Sleepy Baby

I just love watching Grant sleep.

He is so beautiful and peaceful...and I love how he holds on to the Lovey that Gabe gave him!!

Then, when it's time to wake him up, he slowly but surely recognizes who is staring at him...

It's Mommy!!!

This is a rare site!  Grant has gotten pretty good about taking his naps in his bed,

but I must have let play time go on a little too long this afternoon...  :)

Dean's going to boot camp...

My cousin Dean-o has decided to join the Air Force reserves and is about to head off to boot camp.  But before he goes, we are having a family dinner to say goodbye.  It was so pretty outside the restaurant that I decided it would be the perfect time for an impromptu photo shoot!  :)  The kids were in such a great mood and were actually excited about taking pictures too...yay!

Gabe loved that he and Grant had on matching outfits today.

Kate was a little jealous, but I assured her that she coordinated and stood out as the only princess!

Kate adores this little boy!!

And now, the real reason we are here:  Dean-o!

We are proud of you and excited for this new journey you have chosen.

Good luck at boot camp...we'll see you when you get back home!

The three crazy cousins!!

(Plus Peyton above)

Jenga

Kate discovered one of my old games in a container we found in the move...Jenga!

I remember loving this as a kid....hopefully Kate & Gabe will too!  :)

Happy Baby

Grant is such a happy little guy, and aside from being held and talked to,

his next favorite thing is his Baby Einstein Exersaucer!!  

He gets so excited to play in this and you can tell he is really studying how the various toys make noise.

Yes, he's already a genius!  :)

Girl Scouts Sleepover

Kate has been a Daisy Girl Scout this past year and their year end celebration is a sleepover at the zoo!!  Kate has been looking forward to this trip for a couple months and was so excited that the day has finally arrived!  She helped pack her backpack, got her sleeping bag and pillow, and ready to go...

I was hoping to be able to stay with her some, but they don't allow children under 6, so I am going to my grandma's house (5 minutes from the zoo) with the boys for a sleepover, and Kate will be with her troop and the troop leaders for the night.  I don't think I would have stayed away for a night at her age, but Kate has always been super independent and was I think excited that she was on her own for the evening.  :)

The boys and I got to my grandma's house in time for dinner and then began to get settled for our own little sleepover.  But, soon after arriving I noticed that Gabe felt really hot.  I checked his temp and it was 102 degrees.  :(  This sort of came out of no where!  My poor baby was looking forward to this sleepover with Grammy and now feels so yucky.  I ended up calling my parents, who were in Jax for the evening, and they were able to come take Gabe home to their house so that he could just relax, not get Grammy sick, and then I would be more available if we got a call that Kate needed me.  Feel better soon sweet boy!!

I arrived back at the zoo at 7am to find a bunch of very excited campers!!!  Kate had sooo much fun touring the zoo last night and spending time with all these girls!  I didn't remember to bring my camera this morning, but one of the troop leaders had a kid camera that she was able to use for a (blurry) pic.

Clearing the pond

I told you how before I ever saw this house, one of the reasons I didn't like it was because of the backyard.  Our old house had a HUGE backyard, perfect for play and parties.  This yard, on the other hand, was small with a steep drop into a creepy looking pond.  Well, that used to be the way I saw it...  Once we fell in love with this house I realized how big the side yards are (still not as big as our old yard, but plenty big to play) and I began to see the potential in the pond.  There are LOTS of turtles and some fish too...and we haven't seen the first snake or alligator!  Aside from still getting a fence in a few weeks, I also wanted to see my pond, and set out on a mission to clear all the growth!  I began with the side yard and got it done, then started on the pond.  But, after already spending two weeks on the side of the house clearing, I was beginning to get overwhelmed with the amount of work left.  

"BEFORE"

I wasn't going to give up, even though the task ahead looked rather daunting...  Instead, I enlisted the help of two amazing guys who gave up their entire day to help me!!!  Thank you SOOOO much Logan & Jacob!  These guys were amazing and worked so hard making my backyard beautiful!

There was a little fun involved too....  :)

We had a little help from two other little workers too.

I really can't say thank you enough!!!  You guys are amazing!!!!

I can actually look out all of my windows now and see that I have a pond!

We are still going to take out a few of the little trees, but wow, we are ready for the fence now!!!

"AFTER"

Gabe can ride!

Gabe is not a super daring kid, but put him on a bike and his confidence soars and fear diminishes.

He got his first bike from Santa just after turning two years old, and has loved riding ever since.  Now, at almost five years old, he has almost outgrown his Strider pre-bike and is ready for the real deal!  The cool thing about the Strider is that it is a no pedal "running/balance" bike that teaches kids to balance much sooner than with training wheels.  This kid can soar down a hill!  But, it is time to put away the Strider and get out the big boy bike!!  I bought this bike for Gabe last year, but it has remained hidden in my parents' attic, waiting for the right time.  I knew this week was that time, Gabe is ready to ride!  I surprised him one afternoon by bringing this down and letting him try it out with the training wheels still attached.  But, he wanted them off!  Jon wasn't there when Kate learned to ride without training wheels though so I knew I had to time this so that he could be a part of watching Gabe.  We waited all day for him to get home and as soon as he did, Gabe and I rushed outside to unbolt the training wheels!!  I helped him make a few wobbly runs up and down the driveway to get the feel of the bike, then just as Jon walked out the front door Gabe did it! He rode about 10 feet unassisted!!

Gabe's two biggest fans are outside to cheer him on!!!

Jon then met us in the street, and literally Gabe needed help for maybe 5 more minutes and then he totally had it!  He was racing up and down the street, making insanely tight and fast turns...ones that even I might crash on, finding rocks and leaf piles to ride on...it was unbelievable!!  I knew the Strider had taught him how to balance on a bike, but I had no idea it would make this transition sooo easy!!!

Way to go Gabe!!!

We are so proud of you...now let's go to the "Troll Bridge!!"

For those who might wonder, the Troll Bridge is Gabe's favorite bridge...in my parents' neighborhood...about 2+ miles from their house.  He has ridden there once on his Strider, but it is a very long ride without pedals....

My sweet boy on his Strider.  I am so excited for him to be on a Big Boy bike now, but I sure will miss seeing him on his little Strider.  The picture on the left below is just days after getting his new bike and the one on the right is two months later.  :)

We're Back Online!

I apologize for being MIA for a month!  The past 4 weeks have been crazy for us!!  We went to Virginia to visit Jon's family, bought a house and moved into it, then add in the 4th of July and the usual every day stuff....life has been crazy.  Add to that the fact that with the move we have been without internet for the past two weeks and what you get is a blog very behind...  But, I'm back online now and am going to do my best to get caught back up over the next couple weeks.  : )

Growing up...

I can't believe how grown up Kate is getting.  I feel like we are fully transitioning from her baby/preschool days into the pre-teen years....and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet!  : /  We are certainly not there yet though thankfully!!  Some days Kate is still my baby girl, loving to cuddle and play with her dolls, the next minute she is shutting herself in her bathroom doing her hair, nails, and makeup!  Today would be a preteen day...  We were getting ready to go on a bike ride around the neighborhood and she insisted on dressing herself.  She shut us all out of her bathroom and bedroom for about 20 minutes and came out dressed from head to toe and wearing lots of makeup.  :)  I suspect the reason for this today though is in hopes of seeing a special someone on our ride.  You see, we have moved a few doors down from Kate's principal, who hasn't seen us yet, but Kate hopes every day he will discover we are the new neighbors.  She rides extra slow by his house, but so far we haven't seen him outside.....

Well, today was her lucky day!!  Kate was sparkly and made up from head to toe and as we began to pass the principal's house he was actually outside working in his yard!  Kate was so excited, but then got kind of shy.  It was so cute/funny.  It turned out to be like a mini field trip though...his yard and plants are amazing!!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

Today we got to celebrate with one of the coolest kids we know...Cooper!

Cooper and Kate have been friends since they were just toddlers and look at them now!  :)

Happy 7th Birthday Cooper!!!

Some of the silly kids...

I tried to get Gabe to join in on the fun but he is not much about staged silliness.  :)

To help with the fun, Cooper had a giant waterslide at the party!!!

Sweet friends!

Caroline ~ Riley ~ Gabe

And what would a party be without...a pinata!!

Also notice Kate behind Cooper...wriggling her two new loose teeth.  :)

Check out Kate's creepy/cool mask.  : /

And last but not least, every great party needs a little mishap, right??  This awesome lego cake and surrounding cupcakes just couldn't take the heat.  :(  Oh well, at least not all the cupcakes went overboard and there were still plenty left for the kids.

 Thanks for having us over today Cooper.

We had a great time celebrating with you!!

Patriotic Photo Shoot

A couple weeks ago we signed up for a Patriotic mini session with Hope Photography.

As usual, her setup was adorable!  Then when I got the cd of pics, I was in LOVE!!

Thank you Sara for capturing these precious memories!!!

I really don't even think I can pick a favorite.

I love every one of these pictures!!!