Hope everyone had a Happy Easter Weekend!  We enjoyed ours.  Although I failed to take pictures, Saturday we colored Easter eggs with Westen, and then that night we made Resurrection Bread.  It was kind of cool and he totally got it.  We've been talking about Easter and what it means for the past couple weeks, plus he's been getting it at school too so he can tell you exactly why we celebrate this day called Easter.  Anyway, long story short, we put marshmallows (dipped in butter and a sugar/cinnamon mixture) -also known as Jesus- into pillsbury crescent rolls- also known as the tomb- rolled them up tight leaving no gaps then baked them.  When you take them out they're hollow inside, thus Jesus rose from the dead and the tomb is empty.  Westen totally got into this while I let him dip the marshmallows in the butter.  It was pretty cute.  We opened them up Sunday morning before we went to church to see the results:)  It was a really cute idea and perfect for his little toddler mind.  And although we didn't really say much about the Easter Bunny, the boys did get Easter baskets which they opened in our bed after milk.  Here's a couple shots from that...

Westen's been wanting a belt for probably a couple months now so he can dress like Daddy.  I finally made him two and put them in his Easter basket.  He's so funny about it and wore that one all day:)

And Baron got a horse because he loves to name animals and make their sounds right now so he was pretty excited about his little Neigh Horse:)

After baskets and breakfast we got ready for church.  Unfortunately, our little Baron has not been feeling well and you can pretty much tell in some of these pictures.  As cute as they look in these adorable little argyle ties, I can see that puffiness around his eyes and know that probably right before this shot was taken, he had his nose wiped for the 100th time before 9am that morning.  Bless his little heart.  I felt so bad for him all day.  They sure look handsome, though, don't they???

And Daddy does too...

And here I am all gussied up too - make up on...hair fixed...it must've been a special day for all that to go down:)

I tried to get a cute shot of the boys outside together all in their matching khaki pants, white shirts, and ties, but this was honestly the best we could day.  Baron had other things on his mind...

Baron's face in that picture looks like he was on his way to do something mean:)  But here, he looks sweet and innocent...

We went to the 9am church service which was great, then headed on home.  I had a mini Easter egg hunt planned for the boys.  Here's a couple shots from that.

In this next one, we told the boys to stand side by side and show us the eggs they found in their baskets and Baron proceeded to dump his on his head...

Next, we had lunch then put the boys down for a nap.  We weren't due in Orlando 'til 5pm, so we spent the afternoon home (although Austin and I did P90X, so it wasn't that pleasant:)  Anyway, off to Nana's and Papa's for an Easter dinner.  I have to show this picture from last year's Easter of Lauren pulling Baron in the wagon...

And then this year...

Isn't that funny!  Man how much a difference one year makes!  Anyway, like always with Lauren, the boys had fun!

Can't you just tell little B doesn't feel good in that one?  Despite how he looks, he was really quite the trooper all evening.  I don't think he whined or cried once.  He can be so sweet sometimes.

After our bellies were full from a great dinner we snapped a couple shots with the boys great-grandma, aka Grammy...

I could be wrong, but I think she's 92 yrs. old.  And I've never seen her looking anything but good.  She's such an awesome woman and we love her dearly:)

After that we headed to Todd's house which is Aunt La La's boyfriend for the big Easter Egg Hunt.  The boys LOVED this.  Baron really enjoyed both Easter egg hunts more than I thought he would.  He loved finding them and then throwing them into his "Lellow" basket:)

Westen had to figure out how to get that float from the middle of the pool close enough for him to reach the eggs on it.  Aunt La La, Todd, and Nana did a good job making it fun for the kids:)  Thanks guys!

The boys also got to jump on Todd's trampolene and I think it's the first time either of them have done that.  They LOVED it!  We had to make them get off to go open their Easter eggs and eat dessert!

That picture is deceiving, but they kinda look the same size there.  Moving on, here's one more picture I'm including just to tell a short story about Mr. Cousey who got to tag along with us to the Easter fun...

I'll try to keep this short, but before we left yesterday Austin said, "I was thinking we should take Cous today to show him a little love since he feels like he gets left out now all the time."  I thought it was a good idea so off to Easter dinner and egg hunt he went.  While at the egg hunt at Todd's house, Lindsay's dog was there too and they were playing together for awhile.  We were all outside the whole time for the most part and no one saw little Cous slip away.  So around 8pm when Austin and I started packing up stuff to head home, we start calling for Cousey to no avail.  We walk outside and begin yelling his name but he is nowhere in sight.  Long story short, we, along with Todd, Lindsay, and Nana looked for Cousey for the next hour.  We thought he was gone.  And, of course, he was not wearing a collar or i.d. tag.  We NEVER put one on him.  Stupid???  Maybe, but he rarely leaves us when we're outside with him.  By 9pm, already an hour past the boys bedtime with an hour yet to drive home, we decide we have to take the kids home.  We leave...WITHOUT my sweet Cousey whom we've had for 6 years!!!!  Once we actually start heading for home I begin to cry and feel completely sick to my stomach!  Although our plan was to go back the next day with flyers and hope that someone took him in for the night, my heart sank at the thought of him spending the night in an unfamiliar place or worse yet, outside and alone.  Our Cousey is a spoiled little dog and extremely emotional.  I wouldn't put it past him to have a heart attack in a situation like that.  He's terrified of storms for crying out loud!!  Anyway, right as we pull into our neighborhood one hour of nausea and silence later, Lindsay calls to say they heard scratching on the back door and lo-and-behold he made his way back!  Insert HUGE sigh of relief here!  I got him back today and Westen gave him a good talking to on our way home.  And that's true:)  I'm so happy that he'll be back at my feet tonight:)

One final note, my favorite pictures of the day are the two below.  I just love these boys so much!

Mr. Happy Go Lucky - not afraid to sport the bunny ears, loving his new belt, and still happy with his nearly rubbed off Ironman tattoo and the chance to ride a scooter:)  He is such a sweet child!

And then Mr. Baron who wants, ever so much, to be big like his brother and looks the part in this picture.  Marching to the beat of his own drum, usually looking a little disheveled (probably due to some kind of fall and hit to the head), always looking for the next thing he can get into.  There's never a dull moment.  He melts my heart everyday when he clings like a monkey to me or Austin when he wants to be held but only gives kisses away when he feels like it.  He is so precious!

Hope you all have a great week!

Well, you may remember from this post that Westen just recently turned 3 yrs. old.  We made the mistake of telling him on his actual birthday that his birthday gift from us was a day at Disney World - or rather in terms he understands to Mickey's House! (The words Disney World didn't mean much to him before this trip, but he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and knows Mickey and all his friends).  So for the past few weeks, almost daily he has asked me if today was the day he'd be going to Mickey's house:)  Finally, on Tuesday last week, here was our conversation:
Me: "Westen, do you remember where we're going tomorrow?"
Westen: "Where?"
Me: "To Mickey's house?"
Westen: "Who'd going?"
Me: "Me, you, and Daddy"
Westen: "Are you kidding me?"
It was so funny. I think he had given up hope:)  Anyway, that night Nana came over to spend the night and the next whole day with Baron, so we could set sail to Mickey's house.  First up on the list at Disney...probably the most important thing we did all day...

Go see the real Mickey.  I think Westen was speechless.  

He hugged him and smiled and he did show him that he knew how to do the Hot Dog dance (you know what I'm talking about if you watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse:)  Here he is doing the dance for Mickey...

Here we are in front of the castle...

So, we started off with the 3D show with Donald Duck.  It's one of my favorites where you wear 3D glasses and they spray water at you when it looks like you'll get wet and you really smell apple pie when it goes across the screen.  Love that show!  We also did Its A Small World and Winnie the Pooh.  Then we headed to the Mad Tea Party ride (the tea cups that spin around and you can make your own spin individually - yeah - that one).  This was really Westen's first bout of riding "rides".  He loved it!

Actually, he loved it so much that later in the day when we had done most of what we thought he could do, we asked him what he'd like to do one more time and his request was for the tea cups!!  Austin and I groaned, I think, when he said this.  It's a wonder none of us got sick!  And during that second round of it, Westen did at one point go from laughing hysterically to a look of complete disorientation - he totally got dizzy.  But he still loved it!  Then he got to drive a race car with Daddy!

He told me he wrecked Daddy a couple times.  Then we went to the Buzz Lightyear ride where we shot little guns at targets.  Seeing Buzz and Evil Emperor Zurg was the most exciting part for Westen...

We also road some kind of space ships and went to the Monster's Inc. comedy show (which, by the way, is probably my favorite show there now.  It really was funny!)  And somewhere in between all that, we ate lunch and enjoyed a little show...

Then we raced across the park to get a spot for the parade near Frontierland which is where Splash Mountain is.  Austin was determined to get Westen on Splash Mountain when he read that the height requirement was 40 inches.  This is even after I told him that Westen was more like 38 inches tall (he just went for his 3 yr. checkup, so I knew).  Anyway, we found our spot for the parade which was supposed to start at 3:00pm.  At 2:55pm it started raining and the parade was delayed for an indefinite amount of time.  Yeah...bummer!  So we headed for Splash Mountain only to get turned away because, guess what??? Westen wasn't tall enough.  Shocker, I know!  His hair was touching - so close.  Don't worry...Austin didn't give up hope:)  In the meantime, it continued to rain, but we certainly didn't let it stop us.  Really, I think it kept people away since the longest we waited for any ride (and maybe only 2 of them) was like 15 or 20 minutes!  Yep - a good day to go!  So we headed to Tom Sawyer's Island where Westen shot away all the mean guys...

Austin thought enough time had passed for that particular height police to get restationed from Splash Mountain, so we headed back that way, this time with Westen on Austin's shoulders.  This time, no one said a word or asked to check his height.  Once we got on there I was a nervous wreck for Westen.  This is like the water log ride at King's Island for those of you up home who need reference.  It's like a 50 foot drop and Westen is only just 3!  And technically not supposed to be on the ride!  He was all excited about it though.  And although we didn't get any pictures because between the rain and this ride we were all soaking wet and there was no way I was getting my camera out on that ride, Westen loved it!  He totally did fine and when our turn was over, there was no one getting in the front row of our log, so we got right back on in the front so Shorty could see better.  He was totally into it!  Brave little soul!  And I think it's safe to say it was Daddy's favorite ride and maybe that he was a little proud of his little guy:)  
Moving on - we headed to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and, fortunate for us, Goofy was taking pictures there. Mickey and Goofy were the only 2 that Westen specifically said he wanted to see and get pictures with - so here we are...

Here we are for our second round on the tea cups...(excuse my hair matted to my face - I told you we were soaked!)

Right before he got dizzy...

Up until this point, there was still no mention of a parade.  We were contemplating calling it a day, and then decided to ride the train that goes all around the park.  While on there, it makes a stop at Main Street to get off you you want.  During that stop we realized there was mini parade going on, so we raced off to catch it and were literally running down Main Street trying to catch up with it so Westen could see it.  And it wasn't even that great, just 3 or 4 floats.  But I guess they try to do a little something when the big afternoon one gets rained out.  

After that, we had to walk back to the train station to get our stroller.  By this time it was after 5:30pm.  We knew we still wanted to let Westen get a souvenir (spelling?) with some money he got from Christmas (thanks, Uncle Ralph) and we were all hungry.  So, by the time we did all that, it would be almost time for the electric parade that started at 7pm.  We decided to wait it out.  In the meantime, one worn-out little boy decided to take a rest...

He took a little cat nap and woke up just in time for the parade...

 Westen wanted to wear his new Mickey gloves on the car ride home.  He also got a big Mickey for himself, and a little Mickey for his brother.  Sweet right.  Here he is on the ride home before falling asleep...

We had such a fun time! I know he may not remember this trip some day, but the whole thing was a bit magical through his eyes!  He LOVED it!  And we loved spending the day with him and just making it a fun day for him to feel special.  He was so fun and sweet all day.  And I think he really enjoyed just having Mommy and Daddy to himself all day!  He honestly didn't whine or complain once.  (Just keeping it real, but it didn't hurt that the weather was in the 70s and like I mentioned, we didn't wait in line hardly at all, AND he was not competing with his brother for attention:).  All factors combined made for a great day!
And just because I can't leave him out completely, here's Baron the next morning upon receiving his new Mickey...

And they've both been sleeping with their new Mickeys almost every night since.  So funny!  I look forward to when Baron's big enough to appreciate it too!  In the meantime, Happy Birthday Baby!  Hope you enjoyed the day as much as me and Daddy did!  Love you!

Well, if I didn't already say it...Merry Christmas!  As the post title says Christmas here lasted for 3 days.  As a result, our house is a crazy chaotic mess, but boy was it fun!  We really enjoyed watching our boys this year.  It started Christmas Eve at Aunt Rissa's house.  We got a good family pic...

Aunt Rissa and Aunt La La worked hard in the kitchen and prepared a wonderful meal for the evening.  We then played the annual White Elephant Gift Exchange and had a great time of fellowship.  Here's all the ladies in attendance...

And all the men...

A silly one of me and Austin...

And last of Christmas Eve we took a picture of the boys in their new Christmas jammies in front of Aunt Rissa's tree because we knew they'd fall asleep on the way home and we wouldn't get one in front of ours'...

After getting home that night, getting the boys in bed, then making sure they were asleep - Austin and I stayed up putting this together for the boys...

And although we have no great shots of a huge reaction that morning, I think we captured a few that shows what the boys thought of this new toy...

Being that the slide was the boys' big gift, they each just had a few more under the tree from us.  It's funny because Baron still needs help unwrapping and Westen can use a little help from time to time too, so in addition to videoing Austin had to take the still pictures too because I was too busy helping.  We took plenty but I'll just show you the big hits including a new basketball for Baron (which he was stoked about), Fireman rain boots for Westen which was the only thing he consistently said he wanted for Christmas, and a little toddler scooter that's just Westen's size, but apparently Baron loves too...

It really was so fun to watch Westen this year.  And although our house looks like a tornado hit it with toys right now, I look forward to Christmas morning next year when Mr. Baron will be more aware too.  And we did, of course, remind Westen of the true celebration and the most important gift that we have in Him.

Oh and I almost forgot!!!...  So I had told Austin that this year he and I should not exchange gifts.  You know how it goes - we were on a tighter Christmas budget and I thought that'd take any pressure off him anyway.  Of course, I got him a little something from the boys, and I put some white undershirts in his Christmas stocking.  Then on a last minute whim, I bought him (us) the Scrabble game because we'd had so much fun playing the weekend before at the beach house.  Much to my surprise I found a box for me under the tree Christmas morning and lo and behold it was the Scrabble game!  Ha! I know.  We got each other the same gift!  But even more than that was what I found in my stocking.  Long story short I haven't worn my diamond engagement ring in awhile for reasons that are too long to explain.  In my stocking I found my engagement ring (now ready to wear again) along with a pair of diamond earrings!  I mean...what girl wouldn't love a pair of real diamond earrings!  I was so blown away that it brought tears to my eyes (and I'm not one to cry over things like that).  And if you know Austin you know this was an extremely uncharacteristic move of him which made the thoughtfulness and gift itself that much more special to me.  The effort and thought he put into getting them with his already crazy hectic schedule along with the financial woes of it... just not something I was expecting at all!  My husband really surprised me in more ways than one with this sweet gift. And even more than the diamonds themselves, I'm grateful for his thoughtfulness!  But we somehow didn't get a picture of those.

Moving on.  After playing hard all morning, the boys napped and then Austin's family came over to our house to exchange gifts (we only did the White Elephant the night before). My mother-in-law made her delicious sweet chili and I made potato soup.  I typically am not a table setter, but I did for this occasion and I must say...it made me want to set it more often because it looked so pretty...

So we ate dinner and then off to open gifts!  It was madness for about 25 minutes but so fun to watch!  We had a sweet time of fellowship with our family...

After a long Christmas Day, we slept it off and got up the next day in anticipation of Mamaw, Papaw, and Uncle Ryan's arrival that night.  The boys played with all their new toys that day.  Westen showed big improvement in just one day on his scooter.  Then after a long day, FINALLY, Mamaw, Papaw, and Uncle Ryan arrived that night bearing more Christmas gifts!  And here's a glimpse of that!

It was so fun again!  Opening presents doesn't get old for an almost 3 yr. old although it certainly plants a seed of greed, ya know?  That sounded bad.  He handles it well overall, but he is a toddler.  It didn't get old for us to watch their excitement regardless.  Anyway, we are so blessed that Mamaw and Papaw decided to come down and spend some time with us.  More to come on that along with a Super Hero in our house and some kind of birthday party!  Hope you had a blessed Christmas too and Happy New Year!

Well, I know I've been lacking in updates of the boys and our family, but life happens and it's certainly happened to us lately. Perhaps I'll do another post for that, but for now let me share the pictures of the Harvest Fest held at our church a couple weeks ago that I never shared.  Here's the Baby Barista and Woody...yet again.

The weather was perfect that night.  It actually felt like Fall here in the Sunshine State even if for just a little bit:)  The boys had so much fun.  They played games...

We all went on a little hayride...

After that Westen finally loosened up enough to go down the inflatable slide - first with Daddy...

Then by himself...

Sorry, it was hard to time it.  And, yes, Baron got to go too...

Westen also went down the really big slide with Daddy...

It looks like maybe even Daddy liked that one;)  It was a fun night!  We look forward to that every year!  And here's one more in the little photo op spot.

This next picture I think was from the next night but I wanted to include it because they just look so cute in their monkey jammies...

I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove posting updates more often and maybe even doing projects on Fridays again which I've lacked for over a month:(  We've just had a lot going on.  Have a great rest of your week and we'll be back soon.