the sanford clan blog

just some pix...

2009-06-25T08:38:00.002-04:00

I have been slacking a little lately when it comes to my blog, so i thought i would put some pix on to show what we have been up to. Nic has been having fun playing outside and in the water too, and linc is eating mostly big people food these days....walking isn't too far off either! but he keeps on falling and bruising himself....poor guy!
Nic playing in our puppy dog sprinkler

swimming @ grandmas

Lincoln eating some big boy food

bath time!

Nic and his best bud Cole....two little monkeys!

Lincoln's 1yr pix and family pix

2009-06-21T21:35:00.003-04:00

My baby boy is gonna be 1 on July 7th! We got pix done on Saturday....got family ones done as well....they all turned out pretty good!

I LOVE THIS ONE!

Such a lil cutie pie!

can't believe my baby is gonna be one already! he is getting close to walking too!

the whole fam...

not a bad lookin' family if you ask me....but i may be a little biased : )

Seven Years

2009-05-19T09:56:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was mine and Joe's 7th anniversary! We went out for lunch at Scotty's and then saw Angels and Demons. After the movie we went for a walk across the pedestrian bridge and down Main St. It was nice to spend a little bit of quality time together.....we don't get these opportunities very often anymore with two kiddos usually in tow : )

Joe and I on our walk....On our walk we spotted the bride and groom dogs and had to get a pic of them....we thought it was rather appropriate for our anniversary!

It was a great day and it has been an even better seven years! 7 down and forever to go!

big boy lincoln

2009-05-13T16:00:00.003-04:00

My little lincoln has a new talent.....pulling himself up to his feet! Now nothing is safe! I'm sure he will be walking before i know it........ HA HA mom i'm ready to get into everything now!

And i'm gonna start climbing on things like a little monkey too!

Mother's Day and other fun

2009-05-12T09:07:00.002-04:00

On Mother's Day we went to church in the a.m. with my mom and then went back to her house for brunch....Jim and Ryan did all the cooking and cleaning! The boys played outside and cousin zack came over for a visit and joined in the fun : ) In the afternoon, after naps, we went to visit Nana(joe's mom) We had a good visit with her and George, and then came home for dinner. Linc was sick all weekend (and still isn't 100%) But all in all it was a great Mother's Day weekend. There is nothing better than spending time with my boys! Action shot of nic running at grandma's house

lincoln trying to climb up the slidemy big boysweet baby boy

Nic and Zack striking a pose

It has been pretty nice outside recently so we have been trying to get outside alot. The boys love it out there!Nic playing with his bug net...which will probably never be used for its intended purpose.....poor child is still scared of all things creepy crawly (and many other things as well, ha) he is a bit of a chicken!

my boys playing outside....linc does pretty good playing in the grass, but he tries to put everything in his mouth.....so i have found that the exersaucer (aka baby jail) is the best place for him : )

This is just a random picture that i think is super cute!

3 year and 9 month check ups

2009-04-20T19:04:00.003-04:00

We took Nicolas and Lincoln to the doctor today for their check-ups. They are both healthy big boys....Nic weighed in at 41 lbs and is 39 1/4 inches tall. Linc is up to 23lbs 12 oz and 29 1/4 inches tall. Both are on the larger end of the spectrum for their ages, but this is nothing new to us : ) Lincoln is getting so big already! He is still doing the army crawl, but is starting to pull himself up to things a little bit. You can not turn your back on him for one second, or he is getting into something that he shouldn't be : ) He has teeth busting through left and right...he got his first 3 teeth within a week! He waves and says "Hi" and points his finger and says "No, No" This is pretty cute and funny too!

Nicolas is doing a lot of fun stuff too. He has mastered colors, shapes, numbers, and now letters too! Now we need to get him reading and writing, and he will be all set for preschool in the fall. That's right, my baby will be starting preschool this fall!

Well, that's all i have for today....only 3 posts in one day : ) But i was quite behind!

Nicolas is 3!!!

2009-04-20T18:53:00.003-04:00

The 17th of April was Nic's 3rd birthday....(and i can not believe it has been 3 yrs already!!!) We celebrated at home the day of his birthday, and he opened his gifts from us. On the 18th we had a party for him....Thomas themed of course. It was a fun day, and Nic got lots of presents.....actually, he was totally spoiled!

Nic saying "I'm 3!" Happy Birthday big boy!

Nic with his cake that grandma Rems made for him...she did a fabulous job as usual!

Nic enjoying his yummy birthday cake....

Happy Easter (a lil bit late)

2009-04-20T18:33:00.003-04:00

We had a great Easter this year....It was Linc's first Easter, and Nic was really into the Easter egg hunt thing this year. We had alot of fun. Easter baskets before church, egg hunts after church, and spending time with the fam.....it was a great day! The Easter Bunny was very generous too! Both of the boys got lots of goodies!Th boys all dressed up in their Easter outfits. They were not very cooperative when it came time for pictures though...this was the best one i got : )

My goofy Nicolas after the Easter egg hunt.

Lincoln wasn't too enthused, i think he was wondering what all the hub bub was about...

Nic's 3 Year Pix

2009-04-02T18:49:00.004-04:00

i took nic to get his 3 yr pictures taken on monday, although he isn't actually 3 yet....it wont be official until April 17th @ 12:25 pm : ) still can't believe my baby is gonna be 3 already....it just doesn't seem possible! the pictures turned out great! he is such a camera ham : )
every single picture turned out great! it was soooooo hard to pick out my favorites, but i think these are the ones, lol his personality really shows in every single one....i gotta give props to sears portrait studio @ the mall. they do an excellent job every time i take the boys to get pix taken....but it can't be too hard to make my beautiful boys look so good : )

a day with nic

2009-03-24T22:08:00.004-04:00

today nic and i had a nic and momma day, and it was a great time! we dropped linc off at the depot and took off for lafayette. our first stop was walmart for a few odds and ends, then we made a pit stop at mcdonald's for a little lunch. then we decided that we should probably go to target and get him an outfit for his 3 year pictures....3 years old already, can you believe it??? after target it was back to the west side to get the grocery shopping done. we had a great day, and nic even got to play outside at the depot for a little bit when we went to pick up linc. when we got home the power was out (never know what you might get on a windy day in benton county), so we played outside some more! this was way more fun than doing the laundry and other household chores that i had planned on doing!

the 1st pic is at our first stop...wally world! nic got some new thomas the train shoes that he is very excited about! the next two pix are at mcdonald's. we started out at a table, but we decided to move to the couch beside the big screen to finish our lunch. nic kept on asking me where the mote (remote) was, because he wanted to watch cartoons : )

1st pic is in the target parking lot after we got his outfit for pictures, he is also showing off his new spiderman toy that he got in his happy meal. the next two are at payless. he had to have the blue car, so i had to dig it out from behind the orange and green ones...i told him if he was a good boy that he could get some m & m's when we were checking out. apparently he decided that taking a little siesta was the best way to keep himself out of trouble : )

by the time we got to the truck he was completely slouched over...it didn't look very comfy, but he was still sleeping like a champ! i stuck to my word, and when we got home i gave him some

m & m's while i put away the groceries. we had a great time and it was good to spend some one on one time with my big boy. he was quite the trooper while i dragged him around all over the place : ) i look forward to our next mom and nic outing!

5th Annual EDGE Lock-In

2009-03-15T10:36:00.003-04:00

This is the 2nd year that i have volunteered with the EDGE junior high youth group with our church. Each year we do an all night lock-in for the kids in the school gym. It is a survivor style competition, with the kids broken into 3 tribes. This year our theme was Survivor: Mexico. We kicked off the night by attending 5:00 mass and then after that, back to the school for pizza and other goodies. We also rented one of those giant inflatable obstacle courses, which is a hit every year! After dinner we broke the kids into their tribes and, it was time for the competition to begin! The EDGE core team did a great job creating games for the competition and decorating the gym. We all put alot of time and effort into making this a great time for everyone!

The EDGE core minus Theresa and Chris C.

Since the theme was Mexico, we had fiesta decor and let each tribe smash a pinata filled with candy...Our Lady of Guadalupe was also a central figure in our decorating and we even had a game dedicated to her.

the whole group of kids

This was the food competition, which i was in charge of : ) I got a bunch of nasty foods and a few that weren't too bad as well. Each kid had to pick a covered plate and eat what was on it. The tribe that was fastest to eat all the foods won. Some of the foods included sardines, oysters, beef baby food, tapioca pudding, okra, asparagus, refried beans......YUCK!

This year i did not stay all night (i did last year, and it was a blast)! I wanted to, but the thought of taking care of kids the next day on no sleep did not sound too appealing!

nic and linc cute pix of the week

2009-03-07T22:32:00.003-05:00

here is nicolas wearing daddy's glasses....he looks like daddy's mini me : ) here is lincoln cheesing in the walker....yeah, yeah, i know they are supposed to be so dangerous and all, but he loves that thing! he cruises all over the place in it : )

lincoln on the go

2009-03-07T21:45:00.003-05:00

lincoln has become quite mobile in the past few days....he isn't exactly crawling, more of a scoot or army crawl. it is pretty cute! he is 8 months old today....can't believe it has been 8 months already!

news in sanford land

2009-02-22T08:59:00.003-05:00

it has been about 3 weeks since my last post, so i figured i better get some new material on here! the most exciting news is that nic is finally potty trained!!! yay nic! he has been wearing big boy undies for about a week. he has had a couple accidents at the depot, but other than that he has been doing great!

here is a picture of nic with james the red engine...we gave him james when he started going potty like a big boy.

lincoln has started sitting by himself, but he still hasn't quite mastered getting back onto his belly. he usually does a face plant or lands on his head, but he is tough! he is starting to scoot around pretty good to, but hasn't quite figured out how to crawl. wont be long though : )

cute picture of nicolas

cute picture of lincoln

joe has been working alot upstairs lately, which is nice, i am ready for the upstairs to be done! hopefully within the next couple months it will be! nics b-day is our goal (april 17th). both boys have been sick again, surprise, surprise! nic has a double ear infection, and linc has pink eye and a stomach bug...it has been the winter of never ending sickness! hopefully the spring brings us some more healthy days! well, thats all i have for now.

the 2nd annual super bowl sunday snowman

2009-02-01T16:59:00.002-05:00

earlier we went out and made our 2nd annual super bowl sunday snowmen....this is the second year in a row we have had snow on the ground for the super bowl. so we decided we should make it a tradition to build a snowman, unless the colts are playing that is : ) this year we added the red sox snow boy to go along with our colts snow man. we wish the colts were playing today! oh well, maybe next year.

the finished product

me and nic with the colts man

nic and the red sox snow boy

me and nic putting on the finishing touches

nic, joe, and our snowmen

helping daddy shovel the snow

2009-01-30T16:39:00.002-05:00

we had our first decent snow of the season this week, and nic and joe were hard at work trying to dig us out...i for one could do without the snow, but it is fun to watch nic have fun in it. we got nic a little snow shovel and he loves it! here are a couple pix of my boys hard at work...

linc's 6 month check up and other stuff

2009-01-15T16:29:00.005-05:00

i took lincoln to the doctor yesterday for his 6 month check up. everything is looking good and he is growing like a weed still. he is up to 20lbs 11oz and is 28 1/4 inches long. still a big boy : ) today he had his follow-up appointment with the doctor who did his hernia surgery, and everything went well there too. he is a healthy, happy, baby boy! naked baby boy -- he is rolling all over the place now and starting to scoot a bit too -- probably wont be too much longer and he will be crawling. i'm not sure if i am ready for that yet : )he had his first biter biscuit a couple of days ago, and he was loving it! he made quite a mess, but it was fun.not to be left out, here are some pics of my other lil man. he looks like rambo in this one. his uncle adam would be so proud!

my lil drummer boy. nana and grandpa got him this drum set for x-mas. he loves to make "music" with them!

the latest news in nics world is that we are in full fledged potty training mode, lol. he isn't being very successful with it, but hopefully if we keep on hounding him it will begin to sink in. hopefully. it is too expensive having both boys in diapers at the same time! i am ready to get one of them out of them, but i might have to start on lincoln pretty soon if nic doesn't figure it out : )

well, thats all i have for today. hopefully tomorrow is warmer!

professional pix

2009-01-13T13:43:00.003-05:00

I took the boys to get their pictures taken together yesterday, and to get linc's 6 month pix done too. they turned out great of course, and here is the proof : )

linc's hernia surgery

2009-01-06T17:16:00.002-05:00

lincoln had his hernia surgery on tuesday, and he is doing fine...he was a lil fussy and tired the day of, but he is already acting like my happy baby boy again! actually turns out that he didn't really have a hernia, rather a hydrocele. which means he probably didn't really need the surgery, because it would have healed on its own. but i guess they really couldn't tell which it was without the surgery...oh well, he is all fixed up now and thats all that matters. it was pretty stressful seeing my baby boy being taken away for surgery, but i survived : )

on top of dealing with a cranky baby who just had surgery, nic decided to get the stomach flu on tuesday as well...oh the joys of being a parent! he was throwing up all night long. we had to change his sheets 3 times in the middle of the night, and he was basically up all night long....fun stuff! he was sick all day yesterday too, but seems to be doing better today, thankfully.

well thats all i have for today...just wanted to fill everyone in on the surgery, and subsequent excitement, lol hope everyone has a blessed day!

Happy 2009

2009-01-01T19:47:00.002-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! hope everyone had a safe and good time last night...i know i did, probably a lil too much fun : ) been feeling it all day long, i guess i'm just getting too old to party! anyways, just wanted to wish everyone a blessed new year...good luck keeping your new years resolutions!!!

sick boys

2008-12-30T13:39:00.004-05:00

i guess it is just that time of the year, but it seems my boys have been sick so much lately...took linc to the doctor yesterday and he has an ear infection again. then last night nic woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever, he has seemed better today, but had a lower fever when he woke up from his nap. i'm sure alot of it has to do with being exposed to the depot germs...they had never really been around that many germy kids before i got a job. hopefully they build up an immunity and fast, because i am sick of sick kids! anyways just felt like complaining a bit, other than that everything is good : ) here are a few new pics for your viewing pleasure:

well, thats all i have for now. everyone have a safe and happy new year! blog to ya all next year!!!

*************************UPDATE***************************

i just got home from taking nic to urgent care and he too has an ear infection....aye aye aye! my poor lil boys need to get feeling better asap! just thought i would fill everyone in...

we wish you a merry x-mas and a happy new year!

2008-12-27T08:16:00.003-05:00

hopefully everyone out there had a great christmas, i know we did! the boys got totally spoiled, and we still have 2 more christmases to go.....i have no idea where we will put everything, but we do appreciate all of the great gifts that we have received and those yet to come! we are very blessed to have so many who think of us at this time of the year! merry chistmas and a big thank you to you all! santa was very good to nicolas as well (and lincoln too, but he didn't really care) he got lots of new thomas stuff that has been keeping him very busy the past couple of days : ) and he got a very cool caterpillar train set too!

here is nic getting a good look at his new caterpillar train set....good job santa, very cool!

lincoln was more interested in eating the packages : )

i couldn't resist dressing them in lil santa outfits...they are probably gonna resent me for this when they grow up...but it is sooooo cute!

santa nic

santa linc

christmas has been great so far, and a real blast to watch the boys enjoying it! especially nic, this is the first year that he has really started to grasp the concept, which makes it even more enjoyable! haha(a lil side note)-it was also fun to use blackmail on him-you know-if you aren't a good boy santa wont bring you any presents. it worked for the most part too : )

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL & A HAPPY NEW YEAR AS WELL!

a return to blog land...

2008-12-17T10:39:00.003-05:00

hello to all of my friends out there in blog land : ) i realize that it has been an incredibly long time since my last blog post, and i apologize...i know that you have all been missing me terribly : ) but between working, spending time with the fam, and my computer having issues, i just haven't had time to get on here lately....and when i do, it seems my computer doesn't want to cooperate. (*** if anyone knows anything about javascript, please let me know, lol***) anyways, i thought i would get on here today and post some pics of the boys...no big news or anything else to report. just trying to get ready for x-mas and working a lot (when the boys aren't sick that is) we have had a stomach bug and both boys have had pink eye so far....i'm sure that is just the beginning too...that darn depot! germs, germs, everywhere...lol ok, better get some pics posted and get moving...hope everyone has a great day!nic thinks it is really cool when lincoln lays in bed with him...after they both get in bed nic asks us to take a picture of them (he hasn't been exposed to the camera too much, has he?)here is nic all bundled up, i love his hat! it has been soooo cold out lately, and snowy too....i hate the cold weather, brrrrrrrrrrrrrthe other night the power was out for a few hours, so nic ate his supper on the living room floor!

here is lil man linc playing on the floor, wont be much longer and he will be crawling and into everything!

10 things that make me happy

2008-12-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

been tagged by 2, so i guess i really have to do it now! but i'm not scared : ) i could come up with a million things that make me happy, i'm just a happy go lucky type of person...the hard part will be cutting the list to only 10!

1) my beautiful baby boys
2) spending time with my hubby
3) having a great best friend
4) my family
5) helping with EDGE
6) watching the red sox win (and the yankees lose, lol)
7) watching my boys learn to do new things
8) crisp fall days
9) talking with jesus
10) road trips

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree

2008-12-03T15:28:00.005-05:00

we put up our x-mas tree over the weekend, and it was a lot of fun! nic really got into it this year, for the first time. he tried to help put it together, but he had a hard time fitting the pieces in the holes. then we tried to get him to fluff the branches, but he didn't really get the whole "fluffing" concept : ) mostly he just randomly placed branches within the ones that we had already placed on the tree...

nic trying to fit a piece on the tree...good try buddy!

here he is trying to pick up the top of the tree, but it was a lil too heavy

we didn't have time to decorate the tree the same day we put it up, so we finished it the next day. nic was equally excited about this. he is a very good little tree decorator : ) after we got it all done, he kept on saying, "oh, its boootiful!"

getting ready to put an ornament on the tree

helping daddy find the perfect place for an ornament

he was so proud of the finished product

hey boys, the camera is over here! me and the boys in front of our tree...

lil colts fans

2008-11-23T19:05:00.002-05:00

just wanted to show off some cute pix of the boys in their colts shirts...they play a late game tonite, hopefully they win! go colts!something was pretty funny
my little colts fans

betsy got a job

2008-11-22T00:34:00.002-05:00

yep, thats right the lazy housewife got a job...i started working part time this week at fowler state bank as a teller. i didn't really want to get a job, but we could use the $$$, and it was an easy in, so why not, right? let me tell you, i did not anticipate it to be a difficult job, but there is soooooooo much that you have to remember. i am finally starting to get the hang of it after 3 days, but still i am not that comfortable with it. today was my first day running my own drawer and it went pretty smoothly, that is until the end of the day when we balance our drawers. somehow i was off by $21.53, that is i had too much $$$ in my drawer, lol.....i guess that is better than having too little : ) but still i felt like a dumb dumb....but shit happens, right? hopefully monday will be a better day, and i am sure it will be...

in all honesty the hardest part of having a job is being away from my boys...granted, they are right across the street from me, and i do get to see them on my lunch break, and they are with 2 of the most amazing women i have ever known, but it still sucks to be away from them.......when i am away from them so much, it just makes me realize what i am missing out on, and appreciate even more, all of the time that i do get to spend with them. being a mom is such a blessing...a gift from god, and i am thankful everyday that i have 2 amazing little boys! i don't know what i would do without them.

honestly, maybe i have had a couple of drinks tonite, and that is what got the blogging going, but i needed a couple drinks after a long 3 days of working. i mean, come on now, i haven't had a job in a long friggin' time....what do you all expect??? lol a wise man once told me a drunk mans tongue speaks a sober mans mind...well that might have been my baby brother who said that, but still... (not that i would necessarily call myself drunk but, maybe a lil buzzed : ) ) anyway hopefully this all sounds good when i read it in the morning, lol hopefully i didn't make too much of an ass of myself...not that it matters much, because i seem to do that quite often anyways. well, thats all i have for tonite/this a.m. i better get to bed, because i am sure nic will be getting up at the crack of dawn just to punish me for drinking a few beers, lol........thats just how it goes when you are a mommy

until we meet again...b

big boy bed and 4 month check up

2008-11-15T14:40:00.005-05:00

NIC's NEW BED

last night joe converted nic's crib into a toddler bed...i know, i know, its a long time coming. yes he is 2 1/2 and was still sleeping in a crib, lol but i'm not ready for my baby to be all grown up yet, darn it! anyway, he did really good. didn't even get out of it one time in the middle of the night, and when he woke up this morning, he waited for us to come and get him. i'm sure this wont last long, and he will probably be in our room multiple times throughout the night any day now : ) when we get the upstairs finished and he gets his new room, we are gonna get him a race car bed! and he is very excited about this, just ask him : )

checking out his new bed

nice and cozy!

LINCOLN'S 4 MONTH CHECK-UP

yesterday was the day of lincoln's 4 month check up too. this was the first time linc met his new doctor, dr. miller. she is very good, but we still miss dr. mann : ( anyways, he is growing like a weed. he is up to 19lbs and is 26 1/4 inches long. i like to compare his measurements to nic's at the same age. surprisingly linc is only 5 oz lighter than nic was and is 1/4 in. longer. i know that linc is a big boy, but it seems like nic was so much bigger than linc is. linc's first time in the jumperoo. nic loved this thing, but linc isn't too crazy about it yet.

happy birthday daddy

2008-11-15T14:29:00.003-05:00

on thursday it was joe's birthday, he turned the big 29. uh oh, only one more year until he is really old : ) nic and i made him a cake. i didn't look the greatest (maybe i should take some lessons from my mom, the cake baking professional), but it tastes pretty good!

look at all those candles!

nic helped blow them out...got them all on the first try!

happy birthday daddy!

last of the warm days

2008-11-11T15:01:00.002-05:00

recently we spent some time outside enjoying the nice and mild weather that we had been having...emphasis on had, as i have a feeling that the cold is here to stay...brrrrrrrr!!! i love the fall and it was nice to have some extra warm days to enjoy before the cold winter months settle in. ugh, how i hate being cold!my cute little man enjoying the nice day...

hey don't hit me, hit the ball!nic and joe playing on the slide brothers!all of my boys : )

linc's first taste of real food...

2008-11-11T14:40:00.002-05:00

well, i guess i wouldn't consider it real food...not like he ate a cheeseburger or anything like that. but he did get his first taste of something other than breast milk or formula. last friday, on the day he turned 4 months, i gave him his first taste of rice cereal. he did pretty good with it, and he is starting to get the hang of the whole eating experience : )the first bite

mmmmm...this stuff isn't too bad!

election day

2008-11-04T15:12:00.002-05:00

get out there and vote people!!! let your voices be heard! god bless the USA!!!!

GO McCAIN!!!

Halloween!!!

2008-11-03T14:02:00.005-05:00

i can't believe it has come and gone already. next thing ya know its gonna be christmas, my goodness! we had a great halloween this year. nic is starting to understand the concept, so he really got into it this year for the first time. lincoln could have really cared less, but there is not many things that are cuter than a baby in a costume!

nic is obsessed with thomas the train right now. he wasn't too sure about actually putting the costume on though, so we had to bribe him with a lolly pop : ) after that though, it was game on!! let me tell you a secret, candy goes a long way with a 2 year old! all aboard : )lincoln was dressed as a little lion, its actually the same costume nic wore as a baby. he looked so cute! rawr!my boys all dressed up!

halloween family shot : )

hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween!

lincoln on the roll

2008-10-22T16:49:00.003-04:00

yesterday was a big day for my little lincoln. he rolled over for the first time! this was very exciting for me because nic did not accomplish this task until at least 7 months. something tells me that linc is gonna figure things out a lot sooner than nic did. which in turn means he is gonna be into everything a lot sooner than nic was, which means i am gonna be a lot busier a lot sooner than i had hoped : ) anyways i have tried a couple of times to get lincoln rolling over on video to post on here, but he isn't being cooperative (must be hanging around his big brother too much!) seems that as soon as i turn the video off he is rolling over! oh well, i'll just post a couple of pics of him instead:

isn't he just so sweet???

here he is wearing the pumpkin bib that aunt wanie got for him

oh, and here is a bonus story for you all. has nothing to do with linc rolling over, but it is about linc. when i started to type this post up, i was holding lincoln, and he projectile spit up all over my keyboard. yep, it was quite pleasant, lol. i think i got it cleaned out pretty good, but hopefully it doesn't start to smell like spoiled milk! so my tip of the day: don't blog and baby hold : ) it could be hazardous to your keyboards health!

a day at the beach

2008-10-19T15:05:00.005-04:00

while we were in NC we took nic to the beach for the 1st time. it was cool to see his reactions to the new environment. he was a little leery at first, as he is with most new things : ) but after a little coaxing and him seeing his cousins having fun, he loosened up. the weather wasn't very cooperative, it was windy and a little bit rainy, but still a good time. we really only had intentions of getting our feet wet, but it turned into a lot more than that : )

there really wasn't a good beach day the whole time we were there. we went over there 2 times. the day we got to NC, joe and i took the boys over by ourselves. we weren't there long but got a couple good pics of the family(thank you to the nice couple who took the family pic, whoever you are):

the second day we went to the beach we went with the rest of the family. this is the day that nic played in the waves. it was so much fun to watch! wish we could have had a nicer day, and actually put on our suits. but it was still a good time:

trevor and ashton's wedding

2008-10-17T14:04:00.028-04:00

last wednesday we set out on a long road trip across the eastern half of the country to wilmington, NC, to celebrate trevor and ashton's wedding. it was a pretty long road trip with two kiddos in tow, but we survived. thank god for portable DVD players!!! we stopped in WV on wed. night...i think the name of the town was scareyville : ) we stayed in the no tell motel, well actually it was a days inn. we got the last room in this hotel, after trying to get rooms in 3 or 4 others. i guess west virginians like to stay in motels : ) the room was a suite too. had a jacuzzi and all, we liked to refer to it as the west virginian honeymoon suite, lol anyways, it was a dump, pretty dirty, and just gave me the heebie jeebies. i must admit though, ever since i saw that movie wrong turn, i have had a very bad perception of the state of WV, lol but we survived, and left early the next morning to continue on our voyage to NC. we arrived in wilmington around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. we stayed at an awesome beach house with much better accommodations than the no tell motel :) let me tell you, there is nothing like waking up to the smell of the salt water air, i just love it!

here is a picture of nic sitting on our awesome jacuzzi in the WV honeymoon suite, a pic of our beach house in NC, and nic and his DVD player.

on friday, we had the rehearsal in the morning, and the rehearsal dinner that night at our beach house. it was a little bit of a rainy day, but it all went pretty good. here are some pics of the wedding rehearsal:

the rain held off for the rehearsal, but unfortunately it did not hold off for the wedding. the wedding was supposed to be held out doors on the steps to the mansion, but it poured the day of the wedding. on friday night we had the rehearsal dinner. it was alot of fun, just ask my mom. she probably had the most fun of all, but she probably doesn't remember much of it, hahaha never in my 28 years have i ever seen my momma so intoxicated, and let me tell you it was quite humorous! lets just put it this way, she took a dip fully clothed, and i have the pictures to prove it:

yep, she had a great time, and provided great entertainment! the rest of us had a great time as well:

the happy couple

the first one is of the andrews clan, second one is my aunt (got a lil captain in ya?), and the third is joe and jami

first one is joe and ryan, second one is of some cool pirate carved pumpkins, and the last is of me, my momma, and my pops

saturday was the day of the wedding. it was a rainy day, so the wedding was on the porch of the mansion instead of on the steps. it was a little unorganized, and i was sure that nic would not fulfill his obligations as the ring bearer. i was actually convinced of this before we even left for NC, since nic has been such a stubborn little terd latley : ) well i was totally wrong, he did great. he took that ring box right to brett (the best man) just like we told him to. i was so proud of him!

here is nic running the ring box down the aisle, you can see faith the flower girl in the back. she didn't quite make it : )

he was looking so darn cute in his little tux and faux hawk!

here is nic and faith together...they looked so cute. as you can see faith has a bit of a sassy attitude : ) apparently she didn't want her picture taken!

like i said the wedding was a little bit unorganized due to the rain, but in the end it turned out just fine. oh yeah someone passed out at the reception and was taken away by an ambulance, so that was kind of crazy. we left not too long after that, because the boys were getting cranky. it was actually pretty exhausting chasing after nic and trying to keep linc happy too. i wish we could have stayed a little longer and enjoyed ourselves a little more, but thats part of being a mommy and daddy : )

here is a pic of the bride and groom...i wish them nothing but the best!

the wedding party

the groom and groomsmen and nic

on sunday morning we were back on the road again. we had intentions of driving straight through, but wisely changed our minds : ) we stopped in lexington, KY for the night. and it was much nicer than our stay in WV! i did get nailed with a speeding ticket on the way home though, so that really sucked! if anyone would like to contribute to my "betsy got caught speeding in KY and now has to pay $175 fund" just let me know : ) and oh yeah, to the state trooper who pulled me over and ruined my trip to NC, you can suck it buddy!!!

a trip to the pumpkin patch

2008-10-06T16:05:00.004-04:00

on saturday, the family (me, joe, and the kids) decided to go out to the millennium farms pumpkin patch. we had a great time. there is a lot of different things for kids to do there besides getting pumpkins. of course, nic was too scared to try any of them, but thats my boy : ) they do hay rides, pony rides, a bouncy house, and a petting zoo to name a few. we did walk through the petting zoo, but nic was pretty leery and i think joe may have held him the whole time we were in there. we didn't even bother with the ponies...i knew that would never happen : ) the tractor for the hey ride scared him, but i was optimistic about the bouncy house. but he even chickened out of that. oh well, maybe next year he will loosen up a bit! this is nic with his little pumpkin

here is lincoln posing with some pumpkins and gourds

my little pumpkins

daddy and nic in the animal barn

me and lincoln with the pumpkins...i wanted to get a pic with both the boys, but surprise, surprise, nic wouldn't cooperate : )

a day at the depot

2008-10-03T17:04:00.004-04:00

yesterday i took nic and linc to the depot for a visit (we were there today too actually). it is always nice to go visit grandma and wanie, and nic gets to play with other kids too. i am sure i have mentioned in previous blogs that nic is becoming quite the handful these days. it is so nice to have someplace where i can take him to play with other kids and run off some of that extra 2 year old energy. i don't know what i would do without the drop off depot!!! we love you grandma and wanie...you guys are the best!!!

lincoln likes to sit in the big lunch table and check things out...he is getting so big already!

this is nic eating his lunch at the big boy table

time for stories...this usually doesn't last too long for nic : )

dancing at circle time...for now...

standing in the time out corner...he had the choice to finish circle time or go to the corner (he decided a couple songs in that he wanted to play with toys) well, he chose the corner...lol he is quite stubborn these days!

lincoln's baptism

2008-09-24T14:38:00.006-04:00

we had lincoln baptised on sunday, and then a little get together at my moms house afterwards. it was a good time. thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate our little mans special day!

as you can see he was looking quite spiffy in his little white suit!!!

here is a pic of us, the godparents (trevor and amanda), and the grandparents.

hurricane cole and nic

2008-09-17T13:12:00.010-04:00

today and friday i am watching my best friends boy cole while she works. the boys have a good time playing together, and pulling out every single toy that they lay eyes on! and considering that we own nearly every toy known to man, it is quite a mess! i swear it looks as if a hurricane has ripped through my house! here, you can see for yourself:

First they decided to take every single toy out of the toy box...and i must admit it did look like they were having a great time!

next they decided to dismantle all of the puzzles. and if i thought they were having fun emptying the toy box, then this must have been 10 times more enjoyable!

ahhhh...at long last, the eye of the storm hit!! NAP TIME!!! and actually it still is nappy time, yipee, some peace and quiet! i will enjoy it while i can, because we all know after the eye passes, the storm rages on : )

don't they just look so darn sweet?!!? they are good boys, but they are as ornery as they come!

in all actuality, it has been a fun day. nic has gotten some much needed toddler to toddler interaction. he has finally hit the terrible two's, and let me tell you it is not fun! i think it is hard on me because he was such a little sweetie for so long, and now all of a sudden he has turned into a little monster, lol!! ok, ok, so he isn't that bad, but he definitely has his moments! and from what i hear the threes are even worse! i think i may be in for a long year and a half if that is the case!

well, both boys are beginning to stir a lil bit, and i am sure it wont be much longer until the eye passes, and hurricane cole and nic begins to let all hell break loose again! so, i am off to weather the storm!

this and that

2008-09-16T21:38:00.002-04:00

well i have been slackin' a lil bit lately on the whole blog thing...my apologies. joe and i went to the purdue game on saturday with adam and amy, and it was a really good game. purdue did lose, but they put up a valiant effort against the #16 ranked oregon ducks. it was actually one of the best purdue games i ever went to, but unfortunately the wrong team won. oh well, it was still a good time. thank you adam and amy for hooking us up with the tickets!

i have been a lil bit sad the past few days, because we found new homes for our doggies. i have been missing having them around, especially daisy. i wont miss the dog hair all over my house though! one thing i really miss is having daisy to clean up the food that gets dropped on our floor : ) i have been bending over and picking food up off the floor constantly. i miss my little vacuum cleaner! i'm sure as time passes by i wont miss them as much, but i hope i made the right decision to get rid of them. right now it just doesn't feel like i did.

well, thats all i have for now. i should probably get my butt in bed, it is past my bed time : )

Linc's 2 month check up

2008-09-09T17:10:00.003-04:00

we took lincoln for his 2 month well baby check up yesterday. it was our first visit to our new pediatrician...i wasn't overly impressed with him. it isn't that i think he is a bad doctor, rather our old doc was just so good, that no one can quite compare. what really sucks to is that we got all of our friends and family with kids to get her as their pediatrician. so, now we can't ask them for advice on which doctor to choose for our kids, because they are all in the same boat as us : ) oh well, i'm sure it will all work itself out anyway...i just like to complain!

linc's check up went really good...he is happy, healthy, and hefty! he weighed in at 16 lbs and is 24 inches. it is hard to believe that nic was even bigger than linc is at 2 months. he weighed 17 lbs 2 oz and was 24 inches. i guess we make some big boys! and they just keep on growing too! i just can't believe that 2 months have gone by already...seems like just yesterday linc was born, hell it seems like just yesterday nic was born too. time really flies by anymore. i'm doing my best to enjoy every second of it. i just wish that there was some way to slow it down sometimes. and other times i would like a fast forward button : ) right now though, for the most part, i just really want everything to last as long as possible. ok, well i am starting to ramble, so i am gonna call it quits for the day...catch ya later, b

lincoln's 2 month pix

2008-09-05T16:05:00.004-04:00

well aren't you all just soooo lucky today....yep, you guessed it, a double dose of blog action! wooooo hoooooo! i know you can hardly hold back the excitement. ok, i am done amusing myself now. so on to the topic at hand...lincoln's 2 month pictures. i went and had them done yesterday, and they turned out really good. of course they did, how couldn't they??? but they could have been better. our appointment was scheduled for 1:00, but we waited nearly an hour before they even got started taking pix. which was kind of aggravating because he was smiling like crazy for the entire time that we had to wait. when they finally started taking the pix, he must have been all smiled out : ) but oh well, he did give a couple of smiles, and like i said they did turn out pretty good. could have been better, but i am pleased...so here are some of my favorites:

well, thats all i have for ya today. until we meet again, b

tye dye tuesday

2008-09-05T15:19:00.004-04:00

i know, i know, i know....here it is friday already, and i am just now posting this. but i have been busy dammit! so we got this great idea out of parents magazine to do our own tye dye's. and being the hippie that i am, i just had to do it. we had a blast doing it, (well i guess nic could have really cared less), and we got some sweeeet shirts too! i think i now have a tye dye for every day of the week and then some, which is totally awesome : ) you can never have too many tye dye's. well maybe YOU can, but I for one can not!

tye dyeing: buckets of fun for everyone...

this was as involved as nic got, he swirled a shirt around for about 5 minutes and then he was off to play with his toys. just remember to be careful, because fabric dye will dye you too...my peace sign fingers are still feeling the effect today : ) although it is nearly gone, there is still a faint green color to them.

here are a couple pics of the finished product...i must say that they came out quite nicely for people who had no clue what they were doing! but the cute little boys might make them appear a little better than what they really are, hehehe anywho, we had a lot of fun doing it, and i would recommend others to try it, even if you aren't into the whole tye dye thing. it is still a lot of fun and a good way to bond with your fam. i know i'm gonna do it again....hey maybe i can start a business : )

how lucky am i?

2008-08-29T11:23:00.004-04:00

i am so blessed to have an awesome hubby who makes it possible for me to stay at home with our beautiful boys! i know it would probably make it easier on us financially if i worked, but i am so thankful to be able to spend everyday with nic and linc. to be able to watch them grow up, and reach new milestones each day, is so rewarding and so much fun too!

i just can't imagine not being able to spend my days with nico and lincoln. i mean look at these two little studs : ) i just don't know what i would do without them. again i ask, how lucky am i??

who wants my dogs???

2008-08-25T13:20:00.005-04:00

i think i'm really gonna do it...just don't have the time for them anymore. not to mention the hair is driving me crazy. i kind of feel guilty, but they will probably be better off with someone who can give them attention. so, on thursday i am gonna get their shots updated, and on friday i am gonna put an ad in the paper. but if anyone out there in blog land knows of a good home for either of them, then let me know. i would feel better about giving them away if i knew they were going to a good home.

it really is funny how things change when you have kids. i actually treated them like kids up until nic came along. played ball with them, taught them tricks, took them for walks, even put sweaters on them when it was cold...lol now that we have linc too, there just isn't time for them. they are really cute, and for the most part really good dogs. we will miss them, but they will be happier with people who give them the attention they deserve.

daisy is the brown and white one, and v-dogg is the one with big ears. (he is named for the v marking on his head) daisy is a jack russell and v is a jack russell mix. if anyone is interested leave me a comment. i know this is an extremely popular blog and it gets tons of hits on a daily basis, so i expect to get a ton of leads on possible takers...hehehe alrighty, thats all i have for today. until we meet again, b

toothless smiles and big boy haircuts

2008-08-22T16:28:00.009-04:00

i was just reflecting on the joys of being a mommy today. everyday there is something new that makes you smile or melts your heart! i am truly blessed to have such wonderful little boys, and i am enjoying every second of it!

lincoln is starting to smile more and more, and its not just because he has gas either : ) it is the cutest toothless little grin!
this week nic got the cutest haircut. he looks like such a little man. he is growing up so fast. it is a blast to watch!

well, thats all i have for today....until we meet again

lazy thursday afternoon

2008-08-21T16:07:00.001-04:00

i'm just sitting here relaxing while both boys take a nap...at last a little peace and quiet. but i know it wont last long, lincoln will be waking up, ready to eat any minute now. i probably should be doing something useful right now, but i just don't feel like it. the elliptical that i got for my birthday is already gathering cob webs : ) just can't seem to get motivated to work out...maybe i should go stand in front of the mirror naked for a few seconds, that should definitely motivate!! i could be vacuuming right now too...in all honesty i probably should be (those damn dogs just keep on shedding, lol) but i elect not too. i chose to sit on my large derriere in my dog hair covered home and enrich everyone with my incoherent blabber! deal with it dammit!! well, as i alluded to before, lincoln is beginning to stir and my quiet time has abruptly come to an end : ( oh well, it was nice while it lasted, now i am off to feed my little man. until we meet again, b