Hamilton Family Reunion

The Hamilton Family Reunion was an interesting weekend to say the least. On a whim, I took both kids up the day before we planned to leave with Jay's family, without Tyler. Axl refused to go to sleep in the van--we didn't get there until like 11:30 or 12, but both kids went down fine once we got there. I stayed up and talked until about 2:30 and Axl woke up at 3:30, refusing to go back to sleep. At home, we would have made sure everything was ok and let him cry it out (which really doesn't ever happen), but we could have atleast let him cry. I couldn't do that because there were so many people around. He ended up waking up Cooper and I had to nurse
her to get her to go back to sleep, which I haven't done in a while. Axl didn't go back to sleep until 7. In the meantime I called Tyler at 4:30 in the morning asking what exactly I was supposed to do with two screaming children in the middle of nowhere with 20 other people in the house and no car...to which he had no answer. We all slept from 7-8, after which I called Tyler and informed him that he needed to take the day off and get to Tar Fork ASAP because doing tired cranky Axl on about 45 minutes sleep myself is just not an option. The rest of the weekend was a great time. Lots of catching up and pinochle. Tyler and I pretty much just swapped shifts at the creek, where Axl camped out. We have, perhaps, decided though, that in order to remember that weekend trips ARE NOT a good idea, to just ban them for the next 6 months or so. We always forget how tough it is and get all excited, only to spend the weekend feeling like our heads are going to explode. We're hoping if we give him a little time Axl will be more manageable.

Tyler's Birthday/Cooper's Blessing

Cooper and her daddy seem to be sharing a lot of days; her first Sunday to church was on Father's Day and her blessing day fell on Tyler's birthday!


The day before the blessing was the Wade Family Reunion, so we asked my parents if they'd take Axl from there and keep him overnight so we could celebrate Tyler's birthday that night. We met Young at Catherine at Jalapenos and had a yummy dinner, then headed to the movies, with Cooper in tow, to see Inception. Cooper did ok in the movie but I spent the majority of it sitting with her in the isle. She did let out a huge belch right in the middle of a really quiet part that gave us all a good laugh. :)

Coop was lucky enough to share her blessing day with both of her cousins, Maya and Lola. It was such a special day and we FILLED the chapel with Hamiltons, Coopers, and tons of friends! My mom and I picked out a special blessing dress for Cooper that had matching socks, I got little infant bracelets for all three of the girls, and the talented Shawna made Cooper a beautiful bonnet. She could not have looked cuter! The morning started off a little rough for us--my mom called me on her way there telling me she needed extra clothes for Axl because he had puked. I later found out he puked ALL the way to Nicholasville from Paris...I'm so grateful my parents had him that morning to take care of him because I think if he were with us, Cooper would not have been getting blessed that day. Axl didn't feel well all day and we think he may have been suffering from heat exhaustion from the day before at the park. After church we all went to the Hamiltons' house for lunch and cupcakes. It was a great day to spend with family and friends, and even though she won't remember it, a very special day for our little Cooper Jay.

Since the family reunion was the day previous, Cooper had some special out-of-town guests for her blessing. Mamaw Fox (My dad's mom) and Bill were in from Michigan, Johnny (my dad's brother) was in from Tennessee, Jeff (another of my dad's brothers) and Chris were in from Utah! And of course we were just as happy to see those that live close and came to celebrate with us!!I'm including this picture because I think it's funny that my dad and I are sitting the exact same way. When we got home on Sunday night, we had a family movie night. Axl has started cuddling with his dad like this when they watch tv and that day he was especially cuddly because he was sick :(

Please bless Papaw...

Axl and I pray together every night before he goes to bed, but I gave up a long time ago on getting him to actually participate with words; he refuses to say anything or repeat anything, so we both fold our arms, I close my eyes, and say the prayer, and at the end he shouts, "AMEN".

Two nights ago though, I have my eyes closed, going through our typical prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this day. We're thankful for our family, Daddy, Mama, Axl and Cooper. Please bless us with a good night's...(Axl interjects)PAPAW!...Please bless Papaw." I opened my eyes to look at him and he's just bursting with pride and a big ol' grin.

Now we know that Axl is thankful for his Papaw. :)

Ice Cream!

Axl finally decided to try out an ice cream cone...and actually kind of liked it :)

Rosie

We dog sat for Tom and Bonnie for the weekend and Axl had a great time with Rosie! She is definitely a puppy and Axl lost a few items of clothing out of the deal, but it was worth it and we had a great time with her! Axl liked to peek out from behind the columns on the porch at her and say, "Heyyoooo". Every morning since she left, Axl has gone to the back door calling, "Puppy, puppy!"

Wade Family Reunion

This reunion is for my dad's side of the family. It's an annual event and this year it was ESPECIALLY HOT! It is held at a park, where we have a potluck lunch, let the kids run around on the playground, and play lots of Bingo! Axl had an absolute blast playing with his cousins and running and running and running and running and running...getting WAY too hot and not drinking enough...perhaps resulting in a mild case of heat exhaustion the next morning. We had a great time, but were ALL relieved to get into some air conditioning!

What a man, What a man...

What a mighty good man!

This afternoon as I was hectically running around trying to get everything together to take the kids tonight up to Tar Fork for the Hamilton Family Reunion without Tyler because he has to work tomorrow, someone rang the doorbell. I was sure it was Kate, Matthew came to visit for a while today, but I opened the door to find a big bouquet of chocolate covered fruit! I've got a "mighty good man"! Yummy!