Night Away

 

 

 

 

Brax and I just enjoyed a wonderful night away last weekend. My mom flew in for the weekend to keep the kids, and Brax and I went to Nashville. We went to the flea market, the outlet mall, a wedding at the gorgeous Union Station Hotel, and even had time on Sunday morning to drive around a see a few antebellum homes (Elm Springs is pictured). It was very refreshing and the kids had a great time with Gram.

HOT!!!!

 

 

 

 

I know it's been hot everywhere this last week. And, boy, Alabama is no different. We've been (not) enjoying 95+ degree tempuratures everyday. Here are some of the things we've been doing. Playing in the sprinkler, playing outside, Mae tried her first finger food-Wagon Wheels, and Thomas did this rainbow craft. I'm definitely hoping this week is cooler!

The Pool

 

One of our fun activities Father's Day weekend was to go to the pool. It was Mae's first time, and it was Thomas' first two times of the season. It was his first time to agree to wear floaties and he had a great time. PLUS both times he went he got to ride there on Papa's four wheeler. Mae really liked it to. She just got to float around in her special float, and as much as she moves her legs, she pretty much propelled herself. Try not to be too sad that I didn't include the pictures of Brax and me in our bathing suits.

(Hanson and Jo Mama, do you recognize the swim suits?)

Father's Day Weekend

 

 

 

 

We planned to go to Mimi and Papa's for Father's Day afternoon. However, at about 7:15 Friday night our power went out. For those of you that don't know, everyone in our family sleeps with white noise machines. However, we only have two machines that work on batteries. Therefore the thought of sleeping in a house, that for me would be silent, on a night on which the low temp was forcasted to be 79 degress with no air conditioning seemed pointless. Brax and I packed our stuff by flashlight and headed to Mimi and Papa's for the weekend instead. We had a great time. Thomas got to ride on the scooter that Mimi is currently using because of her foot surgery. Mae LOVES watching Buckley run around. We went to the pool, and Aunt Katey was there on Saturday night and Sunday also. We are so thankful to be close to family!

Softball

 

 

Last week the kids and I met Brax at his softball game. We have trouble getting to these because our kids go to bed pretty early, and most of the games are at a field not close to our house. But, there have been a few closer, and we take advantage and go when we can! Thomas loved watching the game, and playing in the dirt. (And by that I mean literally ROLLING in it!) Mae enjoyed it too, and I got this picture of her on my phone when I put her in Thomas' chair for just a minute. She thought she was SUCH a big girl sitting there.

Love Thy Neighbor

 

Kati Ann makes this VERY easy. This morning she came over to play, and I thought I'd get some pictures of the three kids. Thomas has so much fun playing with her. He was so excited that she was coming over, and she kept saying that everything he did was funny! And when Thomas, Kati Ann and I went up to get Mae after her nap, Mae couldn't keep her eyes off of Kati Ann. She's a great neighbor and we're so glad she lives up the street!

Seven Months

 

 

Here are sweet Mae's seven month pictures. This is the first month that I didn't actually do it on the day. I'm one day late. But, Mae has an ear infection and is taking insanely long naps because of it. I had trouble finding time to take the pictures yesterday...so today it is. I know I did a kind of long post about her the other day, but here are a few more things. She's rolling all over the place. I've just noticed in the last few days that she can scoot herself forwards when she's on her tummy if she has something to push off of, and she can scoot backwards on her bottom with her legs. Her legs still move constantly, which I think is part of the reason they end up stuck through the slats of her crib so often. I've decided it's not worth it to put her to bed without a sleep sack. She's eating solids and cereal twice a day and bottles the rest of the time. She jabbers and squeals lots, and has started laughing without someone prompting her, apparently at her own private jokes. She finally made it through one whole service at church in the nursery on Sunday without freaking out so much that they had to call me and she gets the BIGGEST smile on her face when Brax comes home at the end of the day.

Here's a link to Thomas at seven months.

Funnies

 

While sitting on the toilet: "Can I put my feet in?"

"I have two dogs. Cocoa and South. Cocoa is black, South is white."

I was on the phone with Mimi in the car. Thomas said over and over again that he wanted to talk to her and that she calls him precious. Finally we got home, I put the phone on speaker phone and handed it to him.
Mimi: Hi precious!
Thomas: (to me) See!

I was trying to help Thomas build a tower with his blocks and he said, "Mom, that's a girl tower. I don't want that. I want a boy tower."

I've had a little trouble with Thomas waking up before his nap is over and calling out. When I go see him he says he doesn't need to go to the bathroom, but then at the end of his quiet time (often about 15 minutes later) he's had an accident in his bed. Yesterday this happened and afterwards he said this.
Thomas: Mom I'm so sorry that I went in my bed.
Kim: That's ok. You just need to get up when you need to go to the bathroom even if your nap isn't over.
Thomas: Ok. Mom, I'm not sad, I'm just frustrated.

When Brax picked up Thomas from his class at church the teacher mentioned that he had had to go to timeout for hitting. She said it wasn't anything worse than the other kids were doing...this was in the car afterwards.
Kim: Thomas, did you have to go to timeout today for hitting?
Thomas: Yes.
Kim: Next time instead of hitting, why don't you talk to the kids.
Thomas: They don't talk to me.
(pause)
Thomas: When I hit them they talk to me.

This one goes with the above picture. First I need to describe Fayetteville to those of you who aren't from there. Although it's in Arkansas it has a very different flavor from the rest of the state. It's what I affectionately call "Granola." There are lots of hippies, or wanna be hippies. Lots of people hike. Lots of organicness (I know it's not a word.) Well the above picture was taken at the Farmer's Market, where a lot of "these sort" of people congregate. The boy and his dad pictured were playing a nice song and we stopped to watch. After they were finished this conversation happened.
Gram: Great job! How old is he?
Man: 3
Thomas: I'm three too! I can do bowling on the Wii!!
This especially made me laugh because my guess is that these people didn't even have a TV, let alone a Wii...

Matt and Kirsten

 

 

 

Last weekend my college roommate Kirsten and her husband Matt came to visit. It was really fun to hang out with them for a couple of days. We didn't really do anything exciting except go to Bridge Street Towne Center and try out the restaurant Ketchup (such is life with a baby and a toddler). It was great to have catch up time, and visit, and Thomas loved meeting them!

Bathtime

 

I LOVE that Thomas and Mae can take a bath together and they love it too! And yes, we have a purple bathtub. We also have a purple sink and toilet to go with it. I know you're secretly jealous! :)

Big T

 

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures of Thomas doing some of the things he likes best. Playing the Wii is a passion of his. It's something that he gets to do with Brax, and he LOVES it! He's so proud that he can bowl, play tennis and baseball himself. He also likes to play golf himself, except I noticed his score the other day was 24 over par, not the best. Oh well! He's loving his Melissa and Doug blocks also. His favorite things are to build towers to knock them over and to build a bridge or tunnel that he can walk through.

He LOVES to be with people all the time. (He is the main reason that we just switched our dining room and family room, so he could be closer to me while he plays) He says hello to everyone we pass (reminds me of another little boy I was around quite a bit...Joel Thomas Addington). He and I have good stretches and harder stretches right now-I think it's a toddler thing! He LOVES his Daddy, and sometimes gets tired of the rules that I enforce all day everyday. But, I'm thankful OVER and OVER again for his cheerfulness and curiosity! He's so good at saying thank you, and he's getting better and better at please! And he's also very very sweet to Mae! And he makes me laugh regularly! He says funny things all the time! The Lord knows I need a big of comic relief every now and then! :)

The picture with him in the white shirt and blue shorts: The other day I laid out clothes for him and left him to get dressed. He came down in completely different clothes. The shirt and the shorts were backwards. The shorts were too big and the shirt was a girl's shirt that we somehow ended up with...It made me laugh.

Chubbs!

 

We affectionately call Mae "Chubbs." I promise that I will stop before it gets to the point that it could embarrass her. I just LOVE how chubby and rolly she is!!! Here are just a couple of pictures we've taken over the last few weeks. She's sitting up now (she started on May 26) and doing a great job. She still falls over, but can sit up for quite awhile. And of course it's MUCH more fun to play with Thomas' toys than her own.

At her 6 month well visit on June 2 she was 28.25 inches long which puts her in the 99th percentile. She weighed 18.4 pounds which puts her in the 80th percentile, and her head was in the 29th percentile (I can't remember how big around it was.). She still doesn't have any teeth, but we found out today that she does have another ear infection today to go with her cold. She has also just started what we like to call baby boot camp at our house. :) She's been waking up 2-3 times per night to be fed, and that is being cut down to one. The doctor said that she should be able to do that. It's not fun now, but I'll sure be glad to not get up as much at night! And it's good sleep for her too!

We love how cheerful she is! She is so far living up to what we pictured when we decided to name her Mae. Sweet and happy!

Brax's Birthday

 

 

 

Yesterday was a very low key birthday for Brax since we had just rolled back into town on Sunday. Thomas and I painted a banner for him and baked a chocolate cake (there was no way I was going to attempt Mimi's famous Red Velvet!!).

More Family History

 

 

While we were in Fayetteville we took pictures of Mae in a gown that was my maternal grandfather's. We took pictures of Thomas wearing this gown when he was four months old. That was possibly a better plan, since he was a little less wiggly.

FREEZING at the Lake!

 

On Thursday we went to the lake to see Lulu and GG Richard at their camper and ride on their pontoon. It ended up being A LOT colder than we expected, but we were still able to enjoy a picnic on the boat, and who knew a campfire would be so welcome in May. Thomas roasted his first marshmellows and had his first S'mores. He was a huge fan. Thanks Lulu and GG Richard for letting us come hang out. We loved it!!

Fayetteville Tuesday-Saturday

 

Playing in the pool, visiting with friends, visiting with Papa Louie and GG Joan, a cardinal's nest, croquet...lots and lots of hugs with Gram and Pops!!! It was a wonderful trip!