oh... i love it!

fun times with friends... i laid james on the couch while we ate, and pretty soon, everett was snuggled up to him!! so cute...

nora was a fan of this hat! (i can't get her to wear hats when I want her to...) the kids had a "tea party"...

pictures from jeffery's house last week... jumping on the bed!!! two little monkeys....

then, we took the kids to costco. when nora heard costco, she said "ice cream??" sad that she knows that's her reward there... oh well, at least that day, it was in the form of an ice cream sample!!!

daddy loving on his kids...

okay, so it's been HOT here. david and i have been sleeping on the pull-out couch by the ac, since our fan broke in our bedroom. yesterday morning, i put the couch back together, but hadn't moved the coffee table back. nora got up and walked into the living room and said "oh, i love it!". it was so cute...

i love it is her new phrase. she says that about a lot.... "mommy, pretty dress. i love it", or "ketchup, i love it". actually, with the ketchup one... she discovered that she does love ketchup. she puts it on EVERYTHING (and by everything i mean, even her fritos... guess it's like salsa???). last night, she was dipping her chicken and green beans in her ketchup. but, i can't even begin to tell you how much she had to eat! shoot... if it gets her to eat her green veggies! (note- i did this as a kid!) she said "ketchup, i love it", and i didn't reply. so, she said, "do you??". hmm... what do you think i USUALLY respond with??? my little parrot.

this morning, we went for a walk, then i wanted to run to old navy real quick. they were having a swim sale, and james needed some swimwear. i told nora we were going shopping, and she got excited. on the way there, she said "daddy work, mommy shopping"!! oops... oh well... thanks, david, that we can go shopping while you work!

that brings me to another point... i never did a father's day post. i am a daddy's girl, and it melts my heart to see that my little girl is a daddy's girl, too. she lights up when her daddy walks in to the room. and my husband could not be a more incredible man! i am so lucky to be married to him! (and a HUGE thank-you to my daddy... who is such a good example of a Godly man, and what we girls needed in a man, and the kind of man my brother should be! i love you, daddy!!!)

so, we are swimming tomorrow... maybe i'll actually post again!!!

72 and sunny...

this was what i was greeted with when i went to pick up nora to put her in her highchair for breakfast... quite a site!! wearing adult shoes is her favorite right now! (and i am not sure where she found her cupeez, but she did and snuck it back in her mouth!!)

nora loves to snuggle her brother...

and, apparently put her feet in her mouth!!!

james loves watching his big sister...

and she loves to kiss him!!!

and hold hands....

she asked for "nusic" (music), and i turned on the music i have on my phone... we just danced and sang. this is her shaking her head along to the nusic! it was such a fun afternoon with my two kids!!!

it looks like she is pulling on him, but really, she was saying "hold you hands, baby james..." and then "cheese". she wanted to love his hand... and it was so sweet and gentle!! he loved it!

i got them to pose for just a minute!!!

this was right after nora got up, and realized she got to lay on mommy's bed! (but i told her... daddy wasn't home, so there was NO jumping!!!)

pre-nora waking up, i got some great shots of james... my camera wasn't working so well (someone may or may not have let it fall....), so it started with me trying to fix it! i think i did... take that best buy!!! (shouldn't talk too fast, because i may be in there for a fix, anyway... with my luck!)

james is such a cute boy!!! (but i'm not biased, or anything....)

we were trying on "cool dudes" today... thanks to mrs. lindsey and baby david. (he's about to grow into the outfit they got, too!!) if you can believe it, he's in 6 months or 6-9 mo clothes..

and in case anyone cared, these clothes are from a resale shop... i have found the cutest (and name brand) clothes there recently... awesome!!!

so, it's 72 and sunny today... and we are at jeffrey and miss chelsey's house. she is taking a much needed day to do errands, and we get to play with besties... more pictures on that later!!

it's one of those days where the kids are ANGELS (i do realize that i am jinxing myself as i right this), but they are sharing a baggie of gorilla munch back and forth... no fighting... perfect parallel play (and a little together play, jumping on jeffrey's bed...)

james is sleeping. it's gorgeous outside (we may go into jeffrey's little pool). i got an AWESOME praise report about a friend we were praying for... God is good... all the time.

one of nora's new favorite phrases is "good job". sometimes, i will turn on the tv, or stand up, or something so minute, and nora will praise, saying "good job, mommy". it's so sweet, and a constant reminder that even the little things are so important! and, if i don't praise her in 0.005 seconds of her doing something good, she won't hesitate to say "good job, nora"!

have i also mentioned that she is becoming quite independent? "no, nora do it" is another favorite line of hers. and i usually try to let her. or when she asks for help, and i know it's something she can do, i encourage her to do it on her own! it's so fun to see her growing up and taking on the world by herself!!!

last thing... we are MOVING!!! to a real house, with a real garage and a real washer and dryer!!! praise the LORD!!! i couldn't be more excited. and, we get to paint the kids bedrooms!!! we are renting, and it will only be for a year, but SO FUN!! oh, and a HUGE backyard!

getting nothing done...

sweet kids on saturday morning... nora loves having baby james in her crib!! and he seemed to enjoy it, too!!

james sat up for the first time in his bumbo. he only lasted a few minutes... but we tried it again last night, so we could all eat at the same time!!

james just looked so cute the other day.. what a fun boy!

nora and i went to a birthday party the other day, and the kids got to dress up. nora loved her big, poufy dress!! (and yes, that is a boy in pirate get-up and a pink dress!!! his mom wasn't sure what to think... girls costumes are just more fun!!)

i held my "two babies" after church on sunday...

i couldn't get the picture to take just right, but nora's toes are pink!! she's so happy about them... we have matching toes!

then, it was bathtime for babies... the kids had fun!

then, we went to "coey's" house... our friend courtney has an apartment on the beach (for less than i pay... it's sick), so we have spent a few mornings there. nora kept getting very tempted to climb the rock wall... finally, she remembered she just learned "ring around the rosy", and did it until we were all dizzy! i was sitting on the towels with the girls, when nora grabbed my hand and said "walk the beach, mommy". how do you say no to that?? so, we walked and spun around in the waves. i am glad that she loves the beach so much.

we took a picture of the three of us, because we have all been walking together for the last few months. such good friends and walking buddies (courtney walks sadie while i push the kids). courtney's husband deploys soon, and she is moving home... we are so sad!!! then, kristen moves to the other coast...

i came home and made myself this AWESOME salad for lunch... but james didn't want to go to sleep, or just sit. he sat for a few minutes watching me eat, then wanted to be held. i had so much i wanted to get done during naptime, but ended up getting nothing done, and holding my boy (which, i think is the most important thing in the world!!!). he eventually fell asleep, and every so often i hear nora, but she may be back asleep too!! so, i did eventually get a few things done!

plus, i got lost in facebook for awhile... i went to look for a website on a friend's page, and ended up reading about everyone else's lives, too!!!

grandparents...

one of my favs... i was nursing james, and nora grabbed the bar and said "nora bar". it was so hilarious!!! she knows the bar is james', and if it's off his feet, she gets annoyed!

sorry about the lack of posts recently... we've been having too much fun!!! these pics kind of work backwards. on tues, we went to "daddy beach". it's a great beach right outside of david's office. so, naturally, he came to meet us. (as an aside, jeffrey's dad also works there, when he's not deployed!!)

the kids thoroughly enjoyed the sand... and chels and i enjoyed the sun!!

oh, and james enjoyed his nap!! what a good boy... he ate, then slept on the beach...

we went to the zoo with the in-laws... the hailes were in town for a long weekend and we had a GREAT time! i think nora would have climbed in the elephant area, if those little wires hadn't been there.

then, we had an appointment for james. he and daddy hung out while we waited for the doctor. his feet look good, but not great. they took x-rays, and the doctor said she liked his feet "clinically" more than on the films. basically, we go back in two months, and if a bone in his heels hasn't moved to the right way, he will have that little tendon surgery. so, we'll see!

nora was so glad to see her friend "yibby" (libby) at home. she talked about her all week!!!

yes, we went home for the first week of june. james was so glad to finally be able to snuggle with his uncle david!!! (and i was so thankful for his baby-sitting!!!)
my bestie came home for a few days while her mister is gone... we had fun!!!

nora loved being with auntie byssa....

nora and jeffrey had fun with mcdonalds. except nora got very good at boxing jeffrey out of any toy he wanted. even if she hadn't wanted it until jeffrey wanted it!!!

james loved to snuggle with mom-mom

and mom-mom loved the two kids....

nora loved to read and play with "grammy-grandpa". she was so sad to see them go!!!

we have been spending a lot of time at the beach recently... on saturday, we went to dog beach, and tired everyone out!!!