On Easter morning we went to church and then family came over for lunch in the afternoon. The weather was nice and we had a good afternoon.

Reese is watching the boys wondering what they're up to :) 

 Shefigured it out....fast!

Traditionally NaNa hides the eggs and then the boys hunted them down. Afterwards the boys hid eggs and then Aunt Beca and I had fun finding eggs. 

Reese with her great grandma, NaNa

Bubbles with Aunt Beca

Eggs

I'm slow....we had fun dying eggs. Easter is next...

What's up?

What have we been up to lately? I feel like we're settled with Reese and back into the "normal" routine. She goes to the Y with us, church, bible study etc - she is doing very well. We have met with Reese's doctor and we have scheduled her suregery to fix her palate on May 1st. Once that has healed completely we will have her lip fixed (likely 2-3 months later). I register Truitt for Kindergarten tomorrow - wow time flies! I will miss my little game playing man but I know he will enjoy kindergarten and getting on the bus with his big brother in the mornings.

A few photos from the last few weeks....

Run 4 the Children

Lego Towers
Feeing the ducksTruitt started soccer - LOVES it!
Fun at the park

Spring Break

I was happy to be home for Braden's spring break but boy was it wild! Not really wild, just really loud and busy :) We went to the Blue Bell creamery and the zoo....and just enjoyed time being off of a schedule. The boys played outside loads, Reese also loves to be outside and loves being around her brothers, wherever they are. She is still exploring the house and her(as well as the boys) toys. She watches the boys wrestle and isn't afraid to get close (in the danger zone!). She will start screaming and waving her arms when they're rolling around on the floor, as to join in the action - it's cute.

She likes rolley polleys :)

LOVES the pretend food, bowls, spoons etc.

Proud to be an American

We landed...it's official, she's an American :) Our trip home was uneventful. We had a few lay overs (Japan and LAX). We pulled up to our house with about 30 people in the yard - what a welcome home. We felt so loved. I wish it hadn't been dark and rainy (what friends we have!) and I could have gotten some photos. I was so happy to be home and see my boys, I shed a few tears.
We have never traveled where the time difference is so great and we are still trying to get past that. It doesn't seem to bother Reese, thankfully. She is doing well, she sleeps at nap time and then goes to bed by 9 and wakes up about 6-7am. I am hoping she'll start waking up more towards 7 :)

Our brief stint in Japan....
Layover at LAX, working on 2 hours of sleep - can you tell? It was sunny and bright too, in China we saw the sun once!
This was the best we could do for a family photo in the dark...Truitt just barely made it into the photo :)
Braden was very excited to show Reese her room. Truitt is giving her pretend food to play with, Blake is playing with balloons.

Our new "normal"...that's a lot of peeps at the table!

The Brady Bunch

Yesterday I said goodbye to one of my besties, Sarah. They spent their last night having dinner with us...I felt special :) seriously. She and her family are a blessing to our family. Over the years we have been through many of life's big experiences together and it's been fun. I pulled up to their house and I got that nervous/butterfly feeling in my stomach just like I do when something big is happening with my family. The boys piled out of the car and played with the girls like it was no different from any other day. The car was packed, hugs were exchanged, goodbyes said and they got into the car. Tears fell and they were gone. I am sad and yet at the same time I am happy and excited for her to have this fun adventure with her family. I pray their time there is blessed and I hope business brings her to Houston a few times over the next 2 years!

Blake is 3

Time flies...my little boy is getting bigger each day, talking more and doing just about everything his big brothers do - or gets hurt trying. Blake still clings to his Mommy, and tells Dad when he's driving the van that it's mommy's car :) He tells me which way to turn when driving, to go faster or slow down....it's pretty funny. He's a lover of Thomas and Cars :) He's a sweet boy and has changed a LOT in the last 6 months and is truly fun to be around!
We had some family over for lunch and cookie cake to celebrate his birthday. We blew up the bounce house and Blake had fun just being at home :) Simple...enjoyable.

Christmas

We had a nice Christmas, we celebrated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family. This year we got a neat thing from church that had a few suggestions for how to celebrate Christmas morning. We did use it but chose one or two to incorporate into how we already "do" Christmas morning. This year Braden read :)

Tongue out...serious business. I have made blankets for each of my boys, this year Blake got his and it was Thomas. He LOVES thomas and was happy to have his own "special" blanket. Genuine excitement, love it!

Care Package

We sent Reese a care package last week. I made her a little blanket (very little, more like a "lovie"...she'll have the bigger version here when she gets home), a photo book and a set of blocks. Truitt helped me pick her toy, we chose the soft blocks so she could build with them, throw them, chew them and use the little bag they're in for a purse :) She should get them soon....I hope!

Thanksgiving - part 2

We left Pipe Creek and went to Kerrville to see Nana. We had a nice time visiting and one day we went out to Lost Maples park, the colors were so pretty with all the trees changing. The boys did well on the 5 mile hike, on the steep incline I had Blake on my back, Truitt was on Kurt's shoulders - talk about a workout! Blake walked much of it but both he and Truitt were hitching rides towards the end. It was great weather but when we had our picnic the wind picked up, clouds came out and it got really cold! Perfect timing on our part....needless to say Blake and Truitt slept on the way home :)