dog days of summer...

This week I decided the dog days of summer should be fun...

my goal is for Ethan to swim his little heart out,

sweat a little in the heat in his sandbox 

and do some messy art before day school starts.

We plead guilty in our house for watching a little too much tv 

 lately and staying in our pajamas too long.

Oh well...it's summer!

art...

Yesterday finger painting on the front porch turned into body painting and a 

little boy running around the front yard in his undies being chased by his 

mom with the hose!  Gotta love summer 

lullabies for big boys...

I saw this on Pinterest and it made me smile.  I could hear Ethan's little sweet voice singing this as I read it.  This is a favorite song we sing every night at bedtime after stories.  We have a new favorite song that always makes the boys yawn...."Stay Awake" from the Mary Poppins soundtrack.  What are your favorite lullabies to sing to your "big" kids?

we love seersucker...

baby love...

smiles 

4th of July spirit

 playtime

 my mom loves baby hats

polo baby bennett

love my swing 

bath time squeals 

can't get enough of my fingers

dimples

Looks like his baby blues are staying blue.....

Ethan's summer so far...

People are always commenting on what a "happy boy" Ethan is.  He loves life and glows with joy.  His little light is one of the brightest I've seen.  If he notices me looking worried or stressed, he will say "just be happy mom."  He is my happy boy.  Bennett was having a 'moment' in the car and Ethan said as calm as can be..."babies just cry mom."  So matter of fact that I had to just laugh.  His new saying..."that is just ridiculous."  When I ask him "where do you get your sillies from because mommy isn't that funny."  He looked at me point blank and said "Nana."  The kid cracks me up.  

  He has had such a great summer.  I haven't been the best at posting pictures, but here a few so far from our summer with little captions.  

 3 year photos

he has been wanting to learn to snorkel at the pool...too bad the kid size doesn't work very well

all boy!  

 

This picture was taken when Bennett was only a few weeks old and I was a very tired mommy.  But Ethan can make you have fun and be silly no matter what!  I think we took 30 silly phone pictures that day!

Ethan and David have a little vegetable garden in our back yard.  Their strawberries might be small...but they are the sweetest you've ever eaten!  We now have tomatoes and cucumber!

He wore this necklace of his cousins for a week solid.  David just loved it!  

If I had to sum up his summer favorite times...this would be it!  Catching lightening bugs.  Can you tell he is happy?  David and Ethan have a method to catch them and letting them go.  I could sit and watch them run our backyard for hours.  Both having the best time.  So sweet.  

Ethan attending cooking camp at his school for a week.  This was his chef's hat.  His teacher wrote on his daily notes that she is amazed at how shy he seems, but has the best belly laughs and can really  let loose and have fun and be silly.  I think she nailed it on the head:)

He asks every day to hold "Bennett Stone."  He call his brother by his full name.  Bennett might just go by his full name one day if Ethan has his way!  Grandpa just calls his "Stone."  

Swimming!  He has had the best time meeting up with his buddies at the pool.  He loves to dive for dive rings and swim nonstop.  I have to tell him to "stay above the water for a while."  He would swim until he literally would pass out asleep most days.

He still loves his sandbox

We have to go check out "Daddy's House" almost every day.  David is building a house down the street from ours, and Ethan has to keep a close eye on the progress.  

David has several remote control sail boats and Ethan has loved going with David to the lakes behind our house to sail them.  They did this more in the late spring when we had windy days.  I need to catch a photo of this.

so true...

Bennett at 4 Months...

Our Baby Bennett is now 4 months old.  I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch them wake up from the newborn stage and become aware of the world around them.  I feel like every picture I take of him he is in the activity gym....but he loves it.  Bennett loves to cooo and squeal- he will be a talker.

During tummy time he turns himself in complete circles playing with toys.  The first time he rolled from tummy to back I missed it.  I was in the other room folding laundry.  I remember crying with Ethan when I missed him rolling while I was a work.  I had to laugh that despite now that I only working one day a week...I still missed a first - because of laundry no less.  Ethan was so excited over Bennett's rolling.  He is loving Bennett being more and more interactive.  In fact Ethan gets all of Bennett's big laughs and squeals these days.

Bennett's dark hair fell out and his blond hair is growing in.  He is very intrigued with watching his big brother play.  He loves his hands and sucks on his fingers and thumbs.  He loves to be strolled around the neighborhood.  He has started to enjoy the pool.  I am now trying to get him on a 4 hour schedule and have a nap time.  I think this is the hardest thing about having two kids:  balancing sleep for Bennett and playtime outside of the house for Ethan.  Hopefully, as Bennett gets older and naps less this will be easier to balance.

I am still on my MSPI diet:  milk and soy free.  Some days are easier than others.  I think honestly the worst part of the diet is the self blame you put on yourself when your baby is fussy.  If he is fussy or upset I always question my diet.  I had tried to reintroduce soy, but cut it back out.  I will say the moment I can eat pizza and yogurt again, I will be a very happy woman.

I have returned to work a few days after Bennett turned 4 Months.  I must say Ethan seemed to take it harder than Bennett did.  Someone once told me "the older your kids get, the more they need you.  When they become teenagers, they say they don't but they do more than ever."  Anyhow, work has been great and makes me grateful and count my blessings every time I go.  Its been great to catch up with friends and coworkers and talk about my boys of course!

4 month chair photos