Happy 3rd Birthday Jayce!

I cannot believe my baby boy is 3 today! Does this mean he is not a baby anymore? I know I am in denial, and have been for 2 years... We have had a wonderful day... Jayce's party is not until Saturday so we tried to make it as special for him today as we could... We baked cupcakes this afternoon for him to take to "school" tomorrow and this evening, we got a sitter for Gabe and took Jayce out to Red Bone Alley for a special birthday dinner! He said he wanted pizza and macaroni and by golly he got it! We ordered both, just b/c it was his birthday! Of course, he didn't actually eat it all... he saved room for dessert! He got a special birthday dessert and was especially fond of the "cream" on top... he loves whipped cream!

His gifts from us this year were:
a few dvd's for road trips

a table top easel for his art projects

lots of art supplies (to keep him nice and busy!)

his "own camera" which was his special request and actually something I had wanted to get him... this was his biggest gift and he loves it... took 65 pictures in 5 minutes of course!( By the way, it is very durable and made especially for kids... we'll see how well it holds up with Jayce :))

a little robot hand thing which he absolutely loves!

Jayce-
I am so very proud to be your mommy... You amaze me each day with your eagerness to learn and your sweet spirit. You told me today, "mommy, you are my favorite friend" and I cannot help but tear up over how precious you are. I am so thankful to your Heavenly Father for blessing me with a child who is SO full of life and LOVE! The way you raise your little eyebrows in excitement and the way your eyes light up when you are "so happy" brings me so much joy! May you always have such a sweet and bright spirit! Happy Birthday little man!

Happy Birthday from Daddy

Happy Birthday Jayce. I'm so happy that you're my little boy. You make me so proud and I have been truly blessed to be your daddy. I love you, Daddy.

Sweet little sayings and life without naps

I have been keeping little sticky notes all around the house with cute things that Jayce says so that I could eventually get them on here before I forgot them! Some of these things I might have written on here before and I apologize if so... bear with me... I don't have the time to look back!

Not only has Jayce stopped to say so often lately... I love you mommy or mom... whichever kind of mood he is in... but he will now stop and say I love my brother mommy. It is moments like this that make every temper tantrum worth it!

Also, he loves to help teach Gabe how to talk... he is always looking at him, saying, say bubba Gabe! say bubba!

You know he has been calling Gabe boo boo Gabe and then started calling me boo boo mommy and Jay boo boo daddy... the other day, I called him boo boo Jayce and he said yes, I am boo boo, and Gabe is bat bat...it appears he will have many names!

He is very imaginative these days...he loves to crawl around on the floor roaring at people.. sometimes this can be awkward... he says he is a lion... And yesterday, he told me that he was Little Bear...

He loves when he is talking to Gabe and Gabe starts laughing... which happens every time they converse... and Jayce will exclaim "He likes me mommy! He likes me!"

The other day, I called Jayce a cutie patootie (sp???) and he quickly corrected me and said, "no mommy, I'm a Jayce!"

On a side note..just an update on how life is going with no naps... I still definitely miss them.. BUT, here are the positives... I don't feel as if I've run a marathon every day at 3:15 after fighting him to go down for a nap...
He will actually tell me at 3 that he is getting sleepy and say he needs to lie down on the couch and willingly will lie down either in my bed or the couch and read books or watch a movie for about 2 hours...
I am able to get things done during this time... such as workout or work on Southern Living stuff or work on the computer... fix dinner... whatever, so it is not so bad...
And at 7:30, we are putting on pj's and ready for bed... Jay and I look at each other at 8 o clock like, what do we do? It is so nice to have that time to talk before bed when we used to only have time to say a few words after putting the boys down and before collapsing ourselves... I think I am going to be able to handle this... we have made it 2 weeks now.

Goodbyes

So, here are some pictures from our goodbye party we just had for Jayce's good friend Grayson (and my good friend Molly)...
The first however is a picture of our little ones at one of our earlier play groups... This play group started with seven of us moms and babes when they were all literally still in their carriers... We had the first one at my house in Old Quarter and I wish I had that picture of them all lined up in their carriers that first time... but it is on my old computer and I haven't gotten it on a disc yet... ANYHOW, this is one that I COULD find... and you can still see how much those who were pictured have all grown( it's always been a challenge to have everyone present for a group picture)!
I must admit this group was more of a play group for us stay at home mommies than it was for the kids most of the time.. It was an outlet, and therapy and reassurance for me that I was not the only one going through a challenging phase...For quite some time, we met every Friday, and rotated houses, most of the time even having a really nice prepared lunch most days! Then, the tots got a little more active and it became harder for us to fix lunch and so we simplified and met and had snacks or coffee... THEN, they became even more active and it became hard for us moms to even chat during play group, so we started a monthly girls night out and that has always been a highlight of my month! It was through this play group that I really made some great FRIENDS in Florence, that I really had things in common with!
So, the girls nights out have continued and we have tried to get the children together every several months since then...although the occasions for which we've met lately have not been to my liking! Our group has slowly dwindled... starting with Lauren and Mac leaving a few years ago actually... and Hope and Claudia left a month or so ago, and now Molly and Grayson... so sad... They all have had bigger and better things to move on to and I have been so excited for all of them, of course, but I will always remember and cherish the old days of Friday play groups and monthly nights out... where even on our nights out, we talked about the kids the whole time anyhow... I really do love these girls and their precious children and will always have wonderful memories of these good ole days!


PS these last pictures of Jayce digging into the cake are what happens when you leave your toddler unattended... even for a moment... don't leave cake out!

cupcakes

SO, it's my birthday today... the big 31.. man that sounds old! Jayce is SO into birthdays these days... as we've been talking about his party for months now it seems... So yesterday I told him that for my birthday, I wanted him to sing happy birthday to me and let me video tape him... as this is his favorite song to sing... then he said, mommy, who do you want to come to your birthday party? What kind of cake do you want? When I explained that it would probably just be the 4 of us and that I didn't need a big party like he will have... he said you have to have cake mommy... what kind do you want? Then he said... before I could answer... you probably want chocolate cake!
This morning, I went to get him and said, you need to sing to me now... he said, Where are the cupcakes? The boy LOVES some cake!

Here's Jayce

I accidentally put Gabe's picture on here twice... whoops... here is Jayce!

Easter Pictures

So, I went yesterday to take my boys to have their pictures made... things never go as planned right? It was actually much easier to get Gabe's picture than Jayce's... not what I was expecting... but being that we've given up the nap, Jayce was pretty tired, and put on this shy, grumpy face as soon as we walked in... and it was all we could do to get this one half smile out of him... He usually is such as poser these days for the camera... Gabe did great!

Then we got home and I tried to get a few more of them all dressed up, but to get them both to smile at once is pretty much impossible I've concluded!

I LOVE my DADDY!

Here's what happens when I dress myself! Jayce LOVES to dress himself and he's also doing things now such as opening his own door, getting in his seat, buckling himself in and many more things... he says, mommy, I can do it. Let me do it "mum."

fun times!

Who's Who?

WELL... I finally got some pictures on here and have many more to go... but I wanted to show ya'll these of the boys at the same age in their hats... Yes, I definitely have a hat fettish... (spelling?)... not quite the same expression on their faces... but I think you can probably see the resemblance... I have to get some more pictures of Jayce off our old computer to show ya'll... it's pretty amazing how much they look alike at this age!

FRUSTRATED

Man! So I got a new camera cable... 40 bucks! And got my pictures onto my computer... but now when I go to download them onto my blog... it says the server is temporarily unable to do this and to check again in 30 seconds... I've been checking obsessively-compulsively (I just made this word up) for the past 4 hours... has anyone else had this happen to them? Please comment if you know how to fix this!

The Strong Willed Child

Yesterday on the way to church... Gabe was in the back seat chewing on his blanket... Jayce said, no no Gabe, do not eat your blanket... that is Yuck! You can only eat food Gabe... these are the words Jay has said to Jayce so many times when he catches Jayce with something in his mouth... such as a bubble wand... he is SUCH an imitator and little parent these days...

Oh, and Jayce can now read! Or at least it would seem so... For a long time, Jayce has been really good with, when we do story time... filling in a blank when we pause at the end of each page... But last week, he picked up a book and "read" it to us word by word, page by page... of course it is all memorization, but it sure impressed us! So now at bedtime, after we read him a book, he reads us one... pretty cute! He gets so proud of himself!

Potty training... we're making great progress! Jayce is now telling us much more frequently throughout the day when he wants to go and gets very proud of himself after he potties, he can put on his own pullup and clothes now too! He is really becoming so much more independent... exciting, but sad too!

AND, on a not so good note... I think we are giving up the nap... As many of you know, for quite some time, since we started diving from the crib, we've had to lock Jayce's door in order for him to stay in his room during sleeping times... Well, he has never quite liked it, but has always gone and gotten in his bed after a few cries and gone right to sleep... well for the past 3 days... this has not happened... instead he bangs on the door, cries pitifully, pulls out every single toy or book in his room, and breaks them if at all possible... and still does not go to sleep.. so, I think this marks the end of a wonderful time in our lives... nap time 3-6... how sad I am to see it go... REALLY sad... especially b/c I'd just gotten both boys napping for 2 hours in the afternoon together...it has pretty much been my sanity... BUT, the good thing in all of this is that I can now put Jayce down earlier with Gabe... and have some time in the evening... at least that's the plan! AND, even though he's not being contained in his room, I am still making him lie down and read or watch a movie and have quiet time... no talking... although he keeps saying... "can I talk now mommy?" How sad is that... but a girl needs a little time to think!

One last thing... I am reading "The Strong Willed Child" by James Dobson and I highly recommend this to anyone else who has been blessed with such a little leader! I was in tears reading only the first 2 chapters,as it felt so good to know that someone knew and validated how I sometimes feel in our battle of the wills... Don't get me wrong... I would not change one thing about my Jayce... his will is what makes him who he is... And, along with that occasional (well maybe more than occasional) clash we have, we also have the sweetest relationship, where he stops constantly throughout the day to tell me, "I love you mama" and gives me a big hug and kiss around the neck... BUT, he is STRONG WILLED! Dobson said in his book that so many parents with strong willed children feel guilty, as if it is somehow their lack of parenting skills... or feel that they were somehow slighted, while they watch their friends with easy going children coast through their days... But he says to remember that God CHOSE us to direct these little leaders and to point them towards him... and if we can get them going in the right direction... how powerful they can be for Him...just as my mom has been telling me for 3 years! What an awesome and rewarding task! Not easy by any means... but truly a GREAT job! It makes me feel good that He trusted Jay and I to do this! For those of you without strong willed children... you might not get this... but I hope for any of you who do have them, that this helps encourage you to think of it this way as it did me! Read this book!

PS, am posting pics soon... we just got our new cable in the mail to replace my "malfunctioned" one.

What we're up to these days...

Gabe is trying lots of new foods... Loves sweet potatoes and bananas, of course! He does pretty well with green peas... but has gagged on green beans and avocados! (we'll have to keep working on those good for ya veggies) tried oatmeal this morning and he liked that!
Sleeping great! 7-7 or 7-8 several times this week! Now if I could just get a few hours! Oh well, I thank God for coffee and answered prayers every day that he'll give me strength to do without much! And, He always does!

He is doing better staying on his tummy for longer periods of time and loves to "fly" with his legs and arms both totally extended and a determined look on his face, as if he's going to get somewhere that way! I am not pushing the crawling thing... we do tummy time every day and let him build up his muscles... but I am kind of liking this non mobile thing as I know I don't have long before I have 2 who are into everything!

Jayce is doing great still in his big boy bed! He loves his bed and often stops randomly to say, "mommy, I love my big boy bed or room... do you like my room mommy? It is so sweet... He is very observant of anything new I do around the house... and will walk down the stairs, bright eyed and take a deep breath and say wow... I like that new plant mommy... your plant is so pretty! I think it is so sweet that he notices stuff like that! Jay just rolls his eyes when he says stuff like that...and then if I should move something... like yesterday, moved that plant out on the deck to water it... he came down and said, where is our plant mommy? He gets very concerned... I wish he was concerned about his personal belongings when they are out of place... we have not made it that far yet... but I am determined to teach my boys to be tidy.. it just might not happen at 2...

we are working hard on potty training... Jayce has a spot at Florence Christian and we found out he needs to be potty trained by then... so we made a trip today to the store to pick up a gum ball machine and some animals... 2 of his favorite incentives... and since getting home, he's been 3 times already! So, I am hoping he'll stay as excited as he is now about pottying...

Jayce is still SUCH a boy... which I guess beats the alternative right...
This week, Jay had been out of town, and Jayce was being rather defiant and I looked at him and said, Jayce, there is no need to be so difficult, he looked at me and said, but mommy I AM difficult...
last night, told him to stop doing something, like jumping off the couch, and he said why (for the 100th time in an hour) and I said because you could hurt yourself and he said, "but I like to hurt myself mommy." ... It was funny b/c i had read recently in James Dobson's book on raising boys that they are just wired completely different that we are... you tell a girl not to do something b/c she could get hurt and she will be scared out of trying... a boy sees it as a challenge and dives right in... that's why I am so thankful for those angels!