Welcome Home Pop-corn Party!

Shae was originally supposed to end his month of traveling on Tuesday, and the boys and I planned a Welcome Home Pop-corn Party.   When he had to stay away longer, we postponed our party to Friday.   The week seemed extra long but we were all excited to celebrate Shae's return:

But then his flight was delayed... he was not going to be home until 10 pm but we had already put the party of once, and Teddy was so excited... I let them stay up.  So we turned it into a Welcome Home Pop-corn PJ party!

And finally the guest of honor arrived! Yay!

It's not a party around here until there are cakepops!

Celebration time!

We are SO excited to have Shae home!!

A Long June

I will admit - June has not been the easiest month for us.  Shae traveled for four consecutive weeks (he left each Sunday night and returned late Friday night).  Teddy fractured his finger/hand and has been more dependent/needy.  Leo has continued to have difficulty with his reflux and we have had many sleepless nights.  We also had a few tornado scares where the boys and I spent time in the basement.  But, June is over, and I appreciate all that Shae does to help out even more!  And through the rough month, we managed to have a lot of fun too.  

And naps:

So, I tried to get a shot of brothers wearing their matching hamburger shirts (Teddy chose the shirts):

but this is what happens if you try to get too many pictures of Leo:

Although Teddy has had to adjust to his little brother being mobile and able to get at all of his toys, I think he is really enjoying having a playmate all the time.  They love to play in his pop-up truck together and seeing them laugh together is just about the cutest thing in the world:

I can't even remember what sparked these next pictures (that is how sleep deprived I am) but all I know is that Teddy kept posing for the pictures!  One day I will blackmail him with these:

Recently Teddy has really gotten in to rockets; he loves to read about them, talk about them, and pretend to be in them.   Here he is blasting off (note he is very careful to always fasten and unfasten his imaginary seat belt.... my child:)

Between my mom and I, the boys have accumulated several matching outfits.  It is so fun to dress them matching:

Looked like so much fun, that I thought I would join in:

The boys:

We went to the petting zoo at the library and got there a little early so that we could get a parking spot.  I figured we would go in to the library first to pick out a few books.  However, they were setting up the petting zoo and I couldn't tear Teddy away.  He had a great time watching all of the animals walk across the street!

Brushing the pony:

Leo loved the animals too!

Where did Leo go?

There he is!

I caught him trying to eat acorns. Silly boy.

Even though we had to leave the petting zoo, he can still come home and torment Kashewa.

We celebrated Aunt Jenn's birthday and got to see cousin Violet's new house.

The kids played baseball with Uncle Jamie in the back yard.  Well, the big kids did. After five minutes of "playing" Teddy and Violet ran around and played in the grass.

I think I found our new babysitter!

Do you like Teddy's new shoes?

Leo likes spaghetti!

Yummy!

With Shae gone so much, some days I have had to just let go of any expectations of keeping our house clean.  That is easy to do when the boys can do this.... in five minutes:

Happy Father's Day!!

The boys and I had a great time celebrating Shae this year!  After a fun day we went out to eat to celebrate with my dad.  Here are the handsome Hoschek boys:

Cheese!

My mom helped celebrate too!

Teddy and Violet had a blast together (as always).  I wonder if they could have sat any closer together though?

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

Leo is 10 Months Old!!

Leo is 10 months old and On The Move!!!  Getting a picture this month was NOT easy!

After several tries, I decided to regroup and try again later.  Once Leo and I both had naps (Teddy was at camp) it was much easier to get some cute shots:

Although he was still  on the move!

At 10 months Leo is a very fun baby.  He loves to play and gets into everything.  He just started to pull himself up to stand and he has a knack for reaching/getting into things you don't want him to get into (electrical outlets, dirty brooms, a toddler potty).  But he is so fun to play with and is a very social little guy.  He loves to watch others, especially his big brother.  He still only has two teeth but we are pretty sure he is getting his upper two teeth.  He loves music, and bounces up and down and kicks his legs whenever he hears it.  He is also a very cuddly and snuggly baby.  He gives big wet open mouthed kisses and I am pretty sure the other day he tried to zerbert me.  We have switched his acid reflux medicine (because he kept spitting out the other one) and it seems to be helping a lot.  Although he is still not a great sleeper, now he will at least sleep on his back.  He babbles a lot and says: mamma, dadda, and something that sounds like "hi".  The other night he said what sounded like, "Teddy" two times and since that seems to be one of his favorite people in the word, maybe he really did say it? Thankfully, the admiration seems to be mutual:

And speaking of thankful.... we continue to be thankful every day that these two boys came into our lives!  

Summer is Here!

We were all excited our neighborhood pool opened... but I think Leo may be the happiest one of all!  

Take me to the water!

He LOVES to splash and float in the water!

And our big boy has a new flotation device this year.... looks like he may still need to grow into it though...

Grandma Judy went shopping and our boys benefitted from it.  Aren't they adorable in their matching outfits?

LOVE these boys!

Leo is finally on somewhat of a napping routine.  He has also found a napping buddy who is happy to keep him company (this IS what she looks like when she is happy):

With Summer comes camp... and I am so grateful for my friend and neighbor Tara who loves to plan and organize.  Teddy is attending two full weeks of camp this summer and it is entirely run by the moms.  Camp is from 9am-1pm (one week in June and one week in July) and each day has a different theme.  I will host camp one day and help out two other days.  Not only am I excited because Teddy will be going to camp with all of his friends, but also because it will be with moms that I know and trust.  And I just have to say that the moms are putting 110% into each camp.  The themes range from numbers camp, fish camp, science camp, to music camp... with all kinds of other camps in between.  We kicked off camp with a cook out at our neighbors' house, where each child made their camp bag and received their camp T-shirts and brochures.  Oh, and the name of the camp?  Camp Hooligans.  They were so excited it was adorable!  Here are the hooligan campers:

And here is Teddy on the first day of camp:

(OK, I lied... that picture was actually taken the 2nd day of camp.  I did snap a picture very similar on the first day of camp... but I wrote 6/3/12... and didn't realize my mistake until I posted it on facebook.  I need more sleep). 

Teddy came home from camp every day excited about all of the crafts, games, and activities he and his friends participated in.  He also came home with a bag full of goodies each day.  And each morning when he woke up he asked me excitedly, "What camp is today?"  Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to be a part of this?  (I may sing a different tune the day I host 8 3-4 year olds for 4 hours!).  Here is Teddy after a fun morning of Pirate Camp:

One other quick story before I end this post.  A week before camp started, I was explaining to Teddy that I would be dropping him off at camp.  I told him that Mommy would be leaving, and that his friends' mommies would also leave... because he is rarely away from me, I wasn't sure how he would react.  He paused, gave me a thoughtful look, and then asked, "So there won't be any mommies there?"  I laughed and quickly explained, "No, there will be 2 mommies that stay each day.  It will be a different two mommies each day but there will always be 2 mommies there."  He looked relieved and said, "OH good, the 2 mommies will give us lunch then."  This boy has his priorities!