More Vacation Pics

Landon has been such an excellent Big Bro to Nolan, sharing his room, sometimes sleeping on the couch when Nolan's having a rough night, and overall being super good help with a great attitude, Milton took him parasailing in recognition of Superior Big Brother skills! Here they are with Eric, Grandma Connie was there too!

We ran across some people at dinner tonight,

they just couldn't make the connection, couldn't do the math...

No doubt about it, they are REAL brothers, it's not that complicated!

Honestly, it never crosses our kids minds that they don't belong together and that is so cool!

(not to mention a huge blessing from God!)

Jade & Lorelei

The minute these girls get together the giggling begins!

Contagious isn't it!

You can't look at this one without smiling!

Sweet Summerlyn!

Yet another perfect pose from Lorelei.

Makes you want to go to the beach doesn't it!

Look Out Rachel Ray!

Here we are. It's dinner time. There is a 25 lb toddler attached to my leg, literally!

I may not be as creative as Rachel Ray in the kitchen, but I challenge her to make a 30 minute meal with a 25 lb. toddler attached to HER leg!

By this time of day Nolan is hugging my leg,

or smack dab behind me while I am trying to fix dinner....

Good thing he's so cute!

Nolan Meets the Family

After MANY LONG HOURS on a plane coming home from China, we

did NOT want to get on a plane again for a long time BUT,

it was better than 4 days driving to and from TX!

Taking over the hotel room bed

Handsome in my sweatervest!

Our handsome & beautiful kiddos at the wedding!

Fun in the sun! Nolan loved the beach.




Luv this one!

We just returned home this morning from a LONG vacation. We spent 5 days in Destin with some good friends who've become "honorary" cousins, and a super special Grandma Connie, my kids call her their "bonus" Grandma! (We met the Petersen's on our first trip to China and have vacationed with them many times in the past 4 years.)

This was Nolan's 1st time at the beach and we were a bit worried he may not like the sand. As you can see from the pics, he loved the sand and the water! We were also worried about getting him to sleep in the camper. He did amazingly well!

After Destin we flew to TX for my niece's wedding and Nolan got to meet my brother's families. Altogether there were 24 of us. It was such a good time and even though it must have been a lot of stimulation for him, Nolan was a superstar

and fits right in with his siblings who travel well also.

Overall we took TONS of pics, way to many to add, but there are so many good ones I will add more later. (After getting stuck in the Atlanta airport last night, I am WAY short on sleep!)

What We've Been Up To

All the kids are playing Airplane on the back porch. Makes me so happy to see all of them playing together, pretending from Landon down to Nolan!

Look out below, Lorelei's the pilot!

Lookout! Crazy Driver!

Lorelei in the driver's seat again!

Nolan loves to wrestle and play which is perfect

because we do a lot of that around here and he jumps right in!

The Ice Cream Man came down our street over Memorial Day weekend. It seems he hardly ever comes around, so the kids all picked something out and Nolan had his first snow cone. He was not too thrilled about it and moved on to something else after a few bites.

Milton was washing out these tubs to get ready for our upcoming camping trip.

Not sure how this came about but I came outside to find naked boy.

He looks like he's posing as a Greek God in this pic.

Isn't there famous statue that looks like this?!

(This is his new way of posing for pictures..... unfortunately!)

He loved this so much I know what to do with him next time

I need to keep him contained for a while.

Here's another pic of his new way saying "cheese."

He cranes his neck putting his head back and says "cheese" over and over again! So funny but does not make for good pics.

We took him to the movies for the first time over the weekend. We put him in his car seat which has always worked well with the other kids and he did pretty well for most of the movie. It took him about 10 minutes to eat the 1st Twizzler, the 2nd Twizzler he put in his mouth all at once! By the 3rd one, he was a pro and proceeded to eat many more in a beaver-like fashion!

Tragedy Strikes the Chapman Family

We are big fans of Steven Curtis Chapman because of his sincere & genuine faith, and consistency to honor God through his music and life, and of course how he & his wife have championed the cause of international adoption.

Sadly, if you have not heard, Maria, the Chapmans youngest daughter, was killed in a tragic accident at their home. Maria was 5 years old.

Please remember the family in your prayers during this unbelievably difficult time.

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/marybeth/

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

To read more:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/TUNEIN/80521174/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

Love these feet!

Wish I could really "capture" a picture of Nolan's feet,
they absolutely make me smile at God's sense of humor!

They are Fred Flinstone feet without a doubt! Flat and wide with almost no arch whatsoever!

It's been a pretty good day for a Monday!

Monday's are always a little bit sad for me. Milton goes back to work and I really miss having him around! After 12 years of marriage I still really like being with him... Yea!

I have really tried to stay around the house as much as possible lately. Keeping Nolan on a tight schedule helps life to be more manageable. Today we played and did some household musts. Nolan has done well and has spent much of the day right next to me or on my lap. He is beginning to come to me when he feels emotional or uneasy which is so good to see.

I am so pleased with the progress he is making that I am hopeful our upcoming vacation will not be as difficult as I am imagining it will be. 10 days, 2 destinations, and lots of extended family to meet! Not exactly the best time to take a huge trip, while he is still settling in, but you can't put life on hold & we will just make the best of it and pack lots of melatonin & Benedryl!

Rocking him is a big part of our holding time and bedtime routine and if Nolan does not go through the entire bedtime routine, he has a VERY hard time settling in for the night. I was fretting over not being able to rock him on the trip and decided to purchase a portable rocking chair to take with us! So thankful we were able to find a camp chair that rocks and fold up to fit in a bag! Now let's just hope it's delivered on time!

Well, it got quiet in the other room which is usually not good! I wonder if they're being expensive again?!?!?