Where did July go?

 We have been sneaking in some super fun times around here.  Daddy took the boys on their first ever boys only camping trip.  I wasn't sure if my heart was broken or if I just couldn't stop dancing from joy.

Ahh, a mother's angst!  :)

I did calm down pretty quickly though when the thunder and lighting started and I had to go round them up and bring them back inside.

 Jack has still been having a hard time with the trains.

We can hear them pretty well from our house, but for some reason, that scares the bejesus out of him.

He will come running from any part of the yard to find me at that first train whistle.

So I got little crafty on the little guy and used Dinasour Train to my advantage.

We started talking about Tiny Pteranadon, and Laura the Giganotosauras and

Mr. The Conductor and Buddy the T-Rex, and just who all might be on that train, and just where might they be headed and what noises might they be making?

Then, when I was putting Jack to bed on night, I reminded him that the window was open and he might hear the Dinasour Train go by.  It would be okay though.  Tiny was probably on the train.

Then I made my pteranadon noise, just for effect.

About 20 minutes later, sure enough, a train came blasting through.

And I heard a little, timid "braaack!" out of Jack's bedroom.

And then he fell asleep.

SCORE ONE FOR MOMMY!

 Auntie Danielle and I got to take Brayden to a horse show.

And by horse show, I mean the Parelli Horse and Soul Tour.

 The last time I was at a Parelli show, we lived in MT and I was about 

6 weeks pregnant with this guy.

It was really, really fun for me to bring him to the show.

Especially, since he got to meet Pat Parelli himself!

Pat is pretty human and down to earth.

He asked B. how old he is,

if he had horses (B totally perked up at this!),

and if he was married (which confused him all over again). 

Highlight of our combined life so far, I think! 

Except for the ice cream cone after wards.

Okay, new highlight already!

Brayden also got to meet Newton and Josh, one of the teams in the show.

Josh asked him if he had horses and Brayden talked all about them and how we ride them.

Then he added "But we don't ride the chickens though!"

and melted everyone who was standing near enough to hear him.

 Brayden's still taking his own pictures.

He's getting pretty good at the self portraits!

And getting pretty good the Jack-portraits!

One morning, Jack sat at the breakfast table, narrowed his eyebrows and said

"Mad at you!".

Then he said it again.

And again,

and again.

We still haven't figured out why, but now he say's "I'm mad!" any time he gets into trouble.

Which is just about as funny as when he used to stick out his belly,

put his hands on his hips and shriek, "No!  I don't!"

Goodness sakes this kid melts my heart.

He is just so dang beautiful!

Here is a Mommy-portrait by Brayden.

And what big brother does, little brother isn't far behind.

Please excuse the bugger and the messy face!

We tried painting again.

Jack still hasn't figured out that paint goes on the paper and not in your mouth/on your face.

Another Mommy-portrait.

Right after I said the required "cheese burger" I put the camera up just a little bit higher!

Jack can get out of his crib.

And he wants to cuddle at night.

He calls me and says "Mommy?  Cuddle you?  Can you?"

in the sweetest voice you could possibly imagine.

So, we put the crib away.

Brayden's bed got bigger two.

Jack hasn't figured out just how perilous big beds are though.

So far, he has split his eyebrow open, busted his lip and bonked his head.

We hear Brayden telling him "Jack, stop jumping!  You're going to get an owie!"

He does fall asleep eventually though.

I wonder if he will ever sleep like he is supposed to.

He is just as busy in his sleep as he is when 

he is awake.

 

June

I keep trying to write this post, but it keeps coming out c.r.a.n.k.y.  So I keep trying.  I think tonight, though, since I am resting on a miracle, this one will be a keeper.  :) Plus, someone at church was telling me today how she tries not to let her circumstances determine her happiness (took the breath right out of me when she said it!).

Brayden started taking his own photos.  Above is a couple of them. 

You can tell he gets better every time I get on the phone.  :)

The boys have been growing and changing so fast I can't even believe it.  Jack is the one who has been growing the fastest.  At his 18 month check up, he weight 27 pounds and 11.2 ounces (72%) and is 34 inches long (89%).  With a head circumference of 19 /34, that puts him in 96th percentile.  He says things like "I sad Mom?  I cry!".  Today he said "I full!"  which is a pretty abstract concept for a 19 month old.  He is also up to 5 word sentences if you can believe that!  Today when he was getting dressed after a diaper change (potty training starts Monday!)  he said "Self?!"...he wanted to get his own little pants on!  He has extra special audio powers...that kind of freak him out.  When a train goes by or a loud noise is near us he screams and cries...even in the middle of the night.  Sometimes those trains go by 6 times a night!  But he speaks well anyway.  :)

We also got to meet baby Lyla.

Here she is with her proud daddy.

Brayden and Jack got to spend a little extra time with Grammie Tammy and Bapa Steve.

Jack is a natural at fishin.  Even tries to kiss the fishies before they go back into the water.

Brayden enjoys his swimming much more than fishing, though, I think.  Though, he has caught quite a few fishes himself!

We also used the slip and slide. 

I say "we" pretty loosely.  Daddy was at work, and a few days before that I fell off the mustang and wasn't ready for any running leaps down a slipper slope.  So the boys kind of had to figure it out with out a demo.

So they hopped.  

Let's give this a try here...

Super Fun!

Whoa, super cold!

Definitely worth doing again! 

WEEEE!

Speaking of speaking, when we were celebrating Lincoln's birthday, Jack and I were sharing a bowl of ice cream.  Spoon for him, spoon for me.  I got the last spoonful.  Jack looked at me and said "more cream?"  I said no.  Then he narrowed his eyes at me and said "'tinker!"  Ha!  He was calling me a stinker!  He is so smart!

Lincoln said something to Brayden at the same party, that made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants.  I don't remember what Brayden said but Lincoln turned and looked at him and said, "You are shit out of luck" without missing a beat.  Ha!

Our first camping trip

Dinner by the fire, cooked on the fire!

We had some guests on our camping trip.

They just wanted to know what we had for dinner.

They always want to know what we have for dinner because they get the scrappings off of our plates.

Jack's first black eye, courtesy of big brother.

Who he calls "brodder".  Then "buddy"

"Brodder?  Buddy?  Where are you?"

Too cool, dude, too cool with your shades on!

I cannot resist a sleeping baby picture.  Aww.

Brayden's new favorite snack.

Whole, complete, entire carrots.

Love, love, love this kid.

I never would have eaten that when I was his age!

Jack thought sleeping in the tent was an amazing, wonderful, crazy thing.

He thought is was so wonderful that sleeping was a little impossible.

Look at all this stuff I can see!

So. much. FUN!

Even after a few stories, it was still impossible.

So at 10:00 he and I headed inside.

So glad our first attempt at family style camping was in our backyard.  :)

The Purcell's gave us this great idea for when it is hot.

A sprinkler under the trampoline.

Best GIFT EVER!

Jumping Jacks on our camping trip.  :)

Poop in the Paddock

I am so proud of Brayden.  In spite of his puzzle hating parents, he has figured out how to put this puzzle together, with only teeny amounts of help.  This time was the first time he did it completely with his own two hands.  Yay Brayden!

When I ask B. what he wants for a snack, without thinking he says "peanuts and cashews and cranberries". For lunch he wants "cheese and ham".  Nothing is ever different, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I asked Jack what he wanted for lunch and he said "shees and am".

This day, during lunch, he was so tired, he was an adorable mush pile of struggling-to-stay-awake.  He tried really hard to get comfy and eat at the same time, so he turned his little self to the side and leaned his exhausted noggin back in the chair.

 But from that position, he couldn't really find his plate...

Oop, got it.  Back to eating.

He went to bed shortly after that.  :)

Recently, Jeremiah and I considered making a huge, huge purchase (well, to us anyway).  It was this Blendtech.  I have gone through several blenders around here, so we needed a powerful one (something that had some muscle and could work like the Kitchen Aide).  So here we are in our fourth week with the thing and we hit a landmark number.  50 uses so far.  I guess it was worth it!  Anyone want a spinach and apple smoothie?  They are delicious!  Just ask Brayden and Jack.  Or do you need some garbanzo bean flour?  We could make you some of that too, if you did.  :)    

Speaking of making things,  Jeremiah made this beautiful table.

It is a farmhouse table and he did such a fantastic job.  You just have to see it in person to believe it.  Next up, re-stain the other three chairs and build a bench to go with it.  Yay!

One day during the nice weather, we took out the hammock (it has been in storage around here for years...).  It was hilarious watching the boys try to figure it out.  They thought it would be easy because they saw me lay down in it.  And for Jack, it was pretty easy.  But you can tell Brayden had a bit of a time with it though.  I had a bit of a laugh!  Then I showed him how to do it (butt first, then back, then feet little buddy). Now Jack points to it and asks for it before we even get out of the garage.

It is a great place to watch the kids entertain the horses.

Yep, they are back!!

Everyone is ecstatic.  Except for the kitten brothers.  Matter ran away for a day or so.  Rowdy watched them from the top of the barn.  Can you see him up there?

Jack finally figured out how to wrestle.  

Brayden thinks it is the best thing in the world to have someone to

wrestle with!

He just has to lay down on the floor first though so Jack can get him!

This big, giant, HOLLOW oak is a super fun place to investigate.  

Speaking of nature, when the weather was rainy, we watched the movie Bambi.

Brayden thought his name was BandAid.  

It took me a while to tell him it was Bambi.

It was just too funny to hear him talk about Bandaid when his daddy came home from work!

I was reading that little ones Jack's age should be saying about three words.

I have no idea how many words that kid is up to, but I do know that he says three word

SENTENCES.  

Like "No!  I don't!"  With his belly out and a bit of a shriek.

He also says "'Et go!"...you know, turn me loose!  let me go!

"Woook out!" is another one.

"Bwayden sweep?"  Followed quickly by "Ake uuuup!" at Brayden's side of the bed.

(Is brayden sleeping? Wake up Brayden!  I am waiting for you!  The day has started!) 

One day when the neighbors were over, Jack was following our little gaggle of baby ducks.

She pointed out that he wasn't just following him...he was waddling like them!

Jack also has super monkey legs.  When you pick him up, he hugs you with his arms and his little monkey legs, wrapped around you as far as they will go.  Just like his big brother used to do.  It is the sweetest hug. Then he taps his fingers on your arms, just so show exactly how happy he is.

This little stinker...I was listening to him at the park when he was making new friends.

He totally introduces himself Dinosaur Train style. If you know the show, you KNOW what I am talking about  (Hi!  My name is Tiny Pteranadon.  and this is....)

Brayden says "Hi!  My name is Brayden!  and this is Jack.  And this is my mom, Mom!

Oh my gosh, it was so cute! 

But the other kid just kind of looked at him.

Clearly he doesn't watch D.T.!

The other day we got locked into Target during a severe storm.

The sirens were going off while we were going inside.

I had to run to the bathroom to change a stinky so we could actually be in the store with other humans.

Then they called everyone back to the dressing room.

Which was great b/c the power went off.

Don't worry, both boys were in my reach.

When they moved us into fitting rooms, a little girl decided she wanted to play with us.

Jack was pushing her around and shoving her, like I have never seen.

I was glad both she and her dad thought it was funny...I just couldn't seem to get him to understand that was not okay....

It seems like the horses are happy to be home.

This peony was our first bloom of the season.  Now the front garden is full of them.  :)

You know how when you get everything right, all at the same time, you just feel like you had a total victory?

I made home made, grainless pizza

with home made ice cream shakes

for dinner.

Oh, it was mint ice cream...with home made mint extract!

And everyone ate it.

And loved it.

YAHOO!

Here is a couple of bath pictures to wrap it all up.

I am such a proud mama.

My boys have finally mastered the fine art...

of synchronized swimming in the bathtub.