Easter. Easter and More Easter

The pictures are NOT in order which bugs me, but blooger is not cooperating for me to fix it...so the pictures on the bottom are actually the first pictures from Easter and the pictures at the top are the last form Easter day. Boo Blogger!
This Easter we celebrated for 2 weeks straight! It was a wonderful time to spend with family and good friends! Braden was a lot faster at gathering eggs this year and by the time the first hunt was over Parker caught on- however he was less interested in the quantity of eggs and more concerned about the quality- after he picked up each egg he would shake it and then open it and try to eat the goods!

Parker Easter Celebration

Before church

my favorite picture- I love Parker's face!

Easter morning

Braden's Easter Parade at school

Easter Hunt with our church

Hoffman Family Easter

We have a lot to be thankful for on Easter- a Savior who loves us, a Father who made the ultimate sacrifice, and an empty grave that gives us the promise of New Life!

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me

Buried, He carried my sins far away

Rising, He justified freely forever

One day He’s coming

Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

~Casting Crowns

Here Comes the Bride

I'm still trying to play catch up on all things blog related at this point and I really want to include this post. So I'm sure you guys all know that my brother and his fiance moved to Mississippi in August to attend Ole Miss and they also got engaged the June before they left so on top of attending a new school and moving to a new state they are also planning a wedding! So the big day will soon be here- May 21st! Woo Hoo! So, earlier in March Erica and Chad came home for their spring break and we gave Erica a wedding shower. It was so much fun and they got lots of great gifts! Here are some pictures of the fun day!

we were all pulling for her to break the bow




my soon to be sister!

Chad came home later in the week and Braden was totally in awe! I can't believe how much he LOVES his Uncle Chad. Braden got to do all of his favorite things with him- pillow fight, cuddle in the recliner, play with Buck. Braden also has a HUGE crush on Aunt Erica and he even had a "romantic dinner" with her one night!

Soccer Tots

A few weeks ago Braden started Soccer Tots at RYSA. I love because it is just one night a week for 45 minutes, but it gives him a taste of soccer, interaction with other kids, and good physical fun! It is a 6 week session and we have 3 weeks left- I am hoping this will be something he will want to do again, but we'll see what he has in mind!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Earlier this month, Brad had a convention with his new company Capital Choice at the Swan and Dolphin Disney Resort which is on the Disney "compound"! I couldn't resist taking the boys so we loaded up the Ex and headed down south with him. We had to wait until I got off work Wednesday afternoon to leave, so it was really late before we arrived- almost 11. I was hoping to get the pack n play set up and put them both to bed, but Braden was so excited when we got there which just made Parker super excited so they spent the next hour or so bouncing from bed to bed, checking out the room and talking non stop about seeing Mickey! We fianlly got Braden down, but Parker refused to sleep in his pack n play and Brad and I spent the night trying to get him to sleep. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to be back in Georgia where my baby could sleep peacefully in his own bed!

After getting a few hours of sleep we all felt better and while Brad was at his seminar, I loaded up the boys and we headed out to the pools- there were 5 or 6 including one with a slide, a grotto, and 3 hot tubs. My little fish, Braden, headed straight for the water, but Parker was content to just watch from the side and eat and eat and eat and stalk the other guests. After afew hours at the pool we headed up to the room so Parker could nap and Braden and I could get some rest. After Parker's nap, we showered and got ready for dinner then went out to the "beach"- a huge sand area beside a small lake that had an awesome playground. The boys had so much fun playing- Braden made a friend of course and Parker prefered to play solo, stacking giant checkers on top of each other!

Friday was THE DAY Braden had been waiting for- we were going to meet Mickey Mouse! Brad had a morning session, so I got the boys ready and out we headed. Since we were at a Disney resort they offered a shuttle to the Magic Kingdom- which we took, but it ended up being the WRONG one! So after a wasted hour (although Parker was able to get a nap which was nice) and another shuttle and a brief brisk walk we arrived at the Magic Kingdom! Braden was beyond excited! The weather was nice and overcast, so it wasn't too hot and it even rained on us a little, but it always happened when we were under cover or headed under cover, so it wasn't too bad! Brad and Braden visited the Swiss Family Tree House while I stayed back with Parker, but other than that attraction we all did everything as a family which was nice. We rode Aladin's Magic Carpet Ride and the camel "spit" on us and we got wet, we rode It's a Small World, Dumbo, The Carousel, visited Mickey(Braden was so excited!) in the Hall of the Presidents, ate awesomely big hot dogs at Casey's Corner and then dinner at Pinochios's Village Haus, watched the show on Cinderella's Castle, wathced fireworks and visited a souvineer shop, but the best part was watching the parade with all of Braden's favorite characters and seeing his face light up! It was a great day and one that we will remember for a very long time...yes it was magical!

Saturday we spent the day at the pool then went to dinner. After dinner we walked to the Disney Boardwalk and looked at all of the shops. The best part was that we got to ride the ferry back to the hotel and Braden hasn't stopped talking about it yet! Sunday morning we left as early as possible- we had a great trip, but we were ready to get back to our own seperate rooms and beds! I know that Parker won't remember a bit of our trip, so we'll be headed back to Disney one day, but I hope that Braden will at least have some special memories that we created!

This face made the whole trip worth every mile, every sleepless hour, every meltdown- because this was what I imagined- pure joy on his face and in his heart!

Living in an Upside Down World

Well, I've been MIA for a while now. Let's see in the last month and a half we packed all of our things and moved into my grandma's house, renters moved into our house 2 days after we moved out, went with Brad to a business convention in Orlando and took the boys to Disney World, found out that my contract for next year may be getting cut as our current governor doesn't seem to hold the profession of Pre K teacher to a high standard, Braden started soccer tots at RYSA, and oh yeah, found out we are having another baby!
Not too shabby for a girl who hates change! Now I didn't say I was happy about all of it, that I didn't cry, didn't stomp my feet and thrown a temper tantrum, but I did it all.
I would love to report that we are all nice and settled into our new digs, but that is SOOOOOO far from the truth. They boys' rooms are unpacked, the kitchen and the playroom, but those are the only rooms that are unpacked. Our dining room table is still flipped upside down in our dining room since a leg was broken during the move, we still have an extra couch in our living room that my great aunt from Mississippi is going to get soon, our garage is filled with extra junk that we either don't know what to do with right now or can't bring in yet, our room is ridiculously messy and my shoe racks are still in the garage because I can't figure out how they are going to fit into my new closet, and the office/sewing/new baby's room was clean until our recent trip to Disney and now all of our luggage has been dumped in it. So what do I do? I close my eyes and try to not think about or deal with it and try to pretend that I don't feel like my little world is crashing in on top of me. I don't cry a lot because I'm not a crier, so I just hold it all in until I blow up or I cry in the car when I am by myself. I have been a bad friend lately and haven't returned calls and I am so sorry, but I just can't seem to find the energy to even talk unless I have to and trust me Braden demands to be talked to! On the upside I will say that my 6/10 of a mile commute to work is pretty darn nice!
So about the new baby....I have been reluctant to write this post because I have been trying to sort out my emotions. First off, Brad and I will love this new baby with all of our hearts just like we love Braden and Parker. And I know that a year from now we will be saying Oh my God, how did we ever live without this amazing little creature! But when I found out I cried- I cried because we have already been through so many changes, I cried because I still had a baby- a 13 month old baby that I just stopped nursing only a month a half earlier. I cried because Brad and I had just talked about waiting 3- 4 years for the next one. I cried because I thought, What the Hell God? Do you find it funny that my life has been a roller coaster for the last 6 months? Do you find it humorous that every kind of stability that Brad and I have worked to build has been pulled out from under us? But I can say that every question that I threw at him was answered and I can look and see how blessed we are that God has provided a fall back to every issue we have faced. I can see His hand in all of this and how He has taken care of us.
So Thursday I was 11 weeks and I swear I already feel this little jellybean moving and I'm not sure if that is even possible- or I have just been having really bad gas bubbles! But I like to think that it is our little surprise and each day I get more and more excited about our littlest child growing inside me. It is really weird because Braden started asking for a new baby, specifically a little sister a few months before we got pregnant. He is still convinced it is a little sister because he says he already has a little brother and doesn't need another one! He might have a hard time if it is another little boy! Parker of course is oblivious to all of the changes, which I am thankful for. I haven't worried about how this new baby is going to affect him as much as I worried about how Parker was going to affect Braden- I guess because I see how much better off Braden is to have Parker to grow up with and love.
So that is where I have been- lost in my own thoughts, lost in house that doesn't quite feel like my home and trying to navigate through this new world that feels so very unfamiliar.