8 Months Old

I am so embarassed that I am just now posting pictures of the babies at 8 months. While the date on this post will tell you that I wrote it on 9/30, I didn't in fact complete it until 10/28. What a terrible record keeper/mommy/blogger I am :). Due to the fact that Lucy and Reid are over 9 months as I write, I don't remember exactly what they were doing at 8 months. I know Reid was very mobile and pulling up on things and Lucy had just started inch-worming around. I did take pictures on or around their 8-month-day, so I'll just post those. ENJOY my precious little ones!

REID

LUCY

LUCY and REID

Ready for a bike ride!

All Three

Picnic at the park after a long jeep ride

Jeep Fun!!!

Oooops!

Hampton came in this morning from driving his jeep in the backyard and announced, "I don't have a surprise for you, Mom." My immediate response was, "Oh no, Hampton did you have an accident?" He quickly replied, "No!" Then asked with complete surprise and disappointment, "Do I have poop in my pants?" Thankfully when I checked, the coast was clear, so he changed his announcement to, "I don't have a surprise for you outside." Ben and I quickly looked out the kitchen window to see this...

Aparently, the fence was in the middle of Hampton's road. Ben spent a good chunk of our Saturday morning mending the fence. Truthfully, it is much better off now! We're learning what it means to be a safe driver :). Later this afternoon, he had his jeep privileges taken away for being a reckless driver. Like I said, he is learning...

PooPoo Party!

Hampton has been working very hard to poop in the big potty (and not his pants) in order to fill his sticker chart to earn this super cool, rough, tough Arctic Cat Jeep. We have looked online at this jeep many, many times. We have made up stories about the adventures we will take in our jeep. We have talked about what we're going to load in the cargo bed with the shovel on the hood. We look at the picture on the fridge and count how many stickers we have and how many more stickers we need before we can go to "the jeep store" to get our jeep. He is very, very excited and really quite motivated :). Well, yesterday was the big day. He earned his final sticker! We were all so, so excited and we celebrated with a PooPoo Party. After Hampton accomplished his goal, we called Daddy who was super encouraging and proud. I called the local ToysRUs to make sure they had the jeep. Thankfully they had one in stock (that would have been tough to explain why we had to wait for one to be shipped), but it was red. I was a little worried my detail oriented child would be disappointed it wasn't exactly like the one we had picked out, but thankfully his favorite color is red. As soon as Daddy got home from work, we went to Chick-fil-a for family night (free kids meals, kid's crafts and Hampton's favorite, helium balloons). We enjoyed our meal and Hampton made the choice to trade his toy for an ice cream cone. He liked about 4 bites of the ice cream and like usual asked one of us to eat it down to the cone. That's his favorite part. After dinner we drove to "the jeep store." He was giddy! And a apparently a little clumsy:)

We had to "put the jeep together" (a 10 minute job that they wanted to charge us $25 to do) when we got home and then charge the battery for EIGHTEEN HOURS. Thankfully it was dark outside, so we were able to convince H that he needed to wait anyway. After school today he was more than excited to get home and drive his jeep. It is so much fun as a parent to see such excitement in your child...even if it was rediculously expensive (we will be having a small Christmas this year:)). He drove the jeep from the time we got home until we made him come in for dinner and then until it was dark. I am so thankful Ben works so hard and the Lord has provided in such a way that we were able to do this for Hampton.

As a side note, the jeep is major currency in our house. If Hampton has an accident, he has to take a sticker off of his chart. If his chart isn't full, he can't use his jeep...this means until he goes again in the potty, he's out of luck :(. He is doing remarkably well so far!!! We are all so proud.

Refreshment

This past weekend I was able to spend some quality girl time with my favorite girls from Dallas. We met at my parent's and soaked up every minute away. We enjoyed a home cooked meal (thanks Mom!!!), dinner out, lots of talking, playing games, staying up late and sleeping in late too, sharing wedding stories, pictures and videos (I even tried on my wedding dress), and even some make-you-sore exercise. It was such a refreshing time, although I did come back very tired :). We missed Jamie terribly, but hope to all get together sometime soon. THANK YOU BEN FOR MAKING THIS WEEKEND POSSIBLE BY KEEPING OUR PRECIOUS KIDDOS. YOU ARE THE VERY BEST!!!

Words cannot express how thankful I am for these friends! When we lived in Texas, I knew they were special friends that I loved spending time with, but it wasn't until we moved away that I realized what an unbelievable blessing they were to me and my family. We were intentional to sharpen each other to become more Godly women, more loving wives and better mommies. As I look back on my time with them, I am amazed at how successfully we did in fact sharpen each other. I need these women in my life! I realize that these relationships were built over 3+ years and that I must be patient in developing them here, but I am in need of authentic, sharpening friendships.

Thank you girls for loving me through my faults and for taking time to meet me in Oklahoma! You are the best friends I could ever hope for.

After a relaxing, adult weekend, I came home to 3 wonderful children and a gracious husband. It was great to get away, but great to get home! While I was gone, Lucy decided she would try to start keeping up with Reid.

Things Are About to Be Extra Fun!

So proud and excited!

I love this face...it's so Reid!
Perfectly content to watch Reid through the bars of her crib.