Finally ... Fletcher, Jess, & Brandon!

From 0 to 30

2011-08-11T06:55:00.000-04:00

Squeak!

2011-04-17T14:54:00.000-04:00

Rocky

2011-03-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

What better way to start a new month than with a black eye?

Month Day

2011-02-26T07:38:00.031-05:00

I have to admit, I did not want to do this month's month-day pictures. Jess and Bran turned two last month ... so do I still do monthly pictures? Or are we now at the half-year stage? Like the next time is two and half? Ack! And then that makes this Fletch's last month-day session? Because next month he is two, too? Double Ack!

So we were late.

It appears I was not the only one who didn't want to do them.

Jess was a perfect picture of uncooperative.

Which is not her usual.

The boys have dibs on that.

And while Jess decided that she didn't really want to sit with Brandon ...

Brandon and Fletch decided it would be a great time.

I love how they are looking at each other in this shot!

Picnic

2011-02-23T15:22:00.001-05:00

We have been trying to take advantage of the little bits and pieces of Spring that have been popping up around us, and we had our first outside picnic lunch of the season!

Rainy Days and Mondays

2011-02-21T15:02:00.005-05:00

In an effort to let neither get us down, we did some painting ...

Her cheese makes me smile!

My attempt at a bunch of twists.

Wrightsville Beach

2011-02-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

We had a great time with Carolyn and her crew …

Oh, the chaos.

Oh, the absolute chaos that erupted like tiny volcanoes throughout each and every day when you take my three kids and put them in a house with my cousins three kids.

We did watercolors and dancing,

play-dough and board games,

finger painting and snacks,

family meals and sand play,

children's museum and story time.

What a great time with a great set of memories.

My kids went all WW.F (did I just date myself? Should I have said MM.A?!) on each other every day to see who would get to sit in the swing. Check out who won almost every match ...

Jess loved the baby and would hand her stuff and do her little Mama routine that she does with the boys. Brandon spent all of his time taking whatever the baby was crawling toward, before she could get to it. Typical Brandon, only he didn't have to fight for whatever he wanted to take, like he does with his siblings. He would just take it (rattle, car, flower thing, music stuff, whatever) and then say No-No Baby. Fletcher loved the baby for the first two days - he would follow her around and kiss her and hug her and tell her HELLO BABY! and hand her toys. Then he grew bored and spent the next two days telling her NO BABY! about EVERYTHING.

They had a train table set up … big hit!

I'll give you three guesses as to which one of my children ran full speed into the ocean in his snowsuit.

And while it was a great time, I was so happy to get home, unpack, put kids to bed, and pick up Mike from the airport.

Man, that was a long three weeks.

Font

2011-02-04T07:26:00.003-05:00

Is this font too hard to read for the main posts?

Monthly Special

2011-02-03T07:06:00.025-05:00

Fletch and I went to get his hair cut yesterday while Grammy stayed home with Jessica and Brandon. They were having a special for the month of February - free color streak! So streak we did ...

Brandon was quite intrigued with those blue tips ...

Then a box arrived from Aunt Annette with lots of fun clothes from Livie and Dom. Of course, Jess had to try as much on right away as she could. We're so blessed to receive these kinds of boxes from our family and friends, and doubly so since the kids have so much fun opening them and checking everything out!

I went into the kitchen later and found this ...

Both Angus and Lacey were very confused by this turn of events ...

Brandon and Jess' outing is to the doctor for their two year appointment. Somehow, I don't think it is going to go over as well as the free color streak. And I don't think I'll take pictures.

Choo-Choo!

2011-02-01T06:57:00.005-05:00

The kids have been dragging their chairs around and setting them up in various places. One of the funniest, which I have to try to photograph next, was in front of me (sitting in the chair) like they were my audience.

But until I get pictures of the audience, here is the choo-choo formation ...

You can see where this going to start going terribly wrong ...

Boys and their feet ...

And here we are right before Jess goes to timeout for swatting Fletch ...

Now that we've perfected Ring Around the Rosie, we might have to start learning musical chairs soon!

Spring Cleaning

2011-01-31T12:25:00.001-05:00

Of the blog variety … I have a TON of updating to do, so here goes!

In the great green chair

2011-01-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Among other things, Ame got to see how hard it is to take our chair pictures each month …

(Uncooperative) Love from Pittsburgh!

2011-01-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

Love from New York!

2011-01-26T14:46:00.000-05:00

Love from Florida!

2011-01-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

Neigh

2011-01-26T12:55:00.000-05:00

Apparently, we have been missing sticks around here.

Noisy sticks.

New Robes

2011-01-25T15:01:00.000-05:00

Morning Snuggles

2011-01-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

22 Months Old

2011-01-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

Two turning two

2011-01-21T15:17:00.000-05:00

Love from Lubbock!

2011-01-21T14:59:00.000-05:00

Love from Connecticut!

2011-01-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

Cupcakes

2011-01-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

Two Years Old

2011-01-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

(Insert Huge Sigh Here)

Love from San Antonio!

2011-01-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Holiday Party

2011-01-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Fletcher was too busy dancing to get his picture taken …

Did you just have a flash back to a Sein.feld episode?!

Boots and Boas

2011-01-19T13:27:00.000-05:00

Sick Days

2011-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

A trip to the bounce house landed us on the futon for two weeks.

Here is Brandon showing you his eczema …

Fletch loves hats – and even makes his own out of whatever he can find. Today's choice was Dadda’s neck scarf thing.

I LOVE this picture because it shows how Brandon looks at his Dadda …

January Fun

2011-01-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

Cheese!

Here’s an attempt to show the length of Jess’ hair …

And curl pattern …

Brandon’s is much different …

Jessica’s first ponytail!

Dress rehearsal for the next nativity at Grammy’s church …

Everybody on the dance floor!

Reading with Grammy Sue …

good intentions

2010-12-27T09:21:00.001-05:00

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snow on Christmas morning!

2010-12-27T08:51:00.001-05:00

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Santa's cookies

2010-12-27T08:50:00.001-05:00

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test post from my phone

2010-12-27T08:47:00.001-05:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Rocking out ...

2010-11-29T18:26:00.002-05:00

... with the Rock.ettes during the Thanksgiv.ing parade.

22 and 20 Months

2010-11-27T19:05:00.000-05:00

Can I just say that I didn’t like typing that?

There.

I said it.

22 months is practically 2 years old.

And 20 months is no where near far enough behind …

Month-day almost got lost amidst the holiday fun. Almost. I’m still sad that it got lost last May so I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We combined it, and well, it’s close. They all got in the chair together, which is always way too cute. Until they fight and cry.

Speaking of last May, vacation seems like it was way too long ago. We’re thinking we should do two … one in the Spring and one for Thanksgiving week. We’ll see how that pans out.

We can’t take pictures without getting one of Brandon crying. Because, well, that’s just what he does.

And this is what happens when I tell her to say cheese …

Cupcakes

2010-11-13T07:09:00.000-05:00

So I made a friend who loves to bake fancy cakes and cupcakes for parties and stuff. We went to a birthday party two weeks ago and she made an awesome Har.ley cake. She really needs to hang out a sign and open up shop.

Anyway, she mentioned that her niece had such a fun time decorating cupcakes and that we should get together and do this with the kids. Just to make sure, I asked if she was aware of just how many three can be. (Three is many, many, many – in case you don’t know.) She (foolishly) offered to do this at her house.

Three is also messy, messy, messy. Have I talked about meal time lately? Do you guys know how much tomatoescucumbersgrapestoastsetc. I pick up off the floor each and every meal time? Times three?

Moving on …

I told her we should definitely do it at my house.

This child?

Right here?

Ate his weight in candy. I don’t think he even put anything on the cupcakes. He just ate whatever was placed in front of him. Also? I think he is lacking from a severe sugar deficit, because he was a joy the entire evening. No fits. No tantrums. Just giggles and laughs.

In typical Jess fashion, she stayed pretty neat.

Fletch?

Not

Much

Cleaning up … of course.

And everyone went right to bed at 7:00.

Including me.

Moo

2010-11-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

Ever since I heard there was dairy near us, I’ve been wanting to go. Since my Mom, brother, and D were in town, it seemed a perfect opportunity.

The cows are feeding right as you drive in and park …

This is where I would insert a picture if I had grabbed my camera, instead of my son. The first time he dove in, he dove totally in, and I had to yank him out by his shirt. This was his second time, and I was on to him, and ready.

See this baby?

She was just born. As in just that morning. (I’m bummed that I was focused on the straw instead of the calf.)

And here is her placenta.

Of course I took a picture!

Moving on.

They had a little milking station …

This is Jess’ really trying face …

She makes it pretty often, and I’m glad I finally caught it!

And then we went to the actual milking station. I didn’t take pictures inside because they had an inspector in town.

If you stand this close to cows who are peeing?

You will get splashed.

Just saying.

They have a shop with fresh milk (seasonal egg nog!) and cheese (curds!), meat from local farmers, shrimp, bread, snacks, and ice cream.

YUM.

Veteran’s Day

2010-11-11T07:11:00.000-05:00

There was a ceremony to honor veterans at one of Mike’s campuses and we decided to take the kids. I think I’ve already mentioned that I can’t attend a military function without my eyes tearing up, and this one was no exception.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard the service medley played (piped?) on bag pipes. Awesome.

All three kids were so well behaved and stayed fairly quiet in their stroller until the ceremony was over.

Then we let them run around and get some of that energy out.

This poor girl was trying to study and they kicked her out of the swing.

Can you imagine if this were your office window? I hope the occupant was as amused as I was.

And, of course, as always … we saw a PANE!

Just checking

2010-11-06T06:32:00.002-04:00

Is anyone here who is not on Fa.cebook?

Do I really need to keep this going, if I'm posting pictures there?!

Climbing high

2010-11-01T09:06:00.000-04:00

Grammy and Pop-Pop came to visit and the remedied the illegal climbing problem we were having in the house!

BzzBugs and their flower

2010-10-31T07:44:00.000-04:00

Snuggles

2010-10-29T07:25:00.000-04:00

Definitely the snugglers of the group – Brandon usually doesn’t sit still long enough to cuddle properly.

The balloons Daddy brought home for his own birthday (one said ‘Welcome Back’ and still makes me laugh) were a big hit! They are still floating around the house providing heaps of excitement and happiness. Fletcher runs around (when the TV is off) shouting Bah-oon!

Cheese!

Happy Birthday!

2010-10-28T06:36:00.000-04:00

It does a body good

2010-10-26T07:16:00.000-04:00

I wanted to capture our morning milk snuggles, before they’re gone.

Updates

2010-10-24T09:24:00.000-04:00

OK, like I said, I’ve been having heaps of problems getting images to load on Bl.ogger this month. But now? I found Wind.ows L.ive Wri.ter. Where has this been all my life? So super easy to upload pictures. I have no excuses now. Well, I still have the same three, but you know what I mean. I still think my computer wants to die, but this is working much better.

I’m going through and updating with the shots we’ve taken this month, so you’ll have to scroll back through the older posts.

Have fun!

19 Months Old

2010-10-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

Read, play, love

2010-10-23T09:27:00.001-04:00

You can’t hide from Fletcher’s big love …

You could be sitting down, minding your own business,

when all of sudden someone sneaks up from behind …

… and gives you sneaky kisses!

We can only stay inside so long, then we have to go outside and

unleash some pent-up energy …

This is kinda funny, and typical. Fletcher went and got these two trucks …

He set one down in front of Brandon to play with, but Brandon had to reach over and take the other one …

… and run off with it.

Apple Orchard

2010-10-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

We drove up to Sk.y Top Orchard yesterday and let the kids run (almost) wild. We shared apple cider donuts, cider slush, a wagon ride and some fun!

After this series of pictures, we saw a very clearly marked sign that stated Wagons are to be used for hauling apples, not people …

This cow fooled no one!

Rotten apples everywhere - the boys had a blast!

When I said it was time for a snack, Jess plopped down instantly without quite realizing she needed to come sit with us.

Each time we head out, I get more convinced that those leashes aren’t such a bad idea.

Random snacking

2010-10-23T08:58:00.001-04:00

The key ID feature of needing a snack is seeing them snacking on dinosaurs.

We have milk and a snack around 10 while we watch Ses.ame Street. The kidlets love Melmo and bop around to his opening music.

See Fletch’s feet sticking out like the wicked witch?

And perched on the sit.and.spin as if it were a bar stool?

Then Brandon went on a little adventure with a basket on his head …

21 Months Old

2010-10-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

Poor Brandon. I was just DONE by this point.

A quick comparison

2010-10-21T07:02:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin Patch Party

2010-10-18T07:49:00.000-04:00

This idea is pure genius – and if we ever live some place long enough for the kids to make a friend or two, I’m going to swipe it. Mike works with a guy who has a pumpkin patch party every year. I know, right? How fun is that?!

They made a giant pot of chili and everyone brought a snack and a desert and the kids all played (ran off in three different directions, in our case) until we ate, then we took a hayride to the patch (an actual patch, vice a field with pumpkins lined up) to pick out our pumpkins, then back up to the party site. More snacking, a bonfire with smores and a trip through the corn maze (for those who don’t adhere to a strict 7:00 PM bedtime).

PS – we’re a little bit preoccupied with airplanes (pane! pane!) right now …

Dress Rehearsal

2010-10-16T08:16:00.000-04:00

I’m a little hesitant to get too excited about Halloween this year. We have two very hesitant little bees buzzing around …

The only one who seems happy about beeing a bee, is not going to bee a bee.

Pumpkin Patch, Take 1

2010-10-11T07:30:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try to catch up on the last few weeks ... we'll see how far I get!

Bl.ogger hasn't been allowing me to upload images lately, and I'm not sure what that's all about. I have about 5 saved posts now that I can't add pictures to. It might also be in combination with my computer dying. I’m trying a new application this morning, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m not sure if you can tell, but I back-date the posts to the date the pictures were taken, since I’ll print this some day for the kids.

We visited the pumpkin patch with Grammy & Pop-Pop, and it was almost 90 degrees. Something about that was not quite right ... but the fun was still all there! Pumpkins and wagons and balloons and horses ...

Happy Anniversary!

2010-10-09T10:44:00.000-04:00

Learning to take turns

2010-10-08T13:08:00.000-04:00

Stuck

2010-10-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Fletcher flips the chairs upside down, gets inside and plays, then declares himself tuck when he wants to get out.

Two skirts

2010-10-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

Because one is never enough …

Flood, anyone?

Why we keep the TV off around here

2010-09-30T18:25:00.000-04:00

Some of these pictures look like they are the same shot. But no. Just little people in a trance. Not moving.

Eighteen Months ... is apparently not the most fun.

2010-09-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

Twenty Months

2010-09-21T14:18:00.001-04:00

I have no idea why it took us so long to get a sandbox

2010-09-20T06:24:00.000-04:00

Now all we need is a play house and a water table.
And a huge climbing thing.
And tunnels.
And a ball pit.
And a bounce house.
And a trampoline.
And a nanny.
That's it.

It depends on your definition of fun

2010-09-17T09:32:00.000-04:00

Everybody's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man

2010-09-16T19:08:00.001-04:00

And just like that, Fletcher knew what he wanted for Christmas

2010-09-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

Now I lay me down to sleep

2010-09-03T09:59:00.000-04:00

So Ame asked about the kids rooms, so I thought I'd put up a little walk around for you.

The nursery is pretty much the same as it was in Charleston ...

The famous chair, with the addition of a scripture and cross my friend Lisa made.

Their names on the wall.


Their bookshelf that they love to empty.

One thing is pretty new these days, though - we now have a girlie room for sister!

I made some fun poms, and Pop-Pop hung up little canvases for her.

She's borrowing Grammy's chair and my old furniture. I think when we buy her furniture, it will be white.

Lisa made this cross, too - and I am loving this lamp and mirror.

I have to put the purple cover on the futon.

Adventure

2010-08-26T06:43:00.000-04:00

So we went on an adventure unlike any we've gone on so far.

We let the kids roam free ...

outside ...
not in strollers ...
in public.
There was lots to see ...
But nothing as exciting as the drains ...

or the dirt ...
or the manholes.
One nice thing about the zoo pass, is that we don't have to worry about leaving when Brandon loses his mind, after only 20 minutes.

Or when Jess just ...

quits.

Trying ...

2010-08-24T06:09:00.000-04:00

on ...

our ...
new ...

snaps!

17 Months Old

2010-08-23T06:28:00.002-04:00

19 Months Old

2010-08-21T20:12:00.000-04:00

And bound and determined to never take another posed picture again.

Delight

2010-08-12T20:33:00.000-04:00

Check out Fletcher's milk-induced coma ...

We don't seem to pull out a camera much when Grammy Sue is here. Those of you who know Grammy Sue will realize how absolutely absurd that statement is. Absurd, but true. I think she gave up picture taking for lent two years ago and forgot to start back up again.

We walked around the lake at Furman and got to see ducks ...

Many, many ducks!

And much to Fletcher's delight, Jess got a new purse. He loves it!

Early August

2010-08-11T06:30:00.001-04:00

How is it August already? Wasn't it just July?!

It was brought to my attention that this space is lacking an update - so ...

Last weekend (or the one before) we had a great time with Grammy and PopPop ... more fun at the Children's Museum ...

More sliding ...

More kissing - a chicken this time ...

More photos of my chins taken ...

More swimming lessons ...

(I swear Brandon swims, too - not sure why I don't have a picture.)

We ate chicken tenders in the car ...

Bonus points given for those of you who just guessed that the gray seat gives me a touch of anxiety and I have to order another tan one.

And thanks to Pop-Pop, our swing set is up!

It provides approximately 2.9 seconds worth of entertainment per any given attention span.

And a little quad action is always fun ...

... until its not, and makes us cry.

Hibachi!

2010-07-25T12:36:00.002-04:00

We're all about firsts up in here. Last week, we took the kids for their first trip to a Japanese Steak House.

We knew this would be super fun for them ...

Dinner and show ...

We leave a hefty tip when we dine out now, to (at least try to) make up for all the food on the floor. The kids actually didn't do too bad.

Well, Fletcher did, but it wasn't his fault. He had a spoon, and Julia gave him access to her fried rice. So you can imagine where that rice ended up ...

But all is well that ends well!

16 Months

2010-07-23T11:53:00.000-04:00

18 Months

2010-07-21T09:45:00.004-04:00

Have you ever kissed a pig?

2010-07-15T06:53:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, we went to the Children's Museum. When we were going in, they offered us the annual pass. I'm usually a sucker for things like that, but I have this about a hundred dollars price tag in my head. For lots of hings, really. Groceries (clearly pre-three kids), hair products, hi-lights, an Am.azon cart. I don't know if I watched Rainman too many times or what, but it sounds like a nice number. I don't scoff at (most) things that are priced around that. The zoo? We're in. We can go all year. And so can half of our neighborhood. But the Children's Museum's pass was not that price, it was a lot not that price, so we paid for the day and moved along.

The kids LOVED the Children's Museum.

It was full of their-sized things to do, and touch, and see, and just be.

We LOVED the Children's Museum.

I left saying, we should come back tomorrow.

And we should have bought the membership.

Swimming!

2010-07-09T20:20:00.005-04:00

It is no secret that we have some super cool, spoiling kinda' grandparents. The latest treat is swimming lessons ... enjoy!

Because we miss our Daddy!

2010-07-09T14:49:00.003-04:00

It's never to early to start ...

2010-07-08T14:38:00.002-04:00

If we could talk to the animals ...

2010-07-07T14:35:00.003-04:00

Because I can't get enough of the kissing!

2010-07-06T17:57:00.002-04:00

Just when I thought ...

2010-07-05T15:19:00.001-04:00

my love-meter was tapped ...

... Fletcher swoops in with the kisses all day long.

Happy

2010-07-04T15:03:00.003-04:00

pen

dence

Day!

Cooling off

2010-07-01T17:11:00.003-04:00

Our splash pad met an untimely death.

Fortunately, we found another at the store ...

... Fletcher took a bite, and said it tastes fine.

The story the pictures fail to tell is that this one has 37 additional places that could potentially spring a leak ...

... therefore sealing its' fate. But in the mean time, it checked out as fun.

... for 3 minutes.

Then they all scampered off to climb stairs, chairs, tables, and decks - one of which Fletcher fell off of - so we'll be doing concussion tests every hour all night long.

Look at Fletcher's face here ...

Fun!

The pictures also fail to show the mud pit in the corner from the new fence where Jess and Fletch had an early evening snack. I hope it was just mud and not rocks.

We shall see ...

In the mean time, Aunty Kelly's book of the month arrived ...

... also a hit!

Is this thing still on?

2010-06-23T10:30:00.003-04:00

OK, I could go on and on about moving and boxes and moving and boxes, but I won't.

Instead, I present our happy month-day celebration photos for your viewing pleasure.

I had a really tough time choosing this month's favorite, but I think it has to be this one ...

Look at the child on the left, laughing while (at?) the child on the right loses his mind.

This one is a very close second ...

... because you can actually see a tear!

I'm not even going to bother retaking the photos, every one of which pictures Brandon crying. Because really? They perfectly capture Brandon's month.

Lest you think I'm a totally mean Mama, I gave him monkey to make it all better.

Look at Jess ...

Giant!

And cute!

She always takes a really nice month-day picture because she just knows she's pretty!

Now check this kid out ...

Did he just completely turn into a little boy?

Science-teacher hair and all ..

Baby! Blink. Boy!

He's still a cheesy ham, though.

We went to the store ...

2010-05-16T11:09:00.001-04:00

and came home with

grammy

her suitcase

and pop-pop with his cell phone

Crazy little thing called love

2010-05-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

Walk this way

2010-05-11T17:32:00.002-04:00

Summertime Fun

2010-05-02T08:05:00.001-04:00

Guns up ...

... courtesy of Grammy and Pop-Pop - thanks!

Because Easter was a long time ago

2010-04-28T08:46:00.002-04:00

He is risen ...

2010-04-04T09:40:00.000-04:00

He is risen, indeed!

Happy Easter, guys ...

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-31T08:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday!

2010-03-29T09:47:00.000-04:00

The celebration was a bit of a whirlwind, fueled purely by my denial.

How did he just turn one?

I think I officially have a gaggle of toddlers.

I didn't really get any good pictures, but at least we have some video so I can prove to Fletcher one day that he did, in fact, have a first birthday party complete with cupcakes, decorations, friends, family, food, and presents.

Another One

2010-03-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

... is turning one!

We can't believe it, either.

Please come celebrate with us on
Saturday, March 27th
1100-1400

Bring only your appetite and singing voice,
as we'll provide the lunch, cupcakes, & presents.

One Year Old

2010-03-23T16:56:00.000-04:00

14 Months

2010-03-21T16:34:00.000-04:00

This li'l bit has been doing a lot of independent standing lately, and I've been meaning to get it on film.

However, I wasn't anticipating it would be on a chair.

Although that is a good segue into our first fat lip and bloody nose ...

3/14 - 3/20

2010-03-18T10:53:00.003-04:00

the camera hog ...

the girl with the naturally curly hair ...

the sick baby ...

Eric has been excellent about coming down with Aden so the cousins can visit.

We have been terrible about photographing and documenting it.

Now, at least we have a few shots of the back of everyone's head.

A week in the life of ...

2010-03-10T07:10:00.000-05:00