We all reunited back at the end of the week after our week of all going in different directions. Graham had a great week with my parents. He and Lillian are bestest buds and they all went on lots of adventures. On Monday, they went to an animal park and got to feed animals and see them up really close, that was the highlight of the week for Graham. They did lots of visiting and were out and about a good bit. Graham loves going on adventures, so he enjoyed that very much. Other than a short nap in the car here and there, Graham blew past nap time, so right on schedule every night he was ready for bed! Lillian spent one night with him and they got to splash it up in the bathtub, so that was fun. On Thursday afternoon, they loaded up and met Dean after work and dropped him off. He was so exhausted he even slept through the car transfer! He was very excited to tell us about all his adventures! He didn't get homesick any, and the only mention he even made of any such talk was on the last night and he said his puppy doggy that he was sleeping with missed Mommy! He was very happy to see all his friends at school on Friday and they were excited to see him too, he settled back in pretty good other than not napping!

Evan and Dean did very well also. Evan makes it pretty easy, a little play time after they got home, then a bottle and then he is ready for bed and sleeps right through, so that was good! I got back on Thursday about mid-day and headed straight to the doctor, I had a sinus infection and ear infection and started meds! No fun flying on Thursday for sure! I worked most of the day on Friday, my birthday eve, got pretty flowers at work from co-workers and yummy cake and had a fun birthday lunch with Michelle.

The boys let me sleep in on my birthday on Saturday and greeted me with cards and gifts when I woke up. We loaded up and headed to Dean's parents house for a big birthday celebration for me, Mama, Cal and Adam! Lots to celebrate. Mama, Daddy, Kenneth, Lillian, Adam and Michelle joined us there and Cal grilled us up some hamburgers and hotdogs and we had a great time, complete with a cake with all four names! We played outside for a bit with some bubbles and took some pics, but it was just way too hot! We headed home in the afternoon and called it a full day of celebrating.

When we got home on Saturday night, we did Evan's 5 month photo shoot. Graham's five month shoot is still one of my all time fave pics of him and it is still on the mantle, so I wanted to try to replicate it as much as possible and we got pretty darn close! He was super sweet and just laid there playing with his toes and smiling and being a little doll! We were tickled to death! He weighed in at 17 pounds and 12 ounces, so just shy of 18 pounds! Still no sign of teeth, but he is drooling and chewing like crazy, so we really think it has to be close! He is so much more alert and reaching and grabbing for things like crazy!

Another busy week! Dean went in early and worked late or came home and did outside work the first part of the week, so I was dropping off and picking up both boys. We are in a pretty good rhythm with that and Graham is very helpful carrying Evan's things, opening doors etc, it just takes a long time! Graham had a good week at school and got to go to the treasure box on Friday, so that was good. Mama has been picking up little goodies for us to take in and donate to the treasure box each week and that has seemed to help motivate him, so that has been fun. Evan has settled in to a pretty set eating routine at home and school with a 4 ounce bottle before we leave the house, three six ounce bottles at school and then a 6 ounce bottle at bedtime. So, we are probably ready here in the next week to go ahead and offer him some cereal and see how that goes. He will be 5 months old on Friday! He is doing better with sitting up and can even sit in the recliner now and LOVES to be in the jumper and exersaucers. He loves to look all around and take everything in, especially Graham and Madison! He weighed in at 17 pounds and 8 ounces and has moved in to a lot of 12 month clothes! He can still wear some 6-9 month stuff but not all! So far, still no teeth yet. He is chewing and drooling like crazy, but nothing yet. We really think he must be close though!

Madison was sick the early part of the week and Dean took her to the vet, she must have just had a stomach bug and she got some meds and special food. Graham was very in tune to the fact that she was sick and taking medicine. He was very doting on her. Thank goodness by the end of the week, she was all better!!!

On Saturday, we had a very special outing - we went to the movies for the very first time with Graham. We finally felt that he was ready, but we knew that we had to wait for just the right movie. So, Toy Story 3 was it! Graham was very excited and when we walked in the theatre, he said WOW! We got popcorn, which he was equally excited about and we went to our seats. He sat very quietly and took it all in. He got a little upset with one scene when the toys were being mean to Buzz and I got him on my lap and he was good the rest of the time. Evan slept through the first part and then took a bottle and watched the second part. All in all, a great success. We just saw it in 2D, we thought 3D might be a bit much for his first movie outing.

We left there and headed to the lake to go to the pool. Graham had been talking about the pool all week and since it was late in the afternoon, we just left the kayak at home. Graham wanted to stay in the pool the entire time and is getting braver and braver in the water. He loves jumping in off the sides in to Dean's arm and did that over and over! The water was amazingly warm and Evan really enjoyed it as well. He is a little wobbly in his boat, but loved being carried around and sitting on the steps, until he finally got super sleepy and just wanted to take a nap! Both boys were konked out exhausted on the way home!

On Sunday morning, we got up early for a big day, Father's Day and the beginning of Graham's week at my parents. I will be in Minneapolis Tuesday through Thursday and so Graham is going to hang out with them for the week and Dean and Evan are gonna have some good bonding time! We had a fun time loading up all his luggage and getting him all packed, he was very excited. First, we stopped and had brunch with Dean's parents and had a few surprises, they had Graham a tent and tunnel to play in and a new Toy Story chair and for Evan, they got his recliner so he doesn't have to sit in Grahams! We had a nice visit and Evan even stayed awake the whole time!

We left there and headed to my parents for lunch and to spend the afternoon. Kenneth, Danah and Lillian joined us and we had a big time. Daddy had built a swingset in the backyard for the kids and Graham was in major awe when we walked out on the deck and he saw it and couldn’t get down there to it fast enough! We took lots of famiy pics and blew some bubble and had a very fun time. When it was time for us to leave, Graham was not phased a bit. He said he would show us to our car and see us when he got back home!!!! On Monday, they were going to the zoo and the rest of the week, he would have Lillian to play with, so he is very very very excited! This is the first time he has ever stayed away from home and the first time we have have both been away from his overnight in a couple years!!!! I think he will do great and then he will be all ready to do it again in August when I travel for a week again! This will be my first time away from Evan overnight, but he is truly such a super easy and mellow baby, I think that he and Dean will be fine.

We settled in to being back from vacation and had another crazy week ! On Monday night, Dean and Graham both came down with a stomach bug, so we all stayed home on Tuesday and I worked from home and played nurse for them (and kept Evan far away from them!). They seemed to be doing better on Wednesday, so Evan and I left them at home and they continued to bounce back and get their appetites back. Evan and I seemed to steer clear.

On Tuesday night, Dean laid Evan in his crib and was putting Graham in the bath and I was making him a bottle. I went to get him out of his crib and found him on his belly! He had rolled over for the first time and we missed it! He was cooing and talking and perfectly content! He is doing it more and more at home and daycare but on his own accord not on command, ha! I had to check just for fun, as this seemed a bit early, it was exactly two weeks earlier than Graham rolled over! Graham is still well in the lead on teeth though, Evan is still showing no signs of actual teeth, but he is chewing and drooling like crazy! So, maybe it won’t be long! He is still weighing in just over 17 pounds and continuing to blow through his clothes, it seems I pack something up every day! He has also found his toes and feet and is starting to grab them all the time, so that is cute!

Friday was our 5th wedding anniversary! We have had a busy five years for sure! Time has flown and we have two wonderful little boys to show for it! Dean sent me beautiful flowers to work and then we got Carrabba’s take out and watched the wedding video. Graham was quite amusing watching it, telling us who everyone was and providing non-stop commentary! It was also good training for him since he is going to be the ring bearer in Uncle Kenneth and Danah’s wedding on August 28th! We are very excited about that!

We were going to go to the lake on Saturday, but we had some bad storms, so we just stayed home and did some housework and took it easy. Graham was bummed, so he played “lake, beach, boat” in the formal living room, so that was really cute! He had him and Dean in their hat and sunglasses and they were all set, ha!

We had a big day on Sunday, Adam’s graduation from Blacksburg High School, on VT’s campus. He had a big class and we knew it would be a long ceremony, so we met my parents at Barnes and Noble in Christiansburg and dropped Graham off with them and they hung out at the train table and then went to the mall to ride the coin operated rides to pass the time while we were in graduation. We took Evan with us and he slept for a good bit and then woke up and looked all around and then ate and then just chilled out, never made a peep! The ceremony was very nice and we got lots of pics of Cousin Adam! We headed back to their house for a party afterwards and Graham and my parents met up with us. We had a lot of fun visiting and eating and taking bunches more pics. Graham had a blast and Evan even managed to be awake for a bit! We were very proud of Adam!

With the grad!

We have had quite a fun week, it was a two work / school week and lots of fun time built in. On Monday, Memorial Day, we headed back to the lake and my parents joined us for the day. We took a picnic and ate by the lake and then kayaked, built castles, played in the pool and Dean and Daddy even motored around in the boat. Evan slept through most of it and Graham just can't get enough. He loves to use the paddles on the kayak now and mom and dad brought him a fishing pole and he caught right on to that, so that was neat. We are so glad lake season is here!

We had two very busy days on Tuesday and Wednesday, I had meetings to go to both evenings and so Dean had double duty with the boys and then we were also getting all packed up and ready for our NC vacation!

We got up and ready at our regular time on Thursday morning and headed for the NC Zoo in Asheboro. Graham has talked about going to a big zoo to see all the big animals for a very long time and he was not disapointed. He knew were were going on vacation, or an adventure, as we likes to call it and the zoo was the only part of the trip that we told him about. We spent several hours there and he got to see lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, alligators, and on and on and on! He had a blast. Evan slept a good bit of the day in the stroller and Graham walked. There was lots and lots of walking and by about the last hour, he was starting to get really tired and wanted us to carry him! We literally walked miles and miles! Both boys were sound asleep in no time after we got in the car! It was a super fun day! We had a couple hour drive to get to our hotel in Boone, we hit an IHOP for dinner and rolled in to the hotel just before bedtime!

We got up early on Friday morning and told Graham that we were going to ride a big train like we did in Penn last summer. He got very excited! We headed over to Tweetsie Railroad and as we were pulling in the parking lot, he saw the life size Thomas the tank engine sitting in front of the train and he was beyond thrilled as you can see! He ran up and talked to Thomas and was so excited to meet him, but a little concerned that he did not talk back....... We went on a 25 minute ride through the mountains and even got to see some cowboys and indians! After we rode the train, there were lots of other rides to go on, some kiddie rides and some big rides - including a chair life that I rode with Graham and a Ferris Wheel that Dean rode with Graham, he has decided that he is very "brave" and loved it all! Evan again slept most of the day in the stroller, he was awake for the train ride and seemed to like it!

We headed out mid-morning on Sunday and stopped in Greensboro to do some shopping and eat lunch. Evan slept most all of the trip home and Graham talked and talked about our trip! I think he will be talking about it for quite some time. All of our activities really seemed to make an impression on him! It was a very neat trip for him, with two of his favorite things, trains and animals!!!!! Before bed on Sunday night, he said - "mommy and daddy surprised me and Evan with Thomas the train!"

Evan has seemed to have a growth spurt, as I am continuing to pack up clothes like crazy and he is firmly in 9 month and even some 12 month clothes! He weighed in at 17 pounds and 2 ounces on Sunday! He loves being in the exersacer and Graham gets so excited when grabs the different toys and makes them make noise. He is drooling tons and chewing on anything and everything, but no sign of teeth yet. He is rolling over on his side like crazy, but hasn't quite figured out how to get that arm out of his way and flip on over, but I dont think it will be long!