Some Pictures from Summer

Our baby turns one on Saturday. Can you even believe it? Expect lots of pictures from that! I'll give you more of a "what is Elliott doing" update later. But for now, here are some pictures from summer.

We had a fun, insanely busy summer, part of which included me losing our camera for 2 months. Bummer! Thankfully, my mom is gracious and took lots of pictures (and let me take even more) whenever she was around so that we don't have a huge gap in our (hypothetical) picture albums. She even prints them off for me and spares me a BIG expense! Thanks, Mom! So I have pictures from those 2 months but they are hard copies, making it hard for me to put them online for you all to see! But, my very generous parents felt that we needed a camera and surprised us with an awesome one (our old camera was a little slow and stone-aged like!) We LOVE our new camera, especially how it takes the picture immediately. Fabulous! Much more enjoyable to capture pictures when I don't have to keep recreating the moment... So these are with our new wonderful camera (thanks again Mom & Dad!) Enjoy!

I just like this one because he looks JUST like me at this age. I wish I had my baby book so I could scan in the picture. His eyes aren't brown even though they look a bit like they are in this blurry picture. They are more greenish, bluish, hazelish, swirly. Caleb looks like me and acts more like Ben (thoughtful, contemplative). Elliott is a spitting image of Ben but acts more like me (hyper, flighty!).

Caleb doing some tricks on the swing set. One of his favorite phrases is "Did ya hee that?" (hee=see...still no "s" at the beginning of words)

Elliott hiding under a basket. Check out the ball in the other hand. This boy has a major interest in playing ball and will play a rousing game of catch. He made up his own sign for ball but it's sort of hard to describe so you'll have to come visit him to see it :)

Caleb usually doesn't venture off the swings. He is obsessed. But occasionally he will play on the slide as well. A few times this summer we stuck our little baby pool at the bottom, filled it with water, and let the kids slide down the slide into the pool. They loved it! Caleb thought we were at "a water park." He's easy to please, don't you think?

Here's the E-man showing you his greatest tricks. He is a climber! He'll go all the way up any slide, turn around at the top (scare me half to death) and then go down. Elliott screeches in delight when he sees a park because he thinks we get to go. This kid LOVES the park and has absolutely no fear. If you ever see moms at parks sitting on a bench while their children play nicely on the play set, that will never be me. Not in this season. No sir!

Caleb lives for the hour a day when Ben comes home from work and they get to wrestle. I don't prefer that aggressive side of my sweet big boy when it's just he, Elliott and myself. So the first thing he says when Ben gets home is, "Can we tackle?" Elliott makes a similar sound when the big guys start wrestling as he does when he sees the park and then dives right in. He doesn't want to miss a thing. Watch out--he's a hair puller!

Elliott with Grandpa Kenny. We got a surprise visit from them one Saturday when they zipped over to our house to go house hunting with us. The boys enjoyed getting to spend a few hours with them that afternoon. I'm not sure who loved it more though...


Caleb and Lulu being adorable at a park near our house. Caleb absolutely positively loves our neighbors. We could not be more blessed. If he hears them outside he literally shakes with excitement and is out the door. All day long I hear, "When are Abby & Hee-tan (Ethan) going to come outside? Where is Luly?" They have made some fun memories together.