He Is Risen!

Christ is risen from the dead 

Trampling over death by death

 Come awake, come awake

 Come and rise up from the grave! 

Christ is risen from the dead 

We are one with him again

 Come awake, come awake 

Come and rise up from the grave!

 

Easter Egg Hunt 2013

While we try not to put much emphasis on eggs, chocolates and bunnies around here during Easter, our church egg hunt was a wonderful excuse to get outside on this beautiful Saturday of our Easter weekend. So grateful for friends opening their home and lovely yard to all of us!

Sharing the loot

Apparently Sophie loves yellow!

The first of many chocolates eaten today!

Sophie was intrigued as to why none of the wrappers she was allowed to play with had any candy in them!

Enjoying snack time with his favorite buddies, Tennyson and Haddon

And first time on a tire swing...he LOVED it and I was so proud of him for holding on so well

Tennyson and Jack investigating the wood pile

Me and my girlie

Both of the kids, being that much older, were able to enjoy this year's hunt even more than last year!

Our String Bean

Practicing his "mean" face :)

Our boy went for his three year old well check today and got a clean bill of health, for which we are so thankful. And no shots were needed at this visit, for which we were all extremely thankful too!

Here are his growth stats (no surprises there!):

Height: 40 inches (90th %)
Weight: 29 lbs (20th %)
BMI: 13.4 (very low)

So yes, following in his Daddy's footsteps physically, the little string bean!

He is fully potty trained now, even at night, and really breezed through that process (I was dreading it but he did so well!). He loves to choose his own clothes and can dress himself now (except for shoes). Fashion has become a battle of the wills over here so I am trying to find creative ways to compromise with him in this, letting him have independence while maintaining and teaching some shred of appropriate dress sense!

He communicates very clearly now, although gets slightly garbled when excited, and can identify emotions pretty well, which is helpful. Daddy is still his favorite person, with his Grandpa and uncles as close seconds! Building things, drawing and puzzles are favorite activities as well as trains, guns, swords and of course, playing ball outside.

Sophie and he are really enjoying each other and are making each laugh now. It's lovely to see them interact. He is learning to be a good big brother, helping with her oxygen tubes and making sure she doesn't get stuck. He still refers to her as "my baby" and loves to hug her. His newest thing is to "protect" her with his sword, while wearing his armor, slaying the dragons that seem to frequently prowl our house in search of baby Sophies to gobble up!

Tantrums and wanting to do things his own way have been an issue the past six months or so and we pray for wisdom in dealing with him with love and grace. Advice, good book recommendations etc. much appreciated!

So thankful for this little chap and the fun he brings to each day. Praying for him as he journeys down the road God has marked out for him.

Cozy

It has been COLD around here this weekend! So we've stayed bundled up at home (except for a brief visit to Chik-Fil-A yesterday) and out of this cold and rainy weather. Today, Vanessa's girls were dropped off for a quick visit, while Ness and Sean went to IKEA. Jack was thrilled at having a surprise play date with his cousins and fun was had by all:

"Camping" in Jack's teepee tent he got for his birthday

And Michaela held them all captive by relating the story of "Sleeping Beauty" (of course Sophie is trying to climb!)

And here is Miss S contemplating a hands free journey over to the window...she is getting more and more confident about letting go and walking.

One Year Olds Are Everywhere!

March is just a birthday fest around these parts! We celebrate our Jack boy in the first week and then the middle weeks bring cousin Emma and Wyn's birthdays. On Saturday we joined the family for Emma's first birthday party. She had a joint party with her other cousin Dominick, also turning one. Lots of babies and kids (and they're all from Nessa and Sean's combined family members!) and everybody had such fun!

Dominick and Emma are ONE!

Vanessa holding Emma and Erin with Dominick as we sang to them.

And some of the one year olds in a row: Sophie, Emma, Dominick, Lilly and Wyn

Lilly and Sophie were glued to the window watching the dogs outside

And the big kids admiring the cakes: Winnie the Pooh for Emma (great job Ness!) and domino cupcakes for Dominick!

And today we celebrated Miss Wyn!!! Her party was lamb themed and Steve and Rach had decorated everything beautifully.

The birthday girl!

Her gorgeous lambie cake (well done Rach!)

Present opening mayhem!

Now all three of these little ladies are ONE!

Wyn with her two grandmothers

 We love you Emma and Wyn and are so happy we could celebrate with you both!!

15 Months Old

Happy 15 months to our Sophie! Doesn't seem possible, but here we are already, a quarter into her second year. She is still so little (15.4 lbs) that it's hard to see her as a toddler now. And she IS toddling! Very slowly and cautiously, but taking more steps and more willingly every day. She has this stiff legged little walk that makes us laugh!

And boy, is she a climber! She wants to climb everything she can get a foothold on and yesterday attempted to scale the piano. Yikes. We joke that, of course, the girl who needs oxygen will turn out to want to be a mountain climber! Jack is doing a good job of looking out for her now and always tells me when she's up to no good!

She isn't saying any new words yet but has her five or six that she says fairly well: ta (thank you), Da Da (Daddy), Nana (for my Mum), Ja (Jack), duck, dog, doh (for her paci). And somehow, like most little ones, she makes herself understood quite well. She is starting to shake or nod her head for yes and no, too. Music is her favorite thing (apart from snack foods!) and she LOVES it when we sing to her.

Unfortunately, we have noticed that she is becoming quite the little drama queen! She whines and complains as soon as anyone touches her oxygen tubing or comes near her food or toys. We are working on that!

Healthwise, Sophie is doing ok. She has been sick several times since January with colds, pneumonia and a tummy bug, so has not gained any weight. She goes for her 15 month pediatrician check next week so we'll see what the doc says.

Love you bunches Sophie Joy!

Fighter Jet Party

So, the boy has an opinion!

A couple of months ago, when Jack's cousin Alexis had decided on her party theme (Snow White, after much influencing from her Mummy!), we started talking about what kind of party he would like. At first, robots were the theme of choice and I found these oh so cute robot themed cupcake holders and toppers. And decorating a robot cake sounded like good fun. All was well.

However, the theme morphed into a robot-fighter-jet party (I began to get nervous about what THAT cake was going to look like!) and then eventually he insisted that all he wanted were fighter jets at his party. And NOTHING was going to change his mind (I definitely tried Vanessa's tactics she'd used on Axie, but to no avail).

So, fighter jets it was. I was highly unmotivated by his cake, having done an airplane last year, but luckily Daddy came to the rescue and helped with the decorating! And Jacko was thrilled with it, which is the main thing. Since we were planning to have his party at the local airport playground like last year, we decided to just do cake and play. I figured the weather couldn't possibly be worse than last year's party. Boy was I wrong! By noon there were snow flurries and freezing temps! In this southern town. Crazy! Anyway, we changed the party to our house, scurried around cleaning and tidying and set up the table while the kids were napping. Andre was a huge help and saved the day by cleaning the bathroom :)

And having it at home, I got to decorate his table a bit more which was fun. This party was definitely NOT Pinterest worthy, but since a party is all about the kids having fun and feeling celebrated, I was ok with a less than perfect affair :) Jacko loved having all his friends over and everyone did a great job playing nicely despite the lack of space! Thanks for coming everyone!

Party table

Alexis, Jack and Tennyson

Not a great shot, but our family pic

Blowing out his candles

All the kids packed into Jack's room to play! They did so well together!

Happy Birthday Jacko!

We now have a three year old in the house! Happiest of birthdays to our dearest Jack boy. You are LOVED!

This morning: thrilled with his presents!

This evening: just a tad high on sugar at the end of a fun filled day!