Happy Easter!

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" Luke 24:5-6

After celebrating the Resurrection at church, we headed to the Eller's for a fun-filled Easter egg-stravaganza.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

When we pulled up to the restaurant, Dylan saw all the green balloons decorating the patio and exclaimed "What's that!? It's my birthday?!!!" His birthday party is one of his favorite topics of conversation lately. Complete with the request for cake and presents.

Not a great picture but the only one I had of the boys in their matching shirts. Dylan insists on playing football when he wears his.

My mini Brett Favre. Gavin is sitting up, rolling over, grabbing toys, eating...he will be six months old this weekend! I love this stage!

Bye bye paci!

During what was supposed to be Dylan's nap time, I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hall. He slowly came around the corner and peeked at me to gage my reaction. I gave him the disapproving-mom look and he slowly came to sit by me. I talked to him about not taking a nap and then let him stay next to me. Here is some of our conversation:

Mommy: "Dylan, if you're not going to take a nap, you need to take your paci out"

Dylan: takes a few extra sucks, removes paci from mouth and places it next to me, smiles at me and says "Mommy, do you feel happy?"

Mommy: Laughs at the idea of a 2-year-old asking about my feelings and says "Yes!"

Later on, he was playing with his Thomas the Train set, putting the track together by himself. He says to me "Mom, I need more pieces." So I decide to respond by saying "Mommy and Daddy want to buy you more train track. It will be a special present for you when you decide to say bye-bye to your paci. It is a present for a big boy so you need to be ready to go to bed without a paci. Let me know when you're ready to say bye-bye to your paci and we will buy you more train track." He says okay and keeps playing with his trains for about 20 minutes. Then he says out of the blue "Bye bye paci!" I am quite surprised and question him about if he is really ready. He continues to tell me he is ready and I called Jason and Dylan left him a voicemail saying bye bye to his paci and he is ready for his train track. After dinner, Jason and Dylan head out to buy the present and Dylan proceeds to fall asleep in the car and doesn't wake up during the purchase, the ride home, or the transfer to bed. Therefore: first night without a paci (thanks to being dog-tired after skipping his nap). He woke up at 5:30am asking for his paci repeatedly. I took him into the play room and his jaw dropped at the sight! I had his paci's lined up on the couch with a garbage can next to it and we had a little ceremony where he threw them in the can. He stayed up playing with his trains while mommy went back to bed and later joined me (with a paci recovered from the garbage can). I got rid of the paci's in the morning and nap time was pretty painful. He first screamed in anger and told me he didn't want his train, then cried like he had lost a friend. My heart was breaking!! I stood firm and he ended up crying himself to sleep. Much to my surprise, at bed time he didn't even ask for his paci!? But...he wanted to party, I think because he wasn't sure how to fall asleep. I was a bit of a pushover under the circumstances and let him fall asleep to a movie. I have actually felt a little sad by the whole process because it is a reminder of how quickly he is growing up.

Our Little Ping Pong Player

Dylan loved ping pong at the hotel and somehow learned to serve (in his own way) the first time he played so I quickly grabbed the camera to capture the fun.

Key Largo Trip

With the added benefit of Grandma Meeks visiting, we ventured to the Keys for a relaxing getaway. I don't know if we'll be able to travel without a nanny now that we've been spoiled with Grandma on our vacation! Unfortunately "Bop-pon" (Grandpa Meeks) had to stay in San Diego for work. We stopped at the Railroad Museum in Miami on our way to the Keys to meet Thomas at the "Day out with Thomas" exhibit

Dylan loved high-fiving Sir Top'm Hat

Dinner at Lorelei in Islamorada

Just a boy and his fishing pole

Daddy took Dylan and me sailing!

Enjoying the warm ocean!

Quiet morning on the dock

Best Friends!

We loved all the nature trails at our hotel. We had a beautiful view of the water through the trees. It was so quiet and peaceful and we can't wait to return!

Sports Fanatic

Dylan has been loving his Kidokinetics sports class so much I decided to sign him up for another session. When he first started the class, he was very apprehensive but now he jumps right in and does his "exercise". If he is a good listener the whole class, I reward him with a ride on the carousel at the park. Thanks to Coach Brent who is the most patient person to handle a group of 2-4 year olds. Last week he introduced them to teeball and they took turns at bat. When one kid would hit the ball, they would all run the bases (which really meant run in any direction). I get a lot of laughs sitting in the bleachers and Gavin enjoys watching as well. He is already Dylan's biggest fan! Here is a picture from when they learned basketball. Dylan got a special award (a certificate he is quite proud of) for his skills. Coach said he can dribble better than a lot of 5 year olds! It will be interesting to see what sports he decides to pursue in the future.

Just another regular day...