Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday my Precious Baby Boy...

You've made our world a better place and you've made my life worth waking up for each morning. I never dreamed my heart could hold so much love. You are everything to me and if I could bottle you up right now and keep you this age forever, I'd do it in a heart beat because life has never been so much fun. I hope you have the happiest 2nd Birthday and I hope you know that your momma loves you more than life itself!

I LOVE YOU!

Yours Forever,

Mommy

Conversations (With Pictures).

A couple of Friday nights ago we were going to the Graves vs. Marshall game at Marshall Co. Jaxon and I were in the living room waiting for Justin to get out of the shower and get ready. He was eating butter out of a tub with a spoon. Hey, he cried for it, and there was very little left, so I gave up and gave it to him. I plopped down on the couch, and yawned. That is where this hilarious conversation started.

Jax (looking up at me yawning): Ya tured (tired)??

Mommy: Yea. Are you?

Jaxon: No. Where's my daddy at?

Mommy: In the bathroom.

Jaxon: Poopin?

Mommy: I don't know. Maybe.

Jaxon: Oh, I poop in my pants.

About two minutes later, I yawn again.

Jaxon (looking up at me yawning): Ya tured (tired)??

Mommy: Yea. Are you?

Jaxon: No. You want some kisses?

Mommy: Kisses?

Jax: Yea, kisses. (Makes a kissy face and some smacking sounds).

Mommy: Well, sure.

Jax runs to me and kisses me, as I laugh histerically.

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Yesterday, Jax was sitting on his 4-wheeler, being really quiet and really good (or so I thought) when I looked down and realized that his t-shirt was soaking wet. Instead of saying something right away, I observed to see what was going on. He had underwear on, but his underwear were not as wet as his shirt was so things just weren't adding up. Then I noticed that he would take a drink of water out of his sippy cup, and spit it out down the front of his shirt. I watched him do it twice before intervening.

Mommy: Jaxon Thorpe! What are you doing? You're not supposed to spit your drink out!
Jaxon: I no wanna wear this shurt no mo. (I don't want to wear this shirt anymore)

I guess he thought that if he got his shirt dirty, I would change his clothes?

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Jaxon (last night when we were on our way to church): Mommy, we go fast!

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We had our youth leadership meeting at Megan and Bobby's new apartment after church last night. Jaxon had a lot of fun playing in the cabinets of their new, empty entertainment center. Each week at our leadership meeting, we discuss a certain question to get to know each other better. Last night our question was "What was your saddest childhood memory?" We went around and answered the question and then it got to Jamie.

Jamie: Well, when I was three months old, I almost died.

(All of us kind of looked around at each other)

Jaxon: HOW?

It was one of the funniest things that I've ever heard him say. We all had to stop and catch our breath from laughing. We were all thinking that question, but he got it out before any of us could. Oh my!

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By the way, I realize that Justin and I think that Jaxon is much funnier than everyone else does, but we just can't help it.

What's in a Name?

Saturday night when Justin and I were on our way to Paducah, I got a text message from a dear friend. The message read, "Did you know that Jaxon's name means 'God has been gracious'? How true is that!" I had never really thought about the meaning of Jaxon's name. I had never really thought about the meaning of any name. But it made me curious. What's in a name?

Like my name. Kendra. I never knew the meaning of my name. So I looked it up and found that my name means, "water baby, magical." Remember those water baby dolls that we played with as little girls? You filled them with water and they moved and wiggled like real babies. Only real babies don't smell like plastic, and when your little sister bites real babies, they don't leak water everywhere and forever deflate to never be played with again. Yea, that's what I first thought of. That, and the fact that I am apparently magical.

And Justin. I looked his name up too. His name means "just, upright, righteous, true." His name has a little better meaning than mine. But he's not magical.

Jaxon means "God has been gracious." Jackson means, "Son of Jack." For some reason, this made my heart smile. My son's name is spelled differently, because of the simple fact that I wanted it to be spelled differently and if his name were to be shortened, I wanted him to be called 'Jax' instead of 'Jack'. But my son is not just "the son of Jack." (Actually he isn't the son of Jack at all. He's the son of Justin. But anywho). My son is Jaxon, and God has been gracious.

Jaxon wasn't in our plans when we found out that we were pregnant. We wanted children someday. But we didn't think we were ready on July 17, 2007- when I took the test that told me that I was a Mommy and that I was carrying one of God's most special blessings inside of me. But he was in God's plan. You know, because God is gracious.

God has never shown us how truly gracious he is any more clearly than He does day by day through our son. We can't imagine our life without him, and we have no idea what we did or what we talked about or what we laughed at before he came into our world. It's unbelievable how much personality that God wrapped up in this almost two year old boy and it's even more unbelievable how much love we hold in our hearts for him. He is our gift from our most gracious God and apart from God sending His own son to die for our sins, he is the best gift that we have ever received.

Jaxon is our son- and God has been gracious.

The Most Peaceful Thing...

in all the world... is watching my little boy sleep.

Valentine's Day Weekend

We had a really busy Valentine's Day weekend this year. Friday night I surprised Justin with a heart-shaped pizza from Mr. Gatti's... It was enjoyed by both of the men in my life...

the little one,
and the big one.
But especially the big one.

Saturday night, Justin and I went on a date for Valentine's day.

My MIL took this picture of us before we left.

We went and ate at O'Charley's and then went and got ice cream at Yesterdays. This has kind of become a tradition for us. It seems like every time we go to Paducah, no matter how much we eat for supper and how full we are, we always go to Yesterdays. My husband loves ice cream almost as much as he loves pizza.

Jaxon's Nana and Paps got him this giraffe for Valentine's Day.

His name is Cow.

For real. That's what Jax named him.

You ought to hear him say it. It's hilarious.

We had a Valentine's Day banquet at church last night, and it was a blast.

I took lots of pictures, but none of my family. Bummer.

I hope that you all had a special valentine's day weekend, like we did...

Happy Valentines Day!

Rain, rain, stay if you want to.

When you're married to sunshine, it really doesn't matter.

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you, my sunshine.

Prayers for a Friend

I wanted to ask all of you to please be in prayer for my friend, Kelly. Kelly found out this weekend that she has a tumor on her right temporal lobe. She has been sent to Nashville to receive furthur prognosis... but for now, please be in prayer for Kelly, her husband Kyle and their 18 month old daughter, Lilli. I can not even imagine what this family is going through at this time, but I do know that they are constantly on my mind and in my heart. And I also know that I serve a mighty God that is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). So let's pray... because He can!

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16

More Snow.

Last weekend we got to play in the snow quite a bit. And it's back. So we played again today, but personally, I've had enough and I'm ready for some warmer weather. Daddy and Jax had to hug to keep warm. The wind was freezing and it hurt our cheeks!
Jax posed for about 3 seconds for a picture with his Mommy...

How sweet is he??

Okay old man winter. You can go away now. I'm sure I'll be ready to see you again in about 9 or 10 months, but for now, I'm ready for the sunshine, the march flowers and the green grass...

Snow Cream.

This morning I learned that my nine year old nephew had never had snow cream.

Nine years old and NEVER had snow cream!

Can you believe such?

So we had to take care of that little problem...

and we made some snow cream.

Here's the snow before it became cream. During the process...
Kyler taking his first bite. (He loved it. He ate three bowls.)

Jaxon taking his first bite.

The boys were amazed...

Jax spilled his a little bit.

I liked it too. Justin did not.

But it was all okay, because Jax did.

He liked it a lot!

9:30 P.M.

Last night.

9:30 p.m.

Asleep.

First time.

Ever.

Amazing.

Midnight

When it's midnight, and Jax doesn't want to go to sleep- this is what he's been saying that he needs to do lately. Potty. Because he knows it will work and I will get out of bed. I put him on the potty and he'll sit there for a really long time, just so that he doesn't have to go to sleep. What a trickster...

Super Bowl- Super Fun!

Sunday night we had a Super Bowl party at a family from church's house. It was awesome! We had so much fun... Me, Jamie and Makenzie claimed the love seat for most of the night... And these beautiful girls, Megan, Lindsey and Heather, sat in the floor...
Mike and Jax ate LOTS of cheese dip! I mean LOTS!

I caught them trying to take a picture without me, so I jumped in. I'm sure that they are so glad that I did!

Jax and Mike gave a few hugs...

Love this picture!

Heather won the Applebees giftcard because she had picked the right square on the office pool thingy...

This was my favorite moment from the super bowl. Even though I wish that the colts would have won, I really like Drew Brees and this moment that he shared with his little boy was priceless. I loved how he said in an interview on Monday that he just kept telling his son, "You have no idea what you're experiencing right now, little man. You have no idea."

We passed a cup around that had all of the Saints players and all of the Colts players names written on slips of paper. Everyone drew a Saints player and a Colts player, and if that player was voted MVP after the game, the winner got an iTunes giftcard. Jonathan won!

The Super Bowl Party was Super Fun!

Peace that Surpasses all Understanding

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid...

Last week, me, Mom, Kacie and the kiddos went to Chuck E. Cheese to let Addi and Jax play for a little while. They had so much fun! Jax really liked to go down the slide, but didn't want to get up in the tunnels. And he didn't want anyone to help him, either.
They rode lots of rides...

Here's Kacie, Mom and the little trouble makers...

and Me, Mom and the two beautiful kids.

Even though Chuck E. Cheese isn't much fun for adults, I'm sure it is for kids.

And if it's fun for them, then we'll go anytime.

What Faith Can Do

Everybody falls sometimes

Gotta find the strength to rise

From the ashes and make a new beginning

Anyone can feel the ache

You think it’s more than you can take

But you are stronger, stronger than you know

Don’t you give up now

The sun will soon be shining

You gotta face the clouds

To find the silver lining

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains

Hope that doesn’t ever end

Even when the sky is falling

And I’ve seen miracles just happen

Silent prayers get answered

Broken hearts become brand new

That’s what faith can do

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard

Impossible is not a word

It’s just a reason for someone not to try

Everybody’s scared to death

When they decide to take that step

Out on the water

It’ll be alright

Life is so much more

Than what your eyes are seeing

You will find your way

If you keep believing

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains

Hope that doesn’t ever end

Even when the sky is falling

And I’ve seen miracles just happen

Silent prayers get answered

Broken hearts become brand new

That’s what faith can do

Overcome the odds

You don't have a chance

When the world says you can’t

It’ll tell you that you can!

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains

Hope that doesn’t ever end

Even when the sky is falling

And I’ve seen miracles just happen

Silent prayers get answered

Broken hearts become brand new

That’s what faith can do

Even if you fall sometimes

You will have the strength to rise...

-"What Faith Can Do" Kutless

Cereal.

I was on the phone Sunday night, and Justin decided to let Jaxon pour his own cereal. This was the outcome.
I'll just leave it at that.

Conversations.

At the doctor's office last week:
Jaxon, kneeling behind the chair- "Be kite. I cared. I hinding." (Translation: Be quiet. I'm scared. I'm hiding.)

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Laying in bed:
Jaxon- "Mommy, my butt."
Mommy- "What about your butt?"
Jaxon- "Butt itches." (This requires no translation)

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While taking a potty break:
Mommy- "Jax, guess where we're going tonight. We're going to church."
Jaxon- "No, I go night night." (If he'd rather go night night than go to church, that's really not a very good sign.)

Snow Much Fun...

With all the snow that we got this past weekend, we had a blast.

We actually went outside for the first time at about 10 p.m. Friday night. We got Jaxon all bundled up. This was his first look at the snow, from the outside of the house. Justin hooked his dad's fishing boat up to the back of the four-wheeler and pulled me and Jaxon behind him.
I tried to take a picture of us "sledding" but it was hard to do.

We got back out Saturday morning and went and played with some of Justin's cousins.

Poor Jaxon looks like the little boy off of "The Christmas Story." He couldn't put his arms down!

See?

Justin pulled Jaxon and Kyler behind the 4-wheeler on the sled for a little while...

It was snow much fun!