Time flies...

Even if you're not always having fun like they say, ever notice the days just fly by? We have a specific routine we do nearly the same every weekday, and the weeks, months and years are going so quickly! It amazes me everyday I watch my little babies grow up and become their own little people!
Jakson is so inquisitive and wants to learn and know everything! I love it! He's so very much like me! The kid can crack jokes and be sarcastic yet funny at the same time! Jak wants to pick out his own matching clothes, race beating us to finish meals, know all about addition and what numbers show on the screen for the car radio then count to them, ask about when he was in Alabama (no idea why, but he was there in my tummy on a road trip to Florida), show people he talks to whatever it is he wants them to see as if everyone has FaceTime and has an uncanny knack for outsmarting you when you think you have given him intelligent answers! HA!
Jily is a cool little baby.. She is eating foods already, loves a little juice and screams when her milk isn't nearby just incase her tummy is ready for a fill! Her little, errr big round bottom can almost sit up, she mocks faces and noises, hopefully will start to enjoy the possiblity of movement on the floor because miss independent would love to be mobile, and keeps us on our toes because when you think she's content, well then she's spills her milk!!
Josh and I are getting excited about our move back to the mainland or homeland is what I've come to call it. Island living is nice, but being on a rock is a bit like being lost at sea! The awesome friends we have made here from Josh's command, MOPS, preschool, church and other activities definitely have made it fun, yet we are still glad our time is about done! On to the next adventure or chapter for the Js.. We are blessed to know people moving or are already close, to our next duty station, so I feel as if it's God's special icing he added to the cake! Disneyland, LegoLand, concerts, vacations, public transportation, more babies -- all on the agenda for WA!
I cannot say enough about how much my husband comforts everything crazy that happens. If I feel worrisome or doubtful, that man makes my fears just melt! What a wonderful man the Lord gifted us to be the spiritual leader and man of our house! There wil be more blogging in the near future.. The past month has been full of utter life chaos -- bad renter, doctors appointments, waiting on orders, you name it! Many good things have been happening too...
If He brings us to it, He will get us through it.. That's been my motto lately! I keep looking up when my head gets too full, then taking scriptures that apply and seeking answers through prayer! Lots of logistics to figure out as we prepare to set sail in the next couple months.. Looking forward to seeing everyone back home again, and miss Jilyann (Jak's name for his lil sis), who's nearly 6 months now will finally get to meet her fam!
Hope all is well and a Happy Easter was had by all! We celebrated the reason - Christ rising rather than the Bunny tradition, and made the fun activities much less important because we want our children to be enlightened by the truth. For it is that, and that alone that sets you free!
XOXO

Strength, yep we got lots!

These last few days, I've been thinking about just how "strong" our family is! That word can describe many different attributes.. For example, Jily is a strong baby. She's been rolling from side to side since she was 12 days old, grasping her own bottle since 6 weeks, holding her head up very well since birth, pulling up and standing with our assistance since 12 weeks. Jily is definitely like her father in physical strength because when I think of how strong Josh is, it's more in a tough guy sense. He can endure a lot like running and weight lifting that I could not or would not rather want to do haha! Don't get me wrong, he's also in every definition of strong emotionally and spiritually solid as well!
Then there's sweet little Jakson. He's "super tough and super strong" indeed too! He loves running and sports and playing for hours with no signs of fatigue one! He's also a very strong-willed child. Nos are still maybes and questions cannot have only one answer. Today I bet he asked about a Shirley Temple 20 times, as if it would speed up the delivery time when the answer was we will see about one with supper. Jak never forgets anything, especially what he is looking forward to. He's signed up to play T-Ball and it seems to be right up his alley because he loves both challenges and competition! I'm so very excited and proud to have a relentless child, even though some days are long and tiring lol!
Finally there's me! Whew, where shall we start?! Since I'm exhausted from a wonderful weekend and have another long week ahead, I'll just say I can just see how much I've grown over the years! I have learned so much from my past and love being a wife and mommy so much! They are hard jobs, but by staying strong, mainly in my Christin beliefs and starting each day anew, I feel refreshed and able to conquer any hurdles from both the past and by focusing on the present! I am so very grateful for our huge support unit!
I'd be silly to say we are strong alone bc we aren't! Through God and our cheerleaders, we keep pushing on! I love watching my children learn and grow! Jakson reminds me of a little lawyer to be.. He builds his case and presents it well... Amazing how great a 4 year old can communicate! Jily, well, she reminds me of a mini sumo wrestler ;D
Thank you Josh for everything you do! I don't think I say it often enough, but hopefully it always shows AND you see that I strive to continously be strong like you are for us, each day!

Changes...

I feel like mostly all that has changed in our lives are for the greater good! New baby, church home, living on base... It's funny how we evolve over the years and can look back at all the ways in which we too have adapted to the surroundings and life we create! I'm both nervous and excited to move off the island, the place we will have called home for the past couple of years! Here we have made amazing friends and stay active with wonderful daily activities from recreational activities to church program to MOPs and playgroups as well as Jakson's preschool activities! Planting new roots somewhere means you grow... Then become accustomed to the routines you create! I love how the military gives our family a sense of community though.. Wherever we go, we will have met people who were headed somewhere we may follow on our journey too!
Today my husband out of the blue says, "church -- that's what's made a difference!" Shocking sentence if you know my husband haha! Only because his witty humor would make you wonder if he's serious or not sometimes! Even I don't always know when he's serious or joking until I see his smile bc he can look so stern or goofy in a moment's notice when he's playing around! Truly church has been great for us in learning how to trust God and each other with our daily life, struggles, worries and changes. To spend that time together in His word listening to strong parables from the Bible gives our week a revitalization we couldn't create ourselves. I have noticed we talk more, not just about God, but about what's heavy on our hearts, our feelings, with our kids... We gain patience and are much slower to anger!
Our family may not have it all together, but together we have it all! I love that motto!! Life has it's ups and downs, moments of glory and times of sorrow.. No matter what changes life may bring, with the Lord, we can weather any storm!
I'm so proud of Josh, Jaks and Jily... Today I teared up several times, all for different reasons -- Jily's shots (oh I always cried with Jakson too), Jak's loving statement about taking needles for his sister and my husband telling a personal story to one of our best friends bc he was so animated about it! What a blessed life we have and you can bet I don't forget anymore to look up and say thanks for that love above that never changes even everything else does!!!

What a busy life for the Js!

Wow, I cannot believe how fast the days fly by! At least I can recount them and say they are almost always filled with fun and memories! Josh and I have the strongest marriage ever and each day it keeps getting better! The kids are growing up soooo fast! In a few days Jily bean will be 4 months and she's over 17 pounds already! She coos and smiles constantly now! Jaks is such a character! He makes us laugh constantly! He's witty, affectionate and overall a near perfect kid! I'm grateful for our awesome little family, and am so blessed with great family and friends in our life!
If I wasn't so tired these days, I'd write more often like I originally planned... By 6pm, I've been functioning 10-12 hours already, figuring out if not already cooking or helping hubby with dinner amongst our 544 other things to finish up with before getting the kiddos and ourselves to bed at a decent hour (thankfully the little ones are both good sleepers)!
What I can say is definitely true and I'm so proud to voice it.. We don't do drama! There's just no time for silliness, bitterness, ugliness, resentment, etc in our lives! Josh and I are surrounded by positive on purpose! One thing no one can nor will take away is our happiness - with each other, our children and those close to us! I guess I say this because in the past many have tried - and I'm sure others will too inevitably ... It's just a nice feeling knowing peace in our lives, the kind that can't be taken away by man nor materials!
Which leads me to sharing our next celebration... We just found out we are going stateside!! We are headed to Washington state this summer... Very exciting news that we can drive places to sightsee and visit loved ones again, plus most importantly it's a new adventure for our family to embrace together! I'd be lying if I said we won't miss paradise, especially all he amazing friends we have made here, but by trusting in the Lord to guide our path, this journey is sure to be a fun one!
Hopefully I can start writing while I feed Jily or pump bc that seems to be a convenient time to relax and reflect.. Other times I sit down and it's quiet, I'd prefer a nap or bed over exerting much energy haha!

Oh my, it doesn't look like blogging during the week is realistic for me. Maybe I can keep a running tally during the week of the topics I would like to write about on the weekends! By the time our day is done, I'm ready to relax by resting my mind and body. I used to find enjoyment in scrolling thru FB, maybe posting a thing or 2.. Not so much anymore, although I do try to put up a few pics from each day that I'd like to get in a habit of putting on here as well!!
We are all excited about Valentine's Day tomorrow and Jakson helped me make Mickey cookies for dessert! He's going to LOVE his presents!! Instead we found usable items like a sandwich decruster that makes heart shapes and a crayola designed plate with multiple, moveable trays and of course, for fun, a taking monkey and a tiny Madagascar candy dispenser similar to a PEZ! Jily is too young to know, but she got some girly girl stuff from a little boutique and is wearing the red ruffled bloomers tomorrow! Joshy got a bunch of thoughtful items from the grocery store from me (sounds silly, but the food he likes takes time to analyze) because we already did each others' presents a couple weeks ago - Maui Jim's - since we both had our eyes corrected and need to protect them with a nice pair of glasses! He'a whipping me up breakfast and I'm doing dinner!
See that us how our family operates - together! We share blessings and burdens with each other! The 14th of feb isn't that special to me anymore.. It's another day! That's bc I feel, give and receive LOVE everyday! Jakson is such an affectionate kid, my husband always shows us how much he cares about us and it's even evident with our daughter how much she thrives on being a part of what we do.. She smiles bigger than Christmas at Jaks, chills out with Josh while he reads and coos like crazy with me, as of to tell me like Jaks does all about her day!!
So I've just played out tomorrow.. It's honestly another day for us as a family, just with some extra attention to details by saying HVD! Oh and Jily and I are going to Jakson's preschool party and taking the cookie cake he picked out and chose decorations for.. Perhaps I can blog bloggy better tomorree!

Love like you do a baby.. Or in my case tonite, sleep like one first!,

Today was one of the best family days we have had in a long time!! Infact, I'll update this tomorrow with some great thoughts about today's church sermon and life in general! We also shared a fun time with some wonderful friends at a creative and inspiring birthday party for a sweet 3 year old boy! You know it's been a good day when I'm quiet haha... Boys even passed out earlier than usual... Yep that's a sure sign of exhaustion, momma in bed before midnite and baby girl falling asleep already! Prayers of peace and joy to ALL :)

Healthy choices...

You can ask a million different people exactly what does this mean - and probably get about a million different answers! For our family, we have made a conscious effort to eat greener AND leaner! It's even started a biggest loser competition between Josh and I, which is funny!! I guess I should have eaten my words right when I said after having Jily that I'd never weigh more than him again because guys seem to have no issues with getting trim fast.. Hey at least I still have breastfeeding to blame.. I need the extra fluff for our baby girl right?!
I love my children more than words can express, but I wonder how those moms with 2 or more kids get through the trip smoothly... A few weeks ago, after my Pearl Harbor Hickman MOPS meeting, I made the assumption I could just pop in and grab the few things on my list in 30 minutes or less.. HA! Joke was on me!! Jily's Britax carseat doesn't fit on buggies like the American ones do over the top and since she was asleep I figured by just bringing in the stroller that attaches to her carrier, then Jaks could help me by pushing one of the little carts, which he loves to do!! Let's just say about 15 minutes in, my daughter was screaming because she woke up "starving" and the cart my son was pushing had now blocked his sight since the baskets are 2 high, around 4 foot or so tall and with baskets only about as big as the carrying ones, only on wheels. Picture me now holding Jily, trying to keep a pacifier in her mouth and bounce her walking until we get to the checkout, steering the stroller and also guiding Jakson and his cart to not make other shoppers innocent injury victims of either or both objects... Yeah, not really the vision I had going in! Usually Josh and I tag team and shop together, so I realized that day this was my last attempt to shop alone with children for a while unless I absolutely HAD to! Kudos to all of you moms that do for not losing your sanity on Aisle 3!!!
So back to the topic.. shopping for MSG free and organic is getting much easier as more product selections are offered! The part that is requiring so much practice is reading labels, hence why the above was so hard and I was way too distracted and overwhelmed on my "quick trip" to do so... I didn't even finish my list that day because I am not yet good at knowing what has bad additives and such in it just by sight. One of our biggest practices is staying away from packaged food with a bunch of ingredients. Dyes are a big no-no as well as high fructose corn syrup. You may ask why does it matter... I'm convinced the foods without this stuff and a bunch of "crap" in it, to include a bunch of preservatives, just taste better. If any of that research is true too about children's behaviors and such being linked to not having a healthy diet, then why even test that theory? I wish my mom would have cared more about our nutrition starting when I was a child, and then instilled that mind frame of snacking wisely into me early on. Instead we ate out a lot and I loved junk food. Thankfully, she taught me great care for my teeth and body, but diet and exercise just weren't part of our daily routine. I think I left for college knowing how to make homemade spaghetti, Italian chicken and scrambled eggs. That changed when I was on my own in college and bought my first grill since eating out wasn't an option, nor was roman noodles and cereal very tasty everyday!
I don't know that I could ever be as dedicated as some of our friends though that are on a full out Paleo diet! Mainly because I hang on to that excuse that Jily still needs the dairy, carbs and sugar, but it's me that really likes them.. plus I always said I'd never prepare different kid and adult meals and Jakson loves his cheese and noodles! Maybe in 3 months I'll get stronger (or desperate to lose the baby weight)! If you haven't watched Food Inc and Forks Over Knives, please do! That really inspired us to get serious about these healthy living changes! We don't buy processed meats at all anymore, so we are eating lots of fish (wild caught NOT farm raised), and then grain fed aka organic meats. It is both sad and scary how commercialized the beef and chicken industry has become!! I don't want to be fighting heart disease and/or diabetes and/or obesity in 10 years when I could have made some pretty simple changes earlier in life. I want Jakson and Jilyann to develop good eating habits now too. I am so proud of Jak because he's always been a great eater. When his friends offer him candy, he asks first and often will say on his own I have to wait until I eat first. There are also many times for lunch and/or dinner he will ask for more. He loves broccoli, beans and all meats! That's why I wouldn't consider our changes extreme since we never have been a family that liked bad foods. We love fruits and veggies and no one is a picky eater! I hear a lot how big of a blessing that is that he's always eaten for us what we make, and he only doesn't like pickles, mushrooms and brussel sprouts. Infact, I made his baby food from 6 months on and then when he got to the meats, just blended up what I was eating, that usually consists of a full balanced meal. Josh bought a Baby Bullet to the same for Jily in quantities, that way we can store it too.
The misconception is it's so much more expensive to eat well... Here's how I look at: you get what you pay for! Just like everything else, when it's quality you spend a bit more. I think there are many ways to be wise about spending on groceries. Coupon clip, compare ounces and labels on other similar brands and meal plan -- these are all strategic ways to shop! Today, I had a few hours of mommy time thanks to my husband. That means I got to spend 2 hours doing the 3 things above instead of doubling that with a family trip or one with the kids. Take a guess how much a buggy full at the commissary was that filled up both freezers, our fridge and fruit basket on the counter?? Just 300$ and except for fresh needs, this will last us most of the month! It was nice shopping alone because I don't use my phone in the store and focus on just what we need, not the oreos calling my name outload, "Oh Jessica, you know how good I would taste dipped in your milk.." Somehow I even resisted Hershey's and bought some Ovaltine to combat the sweet urges and midnight cravings instead! Hopefully rice crackers will be just as good for dipping ;P Josh is down 15 and I'm only minus 6... I've got to get moving and fight off all the unhealthy urges to catch up, whatever it takes (praying he tapers off soon ;))!!!