The Night Before He Turns One

I know I don't write as much as I used to. To be honest, I'm not sure why. But tomorrow my son hits a pretty wonderful little milestone, and as I put him in pajamas for the 365th time tonight and snuggled him in my arms, I knew I needed to write. So here's a little letter to Jackson Charles, on the night before his first birthday. 

My boy. My Jackson Charles. We mostly call you Jack, but we have so many other names for you. Jackson, Jack, Jackers, Quackers, Jacketter, Jacketty, Goose, Gooski, Gooski Man, Brother Man, Bubby, Buddy, Mister, The Boy, Bubba, Jacketter-Quacketter,  Broseph, Chunka, Chubbers - it goes on and on. You respond to your name and smile and passionately clap whenever anyone says "Yay, Jack!" 

You're a passionate kid. You're passionate about your emotions - you express anger way more than your sister ever did. You're passionate about food - there has never been a single thing we have put in front of you to eat that you didn't eat with great vigor and delight. I've yet to find something you won't eat. You will not stop eating unless I take food away from you. I can't even say what your favorite foods are because you eat all foods with equal levels of joy and speed. 

You're much more of a daddy's boy than a mama's boy - you do love me and you say my name but if you even hear your daddy's voice your run to him. And if he can't pick you up or play with you at that exact moment, you are heartbroken. You smile and clap and play with me when I come to get you out of your crib in the mornings. You reach up and then pat me on the back when I pick you up. You are a good sleeper and usually go to bed around 7 and wake up in the mornings around 6:30. You have a musical, mechanical mobile in your crib that has little fishies that swim and turtles and waves - we call it your "show." Sometimes you lean up and push the button and turn on your show all by yourself in the middle of the night. We'll hear the music over the monitor and you just lay there and watch the crabs move. 

You're starting to love Mickey Mouse, specifically the Hot Dog Dance, which is exactly what your sister was loving at this age. You like climbing stairs, banging on "drums" and letting your daddy throw pillows at you. You laugh when I put on my sunglasses and are constantly stealing everybody's drinks and claiming them as your own. You love playing with and throwing balls and pushing the buttons on the printer in Daddy's office. You love yelling, it's one of your favorite pastimes. 

Let's talk for a minute about you and your sister. You love her and she loves you. Y'all are 3.5 years apart, but you really do play together. You play ball, you let her put blankets on your head - she crawls in your crib early in the mornings and you jump and play. You clap for her and she claps for you. She gets so excited when you walk to her. Sometimes your hugs turn into a tumble and you end up with tears - but I don't really think you mind. 

I love your sweet face. Your tiny nose, your chubby hands, your fat feet. Your silly teeth. Your sticked-up-hair. I love that yesterday for the first time in about 6 months you fell asleep on me in the living room for no reason whatsoever. When you allow yourself to calm down and not be so busy, you really are a snuggle bug. 

I got emotional tonight, putting you in your crib. Tomorrow I'll have a one year old. No more baby. You're a big boy. A big boy who no longer drinks from a bottle, who eats everything we eat (and then some), a big boy who walks and climbs and makes his voice and his opinions heard - even if he doesn't have the words yet. 

I'm so, so thankful for you. I didn't even know how much I wanted you, how much I needed you. You make me proud and happy. You make me more disciplined and intentional and purposeful. Being your mommy is an absolute joy. A privilege.You make me laugh (HARD) every single day. Your faces and your angry sounds - it's just too much sometimes. Your little lips and the "mmmm" sound you make when you lean in for a kiss - I melt. 

Baby boy, I love you with my whole heart. You're the sweetest and I thank God every day for choosing me to be your mommy.

Red Carpet Recap: Emmy's 2016

It's been FOREVER since I've done a Red Carpet blog and I'm so exciiiiiited!! To catch up on my previous Red Carpet Blogs - click that Red Carpet Recap button up there under the blog header and take a stroll down memory lane. But for now, I give you....

The 2016 Emmy Awards!!!

Let's dive right in!

We're starting our evening with Vada Sultenfuss wearing a unique dress made of what appears to be wrinkled skin.

I don't know who this is but her hair is the same color as mine and I want mine to look more like that so I'm documenting it here so I remember. Also, that color on her is the bomb. 

RAYNA!!!!! Please come back to Nashville PLEASE!!! We need you. 

Also that dress is so dang gorgeous I can't even. 

Amy Poehler barely made it from her son's wedding. 

I love her forever but she is way too young for this. 

Kate McKinnon is so talented and so fun and so pretty and so smart and happy. 

I'm so glad she won!

 Okay I LOVE THIS. Love her hair. Love her dress. LOVE. 

I want to make a chair out of that fabric.

Oh, Edith. 

I like her hair color. I do not like this dress color. 

I'm thinking of watching her new show, what about y'all?

And the winner of this year's jacket contest is awarded to this dapper young man right here! 

This might be one of the weirdest red carpet pics I've ever seen and I've written about a lot of red carpet pics. He has bolts in his neck, y'all. Why do these things happen? 

How did he attach them? how much time did that take? Did he tell her the idea and then she was like "okay, cool?" I don't know. I just don't know about any of it and I'm having a sip of wine. 

This is so flawless it's just not even fair. 

HER SKIN. 

Her hair and makeup is a win at everything she goes to. I like that she wanted to wear a dress but also wanted to wear her comfiest black leggings. You do you, Sarah. 

I don't know who this is but her ring is literally blinding people. 

This is a Wee Willie Winkie shirt. She needs a nightcap and a lantern. 

I LOVE her in this PINK! I hope she gets away with murder this season. 

She is wearing a Charlie Brown dress and she's very upset about it. 

Literal jaw dropper. She is so dang fierce when she's pregnant. 

HE'S WEARING A NAHVY BLUE TUXAHDO!!

It's not quite as harsh in this pic - but on TV she came across as VERY orange-looking. So orange that I thought that Mr. Trump's makeup person must've given some tips. The dress is cool though. 

I. AM. SO. GLAD. SHE. WON. 

AND. I. LOVE. THIS. GREEN. 

MORE GREEN! Hi Tina!! 

I seriously was like "did John Travolta and Kelly Preston get divorced and he's here with some other woman?" but then I was like "oh wait that IS Kelly Preston.... weird."

I present to you The Plastic Surgery Couple of 2016!

I hope y'all have an amazing week - thanks for reading every year - and if you want to look fabulous like these people and need any gorgeous jewelry for yourself, you can find some lovely things at www.stelladot.com/jennyisaminger

Peace out, friends!

Today My Daughter Ate Ham

Ellie had lunch meat today.

I sat her in front of the TV with a plate of strawberries, bananas, and rolled up slices of ham. She immediately scowled and said "HEY! I DIDN'T WANT THAT!"

I calmly told her, "Oh, I know... but remember how the doctor told you that 4 year old girls need to try some new food every day? Well - this is your new food today. And you don't have to eat it. I'm not going to make you. But if you do eat it, when we go to the grocery store later today... you get to pick out whatever kind of popsicles you want and you can eat a popsicle today."

"I want a rainbow popsicle."

"Great! We can do that. But you have to eat the ham."

"How much?"

"All of it."

"That's a lot."

"Do you want a rainbow popsicle?"

(Sigh) "Okay...."

And then she ate ham. And she didn't complain or cry or gag or throw up as she has been known to do in the past. I wouldn't say she gobbled it up or anything like that but she ate it with no issues. I had to walk in my closet and take a deep breath to keep from crying.



And yes, I'm bribing her with popsicles.

At this point I'm not even necessarily wanting her to try healthy food. I just want her to try food! I want her to stop being scared and to realize that food is yummy. I want her to try macaroni and cheese (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY) and I want her to try lasagna and all the wonderful foods of the world. She's been missing out for a lot of years.

So here's my question for you:

As I'm introducing her to new foods, I want her to realize that food is yummy and I want her to take bites of things that aren't scary looking and also taste absolutely amazing so that she doesn't fight me on it. For years, the biggest battle was getting her to put it into her mouth. Now that she is, I want her to be like THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!



So - tell me your thoughts! What would you serve a child that is essentially being brave and eating things for the first time?!

Guess Who's Terrible at Blogging?

ME!!

Sorry. This Summer is kicking my booty. It's been so fun - but since I last wrote here, the following things have happened:

-Ellie had her 4th birthday

-Ellie had her 4th birthday party

-We went to Lost Pines in Bastrop, Texas with Grant's family for a glorious and amazing few days

-Ellie went to Gymnastics Camp

-We had guests come in town and stay at our house for 4 days - we had 5 kids total and it was so much fun!

- I went to a Dixie Chicks concert and almost cried. I sang every word and it took me right back to the 9th grade. IT WAS AMAZING.

-COUSIN CAMP!

In other news, I got INVISALIGN! I've had issues with my teeth for years, but after I've developed some pretty painful TMJ I knew it was time to take action. I got Invisalign which is awesome, however Invisalign has also brought with it a pretty awesome speech impediment.

I can't talk.

The letter S is hard.

I say "Yesh" and "Jeshush" and "Shtella & Dot" so that's neat.

I've never felt more secure in myself.

Since getting home from Cousin Camp, I've been slowly digging myself out of the laundry pile that I'm buried alive in and also watching the Olympics. I am incredibly impressed by these people but I also am so, so glad I am not an athlete. Way too much pressure happening there.

Here's a few pics:

Ellie's face in this pic has made my entire year.


Here's me and my Lou at the Dixie Chicks concert where we almost died of heat stroke but at least we would've died happy.

Last pic - this Brio Tassel necklace is new and it's perfect and once you wear it you'll never wanna take it off. She's paired it with our delicate engravable necklace which is low in stock so if you're interested now is the time :) 

Isn't it all so pretty?! 

I'm gonna try to be better at blogging. I really am. Ellie starts school in a few weeks and I am so ready for routine and structure I can't even stand it. 

Happy Thursday to you :) 

Ellie's Heart

I'll have overnight guests here tomorrow night - so while I have a minute, I wanted to sit down for a minute and write about my girl. She'll be 4 years old on Saturday.

Four years old has always been one of my favorite ages, mostly because they say really funny things. They're potty trained, they're a little easier to communicate with, and they are hilarious. Ellie Paige is no exception to this.

It's no secret that my girl is full of personality. I love talking to her and getting her point of view on things. She has so many questions and so much spunk. But she also has a whole lot of heart. I feel like I spend a lot of time talking about all the funny and sassy things Ellie says. Speaking of sassy... she thinks that's the word for sweaty. All Summer she's been telling me that she's starting to feel a little bit sassy. But I want to take a minute to talk about her heart.

Ellie is quick to apologize. She stomped up to her room last night at bedtime, arms crossed, upset with me that I was telling her it was bedtime. I walked in to help her put on her pajamas. I found her sitting in her chair, scowling with her arms crossed. "I'M ANGRY" she said to me. "Go potty" I replied as I pulled some pajamas out of her drawer. She marched into the bathroom all pouty. About 45 seconds later she appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Mommy? I so sorry I said no to you. I so sorry I wasn't being nice."

Then she runs in for a hug.

Whenever she's starting to get upset, her little mouth turns into a frown and she tells me that "I'm starting to get a little bit of tears!" and then that curly mess of a head falls into my lap and cries. It really is the sweetest.

Words can not express what a good big sister she is. I am floored. She is so quick to bring me a diaper before I even ask. She is sweet with Jack and loves to sit on the floor and play with him and make him laugh. She dances for him, sings for him, holds up stuffed animals and gives him toys. She wipes his mouth. She stands up on the bottom of his crib and talks to him when he wakes up from a nap. She calls him "My Jacketty Quackers" or "My baby" and asks to hold him. She sings "Your Sissy is here! Your Sissy is here! Your Sis is here so IT'S OH-KAY!"

She loves family hugs and asks for them often. She adores her Daddy and when she gets in trouble she says "please don't tell my dad." Little does she know that there's literally nothing she can do that would keep him from loving her.

She's obedient. She's teachable.

She got hurt today, and about 45 minutes after the injury she crawled up into my lap and asked me to "pray to God for my cheek."

So, we prayed.

She dances. She does tricks. And after she does them she says "MOM! WAS THAT AWESOME?!"

I adore, adore, adore, adore that girl of mine. Today I picked her up and asked her "How come you're the sweetest girl there ever was?"

"Because God made me!"

"How come the best girl in the whole world gets to live with me and Daddy?!"

"Because God said I should live with you!!"

I'm so thankful.

I'm so, so thankful.