come back auntie...

I've been thinking a lot lately how blessed we to have wonderful friends. Friends who have seen us through rough times. Friends who we have walked through rough times with. Friends who we would do anything for, and who would do the same for us.

Julz is one of those friends I was blessed to journey through a rough time with. We both worked for CYS in Japan, and while we loved our staff, the kids, and our coworkers, it was rough. If you were there, you get it, if you weren't, just trust me on this one. Even after I left, we had a bond because we trusted each other and we had worked through things together.

Julz is one of those forever friends that has just become family. We've been so lucky to have her come visit three times since we lived in Georgia. I think the next time we need to go see her in the Netherlands though! :) I love her like a sister, and my kids love her like family. When CJ prays at dinner he still thanks God for mommy, daddy, Connor baby girl, Will baby and Auntie Ju. So sweet! Here are a few highlights of her last visit...

After Julz left, CJ will still sit on the sofa a read a book with covers over his legs. One day he leaned over the arm of the sofa to put a book back in the book basket. I told him to get down and go around so he wouldn't fall on his head. He said. "No CJ do. Auntie Ju do that."

And the day we had to take Julz back to the airport (BOO!), we stopped in at the Atlanta aquarium first...

And to get out some energy before a car ride home and a plane ride, CJ and Julz did this outside...

Will and I thought they were funny...

Come back soon Auntie!

boys build...

I'm not going to get into stereotypes, genetic predisposition, or anything of the sort with this post. I'm just going to let you know what has been going on around our house lately.

This was CJ's first tower. The building was 100% his, and he used every single block he had. Luckily, daddy was here to capture his efforts, because mommy was helping hold it up. He still has a little to learn about building a firm foundation! Then, the other night, I was doing dishes, and I heard him exclaim from the office, "Mommy come look dis. So high. Mommy come look dis." He had built a tower that was as far over his head as he could reach. He was soooo proud of himself.

A few weeks ago, Aunt Krista, Natalie and Nathan came to visit. Aunt Krista made up a fun game where you stack the blocks and then knock them over with the ball. That day, we had a different configuration going on. A few days later, again while doing dishes, I heard CJ say, "Mommy play. Knock blocks wid bawl." Here is what he came up with all on his own. (This was obviously pre-haircut too... poor boy couldn't see!) One, I was amazed at the repeating pattern. Two, it was pretty incredible he was able to get these so close together without knocking the other ones over. Three, he remembered the game days later. I swear he's brilliant.

Here's another thing CJ likes to build. A road, complete with things to crash into for his Lightning and Mater. He has these fun toys from the movie Cars that you shake up and then they go on their own. The longer you shake, the further they go. He likes to build a red road and then put the cars at one end. When they go, they knock into and push the blue block on top. Oh the giggles that come with this one!

And before I tell you about this one, I must give you a preface. (1) CJ has never watched a gun movie. (2) CJ doesn't watch TV, with the exception of an occasional Chugginton (train cartoon) or Royal Pains (my guilty pleasure). (3) He did go to a live fire with his daddy, but they mostly fired tanks. Sooo....

I turned around and here is what I saw...

I say, "What's that." CJ says, "Psew!" I get a better look...

He totally built a gun. Never seen one that I know of. What??? Scott asked him later, "Is that a gun?" He said, "No, psew." So, he doesn't build guns, he just builds pswes for now.

can't believe i forgot...

Y'all know how much I LOVE pictures. That being said, I can't believe I didn't tell you about the amazingly fun family pictures we had done. It just got caught up in the mix of a million different things. We decided since CJ and Will's birthdays are about 6 months apart, that capturing them around each of their birthdays during this season when they grow so fast would be a great wayto chronicle their growth. Here's our favorite family picture...

So us. Crazy, laughing, playing.

Jessica Flynn did an amazing job. Here is the link to our more "formal" family shots. hehe.

And here are the "fun" ones. I think Jess's commentary is better than anything I could add.

What a great bunch of guys I have!

7 months old...

I know it's late, but I had a special location in mind for Will's seven months photos. Last week, we went to Florida for a visit and took the boys to the beach. It was Will's first time there, and he loved it... especially eating sand. yuck. I'll post pictures of our beach outing later, but for now, here are the best ones of my 7 month old boy.

This guy is a mess, and I love him to pieces.

I though he would never take to food, but his mouth that was once locked tight now opens W.I.D.E for food. Getting it in there is a little bit of a challenge though. It's kinda like getting a hole in one at a putt-put game where you have to hit the ball through a windmill and into a hole that is moving from left to right. Will is constantly looking around and when he eats, he gets very animated so his mouth is always moving and his hands are always flailing. We get it done though. :)

Will is also soooo wiggly. CJ loved to be carried and would snuggle on your shoulder for hours. He did want to be moving though; I think that is why he walked so early. Will on the other hand, will only snuggle with you the last few seconds before you lay him down to sleep. But he is a mover! When he's awake, he's never still. While we were in Florida, he mastered a scoot. It's not pretty, but he can get to what he wants... which is usually Connor or one of CJ's toys. He kicks up one knee and then uses his arm to pull himself forward. It's always the same knee and same arm though. He's got a method, and he's sticking to it for now. CJ's trying to teach him to crawl on his knees. He will crawl around Will and say, "Look me Will Baby. Crawl on knees like dis." I love these brother moments.

Will is still just as smily and happy as ever. This week at Chick-fil-A, we met friends for lunch. I was talking to the girls, and Will started to screech over my shoulder; I turned around to find he had made friends with the family behind us. There was a mom, but he was really interested in talking to the dad and boy who was around 10. They thought he was hilarious. That's just his nature. That same day he saved lots of smiles for Ms. Anna who has loved to love on him since he was little-bitty.

Will's new favorite thing is Connor, or Connor Baby Girl as she is now known. He thinks she is so funny and wants to chew on her tail soooo badly. When she is laying down he will scoot himself over to her. Yesterday, I was changing CJ's diaper, turned around, and Will had scooted over to Connor and was all snuggled up next to her. Luckily, Connor thinks he is ok... so far at least!

He's such a wonderful little guy, and I can't wait to see where his personality goes. Regardless, we'll love him. I just can't imagine him getting any more wonderful!

tennesse visit (MOST IMPORTANT!)

Well, I saved the best for last! While we did a lot of fun things in Tennessee, and spending time with all our family was wonderful, the most important thing we got to do while we were in Tennessee was to spend time with Nanny the Great.

I love her so much, and I have more priceless memories of doing things with her and my Granddaddy over the years. She taught me to ride a bike, they taught me to fish, I worked in the garden with them (and Nanny thought it was fun to scare me with the rubber snake!), I went to church with them. I could go on and on. And now, I love that my kids are getting to spend time with her.

Unfortunately, Nanny fell a few weeks before we came and broke her hip. She worked like a champ and was already walking some when we got there. It was incredible to see how much progress she made in such a short time. She was in rehab when we were there, so every day we would go for a visit. My kids are wonderful. They were quiet (for the most part), CJ listened and didn't run around like crazy, they smiled at and talked to the people there, they played in Nanny's room without disturbing anything, and they made Nanny smile. :)

Here is the day CJ got his birthday present from Nanny. She is telling him that she was sorry she couldn't come to his party, that she loves him and that even though she wasn't there, she still got him a present...

Then the fun began...

He had a blast playing with the play dough. And Will, was just his wonderful self. Do you see him just chilling out playing with Gran's camera case?

And here is Will with his Nanny the Great. He would smile and coo at her every time we were there. He loved her at first sight...

And just in case you were wondering if CJ still likes his play dough. Yep...

first purchase...

While we were in Tennessee, CJ had a great time with mom's friend Ms. Janice. She took us swimming one day, and he was always ready to smile at her when they came to visit or we saw them at church. He even went to her over Gran one day... now that's how you know he liked her!

Every time CJ would see her, Ms. Janice would also have a $1 for him in her pocket. This was extra special for me, because we had friends that did the same thing for me every Sunday. Whatever change Mr. Bruce had in his pocket, I always picked out the pennies. After time, I collected enough that I got to buy this strange, furry purse thing. I loved it and wanted it soooo bad. And I still remember how proud I was to buy it.

CJ didn't really understand what money could buy, but he thought it was fun to get something. By the time we were ready to leave he had $5! Our last evening we went to the Casey Jones Village. We went to the train museum, and then went to the Old Country Store for a yummy dinner. I had already decided to let CJ spend part of his money, give some at church, and then save the rest (He got a cool pirate piggy bank for his birthday from granddad, and he loves to put money in it. If he sees change at our house, he had a definitive idea of where it should go!)

When we walked into the old country store and saw this, I knew what his first purchase would be! We heard lots of "eat dat. eat dat peas (eat that. eat that please)" while we waited for our table.

After a nice supper, CJ got to fill his bag with whatever candy he wanted...

Then we took it to the nice lady at the soda fountain. She weighed it...

and then told us how much we owed. CJ proudly handed over one of his dollars.

He didn't really understand why she handed him the receipt. He was too focused on the CANDY!

Do you think he liked it?

first day of school...

I'm interrupting my Tennessee catch-up posts to bring you a very, very important post. Young Mr. CJ started school today! There is a wonderful preschool/mother's-day-out program in our area, and we decided to enroll CJ this year for two days a week.

Mondays he'll get to do music, which he raved about on the way home today, and Thursdays they do an organized PE type program. I know he'll really like that. He doesn't need it, but he loves it.

I have visited a few places, but after seeing a preschool program through NAEYC accreditation, I'm a little bit neurotic in my expectations for a program. I love that his teachers have been teaching in the school for many years and have been working in the same room for a few years. I love that they have a planned curriculum for the year. I love that they have free play. I love that they will discipline him. I love that he will be around other kiddos who will grow and stretch him to share. Most importantly, I love that they pray with him and teach him about Jesus. I am a FIRM believer that the more people who invest in my boys and tell them about Jesus, the better. The more it will resonate in their hearts.

So even though I thought I would keep CJ home until he was three, we decided this would be great for him, and give me some one-on-one time with Will. Last week, when I went to enroll him, I got to see his room and meet his teachers. This morning we took daddy with us so he could see the room and meet Ms. Sandi and Ms. Madonna. CJ had fun showing daddy around...

Then CJ was so sweet to bring Will a toy he though Will would enjoy. He was right!

Then we put CJ's lunch at the table where CJ will sit every day. We got there a little early, so the chairs weren't at the table yet. When Ms. Madonna told CJ that was his seat, he looked around, pushed the chair from the art table over and had a seat. It was so cute.

Here he is with his teachers. Can't you tell he is SO excited. This morning the first thing he said to me was. "Good morning, Mommy! Go school. Play friends." I think this is going to be a good thing.

trains galore!

While we were in Tennessee, we got to have lots of fun at the Casey Jones Village Train Museum and at the old train depot that has been restored into a museum. Jackson, Tennessee was once a railroad hub, so there is a lot of history there. My mom even remembers when the Depot was open. After we left we drove past my pawpaw's (CJ and Will's great, great grandad) old store that was down the street.

Our first stop was the Depot. Our tour guide for the morning was Mr. Carl. We were the only ones at the museum, so we got lots of good one-on-one attention. There were lots of wonderful things to look at...

but the best part, was there were lots of fun things to play with (an on!). It is a hands-on sort of place, within reason, and CJ had a blast exploring and looking around.

Then the make your eyes bug out kind of fun came. There was a giant model train modeled after Jackson. It is maintained by local volunteers, and it is really neat. There were lots of fun buttons to push that made lights turn on or camp fires light. CJ didn't know what to think at first, but after a few minutes, he loved it and had a great time pushing the buttons as the trains ran across the tracks. Mr. Carl was so patient with him.

After the train room, we got a special surprise. Check out what came rolling by on the tracks...

Mr. Carl showed us how these levers used to control the switches for the tracks, and even let CJ have a try.

Then we got to explore by ourselves. CJ and Gran had fun on a handcar. CJ thought it was hilarious to move the arm up and down.

The Depot also has some old cars that you can wander through.

After the cute picture with Gran above, we tried to take a picture with me and the boys. FAIL. CJ wanted nothing to do with me, and only wanted Gran. :(

If I remember correctly, CJ is telling me, "Mommy stay here. CJ go Gran." Little stinker, but I love him. Will on the other hand, loved riding in the Moby and looking at everything. He had lots of big smiles.

I didn't think I was going to be able to drag him away from the railroad cars, but do you see this face????

"toot! toot!" There was a train whistle on a pull cord. This was definitely the best part of the day as far as CJ was concerned!

A few days later we went to Casey Jones Village. CJ had a fun time playing with their many train tables.

Will is just a great, go with the flow, can have a great time anywhere kind of guy. He does great in the Moby, although I got a few strange looks!

They had a fun little ride for kiddos, and since we were there with Gran, she of course couldn't say no. CJ said "wow" at first, and then started to say, "toot! toot!"

After the first ride, CJ actually wanted me and Will to ride with him instead of Gran. Then I couldn't say no, so Will and I (not so gracefully) got in. From my face, you would think it was a super, scary roller coaster though!

Fun times and great memories! I see both of these places being long term fun spots as both boys grow.