Bunk Beds

In preparation for our baby boy, we needed to get Jack and Will moved in together. Jack was a little hesitant about giving his crib to the new baby, but once he saw the bunk beds, he was happy to oblige. It took me only forever to make a decision on which beds to buy. I think I'm the most indecisive person I know. Patrick painted the boys room the day after Christmas, and he put the beds together the day following that. We have two very excited boys and one happy momma now that the decision making is done...at least for this part anyway.

Christmas

On Saturday, the 22nd, we headed down to Mom and Joe's for the Hitchcock/Moffitt Christmas party. I was extra excited this year because Holly and her family were gonna be there! The food was yummy like always and the company was unbeatable. Love visiting with them! And loved that Jack and Lane were finally able to play with each other. It was too cute! They really are made to be best friends.

Sunday morning we went to Sacrament meeting and then over to Patrick's Mom and Dad's for lunch and their Christmas party. The boys had fun playing with their cousins and opening gifts from Gran Gran and Papi. Afterwards we headed back to Mom's and spent the night there and watched the Sound of Music while finishing another puzzle.

The next morning was Christmas Eve. We gave our goodbyes and headed to Manchester to meet Patrick's family for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. After breakfast we headed to Belvidere to visit with his Granny and Grandpa Jones. We don't get to see them often because they live so far away, so it's always a nice visit. Patrick's Granny is so so sweet and always so welcoming.

We got back home around 5 that evening and started our preparations for Santa. We made him cookies and were surprised by the pajama elves who left each of us a new pair of Jammie's to wear that night. The boys were worn out from their weekend of family and fun so they went right to sleep, anxious for Santa's arrival.

The boys surprisingly slept in past 7,  but once they were awake, they were in full force. They were so excited to see their gifts from Santa. We had a nice and easy Christmas Day, enjoying our time together at home. As always we are thankful for our daily blessings and so so thankful for the knowledge of a Living Savior. That knowledge makes this time spent with family and dear ones so much more special.

Santa's Fire Truck

Santa and a fire truck; what more could a little boy need?

 

Hanging Their Ornament

Thanksgiving

Five Years Old

Will of course chose a weekend (11/2-4) at Rocky River to celebrate his birthday. After Patrick got off work on Friday, we made our way over to Little House. We stopped at Jay's Restaurant and picked up some burgers per Will's request. The boys were so excited to be there and disappointed that it was already dark so they didn't get to play outside. Because of a lack of planning on my part, I had to head back to McMinnville early Saturday morning to get a last few necessities for the party and birthday boy. Patrick kept the boys entertained outside, and the weather was just beautiful and a little unseasonably warm. Our party guests arrived around lunch time and we grilled some hot dogs, ate a fire engine cake that Will had been begging me to make for awhile, and enjoyed watching Will open his gifts and play.

Sunday morning we ate a late breakfast of sausage balls and cinnamon rolls and played some games. After we cleaned up, we headed up to Grandma Miller's to have lunch with her. Mom and Joe joined us and we ate some yummy homemade chicken noodle soup and bread courtesy of Mom.

On the 8th Will took chocolate chip cookies to school to celebrate his birthday with his friends at St. Mark's. And on Will's actual birthday, we went to his favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel for dinner.

Will,

One of your favortie things to do is laugh. You want to laugh all the time (sometimes at really inappropriate times i.e. Sacrament meeting, special musical numbers, etc), and you want others to laugh too. You tell jokes. You act silly. You want everyone to be happy and smiling. When you were a little younger, if you were ever in trouble, after the lecture you'd get, you'd beg me to smile all the while giving me a big goofy grin until I did smile (I'm pretty sure you inherited that from your dad). It was your way of checking if mommy was still mad. You have overcome so much the past few years. They have not been easy for you. I am so proud for every accomplishment you make. Without knowing, you've taught us so much about what is truly important. We love you more and more each day. Thanks for making me a mommy. I love you!!

Mom

Halloween

This year the boys decided to dress up as construction workers. I had so much fun taking their picture and gathering up all our props for their photo shoot. I took over 200 pictures, and even though a lot of those got deleted, it was still really hard narrowing them down to a little over 100. I thought they looked great. This is definitely one of my favorite costumes we've done right after the skunk they both were as babies. Who knew dirt and tool belts could be so fun?

Will had a Halloween party at preschool where he got WAY too much candy, and that evening we went to Miranda and Derrick's to have a little party and do a little trick or treating. I love Halloween!

 

Baby baby!

We found out at the end of June we would be adding to our family! Patrick and I had prayerfully decided that our family wasn't quite complete and that now was the time to add to it. It was a tough decision to make. We of course had fears. Will's epilepsy wasn't under great control--better, but not great. But when the confirmation came in April during General Conference it was undeniable.

We are so so excited to be adding another boy to our rowdy bunch!! Will and Jack came with us for the ultrasound and they were really confused. They had been so sure the whole time that they would be having a baby sister. When we were looking at the ultrasound pictures, there was one showing the baby's hand. Being so tiny it really didn't look like much more than a skeleton of his hand. Will gave me a good laugh when he said, "Mom, look at his claws!"

My best friend Miranda is expecting a girl the end of December, and Bryce and Keeley are expecting a girl the beginning of January. We feel very blessed by all these sweet babies and hope they are great friends! 

We cannot wait to meet you, Baby!

 

Trike-a-Thon

Will's school participates holds a St. Jude Trike-a-Thon every year. I was so excited for him to be able to participate in this. St. Jude's is such a wonderful hospital for children struggling to overcome cancer. They have blessed so many lives by never turning away a child who can't afford treatment. And with all of the research they have done they have blessed countless more in the many advances they have made. Will raised $100 thanks to generous friends and family. All of the preschool together raised a little over $3,000! Very impressive when you consider it's just a small group of kids, but what a difference we can make when we all work together.

Will very much enjoyed doing this especially being able to ride his bike. He was zooming! Mrs. Janet was also happy to let Jack participate in the bike riding. He of course loved it. He tried his hardest to keep up with Will. After some encouraging Will slowed down enough to ride around the course a few times with Jack. He was a little reluctant as he just wanted to go as fast as he could, but being the good brother he is he helped Jack to feel included.

Caution: 3 Year Old Ahead

Jack chose to have his party at one of his most favorite places; Rocky River. After changing his mind a gazillion times on what kind of cake/party he would like, he finally chose a digger cake. He had lots of family there to help him celebrate: Nonna, Pa, Uncle Blake, Lauren, Aunt Julee, Natalie, Ceseley, Aunt Keeley, Baylor, Kyndal, Gran Gran, Papi, Uncle James, Kelby, and Kaden. He got lots of new things to play with and some money to boot. I think his only disappointment was not being able to spend the night there. So I promised we'd come back and do that another time.

Soccer

Will had showed an interest in playing soccer and loved to play at home with us, so we signed him up to play. The league he plays in doesn't have any practices during the week which is a big bonus for me. They practice for 30 minutes on Saturday and then right after that they play three 10 minute games. And it is at the same time every Saturday which helps in making plans. Love when people are so smart and make things easier on parents and kids. He had fun his first day but it was just SO hot that by the end he was more than ready to go. He loved the practice and drill part of it. He just wasn't crazy about the game part of it. Hopefully the weather will cool down soon and that will make a difference.

 

 

Preschool

We enrolled Will for preschool in July at St. Mark's Preschool. I met his teacher, Mrs. Janet, a few times and think he is really gonna love her. He was so excited for his first day. He walked right in and pretty much told me bye at the door. I was pretty sure he'd be fine, but a little stunned at how easy and non eventful it was for him, but happy it was that way though. Jack did not handle it so well. He was not happy about leaving his brother. He shed a few tears and was pretty pouty about not being able to stay with Will. I was a little lost without him that first day; I wasn't quite sure what I should be doing. When I picked him up from school he told me all about his day and seems to really love it so far. He goes on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-12:30. So relieved he is loving it! Such a big milestone.

Dino Trek

Mom wanted to take the boys to do something special after Camp Nonnanee. We found out that the Nashville Zoo had a dinosaur exhibit going on and we thought that would be a fun thing to do and Kyndal was lucky enough to get to do both. :) It was a VERY hot day but we all had fun. The dinosaur exhibit was neat Jack loved carrying around a map but was a little apprehensive about the dinosaurs. Mom had to hold his hand several times in order to get him to walk past the dinosaurs. After the dinosaurs the kids enjoyed feeding the birds, riding on the carousel, and seeing lots of animals, bugs, and reptiles.

 

 

 

Dinner and a Show

Patrick took the boys and me on a date tonight. We started with dinner at Cracker Barrel and then went to the movies to watch Brave. The movie was pretty good, but more for kids 6 and up, I think. Will was pretty antsy for most of it and Jack stayed pretty interested as long as he was holding the popcorn bag. :) I loved watching him keep both his hands in the bag. I wanted to make a special note about some of the things Jack said. He ate almost the whole large bag by himself, and by the end of the movie was understandably not feeling so good. I was holding him and he kept belching. I was really hoping he didn't throw up on me. He said, "I wanna go home." When we got home the boys played outside for a little bit before coming in and getting ready for bed. When I took Jack's shirt off he said, sadly, "oh, I fink I ate too much popcoin." He was trying to suck in his tummy and got really sad when he couldn't--I can relate. He sadly said, "I can't suck my tummy in." Oh, he makes me smile.

Father's Day

These boys are so lucky to have such a great guy to call "Daddy." A guy who plays on hands and knees with them, who pitches balls to them, who leads our home by his great example of what a good man ought to be. And I'm so blessed to have such a great guy helping me raise men.

Grandma Miller's:

the best place to take a nap,

 

where you'll hear, "you're special," said by one of the most special ladies ever, 

 

and where when your visit is over, she'll insist on walking you out the door to sit on the front porch all so she can wave to you as you drive away leaving you to worry if she'll make it back in the house ok.

 

Grandma Miller's: a little piece of Heaven on Earth.

Strawberry Fields

I had heard about a strawberry farm at church one day and really wanted to go. We finally found a time that would work for us although it was towards the end of the strawberry season. We picked a few baskets as it started to get really warm. When we were done we snacked on some of their delicious strawberry popsicles--seriously so good! They were worth the trip alone. The strawberries were ok but not as good as I was expecting, but that could have had something to do with how late in the season it was.