Introducing...

the

newest (and tiniest)

members of our family,

Tillman and Rally Cat, or Tilly and Rally for short. :)

Aren't they precious?????

Look who's walking!!!

Whitt is now taking more than just a few steps---he's really walking! Crawling is still his main mode of transportation, but he is getting better and better at walking every day. Our baby is growing up! :) SO, SO, SO proud!!!!!! Check him out...

Be careful or your face will freeze that way :)

My littlest munchkin

My sweet, sweet baby Whitt....there are hardly words to describe how amazing this child is. I could seriously just eat him up every second of the day! He is the most precious, snuggly, happy, affectionate little boy, and I thank God every day for blessing our lives with him. Whitt hasn't had the easiest life so far---he's been going to occupational therapy, physical therapy, and early intervention five days a week for the past eight months due to his developmental delays, but he's made so much progress. He turned 15 months a few days ago and just started taking some steps---we couldn't be prouder! His early interventionist recently cut back to seeing him just twice a month instead of once a week, and just this morning his OT decided to start seeing him just once a week instead of twice. I'm not sure what his therapists' outlook for him is, but I'd love for him to graduate both PT and OT in the next couple of months---and if he keeps progressing the way he has lately, I feel certain that will happen. :)

Sweet Whitt also needs some prayers, if y'all don't mind. He has to have a little surgery next Wednesday to remove a cyst from his skull on his forehead. It's not a major surgery or anything, and the cyst is perfectly harmless, but he will have to undergo general anesthesia and the surgery will last about two hours. He's already had a CT scan to determine exactly where the cyst is and how far in his head it goes, and his doctors are highly respected at MUSC so we feel very comfortable knowing that he will be in good hands. However, he's our baby and we love him so much that we are more than a little nervous about this. We'd appreciate prayers for a safe surgery and a speedy recovery for our precious Whitt.

And now for his 15 month stats, just so I can remember them since I still don't have a baby book for him (poor third child!):

weight: 22 lb 6 oz (25th percentile)

height: forgot already...need to call the pediatrician and ask...but it's in the 50th percentile

diaper size: 4

clothes size: 12-18 months

words he says consistently: mama, cat, uh oh, more, meow, red

sleep: still taking two naps a day (1.5 hour morning nap and 2-3 hour afternoon nap) and sleeps from 7pm to 7 am

teeth: he has a mouth FULL of sixteen teeth!

other fun things he's doing: waves by holding his arm up in the air, smiles at everybody and will go to anybody--this boy has never known the meaning of stranger anxiety :), crawls all over the place, pulls up on furniture, cruises around furniture, climbs up stairs (hasn't mastered going down them yet--he wants to go down face first!), blows kisses, and gives hugs by laying his head down on your shoulder.

Thinking outside the (lunch)box

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to branch out from the boring sandwiches that I fix for the children for lunch every day and start making other healthy lunches for them. Sandwiches were starting to get a little old (for both them and for me), and I wanted to be sure that they were getting a variety of healthy foods as well as branching out and trying some new things. So far it's been a success! Whitt eats pretty much everything that the older two do (with the exception of choking hazards like raisins and celery), I just cut it up into smaller pieces. I documented week one in pictures for your enjoyment... :)

Day one: Kashi whole wheat crackers with cream cheese, pretzel sticks, cheddar cheese slice, "ants on a log" (celery with peanut butter and raisins), carrot sticks, and hummus.

Day two: carrot sticks with peanut butter, tortillas with cream cheese and turkey rolled up and sliced into bite size pieces, pinwheel pasta, and grapes.

Day three: we went out of town right after school to visit friends so I cheated and took the easy way out---Chick Fil A drive thru. :) Older two had chicken nuggets and fruit and Whitt had a Kashi bar and some grapes that I brought along.

Day four: rolled up ham, strawberries, raisins, pretzel sticks, and cheddar cheese slices.

Day five: cheese (one wanted string cheese and the other wanted American), carrots and sunbutter, cucumber slices, and pretzel sticks.

Grayson and EC have really enjoyed the change in their lunches and I've enjoyed taking a break from making turkey and PB & J's every day. I'm open to more suggestions for lunch ideas if any of you have some, too!

It's that time again...

Soccer time! This year both Grayson and Emma Claire are playing, although it's not going as well for EC as we thought it would. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. The first game was yesterday. Here they are, in chronological order:

Before leaving for the game, EC was excited to go and Grayson just wanted me to leave him alone. :)

We got there, and Grayson was happy to pose for a picture...

Grayson was awesome, participating in the game with his team, although he did stick pretty close to his coach's side for most of the game. We have no idea who won his game--and one of the best things about this league is that it doesn't place emphasis on winning/losing. It's a Christian soccer league that teaches different core values that help make every child feel like a "winner".

But not really sure how Emma Claire can feel like a "winner" when she's not even on the field during her game....she would rather climb fences

and sit on the goal. A bit frustrating at times but I just kept reminding myself that she's only three, and she looked pretty darn cute in her uniform even if the only interaction she had with her team yesterday was eating a snack with them. :)

Tigertown!

Last weekend we took Grayson to his first official Clemson game, if you don't count the game he went to when he was nine weeks old. He had a BLAST! Ben and I had so much fun showing him where we went to college and experiencing the excitement of the day through his five-year-old eyes.

I love this picture---we were walking to my friend's tailgating spot and passed this truck with a tiger tail hanging out of it. Grayson yelled, "Mommy! You HAVE to see this! Come look!!!" and proceeded to pose next to it and ask for his picture to be taken. Ha ha!!! :)

I think this might possibly be the first picture taken of the three of us in over four years.... :)

The most exciting 25 seconds in college football....the players touching Howard's Rock and running down The Hill. I get goosebumps every time I witness this!

Grayson was in awe....love this!

Such a tired little Tiger. He had a great day! :)

Sunday Funday!

We were actually in town with no plans this past Sunday, which is a rarity, so Ben and I decided to take the kiddos on a little adventure down the road to Botany Bay Plantation. Botany Bay is a hidden gem that was just recently opened to the public (in 2008, I believe?) and is absolutely worth a visit if you're ever in the Edisto area. It's filled with majestic live oaks, 200 year old ruins, beautiful wildlife, and 2 miles of an undeveloped beach with loads of gorgeous shells that unfortunately must be left there (or you will be presented with a hefty fine, as the signs everywhere point out). It was so hard for Grayson and EC...okay, and me too...to leave those enormous conch shells just sitting there on the beach, but we had a great time checking them out. :)

The live oak canopy you drive through to get to Botany Bay....

sweet babies

Whitt's new funny face--I love it because Grayson used to make the exact same face when he was a baby!

The mosquitos were out in full force--check out the sucker on EC's cheek! :)

Back again!

I'm back! After taking most of the summer off from blogging, I have returned. :) I hope some of you have stuck by me and will remain readers, and I promise I won't stay away for so long again. Like I said in my previous post (over a month ago! How did that happen??), our simple summer was anything but simple, but it was a fun one. School is now back in session and we are regaining somewhat of a routine in our lives. My three little monkeys are all happy and healthy, and for that I am thankful...

I had a grand plan to catch up on all the blogging I meant to do over the summer and do a recap of everything we did, but I may just scratch that plan and start from here. Who knows, we'll see! Happy August, everybody!