Video Time

Here are a few videos of William enjoying his playroom. They are from the beginning of July. Enjoy!!

It's been too long...major catch-up for July

Wow Wow Wow! Where has time gone? I can tell you that I have spent all my free time with William! I've had very little time to sit still at the computer to update my blog! We have stayed so busy this summer...and loved every minute of it! It's been a great summer full of fun and laughter!

So, July 11, we attended Tanner and Katie Peacock's wedding in Destin. It was beautiful and so special. Katie was such a beautiful bride, just beaming with happiness. The service was so sweet. You could feel the Lord's presence there. Dr. Taylor did a fantastic job with the service. He's the pastor who married us, so he's very dear to our hearts. Katie and Tanner make the perfect couple!

Maggie came down to keep William for us. OH HO came too! They had a great time and discovered Oreo cookies with William! He loved them! It was so nice to have Maggie come down for the afternoon so we could go to the wedding together. Katie is a friend of mine that I taught with before having William. She was one of his first babysitters (besides family) He loves "Miss Kayee" (less the T). It's been so neat to watch their relationship grow over the past few years.

We wish them the best!

Anna was down July 10-15 doing photo sessions for some friends in the area. She and Ben were staying just around the corner from us. I help Anna with her sessions when she comes down. It's fun b/c we get to work together. We had them over that day for lunch before the wedding to grill out burgers. Sweet Isabella was a doll! She just stayed right there with William and was an angel! She wanted to be right in the mix playing with her cousin! Anna and I had a fun trip to Publix with the babies...of course using the big cart! It was fun getting to hang out with Anna and Ben and Isabella in between all the sessions. Once we got home from the wedding, Maggie and I took William and Holden over to where Anna was staying to swim for a while. William LOVED swimming with OH HO (sometimes it comes out as HO HO, so it's interchangeable). William would jump off the side of the pool to Holden and splash all around. Holden was very careful holding William and helping him swim. We all had a great time in the pool!

Sunday, July 12 the Bertellas came down for a visit. I was doing a session with Anna when they arrived, so Philip went with them down to the beach so Sophie and William could play. They said they had a blast together. William, of course was rolling all in the sand...head first, nonetheless! Philip picked me up after my session and we went to dinner at Stinky's with the Bertellas and the Herndons. Sophie and William loved coloring and playing around in the chairs while we waited. They were perfect little dinner companions. They kept each other entertained...well, for the most part! It's always fun getting to see our friends. Mary and Hugh are such a cute couple. It's sad they only live about 40 mins. from us, yet we hardly see them! Crazy crazy.

Monday morning we took Sophie and William down to the beach so Anna could take some pictures. They were so sweet! Sophie was an angel on the beach. William just wanted to play :) No surprise there! After pictures, we picked Brian up and went down to Alys Beach for donuts for breakfast. Sophie and William loved running in the grass and going up and down the hill. William was hilarious! He would get ahead of himself and tumble down the hill only to jump up and want to do it again! So funny! Anna and Ben met us down there and we took all the kiddos around to the playground to wear them out. They played and played and played! So much fun! After they were worn out and red-faced, we headed on back to cool off and have a snack. We were headed to the beach, but it started raining, so we went to lunch in Seaside. Sophie and William loved the playhouse area behind Pickles. (yes, this has become a favorite place to visit). We did finally get to the beach for a short short time in between rain clouds. We just cooked here at home that night. The guys put the kids to bed so Jill and I could watch "The Bachelorette". It became a late night for us...but we had a blast! Jill helped me with a few issues on my blog and my pictures. We had such a great time with the Bertella Family. It's always fun to get together with them! We have a blast every time.

That Tuesday, Anna and I had another session that morning, so Ben kept the babies for us. What a trooper! Just kidding...William and Isabella were angels. I loved getting to spend time with Anna. After our session, Ben went back to their place to work a little, so Anna and I took the babies down to the beach. So nice just being together. We rarely have time to just visit, so it was such a blessing for us. We see each other a lot but it's usually when I'm helping with pictures or for short little visits. We also hit the pool again to swim before our last sessions on the beach that afternoon. Ben kept the babies again until Philip got home.

ARE YOU TIRED YET??

I kept Baby Jackson that Wednesday for Jenny. She and Jillian had to go to Pensacola for the morning. William and Jackson were so cute! William kept pointing to him and saying "baby jackson" and bringing him toys to play with..so sweet! We had a fun time with Jackson.

We also had a swim playdate that week with Jenny and Robin and the kids. We all met down in Seacrest to swim. We love playdates at the pool!

I'll stop here with this post. I love summertime!

Making memories with friends and family is always fun!

more to come...I promise! Time is just very precious!

Kerri makes it to the beach....

After my quick visit to Dothan, my dear friend Kerri and her two boys, Will and Eli, came down to spend a few days with us. I brought Holden home with me so he and Will could play together. Holden is 9 and Will is 7. It worked out great! They played and played and played. the little ones played hard too! It was a great!

Kerri came down on Wednesday, July 8th to visit. We've been trying to work it out for her to come down and visit since I've lived down here...5 years!! I love having friends and family to visit. I love having my house filled with the sounds of laughter and conversations. I love entertaining.

We all settled in and let the boys check out the playroom and have snacks before changing and all heading down to the beach! The weather was perfect! We made a stop by the Tom Thumb and Kerri bought 2 nets for the big boys...she's the best :) Once we got down to the beach with all the toys, towels and bags, the big boys took off for the water, boogie boards in hand. They were so engrossed in the waves and completely lost in summertime fun! Kerri and I sat up with William and Eli and played in the sand...well...I played in the sand...Mrs. Kerri is not too much for sand :) I just have to be given where we live! Eli loved loved loved the buckets and shovels and tossing sand everywhere! William did his usual bucket run to the water. He must have scooped up a gallon of water! He discovered OH HO was in the water and he wanted to be right with him! I got in with him for a while and we played in the waves while Eli and Kerri watched from shore. Eli was not too sure about the water. I managed to get some great pictures of everyone. We stayed down until after sunset. It was a perfect afternoon on the beach!

Philip was pulling up to the beach as we were leaving. Once William saw his daddy, he didn't want to get in the car, but OH HO helped me out. He talked to William to distract him while I buckled him in his seat. After we got home and got everyone bathed and cleaned up from the beach, we settled on pizza for dinner. The boys had a frozen pizza while the adults had Rachel Ray's Red French Bread Pizza. It is so delicious and easy to make and perfect for a quick fix. Once the babies went to bed and the big boys were settled in downstairs with a big bowl of popcorn and some movies, Philip sent us girls upstairs to hang out on the porch and catch up. Philip cleaned the kitchen and made sure the boys were settled before he joined us for some fun and laughter. The night was great! Lots of memories revisited while new memories being made. We laughed and laughed and laughed together and somehow ended up with lots of fun and crazy pictures.

Oh, how I've missed Kerri!

Thursday morning was a bit hard b/c of how LATE us mommies had stayed up the night before and how EARLY the babies wanted to get up. Thanks to Holden and Will for being such great helpers!! They played with the babies after breakfast while Kerri and I crashed on the couch. I will say that both William and Eli were so sweet and would occasionally crawl up on the couch with us to snuggle. A little before lunch time, Will and Holden announced they were going to outside to play for a while, so off to bed for naptime we went...babies in tow. I think the boys stayed outside for about 10 minutes before coming in to watch a movie again. After nap, we loaded everyone up and went down to Seaside for lunch at Pickles. The kids loved the cool playhouse area. It's right behind Pickles and between the 2 children's stores. It's a great area for kids. There is a small little playhouse with cute beach chairs as well as a crate full of hoola-hoops and beach balls. They also provide a ton of buckets, shovels and Frisbee's for the kids. We enjoyed lunch and then off to the beach we went. Kerri took Eli back to the house for his afternoon nap while I took Holden, Will and William down to the beach. I loved it! I felt like I was getting a taste of my future....remember, my heart's desire is to have 4 children one day :) Holden and Will took off for the water again and crashed through the waves. They managed to catch a few sand fleas and wanted to try to save them to bring back to Philip. We secured them in a bucket, then hid the bucket under a towel so William couldn't see it...he's my bucket boy. He loves to tote his buckets around and scoop up water. He thinks EVERY bucket is his bucket. It's cute to me how he will set one up, leave it to gather water, then return to the 1st bucket and dump the water into it. Oh, while I was walking behind William as he chased after the big boys, a lady stopped me to tell me I had 3 precious boys and that I must be so proud of my sons....I smiled and politely explained that William was mine and that Holden was my brother and Will was a friend's son. She gasped and said, "I can't believe those two ( Holden and Will) aren't brothers! They look so much alike." Then she said "You will one day have a large family of your own." I thanked her and smiled. After about an hour, the thunder clouds rolled in and started crashing, so we packed up and headed on back. Bummer!

Kerri's favorite place to eat while down at the beach is Dynasty, so we called Philip and had him meet us there for dinner. It was great! The big boys loved eating with chopsticks. The little ones loved the noodles. We had a great dinner together and had plenty to take home for lunch the next day...perfect to me!

Now...back in the day...at Troy, Kerri's husband Jay was a Troy police officer and often worked the night shift. Several of those nights, I would stay down at Kerri's. We would stay up all night talking and watching chick-flicks. Our favorite thing to do was to go to Walmart in our PJ's to get a cake mix to bake a cake. I can't tell you how many times we would be walking out of Walmart in the wee hours of the night/morning and be greeted by that Troy Police Car...busted!! Jay would quickly tell us to get home and stay home :) I think it became a game for us. We would bake a cake, eat a little, then leave the rest for Jay. Those were the days.... Oh, the memories in Troy and all the good times. I loved my time in Troy.

So...we continued the tradition with Holden and Will...less the late night trip to Walmart! I had brownie mix so we made brownies together! So yummy! We even added a scoop of ice cream and chocolate syrup. I took a treat up to Philip and woke him up so he could enjoy his brownie while it was warm and fresh out of the oven. It was an early night for all. We had a great time together.

Friday was Kerri's birthday. We wished her a happy birthday. I hated to see our visit end, but I had to take William to "Mommy and Me" art class. She took Holden with her for the day. They ended up going to her Aunt's house in Miramar to play on the beach a little more, so after art class, I met them again. We didn't stay long, but it was fun. I'm so happy that we finally got to spend some time together and hang out over the summer. Kerri is such a sweet person and is a true blessing to all who know her. She is an amazing lady.

I'm glad I can call her my friend.

First blog

I'm not nearly as good of a storyteller as Lauren is over the internet, but she asked me to put this up since I witnessed it and since she's cooking me supper. Yesterday she was doing her workout video (ten year reunion is quickly approaching) and I was watching WPJ in his room. He read his books for a little while, we played, etc. He finally crawled up in Lauren's antique rocker that I spent many, many hours refinishing, and read a few books. He then told the books "bye-bye", turned around and kneeled in the chair, and as I was about to fuss, I heard him saying his prayers. Quite touching. We then went to the hardware store to get something to fix a running toilet and Publix for groceries and of course his free cookie.

Also, since I'm on the topic, after picking him up from the nursery today, we were talking to a few friends in the courtyard when he literally dragged Lauren into church. He walked straight over to Dr. Taylor, pulled on his robe, then Doc picked him up mid-conversation, finished his conversation then talked to William. The whole time he had him he was content to just sit in his arm and wait. I hope he's this well behaved in his teenage years.
Philip

Jillian and William

Here are a few videos of William and Jillian having a great time! We babysat Jillian and Jackson back in June for their parents to have an anniversary date. As you can tell, we had a blast!! I just wanted to share these cute moments with you! These two little ones are so cute together!! They get so excited whenever they see each other! I know little Jackson won't be too far behind them and will right in the mix before too long. We are blessed beyond measure to have such friends as these...

July7th Trip to Dothan

William and I snuck up to Dothan for a quick overnight trip to spend time with my family before Daddy had to leave for his summer camp. We just packed our stuff, jumped in the car and headed on up early that Tuesday. William was my super travel partner again! He's really good at traveling with Mommy! It's usually pretty calm in the car together. I got there a little before lunch which was great b/c Hunter and Whitney were there on their lunch breaks. Maggie had to get all her hugs in from William first though :) Whitney and Hunter basically spent all their lunch break down on the floor playing with William. It was so sweet watching them play around with him while I relaxed on the couch. Holden was actually the first to greet us in the driveway that day. He loves to run out and help get William out of his carseat.

After lunch and a short nap from William, Maggie and I loaded William and Holden in the car to take Holden "shopping" for new school uniform clothes up at Whitney's work. William loved this!! There was no one in the store and he could run run run!! He loved the large mirror on the back wall! He kept going over to it and talking to himself. Holden tried on several different styles of the shorts and polo shirts, but decided to wait on Daddy. Whitney did a great job getting everything for Holden. She also entertained William too! I got some cute pictures of Maggie and William playing by the big mirror.

Our next stop was going to see Hunter in his new office! I still find it hard to believe that my little brother has his own office!! He's doing a great job with his position and learning a lot from this job. The BEST thing was as we walked in the door, William begin calling out "HUNNER" "HUNNER" as loud, but as sweet as he could! The business is a small business, so there weren't a lot of folks in there. Hunter came out to greet us just beaming! I was just tickled!! William saw him and took off running!! He loves Uncle Hunter~ We checked out Hunter's office and got some cute pictures. William especially liked the magnets on the side of the desk :) I'm so proud of Hunter! Let's pray he stays focused and continues to do well with this job!

Holden wanted to go play with a friend up the street, so we drove him back to his buddy's house before Maggie and I headed out to run some errands together. It really doesn't matter what we do, as long as I get to hang out with my mom, I'm happy!! We went to Walmart to get groceries for dinner that night and a few random what-nots. William of course loves any store! He has a great time just hanging out in the shopping cart and holding the list for me. We wrapped our shopping up and headed on back to the house to see my Daddy! He was home from work and working on packing his bags for summer camp. Moma kept William for me and I headed back out the door back to Walmart for last minute items. I love going to the store with Daddy. I usually push the cart while he checks his list. I guess I feel like a little girl again helping Daddy.

The worst part of our trip was the fact that Holden's bike was stolen out of the carport, hidden by the suburban within an hour of us all being in and out of the house. Truth be told, I truly believe Moma and I were in the back of the house when it was stolen. We called the police to file a case. It was so sad for Holden b/c he had just gotten it about a month ago for his 9th birthday! He was so upset and just pitiful!!

After all the chaos of the stolen bike, I cooked a taco and fajita dinner for everyone (Moma, Daddy, Hunter, Holden, Grannymart, Poppi, Whitney) It was great getting to visit with both Poppi and Grannymart and watch them just laugh and smile at William. I miss them a lot and love it when I get to just hang out with them while I'm home. I was able to use peppers from Daddy's garden and they were delicious!! It is always fun to go home and hang out and cook for everyone! After dinner my Daddy and Holden took William outside to play for a little while. They walked around the yard to "check things out" and played ball a bit. It was so sweet watching William get so excited about playing ball. He kept saying "hit, hit, hit" over and over and holding the bat. He had a great time!

I just ended up letting William sleep in my bed for the night so once I got him to sleep, I piled the pillows up around him and snuck out to watch a movie with my parents. We watched Taking Chance and it was awesome!! I had already watched it the night before with Philip and just insisted we all watch it together. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! It is amazingly incredible and so inspiring. It's based on a true story and something I feel every American should watch. Please, please take the time to watch this movie!

I sat up after the movie and just hung out with Moma for a while before I finally caved and had to crash in bed. I love sitting up late at night with her. To my treat...even though she had stayed up much later than me, she got up early with William and let me sleep in a while :) I think he knows when we are at Maggie's house and he likes to get up early to play with her!! Daddy had already left in the wee hours that morning, so he called from the road to say bye and that he would call when he could. He was head to summer camp for 2.5 weeks and would be out on the tank range at Eglin...therefore, little service :(

Our Dothan trip ended all to short this time, but we had a blast! And...to top it off, I brought Holden home with me for a few days so he could play with my friend Kerri's little boy (Will). She was coming to visit for a few days that very day! Much to do...lots of fun to be had! I'll tell those stories next...so stay tuned!

it's been a while...

My dear blogging friends and family...I know it's been a while and I know I'm majorly behind in my blogging! I am trying to get it together to sit down and have time to update!! Also, I had some issues with our computer and external hard drive and pictures...long story! Now that my sweet husband bought me a much much larger capacity external hard drive, I have been able to transfer my pictures to my computer...which means, I can finally get back to blogging. It's been super busy lately, but I promise, lots of pictures and stories to come!!

Love to all :) Enjoy the video for now!!

Lauren