Bob-O's Birthday

While we were home we had the opportunity to celebrate my Dad's birthday with the whole family. My grandfather ( who will be 94 next month!) came down for the week to see us from Washington, DC. Dad's birthday was actually while he was in Belize, but we were so excited that we were all together to celebrate with him late.

M and N participated in all of the birthday festivities:

Helping with the lighting of the candles and the "taste testing..."

Happy Birthday Dad!

Who needs to blow out their own candles when they have 2 assistants?!

Poor Bob-O didn't even get to open his own gifts... He is such a sport!

Jean Mommy's House

N and M went to visit Jean Mommy for a couple of days and they were so excited! We met them over at Monniemoo's house and N was so excited that he did not even want to sit and visit. Papa Nelson arrived and N took his hand and said "Papa, I ready to go to your house now." Papa sat down and N went over to him and said, "Papa, get up. I'm ready to go right now!" He was really happy and I know they had a great time. Jean Mommy has lots of cool toys and a neat red Mustang that the boys can drive. They have fun with her and I am so glad that they got to go visit!

Uncle Jamie Fun!

The boys got to play with Uncle Jamie today which was a real treat! He has a busy work schedule these days and we were so thankful that he took all of his extra time to spend with us. He played hard with the boys and took me out on a date which was fun! The boys just light up when he is around and have a blast!

Their favorite game is for Uncle Jamie to spin them around and around... Since he is such a muscle man, he can go really fast! M had so much fun and went so fast that he lost his pants!

Fun with Bob-O

N really missed Bob-O and it was really cute to see how he paid him extra special attention when we got to Georgia. He only wanted Bob-O and they played hard! Bob-O had just gotten back from a mission trip to Belize and hopefully caught up on his rest before we arrived! Although I really miss our family, it is really fun to see how the boys light up when they see everyone and don't seem to miss a beat. I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents and in-laws!

Good Friends

Wilson and Woodruff came over today to visit with the boys and we had the best time. Their mom, Kaci, is one of my dearest friends and it is so much fun to catch up with her while we are in town. Although I have to say, with 4 little boys we do not so much catch up as just enjoy each other's presence! Either way, we all had a lot of fun!

First, the boys had fun swimming:

Then, they "male bonded"... what is it with boys?!:

Then, they wrestled:

They had a wonderful time!

Fun in the Sun

The boys really enjoyed the pool at Gracie and Bob-O's... especially the diving board which we do not have.

They had a great time swimming almost every day with Bob-O or Uncle Jamie. Pools are so great because kids do not seem to get tired of them! Plus, in this southern heat, what else is there to do?

Georgia Bound!

On the road again! Gracie and I took the boys home Thursday for a 10 day trip. I am so excited to catch up with all my friends and family! J is going to fly in next Wednesday and spend the weekend then drive home with us Sunday. Friday we went to see Monniemoo and all of Daddy's family came. Aunt Julie and Aunt Jill, Jean Mommy and Papa Nelson and even Aunt Jane, Jennifer and all of her kids. We had a great visit and Aunt Julie surprised N and M with some toys. Raines and Davis had outgrown them and brought them to N and M to play with. They were so excited!

Kamikaze M

Wedesday, when I laid M down for his afternoon nap, he really did not want to go. I put him in his crib and he started crying, but I walked out of his room... down the hall... and into the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen I thought that the monitor must be turned up really loud because it sounded like M was right behind me. Well, I turned around and there he was! He had jumped right out! I put him back in his bed several times and watched as he threw his little leg over the rail, pushed his little arms up and hurled his body over the side. Needless to say, to avoid injury, I decided to put him in my bed.

This is a whole new world for us since N moved to a big boy bed before he ever had the chance to jump out. Of course this also happened the day before we left for GA, so that created more problems as it is hard enough to establish a routine while traveling. Ultimately, it ended up ok and the boys slept together in N's big bed at Gracie and Bob-O's. They were so cute and the first night I had to go take some pictures... I can't believe how my little men are growing up!

Future Hall of Famer

M is obsessed with ball and loves to throw any kind of ball back and forth. He is really very coordinated for a 2 year old and is a great catcher. The other night, J and I went on a date and when I got home and checked on the boys, this is what I found:

Visit with cousins

We had a quick visit from some of our cousins last night and the boys had a blast. Daniel is playing in a baseball tournament this weekend, so they decided to make an overnight stop at our house to break up the trip... and see us! We had fun swimming, grilling out, playing outside, and playing the Wii. Gracie was particularly comical trying to bowl! We just love having family and watching the kids play. My Uncle is only 11 years older than me and more like my big brother. His youngest daughter is actually between my boys, so it is so much fun to hang out together!

Fun with Gracie

Gracie is in town visiting for the week and we are so enjoying having her! Bob-O is on a mission trip to Belize with their church so Gracie decided to have a visit. She is going to help me drive home this weekend to visit all of our other friends and family for 10 days... we are very excited! We took Gracie to another park and had a picnic and have had a lot of days in the pool so far. She is so full of energy and is so much fun with the boys. I have particularly enjoyed it since I have been battling a cold and it is so nice to have some help so I can actually rest!

Park

M had a great time! We see-sawed and he thought it was great. N and Hayden balanced each other out, so they were next to us, but Mommy had to balance M. This led to a lot more fun for him since I could control how fast he went and I could also make him be still long enough to catch these pictures!

I love these lazy, hazy, days of summer! However, some days I just need to get out of the house. This morning was one of those mornings... I am having fun keeping Cam and Hayden this summer, but this morning I was going a little stir crazy. Since I decided it was not worth it to go to a store with the boys, and it wasn't time to eat yet, I decided to take the boys to the park. We had to go pick up Cam at 11:30, so we went to the park early and then went by and got icees at the gas station. Icees must be one of those kid things because I remember how much I loved those when I was little... However, I tasted N's and Ugh! Gross! The boys thought it was a treat though!

N and Hayden have a great time playing together and get along
great!

"M" isms

I have not said much about my strong but silent M. He is still not using many words, but communicates VERY effectively! Our pediatrician told us that M is not communicating because he gets his needs fully met through other areas of communication... (like grunting, screaming, pushing, pulling, and pointing!)

M is a hoot and has the best personality. He is very strong willed and stubborn!

M is growing up so quickly and I know he will talk when he is ready, but I thought I would give a quick overview of his very interesting vocabulary!

"M-isms" :

Ma - Ball

Yu Ye - Lucy (our Golden Retriever)

Ma Ma - Me!

Baba - N (he is trying to say Brother)

Da Da - Daddy

Da - Thank you... ( we are wondering if he is speaking German also. Maybe he is bilingual!?)

How - Juice

Moo - Milk

Boo - Boots

Ha - Hat

Uh Huh! (said in a very excited happy voice) - Yes!

Uh Uh (said in a deep throaty voice) - No!

Of course he says: Uh -OH and Bye-Bye

He also loves to play: Pee-Boo

However, our favorite "M-ism" is his newest one: A-Woohoo - I love you!

Happy 4th!

Growing up in a military family, I am very sentimental about the 4th of July. I absolutely love fireworks and all the patriotic songs! I love the flags and red, white, and blue clothes that everyone wears. My Grandfather, Father, and Brother all served in the Army and I am so proud to have that heritage. Now that I am an adult I see the huge sacrifice my grandparents, parents, and brother have made for our country. This is the first 4th in a while that Jamie has been safe and sound on American soil and although I am so proud of his service, selfishly I am really glad he is Home!

We had a good 4th. We had some friends over to swim in the afternoon and then another couple over that night to cook out and go see the fireworks. We went to the Lake Tyler marina and saw the fireworks over the water with thousands of other people... One thing that is definitely true about Texans is they are very patriotic!

The boys enjoyed the fireworks and we had a great holiday. M slept through the show last year, so he seemed to especially enjoy them this year!

This morning at church we had the annual "I Love America" program and it was fabulous! We had wonderful music and a great sermon from our pastor. He has a great blog also: http://fromthepasture.blogspot.com/ The service this morning was very patriotic and really honored the men and women of the military... I always get misty eyed and sentimental!

I tried to take some pictures of the boys this morning before church since M was squeezed (literally) into his American flag outfit and his hair was still a little wet, but they did pretty well considering we go to early church and it was 7:30 am!

Ties

N has started wanting to wear ties. He wants his Daddy to tie them and he wears them with his clothes around the house. He has told us that he wants to be like Daddy, but then he has also told us that he wants to be like Clark Kent! He even put on some of our old glasses and wanted to wear them, but I hid them because I was afraid he might hurt his eyes. I guess I'll try to find him some fake ones to play dress up with.

I am not sure why my boy loves to dress up so much and get in character, but he certainly was blessed with a great imagination. It is a constant... Mommy, I want to be superman, a cowboy, a football player, a baseball player, etc...