Southern turns 4

Southern is turning 4 years old tomorrow. Where has the time gone??

 

It wasn't that long ago that he was...

 

 

just being born

 

 

and celebrating his first Easter at less than 2 weeks old.

 

 

And, now, he's a little boy! Going for hikes, bird-watching, asking sooo many questions (but I guess that's what makes him so smart), and...

 

 

having fun. He and brother sure know how to have a good time!

 

 

Happy 4th birthday to my #1 son!!

My latest projects

I just wanted to share a few of my latest sewing projects. The boys love going with me to the fabric store, and I let them pick out their own fabric. I made them pajama pants with this thin fleece fabric -

 

 

 Remington picked trains, and Southern picked lizards. I didn't have a pattern for these, so I just eye-balled their current pajamas when cutting. I think they were a hit!

 

 



And with this cotton fabric, I made them each a set of cargo shorts with a pocket on matching t-shirts. I found this pattern online, and I think it is so cute. I'm going to be making more of these for sure. Southern picked the superhero fabric, and Remington picked Dora.

 

 

I love how excited they get to try on their new clothes.

 

And, last week, I made the boys matching Easter baskets. I had found this fabric at our local quilt shop in their sale room. They were having a buy one yard, get one yard free sale, so I grabbed it quickly. I had been looking around to find something "Easter-ish", but there wasn't a big selection in town, and most of the fabric I saw was too girly. So when I saw these squirrels, I was excited. And since the fabric is no longer available, I decided to go ahead and make three while I was at it.

 

 

So now each of our sons has a custom-made Easter basket (though our third son won't be able to use his until next Easter). And, as you can tell, we have settled on a name. Surprise! #3 son is going to be Baylor Anthony Wyatt.

 

I had loved Baylor ever since I read the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood book in high school. Then, when Southern was a newborn, I was watching the movie while breastfeeding and was kind of falling in and out of sleep. At some point, when I woke up or was dreaming, I thought that the baby in my arms was named Baylor! So I was pretty sure I had wanted to use that name when we found out our next was to be a boy. Dustin wasn't 100% sure until I mentioned that Baylor means "water-loving". As soon as I said that, he was set. Anthony means "priceless" and is also the name of my maternal grandfather.

Spring Break in Kerrville

My guys and I spent a few days in Kerrville during Spring Break. It was nice for me to just get away from the house for a little while - no dishes to wash, no floors to sweep, etc. And it was a great place for my river-loving guys.

We spent most of the trip along the river banks in various places in and around Kerrville. But we also spent some time in town - eating lunch, visiting a playground, seeing some local sites, visiting local shops, playing tennis, etc. My favorite spot was the James Avery headquarters. We were able to see them making jewelry, walk along the grounds, and of course visit the gift shop.

(By the way, we stayed at the Y.O. Resort, and if you are ever in Kerrville, you MUST visit their restaurant. Soo yummy, and a really great price for how nice and healthy their food was!)

And since most of our time was spent near the river, fish were caught [Dustin], books were read [me], and rocks were thrown [all of us at one point, but most especially Remington - and Southern when he wasn't fishing too]. Dustin, of course, would skip his rocks into the river. I caught a picture of him doing just that one night because all of a sudden I was reminded of a photo from our past...

The first time Dustin and I visited Kerrville together was in 2004. We were there with a group of fellow college students to attend the state convention for TAS. (Yes, I was a member of the Texas Academy of Science - and even an officer at one point. Aren't you jealous?) There had been two girls who made it to state with their projects, and we were there to cheer them on. But at one point, the whole group made a stop along the river just on the other side of the bridge of where Dustin, the boys, and I were currently standing. So I snapped the picture, and here it is -

 

I love that Southern is in it too. Our boys are our life now, and we are very blessed that we can travel around as often as we do to show them our little part of the world.

 

 

And here are the pictures of Dustin skipping rocks into the river at the very same park in 2004 -

 

And just in case you weren't jealous enough that I was a TAS member, here's a picture of me during the 2004 Kerrville trip in some very groovy sunglasses...

Missing Poppy

Southern was only 18 months old when we lost Poppy. And amazingly, he still remembers him. We do talk about Poppy sometimes, but it's been awhile.

Then yesterday, out of the blue, Southern asked me when Poppy was coming back. How to answer that question? I just again explained that Poppy had died, and that we miss him, but that we can't see him anymore. I tried explaining about Heaven and how once someone goes there, they don't come back.

Southern thought about that for a little while and then said, "Mommy, I don't want to die EVER. And I don't want Remington to die either because then I would miss him." Heartbreaking. I teared up and told him that I too didn't want either of them to die EVER.



Feeding the cows with Poppy - October, 2010



Southern pointing out the cows for Poppy - October 2010

Southern and Remington's new sibling

Southern, Remington, and Dustin accompanied me to my most recent doctor's appointment. Why? Because it was a "big" event. We had a sonogram to see the gender of the baby. Any guesses?

 

I was told by most everyone that they hoped it was a girl. Even strangers that I would run into at a store would say they were hoping for a girl. (Really? I doubt I would ever see them again, so why would it even matter to them what gender our next child was?) Two of our grandmothers, DeDe and Granny Hahn, were hoping for another boy. Dustin and I were just hoping for a happy, healthy baby. God knows best, and He picks the gender.

 

So as soon as my doctor asked if we were hoping one way or the other, we said no. We were neutral. We were just excited to find out. She told us that since we already have two boys, it was a 75% chance that the next one was a boy. I kind of had a feeling that it was a boy since Dustin's paternal grandfather had three boys. And guess what?



 

 

It's a boy! Southern and Remington are proud to announce that they are going to have a new baby brother late this summer. Dustin's happy to know that he will have a foursome for golf and two doubles teams for the tennis court. And I'm happy to have another little boy to snuggle on.

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
  ~Irish proverb

Southern's Upcoming Birthday

When this blog started, I was a few months pregnant with Southern. And at the end of this month, he's going to turn 4 years old! Where has the time gone?

His birthday falls on Easter this year so we decided to do things a little differently for his party. We're going to have it in Yoakum as we would be there anyway to celebrate Easter with family. So if you are near Yoakum on Easter Sunday and don't have any plans that afternoon, let me know. I'll send you an invitation!

I have already had a couple of requests for birthday present ideas so I thought that I would post a link to his Amazon wishlist. I keep up with it, changing things as he gets them, moves up in sizes, or changes interests, so feel free to bookmark it to come back for future birthdays and holidays. http://amzn.com/w/HYOJX1UZZF6V

The most important things on it are his booster seat for the car since we can upgrade his carseat at age 4 and the piranha water blaster he picked out at Academy. (He really wanted it, and I told him that he had to wait until his birthday)

As for everything else, feel free to take ideas from here if you'd rather pick something out yourself or shop somewhere else. I just wanted to give some suggestions to those who requested them or may want them.

I hope to see many of you at Easter for Southern's Lightning McQueen party. Ka-chow!