Pics by Uncle Noel

These are some pictures that my brother took of our family. Luke was 2 weeks old in these pictures and Jackson had just turned 18 months. I hate adults' feet, but baby feet are so cute!

Lucas and Mommy :)

Sweet baby sleep!

This one is my fav! We have a very similar one that he took of me holding J.

Our wedding bands :D

More cute baby feet

J deep in thought...plotting his next adventure, haha

Our two sweet boys

J laughing, like usual

It's always great to have my brother visit, but I love when he pulls out the camera. He's such a great photographer. If you liked these pics, check out his website www.noelharveyphotography.com

Heads Up

Luke is holding his head up really well now! He can sit in the Bumbo, too. It's really funny b/c when he is in it, J will run over and want to talk to him or hug on him. It's just too cute :D I think his eyes are going to stay blue. Jackson's have gotten darker over the past few months - they are still blue but now with hints of gray in some light and green in others.

He can hold it up for at least 5 minutes like this

But that big head starts to get heavy after that

Jackson has really started to like stuffed animals. He likes to snuggle with them:)
This is actually Luke's frog, but just try to tell him that, haha

Grandma with her boys
She helps us so much!!!

Update on the house - they are finishing up the downstairs right now. Over the past week they have torn down drywall, replaced the ceiling, and today are doing all the painting. We found out the week after next they will come over and rip up the destroyed part of the hardwood to expose the subflooring. Since it may be wet, they will probably have to let it air out. There won't be a good week for us and them to have the actually hardwood replaced, sanded, and stained until August, so our house will be a wreck for a while! It could be much worse though, and I'm thankful our insurance has been so great, so far!

Finally!!!

Finally I have the beach pictures ready to post! It was another busy week for us between work and trying to get the house in order. A few weeks ago we had a leak from the fridge which has ruined the hardwood on the main level and the downstairs ceiling! What a mess! It is all covered by insurance, but it's still a hassle b/c we have to get everything out of the main level and the downstairs room that had damage. In the next couple of weeks the ceiling will be replaced and it and that room repainted and the entire hardwood replaced. Oh yeah, and we have to move out while they do that! AGH - again, what a mess. Oh well, it's always something with a house, right?

So, back to the beach pics, here's a group of them. We had such a great time :) We love that condo, and Wes' parents were there with us, so it made the week much easier with both the boys. Jackson went to the beach every morning, back up during the heat of the day for lunch and a nap, then everyone went down in the afternoon.

This pretty much summed up how J felt the entire week

And y'all know how he likes to run, lol. He loves wide open spaces ;)

Taking a quick snack break with Nonnie


Our boys hanging at the beach. This is the "smile" Jackson had for the camera

Again in the open space

It's so great to have the awning set up. We wouldn't have been able to

take Lucas down there without it.

J wanted to wear his hat and glasses inside, but always

wanted them off when we were outside...

Learning how to make a sand castle with Pops

All smiles, as always

The smile says it all

Luke and Pops

Getting some kick time

The boys by the water

Jackson absolutely loves the water. He has no fear, which is good and bad, haha. The water

was beautiful most of the week, even when the wind picked up, which just

destroyed our fishing time!

More sandcastle time

Family photo

Jackson and Wes

a sleepy Luke

Our little boy playing in the water!

What a great trip it was! We're sad that we won't be able to go back to the beach until September, but it'll be a little easier then since Luke will be about 6 months old then. And it won't be 100 degrees ;)

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Hope it's a great weekend for y'all :) And THANK YOU to all those who have served our country so that we have freedom!!!

Promises, Promises

AGH - I really did mean to get some pictures up at the beach, but it just didn't happen. We had a great time though. I said goodbye to my 20s while we were down there, and managed to survive, lol. I'm hoping to work on those pictures tomorrow if I don't have a ton of cases (I'm on call) and maybe Monday I can get them up.

But for today, here's a few pics of the boys. He's been kinda fussy the past week. At first we thought it was just being at the beach and away from home, but now I'm not so sure. He's having screaming fits and not sleeping well. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt that will end soon! He turned 14 weeks today! Where does the time goes? Even when he's fussy, he's still so darn cute :D

He's usually all smiles, and here was one from earlier today. He's also found his hands, but he still has a hard time getting them in his mouth.

Jackson is definitely a big boy now - mixed feelings here! He got his hair cut today (it was like shaggy Hoover hair which you'll see in the beach pics) and looks so different! I've got some videos I need to post of him. He's nonstop, now both physically and verbally. Anything we say he repeats, and he's speaking full sentences almost all the time now. It's amazing the changes they make in just a few weeks.

The flash didn't go off, so I know this one is a little grainy, but I still really liked it once I lightened it up. Let me explain the scab on his chin. It happened at the beach. Jackson has no fear - not the beach, or the ocean, or people (wait I take it back - he hates the doctor's office). Anyway, he ran up to a little boy who had been playing by us all week, and right smack into the little guy's skimboard. He popped right back up though and didn't even cry, but it left a nasty little mark and scab. Oh well, boys will be boys!

Hopefully my call day won't be too bad tomorrow and I'll get some beach pictures up soon :)

And we're off

Well...almost. Tomorrow we head back to the beach!!! Yea!!! And I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging down there. I can have hopes, right. And there should be lots of pics to share :) Including some of me as I...enter my third decade...agh - I'm having a slight crisis about it, lol. I've been getting up at 0430 and working out most days before I go to work to try to get back into shape. But, any of you who have kiddos know that they only peace and quiet you have in the day is before or after they wake up or go to sleep. And since I go to bed about 2130 (or 930 for those of you nonmilitary time folks), my peace and quiet time is that early in the morning. I'm hoping that by August I'll be back in decent shape and back into some more clothes. What a joy the boys are, but what weird ways do they change the shape of a mommy's body!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully some great pics will be posted soon!!!

Where does the time go???

Things have been soooo busy the past few weeks. It's hard to find time to blog these days! The weekend before last I was off to Chicago for an AANA function. As most of you know I'm on our state association's board of directors (www.ala-crna.org). This, on top of family, friends, and work keeps me busy :) It was my first weekend away from Luke! I missed all my guys terribly, but lucky for me, I left Friday after work and came back Sunday evening, so I wasn't gone that long. Last weekend I was on call, so that kept me busy. Work's going well - it's almost like I wasn't gone for 8 weeks. We are all doing great. Now it's almost hard to remember what it was like in our simpler life when we only had one child. What amazes me is the difference between the two boys - like night and day! Luke is such as easy baby =D Jackson cried every night when we laid him down to go to sleep and Luke is the total opposite. He's still smiling and cooing when we lay him down - it's adorable. Jackson is still the best big brother. He loves to run over to Luke and tell him "hey" and take his bottles to the sink. I hate that Luke can't talk back to him yet b/c J so badly wants to converse with him. And, I can't believe in the past two months how many words J has learned. He will now repeat anything that you say to him, including phrases. He started talking in sentences about a month ago - which is pretty early. He's too smart for his own good (well, more like too smart for our own good, lol ;)). They are both amazing children, and we are so blessed!

Luke loves to lay on his play mat and look at the lights and the toys. He's almost reaching out and hitting them with his hands.

Jackson looking at Luke :) He's really ready for him to be running around and playing with him. Unfortunately, we don't see Luke being as quick to roll, crawl, and run as J was. At this age J was pushing up when he was on his tummy. L, not so much...probably because he's a lot bigger ;) Only time will tell though!

I'm on call tomorrow, then have a 3 day weekend - woohoo! I'll try to be better about posting...if only there could be 28 hours in a day instead of 24...

Wordless Wednesday