Christ, the Lord, is risen today!

It's Easter!!!  One of my most favorite holidays.  What a better way to welcome Spring than to celebrate our risen Lord.  After many weeks of reflection and sacrifice during Lent, it's such a joy to spend Easter Sunday with our family in celebration of the greatest gift of all...the gift of eternal life through Jesus!

This year, we celebrated with my family, at my parents' home.  All of us kids were able to make it, and it was a fantastic day.  The weather was absolutely beautiful!  The little ones made crafts, baked with Grandma Debbie, hunted Easter eggs, played wiffle ball (ok, a few of the adults joined in too), ate LOTS of candy, played games, and I'm sure crashed from their sugar high on the way home!  The adults enjoyed great food, excellent conversation, and fun with the kids...it was a perfect day for everyone.  Here are a few pictures from the day!

 Tiffy and Ben putting the "eggs" in the "baskets"

 Taylor was a good sport and let me take her picture (a big deal for tween)!

 How many kids can we fit on the Barbie Jeep?  It ran out of "gas", so good thing Tiffany can push the whole crew!

 Peek-a-boo

 My brother, Matt's, children...4 sweet kiddos!

 These two have been buddies since day 1...who cares that there's 10 years between them, they sure don't!

 Easter eggs???  We don't need Easter eggs...just a ball!

 Sweet Adeline

 

 Uncle Jason was the look out, helping spot the eggs!

The kiddos and their loot.  They made out like bandits!

It's soccer time!

This year, Ben was finally old enough to join the soccer club at our school, which is a big deal!  He was super excited, and even MORE excited when he found out that he was on the same team as his friend, Blake...how could it get any better???!!!  Well, wait for it...his mom is the coach!

Ben and Blake getting their game faces on!

Now, let me assure you that I did not ask to be his coach.  The league was in desperate need for volunteers, so I thought it would be something that Callie (Blake's mom) and I would just be great for it.  I'm sure Callie was super happy that I volunteered us for this, ha ha!

Their first game was last Saturday, and the team did great.  The weather was wonderful (thank goodness) and we had all 8 of our team members there.  They were having fun, and they even scored 6 goals!  I think this will be a fun season for Ben and his teammates...and for the coaches too, of course!

I just love his face in this one...pure excitement!

I'm not sure I'm ready for this...

It has been a day of mixed emotions today...Ben officially registered for preschool.

While I know that he is more than ready to be in preschool, this mommy is not ready to see him start school.  As an educator, I am the first to say that education is the best investment we can make in our children.  But, as a parent, I know that school brings an end to those care-free days of childhood.

Both of our boys are so blessed to have a "second mom" in their babysitter, Linda.  She loves them like a mother, kisses their boo-boos, praises their achievements, prays with them, reads to them, hugs them and kisses them, and most of all, lets them be kids each and every day.  And, I know that when Ben steps onto that school bus in August, a part of that sweet childhood will go away.

Don't get me wrong, Ben is more than ready.  He's ready for story time, circle time, centers and art.  He's ready for music, gym class, lunch lines and recess.  He's ready, and I know that...I'm just not sure I'm ready.  But, as with anything else, the train's a comin', so I better get on board!

There is a silver lining to this story though, which is that my students work with the preschool each day.  So, I'll get to see that sweet boy every afternoon and I know that the teachers he'll have are the best of the best.  They will love on him, hug him, and hopefully instill a passion for school that will continue long after the days of preschool have ended.

Spring Break!

We just returned from our Spring Break trip to Galena, IL.  We had a great time, but Andy and I both agreed that it's more work to "relax" than it is to go to work, ha ha!

While Galena doesn't have warm, sandy beaches, it is a wonderful place to just decompress and enjoy family time.  They have a huge playground that both boys absolutely loved and they had a pool that we made sure to visit EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  There was also shopping (to make mommy happy)!

 

 Kyran LOVED trying to go up the slides!  

 This picture doesn't really show it, but Kyran was about to fall asleep in the swing.  At one point, he had his whole head down in his lap, all hunched over.  I think he could have stayed in the swing all day!

We took a day trip to Dubuque, Iowa to visit the Mississippi Museum and Aquarium. They had a huge turtle exhibit, which just mesmerized Kyran, and they had giant catfish that Ben was wishing he could catch!

 The museum had an awesome play area where Ben was able to learn all about rivers.  One perk of everyone else in the nation heading south for spring break meant that we had the entire museum almost to ourselves!

Ben was practicing being a "rooster" which was the name of the water cowboys that rolled the logs down the Mississippi

While we were in Dubuque, we headed out to Lock #11 to see if any barges were going through the locks that day.  Unfortunately, there weren't any coming during the time we were there.  We didn't think we could wait much longer because the boys were getting antsy...one day we'll go back and Andy and I can watch longer and hopefully see one go through.

All in all, it was a great vacation.  Andy and I decided that while a spring break of sleeping in and relaxing would be nice, it's the crazy spring breaks with our kiddos that make memories.  I'll definitely take that over sleeping in!

Here's a glimpse of one of those "memories" we were making, ha ha! 

What a difference a year makes!

Kyran was playing in the living room the other day and found his Tonka truck (from the looks of my living room, it's amazing one could find anything)!  This picture reminded me of a similar one I look about a year ago...my how things have changed!

Come one, come all, to the circus event of the year!

Today, we celebrated Kyran's big day with a circus themed party!  Our little monkey (and our big monkey, Ben) had a fantastic time!  Lot's of friends and family were able to make it which made the day that much more special.  We loved celebrating with everyone!

 This amazing cake was made by our great friend, Kassie, who owns "Bite This Bakery"...so delicious!

 Kyran and Lucy bib buddies today.

 Say cheese!

 Kyran loves his Aunt Stacey

 Mmmmmmm...this tastes yummy!

 The whole family...I think you can see why these boys melt my heart.

 This boy likes his cake!

 All the kids were excited for present time.  Kyran had lots of help!

 Two of my best friends...my mama and my sister

 Just hanging out!

Ben the pirate and princess Lauren

Look who's ONE!!!!!

Happy birthday to our sweet baby Kyran!  Today, he officially left the baby stage and entered the toddler world.  I have to say, it was a bit easier with Kyran than it was when Ben turned one, but this mommy is still a little sad.  As I was driving to work today, I was thinking about this year and all that we've gone through with our little guy.  Come along on a little trip down memory lane...come on, you know you want to!

We started with a 24 hour induced labor that ended with a healthy 9 lb 9 oz baby boy!  That was short lived because we soon found out he had a hole in his lung, so we found ourselves in the NICU for a few days.  Kyran was a quick healer, because within three days, we were checking out and heading for home!

Two weeks later, things are going great until Kyran starts screaming after EVERY. SINGLE. FEEDING.  Good times in our household, let me tell ya!  After lots of crying, sleepless nights, a Riley visit, and a TON of help from my super supportive husband (I really think he kept it all together for me, because I was losing it quickly...ha ha), we figured out that he had tummy issues and we started him on Neocate formula.  It was gross smelling, it was super expensive, and you couldn't get it in any stores, but it was worth EVERY penny!

Three months later we're loading up and heading to Disney for our family vacation.  Kyran and his super expensive formula came along for the ride!  He did as well as we could expect for a baby that still had tummy issues and just wasn't an overall "happy" baby.  We had a good time, and made sure that Ben was having fun.  Kyran will get to go back again, I'm sure, so we'll worry about his "fun" on the next trip!

Woohoo, we've made it to six months!  Kyran is on normal formula, and my checkbook is breathing a sigh of relief!  He's still not a super "happy" baby, but he's loving life a whole lot better than before, and he's guzzling that formula like it's no body's business.

At eight months we have a crawler.  He's not just a crawler, he's a crawler, a roller, a wiggler, a squirmy wormy, and most times, he's doing all of those things at the same time.  Diaper changes are the worst part of our day (and they still are).  The thought of putting him into his car seat makes me break into a cold sweat, and of course, he's still not sleeping through the night!

Bring on the tenth month!  He's a walker now, he's still not a consistent sleeper at night, and on top of the that, he decided to get his first ear infection.  He's up to six teeth and he's actually turned a new leaf and I would classify him as a "happy" baby!  You have to work a little harder to get a smile out of my serious little boy, but when he smiles, it just melts your heart.  He doesn't have those killer dimples that Ben has, but he does have those sweet eyes that just draw you in and won't let you go.  He's my serious boy and he's definitely my boy with no patience, but every smile reminds me that he has a sweet personality.  I'm beginning to see that he'll be a more reserved child who will probably not wear his emotions on his sleeves.  This little boy is going to keep me guessing.

Any, here we are...birthday #1.  Guess what?!?! He's a great sleeper, he drinks so much milk that I think we should buy a cow (goodbye tummy trouble), he's got a giggle and a smile that lights up the room, he has the cutest little ringlets in his hair, and his "ma ma" just makes me fall to pieces!  Who would have ever thought that in one short year we would go through all of these hoops to find ourselves with this precious little boy.  He's certainly given our parenting skills a run for our money, he's pushed Andy and I to our wits end, he's deprived more sleep from my life than I ever thought possible, and yet he's brought so much joy to our family.

I remember when we got pregnant, and I looked at Ben and thought how could I ever share my love with another human being...Ben had stolen my heart from his very first heartbeat.  Now, I can't imagine how our family of three ever survived without Kyran!  We are truly complete, and I am so thankful that God chose us for this little baby who I now have to call a toddler...