Outside

I've heard lots of mothers say that their children love being outside. This is what happens when I say, "It's time to go inside" and reach for his hand to lead him inside.



I think it's a little much.



She likes being outside too and will chase that tennis ball until she collapses and can't breathe. Then, she comes inside, drinks tons of water, drools all over our floor, and makes me crazy.



Lastly, a picture of a rose in our backyard. It gives me hope that maybe we can keep plants alive.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

He's my child

Trent was very well-behaved during his haircut today, so we stopped by Hardee's for a milkshake on the way home. {Hardee's has fabulous milkshakes!}

I think he might like strawberry milkshakes almost as much as his mama!



Maybe next time I'll order two milkshakes. He literally cried until I gave it back.

**Sorry for the poor picture quality. I took them with my phone while I was driving.

We need a TCBY!

I LOVE TCBY! Why do we not have a TCBY? If I had lots and lots of money, I'd open a TCBY. TCBY's shivers are just like DQ's blizzards but healthier, because they are made with frozen yogurt. My favorite shiver is cheesecake yogurt with strawberries. I had one today in Tuscaloosa, and I would love to have one every day this summer. {I'm pretty sure I have an addictive personality.} I could even use the money I'm saving from not going to Starbucks!

I know you will be shocked to hear that I took lots of pictures last weekend. You will probably be blown away to see that all of my pictures are of the same 16-month old little boy. {Yeah Right!} The sad part is that we went to Birmingham for a beautiful wedding Saturday night, and I helped host a bridal shower for a sweet friend Sunday... and did not take my camera to either event. I plan to do better next time.


We spent lots of time outside Friday night. Mike blew up the baby pool {with an air compressor, and it still took a long time.} Trent and I had a little photo shoot.


"Really mama, the camera again?"


He still only has eight teeth. His hands are in his mouth constantly nowadays, so I expect new ones soon. So far all we've gotten as a result of the hands in his mouth is a cold {not so fun.}


He had his first popsicle Friday night. He was a little unsure about it.


We knew he didn't love it, because he was willing to share it.


He didn't really like holding it.


But it didn't go to waste. Bailey loved it!


We had fun in the pool Saturday morning, but I didn't take many pictures. Direct sunlight is not nice to my camera, and I was so hot that I ended up in the pool with the little man.

Trent is getting his first real haircut tomorrow. It's been a long time coming, and I hope there are no tears:)

The Guys

Remember these shirts? I got them for $5 at a consignment sale.

After dinner tonight, I needed a DQ blizzard. We'd all changed out of our nice/work clothes, so I grabbed Trent's Little Guy t-shirt. Mike thought it would be funny to wear his shirt too. {We were only going through the drive-thru.} Of course I insisted on a quick photo session, which Mike should have known would appear on the blog.


Meet Little guy.


And Big guy.


They have lots of fun together!


Little guy thinks Big guy is hilarious, and Big guy likes to tickle Little guy.


Big guy insisted on taking a picture of me with Little guy. I didn't have a matching shirt, but I can't imagine many people would buy a Big Girl t-shirt!

Time to Trent-proof

Before you start to worry that we have been letting Trent play with medicine and cleaning supplies, we did child-proof the important stuff when he started crawling. Our outlets are covered, and the scary cabinets are kept shut by my reject pony tail holders. However, I never purchased drawer latches. They are now at the top of my shopping list.

You see, this little guy locked himself in our bathroom this weekend.



I guess I can't say locked, since the door was not locked {that would have been easy- we can pick the locks inside our house.} The door was blocked-- by a drawer. Trent walked into our bathroom, shut the door, and opened a drawer that's right in front of the door. I'm pretty sure it happened in a single minute.

I didn't freak out immediately, because he loves opening and closing drawers. I just figured I'd tell him to close the drawer, and he would do it. HA! I could open the door about two inches. I could see him, but my hand couldn't fit through to close the drawer. I tried asking him sweetly to shut/close/push in the drawer. He ignored my requests and pulled a few things out of the drawer. He then walked away, and I yelled sternly told him to shut the drawer. He came back over to the drawer, sat down, and started crying. I called Mike at work. My dad answered, and he asked if I could just break down the door. I wasn't quite that desperate yet; I mean, I could see that he was safe. Mike got on the phone. My practical husband said he would call our neighbor, who was at the front door in the matter of minutes- tools in hand. He inserted one of the tools through the small opening and easily closed the drawer. I was reunited with my scared and stinky {apparently he walked away to do a little business} Super T. Thank goodness we have fabulous and handy neighbors!!

I'm ready to go back...

I will be the first to say that going to the beach with children is totally different than going with adults. But we had so much fun, and I've been thinking about another trip ever since we got home.



Thanks to these sweet people (John/Papa/Dad and Cindy/Mimi/Mom) we enjoyed five days in Destin, FL last week. We like to call it the first annual Reed Family beach trip, but John hasn't confirmed the annual part yet:)



Here's the whole gang. Believe it or not, we asked a random neighbor to take a picture of all of us, and this was the result. I was impressed, since it takes me 200 shots to get a decent one of my child by himself.



Trent acted like the pool was a big bath tub and had lots of fun jumping to mama.



Caroline won the cutest bathing suit contest hands-down.

Hannah was super fun, and there were multiple times during the trip I found myself thinking, "I hope I have a little girl like Hannah one day." She loves lipgloss and all things princess.



Trent didn't take to the beach like he did the pool, but he had fun playing on the blanket with Caroline and eventually ended up splashing in the ocean with Papa.



We went to the Gulfarium one day. Trent had fun watching the dolphins, but he had even more fun clapping just after everyone else finished clapping.



Who would have thought being crammed into an oversized shell would be so fun? This was definitely the cousin "picture of the year."



Here's another one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Believe it or not, Jeffrey, the one on the far right, is Mike's twin brother. While they are both good-looking guys, I don't think they look very much alike.



I was thrilled to get a decent family picture! I'm behind the camera 99% of the time, which is fine with me; but I want Trent to see that I was actually around when he was growing up.

When we got home on Sunday, I saw my Mothers Day present in our backyard. The triangular-shaped yard looks much better with some landscaping. {I don't have a before picture, but there was nothing but grass.}



We've been spending lots of time outside!



Now all we need to do is pull out the swimming pool!

I hope you all had a great Mothers Day! I am blessed with an incredible mom, and I'm fortunate to have so many other fabulous moms as friends and family. Maybe we should all take a beach trip together:)

Happenings around here...

We've I've been busy building block castles.


But then someone always comes along and tears them down. {I'll be honest- it took me a while to be okay with this. The first few times I tried protecting, hiding, or moving my masterpieces. My sweet husband finally told me to get over the demolishment or quit building.}


We've also been learning our body parts. At almost 16 months, Trent can show you his hair, ears, mouth, hands, feet and bellybutton. {The eyes and nose are a little shaky for some reason.} Here's what happens when you ask about his bellybutton.


Much to my dismay, he's decided that riding in the wagon, stroller, buggy, etc. is overrated. He'd rather push it himself. I think he might have control issues:)


What? You don't wear your sunglasses indoors with a stained shirt and no pants?


We pulled out the sidewalk chalk for the first time last weekend.


He was amused for about five minutes.


There's nothing like a touchdown with sidewalk chalk in both hands.


Have you noticed that most of my pictures are taken outside these days? While I know natural light is optimal, we photograph outside because a certain little man LOVES being outside. Not only does he love being outside, but he's taken to throwing fits when it's time to come inside. He's also decided that diaper changes are my way of torturing him, and he screams like he's stepping on hot coals. Although, he loves putting the wet diapers in the trash when we are finished. Welcome to toddlerhood!

Six years ago today...

I married my wonderful husband! Happy Anniversary Mike! I love you!

PS- I'd love to write a long, sweet post about Mike, but I have a million things to do during nap time. I also have to get ready for our date tonight:)