The Laytons

I had Cade's costume all planned out. I was going to make an awesome Emmett from the Lego movie costume since Cade is obsessed with Legos. But finally after awhile, I could really tell that he wasn't as excited about it as I was, and he was only going along with it because that's what I wanted. So I finally got out of him what he really wanted to be. Jedi, it was. He was thrilled with his costume.

I must say that Reece got the spotlight from everyone we saw this year. Not just because he is little and adorable, but because he looked so stinking cute in his Olaf costume. We surprisingly didn't see any other Olaf's at our Tri-ward trunk-or-treat or regular trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, and he got so much attention. He didn't understand the big deal and doesn't relish on tons of attention and strangers talking to him so he pretty much ignored everyone.

There were about 15 Elsa's, that we saw, at the trunk-or-treat and about 6 Ana's. And only 1 Olaf. They flocked to him.

I could not stop laughing every time I looked at Crew. SO, SO cute.

Not super thrilled about Super Hero day at preschool.

For awhile, Crew was doing these huge mouth wide open smiles.

I'm serious when I say, Reece throws everything. Stuff like this is a normal occurrence. Cade took a nice Hot Wheel car to the face. (Those eyelashes!)

Starting to wiggle his way around on his tummy.

So proud of his disguised Thanksgiving turkey for school.

Cade turned 6 in December! I can't believe he is already 6 years old. I get so upset every time I think about how quickly the boys are growing up. I'm not a fan of huge, extravagant birthday parties where you invite a million people. The boys get invited to so many and we choose very few ones to actually go to. I don't know how people afford putting on such huge parties, and I don't know how people afford going to all of those parties. To me, it's just not necessary. Up to this point, Cade has only had family birthdays. This year, I wanted him to have a small "party" that was simple but something he would love. So he invited two friends to take to Shakalaka (an awesome trampoline place in town) and Chickfila. We did it on his actual birthday, and he told me multiple times how much fun he had on his birthday. Win!

Star Wars Rebels dress up

Love my goofy friends at the annual tacky Christmas sweater/Ornament exchange party. I may or may not be strongly considering posting the video of Jennie dancing the Hammer.

Twin cousins. Maisy (4) and Crew look just alike with their strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.

Cade played basketball this year for the first time. He improved quite a bit during the season since he knew nothing about basketball when starting, and he really loved it. He did look like a wet noodle dancing and flailing his arms around trying to block people the whole time.

Reecer loved watching the scoreboard and excitedly anticipating the loud buzzer.

End of the season party.

We did have a bit of a scare with Cade in December. His pediatrician heard a heart murmur and sent us to the Pediatric Cardiologist. I was trying not to freak out until I knew exactly what the problem was, but it is so hard not to think of the worst when it's your child. Turns out that Cade has a small hole in between the chambers of his heart. It is something he has always had but because of the size and location, it has easily gone undetected until now. The cardiologist said that the location of it will not cause him any problems and is nothing to be concerned about. He fully expects it to close itself up. Huge sigh of relief!! We were praying a lot that all would be well, and I had no idea that Cade had any anxiety about his cardiologist appointment until he had been lying down all hooked up for quite awhile with no one really saying anything yet, and Cade asked, "Is it bad?". Obviously, he could tell how worried I was. How grateful we are that he is fine!

Cade's Kindergarten class Christmas party

Melting my heart with each smile.

See the worry and discomfort in Reece's face. I felt like he was begging me for help with his eyes.

Still not thrilled.

Thrilled.

My favorite part was how excited the boys were to give each other the gifts they had picked out. Cade picked out presents for everyone at the Santa Shop at school. He got Reece the best gift ever of green slime with an alien in it. Reece picked out a checkers game from the Dollar Store for Cade since he likes playing it at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Reece could not contain his excitement when Cade was opening his gift. Joy was felt all around, and then came the real hug. Not a 'mom is forcing me to hug you' hug. A REAL one. It was beautiful.

From Nonni and Papa. Cade has a love for Lego's, and he's crazy smart at putting them together. I don't have a clue how to read those instructions, but he flies through them.

Peppa Pig! Snortttt! 

Stuck and still smiling.

I love how Crew would just watch the boys. This time he's probably curious about that ice cream. I would be.

Crew had some strider junk this winter that lasted several weeks until he finally got some meds that really helped. 

First day of Sunbeams! I can't believe he is old enough for Primary!

Grandpa is a kid in an adult body. Slam dunks into the Grandpa Basket.

Only child who has enjoyed this for longer than 2 seconds.

Uncle Jordan snapped a few snazzy pictures over Christmas. Don't you just want to smooch all over that sad little face??

Enjoying that Dollar Store checkers.

He was 6 1/2 months here. Got his first tooth at 5 1/2 months. Started crawling at 7 1/2 months. Pulling up to a stand at 8 months. He is a loooong child. He's been off the charts on length ever since his 2 month appointment.

We made fondue for dinner and dessert on Valentine's Day. The boys loved it.

Cade had an allergic reaction to something. I've never had a kid have one before. Sadly, the culprit is, more than likely, Girl Scout cookies.

Someone got a new ride.

It snowed BIG in Alabama again!! Woohoo!!

Cade made this snowman completely by himself, and he was so proud of it.

I'm just so, so cute.

He seems to have personality like Cade.

Boys will be boys...

Cade, you're killing me!!

Please let those beautiful eyes stay blue.

For Reece's first month or so of Primary, he did not like it at all. I didn't blame him though. It's so different from nursery where they got to play most of the time, and then all of a sudden they have to sit still in their chairs and listen. Not exactly what a 3 year old wants to do. But one day, Reece told Chase that he didn't like Primary because he didn't know the songs. Seriously, that's why?! Since I'm a teacher in Primary, I knew which songs we were singing, so I started working with him on all of those songs. He started doing much better. One Sunday we challenged Reece to sing louder than Cade in Primary (Cade is an excellent and loud singer). Boy, did Reece surprise everyone! The Primary chorister was shocked and told the other kids as Reece continued to sing so loudly the entire time that he was "blowing all y'all out of the water". I love being in Primary to witness things like that with my kids. He was so proud of himself and happily told me on his way out to class that he beat Cade. Some of the songs we have been working on in Primary are the first few Articles of Faith songs. I have been so surprised at how the boys actually want to learn them and pass them off in Primary. I love seeing how excited Reece gets with each one he learns and can do by himself.

 This is Reece doing the 4th Article of Faith except the video cuts off on the last line. He said it in Primary opening exercises all by himself one Sunday, and the reaction he got from everyone when he finished was just awesome. He is currently working on the 8th.

 The injuries are never ending!!

 This one involved a baseball bat when playing with his cousin literally 5 seconds after I told him to put it away.

 Speaking of baseball, Cade is currently playing his first season of baseball. And, of course, he loves it. 

 The boys enjoying/not enjoying the night time Adult Easter egg hunt we had at our house. Adults want in on the fun, too. They loved watching us run around like maniacs to get eggs. They did not love the tornado sirens going off during the hunt.

Dying eggs and eating resurrection rolls. Glorious Easter festivities.

Tearing apart their Easter buckets from the Easter Bunny.

Nonni's egg hunt

My lips can't resist this face.

Oh, just chilling in my ride with all my toys.