Remembering The Little Things

I always love hearing the funny things that come out of Jack's mouth. Lately it seems like he is turning into such a boy and a lot less toddler. I have made a point to write down all the things that I love that he says because I want to remember them always! Graham is just starting to say real words so I've tried to document those things too!

My favorite things Jack has said lately....

// "I want to see Mrs. Kim and her Daddy Mrs. Kevin" Jack loves our next door neighbors and I laugh every time he calls Kim's husband her daddy.

// "Yay good job mom! I'm so proud of you" positive reinforcement obviously stuck with him after potty training haha

// "Sleep mommy bed" I'm afraid to admit that Jack still wakes up nightly and wants in our bed and this phrase is what I hear 99% of the time when I go in there.

// "Lub you mommy!"

// "That's a great idea!" this has to be one of my favorites. I don't know where he heard it but he uses it always in the proper context and it makes me smile.

// "Mom tell the sun to get out of Jack's eyes!"... as we are driving down the road.

// You're my favorite girl, mom"

// "Those are your balls" This one made me laugh hard...I was laying down and he pointed to my chest and said that.

// "Oh look at him walk! You're so good at it Graham". He gets so excited every time Graham walks, it's the sweetest thing.

// "Don't ever leave again" said in a whisper to me as I was walking out the door to the grocery store.

My favorite things Graham says/does...

// "hi der!" as he holds his hand to his ear pretending its a phone

// He loves to play peek-a-boo which we call "pee pie" in our house

// When we sing twinkle twinkle he opens and shuts his hands

// We have the Alexa in our kitchen and every single time I sit Graham in his highchair he immediately turns to it and says "A-le, A-le, A-le" over and over until I turn it on.

Of course there are many more things that I want to remember but these are by far the most favorite of mine!

*Linking up with Annie, Danielle and Jess 

Our Sweet Dog

Hey ya'll!! When I started this blog I wanted it to be a sort of diary of my every day life, focusing on my family, especially my boys! My main goal is to be as real and transparent as possible which means sharing the not so upbeat things. Of course, most of my posts I try to be uplifting and happy but given all that we have gone through over the past week I know my posts have been less that upbeat and I promise that this be my last for quite some time (I am praying so at least!)

Yesterday Patrick and I made the very hard decision to put our 14 year old chocolate lab Roscoe down. I use the word "our" loosely as he most definitely was Patrick's dog. He has had him since he was 6 weeks old. When I first met Patrick it was made very clear from the start that if he ever had to choose between Roscoe and Me he would always choose Roscoe! I even joked about this at our rehearsal dinner when I gave him a painting I had commissioned of Roscoe!

I have never met a dog like Roscoe. He was literally the most patient gentle soul you will ever meet. From the start he was wonderful with the boys. He let them climb all over him, pull his tail, play in his food, poke his face, step on him and he never seemed bothered in the least. When I think about sweet Roscoe these are the things I'm going to miss, we will never find another dog like that.

Roscoe was old, he had awful arthritis in his back legs and he has had trouble getting up and down for quite some time. He has progressively gotten worse over the last several months and in fact, we really didn't think he would make it this far. Making the decision to put him down was the hardest thing Patrick has ever done. There is never a good time to say goodbye to a pet!

I am going to miss walking in the door and immediately looking for him. He always laid right by the sofa under where I sat. He drove me crazy with his loud panting but now I find myself listening for it.

We told Jack this morning that he needed to give Roscoe love before he left for school because he would be going to Heaven. Jack has had moments of sadness and asked several times when Roscoe is coming home. We keep reminding him that he is in Heaven and Jack told us "I want to go too!".

It is going to take some time for our hearts to mend and the void that we are feeling to be filled. I know that we will one day get another dog, but we will never find another Roscoe, he was literally a one in a million kind of dog!!

I had plans to participate in the "remember the little things" link up today, but really wanted to share this post! So come back tomorrow to see all the funny things (and there are quite a few!) that Jack has been saying lately. I have made a point to write them all down!

Weekending

Hope ya'll had a great weekend! I am looking forward to getting back to a normal week after all that happened last week. We had a super low key weekend which was welcomed! I also took like zero pictures because we really didn't do a ton so this is going to be short and sweet! 

This weekend we...

* Had a kid free night and met some friends for dinner on Friday night! 

* Watched the ACC tournament 

* Let Graham play with snapchat filters since that always makes him happy 

* Had a family movie night and watched Moana (it was really cute!) 

* went from enjoying 70 degree weather to watching it snow on Sunday! 

* stayed in our pajamas all day long on Sunday

* Listened to Graham whine approximately 598059585 times. 

* Watched these two crawl up and down the stairs 

* Watched Moana again 

* Ate 5,000 mini cadbury eggs 

So as you can see, it was quite the uneventful weekend. Pretty boring if you as most. Jack and I are leaving for Disney World on Saturday so I have got to get my act together and start packing! If you have been with a toddler before let me know what things I must not forget!! 

Here's to a great Monday for all! 

*Linking up with Biana 

Friday Favorites

Happy Fri-YAY! This week really has knocked me on my fanny if I'm being honest. Between the stomach bug at the beginning of the week and the funeral yesterday the entire week feels like a blur. Patrick and I spent the day yesterday with his sweet family celebrating his grandmama and it was the sweetest service.

On to my favorites!

O N E | Jack is going to be in a wedding this fall and we were discussing what he was going to wear last night with my MIL and her sister. My MIL is an admitted hoarder, but like the most organized hoarder you will ever meet in your life. She said she had an outfit that Patrick wore at a wedding when he was Jacks age, and y'all, she ran up to her attack and was able to pull it out within 30 seconds. I mean...I can't even find something that quick that my boys wore last week haha. I died when Jack tried it on, I loved it and I love how sweet it is that Patrick wore it all those years ago. Also...could they be any more twin like? At least Jack got my awesome smile, Patrick has not changed his smile in 34 years haha.

T W O | We took the boys to Chick-Fil-A the other day and Graham was digging the ice dream. He also would smile and wave at every single person who walked in the door. Similar to the walamart greeter haha.

T H R E E | I just love getting these pictures of Jack at school.

F O U R | This Is Us. Surely everyone is as obsessed with this as I am? This weeks episode was such a favorite of mine. I cried multiple times. I just loved William and I thought the way the celebrated him this week was so sweet!

F I V E | Ya'll know how much I love my babysitter Anna and her photography skills. Yesterday she took the boys outside for a little photo session. She sent me these two sneak peeks. I know I'm biased but man they are so cute. I have a picture she took of Jack in this exact position last year and he has grown SO much.

S I X | Date night! The boys are spending the night with my inlaws tonight because Jack has been begging for days so we get an unexpected date night! No clue what we will do but I'm looking forward to it!

They are predicting we may get some snow this weekend (NO!!!) and its going to turn cold..just when I was finally accepting the warmer spring like temps. Praying we just get some cold rain. What fun things do you have planned this weekend?

Have a great Friday!

*Linking up with April, Andrea, Karli, and Amanda

Checking In

Hey friends! Popping in quick over here..it's been one heck of a week already!

 If you are following me on instagram you know that my entire family was down and out with the stomach bug from Friday-Monday someone was pretty much constantly getting sick (minus all day Saturday). Today we are finally all on the mend. Patrick headed back to work and I did keep the boys home just for one more day of trying to keep our germs away. My house has pretty much been lysol bombed and all sheets have been washed!

Whew I tell you, when a family of four gets the stomach bug it really wipes you out! Thankfully we all got it at different points in the weekend but mama was the last one and it hit me the hardest.

this guy was obviously the first to get to feeling better...I think he's the germ passer!!

On top of the bug hitting us Patrick's grandmama passed away yesterday morning. She was a precious 94 year old woman who was the matriarch of the family. She had 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. She was so loved by many and we will miss her, but rejoice in the fact that she is in Heaven with her Heavenly Father and reunited with the love of her life! I love these two pictures of the boy's with greatmama as Jack called her!

Sorry I have been so MIA this week! I hope to be back tomorrow with a Thursday confessions post!

Friday Favorites

Happy Fri-YAY!! We made it through another week. This week has surprisingly gone by quite fast but I'm definitely ready for the weekend.

My favorites from this week..

O N E | this may be my most favorite from the week. Graham started walking!! Like really walking, he had been taking one or two steps from the coffee table to the sofa or chair for a few weeks but he finally let go and walked across the room. I was so excited! He turned 16 months old this week and I was beginning to think he never would walk. We always cheer and get so excited every time he does it and he turns with a huge smile and is so proud of himself.

T W O | Piggy backing on Graham walking, he now can start going to Mothers Morning Out! I had signed him up to start in January but they have to be walking so he had yet to go. Every time I drop Jack at school he wants to stay. So yesterday, he went for the first time! He immediately got down and started playing and didn't even look back, such a big boy! This is a far cry from how Jack was when he started, he cried daily. It's so nice to just hand him off with a smile and know he's going to have a great day! Jack was also so excited that Graham was going to his school. He couldn't wait to show his friends on the playground!

T H R E E | It's no secret that I love my kids artwork! The hand and footprints that come home are some of my most treasured pieces. I finally got one of Graham yesterday!! Daphne, our director and my good friend immediately said "Emily, I know you're going to be so excited about that artwork!" She knows me well.

F O U R | This week my cordless vacuum that I keep downstairs for a quick run over the carper or mess cleanup broke. It happened to be the same day that I saw someone post that the Dyson Stick vacuum was on sale on Amazon for like 50% off. It is a refurbished one, which i fine with me! I immediately ordered it and was so excited when it came yesterday...I've officially hit old woman status..getting excited over a vacuum!

F I V E | Last night I went out to dinner and shopping with two of my girlfriends. Megan (from target) has easily become one of my very best friends over the past year. She is pregnant and expecting a baby girl (!!!!) She currently has a boy, who is one of Jacks best buddies! She needed to do some maternity clothes shopping so we decided to make a night of it and go to Raleigh and eat at Chuys (Yum!) and head to the mall. It was a much needed girls night out and so fun to spend some time with these two!

S I X | I can't leave Jack out of my favorites and his teacher sent these pictures yesterday and they cracked me up! That precious girl is Charlotte, whom is Jacks BFF, he pretty much thinks she hung the moon. His teacher said that she was posing and Jack came up and was trying to pose like her. It cracked me up!! He's looking especially growny in this outfit to me. I love a sweatshirt, and add a monogram and it may be my favorite thing!!

We don't really have plans this weekend. The weather is going to be a bit chillier but I'm sure we will be outside! Tonight will be pizza and maybe a movie for P and me once the boys go to bed! Have a great weekend, friends!

*Linking up with April, Karli, Katie, and Amanda

40 Bags In 40 days

I can't believe today is Thursday, this week really has gone by so fast! I have never been someone who gives up something for lent. Growing up we never did it and I guess that's carried over into my adult live. Every year I think about something I'd like to give up and on the rare occasion that I actually try to do it it lasts like a week.. So for the past several years I've just not even attempted.

This year I have decided that instead of giving something up I am going to participate in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge. It's no secret that I am not the tidiest person. I am hoping that by doing this challenge I can really declutter my house, since that's always one of my goals at the beginning of the year!

Thanks to me sweet mom we already got a head start on it. Last week we cleaned out my garage, which took 2 hours and 2 full garbage cans! The premise of this challenge is that each day you clean out one area on your list. You can have 1 bag or many! I am hoping to donate a good bit of stuff as well as just throw away! There are so many areas in my house that have accumulated crap!

I started yesterday with my desk. I threw away a ton of stuff that we just didn't use. The drawers had become junk drawers and i realized that we hadn't touched 95% of it since we moved in, so it went in the trash!

I have a good list of areas written down and I am sure as I continue I will come up with more!

My list in no particular order...

*desk drawers
*pantry
*fridge
*freezer
*corner cabinet in kitchen
*tv cabinet
*downstairs guest room closet
*patricks office
*playroom
*dining room hutch
*my closet
*patricks closet
*my dresser
*patricks dresser
*Jacks closet
*Jacks dresser
*Grahams closet
*Grahams dresser
*bedside tables
*upstairs guestroom
*bonus room closet
*attic
*foyer closet
*bathroom under sinks
*bathroom cabinet
*spice cabinet
*tupperware cabinet

I am determined to stick with this, aside from the week we are in disney. My plan is to take the first 30 minutes after the boys nap and accomplish one of these tasks. Some may take longer than others but I really think with breaking it down it's not going to be such a daunting task!

So tell me, have you ever done this before? Are you doing this right now? I know so many are following along and doing it. Did you give anything up for Lent?

*linking up with Danielle and Annie