It's in the little things

It truly is the little things that make Jonah so happy. He is a constant reminder of how simple life can be and what wonderful things can make you smile or laugh. In this case, it was a balloon on a string!

Fun in the tub

Elmo is THE man!

Is it a sign that your son is ready to be potty trained when he tells you Elmo needs to change his diaper????
Jonah loves books. Now that he is all of 2 years old, he likes to read to us. So he tells us where to sit and he "reads" his books to us. And now he wants Elmo to enjoy some of the fun!

Handprint on Father's Day

Me and my Daddy's handprint! Happy Father's Day to a my Daddy who I love playing ball with, who picks me upside down and makes me laugh and who I tell "I wuv you Daddy" everyday!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - LOOK at our Star!

Cannonball!

"Happy Birthday Mommy"

My bday came and I got the most wonderful greeting from my boys! First, Rick decorated the house with streamers for me (he did it all when I went to sleep so I was so surprised). Then Jonah came running to wake me up and tell me "Happy Bday". It was already perfect and it was only 7:30 AM. Rick also made cupcakes for me to take to summer school and share with my kiddos and friends- yummmmy!!! Had Mexican food for lunch (no surprise there) where I was surprised to find Rick there. He arranged to meet me for lunch in my school lounge! What a guy! Had a wonderful celebration with family that night and celebrating with my girlfriends later on. It's not so bad getting older!

New chair

Thanks to A-ya for my new alligator chair-- instead of putting my sippee cup in the holder, I put my trains!

Then and Now

How is it he can go from this to that so quickly???

Mason & Me

Best buds having fun......all the time. Each morning Jonah asks: "Juju" and if it's Monday - Friday I say yes. But on the weekends, I say no and his immediate words are: "Mason over" so his cousin Mason can come over. If I say no b/c they or we are busy, then he says: "Grammy / Popo house" meaning let's go to Grammy & Popo's house. If I say no, then he says: "I-ya house" meaning let's go to Andrea's house down the block. Geee, do you think this kid doesn't want to stay with his parents or he's just a social animal or heck, maybe both????

A WICKED night

Uncle Rick taking Kirsten to see Wicked......his 3rd time, her 1st!

Capturing Jonah at 2 years old

A great friend of ours, Chris took some shots of Jonah for us. And he did an amazing job of highlighting what is in Jonah's world right now. And the best part- the photos took only 30 minutes to complete mostly because we got lucky to have a cooperative model! Of course, Chris spent much more time editing and doing all that he does to perfect the photos and we LOVE them!

Skipping all around

An area that fortunately is not a concern for us is gross motor. Jonah loves to run everywhere, even with a simple walk will do. He's now learned to skip from his friends at Mrs. Julie's and that is all he wants to do. He's on a roll and loves it so much that he makes himself laugh!

So you think you can sing audition

Jonah randomly sings songs to us. His current favorites are Happy Birthday to you and Old MacDonald. Kirsten (his cousin) was the latest to have a birthday so that is who is the lucky one being sung to in this clip. He'll start with one song and move into another without any notice. He loves to sing as shown below......

Swim time

Okay- something else that wasn't in the "raising a toddler" manual-- we didn't know you had to reteach children every year to get accustomed to the swimming pool! So we spent everyday this week "working" with Jonah on how fun the pool is and such. It took a few days and then he was back in the swing of things! As if there is another option since we have a pool!

Backyard Movies & More

Here is Rick's latest gig-- he's started his own business showing movies outside with a huge screen and awesome sound. And you can also play games, Wii, etc. on the screen. We tried it out on family and friends this weekend and it was a huge hit!!!

Park visit - last time there until Fall!

We went to the park with Jonah's girl -Emma. And we all concluded this would be the last visit to the park until Fall time since we were all sweating like pigs with the summer heat kicking in. So pool time is now here and see ya later park time.

HE DID IT!!!!!!!

Yea to Rick- he graduated with his Masters Degree in School Counseling!!! Yahoooooo! The journey began 3 years ago and ended with a job at his own school he's been teaching at for the last four years. What a great transition into a new job at a campus and faculty he already knows. I am so proud of him and all his hard work (full time job, becoming a parent, being a parent, being a wonderful husband, etc) it took to get here. You are a great role model to you son and our next little one in that you worked hard and didn't give up. Our kids will certainly feel the pressure since both of their parents have MA degrees!

When we met in 1996, Rick didn't know what he was going to do with his life. He was in between jobs and hadn't finished school. In the past years, I have watched this man find his way back to achieving his Bachelors Degree Cum Laude, enjoy teaching Special Education for the past 7 years, then determining he wanted to become a Counselor and doing all that he had to make that dream become a reality. He took a different path than most of us did to find his "true calling" and it is a path that was well sought after and I believe that path will help him become a great Counselor to his students who are also trying to find their path in life.

Too cold for one and not for the rest!

We went over to Aunt Justine's house for some water fun, but Jonah thought it was too cold. So he watched his cousins from the sidelines.

Found: new toy

Jonah found a new toy he likes...... the flashlight! He loves to go to the rooms, close the doors and turn it on. Ahhh, the simple pleasures in life.

Goose Egg!

I got the call at work from Mrs. Julie ~ Jonah took a bad fall outside on the concrete and hit his head pretty hard. He was fine, but she wanted Rick or I to go see for ourselves. Daddy went to check it out and Jonah wasn't phased- telling Daddy "bye bye". We are thankful Julie was right there to scoop him up and treat it immediately and for taking such precautions with a head injury. I'm sure it's one of many to come. I mean Jonah trips over his own feet in our house because he is always running to get somewhere or to get something. Boys will be boys! And boy do we love this one!

Mother's Day = some kind of sick day

I've celebrated 3 Mother's Day as a Mom and all 3 have involved some kind of recovery and / or sickness. 1st Mother's Day in 2008 was the day after we brought Jonah home from the hospital and we were up all night being the rookie parents we were / are. So I spent that day recovering from a c-section and from the lack of sleep the night before. My second Mother's Day - I was in bed all weekend with strep throat and a high fever, thus not evening being the precious boy who made me a Mother. This year- 2010 I am recovering from my umbilical hernia surgery. So I am soooo looking forward to next year Mother's Day! And at the same time, very grateful to be mom to a wonderful boy and be a daughter to a wonderful mom! And excited to be carrying Baby Thompson #2 in belly on Mother's Day!- what an extra special day!!