Fire Station!

Last week we took a tour of a fire station.  Cade is currently (and has been for a while) in love with fire trucks.  He carries one around with him wherever he goes and he has at least 3 more at home he plays with.  The firemen at the station were so generous and showed us everything at the station. They let Cade and Olivia sit in the fire truck, showed them all of the cool stuff on the truck, let them try on an oxygen tank, and even showed us where they eat, sleep, and hang out in the station. Cade was in awe!!  He loved hanging out in the station and he listened intently while the firemen were talking.  I really don't know how he contained his excitement as well as he did!

Summer on Steroids

Summer is in full swing and we are love, love, loving our time together!  My mom just left after a two week stay.  Having her here with us is wonderful for many reasons...one of those reasons being there are two extra hands around to help out and love on our babies.  Getting the boys out and into something fun isn't so easy when I'm alone with them; so we were sure to squeeze in as much as possible while GJ was here!  I went to professional development for three days and also to 2 appointments.  We went to the park a couple of times, visited the pool, went to the Suwanee fountains, went to the mall, had a couple of picnics, went to Everland twice, and visited a fire station (more to come about this).  Todd and I even found time for a date night (thanks Mom)!  GJ is now gone, and we miss her so much!

First Hair Cut

Luke had his first hair cut yesterday!  We really tried to wait until he was 1, but his hair was looking a little Bozo the Clown-ish and we had to do something STAT!  I'm so glad we decided to cut it.  It's so, so precious!  I couldn't stop staring at him yesterday.  :)

Happy Father's Day!

Today we celebrated Todd and all that he does for our family!  There is no doubt about it, one of my life's greatest blessings was meeting you.  We are so thankful for you and EVERYTHING you do for us!  We love you so much!

It's Summer!

We kicked off our summer break with a trip to VA to see GJ and Randall Pop!  We had a great time!  Highlights include running around in the back yard, swimming in the pool, and a trip a to a children's museum.  Since we've been back we've spent our days getting into our summer routine, hanging around the house, potty training (which I'm certain I have enough material to write at least 3 blog entries about), swimming, going to the park, and meeting up with friends.  Last week we even went to the zoo!  Looking forward to the rest of our summer.  They always go by so quickly!

*I can't get our pictures from our VA trip to upload...I'll come back with those!  And these pictures are terrible...it's late and I'm too tired to fix it.  I'll repost with better ones soon!

Two and a Half

My sweet Cade,

You are two and a half years old!  I'm a little emotional while writing this post.  I'm not quite sure why.  Maybe it's because tonight we played a CD called The Night, Night Song that we used to listen to every night while I rocked you to sleep as a baby.  You had the sweetest reaction when you heard it.  You crawled into my lap and asked me to rock you.  You became very quiet and somber (the exact opposite of how you usually are while we prepare to take a bath on most nights) and you looked up at me in the most loving way.  I know it's crazy to think that hearing the CD brought back memories to you of your babyhood, but it sure seemed like it!  I reflected on how quickly you've grown and how YOU, this boisterous, loud, energetic, perfect little 2 year old used to be my sweet baby boy.  You have grown into the happiest, smartest, cutest little guy and I could not be more proud of the person you are becoming.  Here's a little more about you at 2.5 years old:

• You weigh 30lbs (56%tile), you are 38.5 inches tall (93%tile) and your head circumference is (84%tile). 
• You wear 2T-3T size clothing and size 7 shoe. 
• You wake up so very happy!  You smile so big.  Then you reach down and gather up all of your bed stuff (pillow, blanket, and Snuggle Bear) and say that you want to climb into Mommy and Daddy's bed and "watch a little TV". 
• Snuggle Bear is your roll dog.  You take him everywhere and you love him so much! 
• Your favorite TV shows are Bubble Guppies and PAW Patrol.  You also like Chuggington and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I'm sad to say this, but your favorite thing to do is watch TV.  You ask to do it several times a day...BUT don't worry...I limit you to no more than an hour or so of TV time a day.  Left to your own devices, I believe you might sit on the couch and watch it ALL DAY!
• You love to play with toy trucks (particularly fire trucks) and trains.  You also love to ride around on/in "cars".  You have two of them.  Your favorite is a Mickey Mouse car that you got for your 1st birthday. 
• You love, love, love to read (and this makes Mommy very happy). 
• Your favorite foods are pasta and pizza.  You are still a great eater, but getting you to eat vegetables is quite difficult.  I usually have to hide them in your food to get you to eat them. 
• While you are a happy little guy, you become frustrated and upset easily (like any time that you don't get your way - you scream and cry).  You will usually calm back down pretty quickly, but man your scream is like nails on a chalkboard!
• You are so funny and say the cutest things ever.  Sometimes I get so tickled at what you're saying that I laugh and you do NOT like that.  You get really upset if you think I'm laughing at you. 
• You are very helpful.  You like to help me do anything and everything that I'm doing - laundry, cooking, sweeping, cleaning up toys. 
• You seem very social and like to be with your friends.  You also love attention (especially mine) and want all of the attention all of the time!  :) 
• You are a great big brother.  You can be very jealous of Lukey at times, but overall, you are so sweet to him.  Tonight Luke was crying and I was in the other room taking care of something.  When I came back in, you were sitting right next to him with your arm around him telling him it was going to be okay. 

 

I feel sad ending here because I know I haven't captured even a fraction of what you're really like at this age, but hopefully when we look back on this we'll remember how amazingly entertaining, loving, funny, happy, smart, and just a smidge frustrating you were back then!  :)




Here you are with Snuggle and a fire truck.  You like to carry trucks around with you too. 



You insisted that we take some pictures with only your diaper on...so we could "see your BIG belly".  :)

Love this face!  "Mommy, you smell sumpin'?"

You love wearing hats.  And here's one of your favorite books!

9 Months Old

Sweet Lukey Bear,

You are 9 months old!  You have changed SO very much this last month and it has been so fun to watch.  You've gone through a bit of a jekyl and hyde transformation.  At first, we watched you blossom into the happiest, smiliest, easiest baby ever.  And then over the last week or so you've done a complete 180.  I have no idea what's up, but I'm hoping it passes soon!

• You weigh 20lbs, 11oz (50%tile).  You are 29.5 inches tall (84%tile) and your head circumference is 18 inches (61%tile).
• You wear size 12 month/18 month clothing and size 4 diapers.
• You have 8 teeth - 4 on top, 4 on bottom.
• You are still the sweetest little thing.  It's nearly impossible to look at you without smiling. 
• You are a happy baby and smile easily.  When you get really excited you kick your legs and happy scream.  It's the cutest! 
• You are very curious and you love to play and explore.  Your favorite toys are a set of nesting cups, a ball bouncer, your walker and anything that Cade is playing with.  You also love my phone and TV remotes. 
• You like to be where everyone else is.  If I try to sit you in the play area while I cook dinner, you scoot your way into the kitchen to find me.  If we're in a different room from you, you will come find us every time! 
• You are crazy active.  There are few things more difficult than trying to change your diaper. 
• You used to be a great eater, but not so much anymore.  You fuss every time we try to feed you baby food, but you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to feed yourself!  Your favorites include Cheerios, yogurt melts, toast, and fruit puffs.  You also love to drink water from your sippy cup.  You still nurse several times a day and sometimes you take a bottle or two of formula.
• You aren't the best sleeper right now.  Lately you've been waking up 2-3 times a night, but I just know that's all about to change!
• You like to be held...as long as whomever is holding you is standing up. 
• You've started to show signs of stranger anxiety.  You will cry if we're around people you don't know well. 
• You love:  pulling up/standing up, playing Peek a Boo, knocking things down (if we build a tower with blocks...you like to knock it down, for instance), playing with a sheet or a parachute (when we pull it up and down over you). 
• We love:  your happy squeal, your smile, hearing you talk, watching you grow and change, the way you smell.