"I Love to See the Temple"

Adam loves to sing this song and I finally get to put up some pictures from our temple trip last month. The temple (Columbia, SC) is about 4 1/2 hours away and our ward goes every other month. Thus, we go every other month. We usually go down, do some work, and come back all in the same day. We decided to make it more enjoyable for ourselves this time.

We drove down Friday evening and stayed at a hotel. Adam got to go swimming, so he was happy...even if he did only sleep 30 minutes that day.

Brian woke up early and went to the 7am session while I stayed with the kids. Lucky me, they "slept" until about 8 and then we got dressed and had breakfast. It was wonderful! Then Brian came back, took me to the temple where I did a session, and he played with the boys.

Afterwards we went to EdVenture in Columbia. It's a super cool (kind of expensive) museum full of hands-on exhibits. We were going to go to the zoo, but it was still about 95 degrees. With a threat of rain. So we went to the museum instead. Adam loved it! He even got to milk a cow!! Too bad the cow was out of milk...maybe it needs to drink more water. :)

Adam also got to play doctor (or "Uncle Jon, Richard, or Scott"). He loved playing the life-size operation.

I love this picture because you can see how much Adam loves to ride the tractors.

And just because this post needs a little more Michael...here's the boys ready for church a few weeks ago...they are so handsome!

My Dear Michael...

Today our little Michael is six months old. We don't go to the doctor for two weeks. But as of today, Michael can:

*roll over (just this past week!)

*put Dizzy Gillespie to shame with his lip buzzing (especially when there's a spoon with food going near his mouth)

*scream really loud until I hold him

*laugh and giggle with Adam (and other people too, but he really likes Adam)

*put everything in his mouth

*scoot and turn 180 degrees on both his tummy and his back

*gibber-jabber (it's so cute)

*grab onto Adam's hair when he gets too close and is bothering him

*cuddle with Mommy and Daddy to their hearts content (it's the best feeling)

*grow hair!! (it's finally coming in)

*make anyone smile...his smile is contagious

Michael is such a blessing! I do have to put in a cute moment from Adam tonight. We had the missionaries over for dinner this evening (usually a weekly occurrence) and so I made chicken Alfredo with corn and Parmesan bread with a salad. After the Elders left and Brian dropped Adam off on his way to a home teaching appointment, Adam walked down the hall, stopped to look at me and said, "thanks for making dinner Mommy. Good dinner Mommy." AH!!! My sweet little boy!! I'm glad he's picking things up like this from Brian...I almost started to cry. And that was after a successful trip to the potty. He's growing up! Pictures coming soon...

Camping and Fun Pictures

I couldn't remember if I had posted this picture of Michael or not, but it's so cute I figured it could stand a repost if I had. Thanks to Adam...Michael is a stud.

For the 4th of July we went camping at Roan Mountain. We had a lot of fun! Here are a few pictures of our fun:

Adam "locked" in the tent while Mom fed Michael and Daddy got the fire going.

Daddy and Adam on our hike by the campgrounds. It was really nice up there...we went on Mon/Tues after the big holiday and it wasn't too crowded. They even had a pool and Adam went swimming in a pool for the first time. He was scared at first, but had a blast after a few minutes.

This is what happens when Mom leaves the stroller out after taking a walk around our street...

Michael loves his bouncer and is content to play most of the time. He even loves when Adam gets in his face or bounces him a little in the chair, although Adam gets carried away often.

On Monday I had the lovely experience of calling poison control for the first time. They were really nice. When Adam wouldn't nap and insisted he had to go potty every 3 minutes (I'm not exaggerating) I had had enough...and Michael too, he was starving. The first time, Adam got into the hair conditioner. The second time, conditioner again, although this time it was hidden under the sink. So I put him in his room while I finished feeding Michael. I walk in to find a very naked Adam (thus, no pictures) covered in medicated diaper rash ointment. And he was licking it. "Did you eat any? Did you put any in your mouth?!?!?"

Adam: "Yep. Yummy Mommy!"

Mommy: "aahhhh!!!! Get in the bathtub!!!"

Luckily, the poison control lady (bless her) said just to wash out his mouth, give him some water and don't give him milk for an hour. I'm glad it wasn't worse. I still called Brian and asked him to come home, amid many tears, and fortunately he was already on his way. I know some of you moms are thinking, "oh, honey, that's nothing!" and I know there is more to come...but behold, it starts. Despite it all, I still love my son...I just needed a break, a good cry, and a good rest to remember. I love my children. I'm glad I can laugh about it now.

Aunt Kate's Visit

One of my good friends came out to Tennessee last month and the boys and I took a trip out to Knoxville to see her. We had a blast! I hadn't seen Kate since before Adam was born (WAY too long). We had a ton of fun! So much fun I think it made Brian jealous. We went to the AMSE (American Museum of Science and Energy) in Oak Ridge (one of the labs for the Manhattan project is the best way we can describe it). Adam loved it! Here's some pictures of our adventure there:

Adam trying to solve a brain buster of how to balance 15 nails on the head of one nail.

Oh the joys of air!

Adam thought this was pretty cool...Mom did too.

Adam thought this was cool too until he felt a little shock...and another...and another. He looked at me and said, "hurts?"

And Adam loved turning the wheel to move the "oil rig" to find the oil. He got a little carried away...

We also went and visited the Museum of Appalachia. It was really neat to see some of the history of East Tennessee. Adam really liked seeing all of the animals. There were sheep and chickens and peacocks (and peahens and chicks too). They had some beautiful quilts there as well, sorry I forgot to take pictures of those. They had some really neat instruments there are well (different types of guitars, banjos, ukuleles, etc.) and they had war memorabilia. It was neat for me to see some farm equipment and things. They also had a beautiful garden.

I had never seen peachicks before...this little peahen had 5 and there is a peacock in the background (who was very territorial and wouldn't let the poor lady pass...)

These were some beautiful flowers in bloom while we were there. I think some relative of the hibiscus.

This is the peacock that walked right up to Adam and Michael and I. It walked around us and eventually walked away. It's feathers were just beautiful...even if the birds do seem haughty.

Aunt Kate showing Adam the mail box...the writing inside probably says something along the lines of "do not place any items in the mailbox" along with the history of writing letters back in the day...which led Adam to do this:

We had a lot of fun. Thanks Aunt Kate!! You have to come and visit again!! And I think that the boys and I will have to take Brian to the AMSE so he drool over all the cool exhibits and fun scientific hands-on activities. Maybe Mr. Bond will be there to give another demonstration. :)

He's a Big Boy Now!

Let me first say that we are not yet devoted to potty training Adam. We haven't made the plunge where there is no turning back. We started having him sit on the potty and this last week he actually peed a few times. He earns one M&M for sitting on the potty, two if he goes pee, and three if he goes poo. Well, last night, ladies and gentlemen, he earned THREE M&Ms!!!! Hooray!! Ok, I actually gave him 5 because I was so excited and it was his first time and he actually did both. And at our house, M&Ms are either real M&Ms or chocolate chips, whatever we have in the cupboard, Adam calls it both and is willing to go potty to earn them, for now. I know he's not potty-trained and we have a long way to go, but hey, it's a step! It will be so nice when we only have to buy diapers for one. I love you Adam!