I made a bunch of racket getting into Will's room today to get him up from his nap. He's a pretty hard sleeper- didn't budge! (We're glad he's back into the nap routine for now!)

Enjoying a homemade lemonade popsicle after nap!
We're heading to Athens tomorrow for the first UGA game of the season. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!

college friend

Will, Annely Blake, and I took a road trip to Griffin today to visit one of my best friends from college, Johnna, and her baby boy Davis. Davis and Annely Blake are only 3 weeks apart and we think they make a cute pair! It was so fun to catch up and see the kids together. Johnna and I have known each other a long time- before husbands and careers. She's one of the those friends I know I'll have for life! Thanks for having us today Johnna, we'll do it again soon!

small group and playing in the rain

Our small group. Our "family" here in Columbus. We have known these friends most of the five years we've been here. And we could not have made it without them. They are our kids' other parents, our laughter, our tears, our Cranium playing, beer drinking, swap parenting horror stories support group. We are getting ready for another year together to meet and push each other closer to Christ. That is what it's all about. We love you guys.


The girls: l to r- Sarah, Bridget, Susie, Kat The guys: Matt, Walker, David, Steve

The kids: (minus AB)- Will, Bethany, Luke, Lulie, Anne

After our small group fun, Will had some fun of his own playing in the rain!

4 month check-up

Just thought the grandparents would want to know the stats.
Weight: 14.1 pounds (55th percentile)
Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)
And, as a first for me, I was called a "milk goddess" today. I've been called a lot of things in my life but never that!

play ball

Our next door neighbors have a t-ball set they let Will play with today. He enjoyed it so much Matt took him to Toys-R-Us tonight to get one for him. Here he is practicing his hits. The kid's got aim and can hit a ball like no body's business.

who's the baby now?

We missed Will soooo much while he was gone visiting Poppy and KK and are so glad to have him back home. You'd think I would have spent the last four days without him resting and relaxing.........instead I spent them doing all kinds of "stuff" that I have trouble doing while he's underfoot. Matt and I did manage to squeeze a date in Sunday night while my sister watched AB. My house shows evidence of the wild man being back home! It was clean and straight this morning and now looks like a tornado hit it. Life resumes: sounds of chatter, crying, screaming, singing, cooing, burping (and other bodily noises).....I wouldn't trade the serenity of silence for them for anything in the world!!

hold me

Beware: pitiful face pictures following- boy does she get bent out of shape when I put her down. As long as she's being held she's happy! I couldn't help but capture her meltdown! She sticks that little lip out and it's so cute!!

athens visit

my mom just sent me some pics from today. looks like Will is having fun!

4 months

Annely Blake is 4 months old today! Gosh, where have the past 4 months gone? She's doing wonderfully and is such a sweet, welcomed addition to our family. Big brother Will is visiting my parents until Wednesday so it's just the three of us for a few days!

brotherly love

Will helped me give AB a bath tonight! He's such a helpful big brother!

I don't know what to title this post so I won't. Just a bunch of random pics of Will from the silly to the creative. I have to admit I'm craft challenged. I'm always looking for something crafty and creative to do with Will and most of the time come up short. A good friend of mine gave me the "pasta" idea. I dumped a big box of Orzo into Will's blocks container and let him pour it in and out of some cups. That was good fun for at least a half hour. If anyone has some ideas pass them my way- I'd be most appreciative!

GP post

This is purely a "GP post"- the term I'll use from now on to refer to the posts where I simply put up pics of the kids for Grandparent enjoyment. Not that the rest of you don't love looking at pics of our kids..... and if you don't, well, keep it to yourself ok?!

Annely Blake laughing-
Will making "watermelon cookies"-

first day of school

Will and I both survived his first day of school. I left him this morning sobbing in the arms of his teacher. Not a great way to start the day..... but fortunately no phone call from the school begging me to come back and pick up my hysterical kid. My morning wasn't exactly all I dreamed it would be due to a certain little persnickety princess who decided she A) wasn't going to take her morning nap and B) wanted to be held all morning and delivered ear piercing screams whenever I put her down. *Sigh*.....I guess I can't have it all, can I?


As promised- more pictures than you wanted to see from Will's first day:

On the way out the door with bag in hand....."hmmmm, not too sure about this school thing"
Entrance to St. Marks Preschool Entrance to Will's room- his teacher's flag over the door-incidentally she's German which is funny (funny ironic not funny ha ha) because Will's fav Sunday School teacher is German too so at least he's used to the accent :)

Will's place at the table with a puzzle waiting for him.

Just before the sobbing started..... the quiet before the storm.

Back at home with craft in hand and ready for a nap!! (Also, for those interested, Will kept his pants dry all morning!!! Yeah for him!)

what did you do this weekend?

Will and AB snuggled in our bed with their jammies on. Luke came over to play with Will and they were dressed like twins!

Will went flying head first into the coffee table- he's got the model pose here showing off his "boo boo"

Annely Blake tried the johnny jump up for the first time- or as Will likes to call it, "jommey jumpy up."

Hope your weekend was just as fun! Look for pics on Monday following Will's first day of preschool- sniff sniff, I think I might cry!

Check out my Slide Show!

breathe

It's what I feel I can finally do after emerging from my "newborn coma" I've been in the past three months. Maybe it's the fact I now have two kids instead of one, or that Will was an exceptionally easy baby, but it didn't seem to last as long with him. I finally feel I've adjusted to being a mom of two and all it entails. Good thing too- with fall around the corner we're getting geared up for the busy season of our lives: football, running Mops, ladies Bible studies, etc.. Will starts pre-school next week (yes that's right- preschool!) giving me two glorious mornings a week to myself. With added sewing projects and Mops stuff I'm sure to make good use of that time. Here are some updates on the kiddos:

Annely Blake-

A little princess in the making. Surprising me by deciding to sleep 12+ hours at night! I thought we were several months away from that. She's keeping us all entertained with her coos and smiles- reminding us she's still here with her big brother taking center stage most of the time. This week has been devoted to getting her used to a bottle... something I should have done all along but it was just easier not to. She's not taking it without a fight though,-bless her, her will might be as strong as her momma's! If we're successful I can finally enter the adult world at night again and maybe Matt and I can attempt to go on some kind of date soon! Will-

Non-stop, 100% boy. He is now at the beginning of what we hope will be our last potty-training attempt. After two failed starts I think this is it. He finally gets it now and we've been accident free for one whole week! We've also ventured out to public places without a diaper and braved the scary world of public potties. Pre-school starts Monday at a little Methodist church around the corner. Good for him, good for me. I told him his teacher was Ms. McDonald and he thought for a minute then said, "E-I-E-I-O"! Let's hope he doesn't start making animal sounds at her during class.

On another note.... having friends over for lunch- Lulie and Anne Trammell. Lulie is three weeks older than Will and his opposite. Which is why Susie and I joke that one day they'll get married. Lulie bosses Will around and most of the time he lets her. He pushes her and she hugs him. Today they ended their play session with a kiss- on the mouth! Oh boy, hopefully not a foreshadowing of things to come....

Anne Trammell being her cute self. What great hair for a one year old!

"I hold her"

Will loves holding his baby sister. He also loves giving her kisses, patting her head, pulling her out of the bouncy seat and onto the floor, playing with her toes, poking her eyes, dropping things on her, and pushing her in the swing. His days as an obnoxious big brother have just begun Annely Blake!!