My Boys

It's 2:27 P.M. and I have just sat down for the first time since dropping the boys off at school today. Since returning home, Starbucks in hand (a pleasure that will soon end once I have to be at work at 7:35), I have been knee deep in clothes. LOTS of clothes. Piles of clothes. Clothes that have been handed down to us but don't quite fit Will yet. Clothes that Will has outgrown but don't fit Alex yet. Clothes that Alex has outgrown. More clothes to be consigned in the fall or next spring. And lets not forget the clothes that they actually can wear right now. It is a huge undertaking and one I usually only take on twice a year, ALWAYS when the boys are at school and ALWAYS with Starbucks!

I went straight to work. I didn't even take the time to turn on the TV for some background noise. I became so nostalgic going through some of the things that Alex can no longer wear.....that once even fit Will. My babies are getting SO big. I know this is what happens. It just makes me sad. I love the little boys they are growing into and I love the stages they are in, but the mounds and mounds of clothes remind me how quickly each season really does pass.

I have LOVED my summer with them. This summer was so much fun because they are both at a pretty easy age to go places and do things and take out to breakfast or lunch and to play with each other (for about 10 minutes...). There were moments (probably every day) that I just wanted to lay down and watch reruns of 90210 and drink a diet coke and just have a bit of silence. Selfish, yes. Truth, oh yes!! But that is what I am doing right now---Diet Coke, 90210, silence.....and I have missed them like crazy today!!! I remember earlier this summer after having been up several hours (we are early risers around here....me, not by choice), and after playing outside, playing inside, eating multiple snacks, I finally told Will that he couldn't have anymore snacks, but we could go ahead and eat lunch because I was SURE it was lunch time. Y'all, it was 9:47 A.M. I kid you not. I couldn't believe it. That is how exhausted I was. I was just positive that it had to be time for a lunch break and then a nap soon after!! Nope....9:47.

But that is just our stage right now. In just two short weeks when summer is officially over, I know I will long to be home with them playing "boat" on the couch or "crack the egg" on the trampoline or "kitchen" and ordering up some pizza and cookies. It has been a good summer. FULL. Full of crazy, frustrating, hysterical moments and full of doughnuts and ice cream dates!

Will and Alex, at 4.5 and 2, are awesome. Even though they are both boys, they could not be more different. Don't judge me for my next statement, but when people ask how I would compare their personalities, this is the best way I know how to...I feel like Will is going to be the designated driver where Alex is going to be the guy dancing on the tables :)
Will is our first born, anal, cautious, resistant to change. He loves to go "exploring" with John into the woods in our neighborhood. He is obsessed with bugs. He loves to build things or rig things up in his room or outside. His sense of humor is hysterical and the things he says make us laugh always and question where in the world he gets this stuff from. He will go up to Alex and squeeze his cheeks and say "You are just SO cute, I have nothing to do with you!" This cracks us up...we think he is trying to say that Alex is so cute, he doesn't know what to do with himself....

Alex is almost the exact opposite in every way. He is free spirited, WILD, fearless (sometimes to a fault), and a complete goofball (He probably gets that from Will). He is drawn to sports of all kinds and constantly wants to be playing with a football or a ball and bat....and He LOVES to eat.

I am sad to see the summer end. I have so enjoyed a slower pace of life. Not having to be anywhere so early. The boys start their new class on Monday. Prayers would be appreciated...especially for Alex. I feel like we can reason with Will to explain to him what is going on and he understands. I think the change will be rough on Alex. While he is so very easy going and go with the flow, he LOVES Ms. Mek-Mek and Ms. Kei-Kei and I know Monday will be rough on his little heart!

The Lake

In case you didn't know, our best friends from Auburn, the McKinnons, moved to Birmingham earlier this spring. We know this was an adjustment for them but we could not be any happier to have them back in the same town with us!!! Obviously, we have spent a good bit of our summer with them. We joined them at Smith Lake July 14. This was a big day for our boys-neither had ever been to the lake, in a boat, gone tubing etc! It was so much fun. The boys had a BLAST!!!

Will took to the lake water pretty much right away....

Alex, on the other hand, was not so sure....the floating dock was confusing :)

John and Will in the kayak

Alex's First Boatride!

Will's First time to Tube!

Lounging in the hammock

Alex quickly figured out that he loved the lake just as much as he loves the pool!

Will was actually pretty good doing this by himself!

Up the ladder....jump off the dock....repeat....repeat....repeat...

Ready to tube!

Clearly the day was a success!

Thank you McKinnons!! We will be sure to invite ourselves back again soon :)

Times they are a changin'...again!

I can't believe Will's first night out of the crib and in a toddler (we called it a big boy bed) was March 21, 2011. And tonight will be his last. How is it even possible that so much time has gone by and he is so big. It was becoming increasingly apparent over the past few weeks that Will was starting to look like a GIANT in his toddler bed. He is big anyways for his age and laying on that crib mattress wasn't going to cut it much longer. We bought a toddler bed in the first place, because when we found out we were having a boy, we knew eventually we would want them to share a room someday.

I didn't want to buy Will a bed and then not be able to find the same one 4ish years later when Alex was ready for a big boy bed. So we found the cutest little bed at Pottery Barn Kids and it seemed like the right move to make. In looking for a big boy bed this time, we knew we would buy 2 beds at the same time and that way would have the same bed for Alex when we are ready to transition him. We went back and forth about bunk beds....Will loved sleeping on the bunks at the beach and as far as space, they seemed the way to go. But I worried about the ladder.....once Alex is in there, if he would go crazy and try to climb at all hours of the night....what if they fell etc? Well, earlier this week we found a great deal on a set of bunk beds that are matching twins if we don't want to bunk them. They were brand new and hard to refuse! We haven't told Will that they are bunk beds :) Does that make us mean parents?

For now, we are keeping Alex in his crib and have just one twin ready to set up in Will's room tomorrow. I know once we bunk the beds, its over! They will never go back to twin beds again if the boys have anything to do with it! So when we are ready to transition Alex, we will probably get him sleeping good in bed as a twin and then I guess when we are ready for them to go bananas at night we will bunk them :) I am sure it will not be as bad as I am anticipating. I think Alex is going to love sleeping in the same room as Will! Time will tell! Here is our silly boy all growny looking in his toddler bed for the last night!

 *As a side note, it is nights like tonight that make me love having a blog to go back and look at and read about our different stages of life. This is why I am trying to stay committed to updating, even if it is only a few times a month!

Daddy's Day Project

Father's Day fell on the Sunday right after we returned from the beach on Saturday. I tried to have all my ducks in a row before leaving so that John wouldn't be slighted on this special day reserved for dads! We are so grateful for John and the light and laughter that he brings to our family.
I saw this idea on Pinterest and while it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be (there were A LOT of outtakes) and it didn't turn out quite as perfect as the original seen on Pinterest, it still turned out pretty sweet. The week before we left for the beach, both boys slept in their Batman pjs one night and that next morning I decided I would try to tackle this project thinking it would be cute since they matched. I dragged our bench outside so we could have some natural light and totally bribed Alex with M&Ms and Will with a popsicle at 8am. Alex moved so much more than I had anticipated and it was hard to capture at the right angle without something being out of focus. I am sure we were a sight to be seen all in our pjs, on our front sidewalk, me laying on the ground under the bench trying to capture the perfect picture, while both boys whined and ate their bribes unhappily. I just figured the back story behind the picture was pretty funny and worth remembering....I even love how you can see the little bag of M&Ms and what appears to be Alex's little lips in mid chew!

Catching Up....Rosemary Beach 2013

Where did June go???!!!??? I know I speak for every teacher out there when I say that I have no idea how half of the summer has already passed, and in one months time I will be back in my classroom preparing to get back to the grind called work. Several times this summer I have run into families of students that I have taught and every time I comment on how I can't believe how fast summer is flying by, they always reply with how they are so glad there is only one more month until school starts :) To each his own! I am SO enjoying the slower pace of life. Obviously...thus the lack of blogging. Life is full. It is busy. It is exhausting. It is hilarious. It is messy. It is filled with "time outs" lately (mainly for my 4 year old...but sometimes, I wish someone would put me in time out!). I have found myself still in pjs at 1:00 in the afternoon if we have nothing on the agenda for the day and y'all...it is nice! I have to remind myself that sometimes it is good to not have anything on the agenda. To just stay home and play. My boys are changing every single day. They are growing. Alex is talking up a storm and right behind Will, wanting to do EVERY thing that big brother is into.
The biggest thing that we did in June was head to the beach for the 3rd annual trip to Rosemary Beach with my fam. I will let the pictures tell the story...the main points being Alex hated the sand, Will LOVED sleeping in a bunk bed, My boys loved waking up and falling asleep and spending all moments in between with their cousins, we visited sugar shack more often than I'd like to admit :), George's is always a favorite for dinner, Alex would rather eat than swim (or really do anything else), and first crab hunting experience = success! These pictures are all out of order, but they uploaded that way and I am too lazy/tired to try and rearrange all of them :)

Rosemary Beach 2013

Alex (2), Sutherlan (8), Dylan (12), Will (4)

 Movie night on the Green

 Superstar

 King Alexander

 Right when we arrived!

 Sugar Shak!

 Super excited to go crab hunting!!

 Pretty much sums up Alex's feelings every time he encountered sand...

 Leaving...

 First night dinner at the Back Porch...

Feeding Alligators

 He didn't even like standing in the sand in his crocs....go figure....the most laid back child is super high maintenance at the beach :)

 The only pic of all 10 of us!

Pumped about the bunk beds!!