Clowing Around

We had a grand adventure to the circus last night and the boys (and us parents too:) loved it! It was so much fun! We got to see the animals up close before the show and Carver got to go down on the floor of the arena to meet some of the clowns and try on some costumes. Memaw sent us to the circus and even fed us dinner before the show. Thanks Memaw!! Both of the boys were so excited and so into everything that was happening. Kayden would not let himself fall asleep despite being obviously tired, he didn't finally pass out until we were in the car on the way home at 9:30! Carver asked as we were leaving, "Can we do this every night?" It was so cute! He was so happy to have gone, and even called Memaw to tell her how much fun he had and to say thanks. What a good boy! I think this will have to become an annual tradition when the circus comes to town. We can't wait fot next year!

Carver and Daddy checking out the elephants.
Kayden and Mommy seeing the elephants.
Carver and Kayden reacting to seeing the tigers playing in the water before the show. They thought that was sooo funny. I thought that was pretty cool too. I've never seen tigers jump around in a pool before, it was pretty cool.
Daddy and his boys excited for the show!
The boys enjoying dinner before the show. I just thought this picture was so funny since the cup Kayden is drinking from is about half the size he is. :)

Carver trying on clown outfits, he looks pretty good, I told him he might just get snatched up to join the circus, I think he thought that might be fun!

Carver with one of the clowns before the show. He was so excited that he went up to this clown all by himself and asked if she would take a picture with him. :)

This was the one part that I missed because I was walking around with Kayden since he couldn't seem to sit still. I'm not bitter or anything but this is the one part I really wanted to see. Doesn't it look so cool? And everytime I bring it up Chris makes sure to tell me just how incredible it really was. Thanks honey!
Carver telling Memaw thanks.

Thank you Memaw! We had a great time!! :)

Who knew this would be so hard?

So, tonight I went to Carver's preschool for open house with the teachers to hear all about the exciting things they will be doing. Can you believe that I was as nervous as if it was my own first day of school? And then sitting there with all of the other parents I just wanted to cry. Where did my baby go? I can't believe that he is starting 3 year old preschool. I feel like this is the beginning of the end. The beginning of my baby really growing up. I don't want to let him go. And this is only preschool 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. Can you imagine my blog the day he starts kindergarten? I will probably break the computer with all of my tears. I never realized just how hard being a mommy would be and that the hardest part would be letting them go and letting them grow. Oh, I have a long road ahead of me!!

When did my sweet little baby boy turn into such a smart and handsome little man?!?!?

The fruits of his labor (or at least his patience)

Carver grew his first tomato. After waiting sooo patiently for it to grow and then to turn red, Carver picked the first of his tomatoes from his tomato plant today and as you can see he was thrilled! So proud of himself. We ate it for dinner, it was really yummy!

Fun with pictures

"Live from Beijing!"


"The gold medal winner with a pefect 10, Kayden!


You know he didn't get this from me! :)


"What a 'grape' face!" Okay, I know that was cheesy!


"Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! Or Carver!" :)

Mighty Mississippi

We had a grand adventure on the mighty Mississippi today as we took a ride on the Channel Cat, a water taxi here in the QC. The boys loved it, as you can clearly see. Grandma Kathy came along as we were celebrating her birthday (a little late:). It was a beautiful day to be out on the water and the boys enjoyed the fresh air, the fun of the being on the water, the many ducks, and the jet skier who was riding the waves behind the boat.

A great day had by all and two very worn out boys sleeping soundly tonight. :)

Singing in the rain

Okay, so the rain had stopped but the boys insisted on putting on their rain boots and splashing in puddles.

Just some random pictures

Okay so no comments, seriously?!?!? Come on people!! I am a Stay at home mom, I'm already hurting for adult conversations and interaction, throw me a bone here!

Anyway, you don't really deserve it but her are some random pictures from the last several days. Enjoy!










Kayden really enjoyed his spaghetti and being the clown that he is decided that it would look even better on his head. We of course laughed, big mistake! Since then every meal has ended up on his head!












We're gearing up for football season. Go Hawks!! We're teaching the kids how to tailgate young, here's Carver playing bags.
















For as smart as this kid is he could not figure out why he shouldn't stick his arm all the way down in the toy, he got it stuck about 3 times before he finally realized that was probably not too smart.










Daddy and Carver doing one of their favorite things, reading books! The shirt that Carver is wearing is another story, that was Chris's favorite shirt when he was Carver's age. :)










Mommy and her boys enjoying the zoo. I love this age and stage for each of them, even when they make me crazy. Oh if I could just keep them so small and so enthusiastic about everything.


You have to see this video. The boys were having ice cream sundaes when Carver decided that he should "help" Kayden with his. You have to watch all the way to the end, it is priceless! Oh and yes, the ice cream did end up on Kayden's head when all was said and done. :)

Pregnant? With a girl?

Uh..... NO!!

Okay, so we have just become aware that rumors are flying that we are pregnant and that we are not only pregnant but apparently far enough along to know that we are having a girl.

I think that people's imaginations are running away with them. They must really want us to have a baby girl! :)

We find this absolutely hilarious, kind of (I'll explain that next) considering we are not even thinking about having another baby right now. Not even considering it! We have talked about it and have decided that for now we are very happy with our 2 boys and that they keep us busy enough. So, we figure if the desire hits us in a year or two we'll talk about it then and see how we feel about it. We're not ruling it out yet, we just don't think we're ready at this time to add to our family.

The part that is not hilarious about this to me as a woman who is just like every other woman in the world and totally self conscious about my body is the wondering "Did someone see me and think that I not only looked pregnant but looked at least 5 months pregnant (the common time in a pregnancy to find out the sex of your baby)?" This is a bit bothersome to me considering I have lost about 80 lbs. in the last year or so since Kayden was born and I am running 30 miles a week and currently training for a half marathon.

We have no idea how these rumors got started (or how they spread so quickly for that matter!) and we are flattered that people obviously think that we make beautiful children and therefore want us to make another one, a girl this time! But we are pretty happy with our family right now and I am working too hard on me and on training right now to even think about wrecking my body (not that it wasn't 100% worth it and I wouldn't trade any of my imperfections caused by pregnancy for my 2 perfect boys!) to have another baby right now.

So we'll let you know if we reconsider anytime soon or if we decide in the future that we want to add another blessing (by the grace of God) to our already adorable and totally perfect (I'm a little biased) family.

In the meantime, maybe we can get some comments on this post if I pose this question....

What do you think? Should we (someday) add to our family?

*Disclaimer - Your thoughts and opinions probably won't sway our decision but it's always interesting to hear what other people think, especially when it's our closest family and friends!

Say Booger!

Okay, so you have to watch the video below to understand what I mean by "Say Booger!" but trust me it's pretty funny! The boys have been busy, well.... being boys! They've been splashing in puddles, playing in the dirt and going for bike rides (Carver riding, Kayden just cruising in his convertible).

Date Night, Happy Birthday Riley, and Olympics!!

We had a date night tonight. I know, can you believe it?!?!? It doesn't happen too often but when it does we are so grateful and we fully enjoy it. Thank you to my mom who so generously gave up her Friday night to watch the boys for us. :) So, we are home now after enjoying a great dinner and a movie. We saw "The Dark Knight" and it was awesome! If you haven't seen it you must go see it! It is just unreal how good it is! Heath Ledger lived up to every bit of hype surrounding his performance and it was just and all around good movie.



Next, I have to say....... HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!!! I know, I know, Riley probably won't be reading this anytime soon but it doesn't change the fact that he really is/was our first baby, even if he is a little furrier than our other boys. :) I can't believe that he is 7 today!! He was a part of our family from the very beginning and we love him!! Here are a few pictures of our Riley from when he was just a baby until now being a great big brother and furry friend to our other babies.


So enjoy your meaty bone and extra treats today Riley. You deserve every bit of being spoiled. Happy Birthday!!

Next, the Olympics!! I just love the Olympics but especially the Summer Olympics. I don't really care about all of the politics and protests surrounding the Olympics. I am an athlete and I truly understand how hard all of these athletes have worked just to be a part of these Olympics. They deserve to get to compete, to be showcased and to have every opportunity to win the gold medals that they deserve. I, of course, especially enjoy the softball games but I also love the swimming, track, and gymnastics among many other sports. Support our athletes, cheer them on, and enjoy the next couple of weeks, the summer Olympics only happen every 4 years, take it all in!

On a side note, I have to mention this..... My boys apparently are local celebrities!! Today at the pool the local news taped them saying "Hello" to the Quad Cities and they showed it at the end of the news. I wish I had a way of posting it here, it was soooo cute! No promises but you should be able to see it here... you have to go to the very end of the newcast. :)


Have a great weekend!! I'll get you some fresh pictures at the end of a fun, goofy, exhausting, beautiful weekend!

I wanna be like.......Carver :)

Kayden is really starting to show his personality and have his own opinions. It is so neat to see the little man that he is already becoming even at just 15 months. Most of all though, it is fun to see him try to do everything that big brother Carver does. As much as they fight, Kayden wants to be just like Carver.

This is how Kayden insists on sitting at the table now most meals, no highchair, no booster, no way, he must sit like a big boy in Carver's chair.

This was Kayden this afternoon, wearing Carver's backpack and hat. He was so proud to look like Carver. :)

Wearing Carver's pajama shorts before bed tonight and of course wearing Carver's hat too. Kayden loves to wear Carver's hats and if Carver is wearing a hat Kayden has to too.

This one is my favorite. As we were getting the boys in jammies tonight Kayden stole Carver's Thomas the Train underoos and made Chris put them on him (over his diaper and onsie of course:). He was so cute running around in them all evening. He even went to bed with them on.

Kayden has his own little personality and in a lot of ways he is totally different than Carver was at that age. He is Kayden and I love that!!

But, for now, Kayden wants to be just like his big brother. And you know what? That's fine by me. Carver may have his 3 year old moments but overall he is a very sweet, very smart little man and I would be proud to have Kayden be like Carver when he is 3(with his own little quarks and interests of course:).

My baby is growing up. :( Everyday brings new lessons and something new to smile at. :) I'll enjoy every moment of it!

Success!

Yeah, I was finally able to upload some new pictures!! My mom took the boys for a while to give me a break (thanks mom!) so after cleaning the house (who would have thought I would find that relaxing!) I have the rare opportunity to update the blog in the middle of the day! Just some random pictures from the last few days. Enjoy!

I love this picture. Can you see them saying, "Please, mom, can we go outside and play now?!?!?"
"Enough with the pictures mom!"








And now introducing the next Micheal Phelps! ;) Carver found my cap and goggles last night as he was getting ready to get in the tub. Doesn't he look cute? He was even showing off his swimming skills in the bathtub. I had to choose the pictures to share carefully though, this is a G rated blog! :)

And just because I rarely appear, I thought I'd make a surprise visit myself. The boys and I were just enjoying some quiet time before bed when Carver asked Daddy to take our picture. I love my boys, I know I say that all of the time, but I love them! Even when they wear me out they are still the light of my life and I am so lucky to have 2 healthy, happy, sweet, adorable boys.