The Janes

2009-11-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last blog. I wasn't really looking forward to blogging either. Mainly because I knew I would have so much to blog about since it's been so long.

So the summer flew by ands it's NOVEMBER!!?? Really what happened? We had two great vacations with both sides of the family. One great week in Ocean City with the Janes side of the family. And another with the Butler side of the family in North Carolina.

Tom and I purchased a house with our truly good friends Drew and Drea. God has truly been by our sides in every matter from money issues to how we live day by day together.

The boys have been growing before our very eyes. Jack can walk if you hold his hand and Hayden can knock him own. We're working on it.

Most mornings we do a devotional together with "The Big Picture Story Bible." I recommend it to anyone with small kids. Hayden loves "Go Diego," as he says it, and Dora. We have no cable or even regular channels on our T.V. so we pretty much watch the same DVD's. I don't think they really notice.

Andrea Jae Photography has been really taking off. God has His hand in every part of that business and Drea and I can really see Him as the pieces fall together.

Since I am really bad at taking the camera out of the house unless it's an offical shoot. Most of these pictures are us doing our everyday routine. Warning: These are not in any chronological order. So some are in the new house and some are at the Beall's place.

Most of the time when I am taking a picture I don't focus on the art of how the picture is brought together but at the emotion of the moment. I love capturing my boys because I never want to forget what they look like when they get excited, or those little faces they make that make them so unique to me. I usually try to capture how I see them...so enjoy.

Of course I took some breakfast pictures. Mainly because the beautiful day light pouring in and the fact they are strapped down. It's way easier to get great shots that way.

Notice the different paint samples painted on the wall. Yellow was to bright so now we're going for a gray blue. Rocky Mountain Sky, I think it's called.

Hayden sometimes gives me this look and I can't help but laugh. Especially when I'm being goofy.

Jack is growing too fast.

These next pictures are so funny to me. Because if you know Jack, you know any and everything goes into his mouth. I was trying to set him up for some pictures and he found some keys instead.

This is so darling. I almost never see them do this. Had to capture it.

Both boys love bath time. Especially in our new bath tub. It's like a pool to them.

Okay I love these two next pictures. Jack is cute as always but Hayden is cracking me up with his faces. He looks so determined to drink the water.

Typical Jack moment.

Hayden was actually saying something very interesting in this picture. He came up to me and stuck his gut out and said, "Mom look at my pee pee." He was so proud.

So I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I still have to blog North Carolina pictures and Halloween. Don't be rushin me :O)

I hope to get great Thanksgiving pictures so get ready! Yes this is a formal warning to all family members.

Random

2009-06-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

I try to be so purposeful with my blog but life is so random and what's even more random is when I pick up the camera. Here are a few images that I thought were worth blogging about.

The first one is of Jack and I playing. Brenda, a really good friend of mine, came over and wanted to play with my camera. Hayden and her son Jeremiah are somewhere running around while Brenda does her own little photo shoot with Jack and I.

These next five images are of Tom, Hayden and Jack on the trampoline. When Tom comes home from work he likes to play with the boys. Either they play on our bed, the floor or the Beall's trampoline. Basically Tom will play with the boys anywhere he can lay down.

Obviously this is before Jack's buzz cut. I didn't realize how crazy he looked till after the smooth hair cut.

Hayden is such a hansom boy.

This is one of those images you never want to forget.

So my sister came in town for a few days, like in February! But I thought it was never to late to

post these, so here they are Bert.

For those who haven't seen Jack with his new and improved hair cut here it is!! I swear that hair cut aged him like 3 months.

This last one is sooooooooo cute. Hayden and Jack are both taking a bath and Daddy came home from work. This is there reaction to seeing Tom for the first time that day.

Things I never want to forget

2009-04-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

As Hayden and Jack grow up there are a lot of challenges that Tom and I as parents go through. Sleepless nights when the babies first come home, the screams in the middle of the night from teething, runny noses, bipolar like emotions, the list goes on and on. However there are a lot of things that I do not want to forget. So I am dedicating this post to all the things I don't want to forget.

Like Jack's first real food encounter.

How Hayden somehow always makes a big mess out of nothing.

Hayden's famous crazy hair. This one was right after a nap.

How Jack's hair for some reason grows faster on top than on the sides.

Their gorgeous blue eyes!!??

How Jack is a bottomless pit of drool.

How Jack is always so happy in the morning.

Something about this pitiful face. I'm not quite sure what though.

How quickly their smiles can make any moment better.

I hope I never forget these precious times. I know at times I don't realize how these days will fly by so quickly.

Kayla and Riley

2009-03-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Kayla is a really good friend of mine. We've known each other since High school and when we get together we love to talk. We share a passion of talking about Jesus and how He is working in our life. I get excited when I hang out with Kayla because I know she is not afraid of sharing how God has recently poured his grace in her life. A few weeks ago I asked Kayla if I could take some pictures of her and her new baby girl, Riley. They were so adorable. It was suppose to be an outdoor shoot but the wind was so crazy that we ended up staying inside. They were so cute together that it didn't even matter.

I don't think Riley knew what to think of me.

You can't tell, but Hayden is running around trying to play with me. At some points He is actually on my back while I'm taking pictures.

Riley's shirt says,"Daddy is my hero."

Riley has the cutest little outfits.

And cutest little feet. Thanks Kayla and Riley for being the perfect models.

Hayden's Birthday

2009-02-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hayden's 2nd birthday brought forward a spring of emotions for me. I really wanted to have a good party for Hayden. I also wanted others to have a good time and I probably spent way too much time worrying about how I could accommodate others. Tom can testify to the late nights of listening to me go back and forth on what activities and games should be played and how things should be set up. I battle myself on whether or not I should have all kinds of elaborate games or if it should be simple. In the end I knew that it probably didn't matter to Hayden as longest as he got to run around and explore everyone and everything in the room. I had to keep blocking out images of all the kids playing intricate games in unison and laughing with joy. Because let's face the facts, at this stage all kids want to do is explore, climb, crawl, make a mess, take things apart, poke at gross thing and occasionally want a hug from mommy. Games to Hayden would mean instructions, rules, and worst of all boundaries. So simple won the battle of Hayden's 2nd birthday party.

The party contained 3 simple elements; face painting, drawing (Thanks to the help of Magic Colors*) and running around like a crazy person playing with whatever or whoever was around. Andrew let me take a quick shot of him after Andrea drew on his face what seems to be a turtle.

Hayden and Lucas opted to take the third option of the day's events by not only being the craziest kids in the house but teaming up in their craziness. It was a joy to see Hayden and Lucas act their age together, I can already tell that they are going to be real buddies.

It was hard for Drea and I to take pictures. I wanted to be in the moment as much as possible and didn't want to leave Hayden's side, so I relied completely on Drea to do all the things I would normally do to keep things in motion. Thanks to Drea's faithful ear I was able to play with Hayden and enjoy the party without stopping to clean or set things up. The fact that she even got in a few shoots amazed me. All those side conversations we were having were really: Do you think we should bring out the pinata? Can you take care of that? Is the cake ready? How should we announce we are about to open up gift?

It's funny that Hayden had no interest in coloring. All he wanted to do was to take off the top of the marker and put it back on. It actually took me a while to realize that. I kept cheering when he took off the cap thinking we would move forward but no he never intended to get past that step.

There's Lucas again "King of the Plastic Tree House."

Jack jumped the entire time. Either on this contraption or from lap to lap. I never really knew where Jack was, but I had faith he would make his way back to me somehow.

For the opening up of the gifts all the kids wanted to help out. Much to my surprise Hayden was completely okay with that. He actually seemed to enjoy it when everyone jumped in a started to rip open his gifts. All the kids were well trained because not one kid as much as looked at Hayden's gifts until they got the approval of their parents. I even advised Faith, one of the girls, to help Hayden open his gifts and she said that she wasn't allowed. But Tyler, the blurry image in that picture had no problem helping Hayden when I asked him to.

This picture is one of my favorites because Hayden was such in awe by the cake that as it was taken away he watched it all the back to where they were cutting it.

Mike brought his niece, Chloe. They were so adorable. She was very careful to listen to every word Uncle Mikey had to say.

I'm not sure if the pinata was the best idea but it was fun. Even after all the kids got to hit it, it was still fully intact. Tom had to rip open the pinata with his bare hands. The kids got a kick out of that.

After everyone left, Hayden and Jack took a nap. It was nice to have a few quiet moments. Jack woke up first. I handed him off to Tom so that I could try to get some cleaning done and SPLASH! Tom screams ewwwww!!! I ran to grab a napkin, but before wiping Tom off I took a few shoots.

Tom was going to need a lot more than just a napkin!

Christmas in February ?

2009-02-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year Tom and I invited our parents to come and open their gifts with Hayden and Jack. Tom and I were excited to see Hayden open up his gift, wondering how much he would understand this year.

The day before Christmas Tom and I took the kids to Sharon and Warren's work at Maurice Electric. They had a co-worker dress up as Santa Clause and they gave all the kids presents.

Of course the soonest Hayden saw Woowe he was attached to him like glue. Here they are standing in line waiting to see Santa Clause.

It was really hard getting both of the boys to look at the camera, but amazingly enough the photographer who was taking picture there did it.

This is Christmas morning. Don't you just love Hayden's pajama's! Kim sent Hayden and Jack pajamas before christmas so that they could wear it christmas morning. I thought that was the best idea.

I'm not sure what Hayden thought of the train. It wasn't until we opened up the boxes that he started to get excited. I think Hayden thought he was just getting a lot of colorful boxes.

Thank you Keri for the all the turtle toys! Seriously, Hayden sleeps with the big stuffed turtle that you got him.

Hayden also received a big box full of clothes from Sha-Sha. It was hilarious because he immediately closed it back up and pushed it to the side. I thought it was interesting to see because it made me realize how much he really understood.

I only posted the grandfather's because I know that both my mom and Sharon would kill me if I posted any pictures of them with out their consent. And let's face it no one was ready for a camera to be all up on their face. Especially when all you were ready to do was eat breakfast, open up gifts and lounge around.

Hayden found my stocking stuffer from Sharon that was filled with all kinds of chocolaty goodness.

Here's Hayden on his Pow Pow Power Wheel. He only knew how to go straight. So Tom had to stand behind him and redirect him every time he was about to run into something.

And here's the mess. Tom thought it would be comical to take a picture so that we could look back on this craziness one day. There's the turtle Keri got Hayden that he sleeps with. Do you see it? It has a cape on it's back with the letter "W".

This is no joke. I usually look like this through out the day. That is, holding Jack in one arm while trying to help Hayden. You can't see it but I'm feeding Hayden who is sitting outside the picture.

For the rest of the day, we chilled out and tried to watch a 3-D movie.

Hayden likes to randomly hold the controller . I wonder if he really thinks he's playing a game? After the movie Tom, the boys and I went upstairs and played Cranium with the Bealls. It was a blast.

So christmas day seemed really long for us. It was filled with presents, family, fun and of course a ridiculous amount of free time.

Getting the boys ready for bed was really easy since we all stayed in our pajamas all day.

Watch Me Grow!

2009-01-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

I know, I haven't posted in forever. But I am trying to play catch up, so in the next couple of weeks I will be posting Hayden's first bed, thanks to sponsors like Kim Janes and all made possible because of people like you! Wow, sorry I watch PBS way too much. Back to my run on sentence, I will be posting christmas and after this up coming weekend HAYDEN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!

These are pictures of this past friday. The weather was amazing so my mom made the wonderful suggestion of going to the park. We went to Coscoa park and had a blast. Hayden and Jack fell asleep on the ride. When we arrived Hayden was not excited. I couldn't help but laugh at his expression, he looks utterly disgusted.

It took him all of a few seconds to forget he was upset.

Hayden couldn't make up his mind when it came to where he wanted to play or on what, so we basically played on everything for about 2 seconds.

We counted every time he would swing, which to Hayden means; 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10! He often leave out 4 and 6, but mostly he leaves out 4.

Hayden had to fight it out with some kid to get this spring like contraption. Sike, but we did have to go to it several times because for some reason every time we approached this equipment the same particular kid would run and beat Hayden to it. WeiRd??

I couldn't resist putting Hayden next to this measuring wall. I just couldn't get him to smile, at me specifically

Overall, we had tons of fun. Now, the moments following this was not. I should have taken out the camera and captured some shots of Hayden, as I tried to tell him it was time to go home. I basically had to wrestle my own kid into a car. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of Jack this time, he had so many layers on that I didn't think it would of been worth trying.

Halloween

2008-11-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hayden's first Halloween. Okay it's his second, but it felt like his first one, since he was to little to enjoy or participate on his first halloween.

See, last year we dropped Hayden off at Woowe and Sha Sha's. He did have a costume but hated wearing it since it preventing him from moving around as freely as he liked. But this year we made plans to go trick-or-treating! Since we were hanging out with Drew and Drea that evening at the Ackermann's house, we decided it would be best to just take him to their neighborhood to trick-or-treat. This is a picture of Hayden once we arrived at the Ackermann's house.

It took him a while to loosen up.

There's the smile we're use to seeing.

After figuring out exactly which houses we wanted to hit we headed off.

Tom and I weren't sure Hayden had figured out what was going on yet. As you can see from his expression on the picture below.

He started to get excited once I put him down so he could say, "Hi" to all the cool trick-or-treaters.

One house had their dogs sitting outside greeting all the kids. Hayden was in awe by the dogs. We probably stayed at this house for a good five minutes. And I don't think we even got candy at that house.

It was cute how Hayden would look at either Tom or I for approval before reaching for the candy. In fact we had to cheer him on so that we would grab the candy.

By our third house Hayden had definitely figured out what was going on. We never got a "trick-or-treat," out of him but he did say, "bye," or "thank you" every time.

After getting enough candy to fill the bottom of his trick-or-treat bag, we headed back to the Ackermann's house.

I let Hayden have a few pieces of candy. Thank God this was about as crazy as he got.

In this picture Hayden just finished a Twix as you can see from his face.

Maybe Jack will have his "first" Halloween next year.

Home With the Boys

2008-10-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

So it's been two weeks now home with Hayden and Jack. I'm learning a lot about what it means to be a stay-at-home mom. It's scary and exiting how much I can and will influence these little mens lives. Who knew that such a big responsibility would be equally if not a greater blessing.

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the past two weeks.

Since Jack has to eat every 1 to 3 hours a lot of events are taylored around him. He's been pretty good at waking up to eat right before Hayden wakes up for breakfast, so far.

I typically find Hayden laying in his crib talking to himself first thing in the morning. He always hears my footstep before I even enter his room. It brings a big smile to my face to hear him yell, " MOM, MOM, MOM" in his cute little voice. Once I take him out of the crib he points to his mouth and says something that sounds like. "food, food, food." Here is a picture of him waiting at the table for breakfast. It's really refreshing to find him so excited to begin the day.

After breakfast Hayden and I do a quiet time, which usually involves the Veggy Tales. I try to squeeze in a shower while Hayden has some play alone time in his crib. Hayden is so good at occupying himself with just a few toys. His new favorites are some blocks that Sha Sha (AKA, Granma Janes) got him right before Jack was born. In the mean while Jack is either sleeping or looking around in his bassinet.

The day usually consist of , yes I have to say it, breast feeding, changing diapers, making meals, and cleaning, all the while keeping Hayden's hands busy in some sort of activity. I've noticed the more structure Hayden has at this stage the less trouble he gets into. Then before I know it it's lunch time. I love lunch time because things start winding down. Hayden goes down for a nap after lunch and if Jack is sleeping, which he usually is, I get some free time to read and nap.

And here he is napping :0)

Fast forward to after Tom gets home and dinner is over, Hayden gets a bath. This is Hayden and Daddy time.

While I get some mommy and Jack time.

Since I'm literally tied to Jack, whenever I'm not breast feeding Tom tries to sneak in some Daddy and Jack time.

Here is Hayden getting ready to go bed, but of course he has to give Jack a ton of kisses.

Jack's Arrival

2008-09-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's funny how the first 7 months of pregnancy fly by but the last two months seem to last forever. At least that's how it felt waiting for Jack to arrive.

It start Wednesday at 10am, when I suspected that my water broke. It wasn't the traditional gush of water but it was enough for me to notice that I didn't usually leak like that.

I called the doctor and told her what I had suspected and she told me to come in immediately, yeah! However once I arrived there was a big disagreement among the nurses to whether my water really broke or not. It didn't really matter because I started having hard contractions that were intense and close together. I was dilating one centimeter per hour which was considered active labor!

Even though things were progressing it's amazing how much free time you have in between contractions.

Right after this picture the nurse walked in and took all these things away from Tom. It was comical.

Jack finally arrived on September 17th at 9:01 p.m. Also known as Tom and my wedding Anniversary.

He looks just like Hayden, when he was born, in this picture.

I can't believe I have two beautiful boys.

Drew, Drea, Emily and Patrick made signs while waiting for Jack in the waiting room. I guess they had a lot of time on their hands too. Their sign reads:

"HAPPY"

"DAY OF BIRTH"

"JACK"

At Home At Last.

2008-09-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

As many of you know upon Jack's arrival Tom and I decided that it would be best for me to stay at home with the boys. A few weeks before Jack was born I was able to stay at home with just Hayden. We developed a routine and the mundane became glorious!

We had a few errands to run on this particular day. An appointment to see how Jack was doing was one of those errands. Since Drea, a very close friend on mine, lived so close to the doctor's I decided to drop Hayden off . Drea captured these images before I left for the Doctors.

(It's a blog mystery why only this paragraph's font decided to be different? Help me out on why can't I make it look like the other fonts?)

Hayden is actually trying to hide from me so that he can jump up "out of nowhere" and scare me. I just can't help but laugh when he's trying to hide from me by ducking behind me.

It's really cute how Hayden giggles in anticipation of jumping up and "scaring me."

Here he goes one more time!

My First Blog!?

2008-09-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

I first of all want to give mad props to anyone who blogs regularly and makes it look good, because I definitely just spent too much time on something that looks very mediocre. Hopefully I 'll get better with time.

Anyhoo, here are a few pictures that Tom, my husband and I took at the park with Hayden, our son.

Hayden really fell in love with the swings.

Tom was just as big of a goof ball as Hayden. I'm sure the other people at the park were wondering where this child's parents were!

I know I'm bias but isn't Hayden the cutest little boy in the world.