Another week of swim lessons and both boys are still doing great.  Sam is learning freestyle, the backstroke and "pillow".  He has no fear of the water, never really has and is so obedient to his teacher.  Drew is also doing great.  He still hasn't shed the first tear and is willing to do whatever his teacher asks of him.  He is learning to float on his back, get to the wall and flip from his stomach to his back.

I can't believe that it's august 1st.  Soon we are going to be sending Sam off to pre-school for the first time.  I'm really excited for him and know that he is going to love it, but I have to say it's hard to see him growing up.  Just this week, he went to the movies with Lydia and it made me kind of sad to see him drive off.  He loves working on crafts, he is awesome at coloring and can still throw a ball with serious speed and accuracy!  If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will tell you a soccer player or a weather man.  He loves to look outside and predict if it's going to rain or not.

Drew is still the most active of the two boys.  He is always on the move.  I have quickly learned that he needs to get outside or go somewhere that he can run and burn energy.  He is going through a phase right now that he asks to be a baby and loves me to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him.  He really is a momma's boy, but I would never complain about that.  A lot of times, he will look at us and say, "i wanna tell you sumtim" When we say what, he says "om, om, om" and then makes up something.  He loves talking and has a great vocabulary.  His first prayer a few months ago was, "God, cake, amen!" He almost always volunteers to pray before each meal.  Another funny Drew story, one day he said to me that he wanted "sicken" (chicken) and then said "uh, achually, cake"  That boy loves his cake!  Drew is still napping once a day and some days will ask to go to bed.

Well, it's time to get ready for swim lessons!

I'm alive!

Nice, a year has almost passed without an entry!  I'm great at this.  ;)  I want to blog so badly.   I want to remember the funny, crazy things that happen during our day, but then I forget to do it and a year passes!  So, I'm going to try this again.  Who knows, maybe it will stick this time.

July is here, it's hot and humid!  Not really a surprise for a summer in Richmond.  Zac is in WV for Stony Point's yearly mission trip to help out the people of Fairmont.  I'm home with the little guys and trying to keep busy.  We actually started swim lessons yesterday.  This is Sam's third year doing lessons.  He did a great job.  He is really comfortable in the water and is learning different swim strokes this time around.  Yesterday, he jumped off the diving board and learned scooper arms.   Drew is doing lessons for the first time.  I wasn't sure how he would do with me dropping him off with a stranger yesterday, but he took his teacher's hand and never looked back.  He is really comfortable in the water (we go to the pool a lot) and learned to blow bubbles, humpty dumpty and was floating on his back.  When I went back after his 30 min. lesson, his teacher told me that he is the first 2 year old she has had that didn't cry!  I was so proud of him.  He is a little bit of a momma's boy these days and likes to keep me close by.  So, there we are, a little bit of an update.  I should be back!! :)

Yesterday Z took the youth group to VA Beach. He usually does this once a month during the summer and this year, Sam has been able to go along with him. He has the best time with the "youf group". Digging in the sand, playing in the waves with daddy and special treats make for a great day. Since Sam is with Zac all day, that gives me the chance to have some quality time with Drew. It's amazing how quiet it is when you are down a kid! :) Well, today it was back to normal, mom, sam and drew. After naptime, we headed to the grocery store. Not my favorite thing to do with both boys, but the carts that have the car in the front definately make it doable! After parking the van, I opened both doors and then went around to get Sam out first, then we walked back around to grab Drew. Well, in typical Drew fashion, one shoe was gone, and I couldn't find it anywhere. While I was searching IN the car, I heard Sam say, "mommy look" and he was pointing underneath the car next to us...guess what he found????? Drew's shoe. Someone he managed to take it off and throw it underneath the car beside us while I was getting Sam out of the car. I'm just glad that Sam was there to find it! Well, Z has taken the boys to Target and I am going to have some quiet time! :)

Drew - 18 months

I can't believe my baby is 18 months old. It's true that time flies by! There are so many things I could say about Drew. He is one determined (willful) sweet, lovable little boy. He is funny too. Today, I heard him laughing and I turned around to see him pointing at his toy Elmo. He was laughing because he had put his paci in Elmo's mouth and thought it was so funny...and it really was. He is still lacking in the teeth department. He has two upper molars and his 4 front teeth. Not sure what is taking them so long to come out. He does talk all the time though. He will carry on a whole conversation with me or pretend he is talking on the phone. It's so funny to listen to him. He also says lots of stuff that I can understand...thank you, bye bye, mama, dada, truck, love you, ball and really lots of other stuff. One of the things I love the most about Drew is how much he loves to love on people. He will gladly give me hugs and kisses and loves to be close to Sam and hug on him too. This past week, I picked up Drew from the nursery and the nursery worker told me that Drew gave him two unprompted hugs. He is also my daredevil...always looking for something to climb. He is not afraid of anything. The big slide at the park, the diving board at the pool, it just doesn't phase him. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his silly, fun, lovable personality develop but there are times I wish I could stop time and keep them my little babies forever! I love you Drew!

Making Money

Earlier this afternoon, Zac told Sam he would give him a quarter for every stick he picked up in the front yard. I looked at Z like he was crazy!!! I was thinking maybe a penny, but def. not a quarter!! Well, Sam worked hard and ended up with 100 sticks. Haha, I think I was right in this little matter, Z probably did too after he paid Sam $25.00. :)

Two Things

Today, while trying to get everything ready to go swimming, I overheard Sam tell Drew, "Drew, mommy can't do everything at once." I think he may have heard that a time or two! ;)

Later in the car, Sam told me that his dream was to fly. He said it out of the blue and so matter of factly...I love that little boy!

Drew

I wanted to do seperate posts on the boys, just so I could write down what they are doing at this point in their lives. I'm starting with Drew because he just turned 15 months old. He is such a happy, loving, energetic, strong willed boy. I think he is the one that I will say one day, it's a good thing I didn't have Drew first or I might not have had any other children. It's not that he is bad or mean spirited, he is just all boy. But no matter how busy he is, he is always willing to stop and give me hugs and kisses! He has a beautiful smile that literally lights up a room. At 15 months, he is:

walking/running all over the place, he has been walking since 12 months

He says, thank you, mama, dada, bye bye, barks when he sees dogs, uh oh, and i'm sure there are some words i am missing.

He signs, please, thank you, all done, eat, more

He is my climber!! On Monday, he climbed on our kitchen table. He can even climb up on our bed. He loves the park and the slides and swinging. He really has no fear. Drew loves his big brother. Every morning he is so excited to see him and hug on him. I have really enjoyed seeing his relationship with Sam grow. They have their moments, but the good one's definantly outweigh the bad ones.

He still just has 3 teeth, although, another top tooth poked through the other day. Seriously, where are his teeth? ;)

I can't believe how blessed I am to have this little guy in my life. I can't imagine a day without him!