Train Park in July

It was actually cool enough for a visit to the Train Park on this last day of July. The look of joy on Braden's face when he knew we were stopping and not just driving by was great. Hunter enjoyed it as well!

4 months and octagons.

Our sweet little guy is 4-months old today. He continues to be a delight! He loves to sleep, hang out on his belly, eat, smile, laugh, talk really loud and watch Braden run around. Oh, and he's loving to suck his thumb more and more each day. I'm not overly excited about that because I've heard stories of thumb sucking going on for a long time. At Costco the other day a lady brought her son up to show him Hunter because he was asleep in his carseat with his thumb in his mouth and his fingers over his face. She told her son he used to do that exact thing. I asked her when he stopped sucking his thumb. She paused and said "We're still working on it." The kid was at least 10!! But I won't worry about that now. He's the easiest baby I've ever known!

So sweet!

He puts up with a lot from his big brother. Sometimes he just looks at me like this with his wise eyes as if to say "it's ok Mommy, I know he really loves me."

He's almost to the point of rolling from his back to his belly. I'm not too excited about his early rolling. Braden was slower to get moving and I enjoyed the stationary-ness!

The brothers hanging out. The only way Braden would look at the camera was if I told him I was going to take a picture of just Hunter. This was the best we could get!

So sweet. Notice the foot in the upper left corner... unfortunately it is often precariously close to Hunter! Hunter also stayed in his first hotel last week when he, Braden, Sarah (who I officially refer to as our own super nanny) and I went to Flagstaff for a meeting I had. It was like deja vu in some respects because Anthony, Braden and I went to Flag when Braden was about the same age and did many of the same things. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera since Anthony had it with him salmon fishing in Alaska... I prefer pictures of cute kids over dead fish myself!

We finally got some rain tonight and Braden had a blast outside playing in it!

Braden amazes me on a regular basis with his vocabulary and memory. This morning I poured him a bowl of cereal. It was a new cereal and when I set it down in front of him he picked a piece up and said "it's an octagon!" What? Really!! Yep, he told me again a few more time. It actually only has 6 sides per piece of cereal, but octagon is close enough for me (and I don't really know what a six sided thing is anyway). I honestly think he learned about octagons one time from Abby's Flying Fairly School on Sesame when they were talking about stop signs. But who knows. (Angela Parris - notice the bowl and spoon! I still remember that you told us that Madeline picked it out for him when he was a baby!).

I love my boys!

Hunter and Daddy just hangin out.

Hunter found his thumb! I was wondering how long it was going to take.

Anthony and Braden went on a road trip with me to Jerome. I love those kind of "work" days!

Swimming!

It's been hot here, which is normal for July (although I could really do without the humidity added in... I'm definitely a dry heat girl!). We've been surviving with a regular evening dip in the pool to cool off at the end of the day. It's pretty crazy that even 90 degree water is refreshing! Hunter has even joined in the fun! He really seems to like.








Sunset from our backyard.

Lately

We've all been enjoying the fact that Mimi and Poppa are in town. Anthony has been flying a lot lately, so it's been good to have the extra help! The boys are doing well. Some of Braden's favorite things are - the garbage/recycle truck, food, books, saying "no," and the song Rocketship Run. Some of Hunter's favorite things are - eating, sleeping, smiling, blowing bubbles and spitting! He has started to sleep unswaddled and we'll see how he does tonight for his first night in his crib unswaddled. Hopefully it won't interrupt his wonderful sleeping through the night routine! It also seems he's drop his night feeding and now eats around 7 or 8 and then goes to bed. He loves his baths and also loves to hold long conversations with me when he's nursing. It's pretty funny. He'll coo and smile away at me all while eating. Makes nursing fun (although it wasn't fun a couple of days this week when I had mastitis... that's no fun at all!).

Hunter and Kemper are doing more interacting these days!

Braden has spent lots of time in the pool. He no longer likes to "go under" however.

Braden also spends lots of time reading books. Mimi brought some "new" one's that were mine and Mike's when we were little. He really tends to like those.

We've been going to storytime at our local library quite regularly. Braden enjoys it. It's a good summertime activity in AZ! I should mention that singing has become a favorite past time of Braden lately as well. Rocketship Run, Happy Birthday, Rain Rain Go Away (although that song sure doesn't apply here!) and the ABC's have been some of the latest. He'll often sing some songs in his bed when he wakes up in the morning before calling for me or Daddy. I highly recommend Laurie Berkner's music for kids.

Proud Sister

I've always been proud of my brother. He's made it pretty easy. He's a great husband, dad, uncle, friend... This weekend is no different as he heads to Afghanistan on a voluntary deployment. He works in homeland security and, although because of his security level he doesn't talk about it (you know, the "if he told you, he'd have to kill you" type of work) I know he does things on a regular basis that keep my family and the rest of us safe. The things that he has seen and done in his daily work led to a decision to make this sacrifice and put boots on the ground in Afghanistan. He truly feels that he can make a difference for the soldiers and our country. Although it isn't easy, I am proud of him for making this decision and am thankful that he is willing to do it.

Please keep Mike, Brandy, Addison and Devin in your prayers. They'll all be needing it. I can honestly say that this is the first 4th of July that I've gotten a truer sense of what the holiday means. And it has nothing to do with apple pie like the lady at Costco said yesterday... We love you guys!

And if you want to read a book that was inspiring to Mike, here it is:

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell

This picture was taken by Addison!

Elmo!

4 generations on Anthony's side. We had a great visit with Carla and Nana and look forward to their next visit! I'm guessing it won't be in the summer next time!

I got tickets from work for Sesame Street Live! I wasn't sure if the kids would be too young to appreciate it, but as you can see here I think they liked it! How could they not like Elmo and friends dancing around to fun music with lots of lights and colors!

We got to sit in my company's box, so it also meant cookies and food. That's always as exciting to Braden as the event itself! We were glad Kyndal and Nicole were able to go with us.

Elmo and friends.