LONG OVERDUE

Ok..So I have been a slacker lately. Our computer crashed and we had to purchase a new one, so that slowed me down a bit. After that, I just got plain lazy! I have posted several pictures below that go all the way back to Halloween. After Christmas I will post more again.

As for the boys, they are great and growing up too fast. Ethan is beginning to talk more clearly and is learning things every day. I'm suprised at how much he absorbs...which is kinda scary! Lathan now has 6 teeth (which comes in handy since he loves to eat) and is almost walking! They are beginning to interact with each other more, and wrestling has becoming the favorite activity. I guess that's what happens when you live with 3 males!

Keep watch for more pictures to come!

Fun Times

Definately a picture to show the future girlfriends!



Ethan & Collin after their Christmas program.

True Texas Cowboys!

Ethan riding the mechanical bull at the Toyota Christmas Party

At the ranch

HALLOWEEN

Our little puppy and buzz light year (to the rescue)!

Playing outside

Lathan has turned into a thumb-sucker!


Our friends, Hannah & Jackson, came to visit us. They all took a ride in Ethan's new truck.


He's too cute for his own good!
We are not far from crawling...Lathan is rocking on all four's now.

Zoo Trip

We orginally had plans to go to San Antonio for the weekend. We were going to take the kids to the zoo and riverwalk. Earlier in the week, Lathan got pink eye and an ear infection, and Ethan had hand, foot, and mouth disease. Needless to say, we decided an overnight trip was not really the best idea. Instead we took a day trip to the Waco zoo. The weather was nice and the boys did very well.
I had them dressed in color coordinated outfits (blue and orange). Nate thought I was a dork, but I wanted to make the pictures cute. Well, my idea was destroyed when Ethan decided he wanted to wear his bright red Atkinson Toyota hat that Pappy gave him. I tried to get him to wear a khaki or blue hat (since Lathan had a blue hat on), but there was no changing his mind. He held on to that hat very tight (see below) all the way to Waco. So Dad, he's definately great advertisement for you! After all the fuss...it ended up being really cute to watch him be a big boy with his hat.

Ethan chasing the pacing "cheetah" (as Nate called it). He loved this one!

Nate is showing Ethan the snakes...my least favorite animal. Of course, I have a son who is especially intrigued by them! I just pray that someday he doesn't pick one up and try to play with it.

Arkansas Trip

As promised..here are the Arkansas trip pictures. We had a wonderful week visiting all our relatives! Now that we are home, Ethan has started school and LJ has started sitting up (can you believe it?)

Nana & LJ.

Papa & Ethan playing






Mattie & Ethan (3rd cousins). They were born 3 days apart. Below is Kevin (Nate's cousin) and Nate with our newest members...TanaBeth & Lathan!



Uncle Darrell & LJ mowing! Gage & E riding the gator.



This is my Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Jean with LJ. The bottom picture is most of the great-grandkids. We are missing 2 children...notice they are all boys!! I guess it runs in the family!

Cousins

These are just a few pictures that Laura took when the bluebonnets were out. This is Gage, one of Ethan's favorite 2nd cousins. He loves to play with him.




I am going to try to post our Arkansas pictures tonight!

HUGE SALE!!

Here's your chance for all you Mary Kay lovers or if you just like a great sale!! I am selling most of my inventory for 40% off. Listed below are the items I have with their regular retail price respectively. Your price is 40% off that!!! I can also order other items for you as well. I am just trying to clean out and not keep as much inventory. The first six orders will receive a free gift! Happy Shopping!

$18 3-in-1 Cleanser (Normal/Dry)
$18 3-in-1 Cleanser (Combination/Oily)
$22 Age Fighting Moisturizer (Normal/Dry)
$22 Age Fighting Moisturizer (Combination/Oily)
$30 Day Solution SPF15
$90 Miracle Set (3-in-1 cleanser, Age Fighting Moisturizer, Day Solution, Night Solution)
$30 Firming Eye Cream
$22 Visibly Fit Body Lotion
$7 Acne Treatment Gel
$30 Oil-Free Hydrating Gel
$14 Ivory 104 Medium Coverage Foundation
$14 Beige 304 Medium Coverage Foundation
$9 Foundation Compact
$16 Custom Compact
$9.50 Ivory Concealer
$9.50 Beige Concealer
$18 Shade 1 Highlighting Pen
$12 Eye Primer
$10 Chocolate Lip Liner
$6 Coral Glow Nail Polish (DISCONTINUED ITEM)

Little Boys becoming Big Boys

Today mom and I took the boys to the pool. We have been swimming several times this summer, but I have not let Lathan get in the water because of sunburns,(our children received my genes of fair skin), nap time, etc. Today he had already had his morning nap so I decided to let him take a dip. I then realized I did not have any swim diapers for him. So what does any constructive mom do...put him in the only swim diapers we have..(Ethan's). I thought they might be a little big and I could layer them above his regular diapers. Boy was I wrong!!! They actually fit him just fine, without any layering. I find it very interested that children two years apart can wear the same size diapers. Like I said before, I wonder how long it will take LJ (Lathan) to surpass Ethan in size.

Now, on to Ethan's big moment today. He finally decided to ride his bike using the pedals. This may not sound like a big deal to most of you, but Nate and I have been working on this goal for several months. I think Ethan understood that it was a big accomplishment as well..he pointed to the pedals to show me!

We are leaving for Arkansas this weekend to visit my mom's side of the family (they have not seen Lathan yet) and make a stop on the way to see Nate's parents. I will be posting new pictures when we get back!

Amazed!

It still amazes me how God can create two totally different individuals from the same set of parents! Lathan is starting to show his personality more and it is becoming apparant how completely different it is from Ethan's. I started thinking about how different they were after I weighed them (don't ask me why). Ethan is in the lower percentile for weight and Lathan in the higher (obviously). They are 23 months apart...same as Laura and I. And as of today, Ethan weighs 28lbs and Lathan weighs 18lbs. ONLY 10 POUNDS DIFFERENCE!! I'm wondering how quick Lathan will catch up with Ethan (and I'm pretty sure he will). So, I guess you could say when I'm holding them both, I'm getting a good workout on my arms! We also have noticed that Lathan likes to have people around him. He doesn't like to be left by himself, whereas, Ethan plays wonderful by himself. But, Ethan is more of an extravert as far as communicating with others. As a baby, Ethan would let anybody hold him and was happy. We have noticed that Lathan starts crying if he's not familiar with you. No matter how different they may be, I love them both for all their characteristics! Anyways, just thought I would share my random thought for today.

Just a day at the movies!

Today I decided to take Ethan to the movies to see Madagascar. He has seen the movie several times at home, but I thought it would be a fun mother/son adventure to go to the movies. When we got in the theater, the lights were out and the movie was beginning. We walked halfway up the stairs, excused ourselves around a few other people, and sat in the middle of the row. Ethan climed into his seat and immediately started saying "roar" for the lion and "say-dees" for the zebra. (Mom's horse is called Mercedes, so all horses and zebras are called "say-dees" to Ethan. After about 2 mintes, he was ready to go. I tried to get him to stay until we became a disturbance to others.
As we reached the exit level to leave, he pointed to the lower section and said "sit." So trying to make this fun for him I went along with this. Ethan took us to the FIRST row all by ourselves and said "sit" again. As soon as I got him situated and started to sit down...he got up and began running around. Embarrassed, I quickly gathered our belongings (minus one sippy cup we lost in the chase) and made a mad dash for the exit. Guess I'll be saving our movie days for when he's older! We opted for the mall play area in lieu of the movies today.

Funny Things

For some reason, both of the boys have been waking up around 4am lately. While I am feeding Lathan in the nursery this is what I hear.... Ethan closes his door behind him, comes to close the nursery door (without peeping in), and then walks to our bedroom to close the door behind him. After putting Lathan back to bed, I return to bed only to find Ethan nice and cozy..sound asleep on my pillow with my blanket. I have been pushing him over and letting him sleep with us for the rest of the morning. But now I am finding myself very tired...he is a horrible wiggle worm in his sleep. My sister can vouch for that as he spends the night with her once a week. Last night, I returned him to his proper place and I rested much better! I don't know what the issue is with doors either. He likes them all closed...even when you are in his room playing with him. He even used to lock Augusta in his room with him to force her to play with him...silly little boy!

Ethan is also very interested in counting right now. This is how we count...1,2,1,2,and so on and so on. Three just doesn't seem to be an option right now! He even repeated Count Dracula (I think that's his name) on Sesame Street with 1,2,1,2,1,2 for the number 6. We'll get there one day!

A Day at the Ranch

The boys and I were at the ranch hanging out. Mom, Laura, and I decided to take the boys in the mule to the back part of the property. (For those who don't know what a mule is: it's similar to a golf cart, but has two benches, is meant for more rough terrain, and we currently do not have the windshield on it.) So, on our way back to the house, it started sprinkling. Laura is in the back seat with the boys, so mom and I end up being their shield in the front. We look ahead and see the downpour that is blowing our direction with the wind. Laura covered Lathan with the diaper cloth. I covered Ethan's face with his cowboy hat (although, he would have preferred nothing as this was fun to him!). It was raining so hard that mom had a hard time seeing the road even through her sunglasses. By the end of the trip, we could ring water out of clothes. Since Ethan was already wet, we let him play in the rain. You gotta love mother nature!!

The other pictures are Ethan playing with a friend's dog and just chillin!

Some of Lathan's Favorite Things

This is one of Lathan's first foods. He has tried peas, squash, and carrots (shown)and of course, loved them all. As you can tell, he's not a picky eater!



This is the first time in this toy. He loves anything that lets him stand.




Just playing!




He knows how to make a real good pucker!

Tribute to Augusta

For those who do not already know, Augusta was adopted by a sweet family near us. They live in the country and have a two year old little girl who adores her. Ethan was beginning to get too rough with Augusta and she seemed unhappy (even though she looks like that all the time.) So we decided it was best to look for a family to adopt her. I have called to check on her several times and she is very happy in her new home. So, for all the wonderful memories we shared with her, here are some pictures to remember her by!



Ethan at 3 weeks with Augusta!

3 Months

Lathan at 3 months wearing an outfit Ethan used to wear.

Growing

Ethan is becoming a little fish!

Lathan is now 4 months old and is a very happy baby! He is becoming more aware and loves watching big brother.

Since we just got our new camera

(Ethan took our old camera swimming!), I am going to try to take more pictures and post them frequently. It seems like they grow too fast! If you ever saw Ethan at four months, you would think Lathan is an identical copy...it's scary!