Memorial Weekend

We decided to stay put for the weekend so Saturday Bradley and I went to the movies to see Rio! It was super cute and the perfect date with him.

Ready to go Mom!

Our day date picture! The movie was super cute and it was nice to sit, relax and hear Bradley giggle so much and to be able to join in with him without taking care of the younger ones.

We came home and shared our popcorn with Gavin. He calls it “PoppyO” In fact he adds an O or an A to the end of a lot of words. On Sunday we got Panera for lunch and headed to the shaded park. I forgot my camera that day though.

Monday, Memorial Day, we got our Memorial Day gear on. I did not take nearly enough pictures. We grilled outside with our friends Adam and Lacey and Bradley and Gavin enjoyed the slip – N- slide! Oh and after seeing the below picture I am totally going to get a good spray tan this week.

This morning Liz and Kristen came over for coffee and monkey bread. The kids had a great play date while we chatted away. We were saying our last and official good bye to Kristen because she is moving to Florida tomorrow. She will definitely be missed but we are very excited for her and her family.

Gavin playing “Roar” and you can see him saying it.

While Easton smiled and enjoyed his tummy time.

Then the peaceful playing from both of them didn’t last long. Gavin tried to yank him up and when he couldn’t carry him, he just…kerplunked on him!!

Then what story of mine these days would be complete without ice cream!! Seriously, this is what happens when Daddy goes to the grocery store. Not my doing but I always can’t resist the pictures. There is something about ice cream on a warm summer evening.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Our Memorial Day was spent just perfectly with military friends. Brad and Adam have both deployed like over 20 times probably between the two of them and God has protected them and sent them home to us safely. As we sat down to eat we thanked God for his mighty hand in all of their deployments but prayed for the families of military men and women who did not return home. They were having a different memorial day honoring the memory of their loved ones.

I am so thankful for the sacrifices Brad has made for our country. It is an amazing and noble thing that he and all of our military do for us to provide us with the freedom that our country stands for. Although that freedom was once robbed from us we are regaining it back and my husband I know played a role in that.

God Bless Our Military! The Fallen, the Wounded, the Veterans, the Active Duty….all of them!

Marbles

Today we went to Marbles Museum in Raleigh.  I had known about it for a while but just never took advantage and with no major plans for Memorial weekend we decided it would be a good day.  It turned out to be so AWESOME.  It was smaller than I thought but there is so much exploration, creative thinking and playing for the kids to do around every corner. 

Here the boys are playing in the town. 

  

This sign and phone is so appropriate and fun.  I am glad Gavin is answering the call of his childhood.  He had fun running and seeing so many things at his level.

He kept saying “choo-choo.”

This is a glimpse into our future once Bradley turns 16!! Red convertible for the redheads!

Looking for land in the pirate ship.

 

I presume this pirate is not feeling this outfit! Role playing may not turn out to be his thing unlike his older brother Bradley. 

Submarine command center. 

I thought this was SO cool.  You can make a paper airplane and throw it on the landing strip to hit the target.  The employees at Marbles get all into it and everyone roots you on and claps from above and below. 

Bradley and Daddy’s paper airplane. 

Here you put together your own race car with the parts they supply and set them up and pull the lever to GO!.  Bradley had so much fun here and Gavin loved to catch them at the end. 

 

From this point on my camera battery was dead.  There were so many more cool things I missed out on snapping a photo of.  I do want to remember about this day that Bradley was really excited to play with Daddy.  He kept saying “Come on Daddy, lets go, check this out!” Also, in the ball pit Gavin kept going up to random grown up and giving them balls, saying “ball.” They both liked playing in the moneypalooza area with the dogs.  Pretending to walk them, bathe them, feed them.  I am not taking that as a sign though! ha! This area is neat to show them the value of money.  Everything in it was jobs and they had large laminated money so the kids could pretend and pay each other.  It will be a great place to go as they get older too. 

Here are a few pictures from earlier this week.  More ice cream time on the porch.  These boys are not lacking in the ice cream treat department. 

Easton hung out with us too.  I had to put a picture of him since I didn’t get any of him today at the museum. 

Gavin at 19 months old

Well, I feel like there is one way to sum up this little guy, he is just the best, but of course, I will elaborate.   It started off rocky with him being a very colicky baby but he certainly has changed for the better and his little personality amazes us everyday.

After an attempt by Liz and I to get him in a sudsy bucket bath outside for pictures.  He wanted this favorite red bat (that we have seen many times before in pictures in the backyard) so the suds in the bucket were not on his agenda.  He hopped out and ran bare bottom to play!

Perfectly positioned bat with his mommas pale skin that’s for sure!

He is our little monkey climber. 

 

A sweet little lover boy.  I can already see he has a great heart!

We went to the park tonight to make this 19 month gig official!

Who me?  19 months old, couldn’t be!  Yes, You!!

He is getting so big and so smart, we think! wink! He is definitely saying over 50 words.  He just keeps them coming everyday and catches on to new words so it is hard to keep track.  Some of his fav’s are, car, ball, water, blankie, night, faci (paci), wove you (love you) , mommy, daddy, bradwee (Bradley) , baby, truck, trash, cool (school), uh-oh, fall, frog, poopy and outside.  The list goes on!

 

While picking flowers, he can say that too!  He has started to get attached to a blankie lately, within the past week.  We tested this by trying to use his blankie and he got very angry, cried and was hitting our heads when we laid on it.  Oh my! He does not like to be pushed around.  He loves HUGS more than kisses!

I know I said he is so great, the best and all that warm fuzzy stuff but he definitely has his fare share of the “toddler tantrums” or meltdowns.  His fiery red hair is made known in these instances! Then he is over it very quickly and it is nothing that isn’t to be expected with children his age.  Really!! He is caught in the middle of wanting to go and know and then not understanding or being held back so it is all part of the learning curve. 

Handsome, walking tall and happy. 

He likes to ask questions, like “Where’s my ____?” or “What’s that?”

He is getting pretty talented at the playground.  No fear is his motto!  He is graceful and careful most of the time which amazes me too. 

 

He is our “Gavin wavin chunky boys” and we love him so!!

During the photos, he had fun pushing Chase in the stroller.  He definitely thinks he is a big boy and it shows.  Chase enjoyed it and actually tonight he started saying Chase’s name too.  “Chasey” to be exact.  He says a lot of people’s names actually but not his own.  He said it ONCE and I have been trying ever since. 

Like his younger brother he loves peek-a boo, piggy’s and patty cake.  He also loves a family favorite, Johnny Boy. 

It is so hard to tell everything but I have to stop somewhere.  I could go on forever……….

Being bad has never been so CUTE!

Sometimes I wonder if there is something in the middle of cute and bad. Excluding Easton, he can never really be bad at this age but with Gavin and Bradley it is either super cute or getting into mischief. Whether it is together or separately.

As a mom I feel like I am either saying " they are so cute” to Brad or I am telling him something they did that was wrong and how “we need to work on this.” When it comes to one or the other of us being called into the room about one of the boys it is either saying “honey, you have got to come see this, it is so CUTE and bring the CAMERA” or “ You would not believe what he did” or worse than that ”come quick, I need your help, it’s BAD”

For example, while I was just typing this Bradley tried to sit on Easton while he was being a lion (bad) and Easton just smiled (cute).

Here are a few pictures of how these two opposite dynamics occur in our house. When you are done looking you will see how being bad has never looked so cute before!

I know a lot of you moms out there would agree with me. Of course their are other things that happen that are not either, bad or cute. Like, sweet, sad, whining, tired, and craziness but pretty much bad and cute seem to win and all others can fit into those two categories.

Or, I am just really searching for a way to find a way to tie all these pictures in. Instead of just saying “these are the pictures I had on my camera” Like them? ha! We didn’t do something amazing but really they are AMAZING because they are our kids and what brings us more joy than our children.

These are the simple things, whether cute or bad that keep us going and that make us joyful every single day. Our children give us purpose far greater than I think we even can understand at times.

Here we GO……

He gets his hand stuck under him at times when he rolls.

Bradley picks him up and it does make me nervous at times.

Put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care!

We helped Daddy do yard work on Friday. Brad really loves seeing these two already interested in yard work! He is seeing less work for himself in the future I am sure.

While Bradley was going poo (to put it nicely) he yells ”Mom, Gavin is eating toothpaste!” So, I go to check it out and sure enough he is. Now, this happens because Bradley instigates. We have told him not to let Gavin in the bathroom with him. He already says “Gavin, come on, come on, shhhhh, come in here with me” then he shuts the door, locks it, tells him where things are and then calls me and tells on him. See, what I mean? BAD!

But then Gavin with blue toothpaste is CUTE. He ate most of it.

Now because of this little toothpaste eating stinker pictured above, we had to rearrange our living room.

He could actually hoist himself onto the railing ledge that drops off to the stairs. So, needless to say that is VERY dangerous. The rearranging does not fit but it is safe. The long couch was moved where the small one was. Notice the new hideout or fort they now have. I actually did SPANK Gavin after telling him “NO” about climbing on the couch but he just got his feelings hurt for a second and then did it again. Once caught, he would be tickled with himself and laugh. He was bad but thought he was cute! He is a tough little cookie this one! We are going to leave the furniture like this until he gets older and understands boundaries better. I don’t know if it is just his age right now but he is not catching on in regards to consequences for his actions. I remember, Bradley responded to reasonable spankings and time outs at this age. Oh, Gavin!

The little couch is under the window where there used to be nothing. It fits into the little nook perfectly.

There is now nothing under this half wall where the long couch used to be. Nothing is centered anymore with the pictures but I have peace of mind instead of a neat living room. This is now just a nice open area for them to play and run laps!

Last night the boys enjoyed corn on the cob for dinner.

“CORN!”

Yesterday I walked into the room to find this. I had left him on his back. Remember when I said he gets his arm caught. Well, he decided to just model with it! This was one where I had to call Brad in the room to see how cute he was.

Smiling at Daddy above!

Bradley wanted to be a model too!

So cute how he just sinks into the bed and his humungous cloth diaper makes him look like he has his mommy’s big butt butt! That is what Bradley had named it anyway. My “big butt butt” !

Today we went to see the parked trains in the historic part of town. There was a big festival going on with live music and vendors. It was really hot so we didn’t stay too long. Things are heating up for the summer!

Bradley wanting to get inside the red train.

That is about all for now! Excuse me if I did not make any sense at all but one thing is true, they are each CUTE to us!