My boys!

Reading "Goodnight Moon," one of John's favorites

Weeks 48-51/11 months

I used to do this with Hayden, now I have Hayden to do it for John. John thought this was great!

John was trying to eat the sand again soon after this!

This is probably one of my favorites

We spent a day at the beach. John enjoyed eating the sand and Hayden liked running in and out of the water. John liked the water okay until I tried to clean his hands off and he got too wet. He mostly enjoyed the sand and shells. At the end of the day we tried to get some pics of the boys and a few came out good.

John loved pulling this little scotter along the floor. He got pretty good and going forward.

John got to get on just for the picture Riding on the 4-wheeler with Big Daddy in the backyard

Playing with all Uncle Ian's old G.I. Joe toys!

We spent the 4th of July with GG and Big Daddy. The boys played in the pools and on the slip and slide. John was so funny with this water gun. He kept putting in the water and then pulling it back out. He was imitating what he'd seen Hayden do filling it up with water! That night, we did fireworks and Hayden had a blast. He thought it was great!

Hayden and John with PaPa

Playing with my friend Brooke's little boy Thomas. They had a blast jumping on the trampoline and playing with Thomas's farm toys!

Hayden and Heath met Heath's dad in the mountains on the way down to go fishing. Hayden had a blast, he loved having all the gear and getting in the water!

Okay, so we needed a vacation from our vacation. We are settled back in now and back in our routine. School starts in about a week and a half so we are getting ready for that. We went home at the end of June and stayed about 2 weeks. John and I flew and Heath and Hayden drove. We stopped at my parents first and then went to Heath's parents. It was nice and the boys had a great time. The grandparents enjoyed seeing Hayden and John as well.

John started walking on his own toward the end of that time. Now he's into everything. He took awhile to get it without help but once he did that was it. He doesn't want you to hold his hand and he's now trying to run. He plays peek-a-boo now. He uses a book or hat or his shirt, it's pretty cute! He also tried lots of new foods while we were home. He loves watermelon and hush puppies!! He got another tooth and has another about to break through the surface. After we got back, Heath and I went to the movies one afternoon and John stayed with a babysitter for the first time. He did really well, it probably helped that Hayden was there but it was nice. We are now trying to get him to sleep thru the night without waking up to eat. He's been doing pretty good and will sometimes put himself back to sleep. Plus we are getting ready for his party this weekend. Can't believe he's almost 1, it's crazy!!

Lots of pics to follow...

Weeks 45-47

John eating his puffs. I gave him the container with the lid so he could play with it. Then I looked down and realized he had opened it and was having a snack. Too funny! And he didn't spill any!

Crazy Grace curled up on the couch. Heath pulled the blanket over her and she just sat there like it was where she belonged.

John "reading" a magazine. He turns the pages, sometimes one at a time.

Learning how to fly fish. Hayden is going to go fishing with Heath and his Dad in the mountains!

Hayden at British Challenger Soccer Camp. He learned a lot and had fun. And thankfully the weather was nice and mild that week!

Not much going on, just trying to stay busy. Hayden had soccer camp and has been playing with friends. Although the past week has been hard since most of our neighbors moved. His two best buds in the neighborhood moved so that was hard. Hopefully we'll have new neighbors soon who have boys his age! Hayden had a sleep over one day this week and was still playing most of the next day. That was great although I'm sure he would have stayed. I don't think he wanted to come home. The summer seems to be flying by even though we're not doing much. The weather is horribly hot and humid this week so we are cooped up in the house. We look forward to some cooler weather soon.

John learned to clap last week so now he does that all the time. He's still learning to walk. He goes really fast if you hold his hand but still only takes a few steps without holding on to anything. He can stand alone really well but is still unstable when he starts to move. I think he wants to go too fast. He just wants to run so he gives up and crawls. He goes really fast that way. Not much else going on, will update when we get back from home.

This proves how crazy Grace is. She basically turned herself into a pretzel to grab her tail. And then just sat there holding it. She's funny!!!

John in his highchair double fisted. He likes to have somthing in both hands now. And this could be anything from toys to paper. And when you try to take it away, he gets really mad. He's become really possessive!

Hayden lost his second tooth. He actually pulled it out himself b/c he was in his room in timeout and wanted to get out. Heath told him if his tooth came out, he could come out so he pulled it out! Crazy! Then the next morning, the tooth fairy forgot to leave his dollar and take the tooth. But then we found it downstairs under his placemat. Whoops!

This was how I got to see MT. Rushmore. We had to get right up under the mountain to be able to make out the faces. It was drizzling and cold. So it sucked! We will make the trip again b/c we didn't go around to see any of the other monuments b/c the weather was so bad. So not the best trip but at least Hayden really enjoyed it and learned something. It was defiantly an adventure!!

We finally made it to Mt. Rushmore Saturday night around 6:30. John was ready for bed so I stayed at the hotel while Heath and Hayden went down to Mt. Rushmore. They have a lighting ceremony at night and give a little persentation. Hayden really enjoyed this and learned a lot. He came back to the hotel telling me all the presidents on the mountain and even what number they were. I didn't even know that. Plus Heath got some great photos thankfully because the next day you could barely see it.

Mount Rushmore

This was just outside the visitors center at The Badlands

We stopped at the Badlands National Park on the way to Mt. Rushmore. It's about an hour east. Just really cool rock formations. Hayden enjoyed it and we got some cool pictures.

Hayden had field day at school. They went around to different stations and had fun. I was glad it was in the morning b/c it started getting hot. The kids were spent by the end but Hayden had fun. It was fun to watch!
Rolling a big ball around

Cup stacking-this was funny. I was impressed that the kids could do it!

The sack race

We got Hayden's old Leap Frog Learning Table out for John and he loves it!

John loves Hayden and thinks he's really funny!

John at Hayden's t-ball game. He's got a few more years ahead of him watching Hayden play ball.

Ready to hit the ball at a T-ball game!

John wanted some of my water and he loved drinking out of the glass! Now he tries to do that everytime he sees one of our glasses.

Heath put this picture in a frame for Mother's Day that said "I love my Mom" Cute. I had a good Mother's Day. Hayden made a ceramic heart that he painted at school and I got a bouquet of paper flowers with requests on them, like hug mommy or clean your room. Plus he made me a great card!

Hayden's end of the year music program at school. Each child had a speaking part and they sang lots of songs. Hayden does not have my flair for performing, he was really shy and barely singing and barely doing the hand motions. Having an audience embarrassed him, too funny!

Hayden at T-ball. He was the pitcher this game. He had the most fun when he was pitcher or catcher or short stop. He wanted to be able to touch the ball a lot or he got bored!

Grace has gotten bigger, she's probably full grown now. Still a crazy puppy with lots of energy. She likes to be outside so she stays out a lot or in her crate.

Weeks 40-44/10 months

Okay, so I'm really not good at keeping up with this. I guess we've been busy. Hayden had T-ball in April and May. That was fun but two nights a week although it was over quick. Then the end of school and Memorial Day weekend. We made the long trip to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. That was interesting, found out John is not the best traveler. He did okay in the car but not great in the hotel rooms at night. It was a quick trip and not time enough for him to adjust. So now, this summer I'll fly home with John and Heath and Hayden can drive. It will still probably take him a few days to adjust but at least we won't be in the car for 9 plus hours a day. John is very set in his schedule and it doesn't go well when we change that.
Hayden finished school and was actually sad he wouldn't get to see his teacher anymore. He's excited about being a first grader. We don't have a whole lot planned for the summer. He will do soccer camp next week and a lot of playing with his friends. Which suits him just fine. We've been to the pool once, the water is still a little cool but Hayden didn't mind. John even liked it after awhile.
John is growing like crazy. He's still not walking which is okay. He can stand alone great and he takes a few steps before either face-planting or falling on his butt. He's really good at cruising the furniture but he still would rather crawl than walk. It doesn't bother me, he'll walk eventually. He is talking more and still eating great. He now likes to turn the light on in his room. He can reach the switch from his crib. So in the middle of the night when he wakes up, he usually turns the light on. It's nice when he needs to go back to sleep. We are back in a normal routine now after our trip. He goes to bed around 7 and sleeps until almost 11, then eats and goes back to sleep until about 4, 4:30. Eats again and then usually back to sleep until around 6 or 6:30. Occasionally he gets up at 5 and won't go back to sleep. Those are fun days! He got his 3rd and 4th teeth and then two more on top finally came thru. He's eating some stage 3 foods now. I'm trying to get him eating independently b/c he would much rather feed himself. He loves these zesty tomato crunchies and also wagon wheels. Not much else going on, pictures to follow.

Week 39

Not much going on. John has a cold or could be allergies. He has a nasty runny nose along with an occasional cough. Plus he's getting 4 teeth in at the same time. So, I haven't really taken any pictures, will post more next week. Both Hayden and I are suffering from seasonal allergies but it's worse for me. John is standing now on everything and even stands alone for a few seconds. So walking won't be far off, which is way too fast for me. But oh well. Hayden has his first T-ball game soon so I'll post some pics of that next week.

John crawling across the floor

Hayden and John

John "reading" a magazine. Then he rips them apart.

John's loot from the Easter bunny

Hayden's loot from the Easter bunny

Our Easter picture, John was only dressed for the picture then I changed him.

This was Hayden's First Communion at church. He was embarrased to be the center of attention at the front of the church. It was nice though, he got a certificate and he own prayer book!

John likes to rip magazines, note the pile of destruction behind him!