Cars birthday bash

Before I became a mom, I vowed that I would absolutely not allow my children to wear character outfits/shoes/socks... I'm more of the type of mom that likes my boys to look like little guys instead of decked out in Spongebob, Elmo, or Thomas paraphernalia. But I must admit when you have little Disney eyes looking at you and asking for something in that super cute voice, I'm a pushover just like the rest of them. Nolan is obsessed with Cars. I mean it might actually be an addiction. He can name makes/models of cars. Anything from an Impala, Dodge Ram, Cobalt, Corolla, Tundra...he knows it. It's like he's a cool party trick these days.

I thought I would be able to talk him into having a pirate or dinosaur party...not so much. He was 100% set on having a Lightning McQueen party. So I let my pride down and let him win this battle. He even has Lightning McQueen underwear. Hey I'm desperate to finalize this potty training deal (we've been in underwear for a week! WOOHOO!). And let me just say that they have EVERYTHING possible out there for the movie Cars. He got flashlights, keyboards, slippers, plates, you name it. So while I must admit that I was really hesitant to have this Cars party, it really was a lot of fun. I guess kids really do know how to have more fun than grown ups. You can see the rest of our pictures from the party if you click on the link for Snapfish.

3 months old

In the same week I'm experiencing my oldest turning 3 years old and my baby turning 3 months old. It's too much for me to keep up with! At Campbell's last appointment, he was 14 lbs. 5 oz. He seems to be working on a heavyweight title. He's been a smiler now for two months but just recently we starting giggling. I wasn't ready for it to be so soon as it was 4 months with Nolan but it's just the best ever. The poor thing is probably sore because I try and make him giggle all the time. I decided that hearing your child laugh is the best sound God ever made. It really does make everything worth it. He's actually ticklish! I see a lot of tickle fights in our future.

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Where has 3 years gone? I remember delivering him like it was yesterday and not believing that they were letting us take a baby home when we had no idea what we were doing. I remember the sleepless nights, back when he would eat any food I put in front of him then 2 years he refused to eat anything but snacks (now we're eating MUCH better), remember crying when I left him at daycare for the first time, getting so excited for all those milestones, and all the rocking and singing and giggling. I guess the fact that it goes by so fast is a testament to how much fun we're having. I even remember wanting to return him for a refund when he was 15 months. All the good outweighs the bad by a landslide. In honor of my big "baby" boy, I wanted to reminisce with a few of my all time favorite videos. Being a parent is the hardest job I've ever had in my life but no one prepared me for how much fun and how much joy I was going to experience too. I've never smiled or laughed so hard in my life as I have these past three years. I just pray that Nolan will know just how insanely crazy I am about him. Thank you God for I am truly blessed.

Church picnic

Our church had a fall picnic on Sunday evening. We had hot dogs and all the fixins. We had a mean game of bocce ball going along with a water balloon toss. Nolan liked it until his balloon popped on him and you would have thought it was the end of the world. Ahhh, the drama. Campbell was a huge hit, especially with all the ladies. I even got to eat without bouncing him on a leg or rocking back and forth. The great thing about church is that when it comes to your kids, it's like going to family gatherings. You have so many people to help. They should totally charge me a babysitting fee every Sunday for all the help they give. There are times when I have no idea where Nolan is in church and sure enough here comes one of the youth group kids holding his hand playing with him corraling him to come back to me. Talk about true sheperds! On Sunday morning, before children's moment, Nolan apparently noticed the cross for the first time at the front of the church. He said, "Is that a cross?" (Sometimes he gets crosses and the letter 't' mixed up). One of his mini little babysitters, Trent, confirmed that it was and he responded, "I want a cross for my bithday party." What 3 year old wants a cross for his birthday party?

Dress Rehearsal for Halloween

It's that time of year that Justin and I just love. There's something about football on TV, the weather FINALLY turning cooler, leaves changing colors and knowing that the holidays are quickly approaching that just warms my heart. I love Halloween. I think I get it from my mother. She always made me these elaborate costumes. I still remember my Rainbow Bright costume to this day and how proud I was to wear it and I probably broke the age limit of trick-or-treating a couple of years. So it's only natural for me to pass this love of dressing up down to my boys. Nolan wants to be a cowboy this year. In years past, I have this adorable costume picked out only for him to absolutely hate it and want to take off the hat after one second of wearing it. So this year in an effort to keep his costume on, we've been having some dress up time with our costume. Here's a sneak peek at some of the costume.

Daddy Mack

C.S., Mack, Neal, Cornelius...the man of many names. But the one we lovingly refer to him as is Daddy Mack. The man was the most independent 93 year old you've ever met. Until a couple of years ago he was mowing his lawn, cleaning his gutters and driving himself all around town. We heard of Daddy Mack's declining health just a few weeks ago. Even then it was hard to believe. He would talk about how he was about to die because his pacemaker was about 10 years expired but that pacemaker just kept on tickin' and year after year good ol' Daddy Mack was there with his unforgettable laugh, hunched shoulders and toothpick sticking out of his mouth.

The grandkids coined "Daddy Mackisms" that he would try so hard to say just right but things would just get a "little" mixed up. He would talk about how his cough had gotten into his "bronicals" and hearing the man say "Sauvignon blanc" was enough to make anyone laugh. But that is what made Daddy Mack - Daddy Mack. Every time Justin would get off the phone with Daddy Mack, I would wait in anticipation to hear if there was another Daddy Mackism we could add to the list.

Justin lived with Daddy Mack in Memphis after college for two years. Daddy Mack makes me look bad as a wife. He had homemade dinners on the table every night. I mean some good ol' home cooking and was a model to him of what it means to care for and take care of family. While it's been so hard that Justin has lost both of his grandfathers in less than a year, I know that both of these men have meant so much to him in his life and I see that love being passed down through the generations. We miss you Daddy Mack!

Daddy Mack with Justin as a baby (left), Nolan as a baby (right)

Daddy Mack doing his favorite hobby-fishing

Daddy Mack and Nolan-July 2006

And I couldn't find a video of Daddy Mack but he's talking in the background in this video of this and you can hear his contagious laugh.

Here he is pickin' on Justin's guitar in November of 2004 when we were in Memphis celebrating his upcoming 90th birthday.

Roly Poly Campbelloni

I know that Nolan has always had the nickname Nolie Polie but just for this short time Campbell has taken the nickname. We've had tummy time and one day I look over and he just rolled over! Don't they say second children do things faster to keep up with their older siblings? While I'm not in a hurry for him to crawl or walk (although when Nolan did I lost 10 lbs so maybe it's not so bad), it is fun experiencing the little milestones with Campbell but at the same time everything is going so fast with him growing up already! Here's a video of him rolling over. He kind of has a crash landing, we're working on "gently" rolling over. Please ignore the baby talk.