Looking for our next home...

Well it's official... we are mortgage free but hopefully not for long.  We closed on our house in Asheville and are already under contract on a short sale.  It is an awesome house with a great yard and an amazing view so keep your fingers crossed for us.  We're a little nervous because we've heard that short sales can be really complicated and that they can fall apart due to things completely out of our control.  That being said... we strongly believe that if it is meant to be that it will be so may God's will be done.  Work is crazy right now for both of us and we're both traveling a lot. Things don't ease up for either of us until June which is hopefully when we will be moving.  

Jake is just great and has already asked if we can paint his new room red because that's his favorite color.  He is such a sweet little boy and he loves family time with his Mama and Daddy.  Every morning when he wakes up he will say... "is it a family day today" and if the answer is no... he immediately wants to know how many more school days until family day.  He still loves to be held which is wonderful and he often tells us that he loves us just out of the blue which literally makes my heart swell.  

We bought Jake a balance bike about a week ago and he's already doing really well with it.  I had just gotten home from work and had a migraine but when the UPS man showed up with the bike I couldn't resist letting Jake open it.  I regret terribly that I didn't have the video camera going because his reaction was priceless.  He opened the box and said ... "It's a BIKE!  Is it for me?".  He was so happy that I thought he might burst with excitement.  It was wonderful!  I'm so grateful that we are able to do things like that for him.  I'm often reminded that there are so many children that don't even have enough food to eat much less the joy of getting a new bike for no reason at all.  We are very blessed and we have very thankful hearts.  

If you're not familiar with balance bikes, they are supposed to eliminate the need for training wheels.  I know some folks who have gotten them for their kids and within just a couple of months their toddlers were riding regular bikes like the big kids.  Jake loves it and is already balancing very well and gliding for short distances while wearing his super cool Spiderman helmet.

Take a peek at the photo underneath Jake's age on the right sidebar.  It is called "How to Really Love a Child" and I found it while reading another family's blog.  It really struck a cord with me so I thought I would add it to our blog as a great reminder of what a blessing our child truly is and that we need to remember to savor every moment even the silly ones, the frustrating ones and especially the sweet ones because we'll long for all of it again ... all to soon.

We wish all of our friends and family a very blessed Easter as we celebrate that He has risen.

Mama... I love this bouncy house!

Eating M&M's with my Daddy at the ASU baseball game...

 

Happy 38-Month Birthday to Me!

 

Check out my new ride...

Hitting the driving range with Daddy and then

going home to watch the Master's with him...

 

Mama and Daddy were talking and when they looked back

around at me ... this is what they saw....

 

Daddy and I are blowing out the candles on this pretend 

birthday cake that I made for us to share...

 

I like to pretend to sell stuff to Mama and Daddy 

here at the Mast Store...

 

It is tough to beat the joy of swinging...

 

But... I love to go down the slides too!

 

Learning to use chopsticks while the chef cooks

on the hot table right in front of me...

 

I was so excited to have my first ice cream cone...

Mama and Daddy let me walk through the 

"sprinkles" in the ring at the circus...

 

Thanks for bringing me to the circus!

 

Wow Mama... did you see that elephant?

 

This was obviously a very big bite...

 

Just relaxing for a little bit...

 

I like to play in my sand table with my Daddy...

 

It is really a good thing that I was here to help Daddy with the

repairs to our old house in Asheville so we could close the deal...

 

I got to play with my friend Lauren one last time...

 

And her little brother Eddie too....

 

Happy 37-Month Birthday to Me!

 

Katie... your birthday cake is yummy...

 

Mama and me at Katie's birthday party...

 

Happy Birthday Katie!

Where does the time go?

It has been entirely too long since my last post and my little boy is already 3 years old.  Where does the time go? Time goes by too quickly once you become an adult and it goes at hyperspeed when you work full time and have a child.  I'm so thankful that I was blessed with the opportunity to stay home with Jake for almost all of the first two years of his life.  Don't get me wrong... I absolutely love my job but there is nothing like spending precious moments with your little one.  Trip was out of town one day last week and I woke Jake up to get him ready for school.  He looked up at me all sleepy and said "hold me Mama" so of course I sat down on the bed and he climbed up in my lap and snuggled in tight against me.  He looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and said "Don't go to work Mama.  Let's stay home and you can hold me all day... if you want to.". 

We have had a quite few weeks weather wise but since we had already received over 5 feet of snow this winter we were probably due for a break.  But because it was so snowy and so cold from December through mid-February there was a lot of inside time and Jake picked up every illness that passed through his childcare group.  He had a virus that mimicked the flu with a very high fever that lasted over a week then he got an ear infection followed by a stomach bug and finally a plain old yucky cold.  Everyone tells me that if he gets all this stuff now he'll be better off once he gets to kindergarten so hopefully that's true because I would hate to think that he'll have to go through all of this again.  I even had a teacher tell me that you can tell which kindergartners were never in childcare because they are sick all the time once they start school.

Jake had his 3-year check up last month and he was 24.5 lbs and 35.5 inches tall.  It is so hard to believe that it has already been three years!  I remember "labor day" like it was yesterday and I hope that I will always be able to recall every little detail.  Our Valentine baby had fun making valentine's for his friends this year and he was really excited about his birthday.  He couldn't wait to be 3 so that he would be a "big" boy.  We've started potty training in earnest and he's doing great.  Everyone told me that boys are later and slower to learn than girls so we haven't rushed him but he seems to be ready now so I guess we'll change our last diaper soon which is a little bittersweet.  It's great to watch them grow and develop but it's still a little sad when those "lasts" occur.

Jake is VERY excited for us to find our next house and he has some very specific requirements... a big yard and a dog.  When Trip told him that it looked like someone was going to buy our old house he said let's go get a new house with a yard right now so I can get a dog.  We're not going to rush into anything unless we happen upon "the" one so it may be a few months before we get that yard and that dog but we've assured our little man that we will indeed make that happen soon.

Last night it was just the two of us and Jake wanted to dance so I put a toddler dance mix on called Crazy Frog and the two of us danced wildly and giggled uncontrollably for the longest time.  I love my life!  I'm very blessed to be Jake's mama and Trip's wife.  We have great family that loves and supports us.  We both have really good jobs..  We have an amazing little boy who is all that we could have every hoped for and so much more.  We have accepted an offer on our house and as long as everything goes well we should be mortgage free and ready to officially begin the search for our next home by the end of this month.  Thanks be to God for blessings too numerous to count.  I'm eternally grateful!

Enjoy all the pictures and videos (including one inspired by the Grammy Awards) and please forgive me for the extended period between posts but sometimes you just have to dance with your little boy.

 Too cold to play in the snow so let's paint.

 A snow day picnic with Mama...

 

Taking a little rest after playing in my jump pile.

Mama's drive to work...

 

Mama likes this picture...

and this one...

 

Happy 35-Month B-Day to Me!

I'm a real firefighter!

Mama said that this was my version of a drive-in movie...

whatever that is...

We had fun at this belated Christmas gathering...

I love to go to the park!

Catch me Daddy...

We made Valentine's Day treat bags for my friends at school...

Decorating these Valentine's is serious business!

Look what a great job I did...

Let me help you clean that up Mama...

Mama made birthday cupcakes for me to take to school.

I love birthday presents!

Happy Birthday to Me... Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep.. this big boy is 3 years old today!

 

 I'm Mama & Daddy's little Valentine... literally!

 I better help Mama get this place cleaned up for my birthday party.

Making my birthday cake took more than one brain.

Wonder when I can open these...

Let's get this show on the road.  

There are presents to open.

 

 My cousin Abbie likes to help me do things.

 

 It is so fun to have so much of my family here!

I'm pretty sure that cake is next!

 Eat fast everyone so we can get cake!

 

Smile for the camera Mama!

 Grandma & Grandpa came all the way from Maryland!

 Uncle Russell & Aunt Kristi are just crazy about me!

 I decided that cake can wait until after presents...

Here's what teenagers do at a toddler's birthday party...

 This card is hilarious!

 My hard hat is too small for you Uncle Russell...

 Mama made this for me and when I saw it I said...

"Yea Mama... that's a good firetruck".

 Let me help you light the candles Daddy...

I better taste test this ...

Yummy!

It's good Grandpa... have some...

Thanks for partying with me Mamaw & Papaw.

Let's build this together Grandpa...

Hey Guys... I want to help build the firefighter stool

that Mamaw & Papaw gave me for my birthday.

Look how tall this makes me Daddy...

Grandma did you see my firetruck balloon?

Dancing makes us happy!

 

My new stool works great!

I'll always be your baby Mama!

 

One happy family!