Easter Egg Hunt...

Earlier in the week, we headed up to my parents house in Westhaven to participate in their Easter Egg hunt. I have to admit that I love that my parents live in such a kid friendly neighborhood. We get to participate in all the fun neighborhood events whenever we want. It was Asher's first Easter Egg hunt, so I wasn't sure how he would do, but he loved it. My mom found this tiny little basket that was just perfect for him to carry around, and he definitely loaded it up. Braden of course loved the whole thing, although I had convince him to keep searching for eggs instead of just stopping to eat every piece of candy he found. Afterward, the boys ran around with all the other hundreds of kids running in circles on sugar highs. We finished the night playing at the playground until dark. Both boys were full of smiles tonight and I must say it was such an enjoyable night. Here are some pictures from our fun night -

Discussing fishing strategies with my daddy on the front porch -
Little man, looking so grown up with his sippy and his pint sized basket -
Braden, smiling because he almost got away with touching this very expensive motorcycle -
Checking out the loot -
Braden sporting the fake smile...he's big on that these days -
An attempt at a "brother's shot" -
So thankful that my parents live so close and that we can do this kind of stuff together -
Okay, so let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of the Easter Bunny. In fact, we have not talked about him at all in our home, mainly because I want Braden and Asher to know that the real reason we celebrate Easter is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again...that He is indeed alive! With that being said, I hadn't planned on letting my kids see the Easter Bunny this year, but we were still at the Easter Egg hunt when he showed up. Braden took off running to see him and when he got there, kept putting his arm around him and saying "Hi Easter Bunny!" It was really quite funny because for like 5 minutes, he just kept standing in front of him and repeatedly hugging him. Here Braden is hugging the big bunny -
So Braden wanted to go and sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. After debating in my head for a bit, I decided to go ahead with it. I wasn't sure how Asher would take it considering he screamed when he saw Santa Claus at Christmas. When my mom went to put Asher on the Easter Bunny's lap, Asher squealed with delight and literally jumped out of my mom's arms, trying to get into his lap. I honestly think my little Dr. Doolittle thought the Easter Bunny was a big dog. He was SO excited to sit on his lap and literally just sat there, smiling and looking around at all the people who were watching...so proud to be sitting on the big dog's lap. It was hilarious! Too bad this is the only picture I have of the whole night with both boys smiling -
And here we are heading home after a great evening. Sweet Asher loves to hold hands. He will almost always reach up for my finger when he's walking next to me and I must admit that it melts my heart. I love feeling his sweet hand wrapped tightly around my finger. I know these moments are fleeting so I'm thankful for pictures like this one to help me remember when his hands are bigger then mine and he no longer wants to even walk beside me -

Catching up...

Okay, let me start off by saying that I have tried to post on this blog like 5 different times and have had the hardest time uploading pictures, so I just gave up and quit. Not sure if it's me or the computer, but regardless it's been a bit frustrating. So now it's mid-April and I am so far behind, but instead of writing a long, boring, post, here are a few pictures of the past few weeks.

In March, my sweet niece Francesca and her brother Marco came to visit us. As most of you know, Francesca was born just a few short weeks before my brother died. We have been blessed enough to have a wonderful relationship with she and her adoptive family over the past 10 years. Here is a picture of she and Marco and my boys -

An attempt at a family shot. This was taken at Lowe's Vanderbilt Hotel after a horrendous breakfast with a little man who absolutely did not want to sit through breakfast. I keep reminding myself that this is just a phase, but it's still frustrating. We are definitely working on Asher's table manners at home, but at 18 months old, little man knows how to throw a good tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants.


We left immediately from the Lowe's Vanderbilt Hotel breakfast and got in the car and drove 3.5 hours back home to Lexington. Neither boy slept on the way home, but it was actually a very good drive considering! I spent the week with Austin's parents while he attended a conference in Scottsdale. We had a wonderful week and I even got to get out a bit and spend some precious time with some of my oldest friends and their boys. The week was cold and rainy, but we bundled up and kept busy outside. I love the long driveway at Austin's parents house. The boys think it's such a treat to ride/push their toys on a concrete driveway!
Coach and Braden making silly faces for the camera -

I was so thankful for this swing that week. Asher ended up getting Strep Throat mid-way through the week and was absolutely pitiful. On really hard, fussy days, I would bundle him up and bring him out to swing. Apparently the swing has healing powers on a sore throat -

So it's now officially spring and that means lots of rain! Ever since Braden was a toddler, we would go outside after a big rain and he would stomp in the rain puddles in his rain boots. To me there is nothing cuter then a toddler in rain boots. Anyway, Asher has thoroughly enjoyed continuing that tradition this spring. Here are the boys after a long stomp session -

Oh and this guy...this guy and his monkey are inseparable these days. I mean he literally drags his monkey all over the house and every where we go. It's pretty darn cute! I guess it's his comfort since he can't carry his paci around with him all day. I do sometimes wonder if little Asher is gonna be a vet or a zoologist or something one day. The kid is obsessed with animals and calls all animals "gee gees." His face lights up and he squeals with delight when he sees any animal. We call him Dr. Doolittle.


And this little boy has been busying himself playing cars and superheros lately when he's not outside swinging. Braden is about to turn 4 and cars are still his favorite thing!
Well, that's about it for now. We are headed to Braden's first dentist appointment tomorrow morning. Please pray for us...the boy is a bit dramatic and I can't even imagine how much drama there is gonna be in that dentist office tomorrow!