Happy Birthday, Emmitt! {3 years old}

A long, long time ago, we celebrated Emmitt's 3rd birthday! ;)

I sincerely hoped summer break would lend plenty of time to catch up on blogging, but that hasn't been the case.  So, better late than never, here are the memories from Emmitt's birthday party on April 28, 2013!

We celebrated in Mickey style, and he had SO much fun!

The party started at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, and we enjoyed tasty finger foods, birthday cake, and ice cream!

Singing "Happy Birthday to you!"

=Our sweet birthday boy=

The house was full of family and friends!

=Aunt Julie and Uncle Luke=

=Granny=

=Misti, Aunt Shelia, Brittany, and Mama B=

=Mom, Emmitt, Mrs. Anita, Abby, and Aunt Julie=

=Weston!=

And now time for gifts... why is it always so crazy?!

He had cried for this book for a few weeks at Wal-Mart, and was so happy about his new Little People farm book!  :)

A fishing pole!

=A quick family picture=

SO excited about his new fishing camper set!

New tractors, too, of course...

Lastly, a "grandparent" picture.  Our boys are fortunate to know their great grandparents...

I believe that's all!

Thanks to Aunt Erin for taking pictures. Thanks to Russ, my mom, and my sister for your help prior to the party.  And thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate our sweet boy's special day.  I love birthdays.  I love that our boys continue to grow and develop, and that we are able to celebrate another year of life!

We love you, Emmitt Bragg, and pray for many, many more Happy Birthdays!

Five

It's with a full heart that I post this picture of our sweet boys sharing the news of "Five"...

We will be a family of FIVE sometime around January 1, 2014!!

{yes, this was planned for those of you thinking what most others have been thinking/saying, "WHAT?!"}  :)

So excited and thankful for this new bundle who is growing stronger each day... will keep you updated as we move through the coming months. Praying for a healthy baby and pregnancy.  Trusting our loving Savior. 

As to our big brothers - they are very excited and are full of, "I think we should name our new baby this -----".   And you can only imagine the names they are suggesting. So funny.

We already love you, Bragg Baby #3!

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

Psalms 139:13-14

A few things

Over the past few days many funny conversations have taken place with our boys.

I don't want to forget them, so I am going to record them here right quick.

We were having pizza on Wednesday night before church, and the "When I Grow Up" conversation began.  And I must preface this by saying that we've had many conversations regarding this matter, and nonchalantly I once told Lawson, "you can be whatever you want, but you can't be a bum."  This has stuck.  I haven't yet decided for the good or for the bad, but it has stuck.  And so much, that he later said to me, "remember mom, you used to be a bomb when you just stayed home with us, but now you're not a bomb, you're a school teacher", all with a little pat on the back and a smile as if to say, "bless your heart".  :)  I corrected him to be sure he understood bum, NOT bomb. :)

Back to Pizza Hut...

Lawson informed me that he wanted to go to college at Chicago (?), or UTM, or Tennessee Vols, or Vanderbilt.  He then asked if he would need to work while he was in college, and I told him that he would need to work unless he was involved in sports or if his grades were struggling.  He then told me that he wanted to play baseball for Vanderbilt, and that when he grows up he wants to be a "baby nurse so that he can take care of babies like Weston, and that he also gets to stay up ALL night because hospitals never close"... :)

Emmitt then piped up and said he was going to college at Vanderbilt, too, and that he was going to be a cowboy in the rodeo.  Hmmm... I'm not sure if Vandy has a rodeo team, but by all means I told him that sounded great.  He says he will be a rodeo man when he grows up.

Goals.  That's where it starts.

***

Unfortunately, Emmitt is still not potty trained.  We spent a good 28 hours in big boy underwear before I gave in and pulled the diapers back out.  It was terrible.  Although he was dry all night, and only had an accident or two during the day, he cried for his diapers.  And when I say cried, I mean grieved for them.  He begged me not to throw them away, not to give them to Charlie, {a friend at school who was also potty training}, and to please change him with a diaper.  It eventually made me cry which is when I gave into the diapers.

Fast forward about three weeks to this past week... Lawson had fully dressed himself when Russ complimented him with the whole, "you're such a big boy!", which immediately followed Emmitt declaring he was also a "big boy".  Russ responded with, "big boys go potty and wear underwear."  Emmitt says, "oh, yeah, I'm a little boy"... :)

We will eventually get there, I'm sure.  It has caused him a lot of anxiety so we've decided not to mention it again until school is out, and summer break is in full-swing {11 more days!!}, and then the potty training boot camp will begin.  Praying for potty training!

It's almost Friday ~ thanks for reading!

The "Big Shoe Award" {Lawson}

A few weeks ago as I picked Lawson up, and signed him out, there was a note stating that his "big shoe" was to be picked up in the office, and that he would know where to find it.

Sure enough... he knew right where to find his "big shoe".  This big shoe is his trophy, of sorts, for learning to  tie his shoes all by himself.

To say he was proud is an understatement.  He ties them very well, and is now able to fully dress himself.  The big shoe trophy is hanging on the wall in his closet, and will be there for years to come, I'm sure. :)   

Keep growing, big brother, you're almost FIVE, and we're loving every minute of it!!

National Sibling Day

So, another National Holiday was added to our calendar, and someone forgot to tell me...
"National Siblings Day"!  That's pretty neat, and although I'm a few days late, that's alright as I am sure my sister doesn't mind, and I am sure that our siblings should be celebrated every day.  I mean, we did spend thousands of days and millions of hours with them growing up, right?! :)

Here's to my sibling... my little sister, Julie Anne.

Thankful for a "National" day to celebrate you {sorry it's late} :). Thanks for the memories. I love you, Jaboobala!

xo

Easter 2013

I hope you've enjoyed a great day celebrating with family and friends, but more importantly celebrating the beauty of eternal life because our Savior LIVES!!  

We've had a great day that began at 5:45 this morning when Lawson awoke to see if the Bunny had visited... {we are tired ;)}

And indeed he had visited and left a few surprises for the boys.  It was very exciting, if only mom and dad could've kept their eyes open. Seriously, we were sooo sleepy, but we made it through the day even arriving early to church.  Wonders never cease.

Here's the loot from the Easter Bunny...

{kites, rakes and shovels to help dad with the new landscaping, Hot Wheels cars for the iPads, coloring kits, books, new TN basketball jerseys, and candy}

I'm pretty sure that E was coloring around 6:10ish AM.

And a few Easter morning pictures...

They were sooo silly!!  Sleep deprived, I'm guessing! :)

Easter eggs weren't the only eggs involved today.  We discovered that our Winter wreath is housing a few Robin eggs.  The winter wreath will be "in style" for a few more weeks, right?!  It will have to be... I'm not throwing them out.

We enjoyed the afternoon with Russ' family at the annual Easter gathering, and had a great time!

Sweet Weston - he's almost crawling!

Granny looking pretty...

Weston's FIRST Easter egg!!!

The rain finally subsided, and the sun peeked out for a quick egg hunt along the sidewalks... Let me tell ya, there was major excitement about this decision!!

{we didn't take our Easter baskets due to the rain... an ice cream bucket worked just great, and he never questioned using it!  Emmitt borrowed one from someone else.}

Brayden, Lawson, Emmitt, and Jack

=Weston=

Time to count eggs!  

Candy and change... doesn't get much better than that!

These pictures are so cute to me...

I'm off to bed as my pillow is calling my name, and my sweet husband is about to fall asleep on the love seat waiting for me to post these pictures.

Happy Easter, thankful for God's plan and the promise of Heaven.  Blessings to you.