A crazy start to summer!

So, I know summer didn't officially start until June 21, but the end of school and start of crazy heat means summer has been here for weeks!

Drew is getting so big in so many ways, it's hard to believe...4 year olds were my favorite stage for a long time before I was married or had kids, and it's hard to imagine that Drew is basically there...crazy! There are little things like not needing a step stool to reach the bathroom sink any more, independent in lots of self care, and the non-stop moving! It's impossible for him to keep still! He's climbing on something it seems like at all times! He makes a huge mess at any meal time because he just can't sit still!

He continues to enjoy playing outside - lots of sports play, and of course, still loving all the water play! He loves his Saturdays with Daddy because it means video games and silliness, fewer rules and less clean up - sounds great right?! I never like being busy or working on the weekends, but it comforts me knowing that the boys are getting good time together that is different than when Mommy is around. They had more of that than usual this month with Mommy being in class for a 3 day weekend and lots of school work to do. He loves to read through his magazines with Daddy too - reading about super heroes and legos and mazes, and things that are silly!

Drew got to participate in VBS at our church for the first time this year and LOVED it! Mommy and Daddy both grew up going to VBS, so we were super excited that our boys get to start participating in it too! Drew was more hesitant than I expected at first, but made sense since there really were SO many new faces, but once his buddy Harrison showed up, all was perfectly fine! :) He had a GREAT time for the week, loved all the songs and making a few new friends. His face just lit up when he talked about it, it made our hearts smile! We learned all about STAND STRONG for and with God!

A funny moment with Drew this month, one Saturday morning he slept in a little, but Mommy and Daddy would have loved more sleep, so Daddy jokingly asked Drew if he wanted to keep sleeping and Drew responded with "I have...like 70 energy, so I just wanna wake up" - it was so cute, and sounds like he's a video game player, counting his energy level!

Noah is such a little hoot...a big personality for such a little body! He is SUPER active! He is constantly running to keep up with Drew, but also just wants to jump and climb just because it's a favorite thing to do! He will get a running start to throw himself up onto the couches now - he loves to just throw his body around! It's hilarious and fun, but also dangerous and scary...I do NOT want to make frequent visits to the ER!

He is talking more and more and his cute little voice just melts my heart sometimes! He got a piece of candy one night after dinner and then asked "Mommy, one moe" with his pointer finger up for #1 and said it over and over again in the sweetest voice...we all thought is was hilarious, and yes, he got another piece! :) He says "Che-chow" to mimic Lightning McQueen, and he does it with such a cute and serious face! His teachers at school are even commenting on how much more he is talking now in class...very soon he will be competing with Drew on who can say the most words every day! He is getting better at correctly naming his colors too - still wrong lots, but improving, everything isn't "lello" (yellow) or "owng" (orange) any more! His favorite phrase and question is "wha doin?" (what are you doing?) It's like the 2 year old version of "why?", but it is quite cute!

Noah likes his Daddy time too, and like Drew, is getting more and more of it lately, but he is still quite clingy to Mommy. With being gone for 3 days in a row, only home late in the evening, Noah gave Mommy quite the welcome home every night! Lots of cheers and screams of delight, followed by holding him through dinner! :) It's nice to know you are loved and needed! Noah tagged along with Mommy during VBS - he was quite the little trooper. Mommy got to help by taking pictures of all the preschoolers and groups and he just followed along, happy to be bouncing around from place to place - a happy little guy as long as Mommy is near! :)

Noah moved up to the 2 year old room this month and with everything else going on, he's still a bit sad at drop off, but recovers quickly. He did much better at his haircut this month...he sat still and just softly cried throughout most of it. At times he would stop whimpering and focus in on the video, then as if he remembered he wasn't suppose to like it, would just start sadly whining again - silly boy...but much progress being made!

A funny story about Noah this month...I picked him up from school one day and noticed he was in his back up clothes, he had been wearing a one piece outfit earlier. His teacher told me they were out on the playground and he walked up to her with his dry diaper in his hand with wet clothes, no snaps undone! So he apparently reached up his shorts, unfastened his diaper to pull it out and then peed! Nice! It reminds of the scene from Zoolander...crazy kid! I'll be sure to keep him in elastic shorts from now on to help keep those diapers on!

He is actually quite the little ham, and has been that way for as long as we can remember really...he has started to make a chomping noise when he eats, just to be silly. He's also become more aware of manipulating bedtime and drawing it out...he'll scream when I'm done reading books, say "dwink"to get as many cups of water as possible or demand "woka chaiw" to sit back in the rocking chair for more snuggle time. He is quite persuasive, so our bedtime routine has gotten considerably longer lately, but I am usually smiling more often than not! One evening he was being super cute about it all and getting me to linger in the rocking chair with him and then told me "I gotch-u" as if to say...Got you - you did what I wanted! Oh, it made me laugh! Another time we were snuggling in the chair and he was squirming all over the place and then pretended to gobble up his own feet - it caught me off guard as being so cute I just belted out laughing, which meant he kept doing it over and over again - hilarious little boy! Love those sweet moments!

Lots of events this month...2 birthday parties - one with lots of fun with familiar friends, playing with toys, balls and balloons, and another at the Little Gym with friends from school, tumbling, jumping and playing - can't go wrong with either! Mommy took the boys to Austin for a day trip to see friends from high school - Denise was in town from NC, so wanted to get to see her while she was near...the boys did well playing with Emme (Denise's 3 y/o daughter) and had fun going out for lunch, playing on the playground, playing in the sprinkler and with all the different toys and musical instruments! We even got to see Uncle Kevin too, so a nice treat and good, but long, day! Both boys had dentist appointments this month - no cavities for either! YEAH! Drew did great and was very brave with no complaints! Noah required some lock down from Mommy throughout it all, but still did well. When Drew was his age, we were in and out in under 7 minutes because it was so bad! So the fact that we made it through the entire appointment was counted as a positive!

We also had our preschool 'graduation ceremony' and that was adorable! Noah's class all just stared out at everyone, even though they had practiced the most...they were all dressed in black shirts and jeans with headbands of stars and were supposed to sing Twinkle Twinkle...well, they didn't sing or move at all, but it was still the cutest thing ever! Drew's class did a very appropriate animal skit with tons of actions and then some fun praise songs - it's so fun to see your kids on stage...and it's just the beginning! :)

We had a calm Father's Day morning with donuts and gifts and some calm play time at home. It was a little on the odd side as we were a bit anxious about what was to come...

We had a huge shock to our system this month when Daddy was given 1.5 weeks notice that he would be going on a business trip to the UAE for up to 3 weeks! The days leading up to the trip were incredibly chaotic and stressful, trying to piece everything together from a logistics stand point, as well as all the extra work he had to do in order to complete his task in a timely manner to return in time for our family vacation. I had also just found out that I had a huge school project due 2 days after we would be returning from our trip, instead of the end of the summer, so I had to get it done before we left, which is when Matthew was gone! It was crazy! We had lots of help from friends and family, but it was an incredibly stressful 12 days! Matthew left right after lunch on Father's Day and Drew woke up from his nap a different person, and was incredibly hateful, disrespectful, rude, aggressive, defiant and had the worst tantrums I've ever seen from him before, he even acted out horribly at school! Noah didn't completely follow suit, but certainly  joined in on some of the poor choices while playing. I know they missed their Daddy and the consistency that he brings, and I was stressed and an emotional wreck, so they were certainly feeding off of that as well, but it was way more than I could have imagined! But, we had some one come over or had something to do almost every day to try and help (snow cones after school, haircut and dinner out - so hard!, bike rides with neighbors, Aunt Lynne came for dinner, we went to a friends house for dinner, trampoline park with Julia and Wilson, which we all LOVED, especially Noah! and a day at Grandma and Papa's), so we are incredibly thankful and in debt to all of those wonderful people that helped us get through it. Nana came right in the middle of the time Daddy was gone and stayed for 4 days, which was a life saver of course! The boys acted like angels of course while she was here, and we got a TON of stuff accomplished, including getting my paper finished! And started packing for the trip! I don't know what or how we would have made it without her help!

But oh, the day Daddy came home...the sense of relief and peace was amazing! We were all SOO happy to have him back!

This was a picture we took to send Daddy the day he was coming home!

Spring!!!

Well, it's definitely spring, feeling a little worried about the heat looming for summer time in Texas! We are outside, watching weather for severe storms, lots of wind, and loving the sun and water time while we can!

Noah...what a trip this little boy is! He has so much energy for life - mostly enjoyed outside! He cracks us up when he isn't screaming at us! His personality is becoming stronger and exerting his independence like every almost 2 year old does! We love his smiles, smirks, laughs and giggles, roars and tackles - he's a tough little dude!

He truly loves the outside - favorite part of the day at school - playing on the playground. The minute we get home, he cries to be outside, on the swings usually! He enjoys walks around the neighborhoods, but those are getting harder since he isn't 'interacting' per se while riding in the wagon or stroller, so I am looking forward to him learning to ride a bike so he can actually be a part of the action. We have tried a few times where we are ALL WALKing, so Noah can be in on the fun, and he's enjoyed it and done fairly well - he gets a lot more tired this way, so they are significantly shorter, but lots more exploring too! We did hook up the bike trailer for the first time and it was a hit for sure! Drew of course had to be a part of the fun for the inaugural ride, but that won't happen again - much too heavy to tow!!! :)

We went to Pump It Up (big bounce house place) and Noah didn't hesitate to climb up the huge inclined ladder to go down the large slide all by himself! This kid has no fear and no reason to doubt his abilities either apparently! His little muscles did get tired out after climbing up so many times that the big kids were piled up behind him or trying to climb over, so Mommy to the rescue a few times and taking a break, but than right back at it! He is running more and more and getting faster - and it's just the cutest little running pattern ever! I love it! He's also starting to monitor himself on stairs better - we still are close by, but at home he'll push us away or tell us firmly "Go!" and wave his hand at us to let him do it himself. At parks, if I'm not right there, instead of just throwing himself down, he'll figure out a way to get down without hurting himself. There are still moments of panic for me of course, but I'm trying to step back, while still being close enough, to let him be more independent - he's loving it and I'm loving watching his sweet mind figure things out for himself! He's also learning to jump off of objects more and more now - the combination of his love for tumble play, jumping and watching Drew climb and jump off of anything stationary surely fed that desire! He's started to jump off the bottom steps to us, as well as couches and beds, much to our dismay. He did roll off our bed one time already after a big jump...it's so hard to contain the energy and pick our battles! He's able to climb up onto all of our furniture now by himself, so this is even more of a problem...

He is learning to feed himself with the spoon rather well these days, which is great and a challenge, as every growth phase is! But he cries for a spoon if we forget to give him one - he wants to do it all on his own. He's working on drinking from a normal cup too, which is a huge mess despite only giving a tiny bit at a time - somehow that can end up all over him or the floor in no time regardless! Lots of paper towels!!! We have transitioned to straw cups versus sippy cups finally, so that helps him feel a little bit more like a big boy without a huge mess everywhere, but he still sees that his is different than all of ours, so we'll keep making messes for quite some time!

He's become significantly attached to Elmo these days - asking to watch him and sleeping with a huge stuffed animal of him at naps and night. We are hoping to make the switch to a much smaller Elmo for sleep soon - it's really hard to hold Noah, an Elmo the size of Noah, a blanket and stuffed puppy in your arms while going through the night time routine to say the least!

He's more and more vocal, which is what I say every month, but it's so true. He's really starting to be able to 'use his words' and tell us what he needs. Now, this often requires prompting to stop screaming or whining and actually use words, but we are getting there! He's picked up a new phrase, used mostly at the dinner table of "yike it!" (like it) or "No yike it" (usually after Drew says it, sigh), but it's stinkin' cute to hear him express himself! He has learned to say "Mawk/weddy, set, go!" for games and will throw a ball and tell us to "git it" and we both chase after it to get it first! He can say the names of and match several of the Disney Pixar Cars characters - it's quite surprising and impressive, though they are all over our house, so I guess it isn't that big of a stretch. He really likes to talk about and point out the "bad guys!" too! He has started to talk about colors, and everything is "orng" or "lello" right now, but it made me realize we should start working on that since he knows more about Lightning McQueen than his colors! Whoops! :)

Noah is loving playing with trains - there's something about a 2 year old boy and trains - Drew was the same way - something just clicks and they just know that this is their favorite toy! Same with trucks - he points them out and talks about them all the time! Crazy! He still loves to dump out buckets of toys and leave...there are so many times I swear he goes into Drew's room for the sole purpose of dumping out toys - he doesn't pick any out to play with or anything like that, just dumps it out, kicks them around, and then leaves! AAAAHHHH!

Noah ended the month with acting a little out of character, waking up REALLY early for him and being extra clingy to Mommy...not sure what is going on, and we will probably never know!

We had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration this year! We had the Palmer family over to celebrate the wonderful Joyce and had a great time. The weather was perfect, so more outside play for the boys, which they always love. And Noah enjoyed playing with Rhyder, and was especially sweet with Jacob - these boys are so cute! The boys were very loving, sweet and generous to me on Sunday with a special breakfast and especially excited about giving gifts - Drew loved the singing card for me! We went to Matthew's soccer game in the afternoon and the boys did great - we all had fun watching and cheering for Daddy!

The water toys made their annual trip/release from the attic this month and the boys are ecstatic! We added a slip and slide to the fun this year, and it's a big hit with Drew especially. Noah loves the Elmo sprinkler and water table, and they both enjoy the kiddie pool too. It's the only way to survive a summer in Texas really!

Hide and Seek continues to be a family favorite and Noah is really joining in with the fun more. Drew is more direct about who and how and what will happen next (no surprise there!) and Noah will either happily count or hide along with whoever. He's actually pretty good at mimicking the counting too! But the seek is always so fun to hear the squeals of excitement when the hidden is found!

We went to the Science and History Museum again this month and the boys loved it as always, but it was the first time the weather was nice enough to explore their outside kids space and we loved it! There were lots of water toys that taught the effect of forces, etc. and big foam building blocks and a structure to climb on. And then, of course, they loved just having open space to run back and forth...why is that so fun at that age - they just chased each other back and forth, over and over again! So simple!

We were able to enjoy a nice visit from Nana over Memorial Day weekend, which is always a highlight for us! Nana gives us a nice break and boys LOVE all the attention! We always get a ton done, and this time was no different - I was able to get things done I didn't even know I wanted to do! It started out a little drizzly/overcast, but turned into a great weekend, so lots of fun outside, but great puzzle and book time and all sorts of games with Nana! We missed Grandpa, though he never believes us when we tell him, but he was asked for several times by both boys! I think that will become more and more the case as they get older and seek all the sports and rough and tumble play that Grandpa loves to bring! :)

Drew is such an independent little boy now, it seems there should be more to write, but he is just getting better at things he's normally already doing. His language is great, and I think he whines and grunts more because Noah does rather than knowing he can use his words. He's very aware of what he wants and what he doesn't at all times, though he can be coerced when needed to think it's his idea! And there's of course the inevitable change my mind every time the option gets presented and/or when I get what I asked for I throw a fit and insist that I asked for something else...you know, that kind of normal 3 almost 4 year old kind of stuff!

I mentioned how well Noah did at Pump It Up and Drew did too - it was actually Drew's first time of climbing up the huge slide all by himself without crying or fear too! He's climbing all over and challenging himself more and more at parks and anything he can at home too really. We've definitely seen a huge shift and improvement in what he's able to try without as much hesitation as he has up to this point, so we are super happy about that! He is becoming more inclined to ride his 'big boy bike' with training wheels and even asked several times lately to take the training wheels off. Well, we did, so he could feel the difference, and he tried for a little bit, but by the end of the evening, was asking to have them put back on, which Daddy gladly did - I don't think any of us feel like we are ready for it yet!

He's always been a pretty well behaved kid all things considered, but still is certainly familiar and frequently visits time out for sure. But he announced proudly one day after school this month when asked about his day that "I was good and had no time-outs!" I think there are probably and hopefully lots of these days, but glad to hear he took notice too! That same day he also announced, while reading, "I love books!" YEAH! We are still working on some counting, for some reason he always skips 13 and 15, but he's getting better about 13. And he was able to count to 42 with just a little bit of help, but it's things like that I forget to talk about here, but at least I remembered this one!

Drew had some fun playdates with a good friend Harrison this month which they both love! Schedules just worked out well and we were able to get them together more often, so we got to visit the zoo, go to Pump It Up and lunch and even went to see one of H's blastball games (which made Drew want to practice his baseball skills more this month!). We also continue to enjoy having one of his friends from school live just down the street from us, leading to lots of impromptu playdates in the front yard of someone's house, bike rides, etc. - a true blessing!

He is such a sweet little boy, and totally thrives when he knows he's made us happy and proud! He was especially sweet with his Mother's Day gift from school and signing card that he took credit for that I'm pretty sure Daddy picked out - he was just so excited to share it with me and he lit up when he saw me light up, which just made us both smile bigger and more! Sweet loving moments!

A funny thing Drew said this month on a day we spent at home, he had watched Wild Kratts that morning (our mornings start with PBS Kids while we eat breakfast, 2 shows, and this one is a favorite - it's all about animals!), he said later on in the day, "I just wish I had creature power suits!" He said it with such emotion, it was just adorable. And I agreed, I would love to have a suit that would transform and give me the abilities of whatever animal I wanted to try on that day too - wouldn't we all agree to that?! :)

A big adventure this month was a special day for just Drew, Daddy and Mommy, and did we have a blast! We took Drew to 6 Flags Over Texas Theme Park and it was GREAT! We first went to Toys R Us for Drew to be able to pick out his own toy and pay with his own money from his piggy bank for the first time! What a fun treat! Then on to 6 Flags for the day. There were a lot of 8th Grade school trips there, so it took a long time to get through the gates, but then we had SO much fun! We started out in the kids area and that was fun, and no lines! But then we moved on to see what else we could get on and Drew just made the cut for all the 42" rides, which got us on to all sorts of fun rides! He drove the antique cars, and liked the Yosemite Sam's River Adventure, Mini Mine Train and Runaway Mine Train coasters. He loved the Crazy Legs ride, but didn't bat an eye at the roller coasters, including the Judge Roy Scream (which I will avoid again if possible, wooden ones just shake and hurt!), Batwing (a BatMan ride) and the Shock Wave (with back to back vertical loops)! We ended with the Log Flume ride which he really liked and the bobsled ride, which he would have liked, but the brace for that ride was just too high - the height on that ride should be much higher we think, so he didn't enjoy that one, which was a bummer, since it was our last one. But we had such a great time together and he was ready to try it all, so super fun! If it didn't cost a RIDICULOUS amount of money to get tickets, parking and just some basic food, we'd probably go more, but it will be awhile, but so glad we splurged! Though I'm glad for the near term I'll be able to blame not going on the BIG coaster rides on having a little kid that isn't big enough - it had been so long, I just don't know if I'd be able to handle them anymore! But I bet I'll try - we'll work up to them together! :)

Now it's Noah's turn to have a Mommy and Daddy day...what to do?!