GRANDPA BEAR

We got to spend the night with Michael's dad this past weekend while we were in St. Louis. Grandpa Bear hasn't been feeling very well lately and is not supposed to be picking up Davis. He had his heart set on picking up his grandson and to our surprise was actually able to scoop him up. This is such a sweet photo. I'm hoping Davis enjoys this one when he's older. Grandpa Bear loved having the kids spend the night. He and Davis ordered a late night pizza together and Davis helped him everytime he had to get up off the couch. It was so sweet to see Davis run to get Grandpa Bear's cane and so carefully help him.

RAMS / PACKERS GAME

We took the kids to St. Louis to watch the Rams/ Packers game. A friend of Michael's plays for the Rams and it is always a fun experience to watch him play. Davis was able to go out on the field after the game and as you can imagine he was on cloud nine. He got to pretend he was driving the forklift. Luckily the operator removed the keys right before Davis decided to jump on the gas!!! Davis also got to run out on the "big field" with Daddy. He has no idea how lucky he is that he got to do that.

VISITING CRAIG & AUDRA

After the game we went to visit Craig and his girlfriend Audra. They knew how to win the kids over right away - fresh brownies and ice cream : -) Diana loved both Craig and Audra. She was holding Craig's hand while she sat on his lap. Davis was in love with the guitar from the Guitar Hero game. We also gave Craig a photo collage we created with all the photos we have taken over the years.








I have to mention that last night when Davis was taking a bath I overheard Michael tell him he can do anything and be anything when he grows up. I had to smile when I heard Davis' response "like Craig daddy, like Craig". Thanks to Craig and Audra for taking the time to visit with us.

STAYING IN ST. LOUIS

Davis & Diana loved staying at the hotel while we were in St. Louis. Who knew that staying up until 9:45pm and getting to jump on the bed could be so fun? For two little ones that normally go to bed at 7:00 - this was such a treat for them. Our hotel room overlooked Busch stadium and there happened to be a Stepping Constest in the Stadium parking lot on Saturday night. You can see Davis and Diana looking down to watch the dancers and of course they were oohing and ahhing over all the lights of downtown St. Louis. I love how excited they get over seeing new things. Davis kept pointing out different things for Diana to see and she got so excited when she could see the same things as her big brother.

"CAN WE MOMMY, CAN WE?"

After an entire two hours of Davis asking to go play in the puddle outside I finally gave in. This was one day last week when we had all that rain. Diana loved playing in the water as long as her hands didn't get wet. She has been such a tomboy lately wrestling with her brother, playing with cars, and climbing everywhere to keep up with her big brother, it was nice to see her girly side again when her hands got wet in the water. She wanted them cleaned immediately. Davis burned lots of energy running through the water at full speed. This was followed by a bath and a nap -mission accomplished (anything to make them tired these days is a good thing for Mommy) Please excuse the lack of rain boots LOL. Davis' were too small for him and DIana wants to be like Davis - no boots for him, no boots for her :-)

THE THREE AMIGOS

Garrison stayed with us for the evening while his Mom and Dad went to a party. He and Davis had a blast. They were telling jokes and making one another laugh all night. In the first photo Garrison whispered something to Davis and he burst out laughing. I'm imagining he said "why does your Mom eat dinner with her camera?" (LOL). Diana loved having Garrison here - all three of them had a wrestling match after dinner and then they happily piled into the bathtub. Miss Diana even let Garrison use her special towel after bathtime. She usually doesn't even want Davis to touch it. After watching a movie, Garrison decided he wanted to sleep in the bedroom with Davis. After about 30 minutes I hear some crying so I go in to find Garrison with tears streaming down his face and Davis hugging him. "Garrison wants his Mommy - I cheer him up". Davis is such a sweetheart. Garrison felt better after awhile and went back to sleep.

GYMBOREE

Our city recreation department offers a Gymboree type class for the kids on Saturday morning. They are kind enough to let Davis join with Diana's class and then Diana sits in on Davis class after that - double the fun and chaos I should say. Michael enjoyed attending class with them last weekend.

LITTTLE LOVEBIRDS

Michael took Davis to a high school football game where he got to sit with his friend Ariel. Davis is 7 months older than Ariel and has gotten to see her a few times a year since she was born. I see from the photos they are really starting to show some interest in each other. Of course both of their fathers decided years ago these two would be attending prom together (LOL). No arranged marriages here at our house but prom wouldn't hurt right?

Daddy's Night In...

Well this is my first crack at this & since my children have the best Mommy in the world I figure I should follow in her footsteps and document the night. After we finished dinner we did our normal songs & bath time. Now that Diana knows how to get out of the tub on her own she loves to jump out and run all around the house saying 'I naked, I naked' she only gets the run around naked pass for 2 more weeks. After this cute period she is not allowed to show skin until 25...anyway...Mommy has worked so hard on potty training our little hype man Davis that even Diana 16mo younger is going on the potty. While dressing Diana Davis says 'oh oh daddy i gotta go i gotta go' one hand on his butt & knees together he hops to the bathroom...then he yells 'Im doing it, I'm doing it bring Diana come clap for me! Here is the photo
To celebrate we played in the toy room (normally would be bedtime in our routine) Davis fell and wanted to cuddle (yes rarely get to just cuddle my precious children) We watched a movie, Diana tried to eat the lotion, then we said goodnight to Mommy. I AM SO BLESSED TO HAVE MY WIFE AS THE MOTHER OF MY CHILDREN...THEY ARE SO LUCKY & WILL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING I DID NOT...
~DADDY

OUR PROFESSIONAL MESS-MAKER

These are just a few of Davis' latest "mess creations". He is Mr. Independent lately and along with doing everyday things on his own (which we love) he has also started making some pretty interesting messes.

I'm not sure what to say about this. I especially like the marker eye-shadow. This is why we only own washable products :-)


I woke up to this early on a Sunday morning. Davis said proudly "I was making coffee Mommy! It's for you!"



He spilled some "coffee" on the floor too!!



Davis also painted the living room carpet so it looked like "water". He informed me he was "flashing" in it. He meant to say "splashing" (lol)


Just a random mess from another day - Davis "shredded" some Shredded Wheat into the carpet. Diana was very upset that he got some on her favorite blanket.



Please note these are just the messes I feel ok sharing. We have many others that involve messes in the bathroom. I promise I won't share those.

I CAN RELATE.....

1 YEAR AGO TODAY....

I haven't blogged lately because I can't find the cord to download my pictures. I am sure it will pop up over the weekend when I clean. I have all my photos organized by date - (thank you I-photo) and just for fun I looked today to see if I took any photos a year ago today. I was happy to see that I did. 1 year ago today Diana had her first tooth coming through and Davis was into wearing his Dad's socks all around the house.

Happy Friday everyone!

WHAT NEXT??

I can't leave my kids alone for a minute!! Davis decided to climb on top of the kitchen table today with a box in hand so he could stand on the box and try to take the light fixture down. Of course, I came out of the laundry room and thanked God I made it in time. He was about to remove one more piece which would have meant glass everywhere. Miss Diana just looked on in amazement at the whole thing - my bets are she will try this tomorrow that's how it always works around here :-) This makes infants look easy - at least I could secure them in a swing or bouncer when I needed to put some laundry in the dryer.

OUR NEW ADDITION

Davis has been telling me he wants a new baby. He changes his mind between wanting a brother or another sister but today he had his heart set on a sister. He took care of Diana's baby doll all morning - changing her, holding her, running to get her when she "cried", and even making her a little bed in the toy room. We named the baby Maria. Davis says if we can have a real baby Maria he will change her diaper for me : -) Oh how I wish he really could change diapers!!

AUNT KAREN'S BIRTHDAY

Michael's Aunt Karen from Ohio has been staying here with Gwen for a few months now. We really love having her here and hope she never goes back :-) I'm sure all the family in Ohio feels differently but for now we have her here :-) Saturday was Aunt Karen's birthday. Michael, Gwen, Karen, Davis, Diana, and our friend Mike & his son CJ all spent the day at the zoo to celebrate. Aunt Karen had never been to the zoo here so it was quite a treat for her not to mention the ice cream before they all came home. I just love to see Karen with my children. For those of you that know Michael's life story he lost his birth mom Rita when he was 11 days old and was then adopted by her sister Dianne. Dianne passed away when Michael was 11 years old at which point Michael went to live with his sister Gwen. Karen is a sister to both Dianne & Rita and I know it means a lot to Michael to have her here spending time with our children. It makes Michael so happy. We love you Aunt Karen!! We know Gwen is happy you are here too :-)