Friday, July 10, 2009

This just in...

I'm officially calling it - Ryan is crawling. Now, he's not motoring across the floor, but he is definitely moving about the room on hands on knees! Oh yeah, this kid is a friggin' rock star. In every sense of the word, good and bad! LOL! Will try to get some video later.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Girlfriends

Most everyone is aware that Sean has a few girlfriends, none more so than Emma - the older woman, the 5 1/2 year old living across the street. I can't tell you how many Playgroup girls adore him. And now his brother seems destined to follow in his footsteps.

World, meet Amerra, Emma's little sister, and four months older than Ryan. And from these photos, I think it's safe to say that Ryan has met his match as far as girls who like to get a lil' dirty! Yes, they are playing in the street. Splashing in the water run-off from Gary & Sheryl's house down the street. They were having a blast!



Ann - Emma and Amerra's mom (and my hairstylist!) - and I have already been discussing the need for vigilance where these kids are involved. Pretty sure the Latta boys and Blake girls could get into a wee bit of trouble together!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Happy Birthday, America!


We had a pretty fabulous 4th of July weekend. And in some ways it started the weekend before, when my best friend from college, Kimberly, got into St. Louis with her husband Charlie. She moved to Dallas six years ago, and we rarely get to see each other. But there's more to our story than just that, as Kimberly is responsible for my marriage. You see, Kim and Trey are cousins - well, second cousins, but I've learned that in the Latta family, damn near everyone is a cousin in some way. Trey's dad, OC, aka Poppa Latta, is first cousins to Kimberly's mom, Momma Becky. So not only is Kimberly my best friend of 15 years, but she's family!

Thames & KimKim
Let's be clear, I love this woman!

Anyhoo, Trey and I met up with Kim and Charlie last Saturday, went out for drinks and a little gambling. Much alcohol was consumed. Then on Tuesday, Kim and I met up with some old co-workers - yes, we not only are best friends and family, we also worked together back at Knights! We met Beth, Cathy and Jeffrey out at the Trainwreck, and Oh Lord, I was in stitches the entire time. I forgot what a riotous crew we are when we're together! Kimberly has a picture of all of us.

So Thursday we made our way to Hannibal, where Nana Roxy was cooking up a good, old fashioned southern fried chicken dinner, complete with every fixin' you can think of, for Momma Becky and Charlie's birthdays. My arteries were reeling, but my mouth was so happy! And it was the first time Kimberly got to meet Ryan, and the first time in almost two years she saw Sean.

On Friday, Mandy and Nick, along with Baby AddieCakes and Nick's parents were in town, so we hung out at Poppa Latta's house, eating like gluttons, swimming, and letting the cousins play and get to know each other. And Friday evening, we headed out for my first Hannibal Cavemen baseball game - Hannibal now has a collegiate league, and while they lost, we had a really good time dodging the rain, telling stories and watching some great fireworks when the game was over. There was a wee bit of drinking here, too.

Addie, in the hands of a bad influence, Terry.

But the big day was Saturday - not only Independence Day, but also Ryan turned seven months old! Miss Isabella was in the parade, so we convened once again, this time on the streets of Hannibal to watch what was a really great, small town, holiday parade. Beauty queens waving from the tops of convertibles, old time cars, candy in the streets, Red, White & Blue flags waving from little kids' hands. Yes, it was Americana wrapped up in a little package!

Daddy & Sean
This picture is just too precious to me!

Izzy B, our own Miss America

Aunt Mandy and Baby Addison enjoy the festivities

After the parade, though, Trey and I packed up the boys and headed home, because we have learned over the years that the best place to be on the 4th of July is our house. We must have some pretty rich neighbors, because quite a few of them shoot off hundreds (maybe thousands?) of dollars worth of fireworks, and St. Charles County becomes aglow for hours. If you can stand the thick, sulfur-laden smoke that blankets the air, the best seat in the house is in our driveway, where we hang out with the Blake's for a night of drinking and explosives. Plus, it gave us an excuse to break in that new piece of street right in front of our driveway.

Unfortunately, this year, the rain moved in just as it was getting started, and everyone started shooting everything they had at once, and only the diehards kept going long after it started pouring. But Trey and Sean and I opted to snuggle in on the couch for some popcorn and Sean's new favorite movie, Ice Age. (Yay, no more Annie!)

Sean and his girlfriend, Emma

Here's a little video that I took, right before the rain hit. The video does not quite capture the awesomeness, but you do kind of get the war-zone feel of the evening.



So what did we do Sunday? Not much. Of anything. Oh, Trey got his panties in a wad about getting stuff done, but I smacked him around a bit and told him to do something he rarely does....Relax! We still got quite a bit around-the-house stuff done, but nothing was pressing, we didn't have to go anywhere, and we had the Blake's back over for an incredible BBQ. Man, Trey can cook a rib like nobody's business! And the lemon water and salad helped me push through that food baby I'd started to grow those few days in Hannibal. :-)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Good Morning to You!

Just a quick post, as I'm downloading all this past week's photos off the camera and iPhone. Here's one from Thursday morning, 7am, bright and early, my boys.
Pretty sure Sean is flipping me off.

BTW, I'm slowly working on moving the blog over to WordPress. There are a myriad of reasons, the least of which being that I hate Blogger, but one big reason is that WordPress has an iPhone app, which means I'd be able to snap a quick photo, and post it to the blog in a jiffy. Those of you on Facebook already reap the benefits of my Facebook iPhone app, as I can easily throw up cute pics of my boys during the day without having to stop what I'm doing to fight with Blogger for an hour. Of course, some days I get lots of work done on the transition, but most days, I just think about how much I'd like to get done. Such is life as a Stay Home Mom with two lil' ones.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

What, no Iron Mans yet?

Ryan hits his milestones like I change underwear. Yes, that is frequently. Daily, in fact. I can't keep up with this kid, and I do believe I say those exact words at least 157 times per day. For all of Sean's "I'll do it when I get there" attitude, Ryan Can Not Wait to do the next thing, he wants it all, he wants it now! And it seems like any minute, this kid is going to take off, and I may never catch him!

Just four weeks ago, with a glint in his eye!

Sittin' up so big and strong!

A surprise to find Piglet sitting up on his own in the crib! Little Stinker!

I'm comin' for ya, Momma!

And here are two videos of him trying. This one was taken last Friday:


And this one was taken just today. Take note of those AWESOME baby pushups he does!


Singin' a New Tune

I love making up songs and singing them with Sean. He and Ryan each have their own "Lullaby" song, there's a naptime song, etc.

So today, when I put Ryan down for his afternoon nap - which is the signal to Sean that it's his "Quiet Time," Sean put up a fight, and this is what ensued.

Mom: Sean, what movie do you want to watch in Mom's room for Quiet Time.
Sean: No, I don't want to do that!
Mom: Well, it's Quiet Time, so you can play quietly in your room, or watch a movie in Mom's room. It's your choice.
Sean: (grunts Very loudly, and then starts singing in his own made-up tune)
"My Mom is craaaa-zy!
She says it's qui-et time, but it's noooo-t!
I wan-na play a gaaame,
And that's not a prooo-blem!"

I'll let you know when the Greatest Hits album is released!