Cute, right?

So cute, right? Don't be deceived. This little chocolate is unreal. You have never seen a baby that throws up, burps, and explodes out the back end like this one. Tyce always says, "oh Jacey your asgusting (disgusting) baby" and its true. But we still love her.

Rustin says he cant take her with him to his church meetings anymore because no one would believe that a baby can fart like Jacey does. We don't typically use the 'f' word, but tutes, fluffs, bubbles, and all other cutesy terms, do not adequately describe the noise that this child is capable of. It sounds like a man - its truly amazing.

You would not believe that amount of Shout I have gone through since Jacey came into our home. I am here to tell you, they don't make diapers that can contain her explosions. I know, I have tried every brand Wal-mart has to offer. I don't know if its the way her little bum crack is shaped or just the pure force but holy cow - I have scrubbed more poop out of her clothes then any typical 4 children combined. It takes me 30 to 45 minutes just to get her clothes in the washer for all the Shout and scrubbing required. My favorite, was one time she blew out around her whole middle so it looked like a tire around her middle. I took a picture but decided not to post it - these pictures show all her redeeming qualities.

This beautiful little girl is also incredibly high maintenance. If you think she'll let you set her down for 2 seconds, your kidding yourself. She hates the swing, the saucer, the bouncer, and anything else that might require any amount of self entertainment. She loves to be in your arms, certainly, but usually that it not sufficient, she needs 100% interaction to be perfectly content. After having Tyce who is completely self-entertaining and mild mannered, Jacey has been a quite a shock. We have rarely had a meal where she is not screaming at us, because she is not being held. If we try to eat with her in our arms, she frantically grabs anything within her reach and throws it on the floor - her little hands are so fast! During this whole scene, Rustin sometimes says, "Jacey your ruining our lives!" which kind of cracks me up. But dont be fooled. This Daddy is pretty smitten with his little girl. He told me he has already decided to give her whatever she wants. When her little bright eyes light up, who wouldn't fall in love with this face all over again?

She threw up a lot in the beginning but she is actually getting a lot better. But the burping......wow. It is unreal.

We are really hoping she will grow into a few lady-like mannerisms eventually. Ha! I know thats going to back-fire on me some day when she wants to wear a pink princess dress for weeks at a time :)

Ok, enough ranting. Jacey really is delightful. She is a good sleeper and that makes everything bright. Like Tyce, she is quick to giggle and and very social. She has been a great traveler and she loves to go places.

She got her first tooth about a week ago and she just figured out how to roll on purpose. She has her own way of moving forward, its so funny. She burrys her face in the floor with her hands down and kicks with her feet. Its slow going, but she can usually get what she wants if its worth while.

She loves Tyce. I think she is conditioned to laugh as soon as she see's him. Its my favorite.

Jacey really is a delight. We really love her. She gets more and more fun all the time. We are truly grateful for our beautiful little girl.

One of my true loves....

My dear friend Cali gave me a Robert Duncan calendar for Christmas.

My good husband gave me my first Robert Duncan painting for our house.

Please bless these are the first of many.

I'm not sure what it is about his work that warms my heart.

Its as if he some how freezes my favorite moments in life and lets me look at them whenever I want, just so I can remember how perfect life can be in its simplest moments.

Especially now as I want so badly to be outside in warm weather, but even then, Duncan's paintings catch the treasures in every season.

His paintings let me relive my favorite childhood memories. He captures them and makes them glow, and in turn, makes me smile as I remember.

Its helps me remember to watch for all the beautiful things around me and all the things I love to see, to do, and to feel.

I hope to have a house some day with walls that are peppered with his work, what a beautiful place to live :)

He shows the things that matter most in such a beautiful setting. These paintings make me feel inspired.

Thank heaven for Robert Duncan :)

Three years...

We have had three years with this little boy and it has truly been a joy. He has such a special place in my heart. He is good-natured and for the most part, very pleasant.

I think about how far I have come as a mother in the last three years and its amazing how I have changed because of Tyce. I am so grateful for what he teaches me.

I would like to give a special thank you to my dear friend Cali for taking the following pictures of Tyce. She has captured my favorite 'Tyce expressions'. She just follows him around and lets him do his thing and catches the most perfect pictures while he is in his element. Thank you so much Cal!

Some of my favorite things about Tyce: He is so self-entertaining. He plays for hours and hours by himself. He has always been obsessed with tractors, construction equipment, and his recent favorite is trains. He is excited about everything. Everything is a thrill for him. It's so fun to experience life through his eyes. The smallest things turn into great adventures. Other favorites, he has always been a great sleeper, he was very easy to potty train, he has a tender heart, he travels so well in the car (mostly because he is so entertained by all the cars and semis on the road), he has the most addicting giggle and so quick to laugh, he is very friendly and makes friends every where we go. He always asks, "whats you name?" to every stranger in the store. He is a very good big brother. He loves Jacey, and takes such good care of her. No one can make Jacey laugh the way Tyce can - its so cute. There is much much more but suffice it to say, I really love this boy. He is such a joy, and I am so grateful for him.

Tyce's new obsession is Thomas the Train and was thrilled to death to get this for his birthday.

So last year Rustin's aunt made Tyce a backhoe cake and Tyce has talked about it for one whole year and its all he wanted for his birthday. I'm not much of a cake maker, in fact I don't even really like cake and I don't like frosting. So it took we forever to try to duplicate last year's cake. I purposely didn't post last year's birthday pictures so you couldn't compare the two cakes. But lucky for me Tyce didn't know the difference. He was tickled to death to have his backhoe cake. My favorite part was when I asked Tyce if he like it and he looked at it for a minute and asked, "where's the landing gear?" Seriously, what 3 year old cares about the landing gear or even knows what that is? So we made the landing gear with some extra Kit-Kat's. I asked if there was anything else and he insisted that the bucket needed teeth for scooping up dirt. So we had to take care of that and we had to put rocks (M&M's) in the loader and hay (green M&M's) in the bucket. But he wasn't quite satisfied until he put fruit snack taillights on the back and then it qualified for his inspection. Unreal.

His party was so fun. This is such a great age. I love it!