Playdate at the zoo...

We had another great day at the zoo today! Jennifer planned a really fun playdate for the kiddos (and the mommies too!) at the zoo this morning for what ended up being 5 of us girls and 8 little ones. I was the only one that kept mine strapped in the stroller the whole time! The other moms were so brave! Thomas is so good, but he would never stay with me and he does pitch a fit when you let him walk and then put him back in the stroller! His favorite this time was watching the penguins. We were lucky enough to be there when they got fed....

Whitley was the baby entertainer of the group and man oh man did she do a good job. She has a little sister 5 weeks older than Thomas, so she knows just how to make him happy!
As you can see, Blake had a really good time at the zoo today! He passed out about 10 minutes after Ashley got there and woke up as we were walking out! He is so sweet and he REALLY gave me baby fever again!
This was like herding cats, but we finally at least got all but 3 of the kids in the picture at the same time. Getting all of them to look at the same time was just too much to ask!

Thanks, Jennifer, for planning a fun time for all of us! Once again, Thomas was asleep before we even hit the interstate and he is still asleep 2 1/2 hours later!

A fabulous weekend...

This posting is a bit late, but I just wanted to share the fabulous weekend we had last weekend. My mom had Thomas on Friday, so I had a day all to myself to work and clean house. Bobby got home from work with these flowers in hand...

Evidently, Friday was the 9 year anniversary of our first date, and Bobby remembered. He brought me these flowers and made reservations at Motor Supply for dinner. We had a nice time, and I thought it was so sweet of him to remember the anniversary of our first date. I didn't even remember that one.... ha ha!

Saturday we packed everything up and took Thomas to the zoo and stayed for a very long time. Poor Thomas missed both of his naps, but he was so good. He didn't even make it out of the zoo driveway before he was conked out in the backseat... so sweet...

I changed his diaper, put some comfy pants on him, and layed him down in the crib and he never moved a muscle. He was so tired. It was so fun to spend the day together!

All he wants to do... all day long...

Pushing his truck up and down the driveway and back and forth across our patio is all my big boy wants to do all day. He gets so excited when I put him down on the patio. Yesterday he did some kind of cute march and said "outside, outside, outside" in beat with his marching feet. Keep in mind that outside is his first real word besides Dada and Katie (and rarely Mama)! I might be a bit bias, but I do believe he is a very smart boy! Enjoy this video...

Truck video...

As I mentioned earlier, he is having a hard time deciding between his Tonka truck and his fire truck, so this morning he decided to stack the fire truck on top of his other truck and push them both! He is such a hoot! He was running through the house with them until he saw me get the camera out and then he was too interested in the camera to run. I will try to get a running vides of him when he wakes up from his nap. It is really funny! Enjoy!!!

Uck, UCK! (truck)

Thomas loves trucks of any kind. When he sees one, he is starting to say, "UCK"... so cute. He even gets excited when he sees a real one on the road. Yesterday morning he was running through the house splitting his time between his fire truck that Aunt Juanita and Uncle Greg gave him and his Tonka truck that Aunt Kris, Uncle Chris, and Katie gave him... he just couldn't decide!

Some quality time with Aunt Kitty...

My mom's sister (twin sister!) came to eat lunch with us at my mom's house on Sunday and Thomas decided to spend some time with her. He is to the point now that he is usually only interested in making laps around mom's house with his big dump truck and will only come to you if you are offering a quick bite of food. Sunday he was sleepy and ended up sitting on the floor with Kitty and sharing his blanket with her! So, thanks for coming to eat lunch with us, Aunt Kitty, and for spending some time with Thomas!

An Evening at Finley Park

After having such a relaxing day, we decided to finish it off by taking Thomas to Finley Park. We grabbed some KFC on the way and had a nice picnic to the tunes of a beach music band! We had to keep Thomas in his stroller while we ate because he is getting to the point where sometimes he would rather play now and eat later. That isn't so bad at home, but we wouldn't have been able to eat if he would have been loose there!

And he's off.....

Taking a very short break to drink some water...
And he's off again....!
We coaxed him back for another water break...

His next discovery was that he could push his stroller...

Bobby did tear him away from the stroller long enough to go down the slide!

He was so sweaty that we finally had to leave. I was so worried that he was going to get overheated. That was the first time he had gotten that sweaty! He drinks an insane amount of water, but mommy was still worried about him. We got home and he played in the tub for a while and then he was out before 8:30. We won't hear from him again until 8:30 tomorrow morning when we get him up for church. He will be recovered by then, and it will be off to the races again. Those lucky nursery workers, huh?

Until next time, Becky

A lazy Saturday morning...

It is a little after noon on Saturday and we are just get out of our pajamas and getting showers! What a tough day, huh? This morning while I was vacuuming, Thomas and Bobby played Legos and then Thomas helped me unload the dishwasher. What a big helper, right? It caused a little more work for me, but it made Thomas happy. At first he would throw the silverware on the floor, but after a while he started handing it to me! So sweet... So, I am off to load that silverware back into the dishwasher and then get dressed finally! When Thomas wakes up from his nap, we are off to our usual Saturday lunch spot- McAllisters!

A short video from Katie's visit...

This was a new game that Katie and Bobby came up with. They could make Thomas laugh so hard he could hardly breathe!

Pics from Katie's visit... finally!

Ugh- this has been a crazy last couple of weeks, but better late than never, right? Anyway, Katie flew here from Oklahoma in the middle of July and stayed with us for about 3 1/2 weeks. We had a blast, and wish we could still have her here. Bobby's mom came and visited as well, and we didn't miss doing much. We went swimming at my mom's pool almost every day, went to Frankie's Fun Park twice, went to the Zoo twice, and played countless rounds of Scrabble, Battleship, Trouble, Monopoly, and Jenga until insane times of the night/morning! I get excited and teary recounting all of the memories from that 3 weeks. It went by so fast and we all miss Katie so much. She was so wonderful to Thomas and he thoroughly enjoyed her being here. If you have read all of my previous posts, you know just how much he misses her. Kris, Chris, and Katie use to live in NC, and we didn't see them all that much mostly because of how far apart we thought we lived from each other. Now they are in OK, and I miss them terribly. So, hopefully they will be able to move back to NC in a couple of years, and we won't take for granted just how close we are! I love you guys so much! Ok- enough of that- on to the pictures!

This is Katie running through the Columbia Airport to Bobby and Thomas! So sweet...

Katie's first time with Thomas in 7 months!

Katie and Thomas swimming...

Bobby and Katie playing Battleship...

Thomas liked watching Katie play her Nintendo DS!

Katie swimming with Thomas, Aiden, and Landon...

We celebrated Katie's 12th birthday while she was here... yummmm!

Katie rock climbing at Frankie's... she is so brave!

More swimming with Thomas...

Katie and Thomas playing peek-a-boo...

Ha ha... he found her!

Katie tuckered Thomas out....

Katie and Thomas at the Riverbanks Zoo...

Thomas, Katie, and Bobby playing in the pool!

Thomas and Katie playing Legos...

And more swimming...!

Family Picture the night before Katie left...

Katie and Thomas...

As you can see, we had a great time- you are welcome back any time, Katie! A HUGE thanks to Kris and Chris for loaning us your daughter (I almost said "little girl"... eekkkk!) this summer and letting us celebrate her 12th birthday with her! Also, a HUGE thank you to Katie. It was so wonderful to have you here and we are so proud of the person you have become. Thanks for letting me eat hot meals, sleep in some while you took care of Thomas, and for entertaining Thomas just about every minute he was awake! He loves you so much, and I hope you two can play again soon! I love you to the moon and back!

One more thing for Kris... can you please take Katie to Subway every now and again? The poor girl didn't miss many days of eating a FOOTLONG! I assume she was trying to satiate her Subway need since you don't like to eat there. Poor thing- don't you feel guilty now?

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

I know that we need rain desperately, but it is rough with a toddler that has recently discovered the joys to be had outdoors. It has been raining constant here since late last night with no end in sight. Thomas has put a million miles on his truck running back and forth through the house, but he keeps going to the door and saying, "outside?"! He has even resorted to standing on his truck and trying to turn the doorknob... yikes! I should probably take him somewhere different to play, but I am feeling a little yuck today, so alas, we are at home. We did get out for Thomas' 15 month appointment this morning... here are his stats:

Weight: 29 pounds 12 ounces (96th percentile!)

Height: 34 inches (97th + percentile!)

Head: 52 centimeters (97th + percentile!)

In other words, he is a big boy. Dr. Painter said that he looks great and I am so thankful that his head circumference is finally in proportion. It never bothered me, but I don't want him to have anymore of those tests nor do I want anymore comments from complete strangers about how big my baby's head is!

So, that is all for now. I am off to do some laundry and house work before Bobby gets home. Hope you all are staying dry and finding a way to entertain the little ones!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears.... Oh my!

While Katie was here, we visited the Riverbanks Zoo a couple times. Katie, our undiscovered photographer, got some great shots of the residents...

Mr. Gorilla decided to put on a show for us!