Arrrrrr!

While I was feeding Eli this morning, Clayton waltzed in.

Arrrr! I a pi-yat!

Clayton does love a friendly pirate.

Sleeping Beauties!

The boys both looked so sweet tucked into their beds tonight, so I snapped a couple pictures.

Clayton is doing well these days. This boy plays until he drops, literally. Playing while laying down is the telltale sign this boy needs some rest. Tonight we took a walk, and then it was me versus the weeds in the front flower beds (a common scene). After about ten minutes, I turned around to find Clayton laying in the front yard, just picking grass. That's the sign. There was no resistance at bedtime tonight. He actually looks very pink for being asleep. That makes me happy.

Eli was eight months old yesterday. He's such a sweet little member of our family. Boy does this kid like to eat. He definitely lets me know that he prefers his fruit babyfood over the veggies. He is also working on mastering his puffs. About a week ago I said that about 1 of every 10 puffs actually made it into his mouth, but what a difference a week can make. There aren't too many puffs going to waste in this house anymore.

Big boys at play

Visiting with Elisabeth

It's been almost eleven years (Yikes!) since Jennifer and I were randomly matched as roommates at A&M. Who knew eleven years ago that our sweet babies would one day be posing for pictures together. These little ones sure have changed since our last visit just two months ago.

Aren't they sweet?

PS How did Jennifer get a baby with such dark hair, and my babies are nearly blonde?

PPS Yes, don't think I haven't noticed that Eli's head is almost as large as Clayton's. Yes, while his height and weight were in the 18th and 14th percentile at his six month check, his head circumference was in the 87th percentile. That's quite a noggin!

Bath Time Silliness

I wanted to capture a couple cute pictures of the boys in the bathtub, mostly just for Ryan. Of course, the one night I remember the camera, neither boy will give me the time of day, and when they did, this is what I got.

Monkeys. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

G is for Gator

We're back from our trip to Fredericksburg. I'd love to say that I was a good mom and took lots of pictures of my boys enjoying all the dirty, outdoor fun there is to do at Uncle Tom's ranch. That was my intention, but if you want pictures, you actually have to bring your camera. Oops! We were several hours down the road before I realized it, so there was no going back. I'm hoping people will email me their weekend pictures, so if you have a good picture or two, please send them my way.

We had a great time riding on gators (the John Deere variety), feeding horses, feeding calves, sitting on cliffs and bridges to nowhere, sleeping in cabins, shopping in town, and eating well. Clayton was dirty from sun up to sun down, just the way kids are supposed to look out at the ranch. Most importantly, we got to spend the weekend with a lot of family. My aunt and uncle live outside of Fredericksburg. My two cousins and their families were there, as well as my parents. The kids present were 12, 9, 6, 3, 2, 7 months, and 4 months. It was a full and busy house.

The boys and I left Monday morning and came home via Wichita Falls, where we stopped off to spend the night with Jennifer, my college roommate. We also had a great time, staying up way too late, catching up. The boys are becoming quite the car riders, and once again, they did great. They actually slept the entire way home from Wichita Falls.

When we returned home, Clayton immediately needed to drag out every toy he owns. After a few minutes, he emerged from his room, saying, "day-dor, day-dor." He was carrying this book

opened to this page.

Yes, my little boy was in heaven all weekend.

Home Again!

Keeping with the travel theme of the summer, the boys and I have just returned from our most recent trek to College Station. We were able to celebrate my niece Elizabeth's first birthday with our friends and family. We stayed in town another week, and I was able to attend Ryan's friend Kyle's wedding in Bryan. My mom and dad kept the boys, and I was able to enjoy a night out without the kids. It was so nice to attend a dinner where I didn't have to cut anyone else's food.

We drove home Sunday afternoon. I was fortunate to have my mom accompany me. The traffic on I-35 was awful, thanks to three different construction zones that brought the flow to a complete stop. It took us over eight hours, which is not good time. We even kept our two stops short, as there were two of us to juggle the children. The kids did great. Eli only cried the last 15 minutes or so. Clayton only cried when we got home because he wanted to keep watching his DVD. You'd think after watching the same DVD six times (by his demand) that you'd want out of the car, but you'd be wrong.

Since we've been home, we've been taking it easy, and it's been nice having my mom's extra hands around here. Clayton went to the GI on Wednesday. He'd grown in height since his cradiology appointment in June, but he'd lost a little weight. We see the GI and the cardiologist in the same clinic, so it was the same scale. It was kind of sad, but we're keeping on the appetite stimulant, and hopefully he'll put on some more weight before his next appointment in October.

On a side note, scheduling our cardiology appointments is usually a nightmare. Long story short, the doctor's calendar is only available a couple months out, and we usually go every six months, so you have to keep calling to see if he has released the calendar you need. I usually call one day, and they'll tell me to call back the next week. When I do, the calendar has been released, and he's already booked for that month, so I have to try again for the following month. It's sooo frustrating. I had called Monday, and they gave me the "maybe next week" speech. When I was up in the clinic for the GI appointment on Wednesday, I asked the receptionist about the cardiac calendar. She told me the calendar was up, but she wasn't sure if scheduling had it yet. Urg (Note to self... begin frantic calling at least twice a day). After our appointment, she found me and told me she'd snagged me an appointment for the beginning of the month we need (Nov) before the calendar was released to the scheduling department. Hallelujah! Check that off the to-do list! I know it might not seem like a big deal to you, but trust me, it's stressful everytime, especially with the added worry of all the Fontan talk.

So, not much else going on in these parts. We're starting to get ready for our next excursion. Apparently we never stay home these days. I promise to be better with the camera for our next trip.

Too Much Jumping

Eli is a huge fan of the Jumperoo, and tonight he jumped himself right to sleep. Sleep tight, little one.