End of August 2011

The kids really like to go on walks. The twins insist on walking around the block. Cedar likes to as well he is just not quite up to the full block and a little too heavy to carry so he still rides in the wagon most of the time. Carter really likes to help with the wagon. I will be excited when they start to listen a little better and I can take them on walks by myself during the day when i am here. Right now I am still terrified that they will run out in front of a car. They are not the best listeners right now. We are working on it!
Calla on our walk. Carter has several hats and insists on wearing one when we leave the house, so Calla wanted a hat to wear as well. She decided on mommy's razorback hat. You could see her face when she looked up. Here she is carrying her "flowers" which of course are random weeds. My hope for her in life is that she always sees flowers in the weeds of her life!

Cedar really thinks he is big stuff here drinking out of a big kid cup. He wanted a cup like his big sister and brother. He does OK if he is closely monitored.

This zebra was a gift for Cedar last Christmas. Carter has adopted it for the most part. Here Carter had jumped on with him.

Calla and one of her babies. She is getting ready to give her a bottle.

An after bottle kiss. She is so sweet. (most of the time :-))

Big smiles!

Again here she is being sweet. Giving Carter a big hug. They really do have a close relationship. I so hope that continues throughout life.

Hanging out with their flashlights. Sometimes I am not sure why anyone in our family spends money on toys for my kids. They enjoy things like flashlights measuring cups more.

All three of them like to color. But by far the one that loves it the most is Calla. She would color and draw all day long if Cedar would leave her alone. He really enjoys the lids of open markers and then loves to be chased for them. As you can see by her face in this picture the color doesn't always stay on the paper. Carter colored the entire bottom of his foot one day before I realized it. Thank you Crayola for washable markers!!

So it had been yucky outside so I brought this slide inside. Great idea for a little while, but they quickly realized that they could shove it around the house to get up to things they could not reach before. Here Cedar had pushed it over to the light switch right after their bath (hence the naked children). Needless to say, its back outside!

Cedar likes to climb, he has since he was very little. I saw him climbing up on this table and told him to get down so this is what he did instead. Thinks he is slick!

First half of August 2011

I love the smiles of my kids. I cant get enough of those smiles and the out loud laughter. Love it!
Carter's obsession with the water hose continues.

All of the kids love the sand box but I am pretty sure that Cedar and Carter love it the most. Cedar could play in there uninterrupted for hours if I let him. He took the side walk chalk with him, didn't want the twins to take it from him. He is wet because Carter dumps water out of his dump truck onto his brother. Nice, I know.

Calla loves to swing and she has just become good at staying on it. Not really understanding yet how to swing herself, but I'm in no hurry for her to grow up!!

Cedar does love his cousin Cade. Here they are watching a movie together. So sweet!

My favorite picture these days!!! All three of my sweet babies hanging out with mommy and happy all at the same time!!! I am surprised that Cedar stayed smiling since Calla came and sat down on top of him. He really does love his big brother and sister.

Another shot of my favorite children in the world.

Carter here is helping his daddy put his big kid bed together. When we took the twins our of cribs we got mattresses on the floor for a while. I didn't trust them not to fall off or jump on it and fall off. They are older now and it is time to get them off the floor.
Carter loves to help his daddy with anything.

Just hanging out with daddy as he puts the bed together.

Calla likes that her bed is now off the ground. And my fear of jumping came true immediately. No major injuries yet.

I did put up bed rails for a little bit. I quickly realized that bed rails are more of a danger on the bed than not having them. Carter was teasing Cedar because he could not get on the bed.

Cant remember why he was crying here but he still has the sweetest face even when he is sad.

Cedar 18 Month Stats

Cedar went on Aug 24th 2011 to his 18month check up. His stats at that time were:

Weight

28lb 3.2oz (78%)

Height

31.75in (32%)

Head Circ

48.9 cm (79%)

Short, fat, and big headed! That's our boy! He still has to have thickened liquids but other than that he is doing really well. We did go ahead and test him for some of the major food allergies and they all came back negative. He does however have allergies to sulfates. This is found in lots of foods in form of a preservative. Otherwise very healthy little boy!

Bowling Coast Trip July 2011

Most every year we take a trip to the Texas coast with the entire Bowling family. This years trips was the most amazing. The kids are at such a great age. The twins loved the beach! It was their large sand box. Cedar was indifferent but had a great time as well. These trips are super exhausting and a lot of work for mommy and daddy (as well as our helpers) but soooooo worth it! I love that our kids have such a big family and for them to spend time with them every year is just priceless. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip. A special thanks to Aunt Amanda for taking and sharing great pictures!!

Ice cream break on the beach. What better place to eat messy food?

I believe this was a toy story break. All the kids together could get a little overwhelming in the room. It was nice to pop in a movie for a decrease in the noise and energy level when getting ready for a meal with the family.

Cedar in his beachwear.

Aunt Amanda is not only a great photographer but she is a talented seamstress as well. She and grandmommy teamed up and made the kids all matching outfits for photos on the beach. This is the best one of my three. It is actually the only one out of many that all three faces can be seen. The beach really enhances short term attention spans.

I know this is not the best picture but I love it because of the look on Calla's face. This excitement is what we got to see from her especially the entire time we were at the beach. She just loved it. It warms my heart to see her so happy. She would run down to the water and when it caught her she would turn and run back to the sand. She did this over and over and over laughing all the way. It was so sweet!

Cousin Lilly and Calla are here with uncle Rusty checking out the fish in the water below the restaurant we ate at.

The beach was so exciting that Cedar just couldn't take anymore. He fell asleep. When my arms were about to fall off I took him up to the room. He didn't wake up until I put him in the bath. Too much fun that day.

Our big wonderful family (most of it) at the aquarium in Corpus Christi. The kids really loved the aquarium also a good age for it.

The bowling brothers goofing around at the beach.

Cedar enjoying his ice cream pop.

Sweet face.

Eleanor and Uncle Mitch at the fish restaurant.

Uncle Mitch and Cede hanging out after eating. They share the same middle name, Brett.

Calla and daddy at the aquarium.

Uncle Mitch and Carter. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful aunts and uncles that love our children! We love them too!!

This was at the Dolphin show which sounded like a great idea, but ended up not being for Carter. He cried through the entire thing and made me miserable and I am sure the folks around us as well. It could not be over fast enough. Calla and Cedar enjoyed it though.

The twins leaving the aquarium with Uncle Mitch and our soon to be Aunt Eleanor. They are going to make wonderful parents one day!

Carter in his cool shades.

Fun in the car. Overall all of the car riding, the kids did really well. They actually tolerated better than I did.

MawMaw put together these wonderful backpacks that were full of new toys. This dinosaur was one of them. This kept the kids busy all the way to the coast. Thanks mawmaw you knew just what we needed!!

July 2011

7/18 Dress up fun.


7/16 Oh my! He does love yogurt.

7/5 Yes, now they all three play under my cabinets.

7/4 Carter hanging out with daddy in the back yard on the 4th of July.

7/4
They had been playing in the pool. Cedar looks like he is deep in thought.

7/3 This pool was so much fun this summer. The kids loved it. Cousin Cade had fun playing with them too. Carter is playing with the air pump. It is sometimes very strange the things that he seems to get attached to.

7/3 Cedar in the pool.

7/3 Calla enjoyed the sprinklers.

7/3
Still hanging on to that air pump. He wouldnt put it down, didnt want anyone else to get it.

7/3
The day of swimming and playing just wore Cedar out. He wanted to swing and was instantly asleep.