Easter 2008!

Above, Jake reads the directions before we get started! Below, James and Jake begin coloring the eggs.

Jake is playing with his truck and cars that he got in an Easter Basket from Nana and Papoo.

Jake loads up his basket with eggs. It is the same basket that he picked out last year and he was happy to see it again. Below is Mari standing in her Easter outfit, showing off her very first pair of shoes.

This picture above was taken of Jake at 4 months old, two Easters ago in his very first pair of shoes!

Above is a very accurate picture of what it was like Easter afternoon. My mom is taking pictures, as usual, and my dad was rehiding the eggs for Jake while he counted his two baskets full and we took turns holding Mari.

Above, Jake through the cracked real eggs in the lake for the catfish to eat.

Above Jake opens the plastic eggs and below Mari (and Jake) playing at our house that evening.

Text to follow later, too tired tonight!

The first days of spring...

James has been moving dirt around the yard to level it off and plant grass. We are also having a patio poured later this year and he is doing the prep work for that. Hopefully by the middle of April we can things (other than grass).

With all the work going on in the yard, James has everything moved to the edge of the fence as you can see above. Below are Jake and Mari enjoying their new swings and slide courtesy of money the received at Christmas for outdoor toys.

The blanket behind her is to shield her from the sun.

James's birthday was Friday and we had BBQ. Jake ate his usual salad and baked beans and then asked for "chick bones" which is what he calls drumsticks. As you can see he ate part of two drumsticks. While he was eating we asked him what chickens say (he knows all his animal sounds) and he said "I have bones." We couldn't stop laughing.

The Middle of March.

We often think of Jake being jealous of Mari, but here you can see the beginnings of Mari becoming jealous of Jake as well, with the looks on her face as she watches her Daddy share pizza and some of his drink with Jake. She seems very interested in food. We didn't start solids with Jake until he was almost 6 months and we plan to do the same with Mari. We think she might be teething, so maybe she will have teeth by then, not that she will need them with baby food!

Mari loves standing up and sitting up. She is not a big fan of reclining at all. Here she is playing in bouncy toy we got her a few weeks ago. Below is Jake helping James work in our back yard. There will be more pictures of this project to come in the next few weeks. He is leveling it off so and redoing the patio (which was brick, but has now all been taken up and will soon be concrete) and developing flower beds. Jake was helping by packing the dirt (stomping) with his boots, which he really seemed to love. I also occasionally saw him throw clods of dirt in the wheelbarrow to help load it up!

Jake and Mari helping us plant some daffodils (by behaving and staying on the porch). I bought these daffodils in pots to use as decorations for Mari's Christening Luncheon instead of getting cut flowers so that we could remember the occasion when we see them.

We recently got out a box of soft toys from when Jake was a baby, now that Mari is getting to the stage where she can sort of 'play' with us. Jake was very happy to see his old green giraffe!

Grandmother and the Chocolate Duck

Need I say more?

Mari's Christening Luncheon

These pictures are from the luncheon we held following Mari's Christening. James and I didn't take any pictures during the actual ceremony as we were involved in it, but my mom has some, that she took, posted on her blog (under links on the right) in case you haven't seen them already! I think things went really well, it was a very special day for us as a family.

Below are some pictures of the family that showed up. James's Aunt Yvonne came, but we took the pictures after she left (not on purpose) when Mari woke up. After all the excitement from the ceremony, Mari slept through everybody eating!

Above are James's uncle Phillip (his dad's brother) and his wife Leslie and daughter Emily with Jake and Mari. Below are James's brother John holding Jake and sister Cheri holding Mari and then James holding nothing but a big smile on his face.

Above are James's parents with Mari and below are my parents with Mari.

Last of all are the four of us as a family. The group pics didn't turn out as nicely as I hoped, but I couldn't take them before we ate (which is when Jake became super hyper and got chip cheese all over his nice white shirt) because (1) Mari was asleep (2) people were hungry. Oh well, hopefully I will get another chance to take pictures of us all as a family again soon.

Five Year Wedding Anniverary

Last weekend was our 5th Wedding Anniversary (Saturday, March 8th). Yes, we have outlived Nick and Jessica, Britney and K-Fed, but for non-celebrities we realize 5 years is just a drop in the bucket! However, I thought I would post some before and after pictures just for fun. These first two pictures were taken the weekend of our anniversary. I know it looks like I was sleep walking, I was so tired from getting up early and staying up late getting everything for Mari's Christening Luncheon (held that Sunday, March 9).

This next picture was taken on my 21st Birthday, which was a few weeks after we started dating (that is my sister Carrie on the left).

Above was a few months later, when we were still dating and the next one was a few weeks later. It was our engagement announcement picture.

These last two are from right after our wedding ceremony.

After 5 years I still am very happily married. He still makes me laugh. My heart still skips a beat when he walks into the room and he still makes me feel beautiful! I feel very blessed for what we have together!

A cold day in Mississippi...

Jake, Mari and I, playing in the snow Saturday morning.

Snow falling the night before and below, Jake and James building Jake's first snow man!

Above, Jake is playing in the snow and below Mari is all bundled up in anticipation of going outside.

When I came home for lunch Friday I told Jake that is might snow and he said, "Snow? Make Snowman?" I was impressed that he made the connection. I knew he knew what a snow man was because of the decorations our neighbor put out at Christmas (one of them was an inflatable snow man) but I didn't think he understood conceptually what a snow man was (or snow for that matter). He is one smart cookie!