Summer Highlights

Here are some memories from summer.  We had such a fun summer!  Andrew made a Summer Bucket List and we did a pretty good job getting those things done! Summer is so short now that Andrew is in school. Here is a big photo dump!

Strawberry Picking

The boys love fishing!!

VBS

Splashdown - last day of VBS

Colts Mini Camp

Visiting with friends

Library Fun

Boys love the creek!

Day Out With Thomas!!

Mulberry Fields

Trip to Kansas City

Legoland

Night at the movies

July 4th

Dress like a cow at CFA!

Supporting Mark at the RAIN ride

Zoo Time

County Fair

Mark's Birthday

Indians Game

Exotic Feline Rescue

Had to post this picture! On Andrew's last week of summer he and his brothers came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth!  We still enjoyed the time together but stayed home for most of the week.

Lucas Turns 3!

Here are some pictures from Lucas' 3rd Birthday!! He wanted an orange birthday!! No characters or other themes, just orange.  This kid is obsessed with the color orange and I have no idea where it came from.  We had so much fun with our friends and family.  Lucas loved playing outside in the water with his buddies.  

Everything went well at his dr appointment! He weighs 34.5lbs (76 percentile) and he is 38 3/4 inches (79 percentile) tall!! He is our big boy!  He also loves to wake up early every morning.  He is always ready to start his day before the rest of us! I am wondering if he will be dropping his nap soon, but I hope not!

Orange everything!

Cousins

My sweet Lucas!!! 

Lucas truly is such a fun and loving boy!! This little guy makes me laugh everyday.  He brings so much joy to our family!! Happy Birthday sweet Lucas!!  Here are his birthday questions.

1. What is your favorite color? orange
2. What is your favorite toy? Paw Patrol
3. What is your favorite food? pancake and waffle
4. What is your favorite TV show? Woody
5. What is your favorite outfit? orange shirt and shorts
6. What is your favorite sport? soccer
7. What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks
8. What is your favorite animal? Pup Pup (his stuffed dog he sleeps with)
9. What is your favorite song? My Lighthouse
10. What is your favorite book? Pete the Cat
11. Who is your best friend? Haddie
12. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride a bike
13. What is your favorite drink? milk
14. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
15. What do you want to be when you grow up? Batman to the rescue

These answers make me smile!! These are all pretty accurate!

Kindergarten has come and gone!

I can't believe I have an almost first grader!!  I say almost because he hasn't started yet.  I wanted to cry when Andrew's Kindergarten teacher sent an email the last week of school saying, you have a first grader!  I was like, wait, what?!  He hasn't even finished his last day of Kindergarten.  I am not a fan of rushing the whole growing up thing.  Either way the last day has come and gone.  I wanted to post a few fun pictures from Kindergarten.

Last Day of School

Grandparents Day

Showing us Mario in his classroom

Field Trip to the honey bee farm

Walk-a-thon with Daddy

Kindy 500

Andrew won the Integrity Value Award for his class!!

Mrs. Porro

Last Day!!!

It's official!!

Andrew did such a great job in Kindergarten!! He learned so much this year!  He is growing up way too fast!!!  Love him so much!

Eli 15 Months

Of course, 15 months has come and gone in the blink of an eye!  Eli is growing and changing like crazy. My baby boy has become an adorable toddler!  Our big news is that he is walking!!  He started walking at the beginning of March. At first he was taking steps, but still preferred crawling.  Now walking is his main mode of transportation.  This is always such a fun milestone but also comes with lots of bumps and bruises.  He is loving walking around with the big boys and even trying to run.

He had his Dr appointment and was 23lbs 5oz (57 percentile) and 31in (39 percentile).  His head is right at 98 percentile!  Always a win when his head is still on the charts. :) I am wondering if his height measurement is a little off.  I am pretty sure he is closer to 32in.  Dr said everything is looking great!  He isn't talking a lot but the Dr said to just wait and see how much he is talking at his next appointment.  He does say Dada, Mama, shoes, thank you, and can say woof woof.  I remember Lucas was the same way at 15 months and really started talking more by 18 months.  I am hoping that is what Eli does.  We will see.  Eli is still wearing size 3 diapers but its probably getting close to switching to the next size up and wears size 18 months in clothes.

Eli is starting to get a little better with his separation issues.  He does pretty well at church now thanks to a few special ladies that gave him a little extra TLC.  When we drop him off he screams but stops after we leave the room.  It is still so hard for me to drop him off but I know he settles down and plays.  He does really well when they let him be in the same room with his big brother Lucas.  The boys still have such a special bond with Eli.  They love him so much and are always willing to help out with him.  I love watching them all interact together.

Playing at church

Sitting with Mommy and Daddy at church

Eli loves playing with balls, playing basketball, playing outside, singing, all things music, climbing, playing with remotes or cell phones, and playing with all the big boy toys.  He loves to get into everything.  He keeps me on my toes!  He loves to sing and he can kind of "sing" a couple of his favorites.  He screams a very loud, high pitched scream when he doesn't get his way.  That can be kind of frustrating and embarrassing for me.  He likes being outside but doesn't love the stroller.  He wants to try everything his big brothers are doing too.

Eli is still sleeping very well at night!! He usually sleeps from 8:00 to 7:30.  He takes one nap, but will still fall asleep in the morning if we are driving.  He sleeps with a small blue bear that Andrew gave him and a small blanket.  He is getting a little picky in the eating department but can still put away a ton of food.  He finally likes whole milk!! That was such a struggle! I give our little friend Haddie credit for that! One night we were out to eat with the Gibbs family and she held his sippy cup for him and he chugged down half the cup.  It was so great because after that he started drinking it and hasn't stopped.  He drinks milk at breakfast. lunch, and dinner.  He drinks water any other time.

Grocery shopping

Watching some football and eating some BBQ

I also stopped nursing when he turned 15 months.  I cannot believe we made it that far!!  I am so glad I was able to nurse Eli.  I appreciate the fact that I got to experience both types of feeding.  I will say that I didn't bond any more or less with my boys from what feeding style we used.  Eli did pretty well with the weaning.  I slowly cut him back as he got older.  I loved it but it didn't come without its struggles.  I am just proud that we were able to overcome all of the struggles and I really just took it one day at a time.

I am really looking forward to watching Eli's personality develop!! He is starting to get such a funny little sense of humor.  I love him so much!!

Checking out the elephants at the zoo