Wowzers!

This blog has not been updated in a long time! Sorry, the whole month of June was a crazy whirlwind of activity! We had trips to Lafayette, vacation bible school, swimming lessons, camping, playdates, etc etc. We look forward to July, we have an empty calendar!!



The boys are doing fantastic. Maddox has been enjoying the summer a great deal. He had a week of swimming lessons in June and he also has them this week. Of course, he loves them! He is doing really well and is very confident in the water. Today he decided that he was going to learn to dive after watching some older boys do it during the lesson before him. His teacher got such a kick out of it and he was actually pretty good. We have learned that swimming is a great way to wear Maddox out and get out lots of his energy, He often tells us "I have lots of energy!"
Some of Maddox's favorite things right now are riding his bike, eating popsicles, swimming, and painting. He also likes playing with Harris a lot.

It is so hard to get them both looking at the camera!!

Harris is doing great too! He finally started walking on June 16! He would take about nine or so steps then decided it was much faster to crawl. But now he is completely walking, no more crawling for him. It has opened up a whole new world for him and for us! It is so cute to see him toddle down the hall to his room with paci in mouth and book in hand when we tell him it's time to go to bed.
He has a small vocabulary now. He can say cracker, hot, mama, dada, dog, and wow. He also calls Maddox "maa maa."
Here is some video of Harris walking, you can tell that Maddox gets really excited when we take the video camera out!

Harris adores Maddox and has to do everything he does. They really enjoy each others company so much and play very well together. They do get in quite a few squabbles though, don't want to paint too rosy of a picture!



Jamie and the boys took a trip down to Lafayette early June to visit some friends and family. She stayed with her friend Michelle she also has two boys who are very close to the same age as Maddox and Harris. The boys all played great together and they all had a great time.

Playing with Preston, this picture just screams trouble!!


They also got to visit with MawMaw and PawPaw Bernie. Of course the first thing Maddox wanted to do was ride PawPaw Bernie's tractor. Harris even got to have a ride!


This last weekend for the Fourth of July we went down to H-Town to visit with Jamie's parents. The boys had a great time in the pool! Maddox went swimming about 3-4 times a day, anytime anyone would say yes to taking him he would go!


We also did some fireworks. Maddox liked them ok as long as they didnt make too loud of a pop! Harris loved them, we had to stop him from trying to go up to them.
So, the newest excitement around here is that our new little blessing should be arriving sometime in January! Yep, thats right we have a new little one on the way. Jamie is about 12 weeks along and everything is going great! Thankfully, this pregnancy has not been as hard on her as the last two. We are all very excited and Maddox loves talking about the new baby. He'll ask us out of the blue sometimes "are we going to have a new baby?!"

So life around here has been pretty hectic and tiring but we are making it through!

A Little Vacation

We took a little family vacation the other weekend to New Orleans. We had a great time and the boys really enjoyed all the fun things we got to see. Brian's coworker was getting married in LaPlace so we thought we would go to the wedding and stay in New Orleans for the weekend. We stayed on Canal St just 2 blocks from the river. Maddox was so excited about all the boats on the river, that's all he talked about the whole weekend.

We had Mother's Day breakfast at Cafe Du Monde and then went to the Aquarium and the Insectarium. The boys had a blast. Maddox especially liked the Insectarium. He got to see lots of cool bugs and even eat some too! The Insectarium had a little cooking room where they would cook bugs into different recipes, Maddox was very willing to try them and even asked for more! All of this excitement eventually led to the very rare moment where both boys fall asleep in the stroller while Jamie shhopped for some Louisiana type books to help us remember the trip.

Did we mention there was a firetruck?? It was Maddox's lucky day as we walked down to the French Quarter rigt past the firestation. The firemen were happy to let Maddox see whatever he wanted. He got to wear a helment, hold the ax, open up all the compartments on the truck and even got to play with the hose!

Before we left on Monday we took Maddox on the ferry over to Algiers. It was a free so that ment free entertainment for Maddox! The ride on the ferry was probably the highlight of his trip!

We have been working in our garden the last few weeks and we are very excited about all the things we have growing. We have tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, watermelons, squash, cucumbers and peas. We have had lots of rain over the last few weeks and the plants have loved it. We should have some tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers ready pretty soon! Here are some pictures so you can see how much our garden has grown!

Happy Birthday Maddox!

Yay! It is Maddox's 3rd birthday! He is SO excited! We will be spending the day doing lots of fun things. We are planning to go to Sci-Port, a discovery science center, in Shreveport and then going to eat at Chick-a-laid (aka. Chick-fil-A).

We are so thankful and blessed to have Maddox! He is such a joy to be around.
Some fun things that are going on in his life right now: He loves to talk and ask questions. He talks a lot and very well. He is a very inquisitive little boy and likes to know how and why things are the way they are.


He says funny and cute things all day long, Jamie was tickled the other day when he told her she looked like a princess, she was dressed for church in a flowing skirt, he was so cute and serious when he said it. He also likes to tell us "stop frustrating me!" Our telling him to use his words has kind of backfired on us a time or too! ;) We try to remember funny things he tells us but he says so many throughout the say it is hard to remember.


Maddox is really into meeting new people. Everywhere we go he asks almost every stranger what his or her name is then he'll stick out his hand and say "nice to meet you." Everyone that gets this special little introduction is just tickled by it. Maddox always brightens our day and it is so fun to watch him brighten other people's day too!


We had a little birthday party for the boys last weekend. The boys had a great time with all of their little friends! Maddox was super excited about his birthday party and his cake! Jamie made him a LarryBoy cake. Larry Boy is a character from Veggie Tales, a show that he really likes. We enjoyed visiting with everyone and getting to spend some time with family too!


We hope you all have enjoyed keeping up with this blog for the last 3 years! We'll continue to post here, especially since it serves as the boys baby books!

A little note for Maddox~
Maddox, you are so awesome and such a joy in our lives! We thank God for you every day and the blessing that you are. Keep up your feisty little spirit, God will use it in big ways!
Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Harris!!

On Saturday Harris turned a year old! What a wonderful day it was! We were at Jamie's parent's house for the Easter weekend so we celebrated Harris's birthday and Jamie's birthday there. We had some yummy crawfish, and icecream cake.

Harris especially loved his cake! We ended up having to take the cake away from him because he was trying to eat the whole thing. He would have been one sick little boy if he would have eaten all of that cake.

Some one year stats: He weighs 18lbs and is 28in long. His blue eyes have definitely stayed blue and he still has very little hair. What hair he does have is so blonde it looks white.
He knows how to blow kisses now and how to woof like a dog. He LOVES his big brother and likes to do everything that Maddox does. When Harris sees Maddox his face lights up with joy. The two of them together are quite a sight and they definitely keep Jamie on her toes during the day.

Harris is a such a sweet sweet blessing. We are so thankful that God has blessed our family with him.

Here are some pictures of Maddox dying easter eggs. We stripped him down to his skivvys to try and avoid any dye on clothing.


Expect some great new pictures soon. Jamie got a new camera for her birthday and has been very busy trying it out and learning all of it's features. We also got a new video camera so hopefully some video will get posted soon too.

Days Outside

Time for another update and some more pictures....

Most of our days are being spent outside, the weather has been beautiful! The boys love being outside and getting all dirty.

The boys have been so fun lately! They really interact with each other now, which can be good and bad. Harris loves to follow Maddox around and do everything he does and Maddox really enjoys this. They also like getting into trouble together and Maddox has realized that he has the perfect little partner in crime.



Harris will be a year old in a few weeks. That is so hard to believe! He is such a fun little boy and is always so joyful. He is always smiling and laughing. He does so many new "tricks" too. He can wave bye bye now and say dog. He has also started signing "more" when he wants some more of something. He also loves to play peek-a-boo. He has started standing some on his own but we think he is still a little way off from walking.



Maddox is wonderful and loves to keep us on our toes. He always says the funniest things. He is at the age where he really just says whatever he sees or whatever he is thinking. This always makes for some interesting conversations! The other day he asked where a certain cat was that we always see when we go work out. Jamie told him "I don't know where the cat is Maddox" to which he replied "maybe it's dead." He has also become quite the bargainer and likes to try to talk babysitters into things he is not allowed to have by saying "my mommy said I could."


Our life still feel crazy all the time! Our house remodeling is almost finished, we promise to post some more before and afters as soon as we complete the rooms. Now we are trying to move on to some yard work and gardening. We won't be building our big garden this year because we don't have time, but we will be planting a few things. We are also cleaning up flower beds and getting the outside of the house looking good.

Pretty sure that is about all that is going on around here! Thanks for keeping up with this blog even though we don't post to it much!

This past month...

Wow it's February already!! January seems to have flown by.
The new year is getting off to a great start for us. We have been enjoying the boys so much lately!
The boys have had their fair share of sickness over the past month. They both had RSV in early Jan. and Maddox narrowly escaped a hospital stay because of it. Thankfully, the wonderful doctor allowed us to do all treatment at home. Here is a picture of Maddox taking one of his breathing treatments. At one point during the sickness both boys were having breathing treatments every 2 hours around the clock, it was miserable. All we could say was "this to shall pass.." It eventually did pass and the boys are doing great now.


We took a wonderful little trip down to Lafayette the other weekend to do some visiting. We got to spend some time with MawMaw and PawPaw, visited family, and went to a birthday party. We all had a great time and Maddox is still talking about riding on PawPaw's tractor! That was the highlight of his trip!





Harris is crawling!!! Ahhhh....we knew the day would come but we don't know if we were ever really ready for it. He is into everything!! He pulls up on everything too so that adds a whole other aspect to it all. He and Maddox make the perfect team too. They really enjoy getting into a lot together. Harris is very eager to go everywhere and freely explores the whole house.
He went for his 9 month check up at the end of January. He weighs 17lbs and is 26.5 inches long.


Harris is such a sweetheart and is a very content baby. He's a charmer too and can easily melt your heart with his sweet sweet smile!

Maddox is great. What can we say, he is a typical 2 1/2 year old. It is hard to get decent pictures of him because he is always on the move so the picture is never in focus. He talks non stop and asks questions about everything. VeggieTales (a kids video series) has become a recent obsession and he can sing the whole theme song. He loves signing it to Harris when Harris is sad or upset. He has also become the mother to Harris and tells him when he can or cannot do anything and loves to change Harris' diaper too. Speaking of diapers, Maddox has been potty trained for a few months now, we are so thankful for that!
Maddox is a sweetheart too, he gives great hugs and is never shy around anyone. He likes to meet new people and will stick his hand out for a handshake and say "nice to meet you!"


Stay tuned for more ridiculously cute boys in the next post.....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So we are a little, ok a lot, behind on this blog. We must have gotten caught up in the busyness of the holiday season.
Lots has been going on including some remodeling on the house.
We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We spent Christmas at home and Jamie's parents and sister and brother came in for Christmas day.

The boys had a great time. Maddox was really into Christmas this year and especially opening gifts.

We also enjoyed teaching him about the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birthday. This was an easy concept for him to understand because he is all about birthdays and birthday parties!
The boys have been doing great. They are both growing great and are such a joy! They have been passing colds back and forth for about 2 months now and that is no fun. Hopefully cold season will be over soon!


Harris got his first tooth! It has just popped out (bottom left) and can barely be seen but it can definitely be felt! We first noticed it the week before Christmas.

He isn't crawling yet but he makes his way around in his own way. He likes to scoot backwards and he also does a good job of moving around in a circle. Jamie has mixed feelings on his not crawling yet. While she really wants him to crawl she has started to realize that the longer he waits to crawl the longer she has before she has to start chasing little boys around!

He loves to babble and "talk." He and Maddox talk back and forth to each other every night while they are going to bed. It is so cute!


Maddox makes us laugh everyday. He is so smart and picks up on everything going on very quickly. He listens to everything we say and often interrupts our conversations with "mommy, what did you say to daddy?" and vise versa.

He talks non stop, literally! And everything is very understandable. He has to know about everything and has tons of questions. He has entered the "why?" stage too! This gets annoying especially once you get to the end of the why and the answer is just "because." Apparently, because is not a suitable answer for a 2 year old.

The boys are really starting to interact with each other and we love watching them together. The other night we were in the kitchen and thought it got a little too quiet in the living room, we checked on them and found this:



Maddox had gotten into some baby food that a friend had given us and decided that Harris needed to eat some. We just laughed so hard it was so cute!
We can't say enough how much joy the boys bring us. It is the crazy moments like these that keep us going!

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!


Thanks to Crystal for taking our wonderful Christmas card pictures and allowing us to put some of them on this blog! You're the best!