A few things to remember

If you had to guess, who would you say is the most enthusiastic about having his/her picture taken? After nap.. they got on this little table and sat together. Cute until about 15 minutes later when I saw Rush's chubby little hand make its way around the corner of the kitchen cabinet. He was standing on the table reaching for the candy jar.
All we do is watch TV around this place. Ha!! Just kidding.. they just love uh motes.


I am having such a fun time staying home with the kiddos this summer. In a way, though, it makes me a little sad to think about how much I miss with them when I am at work. They change so much every day. They learn something new every day. They are doing some things right now that I don't want to forget. So, even though we aren't quite to the two year mark yet, I want to remember some things they say and do right now because I know by the time they turn two in August, these things of right now will have moved on to something new.

Phillip Rush:

-Loves his baseball glove (and, oh man, does that make Phil happy!!)Also see picture at end of post. Rush calls the glove a "dosche" (long o). We have no idea why.
-Loves to play.. he can be kind of rough and rambunctious but I think that is how boys are supposed to be.
-Loves to ride "hortie" (this means ride a horse aka someone's knee)
-Very affectionate.. loves to give hugs and kisses (when he is in the mood.. ha!)
-When Frannie cries, he brings her favorite pink "Munny" to her to make her feel better.
-Does not like to have his hair washed or dried with a towel
-Eats a LOT of food. He usually isn't very picky, but he still loves sweet potatoes, grits (that's my good southern boy), yogurt, and bread.
-Can say lots of words, and we are currently working on saying some words together. Last night he said "I hep you" when I was putting his socks on, and he tried to help get the sock on. He also told me they were green, and they were.
-Reads his books upside down
-Loves to spin in circles and make himself dizzy
-Seems pretty fearless and ready to try anything
-Loves his ti-ta. We try to get him to say her name, but he always calls her ti-ta.


Sydney Frances:
-Her speech has really taken off! She is talking all the time. She is a little parrot, too! Anything you say.. she says.
-She loves the pronoun "I". She uses it frequently. As a matter of fact, we get a play by play of all of her activities and opinions all day long. Her current favorites are: I walk, I wun (run), I poo poo, You change, I sit (although it sounds like a word I would prefer not to type), I weed (read), I wide (ride), I out, and my personal favorites I cute and I Fwances (Frances).
-She also famously puts an uh in front of most singular words that she says, for example: uh Wush (Rush), uh Kate, uh brudda (brother), uh bunny, uh chaya (chair), uh pate (plate), etc. On an interesting note, Rush now does this as well. I guess he is picking up his speech habits from his sister. :-)
-Loves french fries
-Loves to dance and will stop by Phil's guitar and say "I dance" and cut a rug without any music at all.
-Loves to have her bow in her hair and will ask for it if she doesn't have one in her hair
-Is a good eater but tends to be on the picky side (sometimes telling her it is a "surprise" and giving it to Rush first works.. but not always)
-Loves to run full speed at her Daddy across the room and let him lift her high into the air
-Also loves to ride "horsie" and is relentless if she wants you to do it again. Just ask Granddaddy, Gigi, and Aunt Julia.


In other summer news, we have been busy doing nothing around here! We are looking forward to a visit from Aunt Ivy and Kate. We will make a trip to see them soon, too. We have to hang out this summer during the week while we can because Aunt Ivy works weekend nights, so that cuts into our "hang out" time during the school year.
We took the babies to Chick-fil-a to eat-in the other night for the first time. They have eaten in restaurants before (although not often), but this was their first time to get a "Kid's Meal". I got two of them but learned a lesson. Rush ate ONLY CHICKEN and Fran ate ONLY FRIES... hence the need for only one meal next time. They don't really get that there is a "prize" every time yet, so we can just pretend like there is only food in the bag. They also drank a juice box of apple juice each. That was a HUGE treat for them because I rarely give them straight juice. It is always pretty watery. Rush kept saying "YUM" and smacking his lips. His little tummy was as tight as a drum when we left from drinking all of that juice. Sydney Frances enjoyed hers, too, but she ate an ENTIRE small waffle fry by herself, so she didn't have much room for juice. That is a lot of fries for such a little girl, but treats every once in a while are fun for everybody.

For those of you with young children who eat on the go, I highly recommend these:

It is a Tiny Diner placemat and you can find them on Amazon or at Babies R' Us. I am sure they are other places, too. We use them EVERY time we go to a restaurant. I love them for many reasons. Reason #1: They are clean. Reason #2: Keeps babies' hands off the nasty fast food restaurant table. Remember I am very anti-germ although having toddlers makes you have relax on that somewhat. Reason #3: No need for plates.. they can eat right off the mat. It has suction cups on the underneath side to hold it to the table, and it has a little "food catcher" that hangs over the edge of the table. I wipe it off with a baby wipe, roll it up, and bring it home to wash with soap and water. Hang them out to dry over night, and back into the diaper bag they go! Simple and very practical. LOVE some Tiny Diner! Thanks, Aunt Julia!!

And finally, our current night night routine includes the following:

All of the above items are placed on the ottomon, covered with two blankets, kissed, and told "night night". Yes, there is a baseball and glove in the picture.