Jake at 5 months.

This big ol' blob is coming right along!  I swear I just wrote my 4 month post.  The months are going by like weeks, I tell you!

At 5 months, Jake:
-Lifts his legs up high while he's on his back, not quite grabbing his toes.
-Stays on his tummy longer these days, while arching his back more.
-Goes to bed around 7 and wakes up around 6:30.
-Naps twice a day, though sometimes a cat nap around 5 if we're lucky.
-Started eating food!  Eats 3 times a day.  Eats like a champ.
-Teething no going away any time soon. No teeth yet but there are 2 annoying bumps that plaque him all day long!
-His giggle is contagious and will laugh at anything, even getting a diaper change.
-Very ticklish!  Even changing his clothes, he'll start laughing.  It's so dang cute.
-Loves his exersaucer now and will play in it for a while.
-starting to become needing and will whimper at you to come pick him up.  Too presh.
-Started doing a wiggle move while on his back.  He just goes back and forth, haa ha it's so funny.
-Thanks to Joe, he now growls for a long time if he's bored or if he's playing along with Daddy.

Before I know it, he's going to be off to college!  Sheesh!

Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week was Spring Break so we had all 4 kids at home at all times.  I went crazy a few times, i'll admit.  I can only handle that much mayhem a day here or there.  

But to contain the crazies, we kept busy throughout the week.  One activity that is always a winner in our house is baking cookies!

And not just any cookies.  These have been found to be the softest, yummiest kind EVER.  Period.

And i'm going to share the recipe with you just so you can try them and acknowledge that this is, in fact, the softest cookies you'll ever have.  So Thank you Ashley Gaskell for sharing these with me!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 stick of butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 3/4 c. chocolate chips (you also add other types of chips too!)

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and set aside.  Cream together butter, cream cheese, both sugars and vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time.  Gradually mix in the flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Form into about a tablespoon ball and bake 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes.  Let cool then store them.  They stay soft for a long time!

Seriously, these only lasted a day at our home.  I think i'll make another batch today....

Jake & Dad.

More and more, you can find Jake conversing with Joe or I.  It's really adorable watching him try to talk back and coo.  So one day, as he was in the midst of talking with Joe, I took advantage with my camera.  There are so many pictures and didn't have the heart to delete any since they are just so cute.  Enjoy :)

Can I just add here that he has the biggest forearms ever!

And these just MELT my heart...

Easter hunt.

Sunday was a great, low-key day.  After church, the kids dove into their baskets, which had their Easter attire & candy.  We watched The Easter Carol by Veggie Tales and other movies.  The kids played outside because it was gorgeous.  Then Joe went and hid about 100 eggs on our property, front and back of the house.  

They especially had fun knowing these eggs had candy in them so they went crazy!

Here they are with their baskets, all full.  They did awesome.  We had approximately 96 eggs and on their own, they found 94 eggs.  Then Joe stepped in and helped them find the last two!

Happy Easter 2013

We hope you remember the true meaning of Easter today!  God loves us beyond what we can comprehend.    He sacrificed his own life for us & then conquered death so that we may live with Him again!   

Please watch this wonderful Video of Christ that is dear to my heart.

Custom T-Shirt Giveaway

**Giveaway over!  Congrat Emilee!  you are the winner!**

Who else LOVES this 80s classic, Sixteen Candles?

This is one of the movies I grew up with.  Random huh?  My family was a "movie" family so I grew up with the classics...

I wanted (and still want) this T-Shirt... 

Only I would probably go with this style:

What do you think?

Cue in Dress United.  This company has the tools I need to do that!  They have lots of T-shirt styles to choose from too.  So if I want to make one for Joe (not pink though), they have a Men's style.  It's quite easy to do.  It's really easy to make them customized for any occasion.  

My design would be purely for fun but these would be perfect for teams or businesses!  A couple of summer's ago, we made shirts for Joe's practice.  It was a big pain in the you-know-where.  Most places don't have what we wanted and uploading images weren't working!

But Dress United is a very simple process and you'll be done in no time!

So their company contacted me to host a giveaway for you readers and I was more than happy to comply.

One winner will have the following options to choose from:

-A Free$25 gift card for a Custom Shirt from Dress United

-$50 gift card for car magnets from MagnetsOnTheCheap

-$40 gift card for a vinyl banner from BannersOnTheCheap OR,

-$30 gift card for yard signs from SignsOnTheCheap

Lots of options for you to choose from if you win!  All of these are great for advertising or anything fun for your family :)

So to enter, simply leave a comment, telling me what you would design for a t-shirt then share this on Facebook.  (its as simple as clicking the FB icon below this post to do so.  It'll take you a second)

Extra entrees include:

-following me via Google+, Pinterest, FB, & Twitter.  All of those social media buttons are found on the side bar.  Can't miss them.
-Or pinning this giveaway.

This Giveaway will end Next Friday at midnight.

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Easter Party

Kate chose to have an Easter party with her friends from school.  It was right after Kindergarten so we had pancakes for lunch and other goodies.
We decorated some eggs and made other fun stuff.  Then we had an Easter Egg Hunt.  The girls were so excited and had a lot of fun.  This group of girls were so sweet and fun.