My Irish Twins and their half birthday

I have not been nearly as good about keeping up with this blog as I had planned. I will work on that. The kids are 1.5 and 2.5 today! Wow, How time flies!

Josalyn is almost completely potty trained (except at night) and we are thinking of preschool in the fall. She is such a good girl, not very whiny, all around easy!

Jonas is the most fun awesome little guy that you will ever meet, but he is such a BOY! He likes to play with balls and loves his dad and anything dirty. I am asking my blog friends for a little help though. Jonas hits. Often. He hits adults and other children. It is not a hit that hurts, and he is not angry. He just hits for fun. We have tried EVERYTHING. We talk to him, we put him in time out, we hit him back, he make him hit himself. Nothing has worked. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

My husband graduated from college in December and found a job by January! I am very grateful as I know the economy is tough right now.

New Pictures from this summer:

My Jonas has turned 8 months old! Wow, time has just flown by. He is quite the crawler and is also pulling himself up and taking one step off furniture. We are hoping to have a walker soon! (Who am I kidding, we don't need another walker). We are loving seeing our little boy grown and change before our eyes. Jonas is wearing his daddy's football number,45, and his daddy's favorite color, green in this picture!

This is my Josalyn on her 20 month birthday! She has become quite the fish and swims only with arm wings. Our goal by the end of summer is to have her learn to swim on her own. Her Grandma bought her her VERY OWN goldfish, but, sadly, after only being friends for mere hours Da dooooo passed away suddenly. She took it like a tropper, however. That my Josalyn.

I can honestly say I am happy. I (loove) my (irish) twins!

Jon and Kate Plus Eight Divorce

I know this seems stupid but I am so sad to hear this news. I really loved this family in the beginning and I have seen the effects of fame and fortune that has destroyed this family. I know now why God says,

"For the love of money is the root of all evil."

Many people twist these words to say that "Money is the root of all evil," and the one word in the middle, LOVE, changes the whole meaning of the verse.

Money can do great things. My sister, Joy Hester, and her husband, Josh, are the pastors at Vision Ministries ( www.restorethevision.com) . And they do wonderful things with money. Just this past weekend they had a huge block party where they gave away food boxes to families on the South End of Toledo, Ohio. Each and every Sunday morning they serve breakfast to anyone who comes to dine, and also on Wednesday and Monday nights. Partnered with Cedar Creek, www.aroundthecreek.com , they are reaching many lives that would not have been reached by normal means. Many people do not feel welcome in churches during a normal service for various reason, but by providing meals for families we can minister to peoples lives who, normally, we would pass by without a glance. (If you are interested in donating to Vision Ministries or serving, visit the website or call during office hours.)

(Back to Jon and Kate Plus 8)

I have watched over the years as a loving family turned into a pawn in the hands of TLC, who dangled money in front of this families faces as if they were a Dog asking for a steak. They took a family who had been forced to rely fulling on God as their provision, and gave them the security they needed financially, but they lost their soul in process. They lost what had grounded them, their family, and their faith. Will you join me today to pray for Jon and Kate and their eight????

Dentist Appt.

My little Josalyn has her first dentist appointment tomorrow morning. She is one. I am very interested in finding out what happens when you take a one year old who is afraid of strangers to the dentists office. Anyone know what the deal is?

Where it all begins....

As I write, my daughter (1.5) is watching cartoons (while sucking on her Nuk) and my son (6 months) just left me to go to his grandmas house. I don't even want to begin to describe the guilt that I feel for letting him go away from me at such a young age (it started when he was 3 months, he has acid reflux) but I'm sure it pails in comparison on the guilt i feel for letting my child have a pacifier so long!
I write this to say: I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. I still have muffin top from my two babies (they are 10 days less than a year apart) and i ate Ben & Jerrys last night. Sometime I scream at my husband (sorry, Jon) even though I have strong convictions that you should not argue in front of your children (hopefully i will have this under control by the time they are old enough to remember, right).
I used to blog at livejournal, before kids and muffin top, but I'd rather not continue my blogging adventures there. That journal is filled with Tenn-angst and was written by a person i am simply not anymore.
So, Hello blogger world, it's wonderful to meet you. My name is Mom (or Jennifer to more sophisticated people, Jenn to those who love me, and Da doooo to my daughter who refuses to say mom)