Private

I'm going to be changing our blog to private. If you would like to check in on us (and see our little cuties) every now and then, PLEASE leave a comment on this post with your email address. I want to continue to share our lives with you!

My Boys

Perry 2 1/2 years; Mills 7 months

Memorial Weekend

We really enjoyed the long weekend. On Sunday afternoon, Alex, Perry and I joined my dad and Sheila at Lake Bistineau. Perry loved riding fast in PaPa's boat. We tied up with a friend's party barge, so we were able to really stretch out and get comfortable. This was Perry's first time in the water since last summer. He did not want to float in the water, but was tickled pink to sit/lay on a raft. He and Alex spent a lot of time in the water swimming and splashing. We were able to eat dinner on the boat and then we had to head home. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and we can't wait to do it again!

The cutest captain around

 Not happy...

That's better!

Perry loved when Alex and PaPa pushed him back and forth on the raft.

On Monday, Alex and I did a lot of cleaning up around the house, garage, other outside things and the yard. After naps, we went next door for a little pool time. Once again, Perry's favorite place to be was on a raft. He's definitely figured out what a life of luxury would be like :-)

My attempt at a family photo

We put the boys down early, prepared dinner and ate outside on TV trays. It was a perfect day!

5 Year Anniversary

Alex and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on May 26th. The past 5 years have been truly wonderful, but not without some significant challenges...and Alex has been such a blessing through those times. You always hear how "a husband should love his wife as Christ loves the church." Well, Alex is no Jesus Christ, but I can say with the deepest sincerity that Alex's love has been sacrificial, encouraging, sanctifying (through the work of the Holy Spirit) and steadfast. He has certainly helped demonstrate to me what Christ's love is like. The first year we were married I broke my left arm (I'm left handed). Alex had to take extra special care of me at that time. He would even straighten my hair...and if you know how unruly my hair is, you would realize that THAT is real love! The next year we moved in with my grandmother for a little while and he had to put up with my crazy uncle who tried to make our lives miserable on a daily basis. We barely survived that, and then we got pregnant and had to live in the hospital for about 3 months. Alex slept on the pull out couch EVERY SINGLE NIGHT while I was in the hospital, fixed my breakfast and supper most every day and did countless other tasks for me while I was confined to the bed. Our 4th year of marriage was pretty normal. Our 5th year was challenging again because my pregnancy and hospitalization. This time around Alex was not only responsible me; he had Perry to take care of too. We had a lot of help, but Alex was an exceptional husband and father during that time. He's not perfect...I'm not trying to imply that, but for all that I've put him through I think it's safe to say he's pretty awesome!

My "Reasons I love Alex" list:

1. He loves the Lord and loves to share the Gospel of Christ. 
2. He is a gracious provider for our family.
3. He keeps me laughing...sometimes it's with him, but most of the time it's at him.

4. His willingness to serve me in whatever capacity needed.

5.  His commitment to our marriage and our family.

For our Anniversary dinner we went to Superior Steakhouse. We had such a nice time and enjoyed some fabulous food!

Perry wanted to join us for our pre-dinner picture

First Trip to the ER

Warning: There is a lot of information in this post. I wanted to be able to remember everything years down the road.
Well, we had to make our first trip to the Emergency Department this past Friday night. Perry injured his eye with a stick while out on a walk right before bedtime. We aren't exactly sure what happened because neither of us was looking right at him when it happened, but we know that the stick he was holding had a little branch off of it and it was probably that branch that scraped his eye. All of a sudden, he started screaming and was covering his eyes while complaining about a bug in his eye. We were near my mom's house, so we went straight there to assess him. He was extremely upset (it didn't help that he was sick with fever that day) and refused to let us look at his eye. He wanted to just press it up against my chest. I hated knowing he was in pain. My mom brought us all home after a little while. Perry eventually calmed down, but he still wouldn't uncover his eye. He wanted something pressing/covering it at all times. After observing him for a couple hours and speaking with his doctor, we decided we better take him in to be examined. It was likely that he had a corneal abrasion, and without an eye exam we wouldn't know if it was worse. So, a little after 8, we headed to Sutton's Children's (my mom stayed at our house while Mills was asleep). Sweet Lainey called ahead and told them we were on our way. We were seen pretty quickly. They performed a slitlamp exam with fluorescein dye and were able to see the abrasion. It probably only took 1 minute to do the exam, but it felt like forever since we were having to hold our scared, screaming child down :-( We got home late, and Perry went straight to sleep. Surprisingly, he seemed to be completely better the next day. We were happy he had a quick recovery and that the injury wasn't worse.  Here are a couple pictures to document the ER visit. I took these after the exam and once we knew that it wasn't a severe injury. I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture until I knew he was going to be OK. The eye drops they use for the exam numb the eye, so he started feeling better after those were put in. You can see him holding lovey over his left face (the eye that was injured). Lovey is such a sweet comfort to him...I'm glad we had it with us!

Mae Mae brought Perry a new choo choo and a butterfly "bug" cookie the next day as a "get well" present. Thanks Mae Mae!

Mom's 60th and Mother's Day Weekend

My mom turned 60 on May 16! Helen and I wanted to do something special this year, so she decided to fly home and surprise my mom last weekend. I was so anxious for Saturday to get here and for Helen to land in Shreveport. After being delayed 3 hours in Dallas, she finally arrived! We picked her up at the airport and headed to Mom's house for the big surprise. My mom thought she was babysitting for us that evening, so we had to get creative as to why we were dropping by a couple hours before she was supposed to come to our house. We dropped Helen off at the next door neighbors house and the rest of us went in to get some "sugar" and "change a diaper". When the doorbell rang, Alex got the camera ready and we followed my mom to the door. When she opened the door, she was completely shocked and just kept saying "Helen...Helen!" I was so glad we pulled it off! 

 Surprise!

That night we took Mom to Chianti's for dinner.

The next day was Mother's Day. Alex and I hosted lunch for Mom, Grammy, and Helen at our house. I decided to keep it super simple because I wanted a day off too! Lunch turned out to be just perfect--Papa Murphy's pizza, salad, and brownies with ice cream. We gave Mom her big present at lunch (a Pandora bracelet and charms).

 Alex and Perry "making" the brownies on Sunday morning

 adorable!

Helen, me, Mom, Grammy

That afternoon was the first opportunity we had for me to get a picture with both my boys...proof that I'm a mother...

We also went to see Dad and Shelia on Sunday. Perry had a blast throwing the football with Alex and Josh. 
Mom took off work on Monday since Helen wasn't flying out until early evening. Me and the boys went over there for a pancake breakfast and to hang out with Helen. We all (including Alex) went to lunch at Superior Grill. It was a fun way to spend Helen's last day.

I'm pretty sure my mom enjoyed the weekend. I know we enjoyed planning it for her. Thanks for making the trip, H. Perry and Mills loved seeing you!

Perry had fun recalling what happened at Mae Mae's surprise. When he woke up from his nap on Sunday, he was talking/playing in his bed saying, "Ding dong...A-pise!! yay!!" 

Growing

Today was Perry's last day of MDO for the year. I can't believe how much he has grown this school year. He has gone from an adorable, chubby, almost-2-year-old to a taller, leaner, big brother! I am so thankful for the wonderful experience we have had with MDO. It has been a pleasant constant in Perry's life throughout the big changes of the past year. His teachers were always so encouraging and complimentary of him. I'm very proud of the little boy he is growing to be...it's just REALLY hard to see him growing up so quickly. His teachers made a sweet scrapbook for each child with pictures from every month. I had no clue they were taking so many pictures of the kids. I boo hoo'ed as I flipped though Perry's book. It will be something I cherish forever. Here are pictures from Perry's first day and last day of school this year. I just realized that he was wearing the same shirt on both of these days. It's definitely a little small on him now :-)
First day:                                                                                          

Last day:

Boys and Hats

What is it with boys and hats? They just love them. Daddy's panama hat has been a hot commodity lately.

Workin' at the Car Wash

A few weeks ago, the boys and I went to get my car washed. Perry had the best time watching the cars go through the wash station. The following day, he had the idea to wash his own car. I gave him a bowl of water, a brush and sponge and he got to work. 

Then, just this weekend, Alex pulled out the water hose for Perry to wash his car with. Perry had so much fun hosing off his truck, but after a while he got bored with that and decided to attack Daddy! He was giggling and squealing as he chased Alex around. It was quite entertaining! 

7 Months

Our sweet little Mills is 7 months old now! Time is really flying by, but we are definitely having fun. Some things about Mills' 6th month:
At 7 1/2 months, Mills weighed 17 1/2 pounds. He's still a petite little guy with chubby thighs. We moved his crib mattress down since he is getting more mobile. He can sit unsupported for a short time, but can't be left unattended. He thinks Perry is so funny and LOVES giggling with him. He's eating solids 2 times a day. Foods he has had: butternut squash, pears, sweet potato, avocado, applesauce, bananas. He is grabbing for everything. He is still a great sleeper. He goes to bed at 7 and wakes around 7:30. He's taking 2-3 naps/day, usually 3. He can put his paci in mouth by himself, but he only cares to use a paci when he goes down to sleep. I remember this happening with Perry...Mills will be totally happy and content before we sit down to nurse, but as soon as I lay him on the boppy, he starts to freak out and get so impatient. It's really funny! He is becoming more expressive and definitely lets me know when I do something he doesn't care for.

 This is how he sucks his finger (normally it's the right index finger though)

 bath time!

sweet sleeping baby