Sleep is for the birds

Apparently this was how my children felt last night.  It started with Drew getting up at 3:30 and then several more times after that before I finally got him up and rocked with him at 4:30.  During all of the commotion with Drew, Anna Kate woke up.  Bless her sweet little heart, she laid in her bed for about 30 minutes while I got Drew back to sleep.  But after I got him down, she was ready for her turn.  So I rocked my girl.  For the next 2 hours. This was not for my lack of trying to put her down earlier. She really just wanted to lay and rock with me. So that is what we did.  As I was in there with her, I decided that it wasn't so bad. They are both very sweet and affectionate but they are not necessarily "snugglers" (mainly because this requires staying still).  It was nice to just cuddle with them for a while.  When they were tiny and still sleeping in our room, (they moved to their own room and beds at 5 weeks so this didn't happen for long) I would put them in bed with me after their feeding that occurred about the time John Clay would get up to go to work.  They were so small and sweet. I do miss those times with them.  And I know that as the days go by, those times will happen less and less.
Now, I won't lie to you... it wasn't such rainbows and butterflies this morning when they still got up at 8:00ish but that's okay. I will choose to be thankful that I got to spend some sweet, quality time with each of them and choose to be thankful that I wasn't rocking sick babies. Now, if they pull the same tricks tonight, I may be posting a revision. :) Here's hoping tonight is more restful for us all!

 Hoarding up the drinks.  Mainly because he thinks he may get a rise out of AK.

 Picking and "smelling" the flowers (she really blows on them instead of smelling)

 "Hey Sister!" He is such a happy kid. He smiles that big smile all day.

Just hanging out in the tree house.  Anna Kate's hair is crazy right now.  It is an in-between length and I can't really figure out what to do with it.  She's still cute. And I think Drew is asleep back there.  I know I could have gone to sleep a time or two today.

Where have we been?

I feel like I have been falling behind in my blogging duties the last couple of weeks.  We have been busy, I just am not sure what we have been doing.
Anna Kate and Drew are changing faster than I can keep up. They have each gotten several new teeth over the last couple of weeks.  I am sure they have had a growth spurt.  Luckily for me, it was just in time for season change otherwise, new pants would have been in order for them both. They have started to "chatter" more and will try to repeat words. They also repeat our gestures/mannerisms.  If we whisper, they whisper. If we blow on food because it is hot, they blow on it. They don't miss anything.  One of their favorite toys right now is a set of alphabet books. There are 26 small books for each letter and they love getting them all out (several times a day) and looking at them.  They are able to find several of the specific letter books when we ask them.  They are so smart.  They have started the "dat?" game. They will point at an item and say "dat?" and we have to tell them what it is.  One of Anna Kate's favorites is asking you what everything is on her plate.  Once we have gone through her plate, we go to Drew's (which is the exact same, but that okay).  I love their inquisitiveness and I know they are soaking it all up like a sponge.  I think the harsh reality is starting to slap me in the face set in that they aren't really babies any more.  I still call them "the babies" but they really aren't.  They are little people with an opinion and an imagination, and are becoming more independent every day. 

 I have posted several times about Anna Kate's love for her Crocs.  One night last week Hubert & Katherine kept them so John Clay & I could go out.  Katherine accidentally left her shoes on the railing of her crib when she put her down for bed.  When I went in to check on them after we got home this is what I found.  She put them on herself and on the right feet, might I add.

 I mentioned they like to mimic. Drew loves the vacuum. I hope his love carries through to when he is big enough to run the real vacuum. He has the right "form" and will even move toys out of the way to get in corners.  He has been taking notes!

"Hey, I know you!"  Clean babies after a full day of getting good and dirty outside.

Sunshiney days

Spring Summer has arrived and that means that we have been busy spending lots of time outside. The days have been hot and sunny over the last week. John Clay has started back mowing and Drew, Anna Kate, and I have been taking advantage of the good weather. 
We had our traditional Sunday afternoon at DotDot and Grandaddy's house.  Below are some pictures from our day.

 She may be little but this girl is serious about her snacks!  She is sporting her new hat and of course, her Crocs.

 It was hot Sunday but still not warm enough for swimming.  So we threw these balls in the pool and they thought that was just as great.

 Sweet, sweet little man

 Sweet, sweet baby girl

 Drew loves anything with a motor.  One of his very favorite things is riding on the lawn mower. He insists on helping John Clay unload the mowers every night when he gets home from work.

 Loving the swings. Even Drew! It is crazy to look at the pictures of them in their swings last fall compared to these.  They have grown so much.

 Smelling (and picking) DotDot's flowers.

There is absolutely no question whose child this is.  (Sunglasses, check. Serious face, check. Under Armour shirt, check. Camo short, check. Crocs, check.) Hello, miniature John Clay.

Day of firsts

The weather was picture perfect this weekend! We got to get out and enjoy it on Saturday when we met Aunt Ashley at the park to play.  This was the first time Anna Kate and Drew have ever been to the park to play.  We went a few times last Spring to walk but they were too small to play.  They got to swing, and climb on the jungle gym, and go down the slide.  As much as they love to go outside, I am sure this was just the first of many, many trips to the park.

 Checking out the slide

 Mr. Serious (when he wears his sunglasses, that seems to be his alter-ego)

 We did experience another first while we were at the park.  Drew missed a step on the jungle gym and experienced his first busted chin. :(

 Swings!

 Anna Kate loved to swing last year.  She wasn't so sure about being put into the swing at the park but she quickly remembered how much she loved it.

Yay!  He may love swings after all.  Last year when we would put Drew in the swing at home or at DotDot and Grandaddy's he would get very serious and slump over after a few minutes. We thought he may have been a little motion sick.  Well, I think he has outgrown it because he loved the swings yesterday!

After the park, we went to McAllister's for dinner.  This was also a first for Drew & AK.  It was the first time they have ever actually eaten their meal at a restaurant.  We ordered them a ham & cheese sandwich, apple sauce, and some fruit.  They also had tomato from Aunt Ashley's salad and some of my pickle.  They were.... very messy but were decently well behaved.  By the looks of the floor after they were done, I'm not sure how much they ate but I think they did like it.

 Dinner went pretty well until Anna Kate decided that Drew's dinner looked better than her's.  She was able to wiggle out of her high chair and onto the table before we knew it.  We shouldn't have but we laughed and took a couple of pictures before we made her get down.  We quickly packed up and left after this because things were starting to go a little south and they were getting antsy.

Oh, silly girl.  Her Daddy would have died if he would have been there!

Ingenious

Ingenious: (Adjective)  (of a person) Clever, original, and inventive
I don't think there is any other word to better describe my children.  I watched (and of course, took pictures)  for 20 minutes while they came up with all kinds of clever ways to use some packs of diapers that they found in their closet.

 Drew decided they would make good stepping stools to help him get to the baskets on top of the changing table.

 They had a "pillow fight" with them.

 Drew's (literal) belly laugh.  He clinches his fists, throws his head back, and sticks his belly out and does an evil little giggle. It's hilarious.

 Anna Kate thought the diapers made a good back rest.

 Or perhaps a soft cushion to sit on.

We are working on moving to one nap per day so in order to help keep the peace, we went out to enjoy a little sunshine before lunch.  They had fun but were definitely ready for lunch and a nap.

 This girl would not leave her coat on. She quickly realized I wanted her to wear it and had it half way off every time I turned around.

And Drew you ask....

Apparently he likes his coat.  This is what he did while I made lunch.  He even left his hood on.  Poor little guy was sweating by the time I took it off so he could eat lunch.



In like a lion....

We spent Wednesday evening and the better part of Friday glued to weather alerts and close to our battery powered radio and flashlights.  A couple of strong storms came through Wednesday night and on Friday, they came through one after another all day until late into the night.  We were super lucky and managed to miss the worst parts but there were a few scary moments.  It has been nice that it has been so warm lately (there were several days this week that it got into the 70s) but with that has come these bad storms.  I hope this wasn't any indication of how this Spring will be.  Storms were much less stressful before I had kids. Although, they aren't bothered by any of it.  And since we didn't lose power, they weren't disrupted by our TV being out. They may not watch TV but they insist that it is on at all times.  Anyhow, here's hoping that the old adage is true.... and that since March came in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.
And two totally unrelated pictures......

 Cool kids

Drew and Anna Kate are starting to have more of an opinion about what they are going to wear.  This morning they put together some pretty interesting outfits.  Anna Kate is wearing some of Drew's old PJs from last summer (remember, it has been hot and we don't have Spring/Summer PJs yet), her bathing suit top from last year (that I was a little worried I wouldn't get off of her), her slipper socks, and Crocs.  Drew went for his monkey back pack (it is definitely becoming one his favorites), blue and orange striped socks, and his Crocs.