Summer Happenings

We have had a fun and busy summer so far!  We haven't gone anywhere but we have had lots of fun and have done a lot in our home town! My brother and SIL and sweet nephews came out over the 4th of July for a couple of weeks.

Here's a little recap of what we have been up to...picture style!

Landon had his preschool "graduation" (although he still has one more year of preschool) and was excited to get his certificate!

He is so sweet and I love that he still loves to sit on my lap on cuddle me!

Both boys went to VBS this year and the them was spy academy!

They loved in and Landon decided to dress up as a spy when he got home...the get up was put together entirely on his own :)

Blake didn't dress up, but is still super cute!

We've also spent the summer having lots of park picnics,

going to indoor play places (this one with the trampolines is one of their favorites),

going on walks and finding dirt hills to climb on,

playing inside when it's too hot in the afternoons to be outside,

lots and lots and lots and lots of swimming

(I am soooo thankful for access to my parents neighborhood pool...it is amazing to take the boys to and they have both become little fish this summer),

(This is what we did to cool off in summers past when we couldn't go to the pool!)

watching 3D movies and having family movie nights,

helping mom bake and cook breakfast (notice the pile of raw egg spilled all over the counter!),

 and heading to the river to play and throw rocks!!!

We also took the boys bowling for the first time.  We went with our good friends and all of the kids had a BLAST!  All of us adults were a sweaty, exhausted mess by the end of herding the kids and keeping them out of everyone's lanes! Needless to say I didn't get any other pictures besides one with all 4 kids, as blurry as it is!

Have I mentioned that our summer as been jam packed?!?!

No wonder both boys are so tired :)

So thankful for the fun times and happy memories we can create together!

Jared and I have had our share of fun too with different nights out together and with friends!

I went to the One Republic Concert with a couple of friends and also got to watch one of my good friends from high school get married on Lake Powell!

We still have a lot planned for the summer, although I am slightly looking forward to our routine to start again in the Fall :)

Blakey turn 2!!!

Our baby is 2! Which I think qualifies him as a full fledged toddler and no longer a baby :( 

We had a fun birthday celebration for him that lasted a couple of days.  Sunday night we had a family birthday party and then Monday celebrated his actual birthday!

Blake is all about planes, so that was his theme for this year!

He got almost all planes gifts and was excited every time he opened one. 

I finally got a pastry bag with tops and it made ALL the difference when frosting the cupcakes I made. Usually I try to frost cupcakes with a butter knife and they turn out a little embarrassing.  This year with the edition of the pastry bag I actually wasn't embarrassed of my cupcakes and they turned out great (it's the little things)!!!

Blake was a fan of the cupcakes and ate the whole thing...not just the frosting!

Overall, the party was a success full of presents, 

playing, 

balloons 

and lots of fun!

Since Jared's birthday is two days before Blake's we had lots of cake around that weekend.  

Instead of the regular birthday donut we had birthday cake instead!

Blake didn't seem to have any complaints about this!

We started a tradition with Landon at 2 by hanging streamers from their doors so that they can run through them on their birthday morning. 

Blake wasn't so sure at first, but by the end of the day was running through them like crazy!

On the morning of his birthday we went to a fun play place with my parents! Both boys loved it, had a blast and were exhausted for afternoon naps!

Blake is such a sweet boy (although he has entered the terrible two's)!

Here's what you are up to these days sweet boy:

* You are a mimic of everyone, especially your brother!

* You will try anything Landon does, which makes you our dare double #2!  Only it's a little worse, because you seem to be slightly more fearless! As much as I hope it doesn't happen, I'm guessing that we are in for many broken bones and stitches between you two boys!

* You have amazing coordination and can jump, climb and rough house with the best of them.  You love to figure out things physically and are becoming really independent.  

* You are a great sleeper.  You sleep great at night and are happy to play in your crib until we come and get you in the morning.  You take a great afternoon nap and are super easy to put down. 

* Since Landon's birthday when you got your dog Skipper, you have loved stuffed animals and sleep with about 5 every night.  You also like to take toys to bed.

* You are a major talker.  Landon was putting together 2-3 word phrases when he turned 2 and you are in full on sentence mode.  You can answer all question forms and can reason with 'why' and 'because'.  It actually blows me away how much you talk and how extensive your vocabulary is.

* You like books, but don't have a huge attention span for long stories.  

* You just now started consistently identifying all the colors.  I think you can name most of them, but your a stinker so I can't tell!  

* You aren't super interested in the alphabet and don't know many of your letters yet.  You can count to 12 on your own and are beginning to try to count objects.

* You can put together simple puzzles and love to play make believe with planes and cars.  You love to dance, sing and do nursery rhymes.

* You have such a contagious smile and giggle but can throw a major tantrum when you get mad or don't get something you want.  

* You love water and will play in it whenever you get the chance.

* You are also a major mama's boy and are constantly asking me to "hold you". You are the best cuddled and give amazing hugs (you still fold both of your arms in and just let me love on you)!

* Along with planes you also love animals and think every animal should be as sweet as Addie (meaning you think you can crawl all over them and love them endlessly).

* You wear a size 2T clothes and are in size 4/5 diaper.

* When we weighed and measured you at home you were 28.8 lbs and 34 3/4 inches (you actually grew a ton this year in height)! 

Overall, you have completed our family and added such an amazing dynamic to our lives.  We love watching you with Landon and encourage daily the type of brotherly love we hope you boys will have.  Our wish above every wish is that the Lord will grab ahold of your heart at an early age and that you will walk with Him and give your life to Him.  We pray you will seek God and truly commit your life to Him in all you do.  Can't wait to see the little boy, young man and adult you will eventually become!