On The Way to Branson

We took a mini trip this week to Branson.  Jordan's mom and sister were up to visit, so we headed to Branson to do some shopping!  We just stayed one night and we had a nice time.  The drive was pretty and the weather was nice and warm.

I stayed pretty tired because I was up quite a few times during the night feeding Matthew and then I had to rock JM back to sleep because he was just sleeping in a pack n play and it wasn't familiar.  Even though I was tired, I'm always up for shopping. 

There were so many good outlet shops and I didn't really get a chance to go to a lot of the ones I wanted to.  Maybe we'll go back sometime and I can get to those shops!  Not to be mean to my precious angels, but next time I go I'm not taking any kids at all so I can take my time and do some serious bargain-hunting!  Maybe sometime next year when Matthew isn't nursing!

Anywho, I'll split this post up into two posts because of the amount of pictures.  Plus, I haven't updated the blog in a few days!

On the way to Branson we did a big U-turn and turned around to see these:

BUFFALO!!!

I don't know about you, but I don't think I've ever seen a real buffalo, especially this close up!  I think they are on someone's farm and they were right by the road.  There were several cars pulled over to come check them out, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought they were awesome!

It just made my day to sit and watch them!  I could have watched them for an hour; they were so neat!

Can't you just picture thousands upon thousands of these guys running around the wide open plains out west a long time ago?!

One of the highlights of my trip!  Seriously.

And just for fun, here's my two precious boys last Sunday after church.  John Michael is wearing an outfit that was my brother's when they were little!  Classic pieces never go out of style!

This is officially my new hairstyle while I wait for it to grow out.  It's kind of hard to grow it out when it starts falling out after pregnancy #2!

Verse O' the Day:

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.

Psalm 119:147

Two Of A Kind

Every couple of weeks I get out the old hard drive and get out our old pictures and do a little comparison of our two boys!  It's neat to see how they stack up and how they have similar features and things that are different about each of them.

We think that their chins, mouth, and noses are the same!  John Michael's eyes are almost marble blue and Matthew's are dark blue.  John Michael has blond hair and we're thinking that Matthew's looks like it's going to stay dark brown!  Either way, they're both cute as a button to us!

 

                    

 

                      

 

             

And just for fun, here's a picture to show you how truly big Matthew really is!

Here's John Michael wearing this outfit at nearly one year old...

Here's Matthew wearing the same outfit at four months old.  And, I might add, it was snug!  I' ve also been putting John Michael's socks on him and they fit just fine!

It's so fun to compare their pictures!

Just A Little Biased!

I could be just a wee bit biased, but I think this is the cutest picture ever...in the history of the universe!

Isn't he just so darn cute?!  Oh yeah, and this picture too,

I couldn't quite decide!

And to be totally fair to my precious first-born,

He's pretty darn cute too!  And, it's official, he is now 23 months old.  That means that next month he will be (dum, dum, dum) TWO.  I know I always say it, but I never quite know how time flies so quickly!

Happy Friday!

Our Easter, 2010

-Just to preface this post, it's mainly for the grandparents that didn't get to see the boys on Easter morning, that's why there are about 54,000 pictures!

We had a fantastic Easter Sunday!  The boys enjoyed looking at all the cards that all our family sent them and they got to look inside their baskets too!  Of course, we were late to church, but we weren't terribly late, so it was OK!

The church service was great and the cardboard testimonies that were presented by members of the church made me cry!  I forgot to get a picture of the big cross made out of lillies up in the front of the church.  It was beautiful!

We started our morning off by opening cards,

and looking at our Easter baskets.

My grandmother sent a precious little chick that sings and both boys love it!!

They all loved their cards.  Our whole coffee table was full of them by the end of the morning!

John Michael got a "Cars" plate and some bubbles and Matthew finally got a mobile for his crib; although it's broken and I have to return it to Wal-Mart!

Yes, we had the nursery workers take our family picture for us!  Both boys wore khaki and white.  I did not attempt to match them.  White is not a post-partum woman's friend.

Me with my little snuggler

And me with my little wiggly two year old! 

It is SO hard to get good pictures.  JM will not stay still!

Of course, Matthew wore MeMe's first Easter bibs that she sent.  I think they were mine and my brother's.

For lunch we did something a little different.  We ended up getting together with 3 other couples from Sunday School.  We all live very close by and none of us spent Easter with relatives, so it was so nice to celebrate Easter together instead of sitting at home!

Afterward, all the dads and little boys went out to the yard and played with kites, footballs, sidewalk chalk and bubbles!  They had a blast.  We moms talked and held onto the little ones.  We had a fantastic time, ate wonderful food, and made our boys completely exhausted!

John Michael was pointing to Jordan's eye.  I think you can see him saying "eye!" in this picture!

Matthew just hung out on the blanket with the other babies!

A great time was had by all!  Now, good night!  I'm exhausted!

Easter 2010

It seems so simple and so many of us know this verse by heart, but it's so, so true!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life!"  John 3:16

It's not about the Easter baskets or the tale of the Easter bunny coming to our house and leaving presents for our little ones; although we did do the baskets and a few very small gifts.  No, my friend, it's all about HIM today.

It's not about how good you are, if you've done awful things, how often you show up at church, how many things you volunteer for at church or how many things you've done for others...

Quite simply put, it's about a personal and close relationship with God.  I am not claiming to be perfect, I stumble, I fall, and I am a sinful human being.  I hope today, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that you know even part of the joy and hope that we have in Jesus.  I cannot tell you the joy and happiness that we have in our lives because of the things the Lord has done for us.  Our lives are not perfect or trial-free, but we always have a strong sense of peace and joy in the Lord, even through difficult times.

I hope that if you haven't, you will consider what today really represents.