and here it is...

Boy oh boy…I sure do love my boys!

Life is great—and busy busy busy! Par is an absolute chatter box and Jack is a Mama’s boy (which I love—except in the morning while I’m getting breakfast ready and I can hear him wailing while Rusty tries to comfort him). He is a funny little boy with a crooked smile just like his daddy and big brother!

Par loves Jack and wants him to play so bad! I think Par is a little confused why Jack doesn’t get up and run around like he does. But needless to say, Jack is very entertained by Par.

One of our favorite people is Dr. Scott Hahn. He is an author of some really fantastic books—see HERE—and we were privileged to hear him speak at Samford. It was fabulous and we got some autographs and pictures to boot! How’d we do this with a newborn and wild child? Jack was sound asleep in the sling and Gigi was selfless enough to babysit Par (she would have also loved to hear him speak!).


Actually, at the time, Gigi was still recovering from her hip surgery and sitting in a theater seat for any amount of time wasn’t her idea of fun! So she opted to watch Par! We are so thankful that her surgery was successful and she seems to have recovered at record speed and is doing great! Praise God!

We headed to the beach at the beginning of March for a family friend’s wedding. It was the nuptials of Isabelle’s Aunt Mila. Par was an attentive date for Isabelle—and met the requirements for a perfect wedding date—he danced the night away! As did Jack—all snuggle up in my sling! Although a bit chilly—the wedding was beautiful—and we all had a wonderful time! We stayed in my cousin’s house right on the beach—Par enjoyed some one on one time with his Sir (Rusty stayed behind for some work stuff)—Par and Sir enjoyed some kite flying and naked baby chasing—it was entertaining to watch!





Boo and Sir also got to spend more time with Jack and get to know him. They tried to snuggle with him in the morning—but I knew it wouldn’t last long—being the Mama’s boy that he is!

We had our first trip to the zoo as a family of four the first chance the rain and cold air let up. It was nice to get out and the zoo never disappoints! Par had a blast and Jack slept soundly the entire time—even through a few cold rain drops!

Our Thursdays have been just delightful as we have had some delightful dinner company! Par and Jack’s great-grandmother Mama Carol was our first Thursday dinner guest—it was so fun! We loved the one on one time with MC—it was fun building the anticipation for Par—he was SO EXCITED about here coming.

We then had Father Bazzel—another exciting person for Par! Father Bazzel joined St. Paul’s while we were in Gainesville—but we have enjoyed getting to know him—and he is the one who baptized Jack. Rusty and I feel he is a wonderful role model for our boys and look forward to having him again.

We then had the pleasure of Gigi’s birthday falling on a Thursday and so of course she was out Thursday guest of honor. We enjoyed spending time with her—but really, she enjoyed having the boys all to herself! Happy Birthday Gigi!


We hosted our first Christian Family Seder meal on Holy Thursday before Easter. Complete with readings from a traditional Jewish seder as Jesus might have experienced as well has New Testament scripture. We washed one anothers’ feet as Jesus did at the Last Supper and we consumed the 4 glasses of fruit of the vine (sparkling grape juice) as they do in the traditional seder—our fourth glass celebrating our Savior who has given his life so we may have life eternally with him. So how did it go?

Chaos. Pure Chaos.
Children laughing, screaming, crying at all times. Adults reading scripture loudly and very fast to accommodate short attention spans. It was hysterical.
The food? We had a traditional seder plate—bitter herbs, charoses, lamb shank bone, egg, parsley. Then we served greek fare—chicken salsa over rice, spinakopita, bread, lamb, bread, and dessert!

Of course there were lots of meltdowns and tiffs between all 7 children-the husbands were all good sports about it—it was good for them to see how playgroup is each week!
We look forward to this new family tradition. So here is a picture of all of us…we’ve all been friends for more than 20 years—sadly, Bragan and her family missed our first one—but hopefully they’ll join us next year. Crazy how we’ve grown exponentially…

The Country Club of Birmingham annual Easter Egg Hunt and visit with the Easter Bunny was the Saturday before Easter…the pictures say it all!




Easter Sunday was beautiful because it celebrated our risen Lord. It is clear that God is still purifying Rusty and me as we were ushered to one of the front rows (we were late AND the usher knows that Par is *difficult* each Sunday. Of course, my heart was pounding—and Par was still *difficult*--but it wasn’t terrible since the family sitting with us was also having to walk out periodically with their five young children.

My parents had a delicious Easter brunch after Mass—and of course, the FUN family pictures always make for an exciting and pleasurable family experience. Thanks Sir!


Actually, Sir is responsible for some great photos—and we thank him for diligently documenting our growing family!

Easter wouldn’t be complete without Easter Egg Hunting! Gigi had been practicing with Par—so he was ready. First at Boo and Sir’s house—Par did well (I FOUND THE GOLDEN EGG….you know, just for the record!) Then Par had a blast in MC’s back yard. After a quick break, Par geared up for round 3—at Aunt Cathy and Uncle Lee’s house. I was so happy we were able to make it this year! Then round 4 at Gigi’s house! And finally, Round 5 at home—the Easter bunny had some good hiding places—but Par couldn’t be fooled and found them all! Check out the baskets—looks like the Easter Bunny thinks Par is ready for Golf! He also must think Jack needs a bath since he got bath toys. Thank you Easter Bunny!!!!




As with each holiday-thank you Boo for your beautiful handiwork! Jack’s bubble was made within a few days of—isn’t it precious! Par is wearing the top from his Christmas outfit and I whipped up some button on shorts out of the same fabric as Jack’s bubble. Needless to say, we are creating quite a keepsake stash of heirloom boys clothes permanently destining me for all boys….

This past Thursday we had the Rau’s over (Rusty and Tim work for the same company). It was fun—Par loved having some older kids to play with! Lindsey and Justin were so sweet to Par and he is still talking about it now! It got a little crazy at then end—Par was super tired and decided to do body slams and somersaults at 90 miles per hour. Sorry Rau family!!!! Where was Jack---right there---taking in “what not to do” for later!

Okay…a little milestone housekeeping here…
Jack rolled over for the first time on March 6th—front to back and back to front! My mom and I had him on a towel at the beach and we were ooohhhhing and ahhhhing over him and he just rolled right on over!
As of right now, he hates being in a carseat, loves to eat his hands and just now discovered his feet! He has what we affectionately call a “soul patch” of hair on the back of his head which is longer and thicker than the rest of the hair on his head. We can see lots of new hair growing in…but we aren’t sure about the color…we’ll know soon enough!
Jack is already wearing a lot of 9 mos. size clothes that Par didn’t wear until he was about a year old! If I had to guess—Jack weighs about 17 pounds….and Par weighs 25 pounds.
Jack smiles all the time and has the cutest little laugh. He has a pacifier that we use—but he doesn’t really use it unless he is super tired…He sleeps with it, just not in his mouth. I’m not complaining—the sooner we ditch it the better!
I had Jack in the bumbo the other day while Par and I were eating lunch. Jack was leaning over reaching for Par’s sandwich—he didn’t get it—but he was eyeing it and definitely wanted to grab it.
Jack is still nursing like a champ—although he is also still spitting up like a champ! (As an aside, I have no idea how he is still gaining weight!)
And just for the record—not to alarm anyone—but….what are the odds that little Jack also has a hernia?
Well…I don’t know the odds—but I’d say they are slim…Jack doesn’t have a diaphragmatic hernia (which is what Par had)—but he has a Ventral Hernia. Basically, he has a weakness in his abdomen which allows his intestine to poke out. I discovered this the weekend it snowed—it looked like he had a little animal trying to climb out of his tummy. Thankfully, this isn’t a big deal at all—and Jack doesn’t even know he has it---hopefully it will resolve on its own…but if it doesn’t by the time he is 2 years old then we might have to have it fixed.

And I can’t promise…but im going to try to update weekly so we don’t have such LONG posts….at the least—you’ll have an iphone update (a picture from my phone and one or two sentence explanation.

So what can you look forward to? Par’s half-birthday, our ongoing Thursday’s dinner guests, the arrival of TCH III in May, Jack’s 4 month check up, hopefully a visit from Par & Jack’s Big D and Minnie (hint hint)…endless excitement…woo hoo!!!!!!!