Happy Birthday Nunu!

I really can't believe July is almost over but it has come and gone way too quickly as always. This has been one HOT July so we've spent most of the time inside or at the pool and I'm so thankful to have my mom around as my pool companion and helper, because I couldn't do it without her! She has been such a blessing to us, especially with all that has happened with Jamey's dad. She watched the boys anytime she could so that I was able to be at the hospital with Jamey and we are truly so grateful for all she does for us. I think the Lord absolutely works in mysterious ways and I have no doubt that the timing of my parents move coinciding with Jamey's dad's hospitalization was no coincidence. It was such a relief for me to be able to leave the boys with her as opposed to a babysitter during such a stressful and exhausting time for all of us. We appreciate her more than I can ever fully express but I just hope she knows it! We love you Nunu!

Hudson is without a doubt the happiest little guy around these days and is full of babbles and energy. He rarely cries and has finally decided that naps and bedtime aren't such bad things after all, meaning he now lays down happily without a 15 minute cry! He really likes his solid foods and is becoming less and less interested in milk, which I'm sure is normal, but just makes feeding time less pleasant for me because he's so distracted. I keep telling myself only 3 more months to go but I'm sure as the song says, I'm gonna miss this! I can't remember my last update on him but he now has 6 teeth and has become an expert clapper. Just a glance in his direction is all it takes for him to have the biggest smile and both hands going! He's perfected his crawling to the point of speed crawling and has figured out how to get down from pulling up and how to go from crawling, laying, or standing to sitting. He cruises all over the furniture and coffee table without fear and I think he will be our earliest walker yet but who knows - time will tell I suppose!


Watercolor paints have become a daily source of entertainment around here with the heat keeping us indoors. They love them!




Don't let him fool you, he's bad with a capital B!
If you know Carter and Cooper you can easily see which paint set belongs to each of them!

Parker is one of our best friends from college and the boys think he hung the moon. They all 3 went right to him and couldn't get enough!

We broke out the Fisher Price home and Hudson likes it but I think Cooper may still enjoy it a little more than he's willing to admit!

My mom's birthday was July 26th and it wasn't ridiculously hot so we headed to a park for a little while to get out some energy. Hudson loves the swings as you can see.



Typical Cooper...just another day in paradise!
Batter up! Carter has really come a long way in t-ball and loves batting the most.

Nunu's labor of love birthday cake! I was proud of myself to have the patience without medication to make her birthday cake and icing from scratch with 2 little helpers every step of the way! In all honesty, we really had a good time and the finished product was very yummy - mission accomplished!

The birthday girl with all 3 boys

Candles have to go in just the right spots!





Yay for Nunu! My happy clapper was so sweet the whole time and was quite intrigued by all the chaos. Happy Birthday Nunu - we love you so much and are so happy to have you right here!

RIP Mr. Bass

July has definitely been a memorable month to say the least. Jamey is planning (with lots of encouragement from me!) to do his own blog post soon as a little tribute to his dad so I won't say much.

Sadly, Jamey's dad passed away July 20th after suffering a head injury on July 5th. He spent that entire time in the hospital, mostly in Neuro ICU and Jamey, Ashley, Andrew, and Kathy were by his side throughout it all. I'll let Jamey say more about his dad but I just want to say how proud I am of my husband for all he did for his dad and his family during those awful 2+ weeks. He was at the hospital almost every day and was far and away his dad's biggest advocate. His dad was one incredibly lucky man to have been blessed with Jamey and Ashley as his children. They are two of the nicest, most compassionate and caring people in my life and I know their dad would've been so proud to see how they handled such a difficult situation. I can't come up with many words to describe Mr. Bass that really sum him up but when I try to, what comes to mind is "one of a kind" and I think that probably says it best. He will definitely be missed but as Cooper says, he's now in a far better place helping Mr. Fields take care of Woody and Hallie:).

Happy Birthday Pop!

Sweet Pop had a birthday to celebrate July 8th and we were thrilled to have him over for dinner and cake at his "huge party" as Cooper called it! My parents closed on their house here that morning so they stayed busy all day getting things situated over there and came over that night for the big celebration. Cooper was so excited and thought Pop's big day definitely warranted balloons, streamers, and our birthday sign;).

It was such a treat to be able to celebrate my dad's birthday in person this year rather than through a phone call. We are so blessed and lucky to have them living just down the street and look forward to a lot more family birthday celebrations!

Batter up! Carter had his 1st t-ball game this past Saturday and was super cute as always! His favorite part was batting but mine would be too if the coach stuck me in the outfield for all 4 innings but we won't get into that! He got to bat three times and finished strong with a double and 2 RBIs! He has another game Wednesday so I'm hoping he'll get some more fielding action in then. I know it's just t-ball but I do hope he'll learn a lot and have fun doing it this season.

Happy 4th of July

We made the most of this holiday weekend by packing it with lots of fun at the pool, a festival, and of course fireworks!

Hudson LOVES the pool and acts like he'd love for us to let him go so he could take off.


Snack time at the pool with sharing, what a rarity:).
George had, "sawn us a lot" as I used to say to my grandmother when I was ready to see my parents again and didn't want to get out of the car to come inside our house!

Time for some sparklers! Cooper was scared to death initially but loved them once he figured out they were actually cool!




This is what happens when I get the chance to buy cheap fireworks that I know nothing about at Harris Teeter! These were the nastiest things I've ever seen and looked like snakes when you lit them, or something even more disgusting that I don't really think needs to be shared!





We checked out a 4th of July festival in downtown Apex that was fun but very hot and crowded! They had lots of inflatables for the kids, crafts, carnival games, and of course lots of unhealthy food! I think the boys liked the inflatables and the spin art the most! They end the event with a bike/trike/stroller parade with any kids that wanted to participate and it was so cute - we'll definitely have to do that next year!


Carter needed his turn with the aviators at the pool!
My patriotic baby!




Too cool for school with sparklers now...doesn't even have to pay attention to them!



Cary's fireworks were rained out on the 4th so we had to settle for the TV version but the boys didn't seem to mind! Coop was mesmerized as you can see.

Cary did their fireworks on July 5th so we went to dinner and then hung out in the parking lot so we could see all the action! Don't they look thrilled?! They really did have fun, even if their faces don't indicate that!

Impromptu Fun

Mom and I didn't have any plans last Friday so we just decided to take the boys blueberry picking and check out downtown Apex. What a cute place! It was super hot but they didn't seem to mind and really had fun picking lots and lots of blueberries! They definitely ate their fair share as well as I'm sure most kids do at places like this. We went to lunch at a cute, little place downtown, walked around, got ice cream, and even got to check out a caboose at the Chamber of Commerce! I love days like that where no plans turn into a really fun, memorable day. Hopefully we'll have lots more of those once my parents get settled in here in Cary!