Night of the Nakeds...

Usually my kids are dressed (well, if not in real clothes...then jammies at least!)....but tonight they were ready for bathtime a little early and decided to strip down in preparation. I let them have a little fun being "naked in the room" before we headed up to the tub. Apparently, when I was little I loved to run around with minimal clothing on and yell "naked in the room!" My how times have changed.... :)

Nattie was cracking up at all Ben's crazy nude dance moves (don't know where he gets this...promise?!). Anything he did...she did! I love the picture of him acting like a total whacko and her just looking up at him like he's so cool. :) By the way, I promise we feed Ben...he's just a shrimp (he's wearing 2T undies and he'll be 5 in a month!)! Oh and Nattie had her 15 month check-up today...she was in the 95th percentile for height (32 inches) and only in the 25th for weight (21 lbs). Tall and lean...but built SO different than her big (skinny) brother.

Here are a few camera timer shots of me and my naked children...

This is Nattie's newest facial expression...it's evil Nattie. She makes it A LOT and everytime it is followed up by the cheesy grin. I don't really know why they go together...but it always gives me a chuckle.

Just a few other pictures from my camera this week. Papa came up with this creative use for our fleece blanket....

Ben wanted to read to Nattie before bed tonight and she was really listening and sitting still for him. He made up every word on every page...but she was digging it. :)

New day...

Last night I was awake for two hours in the middle of the night with some major anxiety. It's probably hormone related, but irritating nonetheless! Everything is always worse in the middle of the night, isn't it? I was so glad to wake up this morning to sunshine and happy kids (except for 10 minutes of drama from Ben because he couldn't draw a zebra at preschool...apparently he's only good at drawing dogs according to him?!). I took the kiddos to the park for a picnic and some fun and I feel MUCH better now. These little people make everything right.

We played on the playground...

and hiked to the pond....

and sat in a Magnolia tree...

I love these cuties and I'm so thankful for the blessing I've been given!

The peanut...

Today Mike and I found out we're having another little BOY! He is healthy and growing perfectly. We feel so blessed! Benny has been telling me it's a boy....and he seemed confident that Natalie was a girl too. I'm beginning to wonder if he has special powers?!? :) This evening Mike asked him what he thought we should name his little brother and he said "Judas"....ummm...no! I can assure you that one is not on the short or long list!! We asked him why he liked that name and he had no response. WEIRD! I think that's worse than Louise (his name of choice for Natalie before she was born!).

Here's the little peanut's profile...

Take a closer look...can you tell what the arrow is pointing to?? :)

Tiny little feet...so cute!

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

Trip to MO (5) - The other stuff...

What a fun trip we had! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making our visit so great. Thanks to Jenny, Emma and Audrey for making so many trips down to F-town to see us too! We love you all and will see you soon!

Trip to MO (4) - Leslie's Wedding

My cute cousin, Leslie, was married over the weekend and it was so fun to catch up with IL family at the wedding. Ben had a ball dancing with the 9,000 other kids in attendance (99% of which were his own family!) . People have to think we're the most fertile family alive.

Leslie and Ty...

Check out the pouty bottom lip on Nattie...just like her Daddy!

Ben and Nattie were zonked by the end of the night...luckily, I had a pillow in the car!

I love you, IL family! I can't wait to see you again soon!

Trip to MO (3) - St. Louis Zoo

We spent most of the week with my parents, sister-in-law, Jenny, and her kiddos. My brother Adam is in the depths of tax season (he's a CPA) and my brother Eric had school all week. We missed not having them around for our whole visit, but we did get to visit with Eric and his girlfriend, Erin, over the weekend. We all went to the St. Louis Zoo together on Friday. (Sorry to most of my family who I somehow didn't get pictures of?! I guess I was too busy taking pictures of flowers, animals, and Somali Wild Ass signs. Maybe next time?)

Some of the animals we saw...

I told Eric that he reminded me of the animal described below and that I would showcase him on the blog to let everyone know. When I went to take his picture I got the lovely mugshot below, which further proves my point. (Hope this doesn't offend anyone!)

On a nicer note....I just thought these flowers were pretty and my little lady looked cute checking them out!

Trip to MO (2) - Magic House!

We usually make a trip to MO in the heat of the summer and spend all of our time in the pool, but since the pool wasn't open yet we entertained ourselves with several trips up to St. Louis. Ben, Natalie and Emma had so much fun running around the Magic House one afternoon.

Nattie playing in the toddler area...she loved it and everything was pint size. :)

Love that little grin and drool covered shirt!

Ben was in his glory running from one thing to the next...he could live at a place like this!

The Magic House was around when I was little and somewhere there is a picture of me as a kid with my hand on the "electrostatic generator." This picture cracks me up. Even his short hair is standing on end. I wasn't even touching the ball...the electricity went through him and caused my hair to do this.

Some other cute shots from our adventure...

I think Audrey really enjoyed the Magic House....

Trip to MO (1) - Hawn State Park and Baby Audrey

We spent the last week in Missouri visiting my family. We had a blast...here come the photos! Mike ran 10 miles one morning on a trail at Hawn State Park, so we all met him there for a picnic lunch following his run (he's training for a 50K in July...nuts!).

Going down the slide together...

Cute cousins playing together at the park! Oh...and I had to throw in one or two of my dad...he doesn't get much blog press! :)

We were SO excited to finally meet baby Audrey...my newest niece. Adam and Jenny make cute babies! She is the sweetest little thing and I miss her already.

Happy Easter!

Our traditional Easter family photo...complete with Nattie's cheesy grin! It is so hilarious and makes me smile every time I see it. Oh..and I told Mike that he needed to learn how to hold a girl in a dress...not the most ladylike position for my little babe. :)

Ben and Nattie had fun opening their Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny (aka the great-grandmas!). I tried to take some cute pictures of the two of them together...this is as good as it gets.

Just a few other pictures from the day... We enjoyed spending the afternoon with Mike's family at Mamaw's house.

We are so thankful that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and, ultimately, conquered the grave so that we could live forever with Him in Heaven. Happy Easter!

Heat wave and LeBron...

The sun is shining and it's in the upper 70's here today. PERFECT! Too bad there are no buds on the trees yet and our yard is still super soggy from all the snow and rain recently. Oh well, we had fun playing outside for awhile this afternoon.

I know I've said this before...but I love this little lady in blue. :)

Fun in the sun...Ben had the squinty sunshine smile going on today.

Last night we got to go to a Cavs game with our friends, Don and Monique. It was a close game, but we had great seats and it's always fun to see LeBron. I was hoping to see Shaq, but I guess he's out with a hurt finger. Thanks for inviting us, friends! It was fun.