10 Things . . .

Just for you Christal:

10 things I love about having 2 boys:

10. Built-in playmate

9. Hand-me-down toys

8. You don't have to worry about finding Barbie accessories

7. Legos really are fun to play with!

6. You can dress them in the same clothes and they look totally cute.

5. Hand-me-down clothes

4. I love that I get to mold them into wonderful men.

3. It is fun to watch my husband relive his childhood with our boys.

2. It is amazing to watch Michael guide, coach, and help Cayden.

1. It is amazing to watch the eyes of Cayden looking at Michael like he is the most amazing, wonderful, person in the world, so full of love and awe.

One of my favorite moments so far in this wild journey was this past Saturday. Bryan and I were cleaning the house so we told the boys they needed to find things to do, play without us. We started working, were quite focused on what we were doing and about 20 minutes went by. I realized that I hadn't heard anything from the boys in awhile. I looked around and saw that Michael's bedroom door was closed. I slowly opened it, making sure not to knock over whatever might be right behind the door. My heart just filled up when I saw the two boys on the bed, Michael reading a book to Cayden. Michael said, "Hi Mommy, I am teaching Cayden about different kinds of birds." Cayden had a huge smile on his face. I closed the door back and went back to working. As my Nana would say, "God love them."

Cayden Turned 3

Stats: 40 inches tall, 36 pounds.

This is my baby . . . my little one . . . who is just not little anymore! When I call him my baby, he shouts defiantly, "I'm not a baby, I'm a BIG boy!"

He is confident that he can do everything his big brother does, and yet is quick to temper when he finds he cannot in fact do it. When I say they are night and day, they are NIGHT AND DAY! Michael's temperament has always been pretty easy going, laid back. Cayden on the other hand is a mini-me. Wants to be in charge, wants to control what is happening, wants to do it himself, gets super involved in whatever is happening around him. He does nothing that he isn't putting his whole effort into, so he gets upset easily when he can't do it the way he envisioned. LOVES to be with people, doesn't want to be alone, doesn't want to play alone. He is super lovey and cuddly. He is quite opinionated, down to the clothing he wants to wear. If he asks Bryan a question and I answer it, he is quick to say, "I was talking to Daddy." Because he puts his all into everything, he sometimes gets overloaded and will come home super stressed. It will take about 5 minutes and then he just falls apart. He will walk himself to our staircase, plop down on the stairs, and just cry for about 5-10 minutes. Then he will stop, get up, and come say, "I'm all better now" and go play with Michael. It is just pitiful and hilarious all rolled up into one tall child. If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be fierce---intense in everything he is and does.

And that is how we love him, fiercely!

Cayden James

Tomorrow is Cayden's 3rd birthday. I just can't believe that it has been that long. Want honesty? Some days seem like they will never end, the arguing, the fighting about toys, the whining . . . and then one of them gets hurt or something and the other one runs over and hugs him and tells him it will be okay. Mmmmmm, that warms a mother's heart.

Cayden goes to the doctor Friday for his 3 year check-up so I am going to do a blog after that about who has become in these 3 years. I know, you can't wait!

MJ Preschool graduation

How cute is he really?!?!
The preschool graduation was a long one, but very cute. They sang songs,
recited poetry, and other things they had memorized. One of Michael's parts was to say the first 10 presidents, and our current president. They also did "Little Red Riding Hood." The funniest part was that there were 5 girls who wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood, so we got to see the play 5 times! Michael was the Wolf twice! Their teacher had very sweet gifts for them as well, including a bag FULL of really nice books. It was amazing to think how much he has changed in five years. He is VERY excited about going to "Daddy's school" in the fall,, and I think he is definitely ready.

5 Year Appointment

Michael had his 5 year appointment today. Here's the report:
Height: 45 inches
Weight: 49 pounds
BMI: 17
About 85th percentile overall. She said he is in the "at-risk" category for weight, but we already knew that. He is NOT in the "overweight" category, and that made me feel more at ease. He certainly doesn't look it to me, but he is mine.
BP: 90/62
Both eyes: 20/20
Ears: passed all levels
Tubes: working their way out
no concerns for him at all
To quote the doctor, "This is the best handwriting I have ever seen from a 5 year old . . . really." We'll see if that continues in his life! Neither Mom or Dad have super handwriting! He was very talkative, open, curious, and fun. We had a great time. NO SHOTS TODAY! That was super exciting!

Just for Courtney

Updates:
Michael is 5 today! I just can't believe it has been that long . . . certainly has flown by. He is currently taking swimming lessons, which are a hoot to watch. We registered him for Kindergarten. It is all happening so fast! But, he is ready. He is a total sponge, just loves to learn and do. I have high hopes for next year. I think he is going to completely love school.

Cayden is 2.5! It is amazing how different these two boys are. Cayden is FIERCELY independent. With Michael we were never sure when he was ready to do something, like dress himself. With Cayden, he wants to do it all himself. And if he can't---oh the temper! He thinks he is the same age as Michael and wants to do exactly as his brother. We are pretty certain we will be able to say goodbye to diapers this summer. He is the only child in his class trying underwear so he is spending time in the class above his age. Oh how we look forward to that day!

Us . . . we celebrated our 7th anniversary in April. While the stress of the two houses has been crazy, we are blessed to be very happy with one another, very in love.

Please keep the prayers for the house coming!

"Cause You Gotta Have Faith . . . "

It's been awhile . . . but in case anyone still checks, we are still here, still a family, still strong. The other house not selling has taken a toll on our finances, but it has not taken a toll on us as a family. We are still holding hope that all is what it needs to be, that there is a REASON that it hasn't sold. We are still holding on to God provides what we NEED, not what we want. What we NEED is each other, and we still have that. Our minister said that there will be trials, and that we should be prepared. I'm not sure we were 100% prepared for it to take this long. But, what has happened in the interim is that we have really seen who is there for us, who we can go to, and WE ARE SO BLESSED! You know me, I like to be in control. Maybe that's the lesson here. We don't regret our decision, we LOVE our new house. We know that SOON the other house will sell. When it is time, it will sell. When there is a family that needs it, it will sell. Our church family is focusing on hope during Lent, and I KNOW that is God at work. Lessons on hope---just what we NEED.

A Weekend Away

For the first time since April Bryan and I were without children all weekend. Know what we did? PAINT and PAINT and PAINT some more. But you know what? We LOVE the colors! We are SO looking forward to being in our new house. We know that the next few months are going to be a bit rough monetarily, but we also know that we have great family and friends to help us through. Keep praying for the house!

Goodbye to my Baby

This is Luis. Luis is now, as far as Michael believes, the proud owner of all of Michael's baby blankets. We decided that when Michael turned 4, that he would officially give up his blankets . . . a real Big Boy. We also decided that we were going to Columbia Zoo (which we did last year as well) for Michael's birthday. We were going to go on his actual day, but it poured rain that day and we ended up going swimming at a local workout facility. So, since Gramma was in town today, we decided to make the trek to Columbia. Michael packed up his blankets in a little box, stuffed them in the bottom of the stroller, and off we went. When we got to the giraffes, Michael went to grab the box and said he was going to throw the blankets in to the baby. I told him that we had to talk to a zoo person first. I went and talked to the lady selling lettuce to feed the giraffes and explained the situation. She was definitely willing to play along. Michael excitedly carried the box to her and told her, "These are my blankets for the baby giraffe. He can snoodle with them." The lady told him that Luis would love them, and thanked him for being so sweet. I just about lost my stuff! We then got to feed a giraffe, not the baby, but still, HOW COOL IS THAT!?!? Bryan then went and threw the blankets away. Yes, I kept one for sentimental sake, but as far as Michael knows---no more baby blankets!

Donkey Tales

Today Michael participated in his first church play, Donkey Tales. We were pretty nervous because he had to do the 9:33 service and the 11:00 service. But, to our surprise, he did great! We videotaped it and will be sending a few videos up north for the family's viewing pleasure (it is quite amusing!). Here are a few pictures from today:

Tomorrow our baby boy will be 4 years old! We cannot believe it!!!! We were planning to go to the Columbia Zoo, but we aren't sure the weather is going to cooperate with us. We'll let you know what kind of fun we find. Happy Memorial Day!

HAPPY EASTER

I was trying to be the good Mom this morning and make sure Michael had an understanding of Easter. Turns out, I learned something! This was our conversation (me in blue, MJ in green)
So, Michael why do we celebrate Easter?
So we have Easter candy!
Well, yes, we get candy. But, what does it have to do with Jesus?
Ummmmmm
Well, when Jesus died-
Jesus died for our SKINS
Oh baby, (giggle) yes, he died, for our SINS
Oh, for our sins
and when they went to find him-
he was GONE! He went to be with God in his home that was waiting for him!

For a three year old, that was good enough for me! As my Nana would say, God love him!
HAPPY EASTER everyone. May we remember the best part of Easter as my son put it, we have a HOME waiting for us!

Let the Fun Times BEGIN!

First, let me say sorry to anyone that feels like we have been distant lately. We have spent MANY of our free moments lately getting our house ready to sell. (I am actually procrastinating on a task by doing this blog!) However, tomorrow we sign the official papers that makes it FOR SALE! We are very overwhelmed with this task. It is incomprehensible to us how we are ever going to have the house "show ready" before we walk out the door for work EVERY day. We are generally neat people, but neat and "show ready" are two separate things. This means that we are getting up 10 minutes earlier (now 5:25AM) to tidy up in the mornings---woo hoo! Whenever our house sells we will need a place to rent, another daunting task. Then we will begin to build. So in the midst of all this, we are looking for the right piece of land. There is one 6 minutes past where we live now that is BEAUTIFUL, but it is 6 minutes further out . . . something I am not excited about. We need prayer. Prayer for the house to sell, prayer we can find a place to rent, prayer we find the right piece of land, and prayer that amidst all of this we don't kill each other! If you know anyone looking for a great house---give us a call!

I Hope It's Not to Be

As many of you know, Bryan is visiting his friend Scott in Ohio this weekend (Thursday afternoon-Monday afternoon). I just want everyone to know that I am NOT cut out to be a single mom. So please know that if the day ever came---and oh how I pray that it NEVER will---the boys and I are moving in with one of you!

Thank you to everyone who fed and entertained me this weekend! I truly appreciate the help and humor.

Truly, Madly, Deeply

So this is a bit mushy . . . As many of you know my 8th grade English teacher, OM coach, and much later (4 years ago) colleague passed away Saturday night. She was much too young to be leaving us, but she is finally healthy now after a battle with cancer. It's in these times that we often reflect on what we have and how short life is here on Earth. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful sons that I cannot imagine my life without. But, in this moment I want to thank God for my husband. It is hard for me to express how truly, madly, deeply I am in love with him. He is such a blessing to the boys and I. It's so nice to be almost six years into my marriage and still get butterflies thinking about coming home to him. I love you Bryan!

On a Mission

Once again I will be on a mission to lose weight. Last year I joined the Memorial Mission Hospital's Fit4Life with three other women at my school on a team. One of our teammates has lost almost 100 pounds!!! We are SO proud of her. She amazes me. A single mom of two wonderful girls, a Christian, and a devoted teacher. This year my team is two women, a man, and myself. However, we have 4 teams total at school. I think things could get competitive (at least I hope so!). I have joined a gym and am going with the woman I carpool with most everyday. Bryan and I are also doing Weight Watchers again (it really works!). I am pretty close to the weight I was when I stopped WW last year, I just have to get back to it to lose more. It's not about the pounds for me, it's the size. I am like Colleen from Biggest Loser---I want to be able to go in a store and buy whatever I think looks cute, not have to worry if it comes in my size, or if it should! Anyone else on this endeavor?

God is SO good

We hope that Santa was good to your family---we were SPOILED. I truly felt so gluttonous when we got home that Bryan and I packed up a 30 gal trash bag full of toys to take to Goodwill, and I am STILL overwhelmed. Do not get me wrong, we are truly grateful of all of the things that people did for our boys and us. We are SO blessed. Thank you PA family for the wonderful celebration of Christmas.

Today we met with a builder to get a price estimate on a house we are wanting to build. Here are our upcoming challenges: finishing touches on our house, sell our house, find somewhere to live while our house is being built, build a house. All of that will require much prayer and patience. If you know someone wanting to buy a house . . . send them our way! We are truly busting at the seams of this living space with two boys.

Hope you enjoyed the pics from Christmas! More to come from our Christmas here . . .

I'm a WEIRDO

Unfortunately I will be unable to follow all of the rules because I do not know 7 people with blogs, but I will do all of the people that I know and here are my oddities:

1. I have a fear of popping balloons.

2. It really annoys me when my eyebrows, or other peoples' are brushed the wrong way. Although, that also goes for my arm hairs as well. This is probably the weirdest. Like, I can't watch someone brush their eyebrows the wrong way without "fixing" my own eyebrows, even if they are okay.

3. I do not care for nuts in most desserts, like brownies or fudge. But, chocolate/peanut butter in combination is okay.

4. I am INCREDIBLY ticklish.

5. My hands are super squishy, like bendable almost.

6. I can't touch frosted glass, the thought of it makes my skin crawl.

7. I can't watch the movie, The Other Sister, without sobbing. Not tearing up, not tears running down my face, SOBBING to the point that the dollar theater security guard came and asked if Jennifer and I were okay, except that happens EVERY TIME!

Gramma's Visit

We have been having a FUN time with Gramma in town. Gramma has been taking turns keeping the boys at home. She took Michael to see Wall-E at the new theater and took him to see Playhouse Disney Live (play). This Saturday we had Cayden's first birthday party. We had fine dining with pizza, salad, and cupcakes. Cayden did an excellent job eating almost every last morsel of his cupcake, even requiring a bath before pictures. He was also given tons of fun presents that we will enjoy for a long time to come. Equally as exciting Bryan turned around his carseats tonight!!! Here is a little picture in case you are not on our email lists for pics. If you are not, and would like to be just shoot me an email.

HOOPLA

Halloween went something like this:

We had dinner at Arby's . . . woo hoo! The "we" in this evening was: Bryan, Michael, Cayden, Jennifer, Nate, Anna, Ryan, and me. Then we went to "Hoopla" at Biltmore Baptist. What is Hoopla? It is basically a carnival with a LOT of nice people and CANDY. There weren't as many scary costumes, we weren't around anyone who smoked (not sure if no one did or we just got lucky), and people were VERY friendly . . . not my typical Halloween. There were probably 30 little games for the kiddos like ring toss, bean bag toss, soccer kick, rocket throw, ski ball, etc and after you played a game, you were instructed to take a handful of candy. We are not talking just about your average candy either. There were several top-of-the-line buckets of candy as well. There were also 5+ bouncy things. Michael only did one of those. But, it was much bigger than any of the ones he had done before so we were very proud of him. We also got to do a hay ride. There was a stage where they had lots of fun music and dancers that Cayden enjoyed a lot. For the animals lovers, there were donkeys, sheep, goats, bunnies, and a bull you could ride (note that we did not, that made me VERY VERY VERY nervous---flashbacks of the bull fight I attended in Mexico, thanks Dad). We came away from ait all with a LOAD of candy, big smiles, frozen hands, and a plan to return there next year. We love Hoopla!

GO VOTE TUESDAY!!!

Halloween Carnival

Yesterday we attended a Halloween carnival at Kate's Park, one of the parks where we like to play. There were tons of games, a pumpkin carving contest (ours got there too late or it so would have won!), a costume contest, and a train. The admission charge was a donation of non-perishable food. We had a GREAT time! It was a little chilly, but the boys didn't seem to mind.