What we've been up to...

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last... where has the time gone?   Summers fly by at our house, and before I know it, we'll have a new baby in our midst!    

So what have we been up to?  Well, we've had another fun family week at the beach (where we hung out with great friends, too!).  Wilson made a trip to Colorado - the group had a blast.  He hiked and enjoyed some awesome scenery, even a little snow.  The little boys and I enjoyed some time with May-May and Bubby while Dada was gone.  They helped nurse our yucky summer colds (which I'm thrilled to say that we've finally recovered from),  and Andrew enjoyed a few days of VBS with May-May.  He also planned a "water party" that the little boys across the street from May-May joined us for.  We played in the pool, Elmo sprinker, and slip n' slide.  Then Bubby grilled hot dogs for us, and we ate strawberry cupcakes for dessert (that Andrew and I had made).  Andrew LOVES a party!  He's always telling me that someone, i.e. Elmo, Pooh, etc.  is having a birthday and that we should have a party for them. He's a funny boy! :)

Last week, I had a fabulous girls weekend getaway.  Five of us went to The Grand Hotel in Point Clear.  Simply said, I felt so spoiled - no laundry, no cooking/cleaning up the kitchen.  We mostly hung out by the pool all day and even had our lunches brought to us!  I even slept in!  Of course, I missed my boys, but it was a super-relaxing weekend and just what I needed. Thanks to Wilson and May-May and Bubby for watching the boys so I could have a break!  And thanks to my sweet girlfriends for a great trip!

This week we've had a great time playing with friends and staying cool in the water.  We've been to the zoo, the Natural Science Museum, played in the fountains at the Renaissance, and ran thru the sprinklers with our neighbors. It's been a full week but a lot of fun!

We've been working hard on potty-training with Andrew.  We've had 3 consecutive days of big boy underwear with no accidents (including trips to the grocery, friends' houses, and the museum!) so I'm praying we're there!  I'm so proud of him!!  Andrew's been keeping me entertained by all of his talking and singing - which I love!  Most of his favorites are praise and sunday school songs, but it's not surprising to hear him creating his own song about what he's doing at the moment.  He's really interested in painting right now and created quite a masterpiece the other day (in mama's eyes, anyway!).  He's also mastered riding the tricycle and is loving any time we spend in the water.  He's really becoming such a big boy.

Forrest is busy-busy trying to do everything Andrew does.  The crazy thing is that he really keeps up with Andrew pretty well.  He's walking great and is such a climber!  He has no fear and will try anything he sees his big brother doing.  One of my favorite of his new tricks is his rooster noise.  He loves The Big Red Barn and begins "cock-a-doodle-dooing" at the beginning of the book and continues til we reach the page with the rooster.  So cute!  He loves giving hugs and kisses and has even begun making a sweet sound when he kisses us.  He still loves his paci and blankie for naps and bedtime which remind me that he's still my baby boy.

Speaking of baby,  Baby #3 is doing great!   I'm 30 weeks, and we had a sonogram Thursday.  The baby seems to be right on track with the growth of his/her big brothers.  The baby's belly and head measurements put the baby's age about 2 weeks ahead and the approximated weight was 4 pounds, 2 ounces (I think around 3 pounds is avg for 30 weeks).  We're guessing that this one will be another 8 pounder.  I still think we are having another boy, but Wilson and Andrew still say girl!  We're excited to see come August!

I am a little low on new pictures lately.  But, we always take plenty while we are the beach!  Here are a few from our Memorial Beach Trip...

Forrest really took off walking over this trip.  He was on the go all over the beach!

What better place to stay up past your bedtime and eat a fudge pop than at the beach!  Can you tell he loved it?!?

These boys LOVE the water!

We played with Luke Humphreys (and Matt and Katie, too) a couple of days while we were there.  Andrew and Luke are big buds and have such fun together!  Here they are making "fish faces".

This picture was taken right when we first arrived.  The boys were so excited to be there and climbed and played in the sand until we made them go up for dinner!

Hopefully my next post will be a bit more timely! :)

April Beach Trip

When Wilson planned to go to a conference in Chicago during April, I talked my parents into a beach trip with me and the boys. :)   We had a great time, and Andrew is ready to go back!!

I'm so excited that they love the beach like I do. It's a lot of fun to be able to take them to the "cottage", where I grew up going to the beach.  Andrew is a true fan already and Forrest had a great time, too.

The boys had the most fun playing in the sand.  Digging and building sand castles kept them entertained for hours!

Bubbles on the deck with Bubby were lots of fun, too!

May-May made the boys a special snack one afternoon.  Andrew told her he wanted "something" for a snack.  She called us in a little bit later to cut fruit and pound cake to dip in chocolate and freshly whipped cream - yum!!  May-May can always make things special and Andrew knows it!

Playing under the cottage with this sand and water wheel was a big hit.

Relaxing on the swing with Forrest

Building a sand castle

What fun! I agree with Andrew, and in his words... "Can we go to the beach today? I excited!!"

1 year portraits

We love Allison Muirhead Photography! Allison has done wonders at capturing both Andrew and Forrest. These are a couple of photos that I copied from her blog of Forrest's 1 year portraits.

Allison's blog address is http://www.allimphoto.typepad.com/

Forrest's 1st Haircut

All of the Shirley boys had their hair cut in the middle of April. It was Forrest's first, and he did great! He was definitely looking a bit shaggy, and I wanted to have his hair trimmed for his 1 year portraits. You know this is one of those moments that has to be remembered! Here are few pictures from the day.

Before...

Brandy does a great job cutting all of my boys' hair!

After... Handsome and happy at home in fresh clothes! :)

Walkin' and Talkin'

I've been meaning to post about Forrest's walking for about a week now. When we were at the beach in April, he began taking more steps together than he had been up to that point. It's taken him a couple of weeks to decide he really thought it was worth it to walk. :) After all, crawling was still a much faster way to keep up with big brother! But, in the past week or so, he's been walking a lot more! And in the past couple of days, walking has become his main mode of movement! He's a big boy!!

This is a picture of Forrest walking at the beach. He looks like he's working hard!



Forrest is quite the talker, too. He imitates so many words and seems to be so much more verbal than Andrew was at this age. For my own records, I wanted a list of all of his words...

asi (paci), ba-ba (bottle), owside (outside), Ola (Magnoila), Daiz (Daisy), Mama, Dada, Bubba (Bubby), cookie, cracker, ball, iss (this), cup, oose (juice), mas (Thomas the Train), car, bye-bye, ook (book), aura (Laura) :), diaper, choo-choo, quack-quack (duck), uh-oh

These he says on his own, but many times he'll imitate the words we say... like wagon, tractor, and thirsty. So cute! He loves making noises with his mouth, too. I have joked that maybe he's been so busy trying to talk and that's what has kept him from walking any sooner! He's walkin' and talkin' now though!

Forrest is still a big boy! At his 1 year check-up he was in the 80% for height and above 100% in weight. As I've said before... he loves to eat!

Blessed

How thankful I am for these BLESSINGS in my life!  I love them so much, and they truly make every day a special day.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  

Psalm 127:3

Little fish

Andrew took his first swimming lessons this spring at Maley's.  He LOVED it!!  We were so pleased with the lessons and of course very proud of our little fish!  Wilson snuck in and took some pictures at one of the last lessons...

Andrew loved the big slide!

Andrew's swimming buddies - Will, Andrew, Taylor, and Banks  

What a fun group!

Better late then never, right?

Here are a few Easter pictures. We had a great Easter weekend. It was especially busy with Forrest's birthday party, but the boys enjoyed dyeing eggs, hunting eggs, opening Easter goodies, and spending time with family. And most importantly, we celebrated our Risen Savior!

The first pictures were taken after church on Easter morning. The very last picture is of the boys waiting to see what the Easter bunny left them in their baskets.

the Flip

So Wilson loves technology and he is always looking for the latest and greatest way to record, share, and store family memories ... so we bought a Flip and we love it.  It is a hand-held camcorder that is as simple to use as an iPod.  Our version, the Flip minoHD, shoots in high definition and is lots of fun to use.  Here are a few of our first videos of the boys.  

Easter Egg Dyeing

I'm slowly, but surely playing catch-up on all of our photos.  

I must say that Easter egg dyeing with Andrew went much better this year. :)  I'm sure it was mostly due to his age, but I was also smart enough this year to set it all up outside on the patio.  This made everything much more relaxed and fun. Oh, and did I mention that Wilson was home and kept Forrest occupied?  That was big help, too!

He had a great time dropping the eggs in the dye and retrieving them later to see their colors.  I think he would have dyed dozens if I had let him. :)

Before...

Dyeing...

All done!

Showing off his eggs!

The boys had a fun time playing on the slide, too.  Forrest loves climbing up the steps and then sliding down.  He and Andrew took turns sliding while I got dinner ready.  Our sweet neighbor, Caroline, came over to play.  She even hid eggs for Andrew to hunt which he loved!

Forrest's Party

Forrest's birthday party was wonderful.  It was a beautiful day, our family was here with us, and we just relaxed and enjoyed the time together celebrating our big boy.  The birthday boy had a little bit of a cold and wasn't at his best, but we kept most of the party outside which he loved.

The party was the Saturday before Easter so we had an Easter theme.  His invitation was a blue-gingham bunny and began with "Some bunny special is turning one..." We had an Easter egg hunt before we ate and Andrew had lots of fun!  I took so many pictures and have posted a lot, I know!  I just wanted to go thru the party with the pictures.

The Birthday Boy

Pictures with both sets of grandparents.  Andrew and Forrest LOVE  Ganny & Papaw and May-May & Bubby so, so much!

Family Love

Andrew hunting eggs with Izzy

The desserts - Forrest's cake in the center & bunny cupcake for everyone else!

A little bunny garland that I made with pictures of Forrest.  It started with the day he was born, there was a picture from each month, and it ended with a picture from his real birthday.  I loved seeing how he grew and changed.  This is still hanging - I just hate to take it down!

The birthday boy's lunch. We ate finger sandwiches cut out from springtime cookie cutters, Cheeto carrots, fresh fruit, chicken salad, and pimento cheese with crackers.

Andrew swinging with Papaw

Forrest sliding with Bubby

Andrew helping Forrest blow out his birthday candle.

Check out the birthday boy's face.  Once again, he did not like his cake!  He asked me instead for a cracker!

A sweet brother moment

Ganny and Papaw gave Forrest a new big boy chair!

Forrest loves his new play kitchen, too!  Thanks May-May and Bubby!

It was a wonderful day with precious memories with our family!