Easter Sunday 2012

Church and Grandma's house on Easter Sunday! We were able to celebrate the true meaning of Easter!! He is Risen!

Vanderpool Easter 2012

Every year we get together with the Vanderpool gang! It's always a wild time, but the kids love getting to see each other and run around wild! I am so thankful to have most of the cousins close, so that the boys came grow up around ALOT of family!

Easter Egg Hunt 2012

We went to Johnston E-Free for an Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. It was a rainy day, so they had to move it inside. Landon seemed to improve on his skills of picking the candy up quickly as the week end went on, but at this hunt he wanted to eat the candy as he went. I explained to him that it was a race and he picked up the pace a little bit.

The Boys!

So some quick updates on the boys! I am amazed at how much of a little man Landon is turning into. He makes us laugh almost every day with the stories he tells. This week on our way home from church, I was asking him what he learned about Jesus. He said, "He says, 'Don't shoot guns at church.'" We kept asking him about this and he just kept repeating, "Don't shoot guns at church." It came out after awhile that he had been pretending to shoot guns at church (using his hand) and his teacher told him that isn't nice. I asked him if his friend Harrison was shooting guns with him, and he said, "Yes, Harrison shoots good guns." I later found out that Claire, Harrison and Landon were the ones shooting the guns. I didn't ever find out who they were shooting at. He makes us laugh with his little stories. I wish I could get inside his head. He is starting to recognize most of his letters. I feel thrilled that Ryan is getting to spend a little extra time with him right now, and Landon loves having daddy time. Jude is standing on his own and cruising everywhere. I think he will be walking any day, but he doesn't show any desire to try. He is a very good communicator with his facial expressions. He tells us yes or no with a shake of his head. This has been very helpful while feeding him, because he can now point to what he wants and makes the appropriate facial expression until we get it right. I love this little boy. He is so sweet. He is starting to get a little bit of a temper, but still has a very relaxed personality. He seems a lot more sensitive than Landon. The slightest "No, Jude." breaks his little heart. He seems to listen and not test us at this point...I'm hoping this will continue! The boys are learning to play together which makes the Kirkpatrick household quite the adventure at times. They are starting to have fun together. Landon is still a little rough at times, but he is learning how to be more gentle, and Jude is learning how to wrestle! The other night they were playing in the yard. Landon had his gator out and Jude had his little car out. Jude was sitting on his little car when Landon rammed into him with his gator. Jude went toppling over. He didn't cry, so we corrected Landon and tried to not make it a huge deal. Next thing I know Landon was helping Jude up and helping him stand up and hold on to his car. I was thinking that is so sweet, he usually doesn't help Jude. A few minutes later, I see Landon flying on his gator and he slammed into Jude man again. This time Jude wasn't happy. I really think that Landon set Jude back up, so he could see what would happen if he did it again. The mind of a 3 year old. Ryan then took Landon's gator away for the night and told him Jude was going to get it. The funny part is that we didn't think Jude would be able to drive it. Sure enough, he figured out how to step on the gas and took a little cruise with Landon next to him on the gator. The whole time I was thinking, I should have had my video camera on!! We are so grateful for all God has blessed us with. Ryan has been such an example to me the last few weeks. He lost his job of 9 years at US Cellular at the beginning of April, and not once has he said anything negative. He truly was made for me, because I can have such an anxious heart, yet he can calm me down with the reminder that God is with us and will continue to bless us. I am thankful for his example, and can't wait to see what the next chapter of his working life holds.