Lately...

I have some great pictures on my "real"camera, but unfortunately my Macbook decided to crash, so uploading them is a problem...in the meantime I wanted to catch up the ole blog because we have had a few great events lately ...so all that to say, enjoy another round of phone pics...

We went to Kentucky, Danville to be exact to celebrate the marriage of this great couple. The wedding was beautiful...so much fun! My brother, Mac, and his crew were the caterers (Shindigs) and the food was delicious! Kate and Brett did a great job of making everything very personal and I loved all of the details...

the reception was in a large old tobacco barn at the bride's grandparents home

Kate made this herself on the morning of the wedding, talk about many talents..

Maggie and Bradford, the cutest ring bearer...He did not want to walk down the aisle on his own :)

He really was a hit all weekend though and was so much fun...

our travel companions

my hot date

we got to hang out with one of my favorite couples, Penny and Nick..Nick even went on a historical walking tour of Danville with us :)

The next week, the Tucker Twin girls made their debut!!! Abbie's water broke on Monday night...and the sweet girls came the next morning on April 30th...neat because it was also my twin girl cousins, Mary Russell and Shannon's birthday!

love this picture of the parents right before they took Abbie back...

holding sweet Emily Steele and Elliott Avery

Emily weighed 5.9 pounds and Elliott weighed 6.6 pounds

I have gotten to see them frequently over the past week, and they are adorable!

Last weekend we headed to the gulf with the Jones fam...the weather was not the best, but we made the most of it!

what a crew! Foster is 4 months older than Lane, and Holden is 3 months older than Jude (who is hidden in the sling on his momma)

Lane loving on Jude

also very thankful for these two ladies, Haley and Susanna who help with the boys and let us go to an adult dinner (Cosmo's, still one of my favs)

lunch at Cobalt

two little rascals that dominated the tv with Mickey Mouse (shake shake shake your peanut, is still stuck in my head!)

great day for kite flying as it was super windy

these two loved the water despite the chill factor, makes me exited for more fun times when it actually warms up

bath time is way more fun with friends!

we found a little nook out of the wind to enjoy the island

Great trip with great friends!!!

Lastly, I am so thankful to be a momma on this Mother's day weekend!

these little ones keep me on my toes! (He insisted he had a boo boo on his nose)

Holden trying to get under the bathroom door while Lane was finishing his bath

poor picture quality as it is a picture of a proof, but here is one of my favorite shots from our photo session with Barbara Harbin...thankful for my mother who went with me as photo sessions with two boys two and under are not exactly the easiest and most fun thing for a grandmother to do

So thankful for my wonderful mother and mother in law, so blessed!

Iphone Catch Up

f

Holden is in to everything

my two little "helpers" 

loves bath time and I love this little bath ring seat, makes things easier with two in the tub

goofballs, I would love to say they love walks, but not really. Lane is more into riding or pushing something...

I can't keep him clean, between his older sibling and his crawling and eating dirt, this is what he looks like by the end of the day

He does love this and thinks he is SO big

these two love going to visit the Tuckers, Lane was pitching a fit when we headed home yesterday!

Eating is more and more challenging as he is very opinionated these days...he now shakes his head NO when he doesn't like something...

if it rains, he wants to be outside ASAP to get in the puddles, must be a boy thing?!

sending our friend Bradford pictures of outfits to borrow

This was husband/wife teamwork at its best. We were putting in a electric fence for Amos as he is now exploring the neighborhood on a regular basis. This happened on a weeknight at around 11 pm as we realized it was going to rain the next morning and fill in the ditch that was ready for the wire. James is a perfectionist and I am well..not. So we had some interesting conversations that night in the dark about how things should be done. The highlight of the endeavor occurred when our neighborhood patrol came to check things out...I think they thought a domestic disturbance was underway....(which was not far off!)

he is always at my feet wanting to be picked up, LOVE it

Life is FULL!

8/9 months and 2.2 years

These little rascals are getting so BIG!! They are both into everything....

Holden is crawling everywhere, opening and closing cabinets/doors, pulling up and standing on his own (only for a second before a big plop back down) 

He is over baby food and only wants to feed himself. Great. It makes dinner time very interesting! His favorites are cheese, sweet potatoes, avocado, goldfish, and graham crackers.  Yes goldfish and graham crackers...oh how times have changed...with Lane I would not let him have any sugar or processed anything for the first year. Holden downs handful of goldfish happily with his big brother. Oh, well. I think they will survive. 

He was a little under the weather this past week so I took him to the doctor. He weighs almost 22 pounds...such a big boy. He is still a momma's boy and I am loving every minute as I know it won't last long. He loves to be held, loves watching Lane, and loves playing hide and seek. 

This big brother is changing so fast. His language has exploded! He says new words everyday, and I am amazed at what he is learning. I love seeing the world through his eyes. His favorite things are "trac" (tractor), "park" and "outsi"(outside) 

Aren't they so sweet?

Pure Angels

HAHAHAHA

Below are the "out takes"

Let's get real...they are not always smiley happy well behaved kiddos:

yes he is form tackling his brother and yes Holden is strong as an ox

can you see through the blurriness (is that a word?) to see the sheer determination on Lane's face...

so then he was disciplined, which usually is a spanking as "time out" doesn't seem to work these days.

and we are done!

Lane's other new favorite word is "mine"! My "babble" (cup), my mic (mickey mouse animal),  my ball, "I ride truck with da, hol stay hom" (holden stay home with momma, thanks)...so least you don't think we deal with the "twoness" coming out, oh we do...I will say these are not the norm, and really only come out when he is tired or needing some extra attention. 

overall they love each other and are really learning to interact

me: "Lane please sit up and smile for momma, so I can get a good picture"

Lane: above and below

now this one really is an angel :)

Steamboat Family Vacation

A few weeks ago we headed to Steamboat Springs, CO for a spring break ski vacation. The whole fam went (minus the two youngest, Ford and Holden).  I love to plan a vacation, if you have read the blog for a while you probably know that by now. Let me say, I really love to plan a vacation when it is a present (from Pal and Pie for Christmas!)...very generous. The main thing we were looking for was ease to fly into and family friendly since we had three kiddos under ten. Steamboat Springs is an excellent choice for families. They were so nice and there was family and kids everywhere! If anyone has any questions or needs tips on a family ski vacation, please don't hesitate to ask! 

Here is a picture overload of the trip (sorry all Iphone pics):

as I said on Instagram, "the next generation of travelers"

first plane ride, He did great on the way out there. On the way back, I think the newness had worn off and he was pretty antsy. I am so glad I threw in a bag of M&M's just in case. They are the only thing that kept us from driving everyone crazy. oh and Mickey and George on repeat.

nothing like a grandmother in charge

picture is blurry, but a good idea of how nice everyone was...they saw the kids getting restless waiting on the bags and took them on cart rides

trying on skis: I should have known he might be a little young when the smallest size was a little big

first night, mexican, he likes cheese dip just like his momma!

Lane loved loved loved playing in the snow! He would have just done this the whole time if we had not forced encouraged him to try skiing. 

So we signed him up for ski school the first day. The lady was like, "you want him to try to ski?" I thought well, yea that is why we are here, ski school?! She said ok, well we will call you when it is his turn to go out on the magic carpet so you can watch from the viewing area up on the side. Ok, great...we were up the mountain skiing and got the call so we came rushing down to watch him. James said "oh look they put a new scarf on him." I said, "Oh No that is his blankey!!" I knew then it must not being going great. 

see the tiny one in the front, that is him :)

It was so sad. He was crying on and off, and the instructor was amazing. He was so patient and really just like a granddad. 

He made it three times up and down before the instructor decided it was enough. 

I knew ski school was a bust and it was time for plan B, skiing with us...

view from our condo at One Steamboat Place, It was gorgeous and I wish I had taken more pictures

The husband and I on a ski date. We really have fun skiing together. He is better than I am, but doesn't mind coasting down with me and spending time together. He also lets me plan the runs which I enjoy :) One of my favorite runs here was called Cowboy Coffee, an easy blue that you can ski through trees.  I also loved Rainbow as it was at the top and had the best powder every morning. 

behind us is our condo, perfect location

this is the second day when we bit the bullet so to speak and took Lane up the gondola to ski with us

he spend most of his time skiing in between James's legs 

He loved riding the lifts which I was a bit nervous about the height thing, but didn't phase him a bit

a good daddy, feeding him gummy snacks during a break

a well deserved cheeseburger after his morning skiing (and a ginormous rice krispie to share!)

Here is a video of he and James on day 2:

The last day was the perfect day of spring skiing, the sun was shining and it felt great!

The Russells (and baby Rader!) sunbathed on our lunch break

I love this picture as it depicts my BIL, Paul entertaining some random people during wine and cheese hour at our condo. He never meets a stranger!

group shot the last day

Lane's favorite thing of the whole trip was probably playing with Sam and Fair and the hot tub.

Thanks again Pie and Pal for an awesome trip, just let me know where you want to go next year :)