Fair Night

 This was our first time to the fair as a family.  I was really excited to see how William would react to it.  He is full of surprises when it comes to whether or not he will be afraid or over the moon about things like this. 

 I had a feeling though that we had the secret weapon for him to overcome any fears or insecurities.....his wonderful Dada.
They rode most of the rides together since we knew that I would be holding/ feeding Joel most of the day. 

 

Angela came with us for the first few hours there and treated us to this fun night out as a family. She was a big help with Joel and I really enjoyed that.

She loved watching these two play and ride rides together.

 

I have to admit though, Shea and I underestimated the courage of our little man. 


We thought for sure that there was no way that he would ride ANYTHING alone but he made liars out of us.
This was one of his favorite rides.  He is like any 2.5 year old....obsessed with trucks!

 and cars too of course!

It was such a fun night!  I have always enjoyed fairs. Every year that I have lived in Charleston I have missed it some reason or another. 

 This night was worth the wait though. 

 

I got to do a couple rides with William.  This was one of his favorites.  The merry-go-round.  He squealed and laughed.  And when we got on the ferris wheel together, as we were rising up to the top he said "Mama this is like the horsy going up and down."

 

 

 How could I not mention my littlest man.  He was sooooooo good for me. We there for about 6 hours and he was a little trooper.  Much to my surprise he slept in the stroller a good bit and when that wouldnt do he snoozed in the sling. 

 He is really waking up to the world around him now too.

 This is my favorite.  I cant believe he is over 2.5 months now. 

I cant wait until next year!

I think he is over having a camera in his face all the time.....

2 months old

He is such a sweet baby. He loves his Mama.  We are pretty much attached to each other right now. 

He is getting a little better everyday.  Finally we turned a corner after a breathing treatment at the doctor's office a couple days ago. His eyes still look a little weak in these pictures though. 

This is my favorite! It really looks like him, which is hard to accomplish with babies this age. 

Precious

Joel at 7 weeks

 My poor 7 week old angel has had a rough couple of weeks.  William came down with a mild cold a couple weeks ago.  He never ran a fever or acted sick at all.  Unfortunately it hasn't been as mild for Joel. His nose started running then he sounded awful with congestion, then he and I both got infections in both of our eyes and worst of all Joel had a cough that was so violent that it made him throw up. 
It has been a miserable time for this little guy.  He has had this little viral thing since he was about 3 weeks.  It has just gotten worse and worse. 
In a lot of his pictures you can see how sick he is too.  I have had to work miracles on Photoshop to make him at least look well.  Some pictures just look better if they are black and white because of the redness around his eyes. 

 He is a little sweetheart.  He is still nursing and getting formula.  His sleeping is okay.  He still wakes up during the night of course.  Our house is pretty noisy with a toddler running around so it is amazing that he can sleep at all around here. 

When he is awake he is very alert and engaging.  He follows the voices that he hears.  He loves to be talked to. 

 

We are hoping and praying that he will start to feel better soon.  It is so difficult to see him  so uncomfortable.  We know it will get better soon.  There is nothing he can take that would provide relief for him. So we are giving him the best medicine we can provide and that is snuggling and loving on him as much as we can to get him through it. 

Memorable Photos

 None of these are "amazing" pictures. I left my flash at home so these really needed some work.  It was such a funny moment of chaos. Even though the quality is rather low I know that this gang of kiddos will know each other and be a part of each others lives for a long time. One day these photos may be priceless to them.  If not them then I know their parents will look at them and it will make them smile.
 It seems like when you try to get a picture perfect photo of 5 children it rarely works out the way you think it will.  We went to the Burke's one night and realized that the babies and William all had on Carolina outfits. Bonnie and I thought it would be a cool idea to get them all in a photo but it didn't work out like we planned. 
Of course, leave it to the photographer's child to throw a fit when his picture is being taken.

Both of my children screamed their heads off. 

This was attempt #3 and the funniest one of them all. 

 

Little mama Ella and Joel.

 

Aunt B and Joel

 

Look at sweet Keenan.  And loud little Joel.

 Three of my favorite kids in the world. 

Asher's 5th Birthday

Asher's birthday was a low key little get together at our house this year. We started the day off by taking all the boys to Celebration Town where they could jump off some energy.