Day 55: Who took my Green thumb?

Seriously, I have no plant-sense. Jace collects house plants whenever he can, but if he doesn't water them...well then they don't get watered. I guess I'm just not good at caring for things that don't scream "Feed me!!"...While I was recovering from having Jaxon, my mother and mother in law planted a beautiful garden in my backyard. Luckily, they installed a drip system or those veggies would have been toast. Today I found our first veggies. How exciting!

54: "Oh my Goodness!"

Prepare for the most awkward angle, but the cutest snipet of brother and sister loving each other.

Day 53: Another Nightime Escapade

This girl CRACKS ME UP!

Day 52: Smiles

This boy is smiling up a storm and it melts my freakin heart! He really is a piece of sunshine in our home.

Jadyn snuggles with him whenever she can.

Day 51: Ice Cream

We had a week of using coupons to get as many free things as we could. Today: Free ice cream cone at Burger King. Jaxon just loves all our adventures.

Favorite part of this video by far is, "*gasp* Mommy! A Peanut Butter Sandwich!!"

Day 50: Sleep walkin

Jadyn has discovered that her in a toddler bed means she has free reign of the house at night....so sometimes she gets a little creative. Most of the time, she falls asleep before she even makes it back to her bed.

Day 49: The Aquarium

I hadn't seen my friend, Suzanne in quite a while and her two little girls so we planned a trip to the aquarium. It was a blast. All the way there Jadyn chanted "Big fish, big fish!" She was not disappointed. There were some BIG fish.

 ...and Mermaids...

 ...and tigers...

Day 48: Bed

Jadyn is weaning herself off nap time. I am so sad. Ever since this change in sleep, she has felt the need to change location of sleeping. Sometimes she wants to sleep in the guest bedroom. Sometimes she wants to sleep in our bed if we let her. She gets moved back onto her bed no matter where she lands, but what a funny girl. In the morning, she keeps falling asleep on the floor in the hall. She just can't seem to make it to our room to wake us up. I'm not complaining.

Day 47: Picture Day!

We got family pictures done today by my good friend and photography mentor. I am sooo excited to see how they turned out, but for now, you can stare at this adorable face.

Day 46: Home Again

Sometimes the best part about leaving home is coming back to it. I really did have an awesome time being with my Aunt and her family. It's really fun to be a fellow parent now and relate to some of my older cousins in ways I never have before. And there is something about seeing your kids play with other kids that are family that just warms your heart.

Day 45: Reunion

I actually didn't get a picture during the whole Marinos Reunion, but some parts of it felt like this...

Jadyn has entered what I believe people call the "Terrible Twos". I still think she's wonderful, but her emotions are all over the place. I went up a day before Jace and spent the night with the two kiddos. I thought it went pretty well. I was so happy to see all my cousins and their kids, but by the time Jace got there I crumbled like a cookie. I think I know why two parents are the ideal situation in a family.

Day 44: Singing

When our babies make sweet little sighs in their sleep, Jace and I call it singing. It is music to our ears. 

Day 43: Mornings

Our mornings usually look like this.

Day 42: Happy 4th!

Or for us...

 Jadyn's second fat lip in two months.

 We did wake her up to see the fireworks so she could exclaim "Fire mommy!"

Day 41: Rude

Looking at his Mom...

Looking at his Dad...

Day 40: Things

Enough with the rehash of facts about what we did each day. I think I need to focus on the things I really care about remembering, like all the funny things my kids say/do. Sometimes the kids and I end up in the office while I check facebook look up recipes for dinner. Jadyn goes straight to the basket of coloring books and asks "Mommy color?" I throw her some colored pencils then she gleefully shows Jaxon her picture...er...shoves in it his face. Adorable.

Day 39: Patriotic Sunday

I have a calling in my church to pick the hymns for sacrament and then lead them during sacrament meeting.This Sunday, as it was the Sunday before the 4th of July, I chose patriotic songs. For the closing hymn, we sang our national anthem. I don't really know why, but when everyone in the congregation stood I was completely surprised. From where I stand to lead everyone I get a pretty good view of every person's face. It was a powerful moment where I realized just how lucky I am to be an American. Sure, there's some serious issues going on, but we are standing on land built on a foundation of faith in God (it says so in the third verse). I cried through most of the song.

Day 38: Yard Work

It was a very long day. My dad is truly an Ox. He works harder than anyone I know. I was so grateful to have him around to help Jace finish fabric the back yard, cover it in mulch and finish the path in front. We all needed some pretty serious showers by the end of the day.

Day 37: Date!

My dad came into town today to help us with the yard and watch the babes so Jace and I could go on a kid-free date. Let's be honest, he only came for that second reason. He and Jadyn are just the best of friends and it's hard on the both of them to be apart too long.

Jace and I really appreciated the little bit of alone time. Since the hubs knows how much I love surprises, he wouldn't tell me what we were doing until we were in the car. It was a simple idea, but absolutely warm and thoughtful. His plan was a cheap dinner at Panera and then we would go shopping for me. How did he know I was feeling totally horrible about myself and needed a pick-me-up? Could it be the subtle "Dang it, I feel fat" comments every day? Possibly.

Day 36: No Make-up Challenge

 

I have challenged myself to not wear make-up for the whole month of July. I've known a few people to do this, but I have always been too chicken...and well...that bothers me. I already have a pretty dinky self-esteem these days with having just had a baby, but to not feel comfortable leaving the house in my own skin? I have to toughen up. I'm doing this for a few reasons:

#1 The already mentioned boosting confidence in my natural self. 

#2 To enlist a more rigid skin care routine. I'm mostly a "fall asleep in my make-up" kind of girl. 

#3 To force me to do some more exciting things with my hair.

So, I have one freebie and that is Sundays and July 4th. I can't go crazy. Just foundation and mascara. Maybe that's a total weak sauce freebie, but I just am not ready to be totally bare-face on the days that I see the most people in the least amount of time. 

Here goes nothin! Any brave soul is free to join me. Anyone who is not, I really don't blame you.