he rides...

...his bike. Without training wheels. He's getting so big!

his own room

Simon slept in his crib for the first time last night. 

I, of course, forgot to find his monitor before I put him to bed.

I slept on his floor since I couldn't find half the monitor.

He slept all night, and I woke with a kink in my back.

mini photo shoot

I wanted to take one picture of his cute little chub, but I couldn't put down the camera.
He's just too cute.

a saturday stroll

We went for a little "hike" by the lake near our house. 

It was a beautiful day. 

I love my little family. 

I love that we all go out on a Saturday looking like we just hit a Goodwill sale (does Goodwill even have sales?) 

I love that my husband is always up for small, short adventures since we have such small, short people who can only handle the small stuff. 

I love that I snapped these pictures while cuddling with my youngest man in the Moby wrap while he was fast asleep. 

I love that we went home, ate lunch, and took naps right after this little outing. 

teething

My poor, little man.
Getting teeth is just tough.

my helper

Bryan was getting home from work late. I needed to make dinner, and Simon needed to eat. So, my helpful 6 year old came to my rescue.

sometimes i forget

how fun my boys are.

I get so caught up in the day to day. You know? The diapers, the feedings, the tantrums, the discipline, the constant cleaning, and on and on and on. I forget to just sit and be with my boys. I used to do this so well. I would put everything aside to talk to them and play with them often. I wanted to take full advantage of being at home with them. I've been so busy trying to catch up on cleaning and organizing, and I haven't given them enough of my undivided attention.

We went to the grocery store, and we had a great time. Weird that grocery shopping can be fun, but we made it fun! I'm now working on putting the mundane aside, so that they remember they are always more important. I do miss a clean and organized home, but I'm thinking this is another "stage of life".

adored

They have the most amazing Daddy

dance!

As I sit here, Simon is screaming his little head off because he's having a hard time falling asleep, and Raelynn keeps yelling, "happy day!!!" from her crib. Bryan's birthday was yesterday, and we sent him a little video telling him happy birthday. Now, she won't stop yelling, "happy day!! happy day!!".

We ate at Idaho Pizza today, and the silliest interaction happened. It has just made me smile and giggle since. A song came on - I can't even remember what song - and Raelynn just started busting out some dance moves in her high chair. I giggled and said, "That's some nice dance moves Raelynn". Right after I said that, she pointed her fork at Elias and demanded, "Dance!". Elias smiled and started dancing wildly. Oh, I die. It was such an awesome moment for me. I have no idea why, but it just made my week.

This little girl is a handful, but oh so funny!

first stitch

"I was racing on my scooter, and the mailbox hit me". 

Those were Elias's words to the doctor when he was asked what happened to his head. 

Our lazy Saturday turned into a lot of blood and a visit to Quick Care for Elias's first stitch.

I was so shocked at how well he did with the doctor. He just laid on the bed perfectly still, and answered every question the doctor asked. He didn't even flinch when he got a numbing shot.

After he was all stitched up, the doctor gave him a popsicle, a sticker, and a sucker. He asked for a Captain America sticker for his brother. I thought that was pretty sweet of him.  

The mailbox attacking Elias didn't slow him down one bit. As soon as we got home, he handed Isaiah his sticker and immediately went outside to play. 

The doctor got a hoot out of Elias's attire. One swimming shoe. One running shoe. Awesome.

He hadn't even had the stitch for an hour, and he was up in the tree.

There it is. The one stitch that caused so much blood.

6 months

Holy hannah. 6 months.
He is my smallest 6 month old weighing in at 17 pounds.
He is my most smiley 6 month old.
He is most likely my last 6 month old.

Oh sweet Simon. He's such a love bug. I adore this little man so so much.
This month was eventful for him:
~ Just a few days ago, he started rolling from his back to his stomach
~ AND he's lifting himself up like he thinks he's going to go somewhere!
    Please slow down, Sweet Boy!
~ He absolutely loves the jumparoo, and it keeps him entertained for over an hour EVERY morning
~ He started eating pears and seems to love them
~ We have to keep a close eye on him in the Bumbo because he wiggles so much that he hangs out of it if we turn our back for 2 seconds. It's no longer a good method of keeping him safe from Raelynn while I cook dinner. I'm trying to figure out where he'll be safe!

The cutest Captain America ever

These toes are quite popular with the little man

He melts me

He is still tolerating Raelynn very well

He was loving the pears

It took him a few days to start swallowing the pears instead of blowing them at me

simon's girlfriend

This is little Charlie. Simon's girlfriend. Aren't they so sweet?!

superhero family

I might have had one solid reason for the photo backdrop at the kids party

Family pictures

superheroes unite

The boys picked their superhero theme the same day as their pirate party last year, so we've been talking about their superhero party for an entire year. You might think that means that I had plenty of time to plan it....but if you actually know me, I wait to do everything last minute. The boys had a blast, though, and I had a lot of fun throwing their party for them.

First off -
Here is their invite. I think they look pretty darn cute as superheroes.

I surprised them by ordering them new costumes. They've been obsessed with Iron Man and Wolverine for a few weeks now, so I ordered Isaiah Iron Man and Elias Wolverine. They were pretty excited to get them in the mail a few days before the party.

Raelynn was the cutest Wonder Woman I've ever seen

The best group shot I could manage.
Do you Simon? He's Robin. SO ADORABLE

We had a pinata (or as Elias says, pinyato)

We had a super hero training obstacle course.
They had to climb the building (play structure)
Fly like Super Man down the slide
Crawl through the Bat Cave
Jump over buildings
Weave through a spider web
Walk across a lava pit

We also had some balloon Villains that they had to attack with silly string and water, but I didn't get a picture of that one.
I think the kiddos had a really good time. I know I had a great time.

This little girl enjoyed the chocolate cupcake