PHX with the BFF's....

Okay....let me start with a disclaimer...I do not have any pics of the beloved Rebecca and Ezra because Crit burned me a CD of our weekend pics and conveniently omitted those. Rude. However, they were with us for the first 1/2 of our epic weekend in the sun. We needed a major thaw out, so we went to Arizona for some sun and BFF time.

Here is the lovely Mary. She is getting so big and grown up. She has the most amazing heart.

Here are Oliver and Mary in the hammock. Oliver is still totally smitten with her. He would just constantly say "May May (her nick name), play." "May may, mere" (come here)
They play really well together and have a great dynamic.

One of the fun things that we did was to take the kids to a train park. They had tons of play grounds and a merry-go-round and a small train to ride.

The thing that we did the most was hang out by the water in the desert.

We spent a lot of time with good food, good conversation and lots of laughs:

Oliver spent HOURS just splashing in the water and throwing rocks.

And then....in true "Mother of the year" fashion. I dropped my child into the frigid water.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not the most graceful person....especially when it comes to the difficult task known as "walking".
Well, I was walking in the river, holding my boy and I tripped a bit and dropped him, face first, in the cold water.

Oliver has a funny thing he does which is to say "Okay" as soon as he falls, no matter if he is okay or not. I think that it is because we always ask him if he is okay when he falls.

Here is the pic of him RIGHT after the fall....trying to smile. He totally said "okay" as soon as he could catch his breath from in taking a bit of water.

After the dunk, Oliver became quite cuddly because he was cold.

It was awesome!

Oliver picked some flowers and gave them to Crit....here is her face after getting the flowers:

Here is Mary in her fly-honey outfit. I loved it!

My boy:

Look at those cuddles:

Oliver was seriously the happiest baby in the sun.

I think that he inherited my genetic love for the heat:

So...I brought home a tired boy. Here is Oliver enjoying his fist dinner at home.

Yes, he is totally sleeping:

Thank you, Critti and Mary, Rebecca and Ezra for the epic weekend!

Goings on...

Well, we've been sick for about 3 weeks now (and by "we", I mean "oliver). It's been rough. I guess he is still considered contagious, but he is on the tail end of his latest illness (croup).

Well, in between coughing he's been on a mission.

He is trying to find his smile.

Right now when you say "Smile, Oliver", he does this:

OR this:

OR this:

All are charming and hilarious. We're having fun on this journey with him.

Here we are in the back yard today trying to enjoy what little sun there was:

Oh, my boys....how I love them.

We were all having fun UNTIL, it started. For those of you who do not know, I miss North Carolina. I love it. It is the most lovely state in the WORLD! :)

Don't worry, we have NO intention of moving ANY time soon.

HOWEVER...

I saw Bryce drawing a picture of Utah to show Oliver where we lived, so I drew a picture of NC to show him where we should live (*kidding*), and Bryce did THIS:

SO, I did THIS:

The war is on. NC vs. UT

Seeing as how NC has both an coast and mountains and islands and TREES, I cannot see HOW UT could pull ahead.

This will be our battle forever and ever, which is the greater state.

***

We got to see Ezra and Rebecca today, very briefly.

Oliver's sickness prevented us from too much hanging out.

We did let the boys be in close proximity for ONE quick shot.

Here are the future BFF's: