The Day :)

I am tired of fighting with this thing . . seriously, how do all you girls post a string of pictures in the right order?  I can't figure it out so here they are, not in chronological order:

We took the boys to Rawhide tonight which turned out to be even better than I was hoping it would be.  They both had so much fun.  Davis loved everything about it.  He saw some "cowboy shows", ate a yummy dinner with a live country band (which he was actually super into - he clapped for them after every song), ran in the street of the fake western town with a cap gun and rode on a toy train.  We didn't even get to everything.  It was great.

Watching a fake cowboy shoot-em-up

In case you didn't notice Parker in the previous picture - he didn't like the cap guns until he had his own.  This made us laugh because it seemed like it was the noise he really didn't like but the only thing he could figure out to do was cover his eyes.

Davis the cowboy

Showing Granddad his new Bible 

Going to breakfast at McDonald's with Grammie for pancakes

Lunch at Peter Piper with Grandma, Uncle Matt, and the Johnson Clan

His BFFs and his new drum set - he loves it - I might be regretting it already.  I said yes in a moment of weakness because I new he would love them.  We have already had to discuss that drums are not a toy we play with when Daddy is home.  They are pretty cool though.

Grandma and his new John Deere hat - I know . . . my nephews like all things Nascar and Davis likes all things John Deere = both WT in their own special way :)

Davis on the phone for one of his MANY phones calls "ugh, everyone just wants to talk to me".  This happened to be his Granddad.

Davis' Super Special, Very Fun Day

There is no way that this could be a short post, so I am just going to let it be as long as it needs to be to get it all in there.  Davis turned four-years-old today and for some reason it was making me feel somewhat "nostalgically sad" - but in a good way (I think).  I can't remember what life was like without kids but the feeling of holding my first born little boy does not seem that long ago (particularly since it is something that is still a vivid memory and my memory is horrible).  I don't know if I will ever forget that day - the day you become a mom for the rest of your life is pretty memorable.  I don't think I have the words.  

As for my boy, Davis is probably four going on fourteen, but he is still little in my mind.  He still likes to be held and cuddled - this doesn't take much persuasion.  He is a fast learner and pretty coordinated - some of the things he can master quickly amaze me.  If you have never seen him drive his Jeep, it really is a sight to see.  That kid drives that Jeep better than I drive my SUV and I am not exaggerating.  It took him no time at all to figure out how to do a three point turn to get to where he wants to go and he parks it in a tight spot in the garage with great precision.  My father-in-law made him an actual hitch to attach to a play car at their house.  He hooks a wagon to the hitch and calls it his trailer.  (As a side note, he LOVES to haul stuff around, in boxes, wagons, on flat-bed trucks, whatever).  Anyway, he can back up that car with the trailer attached and maneuver it the way you would have to if you had a trailer on your pick-up.  Maybe good driving is genetic and if so, be SURE it is not from me.  

He is very strong-willed, which can be challenging, but that same God-given character that can challenge me (some days beyond what I would think I can handle) also expresses itself in diligence, loyalty and wanting to do things in an excellent way.  I know that when God harnesses all of that will, He can use that in Davis to do great things through him.  

On the way home tonight he said, "when I am big I want to be a worker, cowboy, music man".  That is pretty much Davis in a nut shell.  He LOVES all things tools - he is almost never anywhere without them.  He is into "cowboy-esk" stuff= tractors, horses, horse trailers, and after tonight at Rawhide, his cap gun.  Any he loves music.  He actually has the sweetest, most in-tune voice for little boy and he loves anything he can make into an instrument.  

He is a great brother.  He is definitely a leader (by nature probably) but he can be very tender and sweet about it - particularly to Parker right now.  God continues to answer specific prayers that I have prayed for Davis, particularly growing in him a love for God's Word and a desire to read and know it.  He has been asking for a Bible for months - not the storybook kind that he already had, but a full Bible.  We gave him a Children's NIV tonight for his gift and he loves it.  He wants to underline the couple of verses that he knows and some of the ones he hears regularly around here so that he can see them in his Bible.  He makes me laugh everyday and he tells me all the time how much he loves me.  I don't know if there is anything better on earth.  Happy Birthday Buddy - we love you so much.

Davis had a VERY full day today and I think he thought he was a rockstar.  The day started with lots of phone calls from family and by 9 am when I would hand him the phone he would sigh (dramatically of course) and say "Ooooh, ALL of these people keep calling, calling, calling me!"  I couldn't figure out how to add the pictures and make them fall below this text so I am just going to separately post pictures from his VERY BUSY day.

Officially not an infant . . .

Just so cute - I couldn't resist posting - Who would have ever guessed Davis would love pictures so much because he gets to take them with his little brother.  Lately he calls him "my best little guy" - so precious.  He also tells me multiple times a day that I am "his best mom ever", good thing, the competition was looking pretty tight!  Anyway, this is about Grayson.  In my mind he has remained an 'infant' (in some ways this may never change).  Between last night and this morning however he has transitioned in my mind as he started rolling over (late, I know, I think he was feeling some pressure because I told him about Hugh . . just kidding) and this morning I found two little bottom teeth.  I just told my friend Heidi on Monday that he was acting like he was teething but I was sure he wasn't because this is really early for my kids.  Either way, he has two little teeth.  Except for chewing on his toys and sucking on his bottom lip a lot, you never would have known he was cutting teeth.  No complaints from him, of course.  The teeth are too small for a picture but this is a picture of him rolling:

Ready . . . Set . . . 

GO!!!

Grayson is 5 Months Old

The brothers 

Big boy play time

It is almost unbelievable to me that Grayson is five months old (yesterday).  Time has literally gone by SO fast.  My friend asked me the other day, "what is Grayson doing these days?".  For a minute, I couldn't even think of anything.  Great huh?  And people wonder why third-borns have a complex.  Well, I thought I would actually think about it and journal some things that he is doing because if I can't remember now . . I surely won't remember in a couple years.

-He is trying to sit up.  He wants to be big (like his brothers I think) more than any of my other babies seemed to and he really wants to be set up like a tripod so he can think he is sitting.  It only lasts for a couple minutes but he loves it.

-He is eating solid foods (cereal and veggies so far).  The lists of dislikes is sadly much longer than the lists of likes.  I would say he really only gobbles down sweet potatoes.  Everything else is a battle and much less successful.

-He is a pretty good sleeper.  I haven't cut him off yet (I don't know if I'll be able to do it - he's my baby) . . . enter here . . comments and eye rolls from my sister:)  He sleeps from about 7:30 pm to 8:30 am but eats at least once in that time frame.  He did go almost 12 hours once - ONCE being the operative word.

-He has officially worn himself a bald spot in the back of his head (see above).  It is very funny looking.  I used a sleep positioner thing for my other kids and they never got this because I would put them on different sides.  -enter again the sister eye roll -   

-Overall, he is a smiley, giggly, happy baby boy.  He seems to enjoy his extra-saucer thing, his bouncer seat and being outside.  He is also very entertained by watching the other boys.  The one person who can alway make him smile very big is his Daddy - yeah for that!  

I wish time would slow down with him, but I know it won't . . . sad.  I do love this stage that he is in right now.  

Davis Today

I hesitated to post this story, but it has already been a couple of hours and I can't stop thinking about it so I decided I would journal it in the HOPE that very, very soon I can look back on this and see how much God has changed my son's heart.  This is set in the context of a particularly hard day.  Davis has a very strong will and we have had many conversations about sin, how serious sin is and our need for a Savior today.  At the moment, though, we were just sitting eating lunch together.  

Davis:  Mommy, I got on the scale yesterday and Daddy says I am getting VERY big so I just won't sin anymore because I am big.  

Me:  No matter how big you get you can never stop sinning all by yourself.

Davis:  Yes I can, if I say I can, then I can.  I just won't do it . . . all by myself.

Me:  Mommy is big and I still sin everyday.

Davis:  Then just stop it then.

We stopped eating and I proceeded to give him all the reasons that we can't become sinless on our own ("all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" / "it is by grace you have been saved . . this is not of yourselves").  As I am talking and talking and talking and talking I realize all of a sudden that I am literally trying to CONVINCE Davis of the Biblical truth I know to be true.  I was so convicted that I hadn't stopped to just pray that God would give him understanding - which would be the only way for him to embrace the severity of sin and his need of a Savior.  Obviously I did and continue to do just that.  It is amazing to watch the sinful nature of man through my kid.  It breaks my heart (literally breaks my heart) to watch him struggle under the power of sin in his life and I beg God everyday to free him from that and give him the ability to live unto Him.  I trust that God graciously allows us to have these kinds of conversations so that He can hide His Word in Davis' heart and grow him in understanding.

Another blog

So another one of our mommy friends has started a blog and you know you all need to update your lists so you can have more fun reads :)  Check out the Moores' blog:  thesmores.blogspot.com