HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRUETT!

I could almost break down as I type this because today is Truett's 3rd birthday and I really can't believe that it's been 3 years already! I remember when Jay and I found out we were pregnant. We couldn't believe that we were actually entering into the next phase in our lives.

Truett - 1 year old

Truett - 2 years old

Truett - 3 years old

Truett is such a great kid. Now, he definitely had his 'two-year-old' moments, and I'm sure the 3-year-old moments aren't going to be any less challenging, but all-in-all, Truett is a neat kid. He's funny, really smart, and very sweet and caring.

Some of the things he's into right now:

- Thomas the Train: Definitely NOT my favorite. The shows are BORING and the trains always seem to be mad at each other. Not to mention that I'm pretty much over picking up 101 train tracks, train cars, etc....The one thing that I do think it so cute about his obsession with Thomas is that he gets so excited to see trains in real life. My parents have a railroad track behind the alley in the back of their house and if we happen to be there when a train passes, Truett says, "Hey, Thomas!!"

- Cars (the movie): He phases in and out with this one, but all in all, he LOVES it. He thinks Lightening McQueen is so awesome and when he's playing, he likes to call himself 'Lightening McQueen'. Of course, whoever he's playing with has to be Tow Mater. John and my dad get a kick out of telling Truett that HE'S Tow Mater and THEY'RE Lightening McQueen. There's only been one time that he's ever agreed to let someone else be Lightening McQueen....We were leaving my parents' house one night and my mom was putting Truett in the car. She kissed him goodnight and when she was going to close the door, Truett said, "LeeLa! YOU'RE Lightening McQueen and I'M Tow Mater!" Needless to say, it made her night! :)

-Handy Manny: This has got to be one of my favorite things that he's in to, for several reasons. 1. I truly believe, with all my heart, that Handy Manny is THE reason that Truett is potty trained! We saw Manny on the shelves of WalMart while shopping for a gift for a friend and that was IT....Truett was bound and determined to use the potty so that he could bring Manny home. To this day, his Handy Manny tool set it THE ONLY toy that he has every single piece to and can tell you where that are at any given moment.

2. The show is pretty cute, encourages team work, and also teaches Spanish words. Me gusta! :)

3. My final reason for really enjoying the fact that Truett gets a kick out of Handy Manny is because I'm convinced the REASON he loves him is due to the fact that he sees Jay with his tools and toolbox, fixing things and working on things. I love so much that Truett looks up to Jay and that Jay sets such a great example for Truett to follow.

-Books: Truett LOVES to read books and to be read to. He's really excited because now he gets THREE books at bedtime instead of just TWO! Right now, his favorite book to read is Martha Blah Blah about a dog named Martha who eats alphabet soup everyday and is able to talk because the letters from the soup go to her brain. :) His all time favorite book is The Little Engine That Could (about trains!). His Papaw gave it to Truett as a gift and he loves reading it. He has every word memorized, which makes it fun for me to read with him because I'll start the sentence and he'll finish it. He even knows when to turn the page! :) Another thing that I think is pretty neat is the fact that within the past few weeks, Truett has started to make the connection that the letters on the pages of books make up words. He told me the other night that I needed to read a book to him because he didn't know how to read the words on the page. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe it's a sign that he'll be an early reader!

Truett is so curious about everything and wants to do everything by himself. He has definitely proven to be our more independent child which sometimes has its benefits, but can also lead to grey hairs! For example, a few weeks ago, he decided to try to microwave his own popcorn. He used Emma's Exersaucer to climb up on to the kitchen counter, walked across the counter to the microwave above the stove, put the bag of popcorn (still in the plastic wrapper) in the microwave, closed the door, pushed whatever buttons, and started the microwave!

He ADORES his little sister and it totally makes my heart smile to see them together. I hope and pray that he will continue to be so protective of her as they get older.

Truett amazes us on a daily basis and it has been so much fun watching him learn and grown into the little person that he has. He is the one who changed Jay and I from a couple to a family and I feel so blessed to be his mom.

Happy Birthday, Truett! We love you so much!!!

Please DO Feed the Animals

A couple of weekends ago, Jay and I took Truett and Emma to Fossil Rim. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, it's this place where acres and acres of land are fenced in and 'wild' animals are allowed to roam free. It's like a drive thru zoo almost, and the animals walk right up to your car!

This was the car in front of us. If they weren't hanging out of their car to pet the animals, the animals were sticking their heads inside the car!

There are zebras, deer (and TONS of deer-like animals), ostriches, rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, etc....

I have no idea what kind of animals these are below, but it was still pretty cool seeing them up close. It sort of felt like we were in a scene from the Lion King! :)

When you get there, you can take a guided tour or drive through in your own vehicle (which is what we did). It was great because Truett was able to get out of his seat, but was still contained in the truck.

Emma & I hung out in the back while Truett went up front with Jay.

He loved being able to sit up front with his Papa and spent a lot of the time looking out of the windows for the next group of animals.

Jay even let him 'drive' at one point, which is always a big hit with Truett.

It really was so cool because although I've seen zebras and giraffes at the zoo, I've never seen them so up close before.

Jay fed one of the zebras from his hand....VERY 'against the rules' where the zebras are concerned because we were told that the zebras are likely to bite you. Yeah....Jay almost pulled back a nub after his attempt at playing 'zookeeper' with the zebras!

The giraffes were a different story and were really the only animal that the folks at Fossil Rim actually encouraged you to feed. It was so funny watching this giraffe walk up to each car, take some food from them, chew and then walk to the next car. I imagined the giraffe thinking, "Yeah, yeah, yeah....I ate from your hand. Thanks for the food. Move it along. Next!" :)

When it was our turn, I think Truett was a little skeptical, but that giraffe walked up to the truck and all but stuck his head in the window. Truett held his little hand out and the giraffe ate the food right from it. Very cool!

At the half-way point, there is a little petting zoo for the kids and a gift shop. Emma had fallen asleep by this point, so she and I stayed in the car while Jay and Truett went to check things out.

When they got back to the truck, they had made some purchases at the gift shop. We each got a commemorative t-shirt and Jay had bought Truett some animal crackers. When Truett opened the box of animal crackers, he said, "Look at this puzzle!" Jay said, "That's not a puzzle, boy! That's animal crackers." I turned and looked and sure enough, it was a puzzle. I looked at the box and THIS is what Jay had purchase for Truett! hahahahahh!

The rest of the trip, Jay kept calling Truett "Brianna"! :)

We really had a great time and Truett seemed to enjoy the animals. His favorite book at Gramma's (Jay's mom) is The Three Billy Goats Gruff so he thought he was surrounded by billygoats the whole time! He loved it!

Kiddie Report

Here are a couple of random pics of Truett and a few quick stories about him and his little world.

- He was at my mom's a couple of weekends ago and while they were working out in the garage, they let Truett play in the car. He started blowing the horn and shouted, "Get outta the way, you freakin' lady!" Not necessarily a shining moment for Jay and I, but definitely too funny NOT to share!

- The other day, he said to me, "Mama, this is a conversation for you and me. You're impossible!"

- A couple of days ago, I had fussed Truett about something and he looked at me and said, "Don't talk to me that way. I bringed you into this world. I'm gonna take you out of this world."

- I found him in the kitchen the other day making a bottle for Emma....what a big helper, huh? :)

He definitely keeps us on our toes! He is so sweet and loving with Emma and very protective. He'll be 3 in June and I can see an obvious change in his behavior. He is still all boy and is truly testing his boundaries. He wants to do everything by himself and refuses help from anyone. I can see the terrible two's slowly making their way out the door, but feel that the three's are coming on strong with their very own set of challenges! :)

Here are a couple of pics and quick stories, or updates, of Emma:

- Emma is getting around pretty well. She hasn't started to crawl, but she gets from point A to point B with a quickness, in her own style of scooting.

- I initially thought she was going to be a picky eater, but I've come to realize that's not the case at all. When she's hungry, she EATS! Peas, squash, prunes and pears are some of her obvious favorites.

- We're still waiting for a tooth to pop out. She's drooling and chews on everything, but no tooth, yet.

- She's a lot more serious than Truett ever was, but still laughs and plays. She really likes to play Peek-a-Boo and will hold her hands up in front of her face to play....really cute! :)

- I'm thinking the blue eyes and red hair are here to stay! YAY! Some of her hair has fallen out and I thought that it was starting to grow back in brown, but the more it grows, the more it seems to be coming in red. I'm also not giving up on the possibility of curly hair. Truett was almost a year old before his curls showed up, so I'm thinking their may still be a chance for Emma. We'll have to wait and see.

She is such a sweet little addition to our family. I'm really looking forward to watching she and Truett together as she gets older. She LOVES to be held and rarely has a hard time finding someone to fulfill that wish....especially since she has just started reaching out for the person she wants to go with! :)

Easter Morning and Egg Pocking

Easter morning came and we were all busy getting bathed and dressed for Mass. After we were ready and Truett finally made his way into the living room, he was able to scope out the goodies that the Easter Bunny had left for him.

Truett's basket of treats

Emma's basket of treats

Jay and Truett enjoying some early morning Easter M&M's (or as Truett calls them "Auntie Em's)
After Mass, we headed over to my parents' house for lunch. My cousin, Lindy, lives in Dallas with her hubby, Brian. Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike had come to Dallas to see them, so they all came over and joined us for lunch.

After lunch we had our annual Egg Pocking Contest. For those of you who don't know, the Egg Pocking Contest has been a family tradition since my mom was little. It's really fun and a neat way to 'use' those dyed Easter eggs, so if you're interested, here's how it works:

1. Boil and decorate your Easter eggs the way you normally would.

Truett's choice of decor for his egg, Lightening McQueen

Truett's choice of decor for his Papa's egg...Tow Mater (Lightening McQueen's best friend)

2. Everyone picks a number from a hat (or bowl, or cup, or WHATEVER). You can just number a piece of paper from 1 to ? (however many people you have), tear the numbers off and put them in a container for people to pull from.

3. Once everyone has their number, you make a bracket with their names. Number 1 and number 2 'pock' against each other. Then, number 3 and 4 pock, 5 and 6, etc... If there is an odd number of people, then the last person gets a 'bi' and automatically moves to the next round.

4. The way you 'pock' is that the two people hold their eggs in the their hand....

and hit the tips of their eggs together.

They do this until someone eggs cracks.

If your egg cracks, your out. If your egg doesn't crack, you move on to the next round. The last person standing with an uncracked egg is declared the winner!

My mom was the champion this year and it was the first time she'd ever won, in all her years of egg pocking!

Mom in all of her glory!

Some of the players.....

Egg-to-egg competition between Lindy and Truett

Jay and his cracked egg

Aunt Emily and Emma after making it to the next round with their uncracked egg
Emily and Heather (the sister we never had! ahahahah)

The Pockers