August

August came and went in a blur. I am having the hardest time thinking of anything that we did. I know we spent one day in Raleigh. We took the boys to the kids museum and there was a fun festival going on at the park across the street so we hung out there for a little while. 

Stephen's new work schedule has been really nice. He gets to wake up with us every morning and a few times was able to go on a morning walk with us before leaving for work. The boys love watching out the window and waving to him when he leaves for work.

Everett had a week long nature camp at River Park North and loved it.

Stephen had a fantasy football party one night with all of his work buddies and I went to the backstreet boys concert with a few momma friends.

I think we took the month pretty slow, trying to soak in some last minute summer fun before all going crazy. We are definitely a family who thrives on routine so summer was kind of rough. We still had some fun times this summer. It is nice that summer has come to an end and it was fun having the boys home for a while too.

Nathan: 17 Months

Nathan you are such a sweet boy.

You have such a love for food and have started eating with a fork.

You have no desire to talk to us yet. Your newest sound you have learned is the B sound. We kind of think your first word will be more because of how often you are asking for food. You kind of say yes and no already.

You had your first dentist appointment and opened your mouth for your entire cleaning.

You have a stuffed lamb named lamby. You love that little lamb so much. You cuddle with it all night long and carry it with you all the time.

You have such a special love for dad. He always gets the best loves in the mornings when he brings you in to bed with us. 

You have started climbing up to the table and insist on acting like a big boy like brother. 

All four of your molars are coming in.

Your tantrums are still hilarious. You fall to the ground dramatically and lay there avoiding eye contact with me. 

One of my favorite moments this month was dad rocking you in Everett's rocker. You were naked from just having your bath and were reading the everyone poops book. You were so happy and laughing any time dad said poop. It was so cute watching you tap your little hands on the chair while you both read together. Every time dad made a funny sound you would give the cutest little smile.

You love hugging your toys. If they are small enough you will tuck them under your neck.

You have officially transitioned to one nap and day and are sleeping in a little longer in the mornings because of it.

Everett: Summer

May
Loves putting together puzzles. Your favorites are the ones we buy from the dollar store, especially paw patrol. We have been bringing them with us to restaurants to help keep you busy while we wait for our food.
You aren't much of a dancer but one night in the kitchen you just started dancing around. You had some seriously cute dance moves.
I love listening to you pretend play with your toys.
You have been really sweet at bedtime saying you love us so much while we tuck you in.
You really like playing at the gym daycare. You just wave goodbye to me and say "bye mom."

June
You like to say what time it is when we are in your room using your little clock on your desk.
I used to wonder what the big deal was about moms complaining about pee all over the bathroom when you have boys. Now I know. When you are especially upset about needing to go pee you will just spray it everywhere.
You had swim lessons for the first time. You did really well and loved going.
You open and close your mouth as you cut things with your scissors.
You love playing with the legos you got for your birthday.
You would wear pj's all day long every day if I'd let you. It is a battle every morning getting you in day clothes.
That one time you baked your own food after we were done making a cake together. You added all of the essentials to the mixer like milk, egg, flour and sugar. Then we pretend baked them in a muffin tin.
I had been eating some watermelon and went into your room to check on you during resting time and you said "What!? You bought watermelon?" It was hilarious that you could smell it on my breathe and knew I had been eating it.
You were making boulders out of play dough and hid one. I asked where it went and you said "It's a mystery."
You say "watch this momma" about a thousand times a day.

July
Any time we are in a parking lot you say to look out for the yellow lines and the "hot lama." I think you are trying to say hot lava but it is just too funny and cute that I have gone along with hot lama.
You can spell Everett, mom, dad, ball (but with one l), and bat.
You like to tuck your stuffed animal Chase into bed some mornings. You will turn your noise machine on and red clock light, shut the curtains, and kiss him goodnight.
One afternoon when I picked you up from summer camp all of the kids were on the rug sitting listening to a story. I couldn't see you until I looked inside the classroom. You were sitting at the table finishing your lunch listening to the story.
When I let you take your time eating a meal, you'll be there a good thirty or forty minutes just taking your time to eat.
During hide and seek sometimes you'll ask dad for a clue. Sometimes we will ask you for a clue and your clue is always right where you are hiding.
We had a fun time reading for the universe summer reading program at the library. We almost filled up the entire booklet.
At bedtime I will say I love you so much and you'll always repeat it back to me. Or I will say I love you and you'll say I love you and I'll say I love you more. It is really sweet.
When it is time to leave the park sometimes you'll say we can leave in 100 minutes.
You listened to an audio book almost the entire way to the beach. I'm glad we have found something you like since just looking through your books was starting to get a little boring on long drives.

August
Some mornings we collect flowers on our walk. Other mornings we count how many animals we can find or count how many different colored cars we see.
At your dentist appointment you didn't have any cavities. The office has a rule only one family member can be in the room at a time with the patient. So because Nathan was with us I wasn't aloud to go in the room with you. You were so brave and went back all by yourself and let them clean your mouth and check you out.
Dad gave you a very special fathers blessing before preschool started. You were so reverent with your arms folded. The sweetest thing was when you agreed to something dad was saying about playing with friends nicely and you said yes.
You know the sounds of almost all of the letters. You really like playing around with the different sounds and guessing which sound goes to which letter.
We went to the store together to get some back to school shoes and you picked light up paw patrol shoes.
One night when you were avoiding bedtime you said "We don't have time for sleep. It's time to play."
At bedtime after reading stories you climb in bed, stand up, and give either me or dad a big standing up hug and kiss of the cheek.

July

These summer evenings have been all about what can we do indoors which is why hide and seek is still our favorite game after dad gets home from work. It is so fun how much Everett and Nathan get into it. Everett loves hiding in the same spot every time. Nathan gets so excited when he finds Everett.
Just like last summer we are dealing with ants again. They especially love eating Nathan's leftovers on the floor and in his highchair. After trying a few different sprays we found something that so far has kept them away.
We have really slacked on going to the beach this summer. We made it one Saturday and it was perfect weather and the perfect day. Nathan took some time to cuddle on me while Stephen and Everett were playing in the water. There were two sea turtle nests which was really exciting. It was a much needed reset day. I love living by the beach during this season of our lives. The boys are little still and don't have busy schedules on the weekend which makes beach days totally doable.
Cow appreciation day is always so fun. We dressed up like cows and had free dinner at chick fil a. Then we left without letting Everett play in the play place which I did feel pretty awful about for about a minute. It was just to beautiful of an evening to not play outside. We took the boys to the park to play for about an hour. Stephen was off work that day which made it an extra special day.
We took a day trip to Wilmington. We walked along the river and had delicious shrimp and crab nachos at Gorges and a fruit bowl for the boys to share. Next we walked up the street a bit and got ice cream. Nathan was giving me the sweetest kisses in the ice cream shop. Watching the boys eat their ice cream was one of the highlights of the day for sure. Another favorite was watching Nathan walk the streets with dad. Everett's favorite thing from the day was walking past a random water fountain next to where we parked the car. I love asking him his favorite part of the day when we explore new places. He always surprises me with his answer. We stopped at a really fun park and ate at an amazing crepe shop before heading home.