Asher's Birthday

Asher turned one a few weeks ago and I can hardly believe how quickly his first year of life flew by. We celebrated by having some friends over to play in the back yard and eat cupcakes. It was a beautiful day and I'm so thankful we were able to celebrate his sweet life with those we love.
Here are some pictures of his big day -

The cake table -
The smash cake was adorable and the cupcakes were ridiculously delicious -

Asher in the bouncy house -
Braden in the bouncy house...I swear this boy could drink milk all day and in place of every meal and be totally happy -
We had fajitas and quesadillas (my boys favorite) -
Lots of our dear friends were out of town, but we still had a great time despite the smaller crowd. Enjoying dinner outside in such beautiful weather -
Aww...this picture captured such a sweet moment for me. We were singing "Happy Birthday" to Asher and he got this huge smile on his face and kept looking at everyone who was singing and then back at me and Austin. His smile in this moment is one I will never forget. The other thing I love about this moment is that I looked over at one point and saw Braden. He had a huge smile on his face and was singing as loud as he could...so happy for his brother. This as we all know is a bit hard for a 3 yr old when it's someone else's birthday, but in that moment, Braden was nothing but happy. I will always remember those few moments thanks to this picture -
Touching the cake, but not so sure -
Austin gave him a little taste to see what he thinks -
Definitely a fan, he couldn't get it in fast enough -
Braden had to help Asher do a little smashing and/or tasting -
Love this little boy so much -

So I got a little too close and Asher had to share...he is such a kind little boy :) -
Family photo -
Present time -
Asher trying on his new vest...thanks Aunt Shannon and Uncle Daniel -

Asher you are so dear to me sweet baby. It seems like just yesterday that we saw you for the first time, held you close, kissed your tiny head, listened to your small breath, placed your hand in ours and cried for you as we realized that God gave you to us for a short time to love and protect. Over this past year, I have watched you grow as you've learned your world. I've watched you laugh and smile. I've watched you overcome with joy as you crawled for the first time or took your first step, I've held you when you were sad. I've rocked you when you were sick. I've let you fall asleep on me every morning before your nap because I couldn't seem to put you down as I wanted you so close and knew this time is fleeting. I've cried for you. You're Daddy and I have snuck into your room every night after you were asleep, laid our hands over you and have prayed for you. I've dreamed for you, longed for you, hoped for you and loved you. I love your smile. I love that you have laughed out loud at your brother since you were old enough to laugh. He still lights up your day. I love that you dance every time you hear the Veggie Tales music. I love that you are so task oriented and are always working on "projects" as your Dad and I always say. I love that you are determined and fearless. I love that you are so ticklish and love to wrestle. You throw yourself on us when we are on the floor and try so hard to get us to wrestle you. You love to snuggle with Tyson and I often find you laying on him or open mouth kissing him. I love to hear you say "momma" even though I know your daddy would love to hear you say "dadda." I love that you want me and need me, although it might be nice if you didn't cry when a new face looked at you :) I love that you are independent and yet still cuddle on my shoulder every night as I sing to you "Jesus Loves You" and "How Deep the Father's Love for You" in your ear. I have been singing that to you every day before bed since you were born because I long for you to know the truth of those words. I long for you to know how much Jesus loves you! You lay so still and I know you are listening. Those words and that song calms you when you are scared or sad or angry. I love you Asher and I'm so thankful that you are in mine. Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Playing Catch Up...

This post is long overdue, but here are some pictures from the rest of our summer...

Braden had his birthday party with his friends at Bounce U (his request). Here are the boys trying so hard to sit still for a safety video on safe bouncing...who are they kidding...like any 3 yr old practices good safety!
Pausing for a picture with Mommy -
Blowing out candles on the cake (this was before Braden burst into tears as we were all singing Happy Birthday). It was actually really funny, but i think he got a little overwhelmed by all the attention -
The cake...Costco did the baking, I did the decorating -

Opening presents with all of his friends -
An attempt at a family photo -
The party favors -
All in all a great day to celebrate my sweet little boy. We followed his Bounce U party with a family party the following day.

Here are the boys attempting to sit quietly while I get a picture. I had to do a little bribing, but what mother doesn't -
We took several trips to the zoo this summer...some with friends, some just the boys and me. It was hot, hot, hot but well worth the time away from the house. Here is sweet Asher enjoying the toddler bounce area -
Braden and his buddies, hot and sweaty -
Enjoying a little lunch...this was taken on one of my solo trips to the zoo...let's just say I managed to spill two large cups of grapes, Braden's milk and a bowl of strawberries all within a matter of minutes. Some lady even came over and said "Honey are you doing this all by yourself?" Apparently things looked a little chaotic as I was trying to get everyone situated to eat. After both boys started eating, it was a very pleasant lunch. Nothing like discussing monkeys and elephants with a 3 yr old over a grilled cheese!
Ready for naps...that is one of the great things about the zoo!

What else? The boys spent a lot of time this summer climbing on Tyson...this was before we had to amputate his leg (more on that later) -
Braden's little imagination took off this summer. It was so fun to watch and be apart of his imagination. It's things like that that I find so delightful in a 3 yr old. Here is Braden pretending to be a fireman -
And while Braden did that, Asher did a lot of this -
Oh yes, and then there was the fair...the lovely Williamson County Fair. It was actually a great place for kids and created some good people watching for the adults.

Here is Braden brushing the creepy, fake sheep -

Asher and Daddy checking out the petting zoo area -
Braden spent most of his time at the fair, staring at this...I mean who wouldn't stare?! He kept asking me "Momma, why those pigs cryin'?" And all I could think was "I mean I would be crying too!" That poor momma!


Braden did love riding some of the rides -
And while he was riding, Asher was chilled out with his sippy cup in the stroller. The sippy cup transition was a big one for Asher this summer. He flat out refused a sippy cup until he was 11 months old...quite different from his brother who took one easily at 6 months old. Oh well, each one is different as I am very quickly learning!
This is how we spent every afternoon this summer...all of us (well Austin was usually at work so this picture must have been taken on a Saturday) piled up on the couch watching some afternoon cartoons. I wake both boys every afternoon from their nap and Braden still wakes in a very grumpy mood...thank goodness for cartoons and goldfish to help remedy grumpiness.
Austin had to be in Chattanooga on business for two days so me and the boys decided to tag along for a quick overnight trip. Chattanooga by the way is a great place for kids...between the aquarium, the children's museum and the outdoor fountains there was plenty to do. Here is Braden digging for dinosaur bones in the excavating exhibit -
Asher and Daddy -
Braden got very brave at the aquarium and touched a snake -
This picture brings back good memories for me b/c a little over a year ago, Austin and I took Braden to Chattanooga for a quick special trip before Asher was born. Here we are a little over a year ago, just a few weeks before Asher was born -
and here we are in the exact same spot a little over a year later -
In August, we packed up and took a week long trip to Austin's parents house. Braden got tired of waiting during the packing chaos that he made himself a little bed right in the front door...notice he does have his backpack ready to load in the car...just hope he packed some underwear in that backpack!
Asher, suggested I pack this -
Every morning while Asher napped, Braden and Nana and Coach spent their mornings on the paddle boat -

Braden got to fish for the first time. Here he is trying out his Lightning McQueen fishing rod -
Here we are taking Braden fishing for the first time. This was actually really neat for Austin and I because we spent so many lazy summer days in high school out on his parents pond fishing and dreaming about what our future held. Fourteen years later, it was really neat to be there together with our son carrying on that tradition -
While in Lexington, Austin and I got away a few different times. We toured the Woodford Reserve Distillery one day as displayed by Austin -
And we even met some old friends in Louisville for a quick overnight trip that included a great Rascal Flatts concert.

The highlight of Braden's week was when we took him to ride an old school train. As you can see, it was pure joy -
Ash, Nana and I enjoying the ride...the whole train ride was 45 minutes and it was about 150 degrees in the non-air conditioned train...surprisingly Asher did really well considering he couldn't get down to crawl around -
On a sad note, we found out this summer that Tyson has a very aggressive form of bone cancer. Within 5 days of his diagnosis, we made the difficult decision to amputate his leg in hopes to keep the cancer from spreading. It was a very sad few days for us as Tyson is like our child...he's been with us since we were first married and he's been a friend to our boys since they first came home from the hospital. Here is is, right after surgery - All in all, Tyson has recovered very well...he still runs in the back yard with Braden, greets Braden in his room every day after nap, climbing up in bed with him -

And as you can see, the boys are back to climbing all over him -
And yes, we spent all summer in the thick of kitchen renovations...started the first weekend in May and ended last week!!!! Hallelujah for a brand new, fully functioning kitchen! In case you forgot, we went from this -

To this -
Well, that's about it for the summer...now onto school, Asher's first birthday, pumpkins, football and cooler temperatures.

Happy 3rd Birthday Braden!

A few weeks ago Braden turned 3! So hard to believe that my baby is all grown up. We wanted to make his day extra special so he would know how important he is to us and how thankful we are for him, so the night before his big day, Austin and I snuck in his room and filled his floor with 30 some balloons so that he would wake up to a big surprise. Surprised he was...here he is with some of his balloons...
The night before his birthday we had decorated our den with lots of streamers. If you know Braden, you know how obsessed he is with car washes so he was so excited to see the streamers and he kept saying "you made a car wash momma." We spent lots of time driving cars through the car wash the rest of the day.
Braden has been so into imaginative play lately. It has been so much fun watching his imagination take off these past few months as he pretends to be a fireman or a cook or a race car driver. His favorite though is anything that has to do with building. Whenever Austin has a project around the house, Braden is right behind him with a pen or a paint stick or a spoon pretending that it is a saw or hammer and that he is helping Austin. He will even want to wear his belt and pretends it is a tool belt. His imagination is huge! So we thought it would fun to get him his own tool bench. Here he is testing it out...
After lots of projects on the tool bench, I made Braden pancakes (birthday tradition) in the shape of a 3. I tried to get pictures, but he ate the pancakes before I could get to it. During Asher's morning nap we watched the movie Cars (Braden's favorite), followed by lunch at Wendy's...again Braden's choice. After lunch, I took the boys to Monkey's Treehouse for a day of fun. After Daddy got home, we opened a few more presents, followed by a dinner of meatloaf and boxed SpongeBob Macaroni which Braden had requests just the day before. We finished the night with cake which I did not make b/c I still do not have a kitchen :) Here is the cake -

So I decided to video the whole cake event which means I have no pictures of Braden blowing out his candles...oh well! Here is Boo eating his cake in his underwear!
A little family picture (minus Asher who had gone to bed before the cake had even been blown out) -

Okay and this is for me more then anyone else, but here is sweet Braden in years past...

First Birthday -
Second Birthday -

Third Birthday - Hope your day was special sweet boy!! We love you so very much!

Missing this already...

I was in the car this afternoon on my way to a baby shower when I heard the words to this familiar song by Trace Adkins. I'm normally not a huge country fan, but the words to this song literally made me stop and think and with tear filled eyes, I found myself reminiscing back through days gone by and found myself longing for more time with my children, more time with my husband and more time to just be content. It's so easy sometimes in the chaos of days that seem so mundane to forget how quickly this season of my life is passing. Oh Lord how I pray I will cherish these moments with my family, as each moment is a gift from You!!! Here are the sweet words that made me so emotional today...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this