This Past Week

 Sutton had his 15 month well check.  He scored average in every single category but head size where is a whopping 75%.  Possibly all those curls?  The doctor says he looks great.  His tubes are still in nd functioning which is really good because some begin to fall out at this point.  Moses tagged along to this check up and it was A HUGE, HUGE MISTAKE.  I thought our next set of vaccinations were at 18 months.  Wrong.  He needed to shots and a finger prick blood draw.  Sutton was mad Moses was upset and made it clear that only babies need shots and he was a big boy.  The truth I had to tell him was that yes even big boys get shots.  I chose not to tell him, not only did he have to get them, but it was going to be soon!

 When we are not at the beach, we have been taking advantage of our neighborhood pool.  It has been great, if you can't tell by their tan lines.  I have started referring to Moses as "Chief White Tail."  Moses had had private swim lessons and in the last seven weeks went from not wanting to get his hair went to jumping in to look for dive sticks and learning the back stroke.  He's got a great stroke and can really move.  Looks like there might be a new 4 year old on the swim team next year.  Sutton likes the water, but right now he'd rather run around which is not good with a lot of concrete with wet spots.  I do my best to try to get him to stay in but sometimes it's a huge fail.

Sunday, Moses went to his Nana's house to spend a few days.  It was so weird to just have one boy in the back seat.  As you can tell, Sutton doesn't feel the same way.  In the last 24 hours he has made more noise and mess than he normally does in a week.  Game on I guess!  He will be all the child I can handle till Moses gets back and can keep him in line!

Pullen Park Idea

 Shortly before we left for our beach trip, we were gift a cool (by summer standards) day.  I was a day that need to be spent outdoors.  I suggested Pullen Park to some friends, and our friends Amanda, Cameron, and Noah met us out there!  Let me just say that this was not an original idea.  When I first got there parking was insane!  But with some help from the attendant, I was directed toward and empty spot and luckily Amanda had the same thing happen!

 I love these two buddies.  Born just 10 days apart.  They play nicely together and I love that Moses will follow Cameron's lead!

We had so much fun guys!  

Farm Days

Growing up, I spent a lot of time shucking corn, snapping beans, digging potatoes and yes, shelling peas.  It has been a very long tim since I have done it.  I look back at it fondly though.  My grandmother, aunts, cousins, and my mom dutifully doing our share.

When mom's cousin called one morning and said to come get some peas, dad went.  We had NO idea what we were getting into.  I started shelling at 10:30am and shelled pretty much non stop with at least one person helping me until 8:30 pm.  That's a mess of peas ya'll.  Can I tell you who didn't shell any.  Brett!  He wanted NO part of that job.  When I was done, we had 8 bags of peas to be frozen and one large pot cooking.  I had forgotten how great they taste!  Mom is picking up some butterbeans (fully shelled and bagged this time) and is bringing some to me.  SO excited about this!  I love the taste of the farm!

Little Firecrackers!

 Mom gave me this beautiful dress recently.  When I saw it I knew it would complete a great combination for a family photo.  I always have high expectations for matching pretty photos.  It never happens!  I did get some great ones though!  I am SO glad mom is a great photographer and never manages to cut heads off or makes everyone all fuzzy.  Everyone looks great in my favs!

 The sweet men in my life!

 My babies!

 My big boy!

 I think the best photo that has ever been taken by these two!

And of course my big boy.  SOOO growny!

Vacation/ July 4th!

Have I mentioned every time I blog how much I am LOVING this summer?  Because I am!  The week of the 4th, Brett took a few days off and we headed to Emerald Isle.  It worked out so well because mom doesn't work on Mondays and she took off for the holiday.  Dad even took a few days off too!

I was so ready to get on the boat and let the boys play.  It really takes a lot of work though!  Luckily, we pretty much have it down.  We planned to leave right at morning nap time for Sutton.  Dad had been tipped off to a new very small sand bar/island.  It is SO crowded on Coast Guard Island and the other islands during holidays so this was a great find.  I was really hoping Sutton would fall asleep on our way out there and he did.  To my complete surprise he stayed asleep.  Mom and I held him for awhile and finally made him a little bed with towels and life jackets.  He continued to sleep!  We did this twice and he slept two hours both times.  Perfect!

 The weather down there was great.  We played int he water, looked for shells, and played in the sand.  the boys were so happy and enjoyed every second of it.  Sutton would grab a fistful of sand and walk it back to the water.  He gave it a taste a few times but it wasn't too bad.

 The next time we went out we took the tube our neighbors had loaned us.  We decided the first day to just use it to float.  The boys like that too!  It had a little bit of water in the bottom seats and they could splash and be happy.

 I love this picture!  It looks like they are being pulled by the boat but they are actually just getting pulled in by someone with the rope!

I can't get over this big boy.  He swam and swam.  He also learned the hard way that sea water is not like the pool and will burn your eyes.  It's amazing to me that he is like an old pro on the boat.  I'm very proud of him.

Later in the week we actually went tubing.  I don't have pictures of this because of trying to keep the kids safe on the boat.  I'm kind of sad because I'm sure it was hilarious.  I haven't done it in so long!  Dad was very gentle at first, but I skipped like a rock twice and Brett did a couple of times as well.  Moses would tell us that he wanted to watch us fall.  He thought it was the best thing!  Brett even broke our his old hydroslide.  I think that made him feel really old!  I was proud of him though.  He managed to do a 360 and then called it quits!

More to come on our awesome time at the beach!

Sutton at 15 Months

 Our little bug is 15 months old!  I feel like I am constantly laughing at the silly things he does.  He is our little dancing machine.  He moves his feet, gallops, and wiggles around when you ask him to dance. I think it is his happy dance because he doesn't even need music!  I don't want to jinx it, but (with the exception of being out of town) he has been sleeping till 7am.  This is huge!  He is still napping 1.5 - 2 hours in the morning and afternoon as well.  Bed time is still the same at 6:30 - 7pm.  Must be all the the summer time play!  And play we have.  Sutton is now walking to the door and pulling at the door knob to go outside.  He likes to climb in and our of the baby pools or hold on to the water hose.  If we are in the big pool he likes to walk up and down the stairs.  At the beach he will pick up a fistful of sand and then run to the water to put it back in.  He also likes to splash there!  He's become a much better boat rider!

Sutton is till not talking as much as I thought he would be, but that's ok because he can clearly communicate!  He points emphatically at what he wants and says "DAT!"  If he is hungry, he will go to the fridge or point to fruit in the basket and say, "Dat!  Mmmmmmm!" or "Bite!"  He loves playing with the bicycle pump and will blow in and out to let you know that is what he wants.  If we don't quickly comprehend what he needs, he grows frustrated and begins to grunt!  I've started calling him Gruntasaurus!  The words we do understand are:  Dada, Mama, bite, ball, rock rock (while sitting in a chair), baba (for his cup, formerly bottle) bite, Papa, Gaga, Roro (for round and round for "Wheels on the bus").  The funniest thing he can do is make the noise for the Transformers.  Moses makes it when he plays with them and now Sutton picks them up and does the same thing!

Sutton is still doing great eating.  He will eat his waffle in the morning (sometimes two) and then wait to have some of what I'm eating.  He loves strawberries, grapes, watermelon, yogurt, broccoli, peas, cheese, turkey, ham, PB&J, bread, rice, corn on the cob, and the list goes on!  His mega favorite is rice and refried beans from the Mexican restaurant.  I personally could not eat as much as he does when we are there.

He is mostly playing with Moses' toys and also loves balls and toy cars.  Sutton also loves the little people toys, especially the barn with the animals.  He will thumb through a book and laugh at the pictures.  The one thing that will guarantee him sitting still for a few minutes is an episode of Handy Manny.  Little man LOVES it!

Sutton does have his dislikes.  Getting his diaper changed is high up there!  He is also super addicted to mommy and there are just times when no one else will do.  We are still having a hard time with him wanting to be held all the time.  I think he also dislikes wearing clothes and shoes, but part of me thinks it's all the hot weather!  He is also in.to.everything!  He thinks the toilet is a mini pool and our kitchen table is there to be climbed.  Right now he is sporting a black eye from running into an end table.

Our baby boy is growing up fast!  I can only imagine how all this will change very soon!

Summertime's Calling Me...

 It's catch up time!  I'm way behind so let's get started with what's been going on this Summer!  Let's face it, last summer was a big fat fail.  The plague smacked me down hard and it took months to get over it.  The crazy part is I didn't realize how much we missed out until now.  I made the decision not to put Moses in a MMO on a weekly basis this year.  The first week home I thought I had made a HUGE mistake.  He wasn't used to being home and I wasn't used to not having a morning break twice a week.  However, we are finally getting into our groove and I wouldn't change a thing!  We have been outside all the time.  We pick up and go to my parents whenever we feel like it (or can stand to have us back!).

 Moss is taking swim lessons from Miss Taylor and he is doing SO well!  He will just duck underwater and dive for things on the bottom of the pool.  He will jump in without help and is working on swimming underwater!

 The fenced in backyard is the best.  Some days I will fill up the baby pools and we will splash and play all day long.  We play ball, rock in the helicopter or just run around and be silly.

 After nap times we grab some watermelon and enjoy a nice refreshing snack!

 The boys are loving it and so am I!  We've also started going to the neighborhood pool which is a blast.  I'm getting better at wrangling two kids in kind of a scary environment.  It helps that Moses is now very comfortable on his own and I only have to physically hold on to Sutton.  I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time there!

Oh, and Brett had a very temporary Summer "hair cut."  Sorry, please don't gag!