Birthday Boy #3

I have yet to put up any actual birthday pictures of the boys, so we'll go in reverse order this time and let Graham be first. He turned one on June 28th. No big party--just us and a baby cake from Dillon's which suited him just fine. He is getting a new car seat for his birthday--waiting for Target to restock. (I have a cake eating video that won't load right now, but I'll try to add it again later.)

"Let's get this party started! Why did you take off my shirt?"

"Hmm...not bad...where's my fork?"

"Yum!"

"Frosting...tasty! Mom, is this homeade?"

"Actually, I'd rather just pick these little dots off."

New clothes from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Harlan. Looking like a big boy. (Miles ripped this gift open, ripped off the tags while Owen immediately stripped Graham. We had him suited up in about 30 seconds). He got birthday money from his other grandparents and aunts/uncles. He is saving it for new clothes this fall.

ONE!

Happy Birthday, Graham! It's hard to believe a whole year has passed with Graham in our lives. For the most part, he's been a very easy baby. At one year he is: walking, drinking real milk and eating man food with his 8 teeth--including two big pancakes every morning, making lots of sounds but only saying "Mama", still sitting in his baby carseat (due to laziness on his mom's part), sleeping through the night (just this week, don't jinx it).

He loves: swimming/baths, his baby friends/girlfriends, eating things like sticks, rocks, and chalk, emptying the bathroom trash and looking for treasures, taking all of my bracelets out of the drawer, crawling on the fireplace, and following the bigs around.

My favorite things: he's going through a "Mommy only" phase now, he sucks his right thumb only, he pretty much falls asleep instantly when he gets his blue blanket--the afghan with all the holes in it, and he lets me dress him how I want. But my absolute favorite thing is how much Owen and Miles love him and how he adores them. They are AWESOME big brothers!

Newborn.
Fall 2010--3 or 4 months old.
Winter 2010-2011--probably 6 months old.
May 2011.
June 28, 2011. He discovered he could open the drawer under the oven, crawl in and play. I suppose this is better than getting in the oven...

Orlando Vacation

We just arrived home from our vacation (with Adam's family) to Orlando/Disney World. It was a great time! Hot weather--but could have been worse. We spent 3 days at Disney parks and one day at the beach. When we weren't out and about we enjoyed hanging around the rental house. The kids absolutely loved having their own personal pool and thought it was very cool to swim in the morning and at night. The highlight for Owen was riding Space Mountain (roller coaster in the dark), and Buzz Lightyear ride was Miles' favorite (you shoot things and earn points). I was proud of Owen for riding roller coasters and very impressed that Miles rode the Tower of Terror which flings you up and drops you down, elevator style. It worked out well for me because I love rides and Adam doesn't, so I had big kid duty and he had a lot of Graham duty :) We went to a really nice, clean beach one day and enjoyed the sand, waves, and sun--but not so much the salt water. Owen turned 8 while we were vacationing, so he enjoyed the attention that the "Happy Birthday" button got him. I stayed late (after midnight) at Magic Kingdom on his big day to let him ride Space Mountain once again. Thank you Mike and Rosie for planning and hosting this trip for all of us. Great fun!

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Fun with Friends

Several of the boys and their families stayed over in Topeka this weekend. We enjoyed a long lunch complete with "Braves" table, "Junior Braves" table and "Adults (plus two babies)" table. I forget how entertaining it is for kids to stay in a hotel. Nothing like over-chlorinated indoor pools!

Chilling...
Entertaining...

Baseball Weekend

The boys got to "travel" this weekend (to Topeka) for a baseball tournament. We were very fortunate to have amazing--even cool at times--weather! The Braves played hard, tied for second in pool play, but missed out on advancing based on point spread. They did end on a one point win--an exciting game with good defense and two home runs!

The facilities at Lake Shawnee were amazing--felt like we were playing on a MLB field!
Owen and two buddies enjoying post-game birthday treats for another teammate.
"Junior" Braves posing on the gigantic baseballs. I'm sure we'll be here watching these guys play soon enough.

Poolside

As expected we've spent nearly every sunny day at the pool. All three boys love the water. Owen and Miles have already added some new skills.

After many failed diving attempts last year, Owen has the hang of it now. He still needs to clean it up, but is managing to go in arms and head first instead of jumping at the last minute.
Miles is jumping off the board, without a life jacket and without an adult catching or being in the water with him. I am proud of the little dude, but now he thinks he should be able to spend all of his time in the deep end...
Graham loves the water, especially walking around the baby pool. My days of lounging on the edge of the pool are over for a while.

Memorial Weekend (More Pics)

Catching up... Grandma Rosie and Aunt Emily organized a kid version of Minute To Win It.

The kids helping Grandpa Mike celebrate his birthday--by eating his cake before he can get a bite!
Atwood has a nice, new pool. Miles and Owen persuaded Uncle Josh to join them--playing Sharks and Minnows with Owen and throwing Miles.
The "big" cousins were smart enough to ask Grandma and Grandpa for candy (instead of moms and dads).
Mike and Rosie bought this 1993 Buick for cruising around Atwood. The kids are all piled in the back of this paddy wagon.
We FINALLY had Graham baptized. He was too big to wear the baptismal gown, but did squeeze his arms in for a picture. His cousin, Jack was baptized alongside.
Grandpa Mike had rigged up a little trailer for rides in the pasture. A lot of laps were made around the field as each kid had to have a chance to drive the four-wheeler.
Cool slide in the deep end. Almost tempting enough for me to get in... almost.

11 Months

I figured I had better get some 11 month pictures posted since he'll be ONE very soon! He is making all kinds of sounds and says "Mama." Five new teeth came in all at once so he's up to seven now. I'd say he crawls 2/3 of the time and walks the other 1/3. I think his record is 12 steps. He has found the tupperware and plastic kid cup drawers and cleans these out a few times each day, and if he's lucky enough to find the marker/crayon container left out, he's in heaven! Another favorite place to check out is the fireplace--don't worry, we don't let him play there, I just had to catch him on camera.

Oh, Baby!

We spent Memorial Weekend in Atwood with all of Rosie's (Adam's Mom) family--including FIVE babies! More pictures of the big kids later.

Jack: "Don't mind my greasy hair, I was just baptized!"
Jillian: "It stinks to be the only girl!"
Graham: "Yes, the drooling has started again!"
Brody: "Seriously lady, enough pictures!"
Jake: "Something looks a little sketchy over there..."

Do We Look Older?

Looking a little smug... our newly titled THIRD grader and KINDERGARTENER! How did it go so fast???

We celebrated the last day of school by going to the park for pizza and play time with friends, then on to "Kung Fu Panda 2" where we ran into more friends. Fortunately we finally had some nice weather after three days of rain and clouds.

Miles Soccer Season

(Catching up from old photos...) At the last minute we signed Miles up for soccer again this spring. He (mostly) enjoyed it--not sure if he'll want to stick with it.

Play Ball!

The boys played in their second tournament this weekend. After lots of rain and crappy weather all week long, we couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. Our team is really improving and beat the team who whipped us in the first tournament back in April. Owen is having a great time playing ball--I think he'd be happy if they had a practice or game EVERY day! (Thanks Pelusa for the pictures. Although I brought my new camera, I have all fence shots.)

This was taken at the last league game. Apparently you are supposed to put on your "rally hat" when you are trying to make a comeback...news to me. They did come back and win this one.

Good Bye, Powershot, Hello, Rebel!

Adam and the boys went all out for Mother's Day this year! This was #1 on my wish list, but I had asked for a new iPod holder as something more reasonably priced. Needless to say I was VERY surprised when I opened my trunk and found this, a fancy lens, carrying case and storage disk! The only thing he left off was a cool strap (but what guy knows to get on Etsy and find a cute one??)... I'm making myself read the whole booklet and maybe I'll even get signed up for a class this fall. Watch for better pictures to come!

Pre-School Graduation

We have a graduate in the house! Miles celebrated his last day of pre-school last Wednesday. I was able to join him for his picnic and recognition. He has really enjoyed his teachers and classmates--a nice mix of old and new friends.

This was one of the really hot days last week, hence the red cheeks. He's with our friend Meg in this picture. Meg's mom drove Miles back to Debbie's all year on Wednesdays (so he could stay for Lunch Bunch). Thank You!!

Interesting...

We're thinking of trading in the Traverse...

It looks kind of crazy, but very professionally done!

Happy Mother's Day

We spent the weekend in Lebo celebrating not only Mother's Day, but also my Mom's 60th birthday and conclusion of her treatments. She warned us months in advance that under NO circumstances was there to be a big birthday party.... so we opted for some family and a BBQ. I think we all had a great time.... and my food was actually well liked :)

The big boys had fun with their cousin McKinley. Miles likes to be the "big kid" for once.
When they weren't on the Mule--which was pretty much the whole weekend--they found other ways to "drive."
Happy Mother's Day to my mom, my mother-in-law, aunts, cousins, sister-in-laws, and friends that are moms. Too bad the only pictures I have from the weekend are of grandpas or kids!

First Communion

Owen (and 50+ other second graders) celebrated their first communion this weekend. We enjoyed having all four grandparents, Aunt Emily, Uncle Josh, Baby Brody (and Jersey, Newman's boxer cousin) here at the same time. All of the kids looked so sharp dressed in their fancy clothes, even if it was short lived. Owen shed the tie, belt, pants, shirt and shoes in about 10 seconds upon arriving home.

Observation #1: Kids need "how to smile for a camera" lessons. Such fake smiles.

Observation #2: I really need to invest in a higher quality camera.