Easter Parade

We had two fun-filled days of egg hunting and chocolate eating. Maybe a little more of the latter than the former...

First off, our apartment complex hosted an egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was a great turn out on a beautiful day. 

They had the hunt divided into three age groups to make it all fair. Both boys had a great time "searching" for eggs.

And Jackson loved counting his eggs and was delighted with the "treats" found inside (although I took the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...I told him they were really yucky and that I should probably eat those).

On Sunday morning, we woke up to find that indeed the Easter Bunny had come and hid 12 eggs and 2 baskets. Luckily, the Easter Bunny got the memo that the boys are allergic to eggs and didn't need any more sugar, so that clever bunny hid plastic eggs with puzzle pieces inside them. I was amazed that both boys loved hunting for the eggs.

Jackson got the CandyLand game in his Easter basket. He understood the concept and rules of the game, and upon first play (and second) he kicked my butt. It's a sign of things to come, I guess...

Later that evening, we went to my parents' house for pizza and the final egg hunt. Luckily, my dad is in the midst of tax season and hasn't had a chance to cut the grass so the Easter Bunny didn't have to work too hard to hide those things. Jackson, Samuel and Myles had a great time wondering around the tall green grass looking for plastic eggs with MONEY in them. Really, Easter Bunny? 

All in all, we are up one CandyLand game, one Magna Doodle, a water table, about 100 pounds of chocolate and $5.00. Success!

Also, who knew that plastic eggs double as fantastic bath toys?

Happy Easter!

Two Little Boys

Love <3

A Musical Joke

Treble Maker

Only the son of a musician... this shirt makes me giggle. Every time.

Alive And Kicking

Jackson had his first soccer class today. He is taking a class called KinderKicks. As is typical Jackson, he observed at the beginning. When he felt comfortable he started to participate and looked like he was having lots of fun! There are six kids total in the class...three were out sick today. First they did stretches. Then they sang a song and balanced bean bags on their heads, arms, feet, etc. Then Miss Janet gave them each a cone and a soccer ball. First they learned how to kick the ball off the cone. Then they stacked up the cones and learned how to kick the ball straight to knock the cones over. I was so proud of how quickly Jackson caught on. I enrolled Jackson in the class till the end of May to see how he does and if he likes it. With his enrollment, he got a KinderKicks shirt and blue soccer ball. Does this make me an official soccer mom?

The Butler War Song

We are sad the Bulldogs lost the National Championship, but we are sure proud of them and had fun cheering them on!

See ya next year Dawgs!

Peter Cottontail

Here comes Peter Cottontail...


Hopping down the bunny trail....


Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's way!

Getting Better

Finally, we are feeling better.

We are able to snuggle once more.


And we can watch movies together for fun...rather than because we need to rest.


I am so glad we are finally feeing better!

The Neverending Story

Will it ever end?

Just when Jackson wakes up feeling better (by feeling better I mean only throwing up once, eating three bananas and some animal crackers, not taking any extra naps, and having a solid poop...never thought I'd be so excited about a solid poop)...


...Samuel wakes up sick. A couple bouts of diarrhea, a fever ranging from 100.5 - 101.4, not wanting to nurse...



This was my breaking point. I broke down in tears. I felt defeated. I felt worried and scared for my babies. I wondered how I was going to take care of TWO sick little ones at the same time. AND I had to go to church (I have a church job). I had to leave my two sick babies at home with my mother and sister. When I got to church, my alto section forgot to show up. I wasn't expecting that. I had no back up plan. Luckily, we were able to recruit someone to sing a solo instead. Again, I felt like a complete failure. And I was in tears. When I got home, Jackson threw up on me. And I was in tears. Then it was naptime. I wanted to sleep, but Samuel didn't want me to sleep. So I watched the basketball games. VCU defeated Kansas. I felt a little better. Then Kentucky took out North Carolina. I felt a lot better (unless UConn wins the entire thing, I am the winner of our pool). Then Jackson woke up and he felt better. And I felt better. Samuel never did feel better, but at the appearance of the aforementioned solid poop I felt like I had a grasp back on my life and could handle this.

I am so grateful to my mom, sister and Noel for their help over the past five days. I absolutely could not have done it without them. My mom got covered in vomit on more than one occasion. Holly comforted and entertained one child while I fed/cleaned up/changed/nurtured the other (thank goodness Samuel likes Army Wives and Jackson is content with Thomas on the iPhone Netflix).



I have done more laundry, cleaned up more puke and poop, and changed more sheets than I care to ever do again. I have learned to know when vomit is coming a good 5 seconds before it arrives, and can catch it in a towel with 95% accuracy. If you ask me, this is the rotavirus rearing it's ugly head. And it's ugly.

Now let's get Samuel well and get on with our lives!

So Sick

Poor little guy. He's still sick. He's eating a little. And his fever is gone. But he still throws up if he drinks his Pedialyte too quickly, has diarrhea, and is not his happy playing self. We have watched Cars no less than 8 times. Rest is his friend.

I love the snuggles, but I can't wait until he is better!

Sick Again

I am beginning to think that I may never have two boys who are healthy at the same time! If it's not (or snot) one, it's the other. And this time it's Jackson.

Miss Brandy called me yesterday about 3:30 to tell me that Jackson had thrown up. And so I went to get him *hoping* it was just a one off. It wasn't. He threw up in the driveway, in the car, at home, upstairs, downstairs, on me, on Nana... poor little guy. And then he started running a fever. He was so thirsty, but we couldn't give him a juice cup because he couldn't keep anything down. So we started giving him 1 Tablespoon of Pedialyte every 10 minutes. Eventually he went to sleep. He woke up twice for juice and a diaper change, and kept saying "owie" in his sleep so I knew he wasn't feeling well. He threw up once more this morning, but hasn't thrown up since. Just fever and lethargic and sleepy. We have had a very snugly 24 hours.






Jackson has enjoyed his first experience with Lollipops or "pops" as he calls them during this illness. Lollipops makes everything better.



Through it all, Samuel has been very easy going, patient and happy. He slept from 9 to 5:30 last night and then went down again until 9:30. He took three naps during the day, and hardly complained. I think he might be the best baby ever!



I am very thankful for my mom who helped out this morning while I went to take my Praxis I Exam. After only 4 hours of dodgy sleep, I wasn't sure how I'd do. But I finished 2 hours early (I don't check answers - my gut instinct usually works for me - and I didn't take my break), and I passed both the reading and math sections. I hear about the writing section in two weeks. The afternoon was lazy...I think we must have watched Cars 4 times today.

Both boys have been in bed since 8:30 and, even though I should be in bed myself, I am enjoying the Butler game before evoking the sandman. Go Dawgs!

I just hate it when my babies are sick. I do enjoy the snuggles though. Here's hoping that tomorrow shows continued improvement.

The Boy Who Giggled So Sweet

And the countdown begins. In one month from today, my first born will be TWO!

I dropped him off to the nursery at church today and he is now the oldest one in there. I watched him play with the other little one year olds and he just looked so...big! Old! Mature!

Jackson has a kind soul. He is so sweet and makes me smile, laugh and melt on a daily basis. He is also stubborn and is enjoying finding his new independence.

I went into his room one morning and he was standing there in his diaper with his Lightning McQueen PJs on the floor. He was so proud of his accomplishment!



Jackson loves his little brother so much. He is learning to be less rough with him, and in turn, Samuel enjoys watching Jackson play and smiles at him constantly. And Jackson enjoys testing out Samuel's things...



Jackson's vocabulary grows daily. My recent favorite is that he says "please" really sweetly whenever he wants something. Charms me into it every time! He likes telling me to whom things belong. Mommy's juice, Jackson's pants, Samuel's bumbo... He is also getting very vocal about when he has dirtied his diaper. Hello potty training! At this point, I am planning on starting the three day method the first week of May.

Jackson still loves everything Thomas. I recently introduced him to playdoh. He runs; he jumps; he climbs; he slides. He loves to color, loves to dance and LOVES his ABCs.

He is very good about helping to clean up. He even has a song he sings while he does it. Clean up, clean up, everybody do some...

And he follows instructions well (most of the time...can't be perfect all the time...especially at almost 2).

He will eat almost anything you give him. His favorite food is cheese, but a close second is bananas, oranges, applesauce, sausage, and yogurt.


Most of all, he is a lover. I love his big hugs and kisses. There is nothing in the world like little arms around your neck. I am blessed beyond belief to have such a wonderful almost two year old.