Jack: 17 months

Jack is now 17 months old and he has for sure exited out of infancy into being a toddler. He has so much personality and is such a ham. However...wow...the tantrums. I have to make sure this guy is on carpet and not on our tile floor in his little episodes. I keep blaming it on the molars that are coming in at a snails pace and I am hoping that his little temper will pass through as the teeth will. This guy seems to get whatever is going around except the stomach bugs. He gets an ear infection with every cold and we just rolled with the punches from croup. I am thinking in the fall he will be getting tubes in his ears. This could help cut down on the tantrums too. I think I might throw some fits with my ears hurting. I love my little Jack Jack however high maintenance that he is right now. He loves to rub my arm, hug my leg, and give me kisses. I have a momma's boy and I am hoping that he does not switch over to dad anytime soon.

New love for Hats and Sunglasses...



First Haircut...


Favorite Things...Lovie the Lion, Pacee, and his Sippie Cup

and oven doors...safe huh?

First and Fav Friend Travis...3 weeks apart.

Swine Flu Fun

My brother Matt's school closed down for about a week, so he put Jacey in the car and came for a visit to Houston. They actually had a case in his school so it was justified. :) It was a short trip, but worth every second.

Free Ride

A guy from Jonathan's previous company gave us this great stroller attachment for the bike. The helmets were a little huge, so we ditched them...I know bad parent...but they could not lean back in their seat. I am glad that jack is getting a little older so they can enjoy things together. They loved the ride.

First Sprinkler of the Summer

These are a couple months old, but thought they were too cute not to post. Jack was not so sure about it and sat in my lap for most of the time eating goldfish and feeding them to me. Keegan was all about it. I remember last year being at the Jones house and him absolutely hating it...so I was pleseantly surprised.

Welcome Adam Riley

Our new nephew was born June 1st at 10:22 p.m.! He is 8lbs. and 9oz and such a stud! I am excited that Keegan and Jack will have a boy cousin to wrestle and have fun with! Welcome Baby Adam....love you already! CONGRATS Mae, Brad and Brianna!!!

Props for the Potty

I am so very happy to announce that Keegan is officially diaper free! He is also VERY proud of his achievement! I decided one day that if we could have full on conversations and if he could tell me clearly that he just pooped in his diaper...he was ready. Just shy of 35 months while Jonathan was still home, we took on the task. The first two days went great, the third and fourth morning we had a little bit of a power struggle, and then by Friday we were home free. Only 2 accidents in the first week, and we have not had one since! Now we have many discussions about the color, smell, and shape of poop. "Look Mommy...the Letter L!" I also have to pry him off the potty because now he likes to read there. (It must be a guy thing!) So now we are officially ready for school in the fall. I was sweating that one out a bit because his 3rd birthday was a month away from the start of school and I did not want him to be held back in the 2 year old room. I am glad that I waited until he was ready!

Yeah Keegan!!!!

A New Start

I thought a lot if I should even blog about this, but God deserves all the praise! Today is the day that I am gladly announcing New Start day for the Sanders. The last 5 months have been the first real challenge that we have encountered in our marriage. In January we were notified that Jonathan's job was on the fence and after two plus months of trying to save his position he was let go. A little scarred from that experience, I am so proud of my husband who left with dignity and a Christ-like attitude. His old boss even commented recognized how different he was. After the complete shock wore off and his company car was taken back, we were tossed into a new world of unemployment and sharing a car. Luckily, God had been preparing us for this and had us taken care of.

Jonathan has always been a Dave Ramsey fan. I however...was not. In fact, Dave came in-between our marriage for a while and I banned him from listening to him. Last December, God TOLD me to read Dave's book. To my amazement, I realized that if I would just get on board that maybe half of our disagreements would disappear. So, In January, I jumped on board and we began saving. We were saving to pay off our car and college debt that seemed to be on going. We were excited to pay it all off, but then of course we hit the road block with unemployment. I will say, that God's ways our not our ways, but He knows what He is doing. We had money stored away to live on! It was amazing to know that God is in the center of the chaos!

For the past couple of weeks Jonathan has been doing contract work. This company has been so awesome that they are paying him for 60 days and he can look for other jobs at the same time. They would really like him to be full time with them, so we will see if Jonathan ends up staying with the company. We purchased a car last Friday, so now I feel like we can operate a bit more normally now.

We have amazing friends and family that have loved on us tremendously and I could never thank you enough. From listening to the constant worry off my lips, driving me to church, coming to our house for play dates when stranded, giving us some food and encouraging packages, paying for a hotel for us to escape to for a weekend, and having us over for dinner and lunch...I am convinced how blessed we are.

On a different front, I have a new nephew coming into the world today! Mae and Brad are expecting baby Adam and I am excited to meet him! I will leave you with this picture I took at Easter. One must learn not to stuff a ball under there shirt if you don't expect to have your picture taken! ;)