Come In!!!

Boys will be boys, this I know. But seriously, how does a 15 month old know to laugh hysterically when he hears a toot? And how many 4 year olds say, "COME IN!" every single time someone toots? And I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Like father like sons.....

Here I Come!

I just had to post this picture of my little walker. I have been trying to get some more pictures of Nash in action. I set him down, back away quickly, say "come here Nash", and start snapping pictures. They all end up WAY TOO close because he is coming at me soooo fast. I just love this one!

Germs vs. Cells

I realize in my latest posts I have been writing a lot about Braxton, but I have had some fantastic conversations with him recently that are definitely blog worthy. He is truly his "mother's son". I am a wee bit of a germ freak and that has rubbed off on him. He is aware of germs and is very curious about where they come from, how to get rid of them, and how our bodies fight them when we get sick. His little four year old mind has grasped the concept pretty well.

He has uttered the following...

*Do germs have eyes?
*Do cells have arms that punch the germs away?
*Are there germs on the floor, my shoes, my legs, the trees, etc. (The list goes on.)
*Do birds have germs?
*Do birds eat germs when they eat something off the ground?
*Tell me about the kinds of cells and what they do.
*Daddy, let's play germs and cells. You be the germ and me and Nash will be the cells and fight you. (That one's my favorite.)
*I'm not sick mommy so my cells must be working.

During one of our cell talks, our little friend James was mentioned. James was diagnosed with leukemia on July 12, 2007 when he was 13 months old. CLICK HERE to read their story. Braxton asked if James was all better. He asked about his cells and the germs. I explained to Braxton that we are still praying for baby James to get better. Braxton said, "I'm going to pray for him." After he said that he bowed his little head in the backseat of our car and said this:

"Dear God,
Thank you for the food we ate today.
Thank you for baby James.
Please help James' cells to wake up so they
can do their job and he can get better.
Amen."

Amen Braxton. Amen.

Flat Hair

Braxton has been wanting "flat hair" like daddy for a while now. Mommy is sad. The curls are gone. He looks so grown up now. It is still pretty thick and we think the curls would return if we let it grow again. We'll see.....he's so happy with his new look!

Praying for Snow

We had a cold front come in on Thursday night. It was rumored to bring ice and freezing rain. But Braxton and I were hoping for snow!! I made the comment, "I'm going to pray for snow." Here's what happened next:

B: Mommy, you mean God has the POWER to send snow?
Me: Yes, he does!
B: Does he say "snow" and then it does?
Me: Maybe....something like that.
B: Wow. That's kind of like magic!

The next morning we woke up to NO SNOW and this question:

B: Mommy, why didn't God listen to us?

Oh, the question many believers have asked countless times. Why didn't God listen? I explained to Braxton that He always listens, but sometimes He choses to answer our prayers differently that what we wanted. I love how God uses my children to remind me of His ways. One of my favorite quotes comes from a flip calendar my roommate had in college....Sometimes God chooses to answer our prayers with no and not now.

Marriage. Already???

Our dear friends Conn and Ashley have a precious daughter named Lily. We have already arranged her marriage to our son Braxton. :) I suppose Braxton has overheard our conversations before because out of nowhere yesterday he asked this:

B: Mommy, when I marry Lily Belle do I have to move into a new house?
Me: Yes, you will.
B: What? How will I get a new house?
Me: You will have to buy one.
B: I don't have any money. What will I do?
Me: You will have to get a job to pay for it. Just like Daddy has a job.
What kind of job do you think you would like?
B: I think I will be a doctor.
Me: Really? What kind of doctor?
B: The kind that helps girls, not boys.
Me: The kind that helps girls????
B: Yes. A doctor that helps get babies out of tummies. (Smile)

A little later....
B: I don't think I will be a doctor. I just want to be a daddy.
Me: You can be a daddy and a doctor if you want to. How many kids do you want to have?
B: I think 6. What do you think we will name them?
Me: You can name them whatever you want.
B: I think we will name the first one "Box". When I take him to school his teacher will ask his name and I will say "Box" and then everyone will laugh.

Nice. A grandchild named "Box".

We have a....

WALKER in the house! Finally! I say "finally" not because I wanted my baby to get up and trot around, but because we were all wondering when this little guy would ever take a step. Big bro' Braxton took his first steps at 9 1/2 months. It's hard not to compare children, isn't it? Our sweet Nash is now 14 1/2 months and just decided to get off the floor this past week. :)






(Notice hands in mouth. We are experiencing the joys of teething as well.)

Our Bike Rider

Cheesing in the Spiderman helment. Safety first!

Getting ready to ride!

Yay Braxton! You did it!

Monkey see, monkey do

As I was getting ready for work this morning I looked down at my sweet "baby" Nash on the floor below. He was holding one of my powder brushes. He put in up to his cheek and wiggled it back and forth with a big ole' grin on his face. I thought for a second about how many times he has watched me do that. Almost everyday for the past 14 little months of his life he has watched mommy use the powder brush...I stress the word almost. When did he first realize "I can do that too"?

Now, imagine if he watched me read my Bible everyday. Consistently. When would he realize "I can do that too"? Imagine if he heard me pray everyday to the One who created him. When would he realize "I can do that too"?

Just something to think about.

Monkey see, monkey do.

My Favorite Art

I love my children's artwork, but the fridge was just getting way too full! I decided to create a little display in our playroom of the boys' art. My little art gallery is a cheap imitation of something I saw in Pottery Barn, but it does the trick none the less. My plan is to rotate the art as the boys bring home new creations. A piece of twine, some cute little clothes pins, and some fabulous creations....tada!! There you have it. My favorite art!

All I Want

I got to experience something this morning that I rarely do. I got to drive in the car all by myself!!! It may seem simple and boring, but if you are a mother, especially a mother of children ranging from infant to preschool age, you understand where I'm coming from. I needed to get to work a little early today and my sweet husband traded me cars so he could take the kids with him. He fed them breakfast, got them dressed, and headed out the door for school. It was complete greatness.

As I hopped in the car this morning the first thing I did was pray for strength to get through the day and for God to ease my frustrations. My frustrations of working full time, not getting to snuggle my boys in their pj's this morning, leaving a messy house behind, and a few others not needed to be mentioned right now. After I prayed I picked a cd....not nursery rhymes, lullabies, or silly music. Something good to start my day. I chose the Robbie Seay Band. I listened to a song that kept skipping because the cd was scratched, but I kept rewinding it to soak in every word. The song was "All I Want". There's a few lines in the song that I think were written just for me....at least for today.

"All I want is my frustration to be replaced with signs of strength.
And all I want is conformation you're gonna see me through this day."

Wow. God makes Himself known right when we need it.

A little bit of Christmas (a little bit late)

My favorite ornaments! My mom gave me this little tree that hangs on the wall. It's the perfect place for those little homemade treasures! Notice the tree topper. :)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning. Somehow both boys ended up in our bed. We let them sleep until it was time to see what Santa brought!

Santa brought Braxton a bike - complete with a flag and a bell!

Santa brought Nash a bouncy zebra. He loves it and is so proud each time he climbs on all by himself!

Do everything right

My friend Lorren wrote on her blog, "I am going to try to do everything right this week." I think I will too!

After a nice long Christmas break I am headed back to the preschool world tomorrow. I love, love, love staying home with my 2 precious boys. But for this season in my life teaching preschoolers is where I am to be. I have signed on to teach 2 more days a week, so now I am considered "full time". I am hoping have our bags, lunches, and clothes ready the night before. I'm hoping to get to work early, have everything prepared for my students, and have ample amounts of patience to go around....and some patience left over for when I pick up my own angels from their classes. :)

I am tired of carrying around 35 unwanted pounds. Okay, maybe it's a little more than that! I can no longer use the excuse "I just had a baby." My sweet Nash is 14 months old! I have decided to start "Weight Watchers"....again. I attempted their weight loss program several years ago and was somewhat successful, until I gave up. I was going to do the "Lemonade Diet" to give me a jump start and a good "cleaning out". I drank the nasty mixture this morning and decided to put that one on hold. Maybe I will try again with my cleanse when I have 3-4 days in a row to just stay home!

My goal before going back to work was to have a clean house with all the laundry caught up....looks like it will be a late night for me! I need to sort the boys clothes, pack up too small sizes, and get clothes ready for the week. My bathroom is a mess as well....maybe hubs can help out with that one.

I have not been spending time with God like I should. Sure, I pray daily and I even journal a few times a week. But that's not enough. A friend once told me, "If you make time for God, he will give you time for everything else."

So, back to the topic of this entry...."I'm going to try to everything right this week." My job, my eating habits, my household duties, my quiet time with the Father....like Lorren said, "I'll let you know how it goes."

Fun Times

My college roommate, Julie, lives only 1 hour away. We don't see each other as often as we would like because, well, life happens. She is crazy busy with her photography business, her two sons, her hubby, and their church. I am crazy busy with my two sons, my job teaching preschool, my hubby, and our church. Life happens and you lose track of time.... but we decided once and for all to hang out this weekend. YAY!!! Steve, the boys, and I packed a suitcase and headed on down to their house for a slumber party. We ate, drank hot chocolate (yum), watched a funny movie, reminisced, laughed, put the kids to bed early, and reminisced some more. Julie made a yummy breakfast for us and we just had a blast being together. I love having people in my life that I could go months (or even years) without seeing, but when we finally get together it's like time has never passed. Julie and her family are those kind of people. We love them!

Julie has 2 boys, Olson-7 and Bennett-5.
I have 2 boys, Braxton-4 and Nash-14 months.
Needless to say, a house full of boys is loud, crazy, and so much fun! It was tooth and nail getting them to sit still for a picture, but here are a few of the boys together. Enjoy!

Braxton and Bennett

Olson, Braxton, and Bennett

Nash, Olson, Braxton, and Bennett

Be Moved

Our dear friends Andy and Christy McDonald have recently traveled to Haiti to bring home their son, Bo. You can read their story on their blog. I have them listed as one of my favorites. I frequent their site to see pictures, read updates, and find out how to pray for them. They made a video of Bo's friends to show their mommies who are waiting to go pick them up. Please watch this. (Click on the word 'this' above.) Watch the whole thing. Be moved. Let your heart ache for the mommies who long to hold their babies.

"Thank you God for bringing Bo home. He's exactly where he belongs."

Choices

We all have choices to make. Some choices seem small and others will decide the next phase in our lives. We choose to forgive. We choose to trust. We choose what time to wake up in the morning. (Although some of us have wee ones that choose that for us!) We choose what time to turn in at night. We choose what to eat, what to watch on TV, and how to spend our hard earned money. We choose how we spend our time, surfing the net or reading another chapter in Romans? We choose to pick up the phone and call an old friend.

We make choices every day without even realizing we just made one. I chose to stay in my pajamas all day. I chose to play with my children instead of folding clothes. I chose to call my mom. I chose to squirt Redi-Whip whipped cream in the mouths of both of my boys. The choices I made today were not life altering, but they were still choices.

I am trying to instill the concept of making wise ones in my 4 year old son. We talk daily about making good choices.

"Was stepping on your brother a good choice?"
"If you choose not to eat your dinner, then no dessert."
"You can choose to go to time out or obey mommy."

Choices. They determine our future. The ability to make good ones is in all of us. Some days I make great choices and others I do not. My hope is to lead by example and teach my children that every choice counts for something.

Deceptively Delicious

I have been in the BEST mood this evening! I tricked my boys into eating spinach with the help of my new cookbook and I am truly excited about it. My mom got me this book for Christmas and it's my new favorite thing. I have only tried one recipe, but I intend on trying a whole lot more in the future. Tonight I made "Blueberry Oatmeal Bars" with spinach hidden inside!!! Sounds gross I know, but you can't even taste it. As I was pureeing the spinach today Braxton went on and on....EWW Mom, EWW!!!! And then as he chowed down on his dessert after dinner he said, "Yum, this is good." My husband even loved them and he didn't even know he was eating something good for him! Whoo-Hoo! My family could eat cookies and brownies all day long. From now on there will be something hiding inside! Thank you Jessica Seinfeld.

Happy New Year

It has certainly been a while since my last post. I have gotten online a few times with good intentions to blog about something funny my sweet Braxton has said, or about how my Nash is taking steps and still waking up every night around 3:00. I almost blogged about our Christmas travels to Oklahoma and Arkansas. I could surely write loads on the adventures our family experienced over the holidays! I thought about making a list of all the latest Aylor 'happenings'. But now I sit here thinking about New Year's resolutions.

Why do I make resolutions? I usually stick with them for a good month or so and then I'm back to my old self. Maybe this year will be different. Maybe I will actually avoid the chocolate, go to the gym, and do a load of laundry every night before bed. (Laundry tends to pile up around here and I would love to change that!) Maybe I will get up early and spend time with the Father before my kids and hubby wake up. Maybe I will do better at balancing the checkbook and paying bills on time. Maybe I will have a "real" conversation with my man at least twice a week. Maybe I will make more of an effort to get to know people in my "not so new town" that I'm living in. Maybe I will read the whole Bible in a year. Maybe I will be consistent about going to ladies' Bible study. Maybe I will cook dinner 5 nights a week. Maybe I will watch less television. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you stick with all your "maybes" in 2008.