Gulf Shores...wrapping up!!

Our last full day we made a trip to Dauphin Island. There was an estuarium and aquarium to explore and we were looking forward to something new to explore!!

 Let me just stop and say?  Ferries and little ones...make me nervous. Especially ones that cross large bays of water and ocean for 35 minutes at a time!!

 They explained that these types of items were placed along the bottom of the bay to encourage oyster and sea life production.  Dredging and over fishing have depleted the natural resources in the bay.

 A hurricane simulation tunnel!

 Exploring the aquarium!

 After our venturing, we stopped for Subway to enjoy on our ride back to the beach house.  These chocolate chip cookies we got for the kids were the messiest cookies we've EVER eaten in our lives.  The kids were covered in chocolate!!  Good thing we have 35 minutes to clean them up!! 

 He was much less messy than his younger counterpart!

 That evening we hit a really cool eating spot called The Hangout!!  My fave dinner spot of the trip :)  The atmosphere was casual and reminded me of a beach party.  After dinner, the kids wandered a giant sand pile with a tunnel through the middle.  There were giant beach chairs for playing and posing on...a live band rocked out some great music and our kiddos thoroughly enjoyed the carefree fun and play time!!

 Partners in crime!!

 The boys got their first taste of bungee jumping on these fun trampolines!

I loved the place from start to finish...we even got to leave a wish on the wish wall.  There were signs that said shhh. Please don't disturb our wishes.  It was pretty neat!

 The next morning was our last one on the beach before packing up to head to Nashville for a stop over and we then we headed home.  This rainbow greeted us as I drank my last cup of coffee with Stacey (who joined me every morning to watch for dolphins!!).  Thanks Grandpa Mike and Pap.  I'm pretty sure you knew were thinking about you guys and sent this on down for us to enjoy!!!  It was the perfect cap on a full week of summertime fun!

Ryder's First Birthday Party!

We wrapped up a busy and wonderful 4th of July weekend by celebrating our nephews 1st birthday!!

Every detail of the party was perfect :) It was a piratey adventure for everyone and a great time was had by all!!!

Lunch time!

Present time!

Cake time...and did this kid eat some cake!  Even if his name was Ryan (thanks Walmart!) for a few minutes :)

Following the festivities, there may or may not have been some serious water wars that happened.  Names and photos will not be disclosed, but fun was had by all!!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Ryder.  Hard to believe you're already one!!!  Time sure does fly!

It's a....

Friday, August 30th we went for our 4th appointment...and were blessed with the news that we will be having another BOY!!!!!

I could talk on for awhile about how I knew in my heart we were having another boy.  Whether I was protecting myself from the disappointment of not having a daughter because I knew this was our last...or God was just nudging me, I couldn't really say.  But when the nurse told us a boy all I could do was laugh out loud.  Jeremy and I both did.  The thought of little ol' me, raising three brazen, loud, rambunctious boys is comical at the very least. It's humbling too. And it's also exciting. We are going to have 3 amazing men to raise. 3 different people to love on, laugh with and send off into the world.  3 amazing boys to teach about being good people, being caring men, to hold doors and buy flowers and all about being the best possible person they can be at all times. Boys or Girls...Jeremy and I get to be a parents...and when we started this journey...that was the ultimate plan.  I'm privileged and honored to be raising the babies God has seen fit to put in my life along side my best friend...what else could I really ask for?

The best news of all?  Everything looked wonderful. He and I are both moving through this pregnancy with flying colors and we are right on target for a January 15th delivery!  They even flipped the machine over into a 4D picture and we got to see a better view of him.  I think he looks just like his brothers...Owen in particular!

God is good.  All the time!!

Oh and while I'm sharing secrets...Jeremy and I came to a relatively quick and decisive agreement on little mister's name.  We will be calling him...drumroll please................

..........................

Grayson Oliver

We are still debating the spelling and using an A or an E in Gray/Gray.  But after the name rolled around on our tongues for a few days it felt right!!  Just like Owen and Cooper did.

Oh and for the curious few who may be wondering...Grayson means Bailiff's son.  Not altogether glamorous...but at least bailiffs are on the right side of the law right???

So Mister Greyson Oliver...we are very excited to meet you!! I have a feeling you'll be the perfect end cap to our family of five and I can't wait to get started on a new life meeting and watching you grow up!!!  You're brothers are also excited to meet you...though I don't think Coop understands what it all means just yet...he will!!  We'll look back and life will never be the same!!

Love you little bit!  Grow strong :)

Updates!

Wow have we been busy!  And man am I struggling with keeping up the blog!  I blame pregnancy and Netflix.  And also my two crazy children!  That being said there has been TONS happening with our crew that I do not want to forget about...so I'm going to do a few quick updates on some current happenings...and then I'll get back to the business of updating this space with things like Ryder's birthday party, vacation, our fun at the zoo, Owen's sleep study at Children's, our drive-in overnight and lots of other awesome fun have had the last couple months!!

Let's see...a few quick updates...August 28th, Owen started preschool!!  This is his last and final year with Alton Early Childhood.  Next year we move on to Kindergarten...gulp!!!  I'm excited he's with the same teacher and also that he has new friends this year to get to know!  So far we're just over two weeks in and we are all thankful for the routine!!  We were getting flat out lazy with summertime.

Here he is on his first day!

Owen Wyatt

August 28, 2013

First day of PreK Second Year

Monday through Friday

8:30 to 11

Teachers: Mrs. Lopez and Mrs. Taul

Cooper and I have been busy trying to fill up our days. Since this is my first run at doing preschool drop off and not juggling work, Coop and I leave Owen at 8:30 and have till 11 to find some fun, gather groceries or whatever strikes us!  We've had a few park dates with Missy and her crew of kiddos.  We also started doing Mommy and Me Story Time at the Library...and I signed him up for a preschool playgroup through the Edwardsville Children's Museum (thanks for the recommendation Aunt April! I can't wait to do it next summer with you and Isabel!)

Last week was our first library story time...and he did pretty good.  He (a lot like his brother) is not a fan of sitting still!  So Momma did some chasing and some running after him when he lost interest (which he did frequently!) BUT...he listened and played along for enough of it that we will be going back for more!  I'm hoping the more we do these kinds of things the better he'll get at them!

This week was our first preschool play group.  We will be doing this on Mondays. Again...the circle time?  Not a huge fan.  However, he enjoyed the centers! This week's theme was apples. His name tag was in the shape of an apple. We made an apple print out of apple halves and paint. We "picked" apples off a felt tree with clothes pins and red pompoms and he had a fun sensory station that smelled like apples, was full of oats and little red and green apples to play with.  All in all it was a great experience and I can't wait to take him back!!  Way to go Cooper on your first official playgroup experience! Mommy is proud of you!!!

In other news, renovations have begun on our loft!  It is soon to be a superhero themed wonderland for our kiddos complete with a new added full bath, a fun reading nook, common space for the boys to grow and play in and what I'm hoping will be a perfectly awesome newly renovated room for our two wonderful kiddos!!

Oh and we bought a minivan!!  After much protest on my part, practicality got the best of me!!  I think my husband is rubbing off on me in some seemingly unsuspecting ways. It's fully loaded. It's the perfect size for our growing family...and as far as vans go, I couldn't be happier!!

There is lots more to come and I'm praying I can get back into a blogging routine now that school has begun and summertime laziness is behind us!  Wish us luck!!