Who is Always Ready for a Swim?

Jumping (and smiling) to Daddy without any help


So happy in the water

We took J for a swim at the YMCA last night. I had not seen him in the pool in awhile since Dave has been the one taking him on Saturday mornings. He is doing really well! Hopefully, he won't have to spend any time this summer getting comfortable with the water again since he has been going throughout the year.

The Dating Years :)

Today marks the sixth anniversary of our first date..."our" meaning Dave and me! :) Both of us have held onto this special date (not sure if other people do this) and usually celebrate it at the restaurant where it all began...Outback. Instead, tonight we are going to a Mystery Dinner with some friends of ours, Ryan and Beth, from church. They asked our family to be their family's mystery guest at their Life Group meeting (dinner) tonight, and we thought it would be another great way to meet people from the church!

Happy Birthday, Grammie!

Today we dedicate our post to my mom (a.k.a Grammie) as she celebrates her birthday! We aren't there to celebrate with her, but we hope her day is very special! Let me begin by saying we appreciate the way she cares so much about everything going on in our life...we do tend to ramble on about us..and never grows tired of hearing every detail of J's life! Even more, she gives so much to each one of her grandsons and is truly the heart of our family! We have a few photos to share in honor of Grammie on her birthday. :)

New School ???

Dave and I found out last month that we had to make a decision about whether or not we want to keep J at his current school for next year. Dave really wanted me to make this decision for a variety of reasons. Originally, I thought I would only leave him at this school for a year to gain some independence from Mommy and enjoy being around other children, but we have had such a good experience that it left me unsure of exactly what to do! I know that the longer we stay may make a new transition later more difficult. So, I started praying, talking to other moms & teacher friends, and visiting other preschools in the area. There are so many factors for us moms to think about in this decision or at least this mom! Overall, I definitely want J to be prepared for kindergarten in three years, yet, these first few years should be all about learning through play. I sneak in times to work with him at home on concepts, but sometimes outside people can be more effective. Most importantly, I really want J's first lessons to be taken straight from the book inspired by the greatest teacher of all time-Jesus Christ.

I also want a place where they love our little boy, and I feel totally comfortable leaving him. I started reflecting on the positives/negatives of where he is right now and this is what I came up with that made me make my final decision: he loves his teachers and they are moving up with his class, they sincerely love him for who he is, teachers offer feedback about him when I ask, it offers structure and socialization, they share stories from the Bible, he is learning academic concepts always through art, play, etc., versus a place where he could probably be learning even more academics, gives assessments, offers elaborate crafts (ha!), the classes are offered more days or longer days. I was going back and forth about these things for days.

Finally, it came to me that I was really becoming preoccupied with all of these details of a school; though, I know so many things are important during the formative years of J's life, but the most important thing right now is that we (Dave and I) teach him about obedience and respect. I heard a pastor say one time that if we don't teach our children to submit to us, they will never submit to our Heavenly Father. So, I put aside all of those silly details about a school, and, well, can you guess what we decided??? He is staying right where he is...still not sure why I created such a long post about it. I will post some pics to make up for it! :)

Here's what J has been doing while I have been thinking about this school thing...

Right When You Think You Have Them Figured Out...They CHANGE!

We had a busy but fun weekend! We went to see my parents and celebrate their February birthdays. It is pretty relaxing there for Dave and me because almost always there is a grandparent, aunt, cousin, etc. that will entertain J! Yes, we aren't ashamed to admit that we like to have a little break sometimes! So, this weekend, J always had someone there to play with him, make him laugh, prepare him a meal fit for a king, etc.!
Today has been a day of relaxing for J and me. I did a few things around the house while he played. He is going through this stage where he doesn't really want to play too much with Dave or me-another part of his new found independence (see earlier post: Mommy vs. Toddler). I guess it is better than him being needy and not playing by himself at all. Also, on the bright side, he still loves playing with other kids and familiar adults. I really miss the days of racing cars on the kitchen floor or putting puzzles together! :( Hopefully, those days will return. He is also becoming a little obsessed with tv which really doesn't work to his advantage since I limit his tv time. This has always worked well for us, because when I give him time to watch his show, he'll sit down and watch the entire program while I get other things done. Lately, he constantly wants to watch Barney or Mickey Mouse, and I can't seem to distract him for long with other things unless we physically aren't here. He does still love his trucks, buses, cars, etc. so that helps. Oh well, these toddlers are always changing!

Another Fun Friday

Another week comes to an end, and we have been busy with our usual activities. Today was a MOPS day, and we listened to a speaker talk about the five love languages of children based on Gary Chapman's book. Dave and I have gone through the study for adults and found it very helpful in our marriage. The 5 love languages for children are the same as adults (quality time, receiving gifts, physical touch, acts of service, words of affirmation). I have already tried to figure out J's, but it won't be totally clear until around age 5. J had a great time in MOPPETS! His teachers had previously told me that he loves music time and gets really excited about doing the motions to every song! Today, they told me that he was dancing like they had ever seen before..so much like his Daddy! :) We had lunch at Chic-fil-A with my friend, Kelley, and her two year old son. We hadn't been in about two weeks and Miss Lida, the older lady who works in there, was so happy to see the boys. She had our table set up with a little parfait for each one of us! She loves watching the boys grow up and kind of spoils both of them by letting them help her sweep when there aren't many people or giving them little treats. People like Miss Lida make me love it here! We let the boys play for a little while in the play area. J loves it in there, but won't really climb on anything unless we go with him. He'll climb up a few steps, and then he comes right back down! He loves the buttons and spin toys! He is very different on the playground as he'll climb higher than I am comfortable with at times. Well, today was little different...he threw his cautious side to the wind...climbed up to the top (I just watched)...down the slide...smiling the whole time! I was so proud of him, and we even called Dave at work to tell him! I guess J had such a good time today that taking a nap wasn't on his agenda! It was on my agenda. Urgh!!!


My new haircut

Mommy vs. Toddler

Today was the first day in J's life where he has battled me on what he wanted to wear. I have always picked out his clothes, but today he didn't want to wear what I picked out. He wanted to wear his too big anteater shirt, while I wanted him to wear his warm sweatshirt with cute buttons and a little collar. J won. After all, the anteater shirt is ok, it matches his pants, and we aren't going anywhere. So, now I have a husband who is putting an end to certain outfits and a child who has an opinion about it, also. This is just great for Mommy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Valentine's weekend was very nice at the Hilton house! Dave and I got to enjoy a nice dinner together on Friday night, and Sunday we celebrated with J before church. All of us enjoyed some dessert together after Bible study on Sunday night! Both sets of grandparents sent J a gift...must be nice being him, huh??? :) Oh, and he also got plenty of cards and even some money from his great-grandparents & cousins, David and John! We are actually very grateful for what he gets since Dave and I try not to go overboard with toys for him.


What is it from Grandpa and Grammie?


Oh YES, a WOW airplane





J loves these WOW (Ravensburger) trucks, and we do, too! They are so colorful and don't require any batteries! They move on their own when you push them and most have some kind of sound.


Ready, Set ,Go...


What is it from Guapo and MeMe?


A chocolate lollipop that I want to give to Mommy...just kidding!



Yay! A big book! I love checking out every page with the touchy feely alphabet letters.


A lollipop drum from Daddy and Mommy

Another Snow Day

Well, we didn't play in the snow this time even though this winter storm probably was the better one to play in. We just relaxed inside with the exception of Dave and I briefly throwing a few snowballs at one another which J thought was hilarious; we did allow J to walk ouside in his pajamas for a minute to throw a few. Check out the pics to see what happened when we came inside.


Right after he threw a snowball


An unhappy toddler

For You, Mommy

There is no sweeter gift for a mommy than one from her child! J brought home something special today that he made at school for me, and I was over-the-top excited! I absolutely love it when he brings home artwork that was done with his little hands! I just love that little guy!

We're Ready for....Valentine's Day!

J's class is celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow at school! Throughout February, they have been learning about love-how God loves us and the love between different friends in the Bible; they have been counting the children in his class each day to know how many Valentine cards to bring in and focusing on the colors red & pink. So, tomorrow we are taking in cookies with red sprinkles, J is wearing his red sweater, and he has a Valentine card for each of his classmates (and teachers, of course!). He picked out which Mickey Mouse card he wanted to give each friend! I remember being so excited about Valentine's Day when I was a little girl, and now it is so sweet to experience that excitement through a little boy...a precious little boy! :)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

This post is dedicated to my dad who is celebrating his ??th birthday today! :) I want to start out by thanking him for being the rock in our family; both, Dave and I, are extremely grateful for the unconditional love and guidance that he gives to all three of us! Of course, I can't go without saying that his #1 little fan lives right here in our house...just call him "Grandpa's little shadow"! We would like to honor Grandpa on his special day with some of our favorite photos!

Super Bowl Party-Toddler Style

Our idea of a Super Bowl party

Saturday Surprises for the Little Guy

Today was a day of total excitement for J! We began the day by meeting my parents (a.k.a Grandpa and Grammie) for breakfast (J's favorite meal); this was a treat, of course, since my parents live two hours away. J was so happy to see them! I am very thankful for the relationship that he has with both of them; it is such a sweet love! Over the past two years, Dave and I have found that it is truly the most precious sight to see J interact with our parents! Now here's a few more pics that show our day together! :)


Tell me more about the Dodgers, Grandpa!


An Early Valentine's Card


After dinner, Dave and I took J over to one of those places that has multiple inflatables for kids. Some friends told us about this place last summer, and we had tried it out once before with them. We are pretty impressed with the place, because we have found it to be very clean and well-designed. I do have to throw out one bit of advice to parents...if your child is starting to grow a moustache, he is TOO OLD for inflatables even if he acts as young as the other children he is with at the time! Grrr! Regardless, J had a BLAST on all of the slides and bouncing around!!!

My Good Listener

Well, it is quite a dreary day in our area! J and I had to get out in it as it was a MOPS/MOPPETS day for us. I was a little concerned about how today would go since J was up at 7 a.m.(7:45-8:00 is normal wake-up time) and was still awake at 10:30 p.m. last night when I checked on him. Basically, he needs to take an earlier nap everyday to fix the problem! Regardless, everything went really well today. J still gets a little sad when we leave him places that he doesn't go consistently, and the past couple of months haven't been typical for us with the holidays/ear issues. So, I have found that sometimes, if I just have a quick mini conversation with J about what is getting ready to happen, everything goes much smoother. Today was one of those days when I needed to have a little pep talk (from breakfast until we walked in the church) with him about no crying when he sees his MOPPETS teacher, who actually loves him very much, and that I would be back to get him. I have to admit that I was very proud of him when he walked right in the room with NO TEARS! All of us moms report on the nursery situation when we arrive at our table in the meeting room and all was well with J-not unusual after the first few minutes. When I picked him up, his teacher said that he seemed so happy to see her throughout the morning. I didn't tell her about our pep talks! :)

It looks like Dave's jeep is here to stay...for now! We got the radiator repaired yesterday.

Vroom, Vroom

Our week has been filled with the usual activities: school for J, playing, storytime, errands, the Y for me (yes, I have been going regularly), etc. I actually had a Mom's Night Out with three friends from my MOPS group on Tuesday night. These girls are all stay-at-home moms who happen to also all have little boys! These girls are so authentic that it makes it extremely easy to find things in common with them and truly have a great time together! We now want our husbands to meet!! Speaking of husbands, I came home to a clean kitchen, toys put up, dirty diapers taken out, and a sleeping toddler...who had been fed, bathed, teeth brushed, read to, and tucked in for the night...all thanks to my sweet Dave! Unfortunately, all of that praise doesn't help the fact that he is pretty sad today as he thinks his beloved jeep is about to bite the dust. We will find out for sure in the morning when he takes it to the shop. I can't even begin to really describe the problem, but it has something to do with the radiator and fluid leaking. Urgh!! Neither of us really wants to face the expense of it all, but we know it is a part of life. There are plenty of other situations that people are dealing with that are far worse! I will leave you with a pic of one little boy who LOVES his cars and trucks...in any condition!

Good Morning!