Cold Snap!

Okay, so here in Florida we are pretty spoiled in the winter. Most days we're in the 70's and life is pretty sweet. Last week we had a serious cold snap. Jared was so excited, he took pics of his car and the grass because of the frost (aka Florida snow). He should have taken a picture of my scary outfit that day (dress and tights (for work) coupled with tennis shoes and my huge coat that resembles a sleeping bag). Due to the changes in weather, we've all been under the weather ourselves and I am looking forward to January being over. It is usually our coldest month, so it's all uphill from here.

Cutest Baby Contest

Okay so I decided to allow Ethan to follow his dream of becoming a male model. I submitted his photo to the Regis and Kelly Cutest Baby Contest. Voting doesn't start until March 9, so I'll send a reminder out to all those who want to show him support. Here's the photo I used.

Sweet Sounds

This morning my sweet husband let me sleep in. It turned out to be only 15 minutes, but hey it definitely counts. I loved that I did not wake up to the alarm clock. Instead, Ethan's laughing woke me up. It is the sweetest sound to hear my boys laughing. I just love them!

I just need to rant!

Okay, so today was a very long day. I thought it would be relaxing because I did my normal Monday chores on Saturday. We were supposed to go to the store, finish an organizing project in Ethan's room, and just relax. Well, Saturday night our sink backed up. There was a clog Jared couldn't get to, so we called a plumber this morning. He came out in a timely manner and finished up rather quickly. I paid him $90 (wow) and was excited to get to this relaxing day I'd planned. After errands and organizing, Ethan had lunch and I started on all the dishes that had been waiting since Saturday. About five minutes into the dishwasher's cycle, I see sudsy water everywhere! In my haste, I put Ethan down (mistake) and ran to get towels. Ethan followed and fell in the water, soaking himself with the water and bubbles. He was not happy and had a true conniption. I got everything cleaned up, including a change of clothes and diaper for Ethan. Luckily, it was nap time, so I put him down and called Jared and my dad. Both had good ideas and I got out my "girly" tool kit (it is actually pink and I love it) and took the bottom of the dishwasher off. I was able to soak up more water and assess the problem. Water had backed up into the dishwasher as well (it's all connected, so, duh!) and when I ran the cycle without draining it, it simply overflowed. Well, I used the wet/dry vac to do my best to suck out any water that went under of semi-new laminate flooring. It was stressful and tiring and I hope that it's over. Meaning, I hope we don't find mold and warped boards in our future if I didn't get all the moisture up. We'll just have to wait and see. Whew, what a day!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the New Year in our sleep as usual! We went to a party the Hesson's throw every year a little earlier, but were in bed, asleep by the time it officially became 2009. We are grateful to have had 2008. Despite the difficulties our world seemed to face, our family was blessed beyond our belief. We are excited about 2009, mostly because it is so fun to watch Ethan grow and learn and Jared will be about nine credits away from graduating by the time we wrap up 2009. Yeah! We went to the Jacksonville Zoo on New Year's Day. Ethan really had a great time. All the animals were named "Woof!" Below are some of the best photos. We also helped Joe and Stacey paint Lyla's nursery this weekend. It is very cute and very girly! We are so excited to have another niece. They are the cutest.

Checking out some "Woofs!" Rhinos and an ostrich is what they are technically called.Riding the train around the zoo!The giraffes up close. They were our favorite!Ethan really didn't want to ride this alligator, but I really wanted a cute picture. We had to settle for this:)

Ethan in his new track suit. Love it! Nothing to do with the zoo, just a random cute moment: )