My new little big boy

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I do not like that Baron is growing up so fast. What scares me the most about it is that each age and development he surpases might not ever be replaced by a younger brother. Don't get me wrong, we still hope to have another child or 2 join our little family in a year or two, but what are the chances of having yet another boy? (unless we have another 10 kids.... which lets just say is not going to happen). If I could have one wish... I wish Baron would stay the age he is for a few extra years. It's fun having Jackson grow up and discover new things and turn into a boy, so why not have both? One who grows up a little at a time and one who stays my little baby boy? And really, I just don't want him to ever grow out of these cute pj's:

or have him grow out of doing hilarious things like this:

He loves to sit on the potty (even though he never actually goes to the bathroom in it... it's more of a wanting to do what his brother does type of thing! And yes, that is one of my headbands he found and put on himself. Also note the whole roll of TP on the ground... even though it's more work for me, it still makes me laugh when he does crazy fun things like that!

Here he is making good use out of the laundry hamper I got for the boy's room... as you can see all the socks were thrown outside of it for a much better use.

And lastly, just this week, John converted Bear's crib into a toddler bed. Sigh. Can he be any bigger?? He hadn't been going to bed too well lately (he throws his blankets and stuffed animals that he can't sleep without out of the crib on purpose and then cries for them so we have to come in and get him). So one night while I was gone, he decided once again not to go to sleep, but throw his blankets out instead. John decided the best solution was to take off the one side of his crib and see how he did with that. The result: he loves it! Every night and nap time since he has gone right to bed with a big grin! He doesn't even try to escape! He absolutely loves feeling like a big boy. It helps too that he can climb back on if he does get out. It always takes me off guard when he walks out of his room after his nap or in the morning and says, "Mommy!" It's taking me a while to get use to him not being so dependent on me.

In conclusion I have one thing to say/demand: "Baby Bear, please stop growing up so fast!!!"

5 Years Later

Engagement Day- April 25, 2005

This past weekend we left the city and headed out to the country to visit the Grandparents and Aunt Heather and to enjoy some gorgeous scenary. Also, Sunday, April 25th of this year was the 5 year anniversary of when we got engaged! John proposed to me at Fall Creek Falls that is just a 20 minute drive away from his parents and a 1 mile BEAUTIFUL hike to a gorgeous waterfall. It is seriously so pretty and a relatively easy hike, so we decided it would be fun to take the boys back up to it to celebrate 5 wonderful years!

Saturday morning we woke up to rain, but we decided to bring our rain coats and chance it anyways since most of the trail is covered with trees. It rained the whole car ride over to the trail head until about the last 2 miles.... that is when the clouds broke and the sun came shinning through! And it lasted through the whole hike! It was perfect! Jackson hiked the whole way there and back without a single complaint! In fact, he LOVED it and wanted to be in the front the whole time and kept saying, "Follow me guys!" Even Baron walked some of the way, though most of the time John carried him in the backpack.

After our hike we came back and sat in the hot tub to warm up and relax, took some naps and then headed down to the river that is right by the Grahams place and did some last minute fishing before the sun went down! Jackson had a really fun time just casting and reeling his line back in over and over. Bear pretty much threw rocks into the river and chased Maggie (the Graham's dog) the whole time. It was such a relaxing and peaceful day spent together. We LOVED it! Plus, this is the most beautiful time in Glide after lots of rain from the winter. Everything is SO green! Just see for yourself in these pictures.... we got A LOT of good ones!

Checking out the snails

4 leaf clover!

This time of year is when the waterfall is the biggest... just like when we got engaged!

We were the only ones there, so it was a little difficult to get a picture of all of us together

John was trying to teach Jackson how to count the rings on the tree to tell how old it is...

Jackson counting them on his own... we came to the conclusion that it was "100's of years old"

Bear was ready for a nap by the end!

But still a happy little bug

Ahhh... we made it back, and were happy to see the truck still there!

Fishing on the Umpqua River

Baron throwing rocks

The very last little bits of sunshine before the sun officially set

This is why we love to get away to Glide.... have you ever seen anything prettier within the States??

Humor Blog

I have been doing better at keeping the humor blog updated! Check it out! http://grahamfamilyhumor.blogspot.com. I will post pictures soon of our fun weekend in Glide!!