Easter!

We had a fabulous Easter "season" this year.  The boys had several egg hunts, Banks had a fun school party and my mom came to stay a few days last week! 

 

School egg hunt!

Mom brought Andrew his first coloring book and some chunky crayons.  Can you tell how pleased he was to be coloring like a big boy???

Matt's mom came Saturday for more Easter fun!  The boys loved having both of their grandmothers together!

 

Dying eggs!

 

They're getting ready to leave their baskets at the back door!  As well as a little lettuce and carrots for a snack for the bunny!

 

Easter morning we made Resurrection Rolls! We read the story of the Resurrection and then ate the rolls!  So fun...



And the joys of taking a family photo...

Take two?

And he's outta there...

 OVER it.

 But we did manage to get this jewel before church.  Love my babies in some lace!!!

The stomach virus is the devil.

I'm sure most of you spent your Spring Break on a beach somewhere sipping a fruity cocktail and yelling at your kids not to throw the sand.  Us?  We spent ours in the bathroom.  And it was awful.  In a 24 hour period, Andrew, Banks and I were all taken to our knees and I'm just now able to get back up.  Poor Andrew still isn't well and he's going on day 7.  Not only did we go down, but we took 6 other friends/their kids down with us.  Yikes.  We definitely get the bad friend award for that one.  There is a special place in hell for the stomach virus and mosquito's.

On a brighter note, the weather this weekend was FABULOUS.  Totally lifted our spirits and we got a good dose of Vitamin D.  We broke out the sand and water table, the bounce house, rode bikes, worked in the yard and played with just about every outdoor toy we own.  Banks played by himself for most of the day Saturday.  Did you hear me???  He played BY HIMSELF for most of the day.  Almost never happens.  And we just left the door from the den to the patio open and Andrew just crawled in and out, in and out all day long happy as a lark.  This time of the year is my favorite.  Lots of outside time, no mosquito's, cool breeze, dirty little boys and everyone just sleeps better!!!  I actually remembered to get out my real camera one afternoon.  I have been so bad about either not taking pictures or only taking them on my phone!

Serious business.

 

Two happy boys!!!

Love me some summer clothes and some chunk legs!!!

Playing nicely together!

 

 

 

Some truths

1.  Yes, Banks is usually in his 'roos only.  I recently had a girl I went to college introduce me to her mother as 'a friend who has a little boy who's always naked'.  Yes, that's me.  She gathered that information from all my instagram posts in which Banks is never clothed.

2.  Banks does have super cute clothes and does wear them in public, just to be clear.

3.  I almost always have a "snail trail" on my shoulder or pants leg.  I swear I cannot make it out of the house before someone snots me.

4.  This is the only picture I have taken in the last month:

5.  I am just returning from a FABULOUS girls weekend in Nashville.

6.  I need more girls weekends.

7.  Andrew is on the verge of walking and it scares the poo out of me.

8.  I joined the gym about a month ago and I've been sore ever since.

9.  I don't think my cottage cheese will ever go away.

10.  I don't know why I suck at blogging these days.

Andrew is one!

Three big events have happened in the last week. 

1) We had a major, blowout first birthday party for Andrew

2) I made it a whole year and three days feeding Andrew breastmilk (sorry, men).

3) Andrew had his last bottle.

As for #1, pictures will have to do.  I nearly crafted myself to death but it was super fun and I'm now officially over my party-hangover.  All decorations are down and we've moved on from the extravaganza.

 

Little Red Wagon was the theme for his party!  This Radio Flyer was mine when I was little.

 

Red wagon cookies and Radio Flyer drivers licenses' for the big kids:

 

And Wagon Wheels for the littles:

 

 

The food table, yummy cake and Andrew's first year in pictures!  We had Red Wagon rice crispy treats, wagon wheels (turkey roll-ups), marshmallow pops, wagon trail mix, popcorn, and twizzlers.  

 

Love that little finger digging in.

 



This is about as messy as he got.  COMPLETE contrast to Banks who had to have a bath after he got ahold of his smash cake.

 

Opening his bouncy house.  Because it is a completely normal, not over-the-top gift for a one year old.  Right?

Getting donuts on his actual birthday.  "Did y'all mean to give this to ME??"

 

 

I mention #2 because it is a hugungo deal for me.  With Banks, I planned to make it six months and then pushed myself to get to a year.  Those last few months were rough.  When I found out I was pregnant with Andrew I said I wouldn't be able to juggle it again with a toddler running around but I made it!  It was easier, this time, for me to pump and give bottles so I think that helped me out.  Which leads to #3.  I was fine the night he had his last bottle.  It had gotten to be a fight for him and he didn't even really seem to want more than a sip or two of it anyway. 

 

 

But the next morning when I cleaned off the bottle rack and pulled out all the bottle brushes, I nearly lost it.  My baby is not a baby anymore!!!  He is waving and clapping and standing and saying "bye-bye" and "ma-ma."  He's pushing cars and trucks, saying "raaaar", tormenting the dog, splashing in the toilet, and loving playing "chase" with his big brother.  He is such a sweet, happy one year old and I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for him.  Happy Birthday Andrew!

I'm Back!!!

Thanks to Jeri Anne and my mother-in-law, I am back to blogging.  Thanks for the gentle nudge, girls.  Something crazy happened and it wouldn't let me upload any pictures.  So I gave up on the blog for a bit.  Every time I thought about coming back, the idea of playing catch-up seemed overwhelming so I'd give up again.  But now I'm back and I'm just going to start fresh.  Christmas happened and it was wonderful and there are tons and tons of pictures and lots of "Andrew's first Christmas" type things.  We were home, for the most part, for Christmas and it was soooooo nice!  I even hosted three Christmas dinners myself (we celebrate with a lot of folks around here).  I'm such a grown up.  Ok, shoot.  My 'momma guilt' won't just let me start fresh so here's just a few pictures from Christmas...

Christmas eve

 

My boys Christmas morning!

 

This look sums up Banks' Christmas.  He is at such a fun age and is so sweet and excited about EVERYTHING he gets. 

 

And this is what excited Andrew:

 

And since Christmas, we've just been doing regular ole stuff.  See, ya'll didn't miss much.

 

Using his tools to construct his car.

 

Looking like a homeless person playing in the snow!

 

Racing around the house:

Playing with trucks in his PJ's...

...and getting geared up for this little misters FIRST birthday.  Tear.

First birthday post coming up next!!!

Tis the season!

We have been soaking up every little bit of the Christmas season this year.  It is so fun with Banks being so into it!  He has only asked me 1,375,499 times when Santa is coming.

He was definitely a fan of the big guy this year.  Andrew, not so much.  Banks is asking for a Dodge Charger (matchbox car), a movie and boots.  We have seen Santa three times this year and he's asked for the same thing all three times UNTIL we saw the Santa yesterday and Banks pulled a fast one on us by asking for some different things.  Didn't realize how dangerous it was taking a kid to see Santa SO close to Christmas.  Hopefully he'll be happy with what he gets!

  We went to a cookie decorating party.  Please note the MOUND of sprinkles on his cookie.  Sheesh.

He had a ball decorating (mostly eating) his gingerbread house.

And perhaps my most favorite thing this season:  Banks' school Christmas program.  Just the cutest cow ever!

 

I have terrible writers block.  I'm sorry I've been so awful about updating the blog lately.  I'd like to say it's on my list of resolutions but it's not even on the bottom of the list.  Life is getting busy and I'm trying to keep up and blogging is taking a major backseat!!!  Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

I'm back!

Well, sure didn't mean to take a blogging break but I guess that's what happened.  We have been super busy soaking up every last minute of having Matt at home.  His most recent job finished up about three weeks ago and we've been loving having him home with us. 

 

 

 

We spent one week at the beach with our friends the Jones'.  We have never been to the beach in November and while we had a few chili days, we had an absolute blast.  It was so nice and relaxing (well, as relaxing as it can be with four kiddos); no pressure to hurry up and get to the beach.  We ate when we wanted, and ate a lot I might add.  Watched football, shopped and I RODE A BIKE for the second time in my adult life.  And, I didn't crash the thing.  No pictures to prove it, though.

 

It's bright out there for a baby...

 

Perhaps my most favorite picture of all times.  Nothing but love here but it sure looks like Maggie is about to get knifed!  There may be a smidge of fear in her eyes...

 

 

We spent one week gearing up for Thanksgiving.  Since we had just travelled to the beach, we didn't feel like loading up again to go to Jackson for Thanksgiving with my parents.  So, they came here instead!  We had a low key, great meal and thanks to Taylor Grocery, I didn't even have to worry over botching the turkey!  We did go over to Batesville for a quick trip and Banks had an absolute blast playing with his cousins!

Last week, we spent most of our time marking things off the to-do list.  Mainly, we got most of our Christmas shopping done.  And it's just December 2nd!!!  Love being ahead of the game this year.

 

Giving his seal of approval on the tree...

"These people are crazy.  Did ya'll know there is a real tree in our den?  And they don't expect me to touch it???  HA!"

So, Matt started his new job today.  It's the first time he's worked outside the home in four years.  It'll be the first time, since being a stay at home mom, that I'll be here all day with the kids by myself.  Crazy, right???  I am so, so very excited for him.  I know he'll love being away from us for a bit and getting more connected with some people in town.  Plus, it'll give us something to talk about when he comes home since we won't already know every minute detail of each others lives!  I am so proud of him and constantly reminded of God's timing and goodness in finding this job for Matt.  Yay Daddy!!!