More Florida Pictures

Here are more pictures from our vacation. We are still having a lot of fun!!!!!

Matthew loves walking around the pool!

I took Andrew out to the beach this morning while Matthew took a nap. He still won't get in the ocean, but he would splash in the water that was up on the beach. Every time a wave came in he would run away and say "no that water get me!" He loves to play in the sand but he does not like the ocean!!!!

Matthew loves to be in the pool!

Andrew is so tired of having his picture taken. He was trying to hide from me but it ended up being a really cute picture!

Andrew is one cool dude!

I love this picture of Matthew. A hat stays on his head for about 5 seconds before he takes it off!

We brought this towel out to the beach so Matthew wouldn't get as sandy. Well, he would just reach over, get a handful of sand and dump it on himself. This trip to the beach lasted about 3o minutes and it that time, Matthew ate 2 handfuls of sand and got it in his eyes. Now I know why we spend most of our time at the pool!!!!

I love this picture of Andrew. His swimmies take up most of his arm!

Andrew and Rick made a hole yesterday. Drew climbed in and Rick covered him up. Andrew loved it!

Andrew and Matthew playing in the sand.

Florida!!!!

Here are some pictures from Florida. We are having a great time! The boys love it here! They could play in the sand all day long if we let them. Andrew isn't crazy about the ocean, but he loves to play in the sand and stare at the water. I guess that would be pretty overwhelming to a 3 year old! Matthew loves to have the wind blow in his face and is having so much fun playing by the pool! He is walking everywhere! I will add more pictures later.... nothing better to do during nap time and bedtime (which is mighty early in central time!)

This is the first time Andrew saw the ocean.
Andrew is showing me his sand

Matthew is just being himself!!!!

The boys are playing in the pool and loving it!

Since we got up at 5:45 in the morning, we were on the beach really early. Andrew had fun digging in the sand and staring at the water!

This was as close as I could get him to the water. He loves to play in the sand!

The boys playing in the sand....

Andrew playing at the pool

Matthew loves the water. He had just as much fun walking around the pool and back and forth from the baby pool to the big pool. I can't believe he is all of the sudden walking EVERYWHERE!

Here he is walking around. We had to put a shirt on him because his shoulders started to get red.

Here we are on the pier. Rick wanted to go fishing so we went there to check it out. It was very pretty to walk out over the ocean. I even saw some dolphins! Rick is there fishing right now while the boys sleep and I chill out!

Oh, No! A shark ate Rick!!!!!!!!!

Me and Andrew are playing in the fish. It took me forever to get him to go in that thing!!!! Andrew has such a sense of fear about him!!!!!!

Andrew and Matthew

These are just a few pictures I thought were cute!

I think it is Matthew's mission in life to get into trouble-- he was very proud of himself in this picture because he got to the top of the stairs and nobody pulled him away before he reached his goal. This picture says so much about his personality!!!!
This is just a cute picture!!!!

Andrew and Matthew on Mother's Day

Me with the boys on Mother's Day

Andrew riding his bike....

Andrew is getting so good at riding his new bike! He loves it! Here is a video clip of him riding and singing. Also, to let everyone know, Andrew is doing great!!!!! He has been sleeping through the night (finally!!!) and sleeping so soundly. I can't believe it! In the last few weeks he has been so much more laid back, happy, and most importantly, he is talking up a storm! He will repeat just about anything that you ask him to say. He doesn't really have many times during the day where he throws a tantrum or gets super upset, which is a big change for us! After his surgery, I was expecting a big change in him and I was bummed to find out that nothing was different. He still slept horrible, was throwing fits, cranky all the time.... then, I took him to the ENT for a follow-up on his throat. Come to find out, he was healed but he had a horrible ear infection!!!!! So, now that we have that taken care of and Andrew is healthy for the first time in a LONG TIME we have a happy little boy!!!!! Now, I do see big changes in him and I honestly feel like I have a different child!

General Butler State Park

On Saturday we met Rick's parents at the State Park in Carrolton. We ate lunch to celebrate Rick's mom for Mother's Day and then we went down to the lake so the kids could throw stuff in the water, play and get dirty. There happened to be a little festival going on in the park, and there was a train there for kids to ride. Of course, Andrew loved it! It was a fun day and the boys were both tuckered out when we got home!!!!

Here is the train that Andrew got to ride with his Grandma.
Matthew is definitely a boy that likes to be outside. He wanted to get in the water so bad... I went into the water to get this picture, and he was reaching for me to bring him in!

Matthew just sat here and was perfectly content to play in the sand and water. Andrew like to walk through the water and throw rocks in!

Matthew loved walking in the water, he would have gone all the way out if I would have let him! Andrew NEVER would have done this when he was this age!!!!

Here is Andrew throwing sand in the water.

Andrew smiling and having fun!

Rick's dad happened to have a fishing pole in the car. Andrew got to go fishing with his daddy for the first time.

Here is the first fish that Andrew helped to reel in.

Great Friends!

My dear friend, Debbie, was in town from Arizona for a few days. Some of us got together for a little bit so that our kids could play and we could catch up. It was a lot of fun to all be together! As you can see, Andrew is the oldest! I am glad that my friends are starting to have kids. Maybe now they understand why I have been a little crazy these last 3 years:) Kids can do that to you!

Logan, Jacob, Matthew, Cate, and Andrew
Debbie and Logan, Maggie and Jacob, Kelly and Cate, Sarah, Matthew, and Andrew

3 Year Old Pictures!

We went today to get Drew's birthday pictures. They were great so I decided to post them on here! A little update on Andrew.... we found out on Monday that he qualified to go to the public preschool starting in August. We are thrilled with this decision!!!!!! They have an incredible speech program there and as a matter of fact, most of the kids that attend this school receive speech services. The teachers are all certified, speech therapists are in the classroom regularly, and most importantly this school understands kids like Andrew and he will get the help he needs. We are so excited. This was an answer to a prayer!

What a face!

Andrew's Grandpa made this train for him.

This is such a typical Andrew look! I didn't buy this pose, but it sure is cute!

This is such a sweet face!

He looks so much older than 3!

I got this one as a black and white and it was cropped a little bit-- so cute!

Well, Matthew decided that he wanted to have his picture taken! It seems as though when it is his special day for pictures he doesn't want to participate! I guess since the pressure was on Andrew he felt less stress :) I love this picture!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Although we celebrated Andrew's birthday on the 19th at chuck-e-cheese, we still had a little celebration with our family on his actual birthday. He got to eat a hot dog and chocolate milk for his birthday dinner (a favorite of his!) and then a cupcake with thick blue icing. He loved it!!! After dinner we opened gifts and he got to play with his new toys! It was a good day :)

Here he is showing off his blue tongue!
What a sneaky look!

Here is his birthday present being put to good use!

This track takes up a good portion of our living room. Matthew had fun tearing it apart once it was built.... we are going to have to come up with a plan that keeps Matthew away- we might have to get another train table!

Here he is opening gifts...

Showing off his new bridge for his track!