A Day in the Life of Caden...And FIRST CEREAL!

First, we chew on our feet

Next we slobber and drool everywhere

Then we grab whatever is within reaching distance

After that, we take our VERY first bite of cereal and chew on the spoon

YUM!

Then we get really mad when we are all done and Mommy takes the spoon away

Last we take a bath and chew on our bath toys

Is it obvious that we are teething???

Taking Pictures- Ethan Style

First a "cheesy" pose for Daddy, then it's his turn...

Sprinkler Fun

With the weather as hot as it has been, we've been making our own wet fun!

Since Little Brother is a little too young for this, he stays cool under the porch.

Chad and Ashley's Wedding Reception

Ethan did lots of dancing!

Mommy and Daddy did a little, too.

I love this picture of my Mom! She looked beautiful!!

Not to mention she knows how to cut a rug, too! Mom and Chad groovin'.

I have no clue why we were there for 4 days and the only pictures I have are of Chad opening one wedding gift and several different ones from the reception. It was wonderful spending time with my family and Kristin was indispensible! She not only helped with the boys, but bent over backward to help with wedding stuff, too!! She is an amazingly thoughtful person and special blessing from the Lord above. We love her!!

Visit to the Farm

On our way up to Tuscaloosa for the wedding, we stopped and spent the night at the farm to visit Grandad, Granny, and Grandpa. Ethan had a blast riding the tractor, golf cart, and "double-double"(front end loader). This is definitely a trip that we need to make again soon so that he can get the full farm experience!

Riding the tractor with Grandpa

Riding the "double-double" with Grandpa

Caden on the golf cart with Ms. Kristin

Ethan also got plenty of rides with Grandad, too, but it was dark so we don't have pictures of those. Thank goodness for headlights on the tractor or we would have had one disappointed little toddler!

Photo Shoot

Before we left the beach, we had a photo shoot at Eden Gardens and then also at the beach. The photographer was AMAZING! She has children of her own, totally worked with Ethan and Caden, and was great at catching candid shots as well. Amber(the photographer) even made me and Ben look good. I guess we can call this our 10 year anniversary pictures. Below are a few of my favorites...

We would not have been able to make this trip without Kristin! I cannot say enough about what she means to our family; from being a Nanny to Ethan the first year of his life to helping with his 2nd birthday to giving Caden sweet hugs and kisses and being a wonderful friend to all of us. We love you, Kristin!

A much needed beach vacation...not so much

This is the exact spot that Ben and I got married. Our wedding reception was held in the house behind us. Although the outside isn't quite as impressive as it seemed to be then, the inside of the house is magnificent. The band was set up on the oceanfront deck and we had a blast laughing and catching up with all of our friends and family. Ten years later, here we are yet again, only now with the addition of 2 beautiful children.

Now, on to the vacation. It was a good plan, in theory...we had to travel to Alabama for my brother's wedding so why not make a detour down to the beach for a much needed vacation. Gratefully, the fabulous Ms. Kristin had agreed to travel with us, so since we had an extra set of hands why not spend a few days relaxing at the beach. Well, relaxation was not part of this vacation. By the time the trip was half over, Ethan was waking 1-2 times during the night and rising bright and early by 6 a.m. and Caden was waking EVERY hour and sleeping fitfully in between. We were all EXHAUSTED! However, as you can see below, there was one good nap.

But overall Ethan behaved wonderfully and had a blast. His favorite, by far, was playing in the sand.

Next to that, he loved chasing after the seagulls.

He also had fun going into the water with Ms. Kristin.

Since the weather was beautiful and we hated the idea of getting the kids in and out of the car to go to dinner or visit the shops, we traveled by golf cart. It was hilarious putting both car seats on the cart and we got quite a few interesting looks from people(I promise it was legal). Ethan and Caden absolutely loved it, which made all the funny looks worthwhile and it was very relaxing feeling the breeze.

Ethan was not happy that I had asked for his attention when he was having so much fun seeing the sights around him.

This is dinner in the restaurant that my brother once worked at when he lived down there.

Even though the kids did not sleep well, we still enjoyed our time at the beach. I am grateful that Ethan enjoyed the ocean and sand and both boys did a fabulous job with all of the car time traveling there and back!