Playing Catch-up...

This has been an incredibly busy summer it seems. So much has happened and is still happening. I guess to start the summer, we went on a vacation in May. We took the boys to Panama City Beach and it was a WONDERFUL trip! I really was not wanting to come back! Then I drove up to NY with the boys and my good friend from Auburn, (Trooper) Dan, to help pack up my mom's house of 20 years so she could move down to TN! Wow! I couldn't believe it really happened. It was very bittersweet since we had tons of memories in that house - good and bad of course, but that's the place I always called home. Fast forward a month or so and my mom is happily settled into her nice neat apartment, with a new car to boot. The woman who once claimed that she was allergic to ice in her drinks and sitting in the sun is now drinking ice water by the pool and can't get enough of it! I'm so happy to see her so happy and of course, it's just wonderful having her here to help with the boys.

Also this summer Caleb turned 1! I made his teddy bear cake and his little teddy smash cake. When it came time he dove right into that teddy... ripping off his head and gobbling up the rest. It was hilarious! He's started walking just a couple weeks after that as his primary mode of movement over crawling. I am so totally in love with the stage he is right now. I love how he is so innocent and curious and he's soaking up information like a sponge. He's sweet and giggles and dances to everything with a rhythm, including the dishwasher! He sleeps on a regular schedule and he eats everything he can get his hands on. I've got such a mommy crush on that little boy!

Speaking of mommy crushes... William is amazing me by the second as well. He's so smart and has an amazing vocabulary. He counts, sings, uses big words like 'hopeless' and his memory is impeccable. He's gotten so tall and he is very athletic! He started going to preschool 2 days a week and it's been a bit of a struggle. Once he's in there and I'm gone for a bit he does ok, but he has real anxiety when I leave him there. It's getting better and I just look forward to the day where he shoos me out the door because he's ready to play with his friends. So as crazy as it seems, my little baby is going to be 3 next week! He's also just started soccer as well. I think it may be a bit soon for him since he doesn't want much to do with being on the field with a bunch of kids listening to another person tell him what to do... but I think he'll get there. If we can get him to just go on the field willingly with his team by the end of the season, I'll be happy!

AJ finished up classes, but I was very wrong on the aspect of his time freeing up. In fact, it's nearly the opposite, although I'm not sure how that's possible. AJ is using his new knowledge combined with his business skills and passion for Halloween to launch a new company called HauntSurveys, a division of HauntConnect. It has gone from just an idea to an actual business in just a few short months and he's launched it for THIS Halloween season! He's been working very hard every day on this concept and working out all the details to have this ready in time. In addition, he received a promotion earlier this year that requires him to travel several days a month. And now with football season back, the man is complete!

With everyone being so busy, that has increased my busy-ness by a lot. This is probably quite typical for moms these days, but I will admit that it's taking me a bit to fully adjust. At the risk of sounding pitiful, I will just leave it at that. To keep my sanity a bit, I have joined a local MOMS club. Why I didn't do it sooner? I'm not quite sure. I love it! We have several playdates a month for the kids and moms to get together and the best part... Mom's Night Out! My jewelry business is going really well. August was amazing and I can only pray that this fall proves to be just as great! I did go to Dallas in July for 4 days for the National Rally for Premier. It was completely inspiring since I knew on paper how great of a company it was, but I had the chance to see it first hand.

And last week, for the first time in 3 years - AJ and I had taken a vacation ALONE! We went to San Francisco for the week of our 5 year anniversary. It was something that we really needed and truly appreciate the opportunity to have gone. We did all the site seeing, wineries, and seafood eating you can imagine. We caught a Giants game and even had some days at the end to just take it easy. I was pretty ansy the last day since I really missed my babies. I nearly ran up the driveway when we got home to hurry up and get my arms around those little munchkins. Thank you Mom again for caring for them for the week. It was an exhausting undertaking, but you did great and we are all the better for it! :-)

I put an album of summer pictures below. There's a ton so if you don't have time to go through the full slide show, you can click on it and it will take you to a website where you can see all the thumbnails. Enjoy!