Weekend Recap: 4th Of July Festivities!

It's already the weekend again (woohoo!) but we are having a low-key Friday night after a relaxing night of kite-flying, so I have some time to blog while we watch the Olympic trials! We heart summer over here!  We kicked off our long weekend by going out with some friends on Friday night.  I truly can't remember the last time we did something like this and despite my exhaustion, it was super fun!

My mom had both of the boys overnight again!  (Gotta get 'em in while there are only 2 of them! ;) )  They are lucky little guys!  Although it took them (or maybe just Josh) to fall asleep, they both slept until 6:30ish which is great for them!  They enjoyed a nice breakfast outside before it was time for the farmers market and haircuts.  Here they are saving a spot for baby:

Both boys were definitely due for a haircut!  This place is probably one of the pricier options around, but they do the best job.  Don't get me started on Josh's last haircut!  Look at all that hair!

Ben is used to getting his haircut and he was done in about 10 minutes.  This was probably Josh's 3rd cut and he was so brave!  He wouldn't crack a smile the whole time, but he was not crying either!

He wanted to hold Andy's hand for a bit.  Sweetie pie.

Look at the after!  So handsome!  And grown-up….whaaaaah!

They both took naps before it was off to Auntie Anna's new place for dinner!  She had a cookout and it was so nice!  Of course the boys loved it because there is a park across the street and they had plenty of playmates…and desserts. 

It was pretty hot out and the boys were tuckered out by the end of the day.  The snugglist boys ever. 

On Sunday, we headed out fairly early to see some of my college friends.  I do not get to see them much so it was so wonderful to see them!  It's even more fun that there are other kiddos for the boys to play with.  Look at these 2 trouble makers.  :)

A water table and a doggy.  What more could a little boy want?

Ben was a little timid about the boat at first because he did not want to fall in, but after he realized that wasn't going to happen, he did not stop smiling.

Josh and Beckett found the boat so relaxing that they fell asleep.  I couldn't believe Joshy fell asleep!  He is not one to miss anything.  :)

We were missing a few but these ladies (and babies!) make my heart happy!

And this was just too cute to pass up, Joshy putting the nuk in the baby's mouth.  Please let that happen with the new baby next month!  This is the 2nd baby he has been so sweet and gentle with recently, but it might be a different story when the baby is actually living with us!

We were pretty tired after a day at the lake, but Ben made it very clear that he needed to go help Nana with 4th of July desserts.  We dropped the boys off with my mom so they could get to work. Check out some of their handiwork!

They even got to eat dinner there. :)

Love that little face so much!

It's making me tired just reliving last weekend, but there was still another day of fun: the main event-- July 4th itself!  Andy woke up in the 5:00AM hour so he could go save us some seats for the parade.  The parade we decided to go to has strict rules about when you can start putting up chairs: no earlier than 6:00AM on the day of the parade.  Well, Andy got there a few minutes after 6:00 and there were no spots available for BLOCKS!  Luckily, he was still able to nab us some awesome seats!  He hung out there until the parade started at 9:00AM.

The boys loved the parade.  Well, they at least loved getting the candy.  Joshy loves those dum-dum suckers.  Thankfully he only wants to take a few licks before he drops it or just gets sick of it.  (Don't want him to choke!)  It's 4 days later and I think Ben has only had like 2 pieces of candy.  He truly forgets about it after the parade, which is fine by me.

The parade wore everyone out and we ALL took a nap after lunch.  I rarely fall asleep during the day, but being super preggo + hot makes me so tired!  We were over an hour late for our pool party because Ben napped for 3 hours!  Josh ended up waking him up without me knowing.  All of a sudden I hear "BOO!" on the baby monitor and I look at it to see that Josh had climbed upstairs, climbed on to Ben's bed, and was trying to scare him by sitting there and saying BOO above his head.  It was hilarious.  Even Ben, who usually is a little on the crabbier side when he wakes up, thought it was funny.

I was pretty tired by pool party time, so my pictures are limited.  Actually, I was exhausted at that point.  And that point would have been 4:30 after I took a nap.  Yikes!  It was so much fun though!  I wish I would have gotten pictures of everyone who was there!  I did manage to take pictures of the food.  What does that say about me?!  Yikes!

I didn't even go in the water, so thankfully there were other people to keep the boys happy!

We attempted a picture of the kiddos in the pool, but ultimately Anna had to combine 5 separate photos. :)  I love Joshy's pose in this picture.  Such a good boy!

These 2 flag boys were in heaven with orange soda.

We had big plans of going to my mom's again to watch the fireworks from her backyard, but we were all tired by this point.  I was afraid that Ben was going to be upset because he had been talking about the fireworks for awhile, but luckily I don't think he totally knew what he was missing.  ;)  We had our own "show" with glow sticks and sparklers and he was more than happy with that.  Maybe next year we will make it for the real thing!

Overall, it was an amazing 4th of July.  It is one of my favorite holidays and I'm truly so happy to live in this beautiful country, despite the horrible things that have happened here recently.  But I'll leave this on a happy note.  God Bless America!  Happy weekend!

34 Weeks (7/4/2016)

Well I had every intention of taking a patriotic bump pic, but we had such a busy day that I completely forgot.  I'll post more on our holiday weekend soon!

How far along: 34 weeks!  Actually 34w3 days by this point.  I don't think the weeks could go any faster!  I have severe pregnancy brain that I hope resolves after the baby arrives.  Nothing a little sleep deprivation can't cure, right? ;)
Maternity clothes: I still wear them, but the top I'm wearing in this picture is actually non-maternity!  Looking forward to getting back to my regular clothes soon.
Best moment this week:  We had an amazingly fabulous 4th of July weekend!
Movements: All the time!  Still waiting for Ben to feel the baby kick!
Miss anything?  This question fell off my list some how, but I'm not missing too much.  It's getting harder to roll over in bed, but it's really not too bad.  Still looking forward to a glass of vino!
Sleep: I fear I will jinx things by saying the last 2 nights have been good, but the boys are just so cute and sweet when they wake up in the middle of the night it is hard to get mad!
Anything make you sick or queasy:  Not really sick or queasy but I strongly dislike being hot and I get hot often!  It reminds me of when I was pregnant with that little hot box named Ben!
Exercise: I just told Andy I was going to do a work-out DVD for 21 days straight starting today.  And then I plopped down with my laptop to write this.  :)
Looking forward to: Another jam-packed, fun-filled weekend!

18 Months (6/18/2016)

Josh is more like 18.5 months now, but better late than never!

GENERAL:  My big 1 and a half year old!!  I can't believe this sweet boy is getting so big!  I just love him to pieces.  He gets smarter and funnier by the day.  He is Ben's little shadow and it's hard not to laugh sometimes, even when he is causing mischief.  Joshy-pie is a happy guy, well, as long as he is getting what he wants!  I love that he is saying, "CHEESE" in every picture, which he says pretty much anytime he sees me taking a picture.

SLEEP: Oh sleep.  It was a fairly rough month, but things have been a bit better lately.  If I'd have to guess, I'd say he probably wakes up at least half of the nights during a given week these days, maybe less.  Sometimes he will go back to sleep right away, sometimes he will cry for a long time, even if we go in there several times.  It's so hard not to feel bad when he is screaming "MAMA! DADA!" at the top of his lungs.  He is also starting to not go down as nicely as he used to.  He knows he is missing out on fun!  He usually is down at 7:00PM and wakes up at 6:00AM.  He does not wake up a minute later than 6:02-- even when up late on the 4th of July!  He has been taking nice, 2+ hour naps most days too.     He has a new toddler bed up in Ben's room, but he basically laughed in my face the 2 times I tried to get him to nap in it!  He loves jumping on in and knows he can climb right out, so he does both of those things.  We'll keep trying!

EATING:  His eating has been pretty good.  We have been really trying to limit both of the boys' snacking, which has helped a lot.  They are more hungry for meals, though Ben would still rather do anything!  Josh has yet to get sick of Cheerios and milk for breakfast every single morning.  He now says "eat" and points to the kitchen after his morning snuggles in our bed.  He is taking after his  brother in the string cheese and fruit department.  We are working on getting him to drink more milk and fluids in general.

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: He does not miss A THING.  He probably has around 20 words?  He is talking more but still does a lot of pointing and grunting/crying to get what he wants.  He knows several animal sounds and he is such a good helper.  He is so good at being gentle and if you say "wow!" for whatever reason, he will go and give you a hug and a kiss.  He loves reading books and he especially loves his baby "Highlights" magazine where you have to find the hidden objects.   He is still soooo attached to me but it seems to be getting a little better in terms of getting ready in the morning without him crying for me to hold him.

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  He is off the charts for his fine and gross motor skills.  He is a monkey!  He is always climbing and jumping/ free-falling.  He figured out how to put one of the pillows from the couch on the floor and he then falls forward on to the pillow.  He cries only if he gets hurt REALLY badly-- way less than we would expect!  These name chairs, for example, make great jumping boards when you turn them on their side and climb on them.  Stinker!

Joshy, you have made the last year and a half so much fun!  We love watching you play with your big brother and we can't wait for your turn in the big brother role.  You are the sweetest little one year old and we love your snuggles, hugs, and kisses so much.