Kyle Turns Five

Wow! I can't believe the little guy is FIVE already! That must mean I'm... old. Ouch.

Kyle is fun. Kyle lives fun, he breathes fun, he sleeps fun, he walks fun. Kyle enjoys life so much that he can barely contain it. I've never seen a kid that can go as fast from crying to all out belly laughing like Kyle. I know that as he gets older this amazing ability of recovery will serve him well, but as a parent it DRIVES ME CRAZY! How can a child cry over a discipline and 2 seconds after he stops crying (and GENUINELY crying at that) he's bouncing off the walls looking for the next adventure. It's amazing.

There is just too much fun to be had in Kyle's world for such things as waiting. Like waiting to get up. Who needs sleep? Picture this, every morning between 6 and 6:30 Kyle is standing next to your bed smiling at you while you sleep. I don't think Brandi even opens her eyes anymore, I think her body just goes on autopilot and sends him to the toy room to play quietly. Naps? Yah, right! I remember one night this year we had some friends over and they stayed late playing games. It was almost midnight and the kids were just going to bed. Kyle had been going full speed for HOURS. He's laying in bed saying his prayer and he falls asleep mid-sentence. I took a picture, he literally wore his poor little body out.

High energy. Lots of messes. Lots of laughs. And absolutely lots of fun.

And he is going into kindergarten this year... oh my, I don't know if kindergarten is ready for Kyle!

Happy birthday, Kyle, I love you tons big man! Hope your day is as entertaining for you as I am sure it will be for the rest of us.

SEVEN!!

Hard to believe that this day 7 years ago Brandi and I were eating breakfast at Bill Johnson's Big Apple while she was having contractions. They had been going all night and she wanted to get some good food in her before we went to the hospital. We were getting ready to drop Hunter off at Kim and J's house for their first adventure in caring for a two year old.

Jacob was a cute baby, in fact his picture hangs with several others on the wall of the labor and delivery area of Banner Baywood. It was a quick delivery, in fact we have Aunt Amber on tape saying, "That's it! I could do that!" B and I both gave her the look of death for that one. The deliveries were never bad for B, it was the nine months leading up to it that was HORRIBLE.

Jacob was an easy going baby and not much has changed since then. He's still a good looking kid and seems to be a favorite with girls in his class. Although we haven't had quite as much of an issue in 1st grade as we had in kindergarten. I think the girls have gotten a little more reserved (thankfully). Hard to believe it's been seven years. Wow, I think I'm getting old.

Jacob is an awesome kid and is such a help with everything. He doesn't complain much and is quick to help out. He has a great attitude and a laugh that is absolutely infectious. He will make himself laugh and before you know it he is laughing uncontrollably... and so are half the people around you. Basically he is a great kid and a joy to be around.

Happy birthday big man! It is a pleasure to be your daddy. :)

Uh oh. Only one more year...

Wow, Hunter turned 9 yesterday. NINE. As my wife said, he's almost in the double digits. And of course HE reminded me, that there is only ONE more year! He didn't have to say what was going to happen in one more year, I knew very well what he meant. You see when my son was three years old I made a rash promise to him, thinking to myself that the child is just three, he won't possibly care about reptiles in SEVEN YEARS. I promised him that he could have a snake when he was "like 10!" Well, that's next year. And he's been counting down for the last SIX years. Oh boy.

In any case, nothing turned out like we had planned yesterday. First of all we figure out Sunday night that the rash that Hunter developed over the weekend is actually the final stages of fifth disease. Okay, that's not good, especially since we had three sets of grandparents expected to arrive at our house for a HUGE spaghetti dinner in honor of Hunter's b-day. Well, we decided to contact all of the grandparents and just give them the information. Unfortunately that meant that any grandparent that expected to be around our niece Karidee in the next week or two, really should not be hanging around us. Two sets of grandparents dropped out. Hey, you know, it will be fine, Granny and Papa were still coming over to celebrate. Then on the way home I got a call from my sweet wife who had just been hosed down with projectile vomit from little GB. I called Papa and informed them that our house is evidently the Bermuda Triangle of illness lately and advised them against setting foot inside. So, we picked up Prince Caspian from the DVD Play and headed home. The gift that Brandi and I ordered for Hunter still had not arrived. Bummer.

The whole thing was just NOT turning out like we had hoped for our little man. But, the beautiful thing is that Hunter had a GREAT attitude through it all. He was not only still happy about the whole evening, but he was grateful and expressed gratitude for picking up the (plan B) movie and the great spaghetti dinner (with the noodles that over cooked). I am really proud of the way he handled it all.

Grandparents still showed up to the house to drop off presents and Hunter met them at the door to say thanks and open the present so that they could see him.

It's amazing. This same little kid that use to have such a problem controlling his anger and would have poor B in tears with frustration as she would apologize to other parents after our two year old 'beat their kid down' in the McDonald's play area has grown into this sweet and wonderful nine year old. He has his moments like anybody, but I have to say, he rocks!

This year has been a big one for us. God works out his plans in amazing ways. With all of the back issues that B has struggled with for the last year, I really don't know what we would have done without our five foot, super strong, Hunter to pick the baby up and carry him all over the place. How amazing that Hunter is in the upper 90th percentile for all of this measurements, and GB is in the lower 25 percentile for all of his. God knew we needed him.

I have to say that the biggest and best moment of the year was when B and I got to hop into an inflatable pool with our big kid and baptize him. What a moment. What a year. What a great kid! Thank you God for our Hunter! Happy birthday big guy!

GB Turned One

GB turned one yesterday. Our last little boy is growing up so fast. He still lives up to his reputation as a Good Baby. He is fun and adventurous and moving at the speed of light. He likes to get into cupboards and find whatever he shouldn't have.

He is a little more of a cuddler and seems to like stuff animals. So for his birthday Brandi found a huge, super soft stuffed dog at Sam's Club and we gave it to him yesterday. I would say that he definitely liked it.

He is such a blessing. It's been a very crazy and sometimes tough year, but Gabe has definitely been a shining light of fun and happiness during all of it. Happy birthday little man.

Hunter Lee Jones

Hard to believe. Our little Bubba is eight years old today. Man, how time flies. We've watched him grow so much in that time. Not just physically, but in so many other TREMENDOUS ways.

I couldn't be more proud of him. He's a great kid.

It seems like every time we turn around Brandi and I are left staring at each other in shock to hear the amazing observations and then conclusions that Hunter draws and articulates. I keep having to tell myself how old he really is. When a kid is as big as a 12 year old and then suddenly pontificates like some second year psychology major you have to remind yourself that he's only in second grade.

Thank you, Lord. Thanks for eight wonderful years with our Bubba. Eight exciting years as parents. Good stuff.