Been too long...

It's been far too long since I posted, but around Thanksgiving I really started going downhill physically and had no energy for the simple little things like keeping up with my blog. My body does not handle drugs well at all and the Birth Control I was taking finally caught up with me. I had zero energy, it was all I could do to keep a clean kitchen and dinner on the table, the rest of the house was let go. Thankfully Andy and I finally got things worked out and I'm off the pill and using natural ways to avoid pregnancy for the time being. Since then I've been able to get my house under control, play with my babies, sew and still feel good by the end of the day.

Our biggest news is that Andy got a JOB!!!!! He is a police officer for the City of Opelika and loves it. It is a perfect fit for him and I'm very excited. He started with a Physical Fitness test in January and by the end of the hiring process was the only person to take the polygraph much less pass it. His first week on the force his training officer gave him this article to read and the Sheepdog protectors really describes Andy's mindset to me.

After he got hired we took a week and drove up to Michigan for a little vacation to see Katie and a few other friends. It was wonderful and we got some really cute pictures in the snow of the boys. :)

We've also decided that since Andy is going to be gone most of the summer at the police academy that I'm going to go back to GA and live with my parents and finish my degree at UGA. I have 3 classes and will be able to do one in May, one in June and one in July Lord willing. Then I will be done and graduated. So now that I'm caught up in a nutshell, I can get back into the swing of posting. :) I will post pictures soon of the past few months.

Caleb's 3rd Birthday

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is growing up so fast. It was a shock to realize that we were celebrating his 3rd birthday September 26th. He is of course a very big boy, wearing size 5s and an 11 1/2 extra wide shoe, but we are starting to see his face slim down and lose the baby fat.

He talks up a storm and will repeat anything and everything he hears. And of course he is always saying "I do myself Mommy." The funniest thing at the moment happened a couple of weeks ago. Caleb was running around the house playing and pooted. Andy turned around and laughingly asked him if he pooted. Caleb looked at him and said, "you talk about my poot Daddy?" Andy said yes, then Caleb turned to me with "Mommy, I pooted and Daddy talking about it." We just about rolled out of our chairs we were laughing so hard. Ever since then, thankfully only at home, if he poots Caleb looks at Andy and says "you talk about my poot Daddy?" What do you do with uninhibated wee ones? lol

Below are some pictures from Caleb's birthday dinner.

Holding up 3 fingers... he wanted pizza for his dinner

Even with cake in front of him he didn't want to put the pizza down

Stephen just couldn't wait to get his hands on that cake

My sweet boys

He picked out a spice cake

Can you tell he was happy to get his cake :)

Stone Mountain-July

So I am super behind on posting and wish I had kept up with things, but I've been busy with house stuff and not feeling well so blogging was not high on my priority list. So I will start with our flying family trip to Stone Mountain back in July. The main reason we went was so that we could get to meet David's girlfriend Mary without overwhelming her at my parent's house. We grilled out and had a good time eating and talking. Then Nana and Pop-pop watched the boys while the rest of us climbed the mountain. We got caught in a quick rainstorm while up there and everyone was soaked to the skin. lol We stayed for the laser show of course and no matter if people think it's cheesy or not, it is always fun.

An interesting thing about the laser show... everyone who has seen it knows that at the end they play the National Anthem and fly the flag on the mountain. We were seated about halfway down the lawn and John immediately stood when it started playing... David, James and Andy weren't far behind... they were the only ones I saw standing to begin with and from behind me I hear "Jerks! Blocking my view." Shortly after that the voice said in a different tone, "ohhhh" and I saw the man stand up. By the end of the song, the majority of the crowd was standing with their hands over their hearts, but that initial reaction unfortunately didn't surprise me.

Andy and I obviously... on top of the mountain.

David isn't really this much taller than Mary... they are cute together aren't they. :)

All of us drenched.

Laser show pictures

Baby Donkey

I'm over at my family's house for a couple of days and our donkey had a baby. John named him Enzo and he's so cute. He's also very sweet and loves people. Other babies we have had have been very skittish and afraid of people, but Enzo will come over and lip your hand.

Zoo Trip in May

In May while up in Birmingham Andy's Mother took us to the zoo. The Birmingham Zoo is really small, but we still had a great time. Caleb thought the Sea Lion show was so funny and enjoyed being splashed by them. Stephen seemed fascinated by the monkeys swinging around. I think Andy and I enjoyed the Lorikeet exhibit the best. The Lorikeets are beautiful little rainbow birds who will land on you. One persisted on unbuttoning the zookeeper's shirt buttons while another sat on Andy's shoulder and tried to clean his ear. :) Caleb and Stephen freaked out when the birds zoomed down to land on our shoulders and wouldn't stop fussing so we had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked. Both of them loved the train ride we took at the end. It was really neat to see this beautiful Bald Eagle just sitting in the tree, they are such enormous birds.

crocodiles

This is a river otter from here in Alabama, I love them, they are such graceful creatures in the water.

Stephen cuddling with Andy while looking at the lions.

A beautiful white tiger.

The kangaroos were so neat. We even got to see them hop around which was unusual, the zookeeper said that they normally don't move around in the afternoon.









Caleb putting on his hat to go

into the "gold mine"

Our family riding the train at the end of the day. :)

David...

The beginning of May David went down to Florida for the National RUF conference. While down there he met this beautiful young lady from the University of Texas. Mary will be coming for a visit sometime in July and I hope to be able to meet her then. Best of luck to them both. :)

Mother's Day

After David's graduation we headed over Birmingham to Andy's parents for Mother's Day and to celebrate his Aunt's wedding. We got to see both sides of the family on Sunday and enjoy spending time and catching up with everyone. Uncle Mike loves to take pictures at our dinners and these are just a few of the ones he took of the boys.

We were watching everyone playing frisbee



Sleepy baby

Hayden adores the boys and Stephen loved being tossed around.

David's Graduation

We started our vacation last week by going over to Georgia for David's graduation. He graduated UGA Summa Cum Laude with highest honors being that in his time there he was only one B from a 4.0 GPA. Next fall he starts Dental School at the Medical College of Georgia down in Augusta. He was commissioned into the Army Reserves this Spring and after he graduates dental school he will be commissioned into the regular army as a Captain I believe.

While we were at my family's Andy, John, James and Becky got to go to a Braves game and Nana and Pop pop watched the boys while Andy and I went out to eat for our anniversay. It was a nice relaxing time there.

It took an hour to seat the graduates and I don't think all 6,000 grads walked :)

David walking through the Arch for the first time.
It's tradition to walk around the arch until you graduate for good luck.


Mom, David and Dad walking through the Arch together.

Our whole family in front of the Honors College

I'm so proud of my brother!!

The boys. :)

David and the girls... everyone has to have a pic with the bench statue.

John...

John finished his first year of college this year and did really well. He and I are a lot alike and react to stress the same way. It was nice to have him call me and ask for advice and just to talk about school. He has participated in the Air Force ROTC at UGA the whole year and has decided that he is called to be an Air Force chaplain. Most people when they hear this are quite surprised and really don't know what to say, the girl in the picture below is the only one who has really expressed interest and opinions in his chosen profession.

Last year Dad and I were talking about what kind of girls my brothers were probably going to be looking for and we decided that David would find a girl like Mom and John would find a girl like me... I believe John has found his girl and the way he talks about her I will not be surprised to be attending their wedding in 3 or so years. lol Her name is Beth, she is fairly tall and has dark, curly hair. :) I love my brother so much and wish the absolute best for him. Below is a picture of John and Beth at his formal Air Force banquet.

Backyards and Swing Sets

One of the reasons we LOVE our duplex is the backyard. It was already mostly fenced in when we moved here and our lovely landlords have told us that we can put up more fencing, play toys and plant anything we want. For Christmas Andy's parents bought the boys a swing set and this weekend was the first chance we've had to bring it down and put it up. Between weather, being sick and people traveling it just hasn't worked out until now. Anyways, we are thrilled and here are some pictures from Saturday. We have since gotten most of the leaves up and have 2 lounges chairs out that we got for wedding presents and have been storing under our bed. :)

Getting everything out...

My cutie pie... he has my eyes :)

Caleb is so excited. Can you tell?

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first

Yes, we have a sandbox and LOVE it!

Caleb wanted to "help" Deke so he laid down next to him :)

All done!!!!

Christmas...

Life has been crazy since getting home so I haven't had a chance to post anything about Christmas. We spent Christmas with Andy's parents which means fun but stressful. All of Andy's extended family lives in Birmingham so we spend all day driving around visiting. See everyone is lots of fun but the boys are done by about 7. lol Christmas morning started with me waking up to find Andy and I bookended by the boys. Caleb had joined us at a point I don't remember making the queen bed very cosy, but they were both cuddly which made it fun. Presents time with family then breakfast with Andy's Mom's family. Thankfully the boys got full naps over lunch because then it was on to the Wald side where they got passed from uncle to aunt to cousin who all adore them. For dinner we went to Andy's aunt's house. Everything was lots of fun just a little more than I have always been used to since we don't live close to any family. Below are a few pictures from Christmas morning.

Caleb loved handing out the presents then opening his :)

One of his favorite presents: A Wiggles book

Stephen wanted to play with Calebs stuff

Opening his own presents... yes, we always stick bows on the baby's head :)

Just before family showed up for breakfast

Our family Christmas morning :D