Too Sweet Not to Share

Today, when I went to pick up Truett from school I left Emma with Gramma (Jay's mom). When I got there, his class was having Circle Time and the teacher was reading a book to the kids about Thanksgiving. Truett saw me when I got there so I went in and sat with him while Ms. Gwen finished the book.

The whole time, Truett was cuddling up to me, holding my hand, putting his head on my shoulder...all of these things aren't necessarily scarce but definitely don't happen as often as I would like them to! My heart was melting because this usually playful and wild little boy was sitting quietly listening to a sweet story about Thanksgiving and loving on me. :)

At one point, he looked up at me with this excitement in his eyes and just whispered, "Is Emma here?" It was like he was so happy in the moment that he had forgotten that Emma existed and then, when he remembered that she DOES exist, he wanted her to be with us.

I guess I think it was such a sweet moment because I am constantly trying to think of ways that we can make Truett feel special and not like the first born who we're pushing out of the way. The whole time I was with him at school, I was thinking how great it was that he and I were there together and he was wondering where his sweet baby sister was...awwwwwe!!!! :)

Sleeping in Heavenly Chaos!

Naptime/bedtime with Truett is not always fun. He usually throws a fit and then hollers from his bed for 20-30 minutes that he, "Needs you to ___________." Fill in the blank with whatever, and I PROMISE, he's asked for it before! :)

Today was one of those rare and wonderful times when I told Truett it was naptime and he walked straight into his room and climbed into his bed without any complaining (don't be jealous, Jay!). I really think God was in my corner today because we had just come in from the grocery store (a whole separate story!) and Emma needed to be fed. Needless to say, I was thrilled when Truett went down on his own.

After feeding Emma, I walked in to check on Truett and this is what I found.

It cracks me up that he threw all of the gator pillows off of his bed to make room for the stack of books and the Elmo chair! Hey, if that's what it takes for him to go to bed without a hitch, I'm all for it!

Tonight, I put Truett down for bed and when Jay got home, he went in to check on Truett. He discovered, at bedtime, the same thing I had found at naptime. This time, Truett had a death grip on Elmo. I guess he was wanting to be sure that Elmo wouldn't get up and leave after he fell asleep like Jay and I do. :)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

Sarah had her first soccer games this weekend. The first one was Friday night and we weren't able to make it, so we went to her game yesterday morning.

Before going to the game, we stopped for breakfast at the Local Diner in Coppell. We told Truett that we would go to the game after we ate. He said, "I no want to eat breakfast anymore. I'll just go to the game and have a nack (snack)."

After we finished our breakfast (by the way...Truett ate a huge pancake and bacon for the breakfast that he DIDN'T want to eat!) the cashier gave Truett a peppermint patty. He couldn't WAIT to tear it open, but of course, I wasn't about to let a 2-year-old loose in my car with CHOCOLATE. I told him he could have it as soon as we got to the soccer game. He said, "I no want to go to the soccer game anymore. I'll just stay here and eat my candy." :)

Truett was so excited once we got to the game. There was a HUGE area where he could run around and play. Plus, LeeLa', PaGou and Uncle John were there. My mom was working in the concession stand so Truett started asking everyone, "What you want to order for today?" This continued at home once we returned from the game, too. :)

Sarah is the player in white. My camera wouldn't zoom close enough to get a good shot on the field, but I bought a new lens recently, so that won't happen again!

Dan was working the score board, which you KNOW was such a huge temptation for Truett. He was DYING to touch the buttons showed no lack in effort in trying to do so. Dan kept having to fuss Truett and at one point, Truett ran in, smiled at Dan, said, "Hi, PaGou!", quickly took a slap at the buttons and ran off!

Dan - Guard of the Scoreboard

Thankfully, Truett discovered some old lockers that he found very amusing. He and Uncle John spent the last part of the game hanging out in the lockers and at one point, I heard Truett yell at someone passing by, "Hurry! We need your help!" and then growled like a tiger! BOYS! :)

Emma was at the game, too, just enjoying being held by all of us.

Unfortunately, the Blazers did not win their game, but it's still early in the season! Great game, Nannie!!!! We love you! GO WHITE!

Costumes from Halloweens Past

Here are pictures of Truett from his first 2 Halloweens...Enjoy!

Our Cajun Crawfish...

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

After looking at these pictures, I realized that he WAS a spider amputee! The weather was too hot for him to wear a long sleeved shirt (for the last 2 of 8 legs of the spider) so he wore a short sleeved shirt instead! :)

Nugs got in on the action, too!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY!

This year for Halloween, I decided to dress Truett and Emma as the Scarecrow and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (of course, Nugs was to be Toto). I thought a scarecrow costume would be pretty easy to do and would be a 'weather friendly' costume (last year, Truett was a spider and almost had to go as an amputee spider because the warm weather ALMOST wasn't condusive for a long-sleeved black shirt!)

Anyway, I want to start by saying that whoever created the tie-on, 'scarecrow straw' is my new best friend and I think $6.99 is WAY too cheap for such a convenient item! I went to Party City weeks ago to try to find a grass skirt that I could doctor up and sew into Truett's costume to make him appear to be stuffed with straw. I almost started crying tears of joy in the store when I saw this perfectly packaged bag of tie-on pieces that go around the neck, the wrists and the ankles...I LOVE YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE! :)

Back to Halloween night...When John and Sarah were 'trick-or-treating' age, my parents would walk around the neighborhood with them and Emily and I would stay at my mom's to pass out candy. A few years ago, it changed slightly and now it seems that my parents' house is the "one-stop-shopping" house on the block. All of the neighbors come over with their buckets of candy, lawn chairs, appetizers, and drinks and we all sit in the yard visiting while the rest of the neighborhood kiddos come by and get their candy.

A group shot of my mom's yard with all the neighbors...

The 102nd Dalmatian and Dorothy...There's no place like LeeLa's!

So, the afternoon of Halloween, I loaded up all (and I mean ALL) of Truett and Emma's "stuff" (for the G-rated version) and head to my mom's house. I got Truett and Emma dressed and ready in their costumes and we headed to a neighbor's house for a Halloweenie Roast before trick-or-treating began. Truett had so much fun running around with the other kids and it was all we could do to try to get a picture of him! Emma on the other hand...never moved an inch!

Truett is already showing signs of following in Jay's footsteps. Here he is using the bottled water to water the flowers in the the flower bed of the playhouse.

Here is my sorry attempt to try to get a picture of Truett while he was standing still. He caught on quickly and this is the shot I got!

Another failed attempt on my part to get a good picture of Truett in his costume! :)

Unfortunately, the Halloweenie Roast was the end of Halloween for Emma and I. Once we got back to my mom's, it was time for me to feed Emma (which takes about an hour from start to finish) so Jay and Truett went out trick-or-treating without Emma and I (no pictures!). When they came back, Truett could hardly stand it! He was so excited about the candy he had gotten and couldn't wait to show it to me. He spent the rest of the night running around the yard, playing with the neighborhood kids and eating candy. I'm already looking forward to next year so that Emma and I can join in on the fun, too!

Truett taking inventory of his candy!

We Are Family

On Saturday, we went to see Jay's family in Alvarado. His grandmother (MaMaw) is in a nursing home and we spent a little time visiting her. Of course, you can imagin what THAT WAS like. Let me just give you a visual...Truett plus wheel chairs plus oxygen tanks...NOT a good combination! We stayed just long enough to get some pics with MaMaw and make our presence known.

We then headed over to Jay's aunt and uncle's house (Aunt P & Uncle Danny). They have a huge piece of land out there with cows. Truett had a blast running around in the wide open space and loved being outside with his Papa. Emma and I stayed inside and visited with Aunt P.

While we were there, Uncle Danny and Aunt P gave Truett a rocking horse that they had purchased at an auction some time last year. Truett loved it and kept getting on saying, "YeeHa, Cowboy!"

Aunt Cathy and Brandi stopped by to visit with Truett and Emma, too. I forgot to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word that we were there! :)

Oldie but Goodie!

Jay is 38 today! He isn't one to make a fuss over many things and his birthday goes right along with that. For those of you who REALLY know me, know that this COMPLETELY goes against how I feel about birthdays! :) Although, he has started claiming 'birthday weekends' as opposed to just the single day!

Yesterday morning, we took Truett to my mom's house so she could keep him while Jay and I went to mass. We took Emma with us and Uncle John came, too, so Truett and LeeLa' had some time together...just the two of them! We ended up spending the rest of the day at my mom's house, just hanging out. Being that it was Jay's 'birthday weekend', he spent most of the day fulfilling his birthday wish...to get more sleep!

Last night, we celebrated Jay's birthday with my family. My mom made dinner and we ended the night with cards, gifts and a yummy pumpkin bread birthday cake.

Here are the presents that Truett and Emma gave to Jay.

We went to Jay's mom and dad's house (Gramma and PaPaw) tonight for another birthday dinner/celebration. Gramma made chicken potpie, fruit and salad. It was delicious! We had birthday cake afterwards and Truett was more than happy to assist Jay in blowing out the candles.

Happy Birthday, Jay! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. You work so hard for our family and we couldn't have asked for a better husband or Papa. You're the best! We love you more today than we did yesterday and we'll love you even more tomorrow!