Candyland

Monday we had our playgroup Halloween party. We started out on a rough note with Max pitching a fit and having to get a spanking in the driveway before we even got inside. He has been so defiant lately. I can't figure out what is going on. Anyway, he ended up having a great time. They got to hit a pinjata and play pin the nose on the pumpkin. While at Karen's house, Max had gone upstairs to play in their playroom. I was told when he got up there he said, "Wow! It's like Candyland up here!" Karen's house is the toy meca. There is just about anything you can think of there to play with. The rest of the time there he kept saying, "Welcome to the World of Candyland!" He cracks me up.



I can't believe how big our playgroup has gotten. It is sad to think of all our first babies starting school in the next 2 years. I have been so blessed by this wonderful group of moms and kids. I was lucky enough to meet most of them when our babies were just infants and we became friends and have stayed friends over the past 4 years. It is great to have this extra support system outside of my family I can go to if I ever need anything and they are always there in times of hardship, frustration, and joy. I know some of these women will be life long friends and I thank the Lord he has brought them into my life. I have been blessed because of them.

I took a few pictures of the boys in their pumpkin shirts when we got home. They look too cute in their matching outfits! Max really does love his brother.

Baby Dedication

Yesterday was Wesley's baby dedication. In our church baby dedication is just a symbolic gesture that we as parent's are dedicating our babies life to the Lord and that we will do all we can to bring this child up in a Godly environment and follow the Lord's will for our lives and his life. It is a special day for us none the less just to celebrate the life of this special baby boy the Lord has blessed our home with. Wesley is such a sweet baby and I can't wait to watch him grow! He rolled over this week and keeps growing like a weed. Here are a few pictures from Sunday.

We carved our pumpkins last night as well. Max wanted to do more than he really could this year but he still had fun. Of course he couldn't wait until it got dark so we could light them up. They turned out really good.

Fun fall weekend

This past weekend we went to the Dalton Fair on Thursday. Max loves going to the fair. It was $1 ride night so he rode several rides and we looked at the livestock. He took a pony ride when we first got there and he loved it. He was cracking me up in his Lighting McQueen rubber boots with the pants tucked into them. It was a pefect fall night. It was cool, but not cold, not windy and no rain. I am so glad the weather is finally changing. He wanted to play every game we went past and Rex let him play several. He won a ball and a stuffed snake. You would have thought they were worth a million dollars, he was so excited to win them. He of course didn't want to leave but we had a really good time.

We went to the Monster Bash at the Creative Discovery Museum on Friday night. This was our first time and it was a little overwhelming. There were so many people packed into one building it was a bit too much. Max doesn't do very well in large crowds. He needs to be able to scope things out before doing them. He didn't do any of the activity stations they had set up for them. We spent most of the time up stairs and on the roof top. Of course I had to nurse in the middle of it so I didn't get any pictures of the few things he did do and then my camera batteries died. Oh, well. He did have a good time. He was the only Sponge Bob and everyone loved Wesley's costume. The only picture I got of Wesly his face is covered up, daddy doesn't take the best pictures! LOL! Max enjoyed showing Rex around the museum because he had never been there. I am glad they got to spend some quality time together doing fun things with just the 2 of them but I hated missing half the fun. It will be so much easier next year when I'm not nursing and having the stop to nurse in the middle of every activity.





We went to a Halloween party/cook out at Rex's cousin's house after we left. Max had a ball roasting weinies and smarshmellows (as he calls them). We got home late and then had a very early day for our trip to Atlanta. It was great to see our family but it is so tiresome with the kids. I had no back up batteries so I didn't get anymore pictures from the rest of the weekend. We were wore out yesterday so we all slept in.

Running and eating steak at 8 months

On Wednesday my friend Karen met me and the boys at Breastfeeding Support Group to bring me some things I had purchased from a party she had. Of course Max needed to use the rest room while we were there and Karen graciously watched Wesley so I could take Max. When we got back she was in amazement over how strong Wesley is. He will absolutely not lay down if he is in your arms. He has to be setting up. She said she felt like she was holding her son Cason, who is 17 months, and should let Wesley down to crawl around. He was only in a diaper and once I got him back to get his clothes on him he was completely soaked. His entire belly was covered in drool. She jokingly said, "He is going to be running and eating steak by 8 months!"

We took a trip to Atlanta this weekend to visit my grandmothers. We took Max for his first visit when he was 3 months old. He was horribly fussy the entire time and when we were pulling into the driveway coming home I put my finger in his mouth finding the cause of his fussiness, his first tooth. Wesley did okay for his first trip away from home over night but was a lot fussier than normal. On the way home, I put my finger in his mouth and found a tooth coming through. Not just any tooth, a molar! Poor guy is getting his first tooth and it is a big one! I can't even get a picture because it is hard to keep his lip pulled back to see it. It is a very strange coincidence that they both got their first tooth at 3 months and both started coming through after a stay at my grandmother's house!

I keep hoping Wesley will not do everything as fast as Max. I would like him to be a baby longer but it doesn't look like it. Who knows maybe he will be running and eating steak at 8 months!

Learning about Moses

On Thursday's Max and I go to Bible Study Fellowship. Last year was our first year and it has been absolutely wonderful. We currently do not have Max in preschool or mom's day out so BSF is his classtime (that is what he calls it). They have hymn time, big and small muscle time, bible story time, snack time, and quiet time. It is great because the kids learn the same things the adults do. It is neat to be able to talk about my bible lesson with my 4 year old and he understands because he just learned about it too. Last year we studied Mathew and when they learned about the transfiguration the teacher asked "What happened to Jesus?" and Max answered "He lighted up!" This year we are studying Moses. All the teachers love Max and he is always cracking them up. I came to pick him up today and his teacher that he loves from last year, Mrs. LaVelle, asked if they had told me what he said last week. After their bible lesson they always ask them questions about it. Last week was about Moses and the burning bush. The teacher asked, "How did God get Moses's attention to talk to him?" Max's answer, "A smoking flower!" I guess that is his interpritation of a burning bush. I feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful bible study I can do with my boys.

My mom and dad watch Wesley for me because kids have to be 2 before they can attend BSF. Mom called this morning and said she would watch Wesley at my house today because my dad was sick. Max talked to her for a few minutes and then handed me the phone. He said "Here, I have to pray for Paw Paw's." He said a sweet little prayer about helping PawPaw's to get better. My mom had asked him to pray for Paw Paw's in him class today if they did prayer request. Max just went ahead and prayed for him then. It was too sweet.

It is awsome to see God working in Max's life and heart already. He has been asking a lot of questions about heaven, Jesus dieing for our sins, and salvation lately. To be able to see him understanding God's love and starting to understand Jesus' sacrifice for us is amazing.I know the Lord is going to a great work with him one day and I can't wait to see what it is. In the mean time I am just going to trust that the Lord gives me the strength and wisdom to bring up 2 godly men that love Him, put Him first in their lives, want to serve Him, and follow the path He has laid out for them.

What a great weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend. On Friday we went on our church's annual trip to Elijah. We went to 5 different apple orchards with a stop for lunch in between. Max had a ball and Wesley did wonderful. Max of course enjoyed all the apple fritters and pies and had to taste the apple cider at every one we stopped at. He also enjoyed some ice cream at the last stop. He had it all over his face. On the way home he road in the front seat of the bus beside my dad that was driving. He was his copilot. One time he looked over at him and said, "PawPaw's when you are the copilot you have to look out the windshield!" We were all wore out by the time we got home.

We had a bonfire on Friday night and several of our friends came over. We had a really good time. It was nice to have some adult conversation and to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while. Max went to his Gran Gran's for the most part. I went and got him around 11:00 and he was asleep. He woke up when we got home and got out for a little while. He roasted smarshmellows and ate a couple of smores. He didn't want to go inside when everyone left. He is wanting to go camping so bad. I have a feeling that will be happening soon even if it is in the back yard.

On Saturday we went to Guthrie Farms in Riceville, TN. We had gone to Down on the Farm last year and Max loved it. Guthrie's didn't have quite as much to do but we still had a really good time. I had to feed Wesley as soon as we got there of course so Max and Rex hung around and talked. We had to wait for the hay wagon so we did the petting zoo first.

We walked around a bit and Max did the rope maze and hay bale maze they had for the kids. Max couldn't wait to pick out his pumpkin. He got to pick one for him and one for brother. He went from pumpkin, to pumpkin, to pumpkin. He wanted a green pumpkin the most but they said it wouldn't turn orange so he had to settle for an orange pumpkin. He was proud of his finds in the end, though.

Once we got back we got some popcorn and cokes and cooled down a little before hitting the corn maze. I had gotten Wesley to sleep so I put him on me in the baby carrier and off we went. To start we let Max make the decisions on where to turn but soon we were lost. We had only been in there about 5 minutes and Max starts saying, " I want to get out of here!" We never did make it to the exit we just found our way back to the entrance and went out that way. It was so hot! The sun was beating down on us and we were in there for probably 20 minutes. Needless to say we didn't try to do it all over again. We were all hot and sweaty when we left but we had a really nice and enjoyable day together as a family. We will definitely be going back somewhere next year making it an annual trip. We have another fun filled weekend ahead this coming weekend as well. I love fall and all the fun that comes along with it. I just wish it would cool off some!

Three moths old already!

Wesley is 3 months old today. Wow, does time go by fast or what? He is getting so big and is already wanting to be a big boy. He is holding his head up really well. He is wanting to sit up all the time. He is rolling all the way to his side and right before he turns over he flips back. He will be rolling all the way over very soon, I think. He loves to be sung, read, or just talked to. He is so smiley and already seems to have a sweet disposition. He coos all the time and has started really laughing out loud. He likes his pacy but his hands are always in his mouth. I think he will be a thumb sucker too. He is fussy in the evenings but other than that he is a wonderful and delightful baby. I can't wait to see all that is going to do in the future. The Lord has blessed me with 2 wonderful boys and I couldn't imagine my life without them. I tried to take a few photos this evening but he was wanting to eat those fingers so I didn't get any great ones but he is still a cutie no matter what!

Making it rain

Today it was sprinkling a little bit outside so Max took the oppurtunity to play outside with his Lightning McQueen umberlla. He came inside after about 10 minutes of playing and I thought it was because it had started to actually rain and not just sprinkle. He comes in the door and says, "Mommy, I said, IMAGINATION!!!! Make the rain come, make it stop, oh just make it rain!! and then it just started to rain!" I mean he really thought he had made it rain outside. He was so excited you could see it all over his face and hear it in his voice. It was too cute to spoil with the truth!

I do love you though...

Yesterday when we got home from church Rex's aunts where having a yard sale up at his grandma's. We went up to visit for a few minutes. Max was playing with Aunt Wanda's tea cup yorkies she had for sale and was running with them chasing him. He was fine with that but once they started chasing him he starting screaming and kept yelling, "They are going to bite me". We are talking about puppies that weigh only a pound or a pound and a half. He is so weird about what scares him. The washing machine when it is on the mix cycle, going outside by himself, and to go into rooms by himself are just a few. When we were going to leave Aunt Nancy said,"Come here Max let me give you a hug" and she put her arms out and trys to hug him. He takes off running and says " I don't want to give you a hug right now but I do love you though!" He is so silly.

Max also just learned how to write his name all by himself this week. The picture is the first time he did it and he was so proud of himself. He really has just started writing in the past month so he is learning very fast. It is so exciting to see him so proud of his own accoplishments. He is using some big words now as well...flabergasted, exactly, perfectly, and outstanding are just a few.

Wesley is 12 weeks old and is growing like a weed. Here are a few pictures of him sitting up in the Bebe Pod I got from Karen today. I didn't know if he was quite ready for it but he loved it. He is wanting to sit up so bad. He doesn't like his mat to lay on with things above his head. He gets mad everytime I lay him on it. He loves his swing though. It has a mobile with 3 little bears that are smiling on it. He loves them. He laughs out loud, grins, and coos at them everytime I put him in the swing. I can't believe he will be 3 months on Friday. Where does time go?

Imaginary Friends

Max has several imaginary friends. The first one Michael Jones (He just got the last name a few weeks ago and I wonder if it comes from Cooper Jones? I don't know.) we picked up one day at the grocery store. He is the only friend where I have no idea where the name came from. He must have literally heard it at the grocery store that day because we don't socialize with anyone name Michael. Next came Chuckie (from Chuck E Cheese), Roma (from the Hoobs), Baby, Lightning and Mac (from Cars), and Tim (Rex's cousin). He has already blamed things on them and he talks and plays with them constantly. We have discovered that Baby has died. He made Baby up while I was pregnant and once Wesley was born there was no more baby and he told a friend on mine that Baby died. He pretends to talk to them on the phone and he gets text messages from them as well. The other day he was sitting at my mom and dad's table during lunch and he said "Hold on a minute, my phone is ringing. Oh, hey Tim!" He starts busting out laughing and I mean really laughing not just fake laughing. Then says "You are so funny, Tim. Talk to you later." Then goes back to normal conversation at the table. He cracks me up. I love that he has a good imagination but it worries me some when he would rather talk to and play with his imaginary friends than his real ones.


Here are a few pictures of the boys. Max was wanting to hold Wesley and have his picture made. He kept letting the baby fall over and thought it was hillarious. They are too cute not to keep!