The Greatest Show on Earth!



Michael took Me, Jonathan, Ben and his sister Anna Marie to the Circus for my Birthday! It was so much fun, thank you so much Michael! And thank you for coming Anna Marie and helping us with the kids! It's always nice to have an extra hand...or two!

The questions of the day:
"Is it over?"...it was Jonathan's nap time and he really wasn't into it when it first started. The circus it a bunch of short acts, so the lights go off frequently as they reset. He would turn to me and ask, "Is it over?" ...thankfully he finally got into and then he didn't want to leave!
"Where are the Elephants?"...they brought one elephant out at the beginning and then they didn't bring them back out for at least an hour and a half...that is a really long time to a kid that just wants to see an elephant! But it was well worth the wait...



When we first got there...some seats are allowed to go down on the floor with some of the performers! But we stopped and enjoyed the view.



Me and the boys! They were both so good!

Can't take his eyes off them!



Tigers! One of my favorite parts! Little know fact...When I was 15-16 years old, I really wanted to be a lion tamer.



Me and Ben!



Jonathan got a toy that lights up and spins. Ben was mesmerized by it!



The super cool clown car, dad would have loved it!

Awesome!



Ouch!




Cool!




Sweet!



Really into it!

Scary! Motorcycle on a tight rope with a girl hanging off...gotta love the circus!!



Jumping Neon Guys!




My favorite photo of the day.



Celebrate Good Times

Well, I am another year older! Or as I like to think of it, another year wiser! :) That's right I turned 32 on Monday August 15th... In retrospect, my 31st year of life was actually a pretty good one. I was pregnant for most of it and then I was rewarded with beautiful Ben. It was an awesome pregnancy and now I am the luckiest girl in the world to have 2 sweet and amazing sons! I am also deeming last year "The Year of Friends"! It was a time of renewing old friendships, making new friends, and building stronger bonds with current friends...all in all, I am blessed with wonderful people this past year!

I am happy to say that I was able to have a lot of mini celebrations with a few of my friends over the past week and have a few more scheduled this week and next...nothing like spreading out the joy!

Michael really spoiled me this year! He really out did himself! He bought me a gorgeous watch...for the second time! (I believe I might have lost the first one, and I was really sad because I loved it so much. So he got me the same one again!! (Or one day we will uncover the lost watch, because my theory is our 3 year old little helper might have moved it somewhere for me.)) But I love my awesome watch! And I also begged and begged for a jogging double stroller and Michael surprised me once again with a super fancy one! Unfortunately it has been a million degrees here and I haven't wanted to get up at 4:00 am to take a walk, since that is the only time it is somewhat acceptable to be outside! So as soon as we go below 100, it's on!

About a week prior to my Birthday I asked Jonathan if he knew that my Birthday was coming up and he said, "Yes, momma, I am very excited, I am getting you...Cupcakes...ummm...Ice Cream...ummm...Bummooms (Balloons)...ummm...and a stroller!" (Michael had already given me the stroller and Jonathan was pretty excited about it!) I laughed and laughed. He is so funny! So as promised, Michael took him to the store and let Jonathan pick out cupcakes & balloons for me! I will never forget it! Thanks guys! (we already had lots of ice cream) They also gave me some very sweet cards.

Michael also treated me, the boys and his sister to a fun day at the circus! I used to go to the circus for every birthday since I was like 15, but we had taken a break from going recently, so it was nice to go back! I will share more in a separate post!

Another fun thing we got to do was meet up with Amy, Waylen, Scarlet and Will for brunch on Sunday the 14th! It was a great meal and good times, but unfortunately something there gave me food poisoning. Yucky Yuck. I have never had food poisoning before, so I wasn't sure what was happening. After about 9 hours straight of being sick, it finally passed and I was on the mend. But, in it's wake, I wasn't able to really enjoy dinner at Pat's to celebrate her Birthday on Sunday evening...and well pretty much anything on the day of my Birthday. But that's okay, I relaxed, slept some, enjoyed being with my boy's and doing pretty much nothing. Michael went and got dinner at my favorite Mexican place. It was yummy. I guess the silver lining is, I LOST 4 LBS because of it!!! I needed something to help push me over the hump, I had stopped losing only a month after Ben was born and still have a bit to go. So I will see the positive it! :)

Thank you so much for the phone calls, texts, cards, gifts, facebook posts, dinners, lunches and well wishes. I felt very, very loved! And I love ya right back! Here are some photo's of all the celebrations...




The cupcakes that Jonathan picked out! Red Velvet Cake! My favorite!! :) (thanks Michael)



Jonathan enjoying the cupcakes!



The Ice Cream Jonathan wanted and we already had on hand! 



The Balloons that Jonathan picked out!!!

 

The super cool stroller that Michael got for me!

Me and my boys and my Bday cake!



The Cookie Cake that Michael got me from my very favorite cookie place, J & D Chippery, in Dallas!! Thank you again Michael!!! (see I told you he spoiled me!)



At my Bday Brunch...Michael and Scarlet!



Waylen and Will!



Silly gooses!



Jonathan wanted some of Amy's pie! Yum, Chocolate Ice Box Pie! Ben is not sure what to think! :)

Amy and Ben!



Me and my sweetie boy!



Me and Amy

Jonathan, Me, Amy, Scarlet and Waylen

The Ewert Family!

Later that day...Happy Birthday to Pat! Pat reading to her grand babies.



Olga, Jonathan and Ben's Great Grandmother, is FINALLY home from rehab! She broke her arm back in June and has been living in a rehab facility for the past couple of months! It was great to have her home and healthy!!!




Thank you to Ruthann Cazalas and Angela Morris for the amazing chocolate covered strawberries that they had sent on my birthday!!! They were so good!!! As Jonathan said, "I love strawberries! I love chocolate! And I love these!!!" ...my thoughts exactly!


Thanks again dear friends and family for the wonderful Birthday! Now we are going to come down from our sugar high! :)



Captain Adorable

Who needs Captain America when I have 2 Captain Adorable's!

Jonathan, on 8/14/08



Ben, on 8/7/11



You Decide 2011

No not the election...yet...is anyone else already tired of the 2012 Presidential coverage? Ugh, it's almost as bad as this heat! Anyway, it's something more fun than that!
You know when a baby is born there is so much time spent analyzing who the baby looks like...that's a given. And you know even though they won't admit it, the parents secretly want their baby to resemble to them. With Jonathan, well, he looks a lot like his daddy, there are some things here and there that will remind me of me or someone in my family, but not super obvious and it is more personality and facial expressions that I see!
With Ben, Michael and I both were kind of stumped. For a month or so we would look at him and say, 'who in the world do you look like?' We had agreed that we thought he might be taking after my side of the family. Then there were times that I would look at Ben and see a facial expression that my dad would make, that was unreal. Then one day we came across this baby photo of ME! I was amazed. I'm not too sure how old I am in the photo, but I do believe that he and I look pretty similar.
So, weigh in, tell me what you think! Look alike or am I only dreaming?   



Julie as a baby, age unknown.




Ben, 12 weeks.



Beating the Heat

Today, Saturday August 6th is the 36th day in a row of over 100 degrees here in DFW! If we continue this way by next Saturday we will beat the record from back in 1980, which is 42 days in a row! Yikes. Not a record that I am too keen on beating. This past week was the highest of the 100's we have had...110 for a few days in a row. You kind of feel like you could burst into flames when you walk out side. Not the best for an infant, 3 year old and a hot natured momma.

Jonathan cries when I put him in his car seat because it's so hot.

Jonathan is usually attached to Michael's hip when he is home. He assists in taking out the trash, watering the plants, getting the mail, bringing in the groceries...etc. But lately, Jonathan will excitedly scream, "I'ma go wiff you daddy!", get his shoes on and run to the door, take two steps out and stop..."Um, I'ma go check on momma and Ben, it's too hot outside."

So we have stayed in as much as we possibly can without going completely crazy! Jonathan has such a great imagination that play time has been really fun lately! He loves to paint, draw, play with cars, build blocks...etc. I know he will relish the time he will get outside once it cools off a bit, but he is being such a good sport about it in the mean time!

Ben is still a super happy laid back baby. He makes me so happy! I love the stage he is at right now. He is 14 weeks, he is only waking up once or twice at night, taking about 3 naps a day, smiles and coos all the time and he won't take his eyes off of me, haha! I am currently the center of his universe. He likes daddy and Jonathan a lot too! I am enjoying this time because I know it doesn't last too long! Like when we are eating dinner, I will put him in his bouncy chair next to the dinner table. He will literally sit there and stare at me the entire time and when I turn to look at him he gets the biggest smile on his face! It's awesome! He doesn't care for the heat much either. The only time he really gets fussy is when I put him in his car seat, it gets way too hot in there for him!

Here are some video's of my boy's. I think they are pretty cute kids. I am one proud momma!

Just an example of his sweet nature.

In the car leaving Gran's house (Pat's). After a full afternoon of playing with Uncle James and Aunt Anna Marie!

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately...staying inside...



BFF's Will and Ben. Love this photo.




Carmex anyone?



Sweetie Pie.

Finger Paints



Jonathan wants to kiss Ben. Ben wants to eat Jonathan. I think they are the sweetest.



Family Movie Night!

Momma and Boys.



Daddy and Boys...same afternoon, I had just handed them off. :)



He built that all by himself! I am so proud! He calls it "TownTown Tallas" or Downtown Dallas. Where daddy works!

Readin' and Writin'

Yikes, it has been a month since my last post...SORRY! :) If you could only see my post lists, I have started writing a handful of different posts, but somehow I always get interrupted and never finish! :)

We have been going to the library pretty regularly this summer. Jonathan loves to go! He loves books. Some afternoons he will go in his room and read to himself, he doesn't want me to join, just all by himself! Then he will get bored with that and just line them up! He loves to line things up. Here are some fun book moments I caught on camera over the summer...





At the Hurst Library, he is looking up at the train!





Reading to brother just days after coming home from the hospital!



Lining up some of his favorite books, Backyardagains, 2 New Testament Bibles, Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit. You can't forget your cell phones either. Notice everything is biggest to smallest.



Lining our books up!





You can also line your books up this way...





Reading by himself in his room!



My favorite! Reading his Bible! He was reading through it really fast one day and then shut it and said, "All Done"!

We have also begun practicing writing!!! He is so excited about it and a natural! Most of the pictures I took didn't turn out because he writes so faintly, but as he practices more and gets better, I will share more! I am so proud of my little boy...he is getting to be so big!

That is my writing on top and his below. Can you see the "A" and "N". Since I watched him write it I can tell more probably, but I am so impressed!