Another milestone - 9 months

Wow. Another month has flown by and my little boy is now 9 months old. It's definitely getting sad but not sad enough to think about #3. This has been a huge month for Trevor:

• he has 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 more trying to peek thru on the top
• he chews on EVERYTHING - there must be some more teeth coming in somewhere back there.
  
• he is crawling EVERYWHERE and he loves to pick up the smallest speck of anything on the floor. This is driving me crazy since I'm not the best housekeeper. I wish I could be but I somehow find something else to utilize my time with.


• he is trying 3rd stage of food but not doing very well with it. He gets choked a little with the texture of the food - he doesn't really want to chew.


• he has started eating the wonderful puffs. We can only give him one at a time or he'll cram the whole handful in his mouth.


• he is pulling up on all of the tables and wants to take steps but not quite there yet


• we had to lower his crib so he didn't take a tumble out - I'm sure he'll be the first to climb out of his crib with hopefully not too big of a thud afterwards.


• there is now a protector on the side of his crib so he doesn't use the side of his crib as a chew toy like Brody did


• he is still a very happy and easy going baby - Nana and Poppy say he's just along for the ride. Not sure he'll be able to really get a chance to talk seeing that Brody talks ALL the time.


• he is babbling ALL the time


• he is still sleeping through the night and LOVES to sleep which we are very thankful for

He had his 9 month pictures done at JCPenney's and it was so much better than Target where I've gone in the past. I usually don't have issues with Target but the last venture for his 6 months was definitely the last - 1 1/2 hours there - that's a little long for 2 kids. Penney's was so much more relaxed and we were out within 45 minutes. Here's a few of the pictures from the shoot.

We actually went to the doctor yesterday and I was waiting to post this to include the doctor visit, but you'll have to check back later for that post it was quite a day and too much to include for this one.

One BIG cake for one BIG weekend

Jason and I help teach high school seniors Sunday School and a couple of weeks ago was our big weekend. Every year we have a banquet for the seniors and their parents and then we go off and stay at a beach house for the weekend. This year's banquet was at Dave & Busters so it was a night of fun for sure. We had about 70 people attending and we enjoyed a great buffet and then the seniors had to answer a couple of questions from our youth pastor, Bro. Todd for example, 1) what do you plan to do when you graduate 2) your biggest God moment. It's always so exciting to hear how God is working in their lives. We always pray that they will keep God close as they head off their separate ways.

All of our seniors.

Having some fun afterwards in the game room.

Of course a meal is not complete without dessert so since I had been taking a cake class I thought why not make the dessert for the banquet. I didn't think it would be too hard but I wasn't sure how much time it would take and of course I thought I could do everything I had planned like go to the final cake class Monday night (the banquet was Tues night). Needless to say I didn't make it to the final cake class. Instead I stayed up until about 3AM working on the cake. My wonderful husband even stayed up and helped me with the cake. We also had a video of all the seniors to finish putting together - thankfully I had finished a lot of it before Monday and he finished it up Monday night.

Boy, my kitchen was a mess. There was cake stuff EVERYWHERE!!

Thank goodness I took the day off Tuesday to finish the cake and make a last minute run to Michaels. I am notorious for not having everything I need to make something. It never fails, I'll be in the middle of making dinner or baking and realize I don't have something. Thanks to my parents who live next door I can usually find what I need.

I think I spent most of the day finishing up the cake. I'm not really sure why it took me so long except that I wanted it to look perfect as possible. The final product weighed about 50 pounds, so the tricky part was how we were going to transport it 40 minutes away without a disaster. Yeah, it made it with no issues and it was a huge hit.

We left for St Augustine Thursday afternoon and here's my vehicle packed as full as it has ever been. Imagine shopping at Sam's for 25 people. Thus why my car looks the way it does. It is always so much fun to be around them - it really makes me feel young again. I really can't believe it's been 16 years since I graduated. I guess I'm really not that young :(

We celebrated 2 birthdays while we were there - Julie and Brittyn

The whole group after we played Amazing Race thru downtown St Augustine - it's one of the highlights of the trip.

Getting our money's worth!

There are several reasons why it's good to have 2 boys - one is that they can share clothes. I saved pretty much all of Brody's clothes and even though Brody was born in Dec and Trevor in August - they have come in very handy.

It's amazing how fast these boys grow out of their clothes. I have decided that it is a marketing scheme to get us vulnerable parents to buy more clothes because they shrink SOOOO much.

One of my favorite outfits of Brody's when he was about 8 months old was this cute turtle onesie with plaid shorts. I love plaid shorts and have plenty of them for both boys. A couple of weeks ago, it finally got warm enough for Trevor to wear it. As you can see it will be the last time for Trevor. I thought it would be cute to have a picture of both of them to see how much or how little they look alike.Brody in July 2007

Trevor in April 2010

A sad day

We have been blessed to be able to have someone come to our house to keep both boys for the first couple of years. When Trevor was born, Tracy suggested Dana Taylor who was keeping Baylie on Wednesday's and she might be willing to keep both boys on Monday and Trevor on Tues & Thurs. Thankfully that worked out until Dana decided to go to cosmetology school starting in May.

I am always a big advocate of kids going to college but I'm torn because I want them to continue watching my kids - no really I wish them the best as they go off to college. Here's Dana's last day watching the boys. We wish her the best as she moves forward in this next stage of her life.

Brody's first round of golf

A couple of weeks ago, our church had their annual golf tournament at Kings Bay. Jason thought this would be a great opportunity to take Brody and see how he would do. Jason's foursome was Ryan, Poppy, and Keith so it was people Brody knew. We didn't even tell Brody until that morning when Jason was getting ready. Brody asked where Jason was going and he told him to play golf, Brody immediately asks "Can I go?" He was so excited with our answer. He told me he was going to take his clubs. I could only imagine how this was going to go.

I was pretty excited because I was going shopping with mom with only 1 child. It felt like a vacation!!! Well, we thought the tournament started at 10:30 but there was registering, lunch and Bro. Todd speaking beforehand. Jason was a little concerned of how Brody would be to have to wait a couple of hours before they actually played - but Brody did great. He was so talkative when they got there, he would go right up to people he didn't know and show them his golf swing. I wish I could have seen it.

When I called Jason around 3:30 or so I just knew Brody would be asleep in the cart, but Oh NO he was getting out of the cart everytime and grabbing either his driver or putter to hit his ball just like the big guys. He continued like this for all 18 holes. Needless to say he passed out in the car immediately and slept all the way home. Jason was only able to get a few pictures - Yes, I made him take the camera. Mom couldn't miss a picture moment like that.

To Infinity and Beyond

To say that Brody LOVES Buzz Lightyear is an understatement, so when Jason and I went out for our anniversary we stopped at Target afterwards. It seems I can't get enough of that store. We somehow ended up in the toy department and of course Buzz Lightyear toys were on clearance since the new Toy Story 3 was coming out. I saw these and thought Brody would LOVE them.


I'm not so sure it was a great purchase now as he hits a lot of doorways. Thankfully, the wings fold up so it's not too bad.

He also got a new toothbrush - we are trying to get him to start doing things on his own so I thought this would be a great

My flower girl all grown up!!

When Jason and I got married 9 years ago, Sara Lynn was just about to turn 6 and she was our flower girl and her, twin brother, Tyler, was our ring bearer. They also have a younger sister, Jenny Beth (yep, she's named after me :) ) who was just born when we got married. These 3 are the sweetest ever and their whole family mean so much to us. Brody absolutely loves them and is always wanting them to come over and play (he actually prayed for them to come over more - how sweet is that? ).

Well, she is now 15 and a couple of weeks ago, I had her stay the night with us and babysit Trevor the next day. WOW - I was feeling old. I really can't believe she's 15 and she is babysitting our kids. We actually kept them when we were dating - quite funny!! Here's a few pictures of Sara Lynn playing with Brody when we got home from school.

Practicing their frisbee skills.

Maybe we'll have another golfer on our hands.

Here's a close up of her at Christmas holding Trevor-she is so beautiful (inside and out) - the boys better watch out. That's Tyler in the back.

A surfer in the making

When Brody was born I had a mural done on his wall with his name which turned out great which I absolutely loved. The only problem was that I was hooked into the surfing thing for a few years - possibly more to get my money worth out of the mural.

Well, when he moved into a big boy bed, Jason and I were fortunate to find a great deal on a bedding that matched his room pretty good. We're talking like $40 for the comforter, skirt, shams and shipping. I was pretty excited about the good deal, well the problem is that it really only lasted about a year so when the latest Pottery Barn catalog came out with their new surfing bedding and the colors actually matched his room I was VERY excited and knew it was made for Brody.

We made a big deal about the new bedding so he was pretty excited. One evening while he was out with Jason mowing grass, I hurried and put everything together in his room. When he came in he was so excited and wanted to get on it immediately, but a bath was definitely needed before that happened, so he was eager to get a bath that night. I am very happy with the final outcome of his room and he really likes it too which is what really counts.

Showing off his surfing skills.

My flower children

I absolutely love Spring time and with this time of year come the beautiful flowers. My parents had so many blooming a few weeks ago so I couldn't pass up the photo opportunity. However, they weren't quite dressed for a photo shoot, but I take what I can get.

Don't they look like they love each other.....

These boys make me smile, laugh, happy, mad, and even cry. I love them so much.

We have a crawler - Oh my!!

Trevor has been wanting to crawl for several weeks - rocking back and forth so finally on Saturday, April 11 he crawled across the floor. His motivation - my laptop on the floor. He was so proud of himself and I was too "at first".

Trevor is so different than Brody in that EVERYTHING goes in his mouth and he picks up everything off the floor. On this Saturday, as he crawls out of the playroom into the mainroom, the first thing he does is touch the outlet to the right. Since our addition, we haven't put the safety plugs back in - we really never needed them with Brody because he never touched the outlets. But leave it to the 2nd born to touch it the first time. So of course, I went around and put all the plugs back in.

We have been spoiled for 3 years so we are really having to pay attention now and I'm having to clean my floors more often - which isn't my favorite thing to do. Thank goodness Brody has been a big help in making sure Trevor doesn't get into too much. However, now that Trevor is crawling we now have the "that's my toy" syndrome. I guess this is one of the reasons we have 2 children. Fun times are here!!

Seeing double

When Trevor was born, my aunt gave both boys matching pj's. So cute except Brody grew out of his pretty quickly so I had moved his too small clothes to the office to be packed up for Trevor later. Well, one night I put Trevor's pj's on and Brody already had a different pair on but he slipped away for a little while and when he came back he was wearing matching pj's - a little small I think.

Showing off their bellies

One tired little boy.

Yum, Yum

One night while I was gone to cake class, my phone buzzes with a text stating to check my email. Here's what I see

I definitely got a good laugh from it. I guess Jason needed something to keep Trevor occupied for awhile so it was time for Trevor's first biter biscuit. These are the messiest things ever and it's definitely bath time afterwards. As you can tell Trevor was quite happy with this - I'm sure it felt pretty good on his gums.

1st Beach Day of the Season

A few days after Easter, I was a brave mom and headed to the beach with BOTH boys by myself - I was hoping that Jessica, my SIL would show up with Caleb so he and Brody could play. I was determined to do this - not sure how I was going to do it, how I was going to carry everything, and how I was going to survive. After packing up what seemed like EVERYTHING in the house we were off to Jax beach. I'm an early morning beach person so we can spend a few hours there and they can still get a decent nap in.

Once we arrived, the chore began of trying to take everything we owned to the beach - toys, SNACKS (my child can't go without snacks), and small cooler and oh yeah don't forget the 18 pound child - Trevor. I sadly had to forgo the chair because there just wasn't enough arm space - the blanket would have to do. Brody started out as a big helper to carry the cooler but he quickly wanted me to carry it. I tried to persuade him to be the strong boy, but to no avail I got stuck carrying it.

Thankfully, when we go to Jax beach, we utilize Jason's Aunt Chris' condo which has public bathrooms and a shower to rinse off afterwards. This makes it so much nicer. Once we got down to the beach, time to unload. I'm sure we were quite a sight with all of our stuff, but we survived. Here's a picture when we first got there. Don't worry the sunglasses didn't stay long.

Shortly after we got there, Aunt Chris and Cameron joined us and then Jessica, Caleb, Cale and Nana joined us. Brody had a blast hitting the golf ball and playing in the water. Trevor finally fell asleep underneath the umbrella until we had to go so it was only about a 10 minute nap - but thankfully they both fell asleep VERY quickly in the car.

It was such a fun day but it is a lot of work to get all of us to the beach these days. Hopefully the more I practice the easier it will get.