He's home!

*More about why we are in the back of a pick-up truck later. It involves Rick coming home a day early. Surprise!!

final weekend in NoVA.

The boys and I are finishing up our 6 week stay here at the Dickson hotel. We made the most of our last weekend here.

Everett was entertained by all the lovely ladies: Grace (Reagan's niece), Dallyn, Adriel, and Brooklee.


The whole crew enjoyed some popsicles, compliments of Reagan.


We visited a real live farm at Frying Pan park. Pappy took the brunt of the baby carrying. Here's the group, minus me and the littlest baby.


Carson's thinking... "so... we eat those things??"


Here he's taking a close look at some chubby pigs.


The view. (Can you really sleep with someone else's leg in your face??)


Everett didn't really get all this animal stuff.


And then we went to the pool! Thanks to Pappy for being Rick's replacement during our weekend of fun.

My dad's been gone a long time.

"My dad's been gone a long time."

"A really really long time!!
(Like, half my life.)"

"What's that you say??? He's coming back soon?!?!"

"Six days!! He'll be here in six days!!"

"Phew. I can't handle all this excitement."

It's true! Rick graduates on Monday and will arrive in D.C. on Wednesday.

We are also proud of Everett today for rolling over several times and entering the mobile world.

Everett is adored...

not just by his mother and big brother, but by his cousins, too.

Cousin Adriel adores Everett. (Although she was quite offended when he pulled her hair this morning.)



Adriel loves Everett so much, she is even willing to share her princess panties with him!! Little Mermaid for him; Jasmine for her.


Carson adores Everett.


Grandmama adores Everett.


I adore Everett for sleeping so well at night. (Naps are a different story, though. Someday I will shower regularly again.)


And I also adore Carson for being such a busy little boy this summer.

Pappy and tractors: two favorites.


Carson is busy helping all his animals have a nice view of the outside.



He's busy playing outside, and will now do the slides, baby pool, and even get on the big trampoline by himself. That is a huge accomplishment for this cautious little boy!


He's busy making friends with the twins. (Friends meaning he only tries to bite them once a day.)


He's busy impersonating George Washington. (ok, so this is partly a 4th of July post; can you tell?)


And both boys are busy keeping me company until their wonderful father returns home to us. (sigh.)
We adore you, Rick!

check it out!

I've put some of the vinyl projects I've done on a new blog. Visit vibrantvinyl.blogspot.com to see them! I would love to do more projects, so email me if you'd like something made just for you!

I am in love, and tummy sleeping.

Remember when you used to just float through the doorway of your college apartment after a hot date, and all you could think of was how that cute boy looked, smelled, smiled, and oooh maybe even how he touched your hand?

After I put Everett to bed tonight, I felt a familiar flutter in my tummy. I dreamily inhaled the sweet milky scent he left on my shoulder and went in to gush about him to the family. I am in love.



Sorry American Academy of Pediatrics, but a huge contributor to my being in love with this wonderful baby is that he is now officially a tummy sleeper. I originally tried the swaddle plus pacifier, which is what we did with Carson and endured several months of crying, comforting, and misery. The other night, Everett was getting ready to cry himself to sleep again, and I decided I am not going through all that again, especially without a husband this time. I undid the swaddle and flipped him on his belly. Everett stuck his thumb in his mouth, mentally said, "thank you!!" and went to sleep. For 11 hours straight. This is the third night he's been on his belly, and I am in heaven. (Read below for my opinion on why tummy sleeping is not such a horrible thing, if you're interested.)

So excuse me while I go look at pictures of the cutest boy in the world and try to resist kissing the computer screen, but I am just so in love!!

Why I am (now) ok with Tummy Sleeping

:: Almost all babies sleep better on their tummies, and I trust that God knew what he was doing when He created them that way.

:: SIDS strikes in all positions. Babies have even died while in their mother’s arms and many die on their backs each year.

:: More and more babies are experiencing developmental delays because they are always on their backs. The whole concept of "tummy time" came about as a direct result of the Back to Sleep campaign and let's face it, most babies hate tummy time. For thousands of years, babies have been learning to crawl, roll, etc. because they spend so much time on their tummies from sleeping that way, and they didn't need to force "tummy time."

:: I think the studies are way off. Medical professionals tout statistics showing the dramatic decrease in SIDS death with the Back to Sleep campaign. What they don’t tell you is that those statistics are all circumstantial, with no scientific proof that the Back to Sleep campaign is the cause. I tend to think it has more to do with the increasing awareness of the dangers of second hand smoke and blankets in the crib and the fact that suffocation deaths began being tracked separately all in the same time frame.

:: So, I'm not saying that everyone should sleep their babies on their tummies, but I am certainly glad that it's working for us right now. I don't think anyone should feel guilty or like they're doing something wrong for going with tummy sleeping; it's a wonderful thing!!

pool day.

This was Carson's first time really playing in the pool.

He sure has changed a lot since we moved in with three other kids. (We call it social boot camp.)

It only took him a few minutes splashing on the side of the pool...

...and then he got right in!

Everett, on the other hand, only spent about 5 seconds in the water.

Then he wanted to do this:

Cousin Adriel and Carson shared a delicious yogurt snack.

It was a fun day at the pool, and we're especially proud of Carson for finally showing some independence these days!