Silly Sunday

I got the boys all dressed up this Sunday for church and I had time left over to get some pictures.
Ben does not really like having his picture taken so it is usual a battle.
I feel like I kind of won this time.
Until this point when he was crying.
But Daddy made everything okay again!
Garrett is such a little ham.
He loves the camera and starts smiling as soon as he sees it.
I don't know why they were both so interested in the ground.
This is where I really missed Addie, she is usually the one that holds Garrett. She is very good at making sure he doesn't fall. Ben is not so good at holding his brother. It usually ends up with him saying "All done" and pushing Garrett away from him.
Or rolling a car on his head.
At this point we were done. Jon was going to try and get one with me in it, but I didn't think it as worth torturing the boys any longer.
Here is Hazel's new favorite perch. We rearranged Addie's room and she now has access to the window sill.

My Boys

We are missing Addie like crazy around here, but I have been having a lot of fun with my boys.

Garrett and Bennett reading a book together.
Garrett is learning to roll all over the place. He is having so much fun and getting into so many things. He is keeping me busy making sure all of the choking hazards are picked up.
Ben telling me all about Babmi, the book he had picked out.
Ben playing one of his favorite games with Daddy. He stands on his stomach and then jumps and lands on Daddy's stomach. Jon let him do this at least 10 times for me to get a good mid air shot.
Daddy and Rett.

Superman pose.
This is what Garrett looks like when he is concentrating.I love the expression on Garrett's face. He is a little wary sometimes, but he is so ready to get in on the fun.

I love it!

Addie's Big Adventure

Addie left on her first big adventre with out me today. My mom has talked about her grandchildren coming to spend time with her since I was pregnant with Addie. It always made me so scared to even think about it, but as Addison has grown up I knew she would have so much fun. When my mom, Nannie, offered to fly out and get Addison and fly home with her I thought it would be a great opportunity for everyone. Addie has been so excited about this trip. She has been asking me to pack for weeks. Today we drove down to Hobby Airport and headed inside

Getting everyone and all of our stuff inside ended up being more of a challenge than I had anticipated. A double stroller, a suitcase, an umbrella stroller and a car seat, with all three kiddos was a mountain of stuff. Thankfully a gentleman saw me struggling through the parking lot and came to my rescue. I am so thankful that God puts people in my life that help me whether I think I need it or not. He couldn't hear so he didn't hear me trying to tell him I didn't need any help.

When the kids saw Nannie they were so excited. I love watching the kids run to Nannie or Daddy or whoever they are so excited to see.

There was lots of love as we had about an hour to wait before they needed to go through security.

Ben felt left out when I was taking the picture before with everyone else in it.

Nannie getting some love from Garrett.

Just spending an hour in the airport with all three kids made me so thankful that we don't have any major air travel planned. I love my children, but I know not everyone does. You should have seen the looks we were getting as Ben shrieked his way through the airport. I wanted to reassure everyone that he was not getting on a plane today.

It was a fun little visit with Nannie.

And then it was time to go. This will be the longest time I have ever been away from Addie and the furthest away from her. I know she is going to have lots of fun with Nannie and GeeGee and Aunt Laura and I am going to get to spend some special time with my boys.

Addie said she isn't going to miss Bennett, but I know they will be happy to see each other in a week.

My big girl headed through security. I got a text from my mom when they were at the gate, she said "Addie nearly took on TSA when they made her hand over her lion (stuffed animal). Traveling during nap time not sure I thought this through all the way."

They are flying right now and I can't wait to hear about all of the fun adventures they have together.

One Week Later

Last week we had to take Garrett in for a little surgery. If you have ever had to hand your baby over you know there is no such thing as a little surgery. We felt so blessed by all the thoughts and prayers, I really wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be.
We got up early Monday morning, welcomed the baby sitter that was staying with the big kids and headed to the surgery center. Garrett was a champ, he really didn't get fussy until right before they took him back. It was hard for me not to hold him, but knowing how hungry he was I knew it wouldn't help. When the anesthesiology picked him up Garrett stopped crying and started smiling at everyone. It was a challenging moment to walk away and wait, but I knew he was in good hands. We were in the waiting room for almost 2 hours, apparently they had a hard time getting the IV into his chubby little hands and had to put it in his foot. The hardest part of the whole things was seeing him completely out of it and all drugged.

We had no idea how much discomfort he would have from the surgery, it was done in a very delicate part of his body. He has two sets of stitches, and they are already starting to dissolve in one area. We get to take the bandage off the other site tomorrow. It was a rough week, between discomfort and the strong medicine they gave us to help manage his pain our little man was not himself. He was up most of the night, several nights in a row. I know this is not that unusual for some, but for our little champion sleeper this was a huge departure from normal.

I am thankful to say that we have finally turned a corner.
Here are our happy kiddos this morning playing in the boys' room. They are such sweet kids and I am so thankful they have each other. Addie and Ben have so much fun playing together and Garrett has been staring at them longingly just waiting to get in on the fun.

Garrett had his 6 month well baby check up 2 weeks ago, in case you were wondering he is 16 pounds 10 oz and 27.5 inches long. He is our long and thin man. He is about 2 pounds lighter than Ben was at this age and about 2 pounds bigger than Addie was at this age.

Thank you again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, we are so thankful that everyone came through the last week and we are all getting back to normal.

A Pool Party!

This weekend our Sunday School class was invited to a home for a pool party. This is an annual thing, but we were out of town last year so this was our first time to go. The back yard was stunning, the pool was beautiful. Bennett took advantage of the food table being unattended when we first got there and helped himself to a cookie.
Addie was ready to go. She has turned into quite the little fish recently. She is swimming short distances now and she is so proud of herself. She does still need some help, but she is so brave in the water and I am so proud of her.
She was so hungry, but she didn't want to get out of the water. I found her sitting in the water with her plate on the edge. I made her get out, but she would only sit down long enough to take a bite and then she would go back to the pool. She did eat a lot of food so I didn't mind too much.
Ben is going to start a new trend, the bathing suit pants. His short little legs are just no match for his big boy shorts.
Here is my biggest kid jumping off the top ledge of the waterfall. I did say this backyard was amazing didn't I? In this picture Jon is asking the owner of the house if it is safe to jump.
Here is our daredevil Ben following his Daddy's example and heading up the rocks.
I was about to have a stroke when I thought Ben was going to jump. He really thought about it, but in the end decided to climb back down with Daddy's help. I couldn't believe how brave he was.
Garrett took a little nap while we were there. He has not been sleeping much the last couple of nights so his naps are important, now if I could just get one.
I love this picture.
Ben enjoying another cookie, this one had blue icing. Yes, he did eat something other than cookies, I think.
Addie using someone's water gun, she almost got the camera, her aim was better than I thought it would be.
The kids played hard for hours. I knew we were almost done when Ben asked me to take the floaties off and that he wanted a towel.
He loves the water, but he was ready for a rest.
Garrett cuddling with Daddy.
Oh my gosh, I did not realize how many pictures there were of Ben eating cookies. I feel like a terrible mother now.
Our happy little Garrett has not been around as much lately so I am treasuring these smiles right now.
A quick self shot with my little man.
Does any one remember Fivel, the mouse from An American Tale? I can't help but think that Garrett looks like him, it's the ears.
There were so many sweet babies there, baby Landon looking sharp in his hat.
Baby Carson who always has the sweetest smiles.
One of Carson's big brothers. Dylan had just jumped off the ledge and was pretty happy about it.
Baby Archer who kept his Momma busy all night.
Baby Ayden who is growing up so fast.
Landon took a little rest.
Jackson taking a short break for some food. These kids played hard in the water.
The littlest baby there, Raylan is just 5 weeks.
Tahlia and her mom having a chat.
Eduardo got to spend some time with Garrett tonight to give my arms a break. Lexa was hanging out with Eduardo too.
Ashley got to spend some time with our littlest guest.
Little Lexa was such a ham for the camera. Here she is eating a yummy blue cookie.
She really enjoyed the cookie.
Here she is having some fun with her mom.
We all had such a great time visiting with our friends.