Fun Summer Times!

Yesterday was water day at Caleb's school, and he seems to like the beach ball sprinkler that they have on water days. After school we went to Maggie Moo's for Caleb to get my free birthday ice cream. It was no surprise that he picked the bright blue ice cream with gummie bear topping!
We've been doing quite a bit of walking this summer. Last night after Jeff grilled for dinner we went over to the Warner Park near our house and went on a family walk. It was a lot of fun trying to keep up with Caleb most of the trail!
Caleb and I got up early this morning and worked in the flower bed out front since Luke slept in a bit. These are the boys hanging out together after breakfast. In this picture Luke is showing off how he has learned the past couple weeks to talk and smack his lips together to make kissing noises.
This is Luke making some of his first attempts to sit up. You can see the look of determination on his face!
Everyone has to take a little break to enjoy life after working so hard on new things!
It appears Luke is as affectionate as Caleb...it was so cute as they were giving kisses to each other.
Caleb is learning how to be such a great big brother. He does a wonderful job holding in Luke's paci as we stroll and this morning Caleb thought he'd try his finger paci with Luke. (Thank goodness Caleb just washed hands after going potty!!)

Father's Day

My parents came down from IL and we had a great weekend with them! We celebrated my birthday and then followed it by putting in a completely full day doing yard work. My dad was a huge help doing yard work with Jeff and I while my mom focused her attention on Luke and Caleb. Caleb made ties for Father's Day so here are the guys sporting their ties on Sunday!

After our fun and busy weekend with Granna and Granpa, we decided to take a "night off" and enjoy a pizza and movie night. We seem to do a pizza and movie night about one or two times a month, but it has been a refreshing tradition we really enjoy.

This morning was a really fun for Caleb, Luke and I as we did two things in Nashville that we had never done before. We spent the morning with Rebekah and her children, Caden and Elaina. We met at the Farmer's Market downtown. Caleb had fun picking out fresh veggies and fruits, and this is Caleb with all the yummy food we purchased.
Then we strolled over to Bicentennial Park and let the kids play in the water. Caleb had so much fun running through all the sprinklers! Rebekah and I found a walking trail in the park so I hope this is something we will get to do again soon along with checking out the walking trails!

Community Group Cookout

Luke and I decided we were happiest hanging out in the van with the A/C, so this is where we spent our evening. Just kidding! This was before the cookout just after I fed Luke in the air conditioning in the van. While I was feeding Luke, Caleb had to go potty so we had a first experience with Caleb getting out of the van by himself, going potty in the grass and then getting himself back into the van. It worked! =) I think he really did have to go potty, but Caleb has decided that it is a great thing to have to go potty at the park or on a walk where there are no bathrooms nearby!


There were swings and a rock climbing toy near the pavilion where our community group had the cookout. Caleb had a lot of fun climbing the rock with some of the other boys in our group.He made it to the top more than once. I don't know if I would have been able to let Caleb climb up by himself, but Jeff took him and it was fun to look at him from across the park after he was at the top!
Caleb said his favorite part of the night was chasing and catching fireflies with the other kids. They also had fun kicking soccer balls. Caleb was literally covered head to toe in dirt, sweat and ouchies by the time we got home last night, but he had a blast along with Jeff, Luke and I! The thing I don't understand...how did that not translate into sleeping in this morning?????

All About Caleb

It is hard to believe how big Caleb is getting. We took Caleb to the park the other night to ride his bike on the flat path since our neighborhood has so many big hills. My parents got Caleb this bike and helmet and I am surprised that he is already using it, and using it so well. He did great on his bike ride at the park! Today I cleaned out our basement a little so that Caleb will be better able to ride his bike in our basement, but we'll hope for many more trips to the park for bike rides!
I was feeling sorry for Caleb today because it is so hot outside and just getting worse. So, I decided to shorten up his haircut, but this is officially the last haircut Mommy will give Caleb! The last time I tried to use the clippers on Caleb at home (this was also the first time I had not used scissors on him) he decided it hurt so badly that he had to scream as loud and high as possible. I guess he does not forget that type of experience because today he let me get it one little swoop with the razor and then he decided we were done when he started screaming for his life. You can see the result. Jeff got home a few minutes ago and took Caleb to Great Clips to get a quick cut. Caleb begs me to get his hair cut at the store instead of me cutting it, and I guess he has won this one!
p.s. I was not going to let anyone know about this little mishap, but Jeff thought it would be a good thing to document on my blog so this one is dedicated to my hubby! =)

Our Weekend Celebrations

We decided to do some early celebrations this weekend. This is a picture of my boys before Jeff and I went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. Caleb is holding the baby bottle filled with m&m's that we used to announce our pregnancy with Luke to some of my family.

Krista, Brian and Krista's mom took wonderful care of our boys while we went out for the evening. Luke was very happy with his first babysitters, and Jeff and I were very grateful for the wonderful evening!
Caleb and I got up early this morning to make a Father's Day gift for Daddy. We will be celebrating next weekend with my parents, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to surprise Daddy. Caleb put together a wonderful breakfast. Caleb wanted to be very thorough with the breakfast preparations, so he even licked some split apple butter off the counter...you can't waste a good thing! Caleb created a beautiful breakfast tray for Daddy.
Then it was time to take breakfast upstairs and get Luke in on the surprise. The boys had made a card for Daddy with their handprints.I was not ready for Caleb to carry in the breakfast tray this year so we improvised and Caleb pulled in breakfast!
Daddy had slept through all the preparations, was happy for the extra sleep and enjoyed his breakfast in bed with his two favorite boys!
Happy Father's Day! We Love you!!!

Luke & Caleb's Summer

This summer Luke has been enjoying naps and hanging out in his swing that he loves very much. This picture also captures he favorite leg position. I don't know what it is about this position, but some of his favorite moments seem to be when we put him on the changing table, he lays like this and we take off his diaper!

Luke also enjoys laying down and being entertained by Mommy, Daddy and Caleb talking to him and making silly faces. This is the cute blanket that Luke's Nana Sandy (Jeff's adopted mom) made for him.
Caleb is enjoying the summer playing with friends! This picture is Caden, Elaina, Aiden and Caleb enjoying the whale pool, slide and sprinkler that my mom got at one of her fabulous garage sale finds. I was glad that our friends got to come over yesterday because it made me find the water toys and get them set up!
After all the water play the kids were hungry and enjoyed a little picnic. Aiden didn't eat much more than what is shown in this picture, but Caleb did eventually got lunch when I quit taking pictures and returned the one drink belonging to Caden...don't want you to think I made him just drink his lunch!
We are blessed.

Zoo Day

I woke up this morning expecting to take a day to do some work around the house, but as soon as I heard the forecast I decided I would get the boys outside as soon as I could. It was a beautiful day and we headed for the zoo. This was Luke's first trip to the zoo and our first time this year.

The zoo was sort of a good idea. I say "sort of" because when we left I was worn out and Caleb was ready to play. Caleb had to ride a lot in the stroller when we saw the animals, the water play area was not running, and the playground was too big for me to be able to watch Caleb while also taking care of Luke. So, we stopped at a park on the way home. Caleb played a little, but then I strapped Luke to me and Caleb and I went on a walk (Tara)/run (Caleb) on the mile loop around the park. At the end of the loop we saw the sprinkler system was on for the large soccer field area so Caleb went running for a while through tons of water!
This was Caleb making Luke smile while I was changing Luke's diaper in the van. Caleb also enjoyed holding in Luke's paci while they were sitting next to each other in the double stroller at the zoo. He is a fun big brother!
Luke was really good for us today while at the zoo and park, but I think the part he enjoyed the most was when we came home and got to kick and play in his bouncy seat!

Luke's First Trip to the Pool

We took our first trip of the season to our neighborhood pool. Caleb wore a float vest for the first time, and we think it will be good for Caleb to have this on especially when I take both the boys to the pool by myself.


Luke took his first dip in the pool and was not sure about being in the water, but he was very entertained by the evening at the pool with his big brother!
See...Luke looks much happier out of the water! =)
Luke has just been in his exersaucer a couple times, but he enjoyed it today for a few minutes while Caleb demonstrated to him how to play with some of the toys. I enjoyed watching Caleb go to his brother and try to play with him!