Learning to climb on counters without using a stool.
Working hard to be the Longest Baby in the World
Usually in costume
Summer Birthdays with Cousins
Getting Ready for Ballet Shoes
Enjoying Summer Ice Cream Cones
Pushing our babies
Coveting the Princess Aisle at Target
Being Brothers at Top Golf
Babies ON Top GOlf
Creating Intricate Lego Creations
Trying out the Dollar Spot Target Treats
Seeing Peter Pan with Bebe
Being influenced by Big Sisters
So many Target Field Trips
3D Movies in cool Air conditioning
That pretty much wraps up the Summer- Daddy started a new job in June which had him traveling several weeks a month so we didn't make it to the Lake or on many trips, but we ended the summer at the Beach (post to follow). We loved our days together!
The Summer has come to an end and with it our family suffered an enormous lost. My Dad, our Dandy, passed away unexpectedly on August 6th, 2012. This came as a complete shock to all of our family and the pain, loss, change, is almost unbearable at times. We are still processing his loss and trying to move forward day-by-day. I don't want to stop blogging and recording my children's life so I am going to keep updating as appropriate when I am able and try to catch up on our summer. The following posts will not necessarily be in order and I really don't know what shape they will take as this is still very difficult to write about, but I will do my best. I know my parents loved reading our blog and we love having a record of my babies life so it is important that I continue.
The weekend of July 28th my parents came in to town for The Wiggles concert. They were so excited to take Mallory and Peyton to this show but even more excited to see the Wiggles for themselves. :) Especially now that Greg, the original yellow Wiggle and lead of the show, was back in the gang. We had seen the Wiggles once before when I was pregnant with Mallory but Greg had bowed out of the group due to health problems so this would be our first time to see him live. Here are pictures from the 2009 Concert.
Peyton thinking "What are these people so excited about!?!" The First Wiggles Concert (before Mallory or Nolan were born)
Oh Now I see, this is great! (First Wiggles Concert)
My Dad's love for the Wiggles started back in the summer of 2008 when he was battling a very serious and life threatening case of Bacterial Meningitis (he ended up recovering fully and this had nothing to do with his recent death, just fyi :)). During that summer the infection disrupted his brain activity and required a lot of healing that left my Dad in a constant state of pain and temporary brain damage. He became unexpectedly ill while visiting me in Raleigh so most of his worst days fighting the battle were spent there in a Raleigh hospital and back at my house. During this time Peyton had just turned 1 and loved watching the Wiggles on tv. My Dad could not do much during that time but he was able to watch and focus on that show with Peyton and it brought him joy during a very difficult time. When Dad recovered he found that he still enjoyed the music and watching the show with the kids. He discovered many of them had also recorded adult music and also started to enjoy one of their favorite bands- the Australian band,Daddy Cool. So needless to say when Greg (Dad's favorite Wiggle)joined back up my parents were over the moon and bought tickets and made plans for the show. Here are pics from the day.
We started out our concert day with lunch at Chick Fil A and then drove out to Grand Prairie for the Big event. The show did not disappoint. We all had such a great time, especially my Dad, and they played all of their old favorites. Mallory truly enjoyed herself, dancing along to all the hits. The most memorable moment was when the Wiggles came through the audience to collect "Roses" for Dorothy the Dinosaur and what a blessing it was that Greg himself walked right next to our assigned seats.
We were this close to Greg :)
The rest of the weekend we spent at church and lunch, and watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and having great conversations with the kids. I will never forget the things my Dad and I talked about, what he said about each of my children, and how he squeezed my feet while we sat on the couch. We also skyped with my brother and his family in Belgium. That was the last time we ever saw my Dad, our Dandy, and the memories are beyond precious. He had such a great time at the Wiggles and was truly Happy that day.
It ended up being the Wiggles "Farewell Concert" as most of them are officially retiring this year. As they announced that this would be their final tour the audience gave all that were retiring a standing ovation as they waved goodbye to Dallas for the last time. My Dad should have been on that stage with them. My kids will still love the wiggles, Nolan is just becoming the age where he too will learn all the songs, and every time I hear them I will think of my Dad.
Here is his absolute favorite song- the Wiggles covering Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". I challenge you not to love it too. Such a great song. I'll always remember watching my Mom and Dad dancing around doing the Eagle Rock in their living room to a Wiggles DVD of this song- thinking they were kind of crazy (especially since the kids were not even the ones watching the Wiggles!)- but loving every second of it. For you Dad :)
We were bummed to miss out on spending 4th of July at the lake this year but when it falls on a Wednesday it is hard to leave town. Turns out we have quite the 4th of July celebration in Lake Highlands! We started the day with a LOVELY parade and carnival in our neighborhood- we saw cheerleaders, dancers, military moms, drill team, our elementary school friends on a float, and more. After a day of mattress shopping (with all 3 kids jumping on the beds!) we were lucky to join in on our neighborhood friend's pool party. It ended up being the perfect day and we are so thankful for our wonderful neighborhood!
Apparently I have twins.
4th of July Lake Highlands Parade!
Already a Lady's Man. Nolan and Eloise (in town from NYC, we ran in to her briefly)
Gigi surprised the kids with the movie Sleeping Beauty and Mallory has become an instant fan. She woke me up at 6:30 AM to tell me all about the Sleeping Beauty birthday party she hoped to have. :) (Last week it was Pinkalicious)
Mallory loves dress up and is very creative. After breakfast she went into her room to get dressed and came out dressed like this. It didn't take long for me to figure out what the inspiration for her outfit was.
Im pretty impressed with her for putting 3 very different pieces together to create the Sleeping Beauty Fairy look. Just reason number 1,334,654 that I love my baby girl. :)
Peyton has been requesting a "Pump It Up" party for about 2 years now. We do a big party every other year and this was his big year so a Pump it Up party it was! He also decided that he wanted it to be "Lego Police" themed. (his current obsession) Thanks to Etsy I was able to deliver!
Here are pictures of his VERY fun day. I think it was everything he hoped for and more. All 3 of our kids had such a blast and we shared the fun with members of his soccer team, his classmates, his playgroup, and some of our neighbors.
Learning the Pump It Up Rules
SILLY Dandy!
Running from one bounce house to the next!
Mimi is so sweet to come to our parties
Drew (Travis's brother) had a Blast too!
Peyton and Mal
The Whole Gang!
Next door neighbors and buds
Custom skittle lego police favors
Big Giant baby REALLY enjoyed his cake :)
What a fun party! We LOVE you Peyton and are so happy that you had fun!
The kids had 2 funny moments last week that I wanted to record.
Moment 1: Nice Mallory
Mallory has become quite the sassy 2-year-old and has been talking in a very demanding voice lately. Bebe was babysitting and asked sassy Mallory where "NICE Mallory was?" to remind Mallory to use nice words. Peyton looked up from whatever he was doing with an answer for Bebe: "Mean Mallory threw Nice Mallory in the trash."
Awesome :)
Where is Nice Mallory?
Moment 2: The Baby Costume
14 month old Nolan
Mallory and Nolan are looking and acting more and more like twins these days. They are constantly all over each other, tugging, pulling, taking toys, etc. In fact Nolan actually weighs about 3 pounds more than Mallory. I don't think Mallory realizes he is a baby. He is so big (wearing size 2T of Peyton's clothes from when Peyton was much older) so we don't have a lot of "baby" one pieces to put him in. I found a snap up one piece in his drawer and dressed him for school. Mallory saw and him ran up to the buttons intrigued and kept having fits of laughter all day saying "Nolie wearing his baby costume!". She truly doesn't know he is a baby and thinks he is just playing dress up!
