Rich Arbor Day!

We planted new trees in our yard. We added 2 new pear trees, 2 fig trees, and a Mexican plum tree! We're so excited to watch things grow in our yard. Mostly though I think Danny just likes to play in the dirt. A habit he is rapidly passing on to our boys!

Will's 1st Bike!

Ever since we got our new bikes Will has been obsessed with them. We have to keep them locked up so that he won't try and climb on them. So we finally got him his own.

 It's a balance bike so it doesn't have any pedals. It's supposed to teach them how to balance on a bike, so that they never need training wheels. Still, I think a first bike is something special. He's growing up so fast! Plus, he just looks adorable it his helmet :)

Guess Who? .... Cricket Poo!

Have you ever seen cricket poop? 

The other day after Danny left for work I saw a cricket in the house. I was dealing with the boys at the time and couldn't take care of it so I threw a cup over it so it wouldn't get lost until I could take it outside. 

Well I forgot about it. So when Danny got home I saw it, and asked him to take it outside. We lifted up the cup and found this?

That cricket pooped on my carpet all day long!

Shark Bait Ooh La La!

For the fourth we packed up and drove to Houston to spend some time with Danny's fam. We spent the first night hanging out in The Woodlands, watching fireworks, eating ice cream, and running after Will :).

Then, we packed up again and drove to the lake house. I love how we can go out there and feel like we're on vacation without all the expense and stresses of being "on vacation". It's also so much nicer to get away when the kids aren't stressed from being in a totally new environment, such as a hotel or something. They're less stress = they sleep better = I actually get to relax :)

Well this trip ended up being a little more exciting than relaxing, but now I get to have a cool blog post about it right?
So here's the story:
We were out tubing with everyone and, I decided to try and go out one more time with Will. He wasn't interested so Hannah volunteered. (I must be an okay aunt) However, as soon as Hannah got on the tube Will decided he wanted to go. I figured, "hey why not" so he climbed on to. Well, I guess the two kiddos on front changed our balancing so when we started to go, the tube went down and we all fell into the lake. Btw... life jackets are amazing! Everyone was shook up but heads above water when the boat came to our rescue. Kind of like the Titanic except warmer, and less tragic.
I passed Will and Hannah on boat and swam around to the ladder to get up myself when I felt something hit my leg.

Now I didn't see it "exactly" but I'm pretty confident this is what it looked like


Let's call him Propeller
as in boat propeller without the boat
k?

So I climb aboard and notice my leg is bleeding a little. I tried to get Danny's attention but we busy with our slightly FREAKED-OUT 2 year old. Once everyone caught on it was all about me for a few hours. I was the damsel in distress and I had a whole boat full of heroes. Danny's parents and Scott were particularly amazing, patching me up, taking us to the ER in Jasper, and watching our little ones.

So, the story wraps up with 13 staples, and a missed bike ride with my hubby. The Nurse said we could still cycle but I somehow don't think she was meaning 45 miles the next day :(

I learned a little bit more about boats, the need for a first-aid kit, and where the Jasper, TX ER is :)

Growing UP!

 Ben had his 4 month appointment this week.

He's growing like a weed and weighed exactly 15 lbs. which puts him at about 50% for weight.

He's 75% for height... and who really cares about head circumference?

 One of his favorite activities is playing in Will's tunnel. He is actually starting to move around the room, which is fun but stressful :)

He was also cleared to start trying some cereal, to maybe help him get back to sleeping. The verdict is? He absolutely loves it! He also is sleeping better so mommy loves it too :)

Sweet Brothers!

Will found this blanket in Ben's carseat and decided all on his own that Ben needed it.

Just kidding :)

Oh well the thought WAS there

All About Me!

Our day today started around 2am. Ben is teething and is really having a rough time of life, even Tylenol isn't cutting it. So today has been all about him. He definitely has his mommy wrapped around his little finger.

But really how can you say no to this face?

Houston Trip

Everyone was in Houston for the weekend so we decided to take a couple days off work and have a little summer vacation. We wish we could have stayed forever we had a ton of fun. Will actually cried when we left.

 This is how Ben and Parker roll.

 Will decided he was a little to tired to bowl

 This is Danny's "really your just going to sit there and take pictures..." look

 yup

 almost there

wait come back

 Danny leaves the ball unattended 

 and the ball bowls all by itself (looks like a good shot though)

 I think Ben and Parker look exactly like twins

 They were really cute together though

 pretty much best friends

They sealed their friendship in drool ( and spit-up)

Catching Up

I have a goal to start my photo-a-day posts. I really like how it shows a snapshot of what our life is really like! So I've been taking pictures but not posting... It's time to catch up.

 Will plays really well with Ben. He'll tell me Ben is sad and go get his pacifier.

 But sometimes Will wants everything Ben has...

 And he'll go to great heights to get it.

 We were surprised with a bag of fresh blueberries at church one Sunday. I wouldn't let Danny eat any of them so that I could make these babies!

 This is how I attempt to distract Will so that I can mop the floor.

 This probably should have it's own post...

I went out to our garden one day and was startled as something took off from under our melon plant and raced under the fence. I didn't see exactly what it was but I thought it might be a rat. Danny thought I was crazy and that it might be a rabbit. Well the next day we were out there together and Danny said "yeah I think we have a rat" it had just startled him too. 

Um a rat in my garden? YUCK!!! so I made danny put up some wire fencing so that it couldn't shimmy under our fence anymore. Well that night as we were 1/2 done with our new fence job we saw this guy.

Apparently, opossums eat rodents so what we think we actually have our baby opossums sleeping under our plants and eating our garden. Anyone have any ideas on how to keep them out of my garden? Because if they ruin my melons... :(

 Will's training to be a cyclist. If you've ever worn bike cleats you know how slippery these shoes are. It's quite impressive that Will can walk in them.

 Will has a cold :(

Danny had this great idea to see if he could shimmy his way through our table. Kind of our own spelio box. Yeah well I built that table and thus that gap is not even all the way across... Danny could get in one side but not out the other. Sometimes I think I have 3 kids.

"Pi" day

 I love holidays! Danny is a good sport and celebrates the lesser known holidays with me such as Groundhog's Day, and the soon to come National Scrabble Day. So I figured we could celebrate one for him. 3/14 National Pi Day! or "Nerd" Day as I like to call it.

We even made his favorite, vinegar pie, with the pi sign :)

Nursery!

I'm not planning on changing the nursery for each kid, but with Will we were still in the apartment so I couldn't really do what I wanted to. I decided to create my vision this time around. I wanted a nursery themed on something literary. Maybe a early attempt to get our kids to like reading? I'm not sure. Anyways, I also wanted something unique.

While we were in London a few years ago I got my idea, Paddington Bear!!! My uncle is actually British, an only child, and didn't have kids for awhile. His parents we're more than happy to treat me and my sisters as adopted grandchildren when we were little. My Nana and Papa Willis, as we called them, spoiled us with all sorts of fun gifts from England. One of which was an original Paddington Bear and a few British children books. I loved my Nana and Papa and so everything they sent us was precious and special to me. I'm rambling, so we'll just leave it to say English children's books and Paddington Bear have a special place in my heart. So yes, this nursery is SO for me and not the kids, but hey I spend just as much time in there really!

 Step into the room :)

Changing table aka "place to dump stuff while you change the baby on the floor table"

 The crib was mine as a baby, we got it from my uncle (yeah it's on its 9th kiddo!) sanded it down and re-stained it. I absolutely love having my boys sleep in the same crib I did!

My Grandma had my Great-Aunt make the quilt. Since Ben can't have blankets yet it's makes an amazing wall hanging.

The frames I got from Danny's parents and painted.

BTW Danny hates the board and batten on the walls. I've always loved the look. I figured if he saw it finished he would love it, he just needed to see it right? So I secretly did it while he was at work, making sure to keep the door closed at night. Me and Will got it all finished and... Danny still hates it. Oh well I got my one room :)

I've also promised not to embark on anymore "secret" projects. It's a really good thing Danny doesn't travel for work because I would be so tempted if he went out of town.

 Painted bookshelf we inherited from my parents (no we don't buy our own furniture). I tried to make it look like a British phone booth with Paddington peeking out... It turned out okay.

Rug. 

Kind of a disappointing finally huh? Sorry :)

Anyways, I love my sweet little room and love putting my sweet little boy to sleep in it.