We're 4!

You know what they say about "the best laid plans"....well it was definitely true this year for the boys' 4th birthday party. Honestly every single year when it comes time for us to decide what to do for their birthday party we always talk about wanting to do something outdoors. Every single year we opt not to because we always think "what if it pours? then what?". And every single year [up until this year] the weather is always gorgeous. I mean its the most perfect fall weather on the day of the party. So this year, we had heard about this great farm from our friends Rusty and Andrea where you could pet all the farm animals, ride horses, and do all the other cool farm stuff that little boys dream of. So we thought, let's just go for it!

Don't you know the weather was awful. Unseasonably cold, wet and rainy. And at first we were all a little disappointed that things had to be rearranged because that meant that all of our family - who all live out of town - wouldn't be able to come to the farm.

But we rolled with the punches, and I have to say that things turned out perfectly. We ended up having more time to spend with our families than we would have, and basically the boys got to celebrate for the whole weekend. Who wouldn't love that??

Since it was super cold and rainy we couldn't take the kids to do anything fun outside, but instead we took them to the Jump Zone where we all played and had a good time. Then we came home for some lunch, GiGi's cupcakes and presents. Sadly, these are the only pictures we got of our time with all the family here. We'll have to do better over the upcoming holidays. Here are the boys opening up their presents and Cousin Dresi helping.

We definitely made the right decision to postpone the party by one day because the next evening was just perfect. The farm wasn't even that muddy considering all the rain we'd had. We had a bonfire for everyone to roast hotdogs and smores, there was a playground, sheep to pet, two of the cutest sweetest pigs wandering around hoping to steal your food and an arena where they all got to ride horses till their hearts' content. It really was so much fun.

Here is Tricia putting helmets on everyone and teaching them about how to ride. After each of the kids rode the horse, she taught them each how to lead. Here is Brax leading Xander.Even all the little ones got to ride as much as they wanted (even if they couldn't keep the helmets on). Owen got a little extra help from his Daddy.Martha Ann, Daisy, Ben and Josh down at the sheep pen.Time for a cheetoh breakCousin Becca and BeBe roasting hotdogs.

Beautiful baby Brenna and her beautiful mommy.Looking down from the arenaThen - as if all that wasn't enough - Tricia took all the kids into the stables and they all got to paint the ponies! She wrote "Happy Birthday Ben and Drew" on it, and they all got to paint him as much as they want and put their handprints on him. They all LOVED it. All that was left to do after that was take a picture with the pony and Patrick the pig. That was a little difficult since Ben doesn't like to be the center of anyone's attention and certainly doesn't want his picture made. So this picture doesn't have him in it. But with a little coercion he let Miss Tricia hold him for one group picture with all his buddies. Here they are each blowing out four candles.And here they are licking all the icing off all the props on the cake.I thought we were all done with all the excitement, but Tricia went way above and beyond for all these sweet kiddos and pulled out little horse-sticks for each of the kids to pretend to ride on in the arena.

Once it finally all came together it turned out to be a really special day. Drew and Ben had been looking forward to their farm party for weeks and would ask every single morning if it was the day for their party yet. They loved every minute of it and we were so happy to watch them enjoy it so much.

Ben and Drew, may you always know how much your Daddy and I love you and how lucky we feel to be your parents. You both bring us so much joy, laughter and love. Our prayer for you on your birthday is the same as it is every day: thank you Jesus for Ben and Drew and may they live a long life of love for You.

First Spend-the-Night Party!

So, Michael's busiest travel times are during the spring and fall. And I figured that while he was away on one of his trips to China, that that would be the perfect time for a spend the night party with one of their best buddies Brax.

They were so excited! We made a special trip to Target and I told them they could each pick out one thing that they wanted to share with him (I'll just say that the three of them polished off one whole box of cereal straws in less than 24 hours, and leave it at that) and we came back to get the house ready. We worked to transform their bedroom floor into a bed for the three of them to share. They chose 5 (yes, FIVE) blankets to lay down for the palate to make sure it was "comfy enough" and chose two favorite movies to watch (which we didn't watch at all because there was so much else to play with and do.)

Here are a few of the before-bedtime pictures I took:

The three macho tough guys with all of their loveys that none of them can sleep without. So adorable!I will say I was prepared for the worst - crying at bedtime, up all night, maybe even some fighting over toys. But none of that happened. In fact, it was so much fun I told Darci and Josh that I wasn't sure why I hadn't thought of this before. It was really the best of all worlds: something fun and special to pass the time while Daddy's away for us, and a small break for Josh and Darci.

Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to invite Brody too!

Missouri

We wanted to get one last trip in to Missouri to visit the family before we officially said good-bye to summer and began another new school year. So we headed over for a long weekend and a great time. As usual, we crammed as much into our few days as we could.

Pretty much from the time we get there till the time we leave Drew, Ben and Dresi are inseparable. They adore each other, and I'm so thankful to have her in our lives. She's just the sweetest little thing. And because she loves them so much (and therefore talks to all her friends about them all the time) they are pretty well-known in Centralia. One of her little friends came over to play at MawMaw and PawPaw's house one afternoon, and after listening to me talk for a while (don't guess she'd ever been to the south before), she whispered to Michelle "Is she from England?!" and Michelle looks at her and said "No, sweetie. She's just southern." HA! I laughed till I had tears!

We got to do some really fun things while we were there, like the slip n slide:

Playing with MawMaw:Playing at Uncle Dan's daddy's farm with the dog and the duck. The kiddos all chased the duck around and even got to feed it some treats. That little duck is the cutest thing, and loves people like most dogs do. Children of the corn
And - upon Dresi's request - we took them all to play at this place called Bonkers. I'd never heard of it, but just think 'kids climbing gym meets pump it up meets chuck e cheese' and that's basically what it is. Needless to say, they all had a blast!

We had such a great time just visiting and hanging out together. We always do, though. Our only complaint is that our time flies too quickly.

Jerkins Family Reunion 2009

The morning that Ben got to take his cast off (he actually got to take it off himself. It was kind of like a very firm ace bandage. He thought he was pretty cool.), my parents, grandparents and whole extended family came in town for our annual family reunion.

But before we could head over to the festivities, we had to get a couple of shots of our apple tree with Papa. Ben and Drew had been waiting to show it to him, since they know that he grows just about everything at his house. They actually asked Nana if she could make them some jelly from the apples. She just didn't have the heart to tell them no (Great Grandparents are even bigger suckers for the grand babies!), so she told said 'maybe when they get ripe.' and then leaned over to me and said she'd bring some apple jelly she already made next time she came. So sweet.

My Papa and his brother (who lives here in town) are the last two remaining siblings living of the original four. So about 6 or 7 years ago, they decided to get everyone together. Since then we've done it almost every summer, and we always enjoy it so much. Since many of us live here, and it is kind of the middle for the rest of the family, we have the reunion at Gary and Karen's house every year...they are so kind and so hospitable to open their home up to all of us. Gary gave each of the boys a really cool soccer ball that they ran around with the whole time. Michael was pit master on the grill, we churned lots of homemade ice cream and the boys rode their hot wheels all over the tennis courts.....they really loved that. Drew, Ben and Baby Thayer were definitely the center of attention and we basically all just had so much fun catching up and hanging out.

The proud Aunts and the three nephews:

All the Mamas cooking away:

Relaxing on the patio:Grilling on the other patio:Drew and the other Brittney...they really bonded over their shared love of Little Bear:Ben and Cousin Becca:Aunt Geraldine, Stephen, Nana and Cousin David:

Eating ice cream:What the end of the day looked like at our house:

Ben's Surgery

We've known for quite some time now (like about a year or so) that Ben would need surgery on his thumbs. He developed trigger thumb, which basically means that he didn't have mobility in the middle joint of his thumbs. It usually didn't bother him at all, was never swollen or red, and he was still able to use it. So - under the guidance of our orthopedist - we opted to wait till the middle of this summer to correct it so that it wouldn't hinder him during the school year.

Well the time came, and we headed to Vandy early on Monday morning to have the surgery. George (his monkey) and Lammy (his lovey since birth) went with us, and even got matching hospital bracelets to match all of ours.

Ben did great while we were getting ready for surgery...but then again, we had been talking to him about getting his thumbs fixed for a while now. We'd been to see doctors, we'd read kids books about hospitals and played with our doctor kit to "fix" all of our stuffed animals thumbs. I felt good about how he did going into it because I knew he was prepared. We got a great surprise in that we were fully prepared to have both thumbs operated on, and once we were checked out that morning by his surgeon we only had to do one! The left hand thumb had corrected itself! Here he is in the holding room while we met every person that would be with him:

Showing me his thumb before:Playing with some glow in the dark bracelets:

So they gave him the "happy" medicine and he and Lammy went back with the doctors all by themselves, leaving a tearful mommy and a quiet daddy to wait together in the waiting room. They took him back at 7:45 and we met with the surgeon for a report at 8:50. At 9 he was in recovery coming off the anesthesia and we were holding him and crying happy tears of joy and thankfulness by 9:15. None of us were prepared for what would happen as he came to: he was scared beyond what I thought he'd be, he didn't remember where he was, he didn't remember that he would have a cast on one hand, he was very uncomfortable with his IV line, he was groggy, his voice was raw from the breathing tube and he was not quiet at all in letting us know all of this. There were lots of tears and screaming for what felt like an eternity for Michael and I.

But we made it! We finally got him calmed down (with a little help from some meds) and we were able to take him home by around 10:45 - MUCH sooner than we'd planned.

Mimi and Pop were gracious enough to come up and have a special day with Drew while we were at the hospital. They took him to do some really special things: breakfast at McDonalds, a trip to the park, and a trip to the Dollar Tree to get some special get-well presents for his best buddy. I couldn't be more proud of how he handled the whole situation. He really is such a loving boy with a sweet heart and spirit. My mom said that all day long - even though we had prepared him just as much as we did Ben for what would happen - he never really did act like himself, and kept asking where Ben was. This was definitely one of the longest stretches they've ever gone apart.

They were so happy to see each other once we got home. Ben -though still a little woozy and out of it - was excited to show off his cast, and Drew was so happy to give Ben all the balloons and other presents he'd picked out that morning. Here are the boys watching a movie in Mimi's lap:
Later that day we got some more balloons from MawMaw and PawPaw, Aunt Chelle, Uncle Dan and Dresie. So they both had a great time using those as punching bags and eating all the candy they could.

After all of the drama of the day we were all exhausted, both physically and emotionally. So the boys just chilled on Daddy for most of the evening after dinner and we all headed to bed early.

So the next day he woke up feeling great and back to his old self. He even felt good enough to wrestle his brother (try as I might to stop them, it was useless) and he quickly learned how to use that cast as a weapon. I needed to get them out of the house and stay busy without using his hands, and without getting his cast wet. So we headed to the zoo and BeBe met us there for some fun. Here are a few pictures:

And finally, here are the only pictures we got of Ben unraveling his cast at the end of the week. He only had to keep it on for 7 days, and it wasn't the kind that had to be cut off. It just slowly unraveled, and he was feeling pretty proud of himself for doing it like a big boy.

We are so blessed to have been able to go through two surgeries (the first when they were both three months old) and come out perfectly each time. God was surely with us and we were covered in prayer. We cannot say enough how thankful we are to Him for these boys and the fun we have by getting to spend every day with them. Thanks to everyone who walked with us through this...from the friends who prayed with us and over us, to the family who was and always is there for us, to the friends who brought us dinner: you are so loved and appreciated...we could not have made it without you!!!

Now that that's all over with maybe we can set a goal of staying out of a hospital for at least 6 months. I mean, a whole year without going to a hospital would be great. But I won't push our luck. We'll just hope for 6 months! ;)

We're Back...

....from a wonderful vacation to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico with our good friends Rusty and Andrea. Though it started off with a few snags in getting there due to missing connecting flights and being without any of our luggage for the first day and a half, we rolled with the punches and had such a great time. Every morning when I woke up, I would look out off of our balcony to the left, and this is the sunrise I saw!And when I looked down and to the right, this is the pool and ocean I saw...Pretty hard not to have a good time when you're surrounded by so much beauty. We went into the downtown part of the city on the boardwalk and took a few pictures.But mostly just laid by the pool, soaking up all the sun and relaxation we could stand. It was a perfect getaway. One of the coolest things we did (though we didn't get any pictures for fear of dropping our camera off the mountain) was to go down 13 zip lines through the Sierra Madre mountain range. Even in that dry, humid heat the mountains were so green and beautiful. It was definitely one of the funnest adventures we've ever been on. But definitely the best part was getting to spend some quality time with each other and some really dear friends. So we got home on Tuesday evening, and tried to get everything back in order pretty quickly because Friday was a really big day at our house for two reasons. First because we got to spend the weekend with our niece Dresden, and Aunt Chelle and Uncle Dan as they were passing back through town on their way home from vacation (more to come on that).

But secondly, because we met with the home health nurse and began Ben's growth hormone therapy. Honestly, I've debated about whether or not to even post that information here. But I've decided to share that with all of you out there for two reasons: 1) because one day Ben and Drew will look back on this blog and I want them both to know about all the good and fun stuff that happens in their lives, but also about the hard stuff and the paths that we've walked together that have been a little bit tougher to go down; and 2) because we covet any and all prayers that anyone offers up on our boys' behalves. I guess I figure if you're reading this and care enough to keep up with our family, then surely you wouldn't mind praying for our sons. There's no such thing as too much of that.

So, having said all that, we began what will at least be a six month journey. It was something that both Michael and I have been dreading doing for a while, and have been praying about for months. We were very scared of the unknowns of it all, and subjecting him to something that we'd wrestled long and hard with doing in the first place. It just seemed like the kind of thing that other people deal with...not us, with our boys who seem - in every other way - happy and perfectly healthy. But we trust his doctors and we've submitted it to the Lord. So, we began. Before anything else, I have to take a minute to get on my knees in praise. Ben did great!...of course he did! And Drew was jumping up and down hugging him saying "you're so brave! you did great buddy!" and it was almost more than this mommy could take to watch these two little three year olds be there in a big way for each other. So we all had our own little celebration. We didn't tell him beforehand what was going to happen....we didn't want to give him too much time to process it all and get upset about it. And we really thought it was important to downplay it all since they always play off whatever our emotions are. All we said that morning was "a nice man is going to come over and show mommy and daddy how to give you your 'pinch' so you can get some medicine to help you grow big and strong. No big deal." Inside we were pretty nervous since we didn't know if it would hurt or not. Basically he gets an injection once a day, six days a week. So far, he doesn't even act like he feels it. There's no crying, no fussing over whether or not to do it, or where to take it. He's been so big and brave, and I can't help but feel that this is both an answer to prayer and a response that will help him through life as he deals with things that are out of his control and maybe less-than-pleasant to endure. And I also have to take a minute here to brag on how big Drew has been through this. All of the attention has been on his brother for a while now (hard for a boy who loves being in the spotlight), and the whole time he was focused on being encouraging and loving on his brother. For sure, it is our privilege to have these boys in our lives. They continue to teach me so much.

Anyways enough with all the heavy stuff, we made it through and an hour or so later, Dresie was here and all was right in the boys' world! They enjoy each other so much, and we had so much fun with Dan and Chelle. We were able to grill out, go to the pool, play water balloons and even make a trip to Chuck E Cheese (the bane of all adults existence). Here are just a few of my favorite pictures:Playing with Myrtle, Dresie's new hermit crabFilling up water balloons with DaddyPlaying games at Chuck E Cheese

Phew...and after all that, we're worn out! It's been great, but now we're ready for our first down weekend out of the last five. Sounds like we'll be hitting the pool!!!

Time with MawMaw and PawPaw

What a great time we had with MawMaw and PawPaw! This past weekend they came for a long weekend to have some fun and spoil the boys. We put poor PawPaw to work, and he helped Michael stud the walls for the attic behind our bedroom. We've been in the process of finishing it out as a sitting room/art studio for a couple of months now, and I'm really excited about how it's going. He and Michael are both so good at this kind of stuff. The hundred-year old house we used to live in down in East Nashville was gutted and re-done by the two of them, and Jim's been building or remodeling houses since he was old enough to hold a hammer. So not only are they both really handy with these kinds of projects, its really fun for them to do together. Here is one of the two walls they studded. I did try to take some pictures of them with Ben and Drew "helping" with the wood and the nails, but none of them seemed like they really wanted their picture taken. So the few I got weren't very good. At least I tried, right? We took them to eat at some of our favorite Franklin places, and took them to all of our favorite antique stores for some shopping. At least Shari and I had fun looking around for some new things for our room, even if that's not any of the boys' idea of a great time.

MawMaw and PawPaw surprised the boys with a set of big soccer goals for the backyard and a few other fun toys for summer, so we've managed to be outside even more than normal now that we've got new toys out there.

PawPaw tried his best to take a little rest after working so hard in the attic. But in our house, if you're on the floor, you're fair game for a wrestling match. Its a good thing he's pretty tough because these boys love to tackle.
We also grilled out, played in the slip and slide, and made some of our favorite ice cream. The weather couldn't have been any better, so we were outside almost the whole time. Thanks MawMaw and PawPaw for a fun weekend!!! We love you guys!