Nuts

Today was laundry day. And since, once again, the laundry attendant that I was certain came with our new washer and dryer didn't show up, I was stuck doing it. I tried to enlist Jax's help with the clothes, but aside from wanting to push all the buttons on the machines, he didn't have much to offer.

I had a good system going for a while. Jax was busy coloring or "working" as he says, and Baylor was rotating from his exersaucer, to the jumper, to the play mat, to the bouncy seat, and so on. All was going well, until Baylor decided he was being neglected and began screaming his head off demanding to be made the first priority. He didn't seem to understand that it wasn't a joy to wash his 15 million bibs and onesies. I wasn't having a grand old time treating all the "how the heck did he manage to get this on here" stains on his brother's clothing. Fine. I'll push the laundry to the back burner and play with you.

After a bit of attention, Baylor was once again his usual happy go lucky self. Jax, however, was flustered. Like most artists, he had been in the "zone" and Baylor's crying had distracted him. For the rest of the afternoon, any time Baylor made even the slightest peep, Jax would say, "Baylor is driving me nuts!" Gee! Sorry, Jax!

So, you can imagine my surprise when I walked back into the living room, after putting another load in the washer, to discover Jax teaching Baylor how to color. Even when being driven "nuts", he's a good big brother.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today, I turned 32! I'm definitely older and hopefully a little wiser, but I know there are still plenty of lessons waiting for me. I'm looking forward to another year!

Family Portrait

I guess Jax was inspired yesterday by our efforts to take a family photo. Today, he decided to work on a family portrait. First, he drew (with a little help) Mommy, Daddy, and Jaxon. Then, he said, "I wanna' to draw Baby Baylor crying." After adding Baylor, he presented me with what I thought was the completed masterpiece. After admiring his work, I offered to hang it on the fridge, but he took the picture back and said, "No, I'm not done."

He disappeared back into the office, and I overheard the following, "Daddy, I wanna' draw Aunt Nguyen and Uncle Al with a big head." Again, he presented me with the drawing and after admiring Uncle Al's big head, I again offered to display the picture. His response,"Nope. It's not done yet."

Jax rushed back into the office and said, "I wanna' draw Uncle Travis and Aunt Kelly." After about a minute of silence, I heard Jax say, "Wait. Where's Matt?" To which Daddy responded, "Aunt Kelly isn't friends with Matt anymore." That was followed by another period of silence, and then Jax said, "Oh, okay." Whew! Glad we didn't have to go any further with that explanation.

Once again, Jax presented me with the evolving family portrait, but sensing a trend, I didn't offer to display the picture. I simply asked, "Aren't you going to draw Aunt Emily and Uncle Kyle?" "Oh yeah," was his response. He took off for the office again. "Daddy, I wanna' draw Aunt Emily and Uncle Kyle with glasses." Finally, the masterpiece was complete and deemed ready for display.

Top row, left to right: Uncle Travis, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Kyle, Aunt Emily.

Bottom row, left to right: Daddy, Jaxon, Baylor, Mommy, Uncle Al, Aunt Nguyen.

Island Time

With all that we've had going on lately, we've been running around like mad people. As a result, we decided it was about time to take a day off and enjoy ourselves. We spent the day exploring Amelia Island and the city of Fernandina Beach. It's a sleepy, but super cute little beach town just north of Jacksonville. It seemed like the ideal place to spend a weekend or maybe even retire. (Hint, hint...Grandfather/Grandma, are you reading between the lines?)

We strolled the streets of the historic district checking out the gift and antique shops. After lunch and a snack at the local ice cream parlor, we drove over to the resort area. Located right on the beach under a beautiful canopy of old oak trees, what a great place for a little overnight weekend get-a-way. (Hint, hint...Anh, are you reading between the lines?)

Here's our attempt at a family photo. Baylor, open your eyes!

Baylor, get your fingers out of your mouth. Jax, stop squinting.Best we could do.

Just one more!Mom, will you stop already!

Jaws

Chillin' in the ice cream parlor.

Is This Mommy's?

That's what I hear all the time now. Jax will wander up to me holding some food item and say, "Is this Mommy's?" Our fridge and pantry are filled with items that have been labeled "Mommy's." They're "diet" items purchased because I'm trying to lose some of the weight I packed on while pregnant.

Almost everything I buy is somewhat healthy. Notice I said "almost" and "somewhat." If there's a sugar/fat free or reduced sugar/fat product right next to the regular version, I'll buy it instead even though it's always more expensive. Why is that by the way? Just because they know dieters will pay it?

Because certain items are what I consider "ridiculously expensive," I tell Jax that they're Mommy's. For example, I have some high fiber cereal bars. Jax has some reduced sugar cereal bars. He's been eating said cereal bars nearly every morning for over a year. He loves them. That is until he discovered Mommy had "special" bars. Now he wants those and only those. What the heck?! Between the cereal and ice cream bars alone, he's costing me a fortune with his newly discovered love for diet foods!

Showing Off the Little One

Thought I'd post these to make up for the fact that I didn't share any pictures with the 4 Month update.

Floridians

Today, we became official Floridians. We went to the DMV and got Florida drivers' licenses and more importantly we registered to vote. That was the real motivator. We've been here over a year and were reluctant to hand over the GA licenses, but knowing that Florida could once again play an important role in the Presidential election motivated us to get off our butts and finally take the plunge. As an added bonus, we learned that we'll be saving a TON of money every year on vehicle taxes, at least $300 per vehicle. What a deal!