Happy Birthday TWO you!

It is so hard to believe that our baby boy turned two today. We waited a long time for our second miracle to come into our lives and we feel so blessed that God chose us for him.

This week has been a rough week at our house as we all have been going down one by one with illness. When Grant turned two he was so sick and was in the emergency room the night before his party. Remembering how rough that was, we decided to move Ryan's party to next weekend when we all are back on our feet. This morning he made an effort to get out of bed to go with daddy to get breakfast. Even though he is sick he still likes to go, go, go.

It just wouldn't be right to have a birthday without a cake and a few presents so we had a little celebration with just mom, dad, and big brother.

This is about as far as he got with the cake. He just has not been up to eating much. He played with the cake and then it fell in his lap. He was eager however to open up his presents!

He had us laughing because he will only open up one gift at a time. You have to unwrap it, take it out of the box, and let him play with it before he will move on to the next gift. This could be a very long process at his party next week but to see our little guy smile after having such a rough week was well worth the wait.

Love that smile!

(We try to keep clothes on this kiddo but we always find them on the floor.)

This is his serious game face.

He was cracking us up with his punching bag. He has some pretty sweet moves and is not afraid to demonstrate for all to see. He even adds sound effects for good measure. Notice the roll of bread in his hand. This child eats his weight in bread every day so I find this to be hilarious that he will not put the bread down while he is playing.

We ended the day with us all piled up on the couch under a blanket watching movies. JR and I feel so blessed for the gifts that God has given us and we look forward to watching them grow up.

 (not too fast though!) 

Front Page Story!

"Mom, Santa came!"

JR and I packed up the family and headed to Missouri for our yearly Christmas trip. We usually stay two weeks but with our work and school schedules we cut it down to five days. Even though it was cut short we were able to pack a lot into those five days and we enjoyed seeing everyone for the holidays. This year Santa mailed Grant and Ryan very special certificates for making the Good List and the boys were excited for his arrival. The milk and cookies were set out and the stockings were hung, and they went to bed fairly easy. On Christmas morning I woke up to those sweet little words that I know will end too soon, "Mom, Santa came!"

Ryan saw his battery operated Cars four wheeler and nothing else mattered! It was so cute to see him hop right on it and take off. He did doughnuts in the living room until it was time to go.

Grant was excited to see that Santa checked his list very thoroughly and brought him just what he wanted!

We were able to make all our rounds to visit family in those short five days and the boys had plenty to keep them occupied!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year! We are so blessed and want to keep in mind all those who are struggling this holiday, have loved ones they cannot be with, and to say THANK YOU to all the troops and their families who are serving overseas this Christmas. May God bring you home safely to your loved ones.

Costume hunting!

It may only be the middle of September but I am on the hunt for Halloween costumes. Grant always picks out a warrior type costume and he once again has stayed within that theme. This year he wants to be a zombie soldier. We picked out a soldier costume and with a little makeup I think I can make him Zombified!

Ryan is a little harder to shop for. He doesn't say much yet so I have no clue as to what he wants to be. I know he loves to open and close doors so I could make him a little doorman costume. However, that would involve sewing and we all know that it just won't happen. I stumbled upon this costume and thought it would be perfect since it is his favorite song to sing!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider!!!! This year will be a lot more fun for Ryan since he is older and understands what candy is. We all know he can knock on a door and ring a mean doorbell so now all I have left to do is to get him to say "Trick OR Treat"

August

August started off with a lot of trips to the store to buy school supplies and to prepare for our third and last trip to Dallas, Texas for JR's seminar for his PhD program. We were spoiled in Washington with school starting after the Labor Day weekend, and we were almost certain school would start in late August like in our childhood when we lived in Missouri, so when we learned school starts the first week of August here in Kentucky we were not prepared..........

Here are my two sweet nieces Madeline and Ava heading off to their first day of school in Missouri like good little kids do.....

And here is our over joyed son heading off to Lego Land in Dallas, TX instead of heading off to his first day of school........So we didn't expect school to start August 3rd!!!!

Grant had a blast and I can say it was a much needed family time trip for us!

Ryan didn't know what to think of this place, there were kids running every where and screaming their heads off. I tried taking him to the toddler area but we found it to be just as dangerous.....

My favorite part of Lego Land was the miniature set up of Dallas. They did an awesome job and I compared them to my actual pics of down town Dallas and they look so much alike!

Our nephew Brody has been busy growing by leaps and bounds. The last time I saw him he had just learned to sit up on his own and now he has taken off crawling and pulling himself up on furniture. It is amazing to me how fast they grow up and how quickly they learn to be on the move after they take that first risky step...

For instance.......

For Ryan's first birthday his cousins Jill, James, and Jeanette bought him these awesome roller skates. He couldn't even stand in them about three months ago but now he can stand up, walk on the carpet, and even cautiously glide around the kitchen floor in them.

A wipe-out or two was to be expected;)

July

For the Fourth of July we loaded the boys up and took them on post at Fort Knox, KY. They had a live band playing and a carnival going on all day and at night they ended with a fireworks show.

The boys had fun passing the time with football, baseball, and running around chasing each other. When the fireworks started Ryan clung to daddy and insisted on getting back in the car. He is so much like his mommy. That is why we don't do our own fireworks....Mommy is not a fan of explosives:)

We took a trip to MO to see family and a trip to Grandma Cindy's and Paw Paw Tim's is always on the list!

Here Kitty Kitty ! I won't hurt you.......

June

 Mommy sometimes gets bored and dresses little man up. This is Ryan in his brother's old Halloween costume as  Eeyore.

We had to make a trip to Dallas for Daddy's PhD program so we made the best of it and added in a trip to the Medieval Times and it was a blast!

Ryan couldn't get enough of the soup; he had three bowls!

 This picture is my favorite. It sums up why we take the boys to places like this. The boys faces lit up many times and melted mom and dad's hearts. We are very blessed and will miss this when they grow up!

 The trip was a success. Dad learned a lot at his seminar and as a family we had fun...... Good Bye Dallas!