Catching Up

These last few weeks have been a blur...

Our back-door neighbors have come over to play:

We've gone to some Birthday parties (mine included):

On my actual birthday I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner for FREE.  All because it was my birthday.  Some places you just show your ID and they give you a free meal.  I was all over this!  It was an especially nice treat to have breakfast out with Derek while other people watched kids or took them to school.  

The reason I haven't blogged much lately is that right after my birthday, the whole family got sick.  It started with me and Brighton and progressed slowly over the whole family for just over a week.  We were robbed of two whole weekends of having fun family time :(  Bummer!  I think we are FINALLY over it now that it's almost June.

Strawberry Picking

Today we headed to Page Farms to pick strawberries.  We got there fairly early before it got hot and stayed about 30 minutes.  This was just perfect.  Mimi joined us, and it was only Maverick and Jamison.  I was smart and brought Maverick his own bucket.  I think he ended up with two strawberries in his bucket when all was said and done.  I lost track of how many he ate, but it was more than he should have!

Yummy!

Maverick as a Strawberry!

Who's Afraid of Firemen?

 Today, Maverick, Jamison, & I toured the Durham Fire Department.  I was a little nervous taking Maverick since so far, he has been terrified of Firemen and has cried whenever they are near.  Both Nanny and Grandma have tried on two separate occasions to take him to see firemen/trucks with no success.  Well, today he did it!  He met firemen with no tears!

Here he is on the truck.  He was a little nervous but did it for the picture.

Same thing with sitting in the truck.  Wasn't too sure about it, but did it because, "Let's take a picture to show Daddy!"

The highlight of the trip was meeting Higsbee the new Firehouse puppy.

Luckily, Jamison slept so I could hold Maverick during the tour.  This allowed him to be brave and not cry although there were times he was on the verge of tears.  Hopefully now he will stop calling firemen "mean guys" and only refer to them as "nice people"  We are still working on that.  He did give a fireman in FULL GEAR (oxygen mask on and everything) a high-five, so I'm very proud of Maverick.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my newest little man.

All four crazy, silly boys!

I'm  not sure what my favorite present was....the flower pot and Hershey kisses from Maverick, the home-made sugar scrub and card from Brighton, the card and picture frame from Chandler, or the 5-hours of sleep from Jamison.  Shhh...don't tell, but the winner is Jamison :)

In actuality, I really am so blessed to be loved by all of my boys!  Their gifts were all so thoughtful and cute and they were all so proud and excited to give them to me.

Annual Zoo Trip!

Today we pulled Chandler out of school to take a trip to the zoo.  It has become an annual tradition (except 2011 when Maverick was tiny) since 2008.  Since Mommy used to work (volunteer) at the zoo and actually had a job offer there, the boys love to hear all about what she did at the zoo and meet all the people she knows.  This is a huge bonus for mommy as she can go to the zoo for free as her friends will let her in the back door, so to speak.

We started the zoo visit off by visiting old friends, eating M&M's and playing with stuff on people's desks.  Mommy and Daddy reminded the boys that we were here to see the animals, so we better get going.  Our adventure began by meeting a zookeeper who had found a snake on the path on the way from the office complex to the actual zoo entrance.  The boys were super excited about this too, and yet...we still had not made it inside the actual zoo.  We pressed on...

Towards the end of the trip we rode the tram.  This was also a big hit of the zoo.  

Here Chandler climbed on the Rhino.  All by himself, he would add.

Mom and 3 boys pose with the bear.  The grizzly bear decided it was hot and we actually got to see him take a dip in his water feature of his enclosure.  

I think my favorite part of the zoo was seeing the two new baby gorillas.  They are both boys that were born last August.  They were SO CUTE!  I could have stayed there and watched them all day long.

Here's Mom and Maverick visiting the elephants.  Maverick was excited about a goose that he saw just past the fence.  He did like the elephants too, but we thought it was funny that he was excited about the common goose.

Climbing in a helicopter is always fun.

Dad and Maverick take in the flamingos.

Amazingly, our trip to the zoo with 4 in tow went very well.  Jamison mainly slept as he was strolled around.  He and our stroller were an attraction in itself for some people.  Normally we take our annual trip to the zoo in the summer, but went earlier this year to avoid the heat.  I hadn't counted on the school groups coming, so the crowds were much, much more than we normally encounter.  It was still manageable though.  Too bad we just missed the opening of the new Polar Bear exhibit that opens 

May 15th.  I guess that will wait till next year.

Jamison's 1 month Stats!

Jamison is one month!  It has flown by.

We are so blessed to still be getting meals from family and friends.  That certainly makes life easier around here.  Jamison is such an easy baby...perhaps the easiest one yet!  He is on no sort of a schedule whatsoever.  He may nap on and off the entire morning or afternoon.  He may be awake for most of that time.  He really doesn't fuss much unless he is hungry or needs to burp, or is over-tired.

He is so loved by our entire family, and we all want to hold him.  Maverick calls him "Jamis" which is so cute.  At night, he will generally give us a 4-hour stretch followed by some 3-hour ones.  He is talking and cooing at us and we'll occasionally get a smile.  I'm loving him up!

Weight:  10 lbs 11 oz

Length: 22.5"

Children's Choir End-of-Year Performance

Today, Chandler (and Brighton) had their end-of-year performances for Choir.

Chandler lead the call to worship with two other boys.  He did great.  His voice was loud and clear.

He sang throughout the entire service at both the 8:30 and 11 o'clock services.  I know he was tired after that.  Brighton sang at the 11 o'clock and Daddy will have to post a picture for me since he took it with his phone.

I'm so glad that our boys are involved in our church this way and love singing about God.  It touches my heart!

First T-Ball Game of the Season

Chandler had his first T-ball game of the season today.  His team had one game earlier, but Chandler had strep and couldn't go.

Here's his team before the game:

Chandler running to first!

Brighton and Maverick running towards the playground!

Chandler at bat:

Fielding the ball:

Chandler has improved so much in these few short weeks.  He really enjoys it too.

It was SUPER cold at this morning game.  You would have no idea that it was May.  We are all ready for more Spring-like weather!

Big Boy Bed for Maverick!

Today marks a big day for Maverick as it was the last time he slept in his crib.  Naptime was in the crib:

Bedtime was in the bed:

Note how he still must like that secure feeling.  We have had some ups and downs with this the past week with Maverick's new found freedom.  Naptime he does fairly well and will not get out of bed, but bedtime is another story!  He can't open the bedroom door, but you will hear him rattling the doorknob. We will sternly tell him to get back into bed, that it's night time and he will usually listen after one reminder (sometimes two).  Of course, Brighton shares his room, so he reminds him as well.

He has also been know to turn on the lamp and sit at the end of the bed "reading" books.  Cute, but yet, I know he needs to listen and go to bed.  What a big boy now!