Chick Fil A and Buddies!

Once a year, Chick Fil A gives out free food if you come dressed as a cow.  Since I am above nothing, especially free food, I dressed up my whole family as cows and we got some yummy chicken!  Everyone dressed in black, and Eli and Brady spent an hour drawing and cutting out spots to tape to our black clothes.  They worked hard for their food!  See Brady's "moo" face?  I told them they had to moo to get their free kid's meals and they "moo'ed" the whole way to the restaurant and half the time they were in there.  They kept practicing for when they got up to the counter, "kid's meal please, MOOOOOO!"  So cute.  Major's spots are only on his back since he kept taking off the ones on the front and eating them.

 Daddy and Brady have been "buddies" a lot lately.  This is their "buddy" pose.  It is so cute.  Every night, Bill sings "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to Brady and lately they have even been doing that "buddy-style".  Notice in this picture, Brady is also holding on to Bill's ear.  This is his "eeeees" which he always says while holding on to someone's ear.  It is part of his love language.  Such a special little boy.

Major's First Birthday!

My baby boy turned 1 on July 11, 2012.  I can't believe an entire year has gone by.  He is such a sweet, happy boy.  At 1 year old, Major is completely walking, has 6 teeth, says "mama, dada, e-i (for Eli), all done, and hi" and has a high pitched sound he makes for Brady.  He babbles all the time as he walks around the house with his toys.  He will give head-butts on command and tackles you if you are on the ground.  He will nod "yes" and shake his head "no".  Sometimes he does this the right way, other times he does it the wrong way with a big smile on his face just to mess with you.  We are just getting him to eat table food and he is drinking out of a cup...the baby food will be ending very soon!

This first picture was taken on his actual birthday, July the 11th.  I also took him to the doctor for his 1 year check up on the 11th.  He was 31 1/2 inches tall, which is in the 90th percentile (a half inch taller than Brady at that time, and an inch shorter than Eli).  He was 22 pounds, 10 ounces, only in the 45th percentile!  So he is still pretty tall, but not nearly as heavy as my other two little guys.

We celebrated his birthday on July 12th.  Here is a picture I took of them before the party, watching a cartoon.  I now have 3 boys that go into zombie mode when the TV is on.

Ummm...first taste of Chick Fil A chicken nuggets...what does he think?

He likes it!

After dinner, it was time for a game of Major-tag with pillows. (Which basically turned into Wrestle-Mania, Moore style.)

Next, time for presents!  Eli and Brady got Major some animals to play with; he opened theirs, first.  Eli and Brady were also more than happy to help Major open his gifts.

Major had to help daddy fix his new toys!

Last, time for birthday cake!  I made the cake in the shape of a "1" out of cupcakes.

Look at that sweet smile!

We kept trying to get Major to blow out his candle, but he wouldn't do it, so we had his big brothers help him.  I love this picture.  So sweet.

Here is something else Major has been doing a lot lately...giving you a "taste" of whatever he is eating.  (Or whatever he has found on the floor.)  He is trying to give me some of his birthday cake.

Unsure of the birthday cake, he takes his first bite...

He likes it, too!  Although much like his older brother, Brady, he wasn't too incredibly thrilled with it.  He didn't eat a whole lot of it, and really didn't like being covered in frosting.  So we put him in the bath right after eating it.

 And the annual measuring of the baby at the growth chart.

 His last present, from Papa and Nana and Daddy and Mommy...a forward facing car seat!  The 1 year mark means it is time to turn that car seat around.  He had his first ride in it today and loved it!  He really enjoyed being able to see where he was going and looking out the window.  He was all smiles the entire car ride.

 Daddy and Mommy with their precious 1 year old.

Happy Birthday, Major!

Sunday Randoms

Brady and Major in matching outfits...the same matching outfits that Brady and Eli wore 3 years ago.  Amazing.

 And a completely un-staged pic of Major sleeping on Daddy.  I guess they were both tired!

FCA Camp and the 4th of July

This was our 3rd year to participate in FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) in College Station, TX on the Texas A&M campus.  As usual, we had a great time.  We stayed in the Calloway Villas Apartments again and ate in the cafeteria for every meal.  It is so nice not to cook/prepare any meal for an entire week!  This year, both Brady and Eli were old enough to go with Bill to football practice (and they took their friend, Max, of course).  So they spent all morning on the football field, all afternoon in the pool and game room, and all night at a worship service with all the teenagers at the camp.  What could be better?

Everyday we had some pool time...and we all came back nice and tan!  Here is my little Brady.

Eli, swimmin' like a pro!

Eli and Max playing a ring diving game.  It is so neat how these boys love each other.  They spent basically every minute together for the entire week.  Max's mom, Gretchen, said they have something very special, like David and Jonathan in the Bible.  Wow.  What a comparison.  I guess we will see how this friendship turns out.

Eli and Max racing in the pool.

Second day of camp = annual family picture!  This year's theme was "In the Zone".  Bill and I have the shirts on, but this year, they didn't have shirts for the kids!  Eli, Bill, Rachel, Brady, and little Major, almost a year old!

Major is ready for the pool, too!  And he is a full time walker!  No more crawling for this guy.  He is the earliest walker of the 3 of them.

My water babies!  Brady, Major, Eli

Brady and Eli on their last day of football practice with Daddy.

This gentleman is Clarence Lee, professional football player, and one of the strongest men ever in the NFL.  He was the main speaker during FCA camp and did amazing things demonstrating his strength...like bending a 1/2 inch thick steel bar, and rolling a frying pan up like it was a burrito.  I think he can bench something like 650 pounds or more.  He also did a night where he alone did tug of war against 26 football playing high schoolers and he won!  The boys were totally in awe of him.

4th of July!  Here are my sweet boys in their 4th of July clothing!

Eli and Major playing

The 3 boys in the game room playing their favorite game "Big Buck World".  They got to shoot animals and kill them.  Yikes.  I'm not so sure I like this game.  But I guess it isn't all that different than "Duck Hunt" that DJ and I played all the time growing up...

I spent so much time trying to get a picture of Major in this cute July 4th outfit he has.  I don't know how many pictures I took, but it had to be at least 20.  Chasing him around is NOT easy!  These are the 3 best I could get.  Now to decide which one goes in the baby book...

Daddy and the 3 boys waiting for the fireworks!

 Mommy and Major

 WATERMELON!

And last but not least, FIREWORKS!  What a great 4th of July and fabulous FCA camp.  We can't wait to go back again next year!