"There's a AIN'T on my arm!"

On the day that Jonah made the ant at school, he also came home with an ant drawn on his arm. He kept telling us about the "ain't on his arm!"



And, just so you know, the messy face and shirt can be attributed to his new found love of pizza!

From July 28

Back in July, we headed over to the Knapp's house for Ricky's birthday party. Before we left, we walked across the street to the Biglane's so Jonah could thank them for his birthday present. When we got to the Ricky & Una's, Jonah immediately showed Ricky and Mr. Jimmy his Bob the Builder book and hammer.
He was very intrigued with the new additions at the Knapp's...PUPPIES! Tammy took him in there to show him the new puppies. He really wanted to hold one but we didn't think that was a good idea. Those puppies were probably a little too fragile for a 2 year old.




The Roberts' brought a goat over for Ricky's birthday. Jonah was very impressed by this. He would have stayed out there all night with that goat.

One month behind

I'm trying to catch up on old pictures that were never blogged. These are from August 7th. Dan was at his first class in the Doctoral program at NOBTS so Jonah and I spent some time at the pool.




You will notice there were no pictures of him swimming. That is because when he gets in the water, it takes both hands and all of my energy to keep him from drowning. He has no fear and is constantly under the water. So, when it is just the two of us, the camera stays on the side.

I love the next picture of him reading his Toddler Bible in the bed. How very precious is that?
In case you don't know, Jonah loves his daddy. He especially loves his daddy at bedtime. Because Dan's job keeps him away so much, Dan always puts Jonah to bed at night when he is home. So, on the nights that I am here alone, he tolerates mommy but constantly asks for Daddy. There are at least a couple of nights each week that Dan is gone at bedtime, so he is certainly accustomed to me doing the nightly routine with him.
We had our computers ready so we could video chat with Dan but there was a firewall at the seminary that didn't allow the use of a web cam. So, since we had hyped up the fact that daddy was going to read him his bedtime story and say his prayers with him, then we had to opt for the phone.
I got a video of Dan saying his prayers with Jonah and telling him goodnight. I had to rush him along at one point because he didn't realize this was on video. How sweet is this?

Friend Spotlight!

One of the greatest gifts of my experience at Mississippi College was the gift of many dear, dear friends. One of those friends was Kathy O'dell. (Malott now) My freshman year, I had the honor of being suite mates with Kathy. She and I became the best of friends and still remain so today. We were married within 5 months of each other and were bridesmaids in each other's wedding. We can go months without talking but always pick up as if we just spoke yesterday. She is one of those heart friends for me. You know, the kind that if you didn't have you would feel like something was missing.

Well, she is incredibly talented and I am now the proud new owner of some of her work. Kathy stays home with her two little girls, Isabelle and Cassidy. She has recently started her on blog business selling custom artwork. She designs it according to your requests and does an incredible job.

She sent me 5 paintings recently for Jonah's birthday. They match his new monkey bathroom stuff that NeNe and Pops sent him for his birthday. Then, I ordered a painted verse that matches our brown/turquoise living room. It arrived today and is already on the wall. LOVE IT!

These are the paintings she did for Jonah's bathroom. I absolutely adore them and so does Jonah. He points to them and says "Jonah's monkeys!" We have gotten tons of compliments from our friends in the last few weeks they have been up.



This is the shower curtain that she used as the inspiration for the paintings. They look awesome in his bathroom.
Please go to her blog and take a look. You can go there by clicking HERE. She also does watercolor portraits from photos or just about anything creative you could want. You will see her amazing talent on her blog but I can attest to her precious heart. She has a desire to live for Jesus and to make him known in everything she does. Her spirit is so contagious. If you have a need for anything like this, please contact her. I promise...you won't be disappointed!

Art Projects (week 1)

Those of you who know me well know that I spent the majority of my teenage years babysitting. I vividly remember seeing artwork done by the various children adorning the walls and refrigerators of the different homes I was at. I remember thinking "that is really ugly, why would they put that on public display?" Once the "mommy gene" kicked in, I have discovered that Jonah's artwork is more beautiful to me than anything Monet ever painted!

Last year at Jefferson Street, he did a project most every day that used his fingerprints. It has been so cool for me to see how much more advanced the artwork is in the 2 year old class. He did a couple of projects that were really cool this week. This week's focus was the letter "A" and the color red.

Monday, he colored a red apple and glued the stem and leaf on the apple. He was very proud of his work. I know you saw these pictures from the post about his first day of school, but I'm trying to keep a record of his art projects by the week, so you'll have to see these again! :-)


When I picked him up Wednesday, he was very proud to show me his "Red Octopus!" Ummm....if you look at it, you will realize it is actually a red bird! BUT, I do think it is pretty ingenious of him to think that was an octopus. It was made from his foot so the toes do give the illusion of tentacles/arms. (if you are super smart, that is! ha)

We stopped by the church so we could say hi to Dan since Jonah had not seen him all day and would probably be in bed when Dan got in from church. He got out of the van and grabbed his bird to show his daddy. He handed it to him and immediately said "I did this!"


We went inside the office for a few minutes so he could give Mamaw Chandler a hug. He happily showed Joshua his artwork while he was loved on by Mamaw.
I picked him up today to find the coolest project yet. He made an ant out of pipe cleaners and an egg carton. How cool is this?? There is something you should understand about the irony of this project. Jonah had his first experience with fire ants this week! It has not been a happy week for him. He saw a bed at daycare Tuesday and picked it up to show his teacher. In the meantime, the ants had a full meal out of his hands. It was a ROUGH night Tuesday night but he is much better now. I can't believe they made ants on the same week that he first discovered what an ant is!!


He also colored a red firetruck. He told me his firetruck didn't have a "hern." (Horn) He was quite frustrated with the fact that there was no horn on the piece of paper. Don't all firetrucks have horns or sirens?

Photos by Jonah

Jonah picked up my camera tonight and said "Smile," so we did! I think my portrait came out a little better than Dan's did!

Watching the band

Debra just sent me this video by email. I think you will see just how much Jonah enjoyed the band at the Tech/MSU game a couple of weeks ago.

VERY observant!

Before Jonah was born, I switched from colored polish on my toes to a french manicure.  So, for the past 2-3 years, I have only had the white tips and no polish. Well, I finished work a little early today so I decided to go have a pedicure.   Jonah was in the middle of a birthday celebration at daycare and I didn't want him to miss the end of the party so this was the perfect time to go.   When I was done, I picked him up and headed home.  I opened his door and was holding his hand to let him jump out of the van.  Then, he looked down at my toes (with a deep red polish) and said "Mommy, you've got Manna's toes!!!"  I said "WHAT???"  He pointed to my toes again and said "mommy toes not white, mommy got Manna's toes!!"  

He is exactly right.  Amanda usually has colored polish on her toes.  He had never seen color on my toes therefore I must have taken Manna's toes!!!  

Ahhhh...out of the mouths of babes!!!

First Day of Preschool 2008

Well, my little boy has started preschool again.  The first day didn't have all of the pomp and circumstance that last year held but it was an exciting day, nonetheless.  He goes to daycare on Tuesday and Thursday at one place then goes to Preschool Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a different place.  For a while, I toyed with just leaving him in daycare Monday through Friday but I really wanted him back in the program at Jefferson Street.  He learned so much there last year.  I know it will be an adjustment on him to be in a different place each day but I think the benefit far outweighs the difficulty of the whole experience.  

Jonah started the day with some help getting ready from his daddy.  That little boy loves getting ready beside his daddy.  I think he feels so grown up when he shares the mirror with Dan.  It is cute to watch him try to do everything Dan does.  

While Dan helped Jonah with his morning routine, I was busy with a little princess!  Julia Smith is 7 months younger than Jonah.  She is starting the toddler class at Jefferson Street this year.  Her mom goes to work at 6 and her dad has to be there at 8 but preschool doesn't start until 9.  So, on Monday and Wednesday, they are dropping Julia off to us.  Jonah thinks it is so fun to have a friend to play with in the morning.  
Before we headed out for the day, I put their backpacks on them in an attempt to get a cute picture of them together.  Yeah, didn't happen!  Jonah stopped to read his bulldog book.  The Mallory's gave it to him for Christmas a couple of years ago but I've kept it away from him in fear of him tearing the pages.  I pulled it out the day of the Tech/State game and he has been obsessed with it since.  


They quickly lost the backpacks and gave them to me to carry.  I told them it was time to go and Jonah grabbed Julia's hand.  It was so sweet.  It was sweet to see him help her and lead her to the door.  I even got them to sit together for one picture in the van before getting in car seats.  AND, they almost smiled for the picture!

Can I tell you just how odd it is to look in the backseat and see 2 car seats??  Whoa!  AND, it is even more odd for one of those to be PINK!!!
We got to school early enough for me to take a few pictures of Jonah in the same spot on the steps as last year.  But, because I was trying to hold Julia while taking the picture and because I didn't have Dan there to make him look at me and smile while I was taking the picture, it didn't come out too great!  AND, Jonah did not want his picture taken because he wanted "Ju-Ju" in the picture too!  Go HERE to read about that day and see those pictures!

Getting one of them together was almost impossible.  Julia did not want to sit there for a picture.  I was able to get this one before she got away.  I think it is so cute of her.  
I love the next picture.  It was so cute to see them walking down the sidewalk wearing their backpacks.  I have pictures like this last year of Jonah and Marlie walking down the sidewalk together.  What about my kid having a date both years for the first day of preschool???  He is already so much cooler than Dan & I ever were!

Jonah was delighted to discover his name was on a FIRETRUCK!!!  I showed him the hook and he hung his own backpack up.  Sniff, sniff...such the big boy!

We walked into his classroom and he was thrilled to see Marlie.  They immediately hugged each other.  It was the first time he had seen some of his friends since May.  He told me who they were in case I forgot!
I put him down to leave and he cried...A LOT!  That threw me for a loop.  He never cried last year!!!  But, in thinking about it, I came up with several possible reasons why.

• Julia-  He isn't used to sharing his mommy so I'm sure that threw him for a loop
• Gustav-  He didn't go to school or daycare last week because of Hurricane Gustav
• New Room & New Teachers
• Everything is changing these days.  He moved to a new class at daycare 2 weeks ago.  He moved to a new class at church Sunday.
• He just loves his mommy so much that he can't bear to be without her!  (OK...I'm only wishing that were the case!!!)

After I left him and worried about him all day, I went back to pick him up and found him completely okay.  He was entranced in story time and seemed to do great.  

Before you look at the next picture, be sure to go HERE to look at what his first project was last year.  I was quite concerned about his artistic ability on that day.  I feel much better this year with his first project!  He was so proud of this one and couldn't wait to show me.  I thought it was AWESOME!!


Before leaving his classroom, he took a little bit of time to show me the fort.  I think he was quite impressed with it.  He decided then it was time to play and be okay with that classroom.  I'm hoping that feeling sticks when I drop him off tomorrow morning!!