HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I just wanted to post a quick note to my mom to let her know how incredibly grateful I am for her. I know it sounds a bit cliche, but my mom is my best friend; we have always been best friends. And I don't know what I would do without her. In my opinion, there is no one smarter or prettier or craftier or more thoughtful or....and I'm still waiting for the day when I grow up to be exactly like her. Being a mom now myself, I hope and pray everyday that Jace and Addi look at me the way I look up to my mom. Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!

I also wanted to say to Addi and Jace how grateful I am to be their mom. You are both perfect and I couldn't imagine better kids. I am very, very lucky (more like blessed) to be your mom! With love, Erin/Mom

I am not a person of many words but I also wanted to tell my mom how much I love her. She has always been there when I needed and always has the right thing to say. I don't know what I would do without her! I wish she was here to give her a hug and tell her face to face but I wanted to tell her how much I love and miss her.

I also wanted to tell everyone how much I love Erin too, I couldn't have anyone better to spend my life with and to raise our kids with. She is the best wife and mom (like Shirley and Julie). I don't know how I would function without her, she is the love of my life. Love, Brandon

Catch-up Time

It's been a little while since the last post, so bear with me as I review the last few weeks:)!

Easter weekend was so fun. Addison is really getting into the holiday thing, meaning holiday=presents & candy! She is a bit of a sugar fanatic so you can't get much better than eggs filled with candy and basket filled with candy and belly filled with candy, etc. On Saturday, we headed to my parents' house to have a little Easter egg hunt for Addi. I wasn't sure how into it she would be but she absolutely loved it, finding all of the eggs in less than 5 minutes! We were able to spend time with Jake, Toni and Laeni, too. It was a great day!

Being the excellent photographer that I am (yeah right!), I managed to not even take one picture of Addi hunting for eggs or her in her Easter dress on Sunday (we will have to do a reenactment of the Easter dress and share:)!). Brandon did take video of the hunt, so when I figure out how to post the video, I will share.

Here is a picture of Jace and Addi on Saturday just after the hunt, so I hope that suffices. You would never guess by the looks on their faces how much fun they were having, would you?! Cute still!

Addison has decided in the last few months that naps are not really her thing anymore, so the one day in the last couple of weeks that she gave in and took one, I had the camera poised and ready! A true case of "you don't know what you have until it's gone"! I love and miss nap time so much!!! The two of them (when they do rest) sleep so much better when they are close and I think it is the sweetest thing!

Gary, Amber and Regie came for a full week at the first of the month and we were so excited to have them here. Addison just loves to play with Regie and loves it even more when she is not so "far, far away" in Addi's words! On Tuesday, Gary and I took Addison, Jace and Regie to their very first movie, Monsters v. Aliens. They were all perfect! Gary and I had definitely anticipated chaos, but the two girls sat in their chairs with a humongous popcorn in between them and just stared in amazement at the "great big TV". I thought I could coax Jace into a nap during the movie, but he too wanted to stare at the screen. We had a great time, making it possible to maybe try it again soon! Yea! It was great having them here and, like always, can't wait for them to return.

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls. It was funny because Amber and I must have been on the same wavelength this day, doing the girls' hair the same exact way and dressing them in green shirts! No consulting necessary.

In my last post, Jace had been sick. In just the last week, he seems to have really recovered and is back to my happy, sweet boy. It has been a long haul trying to get him better and it is such a relief! About a month ago now (time is really flying), we had his 4 month check-up and found out that he is growing slowly but surely. He is now in the 17th percentile in height, the 30th in weight and the 50th in head circumference. During the appointment, the doctor had asked if he had begun rolling over yet, and I was telling him how I was worried that he hadn't even shown interest in it yet, when Jace rolled over from his front to his back not just once but three times in a row!!! I guess it was his special way of saying "I can. I have simply chosen not to!"

He is really getting a personality all his own. He loves Addison so much; I catch him just staring at her quite often. And when she does look back, he just laughs and laughs. He loves to have his stomach tickled, and loves to be solely in his diaper. He is also becoming quite the mama's boy, throwing some pretty good tantrums if I simply leave a room. Personally, I love it but Brandon is not quite so sure about the situation and has begun vying for top spot. Jealousy is not a pretty thing (Just kidding!).

Jace has also decided that eating cereal is great in the past week and that smearing it from his head down to his toes is even better. I think this is amazing due to the fact that I am holding the spoon and he really shouldn't have much contact with the food. He likes to immediately dive into his mouth with both hands and get to work making a really great mess! Oh the joy of cleaning up rice cereal that sets up quicker than and much to the same hardness as cement!

We are all looking so forward to some warm days soon so we can spend time outside; it seems to have been an extra long winter being cooped-up in the house. We had a great day at the park last week with Jamie, Paisley and Avery; Addison has talked about it daily since. It was so nice to see Addison being big enough to climb on the playground equipment, go down the slides, swing, etc. on her own and be able to enjoy the time just chatting with Jamie. Thanks Jamie for the great day! I brought my camera to take some fun pictures but Jace had a different plan for my time, so here is the one picture of the day:)!I apologize for the random nature and length of this post, lots to say with no clear thought process. Maybe posting regularly is the way to go...oh well!

Sick Boy

It has been quite a week! Jace has had a cold for about 10 days now, but on Tuesday, he developed a cough that got me worried. I tried to be a brave mom, thinking that it was just the cold and that he would get better; I just needed to be patient. But by this morning, I could no longer brave it so we took him to the doctor and learned that he either has bronchitis or pneumonia (I guess with how little he is, it is impossible without extensive testing to know for sure). We are now doing breathing treatments every six hours and antibiotics accompanied with Tylenol! My poor little guy. I hate so much that he is sick and so miserable, but I've got to say that I do enjoy a day when I have the perfect excuse to just sit and cuddle him because, hey, that's what I'm supposed to do!

This frowny face breaks my heart and it has definitely been the dominant expression today! What a rough day for the little guy!

It's days like today, that I realize again what a good girl my Addison is! She took to my holding Jace for the majority of the day like an angel, occupying herself with books and having many a tea party with her penguin, bear, and puppy-dog stuffed animals...so cute (and quite wet)! I love the picture below with her holding her book on her legs with her feet, too. She tells me so many times a day right now that she has cute little feet and makes me compliment them, too, saying "Mom say Addi has cute little feet"! So of course I comply because they are cute little feet. What a funny and silly girl!

I attempted again to get a good picture of my two kiddos together, despite my ill luck the last go-round, and found a little bit more success. At least a little less panic this time. I will take it!

Second First Post!

Well, I now have two sister-in-laws requesting that I start actually using this blog, and my guilty conscience is getting the best of me. I have the two cutest, and most fun kids that I have personally ever been acquainted with (no offense to anyone reading:)), and up to this point, I have failed to document all of their cuteness to the best of my ability. So, I am going to give it a shot. I make no promises as to the frequency of posts, but I will try for less than 1 year in between!

It is so crazy to think that all of the sudden I have a 2-year old and a 3-month old. They are changing so quickly and learning at the same rate. I am in awe of them everyday.

Addison is so special and smart. She amazes me. She loves to sing her ABC's, Twinkle, Twinkle, Popcorn Popping, and "Sunbeam Song", dance (to anything and I mean anything!), talk and talk and talk, memorize poems with me, kiss her little brother, say "hi to Jacer", give loves and kisses, play with toys, "swim" (which means take a bath), eat num-nums (M&M's), watch Baby Looney Tunes and Care Bears, cuddle with Pooh Bear & Minnie Mouse when she goes night-night, play at Grammy and Papa's, ride "wheelers", play with her cousins (with a special fondness for Regie, Avery and Max), and on and on. She is such a good and happy girl. She will pretty much find joy in anything you present her! I am so lucky to get to be her mom and love everyday that I get to spend with her.

Jace is so sweet and fun and good. I truly thought that after Addison being such a great baby, that I was in for it having another; it had to be my time to struggle. But it didn't happen. Jace is perfect. He is quickly becoming a Momma's boy, which I love. He smiles all of the time and just jabbers non-stop. He loves his big sister (okay, love mixed with a bit of panic and fear!). He loves his Daddy; nobody can get him to sleep soundly like Brandon can. They are going to be great friends. He is growing so quickly and I have to say that it is exciting (at his 1st check-up he was in the 6th percentile in height and the 20th in weight so there was some growing to do) and heart-breaking at the same time. He is not a cuddler; he moves all of the time, which is so funny for his being so little. I guess there is just no time for stopping; so much to see and learn! I love that I get to get to know him, if that makes sense, because I just know that he is so incredibly special, too.

Well, I'll stop there for now! Enough bragging for one post:)! I tried to take a picture of my two kids together, but I guess in my world it's an impossibility to get a great, smiley one so I guess I'll settle for a funny one instead. Enjoy!

First Post!

Favorite picture of Addison!