Pride...

Do you know what it feels like to have your heart walk around outside your body? If you have children, you do..until you have them, you cannot imagine a greater love. When I married Jon, I thought, I cannot possibly love anyone as much as I love him...and then we had Cade and my heart filled even more...and then we had Dane and it grew again (hmm..growing three sizes...kind of like the grinch, no?!).

I am so blessed by God to have my three sweet guys...and I am so proud of each of them.

First off, there's this big guy. I decided Christmas Break would be go time for potty training. Cade was clearly showing signs and we have had the potty in the bathroom for several months to get him acclimated. He would go occasionally at home and school, but he wasn't consistent and we didn't push it. I knew from my pediatrician and a mom friend of boys that the go to book was "Potty Train in 3 Days," but in order to be successful you had to dedicate three full days at home...thus, Christmas break became "go" time (quite literally as it would be). We set out to follow the program outlined in the book...all underwear all the time, no pull ups and a three day regimen. After hearing horror stories of how difficult it is to potty train boys, I figured I was in for it and after day one and six accidents (including one still existing spot on my new sisal dining room rug), I thought "oh boy." Day two was remarkably better with only one accident and still no nap time or night time accidents. Day three was only one accident again. I thought, okay, this approach is working... We even had a potty chart in Cade's room that he could put stickers on every time he went. Once he had the sticker chart full, we said he could pick out a new toy at Target. And by the end of the holiday break, you could consider our boy successfully trained. We thought we may have a setback when he started back to school but he did wonderful..just one minor snafu because the toilets there are itty bitty and he overshot his landing, if you know what I mean. We couldn't be more proud of this guy..and he's quite proud of himself (as seen below as he poses with his completed potty chart).

And then there is pride for these two..I am so proud to be their mom. Look at them...even now at nearly 3 and six months, these two have an inseparable bond and share a love that we will never match. Brothers...oh, my heart just melts when I see the two of you together.

And then there's this big guy...

I am so proud of this hardworking husband of mine. He goes into work every day at 5:30 (a.m. that is)...working at least until 4:30 and then picking up and hanging with the boys until I get home at 5:45. Through his dedication and that of his parents and the rest of the J & D Family, J & D won the Tube & Pipe Journal 2011Industry Award. Check it out...

http://www.thefabricator.com/article/fabstories/fabricating-tube-learning-lessons-in-americaas-dairyland#

So much pride, so much love..so much to be thankful for.

-xo-

Six Months...

Six months..half a year...how did that happen?! It feels like just yesterday I was pregnant with you sweet boy...

At six months, Dane Garrison...

...is 19 pounds (75th percentile) and nearly 28 inches (90th percentile) long

...has perfected his skills at tummy time. He loves rolling over and hanging out on his belly

Although he does get a bit frustrated that he can't crawl yet..he'll get rocking on his belly with his hands and feet in the air...or he'll use his feet as leverage to move him forward with his cute little butt in the air...hey, look at me!

...has gotten pretty adept at sitting up unassisted...although usually he ends up toppling over in a side roll maneuver...

...LOVES munching on his hands..his whole hands (sometimes choking himself in the process)..but unfortunately for the little dude, all that gnawing hasn't resulted in a tooth yet...

...is also a big fan of his feet...which are frequently grabbed and, you guessed it, put straight into his mouth...not too shabby for a long fellow like him

...is such a happy, smiley guy and, as of late, a loud little man squealing and 'singing' his little heart out

...is still enamored with his big brother Cade, who always gets huge gummy smiles from his little bro

...is starting to really like his exersaucer...this little man LOVES to be able to see what's going on...

...easily sleeps through the night with the occasional wake up singing performance noted above...but fear not, the little performer puts himself back to sleep

...is still rockin' the size three diapers, but will be moving to fours soon

...is wearing mostly 6-12 month clothes, with some 12-18 all-in-one outfits and onesies mixed in

...still naps about three times a day..usually one longer nap, one medium nap and one catnap

...drinks four bottles a day (8-9 ounces each) and has solids for breakfast around 9:00 a.m. and dinner around 5:30-6:00 p.m.

...has sampled rice cereal (not a fan), oatmeal (yum), applesauce (yum) and bananas (yum)...next up, pears and sweet potatoes

...is particularly keen on grabbing and touching faces...especially when he's being fed or snuggled

...quietly 'sings' as he's falling and drifting off to sleep (which he does quite well on his own..thank goodness for our good sleeping boy..now if only he could remind his big brother how he too used to go to bed so well!)

Happy half birthday sweet boy. We love you more with each day and are so proud to be your parents.

-xo-

Now Presenting...

...a Christmas driving lesson with Cade...

...and our sweet boy finding his Christmas morning gifts from Santa...

Holi-dazzle

We had a wonderful Christmas. We feel so blessed that we were able to share the holidays with our family...after all, that is what the season is all about.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church service. Afterward, we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Felch's for hors d'ouevres and quality family time. We are so happy to have our two sweet boys this year. It's true that children bring that extra special sparkle and dazzle to the holidays.

After visiting and filling our bellies (too bad they didn't shake when we laughed like a bowl full of jelly!), we headed home with two very tired boys to prepare for a visit from old saint Nick himself. We prepared with Cade to set out cookies and milk for Santa...that is, until Cade told us he didn't want to leave his cookies for Santa. We told him that it's nice to share and he said, "but I think Santa be REAL hungry for pizza." Jon agreed that Santa did like pizza (imagine that!) and so this is what we left out for the big, jolly guy...

...milk, pizza and a note from Cade to the jolly man himself.

A few hours later, Santa set to his work...

Christmas morning was so sweet this year to see Cade excited and full of anticipation as he came in our room Christmas morning. He was a big fan of his new monster truck. He wants to "drive baby Dane to the park to play." After a couple quick jaunts in the living room (including nearly taking out the Christmas tree), we unplugged the battery...drive time will have to wait until Spring.

Dane had a happy face on even if he wasn't totally aware of what was going on...he's truly our smiley boy...and we expected nothing less on Christmas. Lucky for him, Santa also filled his stocking which, coincidentally, is nearly his size...


After opening presents from Santa and mom and dad at home, we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Felch's for Christmas Day brunch with Grandma & Grandpa, Auntie Lisa, Great Aunt Candy and Uncle Gary. After a very yummy brunch, we headed to the living room to open gifts.

Dane was quite enamored with all the paper and ribbons...which all went straight to his mouth.

Cade had quite the haul as well...our boys are definitely well loved.

Is this present for me?!

The day after Christmas, we celebrated with the Lech's...Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Kyle and Jenna and Auntie Beans all came over. Cade and Dane were spoiled yet again. We had such a wonderful holiday feeling blessed with good health and quality family time.


Cade and Dane were so sweet with each other...you can see just how enamored Dane is with his big brother.

We can't wait to see how our sweet boys continue to celebrate the holidays together. One thing is for certain, they've brightened our holidays even more than we ever thought possible.

We love you boys.