Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Sunday 2011

Our family Easter Sunday :) My sweet little boy is almost 4 years old here! I cannot believe how fast time flies and how big he has gotten. So tall and handsome, and such a sweet little boy. I am so so thankful for my family!


We are lucky that Elem does not wake up early. usually he is the last one to get out of bed, sometimes rolling out of his bed at like 9am! Which is crazy. He loves his sleep just like his mommy!! So, this is a good capture of his morning attitude-even while checking out his stash from the Easter Bunny. haha. The Easter Bunny brought him a CARS sleeping bag and some big boy cups (we are trying to exit the sippy cup phase for good!).


This is more like it. ALl dressed and ready for church. Loving on his "sweet bo bo bear" as he likes to call her. :) Sage and Elem are still BFF although it is obvious she is old and annoyed at times. She still puts up with all his loving and hugs and lets him have his way with her for the most part. He LOVES him some sage. And is happy to share his brand new sleeping bag with her on Easter morning.


Cecilia all dressed up in her pretty dress :) My sweet little girly girl. I love her.


After church we headed over to Aunt Nancy's for an Easter/Pawpaw's Birthday Celebration.


Here are the kids helping to sing happy birthday to their pawpaw. It is amazing how all the grandkids and great grandkids love their pawpaw. He is such a wonderful man, and we are all so thankful for him! This is Seth's mom's dad, and the most popular member of the family with the kids!


Daddy and Elem being silly.


The kids playing in the game room. Every holiday/lunch/birthday celebration that is at Nancy's house -this is where the kids end up. Although the pool sticks are a little dangerous, they are still a hot ticket item in this house! Elem Cecilia and Isla Pearl running around keeping themselves busy.


And of course, Elem taking care of little Nate. This is a typical picture of how we find Elem with Nate. Just touching him and giving him hugs and kisses and lots of love. He is super ready for a baby, but mommy and daddy are NOT!! haha.


This was such a great day, relaxing, and wonderful time spent with family. What I even loved most about this Easter was just how much Elem retained from school about the real reason we celebrate Easter. We talked about it and he told me:

"that Easter is all about Jesus and how he is still alive. And that after Jesus was on the big cross, they put him in a cave, but he didnt die. And he rolled and rolled that big stone rock our of the door and he got out!".

I could not be prouder of my little man. I think that is pretty close and to the point if I do say so myself!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Egg Huntin' Time!

Who doesnt love a good Easter Egg Hunt?? ELem was lucky enough to hit up a couple of Egg Hunts this year and I must say, he was a super serious egg hunter! We started the Easter Celebration with dying some Easter Eggs with Cecilia at her house, having a fun party day at school filled with an indoor easter egg hunt (due to rainy weather), and my mom coming in town to celebrate with us the day before Easter!


We headed to Mills Park for a morning egg hunt, and found that lots of our family, neighbors and friends were there. Which made it lots more fun! Elem and Memaw before the big hunt!


We even stopped by to see the Easter Bunny and took a group shot with the neighbors. Elem LOVES LOVES LOVES the Easter Bunny this year. Did I mention he LOVES him??? He was so intrigued by him, talking to him like they were best friends, starring at him from far away, and giving him lots of hugs. I thought he would actually be kind of scared of him, but that was just the complete opposite. He was all about that Easter Bunny, and could not wait for him to hop on over to our house the next day! I wish I had a video of him talking to the bunny, because it was so sweet. He told him that he loved him, and when the Easter Bunny gave him a blue Easter Egg with candy inside, Elem thought it was a sign of something amazing-since blue is his favorite color! hehe. I love it!

Time to hunt some eggs!


Once he got started, he was side tracked, overlooking TONS of eggs and searching for only the ones with some sort of shade of blue. Very Elem. He knows what he wants and he doesnt usually compromise for anything less than that!


Uncle SPoon and Rowyn were there for the egg hunt fun!


My mom and me taking a break on the sidelines while the kids jumped on the bounce houses.


Elem proud of all his eggs and showing them to his favorte little baby in the whole wide world, Baby Nate. :) Nate is always up for a picture. Elem was all about giving Nate some love and sharing his eggs!


It was such a great day, and the weather was perfect for a morning of outside fun. This was a great way to spend the weekend and got Elem really excited about being good and getting ready for the Easter Bunny that night!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Batter Up!

Some videos documenting Elem's first ever batting experience in TBall:


And the ever so popular-slide into home plate:

Such a big moment for Elem Zane!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

This thing called T-Ball



Oh. My. Word. Who knew serious sports started at age 3??? Well, if you live in Bryant AR, home of Cliff Lee, pitcher for the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series, then you don't mess around and you take it seriously even starting with T-Ball. I know it is a little young, but I really wanted Elem to be able to play some sort of sport this season, because he LOVES sports, has tons of energy, is plenty coordinated, and honestly needed to be a part of a team or something to help with him "all I do is win" attitude. Haha. So, I barely made the cut off to sign up for the registration for T Ball back in January! I headed over, and was shocked at the line leading out the door of the gymnasium full of parents signing up their kids for baseball and softball. When I told the guy how old my son was, and he asked me if he was TRYING OUT, I almost turned around and walked out the door. I seriously thought if they are worried about how well my kid plays T-Ball then I don't know if I want him to play! But I went through with it, and he finally got started with his team in the middle of March.

Elem was SO excited, I can't even begin to explain how happy he was when he got his own bat, ball, glove, helmet, jersey, and everything else baseball related that a little tiny 3 year old might need on the field! It was priceless. And I have been so thankful we signed up for it ever since! Elem ended up playing on a team with all children who had never played before, which was great because it put them all in the same boat as far as knowing what to do, who to listen to, etc! Which also includes a whole lot of interest in the dirt between bases, but oh well! There are about 10-12 little boys on his team, all ages 4-5, but 2 of the kids. Even though Elem is the youngest player on his team, he is seriously one of the biggest. Which is another reason I really wanted him to play-he is literally the size of a kindergardener, and is beyond playing with his fellow 3 year old classmates. He just isn't feeling that.

His team is sponsored by First Southern Baptist Church, and his team colors are light blue and white. Due to the length of the name of the church, Elem was pretty upset and really wanted a good team name he could say, so Seth threw out that he was on the bluejays, and we have stuck with that ever since! We ended up getting a great coach, it is his first year coaching, and he is a physical therapist, in school to be an ER doc, and played baseball at UCA for several years. Very sweet guy, who is actually pretty quiet, and genuinely wants the boys to have fun, znd just enjoy the experience while learning some of the basics. As far as his number, I got a call to pick one during the day while Elem was at school, so I was kind of in a bind-I actually texted his teacher and she asked him what number he preferred. LOL He chose number 5, but someone already had scooped it up, so I went with 6 because it was close. And he loves it. I really think he would love any number, and just knowing its on the back of his jersey with his name is enough to make him grin from ear to ear.

As soon as Elem got his jersey, he put it on and was standing in front of the mirror looking at himself and smiling. Haha. It was so cute. And he was trying to turn half way around backwards to see the name and the number and still see what he looked like. I loved it. It was adorable.

So, first game was not a hug success for us because it was about...oh maybe 40 degrees outside, and pouring down rain, and he was miserable. So my sweet little man started crying on the field and said his hands were burning. :( So I wrapped him up in a blanket and let him warm up in the dug out, while Seth was having a mini panic attack, because he thought Elem was going to loose his position. hahaha. Yes, that was a serious statement. Luckily when it got time to bat, Elem threw on his helmet and ran up to his coach at the home plate and took a swing. I thought there was going to be a major meltdown when his first swing spun him all the way around and he dd a full 360 landing on his knees in the mud. He stood up though, like a big boy, looked at the dirt all over him (which he HATES to get dirty like that) and took a second swing! He hit it so far and took off running. Mommy was so proud. My little T Ball star. Ever since it has been uphill, and he has enjoyed every practice and every game! We have had much better weather, and he has even made a couple of little friends, although I do see him giving some snide looks sometimes when the boys are goofing off because he really just wants to play ball! It is quite funny. He started at short stop for the first couple of games, and then his coach decided to rotate all the players to let them each get to play every position. Last week he played at the pitcher position and he loved it. With both positions he has gotten to see a lot of action which is a good thing, because I think if he was out in the outfield he might not be so inclined to stay in the game and would probably head off into the stands.

Elem is really actually very good, of course I would say that even if he wasnt, and has really impressed Seth and I with how mature he has been about the whole thing! I really expected to look out and see him off playing in the dirt at least once or twice every game and practice, but honestly he is really focused and there to play. On top of all the fun he is having and serious skills he is learning, just learning to be part of something-part of a real team, is really making a huge impact on him, and I am sooo thankful he is loving it! We seriously LOVE going to his practices and games, and just watching him learn all kinds of stuff. It is actually a little bit hard, watching him out on the field with his little teammates and seeing him make all these little decisions for himself, like when to go for the ball, when to run, who to throw it to, etc. Because it seems like he should still be needing me for all those things! haha. Very weird-my little man is growing up. For major picture overload see below:

Daddy helping Elem get ready to play in the field.

Short stop-E.

Gooo BlueJays!

Gibson, Elem, and Sam cheering on their teammates while they wait for their turn to bat!

Daddy hanging with Elem while he is "on deck".

Batting like a little champion. (this pic is actually from last week's game)

And he is off!

Daddy rounding Elem through 3rd base. Hehe.

Getting ready to give high 5s to the other team (this is so adorable to watch it is insane)

Me and my TBall stud! Mommy is so proud of you Elem.

So much fun, and sooo glad we decided to play this year! Elem is still having a blast and is so proud of himself when he does good. It makes me smile just thinking about how much fun he has out there!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Catch Phrases


Today Elem was asking for something and he ended up not getting his way, and he responded with....

"You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit." hahaha

Whats so funny about that to me is that I have never in my life said that to him. When I asked him where he heard that, he said his friend Sailor Grace's mom told her that. Haha, and apparently, she in turn has told everyone else that. Too funny.

Sure do love you little man.


Monday, April 11, 2011

What I want to do-

Is relax and put my feet up!


....for an extended amount of time. Without interuption. And without a book in my lap that weighs 19lbs. School is drawing to an end and just in time for everything to be gearing up at the shelter. I am soooo in need of a massive break-or vacation-or something! My brain is about to explode with so much nursing knowledge I just dont know how there is room for anything else in there. sigh*

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Family Sandwich

Thats what this would be:


Per Elem, a Family Sandwich. Did I mention that Elem is super hyper at night and LOVES to get all wired up right about time when most people's kids are already tucked in bed and fast asleep. I am not quite sure how we got into this crazy rut of one wild and unscheduled bedtime routine, but it is upon us! And as much as I do not approve of the late night indoor basketball or football games that go on inside my living room, when it should be wind down time, I do love me some family sandwiches. Haha! They are usually the end stage of a major wrestling event between Seth and Elem, or some fierce tickling time between me and E. I still love em, though! I'm happy with my position being the meat in the middle, much better than the bread on the bottom (poor daddy!). And of course, Elem gets the best part-the running and jumping off of the chair/grabbing hold of mommy around her neck/ and bouncing and giggling because he is having so much fun part on the top. Ahhhhh. Who doesn't love a family sandwich.

-note, Elem requested that Sage be added to the family sandwhich, and I THINK she might have even made it on once, but for now she sits and watches. Probably thankful she isn't in the mix!

Sweet words.


Last night Elem and I were snuggled up on the couch about to go lay down in his bed, blanket and sippy cup in hand, when he very clearly looked at me and calmly said,

"Jesus died on a cross"

I looked at him, and said yes, you are right, he did die on a cross. And asked him if he remembered who Jesus died for on the cross, and he had the sweetest little response,

"He died on that cross for us momma. Because he loved us."

He smiled and simply looked away. I love moments like that, when I don't really think he is old enough to understand stuff, or when I don't think he knows things, but he blows me away with how much he really knows in that sweet adorable precious little head of his!
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