dear bro,

dear bro,

you are fourteen months now, and you've grown and changed so much. here's the latest and the greatest on our little dude...

• we taught you how to do, "so big." and i just love it when your hands fly into the air.
• we taught you how to make the elephant sound too. it's just too precious.
• on april 2nd, i cut out your last day feeding. we were left with just your night feeding.
• and on april 10th, i cut our your very last feeding...bittersweet for me, but you did just fine. it's always harder on the mom, isn't it?
• our mama c. came to visit us this month, but i'm afraid i didn't take one photo...yikes!
• we've attempted the two nap to one nap transition, but i'm afraid that it's a little too soon. somedays we fail miserably.
• you are a master food thrower. could you please stop?
• and you've gotten pretty good at milk spitting too. emma tells me that she is going to teach you how to stop doing these things :)
• you've got some separation anxiety. you grip onto to me tightly when we go to the gym, and you cry when i leave. it breaks my heart.
• you've got the saddest little cry...

• but, when i come back, you clap, which makes me smile.
• you are still just crawling, but you've got a big sister who just crawls along with you...

• you still sleep a solid 12 hour night. the naps vary. sometimes it's two. sometimes it's just one. either way, our evenings are usually pretty rough.
• both of y'all are more than ready for baths and bed at 6:30.
• all sizes and shapes are the same as last month :)
• you've got a sister who loves you very much. it's like you were blessed with two momma's. although, she kind of like a mom x 1000. she's always cheering you on and is always so, so proud and excited about all of your little accomplishments. it's fun to watch y'all together :)

• miss emma keeps a close eye on you too. she always lets me know when you're stepping out of line.
• you love your milk. you chug, chug, chug.
• you eat all table food, but your favorites are cheese and fruit.
• and you love to be outside. sitting in the grass, under the sunshine, makes you happy.

We love you little bro. Emma and I were talking the other day, and I thought that you might want to know that she wishes you could be zero again. She liked it when you were little and we could just hold you. She brought tears to my eyes. You've grown up too fast, and so has she.

We love you both.

stuck like glue ::part 2::

we finished up our weekend at the beach.

it was buddy's very first trip.

here's our soul sister. she loves this song too. she loves it so much that i started calling her, "soul sister." it fits her just perfect. and to think that we were worried about a lack of nick names for our kids.

the beach was fun.

it's always fun.

and the photos you bring home are the best.

at least that's my favorite part.

bro is still not walking...

but we've been practicing.

he's the fastest little crawler i've ever seen.

i'm sure he's decided, "why walk when you get to do this?"

soul sister could have stayed all day. i once knew a little girl who could dig in the sand all day. pure heaven.

i packed a picnic on the beach for all of us.

and bro-bro enjoyed his lunch...

with his daddy :)

we had a few moments like this...

i quickly realized that we had one sleepy baby on our hands and no showers. fantastic. we had packed it all....shampoo, body wash, towel, change of clothes, and even the kitchen sink. just kidding. our plans to shower before dinner went out the window. can we say nightmare? hurricane ike (2008) still has it all shut down. leave it to me to find a boarded up beach house for sale with a shower head in the car port.

yes we all showered there and no we didn't get busted.

i bet you're just loving that visual.

post trespassing shower, we ended up at kemah boardwalk...

it's always touristy, but fun.

carson took his first ride on the carousel.

and emma managed to find a reindeer to ride. she was in heaven.

here's our attempt at a together pic...

seafood was on the list for dinner...

emma got a butterfly balloon animal and when the pink balloon popped, rob convinced her it was a ladybug.

buddy got a blue bear...

but was too tired to care.

he did attempt to color though...

soul sister likes this song too. maybe it's the ukulele that she likes so much? that fits her just perfect too.

here's my favorite ukulele song. it's great for a fine day at the beach. here's hoping your weekend was filled with family fun.

stuck like glue ::part 1::

while you are reading this post, you can cue this music. it's emma's favorite song these days and you can probably tell that these two really are stuck like glue.

she loves him. and she told me the other day that she really loves him with a paci and a sleep sack. i smiled, because i completely agree.

emma sings that song. you know, the one you are listening to now? it makes my heart smile. i wish she could just stay little. little is so fun. we've been at swimming lessons everyday this week. i took this photo on friday. we love fridays, because daddy comes home.

daddy watched her friday swim class, and then we headed here. i picked up chick-fil-a on the way.

so, it was picnic at the park and the fountains all rolled into one.

it made for a happy friday.

miss emma has done wonderfully at her swimming lesson boot camp. we go next week too. heaven help me. i feel like a chauffeur. it's swimming boot camp for her, and chauffeur boot camp for me.

she's already learned to float on her back. i'm super impressed. maybe it will make our trips to the pool a little less stressful.

buddy's not walking yet, so emma crawls along with him. maybe that's why he's lacking motivation.

y'all just got me thinking that maybe they should change the name of stay-at-home-mom to go-go-go-mom. it would be more fitting don't ya think?

the fountains are flowing...

Fountains always make for a fun playdate....don't ya think?

I packed the kids a lunch and we headed out for a morning playdate. These days Carson+blueberries=pure love. seriously.

The girls threw money in the fountains, while Buddy watched ever so closely. He was taking it all in.

Emma consficated some of the coins that didn't quite make it into the fountain...those little arms can fit through anything!

And Little Buddy found a rock, complete with a puddle of water.

Splashing is so much fun!

See?

A FUN playdate in the morning always makes for a LONG afternoon nap :)

Which then makes for one happy momma! Happy early weekend y'all!

red & black on her back

We spend our afternoons catching these little ladies...

Emma is just plain fascinated with them.

We catch them in the unoccupied fields by our house. We pick wildflowers there too.

The little ladybugs crawl all over Emma, and she just loves it. Catching them is like therapy :)

I have these in my front yard, and they are growing pretty well.

Although I am wishing that I had all of these colors...so pretty. I probably should have bought them at the Strawberry Farm, but I didn't.

After we catch the ladybugs, we release them into our vegetable garden.

Which is growing too...

We've got squash, zucchini, cucumber, pepper and tomato blossoms.

We catch frogs too.

Emma just loves that too.

But don't let the bugs and frogs fool ya. She catches them in her sparkle shoes with skinned up legs :)

And Buddy just does his very own thing...

I love his little chunky legs :)

Here's three shots of Miss Emma...

And let's not forget Sunshine...

I hope y'all are enjoying your green grass, ladybugs, frogs, and the garden. Minus the Zyrtec, Claritin, and Alavert, we certainly are :)