Happy Birthday, Jayden

Well, this has been long overdue. I have been terrible at this blogging thing. Yes, Jay's birthday was in November. I feel awful. Not only was it his birthday, but his FIRST birthday, and I have yet to blog about it. Not to mention Thanksgiving and Christmas. My goal is to get much better....

Jayden had such a fun birthday! It was a rockstar birthday, which included some awesome cupcakes, star chocolate pops (made by Aunt Moo and Nana), and some rocking blow up guitars. We had some wonderful friends come celebrate with

Jay-dawg. The weather was perfect for a backyard BBQ and bounce house.

I cannot begin to describe how much we love this boy. He has brought so much joy into our lives (along with his big brother). We are so grateful to God for entrusting him to us to raise him to be the man God calls him to be.

Here are a few things he is doing lately:

Words:

Momma, Dada, Bubba, GuhGuh (Buckwheat), Hi, Bye-Bye, PapPap (Pappy), Daguh!! (Tackle!!), Yes, No, Uh-Oh, Eat, Go, Thank You, and I am sure more but can't think of any more right now.

Sign Language:

Eat, More, Please, Thank You

Things he is doing:

Crawling everywhere FAST (not walking yet), Standing on his own for a few seconds, Screams a LOT (Mommy is working on breaking that habit), Gets excited when Daddy comes home from work, High Five, Waves, Kisses goodbye (and clicks his tongue instead of smacking)

Love that kid!!

I will leave you with pictures. Be ready, there are lots.

Here is Bryce at his first birthday devouring his cake is seconds.

Here is Jayden barely touching his cake.

This Week

This week, I am thankful for this AMAZING weather. The boys and I played outside a lot today.

This week, I am so excited I get to host a shower for my favorite neighbor, Mindi and her daughter, Olivia. My house will be full of pink for one day.

This week, I get to decorate my house because my BFF gave me all of her decorations because she is moving and getting new stuff. Thank you, Jenn!!! You are the best!!

This week, I am putting all of my fall/halloween decorations out. This means more of the cooler weather, right?! This is the start of my favorite time of year-holiday season. Yayayayay!!

This week, I am making some fall decor crafts (and will hopefully post pics). Last week I made the boys' Trick or Treat bags. Both of these crafts I stole from others' blog posts. Thanks for sharing!! I L-O-V-E crafts! Bryan makes fun of me saying I need a "craft room" like Will Schuster's wife. I think he's right.

This week is the last week Jayden will be 10 months old. I am so excited to be planning his one year party!! :)

This week I am feeling very very blessed. Amazing husband, two awesome sons, wonderful friends and family, church family, sweet dog, house, a/c, bed, food, warm water, I could go on and on. Thank you, God, for continual blessings!!!!

Pictures!!!

It's Been a While...

I know it's been a while since I have written on this thing. I am going to try to get better at that...

So, here is the latest on what is going on with us. We went to San Antonio for a short family vacay. It was so much fun!! We went to a wilderness park where we got to feed the animals as we drove around. Bryce was loving it! He got a little scared of the zebras because they "had big teeth." He wouldn't feed them from his hand (which you aren't supposed to do anyway, such a rule follower :)). We went to Sea World and just HAD to sit in the splash zone (Bryan's words) at the Shamu show. Bryce thought it was funny, Jayden didn't like it so much but got over it fast. I didn't realize how cold those whales needed their water to be. We stayed at a really cool hotel that had 3 pools. Bryce was swimming every chance he got. We walked the Riverwalk and had lunch/caught up with a college friend who lives there. It was a nice getaway.

Bryce started his second year of pre-k. He did MUCH better this year than last. He walked right in, saw play-dough on the table and started playing. He asked me if I was going to stay with him (with a little quiver in his voice) but after a quick explanation of his day and that I would be there to pick him up, he was fine. Yay!! Made for a happy, relieved mommy!!

Jayden said his first words!!!! Other than Momma and Dadda, that is. He loves playing patty cake. We were walking around Hobby Lobby, he was sitting in the cart. He grabbed my hands, clapped them together, and said "pat, pat, pat"!!!! So precious!! Later that day, he said "hi" to me. Now, I try to get him to say it, and he smiles and hides his face as if he is shy. He does it some, but not often. He also started waving, giving high fives, and we are now working on blowing kisses. He is signing "more" when he wants more to eat. He started signing more when he wants to eat in general. Trying so hard for him to sign eat, but he just signs more for now. :) He has 6 teeth!!! WOW! The top 4 came in all at the same time. He was sad, but not as sad as you would think. He has some separation anxiety...not fun...He does not like going to Sunday class. But I am stubborn and he WILL like it one day. :) At his 9 month appointment, he weighed 19.7 lbs and is almost 28 inches long, both in the 25-50%.

I think that's it! You are now caught up!! All 2 of you that read this. :) I just realized Bryan hasn't uploaded the pics yet (I don't know how to do that-don't judge) so I will do pics later.

6 Months

FREEDOM!!!!! :) We have reached the day!! Jayden is now allowed to be out in the world. So far, we have been to a softball game where they dedicated a bench in memory of sweet Pam Kiser, a surprise birthday party for Erin Leeser, church, eating out at a few restaurants, a youth group event, and a few outings to Target. Other than crying when we all yelled "Surprise" at Erin, he has done really well. I thought he would be overwhelmed by the amount of people gathering around him, but he loved it! I am so thankful.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 18 pounds

Height: 27 inches

Head Cir: BIG!! But I will let you know this when we go to his 6 month appointment.

He is now constantly smiling and laughing. He has such a wonderful personality. He is content most of the time. He is rolling over, mainly from his back to tummy, but occasionally will roll from his tummy to back. He loves chewing on his hands and feet. Whether he is on the floor, in his swing, exersaucer, or in your lap, he is always moving. I think we have another active boy on our hands. We have not started him on cereal yet because he is doing so well on just milk. I better get on that...

We went to the cardiologist this past week. He is doing very well!! They are always so impressed with his growth, and the fact that you can't find his ribs because of all of the rolls. He is still on meds (and will be for a very long time) for his rapid heartbeat and it is still doing it's job. We also found out a while back that he has a premature heartbeat. Our doctor said that is nothing to worry about unless there are two or more premature heartbeats in a row, which has never happened to him. So, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are so blessed at how well he is doing. We thank God multiple times a day for our precious "little" boy. He has changed our lives in so many ways. I cannot imagine our life without him.

here he is with his heart monitor on

Bryce is such a good big brother. He is so proud of Jayden. Yesterday at church, people would come up to see Jayden, and Bryce would yell, "That's my baby brudder!" :) Made me so happy. :)

I know this was long. I had a lot to update. We are so ecstatic to be able to take our boy out. I have been missing church and playdates so much!!! So, those of you around this area, you will be seeing our faces A LOT!!! :) Watch out world, here comes Jayden!!!!

Convicted

I have been reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan and am completely convicted. I have been living my life, not bad necessarily, but not always listening to the Holy Spirit. I oftentimes take the Holy Spirit living inside of me for granted. Why do I do that? I have no idea. If I listen to the Spirit, my life would be so much easier. Why do I try to even attempt things on my own? God knows more and can lead me in such a way that I don't even know how to explain, and I know that. So why do I try to do it myself? I am not just talking about the big things, but also about the day to day life-how I phrase things to my kids today, how I phrase things to my husband today, how I spend my time today, what I choose to do with/teach my kids today, what to cook today, I could go on and on. My goal is to wake up every morning and ask God to lead me, through the Holy Spirit, to what he wants in me and my day (actually His day). I want Him to use me the way I was made to be used-by Him and not me.

"I don't want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn't come through, I am screwed." -Francis Chan