Sidewalk Chalk

Little Picasso or graffiti artist? Guess that's still up for debate.

Chalk butt :) 

Somehow, the chalk ended up in this
tree quickly followed by an "uh oh". 

New Yard, New Pool

We finally got to enjoy playing outside on our new patio. Today was one of the first days this summer that it wasn't over 100 degrees, so we were able to play outside for a little while. I bought Beckett a small pool today at Walmart, so he was able to enjoy it this afternoon. I really wanted a water table rather than a swimming pool because I don't want him to want to go "swimming" every time we go outside and have to continuously fill and dump a kiddie pool. But...Walmart sold out of the water tables so I decided to get this tiny pool that wouldn't take much work for now. We have a cement patio, so I wanted one that Beckett could enter and exit pretty safely by himself. This little pool worked perfectly.

Checking out the new pool

Testing it out

"Someone's been climbing on my
chair" -- Mama Bear

The sexy lifeguard

What child loves to throw water into his own face? This one! 

Drinking the pool water. 

Making mud pies

Pool bum

Splash Pad

We frequented the Splash Pad at the park this summer. Beckett was usually one of the youngest kids there, but he handled the fountains like a champ.

Chasing a ball around

Trying to drink the water

He loves letting the water splash into his face 

Happy 16 Months!

A few days late, of course, because that's how I roll.

Wearing Mr. Potato Head glasses :) 

What has the family been up to?  

We moved a little closer to Daddy's work last week and really love our new house. You and Karsten now have a little yard to play in and you'd live outside if we'd let you. Daddy finally has the "he-man" garage that he's been wanting for a while. We're very excited about getting to grill again, but unfortunately we've been under a burn ban since we moved in, so it looks like we may have to wait until the fall to grill out.

Our house has stairs and a doggie door, so you've been a busy boy lately, trying out all of the new "toys". 

Your grandparents have been a HUGE help lately (as always). Your Grandpa Freeland helped us move the big furniture into the house in 116 degree temps while Grandma Freeland babysat. Grandma also cleaned our old and new place and scrubbed a total of 5 bathrooms in two days. She is a saint! Your Kaki also came for a few days right after the visit. After Mommy and Daddy got home from work one day, Grandma and Kaki had almost the entire house unpacked. Grandpa Freeland has been working hard to hang pictures and fix things around the house. I think it's safe to say that Blake and I have the best parents EVER! We're working on getting Grandaddy here to visit with Kaki, but he's busy trying to get things ready for the next school year. 

This is what happens when the grandparents are around. 

Mommy got a little part time job in the university bookstore. Right now, she's been working a lot, but things will slow down majorly (10 hrs a week or less) after the school year begins. You've been attending an hourly daycare on the other side of town. You usually go for about 3 hours a day when Mommy has to work and you really enjoy getting out of the house to play with other kids for a little while. 

Daddy had a small battle with a tick and the tick won. He was very sick with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and we visited the doctor's office a few times. We did find it funny when we went to check him in and the nurse said "Are either of you over 18 years old?" He is so much better now, praise Jesus! 

What have you been up to lately? 

You have been repeating everything that Mommy and Daddy do and say. We have to be very careful these days. 

"Picking up" dog poop like you see Mommy and Daddy do
 (there's not actually any dog poop there, you just
 took the bag and rubbed it along the ground!)

Trying to blow up your float after watching Mommy do it.
 (Notice all of the drool around the plug.
That's from Beckett, not Mommy)

You love to sing and dance. It's so cute listening to you sing. You've been practicing some new dance moves and the "Hokey Pokey" is one of your favorite songs to sing. Daddy and I love watching you "shake it all about" and "turn yourself around". 

You are obsessed with lotion right now. You love to play with your lotion bottles and pretend like you are pouring it onto your hands and rub them together. You pretend like everything is a lotion bottle and I've even caught you pouring your milk from your sippy cup onto your hands and rubbing them together. Yuck! 

You've learned to throw the ball pretty hard. I had given up on you ever throwing the ball forwards because every time you tried to throw it forwards it would go backwards behind your back. All of a sudden, one day it clicked and you started nailing me with the ball. It's amazing how hard you can throw it and it makes us all flinch when you throw. 

Found all of these underneath the bed
while I was packing for our move. 

You are starting to get to the age where you like playing with other kids. At the library you went around trying to kiss all of the girls. Thankfully, you were still about a foot away from them all when you tried to kiss them, so it was more cute than creepy ;) 

Bubble time at the library

You've never given real kisses, you've always leaned your forehead to our lips and made the kissing sound, "mmmuah". Although it's not a real kiss, it's still very cute. It's so funny because you won't give anyone kisses on the lips, except for your stuffed animals and the characters in your book :(

Oh, and of course, you kiss
yourself on the lips

You are still flirting with everyone woman that you see, especially waitresses and cashiers at the grocery store. You always wave goodbye to them and blow them kisses. 

Showing off for your Aunt Shirley,
who came to visit from Missouri

Temper tantrums...oh dear. I don't even want to talk about these right now.

At your last doctors appointment, you weighed in at 26.4 lbs (50th percentile) and measured 33 inches (90th percentile). You got three different shots and didn't cry for any of them. You are such a tough boy! You did, however, give the nurse the stink eye and I can't say that I blame you for that. 

Another Anniversary, Another Story

Another anniversary.

Happy 5th Anniversary to my sweet husband. Some of you may recall that every anniversary that we have had thus far has been...hmm..what's the word I'm looking for...eventful?

We got engaged in December 2006 and because of Blake's job, had to get married in the summer. My options were 1) getting married that summer or 2) waiting a year and a half later until the next. So, I picked the last weekend in the summer to give me more time to prepare. Little did I know, that's the weekend that football media day would fall on EVERY SINGLE year.

Not only is it media day weekend every year, but we've had a history of the most "unromantic" anniversaries. I'm hoping to break the streak one year, but it WILL NOT be this year.

Here's a recap of our last 4 anniversaries.

I think this is where the marriage started going downhill ;) 

1st anniversary: It was Blake's school's (CSU) turn to host the Athletic Director's Conference in Charleston, meaning that there was no possible way that Blake could get out of going. It wasn't all bad, though. Our anniversary was on the night of the "social gathering" which happened to be a dinner cruise around the Charleston Harbor. It was a little awkward having to entertain a boat full of Athletic Director's that we didn't know, but it could have been worse and the harbor tour was amazing (and Blake didn't have to spend a dime on dinner). Thus began a series of "unromantic" anniversaries.

The "limo" that Blake rented to drive the A.D.'s around. 

Can't complain about the beautiful view

Year 2:  I don't really remember year 2, so it must not have been too bad. I think that my in-laws were visiting, and I love my in-laws, so this was probably the best anniversary yet. Of course, we didn't go on a romantic date, but I'm sure my mother-in-law cooked us something even better.

3rd Anniversary: This anniversary was by far the most eventful and unromantic. We spent the entire day in the heart hospital of MUSC. I went to the doctor thinking that I was having minor panic attacks, and come to find out, after multiple heart tests I was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Not only did Blake and I spend the entire day in the hospital, but they sent me home with a not-so-sexy heart monitor with about 15 wires. I looked like a suicide bomber. **No worries, though, I am completely healthy now** After we left the hospital, we headed straight to Charlotte (for media day, of course). They did hook us up with the Executive Suite, which sounded exciting until we realized that it just meant that we had a large conference room table in the middle of our hotel room. Woohoo, more room to spread out all of the new heart equipment that I had just been given that morning. But, once again, it could have been worse.

Posing with my gear a week later, right after
finding out that there was a little  baby in that tummy. 

4th Anniversary: Continuing our unromantic streak, last year Blake and I were wondering what exciting events our anniversary would hold. We laughed and said, "Well, this year we have a 3 month old, so a romantic date is out of the picture." Little did we know that we would be spending our anniversary thousands of miles apart. Blake took the ORU job a week before our anniversary, and had to start his new job before we could get the house packed up. So, he spent our anniversary in Oklahoma while Beckett and I stayed behind in South Carolina.

So, what was the plan for this year? Moving day, of course! Nothing more unromantic than pouring sweat in the 116 degree heat! So, that was the plan. Once again, we laugh thinking that was our anniversary surprise for this year. But wait, more excitement?? Blake was just diagnosed with a tick-bourne disease called Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever that made him very ill. He's on an antibiotic now and doing much better now. So, needless to say, it's been an interesting week in our household.

It's always exciting (and somewhat scary, to be honest) to see what the next anniversary holds, but I wouldn't want to spend these unromantic anniversaries with anyone else. I plan to be married for 80+ years, so hopefully we'll turn this negative streak around soon.