My New Favorites of My Favorite Boy

I have a lot of "favorite" photos of Adam. The problem is that I need to keep getting new favorites as he gets older. A few days ago, we went to play at my friend Janelle's house. She was snapping some pictures of Adam and her son Axel playing together. The result: a new favorite!

My new favorite photo of my favorite boy!

Here Adam is showing you his new "shy face." This just started last week, but he doesn't do it too often. He's still usually his smiley social self (see favorite photo above).

Obviously, Axel has not developed a "shy face" yet :)

Thanks for some great play time and great photos, Janelle. We will miss you and your boys when we move!

Kites!

Ok, so the title of this post is a little misleading. My friend Melissa and I were all excited to take our babies to see the indoor kites at the Air Force Museum yesterday - they were LAME! Oh well, we still had fun walking around a bit, chatting, and getting the babies out of the house.

If you've been to the AF Museum, you know how bad the lighting is, so excuse this photo. You can kind of see a couple of the kites in the background, though. As you can see, Adam and Rachel were only mildly entertained.

The highlight for Adam was going on the swings on the way back to the car. "Now THIS is fun, Mama."

Fun in the SUN!

The sun finally made an appearance here after a long leave of absence. Adam and I have been loving it, and since Phil finished his thesis, he has been able to enjoy it with us too. It is amazing what the sun does to your mood, isn't it? We had such a blessed day today - outside almost the whole day!

Isn't this the greatest photo? I love it so much! "I'm just going to the park with my dad."

He loves the steering wheel. It is incredible how much he has grown - he plays like such a little boy now.

He needs a little reminder to sit down on the slide. Isn't his shirt cute? My good friend was cleaning out her house and Adam was the lucky recipient of a ton of her son's old clothes. Lots of good stuff!

A little help from daddy, and he gets the slide figured out.

This little red car is a favorite with Adam and his little friends. I think he would ride in it forever, but my back doesn't allow it, unfortunately.

Focusing on the steering...

We are so thankful for the sun!

Shannon Visits Ohio

Ok, here's some background information: Shannon and Susie were friends. Shannon and Dana were friends. Shannon found out that Susie and Dana were both moving to Ohio, so Shannon decided that Susie and Dana should be friends. Susie and Dana were introduced in California. Dana arrives in Ohio and realizes that Susie is the only person in Ohio that even knows her name, so decides to call Susie. A beautiful friendship begins...

Shannon came to visit Susie and me and we had a great weekend! It was so fun to ALL be together - I would even say it was magical. I love these women.

Our first outing was dinner at Thai 9 - pretty much the only unique restaurant in Dayton. We must give a ton of credit to our husbands, who spent quality time with the kids while we were off having our girl fun. Thanks, Phil and Andy!

What is a girls' night without some cocktails???

Then things got a little bit silly...

Here is our sushi boat - love it! I must have been digging in my purse or something in the background...

Our server, Edward, was a great sport and took a time out from his busy night to pose for a picture.

After dinner we went back to my house for a SLEEPOVER! I have been dreaming of an adult girls' sleepover for so long.
We sipped some wine (see, this is why adult sleepovers are more fun than junior high sleepovers)...

Did some skin care...

you know - all the classic sleepover activities.

Pooser even got some love. (I think I have another picture of Shannon and Pooser in a similar pose.)

The next day, we headed down to the outlet mall. On the way, we passed the monumental Jesus statue that is outside a church called "Solid Rock." I find this statue to be a little over the top, but it's apparently pretty famous. Did you know there is even a Facebook group for people who have driven past it? Look it up.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch. It was Shannon's first time. Isn't this a great photo? It makes me so happy every time I look at it.

This photo does NOT make me happy. Shannon and I BOTH got food poisoning from the Cracker Barrel! Sorry, no pics of me, but this is pretty much how I looked all day on Sunday as well. Poor Shannon - what a bummer of a way to spend your vacation :(

Luckily we were both feeling better the next day. Shannon was able to get some play time in before she had to head home.

Susie - I hope you don't mind I'm borrowing your girls to post on my blog. They are so darn cute! Here are Susie's girls lovin' on Shannon.

Thank you Shannon for coming to visit! What can I say? God has blessed me with wonderful friends.

Phil's Thesis: Defended!

Thursday, March 4th was the big day around here - Phil defended his thesis! We've been talking about this day for a year and a half and now it is all behind us.

I woke up early so that Adam and I could have a family breakfast with Daddy and support him on his big day. Pancakes and sausage - it was a hit!

Then he was off in his fancy uniform to defend the thesis in front of his committee and a few friendly spectators.

He did great! I was so excited and proud of him. What an accomplishment - especially considering that he did it while becoming a father to a baby who didn't sleep for the first ten months of his life! Thank you for working so hard, Phil. You are such a good husband and daddy.
Graduation is on March 25 and we close on our house in DC on the 31st. On to the next adventure!

Adam "Cleans Up"

We've been teaching Adam to clean up his toys at the end of the day, but this isn't exactly what we had in mind...
Sometimes I would give anything to hear what is going on in his head while he's so busy.



Earlier in the evening, he had been busy spreading his books out all over the floor. By the time he was finished, though, I think they all ended up on the other side of the gate.