my articulate little men:

BEST Day

Poppy and Grammy were here for the past couple days. My boys adored them right away (and asked about them first thing this morning. They're sure going to miss them!). Yesterday we thought there would be rain and planned an inside activity going to the Science Center in Baltimore.
It was awesome. Cameron apparently has a real love for dinosaurs, or "abetores" as he calls them (Grammy had to figure that one out). He was giddy! It was hilarious. I'll try to get up some videos from the day later. The boys were a little tired, but pretty good all day! Andrew was an angel, and slept in the sling most of the time. I love my little boys!

Cameron checking out an 'abetore' nest.

Next up after dinosaurs were: blue crab, turtles and how cars work-- mild response from the boys. Then we reached the kid room. Holy smokes, this place was great. I think we played at this water table for a full 45 minutes.

Cameron and Poppy fishing

After lunch at the Science Center we took a walk along the harbor and then came upon this gem. Good thing Grammy had suggested bringing an extra set of clothes for the boys! They were so funny running around in there that they drew their own crowd of on-lookers who laughed every time the boys did. So. Much. Fun. I wanted to run in there with them. Next time I'll have to bring Mommy a change of clothes too.

To make the day completely perfect, we stopped for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's before heading home.

Poppy and Andrew

After all the kid fun, the whole lot of us had naps then N and I went out on a date! Awesome. We'll miss you Poppy & Grammy!

weekend recap

Yesterday Grammy & Poppy came to visit! We're excited to spend the day with them today too.

Playing with neighbors (will post more pics from that later). This kid LOVES strawberries.

*caught*! I've determined that Cameron simply cannot stand a tidy house. Anytime I get really going with cleaning the house, as soon as I finish one room and move on to another he steps in to undo my apparent damage.

Ya know.. just chillin' in a shoe basket with his 'waash-wight'. The best $3 toy I've ever bought.

On Saturday we had our front porch railings replaced as they had rotted through and looked disgusting! The boys were thoroughly entertained watching the demolition of the old yuck, and installation of the new beautiful porch. :)

puddle jumper

My big boy!

The other night I was done for the day, so I kept trying to make the kids done too and shove them off to bed. Poor William, it was only 6pm! So I finally decided that what we both needed was to get out of the house tromp in the rain. My flip flops turned out to be not the best 'tromping' shoes, and I slipped and sliced the top of my toe. oops. Time to invest in some snazzy rain boots for myself, maybe, since the boys already have 2 pairs each!

William has been changing and growing up A LOT these past few weeks. His communication and thought processing developments have just been astonishing. Cameron has also been up and coming in his communication too. He's more advanced than William was at his age (probably thanks to William), but it's been helpful for both Cameron and us! Thanks to that improving ability to talk to each other, my two big boys have really become friends lately. A couple mornings ago I woke up my Cameron 'alarm clock' crying for a minute. As I was struggling to pull myself out of bed I heard Cameron's crying stop... then he paused... then he started saying "Wee-yum! Wee-yum?!" Sooo cute. But also so not cute because I didn't want him to wake dear wee-yum up. haha. The questions that William will ask Cameron are so funny. He'll say "Cameron, are you hungry? Are your tired? You want some chicken? Yah.. I'm just cookin' some chicken for dinner." Oh, it makes me laugh. These are the good things about having kids. I just needed to document it, so when I'm in the midst of the not-so-good-things, I'll have a happy thought. :)

When they're next to each other William towers over sweet, monkey Cameron (though in this picture C is slouched a bit too). But I guess when they're standing apart its not as noticeable because I've had two people this week ask me if they're twins!

lookin' good

...though I say so myself. Only a couple more things, and then I'm done. At least now the boys can finally take baths in there again!

Mess- part 1

"MESS!" As Cameron would say.... That my friends, is what I did on my birthday. My dear instigator sister, Charity, was in town and when Nathaniel was at church (I was home w/sick boys), she said to me "let's take down the ugly paneling in the boys bathroom!!" Usually I'd save such manual projects for another day of the week, but since she was there w/the extra hands to contribute, I consented....

Cameron is my ever-ready helper! Unfortunately, at this age, he's usually less of a 'help', but we try to let him, and he's always eager to do whatever momma is doing. *notice the fancy faux-tile walls*

First pieces torn down. "Oh shoot-- it really is glued to the drywall... well... too late now..."

Not long after this, the entire bathroom looked like what you see above the shower. And right about then is when I also had to drive Charity to the train station. How did I let her talk me into this? We obviously SERIOUSLY underestimated the scope of this 'little' project. I kept saying "Nathaniel is gonna KILL me", but I was reassured that since it was my birthday, he couldn't. She was right, though had it been any other day, I'm not so sure. ;)

All the junk scraped off and ready to start rehabilitation of my poor naked walls.

Here is documentation of my progress, thus far (most done after kids are in bed for the night). Still lots to do, but lots has been done.

Medicine cabinet before...

...after.

(walls look different colors where the plaster is still wet)

before

after! This area was last night's accomplishment.

A big thanks to "24" for completely addicting my husband to it's craziness so that he has some entertainment while I putty away. Tonight, the toilet comes out. Then: sanding and puttying behind toilet, sponge-sanding the entire bathroom, touch-ups, taping, painting primer and base color, replace toilet, caulking, replacing tiles that were broken in the "tear up the walls" phase (UGH), replacing mirror and medicine cabinet, then... just sit. and be done. forever. (or until the next ill-timed project I choose..).

How did you do?

1- Cameron

2- Andrew

3- William

4- Andrew

5- William

6- Cameron

Mother's Day

Wonderful friends sent us this onesie when Andrew was born. It was perfect for today, especially.

Saturday is a special day...

...it's the day we get to wake up with Daddy still here!

Mid-laugh, not cry. These boys love playing with their daddy!

good morning kisses

This is how Nathaniel helps with the laundry.

Last week our AC went out.... no more explanation needed.

I adore these boys:

Weekend

Every day for the next weeks is starting to get kind of crazy. This weekend was no exception, but we managed to have lots of fun in there with all the work we needed to do too. Here is a random photo assortment of our comings and goings:

I just wanted to capture this age/phase. Licking catchup off the plate, banged up knees, and just hanging around in diapers (which is what all the boys are doing today-- AC is out).

For William's birthday, his best friend Spencer got him a ticket to Day out with Thomas. The boys were emotional ("My Thomas" "NO! MY Thomas!!"... ALL day...) but still enjoyed it, though William felt a bit gypped to not see James. *sigh*

Lovely friends... I'll miss them!

The future Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. These two can be best friends or best grouches.

Picture from the Temple on Friday night.

Today we're selling my car. We bought this to be my 'mommy car' and indeed it was. We filled the sucker right up with babies! To capacity, in fact. Time to move on, but I'll sure miss it.