Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

So we finally made it to the zoo. Jackson loves animals, and Rylie has just recently started getting really interested in them, her favorite by far being birds, she gets all excited and starts whining and pointing. The weather was perfect and we ended up walking the whole thing, about a 4 mile loop. All in all...a perfect day.

Check this place out...

Gorillas...

And Rhinos...

This was the coolest of all... We got to feed the giraffes. Jackson laughed the whole time and Rylie was determined to hold onto her leaves, the giraffe really had to get his tongue in there to pull it away.

Random Fun

Zoo Miami... The End

Halloween!!

I am taking a few minutes to do this now because, lets face it, it may not get done otherwise.

This is the first year we have lived in a neighborhood that was trick or treat friendly, so we were definately excited.

The pumpkins got carved...

The house got decorated...

The costumes were awesome...

Parties and faces painted (the devil skeleton)...

And fun was had by all!

Two quick stories...

While trick or treating at one house, Jackson walks up, says trick or treat, gets candy, says thank you, stands there staring at them for a few minutes and then says "BOO!"

Rylie trick or treats backwards. She carries a bucket around, but always has at least one piece of candy in her hand. When she walks up to a house she tries to put her candy in their bowl and walks away waving. Such a funny girl.

Happy Halloween!!!

Rylie is 1!!!

So this may have been the fastest year ever. I can't believe our baby is 1! She had a great birthday, or should I say birth week since that is about how long the celebrations lasted. She started out with cupcakes with friends, and finished up the party with presents and cake at home.

Rylie is the sweetest little girl. She is a cuddler, not usually with us because she is trying to keep up with Jackson, but she loves to snuggle with everyone else and every once in a while, when she lays her head on either mine or Tims shoulder, its perfect.

*She is walking almost exclusively now, unless she wants to get somewhere really fast.

*She says mama, dada, and ma (milk, I think), and I am pretty sure these aren't just sounds, but actual words.

*She climbs stairs, and today the gates blocking the stairs.

*She is stubborn, grunts and throws a fuss if she doesn't get what she wants.

*Definately a tomboy, but one I like to keep in dresses. Her favorite toys are cars. She wanders around on all four with cars in her hands rolling her along. She has just started to throw balls sort of.

*She thinks she can swim. She will throw herself out of our arms into the water, sink, and then be smiling when we pull her up.

*She is so sweet and we love her!

Happy Birthday Rylie!

Enjoy the pics!

Oklahoma

You have to sing that by the way. Anytime I say it I am really singing the musical in my head. We spent the last week visiting with Grandma and Grandpa in Oklahoma...It was relaxing (well as relaxing as vacationing with two kids can be), exciting, fun, hot-very very hot, all in all a great trip. Its nice to spend time with family, that is for sure. Jackson had a blast going in and out at will, the huge yard is awesome for him. He learned how to play baseball, and saw all sorts of creatures-cats, frogs, bunnies, spiders, wolf dog-and proceeded to chase them all. Rylie on the other hand, well, we discovered she is terrified of animals, especially cats. Even seeing them makes her shriek in terror. However she loved being snuggled all the time, and was quite the princess for everyone we saw...she is such a little showoff, but then again, she is stinkin' cute. And we got to enjoy family, make new friends, and take a break here and there. Awesome trip!

Rylie stands these days

Squirt gun fight

Make room for Daddy!

Grandpa wore Jackson out, but....

Rylie wore Grandpa out... I'm right there with ya Grandpa

Love this pic. And yes her hair is the same color as her shirt. Every single person we meet says, oh my, wear did she get that hair- hahaha.

Now these next pics may shock a few, but remember we were in Oklahoma, and they make kids tough there

Jackson riding a 4 wheeler...behind a 7 yr old

The boys lighting fire works

Yes that is a gun...I suppose he wants to be a hunter after this trip. (Don't worry, it isn't real)

Tonight Jackson said- "I'm excited to go to sleep!" Yes it was late, yes we had an active day, but I don't expect to hear that again until he is 25 or 30. Earlier today he picked up his tool box and said, "I'm going to fix mommy's car, its broken." Yes it is broken and I did try briefly to fix it...about a month ago. How does he remember these things? Last Tuesday he walked out of the bedroom and sat down on the couch next to Tim and said "Lets go Heat, Lets go Heat" As if he needed to worm his way into Tims heart even more, way to make Dad proud. And then there was the time when a friend at church asked him what his daddy's name was and he answered very assuredly "Bishop Hoopes" Or when he calls me "Honey" I want milk... or to play... or puzzles. Kids sure are sponges. Other funny phrases we have heard recently : "Sounds good to me" "I like this song, do you like this song?" "I don't want breakfast, I want dinner." (This at 7 in the morning) One more, "I save my money's for my mission. See ya later, I'm going on a mission, bye." As he gets on his toy car and drives to the door and tries to open it.

Playing in his fort or "palace" as he calls it



Notice the underwear...almost completely potty trained! Yea!!




Our little princess Rylie is a crawling machine. Once she decided she wanted to actually go more than one or two little crawls there was no stopping her. She has two teeth and is probably working on two more. She is so sweet and funny. She snuggles and loves to be held. She does this deep laugh that cracks me up everytime. She has grown up so fast, it makes me a little sad. I want to put it on pause for just a month or two to catch up. She has this bright red hair and hazel eyes-definately got some Natter genes in her. She really is our princess, and she is Jackson's "silly goose" (had to throw that one in)




Watching tv...bad habits start early...shame on me



By the way mom, did you know I can crawl?




Pretty girl




As much as I want time to stop I am excited to see them older and playing together more because it is so obvious how much they love each other.




I woke up the other morning to find Jackson had gotten up and decided to climb in with Rylie, how sweet

Drive baby drive

Fort time together

Easter pics!

Some Pictures and Things

A couple months ago we got the chance to go visit the castle. It is this little stone castle/tower thing set on what must be the only hill in South Florida. We had a lot of fun climbing and jumping and hiding, and of course rolling down the hill! Unfortunately we were not quick enough on the camera for that. It was a blast to get out and play though, both Jackson and Rylie had fun.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson!!

Checking out my new bike-see me ride!!!

Opening presents from Aunt Evie- Jackson has to try EVERYTHING on so the process can take awhile

Reading with Shari and playing with his bubble machine from Grandma and Grandpa

Happy Birthday monkey cake and sign all his friends made for him at school

A bunch of random pictures and and update. Jackson and Rylie love to play and wrestle. He is such a good brother and can always make her laugh hysterically.

Rylie just had her six month appt. She is 27 1/2 inches, 16 lbs 8 oz, which is in the 70th percent for weight and 97th for height. Watch out Jackson here she comes! She is a rolling machine, pretty good at scooting backwards, loves toys, babbles dadadadada all day long, and yes she is sleeping (mostly)through the night-or at least until 530 or 600. I love to listen to her laugh.

Jackson is amazing. He continues to grow and astound us with what he knows and can do. He loves school, loves to play on the playground, play tennis, climb, play hide and seek (although when you say "where are you Jackson?" he is quick to answer "hiding...behind the couch") I love it! He can sort of spell his name, he can count, say the alphabet, sing lots of songs, read-as long as he has the book memorized, play basketball, and play football "games". He is hilarious, just the other day as I was feeding Rylie her standard large dinner, Jackson says "Rylie, you a little pig... Oink oink oink." (sorry Rylie) We about died laughing though. Other things he loves, fire trucks, helicopters, cars, dogs, stop signs, water, swimming...the list goes on.