Happy Birthday Vance!!

Well my baby turned three on Tuesday and I just can't believe it. He was so excited about finally getting to eat his birthday cake, he has been asking me about it for a while now. It was so much fun because he got more into the celebration this year than before. Such a fun, and trying, age. We had asked him on Sunday what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese, of course. Then on Tuesday morning I asked him where he said he wanted to go for his birthday and he said "THE GYM!" We have been going to the gym everyday with my parents here in Kentucky and he goes to the daycare section and loves it! Mimi and Papa thought that was pretty funny. We had a great day just spending time together and Vance asked for a Kung Fu Panda cake and that is what he got. It was pretty cute if I do say so myself, thanks Mom. We got Vance a set of big metal Tonka trucks for him and thanks to the discount aisle at Wal-Mart we were able to afford a couple more things. He made a pretty good haul this year thanks to all the grandparents. For dinner he chose Mac and cheese which was fine by me and enjoyed a great piece of cake. The whole day just went by so fast just like the last three years. I saved all my tears for when I was going to bed. I just can't believe how fast it has flown by which tells me that he will be gone and on his mission far too soon. That is the way this all goes but I just thought I would have so much time. Oh well, just enjoy it while you got it right? Here are some pictures of our day.

A letter for my Vance:


Dear sweet Vance,


I can't believe how much you have grown in the last year. You are such a joy in our lives. Everyday you make me laugh and smile at myself. I know that you make me a better mommy because you are just such a sweet spirit. This year has brought about a lot of changes for you and you have handled them all so well. I wish I had your ability to adjust to any situation I am put it. When your little brother came into our family you stepped right in and assumed your role as helpful, adoring, big brother. You love your little brother so much and are so helpful. Your brother just adores you and I am sure that it will continue to be that way for the rest of your lives. You are such a polite and sweet boy. Everyone around you notices how amazing you are. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for sending you to me and your daddy. I love you so much my sweet Monkey boy! Happy Birthday!

The Doc is in! (well more like the PA but whatever)

I just wanted to post and shout to the world how proud I am of my husband. He passed his certification exam with flying colors and is now a Certified Physicians Assistant. WHAT A STUD!!! It was a long hard two years but I am so proud of him for sticking with it and finding the passion for what he is doing to help drive him forward. I know that I couldn't have survived and I am sure Curtis couldn't have without the support of our amazing families. We love you all and thank you so much for everything. This will be the start of the rest of our lives and now all we have to do is find the right job that deserves this amazing guy. I LOVE YOU CURTIS!!!

Shout out!

Just a shout out to my baby who completes his final rotation today! I am so proud of you and I know that you will make a great PA. These last two years have been rough but you stuck with it and now you will finally reap the rewards of all that hard work, once we get a job of course. But still it is great. Now on to the National exam and then we are set. I love you Curtis V. Birdno PA-soon to be C! SOUNDS GOOD DOESN'T IT!

Kael 5 months, Vance almost 3

Our sweet Kael is already 5 months old and I am in a state of complete shock. The time has flown by and I am just so blessed to have this sweet little guy in our home. Here is a list of some of the things that he is doing now:

*Eating rice cereal, obviously

*Loves to blow bubbles with his mouth

*Loves to make the motor boat sounds with his mouth

*Is beginning to grab and hold his toys, and binky

*Loves to laugh at his big brother

*Rolls over, but only when he feels like it

*Is starting to sit up on his own

*Can scoot himself a few feet when he is laying on his stomach

*Loves to play in his excersaucer

*Sleeps through the night, one of my favorite things

*Made his first big road trips to Minnesota and then Oklahoma

*Loves his Mommy and Daddy

*Stats are 15 lbs 25 inches long as of three weeks ago so who know what he is now.

Our Vance is almost 3 and that is something I am not talking about. No just teasing but it is crazy how much he has grown in the last few months even. What a big boy he is. He is mostly potty trained, except for night time, and can now go potty standing up. He does a pretty good job of it to. He loves to read and is now tell us stories. His current favorite to tell us is the Three Bears. He is getting really good at it. His imagination is developing and it is so fun to listen to him play around on his own and hear the funny things he makes up. He is such a great big brother to Kael. This morning I was doing the dishes and Kael started crying but I couldn't get to him right away then all of the sudden I hear this rattling sound and no more crying so I look over and Vance is sitting on the floor next to Kael and entertaining him with his Caterpillar rattle. What a good helper he is. Of course along with the sweet there is some mischief. He loves to rub "lotion" on himself and I have discovered him rubbing vaseline, diaper rash cream, deodorant, and toothpaste on himself, just to name a few. This afternoon he was supposed to be going to the bathroom and I was putting Kael down for a nap when I started smelling something and so I went into the bathroom and he had Curtis' Tommy cologne and was spraying it and he said "Look and I am spraying the bug" so I looked and sure enough there was a fly that he sprayed sitting on the floor. What a goof. We love our Vance and look forward to the future and what other surprises he has in store for us. Below are some pictures of his favorite thing to do. He loves to get crayons and separate them into colors, whether it is at home or at a restaurant or anywhere he loves to do this. Clever clever!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

The boys and I were able to take a trip down to Oklahoma for my nephew Isaac's baptism over the 4th of July and we had a ball. Almost all of my family was the except for Curtis, and my brother R.J. and his wife Ashley. We missed them all. We were able to meet my new nephew Zachary, who is so adorable, and to get pictures with all the grandkids, which will follow sometime soon. Vance loved playing with his cousins and Kael was just so great the whole time. I couldn't have asked for a better trip. The boys were really so good in the car. Vance never complained once during the whole 27 hour round trip. He is my hero. I think he faired better than I did unfortunately. But we had a blast and thank you so much Ella, Sam, Alethia, Joe, Holly, and Hans for allowing us to stay with you all. We miss you already. Enjoy these pictures from our trip.
My sister Holly did a little graduation ceremony for Hans since none of us could come to the real one and this is the kids special dance number for the graduate.
Indiana Skywalker!
Knight fairy and Cinderella.
And of course Tinkerbell!
Bylar, bylar, yeah!
Hans the Graduate.
The new and much improved Superman!
Our Kael bug
Sam and Isaac at the baptism. We love you guys, and Mike with his adorable smile in the background. Love it.
Aunt Nana with Darron and Vance.
The three babies! Kael, Ariana, and Zachary in chronological order. So precious!
My gorgeous sister Ella and her family Sam, Isaac, Emarie down in front, and Olivia. Don't they look delicious, like Neopolitan ice cream.
The whole Bryant crew, minus Curty , R.J. and Ashley. Good looking bunch.
Watching Independence Day fireworks a day later because of the rain. Vance is multi-tasking by talking on the phone to daddy and watching fireworks at the same time.
Ok so before my husband freaks out about this picture I have to say that Kelsie got this adorable chest with these fairy costumes in it and Vance just wanted to try them on because it was a "Pirate Chest" so I let him try it on and here you are.
We went to the Museum of Natural History in Norman one day and here are the pictures from that. Vance and Papa looking at the display.
A cougar just for Curtis.
A beautiful butterfly on display. My little camera got it pretty good I think.

A stinking big ugly fish.
My adorable little Kael smiling away at me.
My boys!
The T-rex and the Brontosaurus.
Look at the size of that things head! Huge.
Vance and Kelsie getting "crushed" by the Mammoth.
So much fun!

Packing

We are currently trying to pack up our house to be ready to move to who knows where in two weeks and so I haven't posted about our trip to Oklahoma yet. I feel like I need to get ahead on the packing before I indulge myself and blog any cute pictures of my sweet boys. So hopefully you will all be patient with me and anxiously await the pictures to come. Loves to all!

Our silly Vance

I just wanted to put on here some of the funny things Vance has said so I don't forget it.

The other day we were having dinner and Vance chose pizza for his and I was eating a salad, well of course he wanted mine once he saw it so I was sharing with him. He loves cottage cheese and ate all of mine so I went and got him a bowl of cottage cheese and he said "Oh mommy you are a genius!" Smart boy!

Mommy: "Vance are you eating the starburst mommy told you to put back? I said no candy right now."
Vance: "No mommy" He says with his mouth full and looking innocent, "It's chocolate."
Mommy: "What chocolate?"
Vance: "This one" He brings back a bowl with Curtis' rolos in it that he had taken off the cupboard, unwrapped, and put in his own bowl. By the time I realized it he had eaten half of them.

Mommy: "Vance daddy is coming home"
Vance: "He is? Oh goody, little brother daddy is coming home. Hurray!"

Vance was watching a cartoon and it was somebody's birthday and they were eating cake so I said "Vance you get to have a cake on your birthday soon what would you like it to look like?"
Vance: "A smiley face"
Mommy: "Okay."
Next day Vance: "Mom I can have cake today, yum yum!"
Mommy: "No not today on your birthday"
Next day Vance: "Today I can have cake?"
Mommy: "No I am sorry not until your birthday" and this went on for about a week. So silly, memory like and elephant.

A whirlwind of a few weeks!

So I know it has been a long time since I posted anything but Curtis was gone on a rotation for four weeks and had the computer with him and when he came home on the weekends I really didn't want to waste time blogging. So here is a long post with lots of pictures. My sister Alethia and her kids came to visit while her son Darron had some doctor's appointments and it was so great to have them here. Vance loved spending time with his cousins and it was great to spend time with my sister. I love Iowa but that is definitely something I really miss. We took a little trip to Minnesota for a job interview and both Curits a I had strep throat which made for an interesting trip. It wasn't as pretty as Iowa there but it was really pretty still. We shall see. Curtis' family came in last Tuesday for the Graduation and the blessing any my mom and dad came up on Thursday. Thursday Kael had his four month check up and he is now 15 1/4 lbs and is 25 inches long. What a big boy he is. During the last three weeks he has rolled over and discovered his voice. Always cooing and such. We love to sit and listen to him. What a doll. It was a very eventful weekend and we just kept going and going. On Friday was the Graduation luncheon followed by the Graduation and then a BBQ at our house to celebrate. On Saturday we went to Nauvoo with Curtis' family and had a great time. Sunday was Blessing day and we had a great day that ended with a Tornado warning and us spending an hour in the hallway downstairs playing Outburst. It was really fun. Monday we went to Kalona, the Amish colony here, and just looked around. My parents left from there and Alethia and Joe left that morning. Then Curtis' family left on Tuesday morning. It was great to have everyone there to celebrate so many things with us. Enjoy all the pictures.

Kaels' blessing day was a great day. We are so grateful that we had so much family here to enjoy our special day with us.

Graduation, it finally happened. I am so proud of my sweet Curtis for all the hard work he put into this and now he has one final rotation to go and he will be done. Time has flown. We are all so proud of him and can't wait to start a whole new chapter in our lives.

Here are the pictures from the time we spent with the family.

Our ward had its annual Father-Toddler campout recently and I am finally posting the pictures for you all to see. Enjoy!

Video of Kael

You need to turn off our music in order to hear his little sounds. Enjoy!

Kael 3 months and pictures of my boys.

Kael had a 3 month weight check today and he is now 13 1/2 lbs. What a big boy! He is so much fun. He loves to smile and his laugh is so cute. We just pulled out the good ole exersaucer and Kael is a big fan. He loves to stand up all the time so this was a great alternative for me so that I didn't have to hold him up all the time when I needed to do things around the house. Vance is so adorable with Kael. He sees how we talk to him and had started talking baby talk to Kael as well. Today he went up to him put his face down by Kael and said "Oh cute baby, ew mommy he smells like poo poo!" Well that is one way to find out. He loves life and is so full of energy that we are struggling to keep up most of the time but that is the way life is right now. I wanted to show you all how alike our boys look so I found some pictures of Vance when he was 3 months old to compare to Kael so here the are. 

Here is Vance
And here is Kael

Vance with a sweet smile
Kael with a sweet smile
Vance in the Exersaucer
Kael in the Exersaucer, Crazy huh!

Note the cute bum in the background. Vance has a habit of leaving his pants off after he goes to the bathroom so he is almost always half dressed.
Cheese!
Oh so cute, the flash kept making him open his eyes so wide.
Sly smile
Tummy time! So strong.
Brothers!

Oh so sweet.
He loved this chair, thank you Jaime and Ruben, and he loved to stare at the fish floating in the top. He would get this adorable smile and just sit and giggle the whole time. I just missed the sweet smile when the camera finally took the picture.
This looks innocent right?
Wrong! He was taking cups full of water and dumping them on his head.
What a goofball!
Today we biffed it but Vance was very tough.


More smiles

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!!! Gorgeous colors.
Gorgeous flowers!
I love these trees.
Kael at the park
Vance and Ian playing on the rocket ship at the park.
After bath time Vance was asked to go in his room and get a diaper for bedtime. Well after about 5 minutes and no Vance Curtis when to check and this is what he found.
He loves this mobil still and wants to touch it all the time. Yes those are devils but it is because of ASU Sun Devils not because we worship them or anything.
Lets go fly a kite!
Not so happy face
Happy face.

I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!!