lovable, huggable, squeezable fun...

lovable, huggable, squeezable fun...
with a hat.
a simple hat.
but about oh-so-much more than just the hat.
fun.

First Stroll

Joy was born in December but this Mississippi weather still allows winter babies an occasional stroll outside. There were a couple days in February that weren’t too terribly cold, so we gathered up a few essentials and went for a stroll. We waved to all of the neighbors (squirrels and birds) as we passed, and we took in all of the sights and sounds of the beautiful day (camellias blooming, dogs barking, cars driving by… oh, wait. I mean, car driving by). So where did our first stroll lead us? Down the driveway and back!! It kills me that we really have nowhere to stroll and we LIVE IN THE COUNTRY!! Josh, aka Mr. Safety, doesn’t want us to walk, run, stroll or nothin’ on the road, and we don’t have some fancy park that is quickly and easily accessible. No sidewalks with store fronts. Heck, no sidewalks, period. So, that leaves… yep, just the driveway. Up and down. Up and down. We went up the drive, and then back toward the house. Joy didn’t seem to notice the repetitive scenery. But I did. Ugh. I guess the exercise and the chance to get out is still the same, regardless of where you stroll… but still… it’s disappointing to live in the country where we are supposed to be “free” to do as we please with no city ordinances or strict neighborhood rules getting in the way, and we still can’t be “free.” Mr. Safety is concerned about the cars that travel our road. Excuse me, I must correct myself again: I meant, car. The car… okay, maybe there are two to pass by on a typical day, I’ll give him the benefit of a doubt… the cars that travel our road do not pass his safety standards. They drive too fast, too slow, on the left, on the right, in the center, back-and-forth, or ALL of the above – he can always find something wrong with the cars that frequent our teeny-tiny rural road. So, he prefers that we (kids and me) do not add to the hazardous situation by walking or strolling on the road. Besides, he says, roads are not intended for people. Just car. And, on a particularly busy day, cars. So, I have digressed. Anyway, Joy’s first stroll – here she is in the stroller, ready to go. She’s sorta displaying that deer in the headlights look, isn’t she? She doesn’t quite know what all she’s in for (yet)!

And, here’s Joy’s reaction when the stroller-pusher took a break for just one itsy-weensy second for a photo op:

As you can tell, the 3-year-old opinion of the photo-taking behavior is not a thrilled one, either.

And, here’s Joy’s expression at the end of our stroll, which was, by the way, only twenty minutes after beginning our excursion (Jax and I can only stand so much of the same ole same ole):

a new Valentine

This year, Josh and I celebrated a new Valentine in our lives. We are so happy that Cupid allowed us more love to give this year! It's so much fun! And, don't this sweet little smile make you want to reach in and just squeeeeeze her?!!!

February

I just realized that I forgot to post some of my favorite February pictures. So, I’ll backtrack a bit…
Back in February, we took Jax to the Dixie National Rodeo. This wasn’t his first rodeo, but it was still super fun. This was the first time for him to go to the Dixie National’s… or, as he calls it, "the Bull Show". He was all decked out in his very own size 1T Wranglers (!), western belt with his name on the back, John Deere boots WITH spurs, and his spiffy brand new cowboy hat (a birthday gift from Paw-Paw & Mo-Mo Leggett). We got there early, and Jax could hardly wait to see “the towboys [cowboys] ride the biggo [big ole] bulls.” Of course, the bull riding is always last so the wait was sorta long. Unfortunately, only one towboy(btw, that is pronounced just like cowboy, except with the T sound rather than C... NOT tow like "toe" but tow like "cow" ha) made the 8-second ride… the rest were thrown from the bull almost immediately upon release. I wasn’t wishing for anyone to get hurt, but I was hoping for a little more action so Jax could see the sport in full throttle. Oh well, that’s one aspect that is not predictable or controllable. Jax also enjoyed the rodeo clowns and horses and still talks about going to the Bull Show. I think his favorite part, aside from the Bulls, was getting to run around in the lovely red clay dirt on the floor while the Oak Ridge Boys were performing (the "half-time" show; ha). He met many other mini-towboys and proceeded to sword-fight with any who dared to come within four feet of him, regardless of rather the said mini-towboy had a sword for himself. I assume the impromptu sword-fighting was just for fun, as I saw no pretty maiden in tow after the jostling was over. That's just as well… I’d hate to have to run her off and hurt her feelings because Jax holds only Momma’s hand!


we got there early, so we waited in our seats... patiently... for the bull show.

And, we waited...

and

we

waited

some

more...

Until, FINALLY, the Bull Show began!!! Yay!

it's here!

Well, I do believe that Spring has finally sprung. Boy, did I have a hard time adjusting to the time change, but I really do love it this way… plenty of daylight left when I get home from work. Jax is enjoying it, too. He still has time to play outside a while before it is time for supper and baths in the evenings. That’s right; if he didn’t get enough sand and dirt on him at school, he now gets a second chance to get good’n’dirty before he has to wash it all off and hit the sack. Yay for second chances, that’s what I say! Hey, we might as well USE all the soap that I have to buy for him (more on his soap obsession coming soon!) I always know that Spring is here when I see the dogwoods in our yard blooming… and all of the other things, too. We are starting to see the azaleas break out their color, too. I love it! I wish I had more time to get into the flowers and gardening. One day, I’ll have a beautiful yard full of flowers, maybe. Right now, I’m too busy with my two little buds … their seasons roll around way to fast to risk missing anything!



Jax even found his little froggy friend again! We believe this is the same frog that he discovered last year in our back yard. He's baaaaaack! Or, she - whatever. I wonder if this is the culprit for the 8,736,291 tadpoles that have taken up homestead in our dogs' water bowl? Yeah, the ones that Josh insists on taking to the pond to release, because he just doesn't have the heart to dump out the water bowl with them in it. (and the day after he cleans out the water bowl, there's 9,328,275 more tadpoles that move in! ugh!)

That's what little boys are made of!

What Are Little Boys Made of?

Snips and snails

and puppy dog tails.

That's what little boys are made of!

Dirt and luck

and lots of big trucks.

That's what little boys are made of!

Howls and pals
and teasing all the gals

That's what little boys are made of!

That's what little girls are made of!

What Are Little Girls Made Of?



Sugar and spice


and everything nice.



That's what little girls are made of!






Sunshine and rainbows
and ribbons for hair bows.
That's what little girls are made of!



Ruffles and Laces
and baby doll faces.


That's what little girls are made of!

t.v. captures little eyes of Joy

We've made a new discovery. Joy likes t.v. Jax never really cared much for the t.v. when he was a baby. He was over 2 years old before he ever watched even a few minutes of television. He still doesn't watch much. Joy seems to be attracted to the flashing colors and lights. Like everything else, her attention span for television is very very limited, but she does indeed focus on the t.v. for a minute or so at times. Her favorite shows? American Idol and Commercials.

handyman for hire

Lately, Jax has been really into working. He's into tools, and work boots, and work gloves... all of the necessities for a real hard-working boy. As a matter of fact, we've found him fixing some things that definitely didn't need repair. But, nevertheless, we are thankful to have such a hard-workin' boy around our house.
I'm thinking about passing Josh's honey-do list to Jax... at least Jax works a little faster!

shoes

I love shoes.

I would really love to buy many many pairs of shoes... I love all of the different styles, and if I allowed myself, I'd really have a TON of shoes. But I don't. Don't get me wrong, I have several pairs, but not nearly as many as I would have if I just let myself go. I have always been pretty good about controlling my urge to buy more and more and more shoes. Until the babies came. I find that I end up buying way more shoes than a little one can wear out. LOL. They're just SO CUTE!

Here is one of my favorite pair of Joy's shoes. Size 0. And so sweet on her tiny little feet. Love 'em!

Josh says that he doesn't have as many pairs of shoes as I do (or Joy!) and maybe he's right. He don't have many pairs of shoes, but he does have lots and lots of boots! And, what else could have possibly been more appropriate for him to buy our sweet baby girl than a pair of John Deere boots?!!! The week after we found out that our baby was going to be a girl, Josh picked out these adorable little pink boots for the tiny little feet that we had yet to see other than through the assistance of ultrasound. Now that she's here, Josh can't wait for her to wear her boots. They're still a little big, but we let her wear them around the house one day... until she kicked them off. ha ha.

Speaking of boots, I should add that Jax inherited the boot gene from his Daddy rather than the shoe gene from me. I like boots as much as the next girl, but I'm all about variety. Josh and Jax, no sir-ree! They are happy to wear boots, and maybe even the same pair of boots, every single day. Jax has Work Boots, Huntin' Boots, Church Boots, and even Rain Boots. He has a lot of shoes, too, thanks to me, but they rarely get worn at all, thanks to Josh. ha ha. As if he doesn't have enough boots of his own, I caught Jax trying out a few pair of his daddy's boots one morning... (please excuse the un-made bed; when candids occur, it seems that something is always 'wrong' with the background, but I guess that's the essence of real life)

I love to wear my Daddy's shoes

though my feet are small,

When they are in my Daddy's shoes,

I feel ten feet tall!

Some day I'll grow to fill them

and I only hope to be

as fine a man and great a Dad

as my Daddy is to me.

the Moses Backet

Here's baby Joy in her Moses Basket, ah-hem, I mean, Moses Backet; that's what Jax calls it. She has just about totally outgrown the Moses basket now, but Jax still commands us to "put her in her backet" when he wants or needs some help doing something. It has become the trendy saying at our house, "put her in her backet" or "put it in its backet"... it's just another way of saying, put whatever you are doing on hold and give me some attention instead. ha ha. Little Joy has been toted all over our house in that Moses backet, and now it's about time for it to retire. We're gonna be tradin' that Moses backet in on a sporty, colorful walker real soon! :-)

how's the verse go? i knew you were best friends before I created you...??

My BFF, Amy, and I have shared many things together. Growing up, we shared the same birthday month, the same schools, the same love for fads of the time, the same boyfriends... yep, lots of stuff. Now that we are adults, we continue to notice things that we have in common and share experiences. We coincidentally shared the experience of pregnancy together... TWICE! Her oldest, Brandon, is five months and one day older than Jax. Her youngest, Layla, is exactly three months older than Joy. So, we continue to share a lot of things, and we both really enjoy that.

Because of our BFF relationship, we have always referred to Jax and Brandon's relationship as BFF; and now we refer to Layla and Joy's relationship as BFF also. I think the kids would pretty much agree with us on that BFF part. hee hee.

Layla and Joy, although best friends since conception, did not get to meet each other until Joy was about 6 weeks old. They were so funny - you could tell that they already knew so much about each other (from hearing their mommies talk, of course) and they were super excited to meet each other for the first time, too. You can definitely see the excitement in the photos...

and, my all-time favorite :

feel the love!!!!

hi ho, hi ho, back to work I go

well, it's day 3 for me.
Yep, back at it.
Work, that is.
It has been quite overwhelming these first few days, but I think once we get a good solid routine, everything's gonna be okay!
Monday and Tuesday, Jax stayed home rather than going to school... just to make sure that he is OVER the flu. We didn't want to put the other kids at risk, OR risk a relapse for Jax. So, he got a little extra attention from his Daddy for two days... "just the boys," as he would say. I think that was good for both of them.
My mom took vacation days this week so that she could keep Joy during my first week back at work. And, boy, that was super-duper nice of her!!!
Today, Jax returned to school and was really excited to see his friends again. He absolutely could not wait to get in the door and start the fun!
The drive to work has been quiet for me all week, until today. Jax kept me entertained, telling me all about his friends and what all he hoped to do today at school. I'm glad he was excited about returning.
It was very very dark and foggy this morning (or, "saucy" as Jax kept calling it!!! LOL) but we still managed to get up and get everyone dressed and out the door WITH TIME TO SPARE! Can you believe that?
I know it; me neither!
I am NEVER on time, muchless EARLY!!! This is the first morning that I've had both of the kids to dress and disperse, so I didn't really know how much time to allow, and I guess I overestimated a little bit. But it did feel good to NOT be late for once. It will probably never happen again, but we're not gonna focus on that right now. ha.
hey now, just let me bask in the glow of the EARLY morning sun for a while, okay? LOL

one smart momma

yeah, my suspicion was right!
Jax has flu. Confirmed very quickly this morning at the Children's Clinic.
So, that leaves me and Joy. Us girls! We are hoping that Ms. Flu is just attracted to the Leggett men, and that we will be spared from her wrath. Joy is too young, but I'm taking Tamiflu myself as precaution, and hopefully to ward off any tendency to develop the full-blown flu. I've bought stock in Lysol and Germ-X and we are washing clothes and hands, and, well, EVERYTHING like crazy. Hope it works. I surely do not want my sweet baby Joy to have to meet that mean ole Flu too. Jax and Josh both were/are just pitiful. These are not fun times; definitely not how I wanted to spend my last days off with my family! AUGH!
All of this is just not fair!!!

oh no, not again!

7a.m. - Josh went back to work today, finally feeling better, but still a little tired from his battle with that mean ole witch, Flu.
7p.m. - Jax has fever. 102.1 Go figure!
( I have my suspicions ... but we will call the Children's Clinic in the morning to see if I am as smart as I think I am )

Time is closing in

I'm beginning to get depressed, as my time off with my sweet new baby is coming to an end... very, very quickly. I have so enjoyed being a Stay-At-Home Momma to Joy AND Jax over the past few weeks. I must return to work one week from today - on Monday, March 9th. While getting back into a routine and strict schedule will be nice, sorta, I'd trade off being able to stay at home full-time in a heartbeat! I love my job, but I really love sticking around the homefront. Today, as I was disinfecting for the 88th time (see previous post), I was also doing a lot of pondering. Well, that's nothing new - those of you who really know me should not be surprised with that statement. Anyway, I was thinking about how I had a long list of things to do while I was off on maternity leave, and how I haven't gotten to honestly check off one thing from that list of "to-do's"... and how it was just never gonna get done if I can't get to it all in these last few days, because work consumes so much of my time during the week, and weekends just fly by with a blink of the eye, very rarely being truly "productive".
Skip forward to tonight - just a few minutes ago - I was reading a few blog posts of friends, catching up, and there it was: A poem that I have heard so many people refer to, but I have found no one who knew the entire poem - it was posted in its entirety on MckMama's site, one of the blogs that I follow! It was like that particular post was written just for me! Now that I have read the entire poem (multiple times) I love it even more than I had imagined I would.
And it is true.
So, so true.
I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Song for a Fifth Child.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Joy's 1st visit to church -- NOT!

Joy got her shots Feb. 12th. We decided NOT to take her to church for the first time on that following Sunday (15th) because it was terribly cold and very rainy, yucky, rainy that morning and she already had a runny nose. The next Sunday, (22nd) Josh was working and we opted not to go to church that morning either; we wanted to wait for him so that he too could be there when little Joy got to see God's house for the first time (and, yes, the steeple too, Jax!).
So, we were looking forward to March 1st... that would be the start of a new month, and hopefully better weather, and Joy would get to meet all of her friends at church who have been so anxious to see her. We've been pretty much hermits since she was born, only getting her out a few times, and mostly to ride only.
Well, the day before March 1st, ah-hem, Saturday, we were forced to meet something very ugly, possibly Satan's maid or something, which forced us to forgo our 'first Sunday back at church' plans...: FLU.
As in, Virus... Flu Virus.
No, it wasn't Joy who had to play host for Ms. Flu (thank goodness)... it was Josh -- you know, my eldest?!! Needless to say, this weekend has been NO FUN taking care of him, constantly disinfecting everything, and simultaneously taking care of the kiddos too. It's a full-time job taking care of a sick husband alone, muchless throw in a couple demanding kids. Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying to keep from getting the flu myself (which would be disaster, since I am supposed to return to work ONE WEEK from today - March 9) and certainly trying to keep the kids from getting it too. It's been rough around here, ha.
We've all had the flu shot, so maybe, just maybe, that will help (all of us, with the exception of Joy, who was in utero when I received it). Although, it did not help Josh that much... hate to say it, but I really hope he's taking a lick for the team here. ha ha.

So, one day, when everyone is well again, we'll make it to church, and we'll take some photos of Joy in her dress that I've been saving for her first church visit, which is going to be entirely too small by the time we make it there, but I'll put it on her anyway, and pretend that it's supposed to be that short and that the new trend is for the bubble sleeves to fit super tight! Hey, maybe I'll just add a big ole hair bow to the ensemble... that will make the dress less noticeable, right? LOL
And perhaps I can post some other (soon to be "old") pictures, too! I have tons, but I also still have Dial-Up so.... I must continue to use my tactic of low-resolution posts only, and that requires a trip to Walgreens before photos can be incorporated; sorry; I hate it too. Blame it all on Flu Virus... I hope some Trooper writes her a ticket when she is on her way out of Bogue Chitto! Ugh!