TACE IS TWO! We celebrated a lot on October. Lots of football, Tace’s b-day & Halloween. Jill got to go with Zye to TG Farms Pumpkin Patch for school field trip. It was a lot of fun for both of us. Tace had a doggy themed b-day party and had lot of friends over to help him celebrate. Tace was a monkey for Halloween & Zye was a “scary” bat. Zye is really enjoying kindergarten and learning so much. Tace is doing great on his potty training. He rarely has accidents anymore. Tace has also started counting now. We have no idea where he picked it up, just from listening to us count with Zye we guess. We had Tace’s 2-year pics & family pics taken by the very talented Dustin Schmidt. We are super excited about them as Dustin captured Tace’s personality like no one has done before.

School is going great - Tace started the week after Zye did.  He is in Ms. Laura, Ms. Ashley & Ms. Katie’s class.  He loves it.  Potty training is going really well.  Zye continues to love Kindergarten and is learning a lot - mostly good stuff but some not so good.  :)  We are ready for fall and enjoying football season so far.

Back to School Night & The First Day of Kindergarten were both a success.  Mommy & Daddy were both a little sad to see Zye go but we knew he would have a great time.  He did!  Tace must have asked Mommy 20 times “Where Zye go?”  He really misses his brother during the day.

Our last full month of summer was a blast. Both boys went to “camp” at our church and we all went to bible school. Zye graduated to the “big kid” room, Jill was a craft teacher and Tace got to play in the nursery. It was a lot of fun. We played with our friends, played on the slip ‘n’ slide, went to the science museum and celebrated the 4th. Tace turned 21 months and Zye turned 5 1/2, which to him is HUGE. We bought school supplies last week for Zye, who starts Kindergarten on August 20th. Jill & Zac are a little sad but also excited for him. Zye is just SUPER excited to go to “big school.” Today, this last day of July, we have started potty training Tace. We started at 8am and it is now 5pm. Several accidents later we have actually made it in the potty 5 times. WOOHOO! I think Tace may be swimming in juice by now but he is doing great. He even stayed dry during nap time. Hopefully by next month’s post we are 100% daytime potty trained.

School is out and our fun summer has begun. Now it is actually half over. The last week in May we visited the Great Grandmas and then in June Zye’s whirlwind summer of activities began. He had basketball camp, football camp, safety town, t-ball, the library reading program and lots of fun playing with friends at the pool on the slip & slide and just outside riding bikes. Tace was happy to tag along to everything and be a “big boy” too. We are enjoying the not too hot weather and having a break from school for a little while. In July both boys will start their Summer Camp at MDO two days a week and will be going to their babysitter’s house 1 day a week so Mommy can work. We hope everyone else is having as much fun as we are this summer.

What a fun month we have had. Tace turned 18 months (can you believe it?). Zye started soccer & swim (t-ball starts next month). Jill got to go on a field trip with Zye’s class and they both had a great time. Jill, Zye & Tace went to the OKC Arts Festival with Grandpa & Nana Renner. Zac ran in and completed the OKC Memorial Marathon. His official time was 3:35. He has been training since December. He did great and had fans at the half-way mark, the 20 mile mark, the 23 mile mark and the finish line to cheer him on. It was a COLD Sunday morning but we were so proud of him we couldn’t stay away. Zye wants to run in the Kids Marathon next year and Jill is considering the 1/2 marathon. We’ll see what happens. Tace still prefers the stroller.

What fun we had in February & March celebrating Valentine’s Day, Spring Break & Easter. In February Old Hat also celebrated its 4 year anniversary. It’s hard to believe we have been in business for 4 years yet neither of us remembers what life was like before. We have been enjoying the nicer weather outside so we can play with all out neighborhood friends and swing on the new swing set Grandpa & Nana got the boys for Christmas. Tace is now 17 months old and is RUNNING everywhere. He also loves to climb and seems to be a very brave little boy. He is in to far more things than I think Zye has ever even considered. Our cabinets all have brand new locks on them because we never had to lock anything with Zye. We lock EVERYTHING with Tace. Both boys are just so much fun and full of energy all the time. Tace also enjoys getting sick a lot. Over the past 2 months he has had 3 ear infections, random high fevers, strep throat and constantly battles allergies. While Zac was gone to Michigan for some meetings in early March the boys and I planned a surprise photo session with Dustin Schmidt. We took a TON of pics of the boys in their OH hats for Zac. Thet are all in this month’s picture section so be sure to check them out. Check back next month for some new soccer pics as Zye starts his new soccer season in April.

In January we celebrated Zac’s 31st birthday, Zye’s 5th birthday & Tace’s 15 month birthday.  We got lots of pics taken of both boys and they turned out great.  Despite all 3 boys being sick this month we are doing well & ready for Spring.

As I’m sure was the case with all of you, December was CRAZY!  Zye played a donkey in the manger scene of the church Christmas pageant.  Zye and Mommy went to the OKC Zoo to have “Breakfast with Santa” and later that night we all built our annual gingerbread house.  We enjoyed a huge ice storm which knocked out power to our home for 4 days and our schools for 5 or 6.  We stayed with Jill’s parents a couple days while our house was freezing.  During that time Jill developed   a kidney stone for which she had to have surgery to remove.  After we got our power back and Jill was semi-recovered we rode on the Christmas Train at the OK Railway Museum on which we listened to the Polar Express story and shared hot chocolate & cookies.  The boys had a blast.  We visited Jill’s aunt in Broken Arrow for Christmas and Jill’s Grandma in Kingfisher.  Zac’s brother and his family came in to town to visit as did Jill’s brother and his wife, Melissa.  We all had a great time.  Zye & Tace got a swing set from Grandpa and Nana which, according to Zye, is the “best present ever.”  By Christmas Tace was walking everywhere and confident in doing so.  He isn’t a baby anymore which makes us sad and glad at the same time.

I failed as the family photographer in November and didn’t get many pics taken despite some milestones in the boys’ lives and, of course, the Thanksgiving holiday.  Anyway, there are a few pics for you to enjoy.  Zye started playing basketball with a preschool church league in Norman.  He loves it.  Tace, finally at 13 months, has started trying to walk.  He doesn’t quite have a smooth technique down yet as you can tell from the pics but he is trying.  He has taken as many as 16 steps at one time.  I’ll do better in December and provide lots of pics for everyone to enjoy.