Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year and also a wonderful Holy Week leading up to Easter. I was able to attend the Palm Sunday service with my parents last Sunday while Philip as out of town and I enjoyed the service, and being able to fully pay attention (usually I have Levi with me and we are trying to help him learn to be as still and quite as he can during church). I found what the minister had to say very moving and interesting. Levi had a wonderful time in "class" as well and got to participate in a reinactment of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and color a picture complete with construction paper palms :) It is on our fridge right now and he is actually proud of it!

On Friday Philip was finally home (actually got home after 8 days of being gone on Thurs afternoon!)and we dyed eggs together. Levi really enjoyed this little project and pointed out what colors we were using with pretty good accuracy. He was a little enthusiastic when dropping the eggs into the dye, so I am glad that we had it outside on his little table!

Sunday morning Levi woke up early (6:45am...has been up by then the last 4 days..rrrr). We gave him his first Easter basket and he was actually pretty excited about the card with the duck, the eggs and the Elmo coloring/sticker book and Elmo bubble bath. However, the candy was the most exciting part of all. He just kept saying "Eedi, eggs, candy!" (he says Eedi for Levi because he can't say his "Ls" very well yet).

After I whipped up some blueberry scones from a mix and stuck them in the oven we headed out to hunt for eggs. Unfortunately I did not think about the fact that Penny might like to eat the eggs we dyed, and Levi only had 4 eggs to find. Yes...Penny ate 5 dyed eggs in like 5 minutes flat leaving behind no evidence other than her stinky (SUPER stinky) toots! Needless to say I was very annoyed! Levi didn't seem to mind only having his 4 eggs and was very excited to find them all and put them in my old basket. Next year Penny will be banished from the yard 'til after the hunt! Our pictures from the hunt are not very good because not only was it short (with only 4 eggs to find!) but Levi was running like a wild man all over the yard and didn't want to stop to show us an egg and smile.

After the egg hunt we ate the eggs with our scones, and got all dressed up for church (Levi was so cute and handsome in his cousin Kadin's old linen suit!). We tried to get a pre church picture of Levi looking so sweet, but he was NOT in the mood. He said he was hot...it was very humid and in the 70s, can you blame him?! We were able to get a happy face by Philip holding and tickling him, but you can't really see his suit. He wore his tie for a short while during church but never the jacket...oh well. We were able to get him to wear the suit a little for my family, I think because he was distracted by the TONS of people :)

 Church was really great and Levi sat with me through the entire 1.5 hour service! Philip had to run the sound. We headed to my parents straight from church for lunch with a lot of my Mom's side of the family. It was such a nice laid back lunch and all the kids seemed to really enjoy hanging out. Many of my cousins now have kids and it was fun to watch them all play and enjoy each others company. Levi and Nora had an especially fun time playing together and were really cute running around and laughing together! Moe spoiled them each with a Easter gift of pinwheels, bug cages and board books. Levi was super happy to have his favorite book to read at Moe and Pop's (Big Red Barn) to keep at his house! We ended our time with an awesome dance party to some random music. All the girls and Levi really had a blast!

Once we got home Levi took a bath in his new bubble bath (VERY excited about bubbles) and then went to sleep like a rock. What a wonderful holiday! This year I was especially mindfull of the amazing opportunity Christ gave us through his death and resurection to have a new life. With little Joel busy in my belly I felt a little more emotional about the whole week Jesus suffered through. I can't imagine how he felt and I can't be thankful enough!

Spoiled!

These past 4 days I have been spoiled! Philip had to be out of town for work, so after work Friday night I headed over to my parents house (Thanks Allen for watching Levi while I worked and dropping him off with my Mom!) and the spoiling began. Saturday I spent most of the day having a yummy lunch and then getting my toes and nails done with my best girl friends since elementary school; Amy, Deanna and Nikki. They treated me to such a fun, relaxing and nice girls day (with no Momma duties!!!) and I LOVED every minute of it! Thank you so much girls!!!

Here are the 4 of us (yeah for Dee being in town now!!!)

Nikki, Amy, Deanna and I after our pampering!

Saturday evening the girl day continued with a very girly birthday party for my adorable and special little niece Nora who was turning 3! She had a pink, flower themed party complete with cute flower cupcakes, a flower pot painting/planting project and lots of very girly gifts :) It was a really great 3 year old party and all the kids had a blast (including Levi) and especially the birthday girl which is most important! Good job Kate! I sure do love that girl and her whole family. What a treat to spend the evening in perfect weather with my family!

I stayed with my Mom and Dad for 4 days and it was SOOO nice. They helped me out with Levi VERY much and I was able to get some needed rest and relaxation that I would have had no chance for if I would have stayed home alone, since Philip was out of town. They played and played with Levi...fed us yummy food and I even got to sleep in some! I really needed a break and it was so nice. It was also just a treat to spend some real quality time with my Mom, Dad and Gran. Gran lives with my parents, so it was fun to see her everyday, especially with her surgery coming up on the 26th and the possible risks involved with that. My Dad is also out of town ALL the time with his new job, so it was also special to see him so much! And of course, as much as I love my Momma it was so sweet and refreshing to spend some quality time with her talking and enjoying my little man. Thank you all so so so very much!!!

Moe and Pop spoiled me by spending a lot of quality time with Levi, which he of course LOVED!

Levi enjoyed many snacks with Gran while we stayed in Plano :)

I also hit the 36 week mark in my pregnancy and will be considered "full term" in just a few days! WOW! This pregnancy really has felt shorter and I am excited/nervous about Joel's arrival and the adjustment to becoming a family of four.

Here I am 36 weeks along (white shirt - Levi and purple shirt- Joel) I think I am just as far out front with both boys, but bigger and rounder with Joel...will be interesting to see what baby brother weighs!

Prayers for Gran

My Gran (Mom's Mom) was recently diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer. We were all taken aback by this news and saddened. She is 91 years old, and has many health issues, mostly surrounding her heart, but she is still very functional and we just didn't expect her to ever have to face cancer! Over the past few weeks she has been having to see MANY doctors to figure out the exact type of cancer and treatment options. She made her decision today to go ahead with surgery to remove the 2cm mass in her right lung along with a wedge of lung tissue. The surgery will take place at the end of April. The surgery has risks (espeically at her age) but a very high cure rate.

 I wanted to ask anyone that reads this blog to be in prayer for my Gran that she has minimal pain, minimal down time and a peace throughout this process and no complications related to her other health problems. She is a very special woman and means a whole lot to me. She has been the ideal grandmother to me and my siblings/cousins and we have all been impacted positively by having her in our lives. I know that this decision (regarding what to do about the cancer at her age with her health) was hard on her, but she is at peace with her choice. Thank you so much for the prayers! I wanted to share one of my very most favorite pictures of Gran (Norma Jo). This is from when Levi was about 12 hours old and she came to the hospital to visit me and meet her great grandson.



We LOVE the Zoo!

Yesterday morning we loaded up the stroller and headed to the Fort Worth Zoo to meet my Mom, sister Kate, Nora and Asher. Levi loves animals and loves to identify things and loves to be outside and loves his Moe and cousins...sooo this of course was a very fun day for my little guy! We spent the day walking around in the lovely weather watching the animals and scenery, eating a picnic lunch outside and enjoying being together. I think Levi liked climbing on the railings and looking at the plants and water features a little more than most of the animals. The baboon and some of the temorary dinosaur exhibit actually scared him! Most of all he enjoyed being spoiled by Moe :) Thanks to everyone for making the trec out to spend the day with us! Enjoy the pictures, I know we enjoyed being there!

Moe spent a lot of time holding the 'big' grandkids hands; so cute!

and helping them see the animals, they are enjoying watching a big rhino here

She even treated them to a ride on the carasel! 'eedi ride horsee!'

Asher was such a sweet happy baby (and super cute too!)

Here he is getting some loving from big sister and big cousin :)

  Momma even hoisted Levi up on top of Joel to see some cool elephants

 One of the prettiest exhibits and favorites of Levi was the tigers

Ohhhh Nap Time...

Levi has never been a good napper (much to my dismay). I have always longed for those 2-3 hour naps my friends claim their toddlers take in the afternoon. Usually Levi is up and ready to play after 45 mins...1.5hrs on a rare, really good day. Ever since we made the switch to the big boy bed his naps have been consistantly 45 mins to 1 hour long. About a week ago I decided to try and put him back down when he woke up (especially when it had only been 30-45 mins). The first 2 days this actually worked and he slept another 30-45 minutes! Yipee! Well...sadly that did not continue.

Philip and I have been noticing, however, the more and more often he needs "discipline" (which seems to be more often every day...ha, almost 2 I guess!) that he responds really well to simple, black and white instruction. Such as "do not throw rocks they can hurt people", or "you have to stay in your bed and sleep when it is dark outside". So, today after struggling to get Levi to nap for about 1 hour (he hadn't gone to sleep yet...rrr) I told him, "You cannot come out of your room until you have been asleep." I did NOT think this would work. Well...after playing in his room alone for about 1 hour (and occasionally saying "Momma? Levi out?" which I could hear on the monitor...cracked me up!) He went silent. I was shocked...1 whole hour of playing and he went to sleep?! I had been about to give up. I had to sneak a peak to make sure he was sleeping and hadn't killed himself...and what did I find?

A very adorable worn out looking crazy hair little boy sleeping on his bed...

and a crazy messy room with toys and books all over the place.  

He has been asleep for 2 hours!!! I cannot believe it and am going to kick myself if he starts taking longer naps! Wish I would have tried this sooner. I know it sounds like DUH Jocelyn what were you thinking? But I thought if I just let him stay awake in his room (not in bed) he would never go to sleep. I had been telling him he couldn't get out of bed and going and putting him back in bed when I heard him get up. I was wrong...it isn't the first and won't be the last time he shows me that :)

Diapers Diapers Diapers!

Yesterday I had another joint baby shower with a friend! My friend/co-worker Leslie and I are just 9 days apart with our 2nd boys (however she had a girl first, so this is her 3rd baby). Some of the other girls from work organized a "Diapers and Dinner" part for us at Papasittos. It was so much fun and man o man did we get a BUNCH of diapers and wipes! It is going to be so so nice! I work with some really wonderful generous women, it has been such as blessing these past 5 years! Here are a few pics from the evening:

The lovely Leslie and I showing off our bellies :)

 Wonderful hostesses...Thanks girls! Joni, Amy, Ashley, preggos, Angela

cute decorations including this diaper cake!

The oh so very yummy cake, it was super cute too!