Wade's New Trick

Wade has lots of "one hit wonders" in his trick bag, but Matt finally got him to repeat this new trick for me tonight. I was armed and ready!

Shelby's Sweet Sixteen

Our oldest niece, Shelby, turned 16 this week.

She was 6 years old when she was our flower girl.

(sigh.)

Wade is opening his party favor...

...and then eating it.

Shelby is reading the poem that Matt wrote for her. There are SO many funny stories between these two! At bedtime, Lee wants us to tell him a story about someone, and if he ever makes a request, it's about Shelby. She was such a funny little kid.

Blowing out the candles makes it official!

Wade was thankful for Shelby's birthday, because he got to try some ice cream.

I'm pretty sure he liked it.

Thanks Shelby, for the ice cream coma!

Happy Birthday Sweet Shelby!! We are excited to see what the next 16 years hold for you.

Indoor Clubhouse

We recently got a new vacuum that came in a huge box and what better to do with it than make a clubhouse, especially on a cold, rainy/snowy day?

At first, Lee said it was "Boys Only."
Wade didn't agree. Look how he is wanting me to join them.

Lee is coming around to the idea.

When he wanted to eat lunch in the clubhouse, he suddenly decided that it was okay for girls AKA Mommy to come in, too. I don't know which of my 3 boys had more fun in the clubhouse. They ate, played games and hid in there most of the day.

Happy Birthday, Mawmaw!

Mom came to visit and got snowed in for a couple extra days. The boys were pretty excited with their "snow day." Lee made a mile long list of games and activities for Mawmaw to do with him.

He spent a lot of time teaching her how to play games on his Wii. Wade did not want to be left out, so he got to sit in his big boy chair to watch.
In the process, he learned to stand up on his own from this sitting position. He can't stabilize himself just yet, so he immediately reaches for someone as soon as he is upright. But he's not far from being able to stand alone. He has absolutely no fear with getting off the chair alone.

We had a little birthday cake for Mawmaw. We thought it was a fire hazard to put all her candles on the cake, so we went with the number 5 and 4 regular candles.

Lee with the birthday girl

Mawmaw and the boys

Happy Birthday, Mawmaw! We hope you had fun!

Wild Wednesday

Wade and I had lunch with Mom today at the Olive Pit. Wade would not quit reaching for the bread. He even threw his beloved Mum Mums in the floor in an effort to get to the bread. Finally, I pinched a tiny piece of the soft part off and put in his mouth. He was in heaven! I spent the rest of our meal pinching off pieces small enough for him.

At supper tonight, he acted the same way over the green beans. I put one on his tray, and before I could get myself a helping, he was grunting for more. He ate them until I finally cut him off for fear of him getting sick. I hope he won't turn his nose up at baby food after discovering table food since I just got a case delivered today!


Lee was naming the planets for me today and at the end said, "Venus, Earth, Horatio." I'm not sure I'm spelling it right. I don't know if it was funnier to me that he thought Horatio was a planet or his confidence in his answer. The one he was missing was Uranus, which sounds nothing like Horatio.

My mom is visiting this week and brought an air mattress to sleep on in Lee's room. Lee thought it was wonderful and insisted on sleeping on it tonight. I was putting him to bed when he nearly rolled off. I grabbed him just in the nick of time and said, "Whew, Lee! I just saved your life!" He said, "Mom if you saved my life, I'd be on a gurney." Where does he get this stuff?

Splish Splash!

Lee and Wade have the best time together in the bath tub. Lee got bath markers in his stocking, and he uses Wade as his easel. Wade never minds. He's too busy splashing and giggling to notice.

Perfect Weekend

This weekend was one of those that I want to rewind and play again. It was wonderful!

Saturday, we spent the day at home enjoying the sun and family time. That night, we went to Andrew's 6th birthday party at Mr. Gatti's in Murray. We had never been there before, but it was so much fun, and we are already anticipating our next trip. We enjoyed our night visiting with friends that we don't get to see as much as we'd like.
Sunday night, we were humbled to be a part of my dad's baptism at Walnut Log Baptist Church, the same church where my brother was baptized 2 years ago and where I was a member when I was baptized 20 years ago. (At the time, there was no baptistry, so I was baptized in Reelfoot Lake.) At 62 years old, Dad has started attending church regularly for the first time in his life. I am so proud of his courage to go to church and then to dedicate his life to the Lord. I am in awe of God's love for us and for second (& third) chances.

"But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation." Psalm 13:5

I'll admit that this next part is VERY trivial compared to Dad's baptism, but it is in sequence, as this is the last picture taken this weekend. We swaddled Wade at bedtime for several months, and he loved it. Unfortunately, he got too big and was waking up crying when he would come undone. So we had to end the swaddling and get him adjusted to sleeping uncovered. Then winter came. And boy did it come! One night last month, the wind chill was 4 below! I couldn't stand the thought of him being uncovered, so I began putting a light blanket on top of him and tucking it under him. However, he is all over the bed now, so we were worried it was unsafe. While looking for a blanket the other day, I came across this "baby sleep sack" that someone gave us for a gift. It was too big for newborn Wade, so I put it in a drawer with his heavier blankets for later and forgot about it. I got it out and tried it on Wade, and he immediately snuggled down in it. He has used it every night this week and seems to love it. His feet are at the bottom, so I googled it and found out that not only do they come in much larger sizes, but they also come in different fabrics. I haven't ordered any yet, because I thought I might find them in a store cheaper. I love it and feel good about his being warm at night.