First Weekend of Summer

School's out for summer!!!!!!! Wahoooooooo!!!

This boy will soon be on the move, and boy, we better look out!

He's taken, ladies. 

He sat in the buggy for the first time Saturday. Does he look proud of himself or what?

We had a lazy Sunday afternoon. Avery Claire set up an ice cream shop {because naps are for babies. And Mamas.}

Bennett took an actual nap in his bed. 

Avery Claire has been eyeing a soccer ball at Walmart, so she got it today. She and her Daddy worked on their skills in the yard. 

It got pretty serious, if you can't tell by the looks on their faces.

Bennett's been eating Mum-Mums, and loving them! He watches every bite we eat, so I love that we can finally give him something so he doesn't feel so left out. 

Here's how all the cool babies watch Mickey Mouse.

It's a little hard to really grasp that it's summer because I have a workshop tomorrow {my first real day of summer}. And I have another workshop next Monday...Tuesday, we're hitting the pool!! 

Last Day of School 2015

Dusty's last day of school was last Friday, but me and the kiddos had to go all week this week. 

Here are our last day pictures and our first/last day comparisons. I've been emotional this week about the fact that Avery Claire won't go back to her little preschool next year. I'd given myself a pep talk about dropping her off this morning in hopes that I wouldn't cry. God knew what he was doing when we were running late and rushing around so I didn't even have time for the ugly cry. 

Do you see the door lock? Look at how much she's grown!!! And look at that sweet little hair cut!!

Look at her on her very first day at Mars Hill:

And her very first day of daycare at Mrs. Teresa and Mrs. Brittany's:

This little guy has grown a ton, too!! He can sit up by himself, but he's kind of wobbly. 

It turned ugly fast after he fell over and hit his head on the floor. See why I was hot and sweaty and rushed with no time for breakdowns of my own?

I got pictures together after school because they matched!! Do you know how hard it is to match girl/boy siblings? I discovered that I had fabric that matched Avery Claire's dress, so I had to make Bennett a shirt with it ASAP!! 

Those sweet poses last for just a second before he attacks!! 

Swinging, Sister, & Snuggling

There are three things this boy loves:

- Swinging outside

- Sister

- and snuggling. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

Happy 35th, Dusty!! We are so thankful for you and are so glad God gave you to us. 

{I snapped a quick before bedtime picture, but this picture shows, to me, that Bennett favors Dusty, which no one ever sees.}

We celebrated yesterday by taking Daddy to Chuck E. Cheese, where he discovered they've removed his favorite game. It'll be harder to get him to go back, now! 

We did take Daddy to eat at Logan's tonight on his real birthday, just in case Chuck E. Cheese wasn't enough of a "party" for him yesterday! 

Look who got to sit in a big boy high chair for the first time at Logan's!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a neighborhood party Saturday. It was so cool, except it was soooo hot. These kiddos had fun.

Probably not as much fun as their Daddy playing this game that I don't know the name of. 

We took Daddy to eat for his birthday Saturday night with Mema and Nana. 

Avery Claire's Pre-School Graduation

Tonight, Avery Claire graduated from Pre-K. I know it's so cliche, but it honestly seems like yesterday that we brought her home {as Dusty pointed out to me at the red light on the way to her graduation...talk about tear jerker for an already emotional mama}.

She's beautiful, y'all, but she's such a smart cookie, too. She doesn't miss a thing, doesn't forget a thing, and loves to learn new things. We are so proud that she's ours and cannot believe she starts Kindergarten in the fall. I'm not a bit worried - I know she'll do great - but it's the beginning of a new era in her life {and ours} that seemed so far away for so long. 

Their graduation was precious. I'm going to upload video and add it to this post soon. 

And, of course, we had a graduation party complete with decor and cupcakes and punch when we got home!!

Randoms for the Week

They love each other much. I hope it's always that way.

Bennett gets to eat Mum Mums now. He makes us feel bad when we eat because he watches every bite we take.

He's so proud that he gets to eat "big boy" food. And we're glad we can give him something to eat while we're eating. 

Avery Claire went on a field trip to Shakalaka with her Daddy Wednesday. She loved it. I really should upload the video of her Daddy trying to do a back flip. We'll just say he isn't as young as he used to be. 

How can a boy who is this knocked out not sleep all night?

This is Avery Claire's class picture. Well, it's a picture of a picture. What sticks out to you?

Yep. My child is the only one not wearing her class t-shirt. I would be the first to admit I DO NOT have it all together. BUT....this one was not me!! Sweet Mrs. Donna left me off of the text that told us to have them wear their t-shirts. I had no idea until that afternoon when I saw their class and they all had on their shirts. I'm sure Mrs. Donna thought I was lying when I said I didn't get the text. I went back and looked, but I really didn't, and I know I would've remembered. 

Happy 7 Months, Bennett!!

- wearing size 2 diapers during the day, size 3 at night

- taking 6 oz every 4 hours or so

- eating food mid-morning and at supper time. There really isn't anything we've found you won't eat. You didn't love the chicken and rice baby food, but you ate it. You probably like green vegetables the least, but you'll eat them. And if they're mixed with something else, you don't bat an eye. 

- love bathtime. You kick and kick and kick, until at least half of the water is gone. 

- are a pretty laid back kid. You are happy and easy most of the time. When you get sleepy, you just usually take a little cat-nap and then you're good to go for a few hours. 

- sleep isn't your strong suit, so it's a good thing you require little of it. You usually get up once at night, and then again around 5 or 6. I'm hopeing that this summer, you'll get a couple more hours of sleep after that 5/6 am wake-up. Hopefully, you'll figure out the sleeping through the night thing at some point, but I'd be lying if I said I don't secretly enjoy those few minutes when it's just me and you snuggled in the chair in the middle of the night. 

- are easy to get to sleep during the day. You'll usually just lay your head on my shoulder and go to sleep. Nighttime is a different story. You will fight sleep like a pro. I always win, but some nights, it's tough!

- do not require a paci like sister did. You have it in the car sometimes, and occasionally you want it to go to sleep, but you usually go to sleep easier without it. You never have it in the bed, and I hope we can keep it that way. 

- wearing mostly 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. 

- love Avery Claire. I'd say she's probably your favorite person. You light up when she comes near you and watch every move she makes. You think everything she does is funny, whether she's trying to make you laugh or not. 

- are getting on your knees and rocking. Crawling is in your near future. You can roll around on your belly and somehow get all over the living room now. We're gonna need a pen for you when you can actually get around fast.

- still don't have any teeth, which is perfectly fine with this mommy. I want to avoid that fussiness as long as possible. The way you gnaw on things leads me to believe you'll have some soon, but I've been thinking that for 3-4 months, so who knows.

- are sitting up. You're still wobbly, so I try to keep you away from hard surfaces in case you fall back. 

- still have pretty blue eyes and the most precious little cotton top I've every seen. Your blonde hair is growing like crazy and is sometimes wild like a little old man's. I can't do a thing with it and I love it. 

- have a nickname at home {Ben-Ben}, which I swore wouldn't happen, because I want you to be called Bennett. I know your friends may shorten it one day, but we only call you that at home because we don't it to stick with anyone else! 

- are so loved, little man. We can't remember life without you, and are so in love with you. God couldn't have picked a more perfect little boy for us. You are growing way too fast, but we are so excited to watch you learn and grow.  

Bennett's First Football Game

We headed to Clay County Friday afternoon. One kid is pretty self-sufficient in the car, and the other can hold his own bottle now, so our trip went very well. We stopped once for dinner and to finish a bottle and burp, and we were good for the rest of the trip. 

Bennett went to his first football game. The Trojans had a spring game as JSU Saturday, so we all loaded up and went. 

Can you tell it was bright? He loved it, though, even though he doesn't look like it. He even took a hot, sweaty nap. 

This girl sat with one of her favorite peeps and took it all in. 

These cousins got in lots of fun play time. I wish this could happen multiples times weekly. 

I got to meet sweet baby Joseph, who was born to my cousin Josh and his wife, Deanna last week. He is precious. You forget how teeny, tiny they are and how fast they grow. 

Mother's Day Weekend

Dusty and I got to have a date night Saturday night since we had 3 babysitters available! We always take full advantage of those!! And I always take full advantage of having someone in the house to take pictures of us!

We loved spending Sunday afternoon with our people, just playing and being lazy. We don't get to that very often, and it was so nice!