1 Month Old

Its so hard to believe that my baby is already 1 month old!  What an amazing, busy, fun month we've had.  This little guy brings us so much joy and he is seriously the best baby.

Colton still sleeps snuggled up with me at night and pretty much loves to be held.  I'm totally cherishing the newborn stage so I have the hardest time putting him down.

My friend Megan had her sweet baby girl a couple weeks ago.  Miss Savannah is officially Colton's first friend!

Jackson adores the baby, its the sweetest thing!

Jackson made Colton a hat, which he insisted that he wear.

Weston likes to point out Colton's body parts...especially his eyes!?!  This is his mischievous look after I tell him NOT to touch the baby's eyes.

My "babysitter" likes to load up Colton's crib with lots of toys.

This little dude enjoys his baths!

Hammett Grove Country Club

We pretty much spend every single afternoon post-nap hanging out in the backyard. My two neighbor friends almost always come over with their little ones and we let the kids run wild in the backyard. We have started calling it the Hammett Grove Country Club, since the backyard features a shaded pergola, water features {water table}, a pool {inflatable}, water slide {long tarp at bottom of sliding board) and playground. We keep it classy.  And swimwear is optional.





HGCC also offers special family events, such as Haircut Night, which was on Sunday evening.






All we need now is karaoke.


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Three Amigos

Still have to convince Ben on that one...


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The Great Outdoors

Ben came home yesterday afternoon after working another 60+ hour work week and wanted to do something fun with the boys. And there is no better weekend than this 3 day weekend for a little spontaneous backyard camping.


Jackson and Ben spent the better part of the afternoon setting up the tent, collecting wood and building the campfire.





Weston had fun too, running in & out of the tent and eating up the snacks as fast as he could. {Please note the extra-large inflatable kiddie pool in the background. Yep, thats ours too.}

Ben taught Jackson how to properly roast marshmallows and fire safety tips.









Weston never left the snacks long enough.


And Colton helped me roast a few, too!


Ben and Jackson stayed out by the campfire roasting hotdogs, telling stories and listening to the soundtrack of nature. They slept curled up together on the air mattress inside the tent, with the tent cover pulled back to let in the light from the full moon, and woke up at sunrise.

Weston, Colton and I slept in the warm coziness of our beds, without fear of being eaten alive by bugs or the coyotes in the distance.

As of this morning, the tent seems to be the boys new club house. How many days could we leave it up before getting into redneck territory?


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Preschool party pooper

While the rest of Weston's 1K class enjoyed dressing up for their luau in class last week, Weston wasn't really into it. At all.


He really does enjoy preschool, I swear!!

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Jessica's Wedding

Colton and I made our first road trip to Hickory on Saturday for the night.  

My sweet cousin Jessica was getting married and it was really important to me to go.  I grew up babysitting Jessica, and we have always been close.  I was the flower girl in her parents' wedding, she was in my wedding and she had asked Jackson to be her ring bearer (which we backed out of because it was just too much to commit to).  Plus, she and Justin were getting married at Holy Trinity, which is where Ben and I got married almost 8 years ago!!  When she saw me, she started crying.  It made me so glad I decided to go and how much it meant to her that I was there.  

Not to mention that I was dying to show off my sweet baby and Mike & Jenn had not met him yet!!!

Ben was so selfless to willingly stay home with the big boys while I had a night away.  He has been swamped at work and put in over 60 hours last week.  As in he barely saw the boys & me at all.  He even went in to the office on Saturday morning for 5 hours.  So even though he was exhausted, he realized that after single parenting 3 kids under 4J for basically a week, I really needed a reprieve.  

Everyone was smitten with this little bundle.  Talk about proud grandparents!  It was such a gift to see him bring such joy to everyone.

And look at how Mike & Jenn are GLOWING when they are holding Colton.  I really really hope they catch the baby bug soon because I want my kids to have cousins :)  When holding him, Jenn looked at Mike and said, "I want one!"  He looked at her, wide-eyed, and said, "What, another beer?"  I guess we still have some time before he's ready to enter the next season.

It was such a treat to spend time with my family.  I wish Ben and the big boys could have been there with us, but honestly, it was an awesome, much needed break for me.

Special Playdate

On Tuesday, my dear friend Julie offered to take Jackson for the day. He was ecstatic to have a "big boy playdate" at Slade's house and I was so thankful for a day with just the two little boys. I got some awesome quality time with Weston and I even let myself take a 2-hour nap :)
Jackson had a blast. These two have been buddies since they were newborns :)



And they always love dressing up as super heros when they are together.



Weston and I spent the day playing and painting. After 5 minutes of painting, I was quickly reminded why I do not do crafts with him more often.

We had hotdogs for lunch (his fav thanks to Mickey Mouse) and read more books than I can count. I think I pushed him on the tire swing for over an hour and we just sang songs and did questions and answers while he went around and around. Its amazing how much he engages with both me and the baby when big brother isn't around to pester him. This boy is SMART and it was so neat to really see how much he knows without an almost 4-year old beating him to the punch.

Thanks Jules, for giving me a precious day with my sweet Weston!

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Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day weekend last weekend, enjoying the awesome weather and spending time as a family.  I think we were outside more than we were in!

Sunday morning, Jackson eagerly pulled out my Mother's Day gift that he made at school from his clever hiding place.  He had been patiently waiting all week and was so proud to give it to me.

We went to church and had our usual Bojangles lunch afterwards.  I know, fancy fancy, but hey, its our Sunday tradition and by the time church is over, its close to 1:00 and the kids are starving and cranky.  So we were not going to brave a real restaurant with 3 kids.

And my necklace came in last week and I am IN LOVE with it.  I am SO glad I got the two-tone one because I have literally worn it every single day, whether I'm actually wearing something cute or just my "mom uniform" of yoga pants and a tank.  Thanks again to my sweet hubby for my birthday/Mother's Day/push present :)

 One thing I have noticed though, is the back of the charms is tarnishing quickly.  Dr. Google speculates thats is hormonal and typically when I'm nursing, my platinum rings cause the top of my fingers to get rashy (gross, I know).  So has anyone experienced this with sterling?  {The gold is not giving me problems, just the silver.}

3rd Annual Strawberry Pickin'

When Jackson's teacher scheduled a field trip to the strawberry patch for May 9, I was bummed that I would probably have to miss out. I scheduled Bebe to come down so she could go along, but when the week of the field trip rolled around, I decided that we all may as well go. I am not one to miss out on a fun outing, plus I absolutely love to see Jackson with his school friends and treasure the time to get to know the other moms and his teacher better.

After all, we have been going since Jackson was one so I really hated to miss it this year.


Let me just say that I could not have managed this circus without Mom there.  Jackson and Colton were a cinch but Weston was like a wild animal. Running through the fields, playing in the mud in the parking lot, eating rocks, you name it. Full.Time.Job.






Colton, at a mere 10 days old, slept soundly the whole time.


But in the end, we got a bucket full of fresh strawberries, had a great time with friends and some good afternoon naps.


And just for fun...

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