Easter

What a great Easter we had! My day started out just perfect, as Jayce rushed into my room to tell me that he had found the basket the Easter bunny had left him. He was super excited, but then said "mom, you know what? The Easter basket is great and all, but do you know the most important part about Easter? It's that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins!" Wow, now that's good coming from the mouth of my 5 year old! I am so thankful to have a child who loves Jesus so much already! Then, on our way to church, Gabe says so sweetly to me out of the blue "You look so pretty mommy!" I melted.
Then we went to church and were reminded of the awesome sacrifice my Savior made for me on the cross, to pay for my sins, to love me, a sinner so much... I am always so moved. Most importantly I am overjoyed on Easter to know that because I have trusted Him as my personal Savior, and he ROSE from the grave and now LIVES, I too will live eternally! This hope brings me more joy than anything else in the world ever could. It is where I find my purpose in life, to live to serve and aim to honor Jesus Christ, to share him with others! I LOVE Easter day as I celebrate His resurrection!
We had a fantastic day with the family... big lunch at Nanny's and Easter egg hunt with the kids! Then we went for our regular golf cart ride to visit all the animals! These memories I will always cherish.

the zoo

We went to Riverbanks zoo in Columbia one day during Spring Break last year! We went with our good buddies Wallace and "Miss Tara" as my boys call her! The boys did super great together... the ride home was a little long after a full and no naps! But, we had a great time! Perfect time of year to go!

t ball

There is not much cuter to me that seeing my little guy all dressed up in his t ball uniform! He ran down the stairs that first morning entirely dressed even with his hat. He said, "mom I bet you didn't know I slept with my hat last night!" Then, the little pose where he's out in the outfield, looking bored out of his mind, but the little stance, the squat, the cuteness! I love going to Jayce's games and Gabe loves to cheer him on! He'd say "run Jayce run, good job Jayce!" He thought every other player was actually Jayce since they all look so much alike in their uniforms ! I'm sure they didn't mind having him as their cheerleader!

Disney World

So I'm catching up here... March was a crazy busy month... Disney World, 2 baby showers, t ball started, Jayce's birthday party, and Easter party! Lots of fun but glad it's April! So, I'll try to catch up on everything! We went to Disney with our good friends Jason and Ashley and their children Grace and Evan! We left sweet Gabe behind on this trip with his mimi, and he definitely had more fun there than he'd have had with us! The trip was long, with an uncharged dvd player, the lines were 30-45 minutes per ride, it rained, and I had a stomach bug, but we still had fun believe it or not! Jayce loved being with the other kids and Ashley and I were just glad to have some time away, even if we were walking through rain half the time! The first day we did Magic Kingdom, and the weather held out most of the day... it drizzled but didn't poor until the very end when we'd gotten all the way through the park. The 2nd day, no park... it POURED, so we made the most of the day and headed for the outlets, not so bad after all! The 3rd day, we did animal kingdom without our guys, as they were working in their trade show, but Ashley and the kids and I had a blast! The boys LOVED the dinosaur exhibits and Jayce loves animals period! This was heaven for him! We so loved having some quality time with our Jayce and showering him with all our attention! He is used to sharing and does such a good job most of the time! Fun trip and we will definitely do it again in a few years and take sweet Gabe along!

Jayce's 5th Birthday Party

Well, we had a great time at Jayce's party! I get a just a little excited about these parties some would say and this one was really a fun theme to do! We had a backyard camp out (not a real one, just for a few hours :))... This year Jayce wanted to have mainly the boys, and we needed to keep it on a smaller scale since we were doing it at the house so this worked out well. We had a tent set up, roasted hot dogs, wore safari/camo hats, and the kids all got a camo bag (the girls in pink of course) to gather their loot from the scavenger hunt we did! We ate "Dirt cake" complete with worms spilling out of the top and this was a BIG HIT! The kids AND ADULTS loved it surprisingly! The kids all got flashlights and bug kits to play with as it turned dark towards the end and to take home to play camp out in their own backyards! At the very end, as I was absolutely exhausted, my nephew said to me, "Aunt Christyn, next year when Jayce turns 6, can we do this again just like this? It was the funnest party I've ever been to!" I know he says this to all of them, but it sure made me feel good inside! I think birthdays should be a big deal and always want my boys to feel SUPER special on their big days! This year was a simple but super fun way to celebrate!

Happy 5th Birthday FIVE!!!

Jayce is a 5th to those of you who are wondering!!! From the time Jay's family knew I was having a boy, he was nicknamed "five."
Ok, wouldn't be a birthday without me getting all sappy right? I can hardly believe this precious baby boy is 5 years old! Where has the time gone? On the one hand I feel like it was the first day I held him in the hospital and he so gently squeezed my finger as if to say, "I am depending on you and love you already." On the other hand, I cannot remember what life was like before my Jayce! What joy and excitement Jayce has brought into our lives!

Jayce at 5 in a nutshell:
-LOVES his baby brother! He is very affectionate towards him, hugging him and asking him or hugs many times a day! He is very protective of him. At t-ball the other night a teammate was making fun of Gabe's name and he said "Hey, that's my little brother crazy hat!" This is his favorite name to call by the way, which isn't too terribly bad!

-Loves to be around his "buddies." Jayce would have a friend to play 24/7 if possible. He absolutely loves play dates and any social event involving other children! As soon as one is leaving he is asking who can come next?

-Loves Sweets! I might find him at least once a day trying to sneak by me with a cookie from the pantry or climbing on the washing machine in the dryer to reach the hidden candy or hiding in the pantry with chocolate chips! Before you say he is deprived, he is not, I allow him at least one sweet treat a day! He just wants SO MUCH MORE! He might have gotten that sweet tooth from his mommy!

-Loves animals! If given a dollar to pick something out in the dollar tree (another favorite thing of his) he will go to a bag of animals of some type 99 out of 100 times! This could be a problem since Jay and I are not pet people :)

-Has such a tender sweet heart! Jayce is currently singing a song to Gabe that says "I love my little brother..." He told me this morning, "Mommy tank (no h) you so much for giving me a dvd player for my birthday! He is very good at telling us "tank you" even if it is followed by "what are we gonna do fun next?" (His absolute favorite phrase)!

-ALL BOY, no ifs ands or buts! From roaring to growling to chasing girls to making messes to banging pots and pans together from jumping off anything he is not supposed to and making ridiculous messes but he is SO MUCH MORE and SO MUCH FUN! Underneath all those messes lies the sweetest, most precious spirit in the world who LOVES LOVES LOVES his family and his Jesus, most importantly!

-Jayce is truly a delight to me and many who know him!
Happy 5th Birthday!!!

Pictures from his backyard campout to follow... not going to promise when :) I've been busy trying to spend time with them and have had to let some of this stuff go... but I will catch up eventually!!!

We're Pottying!!!!

So, this week, God's timing has been very evident. For months I have been saying that I know if I just focused on potty training Gabe we could knock it out. Gabe is 2 1/2. He had already been showing interest a while and been at random times, but I simply did not have the energy! I kept saying I had plenty of time... Jayce was 2 when we started and 3 1/2 when we finished... what happened you might ask? Gabe came along and I never had the time or energy to do the consistent training, just kind of waited on him. And quite frankly this time, I could not find a week I was willing to stay home bound and inside with no gym, play dates, or outings for potty boot camp! SO, funny how things work. This week, after beginning my running routine again after a long break, I pulled my hamstring. Thus, needing to stay home from the gym for at least a week probably, and thinking HOW WILL I SURVIVE???? So, that very night, Gabe goes potty 4 times in a row... I was amazed! I decided it was now going to be potty training week officially! What better time, I can't go anywhere without limping around anyhow!

Who knows what will come once we are back to our normal routine, but in the past two days, we have stayed dry really well, only a few accidents! By this afternoon, Gabe was telling me rather than me telling him we needed to go every 15 minutes...

The best part of all is that he loves for Jayce to take him. Jayce takes him to the bathroom, and the conversation goes as such " Now Gabe, stand on your stool, turn around, scoot back, hold your handles, point down, now let's flush, now let's wash hands!" Now, we need an m and m mom! And you can bet they both get one! How great is that! Love my 2 boys!

I pray Gabe keeps up the good work!