June 2012- Round 1

The month of June has been absolutely crazy.  We started the month driving from Illinois to South Carolina for our annual trip with the Aranda's.  We had been in Peoria to bury my dear Granny- not a fun trip at all, but did get to spend some time with family and friends that I had not seen in quite some time.  As I sat by the grave site, I thought about how much my Granny has impacted who I am today....and let me tell you....it's all her fault;)  I miss her more each day, but carry on so much of who she was in me!

Reece is standing, cruising and full of personality.  He got his first two bottom teeth and now a few months later, in come the two "vampire teeth"!  He has little fangs.  It's hilarious!  One of the upper middle is showing through now, but still no sign of the other.  I guess he'll fit right in here in 'Bama;)

Splash pad by Grandma Sue's

There is a fun playground right there too!

Parker looks more scared than Reece!

Teaching Holly about Squinkies!

Sarah too!

Let it be known that when Brad and Kim do "Where's Waldo" books....if they can't find him, they Google it!  Cheaters!!!!!!!

On to South Carolina!!  This was the play area in the bedroom the big kids shared!

Reece is loving the beach!

Italian Ice.....Thanks Mr. Mike!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!  Where's my Italian ice???

Sand castles!

Riding the waves in the tube!

Jake, "What games do you play on Iphone?"

Jessica's cousin Sammie, who I met at Jessica's wedding, came along for the trip!  Reece LOVED her (as did the big boys) and we loved having some extra hands with the kiddos!  She even kept them all while the "couples" went out to dinner!!  Thanks Sammie!!

Reece started running fever the night before we left SC....he woke up with this crazy bloody nose in the middle of the night....sheets full of blood.  Poor kid looked like this the morning we left:(  It was a miserable ride home, but we were so grateful to get to get our trip in this year!  With Jessica's dad being so sick last year, the family trip just didn't pan out.  I'm cherishing our time together now more than ever!

So, let's see....Birmingham to Peoria, Peoria to Myrtle Beach, SC and then Myrtle Beach, SC to Birmingham in 7 days.....WOW!!  Did I mention that Reece is a terrible car rider and absolutely HATES his carseat??  Brad drove all but about 3 hours of our trip....probably because it was easier to drive than to entertain Reece;)

December.....just 5 months late....ha!

December- Christmas programs at school and church, Christmas, trip to McWane with Kerrigan and LeLe, New Year's trip to Knoxville to celebrate Christmas and Jen's birthday

                             Just some cute pictures of the big boys in their rain gear!

                                                     Mitchell's Place Christmas Program

 
                                                         First Picture with Santa @ MP

                                               Another Pintrest dare from my friend Monica

Church program- cute shepherds:) Parker sang his little heart out.  I don't think he missed a single word!!  Of course, we did practice on the 30 minute ride to school EVERY SINGLE DAY once we got the practice CD.....that's alot of miles and alot of singing people, let me tell you!!

                                                       And some pretty cute stars too!

                                                            Reece liked all the singing!

Lots of Christmas pictures!

Parker's #1 most wanted gift was Wall Tracks....he by passed that box to get to the stocking where he found some "trashies", which was his other big find!

                                                   All my guys on Christmas Morning!

      There's the purple unicorn that Carson asked for on Christmas Eve Eve:)  He had never mentioned it and then told Santa that it was all he wanted!  Brad insisted that we get a small my little pony to fill the request, but mama knows better.  Go big or go home!!  Later Christmas day, Carson saw the Toys R Us tag on the unicorn and said, "Mama, did you know Santa sometimes has to shop at Toys R Us, maybe because I didn't tell him in enough time to have the elves make it, right?!?!"  Yep, that's it buddy....that's it:)

Holli home from Mongolia- don't you dare smile Carson!  When Holli left that day, Carson had agreed to name the unicorn Millie, but after she left he changed his mind;)

Parker is intently listening to that book Sissy!!

Gramp is telling Reece a story

                                  Carson and Abigail's entry in the cookie decorating contest.

 Carson had been telling JenJen for months that all he wanted was the game Red Rover.....this may have been the last time he touched it!  It was top on his list this year though!

 Patiently waiting on the Mystery Machine....it's not Christmas 'til Gramp says a few choice words trying to get toys out of their packaging;)

hmmmmmmmm, a long lost post....

The first weekend of August:

Grandma Sue was still in town. We were invited to Bebe and Pop's house to hang out, swim and eat- so that everyone could visit with her. It was Reece's first time in the pool- and he didn't mind it near as much as he does the bathtub!

We had a fun-filled last weekend of summer. We went to Chuck E Cheese with the Harbarger and Jones families. The kids really had a great time. Sarah and Harrison have recently realized that the "prizes" are really junk, so they shared all their tickets with Carson, Parker and Emma. I think they all had close to 300 tickets each, so they had a good time "spending" them at the prize counter....getting junk;)

Saturday night we headed out for our first Baron's game. It was also pyropalooza with a big fireworks show at the end of the game. We weren't sure if we'd make it through the whole game, but we were going to try! We met our friend Jojo for dinner and then headed over to Regions Park. Brad's office is right behind the stadium and he suggested we walk through the woods instead of paying for parking!! Really Brad, no matter how short that path through the woods is, I will pay the $$ not to have to push the stroller through the woods!! After 2 innings of the game, and 150 questions of "when can we?" , the big boys, JoJo and I headed to get a snack. Parker picked some crazy color blue ice cream and Carson chose a funnel cake. Poor Carson had to share with mommy, nobody else was interested in the bright blue ice cream!! After a few more innings we headed to the family fun camp, with moonwalks, slides, etc. Daddy stayed with Reece to watch the game;) Once we made ALL THE WAY OVER THERE the boys had a complete melt down and didn't want to play!  What the heck is that about?!?!

The boys started their last year of preschool at Mitchell's Place. Wow! They are growing up! Their class is called the Flamingos...and when you ask Parker about it he'll stand on one foot and say, "Flamingos stand like this!" They had a great first day and when I picked them up I asked how things were and if they liked it. Parker said, "The treasure box is much cooler! Better than in Butterflies!" Carson said, "It was a special day, since we started a new class. Can we go to Dairy Queen for a milkshake since it's a special day?"

Some pictures from the end of summer:

Mitchell's Place Program- last as a Butterfly!

Seeing Abigail again!

Tyler and his boys

Meeting Emma and Aunt Jen Jen

Vacation Bible School

It's been awhile!!

I guess I forgot I had a blog! My last post was in September! WOW! We've been running absolutely crazy- and have not checked up...not even once:) Guess I've missed blogging about all of Reece's 1st's:( We have pictures though!

October brought lots of fun...Pumpkin Patch with our friend Emma, Boo at the Zoo with Pop, a trip to Mobile for our friend Henry's birthday and, of course, Halloween! The big boys wanted to be community helpers...a fireman and a policeman. Parker suggested that Reece could be his fire dog! How could I say no to that?!?!?! Brad also got an opportunity to go to St. Louis for the World Series with Jen and Tyler. They surprised Tyler at school- picking him up early to leave for the game. I think I was more excited than anyone to see Tyler's face....but I didn't get to go.  I was home doing this:

Our Pintrest project (or dare, Monica!!) while daddy was in St. Louis

 Pumpkin Patch .

UAB boys!

Community Helpers:)

Dalmation (another pintrest creation from Monica!)

November- Reece's baptism, our first bowling outing for our friend Jojo's birthday, Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving Christmas decorating and our first visit from the Elf!

                   
                                                                 Gettin' prayed up:)

                                                            With Tyler after the service

Our first bowling outing!!!

                                                                   Thanksgiving pose!

                                                         

                                                          Round 2! Cute shirts from Bebe

Planting the magic seeds Elfie left us! 

Helping put up the Christmas lights!  We have to start as soon as Thanksgiving is over!