Catching Up

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted anything, sorry about that. Where does the time go?
Alex turned 17 months today! Sometimes I feel like he should still be a little baby, time just goes by so fast now. I cherish the days when he relied on me for everything but at the same time I love watching him be his own person and figure things out on his own. It's amazing how his little brain works. He actually listens to me when I tell him to do something (well, not all the time). He tries to repeat everything we say, don't worry we're being careful, he even makes up his own words, i.e. bicycle = nano. We have no idea where he got that word, but that is what he calls any bicycle or motorcycle.
We also can't forget our other child, Dillon. As you can tell from the picture below he still gets the royal treatment in our house.

How dirty can one child get in the matter of 3 minutes? Literally, it only took about 3 minutes, I feel like a cloud a dust should be swarming him when he goes outside. He loves to pick up dirt and bring it to me or daddy. He also likes to pick out the tiny pebbles and put them in his mouth, luckily he's never swallowed one (yet).

I went into the bedroom only for a few short minutes, I could hear some paper like rumbling, so I walk in to the kitchen and find Alex standing in the kitchen chair where he had taken the Cheerio bag out of the box and turned it upside down. You know how all of the sugar and crumbs fall to the very bottom of the bag, well as you can see it is all over the table. He then took his hand and wiped it back and forth through the crumbs so it was all over the floor and window sill as well. He had a pretty good time to say the least.

Johnny had put this rhino hat on and Alex thought it was the funniest thing. Johnny would make a rhino noise so Alex kept trying to make it too. It was hilarious.

Then Alex wanted to wear the hat.

Alex's new hairstyle!! You like?

OCEAN POND
We went back to Ocean Pond a few weekend's ago when Aunt Amy & Uncle Chris were in town. We were more prepared this time than the last. We bought one of those net tents to keep the bugs out, brought a grill, and of course brought the generator and two fans and a mister. We really know how to rough it huh? We had a really good time though, just getting to hang out and relax. Alex actually rode the jet ski and of course fell asleep, just like he does on boat rides. I'll have to get those pictures from Uncle Jeremy's camera.

Grandma and Aunt Amy relaxing in the water. We are so happy, Aunt Amy is having a little boy!!

Alex loves spending time with his two Aunt's.

Such a sweet boy.

He also loves spending time with his two Uncle's.

Alex kept taking Uncle Chris' water bottle and once Chris got up he took his chair.

Who knew playing in the sand took so much thought?

Getting ready to go on the jet ski. He didn't quite know what to think of his life jacket at first but once he was in the water he didn't mind it at all.

This kept him entertained for quite a while one Saturday while I was trying to clean house, don't worry I was in the kitchen with him. Alex figured out how to climb up in the chairs all by himself, and of course from there he kept trying to climb onto the table. He got his butt spanked a few times that day. He would start to put one knee up on the table and I would look over and tell him NO, he would just smile, and when he thought I wasn't looking he would try it again. A few times he said the heck with it and climbed on up on the table, I guess he thought I would spank him that hard so it wouldn't hurt to try. It's kind of hard to get your point across when those thick diapers cushion the blows.

Now he feels the need to climb up on everything he can.

Just thought I would throw this one in of Dillon, it was too cute to pass up.

Alex's babysitter gave him a huge container of lego's, so him & daddy were putting them to good use while I was cooking dinner. And for those of you wondering, yes, that is a splint on Johnny's hand. He broke a little bone in his left hand when a computer monitor fell on it. Believe me he has milked that for all it was worth, it got him out of changing diapers for about a month.

My little Kentucky Wildcat!! Thanks Crissy!

Kentucky Trip

We left last Tuesday and flew up to Kentucky for a short vacation. We hadn't been there since last August, so I was ready to see my family. Here is Alex with some little friends he met at the airport while we were waiting on our flight. Alex did so good on the flight, he slept the whole way!!

Here's Alex & Grammy playing peek-a-boo in the backseat on the way back from the airport. Once we landed in Nashville, we still had an hour and a half drive to Grammy's house. Needless to say, Alex was more than ready to get out of that car seat.

And....introducing Gracelyn Taylor, Alex's newest cousin. She was just two weeks old, how precious. Alex didn't quite know what to think of something so small. It's really had to believe that he was once that size.

Alex, Ashley & Faith playing in the ball pit at Aunt Paula's house. Faith is Gracelyn's big sister, only 18 months apart. Ashley had been in Kentucky since the first of July staying with Grammy & Poppy, she was flying back with us.

There is always so much stuff to play with at Grammy's house. She had expandable trains and tunnels. It's not as easy as it used to be getting into those things but I did it!

Grammy & Poppy live on a huge lake called Barkley Lake. I think this is the first time I have ever seen my mom ride in an intertube, it's amazing what she will do for her grandchildren. Here she is riding with Ashley.

Alex loved riding in the boat. Pretty much anytime the boat was moving he would go to sleep and as soon as it would stop he would wake up. It's amazing we didn't lose his puppy, he would not let go of it, so whoever was holding him would also have to hold onto puppy so he wouldn't fly out of the boat.

Alex is such a little water baby now. Here we are in Grammy's little pool, perfect size for him.

Here we are on another boat ride, notice Alex is asleep!

Here we are at the water park in Eddyville. Crissy and Faith came out to join us. Jeff got the privilege of keeping Gracelyn. Alex had such a blast going down all the slides, he would even go down head first into the water. If Faith wouldn't go down fast enough for him, he would just push her out of the way....he's still learning how to take turns. I think Johnny had as much fun as Alex did going down all the slides.

Uh oh....kissing cousins!! How cute!

On Friday we drove to Sacramento to visit with pappaw and grandma Stacy. Pappaw took Alex for a ride on the 4-wheeler and when they came back Alex was fast asleep.

On Saturday, we went by to see Granny & Pa, Alex's great-grandparents. They hadn't seen him since last August and they couldn't believe how much he had grown. Here's how we got Alex to warm up to Granny, playing peek-a-boo and putting puppy on Granny's head. He always thinks that is the funniest thing.

What kid can resist a piano? My granny has had this piano since I was little, probably Alex's age. He climbed right up on the seat and starting pounding away.

Playing ball with Granny.

Such a pretty smile...

Ashley had been laying in between Grammy & Granny so Alex thought he should be up there as well, he made Ashley move over.

We always have a fish fry when we go to Kentucky. We went to the fish market on Saturday to get some catfish and got to go look in the tanks, these things were huge. These come out of the same lake we swim in.....scary huh.

Alex relaxing on his little couch.

Me & Johnny were laying on his little couch too and he kept crawling over us, so I tried to capture the moment as we were laying there.

Here's Crissy and Gracelyn, she looks too good to have a 2 week old.

Alex & Faith with their cowboy hats. Johnny thought since Alex & Faith had hats that Gracelyn should have one too, so he found a little top to put on her head.

Some of our family at Grammy's house....Granny & Pa (standing), Grammy & Poppy, Ashley, Johnny, Alex, Angie, Uncle Mike, Faith, Crissy, Gracelyn, Aunt Paula & Jeff.

Trying to capture a moment between Granny & Gracelyn. It is so hard to get a picture of Granny with her mouth closed, she is always talking!!

Granny & Pa with 4 of their great-grandkids, they have 6 total.

Pa is such a sport. When me & Crissy were little he used to let us make his hair stand straight up into a point (although there wasn't much). We used to have so much fun messing with his hair.

Toward the end of the night, Alex finally let Faith give him a hug without pushing her away.

Climbing in Grammy's pantry.

Daddy taking Alex for a ride on Poppy's tractor. Of course Alex almost fell asleep, only if he'd had puppy & passy.

Here's our family picture the day we left.

Ashley & Alex on the plane as we were landing in Jacksonville.

We always have such a good time when we go to Kentucky, it's just too bad that we all can't live in the same place. We miss everyone!!