"hi"

Khloe's big moment this week ... she can wave 'hi'.  She has been saying "hi" for a couple of weeks.  She mimics my sound when I say 'hi', and she uses it when she waves her hand ... at herself.  She has waved before, but this week she started going crazy.  She will wave and wave and say "hi" all around the house.  Colton says it to her a lot, so maybe that's why she's suddenly really into doing it.  I even got it on video.  Mind you, she's 8 months, so it's not the most clear "hi".  But I think you can hear it.  We're counting it as a word, along with Da-da and Ma-ma.  Three words so far!

She is definitely growing older.  I find her all over the house now.  She is quick, too!  She moves along the ground like a snake, and she gets where she needs to go very quickly!  She can pull up in her crib to her knees.  It won't be long until she pulls up to a stand.  Once she does that, I don't think it will be long until she's walking.  She wants to keep up with brother ... and me when I leave the room!  One evening this week, Khloe proved that her hair is growing!  I took her head band off, and I saw this crazy hair--okay, it's not as crazy as it could be, if she had longer hair, but it's her first silly hair pictures!  I love it.

Look closely!

Classic Khloe--always trying to put things into her mouth to chew on them ... this time, it was an attempt to eat the camera.

Last weekend, we were excited to find something that we have been missing since our last trips over seas to Asia!  Lychees!!!!  We found them at our local Asian market.  Billy has been craving these ... so we were happy to have them.

Delicious (and expensive) lychees!

This week has been a good one!  We were so happy to have a week of sunshine!  I was so thankful for the sunny days ... we went to the water park Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday!  I think Colton and Khloe were both happy to be outside.  Cole ran and jumped and splashed.  He cried every day when we left the water park.  I know that he was having a great time. Khloe has started to want to be more mobile in the water.  It makes being there a bit tougher.  She still doesn't traditionally crawl, so her head is down closer to the water.  She wants to scoot around on her belly--which ruins her swimming suit and gets her face too close to the water.  If she was up on her hands and knees, I wouldn't mind too much.  She rocks back and forth up like that, but she still hasn't taken off, yet.  

Last Sabbath at the water park ... finally a break from the rain!

Tuesday water park time ... so thankful for that sunshine!

Wednesday ... headed to the water park with three kids in tow.  Enjoyed a day with our friend, Mason.

Unfortunately, my friend, Gwendy, had one of her cousins pass away this past weekend.  She wanted to head up to Canada for the funeral.  She was supposed to go to Chicago this current weekend with her family.  She decided to meet them in Chicago after she attended the funeral.  She took her youngest, Carson, with her, but she needed someone to watch Mason while her husband, Brian, worked all day Wednesday and Thursday morning.  I offered to help them out.  It was no problem at all.  The boys played very nicely.  Mason hasn't spent an entire day away from  Mommy and Daddy  before, so he was a little sad.  He missed having at least one of them there with him.  But he did really well at the water park.  I guess that helped to take his mind off of the fact that Mommy and Daddy weren't around.  

The next morning (Thursday), I took the kids to Nanny's Zoo with my MOMs Club.  Mason was still sad about not having  Mommy and Daddy  around, but he did well at the zoo.  He was kind of in a daze--almost a shell of himself.  He just wanted to sit and have a snack.  But eventually, I got him to see a few animals before we left. It was fun to have another kid around to play with Colton.  Some of the moms asked me if that turned me off from having another kid.  It was much more difficult, but then again, I had 2 two year-olds ... if I had another kid, I would have three kids of varying ages.  Also, one of them wasn't mine, so there are times when there is nothing I can do to stop the sadness or the crying, because they don't want me!  I think that would be different with having three of your own kids.  It wasn't that bad, really.  Like people have told me ... two is very different from one, but after that ... it's just more of the same!

Taking the kids to Nanny's Zoo.

Colton LOVED the ducklings.  He enjoyed holding them.  Every time he put one down, he wanted to pick another one up!

He's got another one!

They brought out a Red Tailed Boa.  It was pretty big.  The lady said it could eat a small child ... but this one refuses to eat anything that is alive, so it eats frozen giant rats.  (ICK!)

This is a ball python.  Colton got to touch it.  The lady said he could put it around his neck, but he wasn't up for that!

I finally managed to get Mason to check out an animal.  He decided that he wanted to touch the snake, too.

Both boys checked out the white bunny.

He wanted to hold the ducklings, but when I put it in his hands, he dropped them.  He wanted to hold them but when it came down to it ... he did not want to touch them! :) Ha!  So, he agreed to half hold it with me. 

Last Sunday,  my MOMs Club had their end of the year Mom Celebration.  This is one day a year when the Moms leave their kids at home with the Dads and have a night out.  We went to get a pedicure and then had dinner at Cantina Laredo (a mexican restaurant).  It was so much fun!  I got a Tropical Spa Pedicure. I usually just get the basic pedicure, so it was fun to have a special one.  They used tropical fruit on my legs and feet then they rubbed my legs with hot rocks.  It was really nice!  I decided to get a color tip french tip ... several Moms heard my idea and got them, too.  I think it's fun for the summer! It was so nice to have a fun dinner out with a bunch of great ladies. I'm so thankful that Billy watched the kids and put them to bed for me.  What a treat!

Getting a pedicure with MOMs Club ... me and Gwendy.

My color tip french tip toes.

Super yummy guacamole at Cantina Laredo!

Little Boy got his hair cut this week.  After Nanny's Zoo on Thursday, I knew he had to get his hair cut.  It was so hot outside, and his little cheeks get so red when he's hot (just like his Mommy).  I knew I needed to cut Billy's hair anyway, so I got the clippers out and cut Colton's hair first before I did Billys.  Now both boys have fresh summer cuts.  Colton did such a great job!  He sat still and watched Dino Dan (a cartoon about dinosaurs) while I used the clippers on his head and scissors around his ears and neck and face. He got a treat of grapes for being such a good boy!

Big smile for a big haircut.

With his hair like this, they look even more alike!

I'm so excited!!!! On Wednesday, I found a double umbrella stroller for a good price on craigslist.  I contacted the lady immediately, and I drove to buy it!  It was a little bit of a drive from our house ... Pinellas Park ... which is nearly to the beach, but it was worth it.  I will need an umbrella-type stroller (because they are more compact and fold nicely) for both of my kids for our trips this summer.  I really wanted one when we went to St. Thomas, but with Billy along, too ... it wasn't too bad having Colton running free!  Now,  I will be able to take both kids around this summer without a worry.  

It's my favorite color, too!  There are, also, seat covers that I can change the color with to navy blue ... the seat covers are nice--that way I can pop them in the washer if anything gets on them.

side view

This week, I found Khloe under the high chair.  I have a ton of pictures (that need to be rescued from our broken computer) of Colton doing the same thing!  In fact, you'll see in the second picture that they both needed to be under it ... at the same time.  I guess it's a fun place to play!

Just hanging out under the high chair.

Both kids having a good time!

We love to read in our house.  Colton could read a million books a day!  (Or one book a million times!) Here are a few pictures of us reading.  Khloe ... she's getting better ... but mostly, she just wants to eat the books ... or turn the pages as fast as she can.

Daddy reading with Colton.

My favorite time of the day ... reading a book with Khloe in the rocking chair.

Colton funnies:

Colton really likes to clean his ears.  I don't know what the draw is, but he is always grabbing a Q-Tip and cleaning away.  This week, he came up to me, and said, "Mom, I'm just cleaning my ears." Then he turns to look at me, and I see this:

I love that smile!

After he went potty one day this week, he looked at me and said, "I just want to run around in my undies a little bit."


Colton was being super silly on Thursday.  He was full of energy after his nap, and I found him running around like this yelling, "Somebody, Everybody!" Over and over again.  It was pretty funny!  So, I got it on video, because I have no idea where all of this energy came from.

I think Colton is used to hearing us ask him a ton of questions.  Billy and I both ask him a million questions a day ... we want to spark conversation or teach him something or maybe even see what his answers might be to see if he's learned what we have been teaching him.  Anyway, now he asks us a ton of questions ... but you can tell it's in the way that we ask ... he uses our voice inflection, too.  "Is that a snake?" "Can I eat that?" "Are those my shoes?" "Is this my toy?", etc.  I think sometimes he's just checking to see if we know the right answers, because if you answer wrong, he will correct you.  He's becoming a little teacher. I guess that will help me to teach Khloe about things!