The Hayesers Game!

It might have taken a couple of months, but Jack has really gotten into this big brother thing. He spends a lot of his time teaching Hayes about cars and reminding him that it's just a pretend dinosaur on the t.v. He has learned that Hayes is too little to wrestle yet, although I sometimes catch him sizing him up in eager anticipation of wrestling matches to come. Jack has a great ear for his little brothers cry and will say "Mom, it's Hayesers...let's fetch him up!" He then runs as fast as he can into his room, karate chopping his door, never missing a beat as he rushes to greet him. He has also become very protective of his little brother...when I pretend to offer Hayes some of his teddy grammies, he is extremely quick to remind me that he is just a baby and can only have a bottle and pacifier. : )

Now don't get me wrong...this love fest is definitely not one sided. Hayes is equally enamored with his older brother. He is always curious about what Jack is up to and loves to watch him run from one end of the room to the other. He has offered up one of his biggest giggles ever when Jack caught his basketball the other night. As soon as he sees Jack coming, he always just begins blinking like crazy because he knows things are about to get real exciting. I know as soon as he is up and running, he will be right on the heals of his super cool, older brother. Below is a pic of Jack's latest pastime that he has affectionately termed "The Hayesers Game". He lies down on his back and then Hayes lies down on Jack's belly. Pretty simple...but smiles and laughter are had by all, every single time!

My Cuties!

Well, we didn't exactly have a "blogable" weekend, but since I absolutely hate to go a week without blogging (haha, but not really) I decided that now would be a good time to share some of my favorite pics that have kind of fallen through the cracks. Hope you enjoy my cuties too!

Love, love, love!

Valentine's Day sure is fun when you're the only girl in a household of boys!! Not only did I get a new outfit, flowers, and some bubble bath from my sweet husband BUT both boys took a two and a half hour nap today at the EXACT same time. Talk about a great and much needed present! So thanks so much for such a great day, my so very lovable Valentines! Here are some pics from a little Valentine photo shoot we had a few weeks ago. We were trying to capture the perfect picture to use for Jason's card. Not sure that we got the perfect pic, but we sure had fun eating up all the props!

Parkin it Up!

So what do you do on an extremely windy, but absolutely gorgeous weekend in Houston? You head to the park, of course! We spent two full days enjoying the great outdoors and now are even more anxious for Springtime. Let's just hope all of those groundhogs were wrong this year!

Jack called this his "nice and comfy" swing

Hayes was a big fan of the picnic blanket

Jack and Gigi hanging out on the train...Jack admitted that he was a little nervous.

No more nerves...just a million "all aboards" from now until the end of the ride

My other little cuddly conductor

Of course, you have to have a group pic by the duck pond

Who needs a fishing pole when you have a fishing stick?

Totally Gigi and Jack's MO...eating all of the duck's crackers when they are supposed to be feeding them.

The ducks weren't too hungry which was just fine by Jack

Off to the next adventure...

I guess a little bit of kayaking with Grandad would be adventurous enough

Jason's turn to get in on the kayaking action

Yes, the dock is as unstable and crooked as it looks

Jack figured that if he can kayak then he can definitely climb a tree!

Sweet Hayesebear in his way too big hat

And sweet Jackie B in his way too big glasses!

The Skittle Stupor!

Jack has been doing a great job at swim lessons over the past month. He kicks like a champ, jumps in like a stud, and blows bubbles like a pro! His swim coach says that he is mastering all of the appropriate skills right on time. However despite all of his praise, there has been one glaring red mark on Jack's report card. He refuses, I mean refuses, to get on his back. Coach Brett has tried everything...bribery, trickery, good old fashioned pleading but Jack refuses to be swayed by any of it. Don't get me wrong, Jack is definitely not above bribery in most instances. His coach has been giving Jack a few skittles here and there as a reward for trying something new and for the most part Jack is happy to comply. Nine times out of ten, Jack pumped up and on an extreme sugar high comes bounding out of his lesson saying "I'm awesome" over and over again. Well...last week Coach Brett decided to up the skittle anty and offer Jack as many as he could to get him to float on his back. And guess what? It worked! We were all thrilled about this new accomplishment, but amidst the celebration we soon realized that all of these "rewards" seemed to throw the boy into a slight stupor. There was no jumping around, no exclamations of "I'm awesome", nothing...just a blank stare into the dark candy abyss.

A Year and Counting!

We just celebrated the year anniversary of our "mini mom's night out" group! A small group of us get together and go out to dinner all by our lonesomes...no kids or husbands in sight. And even though we spend most of the evening talking about our kids and husbands, it has been so nice to have some much needed girl time especially with women who are going through so much of the same things as I am. Did I just call myself and my friends women? Weird. Anyways, they have been so sweet and such a support to me that it is really hard to believe we have been friends for such a short time. They have helped me in so many obvious ways...making dinners for us after Hayes was born, sending me flowers after a tough day, watching Jack when I was sick...but even more than that they are always there to talk or just lend an ear. When Jason and I first talked about moving out to the burbs, one of my main reasons to hurry up and get here was because I wanted our kids to have best friends that they've known since they were babies. I had no idea that I would be so lucky to build such lasting friendships in the process. So here's to another year of our little bitty mom's group, expanding belly's and all!