Weekend Getaway!

A couple of weekends ago we met up with Aunt Sarah, Uncle John, and Cousin Jack for our annual family vacation (2011, 2012), except that this year we were down a few people.  Due to my dad being sick and some recent job changes, my mom, the Keels, and the Lowery's had to stay home.  It was not the same without them, but we managed to have some fun. 

This year we decided to rent a cottage at a resort on Lake Conroe.  This was a perfect weekend getaway.  The boys had a blast swimming and we had fun just hanging out.  Benjamin really liked the toddler pool.  He liked the freedom of being able to go in and out at his own leisure and splashing around in the fountains.  Jack loved the kid area with the slide and water features.  Luke was the biggest fan of the open pool.  He is really getting confident in his swimming.  In fact he had to be reminded several times to make sure someone knew he was about to jump in.  At one point Uncle John was way across the pool and Luke shouted, "John, I'm coming!" He really thought he was going to swim all the way there :)  One of my favorite quotes from the weekend was Luke telling the shuttle driver how he "swam like a fish and hopped like a rabbit" at the pool.  It makes me the happiest to see my kids happy.

Each night the resort had make your own s'mores down at the water front. This happened to be be my favorite part of the trip. It is very difficult for me to pass up on anything that involves melted chocolate :) Luke isn't a big fan of the s'more and prefers just to have a slightly warmed marshmallow.

Luke was pretty pumped about all of the swimming we got to do.  It blew his little mind that we got to go to the pool TWICE in one day!!  I hope he is always this easy to please :)

 He had a Mickey Mouse figurine in his mouth all morning.  He loves that thing.

Getting away for the weekend was exactly what our family needed. It was so much fun and I am already looking forward to next year's trip!

Happy Father's Day!

Why yes, Father's Day was 3 weeks ago......I am kind of late :)

Regardless of when it was, I can't say enough about how great of a Daddy Andy is to our boys.  He has been there with me 100% since it all started over 3 years ago. He changes diapers, gets them ready in the morning, wrestles, gives baths, cooks dinner, tells stories, reads books, builds leggos, and is not stingy with his hugs or kisses.  He is the BEST DADDY we know and we want to SHOUT it to the world.  We could not do it without him. 

We love you Daddy!!

Here are a couple of pictures from our time celebrating our own dads.



 3 Generations of Clouds

 

 

 

Outside!

I would never say that having a sick dad is a good thing, but I will admit that a lot of good has come out of his illness.  One of those good things is that we get to see Aunt Sarah and Cousin Jack a lot more.  Sarah tries to come up as much as she can and for that I am truly thankful (love ya Sis)!

On this particular week we spent a lot of time outside under Gigi's new patio cover.  The boys played with their outside toys, got dirty, and swam their little hearts out.  I love that these boys love each other so much.  I look forward to watching them grow up together.

 I love this shot of Luke pushing Jack.  What a great big cousin.

 This boy knows how to relax.

18 Months Old

My baby is 18 months old and I want to cry.  He is so big and it just happened overnight.  I just blinked my eye and he is a big boy.  It can't be happening this fast....

Benjamin weighed in at 27lbs even and was 32.25 inches tall at his 18 month visit.  It was at this same visit that he gave Mommy and Daddy a scare.  Given he barely gained any weight from his 15 month visit, the doctor was a little concerned and checked his hemoglobin again.  In the  office the machine read 6.4mg/dL.  For you non-health care folk out there -- THAT IS LOW!  WAY TOO LOW FOR MY BABY!!  The doctor immediately sent Ben for some real labs and the repeat turned out to be 10.4mg/dL -- still a little low, but MUCH better.  The bad thing about it all was that we had to wait until the NEXT MORNING to get the results.  They really shouldn't do that to us worried mamas.  Anyhow, all is good and he is getting some iron to help bring his hemoglobin up a smidgen.

At 18 months Benji is exploding with words!  He is starting to string words together and I am understanding so much more.  Some of my favorite phrases are: Bess yoo Mama, Goofy wey ah yoo (Goofy where are you), I lahv oo (I love you), and ake up Mama (wake up Mama).  He recently started calling me Mom and I am not to fond of that, but everything else he says is just so darn cute! 

Benji is still pure boy.  He loves to run, climb, dig, be outside, and get DIRTY!  He unfortunately can be a tad bit mean at times and we are really working on the no hitting.  Sometimes I think he is just trying to fend for himself in this crazy world and he gets a little rough -- it is tough when you have a big brother!  Behind that rough and tough boy, though, is a sweet loving heart that loves to give kisses.

Benjamin, we love you to the moon and back!  Just stop growing please :)

End of the Year Program

Luke just wrapped up his second full year at preschool.  It has been so fun to watch him learn and grow this year.  I would like to take this opportunity to hit the pause button in hopes that he would just stop growing.  I tell him almost daily to stop growing, but he insists on getting bigger -- he especially wants to turn 4.  I love this age because so many things are exciting to him and he has learned so much.  He surprised me the other day when he defined the word quarrel -- who is this kid?

His end of the year program was a few weeks before school let out.  I was able to slip away from work and meet both Daddy and Gigi there for his performance. His class got on the stage and sang This Little Light of Mine and The Wiggle Worm Song (since they were the Wiggle Worm class).  He did really well and sang loud, even though I could tell he was a little nervous.  I loved it when he spotted me in the crowd and smiled.  He melts my heart.

 Enjoying a little celebratory cookie!

Happy Birthday Britt!

On Memorial Day we headed over to the Johansen's to have a belated birthday celebration for Brittany.  Andy and I both had the day off and we were looking forward to spending the day together with close friends.  Our plans were quickly derailed when Ben decided to get worse instead of better.  Being the good parents that we are, we decided not to take the kid with a fever to mingle with other children.  Andy was nice enough to stay home with him so that Luke and I could enjoy some fun.  The day ended up being a bit more overcast than I was hoping and the water was super cold, but that didn't ruin our fun!!  When Luke went underwater for the first time he said, "that was a little chilly."  -- too cute!

Happy belated birthday, Britt!  You are one of my best friends and I don't know what I would do without you in my life.  Thank you for all these years of friendship!  (I remember a time when we used to take pictures of us on our birthdays, but I just realized all I got were a few shots of the boys)

 Wyatt is getting so big!

 All that is missing is our Benji!  I hope these boys grow up being the best of friends.

May Cell Phone Dump

May seemed to have flown by, especially these last 2 weeks with birthday celebrations, graduations, illnesses, and an unexpected dryer fire.  I kind of enjoy looking back at the month and reminiscing over brief moments in time.

I love pictures of my boys hugging -- especially when it was their idea :)

 I feel like we spend so much time in the car

"Mommy, I want to make a silly face."

 These boys LOVE fountains!  I suspect I will have to fish Benji out of one of these at least once during his childhood.

 What? You don't eat your toast with a fork?

 Showing off our cool new shades (Luke picked them out himself)

 Enjoying his very first cherry limeade -- super special occasion, promise :)

 "Da-tur, Da-tur, Cheese!"  This boy LOVES tractors.

Watching the workers paint Gigi's new patio cover



 Poor Ben had a full body rash and on this particular evening his bottom was bothering him.  I decided to pull his diaper down a bit to let it air.  Turns out that plumber's crack doesn't seem to bother him one bit.

 My kids love to "ride" this elephant outside of the pediatrician's office.  I try not to think about how many other sick kids did the exact same thing before we got there.

 Luke's nose met pavement at school yesterday.  He is pretty cute with his red nose.

 Is he really old enough to be doing this already?  I blame big brother.

 Sweet shot of my sick boy.  I am so happy he is finally perking up!