Drake's 1st Birthday and Drake's 1st Haircut!

Drake turned 1 on June 18th! We had a party for him on Friday, June 19th at Bay Creek Park. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate our little man's first year of life. Aunt Jessica, Uncle Andy, Megan, Alexis, Aunt Jana, Anthony, Grandma, and Grandpa Cersey were all there. Nicole and Maggie, Brindi, Ryan, and Aiden, Rachel, Thayne, Jones, and Lacey, Danielle, Andy, Brooklyn, and London, Carey, Chris, and Boston were all there too. We are so blessed to have so many close friends and family members nearby!

Justin had just finished his P90X, so to show off he and Thayne had a pull-up contest on the playground. Thayne did 18 pull ups and Justin did 17 and 3/4. Practically a tie, but Justin says he was able to do 19 the next day so overall he wins right? I did 1 whole pull-up and Nicole did 2, so she won as usual.

Grandma Cersey made this awesome cake. It was 3 tiers of sports balls. Drake loves balls. We think he is going to be quite the little athlete. The baseball on top was Drake's own little cake, which he made a mess of. He was hesitant at first but he got the hang of it eventually. We had to hose him down afterwords.

Thanks to those who helped out and who came to Drake's party. Thanks also for the gifts. He loves them all!

Drake had his first haircut on June 23. I cut it myself and it was no easy task. He crawled all over the tub while I chased him with the clippers. It sounds like the plot of a horror movie but it turned out well in the end. Jackson took all of these perfect pictures while I cut Drake's hair. What talented boys I have!

 

Justin Turns 31 - Hilton Head - Braves Game

Justin turned 31 on May 31st. The night before his birthday we went to dinner with some friends at a restaurant that we like called Urban Flats. Brindi and Ryan came with baby Aiden and Nicole came with baby Maggie. Drake and I were there too, but we did not make it in the picture.

On Justin's birthday his Mom and sister, Jessica, made an amazing dinner for him. We had ziti, stuffed shells, rolls (my contribution, no one trusts me to actually cook anything of substance), salad, and corn on the cob. After dinner 31 candles were lit on Justin's brownie cake. Because Justin hates it when people blow at their candles and inevitably spit all over the cake, he used his arm to quickly waft out the candles. Typical Justin. He got a pair of white shorts from my parents (for the family photo that would be taken a few days later in Hilton Head in which we were to wear all white) and the rest of his gifts were cash, cash, and cash. He got exactly what he wanted. He used his money to buy himself a new computer.

Drake really likes corn on the cob.

On June 2nd my brother James came into town. We always love to see Uncle James. The weekend he was here we took a short trip to Hilton Head. My dad has a weekend dental retreat once a year that is fun for the whole family and this year it was in Hilton Head. No seriously, it is really fun. They give away a ton of cool prizes. This year James won a digital camera, my dad won an overnight stay at a hotel in Atlanta, and Jackson won a water gun. We spent all day Saturday at the beach. Drake didn't like the cold water much, but he loved eating the sand. Jackson wasn't thrilled about the ocean water either but he enjoyed being there with Uncle James, Dad, and Grandpa.

Saturday night we danced (actually just Jackson and Grandma danced), and ate, and hung out with the crazy drunk dentists. We all had a good time.

Here are some of the many faces of Drakes while in Hilton Head. I think he might be a little on the special side, if you know what I mean. But he is cute nevertheless.

On Monday, June 8th we went to a Braves game with a ton of friends and family. Tickets were only $1 so I bought 30 and we used them all. My cousins Erik, Brent, and Dave were their family and friends. Justin's sister, Jessica, was there with her family and her husband's sister, brother, and his wife came along. My parents and brother were there. Nicole and Maggie came and so did Chris, Carey, Boston and a couple of their friends. It was fun having such a big crowd. The Braves played the Pirates and the game ended up going into overtime. We left during the 13th inning, but we listened to the game in the car on the way home and the Braves ended up winning 7-6 in the 16th inning. Thanks Chris and Carey for telling us about the $1 tickets!

Jackson is 3!!!

Jackson turns 3 today! We can hardly believe it! We had a party for him on Monday at Grandma Cersey's house. We had planned to have his party at the park, but the weather looked ominous so we changed the location last minute and of course the rain ended up holding off, but we had fun indoors anyway. We played games, broke open a pull-string Pinata, opened presents, and ate cake. I baked the cake and then decorated it with the help of Grandma Cersey. I think it turned out rather well if I do say so myself.

I had no idea what kind of activities to plan for a 3 year old's birthday party, but luckily Pretty LuLu knew how to entertain the kids. She played duck-duck-goose, Jackson Says, and an usual version of musical chairs that involved pillows and no losers. Justin and Grandma Cersey quickly came up with a "pin the nose on Thomas the train" game which was fun for the kids too.

Today we had a birthday playgroup at Chick-fil-a. Jessica, Megan and Lex came as well as Rachel, Jones and Lacey Shumway, Nicole and Maggie, Grandma Pearson, and Blossom and Arianna Weems. I am terrible at taking pictures, but here are a few shots from today.

Confessions of a Bad Mom

Carey, this post's for you!

I am ready to admit that I am a terrible mom. My children have been deprived of my attention because I have been totally consumed with softball, planning summer vacations, and text messaging. Jackson is addicted to T.V. because mommy is too busy to play with him, and though Drake's first birthday is coming up he is nowhere near ready to walk because he sits in his highchair and eats all day. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't be sharing this with the world. I mean I haven't even updated my blog in over a month and my last 2 posts were about softball! My poor babies deserve better. So, I have created a new blog that is just for softball so that this blog can get back to being about my family. You can get updates on the ThunderCats here.

Drake is crawling now and getting into everything. He has also learned some sign language. He can say "more", "all finished", and he is starting to learn "milk" and "sleepy". He can pull to a standing position, but as I mentioned before he is nowhere near close to walking. He falls frequently and has the bumps and bruises to prove it.

Jackson will be turning 3 next week. He is still in diapers which is another testament to my poor mothering. I just have trouble mustering up the patience and commitment to get this kid potty trained. I know, I know I am a sad case, but just you wait and see how bad it sucks when its time to potty train your kid!

Shoot! Justin just got home and I've got to go do stuff before he starts complaining.

Still Hot and Still Losers

Well, last night was a sad night for the ThunderCats. We played the Switchbacks and as I mentioned before, they are a pretty good team. Their pitcher is a giant that looks like he carries baseballs around in his cheeks. Bottom line is we lost 2-17. Yes, we lost by 15 points. The game was called halfway through because of some mercy rule. We knew that there was no chance for us, but we were upset that they wouldn't even let us continue playing. After all, we all paid to play. So instead of winning, our new goal is to simply keep the score close enough so that we can actually finish out our hour of playtime. That might be difficult for us next week because we are playing the Misfits and they have the reputation of being the best team in the league. Our game next week is at 9:30pm. Come out and support us so that we know we are still loved even though we lose. We will try to put on a good show that hopefully will last a whole hour.

The Hot Losers

On Thursday the 9th Team ThunderCats played our first game. We played against a team called Oyster Barn, and if your immediate thoughts run to gelatinous slugs that have little to no skills at all let alone softball skills then you would be accurately picturing this team. So imagine our surprise when we lost to them 4-7. We were all very nervous, so our skills were slightly impaired, but that really is a lame excuse for losing to this team. Balls were dropped, missed, and fumbled. Throws were wild, inaccurate, and short. Our batting was pitiful to say the least. However, in the last inning we started to get better. The score had been 1-7 until our last time up to bat. Still, we weren't good enough. Well, at least this week we will be rightfully slaughtered. We are playing the Switchbacks and they actually do have some serious skills. Come out to witness our demise for yourself Thursday at 7:30 at Bethesda Park, field #10. At least we look good, right?

Easter Fun

Justin, the kids, and I actually took part in a fair share of Easter activities this year. Usually Justin and I are a little bit scrooge-ish, but this year we actually got into the spirit a little. We dyed Easter eggs with Jackson. We actually kind of enjoyed it.

On Saturday, the 4th we went to the Waisath's for the year's first Easter egg hunt. Jackson actually found eggs on his own this year. Drake was content with one. While at the Waisath's Jackson and Justin participated in an egg toss, and an egg cracking contest, and we had an awesome lunch. Then we rushed home for conference. Thanks Liz and Boyd for a great morning!

On Easter morning we gave the boys their Easter baskets. Jackson lined up all of his basket's contents in a straight line as he got them out. Like father, like son. However, Jackson then proceeded to throw Easter grass all over Drake. This is where his behavior began to mirror me more. Then we got the boys ready for church in their cute little Easter outfits.

After church we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Cersey's house for dinner and more Easter festivities. All of the cousins, Aunts, and Uncles were there. Grandma Cersey's sisters were in town and Grandma and Grandpa Pearson also showed up as well. It was a full house. We ate, dyed Easter eggs, and had another Easter egg hunt. Grandma and Grandpa Pearson fell asleep amongst all of the hubbub.