I had forgotten how much I love the age the boys are at now. They will be 2 in July. Some days I find myself wishing I could stop the clock. Other days, I think to myself, "Will the day ever come when these children can simply bathe themselves??!!" lol! We laugh a lot. The boys have just recently started talking. They have a lot to say, and let me tell you, they are f.u.n.n.y. For their whole first year, Matthew was pretty much always the one who did things first: he sat up on his own first, crawled, walked first, etc. But John has really taken off with the talking. Matthew is certainly not far behind him, but my goodness John has turned into the little chatter box! John loves to ask questions. Particularly, "What's that?" and "Where's ____?" Some of the words he says plainly (and repeatedly!) are "Sissy," "Bubby or Bubba," "Blankie," "Daddy," "Mommy," "Casey," "Boat," "Nana or Nanny," "Papa or Poppy," and most recently, "What'd you say?" When he gets up first thing in the morning he wants to know where "Bubby" and "Sissy" are. He likes to call out, "Oh Daddy??" and "Oh Casey??" When he's thirsty he goes to the fridge and point to it, saying, "Pup" or "Puppy" which means "cup." lol He is very lovey. He loves to run up to me even when he's in the middle of playing hard and throw his arms around my legs, then run back off again and go back to what he was doing. Pure sweetness. He is obsessed with doors. He has just recently figured out how to open and close them (Lord help us!). He is constantly wanting to come in and out of every door in the house. He has locked us out a time or two already. Both he and Matthew are really into boats, trucks, planes, and they love playing with their fishing rods. Daddy likes this.
Matthew has just recently started saying a lot of the same words I mentioned above that John is saying. He is such a funny kid. One of his favorite words is "No!" Oh goodness. He absolutely loves any kind of fresh fruit (unlike his brother, but much like his sister), and is the best eater out of our three children. I find myself wondering sometimes how we will afford to feed Matthew when he is a teenager! At night when we rock him a few moments before putting him in the bed, he lays his head on your shoulder, puts one hand on your chest, and rubs your back with the other hand...precious. Small details but things I'd like to remember ;) He loves to be outdoors doing anything at all...this really applies to all 3. I took both boys to the ENT doctor yesterday for their ear checkup and they both weighed 26 pounds.
Kate is busy being 3. This coming Tuesday will be her last day of MDO. In the fall we start Preschool officially. The boys will start MDO in the fall. We have had another great year at FBC Augusta! Kate tends to be a little shy and timid, particular in new situations and at the beginning of a new school year. Her teachers have told me how much she has really come out of her shell throughout this year. She really loves school! And we love seeing her get excited about it. She is still all girly-girl. She loves clothes and shoes, wanting only to wear dresses and skirts, please. Trying to get this child to put on a pair of shorts or jeans is quite a war in the morning at times. Some days I'm up for it and others not so much. Hey, you have to pick your battles sometimes! She likes to wear her hair down with hair bows only. She does not like pony or pig tails :( She loves to dress up in her "princess" dresses and loves to be outdoors. She likes to fish. As long as she's in a dress ;)
So I mentioned in a previous post how a few weeks ago we rented our house for Masters. That week we traveled to Perry to stay with the Todd's for the week. We had a great week! Here are a TON of pics from the week and just a few of the things we did while we were there:
Sweet Kate
We had a LOT of popsicles!
Kate can cast a line with the best of 'em!
Matthew loving on Casey on one of many boat rides that week
Boat ride
One of the things we did while we were there was to go out and see the old Todd Family Cemetery. It was really cool to see this!
Fixing one of the monuments that was broken
Ok this next series of pics should provide a good laugh or two. One morning while we were down there I noticed Matthew had a bad diaper. John was there playing with him, so I said to John, "John, go see if Mattie has a poopie diaper. I think he may have messed up his diaper. Go and see for Mommy!" So John walked over like it was no thang at all and pulled out Matthews shorts just like I would have if I wasn't sure he had messed up or not. And Matthew stood there the whole time perfectly still while he "checked" him. Lol!! After he finished "checking" him, John looked up at me and said, "yep!" So these next few pics are of this same scenario I just described:
"John go check Mattie's diaper and see if he poopied!"
Love how Matthew just stands perfectly still...
Let me get a closer look...
Hmmm...seems suspicious!
Ummm...yep, I think he did...
Yep...
Yep....he sure did poopie. lol!
The kids had fun playing the piano at Bobby and Sara's house
Aunt Sara reading to Kate
Happy Masters Week!
Cory, Margaret, Graham, and Charlie all stopped by to visit one afternoon. Kate and Graham had fun fishing the minnows out of the baby pool. One of our favorite activities of the week for sure.
Grammy and Grandpa took us to the aquarium in Perry out at the Ag Center. It's called "Go Fish." Such a neat place and the kids really enjoyed it!
Fishing "simulator"
Practicing fishing
Telling the big, scary fish "bye-bye"...they weren't that into him
That weekend in Perry was the Dogwood Festival. It was a beautiful day! Julee and Parker were able to come up to visit so we all went out to the festival. We ran into Brent, Liz, and Lucy there. A great day!
Sweet Lucy
Matthew and Lucy traded spots...her little pink car was a hit!
One evening Mitch, Shelley, and Ansley, and Nate, Emily, Ellis, and Ross all came out for pizza and a boat ride:
Ansley and John helping to drive the boat
Shelley and Kate
Sweet Ansley w/ Joe
John with Emily and Ellis...John has a little thing for Emily, I think
....and maybe Ellis too :)
Ansley and John having popsicles
Love these friends!
Matthew w/ Uncle Mitch
Thank you to Grammy and Grandpa for an awesome, fun-filled week in Perry! We enjoyed it so much!
Just a few more recent pics, then I'm done:
Joe and I took the kids and Casey to the dam at the lake a few weeks ago:
It's officially strawberry season!
Oh how they love this game:
Sweetest. Dog. Ever.
These last few pics were taken Mother's Day. This Mother's Day was a good one, but I certainly felt like a Mom. The kids have all been a little under the weather w/ respiratory junk the past few weeks, so we didn't go to church on Mother's Day. Kate had been running a pretty high fever on and off all weekend, so when it spiked again around lunch time that day, we decided we needed to go to the doctor. Turned out she had an ear infection, so I'm glad we went! So my Mother's Day was spent in the doctor's office and pharmacy with a very sick, feverish little girl :( Like I said, I certainly felt like a Mom this Mother's Day! What a blessing to be there to take care of them when they are sick.
Matthew
Had to include this shot of Will. He is looking so grown up
Kate and Grandmama sharing a popsicle. This was pre-doctor visit and medicated with Tylenol ;)
We have a lot planned this summer that we are excited about! A beach trip with friends and Nana & Papa celebrate a big 4-0 years in June, birthdays in July and August, weddings, new babies being born, and another girls getaway weekend (yes!!). Lots to squeeze in before the routines of fall settle back in within just a few short months!
