Sister Time

Hey guys, my little sister Tiffany came to see us for a few days so I decided to take a computer break and just enjoy our time with her. It was so much fun and there are adventures I will tell you about soon. Sam and I are off to a picnic with friends, but I will fill you in on what's been going on this week, plus Kael's 9 month post and the last part of our beach trip. Have a wonderful holiday lovelies! Hopefully you are out enjoying it with your families. 

Flirty Face

Do you see this little flirty look of sweetness? I get the joy of soaking up precious looks like this all day long. True, sometimes a teething, hungry and whiny face may take over at times but, for the most part it's this.  I took these yesterday evening while little man was eating some carrots for an early supper. I can't believe my handsome, blue-eyed boy is going to be 9 months in just a couple days. 

Praying For Joplin

Many of you have heard that what they are now estimating is an F-4 tornado, ripped a 4 mile long and 1 mile wide path of devastation through Joplin, MO last night. Reports say that 75% of the city is destroyed.

We were coming home from church yesterday evening when I saw news of it online. I lived right outside of Joplin a while back for a few years, was involved deeply in the house of prayer there, leading worship sets, visiting one of my best friends who is a college student as MSSU pretty frequently and my in-laws have family there. This story is not just a poor town that got hit, it is so close to my heart and personal.  I put Kael right to bed when we got home and started to try and reach my friends who live there. I had knots in my stomach all night as I waited to hear back from them. Calling one friend to hear that they haven't heard from another yet was tearing my soul apart. Two of my friends were in the YMCA right next to the hospital while they're kids were at home alone in the basement when it hit. Some of my other dearest friends were out driving while the storm hit...Thankfully everyone I know is safe. My friends Josh and Brittany who are getting married in just two weeks in Joplin are out with a group, helping the people they can in the city. Please pray for them and the city of Joplin. My heart is breaking. If you'd like to donate or volunteer to help in the relief effort please click HERE.  Thank you for your prayers.

this was the walmart...

First Pool Time!

I took my little man to the pool yesterday and he absolutely LOVED it! I think his favorite thing about the swimming time was watching the big kids playing and splashing. Several kids did cannon balls right near him and he just giggled or smiled. That's my boy!

Hey guys!  I would so appreciate a click-a-roo below to help keep us ranked.  Thanks loves!

Beach Babies... Day 2

Day 2 was the most fun beach day for me. After having a good long nap, Kael and I headed outside for some ocean adventure. Forest boy was a little apprehensive about the sand and water at first but, after observing from the safety of the clean play sheet, he decided to explore. First, it was his pointer finger in the sand, then all of a sudden handfuls of sand were being grabbed, becoming a new snack and the beach was now his racetrack. haha. I had a moment of hesitation as he munched on the sand. I mean does that really taste good? Have you seen that movie documentary called "Babies?" If you haven't, you really should. The babies who were in Africa, (they were my favorite) they would play with rocks, bones and corn husks. The moms didn't seemed very worried. I looked at Kael as he had a clump of beach in his mouth and thought to myself, if you were a baby born in Africa, your momma would let you do that. haha. I quickly decided that I was just going to let him explore and taste pretty much whatever he wanted. Heck, he was happy, confident and unafraid. I was going to ride that wave as long as I could. His favorite afternoon snack ended up being the reeds that had been washed up by the dunes. haha. Oh my little, sweet boy. Countless handfuls of sand, gnawed on sea shells and pulverized beach reeds later, he was and is just fine. Yay for chilled motherhood!

He played for 3 hours out there you guys! 3 HOURS! He eventually passed out on my chest as I sunbathed and sat there talking with my girl friends.  It was perfection. 

sparrow and kael enjoying some sunshine. 

sparrow being a little beach babe model. 

my beach buddy

kael wanted to learn a little about fashion from autie kara as she read instyle mag. it was so cute, he stayed there listening and watching her. 

beach reeds!

my little pirate boy

so tired

bath time after a long day in the sun. i think i'm still finding sand in his ears and between his toes. 

Boho Beach Babes

my beach babe lady loves and our caravan of babies

I've woken up the past few days with the weirdest feeling, my brain still feels like it's at the beach. Shouldn't I put my bikini on and break out the sun screen?  haha.  I have SO many pictures from our trip to the beach and have JUST started to organize them. Over the next few days, you will see some of THE sweetest pics, oh my goodness. It was the most fun beach time I've ever had!  Last time (my first time) I went to the beach I was pregnant, our hotel was a little bit of a drive from the coast and I had some personal stuff going on that kinda hindered me from fully relaxing and enjoying the whole experience. Sam and I are definitely up for a fun, romantic beach getaway, very soon. I'm already planning another trip in my head for us. Last week was divine to my soul and my heart. I've come away from all the beach-ness with these thoughts:

1. We will live by the beach one day.
2. We will visit the beach MUCH more often. hmmm let's see, what are we doing next week? ;)
2. If you're going to the beach, get a place ON the beach.
3. I have the most beautiful hearts surrounding me.
4. My baby has my complexion. (Yes, he has the cutest little farmer's tan. eee!)
5. Waking up to the sound of the ocean is magical.

I can't wait to show you all the wonderful sandy moments! Check back this week loves!

-Jess

Boho Beach Days

Kristina, Anna and I loaded our little babies into my Volvo and hit the road around 10am and arrived at the beach around 1:30, yesterday. It was SO much fun road-trippin' with them. My CD player stopped working 2 days before the trip and Sam wanted to get it fixed before our trip but, we weren't able to. I assured him we'd probably talk the WHOLE way there....and we did. haha. 

Our beach house is AMAZING! Oh my goodness it's a two story, huge, bright and amazing with a view of the beach right in our backyard! Káel needed a nap when we got here yesterday so he wasn't too keen about the water. I'm hoping today now that he's rested, all happy and excited that he'll enjoy it more! His favorite thing seems to be the wet sand on his toes. My little sweet stuff. Jessie fixed us an amazing meal and after the babes went to sleep, we all stayed up and talked til' 1:30am. SO much fun. Today is another full day of amazingness! More beachiness for you later. 

kristina and adoration arriving

chillin' and waiting for anna 

anna's little sweetie, isabel

noah giving forest boy kisses

beach babies

first beach walk

Sparrow 

sand face

adoration after a day at the beach

noah using my video camera as a phone

jessie making an amazing harmony bowl dinner

tempeh...a new found yummy protein love 

Boho Bikini Body

So my dear lovelies, this morning Káel and I are on the road! We are hitting it with two of my favorite wivesie hearts, Kristina and Anna with their two little baby girls. It's BEACH TIME! The car is loaded beyond capacity, haha. With 3 mommas and 3 babies PLUS gear for a week. Good lordy! We've got a beach house on the coast and will be meeting up with several of our other lady loves, some are already there others will be joining us in a couple days. Eeee! I'm going to miss my man like crazy, being gone from him for 4 whole days but, it will be a fun girly girl time. It will be a feminine re-charge of the soul. AND seeing that I've only had one trip to an american beach for a very, very limited time, this week is going to be heaven to my Jess-ness. I can tell you right now, I'll be coming home with a gazillion shells and a billion pics of Káel on the beach. It should be interesting to see how all the kids do that long out of their normal routine. I'm praying for smooth and happy sailing.

I haven't gotten the polka-dot bikini yet. I'm still planning on it but, I decided to just sport my bikini from last year. I got a new pair of short board shorts to help hold my little wrinkley belly spot in. haha. True story. Yeah, so my sad little post-baby belly button will be fully exposed, so what. It's just some of my closest girls. I slacked in working out the last week but have still been active running here and there, plus constantly moving around with Forest boy. Did I tell you!!!??? I'm only 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Hey, for me, that's HUGE! I've only weighed myself twice since Káel was born. I wanted to go by how my clothes fit verses focusing on numbers. Scales can either be amazing or hellish. haha.  First time being weighed was 3 weeks after he was born, boy was that depressing. I gained 70 pounds during my pregnancy even though I biked 10+ miles 4-5 times a week up to my 3rd trimester. I had only lost like 15ish pounds at that point. Then I weighed myself again on his last visit about 3 weeks ago. I felt like I had won the lottery. All of a sudden I had a burst of energy and motivation to keep going. My walks and water drinking had been working! I know myself and know that the last several pounds of your goal can be THE most difficult to burn away...are they ever going to leave!? Yes, they will Jess. Just keep it up and be patient.

By the way, in regards to my belly skin, yes I have lots of it. It DOES shrink more than you might think. For some, it dissapears altogether. For me, I know I'll have it with me until my last child pops out, then its time for a little tuck-tuck. But in the mean time, it has gotten smaller. I think walking up all those hills with the jogging stroller have really helped that and lots of water. Just a little TMI update. =)

Beach Babies

What is wrong with me! I'm still awake and I leave for the beach in like 8 hours...sigh. I still have to paint my toes. I'm NOT going to bed before I do. I want pretty feet and fingers as I burry them in the sand. I even bought myself 2 new colors to choose from! A orangey salmon color then a robin egg shell blue. I'll probably will go with the salmon color. Sam even said he would help me do my nails. THAT is a freaking sweetheart of a husband. I'm all packed and wondering how my car will hold me, Káel, my two lady loves, Kristina, Anna and their little darlings. (Carpooling is so much more fun than traveling alone!) Plus all of our gear for a week at the beach. Haha. It should be interesting. I am SO excited you guys. I've only been to an American beach like one time and the time I did it was kinda brief. The only other times I have been on a beach, that was in Israel and I didn't get to go in the water. This time, I'm laying out, I'm going to make sand castles with Forest boy, splash about and I'm going to laugh about everything with my girlfriends. We will probably end up crying about something on top of the giggles. (At least one of us ends up shedding a tear or two.) ;) We will be staying in a house ON the beach...happy sigh. There are several more of our gals meeting us up there, gah I'm excited.

Well, I'm going to go paint my nails then go to bed.

Momma

Since having a baby, the way I see my mom has changed. I understand more, realize things looking back that I didn't see at the time. I'm sure as Káel gets older those epiphanies will only continue to happen. Not saying that I didn't appreciate her before, because I totally did, it's just different. I relate to her heart now on a different level and I love it. My grid of thankfulness for and to her has been drastically enlarged to say the least. haha. 

My mom is so wonderful. She's an amazing mom, a freaking gorgeous woman, an incredible friend and a heart that I know I can go to any time I need to. Next to Sam, she's my favorite person in the world to laugh with and to me, that is one of the biggest compliments you can give. Growing up, never, not for one second did I ever question the fact that I was loved unconditionally. She's been there for me, with me, through everything and always instilled in me the reality that I could do anything if I really wanted to. I'm SO looking forward to being able to lavish love on Káel the way she did and does with me. The cherry on top is that she is one heck of a grandma...the best. I love you momma. You are beautiful, and all things wonderful. 

15, track star

my mom at her baby shower

young new momma

most fun cool mom ever

about a month before i got married