Watching Daddy Workout

As you all know, working out is a passion of Dustin's. He has spent hours and hours at the gym and after much conversation, we both decided it was too much time away from home. Because he works until at least 6PM each night, we were lucky to see him by 9 PM on the nights he lifted. He was tired of it, I was tired of it and Beanie was tired of it! So, he used the fact that baby #3 is coming as well as the desolation of his current gym as an opportunity to switch things up. He slowly began to purchase equipment for a home gym and now he is lifting at home, full time! Daddy is happy, Mama is happy, and Beanie is ecstatic! Xavier's new favorite pass time is watching daddy workout. He has done such a great job following the rules that we have enforced for safety and now one of his favorite phrases is "Daddy is strong!!!"

It's adorable :)

Valentine's Day :)

Our Valentine's Day this year was amazing. We all had so much fun celebrating our love for each other and ended up with some cute pics too!

It started a couple days before V-day. Xavier handed out regular "Jake" valentines to his friends but we (ok, I) wanted to do a little more. Parents were not required to bring in snacks, but I decided to just in case they needed a few healthier options. Thursday night, we went out to dinner and on the way home, Beanie fell asleep super early so he wasn't able to participate in the snack assembly with daddy and I. It actually worked out better, however, because most of the tasks were tedious and required a level of motor-skills X doesn't have yet :)

Dustin was a trooper (like always) and helped me cut, form, twist and glue all of the little pieces. We assembled goldfish butterflies and veggie/fruit "squeezes." It was fun (mostly) and when X woke up the next morning, he was ECSTATIC! I am talking jumping-off-the-walls, non-stop-talking-about-it ecstatic :) He was so proud to march into school with his treats and talked about them through the weekend too! It made our evening of crafting so worthwhile to make his Valentine's Day.

Butterfly Treats

You're my main squeeze :)

The morning of Bean's party, I jokingly pulled out the shirt that he had worn for both of his previous Valentine's. It was hilarious that he fit into it last year but even funnier when we realized he still fit in it this year! So, he has officially worn this V-day shirt each of his 3 Valentine's. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of him in it last year :(

9 months and 2 years 9 months :)

Friday, as Beanie was at school enjoying his little friends and party, Dustin had the day off. He insisted I eat light and that I use comp time and come home immediately after my students left. When I arrived home at 3:15, he had set the table, put on music, lit candles and made me a late lunch. I half-way expected to have dinner but had no idea that he had gone to all the trouble that he had! He made me feel so special :) This was our 12th Valentine's Day but somehow they continue to be exciting.

<3

Homemade Shrimp and Grits

Special Cupcakes

We were able to spend a couple of quality hours alone before we jumped in the car and picked Bean up from school. He loves it when we both come to pick him up together and he showed us all of his crafts on the wall, presented me with an adorable Valentine and got his bag full to the brim with treats!

He went on and on and on about his day. He was so excited about his day and just went on and on all evening :)

valentine treats

Truck tattoo

Snowman tattoo

We all had such a great pre-Valentine's day :)

The next day, Beanie got gifts in the mail, galore! He got a card full of stickers and activity sets from Grandma Nene…

He got jammies from grandma and grandpa Ross…

And then he got a huge delivery of sweets from Mimi and Papa!!

He was overwhelmed with love from his grandparents and we are so thankful that they took the time to think of him :)

We spent the rest of the holiday lounging and spending QT together while enjoying his new treats :)

What does the "conDUCKtor" say?

Typically, I just bunch the cute videos together in one post but I felt this one deserved a post all of it's own!

While in the playroom, I asked Xavier what the conductor says. I had never used this terminology before (we typically say driver) but I thought maybe he would connect the dots and say "All Aboard!"

Well, he didn't.  When I said conductor, he didn't know what I was saying and in the video, you can see his little brain a-workin'. He decided that conductor was related to duck…so he responds with "quack quack!"

I just love how this little guy's brain works! He is too cute!

So In Love

Seriously, how blessed am I? I love these two more than words can say!

Can't wait until there are two little guys on daddy's lap :)

Fun Videos

Recent videos of our little guy :)

The first video is of Beanie playing on his gymnastic mat

Here, he had to wear a diaper because he drank too much juice…and couldn't control his #2s…. haha

Here is a short, yet adorable video of him working out with daddy! One of his favorite things to do these days!

Wheel barrel with his daddy!

Dustin made Xavier a fort…they are so cute!

Reading with Daddy :)

Xavier Loves Luke

So far, Xavier and Luke's relationship has gone through many phases. At first, Xavier was in complete disbelief. He didn't understand and refused to believe that I had a baby growing in my tummy.

After some time passed, however, he began to refer to "mommy's tummy" and "mommy's Luke" on a daily basis. We gave him one of the sonogram pictures to carry around and told him that it was his Luke. While he started coming around to the idea, anytime I asked him to pat Luke, or say hi to Luke, he would laugh and say no!

Showing Midnight Luke's Picture

Looking at Luke

Well, recently, he has changed his mind about Luke! He wants to kiss my belly in the morning and before bed. He rubs it and says "hi Luke" or "good night Luke." Actually, most of the time he refers to him as Mommy's Luke. It is so precious though to see him so affectionate with his brother. 

Kissing Luke!

The relationship goes both ways, though.  Nine times out of ten, if Bean is sitting on my lap, Luke will start kicking like crazy! It seems like he is trying to kick Xavier off my stomach. It is hilarious! These two are already fighting!  I love it :)

5 ½ Month Baby Bump!

I realized recently that I haven't taken many photos of little Luke's baby bump. Here we are at 5 ½ months.

Less than 4 months to go!