Jenny's Dinner

Last Thursday night we had a dinner in honor of Jenny and Sophia. It was just local family and a few of Jenny's closest friends. We had a great time at J. Alexanders, and Jenny got lots of great girlie presents. After years of blue, I'm not sure she knows what to do with all that pink! We can't wait to mee Sophia. I'm sure she will be beautiful like her mother. Here are a few photos from the party.

Zoo and Swimming

Ty has had a fun couple of weeks. We went swimming twice in the past week, and we went to the zoo last weekend. It was very hot, but lots of fun. Ty loves the fish especially, but the elephants are a close second. Karen, Shawn and Jack joined us at the zoo and made us dinner afterwards. Thanks! As you can see aunt Karen also did the hard work of carrying Ansley around the zoo. The picture with the stroller is Ty and cousin Jack. The other kids at the pool are his friends Taylor and Miles from church.

Not Merely a Flesh Wound

This picture truly does speak a thousand words. Ty attacked his sister last week before I could stop him and left this wound. The whole ordeal was devastating. I had to give Ty a major spanking after she stopped bleeding. I say all this to say that I had a moment last week where parenthood changed for me. It became glaringly evident to me that parenting is not for sissies. It is hard and heartbreaking even at this young age. It is a wonderful thing, but there are days when it just isn't fun. I also realized the tremendous responsibility we have to teach them right from wrong and help them become who God intends them to be. I knew all of this in my mind before I had kids, but now it is real and internalized. I can only imagine how many of these moments I will have over the next many years, but I wanted to remember this one. On the bright side, Ansley's face is healing nicely and Ty has improved a little on the hitting. Ansley can use this picture someday to make him feel guilty!

Cousins, Cousins Everywhere

Some of these pictures date back to late June, but I wanted to share some pictures of the kids and their cousins this summer. We are so blessed to have so many nieces and nephews and so many others who seem like nieces and nephews moreso than cousins. This isn't everyone, but here are a few cute pics.

Lookout Ladies and Let's Put our Heads Together

Well, here is a long overdue update on little Ty. I had to post these pictures of him blowing kisses from his little tykes car. I also thought the picture of him sleeping was so cute. This was not staged. I walked in to check on him before I went to bed and he was laying just like that. He is so funny right now. He is always making us laugh. He is starting to talk some, but still just a few words. He is very into playing with cars or anything that has wheels. He has a little enteurage of a train, dump truck, school bus, tractor, cement truck, and car that he drags all around the down stairs to whatever room I am in and pushes around all day. He is also still into throwing a ball a lot. He loves his little sister, but is a little too rough with her. She will be able to hold her own someday. Ty is growing so fast and just looks like a little man somedays. He recently got a haircut. I gave him his "first sucker" to keep him from screaming the entire time and was promptly corrected by my mother that it was not his first sucker. "What happens at the grandparent's house stays at the grandparents house." Ty has been hitting a lot, so the time outs abound around here. He hit every single child in Sunday school on Sunday. I had my first parent teacher conference you could say. He went from pushover to bully overnight. My apologies to the parents who are reading. Does anyone have any suggestions on this one? That's it for now. Scroll down and check out Ansley.

Ansley's First Bath, Sassy Dress, etc.

Okay, so before you have me reported, these first bath pictures are very old and were taken before the beach. I have been having a hard time making time for blogging lately, but here is a long overdue update. Ansley is growing fast. She is very cute and even started laughing this week. She has had a milk allergy and reflux to deal with so she has had a rough first couple of months, but she is improving. We are enjoying having a little girl around. I wondered if I could ever love another one as much as I love Ty and the answer is YES! I love them both so much it hurts. Here are several photos of Ansley over the past few weeks. The ones in the dress and hat are the most recent.

Beach Bums

We returned last weekend from the beach and at last I am updating the blog. We spent the week in Seaside with the Forrest family. We were missing our brother unfortunately, but the rest of the immediate family was there along with my aunt Karen, my NaNa, and Sarah and Houston (or Hoot and Fluffy as we like to call them). It was a great time and we had wonderful weather. Ty had so much fun with his cousins Noah and Micah and with everyone else. It was nice for me to have all the extra hands who were happy to hold Ansley so I could rest and spend time with Ty. You will notice in the pictures that the girls all went and got a massage this year. That was wonderful!!! I didn't get a lot of pictures this year as I was chasing kids all week, but I will share some of the ones I got including Ansley in her first ever bathing suit. Thanks for another great vacation Mom and Dad!