Thank you!!!!

No pictures.... but a big thank you for my friend Melinda, my mom and my husband for helping me alot for my final vacation to the beach this year!!! We went to our cottage at Surf City for a week, the weather was perfect, only had to leave the house to get pizza and to go to dollar general, and relaxed/played with the kids on the beach! It was so much fun to be with good friends and family! It was a real vacation!!!!!

What vacation????

Just kidding... but not really! I decided to take a couple weeks off this summer before I had the baby so I can go to the beach and play with the boys. Well, this week at the beach.... in one word, HECTIC!!!! The boys and I went to Emerald Isle with Brandy, her kids, and mom and dad from Friday to Sunday. It really was fun for the kids there because there was a lot of room for them to play, a golf cart to ride to the beach and a pool!!! It was a lot of work, but it really is worth it to see a smile on the kids faces! Reagan learned how to swim on her own, Sawyer absolutely loved the beach and pool, and Jackson and Braxton played really good together! Besides the kids not wanting to take a nap and throwing tantrum's, it was just dandy! :-) Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that my kids, whom have always slept in past 7:30 or 8:00 have now decided that 6 or 6:30 AM is a better time to get up in the morning!!! So I guess I am going to have to learn how to be an early bird from now on, or either I am going to have to teach them to sleep in again!!! :-)

We tried to get the four of them to take pictures together, but this was the best one I got before Braxton ran to me crying, Jackson ran to the ocean and Sawyer dove in the sand! Our ONLY sweet little girl in the mix loves the camera and does MOST of what you ask her to do!

Sunday, we all went to Surf City for a few days! The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire week, and I don't think that I could have picked a better week for the kids to be able to be outside and play! I even got to see one of my closest friends Charley and her son a couple times! The only flaw there was that Braxton got sick and we had to make a trip to the doctor, but at least he started feeling better after that! Here he was having a blast outside swimming with nothing on!!!

After Surf City, we then went to Brandy's house in Little Washington for a few days, and her house is like vacation all the time anyway! (For us anyway... she might not think so with a crowd all the time!) She has the river and a pool! So nice! I even think that the kids got a long pretty good to be around each other so much!

Sawyer didn't want to get out of the pool! He opened the pool up... and closed it down!

Brandy has a lot of really close friends that she invites over for the 4th of July and they have lots of kids the same age. One of the moms, Carla Mitchell, had hats for all the kids and she taught them a lesson about the 4th of July. I am not sure how much they retained, I was just happy that they all sat there long enough to get a couple of pictures!!!!

I have to thank my in-laws for all the help they provided for me since I am now 7 months (29 weeks) and not quite up to par these days! I am so blessed to have such a great family to be around on both sides and I thank GOD every night for everything he has blessed me and my family with!

Sleeping with the moo cows....

As innocent as this child looks, (Sawyer), he can be a HAND full at times. And one of those specific times is NAP and BED time. We put him in his big boy bed about a month ago. I let him pick out the bedspread, he wanted a baseball bedspread, thinking that this would make him excited about going to bed! BUT, I dread Naps and Bed time every night because he is so hard to handle.

For example, when it is Bedtime, Braxton climbs right up the steps like he is so ready to go to sleep and I lay him right down. He puts his little butt up in the air and falls right asleep. Sawyer, on the other hand, I am dragging up the steps while he is limp and kicking and crying. It really sucks because it also hurts me now that I am 6 or 7 months pregnant to drag a 34 pound 3 year old up the steps struggling with every step you take. I even started throwing tandrums like him, rolling around, screaming, and kicking.... and he starts cracking up laughing at me. I tell him that is how he looks doing that, and he just laughs... but as soon as I pick him up to put him in his bed.... it starts up again. All that "showing" him how crazy he looks, just made me look crazy!!!

Mama, kept them the other night... their beloved Jo-Jo, and she said she would see if he did the same thing with her. NOPE. Went right to bed without a fight! But for Scott and I, a fight everynight!

So the other night we took him for a golfcart ride and told him that if he did not go to bed nice then we were going to leave him out there with the moo cows for the night and he could stay there and let the mama cows take care of him. WORKED like a charm... that night! But, tonight, as I am sitting here writing this blog, I hear him up there calling for me crying! Who said it was the terrible twos.... I am a fan on the terrible 3's!!!!

Fishing

Scott and I decided to take the boys fishing a few weeks ago. We have not taken them since last fall, and Sawyer has really been talking about going for a while. Of course, I just sat on the golf cart taking pictures because it is so muddy down there, but at least I was present. We caught worms at the house and borrow Grandaddy Batten's fishing poles.

Here is Scott baiting the fishing poles for the boys. They caught lots of fish, but the first fish they caught, Scott showed Braxton and Sawyer to see their reaction... and you can see one liked it and one did not!

Braxton whom, last year would touch the fish and hold it, was scared to death and screamed and cried! Sawyer on the other hand loved it, and was giggling and wanted to touch the eyeballs! Now he still didn't want to hold the fish because he said it would bite, but he really enjoyed it this year. In fact, he enjoyed it so much he asked if he could get his own Lighten McQueen fishing pole.... and guess what he got for his birthday? Yep, that is right, Brandy his aunt got him a Lighten McQueen fishing pole. We have not had time to take him fishing with it yet, but hopefully soon!

Braxton looks like he is getting eat by the fish! :-)

Happy Birthday Sawyer

I can't believe my little boy is already 3 years old. It just seems like yesterday I brought him home from the hospital. Now he is a sweet (sometimes) little 3 year old!

We celebrated his birthday at Nancy and Bobby's pool on Saturday. The sad thing is, the past 2 years it has been over 100 degrees for his birthday and this year, it didn't even reach 80, and this was the first pool party we ever had! BUT that didn't stop the kids from getting in the pool and at least the adults didn't get so hot that they were sweating, so I guess overall is was a good day.

We had about 25 people there, all family...but between Scott and my family, there is a lot of people! He got lots of presents, trucks, sports stuff, blankets, money and his favorite.... ha, ha... clothes! BUT, I liked the clothes because he is growing out of all of his and he is in need for some new ones!

Talented Grandma Patsy made his favorite cake, Lighten McQueen! I know, she is amazing! That is where Scott gets his talent from.

Sawyer didn't want to leave the party, but we had to go. In fact, Braxton was sick and tired of Sawyer getting all the attention and he decided that he needed to go to the Emergeny Room for breathing treatments, and other medication, so Sawyer woke up from his nap and we were gone with Braxton to Wake Med. When we got back with Braxton, Scott and I went up to Sawyer's bed and the first thing he asked for was his little brother. He wanted to see him! How sweet!

We had a great overall weekend too. Scott's mother and daddy stayed with us and his sister Brandy, Jimmy and their two kids Reagan and Jackson. A house full, but the kids had a blast! Sawyer didn't want Reagan to leave!

Happy Birthday Sawyer! We love you so much!

Here is my 3 year old deck out in his Lighten McQueen gear!

All those hours spent on the cake went to good use when you get the kids in front of it with a fork!

Opening Presents! This is his Lighten McQueen sunglasses that he can wear with his Lighten McQueen Gear!

What is this???

This is a little late to post this, but I still think it is interesting. We had our ultrasound about 6 weeks ago and decided that we DO NOT want to know what the sex of the baby is. BUT, the last picture the ultrasound tech did was a 3D/4D picture and Scott and I saw this thing floating above the legs from the profile view. I have gotten lots of different opinons on this, but it is funny to see what others think! I am 90% sure it is an umblicial cord, according to what most doctors say, but it still could be a BIG PEE WORM!

So what do you think???

Also, look on the top right side of the ultrasound....there is another babies face! What do you think that is????

Memorial Weekend

We had a really fun time Memorial weekend down at Surf City. It was beautiful and we had friends down that grew up with Scott that we don't get a chance to see very often, Gabe and Tara. Stephanie and Carlos visited some and we hung out with Joseph, Lisa, Parker and Dalton most of the weekend. Sawyer has so much fun when his cousins/"Friends" are around. It is so cute seeing all the boys playing out on the beach together. If we have a girl this go round I am not sure what she is going to do with all the: dump trucks, catching fish, throwing dirt, and running non-stop. I think only boys will fit in around our crazy family!

Sawyer loves the ocean, he was non-stop swimming and running. Braxton on the other hand likes to play in the dirt. The ocean was too "cooooold" for him!


Saturday we went out to the beach. It was a crazy day because the girls on the beach saw a plane that looked liked it crashed into the ocean, the boys that were surfing (Scott, Joseph and Gabe) saved 2 guys lives, and Braxton was screaming for an hour on the beach. (Sorry to all those people that went out there for a relaxing weekend and had to hear that!) But it was beautiful!

Sunday we went out on the boat with Gabe and Tara and met Stephanie and Carlos and their friend Jeremy out there. It was rough on the boat, especially being pregnant... I am still hurting. But we got out to an island and the kids played and played. Sawyer went surfing, Braxton surfed with his big truck, Sawyer was pimping on Kimsey on the surf board and Sawyer "pretending to catch a big fish! Thank you Tara and Gabe for helping out with the kids this weekend, we had a great time and the kids love you so much!





















Finally here are a few pictures of the boys and their daddy and I am actually in one. I am trying to hide behind Sawyer and in the water to cover up my growing BODY! I thought these pictures were funny, but pretty typical. With boys that will not sit still for 2 seconds, I was just glad that they are in the picture!

Happy Birthday Daddy!! (A little late)

It has been a couple of weeks since I last blogged, so I am a little late in doing this....

BUT:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband and to best father in the world! (MAY 19TH was his birthday). Here are some things that my children say about Scott:

1. "Daddy my best friend, Mommy you my friend, but daddy my best friend"

2. "Daddy cool"

3. "Daddy's skid steer" (Interpertation: Daddy has the coolest skid steer in the world.)

4. "Daddy fun"

5. "Daddy got me a cheeeese biscuit"

6. "When my daddy get home?"

7. " Daddy in office... shhhhhh"

8. "Daddy chase me"

9. "Daddy be monster"

10. "Daddy be horse"

11. "I want my daddy"

12. "Daddy put me to bed"

13. "Daddy play with me"

14. "Daddy change my diaper" (ohhh how I wish we could change one of those boys from saying this!)

15. "I luv you daddy"

16. Some young boy asked Sawyer what his name was in the grocery store last week, and Sawyer said, "My name is Scott".

They loooove, just love their daddy to pieces. When they want to play, they want daddy. When he walks in from work, the squeal because they are so excited to see him. When we have been away for a night or even a weekend, they run to daddy first. Now I am not saying that a mommy doesn't have her place in this household, but my boys just love their daddy so much!!!

Now for me to describe my husband, I will have to say that he is the smartest, most talented, and best husband in the world! He has accomplished so much and I am so proud of him. Not only is he the provider for our family, but he is so trustworthy and sweet to me. He never makes me guess how much he loves me or my children. It is a nice, secure feeling to have when you are married to a wonderful man! (I could go on and on, but it might get boreing to all of you, so I am going to stop there!)

Mr. Talker

I have to be so careful around Mr. Talker now days. He is really starting to talk a lot and tries to say everything you say. Well, yesterday I went to the grocery store and when we got home, I put the kids out on the porch so that I could put up the groceries I had bought. Well, with Sawyer and Braxton running around my feet, instead of out on the porch, screaming that they wanted juice and some food and wanted me to play with them, I got a little flustered. I continued putting up all the cold items in the refrigerator while trying to keep my patience with my children.

The next thing I know.... CRASH... here comes a juice cup out of the refrig that was uncovered. It was all over me, the refrig, the floor, and the cabinet. The first thing that came out of my mouth was..... "SH$%". The four letter word that should never be said around little kids. As I turned around to clean up, here is Braxton, aka "Mr. Talker". Here he comes running over to the mess I had made, stomping in the juice I was trying to clean up.... and he was saying "Shhhhhh, Shhhhhh, Shhhhhh, Shhhhhhh". Ohhhh my... at least he didn't hear the second part of my bad language!

So, all though I really do not say bad words that often, I will really try and watch my mouth around Brax Brax, because he is a like a recorder!!!! Hopefully he will not learn the second part of that "Shhhh" he so happily was saying!!!

Outer Banks

I am so behind on my blogging because I have been gone so much over the past two weeks, but here is a brief update. Scott and I, and some friends of our Carlos and Stephanie went to the OBX two weekends ago. It was so nice to have a break from the kids. Don't get me wrong, I looooove my kids and I love being with them, but every mother needs a break every now and then. We just decided to wing it, and just play it by ear on what we were going to do. Well, we ended up staying Ocrakoke (the island that is at the bottom of the outer banks on Friday night), and by the end of the weekend we were in Corolla, the upper Northern tip of the outer banks! We explored the entire OBX in one weekend.

As you can see, we saw all 4 lighthouses that grace the OBX. Scott and Carlos climbed one of them and got some awesome pictures of Corolla. It was an interesting trip and we had a great time with Carlos and Stephanie. They might not say the same thing after being stuck in the car with us for 2 days straight, but I can say Scott and I had a great time!

It was also nice because Scott and I got to spend some time together without kids screaming at us all the time! So, it was also really good for our marriage as well as for our sanity!!! Here are some really good pictures that Stephanie took! (below)