Friends from Columbus

Earlier this week my friend Leanna and her two boys came down for a visit. Her oldest, Max, and James are almost exactly the same age (Max is just over a month older) and they play so well together. Every time they get together they play and play until they drop. We tried to have them have a "sleepover" this time, but they ended up playing in James' room for two hours before Max finally moved down into our guest room with Leanna. They had a good two hours though!



 

We went to The Lazy 5 Farm with them - and since we went in the middle of the week right when school started back up, we almost had the wagon ride to ourselves. There was lots of feed for us to give the animals and they boys had a great time. All the animals were super friendly as always and I think James and Max even got licked a few times!



 

It was a wonderful 4 days with them here - our house is way too quiet now without two extra little feet running around!



Video dump

These first two videos of Madeleine walking from last week. She took her first steps the last week of July and now she is full on walking. It is amazing how different she is from James. James tried to walk much earlier but it took him almost two months to actually master walking around, and a lot of bumps and bruises. She went slowly, learning how to stand and balance before she took her first step. And not even two weeks later (and no bumps or bruises!), she is doing laps around the house.

 

We took several videos from the Lazy 5 Farm last weekend, but they all turned out like this - we got about 5 seconds of James before we had to help because animals were coming to take his bucket!! We will be better prepared next time, because watching James with some of the animals is the funniest thing we have ever seen. He loved watching the ostriches pecking out of the buckets - so that's why I picked this short one to post. It was probably his favorite. Sorry for the camera angle switch! I blame John ;)

Madeleine loves this little stuffed bunny, she will bring it over to you wanting you to tickle her with it. Don't babies have the best giggles?

Lazy 5 Farm

Last weekend when Will was here, we went to the Lazy 5 Farm. We haven't been here since we moved down to Charlotte and James was about 18 months. It was a total different experience for him - I don't think I have heard him laugh this much over one thing. We will definitely not wait as long before we go again.



Photot Dump

Here a bunch of photos from my phone over the past month or so. Some are even before we shaved James' hair - and makes me miss his hair) and before Madeleine started walking like a pro (I will post a video later of when she was still toddling around)... I don't know what I would do without my phone to capture all these quick sweet moments.

 



 

This is Madeleine with her bff Sydney. They are the cutest pair of girls on the street, and play so well together... well when one of them isn't teething.



 

Wishful thinking on John's part - teaching James how to pull weeds.



 

James drew our family! Notice how small his baby sister is? I wish he put this on paper so I could keep it, but a picture will have to do.



 

This is her "camera smile" face...



 

We have had a full house the past two weeks - and it has been wonderful. We have loved all the company and the chaos. First we had my mom and my brother and then John's brother Will came. James and Madeleine have been spoiled and loved on so much this summer that they are going to have a hard time adjusting back to a schedule - but it will be so worth it.



 

James and his Nana and some great one on one time this trip - when Madeleine gets a little older she will be able to play too :)





 

Will is an expert at making the best train tracks, and James took full advantage of his knowledge. As I am typing this, Will just rolled out of bed and James is already dragging him to the train set. When Will flies home today, we are starting out normal routine... wish us luck!

Weekend with Daddy

Last weekend, I went to Kiawah Island with several girlfriends and we all left our kids home with the Dads... I do not really know what happened, but I know when we got home all the kids were exhausted. John did send me a few pictures throughout the weekend to let me know that everyone was still alive. And while I missed them all very much, I was still enjoyed the fact that I could sit on the beach with a mimosa and not have to think about anything else.

James said they went to the park and he got to help Madeleine - which he was very proud of.

She has started taking tentative steps. Watching a baby take those first wobbly steps is one of my favorite moments as a parent. It really is such a huge milestone and turning point.

I am not sure what was going on here, but I got several of these pictures sent to me so obviously her being in the push cart was a common theme this weekend.