Puddle Jumpers

I hope everyone around here had as much fun in the rain yesterday as these crazy children of mine! My first thought when it started to rain was to grab our stuff and head for the house but Cooper LOVES rain and puddles so we stuck it out and I'm so glad we did. They were so cute and happy - amazing that rain and standing water can create so much fun for little boys!


Cooper is the fastest little almost 2 year old around! I think my heart skips a beat every time I see him take off but fortunately the falls are getting more and more scarce as his coordination gets better!
I guess girls like puddles, too!




Can you tell he's having fun?
Cooper had to try laying in the water just like big brother had!
It was fun but sure feels good to be clean, too!

Weekend Reprieve

This past weekend was the long awaited wedding of one of our closest family friends in Charlotte. We didn't think we'd have near as much fun with the boys as we would without so my sweet sister in law Ashley and her boyfriend Andrew were kind enough to keep them for the weekend! I think Carter and Cooper had a blast and apparently Cooper was a big fan of Andrew, which I think is just precious b/c he's not the most social little fella just yet! They did an awesome job and besides Carter "painting" his tackle box with "red paint" (fingernail polish) in our upstairs bathroom and deciding to draw with "impermanent pen" as he calls it (a sharpie) on our coffee table, I don't think he was too much of a pain for them:) We appreciated your help so much guys and will definitely have to repay you sometime soon!

The wedding was lots of fun, especially seeing lots of people I haven't seen for several years and hanging out without children for a little while! The children at the wedding were precious and I "oohed and aahed" quite a bit over them, at which point Jamey was quick to remind me that I had two of those at home...something about seeing them from a distance and not having to actually do all the work involved makes them seem much cuter sometimes! We really did miss the boys but it was nice to just relax and worry about us for a little while! I only took my point and shoot camera and after a few drinks it took me half the night to realize the flash was turned off for most of them so I don't have many pictures to show how much fun we had but I do have a few!

We head to the beach on Saturday for a week and I don't know what to do with myself until then. I anxiously await this time of year so much that I can hardly believe it's almost here! I'm also pretty thrilled that after I work Thursday night I don't have to go back to work until August 8th - oh how I love PTO!

The camera is to your right honey!

My sweet Dad
Attempt #2
The handsome groom, Edward - he's one of my brother's best friends and was our neighbor growing up so pretty much like a brother to me, too!
Mrs. Perry is Ed's mom and he and my mom are also best friends - they really are like family to us and it was so fun to hang out with them!

Run for Nancy Cooper

Today Jamey had to go to Greensboro for Kiwanis officer training (he's the new pres by the way and he didn't even bother to tell me!) so it was just me and the boys to start off our weekend. We had a great, full day that started bright and early at 6:45 for me! We're fortunate enough that Carter and Cooper sleep until 7:30 or 8:00 most morning so the days I see 6:45 aren't numerous!

This time last year one of our neighbors, Nancy Cooper, was murdered by her husband and this morning there was a fun run to honor her and also to raise money for women in situations of domestic violence. I wouldn't say by any means that Nancy and I were best friends but she was a friend nonetheless and someone we saw quite a bit as we both loved to take our kids to the pool and because she lived down the street. She was a natural mom and I think anyone could see that just by watching her interact with children - they flocked to her. I thought participating in this run would be a great thing for us to do with our morning and a way to celebrate her life! I'm so glad we did it and it's something that I think I'll remember for a long time. Carter finished the run out of the stroller and was thrilled to be able to cross the finish line with people cheering for him! The kids were all given medals, too, so they wanted to show them off for the camera! Carter's friend and our neighbor, Keelin, is who he's posing with and they've become quite the buds lately - he's always wanting her to come over and they play great together so she's welcome anytime!

4th of July Weekend

What a fun weekend! My parents came to Cary for the 4th and we had the best time ever! Time always seems to pass quicker on these weekends where I want to spend as much time with them as I can so it flew by but we didn't waste a second. They came Friday afternoon so we showed them the ropes of cornhole and I sadly suffered my first loss! Anyone who knows us knows that competitiveness runs in the family but I'm happy to say there were no fights at all - probably because we're all so bad that there's really nothing to fight over but that's another story!

Saturday we went to the pool so the boys could show off their swimming skills and I must say Carter's "survival swimming" as I like to call it is getting better and better. Cooper does great with the water wings but usually remembers every so often that no one is touching him and reaches out to me for a little reassurance! We took them off of him in our shallow end and he decided to take a visit to the bottom twice! The first time upset him but after that he came up and said, "Yay!"

They took awesome naps after their long swim, which was great because the fireworks are pretty late so bedtime is closer to my bedtime than theirs on July 4th! We cooked out and then loaded up our cooler and chairs to watch the fireworks at Regency Park. For future reference we need to find a better viewing spot next year b/c trees blocked lots of the lower ones but the boys had a great time and didn't know the difference! The people parked next to us had a truck and they let Carter and some other kids get in the back - needless to say, Carter was a big fan of that!

On a random note, Carter has finally decided he's done with Pull-Ups (we decided for him but who cares) and the snazzy, new guitar from Nunu and Pop was a perfect reward! I don't think he's put it down and Cooper got a percussion set so we now have a cute, but quite loud two man band! I'm sad the weekend had to end but happy that July is a fun and busy month for us, with birthdays, a wedding in Charlotte, and our long-awaited week at the beach at the end of the month! We can't wait to see y'all soon and I'll definitely be brushing up on my cornhole skills for the beach! Sorry for the insane amount of pictures but I just don't have very many recent ones of them and had a hard time choosing as usual!


This one has been on my camera for a while but I think he looks just precious!
The Marching Band heading down the street.

Cornhole!
This was Carter's spot for cornhole watching and serenading!
Look at that form:)
Serious face but pretty cute, too!
Swim Carter swim!
Action shot
Carter sure loves Nunu!
Cooper smiling for once in a picture - I promise he does in fact have different facial expressions than blank stares!
Workin' the wings and kicking his little legs.
Snacktime with our buddy Miss Grayson
Not the best but we have so few together!
My little guitarist.
Pop showing him how to hold it.
I LOVE this one and have a very similar one of Mom holding Carter at Gigi's so it's a little bittersweet but definitely a favorite!
My sweet shy boy
Carter definitely likes an audience!
Hey Mr. Tamborine Man play a song for me...

Once again not the best but at least it's a picture of both of them together!

We've definitely gotten our money's worth out of the Gator - it's a neighborhood fave!
Carter couldn't wait for dinner to eat his corn on the "cog" as he calls it!
Dancing to Zac Brown in the parking lot pre-fireworks
Coop likes his owl chair!
What a ham.
Cuties.
So proud to be in a truck bed, as were all the other little boys around!
Fireworks!
How sweet is this?!

Party, Planes and Buddies

Could these two be any cuter? These few pictures are from Caroline Price's 3rd birthday party. I used to work with Caroline's mom and she is now one of my good friends so Carter and Caroline are pals, too!




There is a fun park at the airport that I've just recently discovered so my friend Sarah and I took our kids there one HOT day last week for a little morning playtime! Cooper and Cole had a blast playing in the sand, watching the planes, and then running around and dancing like maniacs! I don't think Cooper would adjust very easily to a new addition at this point by the way - Sarah has a precious 6 month old little fella named Kellen and Cooper wasn't at all interested in me holding him! I act like Cooper being such a "Mama's boy" is a bad thing but I actually love that he wants me to hold him so I don't mean to complain:)

Carter, being the thoughtful little boy that he is, brought me this flower and Cooper and Cole were taking turns smelling it so I could hopefully get cute pictures of them. Cole went first and did what he should've done, put it up to his nose and inhaled but I wasn't fast enough with the camera! Cooper, on the other hand, decided tasting it was a better choice!

I have several of them from behind and I couldn't decide which was my favorite but I think this one is pretty cute!

Have I told you how much this child likes Thomas? Every night when it's time to put on pajamas he makes his little "peep peep" noise to let us know that he wants to wear these! Too bad for us when they're dirty b/c he's not very happy when you pull out pj's that don't have trains. Cooper is also down to 1 nap a day now and it's working out wonderfully so far. He sleeps from 1:30 or 2 until 4:30 or 5 and still wakes up around 8 and is in bed by 9. I know 9 probably seems ridiculously late but it works for us and he doesn't seem to mind staying up late with his big bro too much!

Two of my favorite boys with 2 or their favorite things - "Raff" and Coop's bear.

I was a negligent wife and didn't take any pictures on Father's Day except a few before bedtime. We had a full, but fun day together going to church, the pool, and just hanging out at home. Jamey's present (a cornhole set) is yet to arrive but I'm super excited about it and I hope he is, too! He's such an amazing Daddy and I hope he knows how much he is loved and appreciated by all 3 of us!