Since I have been seriously slacking on posting and sharing pictures, here is what we have been up to lately told through lots of pictures!

Harry

Depending on what day it is (or what hour of the day for that matter) Harry is either a complete joy or difficult to handle!  For the most part, he is hilarious, loving, and content.  Occasionally, he gets a stubborn streak and has no problem spending his evenings in time out.  His speech continues to improve daily.  My favorite saying of his now is "Mc Donalds, where are you?"  At the top of the list of his favorite things right now would definitely be Mc Donalds and his Crocs.  When he first got them, he slept with them! 

Elliot

Elliot is such a breeze.  He couldn't be an easier or happier baby.  We are so truly blessed to have him!!  Two weeks ago, he had his 4 month well baby check.  He got 3 shots and only cried when they gave him the last two!  He was in perfect health.  Here are his latest stats:

• Weight:  13 lbs 7 oz (25th percentile)
• Height 25 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

His head measurement was in the 50th percentile, so I guess he averages out to be right in the middle--a perfect little peanut!  To my surprise, the doctor suggested we start him on cereal (I was planning on waiting another month) so we did that Tuesday night.  He did so well!  He ate almost all the cereal I prepared both times he has eaten it.  Also, more nights than not he is sleeping all night!  I have some trouble getting him to settle down, but once I do he is usually out for a long time.  He knows the way to my heart for sure!

Florida

Last week we were in Florida for Travis's summer development conference.  It was a cheap vacation for us--all we had to pay for was our rental car, Harry's plane ticket, and a few meals.  We had a great time!  During this trip, Travis finalized a deal to join up with a group of big producers which will definitely allow me to go down to part time at the beginning of the year!  We are so completely grateful for that opportunity!  We also celebrated our 4 year anniversary.  It was a great time to reflect back about what you can accomplish in a relatively short amount of time!  Once again, Harry loved the ocean and was a little fish in the pool.  Both boys did great on the planes considering that both flights were scheduled right around Harry's nap time.  Next time we are there, Elliot will be able to join in all the fun!

Tennessee

Here are a few photos from our Tennessee trip over the Fourth of July.

Baby Brady at almost one year old!!

After all of our craziness this month, I am glad to be back at home for a while and try to get settled back into our routine.  It's nice to escape from your life for a while, but for me it is equally refreshing to live out our everyday life here at home.

The Minivans are safely back at home after a long holiday weekend trip to Tennessee to visit Nana and Poppy.  It was Elliot's first long car trip and all in all, he did fantastic.  Actually, both boys did but Harry has always been a good traveller.  Sure, there were a few times when they were both fussy, but who wouldn't be during an 8 hr trip?  We didn't do much of anything besides swim and eat so it was a perfect getaway for me!  We had extra company this time as Uncle Chris, Scottie, Julia, Nate, Krista, Esther, Bryce, and Hope also came along.  I am a bit wiser in my old age as I usually try to take the day off after we get back from a trip.  It works out so much better that way since I can get the laundry caught up and the stuff unpacked without feeling super stressed.  

I did something brave today...I took both little guys with me by myself to the grocery store to get food for the week.  I didn't go last weekend since we were leaving on Wednesday for Tennessee, so needless to say we were in desperate need of sustinence.  It went pretty well...thank goodness for those carts with the cars on the front (that I never thought I would use, by the way!)  Harry saw some kid get in one once and refuses to sit in any other type of cart since.  He tries to grab everything off the shelves, but I'll take that over screaming and crying any day! 

I told Travis as we were getting Elliot ready for bed last night that I had a good feeling about him sleeping well, and I was so right!  He slept from about 11pm until 9am straight!!  In the crib!!  Woo hoo!!  He has also slept through the night 2 nights about a week ago.  Travis asked me then if it was the best sleep ever, and to be honest it really wasn't.  I was so worried about him since I couldn't see him to make sure he was breathing and all of that good stuff.  Last night, however, was good.  I woke up about 7:30 a little panicked since I hadn't heard a peep out of him, so I went to check on him and he was all good.  So I went back to sleep for a little bit, got my shower, and woke him up at nine.  He instantly put his fists in his mouth like "I'm freaking starving!!"  So my dear, sweet Elliot...thank you so much for the wonderful night's sleep.  Feel free to keep that up if you'd like.

In some other good sleeping news,  Harry is still doing great at sleeping at night in the big boy bed.  Today is the first time we tried for a nap in it as well (he had still been taking naps in the crib, but we moved the mattress up for Elliot) and he is currently sleeping as I type.  I didn't have to go in there once.  Thank you God!! 

Harry's speech continues to pleasantly suprise us!  He is more routinely putting 2 and 3 words together and is getting much easier to understand.  Here are some of his recent phrases:  it's okay or you're okay and don't cry (he says these a lot to baby brother when he's upset), want the ball, and don't want to.  I think he can say most of the alphabet now as well which is awesome.  We had a funny moment this am.  He held up a T magnet and said "tay?" in a perfect southern accent.  Guess we spent a few too many days in good old Tennessee!! 

**Sorry--trying to post some pictures, but computer is not cooperating.  I'll try later!