Red Light, Green Light

When we're in the car, we talk a lot about stoplights and how they work. So today as we're driving down the road, Hampton says "Can we stop at the red light? Please, Mommy?" He definitely doesn't get his fondness for red lights from his Daddy!

The Little Prince

With a crown on his head, and HRH on his shirt (it stands for His Royal Highness, of course), there's no mistaking who the royalty is in this house!

6 Month Sweetie!

Can you believe that it's been 6 Months since this little doll arrived? In some ways, it seems like just yesterday he arrived, and in others it seems like he's been here forever. One thing we definitely agree on is that we don't know what we'd do without him!

He did great at his 6-month checkup, even though he had to have some shots. He's in the 89th percentile in height, which doesn't surprise us at all....he seems so much longer than Hampton was. He's such a happy baby and loves to snuggle. He also is a thinker...you can see him assessing a situation before he decides that he likes it! His serious face is so cute that it's hard to take him seriously! We are having so much fun with him and we are LOVING how his little personality is developing!

Weekend Update & Week in Review

If we thought last week was hectic with VBS, this week was just a hazy blur! Last Saturday, we had to go to Mobile for some errands, and then headed up to the Eastern Shore for a birthday party at a jumpy place. Hampton was acting a little out-of-sorts, but we just figured he was tired from all the activity of the week. However, after we left the party, he started going downhill, and ended up with a fever. So, Father's Day plans got changed a bit, but we still made it to lunch with Paul & Jan...even though Hampton was feeling terrible. Then, Sunday afternoon, Tanner got sick. Then on Monday, Harrison got sick! So, we've had 3 sick people in our house this week, and it's been no fun at all. Of course, the show must go on whether you're running a fever or not, so we've been on monogramming deliveries, church committee meetings, and lunch dates. We've just tried really hard not to cough on other people, and have washed our hands until they're almost raw. We're hoping that the bug is almost gone, and that it doesn't come back any time soon!

VBS Cookout

On Friday night, we ended the VBS week with a cookout on the church playground. Bo helped the UM Men's group prepare the hotdogs while Tanner got to hang out with the littles and her VBS cohorts. It had rained super-hard earlier in the day, but the weather was awesome for playing outside that night. The turnout was fabulous, and we didn't quite shut the party down, but almost. Hampton is hard to tear away from a playground! Harrison wasn't left out, though, as he got passed around to almost everyone there....it seems like everyone loves a baby!

VBS 2012

Last week, we had VBS at church. The theme was "Backstage with the Bible", and it was like a rock concert. We had guitars, boomboxes, etc, and we began and ended each day with a "concert". Luckily, our church's contemporary service is in a different building than the traditional services, so it was already set up with all the band instruments we needed.

Since Tanner is on the committee in charge of VBS, she'd worked on this year's event off and on since the week after VBS last year. Add in a new staff member at church who is super-organized and a great committee leader (our beloved Ellen), and this year was the smoothest it has gone in the 3 years we've been involved. And we heard it was the best one ever!

Every day, we had over 150 kids attend, with our biggest day being at 174. We also had tons of youth and adult volunteers, so everywhere you looked there were people in blue, as that is what the leaders wore everyday.

Since we all know that Hampton is a music fan, he adored it! He's too little to be in a class, but our wonderful nursery staff would take him and the other little ones out to hear the music. There was one song, "Superstar", that Hampton was in love with. Every day after we got home, he'd keep talking about being a superstar. Then, in the morning, he'd wake up and say "Today we're going to church to see Lucas and be a superstar!". He was quite the hit with his dance moves, too!

Harrison made so many friends, too, and lots of little girls are begging to babysit for free. We may just take them up on it!

It went by in a whirlwind, but we're glad to be part of another year at VBS. It's also making us look forward to the fall, when we start teaching the Wednesday night children again. But we also need a rest from the week, because we're still exhausted!

The theme of the week, plus the day's Bible verse. Each day, the children went home with a sheet like this, letting them know what to look forward to the next day.

The 3 amigos of VBS...Tanner, Lisa, and Ellen.

Tanner with Hampton & Hampton's buddy Lucas



The nursery crew. Hampton had so much fun with all of his little friends.

Ms. Pam, one of our sweet nursery workers. She and Ms. Amy fight over Harrison, and they keep offering to take him home.

Friday Photo & Week in Review

As predicted, this has been one crazy week! VBS was all-consuming, which wasn't bad but definitely exhausted the 3 of us that went every day. We had a blast, though, and we'll share some pictures of it next week. The Monogrammed Monkey has been slammed this week, too, with 18 orders that had to be sent out & many more than that just wating to be finished. Not to mention the "koozie machine" had to go to the shop, which has slowed us down a little bit. Tanner's mom pitched in and helped us out this week, which was fabulous!

It hasn't been ALL work this week...Bo took the boys on a fun neighborhood stroll, and Hampton had a treat of fishing, playing in the park, and a lunch date with his Granddaddy.

We're keeping up this high-speed pace throughout the weekend, with more things to do than days to do them. Hopefully, we'll remember to stop and take lots of pictures, so we can look at them while we rest next week!

Solids

 Harrison has been eating solids now for a few weeks, and he's loving them. They say to start with a teaspoon to a tablespoon of food, but Harrison has been gobbling up the entire jar! So far, he's had rice cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, and green beans, and he's liked everything except the peas & carrots. But he does like them mixed together...go figure! These photos are from his first eating experience....as you can see, he looks a little terrified. But, soon he realized that we were offering him something way yummier than his formula, and he's been gobbling it up since. We're thrilled, because maybe he'll fatten up a little....with baby rolls, the more, the merrier!

Painting from Pinterest

If you haven't been on Pinterest, you're really missing something. It is a virtual pinboard where you can find all kinds of inspiration...recipes, crafts, and the thing we love most...fun ideas for little ones. We use it all the time, and have found some amazing ideas on there that we actually try out.

One of the only people that love Pinterest more than we do is Grandi. She recently found the cutest idea on there, where you use white foam shaving cream & food coloring. You mix them into different colors into a muffin tin, and then you can "paint" all over the tub. Hampton absolutely LOVED it! We almost couldn't get him out of the tub. Of course, he made such a mess that we drained & refilled the tub before his actual bath, but hey...he was already there, so it was no trouble at all! This was such fun that we're sure to do it many more times in the future. Good job, Grandi!

Week In Review

This past week was a busy & very wet one! We spent lots & lots of time getting ready for VBS, which starts today. We also:

went to an outdoor concert
played in the park
had fun at the water fountains
got drenched at church on Sunday
spent the night at Grandpa & Grannie's house
cleaned the garage
recycled & donated lots of stuff
Harrison decided that he really likes to chew on Ike's tail...she's undecided on how she feels

This week is going to be the busiest we've had in awhile, so hopefully we'll be able to get everything accomplished!

Friday Photo

It's been another whirlwind week around here, and we're just given out!

Mister Smarty Pants

Hampton has become quite the character nowdays. He is as sharp as a tack....he can count to 150, say and spell his name, knows his colors in both English & Spanish, and doesn't forget a thing. You'll mention something to him once, then 2 weeks later he'll bring it up again. We find ourselves wanting his memory lots of days!

He also comes up with some doozies. Yesterday, he wanted was looking through his dvds, and decided on Dora the Explorer. He said "Watch this one, Mommy. I love Dora!", to which Tanner replied, "Mommy likes Dora, too".  Then Hampton said, "Wow, Mommy! That is excellent! High-five!". He just cracks us up! We hope we can remember all these funny things he says...especially at moments that are not as funny!

Waterfront Park

We love the Orange Beach waterfront park, which has a great playground as well as a pier out onto the intracoastal. Recently, we had a picnic there one evening with the grandparents. We played on the playground, enjoyed hot dogs, and then watched the sunset over the water. And the best part? We can visit anytime we want!

Deja Moo

When we realized that we had photos of both boys in the same outfit at Five Guys, we just couldn't resist a comparison post!  

Here is Harrison, from about 6 weeks ago...

and here is Hampton, from way back in March 2010. 

Talk about 2 cute boys, who are going to LOVE burgers...especially now that Five Guys is opening in Foley!

Weekend Update

This weekend was packed full of to-dos. It felt like we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, but we did accomplish some things! Hampton & Harrison both spent the night with Grandpa & Grannie on Friday night, which freed Tanner up to work, work, work! She was able to mail tons of stuff, go pick up fabric & supplies, and monogram...all things that can't be done with little ones underfoot. Saturday, was spent doing more monogramming to-dos and a little bit of us time before we picked up the boys. We visited with P&J for awhile, and it ended up being almost 9:30 before we made it home! 

Yesterday, we right to it by heading over to Grandi & Granddaddy's house. Bob is building us a massive desk/storage unit that is to become The Monogrammed Monkey's headquarters (way better than the dining room table!), and the least we could do was help him with it. Of course, Bo did the helping while Tanner wrangled the boys, but whatever!

We did have a chance to snap some photos of Master Harrison, who posed for us on the porch swing. This was after swinging contentedly for about an hour without even making a peep! Hampton had a blast, too, playing in the sand box, shark pool, and playing with his water table. We made it home with 2 little boys asleep in the backseat....that's how you know it's been a busy day!

Friday Photo

Enjoying pizza al fresco at Rotolos