Happy 2nd Birthday Brody Lee and Wade Aubrey!!

Wow. I just printed out the entire last year of my little monkey's lives. Wow. Am I ever happy and forever joyous that I documented each and every little detail...memories that have already faded, brought tears streaming down my cheek, as I paused and giggled and pointed and watched in awe as my little babies grew into toddlers. Thank God I recorded it all! Talk about a minute by minute "baby book"! I have had people comment to me on various occasions..."How do you find the time?". Well, I technically DO NOT HAVE THE TIME. Trust me. But I make the time and I am incredibly grateful that I have...

To love a child is something that one cannot comprehend until you are chosen to be a parent.  Before I was a mom, I'd heard of maternal love, that a  mom feels for her babe.  I'd heard of it, but I really had no idea of the significance that it would have on my life.  Happy 2nd birthday to the boys who have changed my everything:





Their birthday cake was actually cupcakes, made to look like a cake...a great idea for outside parties, as we needed no knife to separate the pieces...you just peel apart and away ya go!  The entire party was drenched in sweat after about, oh, maybe 1 minute of stepping out of their air conditioned cars.  Nothing like an outdoor birthday party, in the middle of August, at 3pm, at a park with no pool or place to cool you off.  Ended up being my awesome idea...but trust me, the kiddos had a blast and that is all that counts in the end.



Thank you to all of our family that traveled to celebrate with us and to all of our local family and friends who helped make our party special!

The Tallahassee Harrell's were not able to make the party weekend as a complete family, so we opted on waiting until this past weekend to get together! I think these pictures speak volumes at how much fun the 3 Harrell cousins had together...and let me just say, they are ALL BOY. Tons of rough housing and jumping and trucks and cars...throwing and chasing and splashing and screeching...we had a blast! Grammie even decided to hop on over and partake in the craziness!

One of the highlights from the weekend was jumping off of the fireplace. Over and over and over again!

This video "kind of"depicts the pandemonium that took place on the fireplace, sporting their new boxer briefs, over their diapers, of course:

And Caden fell in love with Miller and Buckley. Since he has been old enough to really understand, he has a small pomeranian named Riley and a new puppy named Britain. I think he loved the fact that Mill and Buck weigh 85lbs and he was able to snuggle up with them. All 3 boys took full advantage of Miller's willingness to just lay there and take it. (Such a lab!) You can definitely tell these 3 cuties share a common gene:

We miss you guys already...when are we going to do it again??

The boys not only celebrated their birthday this month, but also their teacher, Mrs. Kim's birthday! They had a blast making her a card...filling it to the brim with stickers and markers and crayons and colored pencils. Kim let me know that they were thrilled to show her their creation and they were beaming with pride as she opened them up. (Somehow, Playdoh always seems to make its appearance...) Check out how the B-man chooses his left hand more frequently than his right and how Crazy Wade loves to pile and store and hoard everything he can get his little hands on. Oh, and check out the beard Brody plastered his face with!!

And, finally, we capped off our weekend at the Harbor, where we enjoyed loads of rain, fun with friends, balloon sword fighting and eating shrimp at AJ's...a few pics of the big boys before we headed out into the summer rain storm for an afternoon adventure:



Happy Monday to all and to all a good night...................

The W

Ever since his adenoidectomy, Wade has been acting a little off. Whining a lot more, tons and tons of dirty diapers and a general yucky feeling type of attitude. We attributed this to his "new world"...maybe he was reacting to all of the new sounds? Maybe he is frustrated because he cannot say every word perfectly yet? Too much time with his brother? Not enough time with Mommy and Daddy? A combo of everything? Well, we started to become concerned after 5 days of really weird poop, starting last Sunday. There. I said it. The poop has been VERY strange...strange enough that he has not been at school this entire week and his poor little bottom is red and raw and very painful. Here we have our VERY healthy child, only catching the routine cold or bug a couple of times since he has been born, and then bam...a surgery, the stomach bug, weird low grade fevers, a brief episode of turning blue(ended up being nothing...thank God) and now the diarrhea from hell. Poor monkey has had a rough month!

So, back to the poop...we brought him to the Pediatrician on Tuesday to see if there was anything we could do for his raw hiney. It was an unsuccessful visit, as we were sent away with samples of Desitin and told the acidity in the stool changes when toddlers are teething, causing it to burn the bottom...and that he was probably "cutting" his 2 year molars. Well, it is now Thursday and the diarrhea has continued to worsen...and believe me, you are very happy that I am eliminating the yucky details.... I knew they would not be able to do anything at the Pediatricians office, so up to the pediatric ER we went. And boy am I glad we did. Our friend Grady happens to be an ER Doc and was working today, and helped expedite the process a little bit. After some testing and xrays, the end result left us with blood in the stool, most likely caused by a small Upper GI bleed. Come to find out, one of the unlikely complications stemming from an adenoidectomy happens to be a small bleed. Grady is assuming this is what the problem is. We have an appt. with Dr. Boole tomorrow morning (which happens to also be his 2nd birthday!!) to figure out if there is indeed a small bleed, and if there is, hopefully cauterize the darn thing that has been causing us so many problems since the surgery!  We have to get the monkey up and running...their birthday party is on Saturday and it will be a big bummer if he has to still be in pain :(  Please say a prayer that this little kink in the road remains minor and we can put it all behind us!  We are blessed, every second of every single day, that we have happy boys, thriving in all areas of life, and most of all, are healthy and strong.  The man above has big plans for these boys.........!!

A I will leave you with the little man saying hi to his Daddy while waiting in the ER.  I could just eat him up.

heavily worded post!

I have obviously been working on this post for weeks and have not had the chance to finish or send it...so here are my ramblings!

My goodness, is it really the weekend already?  We have been extremely busy these past couple of weeks and the blog has unfortunately come last.  I try to set time aside in the evenings, to upload my pics and videos and jot down all of our little happenings and joys throughout the week, but alas, there have not been enough hours in the day.  Because when I would normally be updating the blog in the late evening hours, the laundry would have already been done (maybe done, but not folded and put away...), dinner already served and dishes cleaned and put away, the babes all bathed and clothes ready for school the next day... Instead, we have chosen to make the most of our long and hot summer nights: enjoying multiple Popsicles on the front porch, sometimes skipping baths and playing in the hose, staying up way past our bedtime to jump on the couch and wrestle in Mommy and Daddy's bed... I find myself staying up into the wee hours, doing that last load of laundry, leaving the dishes for the morning and letting myself go to bed knowing that it can wait until tomorrow.  You see, my priorities are finally where they should be.  These monkeys we have, OUR monkeys, who I cherish with all of my being, are growing up right before my eyes.  Demanding their independence, while I still grasp at the fact that they want to "do it by myself Mommy!"  Everything, from buckling their booster seat at meal times, to putting on their shoes and brushing their teeth has become a reminder that they are growing up.  They have almost been in our lives for 2 whole years.  That is 730 days.  And even after all of those days and hours and minutes that they have filled our lives, I still find myself watching them in complete awe and amazement.  They blow me away. 

Brody is still the more dominant guy...but has a peacefulness to his little heart that shines when it needs to.  His sharing ability has improved significantly over the past month or so and he always requests that whatever he has, that Wade has one too.  He is a smart little squirt, who can read adults better than most...and reacts accordingly.  He just gets it.  He is shy but outgoing.  He never EVER stops talking or asking questions...even talks in his sleep and continues from the minute he opens his eyes to the minute he shuts them at night.  He is tough and rough and is still learning that "hands are not for hitting...or shoving...or pulling".  He is a pistol and will test every rule in his little world.  He wears his emotions on his sleeve,

Wade is still the laid back guy...but is spunky and crazy and is the most kind child I have ever met.  He loves to run everywhere he goes, stopping to give a kiss to whoever is in his path.  He absolutely hates the mornings and will throw a fit if the slightest thing does not go his way.  It takes him about 30 minutes every morning to turn back into sweet wade.  We are noticing that his vocabulary has increased significantly since the surgery!!!  He now asks "What's this?  What's this?" pointing at EVERYTHING!  He already knows what the items/objects are, but I think he wants to hear how they are pronounced, now that he can actually hear!  He has recently become more sensitive and "whiny"...and we are thinking that he is showing frustration when trying to get his point across.  He is speaking a lot clearer, but we can tell that he is becoming frustrated when he can't tell us exactly what he wants.  It is a new (and loud!) world for him and I just hope that his frustrations do not irritate him too badly.  He has probably added about 200-300 new words to his vocabulary since the surgery and he now loves to hear himself talk!!  We are so proud of our little Wade-man...thankful that we caught the problem early enough and that he is catching up so quickly!

The boys have an incredible bond with each other, formed by sharing the womb together, a room together, the same class at school together...sharing each and every experience together!  They are excited to show the other one anything new and they actually touch each other when the other one is not feeling well.  The other day, Wade was not feeling well, and we saw Brody softly stroking his cheek and patting his back.  It is as if he 'just knew' that Wade wasn't feeling well.  It darn near broke our hearts, watching the closeness that they already share.  I hope, more than anything, that they will always remain close and continue to form the relationship that started from conception!!

Since I have been a slacker about taking pics over the past couple of weeks, here are pictures from their teacher Miss Kim at school!  Thank you Miss Kim for all that you do for our kiddos!





The next blog post will include cutie pie videos of the munchkins and pics from their 2nd birthday party!

I was able to "get away from it all" and headed to the GA mountains with the girls. My internal clock was still just a tickin' away, as I woke up every single morning before 7am...even though we stayed up til' the wee morning hours, singing and dancing and relishing in our girl time. Sometimes it is just what a Mama needs...............A few pics from our adventure!

A little slice of our life

A little video to get started!

Update on life since the tubes and removal of the adenoids: Wade bounced back from the anesthesia very quickly and was back to being crazy by the afternoon following the surgery. We have noticed that he is hearing things that he apparently could not hear before. That his speech is coming out clearer. He now says "Brody" instead of "Bro-Bro"...and "Mommy" instead of "Mama"...We also find that he gets frustrated when he cannot tell us what he needs...it is almost as if he is learning to speak all over again. We are taking our time and really trying to pronounce all words clearly, sounding out each syllable, focusing on a couple of words a day. He continues to improve daily and we are incredibly proud of the little squirt!!


And since our life is so crazy and filled to the brim and out of order sometimes, this blog post will be too. It really is all over the place...no rhyme or reason, just stuff. Just a bunch of jumbled things that we have been doing and what the munchkins have been up to!

Doctor's orders require that we try and keep water out of W's ears for about 2 weeks. After that, resume life as normal...thank God because the child will not wear ear plugs. We tried and we were not successful. Dr. Boole did say that if water does get into his ears, it needs to be clean water, meaning coming directly from the shower head or when washing his hair in the bathtub, to run clean water to rinse it. So, we have decided, just to be safe, to give the boys showers instead of baths for the time being. They love to stand with their backs under the running water and tilt their heads back to wash the shampoo out. They also love to watch themselves pee!! It is pretty funny watching these two grow up...all the little things in life that we do, day in and day out, are so new and exciting for them. They literally shriek with enjoyment every time they go pee-pee...it is almost like they are proud that they made the pee and that they have control over getting it out. Cute pics taken after our nightly shower adventure:





and this picture of Wade cracks me up...!

We were plagued with the stomach bug that took over the boys school. Yuck. 3 days of tummy issues, 3 days of no school and 3 days of MAJOR cabin fever(felt and experienced by the entire family). The stomach bug also forced us to cancel the visits from Harrell clan that we had planned for the weekend...better safe than sorry! We were so looking forward to playing with cousin Caden and catching up with Scott and Allie...and Grammie and Pop's were even going to come and stay. Planning our visit for later on in August :(

Wade needed medicated ear drops following his surgery...he tolerated them pretty well, but before putting them in his ears, both B and W felt the need to "make the dogs ears better"...and pretended to put ear drops in Miller and Buck's ears. Too cute.


They experienced the zoo for the first time! Nana and Gator braved the scorching sun and ridiculously humid weather last weekend and went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo. They had a wonderful time, but learned a very important lesson: The zoo is enjoyed much more in the winter months :) They were able t o see birds, llamas, a tiger, giraffes, monkeys, turtles, sheep, goats, etc... The especially loved the petting zoo and Wade said "Hi" and "Bye-Bye" to each animal and every person that walked passed them!! (Thank you Nana for the pics!)




Daddy has been taking them to the baseball and soccer fields to let them run and play in the wide open...They love kicking balls, throwing them around and chasing their Dad. He has even taught them to pick the weed thingies and put them in their mouth, like he used to do as a child. (If you have ever "chewed" on one of those weed thingies...you get it. If not, I tried my best to explain, but I probably failed miserably and you think we let our kids chew on grass...)

They are still pretty fascinated by fish...actually all animals, but we recently put fish up on the wall behind their cribs, which is a huge hit. The Hipsh's also passed down a fish tank toy that plugs into the wall and the fish and turtles and sea life go round and round. The first time we plugged it in, Brody was very perplexed at the contraption and kept asking, "Where are they going?" How do you explain to a 23 month old how something like this works?





Another recent obsession is their teddy bears. Brody has been carrying around his teddy bear with him at all times. Wade, carries as many items as possible (our little hoarder) his sock monkey, his teddy bear, his sippy cup and this little stuffed doggy. They hug them and kiss them and we even put them in some of their smaller t-shirts. We went from saying nite nite to the metal fish on the wall, to cuddling and loving stuffed animals that have been at their disposal for as long as I can remember. They even pretend to give the stuffed animals food and drinks and take them for rides on their mowers. Guess this is what ya' call a boys makeshift stroller?!?!


Our excursions and activities are somewhat limited, due to the "No water in the ears" rule...so, we acted like tourists and took the boys to the kiddie village , right past Big Kahuna's. We had to walk inside the arcade to buy ride tickets and the boys were in complete awe of the arcade. You would have thought they died and went to heaven when Daddy actually put quarters in the games and the games moved and swirved and spun around...



And then there were the outside rides, made especially for toddlers. They rode the electric swing together:


And then, Wade was done. He is not a big fan of carousels, rides that spin or jerk, or go high...that pretty much took care all of the rides left to try:( I too was afraid of roller coasters and spinning rides as a kid. I grew out of it and LOVE rides...the higher and faster and crazier the better! While Wade was content watching his brother, Brody did not waste any time, running up to each ride and basically shoving people out of the way to get on them. He was completely thrilled and loves to go high and fast and spin. We could not get over how brave he was!
Here is is on the spin ride...

And check out how high this airplane ride is! Pretty brave for a 23 month old! Trust me...he was strapped in so tightly that I am surprised he could lift his arms to wave...He is in the red airplane:


And before we left, the boys watched go-carts on their left and bumper boats on their right. They were once again in complete awe!