Back in Bama X 2

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in July, Nate, Indiana, Chanlee, and I hopped aboard one of Southwest's finest jets and flew to Birmingham. Nate and I visited for a few days with family and friends. We didn't do a lot, but we did manage to get in some rest before summer comes to an end. I was also able to squeeze in a quick trip to Tuscaloosa to see my friend Meredith's new addition, Riley. While there, Nate had fun playing in his inflatable pool and digging out some of Uncle Jeffery's old toys. Nate is currently obsessed with cars, trucks, and pretty much anything with wheels. He had a ton of fun hanging out and taking it easy.

Nate loves his pool! 

The pool has a little thing to squirt water, but Nate didn't care for it so much. 

Nate did love Jeffery's old fire truck. He found it in the garage and insisted that we get it out. 

Vroom, vroom!! 

He eventually started riding the truck. 

Yes, we were outside in our pajamas. It was so hot during the day that we would go out first thing in the morning!

Nate and I returned from Alabama on Thursday and on Friday Matt and I headed back to Bama. Well, not exactly Bama, but close enough. We drove to his dad's house in Georgia Friday night to see his brother, Adam, graduate from Auburn on Saturday. Matt and I survived our trip to the Plains, but we were definitely out of place with all of the "War Eagle" shoutings around us. Here are a few pictures from Adam's big day...

 Noah was very entertained by the Kindle :-)

Adam receiving his diploma 

Here he is shaking the president's hand

All the boys except Nate. Nate stayed home due to the amount of driving and the fact that he doesn't idle at all! He would not have been great company at the ceremony.

It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend, but we were excited to see Adam graduate. Maybe we'll be able to make it back to Bama soon!

July Visitors

I am a little behind with my blogging and since school is about to start my goal is to get caught up this weekend. We'll see if it happens!

Toward the end of July Chanlee and Indiana came to visit. We filled our days with activities designed to wear out our active little boys. One day we took a trip to St. Augustine. While there we walked around and tried a homemade (and delicious) popsicle at The Hyppo. It was a nice treat on such a hot day! After lunch we went to the park. Nate and Indiana played hard on the playground. Nate got to go on his first carousel ride. He loved it so much we ended up riding two more times! Here are a few pictures from the day...

Indiana had fun on the playground equipment. 

I tried out this crazy slide and almost took Nate out in the process! 

My sweet baby! 

They had fun on the playground! 

I took away the pacifier and now he chews the fingers. Needless to say, the pacifier is back until I figure out how to break the finger chewing! 

Chanlee and Indiana on the carousel. 

Nate and me on our third carousel ride!

Another day we went to the zoo. It was HOT, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. They loved looking at the animals, riding the train, and playing on the splash pad. They came home and had a nice nap that day!

Checking out the wildlife... 

I would love to have someone push me around the zoo!

We decided they needed their picture made in front of the big snake! 

Giraffes! 

It was hot, but he was a trooper! 

It was super hot in the butterfly garden! 

Nate got to cool off under the whale's tail at the splash pad. 

Indiana loved running around through the water! 

While they were here we also spent a day at the pool and a day at the beach. The camera didn't make it on those trips! Before she left Chanlee helped us get a few family snapshots. We don't have many pictures of the three of us because Matt or I am usually behind the camera. As you will see, it's getting harder and harder to take pictures with Nate!

Nate refused to look at the camera! 

I think this picture of them turned out cute! 

Once again, Nate refuses to look at the camera. 

This picture pretty much sums up the photo shoot!

We had a fun time with Chanlee and Indiana in town. Nate and I left town with them and took a quick trip to Alabama. I'll have another blog on that trip soon!

Summer Fun!

I have been a little lazy with the blog posts this summer. We have been busy enjoying summer now that the weather has decided to cooperate! Rain was the story for most of June, but we did manage to fit in some fun activities.


Mid-June my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two nephews came in to town for a visit. It was a short visit, but we did manage to squeeze in some beach time, pool time, and a trip to Sea World. Our Sea World trip was fun, but wet. It started raining right as we arrived and by the time we left the park everyone was soaked! Thankfully all of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves despite the wet weather.

The Shamu show was a hit! 

Noah got an oyster. 

Nate was along for the ride! 

Noah posed with the jaws of a great white! 

Sea World wore Nate out! This is how I found him the following morning. 

Nate and John were big buddies! 

It is crazy hard to get two babies to cooperate with the camera! 

Cousins!

Beach baby, beach baby, there on the sand!

Amazingly enough Nate has lived in Florida for over a year and has never had an official beach trip. Well, in order to help celebrate our friend Andrea's birthday we took him out. We weren't sure how he was going to take it, but he had a blast! I didn't even dress him in his swim suit because we didn't think he would take to the water. We were wrong. When we put him in the sand he squirmed his toes around before pointing to the water. Matt took him down and they stood in the waves awhile. I got some cute pictures and videos of the two of them. Nate liked it so much that when we took him out of the water and back to the beach he made a beeline back to the water. Matt and I (along with a few friends) took turns with him in the water and allowing him to play on the sand. He ended up soaked and happy! He was fussy when we made him leave, but now we know where we can make a weekend trip with the kiddo!

Matt and Nate testing out the water!

My beach baby!

The whole family at the beach. Nate is enjoying some chocolate courtesy of Janie! :-)

On another note, Nate has been feeling quite nostalgic lately. He has been trying out some of his "baby" toys. He is way too big for most of them, but it's cute that he wants to play with them again. Here are a few pictures from his latest adventures...

We dismantled the jumperoo. Apparently, someone still wants to jump! 

I love his expressions! 

Yeah, we're going to have to nip this one. 

Staring at the rain. (which we have gotten a lot of lately...) 

Minding his business eating the puffs..... 

maybe eating the puffs?? 

Not eating the puffs! The fire helmet makes for a nice bowl! 

He sat in this for the longest listening to the music. Notice how he's grown...

He was so tiny!!

Well, summer is now in full swing so I'm sure there will be plenty more posts and pictures to come! 

Belated Birthday post

My birthday this year was pretty fun. It fell on a Sunday this year. Matt, Nate, Mom, and I started celebrating early with lunch on Saturday at Bahama Breeze. It was yummy! Nate gorged himself on Matt's dish and helped himself to some of my fish tacos. He is such a hearty little eater!

Saturday night my mother looked after Nate while Matt and I went to an Irish pub at the Landing. The food was very good and we had a nice riverfront view with some jazz music playing in the background since the jazz festival was in town. Our friend Kristy joined us there and we had a fun time hanging out.

Nate must have known it was my birthday because he was up around 1am on Sunday. My sweet mom took him and rocked him because she wasn't sleepy. He eventually dozed back off and woke up around 3am. I put him in the bed with Matt and me but he refused to go to sleep. By 4am he was up and going strong. I had already put him back in his bed, but I heard him up again. I went to check on him and he and my mother were up eating bagels and watching TV. Crazy! At 5am I relieved her and she went back to bed. I finally got him down for a nap around 6am and when he woke up around 7am I kicked Matt and told him it was his turn. I slept a little longer and when he finally crashed for a longer nap earlier in the morning the entire house went down for a nap! Needless to say, we pretty much wasted the morning.

I was supposed to go see Gavin DeGraw with my friend Hannah on Sunday night. We made it all the way to the amphitheater only to find out they cancelled the concert. Tropical Storm Beryl began raining down and caused them to change their mind about having the concert. I was with Hannah and two of her friends and they decided I needed a birthday cake. So, we stopped by Publix and had cake at Hannah's before I decided it was time to hit the road before the massive rains hit. I made it home safely and Matt was cooking soup. Nate was glad to see me so we stayed up and played since I was out of school on Monday. 

Overall it was a pretty good birthday! Here's to another great year ahead!

One of my two birthday cakes this year!