Field Trip

This weekend we took the kiddos to see the Arch. Brooke is always fascinated by it, so it was time to see it up close. Real close.





There was a really long line to get in and we didn't think our two could wait that long. We just walked around outside.

Nathan did his little Nathan-thing, and took everything in from his stroller. A few Goldfish bought us some more time.



Brooke's favorite part was not the Arch, of course. She loved watching the train and running around everywhere.

Tweet, tweet

We have a bird nest! It's in the bush in our front yard.



We didn't tell Brooke about it until the bird grew up and the nest was empty. She'd want to climb right in there with it. See?


Here the bird is, almost ready to leave the nest.




It's ugly, isn't it??

You know his mama still thinks he's the cutest little bird ever. She probably has a blog about him called "Empty Nest." Or maybe she tweets about him on Twitter.

Well, that's just about enough from me.

Have a great weekend!

Nathan Now

The little dude is almost ONE!! I can hardly believe it.

Nathan's crawling like a crazy man, but not walking just yet. He loves to practice, though.


He's got a few little words, too. He says "hi," "baba," "uh-oh," "Dada," "Dixie," and moos like a cow. His little baby voice is the sweetest! Every now and then he'll throw out "Brooke" or "Mama" but those are a little more rare.

He brushes his hair with his brush and throws and catches a ball. He picks up Brooke's little toy airplane and flies it while making a "shoosh" sound like she does. He loves to try to feed us his food. Pretty sweet stuff.


I can't believe how he's already trying to keep up with Brooke. At the playground, he's up the slide, crawling through the tunnels and riding the animals right next to her.


Back off, I can do it myself! A preview of the 2's??

4th of July

There are some holidays that don't stick in my head from year to year. The 4th is one of them. I mean, I can remember a few things about last year. I was really (REALLY) pregnant. We watched the fireworks from our deck. Brooke, not yet 2, paid absolutely no attention and I spent most of the night waddling around after her. But that's pretty much all I remember. And I don't think I took any pictures. (Gasp!)

I'm writing this one down. That's what this blog is about, right??

So this year, Scot's parents came up and we started the day at church. We sang some old, patriotic hymns--some of my favorites.

After church, naps, etc., Grandma and Brooke made homemade ice cream. I don't think I've had it before, but it is GOOD! Definitely a fan. Brooke was just thrilled to crack eight eggs at once and lick the paddle.



Then outside. Popper-thingies and glow bracelets...


...and trains??

Uh...where's Nate??


Then a little BBQ with burgers, beans, corn on the cob and chips. Nate did this to his hair entirely by himself.


Hi. I smell like baked beans.

After dinner, Brooke's buddy came by and they were seriously pumped for the fireworks. We have a great view of the town fireworks right in our backyard. They ran around yelling "I'm so excited!"

They are about to burst!

Of course, once the fireworks started they didn't watch. See, we have such a good view of the fireworks that the entire neighborhood shows up in our yard to watch. Little Miss would rather chat up the new people than watch fireworks. I couldn't see her because it was dark, but I could see the blur of her glow bracelets as she fluttered around chattering nonstop.



Brooke got to stay up until 10:30. (We paid for that one the next day.) A snuggle with Papa and off to bed.


We won't forget this one. :-)

10 Things About You

Soon-to-be three-year-olds say and do some random stuff. I'm always thinking I should write some of it down for Brooke to read someday. So I did.

So, Brooke, here are 10 funny/sweet/weird/cute things that you're doing right now. I think I could have listed 100. Anyway, here goes...

10. You eat all the bread we take to feed the ducks.


9. You pray and thank God for birthdays, cupcakes, and, with some encouragement, Mommy, Daddy and Nate, "and they can have cupcakes, too!"

8. You're obsessed with trains and cars despite my every effort to make you a girly-girl.

7. You stop in the middle of throwing a fit to tell us you're throwing a fit. (Um, yeah. Thanks for the update.)

6. You think I know everyone's name, what they're doing and where they're going.

5. Playing with Play-doh equals handing me a wad of it and ordering me to make you things. ("Make Lightening McQueen! Make wheels on him! Make him a smiley face!")


4.Two words: DRESS UP!!


3. Your outgoing social-butterfly personality. (You can thank your dad for that one!)

2. You beg to sit in Daddy's car in the garage and listen to his I-Pod.


1. You're a mommy's girl through and through--far and away my favorite. :-)

That's just a little bit of you today. I love all of it and I love you, too, little girl.

Love, me

Simple Stuff

Things have slowed down this week.

No vacations.
No holidays.
No anything out of the ordinary.

We've settled back into our day to day. Fine by me.

Girlfriends

This is the best girlfriend I have ever had. Ever.



We live far apart, but when we're together we pick up right where we left off. We can (and do) talk for hours about absolutely nothing. She always supports me and always gets me. She is the sweetest, kindest person I've ever known. She is such a blessing to me.

Last year we were pregnant with our boys at the same time, due just one week apart. (I swear we didn't plan it!) It was so exciting to go through pregnancy together, to shop, plan and pick out names. One problem: it's hard to travel 5 hours to see your friend when you have a baby. We went a full year without seeing each other, by far the longest in our 20-year friendship.

Last weekend I finally got to meet her little boy.




Isn't he adorable?!?

What a sweet little family she has. I can't think of anyone more deserving.