1, 2, 3, 4

This month, as Cal turns three, all of the cousins will be ages 1, 2, 3, 4.  So my mom wanted to take them to the photo spot to take pictures of them.   Since my mom is Martha Stewart, she also made t-shirts for the kids and signs for them to hold.  All super cute in theory, right?

I took my boys a few months back to get pictures and they turned out great-- both were happy and cooperated perfectly. 

This time.... Andy was NOT having it.  Like, at all.  We walked in and were greeted by Jackson and Catherine. I am not sure if Andy got scared, or what, but that little nugget started crying and did.not.stop.  He was literally inconsolable.  Hysterical.  A hot freaking mess.  SCREAMING. Are you catching my drift?

After spending time trying to get all 4 kids seated on the floor, we quickly realized that those hopes were far from realistic.  So, I threw out the idea of taking individual pictures of each kid, then getting a frame with four holes to put them together. 

Here is what we got...

 Then, to give Andy a breather, we switched everyone into the shirts my mom made.  This upset Catherine and Andy so much that we weren't even able to get pictures of them, but Cal and Jackson were alllll about cooperating:

1. how crazy cute is this kid??? 2. how can he be (almost) THREE?  3. have I mentioned how much I love him?

Our attempt at all 4...

And, in case your day needs a little pick-me-up, take a gander at some of the Andy out takes....

The funniest part was the second the photographer said "okkkaaayyyyy... let's go plug these into the computer...." Andy cracked a smile and started snickering.  Literally snickering.  Then he got all cheery and ran around the place laughing.  I kid you not.  Clapping his hands, pointing out things, LAUGHING.  At least we tried, right?

 

boys, brothers and boots

(I couldn't come up with a title for this post, and I thought...well, it's about boys....it's about brothers.... and they have on boots.... go figure....)

We have had a great day today!  After the gym, we went to the park to meet some fun friends and we all had a blast.  Andy is getting to a great age for parks and Cal is getting so brave-- and really enjoys playing hard there too.  And, thank the Lord for a little break in the heat-- it is bearable being outside right now!

 After the park, we headed home for some lunch.  Mister Andy finished his lunch and was cracking me up.  I decided to just let him climb (with me nearby...eating), just to see why in the world he was so adamant about...

 He started on the chair, then he leaned into the table, then one knee came up, then he was sitting on the table, then he was standing. On the table.  The above pictures happened in, I kid you not, less than 15 seconds.  I just sat there snapping picture after picture-- and in case you can't tell, I am within arms reach the entire time.  My dad told me he thought I was encouraging this behavior by taking pictures of him... but seriously, how could you not document this??!


After I pulled him off of the table, I decided to let the boys play outside a little bit more before nap time.  They had a BLAST! Cal put on his boots-- his go to shoes when playing outside-- and Andy wanted to wear some too.  I found Cal's old boots that he used to wear constantly and Andy was set to play with his brother. 

These two are really acting more and more like brothers lately.  Cal takes things from Andy, Andy screams, they fight, they can make each other laugh more so than anyone else, and they really so love playing together. A few days ago, Cal came over to me and looked me right in the eye and said "Momma, I love you a lot, but Andy is my best friend, okay?" And I can't even tell that story without getting teary-eyed.  My sweet, sweet boys....

We had such a fun time playing outside.  We came in right at 1 as both boys were yawning.  I put Andy down and Cal looked ready to go too.  After a potty break, he got in bed, and was almost asleep when I finished his second book.  Ahhhhhh, I love a good nap time! I have a million things to get done today... knocking stuff off the list!

15 month check up

Yesterday, we had Andy's 15 month check up.  The last appointment we had there took a while, so I loaded up a bag filled with snacks, books, toys, etc, and I also brought along a huge bin of dinosaurs to help entertain Cal, since he would be joining us as well.  Of course, since I was prepared with activities, this appointment was super quick-- go figure!

Andy put on quite the show for our doctor, showing off his climbing skills on everything in the room.  He did not care much to be weighed/measured and he was really unhappy with the shots.  BROKE my heart.  Cal also got the flu mist while we were there, and he took that without a problem.

Andy is doing great growth-wise... he is in the 85th percentile in both height and weight (and 95th in head circumference....ahem.....).  He weighs 25.7 pounds (which I thought he weighed more than that...), and he is 32.5 inches long. 

After the exam and the shots, we were out of there! Easy as could be!  I tried to take some pictures while we were there, but most of the time was spent catching Andy as he dove off of the chair...repeatedly...

setting up shop for the dinosaurs to attack

they found this thing amazing

still crying, back in the car... how dare that mean nurse stick you??

back home, some good snuggle time, all in one chair, makes everything all better!

SO thankful to have a healthy baby!

Re-visiting Turks

...from the iPhone! I took some pictures with my phone while we were on vacation and since it is monsoon-ing outside today, I am revisiting our vacation through these pictures...

the day we arrived, seeing friends from winston-salem

lunch at the mango reef.....yummmm

rum punch? yes, please. 

walking back from breakfast

not miserable

date night at coco bistro

walking out our patio

ahhhhhhhhhh

Da Conch Shack

 And, several people commented via text/email/comment about the green striped dress...um, thank you! Totally made my day.  The dress is from Anthropologie and if you ever need to feel good about yourself-- wear this dress.  It does amazing things to your rear... just saying. 

awkward stance, but you can see the dress....

 The real world is calling.... but it was fun dreaming about this trip!


 

A Circus Act

I often describe my life as a circus act.  Really, all you can do is laugh.  So I am going to share with you some pictures to demonstrate my point...feel free to laugh.  (and THIS is why God invented wine!)

Just, you know, chilling with a bucket on my head.  Hard to look smart doing this....

 Trying to walk in Lightning McQueen slippers.  Apparently he refused to remove these when Mimi stayed here....

Wrestling match with Mickey...typical...

Ignore me while I type out this email real quick...

 Let's ALL watch dad mow the yard...and even though there are TWO windows, we must all look through the same one....

 See this picture? Looks like all fun and games.... see the gash on Andy's head in previous post? That (the gash) was a result of this fun, brotherly time....

 Because Mama ca not be trusted to shop without her helper...who eats the cookies and tries to push with his belly....

 *Someone* learned how to get up on chairs....

*Someone* does it ALL.THE.TIME. now...and refuses to hang on to anything... and tries to dance....all while perched on a chair.....

 This is meal time around these parts...maybe I should change this post title to ZOO life...

And after dinner....*someone* learned how to crawl up on the table....

For the record, Cal has NEVER gotten up on the table, and would never even attempt it.  Andy attempts it every single second we are downstairs...literally. 

Can't turn your back around here for long...


I also got a video of Andy standing on a chair in the middle of the kitchen dancing to "All The Single Ladies." I'll spare you on here, because while I was filming, he stood on one leg and shimmied, and I shrieked because it is scary to see your one year old standing on a chair on one leg while dancing...amiright?


Tomorrow night we are having dinner with another couple and their two kids, and a realllllly good friend and her husband, who are expecting their first in a few months... I am kinda worried they are going to be re-thinking their choice to have kids after this dinner!


Just get some clown shoes and pour yourself some wine, sistah!


(is it Friday yet??)

Andy's first haircut

We got home from our trip on Friday night, and I had Andy at The Barbershop on Monday morning...!

I promised my mother in law to wait to cut his hair until she came to keep the boys so she could see his curls one more time.   And, boy, does he have some curls! They are all in the back, and they really are sweet.  Until his hair gets wet...then it is straight up a mullet.  haha! When his hair is dry, the curls are precious... although they were starting to lose some of their curl, and really, it was just getting out of control!

Cal and I took Andy in for his first haircut, and I was sort of hoping that Andy would react the same way Cal did for his first haircut.  Well he didn't.  Cal sat frozen, literally, the entire time.  I was asked midway to sit in the chair to "restrain your son." HA! I didn't take him to Peek A Do, so maybe that was my problem....next time.....

Any way, here are some pictures before and after... there really isn't much  of a difference.  She just took a little off of the ends to take away the mullet-ness of the hair.


 Before:

 During:

Andy and Jenny....thankfully she was VERY patient!

 And after it was all over.... cleaned up a bit! (notice the gash on his head?? nice, right? That was a brother spat.)

We survived the first haircut.... it wasn't easy :) This kid is a wild one, to say the least! When he started bucking in my arms and flailing his arms around, we had to take a little break.  Lord, help me! hahahaha