I Can't Believe It's Been 7 Years!

The Scene - March 25, 2006: 

The church...

The cakes...

The band...

The bride and groom ...

The Scene Today...7 Years Later

My wonderful husband brought me Zaxby's and Tulips at lunch because he knew lunch time is hard on me with a 2 year old and 10 month old at home. I was still in my PJ's, though I had managed to get my shower. He's taking me out for dinner. I don't have to cook a thing today. Oh Happy Day!!!

Life looks a little different than it did 7 years ago. It's not quite as glamorous, but it's full - so FULL! Full of life, full of love, full of children, full of fun! I love the man I married more today than I did 7 years ago, and I thank the Lord for him.

10 Months Old

Dear Miles, 

You're 10 Months old already - double digits! Time is flying by! I know I keep telling you that the weather is going to warm up soon, so we can go outside, but I really do mean it. Warm weather and playing outside is just around the corner. I think you're going to love it! This month we've been cooped up inside a lot once again. You don't know the difference, but mommy and Carter are more than ready to get out of the house! You on the other hand love crawling around and exploring every corner of our house. It never seems to get old for you. There's so much to grab and chew! You're quite the little explorer. You (like your brother was) are fascinated by the caps on the floor of the toilet (GROSS!!!). You also are completely obsessed with door stops. 

Here's your 10 month picture: 

Here's you and your dog. 

Here's a picture of you and your brother (2 years 7 mos):

It's not easy to get pictures of you guys...here's some other samples of what normal life looks like...

You guys just love each other. Your life would not be the same without him. You are already best buds, and I'm so thankful that you have each other. His favorite "game" to play with you right now is tackle. He will grab both of your arms and throw you backwards *the rule is only on carpet.* You think it's great fun and you'll just roll over and get right back up! Another "game" he likes to play is to sit/lay down on top of your legs so you can't do anything but wiggle and scream until I hear this and come rescue you. You're one tough cookie :) You have started to bite him though, and that's not cool (I don't blame you though). It's your way of showing affection/playing with him most of the time rather than punishment at this point - odd as that is :) He will holler and throw you down - yet again. You think it's hilarious! I'm trusting that God has given you a thick skull and no brain damage will ensue from you having a 2 year old brother! 

Here are some of the things we did this month: 

• We did some Valentine's Crafts - don't let this fool you - it lasted all of 5 minutes (if that!)

• You went on your first week long vacation at Grandmama's house while mommy and daddy went skiing in Colorado. Carter stayed at Nana's house, and we left you and 1.6 gallons of pumped milk with Grandmama, and you did great! 

That's 40 days of hard work in that cooler!!! 40 days x 4 - 6 oz. per day = vacation :)

You very much enjoyed being spoiled 24/7 and having a week of one-on-one attention. Grandmama's crib must be magic because you slept through the night every single night for her without a peep. I didn't know what you would do as far as nursing goes when we got home, but you picked up right where we left off like I'd never been gone. Thank you for the vacation!!!! Mommy and Daddy had a great time :)

• You, me, and Carter went to the big consignment sale in Auburn to find Spring and Summer clothes and toys. 

• I have not done a great job of taking pictures of everyday life this month, so there's not very many pictures to put on this blog. Next month I'll do better. I guess I'm just a little tired of winter weather and not wanting to take picture of us being stuck inside :) Here's some pictures of you and Carter playing while I cook dinner...

Yes, those are cheerios in a muffin pan...gotta keep snacks interesting :)

Here are some things you are doing now: 

• You weigh 20lbs. 11 oz. (50th %) and you're 30 inches long (90th%)!

• You nurse about 4 (sometimes 5) times a day.

• You eat lots of baby food, but you've gotten a taste for the good stuff now. You want to eat pretty much anything that we have on our plate. You started with green beans and bananas, but your very favorite thing right now is veggie straws! 

• You still have 4 teeth.

• You sleep about 10-11 hours every night.

• You take two naps a day. 

• You are getting better with a sippy cup. You still pretty much just gnaw on it like a teether.

• You are just starting to cruise along the side of our couch / coffee table / legs / etc...  

• Your primary mode of transportation is still crawling. 

• You have just started to push around your walk & ride toy. You push it way out in front of you and lean over. I think you will walk before your brother did.

• You say "dada" and I'm pretty sure you know what it means.

• You love to flick/flip things with your fingers to make them turn. There was a board on the mall playground that had pictures that turned and you were obsessed. You also LOVE our farm book that has flaps and the Pat the Bunny book peek-a-boo with Paul page. You could lift the flaps all day long! 

• You respond pretty well to the "no" command, so I'm starting to think you know what I'm saying. 

• You want to play with anything and everything Carter plays with. You two are inseperable. You follow him EVERYWHERE!

• Your favorite toy right now are the farm magnets. You crawl right over to the magnet board, pick two magnets off and carry them around the playroom with you. 

Here is your typical schedule...

6:30am - Wake up / Nurse / Breakfast Babyfood (fruit or oatmeal) then Play

8:45 - 9am - Naptime 

11:00am - Nurse then Play

11:30 - Lunch Babyfood (veggie) when brother eats then play

1:00 pm - Naptime (2-3 hours)

4:00-5pm - Mealtime (Nurse & Fruit or Veggie) then Waketime

6:00pm - "2nd Supper" when we eat :)

7:30-8pm - Bathtime (on bath nights) / Nurse / Bed

REPEAT...

You are precious, precious, precious! Always full of big smiles. I cannot wait for more warm weather days to get here so that we can really play more outside. You and your brother have a whole world to explore!

Love,

Mommy

PS. This is what your brother did when he was 10 months old. 

Taking Picture of Brothers

It's not as easy as it seems to get a picture of 2 adorable little boys :)

In the back of my mind, I would love to get a picture like this...

or even this...

Instead, I get this...

I love my little monkeys! They are ALWAYS wrestling these days. One phrase that's repeated over and over right now in our house is, "Tum on Miles, lets doe play." They are buds - there's no doubt.

Easter Baskets

I posted about Christmas yesterday... Today, I thought I'd post about the current holiday :) Carter has used his daddy's old Easter basket the past 2 years, but this year I knew I was going to have to get either one or both of the boys new baskets. I didn't want one to have a sentimental basket and the other a new "meaningless" one, so I decided to get them matching new baskets. For some reason, I love Easter baskets. I know that they aren't the reason for the season, but they are fun! The ones you see in the picture below are from PotteryBarn.com. Nobody does holidays like Pottery Barn...I love that store! 

Unfortunately, Pottery Barn - in all of it's beauty - is not affordable. Those Easter baskets - though they are are beautiful - cost $60!!!!!!!! That's right...I checked. So then I had to come up with another plan.

I found this basket at Target for $15.

I would have preferred $5, but I have come to find that a real wooden basket is going to cost a little bit of money. I didn't have the time to look all over creation for a great deal on baskets. These were the right size and shape, so I got 2. I consider it an investment into the future - this is the basket they will use from now on - it's big enough to be their "forever" Easter basket. I cut up the lining (purple and lace do not fly in this house), and made my own lining pattern.

I already had an "Eastery" gingham fabric, so I worked on them during naptime, and this was my final product.

Not bad for $35 cheaper per basket!!! Now all we need is some hidden Easter eggs :)

Christmas in March!!!

That's right, I'm posting about Christmas - because I haven't done it yet (other than a few things in Miles's 8 Month Post). I told you "Merry Christmas" in this post and that I would post more in January....scratch that....make that MARCH!!! I am an embarrassment to blogging... This is probably when I should ignore that I haven't covered it and move on, but in the name of "memory preservation," I would like to have this post in writing!

So put on your Santa hats and ring those jingle bells - think Christmas with me for a moment :) We had a wonderful Christmas. We had fun introducing Miles to all our traditions during his very first Christmas season! 

Santa "Taus" sat on Carter's lap a lot and asked him what he wanted for Christmas. His reply was almost always cookies or pizza! We tried to make ate a fruit loop chain for our playroom tree...you can see what Carter's plans were for those fruit loops. We enjoyed a cookie decorating party at a friend's house - Carter had the same plans for those cookies! He may just be my little sugar plum fairy toddler.

We made salt dough ornaments to preserve those precious handprints! This did not go as smoothly as the pictures make it seem I can assure you :)

Every year, we go to a tree farm and cut our tree. Carter really enjoyed looking at the trees, riding the "train," and getting to ride the pony. What a treat each year!

Miles was napping when we decorated the tree, but he got to hang his first Christmas ornament, and he loved laying under the tree watching the ornaments and lights! 

These are/may become some Christmas traditions... We open a St. Nick present to the family (something we will all enjoy together) on the day that we decorate our tree. This year, the boys got a Little People Manger Scene that they could play with. We also went to the Christmas parade with friends, and we got to go see Carter's Christmas play at school. He did fairly well considering he is 2 :)

We went to Santa's Village with Kevin's Parents. The boys did FANTASTIC with Santa, and we had a really good time! 

Carter LOVED the characters that walked around greeting people. He wanted to Hug and "Tiss" all of them...not sure if this made them uncomfortable - their faces were masked :) We thought it was adorable...we also need to teach him not to "tiss" strangers :)

On Christmas Eve, we ate (what else?) - Homemade PIZZA! I couldn't resist....it's what Carter asked Santa for ALL season :) The boys woke up on Christmas morning, and enjoyed their gifts from Santa, then we opened the wrapped presents. We love being at home on Christmas morning!

A few favorites: Miles loved having a "botdee" of his own, and he got really excited about his lady bug toy. Carter got some big boy undies (we still have not potty trained though) and a motorcycle! 

Christmas Day afternoon, we headed down to Auburn to spend time with family for a week! We enjoyed visiting and exchanging gifts with my sisters, brother-in-law and parents in Waverly! My bro-in-law was about to deploy, so we soaked up time with him. 

Then we headed to Nana and Papa J's where we spent time with Kevin's family and the cousins!!! This year, we all bundled up and went to Calloway Gardens for the lights. I love doing this. Kevin and I always went to see these when we were dating. Such a fun place :) We danced and played with cousins, opened up presents, and Kevin's brother and his wife announced that their new baby due in May was a BOY! What a fun announcement - a little boy cousin. 

We had a fantastic Christmas. This post is long overdue, but for those of you who got all the way through it - it's now over! You can go back to being ready for Spring :) 

Early Works

We went to the Early Works Children's History Museum with a playgroup this past month. It was so much fun. This was our first experience with a children's museum, and I don't think it will be the last! We loved it!!! Here are some pics...

Musical Instruments, Water Tables, Wagon Rides, Grocery Shopping...

Post Office Fun, Picking Corn, Digging for Potatoes...

Bugs, Crawler's Corner, Train Tables...

and so much more!

Snow Day

On January 17, 2013 we had a snow day! This was Miles's first snow experience, and it was Carter's first time to really enjoy the snow! Kevin came home for lunch that day, and ended up getting "snowed in." How fun to have him home for the "big snow!" We had a lot of fun, and we were so glad that Nana and Papa J had given us a sled this past Christmas.

Carter busted it in the snow & mud! 

Miles was not a fan of bundling up...

Fischer was all up in the action.

Miles found a place he could enjoy the snow from. 

Carter, Daddy, and Fischer had a snowball fight.

The sled was popular with everyone!

We did LOTS of sledding!

We went down to Ansley and Abby's house to let them sled with us. 

We even hooked Fischer up to the sled at one point - we caught that on video...

What a fun, fun day!!!