Kiddies...

These two kids of mine.... I just love them with all that I have!

Playing on our swing set. Brooks thinks he is so big now and can climb up the stairs all by himself to get up there. 

 I put the kids in this shopping cart while I did my grocery shopping. They thought it was the best thing ever!!

 Brooks giving me snuggles and Hallie joining in on the picture taking. They have stolen my heart!

 Silly faces!

 Hallie wanted to get in on Brooks' bath time today. Her goggle smile face just cracks me up!

 Loving some yummy otterpops in the summer sun!

 Me and the kids went to Bahama Bucks today for a snow cone. It is a crime to admit this but I haven't had a snow cone yet this summer! This one was sure yummy and the kids loved it too!

Hallie

Hallie is the sweetest little girl! She can be sassy at times but most of the time she is sweet and wants to make good choices. She doesn't have to do timeout often and is someone that any kid can play with because she is just so nice!

Lately, Russ has, at random, been saying some words in Spanish. Hallie now believes she can speak Spanish too. So, when she wants something, she will ask for it in English and end with her made up Spanish phrase. For example, "Can you get me some more water, habla conuchos (hab-lay cone-ooch-os)?" Haha! I die laughing pretty much every time!

She thinks that her watch is an Apple watch and charges it on our charging dock. The first time I saw this I laughed so hard. The other day she started talking into her watch and told me that she missed a few calls, all from parents of her friends. Haha!

Quiet time in our household usually results in Hallie and I taking a nap together. I actually quite enjoy our naps together!

I check on her every night before I go to bed. Usually to make sure she isn't close to falling off her bed (we took her bed rail off recently) but also because I like to see the fun positions she puts herself in to go to bed. This time, she was asleep frog-legged with almost all her blankets over her face. 

Love my 4th of July babe! She asked to wear this headband and necklace for the 4th of July! She's very patriotic!

Sometimes she resists naps, even when she REALLY needs them! I feel like she needs a nap at least once or twice a week or she just becomes sassy and emotional.

Selfie!

One morning, I woke up to her staring at me with this mask on. Scared me half to death!!

Hallie and Russ taking a Sunday nap!

La Caille

As sort of a "going away party" for Russ's CFO, Mark, and a "thank you" to the accounting department for working so hard and being patient during this acquisition, Russ's work took us to La Caille for dinner tonight. The place was much too fancy for me but Russ enjoyed his food. He had escargot for the first time and loved it! My main dish was duck risotto and I just couldn't stomach it. I'm a mental case when it comes to eating meat and I just couldn't bring myself to eat it. But I slyly put some on Russ's plate and he ate it for me. Ha!

It was fun to dress up, go to a place we would have never gone ourselves, and talk with Russ's coworkers and spouses. The scenery was beautiful and we had a great evening together!

18 Months!

Brooks is 18 months and I'm still completely obsessed with him! He's such a stud and I love having him as my son! I love watching his personality grow. I love watching him and Hallie play together. He is a true brother for sure and likes to pester Hallie. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. I love my little dimple smile boy!

18 Month Stats:
Weight: 27 lbs. 1 oz. (67th percentile)
Height: 33.5 in. (83rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 19.25 in. (80th percentile)

At 18 months Brooks:
-Is starting to look less like Russ, in my opinion, but still looks quite a bit like Hallie.
-Is into everything and makes the biggest messes.
-Suddenly stopped wanting to drink milk and because of this he no longer drinks from bottles. This was surprising to us because he loved his milk so much but it was like one day he loved it and the next day we couldn't get him to drink it. So weird.
-Is starting to talk more and more and I love hearing him try to communicate with us.
-Is sleeping horrendously at night! He wakes up anywhere from 1-3 times per night. I'm not sure they last time he slept through the night. In fact, he has been sleeping so bad that I was positive he had another ear infection. Although when he went in for his check up, his ears looked good. I was shocked! With the encouragement from his doctor, I am locking down on sleeping training and we are going to teach him to sleep through the night WITHOUT us sleeping on the floor beside him. Wish us luck!

Stud muffin in his hat

 I love when he would get his bottle and grab his burp cloth and then lay anywhere on the floor to drink

 His snuggles are so good for my soul! I will never get enough of his snuggles. This boy has a way of just melting my heart!

 Sleeps with his binky and burp cloth in hand!

 Brooks was being quiet and I looked to see what he was doing.... slime everywhere!!! Thanks, B.

 Man I could just eat this kid up. I love every part of him!

 Brooks and I and Hallie napped together on his floor because he made us!

 I gave him a sandwich to eat in the car while we were driving. Little did I know that he was just crumbling it up in his hands and there were peanut butter sandwich crumbs ALL over his car seat!

Neighborhood Bike Parade

Hallie has been excited for the bike parade since about last year's bike parade! She loves that she gets to decorate her bike and ride around the neighborhood with so many friends!

 They are off!

 They made it to the finish line...the park!

 They had a sweet Lamborghini with a boombox on top to escort the kids for the bike parade. It was sweet but who has that kind of money? Especially in our neighborhood?? 

 Cute Brooksie enjoying an otterpop with sister's bike helmet on!

 Brooks is such a wanderer and while Hallie was playing at the park Brooks was walking around wherever he pleased. He, of course, is attracted to any dog he sees!

I love this little boyfriend of mine! 

Nickle Staycation

Annual Nickle staycation was this weekend! My mom does a great job at planning things for the whole family. On Friday night, we met at All Star Lanes for pizza and games. On Saturday, we went swimming at the rec center and Sunday we met for dinner. It was a pleasant weekend with my family!

Farm Country

Today we went to Farm Country with my sister and her kids! I always love anytime I get to get together with my sis!

Brooks loved all the animals! He pointed to every one of them and just said, "Oh!" because he was so excited!

 Hallie riding on the pony!

 Wagon ride

(Emerson, Pratt, Hallie, Breck, Drew, and Brooks)

24th of July

For the 24th of July, we went over to the Rust's for dinner and fireworks. We sure love these guys and cherish our friendship with them! We had pizza for dinner, played on a giant water blob and then did fireworks at dusk. Hallie did sparklers for the first time and Brooks saw fireworks for the first time. They both loved it, but Brooks especially loved it! He got SO excited for every firework, clapped after each one and yelled "YAY!" It was the cutest!!!

First sparkler!

 Trying to write her nap with the sparkler. It wasn't dark enough for it to completely work. Ha!

 Clapping and shouting "YAY!"

 I couldn't love these 3 cuties anymore!

 We were there until after 9 PM! Which is over an hour past bedtime!! Brooks crashed on the way home!