Happy Birthday, Travis!

I am feeling motherly guilt that I didn't get this posted in June, but oh well. Travis' birthday is June 29th, and we had a little birthday party for him on Saturday. He loved it! Travis has many loves, one of them being baseball, so we went with that theme. We invited his Bible study friends (clarification: not friends he does Bible study with...friends whose parents do Bible study together:) along with cousin Ethan and good friend Jenisa, and I think just being able to be with his little friends would have been fun enough. But we did throw in a little game, craft, and of course, presents. Highlights:
Travis and his pals, after they all decorated foam baseball caps. This is one of those pictures that we'll look back at 10 years from now and be amazed at how much they will have grown!

Thanks to "Miss Ladeliz" for the cool baseball cake and cupcakes!

"Pin the Ball on the Field"....so I'm not the most creative person when it comes to thinking of games...but the kids enjoyed it!

Jayna soakin' up the sun. I was thankful for the nice weather, as it would have been way too crowded if we'd been confined to the house.

Travis at 3 years old:

Travis is....so many things. He is as social as ever. When we're outside and he sees someone 3 blocks down the street...not anyone he knows, mind you...he waves and yells "hi!". Then he'll keep yelling it until the person acknowledges him. :) I do love the fact that Travis loves people, and he seems absolutely blind to all differences in race, age, gender, number of tattoos, disabilities...he greets and accepts people without thinking twice. The rest of the world could learn a lesson from him! Let's see...Travis is strong-willed with a capital S. I will be perfectly honest and tell you that he can be reeeaaaly difficult sometimes. As in, every day, many times a day. I pray, pray, pray that it is simply the age he is at and not an indicator that he is going to be a button-pusher and limit-tester for the rest of his life!

Travis currently has a love-hate relationship with Jayna. If he even sees her gazing at one of his toys from afar, he steps in instantly, in a "don't even think about it" kind of way. And he loves to be the boss over her. It can be exhausting. On the other hand, when we're riding in the car and Jayna starts to cry, he'll say "It's okay, Jayna Bee, almost home", in a high-pitched voice meant to comfort her. And he always wants to know where she is at and that she's okay.

He's turning out to be tall and skinny like his dad, and most people say he still looks like Steve. And he's still got the deep dimple in his right cheek that we noticed the hour he was born.

Some of his favorites: being outside (especially walks, going to the park), chocolate milk, books, watching movies (Toy Story's his fave right now), Super Why, yogurt, bubbles, games on the Sesame Street website, the zoo and animals in general, airplanes, baseball, singing songs, and daddy.

Travis,

You've had this idea in your head for the last couple of months that you wouldn't be "big" until you turned 3, and that magically, on that day, you would then be a big boy. Well, you made it! You are my big boy. You teach us way more than even we realize...lessons in acceptance, joy in the simple things, never holding a grudge...not to mention that you have built up your dad's and my patience levels like nothing else ever could! And even on days when you choose to be difficult, you make us laugh so easily. We take great joy in you and love you more than words could say!