Teeth, Tongue & Toes

Xander sure has been a busy guy lately!

He got his first two teeth,

discovered his tongue,

and loves trying to grab those toes!

Oh, and we also gave him his first taste of baby cereal this week.

He looks a little confused!

What a cutie pie!

Tressa's First Day of PreK

It's that time of year again...it seemed to come so quickly this year. Where did our summer go? Tressa started PreK at her new school last week and is loving it so far.

For being such a Mama's girl as a baby Tressa has come a LONG way. She was totally excited about going and didn't flinch at all at the fact that I was leaving her in an unfamiliar place with people she didn't know. What a big girl. I am so proud of her.

She was excited to find out that four of her friends are in PreK at her school this year. Unfortunately none of them are in her class, but she does get to see them a few times throughout the day at recess and she's already been telling me about her friends in her new class. (She calls all of them friends, even if she doesn't know them yet..."And there's one friend with long curly hair that was wearing a blue shirt....") When I asked her how the first day went she said "It was pretty good, but they didn't teach me how to read." She has high expectations! Love you Tress, you are a cutie!

Corbin's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe my little guy is already 3! He is growing up so fast. After we dropped Tressa off at school on Monday I told him it was his special day and he could choose what he wanted to do. To start things off he wanted to go get a donut for breakfast. He chose this football one. After he was all done he practiced holding up three sticky fingers instead of just two. He was really proud of himself all day for being so big. It was so cute.

After donuts we went to the store to get some party supplies and to pick up his cake. This is the one he chose...race cars, big surprise!

That afternoon we met some friends at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. It's one of his favorite places in the world right now. All the kids had a blast playing games, eating cake and just being goofy!

After the party we went home and Corbin opened all his presents. He was pretty good at ripping the paper off by himself this year. He got some awesome toys and was really excited about everything.

Probably the funnest thing about his birthday was the day after when I spent the entire day playing all his new toys with him. He was in heaven. I love you bud!

New Family Photos

I've been feeling really guilty about not doing this sooner. Xander is 5 months old now and we just barely got updated family pictures done. My friend Lacey took the pictures for us and did an incredible job. The whole photo shoot went pretty well...mainly because my kids like her so much that they'll do whatever she tells them too! If only they'd listen to me like that! Actually I probably shouldn't complain too much - they really are good kids. And don't they look adorable in their matching outfits?

Goodbye July!

I can't believe the whole month went by without me taking the time to post something! I guess everything just gets a little off schedule in the summertime. We've been busy doing all our favorite summer activities this month. We've been hanging out at the park, riding bikes, swimming, and we even took the kids to their first water park. I didn't get any pictures because we were too busy having fun...and I was too wet to hold a camera! But we did get a few pictures of the kids at the pool. This was Xander's first swim.

Tressa has come a long way this year with her swimming skills. She's not afraid to go under anymore! She can swim without a floaty, but she still prefers to have one for security.

"Watch me, Mommy! I can jump in all by myself!!"

Corbin's a pretty good swimmer to, but definitely not comfortable on his own yet. He prefers splashing around the shallow water and spraying everyone with his water squirter to actually swimming in the pool. But if he can rope someone into catching him in the water he'll jump in over and over and over...seriously, he never gets tired of it.

We also had a fun 4th of July celebration which started out with a Drillers baseball game. The kids wore the matching patriotic T-shirts that Grandma Jennings sent.

We splurged and paid a couple bucks for them to play on the jupiter jump at the game.

It was pretty hot and Corbin was a little sweat ball afterward.

The kids even got to meet the mascot that night...well sort of. This is as close as I could get Tressa to stand to him for a picture. She is putting on her brave face. Corbin was hiding behind me.

There were fireworks after the game and all three kids really liked them this year. I thought Xander might be frightened by the noise, but he was giggling through most of the show! Tressa and Corbin loved it too.

On the actual holiday we went to the Haynie's house for a barbecue. They were so nice to have everyone over. Here's a picture of our whole family in our red, white and blue.

Corbin and Tressa had a blast playing in the back yard and Jason and I enjoyed having some down time and just hanging out with everyone. It was a really fun day.

We also had a fun visit from Grandma Jennings this month. We just love it when she comes because she takes such good care of us! Jason and I went on two dates while she was here and she took me on a shopping spree at Kohl's and Children's Orchard. I love shopping with my Mom because we shop the same way. I guess Jason knows who to blame now for my shopping style...never been one of those people that can be in and out in 5 minutes.

The kids loved spending time with Grandma too. They make up for lost time by demanding her attention 100% of the time that she's visiting. She is very patient with them and so loving. She makes them each feel so special.

Xander turned 4 months old this month and also broke his first tooth. He's about to get another one and has been slobbering and chewing on things like crazy.

This second tooth has been a little harder on him for so me reason. He's had a fever and has not been his usual happy self. Here's what Tressa and Corbin have been doing (among other things) to help him feel better. So sweet!

Branson Trip with Briggs Grandparents

Grandma and Grandpa Briggs came to visit a couple weeks ago. It was a special visit this time because we decided to make a mini vacation out of it by spending the weekend together in Branson, MO. Jason and I took Tressa and Corbin there 2 years ago and had a really fun time, but Corbin was too young to participate very much and he doesn't remember it. We also thought it would be fun for Jason's parents to see more of Oklahoma (and Missouri). There's so much to do in Branson so we knew it would be a hit with everyone.

On the way there we stopped for lunch in Venita, Oklahoma. There's a famous McDonald's there with a dining room that is literally on top of the freeway. The kids (especially Corbin) got a kick out of watching all the different cars and trucks go under them.

There's a Blue Bell store there too, so we ended up stopping on the way home for ice cream. Yum!

Grandma made the hotel arrangements and got us a large family suite so that we could all be together. There's something so exciting about staying in a hotel for kids. When we first got there the kids were running around like crazy and trying out everything. They were really excited about the prospect of getting to share a bed "like a sleepover!" Given the sleep problems Corbin has sometimes even at home I was a little worried at how they'd do sleeping together in an unfamiliar place. It actually worked out really well though - we wore them out so much during the day that they were too exhausted not to sleep. They shared the pull out sofa and loved it! Thank goodness they are lightweight enough to not feel those bars in their neck and back. I laid on it for 10 minutes to read them a story and already had a headache and a backache...it was a really thin mattress. Didn't seem to bother them!

We spent most of our time during the next two days at Silver Dollar City which is a western themed amusement park. Of course the first thing the kids wanted to do was the rides. It was fun that they were big enough to go on some of them with us and on the kiddie ones by themselves. Tressa was pretty proud of herself for being so big...especially when it meant she could go on something that Corbin couldn't. Corbin wasn't so sure about the rides at first, but he warmed up to them and had a great time too.

Since we had enough adults to take turns with the kids we got to do some of the roller coasters too. This one that Jason and the kids are standing by goes upside down 5 times. I forgot how much fun they are!

The kids also enjoyed the old west area of the park where they got to feed goats, play in an old school house, explore a log cabin, and take a train ride.

Then we headed over to the giant playground where the kids could shoot foam balls at different targets and play on a giant splash pad. Once we were all wet anyway we went on a couple river rides...think water slide...in regular clothes. Good thing we brought extra clothes because we got drenched!

We enjoyed some really good BBQ food, skillet meals, funnel cakes, frozen lemonade, fresh fruit and kettle corn while at the park. Grandma said she got a few laughs and funny looks when she was pushing the stroller back from kettle corn stand. I guess people thought that was an awfully big bag for one little boy. Hee hee! Don't worry folks, he shared with the rest of us!

Grandma bought Tressa and Corbin each a souvenir too. Tressa got a fancy umbrella with her name on it and Corbin got a little baseball bat. They love them.

Of coarse, not everything was perfect about the trip, but I have to mention these things anyway because it will be funny to look back on. We had a couple of near meltdowns with Corbin on the first day at Silver Dollar City. He was hot and tired and he kept asking me to carry him. I knew there was no way I could carry him around the park all day, so I tried getting him to take a turn in the stroller or let Grandpa or Daddy put him on their shoulders. He refused to do any of those things for very long and I did have to give in a couple times and carry him. So on the second day Grandma suggested that we rent a double stroller for Corbin and Tressa to share. I wasn't sure if we should bother since Corbin refused to ride in our stroller the day before anyway, but I'm so glad she went ahead and got it because the kids LOVED it. Apparently this kind of stroller is way funner than our regular stroller. They were all smiles and giggles.

It was funny how many times people smiled at them and asked me if they were twins. I guess they look about the same size when they're sitting down. It made for a good napping spot too!

Another unexpected glitch was the Veggie Tales show. Last time we went to Silver Dollar City we went to a few of the shows to get out of the heat. They were really pretty entertaining and the kids seemed to enjoy them. But Corbin was terrified of the Veggie Tales show this year. It was crazy! Jason had to take him out because we couldn't settle him down. It's funny the phases kids go through, but I guess I can kind of understand how a giant singing tomato could be a little scary for a 2 year old!

At the end of each day the kids still somehow had energy for swimming at the hotel...in fact they wouldn't take no for an answer. They didn't care if it was getting dark and the water was cold!



All in all it was a really fun trip...and so nice to spend time with Jason's parents. They totally spoiled us!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!