Our interpretation of the bieberization of america

we watched never say never last weekend. i think jackson looks a lot like justin as a kid.

Happy Birthday Sam!

He's 2! I really thought he looked the same as last year but now that I look again, he is kinda huge now. This is probably the last year of doing all the partying on Jackson's birthday and going low key on Sam's. We did get cute pictures of him though which in my book is how you prove a child had a birthday. Happy Birthday buddy!

part of his loot (backpack, coloring book, sunglasses) He is so different from Jackson when he opens presents. Jackson is all about the next present and ready to toss each gift aside. Sam was bothered when Jackson would give him his next gift because he just wanted to play with what he just opened.

Another view of Jacksons amazing candle blowing skills.

So this was on Jackson's birthday but its just a cute video of Sam.

Jackson's 5?

I had a blast on Jackson's birthday. This is him and his friend Hannah Kramer decorating the cake. Jackson asked for a chocolate strawberry cake. When I was trying to figure out how to make such a cake with his grandma and aunt nienie he told me exactly how to make it, with strawberries in between the layers and strawberries on top.Dipping animal crackers in leftover frosting.
it turned into this. the things you get away with on your birthday.
The finished cake. The strawberries on top are in the shape of a 5.
Ok, this was my favorite part of the day. My gym has an indoor pool. We'd never been but it was a BLAST!! It felt so good on my pregnant body plus seeing the kids have so much fun was well worth the little bit of extra effort to get there. It was also so exciting to see Jackson swimming so well. (He's not touching) Can you find Sam? I'm probably a bad mom but he is so good at swimming independently with his float.

I am so so disappointed the audio didn't record for some reason on this video. I guess it screams for some sort of video music montage but it might be worth watching without sound. Sorry, its shaking because I was laughing.

he kept telling me to be careful not to cut his forehead

we went from thisto this.
not quite locks of love but pretty close I'd say. He's wanted his hair this short for a while but I've resisted. I love long hair on boys but I gotta say, I love seeing all the expression in his eyes.

So this is what I would tell you if you were here.

so...can i show you what I'm most excited having for the baby? i mean, I know its silly but its just taken me a while to get excited for girl stuff but today...I am really excited. So this is the dress I bought today that she'll be blessed in. I knew I wanted smocking but can't afford the price tag for most of it but I found this today on sale and knew it was what I wanted. This is the dress my mom bought for her (me) the day after I found out it was a girl. It was the only thing I could picture in my head for a long time. I got this to come home from the hospital in. I wanted something soft and comfy that I really liked. The yellow dress was either grandma dee's or older but something I got from her years ago.

These are some of the other things i've picked up that I liked and were on good discounts or were given to me. The tights were like $1. I probably went a little overboard but I've just been to some good sales since christmas.

These are all the hand-me-downs we've gotten. I haven't had a chance to look through all of it but I am so thankful for all of it. It makes me so happy to go and flip through these things.

well, if you were here I wouldn't have to say this because you would see it but I went from this...

to this.
I would also say that my sister found out that she's having her 2nd baby girl 3 months after ours and that Brittany just texted to tell me her mission call came in and I burst into tears. now my head hurts. We'll find out where she's going tonight!

this is one of those posts where i want lots of comments

another advice post. i just trust and depend on y'all's opinions and experience so much and i've been obsessing over this question.

Is a fancy double stroller worth it?

Here is my situation. I sold my travel system once Sam grew out of it. I never loved the car seat. it was hard to operate. I figured I made it last for 2 kids, they're not supposed to be used for more than like 5 or 6 years, so i might as well get my new car seat for my 3rd kid.

Now I can't decide if I should buy a car seat + a nice double stroller or just a regular travel system for one infant. We have a double umbrella stroller. I like it because it folds very small and we don't use it a ton. I'm a gym member and so most of my exercise is done there but there are times when I'll take 2 kids out. The umbrella stroller however shouldn't be used with kids under 6 months (so they say). In that time I'll be going on 1 or 2 beach trips (thank you parents!) and my gym will only take babies over 3 months, so I think a good stroller will be important.

A single travel system runs around $250. The phil and ted's stroller double stroller runs about $350 + $30 for car seat adapter + $100 for just the infant car seat. That's a huge difference.

The reasons i've been looking at the phil and teds is 1) it folds up very small comparative with other doubles--brent says that doesn't matter if we have a van but to me space is a big deal. who is right? 2) its easier to push than the cheaper tandem strollers. i hear they are not only bigger but much harder to push. I'm not stuck on the phil and ted's though if there is a better option price/functionality.

Sam and this unnamed baby girl will be closer in age than sam and jackson. maybe i'll use it more? What kinds of stroller systems do y'all have?

Did I write more than you were willing to read?

In our house we say Roll Tide!!

Yay for the Crimson Tide!

and this was the best pic of the 24 I took. Lori, I was thinking of you.

i felt like my blog wanted some pictures of my kids

one of 500 forts we've made
playing in the 1000s of impossibly-hard-to-clean-up styrofoam balls from said fort.

i made him try on his clothes for family pictures.

falling asleep in grandma's arms with his fingers crossed.

i couldn't really tell you why i took this picture.

picture outfit. i can only get him to smile for pictures when i count 1-2-3 and his plan is to run away on 3 but i snap on 1. family can back me up on his refusal to smile for the camera.

sharing some dinner on the floor.

grandma jan read books on dvds for christmas. totally loved it.

i love my boys. i love their ages. more so now so close to birthdays i wish i could will them both to stay the same age. they'll be 5 and 2!!! it just seems so old to me.