Oh Yeah! The birds!

I totally forgot to include some pictures of the birds! Kolbe was totally fascinated with them. Of course, while you're down on the beach, they hoard around you hoping you'll have some scrap of food for them. But the coolest part was seeing the birds from our balcony. We were on the 10th floor and they'd come right up to our balcony and eat scraps of bread we would toss to them. Kolbe LOVED it! See pic and video below!

Awesome pic taken from Mark's new iPhone!

Beach Babies!

Well, it has definitely been a long time since I did a blog post, but I swear I have a good excuse! We decided to switch to a different internet provider and had to turn our existing service off before they couldn’t even schedule the install of the new service. Sure enough, they weren’t able to come out and install it for two weeks so we’ve been without internet for a while.

Having no internet hasn’t been too bad, because we have certainly been very busy! We took an AWESOME vacation to South Padre Island with my parents near the end of May. After hearing several people say that all Texas beaches are horrible, we were pleasantly surprised at how wonderful South Padre was! Being completely honest, the waves there were far better than the ones we were used to in Pensacola, where we have been many times before. I was a little bit worried about how travelling and vacationing would be with the two babies but it ended up being the best case scenario! No big problems! We were fortunate to have Andy and Abby flying with us both down to Padre as well as back to Lubbock so we had several extra hands on board.

Kolbe LOVED the beach! The first day he was a little bit cautious about walking in the stand and getting in the water, but he quickly warmed up to it. The only thing he has yet to figure out it the whole concept of closing his eyes and mouth when the waves come! A few good salt water waves did him in, but he was quick to get right back out there. He really loved the pool at the condo as well. Unfortunately, the water in the pool was FREEZING (though he seemed not to care) so he didn’t get to do as much pool swimming as he would have liked to because no one was willing to spend too much time in there with him!

Other than enjoying lots of time on the beach, we got to try out several fun restaurants including one called the Big Donkey. Hmm. One morning we all got to go parasailing as well. It was a blast! The view of the ocean was just beautiful! We also had fun hanging out at the condo eating, watching movies, playing board games and just spending lots of time together. Of course it wouldn’t have been a Hefferly Family vacation without some sort of visit to a historical location so we stopped at a Mexican/American battle site as well. Lovely. Really.

We had SO much fun on our vacation and are so thankful to Pinkie and Pa for such a wonderful trip! Enjoy the pics below!

Reagan's first dip in the ocean!

Day one- the kiddos checking out the ocean with Aunt Abby

Sweet Speedo (swim diaper)

Now that guy is ready for some serious beach action!

Poor Reagan...he looks like he's not too happy about this whole situation.

The three-months-post-baby part of me is glad this pic turned out kind of dark!

Reagan kicked back, relaxed, putting his toes in the sand...life's hard, little guy!

Yeah! We love the pool!

The boat was Kolbe's favorite!

Uncle Dave making a sand Kolbe!

Sand toys, sand toys, sand toys!

Senor Pa!

Kolbe on the "Big Donkey" in the lobby of The Big Donkey

Pa and Kolbs on a sunset walk

A rare moment alone...

on our way to parasailing!

Mark was a lot more excited than I was because I had been before...he loved it! It was so much fun to go together too!

Yep, that's us!

The girls in our matching jammie pants!

While we were there, we got to celebrate Reagan's 100 days! As a tradition, my mom presented him with his Happy 100 Days card...adorned with 100 stickers or words to celebrate his life. What a fantastic 100 days!

We ate a WONDERFUL dinner at a way too expensive seafood restaurant called Amberjacks.

I love my mom!

That's the look of a kid who has had some serious fun!

Now that's what I call a sunrise!

Kolbe loves Reagan, Reagan loves Mr. Fishy

Baby Reagan is growing more and more every day. We had him weighed last week when he turned 12 weeks old (a few days shy of being 3 months), and he weighed exactly 12 pounds! When we left the hospital, he weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces so he's definitely more than doubled that. Reagan is a joy to have in our house! He is SUCH a good baby! ... very laid back, very cuddly, very happy! (which makes for a happy Mama!)

Kolbe continues to fall more and more in love with his little brother too. He is very protective of him! When Reagan cries, he makes every effort to comfort him...even if the "efforts" result in more crying! He likes to show him toys and read him books and really only gets a little jealous when Reagan is nursing because that's when he's not allowed to touch Reagan and Mama can't play either. Reagan is starting to respond more to Kolbe now too. I know it won't be long before they're rolling around on the floor wrestling together and bringing all kinds of chaos to our house!

I took these two little pictures of them the other day. Reagan loves to hang out in his swing while we're eating so he can be a part of the scene, and Kolbe always loves to go over and give him kisses and hugs. He adores Reagan! While Reagan loves to get kisses from his big brother, he loves to look most affectionately at Mr. Fishy, one of the little fishes that floats around on the mobile. At 13 weeks old, he's starting to become more and more observant of the world around him. We love watching these boys grow!

Kolbe's First Picasso

It's amazing how much fun a $3.99 box of finger paints can be! A few days ago, we picked up a box at Hobby Lobby and this afternoon, Kolbe got his first chance to try them out. He LOVED it! I'm sure to him they were way better than boring old crayons! Heck, anything where it's actually ok to make a mess is a dream come true for Kolbe! His finger paints will definitely provide for lots of fun in the hot summer afternoons to come!

Checking out each of the colors...in his "smock" aka: one of Uncle Dave's old shirts

Thank God for paper towels, vinyl table cloths, soap, ........

The first of many beauties to adorn our fridge!

Adventures in the Big Boy Bed

Little Kolbe is growing up right before our eyes! A few weeks ago, after several weeks of Kolbe waking up MULTIPLE times throughout the night, we decided to remove the front gate from Kolbe's crib. Since day one, Kolbe has been majorly against any kind of confinement. The older he got, the more he hated the idea of being stuck in his crib. Since his speech is still a little lacking and he can't really communicate with us that well, his speech therapist suggested that we give a big boy bed a trial run even though he's only 17 months old. Typically I don't think I would have tried this on my own this early, but she said that since his motor development is so far advanced for most kids his age, there wasn't really any reason to worry about him getting hurt. Of course, being the worried mom that I am, I had pillows covering every possible thing he might hurt himself on and woke up like 10 times that night to check on him!

To make a long story short, moving to the big boy bed has made ALL the difference in the world! Kolbe is so excited to get in his bed every night and proudly shows it off to any guests who come to visit. And best of all, he has slept through the night every night since we started! (minus a few screaming tirades in his sleep due to a really ugly molar that's been coming in...) AND he manages to stay in the bed! (or at least mainly in the bed...see picture below!) Honestly, when we go check on him, he's always sleeping soundly! Below are the before and after pictures from the first night:

A Happy Trip to Houston

Last week, Kolbe, Reagan, my mom, and I all flew down to The Woodlands for a very special meeting. Kolbe is now almost a year and half old and he had yet to meet my grandmother (my Dad's mom)! All great-grandchildren need to meet their great grandma! Several weeks ago my parents and I began orchestrating this trip, and although it had a few hitches, it really was a wonderful experience. My mom flew up here to Lubbock so she could fly down and help me with the boys on the plane. (No, I was not brave enough to fly with a 17 month old and a 2 month old by myself...) Despite my mom getting to Lubbock on Monday instead of Sunday because of full flights and the four of us arriving in Houston on Tuesday night instead of Tuesday morning because of doctors appointments due to a bad lupus flare in my wrists, we all arrived happy and healthy around 10pm on Tuesday! Grandma and my Aunt Cathy had arrived Monday morning from Birmingham and were waiting for us. We had a wonderful visit with them! Grandma was smitten with the two boys and loved getting to cuddle Reagan. Kolbe, the wild man, offered up a few high fives and posed for some pictures but wasn't big on the cuddling...just the showing off!

Grandma and Kathy had to leave on Thursday morning, but Kolbe, Reagan and I stayed until Saturday morning for a few more days with Pinkie and Pa. Kolbe had a blast exploring some of the fun activities around The Woodlands. He especially loved the water spouts in the middle of Market Street. Overall, we had a FANTASTIC time and were so blessed to finally bring together the boys with their other great-grandma! She and my Aunt Kathy will be moving to Washington DC to live with my Aunt Debbie soon, so this trip couldn't have come at a better time! Now we're back home and recuperating and preparing for the big Hefferly family trip to the beach in just a few short weeks!

Four Generations! Grandma, Dad, me, and Kolbe and Reagan

Aunt Kathy and Reagan

"Pa" swinging Kolbe through the water spout as it shot up!

Kolbe was fascinated at how the water just shot up out of nowhere.

He proceeded to find an old water bottle and use it to try and catch water and then pour it on himself. Such a boy!

Happy Easter 2009!

Well, I certainly didn't get the pictures up the day after Easter or anything, but better late than never! We had a wonderful Easter this year with our two little boys! We went to Good Friday service on Friday night after Mark got home from Midland. That little adventure probably wasn't the best idea. The service started at 7:00 pm; Kolbe is used to going to bed around 8:00! So needless to say, he definitely wasn't on his best behavior. Good thing Reagan was the perfect little angel!

On Saturday, we had fun dying Easter eggs and making homemade macaroni and cheese. Kolbe loves to help cook! I let him help me once and now he wants to help EVERY time! Definitely makes cooking "interesting."

On Sunday, Kolbe decided to make things complicated by waking up at 5:45am. (His normal wake up time is around 8:00am.) Usually we can get him back to sleep, but not this time! He was wide awake and ready to party. By the time we went to 11:00am mass, Kolb was already getting tired. Luckily, that turned out to be a good thing. He mainly just wanted to sit with mom and dad and drink his milk. We didn't have to take him out of mass at all! (that rare for Kolbe...) However, the car ride home from mass was a nightmare! He was totally pooped, but the Easter celebration at Grandma's (Miss Lora) was due to begin at 1:00pm. We rushed over there anyway and Kolbe managed to find his second wind. He was so excited to see everyone, especially his cousins Caleb and Adan. He was a total trooper and didn't pout or fuss once! Of course, Little Reagan just slept, ate, and looked around throughout the entire thing. He's such a laid back baby! We got to partake in a wonderful feast of all kinds of different food and of course, had fun Easter baskets and eggs for the kiddos. Kolbe's basket even had a fun pair of Sponge Bob pajamas in it from Granny that he just LOVES! (Who wouldn't love a pair of neon yellow pajamas with a big face on the front!?!)

We had hoped to go over to Ben and Erin's for a second Easter celebration around 5:00pm, but around 4:15 when we were preparing to leave Miss Lora's, Kolbe finally crashed. Being awake for nearly 11 hours is a lot for a 17 month old! So unfortunately, we never made it over to Ben and Erin's and missed out on what I'm guessing was a ton of great food based on the goodies Dave brought home to me. (not to mention the good company too!) Of course, Kolbe woke up shortly there after and was a total grouch until I finally got him to go to bed for real around 9:45 pm. Oh, the joys of parenting! Still, we had a wonderful Easter and really loved getting to spend it with such a wonderful family. Plus, it's so exciting to see Kolbe growing up and starting to figure out what Easter is all about! And didn't they just look ADORABLE in their little outfits that Pinkie sent them!