Eli - 19 months

Dear sweet baby boy,

You are getting so big! You speak in sentences now.  My favorites are when you say "What happened?" or "Where did it go?" because you have such a sweet and inquisitive expression on your face, complete with hand gestures.

You are getting bigger and stronger. Which means that your tantrums are also bigger and stronger. Lucky us!

But, your sweet and loving personality are also getting bigger and stronger. You give the best hugs, wrapping both arms around our necks and saying "mmmm....mmmmm!" You love to give "sugars" and still want to be held all the time. I love it when you sit down on my lap and then wiggle down until you are firmly rooted there!

You want to do everything that "brudder" does. You are his shadow. You mimic him, and take his toys. You are more jealous than he ever dreamed of being! But, he also didn't have a big brother to be jealous of - so we'll forgive you of that.

You are our little sunshine. We sure do love you!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

A very, merry un-birthday to Banks!

The very first words out of Banks's mouth this morning was, 'Good morning, mommy! I'm four and a half today!'

He proceeded to also tell me that, 'yesterday I was only four years old but today I am four and a half and I feel older.'

So what was I to do? I bought him a cake, threw four and a half candles on top, and we sang!

Happy four and a half birthday to you, Banks!

Farewell, Folly

Farewell, Folly! We had fun! 

Love, 

Banks, Mac, and Eli

Folly Beach - Part 6

On our last full beach day, Papa and Yaya came to visit for a few hours! The boys were so happy!

After their visit, everyone took nice, long naps and then went to dinner with Ben, Melissa and Mac. I'm always so sad to see vacation come to a close! Banks wants to "live at vacation." Me, too, buddy. Me, too!

Why do I even keep trying to get pictures of them together?

Fortunately, Banks is more cooperative! And he does love (LOVE!) his Aunt Melissa!

He also really, really loves his "baby cousin, Mac" who's not so much of a baby, anymore!

Again, why do I even try?

Thank you, Folly, for another wonderful week!

Folly Beach - Part 5

Folly Beach - Part 4

Uncle CJ came and spent the 4th with us! We are so glad he came, and we did our best to keep him very busy! I feel certain we wore him out with surfing, baby chasing, swimming, and sunning!

We had a great day on the beach, nice long naps, dinner with friends, and ended the day watching fireworks from the porch. Both boys loved it!

Folly Beach - Part 3 in Charleston

The day we spend in Charleston every year is always one of my favorites! It's hard to describe. Maybe it's because while we have an agenda, we don't really have an agenda. Maybe it's because it's centered around what will really be fun for the boys, but also fun for us. Or maybe it's just because it's the four of us hanging out together and I know these sweet boys will grow up way too fast so I need to treasure them!

We started our day at the SC Aquarium.  Both boys really loved it! It's just the right size for small children, with lots of play areas spread throughout. My favorite moment was at the temporary Lemur exhibit. They had four Lemurs on display, and Banks had just seen the most recent Madagascar movie. We sat down for the educational session on Lemurs (mostly because we wanted to see them feed the Lemurs) and here is what happened:

Presenter: Hey there, kids! I'm here to tell you about Lemurs! Do you know where Lemurs are from? Madagascar! How cool is that!? Who knows what Madagascar is?
Banks (in front of the 50+ people in the session: (yelling) A MOVIE!!!!
Presenter: (laughing) Well, yes it is a movie! It's also a country! Kids, do you know where Madagascar is?
Banks: (again, yelling excitedly) THE MOVIE THEATER!!!

After our adventures at the S.C. Aquarium, we ventured out to the battery. Banks wanted to see the cannons, and Jonathan wanted Banks to climb on the cannons. It's like a right of passage! Every kid climbs on the cannons!

Eli, on the other hand, just played around the cannons. He had fun exploring though!

After the battery, we took a long walk through water front park. Well, we took a long walk. Eli took a long break.

When we got to the fountain, we planned to just let Banks splash around a little. We didn't have a change of clothes, and we had dinner plans, so I didn't plan for him to get soaked. As Banks looked longingly at the fountain and said, "Well... I don't want to get in unless I can get as wet as those kids..." Jonathan said, "Go on buddy. Go for it!" Jonathan later said this was one of his favorite moments from vacation. I guess it was the impromptu decision to just go for it that made this so sweet! Banks loved, loved, loved the fountain!

Fortunately, I did have a dry shirt and Banks's shorts dried quickly in the sun. Everyone freshened up and we went to meet the Magners for dinner. What a great day!