Mass Destructo

That is what we call Joshua quite a bit around here.
Laundry basket full of clean clothes.

Laundry basket full of one cute boy.

Perfection

Audrey. Eating cheese crackers. Watching Curious George. Rainy Wednesday afternoon. Perfection.

Good Night

Last night was such a great night. Dave got home from school earlier than usual and he spent the evening mowing the lawn with Joshua's help. For the first time since moving here, we actually opened our windows and it was so nice to feel the fresh air and the warm breeze going through our house. Since Dave was doing the yard we had a nice "freshly cut grass" smell and the sound of the lawnmower going with it was the perfect touch.

Then we went on a date. No kids. Babysitter. Dinner and a movie. With great friends. I am a firm believer in date night. Nothing like reconnecting with your spouse after a long, stressful week. I like to call it "investing in our marriage". Money very well spent.

Sooooooo Excited!

This is the face Mr. Man makes when he gets excited about something.
"Who wants to go get a shaved ice?"
"Who wants to go to happy hour at Sonic and get 1/2 priced slushes?"
"Who wants a treat?"
Response:

Joshua's New Obsession

Joshua loves balls, bugs, and his latest, shoes. He gets it from his mama, and his aunts, all eight of them.

Swimming

I found this video today. I love my little swimmer. Not bad for a girl who couldn't even put her chin in the water when we moved here in June.

Growing Up Way Too Quickly...

...and I don't like it one bit. Please stop it right now.

Audrey's craft time...

is Joshua's snack time. Awesome.

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?

Dave and I had only been married for a little over a month and I was in our apartment getting ready for school. I was in the bathroom doing my hair and Dave called me into the family room to watch the horrible news unfold on our little tv. At first I thought it was a trailer for an upcoming movie and it took a minute to realize what was really happening. We went to school and everyone was so somber. We ended up just watching the news in all of our classes. It was one of those moments that I will never forget where I was when I heard the news.

Where were you?

18 Months

Deaar Joshua,
Today you are 18 months old. I have not been good at tracking your cute little antics lately, so today I will. You are such a sweet boy who loves to cuddle. You love your Dad, Audrey and your mama, in that order. You don't really like to sleep, and you definitely like to move. You are obsessed with balls. Everywhere we go, you point to things and yell, "ba!ba!ba!". The watermelon and cantaloupe at the grocery store, the big red balls in front of Target, light bulbs, you think everything are balls, and I think it is so cute. You don't really like to talk, you prefer to yell and scream instead. You love to help me clean. If I start singing the clean up song, you immediately start to clean up. You love wearing hats and will keep one on your head. You are my dark eyed, dark hair, dark skin beauty. You have your very own version of "ready, set, go" that goes something like, "haba haba DOE!". I love it. Bugs fascinate you, and I feel sorry for any june bug that gets in your path because you will squish the guts out of them. You love to swim and you unfortunately have no fear of the water. You are such a boy, and I love every squishy, yummy, delicious ounce of you.

Your words:
*Dada (of course, you are obsessed with your Dad)
*Audrey (Aa-da)
*Mama (I'm in third place when it comes to order of favorites, but I wouldn't have it any other way)
*Hat (Haa)
*Hot (hot)
*Ball (baa)
*Night, night (nigh, nigh)
*Up
*Tractor (bah-da) We see lots of them here
*D (GrandD, my mom)

Animal sounds you can make:
*Pig (my personal favorite)
*Horse
*Fish
*Shark (you put your hand on top of your head like a fin and say, da na, da na, da na
*cat
*dog

Happy 18 months little man. Welcome to the wonderful world of nursery. I love you so much.
Love,
~Mama

Our first, first day of school

We did it. Audrey was successfully dropped off at her first day of preschool this morning and I didn't even make that big of scene. I cried a little, but she was so excited, and so ready, that I didn't want to rain on her parade. I could have though, literally. I had enough tears stored inside that it would have felt like it was raining to her.

This is the day I have been dreading since the day Audrey was born. This is the end of an era. Never again will I have all my kids at home with me with no school schedule to worry about. Never again can we snuggle in my bed in the morning and say, "What should we do today?" regardless of what day it is. I have turned her over to someone else's care for two whole days. We miss her around her, and I am counting the minutes until I get to pick her up and hear all about her day.

This is how our morning went...

Getting out of the car.
Dave was able to come. I asked him what he was going to tell the Endo dept and he just looked at me said, "That my wife was going to have a mental breakdown and we had a family issue to deal with." That's the truth.

Our cute school girl.

Katelyn, Audrey and Tatum. Cute little friends.

Those backpacks look so big on our little girls!

Texas school girls. Love the red brick.

This picture is classic. This is totally how it was. I was running after Audrey trying to get her to hold my hand, stay with me, snuggle with me for a minute, and she wanted nothing to do with me. She was on a mission to get to her classroom. See ya, mom! Nice knowing you!

Saying goodbye. It makes me teary just thinking about it.

I was so glad Dave was able to come. Not only for the moral support, but he was able to go inside the classroom and take some pictures while I stayed in the hall and cried. I was holding Joshua, who was also crying, and for the same reason. We both wanted to go in her classroom and never leave.

Her backpack on her hook.

The teachers had shaving cream ready for the kids when they came in, and of course Audrey loved it.

Joshua, it's just you and me kid. We went grocery shopping after and I thought it would be so great only having one kid while grocery shopping but I was wrong. I realized that Audrey always kept Joshua entertained while I picked out my can of beans, milk, eggs, etc. We both missed Audrey greatly.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, I now dread you.