29

Happy Birthday, Scott!!!

My handsome hubby turns 29 years old tomorrow!  WAHOO!! 

It's hard to believe that just one year ago, we hadn't even purchased our new home (let alone tear it down to the studs and rebuild it!), we had a two week old baby boy and were just getting adjusted to life as a family of four, you were beginning to expand your role at Proctor, but we had no idea how much new stuff you would be doing this year!  We've come a long way in one year!

Thank you for the hours and hours and hours you put into this beautiful home we have.  I'm so proud that this is ours and that we literally helped to make it into what it is today.  (Who knew you were so handy!  You continue to surprise and impress me!)

Thank you for being the most incredible Daddy in the world to our two boys.

Thank you for changing poopy diapers and cleaning the house and taking the time to wrestle and play with the boys and getting up at night to help with nighttime parenting - even though you work soooo hard at your job.

Thank you for pursuing God and for showing our boys what a Godly man looks like.

Thank you for loving me, even when I'm hard to love...for being committed to me, for challenging me, for being patient with me and my messier-than-you ways.

I love you so much!  Let's make the last year in our 20's a wonderful one! 

I LOVE YOU!

A Blustery Day

The sun was finally shining, but it was pretty cold and windy today!  We made it to the last two minutes of Scott's soccer game (yes, you read that right...we sadly missed the whole game due to naps) and the boys had fun running around the field for a while.

After the game we headed home and went for a walk down to the meadow behind our house.  It was wonderful to have a little family time in the middle of a busy week!  We feel so blessed to live in this beautiful place!

 He has a gatorade mustache!  Silly boy!

We ended the day having a few of our boys from our dorm last year over to our house for pizza!  So fun to see them with our boys!

Tired

It's been a challenging few days in our house and sometimes I just can't even believe how hard parenting is!  Especially parenting a toddler!  Eeek!  I feel so incredibly blessed that I have the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom.  I really honestly am so lucky.  But sometimes at the end of the day I look back and think...gosh...today was a battle and I am exhausted!  I guess no one said parenting is easy.  And the wonderful, rewarding moments always outweigh the moments when I want to cry...but phew, today I am wiped.  I always feel tired and hungry too...and then I remembered today that my body is working like crazy as I am still nursing Micah multiple times a day and night.

In the middle of a rough day with Camden yesterday there was an uncharacteristically quiet moment and I peeked around the corner and he was sitting on the couch by himself reading his little children's Bible.  It was such a good reminder for me to stop and remember to seek God all day, every day.  I've been praying daily that the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - Galatians 5:22) will be more evident in my life.  Especially in how I raise my children.

I love my boys more than anything else in the entire world and I am SO blessed to be with them during these formative years...even when it's hard. Tonight after they both got out of the tubby they ran around the entire upstairs naked just cracking each other up.  When I put Micah's football jammies on, Camden asked if he could wear his matching pj's so he and Micah could be twins.  They love each other so much and they gave me a little gift there that I will treasure always.  I love my boys.

My Three Year Old

Camden turned three on August 9th and along with a few other major life changing events that took place in August (my sister moving...) I have yet to blog about it.  Not because it wasn't important or wonderful...mostly because I just haven't had a chance to sit down and really put all the words onto paper.  I wanted to remember all of the things Camden did and learned this year, the silly things he does and says...I write a note to him including all of these memories and milestones in his yearly photobook that I make him and I finally wrote it all down tonight. 

Camden – Happy 3^rd Birthday!  I can’t believe what a big boy you are now!  You bring so much joy into our lives.  You are funny, kind, caring and smart although you do throw a pretty incredible temper tantrum.  You are a wonderful big brother to Micah (most of the time).  You guys like to wrestle and read books together and you can make him laugh better than anyone else can! You learned so many things this year.  You wear big boy undies now (although you still wear a pull-up at night) and you stopped using your binky around two and a half.  You love numbers.  You know how to count up to 30 (although you do skip a few numbers here and there) and you like to do simple addition using your fingers.  You know all of your letters and the different sounds they make!  You can spell Mama, Dada, Camden, Ami, Bepa, Nan, Pop, Stop and Cake.  You also just recently started drawing real pictures with little people on them!  You have the best imagination of any child I know.  You love to play certain games that you’ve invented: Ambulance, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Little Pigs, The Berenstein Bears, the baby game (where you pretend to be in my belly and then are I give birth to you and you pretend to be my precious little baby), the baby birdie game and the list goes on and on.  You love books!  You can sit and read for 45 minutes by yourself, on the potty, or with Mommy or Daddy.  You also love to play with trucks, trains, balls and your new swing set.  You have the funniest little expressions, “What say?” “Deal McNeil” “Okey-dokey-smokey.”  You have a really good vocabulary, but sometimes you have a difficult time pronouncing certain words, which can lead to serious frustration on your part when we can’t understand you.  Even though  you have grown up SO much this year, you are still our little boy.  You need a kiss from Mama if you hurt yourself and it helps you feel all better.  You don’t like to go to the church nursery, or anywhere else, by yourself.  You are much better at falling asleep on your own, but you really like when Daddy lies with you.  You always say, “Daddy, take your shirt off, I want to touch your nipples” when you are falling asleep.  You like it when Mama sings you lullabies and you still like to snuggle throughout the day.  You are passionate, joyful and full of life and we couldn’t love you any more if we tried.  Happy Birthday, my big boy! 

We celebrated with a small family party.  We were planning a cookout at the lake like we did last year, but when we got there it was cold and windy so we relocated to my in-laws.  We had a blast celebrating our boy...

Our family's special Birthday plate!

Yummy Birthday Breakfast

Hmmm...what to wish for...

 Goofing with his cousin at his party...

 Showing off his new watch!  (like father, like son!)

 Precious...

 3!!!!

 I could not get a good picture of us...this will have to do!

 Clara and Ami...

 Yummy cupcake!

We will never forget the moment you came into this world, Camden.  You changed us forever!

Summer? Still?

I'm having a hard time figuring out what season it is here in NH.  Generally by late September it is full-fledged fall.  And there are moments when it seems like fall has finally arrived.  Many leaves have fallen off the trees already.  Colors are starting to pop.  But it has been unusually warm.  The last couple days here have been nearly 80˚!  The mosquitoes are horrible and Scott and I are both anxious for the first frost!  I know a few months from now I'll be wishing for summer weather again, but right now I want to wear sweaters and sweatshirts and cozy up by the woodstove.  I'm ready for fall, but I have to say, it's been nice having a slow transition and enjoying these last few days of summer.

This weekend, Camden and Micah had a blast playing in a huge leaf pile at Nan and Pop's house!  These pictures are deceptive though, because it was hot out!  Even the (Great) Grandpa Allenby got in on the fun!

 

Yesterday, my friend Molly and I brought our kids to the beach for one last hurrah!  We were the only people there and it was absolutely gorgeous!

 "How big is Micah?...Soooooo big!"

 Linden and Camden...

 Brothers...

 The water is still really refreshing!

Rain and colder weather is heading our way.  Goodbye summer!  I'll miss you!  

Catch Up...

We have been busy, busy, busy around here lately...but still finding plenty of time for fun and adventure!  Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately...

Playing with trucks in the yard...

 My new chalkboard that I made with materials and lots of help from my mother-in-law!  Chalkboard spray paint is amazing!

 My funny little almost-one-year-old!

 Wrestling in the kitchen!

 Matching jammies...

 Camden worked very hard helping Daddy spread woodchips on the area around our swingset!  These two boys LOVE projects!

 He makes the funniest faces...

 We had fun watching Daddy's first home soccer game on Wednesday.  Here's Camden hanging out with Tucker (who used to hang out at my soccer fields with his Dad who coached me in high school...funny how everything seems to come full circle!).

 Micah and Morgan (another girl I've known most of her life).  So fun that our boys have such great teenagers to grow up around!

 I'm telling you...this kid can dribble a soccer ball so well.  Watch out world!

 Resting in the shade of the Gator...

 We had Paigey and the twin boys over to play (with their mom's Amy and Kate) yesterday.  Even though this is a little blurry, I think it's so cute how Camden and Paige are taking such good care of little Leo.

Sometimes when I want to pull my hair out from the stress of raising two very high-energy boys, I look at these pictures and am reminded what a wonderful life we live.  I have so much to be thankful for.