The Great Outdoors and the Great Indoors

Lots to catch up on. I will start out with this because last week Chris sent me a very proud email with these pictures and only one word, "Booyah!".

Chris is not always lucky when he goes out on the river, but he took an extra vacation day last Monday and it paid off.  He caught these two big guys and had a great day with our neighbor, who also apparently thinks fishing takes priority over work some days :) 

The fishing week continued with the Moores in our little neighborhood ponds.  I love that we can literally walk across the street and fish, it is perfect for little kids. 

Cute little Hudson was the only one who caught a fish. 

Grady enjoyed watching the waterfall.  I think it reminded him of his sound machine in his room and kind of put him in a trance, probably the first time I have seen this kid sit still in months.  Too bad I don't have a waterfall in our living room.

And then he was on the move again! 

  

3 of the 4 Whitfields made it over for some dinner and playtime outside (we missed you E!).  Cam joined the boys club and I accepted that it was going to be near impossible to get a picture of all the kiddos so settled on the little boys.   This one was hard enough to get. 

Cam (11 months), Grady (8 months), Wyatt (7 months)

I have one adorable nephew!

Our room is reminding me a little of the "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" series of children's books.  Because chances are if Bella rips a hole in your bedding, you are going to buy a new duvet and if you get a new duvet, mom is going to want to paint the walls, and if you paint the walls, you will realize you want new picture frames. . . .  etc.  Our room got a pretty big redo on a weeknight last week.  We've been staring at the possible colors for about 3 weeks wondering if we were brave enough to really have a blue room and then one Thursday Chris just pulled the trigger.  I came home to the mess below and went to bed staring at my new blue walls. I love it!

Grady has been keeping us busier than ever. About three weeks ago, he finally figured out how to crawl really awkwardly, but crawl nonetheless.  Over the next five days he perfected his skills and is picking up crawling speed every day.  He is a pro at stairs and can get pretty much wherever he wants to go, which means power cords, door stopper covers, and everything else totally "safe" in our house have become his new fascinations. While he is a good crawler now, his preference is still to stand and he can pull himself up on pretty much anything now and seems very pleased with himself when doing so. Last Friday we were at a restaurant and at the end of dinner I let restless Grady down so he could stand.  He was holding on to his highchair and I looked away for a second and came back to find him hanging, feet off the ground from his highchair!  I didn't know babies could even do that!  I swear I am not a delinquent mother, I just have one busy, climbing, on-the-move, child!

The only other time he sits still is when the world is wizzing by him in the jogging stroller.

Still loves hanging upside down!

Big smile. 

Winkle eyed smile, love it!

The faces, oh the faces!

Grady's preferred stance

Little Crawler man!

Love my baby boy.

Green paws = the final marker that spring is here!

3 Great Things

1.  Papa is a Colonel.  Chris's dad, Grady's Papa, and my very favorite father-in-law is also a very modest man, but an amazing man.  Last weekend Eric Johnson was made Colonel in the Air Force and we couldn't be more proud of him.  He is a true patriot having joined the Air Force after 9/11 and serving two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan helping our service members in the greatest of need by providing life sustaining treatment  to those injured in the field through the Critical Care Air Transport team (CCAT). He admired his own dad, who was also a patriot and an honorable member of armed services and who was seriously injured at age 19 while serving his country in World War II.  Eric joined the Air Force to honor his country and his father.  He joined to save the soldiers who put their life on the line every day.  He is one of the most honorable men we know and the definition of a patriot.  Congrats Eric.  We love you so much and wished we could have been there to celebrate this wonderful achievement with you. 

2. Welcome Whitfields.   Doug, Elizabeth, Sophie, Cam, "Beauty and the Beast" (Sophie's  single goldfish, still cracks me up), and the lioness Louie rolled into town on Thursday. While they are on the hunt for friends, we are elated to add some of our closest friends to the list of locals.  We are just absolutely thrilled to have them here.  There will probably be a billion pictures of the kids from here on out so I will just say that I am just as happy for Grady.  To have cousins around the bend from us will be so wonderful for him. 

Double trouble and future best buds. 

Sweet sweet Sophie is so wonderful with "Gratee".  Just feeling so lucky that these kids can grow up together.

3. Spring has officially arrived.  I love the breath of fresh air that Spring swoops in with and I needed it this year.  I love new beginnings, crisp air, thunderstorms, daffodils, slow post-winter jogs, pockets of beautiful sunshine, blossoming trees, the smell of freshly cut grass, Bella's green paws, spring cleaning, the smell of rain, open windows, sandals, painted toenails, visits to the nursery, sitting on our porch, getting my hands dirty in the yard, the return of the songbirds, the smell of sunscreen and the general fresh perspective that comes with the turning of winter to spring  Spring is here and I am soaking up its refreshing qualities in a new and wonderful way.

It seems like the grass turned green in a matter of a day. 

Bella: 4 Years Old!

 

A huge happy birthday  to our furriest family member!  Hard to believe that our puppy, who is still very much a puppy, is 4 years old!  It is true, Grady's first words might be "No Bella", but it is also true that Bella sweetly prances down to his room in the morning when I tell her it is time to wake baby brother up and she guards him every night when he is going down to bed.  When I stay up to work at night sometimes, she always lays at my feet.  She is great with Grady aside from the stealing of his crackers and destruction of his stuffed animals.  She is the most loyal and loving puppy out there.  We know she is crazy, but we still love her to death.  Happy birthday B, Bells, Bella, Little Miss B, Puppy Sister! You bring joy to us every day!

Overload of Bella love!