanda's hurting. She is the kind of friend you always want around. She and Ben have two little boys and a baby girl due on September 17th.

Shannon...ahh Shannon. Shannon and I worked together at Highpoint Church for two years...and when I say together, I mean very close together. Our cubicles were about 5 feet away from each other so we looked at each other all the live long day, every day. We figured out that she and I spent more time together than we did with our husbands. If you want to accelerate a friendship, sit next to someone for 9 hours a day, four days a week. That'll do it. It was a sad day when Shan told me that she was going to leave her job to become a full-time mommy. (Sad for me, happy for her!) She and her husband Heath decided to join our small group and Shan and I were reunited! Shannon got me through many a lonnnng day at the office - laughing, talking, snacking, and just having fun together! Shannon and Heath have 2 little boys. Shan has been a good friend for over five years now! Time flies!

Kristi. I am forever indebted to Kristi. She introduced me to Jonathan. Without Kristi, I would not have Jonnie, nor would I have Ella Rose! She was good friends with Jonathan before we met. She and I became great friends and then she introduced me to the Jonnie-Cakes. Let me tell you about Kristi...everyone needs a Kristi in her life. Kristi will say exactly what is on her mind, whether it's appropriate or not. You can always expect to laugh when she is around because you never know what's going to pop out of her mouth. Kristi is a dedicated friend, concerned about all the matters of her friends' lives. She will care for you, talk you through anything, and help you figure out any problem with which you are struggling. Kristi and I walked through our first pregnancies together (her Ava is 3 weeks younger than Ella Rose). She and I now spend hours on the phone every week trying to figure out how to raise a baby girl in the "right" way. Kristi is married to Ryan, and they, like Jonnie and me, hope to have lots of kids someday. I can't beleive Kristi has been a dear friend for over 6 years!

This is a picture from Christmas '07, when all 5 of us were pregnant at the same time! (Amanda and Jenny didn't know it yet, though!) P.S. - Do NOT judge me for having a big 'ole swoll up pregnancy nose!

Our (goofy) husbands...
Ben, Ryan, Jonnie (dressed up as Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation), Heath, & Kelley

Why We Are (deliriously) Happy...

2008-08-21T19:49:00.005-05:00

Ella Rose... 7 months, 1 week, 4 days old

Before I had a baby, I said I wasn't going to be this way...but I just can't help it. She is so deliciously CUTE! I could just eat her up!

Molly-Pop

2008-08-19T09:50:00.008-05:00

My niece, Molly, is quite a (beautiful) little handful. She 2 years, 1o months and 24 days old, and is quite a little princess. But I'll tell you one thing, that girl is great for a laugh. She keeps me rolling.

As to avoid lots of unnecessary trouble, Melissa let her play at my house this morning instead of taking her along to the grocery store. So we're sitting on the couch talking about Tom & Jerry, laughing at their silliness, then all of the sudden she looks me - dead in the eye - gets a serious, concerned look on her face and says, "Memy, ur hayoh look funny". (translated: Your hair looks funny.) Diva.

Molly L-O-V-E-S to "put on bips"...and she knows right where to find them in my bathroom.

Jess Came & Went

2008-08-13T15:09:00.013-05:00

Last week, my bff Jessica was in town for the week. She and I had one big slumber party for 8 nights. It was a great time, as usual. She is quite a low-maintenance house guest, so it wasn't at all like a guest was in our house...more like a sister. We stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. every night, chatting, laughing, (eating toasted dough & icy milk) and watching QVC bloopers on youtube (#1 favorite and #2 favorite - both get funnier every time you watch them!). Felt like I was in college again...only now I have to get up every morning at 7 a.m. to take care of my chubby baby.

After Jess left on Sunday morn, I caught up on my sleep...because I quickly realized - I can't handle the late nights like I could in college. I was hurting by day 5. Jess worked her buns off on her photography while in town - 9 sessions will do that to a gal - but we still got in plenty of girl time - - thanks to a baby who goes to bed at 7PM and a husband who isn't the least bit interested in hanging out with two loud mouth females.

It was a good time...can't wait to do it again!

ER loves her auntie Jess...

...as well as the rest of her crazy cousins. Jess had a hard time getting ready in the morn due to the large number of children staring at her.

We spent a good bit of time on our computers. Call us nerds. I don't care.

To Jess: BFAFF!! ...however, if you don't fix the f.a., I will!

Just ONE reason I love Jessica.

2008-08-03T22:50:00.003-05:00

She takes fun pictures of Jonnie and me - and they remind me of how in love Jonnie and I still are! Talk about talent. Love you, Jess! (No you dinnnn...)

Family Vacate #1

2008-07-24T20:21:00.007-05:00

Last summer, my family was sitting around talking about vacations and such and we decided that we weren't getting any younger...and that we should begin taking family vacations together (and truth be told, Jonnie and I knew we wouldn't be cruising the Carribean for a while after ER was born). So, last week we finally took our very first Phillips/Dunn/Wilson/mightaswellbe Spurlin family vacation to Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas - the place my family went every summer since birth. We stayed in a nice house right on the water. Dern it though if we didn't get there and the water was so high - about 50 feet too high - that it made our "beach" rocky and muddy. All Jonathan has been hearing for the last 6 years is how crystal clear that lake is, and when we got there we were sure we had arrived at the Mississippi River (along the banks, anyway). We Phillips have had much worse to contend with on vacations however...a little mud (or brown recluses or scorpions or underwater sticker bushes) won't ruin our fun!
So Ella Rose went on her first vacation, and she had a blast! What a cutie in that tankini, I'll tell ya! She was a doll...for the 10 minutes she was actually wearing it anyway. She gave Jonnie and me plenty of play time together everyday during her naps. Good baby! We spent the day on a pontoon on Friday and she did beautifully. What a sweetie. The Cakes and I got decent tans and had some good family time together. Hopefully lots more family vacations to come!
(P.S. Take a look at Ella Rose's blog for some more cute vacation pics of her!)
(P.S.S. Don't laugh at this song. It's our family vacation song and it brings back good memories...)

Notice the muddy water behind me. Ella Rose didn't get in the water until we got on the boat and we were out in the clean water. A muddy baby isn't a fun baby.

The sisters and me catching some rays on our rocky beach.

Ella Rose taking a sink bath - this is here for no other reason than her little squinched up face is SO cute!

Melissa looks bored, but she's not...she's just sooo into Happy Feet.

The classic Jonnie & Emily vacation pose.

All the fam...except Connor & Esten...no telling where those little devils were...

Hot hubby + cute baby girl = happy Emily.

LOVE my sisters!! We had such a good time together. We could go on vacation together once a month and never get tired of each other.

I know it's fuzzy...but my only family pic on the boat. Sorry...

I thought Ella Rose should go ahead and learn how to drive a boat. Her future husband will be a water-lover.

That's right. We tubed...until I was a party-pooper and made my dad stop. It hurt my knees...really, it did.

Drewski & Molly-pop

Katy and me posing as long as we can for a quick pic in the Little Red River. Like ice water!

Connor thinking he's cool by getting in the River, but then running his buns out before they freeze off!

Ella Rose was such a good girl all week that we let her drive home. No, she couldn't see over the steering wheel, and no, she didn't have a seat belt on...but she was cute.

One Word. Fun.

2008-07-20T21:20:00.011-05:00

Okay...first things first. Jonnie, Ella Rose and I spent this last week at the lake with my family, but I want to keep things in (chronological) order, so I'll post about the super-fun weekend we had last weekend at Brian & Meg's wedding first.

Jonathan's friend Brian (who is too sweet for words) was finally swooped up by the lucky, not to mention beautiful, Meg. They are the cutest couple. Jonathan was in the wedding, along with his good buddies Brad and Kane. They and their wives stayed at our house for the weekend and we had a blast! The weekend was fan-cy and jam packed full of fun wedding-y activities. They offered us plenty of opportunitites to visit with good friends. (Every wedding that we go to is like a Mississippi State reunion - so fun!)

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was too fun. They really pulled out all the stops. Good food, good friends, BIG fun! We (after Jonathan begged and pleaded) danced the night away. And for all you gal pals of mine who think Jonnie is too laid back and mellow - I saw a different side of Jonnie that night. His friends tell me that I saw college Jonnie - and I loved it! That night just gave me 100 more reasons to be in love with him. He was so much fun!! (Oh! AND he was all fancied up in a tux and he looked so handsome. Love seein' my man in tails!)

The Overstreets, The Maxwells, and Us at the rehearsal dinner at the Hunt & Polo Club. Jonnie offered up a sweet, thoughtful, meaningful toast to Brian. Made me teary-eyed.

Bride & Groom (Meg & Brian Flowers)

Sorry, Kane. It looks like Jonnie is a hair taller. (those boys...)

Larkin & Jenny Ruth Kennedy, Kane & Katey Overstreet, and the J-Cakes & Me

Kane & Jonathan showing off some smoothe moves

LOVE this pic. It perfectly illustrates our evening - fun!

Larkin, Kane, and Jonnie workin' it.

I am so glad I captured college Jonnie on video. You wouldn't have believed it if ya hadn't of seen it. Who is this guy??!!

When my boy smiles this big, it makes my heart so happy!

Getting ready to head back to the Wilson Hotel, where the party never ends.

I was so proud of my man!

These two topped off the evening with a 1:00am wrestle in our back yard.

Emily: Kane! Go stop them!

Kane: No...this'll be funny.

Emily: Somebody's gonna get hurt. Do they know how old they are?!

Kane: They will in the morning.

...and they did.

I love lists.

2008-06-22T16:59:00.029-05:00

I love reading lists, especially the lists that my friends create on their blogs. These lists allow me to get to know my pals a little better. Soooo, because I enjoy reading others' lists so much, I thought you might like to read a list of mine.
This is the list of things that make me sooo happy. I mean, fill me up with happiness so much that I can actually feel my heart tightening-happy. You know what I mean. It's like my heart swells up. I know you have your own list of things just like this... and after you read mine, create your own. (It can be a list of anything, I don't discriminate. :)

(Top 7, in no particular order)

1. Pictures - I could take pictures of the people I love every single day of my life and never ever get tired of it. It sounds cliche, but pictures capture life. The only visible thing that we will have at the end of our lives to remind us of all the fabulous things throughout our years - young love, what our children looked like when they were babies, family, fun vacations, friends, good times - is the pictures we take. My pictures are the most precious possessions I have, and I just keep expanding my collection every day. Happpp-eeeee!

2. (Secretly) watching Ella Rose slam her little feet down on her mattress (in joy, because she's angry, too much energy...whatever) - I had NO idea how much I would love being a mom...but even more than that, I had no idea how often I would laugh at the funny things Ella Rose does. She's hilarious. Those two little feet of her's literally shake the walls of our house when they hit her mattress. Wha?? How in the world? They're tiny!

3. Sitting at the kitchen table in the morning with my coffee - It's quiet, and except for the squeeling and wiggling going on in the floor, all is calm. It's the perfect time to really sit back and appreciate God's goodness. I've been given another day of precious, healthy, wonderful life. I have the most fabulous husband a gal could ask for, healthy still-married parents, a perfect, healthy, cute baby, two sisters who double as my best friends, a warm, cozy home, wonderful galpals...need I go on? I am so blessed. What more could I ask for?

4. Being at church and worshipping with other believers (at Highpoint, of course) - It happened today. I was watching our worship leader worship as he led us and it just struck me. I never get tired of corporate worship. I feel God's love so strongly, it makes my heart leap (and the worship music at HP is awwwwwesome!).

5. Naps - I L-O-V-E naps. I nap whether I'm tired or not. It's more of a hobby, not necessarily something I need. Love hitting the fan switch, turning on the sound spa (to "rain"), crawling in the bed, and pulling the down comforter over my head. Ahhh...makes me wanna take a nap right now (but I won't - it's 9:45 pm, that'd be stupid).

6. Waking up and seeing bright blue sky shining through my windows - It just reminds me how good God is. Plain and simple.

7. Memories - I absolutely love to sit and remember. I keep all kinds of things to help me remember...pictures, cards, notes, random what-not. I just really enjoy walking down memory lane. It's hard for me to get rid of anything that reminds me of anything. I guess I'm just a sucker for sentimental things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And just some of the things that make me superficially happy...not expanding heart happy, but really happy nonetheless (also in no particular order)

1. Doug & Carrie Heffernan...of King of Queens, of course! - Oh man! Doug and Carrie are like my best friends during the day. I DVR every episode that comes on TV and watch at least 2 or 3 episodes a day. This show makes me laugh and laugh and laugh! I can't get enough. How did a show this funny ever go off the air? They (Doug and Carrie, that is) make my day a little brighter. (P.S. If anyone has the entire box set and would like to part with it, puh-lease send it my way!)

2. The Food Network - A new interest of mine. Watching the FN makes me feel like I can cook anything, and well, I can't. But it gives me hope...and where are we without hope? Where is my husband without this kind of hope?? ...Sad and hungry.

3. Christmas decorations - The more, the better. Enough said.

4. R & B music - I can't explain it...I don't know where it came from, but I love it. You know...that get down, sultry, romancin' type of R & B. I can't help it...I just can't help it. Turn it on and I'm in heaven.

5. Arts and crafts - Seriously, it's one of the top 3 reasons I became a teacher. Paint, pipe cleaners, sparkly glue, markers, it doesn't matter. Crafts make me happy.

*See? Wasn't that fun? No create your own!

Jonnie's 1st Father's Day (celebrated)

2008-06-16T12:41:00.003-05:00

Father's Day this year had a whole new meaning for Jonnie...
At church, Andy talked about the "Father Factor" and what it means to be a godly, loving and wise father to your children... and I have to say that even though Jonnie has only been a father for 5 months, he rates extremely high on the father factor scale. He is a wonderful daddy already and Ella Rose has no idea yet what a wonderful life she will have because her daddy loves her so much.
I've always known that Jonnie was going to be a sweet daddy, but he has exceeded all my expectations. He is so active in Ella Rose's life already - he never acts like she is my job because I am a stay-at-home mom, and doesn't bat an eyelash when I ask him to stay with her so I can go out for a bit (and he changes just as many diapers as I do!). He's always smoochin' her and telling her how much he loves her. She is definitely the apple of his eye. I love a man who loves his baby...and he's cute!

Ella Rose, her daddy, and her granddaddies

3 generations...

The 5k

2008-06-07T14:27:00.009-05:00

Back in 2001, I decided I wanted to run a 5k. I finally did it in 2008. I'm pathetic...
My sisters ran a 5k at the zoo a couple of weekends ago and apparently got hooked on the "runner's high". They decided to rope me into the next one. So on Friday night, we ran (not so much ran as walked & jogged) a 5k that was held downtown.
So we got there and there were tons of people. I felt like I was the only one there who wasn't actually a runner. Everyone was decked out in there expensive running gear - I felt like such an amateur. People were stretching and warming up, and I was just thinking about how out of shape I am, post-baby body. I would have done much better in 2001.
The race started, and ended...and let's just say I wasn't in the winner's circle. It was fun though. We got some good (kid-free) sister bonding time in - 5 whole hours! We haven't had that much alone time since Esten was born in 2003. The Cakes is at a bachelor party with some of his best buds this weekend, so it was good to get out with my gals. (The cookies we got from Miss Cordelia's were even better...)

The drive downtown...Kathleen should be paying attention to the road!

Before...

After...
very tired, but energized that we finished...
(and seriously, it sounds like I'm talking about a half marathon...we're talking about a 5k, people!)

Just Another Reason I Love Having Sisters

2008-05-24T20:01:00.011-05:00

Melissa, Kathleen and I share a love of sno cones...Jerry's Sno Cones.
Friday was Connor's last day in 2nd grade and to celebrate, we awesome sister-moms, (and all the kids) surprised Con by picking him up early from school and then heading to Jerry's Sno Cones. All 8 of us packed into my Armada, because we think it's more fun that way...and more chaotic...but we're chaos-lovers, so it works for us.
When we arrived at Jerry's, much to our displeasure we spotted two classes of eager 3rd graders hustling toward the sno cones. So we, along with our 7 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old, 1 year old, and a 4-month old waited behind them for an hour in the Memphis heat all for a little taste of heaven...but it was worth every minute. I had a $2.40 rainbow flavored sno cone - bubble gum, cherry, & banana...so good.
Anyway, it's so nice to have sisters. We pretty much love all of the same things so it's very easy for us to find things to do together to have fun. And although we definitely wanted to celebrate summer with Connor, truth be told, we love going to Jerry's just as much as any kid. (Honestly, we act like kids most of the time anyway.)

I Love Sleeping Babies.

2008-05-21T17:35:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, Jonnie, Ella Rose and I went to our church picnic at Highpoint. I was a little worried that Ella Rose might get a little fussy after church (lack of a nap for a 4-month old will do it), thus making the picnic a high-maintenance occasion. I guess I underestimated our little sweetie. She knew just what to do... She and Grace fell asleep right next to each other on the blankie, while all the picnicin went on around them. So it was a good time after all. I love sleeping babies...they make everything easier.

My dreaded birthday...

2008-05-12T10:54:00.006-05:00

May 8th was my birthday. Yuck. I won't say which birthday it is, because it will make me slightly depressed (not tool long left in the 20s). Birthdays are just not as fun as they used to be - when we Phillips girls declared "Birthday Week" and did not have to do any house chores that we didn't want to do...or anything else for that matter. My mom always made us feel really special on our birthdays, and still does...but it's just not the same. I can't declare birthday week at my house. I don't like unloading the diswasher, but it has to be done, right? I can't expect the J-cakes to work all day and then come home to unload the stinkin' dishwasher just because it's the week of my birthday, can I? That's just rude (and a little self-righteous).
Anyway, I have been dreading this birthday for many reasons, but I have to say, my sweetie was extrememly successful at making it a wonderful day. Let me tell you what he did for me...
He got up in the morning with Ella Rose, so I didn't have to, and fed her a bottle so I could sleep in (my favorite thing to do is sleep!). If that was the only thing he did, it would have been awesome. When I woke up he crawled in bed with me and I opened presents - fun! In the card, he wrote many sweet things, but to the side he stated that I had a surprise lunch and shopping date planned with one of my favorite friends - Mandi (who is indisputably my favorite shopping buddy - one of those I can always count on to actually buy things!) while he stayed home with the baby. Mandi lives in Boston now :( but happened to be in town. We had a great time, as we always do. Then, later that night, we took Ella Rose to my mom's house and we went on a bonified date! We went to eat, went to Starbucks, and then did a little shopping. We haven't done that in so long. It was really nice to spend some alone time together. Needless to say, I have a wonderful husband who succeeded in making me feel very special on my birthday - which is what all we girls want anyway, right? He is one in a million!
...then on Friday night, we had my family birthday party. My mom did wonderful job - as always - of doing it up just right! Dinner, presents and birthday cake...nothing better!

Papaw Bill's Outta There! ...more time for us...

2008-05-04T21:04:00.005-05:00

This weekend, we went to Jonathan's parents' house to celebrate his dad's retirement from Mississippi State. He has worked there for 34 years doing research and teaching freshmen chemistry! We had a great time with the family. It's always nice to go to nana and papaw's house - they take such good care of us. And there is always lots to do. They have created such a fun place to go - Ella Rose (and future siblings) will love spending time there.

Jonathan with his two nephews - Kyler & Wilson

The whole fam

Ella Rose in her new party dress that her nana made just for the occasion.

Ella Rose has popeye arms, don't you think?

Man! I can't get enough smooches from that baby!

That's right, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Jonnie and I were fishing...and whoops! A flick of his wrist and I got hooked. I have to say, I feel sorry for the fish - a hook to the face doesn't feel very good....but it sure was funny. Jonathan felt really bad, but we sure did laugh our buns off!

I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it!

2008-04-18T13:48:00.004-05:00

My friend Jessica took a bizillion pictures of Ella Rose when she was in town mid-March. They are so precious - and priceless! I LOVE pictures, and especially pictures of our little sweetie. Anywho, Jess sent them to me this week so I thought I'd put some of them here for you to see. Jessica will be back in town in September and I can't wait for our next picture-taking session. She is so talented. Click here to see more pics of our baby on her very own blog.

I Hate New Mexico.

2008-04-09T10:05:00.004-05:00

My very very sweet, wonderful, super-fun friend Jennifer, who unfortunately moved to New Mexico when she got married 7 years ago, came to visit last week. Jennifer and I have known each other since 5th grade - and that's like, 18 years now! Luckily for me, Jenn's family lives here so she comes to visit about twice a year. Whenever she makes it to town, we always try to squeeze in a little catch-up time together...so that's what we did on Monday. I went to her mom's house and we just sat on the couch and caught up on life. (Don't you just love friends that you can just sit around with and have a great time - no entertainment necessary?!)

Jenn provided most of Ella Rose's entertainment for the 3 hours we were together. Ella Rose loves her very much!

From left to right - Jennifer, Kailey, Jesse, Me and Ella Rose

Is Jennifer not SO cute in a hat? I wish I had a hat head...

Weekend at the Wilson's

2008-04-07T13:00:00.005-05:00

My Dad L-O-V-E-S to fish!...and he got really lucky when I married a boy whose parents have a nice little 3-acre fishing lake. So once or twice a year, my parents go with Jonnie and me to Starkville so that we can all spend a little quality time together...annnnnnnd so my dad can fish. (The last time we all got together was last May - when Jonnie and I broke the BIG preggo news. No big news this time...but we did have a really cute baby to play with.) Our dads and Jonathan spent all thier time fishing, and we gals sat on our rears inside and visited.

Happy camo baby.

Ella Rose captures her granparents' attention whenever she's around.

Honey & Nana did most of Ella Rose's entertaining.

...but sometimes she got bored with it. :)

Honey & me (and E.R. napping in the middle) on the drive home.

I Take All the Pictures...

2008-03-27T10:55:00.004-05:00

and if I'm the one taking all the pictures, I'll never get to be in any...and then how will Ella Rose remember me as her young mom? Almost every picture of her, she is with her daddy, and that makes me jealous. So rather than become resentful because my husband never thinks "ahhh...that is such a cute picture moment of the two of you...let me get the camera so that we can remember it forever", I made a resolution. I'm going to start taking self-portraits of Ella Rose and me together - you know, the ones with camera in right hand, trying to capture both faces, even though it's likely that at least one of us will have half our head cut off (not the best composition). At least she can remember that she had a mom, no thanks to daddy.

Our Sweet Family...

2008-03-21T19:25:00.005-05:00

Here are a few of the promised pics that my favorite photographer friend Jessica took while she was staying with us last week. They are so cute! It looks like we were in a studio, but these were taken on our back patio at around 6:20 pm with a white blanket as the back drop. Jessica has some serious picture-taken skills! We highly recommend her!

Deep Baby Thoughts...

2008-03-20T10:35:00.014-05:00

I know several moms who have lost a child but never gave it much thought beyond, "man, that's really sad". I thought, it must be really hard to get through something like that. But now I realize that's all you could do - get through it. A parent can never get over it. How do you keep living after something so tragic? All I could muster up is to exist. So I've been thinking about those parents I know who've lost their child. How have they managed to move on? I've only had my little sweetie for 10 weeks (today) and I can not fathom ever living without her.
With so many things in life, I think - "it will never happen to me". Like, I'll never get cancer, get hit by a drunk driver, get some crazy undiagnosable disease...you know. But over the last week, I've been thinking about parents who lose their children - some as babies, some as children, and some as teens or even adults - and I've realized that unfortunately it could happen to me. Now that I have my own child, I can't get passed these nagging thoughts.
I have the priviledge of being a "stay-at-home mom" so I get to spend a lot of hours staring at my baby, realizing how perfectly formed she is - she's beautiful. I often wonder why God would be so kind to us sinful humans, to give us such a wonderful gift - our babies. Ella Rose doesn't talk to me yet, or tell me how much she loves or appreciates me, but it doesn't matter. If she never told me those things, I'd love her just as much. I can't imagine loving her anymore than I do right now. It's not because of anything she's done, but simply because she exists. And now I realize, that's just how God loves us. Wow. I've always heard that I wouldn't understand God's love until I had my own child, and it's true. Not that I can really understand why my perfect, sinless God could love me - a sinful, rebellious, ungrateful human, (and Ella Rose doesn't even rebel or knowingly defy me yet) but at least now I have something to compare it to.
So all that to say, I think I now know why I haven't been able to get these thoughts of parents losing their children off my mind. Because I love and appreciate my precious baby so much, I am fearful of losing her. (The only comparison that comes to mind at the moment is my little niece Molly, who l-o-v-e-s cookies. She found a stash of cookies this morning and obviously feared that her momma would take them away, so she hid in her room and crammed them into her mouth as fast as she could.) Unfortunately, sometimes I fear God that way. I feel like the more I love something, the more likely He is to take it away. The thought of losing my husband has crossed my mind in the same way, and now Ella Rose. The more grateful I am, the more I fear losing that thing I love so much. Now that I have a sweet baby, the reality of our human mortality stays more on the forefront of my mind. "It" can happen to me, and that's why I am committed to loving my little Ella Rose and valuing every day that I get to spend with her. Life is a gift, but how much more a gift (and huge responsibility) is it to be given another little person's life to take care of? And like I said, I don't know why God was so kind - but I am so grateful that He is!

Jess in the Hizzie

2008-03-13T23:01:00.016-05:00

Alright, so this is me almost one year ago - but Jessica still looks just as fantastic. I just had an eight and a half pound baby so I don't look quite the same...yet. But I will, by dangit. More to the point, this is my friend Jessica who is staying with me for the week. We haven't seen each other in six months! So we have lots to catch up on. We have tons of fun - and tons of cookies (which is why I am the way I am...). Jess is a fantastic photographer (503 Photography) and she is taking all kinds of cute pics of my little chubby baby this week - and lucky you! You all will be the beneficiaries of those pics soon. Check out her blog - Darling Ella Rose.
Anywho, we're spending most of our time together on the couch...facebooking each other. Friends are fun...especially friends like Jessica. Friendships like ours are few and far between - and very hard to come by. We laugh. And laugh. Our time together is good for the soul (but not for the bee-hind).

24 hours later...

Ella Rose's FIRST Snow!

2008-03-07T20:05:00.007-06:00

It's our first snow of the year...and Ella Rose is quite the snow bunny! She's mad at us because we wouldn't let her go out and play in it today. I mean, she's only 8 weeks old. (She thinks she's a big girl already.) Next year, I told her...next year. :)

Chubby in the Tubby...

2008-03-02T21:00:00.009-06:00

Yikes! Ella Rose is already lovin' the camera. My mom came over yesterday and we took these tub pics of her for the upstairs bathroom. When the camera comes out she just sits and lets me shoot away. Take a look at that round little tummy!

Our chubby little baby...

2008-02-27T11:01:00.005-06:00

Here she is! Ella Rosalea was born on January 10th. She weighed 8lbs and 5 oz and it showed! She was (and is!) a little chunk! We are proud new parents and think our little sweetie is the cutest thing ever!
Ella Rose is a very active little thing and she loves her daddy. She is starting to smile at us a lot and it melts our heart every time! She will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and the time has flown by. She'll be a big girl before we know it!
She is such a sweet blessing - we had no idea how much we would love her. It has been a lot more difficult to be new parents than we expected, but worth every bit!

My Cute Nieces & Nephews

2007-04-25T16:31:00.000-05:00

I thought you would like to see all of Jonnie's and my sweeties. I love 'em...all SEVEN of 'em! Aren't they precious?! I'm the most blessed auntie in the wide world! :)

Wilson & Kyler

Abi Alden

Connor & Esten

Chubby Bubby (a.k.a Andrew)

Molly Pop

Christmas Time = Fun Times

2007-01-09T14:13:00.000-06:00

Christmas '06 memories...

This year, it was our turn to spend the Christmas holidays with the Wilsons. We opened gifts and had breakfast with the Phillips fam on the Saturday morning before we left town. We received lots of great gifts, and gave a few as well.

We arrived at Bill & Pam's on Saturday afternoon and Bridget & the fam were already there. We were barely in the door and Jonnie-C was already OUT the door with his gun. Those boys!

He spent a good bit of time on the deer stand during our vacate at the Wilson's...and I spent a good bit of time in the bed. Ahhh...naps! Nothin' like 'em! I got a ton of shut eye during the break - and I couldn't have felt better when I got back to work on January 2! It was a great time of Family, Food, & FUN!

Jonnie's Big Day

2006-11-28T16:22:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, J-Cakes killed a bigun at "The 200." It's not the biggest he's ever killed, but it's a noteworthy buck nonetheless. Here he is.
(And please don't misunderstand...I am not happy about the slaughtering of little harmless bambis, I'm just proud of my man. Isn't he cute?!)

Christmas Lights for the Crazies...

2006-11-27T13:03:00.000-06:00

This year is the FIRST year ever that the Phillips family has adorned the house with Christmas lights! (Okay - it wasn't so much the family who did the putting up of the lights as it was Mom & Dad...nonetheless, it is a huge deal that Christmas lights finally made it to the roof top!)

Last night we had a Christmas Lights 1st Lighting ceremony to celebrate the (hopefully) new Phillips' Christmas tradition. We all met - that's right, all 12 of us - on the front lawn at 5:26pm sharp and waited in angst for 5:30pm - the moment that the lights would automatically flip on. What a treat! It worked great and the lights looks fabulous. (Way to go, Dad!)

I know, I know...we're nuts - and all the neighbors know it now too, but at least we had fun, right? That's more than a lot of families can say. Anywho, I'm certain that every stranger that drove by our house last night (while we were all squealing and pointing) thought that we'd never seen Christmas lights before - but that's just it! We never have! - at least not on our house!! And did I mention that we got a moose?? That thing needs a name...

Good times...