
Drats, copious amounts of hand sanitizer, hand washing, and changing/washing clothes/bedding didn't prevent this sweet little man

He still loves the wrap and will fall fast asleep in it.
P.S. New post below of happier times :).

Drats, copious amounts of hand sanitizer, hand washing, and changing/washing clothes/bedding didn't prevent this sweet little man

He still loves the wrap and will fall fast asleep in it.
P.S. New post below of happier times :).
...can make his brother laugh like this...
Seriously, Dawson is as even tempered as they come, and Bryce is the only one that can get him to belly laugh. It's hysterical. I wish you could see the tears in Dawson's eyes in this video. He was beside himself. Nevermind the camera shake at the end of the video...that was Bryce pegging me in the head with Lambchop.
Too bad there's not much laughter in our household the past few days. One of these days I'll try and get a video of Bryce's "roid" rage. It's full fledge tantrums just about all day long while he's on these two types of steroids. Oh how I hope we can stop these treatments tomorrow.







I've been the only one to feed Dawson all but a very small handful of times mostly because of nursing, but partly because I just want to. We've literally spent hundreds and hundreds (no exaggeration) of hours together in this rocking chair as he just started sleeping through the night at six months old.
By the way, have I mentioned he's now a rock star sleeper? He's finally sleeping 12-13 hours at night and taking a 1-1.5 hour nap in the am and a 2 hour nap in the pm...can I get an AMEN?! He's a much lighter sleeper than Bryce, but I'll take it!
We've kind of gotten into a routine every night where he'll fall asleep in my arms (first photo above) and then sleep on my shoulder (second photo) for 10-15 minutes while I rock him, love on him and pray over him. I'm going to miss these sweet times!!
Every now and then he'll treat me to a sweet hug, kiss or cuddle on the couch, (then he'll promptly do something that requires a spanking). I sure wish there was a way to bottle up the feeling of my kids loving on me. I try to treasure every second because I know one day they're going to be out of the house, and I'll give anything for one more hug! I sure love my boys!

Sunset Key is a 27-acre private island off the coast of Key West, FL that is only accessible by ferry.
It is pure paradise!
We feel very lucky to have experienced such a fabulous trip, and were thankful our friends, Courtney and Jeff joined us.
Naïve and unsuspecting travelers, we randomly booked our trip to begin on October 31st.
We had now arrived in paradise.
This place was amazing! From private beaches with literally NOONE else on them...




to million dollar sunsets... 










with waterfalls...
to brick lined pathways...
and flower covered fences…
And because our friends have grandchildren, it was equipped with many kid friendly things that made traveling with children that much easier (crib, sand toys/floats, high chair, etc.).
It had a backyard pool...
and a spiral stair case...
that led up to an observation deck that sported 360 degree views of the island and Key West.
We spent our entire week soaking in every minute of it. We lounged and played at the private beaches...








played in the pools...

We also took a catamaran to a coral reef 6 miles south of Key West to snorkel. But, since I was trying to keep my eyes on the horizon and my lunch in my stomach, there are no pictures of that trip. I haven't felt that sick in a long time!


We enjoyed the gourmet meals prepared by Jeff and Courtney.
Ya’ll we ate like Kings and Queens…they’re GREAT cooks.
We enjoyed conversation out on the porch while listening to beach music...
allowed our kids to sleep in bed with us since it was vacation...
and SO much more.
It was the perfect way to prepare us for the trip home, because it’s quite a trip with a 4 hour drive to Miami and then a flight back to our house!
And, there was no other entry door…I looked. I literally wet myself (2 pregnancies have affected my bladder control) watching Michael do his song and dance getting all our gear through this revolving door. It was HILARIOUS, but he prevailed!
Both Dawson and Bryce slept a good portion and were easily entertained when awake (for the most part).
We just got home today, and it already seems like a dream…
one that I hope I have again! And, oh how grateful I am that our "dream" took place last week and not this week. 
Like I said, it was PARADISE! These are real photos that I took with my point and shoot camera. It was EVERY BIT as beautiful as these photos depict and then some. This slice of heaven is also known as Sunset Key, a private island off the coast of Key West that a friend of ours has a house on that he let us borrow. More about that later.
I thought ya'll wouldn't want to miss out on meeting them, too.
Told ya they were cute.
It was Bryce's second camping trip and Dawson's first. We had planned to go as a family a few weekends ago, but it rained, so we opted out. Lucky for us, our friends, Craig and Shannon, asked us to join them and a few other families they know to camp this past weekend. They're professional campers, and life around the campground is much more enjoyable when they're around.
My husband, now doesn't he look like a professional camper? 
So, we packed up and off we went with everything but the kitchen sink!
Bryce had a great time tackling, I mean, filling holes with pinecones with Xander.
All of the families had children. It was so nice to have some playmates for Bryce to interact with. They jumped rope...
road bikes...
played Marco Polo and freeze tag on the playground...
played flashlight tag and so much more. Don't ya just love home grown fun! It's WAY better than what Fisher Price offers.
Dawson, he preferred to hang out with the dogs...literally.
Bryce really wanted to go swimming. With it being in the 30's and 40's, it wasn't an option...so-we-thought.
Michael says he "fell" in. I'm not so sure it was an accident. Regardless, BOTH of his jackets (who knew I'd need to bring more than two) that I brought were soaked to the bone, as was every inch of his body. I was afraid his skin would permanently be the above rosey red color. The child felt like an ice cube. Never fear, moms are always prepared. He wore my down vest jacket the rest of the night.
Like I said, Craig and Shannon are professional campers. They cooked our entire dinner in dutch ovens over a fire...apple cobbler, too. It was delicious!
We hung out by the campfire...a lot.

And, ate s'mores.
Sleeping in the tent was FUN for Bryce.
He did great in his new sleeping bag and slept like a baby.
This one, NOT-SO-MUCH!!!!
The 30 seconds it took me to locate my camera and take this photo is about as long as he slept THE-ENTIRE-NIGHT! I had kind of prepared myself for a rough night as Dawson still isn't a great sleeper. He'll still give us a bad night at least once a week or so even at home. But rough doesn't really explain it. Let's just say the two of us had a lot of quality time together that night.

Apparently most of the families heard Dawson at some point in the middle of the night (oh goodness, I feel kind of bad about that). Craig heard him early in the morning so he got up and made a fire so we could get warm. How thoughtful...that Craig! (Note: Dawson wasn't crying because he was cold. He wasn't. Trust me.)


Six years ago tonight I began my new life as Michael's wife.
Six years later, I'm writing this while my two children and husband are sleeping in the room next to me. I love my life!
“I commit myself to love you and even lay down my life for you. I forsake all others to fight for your heart. I cherish you when you are sick and when you are healthy; when money is abundant or when we have to watch every dollar; when things are good and even better and when things are worse; when we are fighting and when we are at peace. I will go with you and encourage you as you follow God’s calling in the faith and hope of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So, for everything I am, I commit to dedicating myself to making Jesus the center of our lives and marriage.
I'm so proud of who you are. I'm proud to talk about you, to be your partner in life and to call you the father of our children. I can only pray God shapes me into what you and our children need and deserve in a wife and mother.





Boy have we ever hit a stage of tantrums. Virtually ANYTIME Bryce doesn't get what he wants, when he wants it, how he wants it, at what time he wants, in the color/shape/size/smell he wants it, he throws an all out temper tantrum. And, I admit, we've let it go on too long. This behavior has crept in over the last few months, and we're now kind of in a small mess. I basically have committed to virtually staying home until we get this behavior modified. I've consulted many books and a few other folks that I greatly respect for parenting advice, and we've now got a plan in place that started yesterday. I've also prayed about it a great deal as it's really just been on my mind a lot over the past few weeks. I think Bryce woke up and within 15 minutes was looking at me like, "Where did the mom I knew yesterday go?" By the end of yesterday, I was pleased with the results (from both him and me) and could already tell somewhat of a difference. One day is by no means a "quick fix" but we're sticking with our strategy at least for a few weeks to see if we can turn things around.


UGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE, someone tell me that this is just a one time occurrence, and I wont' have ANOTHER kid on baby food for 2+ years!!!!!!!!