ABC's

I know I just posted a video of Henry singing...but this was too cute not to post too!

Build a Buddy at the museum

Our local Children's Museum had a "Build a Buddy" event on Saturday.   The kids got to pick out their "buddy" and got to help stuff it.

Lily picked a cute little sheep

And Henry picked a teddy bear.  Both kids have been sleeping with their buddy ever since. 

Playgroup

We've gone to the same playgroup off and on since both these guys were babies.  This is Henry and his friend, Alistair.  Crazy how grown up they are now!!!

Only a boy...

Thought this one was funny...and so did he.  Only a boy would try to shove his straw up his nose.  I hope this is not a sign of what's to come.  Lily has never put anything in anything...hope he's not the first.

Just kickin' back...chillin'...man style...

I believe this is what he said: "Like Mika!  See mom?!"   It's one of Lily's socks.  You can see all the socks on the floor behind him.  He found just the right one to match her pink cast!!

Twinkle Twinkle

My baby girl...

...is growing up!  Lily is such a fun, energetic, happy girl.  I've come to accept she "recharges her batteries" around others (unlike her mama).  She loves being goofy, but also loves to snuggle. 

She still really loves playing with her "babies".  She keeps them all tightly swaddled, with a passy and bottle nearby.  She is also really getting excited about learning to write letters and being able to spell things.  The other day she wrote a letter to her friend Eliza (with my help in the spelling, but she wrote the letters by herself!).  It's so cute.   

Here are pictures of her "writing".  I tell her the letters, and she writes them herself.  I helped her with S and J, but the rest are all hers.  She LOVES doing this.  I like it too!!  These are names of the kids in her class, except for Henry.  She always has to include Henry too. 

Sweet big cousin

I copied this picture from Brittany's blog; it's a great picture of Henry.  He is such a sweet, tender boy under all the rough and tumble.  Love him.

Pool days...

We spent a LOT of time at the pool this summer, but the season is almost coming to an end.  I wasn't able to take many pictures, because I am always in the water with them Lily is a terrific swimmer.  No swim lessons this year, but just practice, practice, practice.  She can dive for things off the bottom of the pool, do summersaults in the water, jump from the edge and swim to the side or steps, and swim back and forth to Andrew or I.  She rarely uses this floatie, in fact, this is Henry's preferred floatation device!!

Instead of the pink innertube, which Henry prefers, I tried the water wings on him toward the end of the summer.  They make him a little nervous, and he swallows more water, but he can move around a little easier in them. 

A couple shots at snack time...

Cute kiddos.  Money well spent this year.  We were here LOTS!!

Andrew's Olympic Tri

Andrew and his buddy Dave Elsworth did another triathlon this summer.  This was an olympic distance in Columbus, GA.  We all went over the night before and stayed in a hotel (kids and moms in one room, dads in another...won't do that again...).  MeMe and Poppa (Andrew's parents) came to watch Andrew as well!  The kids had so much fun sleeping in the hotel and it was actually better than I had anticipated, but not much sleep for the mamas.

Here are the boys before the race started.  They swam down the Chattahoochie river.

 Andrew, starting his swim.

 Coming out of the swim, heading to his bike and giving Lily a high five!

Emily and I bought these cute tri shirts for the kids and put our names on the back.  The guys had a great cheering section!!

Had some time to kill while the boys biked, so we packed up and headed to McDonald's. 

 The guys after the race.  They both had great times and did great!!  We are so proud of them!!

Hello??

Henry is talking so much it's crazy!  He even has conversations with...his foot!  Yes, he will sit there with his foot to his ear and say: hello?  hi foot?  how are you?  ok.  goodbye. 

Sooo cute!!

1st day of school

We have started back to school already!  Yay!!! 

Lily loves school, but 5 mornings a week (9-12) is going to be an adjustment...for all of us!  No more middle of the week trips to Atlanta!  :(  But she's definitely ready for it!   She's already wanting me to help her write letters, she wants to learn how to read...it's going to be a fun and exciting year for her!!  She was pretty stoked because she got to be "line leader" for the first week.  Score!!!

Verrrrry excited!!

I put Henry in the 2 year old class, two mornings a week, at the same church.  (Vineville Baptist)  We have been really happy with their school while Lily has been there and thought he might enjoy it too.  So far, my sweet boy is quite resistent to change and it's been a little rough...but I know he'll adjust.  It took him months before he wouldn't cry at the gym or church.  Par for the course for this little guy.  I think once he gets over that, he will have tons of fun playing and learning and doing fun crafts.  And he's already loved by all the staff since they all adore his big sister!  He's got it made!!  :)

Henry's OCD has begun...

Henry plays pretty well by himself; much better than his sister ever did.  One evening before bed, we found him lining up shoes at the bottom of the stairs...

Then he put them all around him, sat in the middle and drank some milk.  He sat there quite content for a while!  Ha! I should also mention, this boy loves some milk! 

Lily went through an OCD phase too.  I was worried when she was in it...now I know it's just a phase so I can laugh about it.  Lily was very particular about how her room looked before she went to bed at night.  She needed things in a certain order or else she said it "bothered her".  Phew!  I'm glad that's over.

Henry turns 2!

My sweet little man turned 2!  Where did the time go?  He's 32 lbs, only 3 lbs behind Lily!!  Henry is such a fun, cuddly, rough and tumble boy.  One minute he's hitting Lily over the head with a shoe, the next he's cuddling with me on the couch.  He loves to read books, play with cars, trucks, balls, or anything that makes lots of noise, color with his sister, go for walks, and sing.  He still has the best giggle ever and is so ticklish!  He's talking up a storm (almost full sentences now) and loves his passy and lamby.  Such a sweet boy.  We sure love our Henry!!

His special day started with a birthday balloon, of course!  When he wants something, he says "Henry's" instead of "mine".  So cute.  He's also starting to make the squishy face "cheese" for the camera...nice.

Saturday afternoon we had a small "dinosaur" birthday party for him.  Mom and half the Clarkes came (just Britt, Mika and Ashlynn), and our friends the Elsworths and Katzers.

Our scary Dinosaurs!!  (Lily, Mika and Henry)

We had pizza, cupcakes and a pinata!

Henry was so excited for cupcakes and sang happy birthday to himself!

(my friend Jill made his birthday shirt!)

Lots of fun boy toys...finally!

An awesome truck book from Nora.  He insisted on sleeping with it...

We got a dinosaur pinata!  Super fun!! No injuries either!!

Jack's the one that finally broke it open!  Yay!!  Candy!!

What a fun time ! Thanks to our friends and family for coming and helping make Henry's day special!!

A few days apart

MeMe and Poppa took Lily and her cousins Isobel and Emery to the Cabbage Patch Hospital in North Georgia before school started.  They were gone for three days.  While Lily was gone, Henry and I had so much fun! 

We went to Monkey Joes (a bouncy place)

He can almost climb up everything by himself now! Yay for me!  It's hard work hefting him up those things!!

He also discovered Lily's iPod touch...scrary he can almost use it correctly!  But after he wrote on it with a crayon, we decided maybe he's not quite old enough for it yet. 

My sweet boy, looking so grown up!!

Lily got a new cabbage patch baby from MeMe and Poppa!  She had a great time too; she got to sleep in a hotel, swim, eat out (which she claims we NEVER do) and do fun girl stuff!  Thanks for taking her, MeMe and Poppa!!

They also fed the "goats on the roof" in Helen, GA and brought Henry a t-shirt!  He would not take this off all day!