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Project 52; Water Play (c,k,g)

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

We didn't have anything big planned for our long weekend. I started out feeling a bit nostalgic... Last year my dad & Marie were here, we played at the beach & took the boys to the pool & went to the zoo. It was a great weekend & I'm glad I have good memories like that of my dad. The busy-ness that was our weekend eventually took over & a great weekend ensued...

Friday evening we found ourselves with an important appointment in Jacksonville on Saturday, we couldn't take the boys so quickly called my sister to see if they had plans, they didn't & agreed to watch the boys for us. We have left the boys a couple times but usually after they were already in bed asleep at night or during a nap, we have never taken them someplace else & dropped them off. We really didn't have time to dwell on it & just did it.

We arrived at my sisters & her & my brother run law had their bounce house set up outside for the boys & my nephew to play in. We waited until they were playing & slipped out one at a time. They never even noticed. They had a great time playing with their cousins, first in the bounce house, then playing in the water. They cleaned up in the shower & ate a good lunch for Aunt Autumn & Uncle Steven, they even went right down for a nap & slept for 2 hours. aunt Autumn said they were very well behaved. Kellan got a little emotional every once in a while but an extra hug from Uncle Steven made everything ok again. I am so happy that they did so well!!!

Caden / Garren, playing in the bounce house

Garren, Kellan, Chandler & Caden

5 kids, 3 & under! / The boys, C, K, G.

Garren & Chandler taking a drink break

Chandler, Kellan, Garren / Nadia / Caden

Caden, Garren & Kellan

Donna & I were able to make it to our appointment & even have a nice lunch out afterwards with no kids!!! 

Sunday we went to my mom & bonus dads for a cookout. The weather was questionable, thundering all day with dark clouds rolling in & out. The boys got in some tractor rides with Papa before we headed inside. We ate & since it wasn't raining... yet... We let the boys play in the kiddie pool for a little bit before the thunder started up again. 

Caden & Papa

Kellan & Papa

Garren & Papa

K, G, C

Monday, Memorial Day is a pretty emotional day for much of my family. My cousin was killed in action in Afghanistan almost 3 years ago, so we remembered him & all the other service men & women who had given their lives.

Friends & Family Weekend

We headed back down to Marie, my bonus mom's last Wednesday. Donnas parents were getting ready to head to NY for the summer & some very special friends were celebrating their 3rd birthday. We planned a few days so that we could see Donna's parents one last time before they left, spend some time with Marie & celebrate with our friends.

Fun in the sprinkler at Grandma & Grandpa Tilyou's

Mom Mom showing the boys how its done, lol...

Garren loving it!

Caden too!

Kellan preferred to help wash the love bugs off the van

We spent Thursday & Friday visiting Donna's parents & spending time with Marie. Saturday we headed down to Tampa to celebrate my friend Jennifer's triplets birthday. They are just 2.5 weeks younger than the boys, Jennifer & I have been friends since we were pregnant. The party was a lot of fun! It was at an indoor play place, the kids all just ran & played & the adults could just sit & watch without fear that someone would break something (like in someones home) or that one would get away, lol... 

It was great to see Jennifer & her family in person again, we talk/text everyday so it's nice to have some face time every once in a while.

SO much fun to be had!!!

Garren with some trains

Kellan & Caden driving cars

Attempting a group shot of all the kids at the birthday party

Kellan (he always eats his pizza backwards) Caden & Garren

The Birthday Trio, Marissa, Makayla & Jack (I hope I got the girls right???)

TWO sets of Triplets at one table :)

The boys went to sleep late every night that we were there even when we got them in bed on time, they fought going to sleep until 10 each night but of course they were up bright & early each morning & extra early on Sunday! Since Donna knew she'd be exhausted by the afternoon we decided to go ahead & pack up to head home after breakfast. 

Donna's parents arrived safely in NY Sunday afternoon. We usually plan a trip up mid-summer so we should see them in just a couple months.

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Project 52; Birthday Party Eats! (K,C,G)

19/52

Project 52; First Beach Day of the Season! (C,K,G)

We tried a new spot that we won't go to again, the sand was yucky & there were A LOT of jelly fish :P

So we will stick to our previously discovered favorite spots that include tide pools (because I am a lot more comfortable with boys in tide pools than I am with them in the open ocean right now) :)

Mother's Day Weekend

The week of Mother's Day is a busy one for Donna at work, so much so that they actually deliver packages (flowers) on Sunday/Mother's Day. So Donna had to work both Saturday & Sunday since it was a holiday & she had couriers out on a day they normally wouldn't be.

Despite Donna having to work, we had a great Mother's Day. 

Donna, myself & the boys had a nice lunch out on Saturday & Donna surprised me with a necklace.

My dad gave me a charm for my pandora bracelet for my birthday last year, I'd been wanting to get a necklace for a while to wear the charm on. I had necklaces but none sturdy enough for a heavier charm or that would stand up to a tug by one of the boys. The necklace Donna gave me is a very sturdy & very childproof necklace, now I can have a piece of my dad with me always.

I also LOVE the surprise behind the necklace & that Donna thought of it herself & I didn't say "this is what I want" & know what it was while opening it. Not that there is anything wrong with those gifts either, I just love the thoughtfulness behind the necklace. 

We spent Sunday evening with my mom & bonus dad who came to our place for dinner, well actually breakfast but at dinner time. Donna requested breakfast for Mother's Day dinner, maybe it was her way of getting a Mother's Day brunch since she had to work that morning. We have a nice visit with my parents & the boys are always excited to see grandma & grandpa!

Hope all of the wonderful moms out there in blog land had a good Mother's Day too!

Picture Day

This year we decided to approach our photo session a little differently. The past couple of sessions we've had Donna & I broke a sweat trying to keep up or catch 3 boys running all over the place. With the help of my good friend & photographer, Kareen we decided on a location that would hold the boys' interest. Since Kareen still lives in our old 'home' town of Mt Dora, just outside Orlando she scoped out the scene for us. She found & old train caboose sitting next to the railroad tracks in Mt Dora & I knew it would be the perfect spot to hold our little train lovers attention.

Unfortunately the session did not go off without a hitch. Three hours into our 4 hour drive to Donnas parents that weekend I realized I had forgotten our picture outfits, ALL of them, the boys' Donnas & mine. They were hanging in the doorway of the closet, so they didn't get wrinkled & so I wouldn't forget them but I did :( We looked around a little to see if we could find something quickly that would do, but I spent weeks finding & coordinating non-matching outfits for each of us. My bonus mom, Marie tried to come to the rescue with the clothes she had got the boys for their birthday. After trying to find one more shirt to coordinate with 2 of the shirts she had bought, I realized it wasn't going to work, the train was grey & the shirts were primarily grey. So we decided to just work with the clothes we had brought rather than spend more money & give ourselves a headache.

The other hitch in the plan was that I wanted some photos of the boys with Donnas parents & with Marie. Donnas dad has been having some issues since his bladder cancer surgery that have kept him from straying far from home, so they couldn't make it for pictures. Marie did though & can't wait to see how all the photos turned out. 

Other than that the session was great! The boys played on & around the train for quite some time. We walked around Mt Dora letting the boys play in the fountains we came across & just enjoyed a quiet Sunday morning in the little town we called home for 6 years. It's funny how even quaint little historic towns change so much in just a couple of years.

So here are the sneak peeks Karren shared with us earlier this week. She took over 400 photos & said that most of them turned out well, so she has her work cut out for her narrowing them down & getting them edited. I especially can't wait to see how our family photos turned out & the photos with Grandma! :)

Kellan

Garren

Caden

Silly Goose Kellan

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Project 52; Drinking Strawberry smoothies at the Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach

3 Year Old Check-Up

The boys had their 3 year check-up last week. Over the past year & a half they have really grown to love their doctor & the nurses. When we arrive at the doctors office, they go nuts! They cannot contain their excitement & start bouncing off the walls, or more like the chairs. They run circles in the waiting room & when the reception staff looks, they start showing off in other ways, jumping, singing, dancing. I've honestly never seen them as crazy acting as when we go to the doctor. They don't act that way when we go to the speech therapist office, thankfully! I'd probably lose my mind if they did that every week! Luckily Donna was able to take a little time off work & come to the doctor with us this time & I didn't feel like a crazy woman trying to keep the boys all under control.

Once we are called back they are calmer (sometimes) they hug & kiss their nurse & climb in Dr J's lap & hold her hand. It is quite sweet that they know & love them so much!

Stats from their 3 year check-up are...

Caden; 36lbs (86th%) 40" tall (94th%) & a BMI of 15.8 (44th%)

Kellan; 36lbs (86th%) 39.5" tall (90th%) & a BMI of 16.2 (58th%)

Garren; 30.5lbs (36th%) 38.5" tall (63rd%) & a BMI of 14.9 (14th%)

The boys gained about 5lbs & grown between 4 & 5" each over the past year.

The doctor is happy with each of their sizes, none are under or over weight, just perfectly healthy!

They also had their blood pressure checked this time, I don't remember the exact numbers but they were all good.

The boys are meeting all of their milestones with the exception of a couple language things but that's an issue we are already addressing with speech therapy.

I asked the doctor about Caden & Kellans vision. I've noticed them squinting a lot & holding books close to their faces. She said its completely normal & that kids vision is usually bad in the early years, they don't really check it until age 5 when it should mature & be better. 

I also inquired about their heads. We moved right when they were released from their helmets & never had any follow up or closure really. Dr J is referring us to a specialist in Savannah just to have them checked out & make sure there is nothing else we need to be doing.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Wednesday April 30th was my bonus mom, Marie's birthday. I know for me celebrating the boys' & I birthday without my dad was hard. I knew it would be hard for Marie too so I asked if she had any plans & when she said no I asked if she'd want to drive up to Jacksonville & meet us at the Zoo for the day. I invited my sister too along with Chandler & Nadia (nephew & niece) 

The boys started the day chanting "go see grandma" or memaw as Kellan has been saying. Garren had been asking to go to the zoo since the Sunday before so our timing was good :) I had some errands to run Wednesday morning before we could get on the road. Once we were on the highway Garren kept saying "we're on our way grandma..." 

 A Red Wolf, my dads favorite

We got to the zoo before anyone else so we headed in & Looked around at some of the "Florida Wildlife" since we are from Florida we usually skip that area but it is closest to the entrance so we hung out there.

The boys were excited to see Chandler, Caden was hugging & kissing him, lol...

Chandler, G, C, & K

A few of the boys' favorites

Chandler, Nadia & Aunt Autumn

It wasn't too long before My sister, Autumn arrived with her kiddos & Marie was right behind her. Most of the boys just wanted to go play in the splash area so we visited the animals that were on the way to it & then let the boys SPLASH!!!

Chandler, G & C running through the sprayers

Kellan hung out with the Manatee, another of my dads favorites :)

After the boys splashed for a while we went to have lunch. Autumn picked up a cupcake arrangement for desert & we tried to get the kids to sing Happy Birthday to Grandma.

No picture of grandma, my phone crashed & burned the next day & I lost the few photos I took on my phone instead of with my camera but here's her cake

We walked around visiting more animals after lunch & called it a day about 2:30 when the boys couldn't handle anymore & needed a nap 

Mommys' favorite

These cheetah cubs were tiny when we were here just a few weeks ago.

 All the boys love to see the train go by all over the zoo.

Grandma said she had a good day & we all had a great time seeing & playing with her!