Insta-update

My go-to app on my phone or iPad is Instagram. Love. It. I get to indulge in my graphic design aspirations of long ago. And all I really take are pics of my little fellas. I know, boring to some. But, I'm a proud mom, what can I say?!

I do upload some of these to Facebook, so for those of my readers who are also Facebook friends, you, just maybe, have seen these. Sorry for the repeat, this is our family scrapbook :-)

We're on the road again, so with nothing better to do, I thought I'd upload several (okay, many) of the hundreds (gees!) of the Instagrams I've got...

A recent trip to the Dallas Zoo with our buddies, Jackson and Kate and their mommy


Warmer temps=a couple trips to the ice cream shop :-)


This boy is full of smiles and lots of expressions!


Curls!


Blakester following in big bro's footsteps and loving to "color," or more so, make some noise!


Fun times with cousin, Aspen, in the Falls


Two broken toes in less than a month...Hi, my name is Courtney, and I'm a clutz.


Pears and their cores make for great gumming food


Big boy on his bike!


Brothers and best friends!


Modeling his vintage/new-to-him thrift store find


Love our new kitchen sink! I won't mind (as much) putting in long hours here...


Kitchen renos, before and after:


Next are the cabinets, which we are going to do ourselves. Eventually.

Pure joy=sprinklers!


Teefers! Blake showing off his numerous new teeth! Jameston tells us, every time he sees a picture of a rabbit, "Look, they have teeth like Blakey!" :-)


Jameston's Blastball team, the Tigers


Another Mr. Fix-It in the house!


Even more enamored with the stairs now with the baby gate up!


So glad to have Daddy back from Chicago! Nighttime wrestling regime:


First trek to the water park was a success!


My absolute favorite of the last several months:


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Recent happenings

So, I've been MIA on the blog. We've been so busy enjoying Daddy since he's been home more now that busy season is over with. And with work and traveling and some sickness, I have neglected to post. Brett was just out of town to Chicago for four days, so get ready for a blog overload!! I figured I'd combine several posts in one...

For Mother's Day, right after "busy season" was over, my guys and I had a fantastic day! First was church, then brunch, then naps (glorious!), a trip to Calloway's nursery, some planting in the yard, and then dinner. I didn't have to make anything in the kitchen except for coffee that day :-)

Two boys in a shopping cart

 Jameston had fun picking out some plants

And he wanted to help Daddy plant 'em. 

 He and I also worked on some hanging baskets together (no picture :-(

 

  I sure am one blessed Momma!

Jameston's class had a "Splash Day" party on one of their last days of school, since they move up/transition in June. 

Here are some pictures to prove it:

We also had a grand time celebrating Memorial Day. It was Blake's first dip in the pool this summer!

Kinda leery at first...

Um, he had a blast!

 This boy is taking swimming lessons this summer, so let's hope he is more confident in the "big pool" by the end of it all!

He loves the kiddie pool though :-)

 My little fishes and me. My cup runneth over!

My loves

Headed back home from the neighborhood pool!

And, even though it's early, I predict we will get a lot of swimming/splashing/etc. in over the next few months!!

We sure are glad to have Daddy back at home more! Another thing we have been up to? Kitchen renovations! I'll post soon on that front...

Scary!

Another reason for a blog lapse was a medical scare we experienced for Mr. Blake at the beginning of May. He had to come home early one day from school because he had a fever.

The next morning, he woke up (super early) with a rash on his thighs. My heart dropped to my stomach.

And they quickly started appearing ALL OVER his body. By the time I took him in to the pediatrician at 10:00 that same morning, they had popped up everywhere. She diagnosed an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. Brett has a penicillin allergy, and this drug is a family member of penicillin. She thinks that, because he also had a fever and possible virus, his body reacted aggressively.

Poor thing :-(

They changed in location, appearance, redness, etc., but they didn't seem to bother him or itch.  Thank goodness!

And they didn't really affect his appetite

or demeanor! Still a happy, but splotchy, boy!

This next picture just breaks my heart. It looks miserable!

Two nights later they looked like welts, almost purple in color, on his back, where the hives would come together. I called the on-call doc and he reassured me everything was okay.

 The rash lasted four days and then, poof, they were gone! The hives came on quickly and left quickly. At least Blake didn't seem phased by it all, but it was very scary!

Hand, foot and mouth disease had been going around at daycare, so that it was I presumed it was at first. His doc said that she wishes that HFM was what he had over the allergy, since he can never get over an allergy. She suggested we have his allergies tested when he's a little older. One thing is for sure, Blake is a trooper (and I may have a couple more grey hairs on my head)!

Girls' weekend

So, when Brett was back to working a normal 40-50 hour work week, I said, "I'm going on a vacation! Kid-free and a girls' weekend, that is." He gladly obliged and took on the single parenting duty for three days while my sisters, mom, and I drove to the coast for some R&R.

My mom in front of our cabin

A little slice of heaven in a backyard

My home away from home. I couldn't sleep past 8 (boo!), but I loved not having a monitor next to the bed :-)

I could get used to this! 

Rockport Beach

It was windy while we were there, but we didn't mind one bit

What does a mom-of-two do while she is away from her kiddos. Why, get a hair cut, of course! Hey, I didn't have to pay a babysitter :-)

Brett and the boys had a blast while I was gone, and they hardly even missed me. He sent me this pic. Made me miss them even more!

Back to the trip. We dined out once a day, and this place, The Chart Room, did not disappoint

We had mother cat and her kittens at our cabin. Even if we tried, we couldn't get away from babies!

My mom, sis and me

Sisters are the best!

Love these ladies!!

So, we went to Florida three years back, and we have decided to make it a tradition for a girls' trip (at least) every three years!