Soccer

So Braden started soccer this year. I must admit that I was a bit hesitant at first, because he still seems so young to me (and let's be honest, there are plenty of years ahead for organized sports), but he asked to play so we signed him up. We went a few days ago and got him some cleats and shin guards and let's just say he's worn them A LOT already. He likes to run and fall in them and then get up and tell me that "it doesn't hurt when you fall with shin guards." Not sure that philosophy makes much sense, but who can resist a little guy in cute soccer gear so I let him where the gear all day long. We've been practicing a little at home too and I was surprised by how well he did with dribbling and shooting. I mean I think he might have some soccer talent :) Anyway, we headed to our first practice today and he did awesome! I was so proud of him and so pleased with how genuinely interested he was in playing...you never know with a four year old! He LOVES to dribble and shoot...just like his Momma! There were some tears when the coach made them all put their individual balls away (which they had been playing with all practice) and then just use one ball to try and actually play a game. Braden came running off the field in tears. When I asked him what was wrong he said that he wanted his own ball and that he didn't want to play with just one ball for the whole team. Oops...guess I forgot to explain to him before practice that soccer is all about having just one ball on the field. Anyway, not sure how his first game will go, I feel confident there will be some tears, but I'm just glad that he had so much fun playing! Once again I ask myself how my baby could be so old that he is playing soccer now!!!! Anyway, he is some soccer cuteness -

Braden was so excited to go to practice, that I couldn't get him to stand still for a picture -
Looking so grown up -
And he scores!!!!!
Practicing his dribble -
And while Braden played soccer, so did this guy -

Braden's 4th Birthday!

On July 20th of last month, my sweet Braden turned four. As I look at him, I realize the baby and toddler in him is all gone and what is left is a little boy, a kid for that matter. As I think back over the past four years, I can hardly believe time has passed so quickly. I know we all feel that way, but really, where did four precious years go and how did I spend them? At four, Braden has turned into a sweet, tender hearted, compassionate, affectionate, passionate little boy. In honor of him, I want to write a few things that I love about him.

First Braden, I love that you are still so affectionate. Ever since you were a baby, you would crawl up on my lap and want to sit with me. On your fourth birthday, you brought one of your presents over to me and asked to sit on my lap while you opened it. Even today, you crawled on my lap while you were finishing your sandwich. I love that you love touch and are affectionate like your father.

I also love that you have this crazy imagination and can pretend that almost anything is part of a fire costume or a firetruck or a firehouse. If I had to guess today what you will be when you grow up, I would definitely say a fireman. You love to pretend that you are a fireman and that you are putting out fires. You love to pretend to be a superhero or a doctor or a construction worker. You love to pretend to be a "good guy" and put the "bad guys" in jail. You love to pretend to rescue anything and everything.

I love that you daily pick flowers for me. Every morning when we go outside you say "momma, close your eyes, I have a surprise for you" and you hand me a flower with a big smile on your face. I love that whenever we go for walks, you ask me to stop the stroller so you can get out and pick me flowers. I have most of these pressed in a book so that I can always remember you as a sweet four year old picking flowers for your momma.

I love that you have the gift of encouragement hidden in your heart. All the time you will come up to me and say "momma you're pretty" or "momma i like that shirt" or "momma you are a good vacuumer" or "momma you are a good swing pusher" or "momma your eyes are beautiful." I never have to prompt you, but you always have encouraging words on your tongue. As Asher was growing over the past years, you would be right beside him the whole time as he was learning to crawl or walk or speak saying "come on buddy you can do it."

I love that your faith is so rich and so full at such a young age and that you know how to cry out to God for all of your needs. I often hear you praying for me or Asher or daddy. When I was in tears, you have prayed for Jesus to help me stop crying. When Asher is having a bad day, you pray for Jesus to help Asher feel better. You've prayed to God that he will stop the thunderstorms and the rain. You've prayed for mommy to "not lose her patience." I have heard you pray for your friends that they would not hit you or play too rough with you. I love that you enter into prayer on your own and that you know that Jesus is ready and willing to hear our hearts at any moment. I love that you know that you belong to Jesus.

I love that you are a thinker and your thoughts run deep. You often ask me questions like "where is heaven and what will happen to us when we die?" I love that you ask me questions like "when God was making me, did you know me?" Such sweet words Braden and to that last question, I answer that I didn't know you Braden, but I already loved you and I always wanted you.

I love that you are passionate. This quality can be hard for a little guy like you to manage sometimes, but you are so passionate about everything and anything you are doing. Sometimes we have a hard time getting you to switch tasks because you are so passionate about whatever you are doing or playing. As an adult, passion is a wonderful, powerful quality that can be used to do great things and I pray that you will use this as well as all the gifts God has given you to His glory.

I love that you are tender hearted and compassionate and sympathetic. You are so willing to give your toys away to the "poor kids" who don't have toys and you do so with such a happy heart. Whenever we go and take your toys to the homeless shelters or to Goodwill, you are such a cheerful giver and for that I am so proud! You are always so concerned about the homeless people we see on the side of the road so often and you always ask me to bring them food or give them money. When I think about this quality in you, I see Jesus. Thank you Braden for letting me see Jesus when I look at you.

I love that you are still so small, so innocent, such a child and I love that you are mine.

In honor of my sweet boy, here are some pictures of his actual birthday. We had a firetruck party a few days later, but I'll save that for another post.

Here are the boys in their pj's at Krispy Kreme for a birthday breakfast. Braden got four free donuts that morning in honor of his birthday. He thought that was pretty cool!
Getting ready to open presents -
Braden, very excited about his Playmobil ambulance...did I mention he loves to pretend to rescue things :) -
Sweet Asher -

I love this picture because this is the moment when Braden came over to open presents on my lap -
Excited about his "Braden" plate and about tacos...his birthday dinner request -
Happy fourth birthday Braden! -

Asher doesn't believe in using forks -
I love that this moment was captured. I'm not sure what they were all smiling about, but I love it -

Tyson

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but as usual, I can't seem to find the time these days... but our sweet Tyson lost his battle to cancer a few weeks ago on July 13th. It was unexpected and we were unprepared to say the least. In fact the vet had just told me days before he died that she was so impressed with his recovery from the bone cancer that took his front leg just a year prior. He had done remarkably well...chasing squirrels, climbing up and down our stairs on the deck, allowing the boys to climb all over him and ride him like a horse, still getting up EVERY day with me to go into the boys rooms as I woke them up from naps. He seemed totally normal to me and we thought he was on the road to recovery from cancer until we found him collapsed outside the night before Austin and I headed to Florida. After a quick visit to the vet before we headed out of town, the vet said she assumed he was having excessive back pain from his body working so hard to walk on three legs. She put him on pain meds and we thought we would just have to slow him down a little and not let him run around so much. Over the weekend while we were gone, my parents and Austin's parents noticed that he was no longer eating or drinking and once again he collapsed in front of my dad and his body began seizuring. When Austin and I returned, we noticed that his breathing was becoming labored and that he was wheezing. Austin headed out of town on the morning of July 13th for a few days of business and by that afternoon, Tyson had taken a turn for the worse. As I took him to the vet that afternoon, Braden crawled up into the back of my car to give Tyson a big hug and kept telling him "it's okay Tyson, I love you," my heart was literally breaking as I realized that he was really sick and that this may be the last time my sweet children will ever know this dog that has been by their side since they entered this world. I'll save you the details, but basically they found another tumor on Tyson's heart and fluid all over his lungs and his abdominal cavity....he was in pain...a lot of pain and the vet said we needed to put him down. So I called Austin (who thankfully was delayed at the airport in Knoxville) and together we made the decision to put him down. As I sat there alone, holding this dog that has been with me since I first married my husband, I felt broken, almost as if I was losing a child. To say goodbye to a pet that has been with us through all the ups and downs of the past nine years was devastating. My boys lost their best companion that day. When it was all said and done and I had to return to my house with an empty collar in hand, greeted by an innocent 4 yr old boy who kept repeatedly saying "where is Tyson Momma, is he in the car?" I found myself at loss for words. I couldn't contain my tears. As I held Braden's little body and felt him sobbing, literally broken by the depth of his loss and as I heard him moan over and over and over again, "but Momma, I miss my T," I felt helpless. I couldn't take his pain, I couldn't fix it, I couldn't make it better. That is a horrible feeling as a parent. All I could do was hold him and wipe his tears and tell him that I love him. I don't think I realized how hard it would be...maybe it's because I'm home all day long and I'm so used to having Tyson by my side all hours of the day, but it's been quiet and lonely and poor Braden will almost daily tell me that he misses Tyson. You can tell he is still grieving Tyson's loss as well. I'm thankful for the years we had with him and I'm thankful that he was such a huge friend to my boys. He will be forever loved!

This was taken the hour before I left to take Tyson to the vet...as you can see Braden was being so sweet to him. He even got out his doctor's kit and tried to "fix" Tyson -
Here is Tyson, as sick as he was, giving Braden one last kiss on the cheek. Poor Asher was asleep for his nap during all of this, so he never even got to say goodbye -
My last picture of Tyson -
Best buddies -

No Kiddos Trip

A few weeks ago, Austin and I had our annual "no kids" trip. This year we headed to the beautiful state of Florida, where we had found an awesome deal on this incredible resort called Turnberry Isle which is located in Ft. Lauderdale. We were so spoiled by an incredibly nice resort. For three glorious days, we had waiters bringing fruity drinks by the pool, a lazy river, late dinners under the stars, hours of lounging by the crystal blue ocean (again drinking fruity mojitos), late, lazy mornings where we slept in till we couldn't sleep any longer and lots of really yummy meals. Not to mention, we got to go deep sea fishing. Fishing is something we have always done and enjoyed as a couple, so this was such a treat for us...more on that excursion later. I think the best part is that we had so much fun together. We honestly just hung out and chatted...kinda like you do when you are dating. We haven't had that much time alone together in a long time and it was so nice to just catch up and have no agenda or schedule. We definitely decided that this place is one we could come back to every year. Here are some pictures from our weekend -

So here we are holding our $22 bottles of water...yep, that's what I said twenty two smackeroos. So I told you that this place we stayed was pretty swanky...which is awesome all except for the outrageous prices you pay on normal goods...like water. Austin and I had just finished dinner at this super nice restaurant when we made our way over to the bar to request two bottles of water to take back to the room. The guy graciously handed us the water, then handed us the bill. I about DIED when I saw the bill for $22 which included a $4.00 service charge. Anyway, we were too embarrassed to decline the water, so we drank every stinkin' last drop. Here we are holding the bottles...not a great picture since Austin was holding the camera, but still I had to get a picture -

The first of our many catches on our deep sea fishing trip. All I'm gonna say is you have to have some serious arm muscles to reel in a fish from the ocean...thank goodness for Captain Charlie who came to my rescue many a time that afternoon -
Austin's big catch...a 35 lb Mahi Mahi -
Here we are holding our Mahi Mahi. Austin's was 35 lbs, mine 25 lbs. We caught them within minutes of each other and it was so much fun...I will say we headed to a local Italian restaurant with good ol' Captain Charlie after we docked and we grilled some of the Mahi Mahi. Fresh fish certainly does beat the frozen stuff we are so used to eating. It really was the best fish I've ever had and we brought home a whole freezer full -
On the beach...and ps...this is not a nudist beach (although it appears so from this picture). We had such an amazing day on this day. We sat on the beach for 5 straight hours and literally talked and laughed the entire time, neither one of us got our books out the whole time we were out. It was so fun, although we both suffered later with horrid sunburns -
Well, that about sums it up. We are headed to Florida in the morning for our first beach trip as a family. We have an 8 hour drive ahead of us...with two little guys, that could make for a long trip. Pray for us please!

Superheroes

So superheroes have been the topic of conversation the past few weeks in our home. Not sure where it came from, but I'm gathering that it came from the other boys at school because whenever I pick Braden up from mother's day out, I hear about some crazy story of he and his buddies fighting bad guys and tigers and monsters and locking them all up in jail. Now I did not grow up around boys, so all this talk about shooting and bad guys and superpowers, not to mention all the sound effects that go along with all of this play is like a foreign language to me. I'm having a hard time just letting it be and remembering that Braden is a little boy and little boys love to fight bad guys and dream about being a superhero and rescuing someone and that it's all harmless play. I've started reading "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge and I have found it so fascinating to think that God created little boys to be warriors and if we truly believe that man is made in the image of God, then we should remember that "the Lord is a warrior..." (Exod15:3). John in his book talks a lot about little boys from a very young age wanting to shoot things. And how so often parents take away toy guns from little boys in an attempt to control them from behaving this way, but he reminds us that if we take away these things from little boys, they will just make a gun or "weapon" from whatever they find laying around. He talks about how his boys chew their graham crackers into the shape of handguns and how fallen branches become bazookas. I have seen this time and time again with Braden, he loves to grab a stick and "shoot shoot" the bad guys, or he'll take his baseball bat and pretend he is fighting a battle. The fearful side of me wants to jump in and stop him, to suppress this "warrior" side of him, to ask him to sit quietly and play a game because I'm afraid that if I let him play this way now, then what will it be like when he's older. I think all things come in moderation and Braden certainly still loves to play cars or fireman or hit a baseball off of his tee set in the backyard, he loves, loves, loves to swing, loves to walk around the house with his tools and fix things, he's often found reading a book or flying an airplane around the house or driving trains on his train table, he'll help me in the kitchen or work on puzzles and this stuff all fills most of his day, but there is still a small part of everyday that my little 3 yr old is pretending he is a big superhero and that he is battling the bad guys. Anyway, I love what Psalm 62 says: "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving." I love that this verse reminds me that God, my warrior is strong, but that He, the Lion of Judah is gentle and loving as well, and this is what I pray over my boys. That they will learn to be strong and courageous, that they will be warriors for their families, warriors for a Kingdom that is worth fighting for, warriors for what is right, warriors against evil, but that they will be gentle and compassionate in how they touch, how they love, how they see the world. That they will be fierce like lions and gentle like lambs for isn't that the picture of Jesus.

One of my favorite pictures ever of my boys -

Plotting their next big adventure together -

And of course my littlest superhero still drags his monkey (his partner in crime) around EVERYWHERE he goes. I just pray we don't ever lose this monkey -

Every superhero needs a good rest -

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!