Dirt Bike Boy...

Just in case you felt like

James was being left out of the dirt-bike adventures...

{And daddy got his fair share of riding in too...

ya know, to make sure the bike was

in good working order before Elsie got on!}

James loves the little dirt-bike...

We keep an old picture of

James and Daddy on the big dirt bike

framed by the bed...

I think we are going to need to update the picture

to this one.

Fun memories...

Dirt Bike Girl...

A few weeks ago Elsie had one desire for the weekend...

to ride the little Dirt Bike!

Elsie has it in her mind that if she proves she can drive the

dirt bike we will happily buy her

a pink dirt bike, pink gear

and let her race next summer!

{I am thinking that was just a fleeting though!}

Elsie is still a bit too young and not quite strong enough

to hold the bike up by herself...

so daddy had to ride behind her to help keep the

bike upright!

Elsie was quite proud of herself...

She does need to work on her steering ability though...

she did fine on the strait stretches...

but when they got close to the trees,

she kinda started going right into the trees...

so daddy had to quickly steer the other way!

Look at that...

Daddy isn't helping at all!

Elsie was happy with her 15min dirt bike ride...

and she hasn't asked to ride again since...

so, I am sure that the whole racing thing will be forgotten

well before next summer!

Mr. Hawthorne

My little Mr. James Hawthorne...

He is one of a kind

He is exasperating

He is so darn cute

He does and says the most funniest things ever

He makes me want to scream at least once a day

out of pure frustration...

James truly is a cool boy.

He keeps everyone laughing for sure!

But, oh my, he is work!

This week at 8am he wanted breakfast, and wanted it right now...

So being the super independent child he is,

he decided to get it himself...

dropping the entire stack of plates out of the pantry door in the process...

which resulted in almost an entire stack of plates shattered on the floor!

{sorry mom!}

We now owe my mom a big stack of plates!

~

Some people think I have made James a bit of a "girly boy"

and he does love his "man accessories" of a bow tie and suspenders.

He also love lipstick

and his hair jelled in the perfect spiked up hair style

But,

He also love guns

and his hunting shirt

and 4-wheelers.

His favorite magazines are Dirt Bike ones

He love to jump, climb and be filthy dirty.

He loves to gross people out with stinky feet, boogers and

tossing worms at them!

One day he found a dead chipmunk and wouldn't leave the poor thing alone

He insisted on poking it with sticks

and finally picking it up and scarring people with it!

{at least he kept that one outside!}

James favorite phrase is

"Ha Ha"

and he knows just when to use it to make people laugh!

One of his other favorites is still

"Nitro" {meaning Nitro Circus}

He will perform a little stunt of jumping off the end table

{or attempting the counter!}

and he will yell "Nitro"

as he jumps!

I think he really thinks he is jumping out of an airplane or some other scary thing!

~

James is also a defiant little guy.

Time out is a well used spot.

As are little swats.

Last weekend James got into big trouble...

during dinner he got upset because Daddy dared to help him put more beans on his plate

So James picked his plate up and dumped

all the food on the floor!

He got into big time trouble.

The next day for every meal he made sure to

tell Elsie

"no, no, no dump"

So helpful to his sister, I am sure!

~

I love James zest for Life

I love his fun spirit

I love his laughter

I hope he never looses his spunk and spirit!

A Trip to the Dr...

33 Weeks...

Just 6 week left...

{3wks until we can deliver in town and I am off bedrest!}

Angelina is now as big as a Pineapple...

though I am certain she is way, way bigger than that!

I am getting to the point of feeling HUGE!

Everyone assures me I still look small for having just a

few weeks left.

I am all Baby though...

When Angelina kicks and squirms

my whole belly moves and I swear

she just might come right through my skin!

Yesterday I felt hiccups for the first time!

Elsie came running to gently put her hands on my belly to feel

her baby sister moving and jumping...

such a fun moment!

Both kids still have to kiss

my belly every night before bedtime.

As time gets closer I see the kids becoming

more and more excited and

making plans...

like who the baby will sleep next to

and what clothes she will wear first...

it is so cute to hear Elsie making plans for her sister

and James just agrees with everything...

though he does insist his cousin Lydia is the one in my belly!

I had another Dr. apt last week.
I was surprised to hear I have began dilating now.
So now I have been doing my best to be on a strict bedrest.
But, it is hard to be on strict bedrest with 2 little kids!
My parents {and sisters!}
have all been SO good to jump up and help me.
{not that I try to do too much or anything!}
For some reason evenings seem to be my hardest time...
extremely painful to just stand or walk!
I am pretty sure one of these days I will stand up and
Angelina will just fall out.
{My mom just smiles at all my dramatic statements and assures me that won't be happening! But, really, ya never know!}

After a very painful couple days I finally broke down and went
back into the Hospital for more monitoring a few days ago.
Other than contracting every 10 minutes,
everything was fine...
So, I was sent home again being told to be careful to
count contractions and come back in
if there are any changes.
3 more weeks until she can be born in town...
I am confident we can make it!

I can't wait to hold
Angelina in my arms...
so see what she looks like...
to count her little tiny toes...
to see James and Elsie light up to hold her for the very
first time...
6 weeks...so close...

Swings and Apples...

I have said it before,

my kids are major outside kids...

they both have a need for a little fresh air every day.

By a little fresh air,

I mean they spend all afternoon outside.

They come in when dinner is ready...

and they come in filthy dirty!

I think just about every night calls for at least

a stand up foot bath if not a

full bath!

Not sure how they are going to react to the

cooler weather that is coming our way

all too soon!

Grammie and Papa Wayne have a couple

Apple Trees in the front yard...

which means that the kids just run to the tree

and grab an apple

when they get hungry!

We have an apple tree in our yard, too...

but this year the birds and squirrels mostly ate them!

James is a major apple lover...

he eats the entire apple,

meaning the core and all!

He does spit the seeds and stems out!

An Apple a day keeps the Dr. away...

and the way my kids eat apples

they should never have to visit the Dr!

Shopping...

When Daddy announces he is making a quick trip to the store,

it is a pretty safe bet that he will have 2 little people in tow!

I love that Jon never seems to care what the kids look like,

Elsie is wearing a tiny 4t romper with her cowboy boots...

so carefree!

If I happen to go with them to the store,

I get to wait in the car...

and I like to pretend to be the paparazzi and snap fun photos

of my family.

{okay, sometimes, I even take pix of random people!}

I love capturing the simple

carefree moments of childhood.

These are the moments I want to remember...

because these simple moments create

warm fuzzies that will forever

be embedded in my children's memory...

And those memories will let me know that I have indeed

succeeded in parenting.

At the Park...

These pictures are from close to a month ago!

But they are so sweet,

and we hardly have any pictures of

daddy and the kids together!

These pictures were taken right before I was

put on a strict bedrest.

Jon had errands to run in town first,

then he was going to bring the kids to the

county fair!

So I brought the kids into town after his errands...

and we met at the park.
{My Dr. said no way was I to go walk around at the fair,
so I went home to rest my belly.}

This park was always a favorite of mine when I was little.

Now it is a favorite for my children!

I think the big water fountain is the main attraction...

Water and kids just go together!

It was a fun little outing.

I feel like I have missed out on a lot this summer

due to baby growing!

So, it was fun to watch the kids at the park.

Even if I did just sit on a bench

and use the zoom on the camera!

And no trip to the park is complete without Daddy

demonstrating to the kids how to

use the monkey bars!

Love that the kids have a fun daddy

{I have doubts on him ever growing up...and I kinda like that!}

Resting in Bed all Day...

The idea of being on bedrest sound perfectly lovely...

I mean really, who wouldn't love lounging in bed all day?

Well, let me tell you,

it is anything but lovely!

Especially when your kids come at you looking like this:

The kids see me, just laying there, and think,

"hey a human jungle gym!"

being climbed on is not ideal when contracting on a regular basis!

We pass out time with

reading stories

tickle wars

playing little cars

legos

barbies

and our favorite...

self-portraits!

When this little guy comes up on the bed

I truly get scared!

He is wild and crazy

and has no idea when he is truly hurting me!

So sometimes I have to resort to

eating little fingers!

But, all to often it backfires with a

kick on the noggin!

But, they always make up for the kicks with

lots of lovin'...

They both love to give me big slobbery kisses.

which I love,

but it does something awful to my makeup!

Needless to say whenever Jon announces he is going to bring the kids to the park,

I don't complain one bit!

As much as I complain about bedrest though,

it isn't all bad.

I am forced to slow down,

and enjoy the little things a little more.

In all honestly, I usually keep myself pretty busy with household

things and hobbies

and all too often I don't take the time to just

play with the kids like nothing else matters...

so maybe bedrest isn't all that bad...