Welcome Kaitlyn!

Dearest Jackson and Colton,

I pray that God blesses you with true friends throughout your life.  Daddy and Andy have been friends since middle school so Andy is pretty much stuck with us forever!  Now that Andy is married to Suzanne, she’s been roped in too!  When we found out they were pregnant, we were beyond thrilled!  After almost 20 years of friendship, it’s really more like family – and that’s exactly how I feel about Ms. Kaitlyn.  We waited 5 weeks to meet the newest member of our family so we each used this weekend to drink in as much of her as we could. 

The Lake Family spent two days with us and those two days were filled with snuggles, hugs, and a lot of “Can I hold her?” requests. 

Jax, this is the first time you held her and you were thrilled!

I was also excited to love on her. 

While it felt great to hold a tiny baby again, it showed me how happy I am to have two. 

Adding another to the mix was exhausting!

We went out for lunch together on Saturday and then got Andy a special cake for his 30th birthday!

Sunday was a comfy - rest on the couch - pass the baby around - kind of day. 

Kaitlyn rarely left our arms and I hope Andy and Suzanne aren't cursing us back in Colorado right now ; )

Andy got a little taste of life with two!

And then Josh tried his hand with all three!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

May the force be with you & all your dreams come true!

Dear Colton and Jax,

Today you partied it up with 2 of your best friends.  The Vaughns through a joint birthday party at Paradise Pond to celebrate Brody's 5th and Kate's 3rd birthday.  I had my camera with me a bunch but picture taking just wasn't a priority.  I was busy catching you at the bottom of the slide, pushing the merry-go-round-thingie, and making sure you didn't swipe the birthday balloons (Colton!).

Can you find yourself amongst the birthday guests? 

(Colt, don't bother -- you wouldn't sit still for more than 1.3 seconds!)

You and the birthday boy were interested in something/someone though...

Unfortunately, their basketball game wasn't working but you two sure worked hard trying to fix it together!

My favorite moment was when y'all had a little race.

You boys are lucky to have such fun friends!

Family Visits

Dear Jax and Colt,

We invited Uncle Mike, Aunt Jess, and Hailey down here so that Daddy could take Uncle Mike on a hunting trip out to east Texas.  While the men were away sitting alone in the woods hunting, the mommas and babies were having fun around town.  We played outside at a local park one day when the weather was nice and, on the less than stellar weather days, we did our fair share of playing indoors.  There was also a date night for just the adults, a shopping trip for the moms, as well as a family dinner out one evening that included tears from two children and wet pants…from one adult.

Somehow, the camera only made an appearance once during all that fun.  We spent Saturday morning at the Children’s Museum and here is what I could get from 3 children who preferred exploring over photography:

Our adventure started with some digging.

And then we found the water tables...

...where these little smocks did little to keep you from getting wet, Colt!

Off to the little farm...

...where you milked this cow like it was second-nature!

And everyone took a spin on the tricycles -

Group picture turned out 3/4 successful : )

Then us moms got some (Read: 3 minutes) rest while y'all played in the soft zone

Colt, you opted for a more unique pose than peeking through the pentagon.

Hailey followed your lead as she laid on the ground trying to get back in. 

This is when we knew it was time to head back to the house!

The only other moment captured on film during our 4 days together was one of the cousin baths.  This may be my favorite shot of them all as you all covered yourselves nicely and 2 out of 3 of you really nailed the "cheese" request.  I think all cousins have to have a picture like this just to put in a wedding slideshow later in life.  Glad we took it now because y'all won't fit in the tub together much longer!

It was a fun weekend and it was nice to have visitors instead of us being the ones doing the visiting. I know it's hard being away from home - especially for little ones - so I am extra appreciative of Mike and Jess for making the 16-hour drive down.   

18 months

Dearest Colton,

You are now my 18-month old baby.  There's a chance that I'll refer to you as a "baby" for another 18 months or years or so.  You are growing up so fast - and, while I know that's a sign of good health and par for the course, it's happening a bit faster than I'd like.

You run most places as opposed to walking and you're pretty darn fast, too!

You aren't talking much - and we aren't the least bit concerned about that.  Your brother wasn't talking at this age either and I panicked.  Now I think it might just be a family trait.  Either that or Jackson does all the talking for you.?.?.

You love the outdoors!  I have to sneak Senji outside sometimes because if you see me opening the back door you want to join her.

You are an awesome sleeper and go to bed at night without any problems and you wake up and chill by yourself in your crib each morning.  You are in the process of dropping your morning nap and I don't think we have many more of them in our future. 

You are starting to become pickier with food and are now turning down vegetables - unless they're hidden in your food.  While I know you should be feeding yourself, we have to give you a bath after any meal that we let you try independently...so I still help you with a lot of our dinners.

You love your big brother and will let him wrestle with you for a pretty long stretch of time before you get fed up.  We all know when you're fed up as you express yourself easily.  You've been known to throw yourself to the floor and yell.  We step over you and go elsewhere but you just get up, find us, and begin the routine all over again!  Stinker!

You like it when we read to you & you will get a book and then start backing towards us from like 5 feet out in an effort to get in the most comfy reading position on our lap.  It's adorable and we eat up that time together!

You went to the doctor for your check up this week and all is well.  You weigh 30 pounds are you're 2 feet 9 inches tall.  For comparison's sake, Jax weighed 25 pounds and was 2 feet 10 inches tall.  Those measurements put you in 2T clothing and size 5 diapers.

I had to take a few pictures of you during your checkup -

You're thriving!  You're healthy!  You're adorable!  You're our perfect baby!

A Day in the Life of an anxious mom

Dearest Boys,

I have really been neglecting the camera lately so I planned for Saturday to be a day full of pictures.  It’s been a while since I’ve documented a “Day in the Life” and I thought Saturday would be a perfect day for it.

The day started around 6:45 but I thought that was too early so I put you both in our bed, turned on some cartoons, and hoped you’d let us get a few more minutes of sleep.

By 7:00 we were in the kitchen making breakfast because someone wakes up with food on the brain.

You boys had all the muffins gobbled up by 7:30!

All four of us had to get showered as we had plans at 9:30.  You wanted little to do with drying off and more to do with reading.

Jax, you chose pillows over books and made sure we played a few rounds of Hide & Seek before we left.

You really enjoyed picking out a present for Grady’s 5^th birthday and proudly carried it into the party.

His party was at a bounce center and you bounced yourself sweaty.

Colt, you would’ve circled in the tea cup the entire morning if we would’ve let you!

After all the running around, it was time for pizza, cupcakes, ice cream, and juice.

And that’s when anxious mom took over.  You see, almost all of the party guests were from Grady’s class at pre-school, therefore, I got a glimpse into a whole new world of behaviors.  One little girl next to you was dipping her pizza in her juice before each bite.  When that got old, she started dipping her pizza in your cup.  A boy across the table from you was scooping ice cubes from his cup and letting them melt in the palm of his hand.  And two other little boys were having some sort of spitting contest with one another.  You sat there in shock as you took in all that was going on around you and it took a lot for me to not just shout out, “Please ignore these obnoxious behaviors, sweet boy!”  I had to take a moment to step away and vent to Michelle and Josh that I was suddenly frightened at the idea of you heading off to pre-school in a few short months where this would become your norm.  As soon as I returned to the party room I could tell that I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed as you were sitting almost motionless watching everyone around you devour cupcakes.  I crouched beside you and whispered, “Why aren’t you having a cupcake?” but you only responded with a shoulder shrug.  “Would you like one?” I asked.  Your face lit up as you said, “Yes, please!” and it wasn’t long before you had a black circle of frosting around your lips just like everybody else. 

We finished up the party by playing some arcade games. 

The party really was a blast (Thanks again, Grady!) but I didn’t take any more pictures that day as I think I was still trying to process everything.  How is it that my baby is going to be in pre-school in a few months and where can I find special glasses that keep your eyes shielded from all the craziness that you’re sure to experience in the next few years? 

**Please note, a typical “Day in the Life” is rarely filled with all this anxiety.  Pardon my mommy-moment and remember that I love you and (as your Grandma would say) I taught you better than that! ; )