Big and Little

Here are some pictures I took of the boys recently. I'm loving my new camera! And when the boys cooperate we all have lots of fun. We won't mention about when they don't... ahem.

Their Gram got them these shirts. Big Brother, Little Brother.

Little Brother loves playing in the sandbox! He will often look out through the window at their frog which holds the sand and whine in longing. He loves it.

Big Brother loves playing on his "Wing set" (swing set).  As you can see by his little tongue hanging out!

Here they are playing in the sand together. The older they get the more they play with the same things and we're learning to play together. Words like share, say please and wait your turn are being used a lot more around our home. 

Yes you are reading those shirts correctly! They are both Big Brothers now!! We recently found out we are going to have another baby!

This is the number one reason I have not blogged lately. I have been quite puny with this pregnancy so far. I was sick with the boys early on too but since I have much more on my plate it seems to be worse this time around. 

I want to thank all of our family and friends for your words of encouragement and support! We are so blessed to be living out this life that God is allowing us to live! Not only that but He's given us people to live it out with! Thank you for doing life with us. 

Macy Jo

Macy is our 5 year old Boxer. We got her the spring after we got married, she was our first baby. I was really needing something to take care of... you know something besides my husband, the house and all that laundry! So we got Macy Jo Davis when she was 5 1/2 weeks old. Having her calmed my desires to have a baby right after we got married!

When Tristan was born because of my fear she would be too rough or hyper along with some trouble we were having with fleas, Macy got put outside. I know what you're thinking.. how could you do that to her? Your first baby! Well first of all... she's a dog. And second, we were those first time overbearing parents that didn't want ANYTHING to harm their little very breakable baby.

You must know Macy loved being outside. And she was allowed in the house during bad weather and that sort of thing. 

After moving here we became friends with some of our neighbors that happen to have a boxer as well. We were over at their house one evening and Peyton couldn't take his eyes off of Samson, their boxer. He wanted to get his hands on him so bad he couldn't stand it! So we let him down to see what would happen, they had a ball! After seeing how the boys loved Samson, we decided to bring Macy back in the house.

Here's a normal day with the boys and their Macy Jo.

Peyton loves laying on Macy...
Tristan putting Macy down for a "Good Nap"...

Macy's 'nap'... she is such a good girl!

As you can see... the boys love their Macy. I'm so glad we decided to bring her back in the house. She has been great, she still minds well, she puts up with the boys hanging on her and she really seems to love it too. 

The Sounds of Life

"Round and round the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel..." 

Is my back ground music. I would rather be listening to some Shane & Shane, Desperation Band or Tenth Avenue North. But there's something very honest about the buzzing noises of all the toys.

"Ha ha ha... This fun, this fun... Ha ha ha... this tickles... ha ha ha..."- Cookie Monster

"Old McDonald had a farm..." - See N' Say

A lot of the time these are sounds that define our daily doings here.

"Boing!!!" Goes the door stop.

"Sip, sip, breathe, sip..." as Peyton is trying to get the last drops of milk out of his bottle.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble... crash!" Tristan racing his truck on the tile floor and crashing into the wall only to turn and go back the other direction. 

Often times there are screams, whines and loud cries mixed in as well. But even with these extras that attempt to drive me over the edge... I love my life. 

I love the feeling of the warmth of a little body in my lap as I read a book.

I love the sweet messy kisses from a 1yr old that hasn't quite figured it out.

I love Cheeto covered fingers.

I love the look of pure joy when they find something they've been searching for.

I love the smell of their bath soap.

I love their little flat fat feet "slap, slap, slap, slap..." on the floor.

I love their adoring eyes.

The gummy grins.

I love to watch them wrestle with their Daddy.

I love to hear them breathe as they sleep.

To snuggle with them when they wake up.

I love, love, love being a mama. And all that comes with it.

Chunky Monkey

My Sweet baby is 1! His birthday was this past Friday and we celebrated Saturday afternoon with a party. We often call him our Chunky Monkey so I thought a Monkey theme for his party would be perfect. And boy was I right! It was great!

We had a house full of family and friends here to celebrate with us. There are people that couldn't make it to the party that we wish could've been here but if they had been here I'm not sure where we would've put them!

My friend Laura came over Friday and helped me make the cakes. We ended up recruiting my brother-in-law David to help with decorating the cakes. They turned out so cute!

Here are some of the pictures from the party!!

It was a blast! I am so proud of how it all turned out. We had guests over for the weekend on top of the party! My sis and her hubby came in Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. Brandon's parents and sisters came in Saturday and stayed through Sunday afternoon as well. It was good seeing family, we have missed being so close that we can see them more often.

I also want to say I am SO PROUD of my Hubby! He finished putting the swing set up (see in the above pics) the morning of the party! He wanted to have it ready and he did! I love you Bear, you're the best!

Thank you to all who came and for all the great gifts! We are so blessed.

"So Long, Farewell..."

If you've spent much time around Tristan you would know he loves his "Tassy" (his pacifier). He has been attached to it since the day he was born! He would often refer to it as a person saying things like "Tassy, where are you?"

Last summer we limited his use (haha is sounds like I'm talking about drugs or something!) to only nap time and bed time. This worked really well. It has been cute to see him throw his pacifier under his pillow with his fussy hair and red cheeks after a good nap so he could go on with his day. 

On many occasions I have:

Bought one at the store to shut him up, replacing the one we lost while at the store. I have scrounged the entire house only to find it was hiding in my back pocket all along. I swore the past couple of times we moved we would find a jackpot of all the lost pacifiers, only to maybe find one behind the baby bed.

And it's all over! This past Sunday night we couldn't find Tassy... anywhere. We have been saying for weeks we were going to take it away once and for all. He is almost 2 1/2... it's time. But even though we'd been saying it didn't mean we would actually follow through and pick the night to do it. Well it just so happened the night picked us! We searched high and low for that thing. I know what you're thinking... why would we only have one? Tristan had been teething a few weeks ago and was chewing through them left and right so we were down to one without holes. 

Sunday night it was getting closer to bed time and I could only find one that had holes all in it (why I hadn't thrown it away is beyond me). Thinking it would work for the night and I'd find the good one the next day and we would go on, I gave it to him. Our conversation went something like this:

T- "Oh No! It's broke-dent (broken)" 

Me- "It is broken, we should probably throw it in the trash." (I really thought he would say 'no thank you' or put it back in his mouth and run away)

T- "OH! Ok!"

He went right over to the trash can and chunked it! My wide eyes watched him walk away. I was in total shock! The rest of the evening went well. He did ask for it again once before bed time but quickly remembered where it was. It was an adjustment for him, it took him 30 minutes to go to sleep when it usually only takes him 10ish minutes.

We have been Tassy-free for almost 3 days now. And he's doing great! 

Tagged

Ok so I was tagged by Laura. This picture is of me and T-rex at the Doctor's office. October 12, 2007. This is the day we found out Peyton was a boy!! We didn't know at this point, we were playing in the office with the equipment (and my sun glasses) waiting for Dr Wang. :) Tristan is one cool big brother! Don't you think?!

Here are the directions: 

1. Go to your 4th folder where you store your photos. 

2. Select your 4th picture (no exceptions)! 

3. Post the picture with an explanation and link it back to your tagger. 

4. Tag 4 people (or as many as you want) to do the same!!

I tag:

Kendall

Rebecca

Josh

Debbie (hint hint)

Kari (hint hint)

Tee-tee goes in the potty!

Yes, we are in the middle of potty training our 2 year old. We introduced a little urinal back in the fall around his birthday and he had very little interest in it. We left it out anyway and at bath time and bed time would give him the opportunity to try it out. He would politely say "No, Tant chu." Until about a month ago... we decided to incorporate candy AND cars stickers in our attempt to get him to tee-tee in the potty. And much to our surprise it worked!! He loves to go tee-tee in the potty!! Well, he really loves "Steetures and Tenny!" (English Translation: Stickers and Candy) We're of course not going to the potty ALL the time yet, he is very easily distracted.

Over the past couple of weeks I've begun to realize he is incapable of wearing more than one piece of clothing while we're at home! If I dress him with a shirt and pants... within 30 minutes one or both will be lying in the middle of the floor. He laughs and says "Mommy wook" as he points to the piece (or pieces) of clothing that just magically appeared in the floor. He is a mess!

Tonight after the "magical clothes" appeared yet again I looked up to see he was butt naked and had started peeing on the play tent!!!!! "Nooo! Tee-tee goes in the potty!" I hollered. We rushed to the potty where he finished. He then jumped up and down clapped "Yea!" and reminded me... "Steetures... Tenny!"  

Oh the joy of little boys.