The resemblance continues...

When Ryan was little, he was obsessed with trains.  He had this train sweater that he loved, and we had his pictures taken in it.  Well, as luck would have it, I actually found that old train sweater a couple months ago, and put Jake in it to take some pictures.  Here are the side-by-sides.  Jake saw the pictures of Ryan on the counter and said, "Look, it's me!"  He was a little sad when I told him, "No, that's Ryan."  They continue to look so similar!  We apparently have 2 molds--the Brandon mold and the Ryan mold, repeated in Sydney and Jake, respectively.  What's crazy is that their personalities are so similar as well.  Jake is so much like Ryan is/was, and the same can be said for Brandon and Sydney.  Weird.

Jake is staying blonde longer than Ryan did.  They are almost exactly the same age in these pictures, and Ryan's hair is slightly darker.  Other than that slight difference, they are basically twins separated by 8 years.  So glad I kept that sweater!

Jakey is free!!!

I know this sounds cliche, but I can't believe my baby is three ("free" if he says it)!  His birthday was Monday, the same day we got to get Brandon stitches...if you don't know what I'm talking about...check here.  He wasn't up yet when Tim left for work in the morning, so I told him all day that we would open his presents once Tim was home from work and the boys were home from practice.  When it got close to time for everyone to come home, I put the gifts on the table, and reminded him that we needed to wait for Daddy.  Tim got home soon, and before I knew what he was doing, Jake was ripping open the first present.  He had, after all, waited for Daddy to come home.  :)

He got a new BSU shirt, new shoes, puzzles, books, a pop gun, and a "Big Mater" that talks.  He was pretty excited!  I love the picture of his chubby little hands opening a present.  And I realize that all too soon, he won't have chubby little hands anymore.  I've said this before, but I'll say it again.  I'm so glad we have him!  Today was Conference, and there was a talk about multiplying and replenishing the earth, and it reminded me about when I got that feeling that we should have another one before Jake, and how I just wanted that feeling to go away.  I'm so glad it didn't and that he's ours.  He's pretty much the best kid I could ask for and he makes me laugh every day.

 After the gifts, he had to change into his new shirt right away, before we did the cupcakes.  He kept tilting his head and giving a goofy smile every time he saw me with the camera.  Posing already.  he chose "green" ice cream to go with the cupcakes, and he tried to eat it straight out of the tub.  And I let him.  You only turn 3 once, after all.

Today I called him my sweet baby and he said, "No, I big. I free."  I kind of wanted to cry.

Progress!!

It has finally happened!  Sunday night, Jake finally went poop in the potty!  There are no words to describe the pure joy felt by every single member of our little family at his accomplishment!  It has been a long time coming!  I seriously almost cried, lame I know...

I thought it was high time to post some pictures of his cute little underwear-wearing bum.  This is what he looks like all the time, because I have learned that he's much more likely to forget to tell me to go potty when he's wearing pants.  So he doesn't wear pants.  It means less laundry anyway, so I'm over it.  Whatever works to get this kid to do it!!!  What's cuter than a 2-year-old in Lightnin' McQueen underwear??

As I mentioned before, I told Jake he could have a new toy once he learned to do #2 in the potty.  I was sure he would want a big Mater, but he chose this Cars race track instead.  And he loves it.  And I have found that the threat of taking it back to the store if he has a poopy accident is helping to keep him in check.  Added bonus.

 It seriously makes him so happy!

 Gosh, I love this kid!  So happy that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this challenge!

"Don't smell me!"

***WARNING***  In some people's minds this might contain a little TMI...read at your own risk.

So I started potty training Jake a couple of months ago.  He has done pretty well with the peeing.  I don't think he's wet his underwear in a month or so.  Pooping is another story.  I can't convince him to do it on the potty.  He seems to actually be scared of it or something.  I seriously don't know what to do.  It is making me crazy...

The funniest thing is that when you ask him if he's poopy, he gets this little sad face and says, "Don't smell me."  He knows that's how we know that he's pooped--by the smell.  It kind-of breaks the tension of me being so frustrated because he just says it so funny.  As if not smelling it will make it go away...

Hopefully he figures it out soon.  I've tried everything.  I even took him to Target and told him I'd buy him anything he wants if he'll learn to poop on the potty, and even that didn't work.  I thought for sure the promise of a great big talking Lightning McQueen or Mater would do the trick, but no luck so far.  Any tips would be appreciated.  I didn't have this problem w/ the other 3...

Lue Lankie

When Jake was newborn, my oldest sister, Melanie, crocheted a blanket for him.  It's so soft!  He has loved it since he can remember.  Even before he could talk very well, he has called it "blue blankie."  But he just now can say the "b" at the beginning, so it actually sounded more like "lue lankie."  He has to have it every night and he asks for it when it's snuggle time and I make him take a nap.  It instantly calms him down.

 None of my other kids ever had a "blankie," but this kid loves his...it almost makes up for the fact that he would never take a binkie.

The best part is that he just came up to me and let out a shriek:  "That my blue blankie!!!" as he looked at the screen.  Love him. :)

Easter

Going through the few pictures I took, I'm realizing I have no pictures of Sydney in her Easter dress. I'll make her wear it this week again and take a picture then. She and I went on a girls' night out to shop for it. She's a size 7 now, which means she is no longer grouped with little girls...her size is in the 7-14 "tween" category. Yikes! I helped sway her a little from the more "mature" dresses, but for the most part, she picked it out on her own and I love it. It's black and white and so darling...pics to come soon, hopefully.

This year we went to my sister-in-law Tammy's since her son Daniel was giving his talk before he leaves on his mission. It was fun to have a mini-Bryson-reunion and the kids loved seeing all the cousins. We had an egg hunt, and Jake had such a great time. I had found these great sand buckets at Michael's for a dollar and used my Silhouette to put their names on them...still love that thing!




Sydney going at it.






A Bryson tradition is the silver/gold eggs. They each have a dollar or two hidden in them and are hidden especially well. This year, Sydney found one and it had a gold dollar coin inside. She was so excited!


You can also see that we cut her hair. About a week ago I was cutting the boys' hair when she started begging me to cut hers "short." I told her to think about it for a while and if she still wanted to, then I would. Once that girl makes up her mind, there is no changing it. So now we pretty much look like twins. I think we'll both get A-lines pretty soon...it will be fun for summer.

Jake's 2nd Birthday

Where has the time gone??? I know people say that a lot, but it's so true... How did all the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, first smiles, and runny noses turn into two years? Little man turned 2 years old yesterday. It was a bittersweet day, as all my kids' birthdays are. I think I was a little more nostalgic that normal, since he's the last one. I remember SO not wanting to admit that we should have another one before Jake...and finally submitting to the Lord's will...and all the blessings that he has brought to me personally and to our family. What do you know, Heavenly father knows best...I know, it shouldn't be a surprise. I just think it's amazing that he can know what we want or need before we even have any idea that we would ever want it. I remember at Time Out For Women last week, a speaker talked about "What's the WORST thing that could happen?" She said we may even find out that we LOVE the worst thing. There was a time in my life that I thought having a 4th would be the worst thing, and now it's hard to imagine that I ever even felt that way...

Long story short, I'm So glad I listened to those feelings about 3+ years ago, and I truly cherish the time I have with Jake--just the 2 of us for most of the day. He has been the happiest, funniest, sweetest, cutest thing I could have ever hoped for. I love him more every day. O.K. Enough sappy talk. On to the birthday...

He had fun opening his presents and tearing off "BIG" pieces of wrapping paper. Anything "big" is awesome in his book... His favorite present is the ball hopper-thing...I can't remember the name...but he LOVES it! He loves all kinds of balls right now--and throwing them as hard as he can--and throwing anything, for that matter, but that's another story...

Since he loves balls so much, I made him a ball cake. When I brought it to the table, he goes, "BIIIIGGG BAAAALLL!!!" and was uber-impressed. Just the reaction I was hoping for! He blew out the candles all by himself, with a little coaching from Tim. He also tried to eat a candle afterwards when he saw Sydney lick one...we need to work on learning the difference between licking and eating, apparently... I love the pic w/ his hands up high--he's showing that he's "SO Big" now. :)

My favorite part of babies' birthdays is watching them eat their cake. He decided a month or two ago that he's way too big for the highchair, and he wants to sit at the "big kid's table" now, but he can't really reach, so he just stands on a chair most of the time. I'm sure he'll be falling off any day now...awesome! He loved every bit of his cake and ice cream cone, though, and ended up w/ a cute little blue "Hitler" mustache in the end.

Today while I was posting pictures online, he was playing with all his new toys being so good, when he came to me whining, saying something about balls... This is what I found when I got to the family room...he had stuffed Trix cereal all in his ball toy, and didn't understand why it would no longer work. Go figure. The more I thought about it, I realized, he probably just thought they were itty-bitty balls, so they should work right??

Jake Walker Bryson

So, this is my sweet boy. Jake and I went to the park last week so I could get some cute photos of him...a few turned out pretty good. This one is by far my favorite! He just looks so big with his jeans and big boy belt. I think we might try again once the leaves start changing colors...

He really is the sweetest thing! Tim's parents came over to watch him and Ryan Saturday night while we went to the BSU game, and when we got home, they went on and on about how sweet and happy and good he is...I can't dispute any of that...we got a special spirit with this one!

Happy UN-birthday

Sydney's kindergarten class had a special day in May to celebrate summer birthdays. Sydney was so excited!!!! She chose to bring Twinkies to share with the class. Jake was more than happy to help her celebrate and indulge in some goodies.
Their teacher gives them each a glow-in-the-dark bracelet for their birthday present and it's their favorite part of the celebration. She turns the lights out and they all hold up their hands to show that their bracelets are indeed glowing. It's pretty funny to see how excited they get!
Oh, how he makes me smile!

Such a cheeser!

Demonstrating that yes, indeed, her bracelet is glowing. Her face just makes me laugh! :)

Take a look at all the "junk" she got. I think there were 6 or 7 kids celebrating that day...lots of goodies!

Jakey, Sydney, and her awesome teacher, Mrs. Browning.

Gettin' my "craft" on

I am a little behind on blogging lately. Too much end-of-the-year school stuff and such. So now that summer is officially here (never-mind the awful non-summer-like weather...) I'm going to try and catch up one post at a time.

A couple weeks ago, my dear friend Marisa and I got together like old times and had a sewing party. It really did remind me of those days long ago when we learned how to sew together and made hideous jumpers--one in yellow and one in bright red...but I digress...

Anyways, she has this cool pattern for little girls' skirts and I made one for Sydney. It turned out so cute. Today I even made her another one. It's Americana for the 4th of July--pics at a later date...

All ready for church and posing. Her hair looked much better after about 2 hours when the curl wasn't so new...

Clearly she's been trained since birth to pose for the camera...

Little man wanted in on the picture action, haha! I love his slicked hair-do in this pic, too. :)

Zoo Field Trip

On Monday, Sydney's kindergarten class took a field trip to the Boise Zoo. Jake and I went along for the fun. It was a little cold, but we had a great time. Once again, there are a lot of "Jake-in-a-stroller" pictures, haha!! Love them!!
Sydney and her best friend, Jessalynn.
Mom and Bubba :)

Sydney feeling the "spray" from the elephant's trunk...too bad they don't have any REAL elephants...

Our little group we were in charge of.

Sydney and her friend Mallory on the little boat ride that costs $1.00. It was pretty much a rip-off--they just rode around in a circle for about 5 minutes--too bad Jake couldn't go on!

Always posing for the camera!

Sydney and Mallory on a lion statue...

Mallory's mom offered to take a Jake and Cathy picture for me.

Jake posing on the tiger against his own will. :)

"I don't know, Mom...this seems a little risky."

Sydney the Turtle

More Sydney and Mallory

Sydney the Komodo Dragon--Ninja.

Sydney and Dillon...Dillon was quite a handful that day!

The cool slide by the monkeys

One of her favorite things--feeding the goats and sheep.