A Few of My Favorite (Max) Things...

Max is a little bit of a fussy pants right now- I'm not sure if it's a stage, or if he's reacting to my being gone for several days- but yesterday it seemed as though I had chopped off his arm, but really, I just tried to leave for work.  Then after his nap, he wouldn't let me put him down- clearly not holding him IS a crime. Then this morning, as soon as Max woke up, he squealed- not cried- just more of a screech noise, beckoning us to him and then Chad had to hold him while he ate breakfast- this is no joke.  He would not bend in the middle to get in high chair, but wanted Chad to stand at the table, holding him, and feed him bites... maybe he's a (drama) queen?

So, I thought that this was a perfect time to focus on all the funny things he does right now, instead, and get some laughs.  I'm not sure how God wired us to be completely in love with this little thing, yet capable of rolling our eyes and pulling out our hair at the same time exact time.

Max time is my favorite time of the day- I love taking him places although it's more difficult, I love playing with him even though he just wants to make messes, I love carrying him around, even though it hurts my back and my arm might fall off- and the list could go on, but I'll let some pictures do the talking....

A few of my favorite things:

#1. Max LOVES football and will sit in his chair and watch it with us



#2. Max LOVES to play with tampons



#3. Max crawls like a bear anytime he is outside because he doesn't want his knees to touch the ground



#4. Max thinks he is an adult and wants to be treated as one



#5. Max can always find mud or dirt to play in, regardless of where we are



#6. Max can find a passy, even if we think we've "hidden" them away from him



So regardless of Mr. Fussy Pants-- I still remind him everyday that he's my favorite baby and that he's so cute that I'm going to kiss his face off!  Love him!

Look Alike? Please vote!

I took a picture of Chad and Gabe last night and when I loaded it on my computer, I laughed out loud because they look so much alike.  But when I showed Chad, he said they don't look a like at all.

So here is the picture- and I need to hear what you think-- my side, or Chad's side?  Are they clones or not?  Am I crazy or is Chad?



I mean, I guess if you cover their smiles, their dimples, their eyes, and their hair, then they really don't look that much alike....

13 month day

Max!  You are 13 months old today!  I can't believe how fast time is flying... and I hear it only gets faster!  Whoa.



There aren't too many changes-- size-wise, you're still the same.  But you're just so full of life and we never have to guess what you're thinking- you make it quite clear.  You babble all the time and speak with passion- we just don't know your language.  You do understand us quite well, though.  My favorite is when I ask for kisses and you dive into me with your mouth open and slobber all over me.  This will not be cute in a couple years- but for now, it's wonderful!



You still love the word "uh oh" and you take a couple steps at a time- but only in the afternoon.  Apparently, you prefer not to exercise in the morning.  You love standing up- especially to throw things, and you're pretty good on your legs- but you think you're faster crawling, although you do love the claps and cheers you get for walking.  You do have a little bit of separation anxiety-- which makes me feel really bad about leaving you to go to work or at church- but you're over it in about 10 seconds, so I think it's just a stage.  You very loved by everyone we leave you with, so it's really nothing to cry about :)



Your two favorite toys are balls and your fire truck and you now like to carry your snuggle everywhere.  We're trying to cut down on your passy, and you're doing pretty well with that.  But you are VERY messy!  You dump your toys out like it's your job, you smear food over everyone and everything.  You love pulling your clothes out of drawers and anything you can reach should apparently be on the floor.  Thank you for giving me something to do- I was feeling a little bored.



This weekend you had your first boys weekend.  I left town with my girlfriends and you stayed home with Daddy and Gabe.  I missed you all like crazy, but you all didn't seem to notice.  I came home to a clean house, clean clothes, clean boys, and big smiles. I guess I can't complain, but it's hard not to be needed by you anymore.  I think 13 months old is a little too early for independence :) Your new favorite thing to do with them is to wrestle-- and from what I can tell, you all practiced A LOT while I was gone.



These 13 months have been fabulous- and I love your tenacity and your smile and your ambition.  I'm really enjoying watching your personality continually manifest itself and I love watching you play with the boys.  You're growing up so fast and I thoroughly enjoy every second I get with you.  I'm still praying for your heart and the man God's calling you to be- I pray I'm the mommy He calls me to be, and that He uses me to grow you into a Jesus fan!!  I love you!!  Love, Mommy

All The Single Mommies... and other tangents

On Monday afternoon, while Max was napping, and Gabe was doing his 45 minutes minutes of reading on his bed, I went to do some reading for work as well.  And then a bus hit me.  Not a real one, but it felt like one.  And honestly, I was feeling just fine and dandy before that moment.  All of a sudden, I started melting into my bed, my body started hurting, and I couldn't move.  I ended up dozing off for a few minutes- drool and all- only to have Gabe bring me out of my stupor.... "Lauren, it's been 48 minutes, can I go watch tv?"  So I wiped my drool, pulled myself up, and blearily told him yes.  (I'm sure at this point, Gabe knew I was sick, because I never let him watch tv during the day, ha!)

My bffa (as in the word, not the letters) Ruth and her hubby, Jonathan, had graciously offered to come keep the boys that night, so Chad and I could have a date night.  We never get date nights-- well actually, it's probably more like, we never TAKE date nights-- 99.9% of the time, we would just rather have the boys with us- but on this rare occasion, I just could NOT be sick.  I had to soak it up.  So I pressed on.  I got the boys fed and Max bathed and I got all ready for our hot date.  (I actually forgot to put make up on, darn it! But Chad remember flowers :) )  As soon as R & J showed up, we handed over the boys and headed out on the town. We went to dinner first, and before my meal even arrived, another wave of crummy settled on my shoulders-- I barely ate.  And then I was ready to go home-- lame date, huh?  We did stop for dessert, and brought some back for a sweet friends.  We chatted it up with them a bit, and then headed to bed.  I was catching zzzz's before 10pm--how romantic!!

On Tuesday, when I woke up, I was certain that death was just over the horizon, but with a million things on my to-do list, I finally made it into the shower, confident that it would perk me up and once I made it to my desk, I'd be fine.

Wrong.

By 10am, my body hurt so bad I couldn't even stand up straight.  I had a fever, my throat hurt so bad that I would've rather swallowed glass, and this was surely the end.  I stopped by the clinic- something about "pus pockets on your throat" and "down for the count", then "may I have your co-pay?" and I headed off to bed.  Chad came home and took car of the boys.  He also brought me juice.  I slept and then would get up and come downstairs, feeling like I was missing something, only to find that all the cuteness wasn't worth the agony, so I would go back to bed.  I repeated this many times.

I went to bed again, for the night, by 9pm.

As I wallowed in my sickness I kept wondering how in the world single mommies do it?  My heart goes out to you all!  You are way stronger that I am!!  If I didn't have Chad, the boys would not have eaten!  I just cannot imagine what life is like if you're on your own- and I don't care whether it's a tragedy or broken relationships or even I traveling spouse that led to your singleness-- I can not fathom or understand what life is like for you- and what burdens you carry.  I pray that you are surrounded by family and friends who are willing to help.  And if you're my family or friends, and you need something, call me, I got your back!

But I'm better now- except for a few sniffles and I may require another nap or two-- but I will live.

But now, a couple tangents:  first of all, please check out our photog's blog of Max and his one year shoot-- and also, leave her a comment to let her know how great she is (and how adorable Max is, but that's a given!)  Do it now, before you forget: http://brandelynlee.com/theblog/ Did you melt?

Second tangent-- during my sickness, while my body molded to the couch, Max stood up and walked. And not just a step, he walked- TO ME!  Then Gabe cheered and I cried and he did it again and again.  Then last night, he walked 4 steps, then stopped, and then walked 4 more steps before diving into my arms.  Seriously, this is happening.

Max is funny- I may've already explained this- but he doesn't try anything until he's certain he can do it.  He's not even 13 months old and he's already fearing failure or he's a perfectionist- one of the two-- and I most certainly am the gene pool to blame for that trait.  So he didn't really dabble in crawling, he just waiting until he had mentally figured it out and then he did it.  And now, the same for walking-- he has been standing up in the middle of the floor for a while now, but would NOT even attempt a step-- and then he just walks.





And my last tangent is a funny Chad story and I did ask his permission to share this-- on Tuesday, when my throat was KILLING me, and he had taken Max out for a while so I could sleep, I asked him for some OJ and grits-- both of which would be easy on the throat.  He told me he would pick some up on his way home- no problem.  And then he got home-- but no grits or oj-- he had forgotten to stop at the store.

No problem, I actually needed some tylenol too, so would he now run around the corner and pick up those 3 things?  So off he went. He then called from the store, about which kind of tylenol to get-- we settled that, and I said "don't forget the oj and grits" before I hung up.

Then he pulls in the driveway, I get out a spoon and get myself ready for grits- yum.  BUT he forgot the grits.  I'm not kidding!  He had gotten the right kind of tylenol and really good oj- but no grits.

Ok, well once Gabe got off the bus, he was going to take the boys out and about to the library and the park, so that would be a good time to run back by the store for my grits.  By this point I was hungry, but my throat would not allow for just any food.  They headed off, and I went back to bed and dreamed of the grits I would have when I woke up.

Barely an hour later, I hear the garage door open.  A few minutes later I hear Max babbling but no other noises-- weird.  So I come out of my room, and see Gabe sitting on his bed- he's clearly in trouble- and I walk to the living room to find Chad sitting in silence while Max played on the floor.  The short version:  They had been at the park when Gabe did not get his way and he LOST it-- Chad had never seen this kind of behavior before, so they left the park:  therefore Chad sat analyzing and Gabe sat in trouble and Max played, oblivious.  So Chad and I talked for a bit about what happened, then we talked with Gabe-- all while my head is pounding, my back is aching, my throat is screaming, and my stomach is growling- and then I ask about my grits....

STILL NO grits because they were going to stop at the store on the way home, but because of the incident, there were no extra stops.

By this point, it is almost dinner time, so I walk Chad through dinner prep, verbally, and then head back to the couch.  Once he has everything on the stove, I ask if he'll go get my grits.  He agrees and we discuss that I don't want him to get the pouches-- just get the kind in a bag- like flour or the kind in a box, like cream of wheat.  He says "Ok, no packets-- just a box or a bag" and heads out.

SUCCESS!!  He came back with plain grits- just like my heart desired.  BUT they were pouches-- I kid you not!!  He had read the box- and avoided the kind that talked about the different flavored packets- but didn't see where this plain box said pouches. HAhHAHAAA!! So I just microwaved 2 pouches of plain grits and gobbled them up.  (The reason I didn't want packets is because I really didn't want him to accidently get any with flavors-- so the plain pouches worked just fine-- I was just so hungry by this point that I needed double!!)

Ok, that's all for now.  I'm so thankful that I'm feeling good again, and I'm so grateful for my husband- and the entertainment he brings to my life-- I just have to do a heart check sometimes to make sure I appreciate the blessings and the laughter!

Go Braves and The Chop!!

On Friday night, Max went to his first Braves game!  The rest of us went too, of course :)  The children's ministry at church got a whole chunk of tickets, and then we went with Matt and Danielle and sweet baby Reed (they are some of our small groupies and they also coach in KCRG opposite of us).  We all loaded up the Swagger Wagon and headed to the ATL.

First stop- The Varsity, of course!







Then we headed to the game!  We had the cutest cheering section at the whole game!!





And we got some cute family pics!





And so did the Morgans:





BUT the very best part?  Well in the 5th inning, after being down by several runs, the Braves TOOK off and starting putting the bat on the ball over and over again!  So of course all the fans started going nuts, and the game went from fun to really super fantastico!  Well that also means that the tomahawk chop music was played over and over again!!  The Braves were rallying and everyone was pumped... including Max.  And he's so smart, that he figured out the Chop, and did it over and over again. Adorable.



And yes, I cried.  No joke.

Braves win!  Braves win!

A Love Story

On Friday, one of our sitters, Courtney and her boo, Miles, got engaged!!  This is a super exciting thing in our house :)  We knew both of these love birds BEFORE they dated each other-- and we knew them when they were "just friends" aka really liked each other and flirted a lot but a little gun shy and afraid to pull the trigger after being hurt by previous relationships.  (Chad and I know a lot of being "just friends"-- we tried to pull that one ourselves!)  Then we watched as God brought them together, taught them A LOT, and then aligned them FOREVER!!!  We are so excited to see what He has in store for their future, as well.

Chad and I have had the chance to serve on the mission field with both of them, and we left our most precious Max with Courtney when I went back to work when he was 6 weeks old.  She walked with me as I learned to be a new mom, and really learned right along beside me.  It is an honor for us to be a part of their lives, and we just plain live them.

So on Friday, after they got engaged, they had a party to celebrate, but we already had tickets to the Braves game (more to come on that later) so we dropped off some goodies to show our support beforehand.



That first pictures was the better one, but I really like Max's arm in the next one, so I just need to post it as well :)



Congratulations Miles and Courtney!!  We love you all and are so proud of the way you've dated and sought to have Jesus at the center.  We're praying for you over the next several (stressful) months as you prepare for marriage and plan your wedding, but even more so, we're praying for your future-- the wedding is just the beginning!!

** Update:  Check out Courtney's blog here for super cute engagement pictures :)  http://loveindulged.tumblr.com/

Crazy Day

Thursday was a crazy day!  I woke up at 6am and I was at work by 7:15am.  Then I had to leave mid-day for an appointment. Because of the appointment, I worked later than usual and didn't pull in the driveway until 4:15.  I walked inside, thanked our sitter Courtney, walked her to the door, ran around like a tornado for 10 minutes, then had both boy in the "swagger wagon" heading to soccer by 4:25.  Gabe had soccer practice from 5-6pm, then we zoomed home and pulled in the driveway at 6:25- Chad came out to the car, grabbed the boys, and I headed out again.  Thursday night, I have bible study from 7-9pm.  THEN our small group girls meet after that!  I left the church at 11pm on Thursday, and drove the 20 minutes back home.

As I walked in the door, at the end of a long long day, my whole body ached. Not in a complaining, hard/bad day sort of day, just in the exhausted, so tired that I'm not sure I can make it to my bed/ long/ full kind of day.  I rounded the corner to head upstairs to my room, and I see this:



This sight just made me stop in my tracks. Chad's work shoes and Max's play shoes lined up toe to toe.  It was just too sweet and too perfect to not stop and appreciate it. So I poked my head in Max's room and got a glimpse of him snoozing, then I peeked my head in Gabe's room and saw him catching some zzzz's, and then I tiptoed into the room where my man was sleeping. And needless to say, I went to bed with a really full heart and a smile.

Safety First!

My friend Trisha always says "Safety First"... it's a theme she has!  Because she says it so much, it plays in my head when something appears to be unsafe.

My brothers and I used to sing "buckle up for safety, buckle up! buckle up for safety, buckle up! Show the world that you care... about your underwear... buckle up for safety, buckle up!"  I'm not sure what the real song is- or even where we heard it- and I'm REALLY not sure why the world needs to know how much you care about your underwear-- but if you have brothers then you know that underwear, farts, and pooping are all VERY funny and warrant a laugh regardless of the situation, your age, or how much sense it makes.

But alas, that brings me to my topic... safety.

As a mom and the only female in my house, I feel like I'm walking a fine line between the over-protective hovering helicopter mom, and then the careless mom.  I know it's really not that fine- they are two pretty stark opposites, but sometimes, it feels like a fine line.

How do I raise boys that are brave and courageous?  How to encourage adventure, yet protect their bones and their teeth and the eyes- amongst other things?  How do I not stifle them or even make them "girly" for lack of a better word?  I was talking with my friend Danielle (one of our small groupies) last week about raising boys- we talk about this a lot since we're both new at doing it.  I love comparing notes with her and learning from her heart for her son, Reed.  Danielle and I could both be described as "cautious"- and I don't think that's a bad thing- but how do we make sure that doesn't interfere with their manhood?  And at what age do I really need to stop "babying" them as Chad says?  I feel like that's an unfair statement, because hello, they are babies!

On Saturday, Chad and I were watching the Georgia game from the couch, Max was sleeping and Gabe was playing outside.  All of a sudden I hear "thump".... pause... "whack"... pause... "CLUMP" and then the back door opened- and there stood Gabe in his roller skates in my kitchen!  Yes, he had climbed up the very steep garage steps (about 8 of them) in his roller skates.  And without disparaging him at all, Gabe isn't exactly coordinated when he's on roller skates.  My heart started thumping and I started screeching: "Gabe, what are you doing?  Take those things off right now!  You may not roller skate without an adult outside with you, and you may never climb stairs in roller skates, do you hear me?"  I'm not sure if my little tirade just trailed of then or what, but his shoulder sank, his eyes when to the floor and he sulked out of the room.

Now was that hovering or was that a "safety first" moment?

Yesterday, when Max got his new toothbrush, he slept with it during his nap, and then took it to bed with him for the night.  But I just kept playing images in my head of him stabbing it down his throat or somehow choking on it and I just couldn't relax.  I had to go in his room, and cause a ruckos, to get the toothbrush out of his bed, so that I could relax.

Hovering or "safety first"?

This weekend we went to the lake again, only this time it was for Wendy and Brian's wedding shower.  We were all hanging out on the double-decker dock and swimming in the cove.  We brought the boys with us- they were swimming too.  Some adults were in the lake and Gabe just jumped off the dock and started paddling around-- I watched him for about 5 seconds when panic started to wash over me- um hello, there is no "side" to grip onto when he needs a break.  Gabe is a pretty good swimmer, but when he jumps, he swims back to the edge--- there was no edge.  I squacked for our friend Jonathan to grab him and then I threw Gabe like 5 noodles and made him promise to hold them the whole time he was in the water.  Then I put Max in his floaty and pushed him out to Chad.  Max, like Gabe, loves the water.  And we all enjoyed out time before heading in for dinner.

Then last night, as I was laying bed, I started thinking about the lake incident again.  The lake is murky- you can't even see 2 feet down.  Then I started picturing what would happen if one of the boys went under.  And Max, he can't swim at all- how would I find him? So 4 nights later, when everyone is safe in their bed, and there is no lake for at least 30 miles from our house, my heart starts racing-- my mind takes off even faster-- I even go as far as to think through what my prayer would be if something like that happened, and we had to call 911.  And I vowed to never take either of them to the lake ever again.  (This is a true, although embarrassing, story).

Luckily, I did get a grip.  But again-- how do I walk the line of safety versus being too protective?

They want to dive off of things, Max likes to splat face first down on the ground and barely catches himself with his arms in the nick of time, Gabe likes to jump off of things that are taller than he is-- and what about monkey bars and jungle gyms and fire and sticks and rocks- and all those other boy things?

I don't wash Max's passy every time it falls on the ground, and I don't insist on Gabe using hand sanitizer too often- I've cut back :)  I don't worry about bigger kids playing around Max anymore, and I don't fret about germs-- so what's another cold at this point?  I'm doing better when Chad wrestles with the boys and when he throws balls AT them-- they are laughing, so if I intervened, that would totally be hovering, right?  And when they want to try something out, that could surely hurt them if they fall, I access how "serious" the injury would be before I decide how to handle it-- a scraped knee or a bonked head is ok- but stitches and a cast... not so much.

But I just can't get this thing figured out-- and I know it's only going to get worse from here.  I can't even fathom handing one of them car keys- my stomach knots up just thinking of it.  So for now, I've just got to pray and ask God for wisdom.  I'm going to trust my intuition- because God gave it to me- and I'm going to trust my gut, because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me- but I'm also going to get some advice from other boy moms, and books, and my husband.  And then I'm going to pray some more!  And then pray again. Ha!  And I'm going to stop worrying about what other people think about the decisions I make- I often feel embarrassed when someone "teases" me for being cautious- but I'm the Mom- I'm the one fighting for them, and protecting them- and Chad and I are the only ones who will have to answer to God for how we raised them.

You know, I spent an awful lot of time reading and studying about growing a baby and birthing him-- what to eat and how to get them on the best schedule.  I even read a lot about getting them to sleep through the night-- but that was such a small fraction of the bigger picture- I wish I would've spent more time reading about raising them, and what the Bible has to say about it- their obedience, respect for authority, their spirits, their character-  I guess it's the whole principle of planning for the wedding but not the marriage.

Yikes!

There's a lot of learn- but I'm so grateful that God promises to do it with us- for us, really.  Raising boys is a tough gig- especially for moms- because let's be honest, who wants to see their kid experience any kind of pain?  But I know pain leads to growth, and mistakes make some good experiences to learn from- but I still like the motto "Safety First"!!!!

Precious

Sometimes I take my little people for granted.  But God always shows up and reminds me how precious they are.  He really did that today and I can't stop thinking about their little hearts.

I really love when things make them proud- and it's always the little things.  For instance, today I bought Max and Gabe new toothbrushes- we've been buying the firefly brand, because you can squeeze the bottom and the handle will light up for 60 seconds- the idea being that you brush for a full minute.  While Max was sitting in the cart, I picked up the new toothbrush and squeezed it and his eyes lit up immediately.  Now I should point out that Max doesn't use his toothbrush for just his teeth-- he uses it on his hair, his Daddy's hair and anyone who will open their mouth.  It's precious, albeit gross.

Anyway, the grocery store, which is usually very painful with Max at this age, because he wants everything, he wants to be exploring, not sitting in the cart, he thinks he should hold and eat everything, and he'll squeal- loud, like a pig-  if I'm not paying him enough attention.  But that was not the case today.  He held his toothbrush out, like it was the finest most wonderful thing he had every been in possession of.  Then, once we paid for it, and I took it out of the package, he clung to my shoulder with one arm, and his new toothbrush with the other, held his chin high, and just had the proud smile on his face.  Again, PRECIOUS!

It's the little moments :)

And then, I had a precious Gabe encounter as well.  When it's meal time with Gabe, it's often a war- his stomach hurts or he's full as soon as it's time to eat vegetables or beans, etc- but it's amazing that it never happens when he's at chickfila, or Olive Garden, or eating pizza.... hmmmm.  Anyway, he's also very wasteful when it comes to lunch at school and I'm stickler for healthy stuff-- I don't do lunchables or things with preservatives-- I try to keep sugar to a minimum, too.  Painful if you're in 2nd grade.  Gabe is also VERY talkative, so while at lunch, socializing comes first and eating comes second, if there is time- especially if it's something he doesn't want to eat.  Then he just throws away what he doesn't eat-- which would be sneaky, except that he's still very honest, praise the Lord, and when I ask him what he ate and what he threw in the garbage, he'll tell me, ha!  So anyway, lunch is a war- most days I lecture him about eating and how it is my responsibility that he eat well since God trusted me with him, yadda yadda. So I decided that I should include a love note in his lunch to overset the lectures- I wrote:

"Dear Gabe,  This is a love note from your girlfriend:  I love you!  Love, Lauren" on girly paper in black sharpie.

And then I didn't hear a word about it for several days.  I decided he was probably embarassed by my love...

Until Monday, when something happened the reminded him of the love note, and he told me how everyone in his class was jealous and saying "no fair" that he got a love note.  Apparently all the girls in his class wanted to read it too.  He was so proud when he was telling me this story that he held his shoulders back and strutted while replaying it.  Oh my goodness, it was so precious that I just couldn't stand it.  He wasn't embarrassed at all.  Apparently, he also told his class that he actually has 2 girlfriends and they are both adults.  (One is me- it started when he was 3 and I was his Dad's girlfriend and the other is my cousin Nicole who lives in Indiana- he refers to her as his Indiana girlfriend.  I think he likes her more, but lucky for me, I win by proximity!) And again, everyone said "no fair".  (I'm pretty sure that's one of the main phrases used in 2nd grade-- Chad is trying to eliminate it from the mouth and heart of our 2nd grader- but it feels like we are losing that battle at the moment.)

Then, as if that story wasn't sweet enough, I got home from work and found this on my counter:



It was all taped up around the edges, and when I opened it, I found this:



That's right-- a flower and a UGA sticker.  The boy is already good at love notes-- and it got special placement into my love notes box.

Thank you Jesus for the precious boys and precious moments and reminders of just how blessed I am!

Heat Wave Adventures

As I sit here typing at 7:54 pm on a Tuesday night, the only thing I can hear are the waves of the ocean.

But don't be jealous!  Those waves are Max's sounds machine.  I just got the boys to bed, and Chad is playing softball, which means he'll be coming in the door any minute looking for food.  But I still must relish these few minutes of silence.  It is really rare that the house is silent-- no tv, no talking, no whining, no car noises, or "booms" or "pows", no pitter patter of little hands and feet.  Just silence.

I wonder if when moms get to heaven, if there will just be a silent room that they get to go into.  We'll probably be having too much fun with the angels for that, though.

But back to my silent night.  It comes on the heels of a screaming baby, a poop explosion, and a 7 year old who talked non-stop from the second he walked in the door today.  While our sitter was here earlier, I noticed that she had quoted scripture on her facebook status and I commented wanting to know if my sweet angels were bring her closer to Jesus or terrorizing her so that she needed more Jesus.  I was just being funny.  But that came back to bite me on the booty!  Now I'm the one needing to quote scripture after the non-stop chaos of the afternoon.

But that's just one more sign that summer is over! It's really obvious around our house.  There is always hustle and bustle and we're always on a schedule.  I was telling someone this weekend, that my days are so monotonous at this point, that I can tell you, within a 20 minute window, what I'm doing every day.  But there is no other way to be a wife, and a mom, an employee, a volunteer at church, a bus driver for 2 cute boys, a laundress, and a house keeper.  Not to mention a bulldawg fan and still hang out with the many GREAT friends that God has blessed me with.  So alas, I sit here, on my couch, and listen to a sound machine, and feel peace. Funny.

I love fall!  I love football and the crisp mornings.  I can't wait for the shorts and long sleeves weather.  Gabe's soccer games start this Saturday, and we've already turned off the ac a couple times.  So this is my farewell to summer...

There are a few events that I meant to include on the blog, but they just never made it-- but there were so kodak moments for sure, so I'll use them to celebrate summer instead :)

First of all-- 4th of July-- we headed the lake with our friends.  Wendy and Trisha's parents have a house on the lake- so fun- and Jill and Ruth have birthdays during 4th of July week, so it was a party.  Chad and Eli ran the Peachtree Road Race the morning, while Max and I walked along beside it-- don't even get me started on how difficult it was to get to the end to pick of Chad and Eli- geez.  Then it was lake time- and Uncle Eli joined us.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics- lame- and the only 2 I have to show for it are these:





Secondly, Anna and I took our kids on two very "fun" outings.  And somehow, we managed to pick the 2 hottest days of the year for these... and both of them were outside.  And to top it off, somehow, our husbands managed to miss out on both of these fun extravaganzas... nice!

At the end of June, as the heat wave came to settle of Georgia, we took the babies to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful- unfortunately though, they are not air conditioned!  But we were going to have a fun day, no matter what!!! We did get some cute pictures and that made it all totally worth it!







I really like this one, because EG is escaping her stroller because she is WAY to mature for a stroller nowdays-- she seriously walked with Anna through the whole thing- like a little adult- it was hilarious!



More photo ops:





And our second crazy adventure, towards the end of the heat wave, was a trip up to Canton to visit my aunt.  She has a great house and a creek in her backyard- so it was creek.  My cousins were coming on bringing their kiddos-- it consisted of lunch and play-- all in all, a happy day.  Except, insert heat wave, and a windless day.  The hot air just sat on us like elephants.  BUT the kiddos did not mind at all!!  They had so much fun and brought home a ton of sand in their bathing suits :)









So needless to say, we enjoyed the lazy days of summer- the sun, and the water, and the break!

So let's review our highs this summer:

We started off with a fun beach trip, then celebrated our second anniversary.  We also ventured out west to Colorado, sold our 4runner, and bought a minivan.  Max mastered crawling, decided he only wanted big boy food, got his first hair cut twice- once was unsolicited.... and he also turned ONE!  Gabe lost his first tooth while at six flags, went on 3 vacations this summer, got a killer tan that ladies would pay for, and did it all with a big huge grin on his face.  We got visits from both sets of grandparents, and made a couple trips to the lake.  Uncle Eli came to visit several times, and the whole family was indeed happy that I was not pregnant this summer and did not have to float around the pool like a beached whale.  I never once complained about anything swelling either.  It was a divine summer.