Who Voted for Bradley?

Duke wants to know who voted for Bradley? There are traitors amongst us! He can handle votes for Duke and the U of I, but Bradley?? Seriously!

Duke

Be sure to vote in Duke's poll at the bottom of the page!

Four Months Old!

Julia turned four months old today!! We are excited to have her start eating cereal even though it seems as though she is not so interested in food! Every time we hold food up to her, she doesn't open her mouth! It is almost like she doesn't really understand what she is supposed to do with it, so this next step may be interesting!! It is quite a change from Alex, who seemed as though he couldn't wait for food and gobbled up cereal on his first try like he couldn't get enough!

Julia's four month doctor's appointment is next week. She will be receiving her next rounds of vaccinations and we'll have updates on her weight and height!

Alex spent most of last week helping Mommy and Daddy with landscaping! We did a lot of flower and plant shopping! We have a new Japanese Maple, Salvia Carodonnas, Boxwoods, and Boudior Azaleas (Mommy's favorite). We have a few more things to buy for the front yard, but we will wait until the end of the week when it warms up! Alex also helped Daddy finish building the wall and helped to plant the new bushes and flowers! He thought it was quite interesting that we were using 'cow poop' for planting. Alex also has a new flower he has been tending to...a purple and yellow clematis, which he calls his 'matis.' We will post some pictures of Alex's hard work in a few days!

A Full Weekend

We had another busy weekend! Mommy and Daddy finally were able to get Alex's swingset in concrete! It is all done and Alex spent all day today playing on it! We are definitely getting our money's worth out of the swingset already!

During the day on Saturday, Alex spent most of the day with his Meema and Papa Stephens. They went to Taco Bell, the Children's Discovery Museum, and Carl's Ice Cream! After he got home, we had to take Julia over to Meema and Papa Powell's. They babysat Julia while we took Alex to Monical's for supper and then to the Gamma Phi Circus! We had a blast. When we were walking back to the car, we asked what his favorite part of the show was and he said..."That thing, I don't remember what it was called, but I liked it!" Yesterday, he said the clowns and the things in the air (the flying trapeze, maybe) were his favorite parts. Interesting enough, we bought Alex some cotton candy while at the circus (doesn't every kid like cotton candy at the circus?), but he didn't like it!! It was just more for Daddy! Needless to say, Saturday was a busy day for our whole family.

On Sunday, Daddy and Alex got to work on the landscaping! For the most part, our partial wall is done. Now, we just have to buy the rest of the plants and plant them!! We also went over to Meema and Papa Powell's for a family barbecue! We had a good time--Julia got lots of cuddling time and Alex had fun playing baseball and star wars swords in the backyard. He also did a lot of 'Star Spangled Banner' singing (which he also did at Wal-Mart on Friday and Carl's on Saturday--from which he received a nice compliment from a stranger)! Tonight, when in the bathtub, Alex was once again singing his favorite song and said "Mommy, footing me." I told him that I didn't understand what he was saying and he said "like Papa when he was cooking on the grill." Luckily, I remembered my dad saying something about SALUTING Alex when he was singing yesterday. So, for the remainder of Alex's bath, I 'footed' him while he sang the National Anthem.

EARTHQUAKE

Alex, Julia, Duke, and Chandon (we are puppysitting) experienced their first noticeable earthquake this morning. Unfortunately, they all slept through it! Mommy was the only one to notice and when she woke Daddy up to say that she thought we were having an earthquake he said "no, our bed is just shaking." Evidently, he was still half asleep! Everyone is still asleep except for Mommy! How can you go back to sleep after an earthquake? Evidently, Daddy can!!

An Early Birthday Gift

Alex is super excited about his early birthday present from Mommy, Daddy, Julia, and Duke! Uncle Jeffy helped us go pick up a swingset last weekend. Daddy already has it put together and all we have to do now is put it in cement and buy hooks for the toddler swing!

Uncle Mike and Aunt Stephanie took Alex out for lunch on Saturday for his continued success with potty training. They were originally supposed to take him to Chuck 'E' Cheese, but he told me that he didn't want to go to Chuck 'E' Cheese. When I asked him where he wanted to go, he proudly exclaimed 'Taco John's!' The little guy is obsessed!

Julia continues to grow everyday! She has become quite the little talker...she is going to be a social butterfly! She even loves to hear herself scream! Mommy and Julia love to have little screaming fests back and forth at each other. Julia has also really started to reach out for toys. She especially likes to grab at her giraffe in her chair!

More Pictures

Showing off Easter Bunny gifts!

On the hunt again!

Wearing a dress for the first time--just for fun instead of for pictures!

New Pictures

Duke wants a belly rub!

Say "Cheese!"

Showing off their Walt Disney World souvenirs!

Alex at his last story time!

Adding up his bounty!

Today's Alexism

Alex to Mommy: Can I have some 'Nillas?' (Referring to Vanilla Wafers)
Mommy to Alex: Maybe after you have some lunch...
Alex to Mommy: Mommy, you're killing me...everyday you're killing me!!

Where does he learn this stuff (I think I'll blame Uncle Adam for letting him watch Star Wars!)? I have come to realize that Alex is very dramatic and manipulative for his age...not that I really have anyone to compare his tendencies with!! If he thinks I am this mean over 'Nillas,' I wonder what is next! The next time I say 'no' to something, I think he will pull out one of his 'imagineered' light sabers (one of Julia's Jungle Gym foam hangers) and will send me into the next galaxy!

A Nice Visit!

Alex and Julia's Auntee Grace was in town this week to celebrate her mom's birthday! Lucky for Alex and Julia, Auntee Grace was able to spend a little time with them! We picked up Grace and met Daddy for lunch and, later, we went back to our house! Auntee Grace spent some time playing with Alex and cuddling Julia! It was fun...we miss having her around!