A few more cute moments of life with a 2 year old...

Lemon Face

Tower Man

Just some fun videos to catch up on...enjoy!!

William loves "Tigger and Pooh" on Disney! He loves to sing along...

Enjoying the birthday cake a few days after his party :)

A 2 year old's Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Adventures

A Pumpkin Patch and a 2 year old equals endless fun! This year we took William to the Seaside Stables Pumpkin Patch. Of course I had him dressed in his adorable blue jean overalls and wearing his daddy's childhood cowboy boots. He looked just so cute running around checking out all the pumpkins! As we pulled up, he noticed all the horses in the pasture and started talking about them and calling out to them. He told them we were going to the "punkin patch". He was so excited! Once we walked around the barn and he saw all the pumpkins scattered around, he squealed and took off to check them all out and pick up a few. He loved rolling them around. He loved climbing on the big ones and sitting on the tall ones. He loved collecting the small ones. He loved counting them. He loved the pumpkins! We walked around and looked at so many pumpkins and had a blast. He again noticed the horses and wanted to go over and pet them...until we got close...then he pulled back and said "no horsey get you". He clung to us with such a tight grip, but, still a smile. Philip showed him how to feed the horses and William laughed and laughed. I somehow convinced him to walk over with me to the set-up for pictures and managed to get some cute pumpkin patch pictures before he found the bouncy house. He was so cute bouncing around in there. After he finally tired of the bouncing, he was ready to pick our pumpkin and head on home. We also made a quick stop by the Butler Elementary Pumpkin Patch to check it out for later. He was in heaven with all the pumpkins here! He had the best time crawling in and out of the clusters of pumpkins. It was a task getting him to leave, but it was getting dark and cold. We reminded him we had a huge pumpkin in the car and it was going home with us...which he quickly smiled and said "it's William's punkin".



A few days later we made another quick trip to the pumpkin patch with our friends (Jillian, Jackson and Scott). We wanted to get some cute pictures of the kids together with all the pumpkins. It was a fun afternoon for the kids. William was in his own little world picking up all the pumpkins and carrying them around the patch.




Our next adventure with pumpkins was our night of carving the pumpkin. What a blast that night was! William was so excited to be out on the porch with us and his big pumpkin...until he realized daddy was cutting into the pumpkin. It took him a little while to figure out what Daddy was doing. He didn't like the pumpkin guts, but found something to do with the chunks. He quickly grabbed his dump truck and loaded the chunks up for ride. He also wanted to put the chunks back into the pumpkin like it was a puzzle. He loved the shapes on the face. He loved the pumpkin and ended up having a great time helping with the pumpkin. It was a super cute memory and a special night as a family :) We enjoy just spending time together and enjoying life with William. His innocence and excitement for life is so catching and we often find ourselves lost in time just hanging out together. Once we added the candle, William really took to the pumpkin. He had a great time blowing the candle out and then having us re-light it to do all over again.



For weeks after Halloween he talked about his pumpkin with the "wight" and the shapes on the face. He really took to Mr. Pumpkin this year!

As Halloween crept up on us, we decided William would be a "black eyed P" from the book Chicka chicka, Boom boom. He loves this story and has gotten good at "reading" it with us. He loves to call out the letters and at the time the "black eyed P" was apparently his favorite. I sewed the letter "P" on a solid white shirt and dressed him in his boots, blue jeans and new shirt. Next I painted his left eye with black face paint and we had our little "black eyed P"! He was just the cutest little trick-or-treater ever (in my opinion!)

Our friends, Heather and Eddie Cowen, were hosting a big block Halloween party so we went over to their neighborhood to trick-or-treat before heading down to their house. Their neighborhood was wrapped up with trick-or-treaters and all the houses were decorated and waiting with candy. It took William only one house to figure out what was going on, and he had a blast! He would walk up and knock on the door and say "Twick-Tweat" and then a big "Tank-you" after he received his candy. He was just too cute!! Philip and I took turns walking up to the doors with him, enjoying the moment. After we'd visited all the houses, we walked on over to the party. Heather had her house and backyard decorated just perfect! The kids played all over the back yard and snacked on kid friendly snacks. She had arranged a Chili cook-off for the adults. Philip entered his famous chili, of course!! We had such a great night! As the night wrapped up, all the votes were in and the winner was announced...Philip won!! I was tickled! I love his cooking and was so happy for him!! We did stop by my dear friend Tamara's house on our way home to visit. She had some yummy Halloween cookies for William, which he loved! It was a great ending to a fun-filled Halloween! And, of course we had to burn the candle in our pumpkin for several more nights for our little boy! Like I said, his excitement for life is so catching!! Life is great!

William in Videos

Some fun videos of William from October 2009.

Lots of fun memories...just wanted to share!

WPJ's 2nd Birthday Party! (Oct. 17, 2009)

How time flies! I still find myself watching my baby boy and getting lost in him and asking myself how 2 years went by so fast...how did William change so much from that sweet little bundle so tiny and perfect into my sweet "all boy" and perfect 2 year old!

Boy! The past 2 years have been so wonderful! So full of adventure and so full of life! I love celebrating. I love throwing parties and having friends and family over to celebrate with us, so it's only natural that I wanted to throw William a birthday party!!! I began planning this party around July...his birthday was in October :) I love planning things and wanted it to be perfect! William has fallen in love with farm animals so I felt it only fitting that his 2nd birthday be all about the farm! I found myself lost in the possibilities of his 2nd birthday! I insisted on creating the invitations by hand and making all the cute little extras for his party myself. The invitations were my favorite (until the day of the party and I saw the cake). I printed off the wording and created little barns as the invites. Each barn was trimmed in the straw raffia while the hayloft and barn doors (that opened) were traced in white chalk. The little saying behind the barn doors read...

Oink, oink, baa, baa

Neigh, neigh, Moooo

WPJ is turning 2!

After the invitations were made and mailed, my next project was the cake! I love birthday cakes!! They make me smile! I had in my mind and sketched on paper what I wanted the cake to look like and off to Publix I went. They totally outdid my expectations!! The cake was a quarter sheet cake decorated vertically instead of horizontally. They created a barn, complete with a hayloft and doors and included a pasture so I could add little farm animals! They also added the wooden fence along the sides and gave me pieces of a fence to stand up around the pasture and animals.

The words were...

Happy Birthday

WPJ is 2!

***Can you tell I love to call him by his initials?? There is just something so perfect and fitting to me to call him his initials. But his nickname that we call him is by far my favorite :) ***

The day of the party arrived and I had planned all the food to be themed around

farm food for animals...

Pig Slop (Banana Pudding)

Hay bales (Rice Crispy Squares)

Oats (Coco Puffs and Cheerios)

Chicken Feed (Pretzels, popcorn, raisins, Chex squares)

and just for the farmer...Tractor Wheels (Ritz Crackers)

I made little signs and stuck them to large craft sticks that labeled each food item. I stood the little signs up in mason jars filled with sand (which I thought was too cute). I found some burlap fabric and some red checkerboard hand towels that I used to decorate the main food table. All the drinks were in large metal washtubs. I had streamers of red, white, blue, yellow and green all over the fence, staircase banisters, chairs and tables and added balloons to the birthday chair. Uncle Hunter blew up several balloons and hung them from the table edges, tree limbs, fence posts, the swing and the hammock. To get everything decorated, I relied on the help from Mimi, Maggie, Uncle Hunter, Uncle Holden, Granddaddy and Papa! My daddy brought down tables and chairs for the party and set them up just so for me...I had him rearrange them I don't know how many times, but he did it! Mimi, Whitney and Holden taped down the tablecloths for me while Maggie and Poppi played with William inside. Philip made a barn from some plywood for me. He cut out the windows and barn doors to create a beanbag tossing area. I had our rocking horse and borrowed a friend's so the kids could "ride horses" in the pasture. I wanted to focus on William's favorite things, so I printed off some farm animal pictures so the kids could paint. We had sheep, pigs, horses, cows, roosters, ducks and barns to paint. I also had the wagon out back for the kids to ride in across the "pasture" like a hayride.

I can remember thinking to myself how I couldn't take it all in...how I wanted to remember this special day and how everyone came to celebrate my little boy! I was so happy and full of love that I was on cloud nine! Again, I LOVE PARTIES AND LOVE TO CELEBRATE!! I had all my cameras handed off to friends who were dubbed picture duty for me. I am so thankful to those friends who captured the day for me on video and in pictures!! Yes, sometimes I can get carried away, but that's me and I wanted William to have a perfect little afternoon party that he can look back on and say was his special day. I realize he was only turning 2 and some may say he won't remember it, but I will! I also know that he was so happy to have his little friends over and our family over and somehow I knew he knew it was for him! That makes me happy!!

As we sang Happy Birthday to him he just stood there in the chair holding his hands and smiling at everyone and leaning into me...for a moment, I forget everyone was there except for our little family of 3...I could not quit smiling and kept looking from William to Philip and thanking God for this moment! I also want to take a minute to thank Philip for understanding my heart and helping me throw such a perfect party!! William loved his cake and was so fascinated that it had his farm animals on it! He didn't want to put them down! He actually wanted them on his piece he was eating! How cute... Maggie helped him with his cake and snacks, which was wonderful!! She makes things so fun!

Next, we gathered all the kids to open presents. I loved how my Poppi (who's 83) sat up there with me to help! He was having such a great time helping! He would shake the bags and wiggle the tissue to get the kids excited and we let all the kids help out. William would open one and go over and sit to play with it while the kids opened others. They all seemed excited and happy to show William what each gift was. I loved this! I loved seeing all the excitement on everyone's face and watching William discover all the gifts. I especially loved it when I opened some books from Maggie and Granddaddy and he stopped what he was doing, climbed in my lap and insisted on reading them! He loves books and I love books so we spend a lot of time reading together!! When we "opened" the gift from Papa and Mimi he was mesmerized!! They gave him a beautiful art easel!! It is chalkboard on one side and dry erase on the other. It also has a paper roll that can be rolled down for the little artist! William quickly discovered what he could do and wanted to paint, paint, paint!! I know he will enjoy this gift for a while yet to come! The last big gift was from Maggie and Granddaddy. They gave him the Cozy Coupe car!! His eyes lit up when he saw the bright red car on the side of the box!! He wanted to put it together right then!! All the kids pitched in to help build the car and had a blast with all the pieces! William kept saying "Car, Moma! Car"!! I couldn't wait for it to be put together!!

As the party ended, I handed out the little party favor bags, appropriately colored either barn red or denim blue, which I filled with William's favorites...crayons, bubbles, M&M's and sidewalk chalk. It was fun watching the kids as they carried their little bags and farm pictures and listening to William tell everyone bye as they left.

So to wrap up the afternoon, it was perfect in my eyes. I loved celebrating William's 2nd birthday! Thanks for everyone who came and made the afternoon so special and so memorable! We wrapped up the night just hanging out at the house watching football and eating pizza. The guys (Poppi, Granddaddy, Hunter, Holden, Papa and Philip) all enjoyed oysters on the front porch. I loved having that moment captured in pictures! William thought he was a big boy and wanted to be right in the middle of it all! How perfect!

A mother's thoughts on her baby turning two...

Where do I begin? Where has the time gone? How did I wake up to realize my baby boy is 2?? Let me go back to October 17, 2007...

This is me Oct. 13, 2007...only 5 days before our baby is born!

It was 4:30 in the morning when I woke up. Philip was snuggled beside me with his hand on my belly "playing" with the baby. For a while now my mornings had started with me finally waking up to the feeling of the baby kicking and Philip pushing back. These two have been having a great time together. I don't mind. I think it is so sweet and realize that this morning time is special. Philip has found his own way to have some time with the baby while I sleep. So, after I fully wake up, Philip told me that he felt like today would be the day. I think I was in shock. I questioned how he knew. He couldn't explain it. (Don't you think this feeling is backward...shouldn't I be the one with the "feeling"?) We got up and headed down to Seaside for a short walk b/c I couldn't sit still. And when I say short, I mean maybe an 8 minute walk! Haha! I was waddling and cradling my baby belly. It was so quiet and peaceful outside, like we were the only ones in the world. There was a gentle breeze. That's when I knew this was our last walk before baby Justiss made it's arrival. Excitement took over...until I got home and saw the couch!! Oh, how it was calling my name! I slowly crawled on the couch and dozed in and out of sleep for the next few hours while Philip worked on the computer frantically trying to wrap things up so he could be off for the next few days. When he finally had to head into the office I headed up stairs to crawl in bed. I tried to sleep but something hit me like a lighting bolt!! I got up right then and begin frantically but somewhat calmly cleaning my house from top to bottom. I scrubbed all the toilets, tubs, showers and sinks. I scrubbed the microwave. I vacuumed the entire house. I vacuumed the couch then shoved the couches together so I could vacuum underneath and mop! I did the dishes and hand washed the few delicate ones. I stripped the bed and washed the sheets so I'd have a clean bed to come home to with my new baby. I stopped to eat some of the best jambalaya ever. It's extra spicy and I thought that would help speed up the labor. (Thanks Mrs. Debbie for this recipe!) By this point I was majorly having contractions. I had started a list of the time of them and how long they lasted. My handwriting started out neat but quickly changed to a scribble barely legible to the eye! I called the nurse line and talked to them about my day and contractions and decided I would watch things for an hour. I had already called my mom the day before b/c I didn't expect the baby to come for another few days and I wanted to just have some days with my Moma. She was driving down to be with me when I called and told her what was going on. We had to decide if she should detour to head to the hospital or come to me. I begged her to come to me and that i would wait until she arrived before leaving. I called Philip (for the 15th time) and we decided he needed to head home to get me. I headed outside to pull weeds in the flowerbed and pick up some trash my dogs had shred and scattered in the backyard. Did you hear me...I was in my flowerbed weed eating!! Haha! I was a sight. I couldn't get comfortable doing any of this, but IT HAD TO BE DONE OR I WAS NOT HAVING THIS BABY!! I finally felt content with the house so I headed to the shower. I was not going to the hospital filthy from all this cleaning! I also insisted I fix my hair! Philip and Moma pulled up at the same time and she calmly helped me gather my stuff while he frantically tried to hurry me along. Poor thing was scared out of his mind...we had to drive about 50 mins. to the hospital and his pregnant, in-labor wife was taking her sweet time leaving the house!! I was having some hard contractions but was scared to make a noise about the pain b/c he was driving like a mad man to the hospital. Thank God Moma rode w/ us! I would reach back and grab her hand and she'd rub my shoulders to help the pain pass. We finally arrived at the dr.'s office for a quick check. Philip was still trying to catch his breathe when Dr. Ingram said "Yep, today's the day. Head over to the hospital and go straight to the Labor/Delivery floor."

We pulled into the hospital around 3:30 and I was in bed getting my epidural w/in an hour! Sweet!! It was so wonderful to have my Moma and my husband there with me as we settled in for the big event! Moma started making all the phone calls and we waited, and waited and waited! Finally around 10:30 I felt the urge to push. I loved my epidural b/c I couldn't feel any of the pain. It was actually a smooth labor and delivery. I remember thinking....keep pushing...what is it...boy or girl?? I was SO READY to know what we were having!! I did begin to feel pain around 11ish and finally at 11:20 p.m.I heard the sweetest sound my ears had ever heard! I heard the softest little cry and gasp for air and I knew our baby was here and safe! WILLIAM PHILIP JUSTISS was born! I had asked the doctor not to tell me, but let Philip tell me. As soon as Philip said the words "IT'S A BOY" I sat right up in bed and grabbed my baby out of the doctor's hands! I cried and cried tears of joy and kissed his sweet little head and cheeks. I held him next to my heart and whispered in his ear that I loved him and always would. I just kept saying over and over "We have a son, we have a son, I'm a mommy!" I had to hand him to Philip but kept asking for him back :) I wanted nothing more than to hold my baby in my arms. This part was torture on my watching from across the room while they weighed my baby and measured him and cleaned him up. I wanted to be up right there with him, but knew Philip was taking care of our little boy while they did all the stuff. As soon as he was cleaned and bundled I insisted on him again. I kept kissing his little head and sang him a few songs. I said many prayers of thanksgiving over him. I kept looking up at Philip telling him how much I loved him and how happy I was. It was such a special moment for us. I treasure every second of that time! Philip was with me while my mom, brother (Hunter) and grandparents (Poppi, Granddaddy and Grannymart) were in the waiting room...then outside the door anxiously waiting! (My daddy was serving in Iraq so he couldn't be there) We had not found out what we were having so everyone was on pins and needles! I was IN LOVE immediately!! I cannot begin to try to put into words my emotions and feelings of holding my baby boy! I would be here all day! Oh, how my life had just begun with this tiny bundle of joy! That moment was perfect!! Simply indescribable! I knew God had smiled on me that very moment! He entrusted me and my dear husband with the best gift of all. God's love is so true! I've always known it and felt it, but this was THE MOST PERFECT moment in my life (thus far) experiencing God's love! My life had just begun as a mother and I couldn't wait!!

Over the next 2 years I have grown so much as a person. I have experienced life to the fullest and have loved everything about being a mommy! God has truly blessed us in life! My heart is so full and my cup runneth over for my little boy! How fast the past 2 years have flown by... how fast my little boy has changed and grown up. He amazes me daily at his love of life and desire to constantly learn and experience life. The saying about "getting everything out of life you can"...well, my 2 year old little boy does so on a daily basis, and I'm so blessed to be right there with him every step of the way! (I am taking the liberty here to get all mushy about my child, so bear with me) William is so full of life! He is so full of happiness and love that sometimes I have to catch my breathe and pinch myself. Oh, God is so good! I am forever blessed! I am so thankful that God chose me to be a mother to my little one. William completes me. William completes Philip. William completes us together. I know we all think our child is the sweetest/happiest/cutest/smartest, etc and that's as it should be. But when I tell you my child is the sweetest child and has the kindest heart that's an understatement by far! He's all boy, but he has such a gentle spirit about him that I can't get enough of and simply love! His innocence is so rewarding. His laughter is catching. His calmness is reassuring. When he walks up to me for no reason at all to say "I love you Moma" and gives me a hug and kiss I melt completely! When he looks up from playing/coloring/painting and flashes that beautiful smile at me I melt again and feel myself renewed. I love how he LOVES to snuggle with me. He is such a cuddle bug and gives the best hugs and the sweetest little pat-pat on the back. When he sleeps in bed with us, he always gets right up next to me but yet still reaches for his daddy. It's as if he wants to make sure we are both there and we're all connected. God's grace is so evident to me in my little boy. I pray others experience it through him. I pray William touches other people with his spirit and loving heart and that others will always see Jesus in him. Oh, the plans God has for my William! It's only been 2 years and I feel I could write a novel! I can only imagine what life has in store with this little boy of mine!!

It has been so amazing to experience William and all his developmental milestones over the past 2 years. His vocabulary and thought process blows my mind! He can carry on full conversations and loves to ask questions. He loves being outdoors and playing and being all boy! He's such a helper around here. When it's time to clean up, he knows just where to put his toys away (for the most part). He LOVES to say the blessing when we eat and he always wants to "Bwess God" with our prayers at bedtime. He knows his colors and shapes. He can count to 20 and sing the ABC's. He knows some opposites and loves to point out the traffic lights (red means stop, green means go). He attempts to help dress himself. He is attempting to go to the potty and is good when it comes to diaper changes. He enjoys bath/shower time and loves brushing his teeth. He's getting better at washing his hands on his own (but I still follow up and give a quick once over) He has the sweetest "pwease, tank-you, welcome, yes m'am". He is content to just play by himself but also loves to be the center of our attention. When he needs some quiet time, he'll get off by himself and curl up on the couch or find a spot off to the side in the playroom (any room for that matter) and just sit quietly and play. He still takes about a 3 hr. nap during the afternoons and sleeps through the night for us (for the most part). He has a vivid imagination and great hand-eye coordination. He loves to kick the ball and throw the ball with us. He loves building towers with blocks or anything that stacks. He loves trains and is fascinated by them. Painting is one of his favorite things to do! He just loves it when I pull out the painting tub and brushes/sponges. His face just lights up. He loves singing songs and repeating stories from books. He loves fruit of all kinds, but strawberries and watermelon are his top favorites. He loves Peanut Butter sandwiches or bagels. Cereal is a favorite in the morning. He loves yogurt, jello and pudding. Butter beans are his vegetable of choice right now. Chicken and hotdogs are the meats he eats now. Popcorn, pretzels, crackers and granola bars are favorite snacks. Macaroni and cheese is a special favorite too! About a year ago he would eat anything we offered. He loved all vegetables, soups, casseroles, meats, etc. His favorite was homemade mashed potatoes and homemade dumplins, but he's just a in a phase now. He is a healthy eater all the same.

He's just so smart and amazing to watch!! And he's only two!! This is barely skimming the surface of what all he does, but hopefully you get the picture. ***Can you tell I'm a very proud mother who loves her child with my whole heart??

William's 1st Birthday (Oct. 17, 2008)

William's 2nd Birthday (Oct. 17, 2009)

still here...

Just wanted to say that we are still here...just taking me a while to get back into things. My goal is to have W's 2nd birthday posted this week. I'm let down in myself about how far behind I've fallen with my blog...it's my journal (well, one of them at least). I'll explain later why I've fallen so far behind, but that's another story and I'd like to keep this blog in chronological order :) So, just hang with me a little bit longer and we will be back in the swing of things in no time!!

I still can't believe my baby is 2!!