Spring Fever

Well Spring has finally sprung!  The daffodils are blooming, pollen is in the air and I think we have all developed allergies from enjoying the great weather outside!  With the exception of a few days, we have been having beautiful weather in Atlanta, which has been great for getting outside with the kids after a very cold winter!  We have also kept very busy over the past few weeks which has made it hard to update the ole' blog!
A few weeks ago, Kennesaw hosted another Touch-A-Truck event.  We took Harrison last year and he wanted nothing to do with the trucks.  I decided to have a Harrison-mommy morning so the two of us walked to downtown Kennesaw for the event.  He was so excited the whole way and kept talking about all the trucks he was going to see.  Unfortunately once we got there, he really didn't want anything to do with any of the trucks.  I climbed onto a school bus with him b/c I thought once he got on the bus he would like it.  We sat down in a seat and he immediately said, "okay Mom, I"m all done now.  Can we go play on the playground now!??!  Please?!!?"  Ha!  I guess not much has changed since last year!  He did like looking at all the trucks, but didn't want to get too close.  The only nice part about it was that we didn't have to stand in any of the long lines!  I finally gave into his pleas and we hit up the playground...

After about an hour, we were thinking of heading home when we ran into Harrison's friend Matthew.  Matthew likes trains even more than Harrison, if thats possible, so we took them to play on "the General"(an old caboose that was used during the Civil War)  Of course, the only thing the boys wanted to play on, was the train that is there 365 days a year...nevermind the trucks that were brought in for the big event!

It was funny b/c at one point the boys were on opposite sides of the train so I told Harrison to go find Matthew and say "surprise!".  He did and Matthew thought this was too funny.  This turned into a "fun" game of yelling "Surprise" as loud as they could to each other on the train.  I'm sure the the other parents and kids just loved us!  I figured, if they were having fun, go for it!

Next up was our trip to Cincinnati.  I was nervous about the trip b/c this was the first time that I was traveling with both the boys (by myself) since Davis started crawling.  To my surprise, they both did great!  I made two long stops on both legs of the trip to let the kids stretch their legs and they didn't fuss at all!  I'm not sure I could say how well the trip would have gone without a dvd player - it is a total life saver!  Unfortunately once we got to Cincinnati Harrison came down with a cold and had a fever every night for about 5 days.  Thankfully it didn't seem to slow him down so we were able to enjoy the trip.  Mom and Dad have their house on the market so we had to scramble to get out 2 of the mornings we were there, but overall it was a great trip.  Harrison's favorite part, as always, was going down to Lunkin Airport.  They have a really nice playground and you can sit right next to the runway to watch the planes and helicopters take off and land.
Here is Davis enjoying the swings:

Davis having fun with Granddaddy

I tried to get a picture of Harrison and his Grandmommy but he was running too fast to track down.  After they boys were done playing we had a picnic lunch and then headed over to watch the planes.  When we got to the runway, there was a huge Air Force plane taking off.  Harrison usually loves sitting outside, watching the planes but this one was so loud we had to go inside to watch.  I think this picture makes it pretty clear what he thought about this plane -

We also had the boys pictures taken while we were up there.  I needed to get Harrison's 3 year pictures done as well as Davis' 9 month pictures, so we just did one big photo shoot.  Since the boys were sick, I was worried about how they would turn out, but I have to say they did great!  I think Harrison could have a future career as a model - he was having so much fun posing for the camera!  I took a picture of each of the pictures:

 

We were only able to get Davis to smile in one picture.  He is either very smiley or very serious...not much in between.  He was so serious the whole day so we had a tough time getting a smile out of him.  We let him crawl around for one picture and that was ticket!

 

Davis has his serious face in this picture but I love it because it shows his "studious" demeanor.  I will be curious to see if that part of his personality sticks - I'm not sure how you can have too serious of a  personality growing up in this family! 

 

Other than the airport, I think the highlight to Harrison's week was when we went digging for worms and splashing in puddles.  I feel like boys need to be boys, so as grossed out as I am about bugs, I know that Harrison is fascinated by them. We had a few rainy days, so we went out one morning and dug in the garden for some worms.  I put some dirt in a tupperware bowl and let Harrison put the worms in the "farm".  He had so much fun and would just pick up handfuls of worms and carry them around.  He loved watching them wiggle through the dirt.

At the very back of my parents' back yard, there is an area where water always pools up when it rains...its like a little stream that runs the length of the backyard and gets pretty deep on one side.  After a rainy morning, I let Harrison put on his rain boots for a little splashing around.  It started off with some innocent fun splashing, but once he saw the really deep puddle (about knee height on Harrison), he just went crazy.   At first I tried to get him to stay out of the big puddle/pool, but he was having so much fun that I just let him go to town.  He was soaked from head to toe but he enjoyed every minute of it.  My parents have a utility sink in their laundry room which leads straight to the backyard, so we would just throw Harrison in the sink and bathe him there after he got all muddy.  It made me jealous of #1 - their flat backyard and #2 - their laundry room!  Someday! I'm bummed that I didn't get any pictures of this - It was quite the sight to see!

Overall we have had a fun spring, hopefully I will be better about keeping up with posing pictures.
I will end with this cute one...Lance scored some tickets to the Saturday round at the Masters this year so he wanted to buy something for Harrison while he was there.  I told him that he loves wearing Lance's hats around the house so he should try to find a kids hat.  Boy, was that hit - he loves his new hat so he can be just like daddy!

 

Here he is serenading me with "I'm in the Lord's Army", his favorite song of the moment...

Phew, sorry for the long post!

Back to the Bray Family Farm

We planned a small outing today to go back to the Bray Family Farm with a few of our friends.  We had so much fun the first time we went, and Andy did not disappoint us again today!  It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast.  We pulled up just as Andy was getting back from picking up the animal feed for the day so the kids got to help feed the cows, the chickens and the goats.  Harrison was a little hesitant about this at first, but after a few minutes, was throwing food to the chickens with all his might.  Most of the female cows have had babies since our last visit so it was fun to get to see all of the new baby calves.  Here is Andy feeding "Sirloin" the only bull on the farm.

 Harrison, Tucker and Robert spent most of the morning walking through the garden.  I think they actually had more fun doing this than watching all of the animals.  I really love these pictures, they looked so cute playing together...

I think Wes was more into the animals than any of the big kids.

Here is Harrison throwing the food to the chickens.  I couldn't quite catch a picture of him in action, but you can see the food in the air...close enough.  :)

Here is a cute video of the kids feeding the chickens...

Robert chasing the kids...

After the kids got to help feed the animals, we stopped for a picnic lunch on the farm.  Just as we were about to leave, Andy offered to take the kids for tractor rides around the farm.  Go figure that Greta, the only girl, was the only one who really wanted to go on the tractor!  Harrison didn't want to have any part of it, so Andy let me ride in the tractor with him.  He screamed for the first half of the ride but warmed up once Andy let him drive.
It was such a fun morning, Andy is so welcoming and great with all the kids.  Its hard to believe how differently people live, even just 20-30 minutes from here!  When it was time to leave, Harrison started to melt down and that meltdown only got stronger as the day went on...I think thats what I get for actually putting in writing that we were having a good week!!  I think I learned my lesson!

March Madness

What a month it has been!  We get back from our ski trip and I feel like both the boys are growing and changing at lightning speed!  I feel like so many cute, fun things have happened with the boys lately that I have a lot to blog about...hopefully this doesn't get too long!
Harrison
Harrison has been so much fun lately...of course you can count on the usual meltdowns about not wanting to try the potty before leaving the house, not wanting to go to bed and not wanting to take his jammies off, but overall he has just been so happy and full of energy.  One of his favorite new phrases is "I's a be", as in "I's a be so happy!!" or "You's a be so happy!!  It cracks me up and I really need to get him saying it on camera.  He has also been singing a lot lately and definitely does not like it when I try to sing with him.  I caught a cute video of him singing to Davis...before I got the camera on, he kept saying, "Davis, listen to my song.  Do you like it Davis???? Do you like my song!??!?!...unfortunately he saw me with the camera, but he carried on anyway.  Can you tell that he goes to a church pre-school? :)

BTW - this stool is his favorite toy right now.  Every night, I try to put it back in the garage and it is usually the first thing he asks for in the morning.  Of course, since Harrison likes the stool, Davis always tries to climb on it too!
He now knows all of his shapes, colors and can count to 13.  He hasn't seemed to catch on to letters yet but he knows O and S.  The other major accomplishment that we have had lately is that he has actually been excited to go to church.  From the time that he was about 1 yr old, he has not liked going to church and I haven't been able to figure out why.  At our church, when you turn 3 and when you are potty trained you get to go upstairs to the "big kid" hallway.  Harrison hit both of those milestones recently so we made a big deal about him going to the big kid hallway and he has been loving it.  The best part about this transition is that this is also when the kids get to come into the sanctuary for the childrens' sermon. I have always looked forward to when I would get to watch Harrison (and someday Davis) up at the front, "listening" to Dr. Sam and I can't believe that he is already old enough for this! He has done so well, but it is pretty fun to watch him playing with his buddies up there and looking for us.
So many fun things and I know that I'm forgetting half of them. I feel like as soon as I actually get a few minutes to sit down at the computer, I forget everything I've been meaning to write!
Davis
Davis has hit so many milestones lately, I'm not sure where to begin.  I know I mentioned in a previous post that he started crawling while Lance and I were out in Colorado, but he has gotten so much faster lately.  He just motors all over the house and will pull up on anything that is within reach...especially the stairs!  He hasn't tried to climb them yet, but I'm sure thats just a few days away.

He started making the funniest sound when he crawls.  Its a funny sound that he makes when he sees something that he wants and just can't get there fast enough.  I was able to catch a little video of him looking for this paper that Harrison left on the floor.  Of course paper and leaves are his favorite!

Now that he knows how to move around so well, he has a new favorite sitting position that cracks me up.  I think he likes to sit like this because he can switch back to crawling easily..

Last week when we were at McDonalds for a playgroup, Harrison pushed Davis all around the play area in his high chair so he could "play" with everyone.  It was so cute and ever since then, when Davis is in the high chair here, he will stroll him around the house so he can watch Harrison play.  Yesterday he pulled Davis up to the train table so he could watch Harrison play trains (which translated to Harrison jumping off the train table)

Aside from playing with each other, their other favorite hobby is playing with their daddy - can you tell they were excited for him to get home from work??

Davis has 4 teeth now (the bottom two, the top left and the tooth to the left of that) and he now has 2 more on top that are starting to poke through the gums. 
His other new milestone that started today is clapping.  I took Harrison to get his haircut today and while we were there, Davis accidentally clapped his hands together.  He got the biggest smile on his face when he heard the noise that it made and did it several times during dinner tonight.  He is also making his new "squinchy" face that he makes when he is really happy.  I was amazed that I was quick enough to catch him on camera...

A lot of fun new things lately with both of the boys and I'm glad I have a way to actually document it all!  With the memory that I have now after having two kids, there is no way I would remember any of this 10 years from  now!

Our minister sends out a weekly email with a story or lesson for the week, every week.  The one that he wrote this past week really touched me and has really helped me to try to appreciate many of things that would normally start to annoy me or put me in a bad mood.  I thought I would post it as a reminder to soak in all the mundane moments in life.  I'm sure someday I will be missing the days when there was a baby in the house to wake us up in the middle of the night!

WHERE'S THE SURPRISE?

   Our twin granddaughters, a month shy of three years old, were our guests one evening last week while their parents attended to some matters. Papa Sam, anticipating the girls' arrival, bought a "surprise" for each-a little straw hat, just right for Easter, and a Tinker Bell night shirt. Grandmother Bobbi predicted that the girls would prefer a simple toy, but I insisted and met them at their day-care with promises of the "surprise." Bobbi was right, of course, and the girls were both underwhelmed and  disappointed. One of them even asked me, a straw hat in one hand and a Tinker Bell shirt in the other, "Papa Sam, where's the surprise?"

   Oh, I wish they could have enjoyed what I bought for them. But they couldn't see what  I saw; they couldn't imagine what I imagined and they were disappointed. And then I was disappointed, too.

   And I wondered.... For a moment, I assigned my human mind to God and wondered if God  is ever disappointed at our disappointment. When we miss the wonder and beauty of a simple sunrise and rush right through it, fussing about driving with the sunlight in our eyes. And when we've planned to go shopping when Heaven has planned a light afternoon  rain and we say, "Oh, I hope it doesn't rain." Or when the preacher fusses a bit about a cold, rainy Sunday morning when a good number of people stay home and doesn't notice the hundreds who have come to worship, anxious to hear the word of God read, sung, and preached.

    Or when we complain about the busy-ness of Christmas or pollen during Easter... I wonder if Heaven is disappointed at our disappointment. Or when the neighbor's music is a little loud or when the mall is a little too crowded on a Saturday afternoon or when our child's recital runs long or her game goes into overtime, I wonder if God is disappointed at our disappointment. And when the baby keeps us up and the grass needs to be cut and when squirrels get into the birdfeeder, I wonder....

   Such moments are the stuff of life, you know-the glorious, wonderful, creative, beautiful stuff of life. And too often, like unaware children, I think we look at Heaven with a disappointed frown and ask, "Where's the surprise?"

   But the happiest people, the most creative and appreciative people, the most vibrant people, know where the surprise is. It is right in front of them, waiting to be savored and lived."...

Colorado Ski Trip

I feel like I've had so many events to blog about lately but have not been able to find the time to actually sit down for more than 5 minutes to update the blog.  Thanks to this lazy Sunday afternoon and a Disney movie for Harrison, here we go!
After the chaos of planning Harrison's birthday party and Davis' baptism, Lance and I went on a much needed get-away to Colorado for a fun, kids-free, not-so-relaxing ski trip.  My parents were so kind (and brave) to watch the boys for our trip.  They were relieved though to know that Lance's parents were not going with us but would stand as back-up in case the boys were running wild...thankfully they behaved well enough that my parents actually stayed a few extra days once we got back!
We headed out to Colorado on a Tuesday and stayed through the following Sunday.  This was the first time that I had left Davis and the longest that I had been away from either of the boys so I was a little nervous, but once we got to the airport and I was able to sit back with a bloody mary, I was able to relax and get into "vacation mode"!  We stayed the 1st night at Lance's sister's house just outside of Boulder and then woke up at the crack of dawn (5:30 am ugggghhhh) so that we could make it to Copper Mountain by around 9:00 to start our first day of skiing.  The snow was kind of "crispy" the first day and it had been 2 years since I had skied so I felt a little rusty.
Here is Lance stretching before our first run...

 

Now is this a look or what?

Its funny because every time I go skiing out west, once I get on the mountain, I'm usually focused on where I'm going that I rarely think to look up and enjoy the breathtaking views.  Here is a picture where we were skiing and I made Lance stop to just take a breath and look around.  I can't imagine having these views everyday!  Its like you feel as if you're looking at a movie set with how perfectly majestic the mountains are!

We finished skiing around 2:30 the first day and went back to our room to relax and get ready for dinner.  We found a local pizza place at the resort and enjoyed a huge calzone and some frosty beers!  They had these cool torches setup around the center of town so we stopped for a photo op...

That evening it started snowing and it didn't stop until the following afternoon.  The following morning we ate at this belgian waffle restaurant and had the most amazing waffle I have ever tasted.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Since it was snowing all day we couldn't get any good pictures on the slopes...and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees so we didn't want to take off our gloves to take the pictures! The first day it was somewhere around 45-50 degrees and I think it was about 30-35 the second day but since it snowed so much the powder was amazing!
Here is a picture from our lunch restaurant that has a nice view of the cute town.  The area right behind us is actually ice skating rink but you can't see it due to the 10 + inches of snow that fell that day!

After we finished skiing for the second day, we packed up and headed back to my sister-in-law, Jennifer's house.  We stayed with her family from Friday - Sunday and had a nice time visiting and playing with her girls Anna & Emily.  We had a 3rd day of skiing at a local ski resort called Eldora, but it was about 60 degrees outside on top of the mountain, so the ski conditions were not what you would call ideal.  It was super icey and after about 2 hours of skiing I had 2 yard sales (where you fall so hard that your skis and poles fly off in different directions) so I decided that was my queue to call it a day!
I was definitely missing my boys after about 3 days of being gone and that part was harder than I thought it would be.  I had such a fun time and it was nice to get a few quiet days to spend with Lance.  Our lives seem to get busier by the day and its hard to find time where we get to just have fun together by ourselves, so it was a nice break.  Hopefully we'll get to keep up our tradition of our annual ski trip in the future...having family out west definitely helps us find an excuse to hit the slopes!

Davis' Baptism

It only took us 7 1/2 months, but Davis is finally baptized!  Harrison was baptized at 4 months, but that was right around the chaos of the holidays so we decided to wait and have it done the same weekend that we did Harrison's birthday.  All of my family was able to come in town, including, Kim, Nancy and Emily so Davis had quite the audience for his big day!  He was so sweet and didn't give the ministers any problems.  I was kind of nervous going into the day b/c when Davis meets new men for the first time, he usually gives the pouty lip and then starts crying.  I was afraid that when Dr. Sam picked him up, he would start screaming in front of the church.  I hate to use the word "luckily", but Dr. Sam ended up having the flu that week so Rev. Elaine Wilder ended up doing the baptism.  Davis gave her a big smile and was the perfect angel all day!  They prefer that you don't take pictures during the ceremony, so here is Davis getting ready for his big debut to the church...

Dr. Cindy McDonald (left) and Rev. Elaine Wilder (right) performed the baptism ceremony and were kind enough to take a few moments for a photo op after the service

 I didn't realize until we got home that the group isn't exactly posed very well for the picture, but here is the group shot of both of our families.  We were thrilled that we had so many family members who were able to help us celebrate the day.

The very proud grandparents:

Once we got back to the house, everyone was able to enjoy a mimosa or two before the food was ready!

Mom and Penny comparing Davis to Lance's baby pictures.  Davis seems to be a little more serious than Harrison was and just likes to observe everything that is going on.  Apparently Lance used to do the same thing and there are several pictures where they have the exact same serious expression on their faces.

 Harrison and Jack wanted to watch movies in my room and they were so cute, they sat like this, right next to each other for quite a while watching Lightning McQueen.  Obviously, they were overcome with emotion by the thought of what a monumental day this was for Davis...I can't think of a better way to celebrate than watching Cars! :)  I couldn't get them to look away from the screen, but at least they cooperated with a "cheeeeeese!!!"

...

...Since Harrison doesn't get to see his cousins all that often, I decided to just let him stay up instead of taking a nap.  At about 3 o'clock, I walked into my room to find this...

...poor guy fell asleep sitting up!

We had such a nice day and loved having the support of our family on such an important day for Davis!

Harrison's Birthday Week

Happy 3rd birthday Harrison!!  February has been a crazy month for us with Harrison's birthday, Davis' baptism and Lance's and my first vacation together without the kids!  Harrison turned 3 on February 9th and I think he had 3 birthday celebrations in one week!  First up was his school party.  I brought in whoopie pies for the kids which are basically just homemade moon pies and we had a birthday celebration during his snack time.  All of his friends sang happy birthday to him and he got to wear a special birthday hat.  Here is Harrison and his friend Kenley:

I think the kids all liked the whoopie pies but it was near impossible to get all of them to look at the camera at the same time!

 

When Harrison woke up on his birthday, we had a bunch of balloons waiting for him in the family room.  He was so funny because when he saw them, he shouted, "Mommy!  Daddy!  Santa Claus brought me balloons for my birthday!  Since it was his birthday, he got to have gummies for breakfast...the breakfast of champions...or at least, birthday boys anyway!

A few of the babies in our playgroup were also born in early February so we met up at McDonalds that day for a birthday playdate.  We sat right next to the play area so the kids were all running around, but Harrison was able to sit for a few minutes to enjoy a cupcake!

Harrison's grandmommy & granddaddy Koeppe, Aunt Liz, cousin Emily and Aunt Nancy & Uncle Kim all came in town on his birthday to help celebrate the week.  Once everyone got in town, we met up at Mellow Mushroom for a birthday dinner.  Here is Grandma Ann, Grandmommy Koeppe and Aunt Liz with Harrison:

Davis was also able to get a little attention from Aunt Nancy & Uncle Kim.

As you can see from the video, he clearly does not like to get any attention:

After Harrison finished showing off his dance moves for the restaurant, we came back home and he got to open his present from grandma & granddaddy Randolph - a remote control car.  Now Harrison can play with his remote control car while daddy plays with his remote control helicopter!
Not the best picture, but he had so much fun.  Getting him to bed after opening this was not easy!

It was such a fun day, but the week was just getting started!!
Lance had a busy week at work, but still found time to make a cake for Harrison's birthday.  He started the tradition when Harrison was 1 and I feel like his cakes get more impressive for each birthday!  We'll see if he can keep it up for Davis too!!

Saturday came before we knew it and it was finally time for Harrison's soccer party!  He has asked when he gets to go to his soccer party everyday for the past 3 weeks so I know it felt like an eternity to him!
Here is the finished cake:

Harrison and his buddies enjoying their hotdogs...

Harrison and his friend Lanie playing soccer.  It was funny because the trains were setup in the room just as you walk into the basement so most of the kids got sidetracked with that and weren't too interested in the soccer part.  Hey, with 13- 3 yr olds, I was just happy they were all having fun!!

Jack & Trey helping Harrison open his presents...

Aunt Liz hanging with Davis while Harrison opened his presents.  I love this picture because Davis makes this face a lot and says "mmmmmmmmmmmm"  I think he is trying to say mama! :)

Overall, Harrison had such a fun birthday week.  Thank you to all of our friends and family who helped us celebrate!  We feel so blessed to have such an amazing "village"!

Best buddies

Davis just thinks Harrison is the coolest thing since sliced bread and the other night Harrison had Davis laughing harder than I've ever seen. I live for these sweet moments!