Mississippi Visit

snip. snip.

School was about to start and the poor kid couldn't see because his hair had gotten so long, BUT Smith hates getting his hair cut and that was not a battle I willing to fight that day. I decided it couldn't be THAT hard to snip some hair out of his eyes!

I think it actually turned out okay, accept that I only cut around the front so he totally had a mullet when I was finished. He stuck it out a few days with the mullet until we finally made it to the "hair tut place" - as he calls it. It's a fun memory, but I don't think I as "cut" out to be a beautician!

tackle me while you can.....

because one day, I'll be bigger than you!
Just the first of many bumps and bruises between brothers!

i survived.

When you are married to a football coach there is one thing you dread all year long.....AUGUST. Once September comes, the schedule settles into a routine and the fun and excitement of the games comes along! BUT... first, fall camp comes around and they pound in about 18 hours a day for a straight month - no weekends- no lunch breaks - no family time - just football. Its just part of our life and we mentally prepare ourselves for this time of getting back into a school routine, shopping for school supplies, and meeting the teacher at a new school....We just hope and pray nothing "arrises" that would cause us to depend too much on our husbands.

We had a very eventful August. We spent the first week in MS and came back ready to get in gear and start school. That is when the boys got sick. Vomiting, diarreaha, high fevers of 104...the works! After several days and two trips to the doctor, we found out they both had salmonella! Poor Banks had the worst time because his diaper rash got so bad that it was like having 3rd degree burns on his bottom. He and I both cried every time I changed him - which was often!

After 6 days of caring for the boys, I was run down emotionally and physically and then I started showing the same symptoms! I obviously had the bacteria in my body, but I never got as sick as the boys were. The saving grace for me was when my sweet mama came down to take care of me and the boys for a few days! I was sick - tired- and lonely. She was JUST what I needed!

While mama was here, Banks fever spiked again and we spent several hours in the ER having lots of tests run. The fear with salmonella in infants is that it can easily get into the bones and blood stream. All the results came back negative and we found out that he had croup! Thankfully, the salmonella was gone, but then we had to do 4 breathing treatments a day for week. Mama took Smith back to MS so that Banks and I could focus on getting him well.

Needless to say, we survived Fall Camp 2011 and are very excited that our season is here!

8 months.

Banks is 8 months old now and I have decided that his "monthly photo shoots" are going to have to end with 6 months! HE WILL NOT COOPERATE so I'm going to just take what pictures I can get and try to KEEP UP!

Just like Smith did, he is looking VERY red-headed in all his pictures, but not in person! He looks more and more like Reed every day AND shares all of his daddy's expressions, too. He is crawling, or as we like to call it - "the one-legged booty scoot" - pulling up and cruising all over the place.

He is SO happy and sweet. He has the cutest dimples and he smiles ALL the time. He is FULL-BLOWN momma's boy!

He LOVES his brother. He really thinks he is getting big enough (well, he is big enough just not old enough) to play rough with Smith. They are going to have so much fun together as he gets bigger!

He loves eating REAL food and anything he can pick up himself. He is still too lazy to hold his own bottle, but sucks it down when you hold it for him!

He LOVES to sleep! He is like and infant. He will play hard for about 2 hours and then he is ready for a nap. He sleeps LONG and HARD and wakes up HAPPY!!! He sleeps approximately from 7pm to 7 am AND takes at least 2 naps during the day!!!

travel MS

The boys and I spent a few days in MS the beginning of August and we had a wonderful time visiting with our friends and family! I need to get better at taking more pictures, but my TWO little guys are keeping me pretty busy!

Even with our busy schedule, we squeezed in some time to spend the night with our friends The Rutledges. Smith and Wilkes think they are superheros and had a blast together - they finally calmed down long enough to watch Spiderman! We also got to see our friends The Beamers. Smith and Sutton have been friends since before they were born....We HOPE one day we can live in the same town AGAIN!!!
Sutton's daddy may want us to stay FAR FAR away!

Grandpa took the kids to the Wildlife Extravaganza in Jackson and they saw everything from stuffed animals to four-wheelers and gators.

Smith's favorite part was shooting the bow and arrow.

We are headed back to MS later this week and can't wait because Uncle Drew with be home, too!!!