a high of 66 degrees!!!

Today was gorgeous and absolutely perfect!

It was a "jadip" day... or "just another day in paradise". :o)

a high of 66 degrees
a huge blue sky that went on forever
white poofy clouds that looked to be about 30 stories high
a nice breeze that gently blew into all the open windows
sunny all day long
a ceiling fan lazily swirling in slow circles
long afternoon naps
neighbors walking their dogs
couples holding hands
firepits blazing at night
smores being cooked
laughter ringing out and corn hole being played

an absolutely perfect day.

To celebrate this "jadip" day, we made homemade blueberry pancakes for dinner. On the griddle. There's just something that's so perfect about homemade blueberry pancakes on a griddle. We had soft music playing all day long, went for long walks and bike rides throughout the day and evening, went out for ice cream, went to a playground, had a glorious time at church this morning. The whole day, from start to finish, was just perfect.

And to top it off, Jasper got his dream come true.

I was blissfully engaged with the pancakes and the music and my husband and dancing around the kitchen... and after a long while, I remembered we had a child. I looked over to find Jasper very quietly using a glue stick (for real! he found a hot glue-gun glue stick) to scoop butter out of the butter container and into his mouth. And he was real fast and furious with his scooping, too.

Seeing as how he regularly begs me to put butter in his glass of water at dinner, I'm guessing that eating raw butter using a man's kind of tool falls squarely on his "dream come true" list.

He apparently managed to eat quite a bit of butter with his glue stick on this wonderful day (about half of a small container) and I couldn't help but laugh while I watched him, thinking that this truly was a perfect day.

our morning...

My morning was rough due to severe pregnancy sickness and exhaustion, but one of the main highlights was listening to Jasper as we played with his "new-to-us" train set.

Our dear friend blessed Jasper with a wooden train set that used to be her boys' (thank you so very much, D!!) and Jasper just LOVES loves loves this train set and we have spent many an hour playing with it in our basement play room since we got it last Sunday.

Anyway, one can build a little hill (like, 1 inch tall) with a bridge for the trains to go up, and of course that's Jasper's favorite part. So for an hour and half this morning, he kept pushing Percy (a train from the Thomas the Train series) up and down the hill.

And that's all he did.

For 90 minutes.

Which was an extreme blessing for me, since that meant I didn't have to move, talk, walk, breath, or exert any energy whatsoever. I sat there, in a comatose state, watching this precious little one play with Percy.

Anyway, Jasper didn't deter once from pushing this tiny little Percy up and down this tiny little hill, and the part that was so fun for me (other than the not-moving aspect) was listening to Jasper talk to Percy the whole time.

Jasper mainly said, "Good dob, Pwecy!!!!" (Good job Percy) whenever Percy made it to the top of the hill (app. 80 billion times).

But occasionally he would pretend like Percy had trouble getting up the hill, in which case he would say,
"Ooo can do it, Pwecy, oo can do it!"

and then... wait for it...

"Good DOBBB, Pwecy!!" (always so enthusiastically, too)

and then occasionally,

"Baber so pwoud of Pwecy!!"

Jasper's sweet and encouraging spirit was such a precious thing to witness this morning and I pray God will continue to foster that in Jasper's life, especially with his younger sibling come winter time.

Also, random side note, peaches.

Peaches are one of two things I can eat pretty consistently and keep down (the other being Cheerios). I'm so thankful for them and am currently eating the most divine peach ever, courtesy of Meijer, as I type this blog. My incredibly sweet husband took me to Meijer tonight and we bought 8 more pounds of peaches (add that to the 10 lbs I bought on Tuesday) which thrilled my soul.

18 lbs of peaches = one happy pregnant lady

our favorite things

Jasper's quite the little chatterbox and it's truly wonderful! I never have to wonder what's on his heart or in his thoughts because he readily shares it with me (something I don't take for granted). He's becoming quite adept at identifying his emotions, also, which is so precious to witness.

For example, the other morning, Jasper asked for milk and I told him we were out of milk.
He gasped (loudly) and said, "No milk?!?! Baber sad."

Normally, he tells me that he's happy, though.

For example, I let him have a juice box at lunch today and he said,
"Thank oo, Mommy! Baber happy!"

But anyway, back on topic, he's very good at identifying and vocalizing.. well, everything in life. But especially those things that he most loves. So I thought I would make a list of Jasper's favorite things in life since we have so many conversations about them every day.

Jasper's favorite things in all of life in descending order of importance:
suckers
excavators
bulldozers
garbage trucks
firetrucks
helicopters
ambulances
trains
motorcycles
front loaders
backhoes
airplanes
cranes
jeeps
bikes
"tiny little baby cars" (IE HHR's and Volkswagon bugs)
regular trucks
juice
Daddy
babies

(more or less, anything with an engine, sugar, or a heartbeat. He has no time for balls.)

My favorite things in all of life:
the Word of God
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
Andrew
family
Cheetos

I don't want to put words in Andrew's mouth, but if I had to guess his favorite things in all of life, it would be:
Bible
me
Jasper
family
OSU football
steak
prime rib
steak
pork
steak
beef
steak
chicken
steak
shrimp
steak
scallops
steak
basketball

note to self...

It was this afternoon...

The house was quiet and peaceful.

I was unloading the dishwasher in complete silence (a treat!) and quite enjoying the silence and totally lost in thought about Liz's upcoming visit.

I finished unloading the dishwasher and started re-loading it and realized with a start that I just unloaded the whole entire dishwasher... in complete silence... and Jasper was somewhere in the house.

If any of you know Jasper, you know that "quiet" is one thing he's not inclined toward.

With a rising sense of foreboding, I quickly went in search of him.

Nope, not in living room, bathroom, or office.

I finally find him tucked away in a corner of his room... using both hands as huge shovels and intently stuffing both ears full of Vaseline.

After I stifled a laugh, I scooped him up in my arms, carried him and his overflowing Vaseline-ed ears to the bathroom, thinking the whole time, "it could have been so much messier than just his ears!"

I'm gently wiping out his very plugged ears and I ask, "Hey buddy, why did you put Vaseline in your ears?"

and he said, "Baber put Vaseline in tummy!!!"

I stopped.

I said, "You put Vaseline in your tummy?"

he said, "des." (aka yes)

I looked at him for a moment, lifted his shirt, and sure enough, his belly button was stuffed full of Vaseline.

Stifling yet another laugh, I said, "hey buddy, did you put Vaseline anywhere else?"

he said, "des."

I looked at him for several moments, stripped off all his clothes, and sure enough, there was another hole he attempted to stuff full of Vaseline, too.

Stifling my 3rd laugh, I quickly made a note to self: put the Vaseline out of Jasper's reach. Preferably, in the trash can outdoors. Make that the neighbor's trash can outdoors.

Far, far away.

summer highlights!

This summer has been such a precious summer filled with tons of family, friends, memories, outings, play dates, pool dates, dressing up like cows, going to fairs, eating tons of ice cream, and taking long naps.

Our picture program on our computer has quite working, so I can't open any pictures (but I can see thumbnails) and I can't edit any pictures... due to this mishap, I haven't been able to do pictures and I absolutely miss it so much! Since I haven't been able to "do" my pictures, I haven't blogged much recently. Well, I've also been insanely sick, insanely tired, and insanely busy; that might also have something to do with it. I'm going to attempt to blindly put up a few pics, but they may be bad ones... But anyway, here are a few highlights from our summer (these are in no real order... just as they come to mind):

highlight #1
I don't think I've officially mentioned this on here yet, but the Lord has blessed Andrew and I with a 2nd precious baby who is due to arrive on or before Jan. 31st!!! We are so excited and so thankful for this newest little bundle of joy that the Lord has graciously given us! A few weeks ago, we had the 1st ultrasound (I forgot my camera that day!! I can't believe it!!) and we got to see the precious little peanut and see the heartbeat, etc. The baby is so healthy and everything looked perfect at that ultrasound; seeing the baby for the first time made it so real to me- I have a 2nd baby to love and hold and cherish. To teach about the Lord and about bugs and such. To snuggle and have baby cuddles with. Jasper will have a best friend to catch frogs with and splash at the pool with and build forts and LEGO towers with! Before the ultrasound, it wasn't very real to me that we actually have a 2nd child; i just felt like I had the terrible flu all day, every day, and there was no connect between my heart and my mind that there actually was a baby in there. But after the ultrasound, I've just been in love with this little one. I have started praying. and praying. and praying so much for this little child (as I do everyday for Andrew and Jasper) and the one prayer that just permeates my heart and mind almost every moment of every day is that the 4 of us would be best, best, best friends for our whole lives. But more specifically, that Jasper and this baby would be the most sincere, steadfast, heartfelt best friends possible and that our home will be filled with endless days of laughter and joy and goofy fun and pizza parties and nerf gun wars. One of my main aims in life as a wife and a mom is to actively work to make our home Andrew and Jasper's most favorite place to be; to be honest, all I have to do is provide "fun food" and laugh a lot and those 2 boys long to be home. Anyway, i pray that our home will be baby #2's most favorite place to be, also!

FUTURE BUCKEYE!!!!! 

highlight #2
the pool. we LIVE at the pool literally almost every day and LOVE it most dearly! It has helped pass my horrible sick days in a most wonderful fashion!

 sunbathing beauty!

 Gpa and Jasper on the alligator!

 Gpa and Jasper falling OFF the alligator! :o)

me jumping off the diving board, per Jasper's request! 

highlight #3
dressing like cows to get free chick fil a combo meals. Jasper was sooo, sooo excited all day when I told him we were going to dress like cows for dinner. He kept saying, "MOOOO!!!!" at the top of his lungs every 5 minutes or so, starting at 9 am that morning. :o) It was adorable!

J was so in love with this cow; he stalked her all around the restaraunt the whole night and kept giving her "sneak" hugs around the knees. :o)

highlight #4
going to the Franklin County Fair. We actually did that today with some dear, dear friends of ours. Even though today was the hottest day so far in central Ohio in 2013 (95 degrees with a heat index of 108), we had an absolute blast and stayed for hours and saw animals, petted animals, rode rides, ran around, looked at exhibits, watched part of the Jr. Fair Goat Show and the Horse Skillathon, etc. It was a blast and brought back so many memories of showing my own hogs and goats at the Marion County Fair.

 On the hottest day of the year, what does Jasper want to do? Hug his bff to death.

 He got a headband from the Veteran's Tent and was so excited about it!

 We were the only ones riding rides, so Jasper just got to go and go and go...

 J's most favorite part of the fair, hands down. This lethargic, unresponsive rabbit who laid there and didn't move a muscle. It was torture for Jasper to leave this rabbit and he talked about him for hours afterward.

 In love with this donkey, also.

Jasper kept saying, "little tiny goats!!! That's so silly!!!"  and laughing and laughing at how "little tiny" they were. 

bff's 

 aww!

bein' like Papa!!

 loving the chickens!!

 watching the goat show!

a hot and sweaty mess.

highlight #5
Our family and friends! I'm constantly blown away by the selfless generosity of our family and friends. we are surrounded by people who constantly go above and beyond for us, sacrifice their time and money and efforts to bless us. We are so thankful for the people in our lives and would be lost without them!! This summer has been richly full of precious times spent with family and friends!

highlight # 6
The hootenanny!!! My aunt and uncle have an annual hootenanny on the 4th of July and it's a BLAST!!! Family fly in from Canada, Florida, and Tennessee just for this hootenanny!! We wouldn't miss it for anything!!

 love these guys so much!!

 It started pouring like crazy!!! The rest of us were huddled under tents and umbrellas and Andrew and Jasper just kept swimming and having a blast!!! :o)

 Gma Sally!! :o)

 cousins!!!

 The volleyball showdown!

the faithful cheerleader!! :o)

so, so sweet

I don't remember much from this past week (could be due to my "zombie med's" as we lovingly refer to them), but what I do remember is that Jasper has been an ABSOLUTE joy this week!! He's been such a sweet, cheerful, loving, adorable little boy that often has had us laughing till we cry. He's just been such a sweet blessing to me this week.

Andrew just left to go pick up our pizza and Jasper really wanted to go with him (it's such a sweet thing to my heart- Jasper is Andrew's little shadow and just follows him around everywhere). They are 10 minutes late getting it, though, because Jasper was adamant that he wear his (way too small) blazer to go get the pizza. Seeing as how Jasper hasn't worn this blazer for 5 months, it took us 10 minutes to find this wrinkled thing, squeeze Jasper and his huge belly into it, and then Jasper decides it has to be buttoned so he could be "handsome". So my incredibly sweet and patient hubby and my little boy, wearing crocs, dirty jean shorts, a soccer shirt, and a buttoned up, wrinkled navy blue blazer just left for Papa John's! :o) So sweet!!

In other news, our picture thingy on here isn't working, so I can't get access to any of my pictures. boo. :o(

A Jasperism

One of those little things I don't want to forget...

Jasper truly thinks ladybugs are called "ladyspiders". It's the cutest thing in the world and absolutely melts my heart to mush. we've had several ladybugs in our house recently, so I often hear:

"Momma!! Right there!! There's a tiny little ladyspider right there!!!"

Oh, also, whenever anyone, and I do mean anyone, trips or stumbles, Jasper instantly says, with deep concern in his voice, "Oh!! Be careful, buddy!"

This little boy is such a precious gift to us! :o)

(Jasper picked out his own outfit for our evening walk tonight. He was proud of himself and I absolutely loved the highwater shorts! :o))

nowhere to look but up

Today is the day.

Today is the day that I lost it. It happened at breakfast. I put my head down on the table and started bawling. And bawling. And bawling. And Jasper, bless his heart, kept patting my shoulder and saying, "Mommy sad? Mommy sad. Baber (aka Jasper) happy!! Mommy happy??" He kept trying to cheer me up. Such a sweet boy.

There's nothing major that's wrong. Just lots of little things that stress me out that are piling up on each other. The house is a complete wreck. I mean an absolute wreck. Every single room is a disaster and in some state of disrepair; that majorly stresses me out. I always prefer to have my house clean and orderly and for it to be an absolute disaster is very stressful.

I'm in the middle of a HUGE painting project that takes every spare second of my life.

Jasper is being "ornery" and requiring tons of (super-human) patience and loving discipline.

All the toilets are having issues.

It's rained for 18 months straight.

I'm exhausted and sick all the time. Every moment of every day I'm so sick and so exhausted.

The front porch is crumbling.

The living room is crumbling.

The gutter outside the garage fell off yesterday.

Then this morn, I walked into the office to find water and what looks like blood seeping through the ceiling.

We have no food, no clean clothes, no menu, no fitness or exercise.

I take an average of 2 showers a week (due to exhaustion and sickness) and consequently feel gross and unattractive to my husband.

Nothing major. Just lots of little things that have been piling up and, due to the water coming through the office ceiling this morn, I broke down today.

After bfast, I scooped Jasper up in my arms, headed upstairs to my bed with him, snuggled under the covers with him, and watched an hour and half of Elmo (whatever it takes :o)).

Now that he's in bed for his morning quiet time, I've dug into the bible. I've just been reading and reading the Psalms and they're such a balm to my discouraged and overwhelmed heart. Emotionally, I'm at the bottom and I have nowhere else to look except to God and it's actually a good place to be.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8

I've been reading that verse over and over for the last hour and it's been so encouraging to me! I'm not to take refuge (or boast) in a clean house or a tidy property or a perfect child or amazing meals or a trim and fit body. I'm to take refuge in God. Alone. My soul is to make its boast in God. Nothing else. What a perfect reminder from God on this hard day.

As I was sitting in my cozy chair with my new ottoman, reading Psalm 34 and reflecting that I'm to take refuge in God and boast in Him alone, I was reminded of Job from the Bible. I get goose bumps every time I read the first chapter of Job.

He lost his entire property.

His children were killed.

He lost his livelihood and income.

His servants were killed.

And all of that happened in the very same day. Then in verses 20-22, it says that when Job heard all this, he fell down and worshiped God and in all of it, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Oh, what a challenge to my heart.

My problems are so small and piddly compared to what many people face today. So small compared to what Job went through. Yet he fell down and worshiped God and did not sin. How easily I sin and wallow in self pity when something happens. The other day, I was teaching Jasper about sin and was reading to him from Gen. 4:7 where God is saying to Cain, "sin is crouching at the door. It's desire is for you and you must rule over it." That verse came flooding back to me this morning as I was pondering Job and taking refuge in God vs. giving into the sin that is crouching at my door.

My deep, deep heartfelt prayer for today is that I will not give in to the sin that is "crouching at my door" but that I will find refuge in God and make my boast in Him.

God is so gracious to give such perfect reminders to my heart at the exact time I need them.

"My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad!" Psalm 34:2

confederate cemetery

we spent a wonderful evening, with Mom and Dad Meade, playing around and eating ice cream in our neighborhood Confederate Cemetery. I'll write more later, but here are a few pics from that beautiful evening!

 love this one! just runnin' around!

 scraping out every last drop of ice cream!

Meade Men :o)

 looking for bugs

 Dad's shirt kept ripping all night and here Jasper's trying to fix it...

and here mom's laughing so hard b/c the shirt kept ripping! it was pretty funny!