Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day, so I want to give a little shout out to all of my fellow military spouses out there... because, let's be honest... nothing about being a military spouse is easy. We are separated from our loved ones for months at a time, often feeling like single parents. Our reality is counting down the months, weeks, and days until your spouse comes home from deployment, while anxiously praying that they are safe. It isn't easy, but we continue to stand strong, no matter how many times they deploy. My husband was wounded in Iraq, but he is still here with us today. My heart goes out to all those wives whose husbands never made it home. Every day that I get to wrap my arms around my husband, or watch him playing with my boys, I feel blessed. I am thankful. God is good. ♥ 

God bless all the military families out there- you are amazing!

We're back, Jack!

In case you didn't already notice, by looking at my poor, neglected blog... I took a much needed blogging hiatus. I had no idea how long it would last, or whether I would ever return to blogging. Blogging just lost its appeal after Emmett was born. It was starting to feel like more of a job than a hobby. So, I took an unannounced break. Sorry for that.

I'm back, but I'm going to be taking this blog in a bit of a different direction. The very first picture on this post is a picture of me, and only me. No kids, no belly. If you find that a little strange, that's probably because I don't think I have EVER posted a picture that didn't have something to do with pregnancy or my babies- because that's all I really saw this blog as- a baby blog. Well, that's about to change. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of pictures of the boys, but there will also be posts that have nothing to do with them. I've been so engrossed in being a mother over the last few years, that it's time for me to focus on myself a bit, too.

Lately, things have really been changing in our household. There are BIG plans in the works. When I say big, I mean huge, enormous, GIGANTIC plans. Our lives will soon be changing in ways that we can only imagine right now. I am very much looking forward to our future, and I plan to record every part of the adventure we will soon be embarking on in this blog. For now, all I can do is plan, wait, and enjoy our life here in Texas with my husband and two little boys.

Speaking of those boys- they have been doing a lot of changing lately, too. Elliot had tubes put in his ears, which corrected his hearing, and lead to a literal vocabulary explosion. Although he was once behind in his speech, he is not anymore. He says so many new words and phrases a day now that when his speech therapist asks what is new at each weekly appointment, I can't even begin to remember it all.

We celebrated Emmett's first birthday with a rainbow themed party last weekend. How is he already one? My head spins when I think about it. He is now walking all over the place, saying words, pushing cars around, tackling his big brother... you know, doing all those normal ONE YEAR OLD boy things. But he hasn't lost his attachment to his mama, or his love of nursing and cuddling. I know he will eventually grow out of it, but he is still Mama's Little Cuddlebug, and I think he will stay that way for awhile still. I intend to fully enjoy every minute of it while it lasts.

One more picture from Emmett's cake smash. Don't worry- he'll get his own birthday post soon.

So, are you ready to read and watch as our little family of four's life gets turned upside down? Good. Grab your hat, because things are about to get a little crazy around here...  

gastroschisis awareness

Hello, Jess here from sick-land. Yes, my boys are sick again- surprise, surprise, right? But I decided to hop on for a minute to talk about a nonprofit organization that is near and dear to my heart.

Avery's Angels is a nonprofit organization founded by a mother who lost her son, Avery, to gastroschisis complications when he was in the NICU. I found a lot of support and comfort through their founders and facebook group when I was pregnant with Elliot. Please, if you have time, take a moment to visit and "like" their facebook page.

Did you know the cause of gastroschisis is still unknown, even though it is on the rise? Current statistics show that it affects 1 in every 2,229 babies. It is far more common than many other birth defects, yet nobody knows why it happens. The people at Avery's Angels are trying to change this. 

The amazing people at Avery's Angels are working on an awareness video with before and after pictures of gastro babies to use in their PR campaign. I put together this little collage for them :)

Everytime I look at pictures from Elliot's time in the NICU, I get emotional. It's amazing how far he has come, and what a happy, and (mostly) healthy little boy he is now! God is great! 

Someday, when we get our finances under control, we would love to donate to Avery's Angels, and many other nonprofits. We also love the Ronald McDonald house- that's where we stayed the entire time Elliot was in the NICU. It was great to be so close to the hospital and they provided a lot of meals and activities, too... as well as a shuttle to and from the hospital that ran from early morning until late night. St. Jude's is another nonprofit I really love.

Do you (or would you) donate to any nonprofit organizations? Which ones?

how are those boys doing?

As you all know, I've been busy working on improving my photography lately and building up a portfolio. Well, I don't know if it's because I've been so busy taking pictures of other people or what, but I haven't been taking many pictures of my boys!

It was beautiful today so I brought the camera out with us when we went outside to play. Because goodness knows, they'll only be this little once and I want to capture every little moment along the way.

Emmett is crawling and sitting unassisted now. Supposedly, sitting develops the muscles for crawling... but Emmett didn't get that message, because he actually learned to crawl much sooner than he learned to sit up on his own. I think he's just too busy to sit still!

Elliot's speech has been improving A TON ever since we started working with a new speech pathologist and he was diagnosed with Apraxia. There will be a whole blog post about this soon, but he has sooo many more animal sounds now and he is attempting many more sounds than he ever was.

Elliot and Emmett are getting along so well! I could sit and watch them interact all day long. Now that Emmett is crawling and playing with toys, Elliot is always right there next to him. They're always laughing at eachother, playing together, doing all that cute brotherly love stuff that I pictured when I was pregnant and found out we would be having two little boys close in age. 

Elliot is a big fan of kissing, hugging, smooshing, and cuddling his brother... even when Emmett thinks he has better things to do!

I love those little boys!

free movies!

Have you ever tried Redbox?
You can rent DVDs for only $1.20 a day, and return them to any box in the US! They have Bluerays and video games, as well. We have been renting from them for a couple years now and we love it.

I just thought I'd share some free promo codes for January. As long as you return the disc before 9pm the next day, you will not be charged. Each code can be used once per credit card.

DVDONME: free rental code
BREAKROOM: free redbox code
WALGREENS: free redbox code, valid only at Walgreens
REDBOXHEB: free redbox code, valid only at HEB
DRIVEIN: free redbox code, valid only at Sonic

Happy watching! :)

Happy birthday, dear husband!

{oldie but a goodie}

I just wanted to take a moment today to say,

Happy Birthday to my husband!

Aaron has been through a lot over the years, fighting for our country. He provides for us and has made sacrifices for his family. He is an outstanding father {there's a reason why Elliot's first phrase was, "Hi daddy!"} No matter what, he still remembers to say "I love you" multiple times a day. I couldn't really ask for anything more. I sure do love that man!

PS: today is also my father's birthday! 

The two most important men in my life happen to share the same birthday.  

:) Happy birthday, Dad!

little projects

It's no secret that I'm a little completely obsessed with organizing and cleaning. Lately, I've been finding so many great ideas on pinterest and elsewhere, so I thought I'd make a list of ten great little ideas that I hope to accomplish soon!

1.
Paint and hang letters for our initials above individual towel racks/hooks... I've also seen this done with framed pictures. Not sure which idea I like best!

Source: somewhatsimple.com via Jess on Pinterest

Source: timberandlace.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

2.
DIY fridge shelf liners {plastic placemats}. So easy to clean and super cute.

Source: lh3.ggpht.com via Jess on Pinterest

3.
Get food staples {pretzels, rice, flour, pasta etc} out of boxes, bags, etc and into clear containers for both in the cupboards and on the countertops.

Source: houseofsmiths.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

4.
Use a plastic silverware organizer to hold and label everyone's toothbrushes in a drawer... gets them off of the counters and out of cups. Also holds toothpaste and floss.

Source: indulgy.com via Jess on Pinterest

5.
Make a cute magnet board and attach magnet strips to makeup.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jess on Pinterest

6.
Print and organize favorite recipes into binders to put on the kitchen counter- love the rainbow. Would also probably doing something similar for all of our important documents and paperwork.

Source: abowlfulloflemons.net via Jess on Pinterest

7.
Colorful wall photo gallery for hallway. Either with different colored frames or mats. :)

Source: marthastewart.com via Jess on Pinterest

8.

Photo wall with string/ribbon and clothespins

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9.
Find an antique dresser to paint for our bedroom. Also add cute knobs or handles from Hobby Lobby.

Source: iloveswmag.com via Jess on Pinterest

10.
Handpainted tree rungs.

Source: etsy.com via Jess on Pinterest

I'll be sure to post when I get around to doing each of these!

potty practicing

If you're like me, you shudder when you hear the words "potty training."

I've been dreading it. I don't know if it's that word, training, which seems more appropriate for a four-legged friend, or the fear of trading in the cloth diapers and cute fluffy butts for soaked underwear and pants... and socks... and floors... but I've been putting off potty training  for awhile now.

So imagine my disdain when my son, a few months before turning two, starting showing some SERIOUS interest in the "big boy potty." First, he started accompanying me to the bathroom. Then, he started watching me intently, as if he were memorizing all the steps to a successful bathroom break. Soon enough, he started insisting that HE tear off the toilet paper for me, and was always excited about flushing the toilet and yelling "byeeee!" as the water swirled and dissapeared. Around that time, he also started telling me when he had a dirty diaper, which was soon followed by him telling me BEFORE he pooped.

You're probably thinking, that's great! So you started potty training him then, right?  Wrong. You see, everything I've read says that they aren't ready to start until they have aquired a number of skills {being able to undress themselves, climb up onto the potty by themselves, wake up from a nap with a dry diaper, etc}. Well... Elliot isn't really able to do ANY of those things. So I figured we'd wait awhile. Elliot, however, had other ideas.

Not too long ago, we started occasionally taking his diaper off and sitting him on the toilet. Every time he'd go, we'd clap, cheer and dance. It got to the point where he would try to hold it until I remembered to take him potty, so I decided to start having him wear "big boy" undies {SOOO stinking cute!} and that's where we're at now. He wears underwear most of the day at home. I take him to go potty about every 30 minutes and he, surprisingly, has not had any accidents. He gets pretty upset when he doesn't have his "un-jees" on. He's not able to pull down his pants on his own yet, or get on or off the potty by himself, and I seriously doubt that he'd remember to use the potty if we were out of the house so I know he's not actually "potty trained" yet. That's fine with me. The average boy in the US isn't fully "toilet trained" until he is 38 months old. Elliot is only 25 months old. So we've got plenty of time. :) 

I've decided to call our little approach "potty practicing." 

We have no set timeline or goal... just that he uses the potty whenever possible, and that we always remain positive along the way. There won't be any pressuring or punishing. Thanks to that, HE LOVES IT! He really does. 

Thoughts on Homeschooling

We are still very seriously considering homeschooling our children. 

{Click here to read my initial post on this topic}

I haven't exactly figured out how I plan to arrange it all. I know that I want to devote an entire room in our house to homeschooling. I'm envisioning a chalkboard wall, all of the map/letters/numbers/etc artwork I've accumilated on the walls, organized cubbies and bookshelves, fun bulletin boards, a cute table and chairs...

Source: reddustlove.blogspot.com via Jess on Pinterest

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I've also figured out which math curriculum we plan to use. I did a lot of research {and talked to a lot of local homeschooling mamas} and have decided we're probably going to be using Math U See. It is a complete K-12 math curriculum, and from what I understand, seems to work well for all different learning types. The math curriculum is pretty important to me, because I struggled with math in school, and I want a strong curriculum so that my children will hopefully have an easier time than I did learning and grasping even the most difficult math concepts.

Source: mathusee.com via Jess on Pinterest

I haven't quite decided out how I plan to tackle the rest of the subjects. We will be using some workbooks, and I found a Catholic curriculum I'm interested in. I doubt we will be sticking to a strict curriculum, though... especially not for English/composition/reading. Those are my passions. I've found some fantastic reading lists organized by age/grade that I plan to use. We will definitely be taking field trips to nearby museums, factories, historical sites, etc as I'm a big believer in hands-on learning.

 I will keep you all updated as I do more exploring and research... and am ALWAYS open to suggestions!

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

2013 new year's resolutions

Source: oprah.com via Jess on Pinterest

#1: To find myself again
The other day, when on my facebook, I realized something. My "about me" section on facebook says this: "I'm a 23 year old army wife and a blogging, attachment parenting, baby wearing, breastfeeding, cloth diapering mama." 

Yes, I am all of those things... but what else? It seems my entire life revolves around taking care of my babies, washing diapers, doing dishes, folding laundry, cleaning, and cooking. Sure, those are all important things... but what do I do for ME? Who am I, besides a wife and mother? Until recently, I was struggling with that question.

Don't get me wrong. I love being a mom... but somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost myself. I used to have hobbies, hopes, dreams, and ambitions... and over the past couple years, all of that went out the window. There is so much more to me and my life than just the role of being a good mother.

So my NUMBER ONE priority this year is finding myself again. Regaining my sense of self outside of being a stay-at-home mom. For that reason, you won't see any resolutions like "be a better mom/wife/etc" on my list this year. This year, I'm focusing completely on improving my own personal life and making myself truly happy.

Source: photoquotes.com via Jess on Pinterest

#1: Becoming a better photographer

If you asked me a few years ago, before my children were even a twinkle in my eye, what I would want to do with my life, the answer would be simple: "become a photographer."

This year, I'm focusing on trying to make that goal a reality. First, I finally sat down with my camera and some good books/articles and figured out how to use my camera manually. After a lot of practice with things like manual focusing, aperture, shutter speed, etc... I am finally comfortable shooting in Manual about 95% of the time.

Second, I made a facebook page and started taking pictures for others in order to learn more and build up a portfolio. If you haven't visited Jess Gougeon Photography on facebook, please do! :) and if you live in the central Texas area... feel free to shoot me a message!

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#2: Start Running Again

I used to be an avid runner. I ran track and cross country in middle school, high school, and college. Yet, for whatever reason {bedrest while pregnant, then lack of time? lack of energy? I don't know.} I haven't gone for one single jog since finding out I was pregnant with Elliot. If you do the math, that means that after running basically every day for eight years, I just flat out stopped running altogether for the last three years.

I really miss it. Call me crazy, but for me there is no better feeling than coming to the end of a long run, finally stopping and stretching while sweat pours from every pore on your body, your lungs burn, and your heart hammers in your chest.

I want to start taking time every evening to spend 30-60 minutes on my own, going for a nice run, with my favorite music filling my ears. That sounds simply wonderful!

Source: lifes-a-journal.com via Jess on Pinterest

Other Resolutions: 

To eat less meat and processed foods, to lose the last 5 lbs of baby weight, to take time to READ again, finally put together photo books of our marriage and the boys' pictures, to blog more, to grow my hair out until it's super long, shiny, and healthy... to do a 365 photography project, to start eating dinner at the table again, to be the best wife and mother that I can be {okay, I said I wouldn't say that, but it's still important to me}.

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So those are my goals. What do YOU want to do with this new year?