28 months!

Well 28 months last week! I have been a major slacker and I apologize! It has been crazy around the house and work schedules. This month is going by too quickly! I can not believe Jalen and Landon are just 2 months shy from being 2 and a half! It is so crazy to me how fast they are growing. They are growing into little boys and it breaks my heart. The only thing I want to move quickly are the 2 year molars and the hitting/pushing! They do more hitting/pushing with each other than anything. All day I hear "No! My mommy!" "No! That is MY milk!" "NO! Go away!" Along with the shoving. I find myself all day repeating myself and teaching them that is not nice and putting them in time outs for hitting. Landon likes to mock me. His favorite thing to do randomly and he thinks he is being funny by saying "Noooooo" really loud followed by "no pushing." Oh and Landon thinks if he says please to anything, he will get it. Sorry sweetie, but you are not having a cookie before breakfast. The joys of toddlerhood.

Even when there are times when they stress me out, it all changes by the cuddles, singing, dancing, and just saying sweet things. They are talking more and more with sentences and it is so nice to have a back and forth convo. I can ask them what they did today and I get an answer. Both can walk up and down the stairs with out holding onto the wall or rail. They love eating cereal and then drinking the milk from the bowl. Jalen likes to read through a book or magazine while eating because daddy does it. haha.

They are wearing 2T and 3T. Jalen is wearing a size 9 in shoes and Landon an 8 1/2. They sure are my growing boys. You can tell they are growing because all they want to do it eat! Jalen likes to dress himself and pick out his and Landon's clothes. They are both independent and will say "no help." If they need help they will ask. Sometimes, I have to interfere because I do not have the time to stand there when they try to put on their shoes.

Jalen is already a pro when it comes to recognizing his left from his right. When in the car, he will say "turn right to grandma's" or "go straight to Target" Yes both of my boys get excited to go to Target. Landon will wake up in the morning asking to go to Target. He gets excited if he sees a Target from the back seat. Momma taught them well.

It is running late and I am sleepy. I will post some pics here sometime this weekend.

"Whoa park!"

I always know when I find a good park when I hear Jalen and Landon shouting in the back seat "WHOA! That's a big park!" or "Whoa! Look at that park!" They love going to the park! They enjoy to climb, run, swin, and go down the big slides. Some parks make me nervous when Jalen and Landon have no fear on climbing on some of the stuff there. Since fall is aproaching, there will not be much park time left until next spring. Need to enjoy it while we can.

Jalen driving the "truck."
Landon checking out the little girl.


Landon was asking me "where did the girl go?"



Loves to run and chase.


They can do this for hours!






They love each other!

Chores

Jalen and Landon LOVE to help! They enjoy helping around the house. However, when it comes to them, they want to be independent. Jalen especially wants to get dressed, put on socks and shoes, comb his hair, and even sometimes wiping his butt all on his own. I always step in on the butt wiping part. LOL
They love getting the dog's food and water.



When they make a mess, they grab the mop and broom.

After doing chores, he likes to watch Chuggington.

Jalen cheesing for the camera. Ignore the unmatching Pjs. Jalen decided to take off his pants and pee on them instead of the potty. :-)

Pictures of my brother's return

With all the flight delays, we were all just hanging out at my parents. It was amusing that my parents had no idea who was going to walk through their door later in the evening. My grandparents came down from Chicago to visit with the kids, but also to see Matt. They were in on the surprise too. Here are some pictures from that day.

Julie and Jalen






They love playing with the blocks. More like stacking them and building houses. Landon stopped for a peek at the camera.
Would you like some salt?




What do you do with a line of blocks??

You ram it with a toy!





He's home!!!!
Jalen loved wearing the boots.




Soldier Jordan













Today my mom is throwing a "welcome back" BBQ. I will have lots of pictures to share I am sure. Stay tuned.

My brother surprising mom

My brother is home from Iraq on his 2 week R&R. My mom had no idea he was coming home. It was a great surprise that my brother, sister, and I pulled off. Welcome home Matt!

Horay!

Some pictures

I have been a major slacker updating my blog. I have been really busy at work and at home. Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Holiday World

We took another family trip to Holiday World this summer. This park is clean, free parking, free sunscreen, free drinks, and a lot of fun! It was really hot so we spent most of the day at the water park. Here are some pictures from the other day.

Summer fun

The boys are having a blast enjoying the summer weather. This year they are able to do a lot more than they did last year.

So far this summer:

They have gone swimming many times at grandma and grandpa's house. Jalen is my little fish and knows how to swim with his arms and legs. His favorite thing to do is jumping in the pool.


Riding their bikes. Jalen likes to hop on the back and have Landon pull him. Landon works the pedals really well now.


They saw their first movie, Cars 2! I took them to the IMAX and they saw it in 3D. They had a really good time and actually sat down most of it. Of course the popcorn helped. Here is Jalen before we went all ready.


And of course, MANY trips to the park. Today they met some friends from one of my mom groups and had so much fun. Here is a picture that my friend Kelli took.



Right now they are really into playing with each other outside and playing games. They love playing "duck, duck, goose," catch, and just chase each other around. Can't wait to enjoy the rest of the summer with the kids.

Family vacay to Chattanooga!

Hey everyone! I have been a major slacker updating our blog. We just got back from a wonderful family vacation in Chattanooga, TN. I have some family there that we stayed with and visit. We all had a blast and it was so nice to be able to spend time together all week.

We started our vacation early in the morning at 5am hoping the boys will go to sleep most of the way. Jalen and Jordan went back to sleep, but Landon stayed awake. He kept saying "lots of light," "It's night night," "Hi mommy!" This went on and on for about 2 hours and he went back to sleep when we got to Louisville. That Monday we went to visit J's family in a small town that is just north of Nashville. We stopped at Dinosaur World before we headed to his family to let the kids run around. Jordan LOVED it. Jalen was unsure about the dino's and Landon kept saying "raaaawr."





That Monday night we stayed the night in a hotel to let the kids swim. We still had a 3 hour drive ahead of us and we knew the trip would be better if we took it slow and not drive the whole way. Tuesday we made it to Chattanooga and finally got to see my Aunt and Uncle. I have not seen them in years. The kids made themselves feel right at home and was loving their backyard.

Wednesday, we took the kids to the Creative Discovery Museum. This museum was really neat and was all hands on. It was great for all ages. Jordan and my cousin Jonathon ran around by themselves, while we took Jalen and Landon around. Their favorite place was the water river and play house. Jordan enjoyed the outside play area.

My hoola-hoopin stars.







Thursday we took the kids to the aquarium. They have a really neat and HUGE aquarium there. The kids had so much fun!


Petting the sharks.



The last day of our trip, we went to Lookout Mountain. We went to Rock City and it was so beautiful there. Strollers were not allowed due to all the tight squeezes and steps. The kids all had a nice work out. Even the adults too! :-)



Landon taking a break.




With my Aunt and cousin.