10 Months!

How can it be that our baby will be 10 months old tomorrow!?!!? He makes us smile all day long! And now that he is crawling we are really seeing his personality even more...he is such a people person...he will now follow you out of a room...(Wonder where he gets that from!?!?!? :) )

He is all about his sister's toys when she is playing so we are working on being kind and loving our brother and sharing...He's like a "bull in a china shop"... :)

He loves to chow down and enjoyed real spaghetti tonight for the first time...Yumm Yummmm!

Splash Day and a GeeeeTar

We started the morning off with a "Family MJ Dance Party" listening to all his music and thinking back to our childhoods (it's so sad on so many levels...) Carter did his rendition of "the worm" during the party...don't you just love the shoes someone passed down to us...too cute!

Then we split up girls and guys again...Daddy went to pick up his Father's Day Gift...a guitar from his friend who sold it to us cheap! And M and I went to "Splash Day" with our friends! Thanks for hosting Cara and Dana! It is all Mallory has talked about today since we got home...even though she was super shy while there! :)

Full Day of Fun!

What a full day! Mal and I got to go on a fun playdate with friends today and when we got home the cousins and Uncle Matt were here with Daddy and Carter! What a nice surprise! We had a yummy lunch date and playtime before they headed home...

Then the kids had a pre-dinner swim on our porch and Aunt Suzy came by after work...Mike grilled our dinner as the kids enjoyed the water...

Aunt Susan had the cool idea to put the slide into the pool...Mallory had a blast! Susan even stayed after dinner when I left for my 2nd MNO this week (feeling so spoiled!) and helped Mike with bedtime...Gotta love the summer...although we are having more Time Outs and "discussions" as of late...but I love having more time to be together as a family and enjoy each other's company! :)

The "Hearth" of the Matter

Someone is super proud of his new skills....wait for it.... wait for it...

"The pose"! :) Our little guy cracks us up and has us on our toes these days!

Daddy Day

We let Daddy sleep in, but after Mallory had made her card she couldn't stand it any longer...we had to wake him up @ 9am! We then took him out to breakfast (his favorite meal of the day!)

We enjoyed some time outside in the front yard while Mike put the carseats back in the van (the van made the voyage north this weekend) He wasn't supposed to do anything today...and he listened except for that! We are super excited to have the van back though! So roomy!

Blanket Time and Car Time...

There goes Sissy up in the tree....won't be long before Carter can join in the fun!

And now I'm in the tree and get to take an "artsy pic...."

We had a great day celebrating all that Mike is to us and doing relaxing things that he enjoys like walks, just being still, and hanging out! We are so blessed by him each day! I am so grateful my kids have him to watch and learn from...Happy Daddy's Day! :)

Cashing In

Mike will be "cashing in" on his Father's Day of spoiling tomorrow since he was driving home from RI on Sunday...(and today I had a Work Day for school)....We love you so much and appreciate all you do for us! You love us so well! (I love the above pic of Mallory draping her arm over him at Busch Gardens...that girl loves her Daddy!)

We love bedtime now bc it's so cozy with all 4 of us up on Mal's bed reading books and praying together... :)

Father's Day

We had a fun day celebrating PaPa on Sunday! Thanks for all you do for our family!

The kids enjoyed the pool in the yard before dinner...

Mallory was all about the golf on TV..."Look at him...it's his turn! They are taking turns!" Maybe we have a future "Tigress" on our hands!

And Aunt Suzy worked her magic in the kitchen once again for a yummy meal!

And here are the kids playing in the pool...Carter was all about it! (It was shallow so he could be on his belly...) He even does his "side pose" when in the water...

3 on 2!

Mike went on a whirlwind trip to RI this weekend and the kids and I headed to MiMi and PaPa's for a Retreat of sorts. It was a wonderful weekend and I felt so "at home" and had lots of extra help! It was better than a "Man to Man Defense"...it was 3 on 2! We made lots of memories! Mallory caught her first lightning bugs and put them in a cage for her bedroom on Fri. night...so neat to see her catching (well us doing most of the catching), but doing the same things I did as a child in that very yard and then sleeping in my old room! And it was fun for me to sleep in the same room as Carter...love to hear him and watch him wake up! :)

Commando Check Up

Carter had his 9 month check up today...even though he is almost 10 months old! He now has 5 teeth and can do the army crawl. He def. doesn't like it when he is told "no" and something is taken away from him....he is into everything these days! We have to be careful of what he is picking up and putting into his mouth....But he is so much fun!

Stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 2 oz 75%tile

Height: 90%tile

It's neat to see what things the kids are doing around the same time. Mallory was beginning to crawl when she was his age...but her stats were different! (Click here.)

Here is Carter "Commando"....the pinwheel had been taken from him earlier...not the best thing for him to chew on...but the "forbidden fruit" is such a good motivator for crawling!

Anchor for the Soul

The toy bins became boats this morning during our playtime and reminded me of a scripture I love:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

~Hebrews 6:19

Cool and Cloudy

We had planned our 2nd trip (free!) to Busch Gardens for today since it was Daddy's first official day of summer, but the weather didn't look so good...but we decided to venture out anyway with a low chance of rain....When we got there it started to drizzle so we put rain coats on everyone...but it stopped as soon as we got to the gate and it was cool and cloudy all day...kinda nice and more like Spring than Summer!
Here is Mallory half way through our day...We saw a cool animal show and then we went to the other kid area in the park first which was way bigger and had a huge tree house and rides she could ride...so fun! We of course stopped by to see our Sesame Street friends on the way out...she was having so much fun she didn't fall asleep this time until...

The 2nd we hit the parking lot to leave at 4:30 we looked down and saw this....hilarious!

She didn't even wake for the transfer...can't remember the last time she did that! She was "plum tuckered out" from all the excitement of the day...

Carter enjoyed the day too from the comfort of his stroller (eating, napping, and smiling) and made my day by saying, "MaMaMaMa" for the first time...Can't wait until he can say it and mean it! :) What a fun family day!

Rainy Day of Play

We woke up to a downpour this morning (totally unexpected!) and it was my first time keeping a couple of kids from church again this summer (one day a wk). We had to scratch our "Swim Team" morning and did lots of fun stuff inside....very cozy! I brought down the rug from Mallory's room so we would have something to lay on in the Fam Room...(doesn't match, but will do til we find one for in there...)

I can't believe I got paid today! These kids doted on M all day long! So sweet! I even ventured to Chickfila for lunch (what a "Mad House"...but we had coupons for everyone...everyone ate for free, but me!) Got to see several friends there....And people kept looking at me and smiling and saying, "Wow! You've got your hands full!" Mothers of 4+ are amazing...it's a lot to keep up with! When they prayed for our meal they prayed for Mallory to have fun in the playroom there...she had never been and had a blast! I thought that was such a cute thing to pray for! Then after naptime we finally headed to the pool for a swim!

And here is an aerial view of our new room (it's almost done)....hope I can sleep tonight...def. too hyper to sleep last night! So much change! It's like the "Butterfly Effect:" change one thing change everything... :)

Short Straw

The guys def. drew the "short straw" today...thanks for all your work!!! Carter enjoyed his first real swim today...very pensive!

And half the floor is down in the fam room... :) It was a bit trickier than the salesman had us believe! Now all the furniture is on the laminate side for tomorrow...we really appreciate all of PaPa and MiMi's help and couldn't be doing this without them!

I'm just so excited to have a floor that will be easier to maintain...with our family and Before and After Care there is a lot of traffic for our carpets to handle in these 2 rooms...

When we got home for dinner the kids were excited to see the progress as well... :)

Demolition Part I

What a glorious sound to hear the carpet rip ripping! Demolition Part I has begun! The padding under the carpet said 1999...no wonder the carpet was a little g-r-o-s-s...it's 10 yrs old! Can't wait to see the floor redone! MiMi and Mallory have already headed over to the pool and Carter and I will head over too after morning naptime so the house will be kid-free for the men to work!

Splish Splash It's Summer!

Yay! It's summer! We scrubbed the pool this morning during Carter's morning nap and got all sorts of soaked so we jumped in with our clothes on! Then when Carter woke up he got to go take a dip in his jammies! (Since I hadn't dressed him for the day anyway!) He enjoyed his first swim and reacted similarly to his sister when she was his age. (Click here for pics.) We have been using the Bumbo for bathtime for him so we don't have to hold onto him the whole time...it wobbles a bit and you have to steady it sometimes, but it sure beats holding a slippery baby up the whole time! Bathtime is so much fun now with 2! And pool time as well! Mallory kept saying, "This is amazing Momma! and Splash me in me eyes!" Fun summer times ahead! :)

Fire Marshall Mal

"Let me tell you something!!!" (In Living Color) We went with our neighborhood friends today to a FREE class at a gym in the area...the theme was "Fire Fighters"...The above pic was when we listened to the story after making a fire picture during craft time...

After the story they hid Dalmatians and fire hats throughout the gym for the kids to find...

Carter enjoyed watching all the action as tons of 2 yr olds ran around the gym....and there were 2 Mallorys in the class! Craziness! :)

And here she is with her "fire hose" putting out fires around the gym...

2 in a Tent

I love seeing the kids play together...I think it is so "quwoot" ("cute" as Mal would say).

After Dinner Entertainment

Daddy drew portraits of the fam after dinner tonight...I didn't have the camera out in time to capture mine...SADness!

Carter chillin on his side like always these days...

Can't wait...only 4 more days til summer! :)