COUSINS!

Isn't he precious???

Sweet baby Cooper Raymond Richard!

He & his momma came for just a few short days to surprise the Naperville family with a quick visit!! Griffy was MORE than excited to meet his new cousin, asking when we got up yesterday if Cooper was here yet!!!

Although, I think he was just a bit underwhelmed when he remembered that babies come out mostly sleeping. We kept reminding him that before he knows it, he will be the crazy ringleader of an all male band of cousins!

and I am sure there will be a lot of (in Griffy's words), "wrestling" in the years to come!!!!

Sawyer loves his new best buddy too, they are only 9 months apart! Such a sweet pic, for only moments after Sawyer going right for his eyes!

and of coarse we had to get the Grandmas (GG & Grammee respectively) in quick pic with all the boys! These are my favorite 2 out of the 100 I took! Haha!

They are going to be quite the Trio, don't you think???

...holding hands:)! I am going to ask for a retake of this when they are teenagers!

Can't wait to see how their relationship grows! xoxo

How else would you celebrate??

To a bunch of 3 & 4 year olds there is no better way to congratulate themselves on a job well done in their first year of school than to....

thrown bean bags at (or around) the holes in a pirate ship, I mean hey, they did learn to count to 20 this year.

To commemorate the first year of many a school craft?

make a bug jar to catch all kinds of delightful creatures so they can now live in your house with you.

and string yourself a classy robot and plastic bead necklace which will be a welcome accessory to all of your summer attire!

Want to party over your first year of "gym" class?

That's right, plastic egg races!

and fish for the sea creature that says your name (cause hey, you recognize it now)!

Blow your horn, it's SWEET SUMMER TIME!!

Which means a lot of things.

#1. You can check your first year of preschool off the list G-man.

#2. I have to think of a lot of things to occupy your incredibly curious, adventurous and energetic little tush, so we don't drive each other crazy!

#3. I am so proud of you!

Thanks Mrs. Stabb! Griffy LOVES you and we appreciate all the work you poured into him! He's a whole new boy!!

What a fun way to end the preschool year! All the parents loved coming to watch and play with their kiddos at the end of the year Fun Fair!

year 1 and done!

Griffin Andrew Eccleston.

Here is my little man about 9 months ago. 1st day of preschool.

Look at his teeny little brother, ah!

And here are my front porch shots from this morning. His last day of school. Already. Time flew by, why am I surprised every time? I had a small pit in my stomach when I dropped him off today. I am amazed as a parent how much I relax and settle into the routine of my kids as well. It's not just him who will miss Mrs. Stabb and the art projects! I love seeing him and his goofy little smile walk out from the building when I pick him up, on the tale end of just barely on time. I hate to say goodbye to this sweet moment. It has been so nice for all of us. It was nice for me, in a lot of ways, and for him too. He has gone from a little guy who I was thinking was going to need a lot speech help to a kid who knows his ABC's, talks ALL the time, recognises numbers and can play a very competitive game of duck duck goose. He's grown A LOT. He's figured out, a little more, about getting along and making friends and following rules. He is POTTY TRAINED!

I am so proud of you lovie. You are such a big boy all of the sudden. You worked hard this year. I love the guy you are becoming.

My favorite memory of school happened this morning. Usually on the way to school I reach back and grab your hand and ask if I can pray for you before school, to which you reluctantly agree. This morning we got there super early (AH! I know, crazy right!) and I was distracted with getting your things together as we were waiting in the car line. As I reached back to grab something you grabbed my hand and requested I pray for you today. And it was for me the way that things always do seem to come full circle. I am so thankful for this year for you Griffy. You are on your way. I love the seat I am watching from.

# 6

How long have we been married you ask?

Well, let me tell you...6 years of wedded bliss (and everything else in between), that's how many.

In 6 years, I clearly haven't figured out how to kick that smile where I clinch my teeth so you can see all of my gums and my extra chin, but hey, I am still smiling, so I consider it a win.

In six years we have moved and changed and fought and cried and been more than irretated and scared and confused and so happy and so excited and so thrilled. We have covered the full spectrum...

In six years we have left behind the "butterflies" phase, we have left behind college days, and all the "firsts" that come with dating, we have left behind the newly wed days and the lazy days of just us. We traded them in for days of working really hard for our goals and dreams together, days where we get each other through stuff no one else even knows we are struggling with, days where we don't know if we'll make it but we do and the way we smile at each other gets deeper and bigger, days that are full of them...

We've done a lot of life in the last 6 (plus) years. But the best part about them is that we are still an US in every sense of the word. We have good, we have bad, we have ugly. But we love each other. We laugh, a lot. We love each other in spite of....you know, all that "spite of" stuff. We still hold hands when our arms aren't full of little boys. We even still flash our secret love sign (ha ha ha) when it's the only way to communicate it and sometimes just because it makes us laugh(this is an advantage to marrying someone you were a "kid" with, you have secret love symbols and when you use them, it takes ya right back).

We feel blessed and thankful for the Lord's protection over our marriage.

And in the words of the great Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros,

"Home is whenever I'm with you"

and we really feel that way...and now you have your daily serving of cheese! You're welcome!

Thanks God for this:)! LOVE him, LOVE our sweet kiddos, LOVE that it's all because of you and your plans!

boys, boys & more boys...

Well, if you have been following our blog or hang out with us in your free time you know we are surrounded by BOYS. Lots of families with sweet little (aka: crazy and energized) little boys. Since I have 2 of my own, I am actually lucky to have found such great friends with boys that match up with ours. And we have a great, always noisy and inevitably eventful time.

This weekend my sweet friend Mary Beth put together THE most adorable pirate party EVER for her 1 year old, Josiah. There were flags, and polka dot bandannas, and eye patches and pretty much anything else you could think of that coordinated with the theme and colors! At least us mother's are getting our "cutesie" on while the boys are little. Water bottle labels and cupcake toppers aren't going to fly at their sweet 16s! Ha ha! I didn't get too many pictures of all of the great touches from this party, but here are a few of the BOYS.

My boys

Sleepy 1st mate Simon

Henry, adorable in this get up:)

This is our 2nd generation of BOYS...

1st came Griffy, Micah & Charlie and now...

Henry, Josiah (the birthday boy) and Beanie:)

And, the birthday Momma! What a great party, complete with shoulder parrots!

And, please don't alert child services, because I know the 2 of them are well over the weight limit in here, but how can I force them out, they sit and laugh at each other while I am cooking in the afternoons. I love it, for their relationship....and my sanity (try cooking with 2 small boys frolicking around your feet...not too much is accomplished on my end...plenty of destruction on theirs!))! Boys, boys, boys....

10 Marvelous Months Beanie Man

10 marvelous months of having you sweet Beanie!

You make us laugh, you make us fall in love with you more every time you smile, you have a chipped front tooth....

You are certainly a character and we are learning more and more about you every day now as your personality grows. You aren't walking yet, but you'll stand for a few seconds on your own and you can easily shimmy your way around a table, up the stairs or under a chair. You've been yelling "MAAAAAA" after me...and you still follow me around the house EVERY WHERE. You are my very own little shadow and I am trying to soak that up, knowing it surely can't last long. You take your fair share of tumbles, hence the chipped tooth....so that's why you have a little wedge gone in all of your school pics from now until about 1st grade. I am not sure what fall it happened on, but Aunt Ali discovered it. It adds to the bliss of that little gapped tooth smile though, I can't get enough of it! You are so close to being 1 little Bean, how can that be?

You are so cool:)!

Love you more every day!

Mom

Orange blankie pic, you are so close to spilling off of it:(

What I got for Mother's day....

Some may get flowers or chocolates or sparkles but what I have really really wanted for mother's day for the past few summers is this....

and thanks to them, my wish came true!!!

These sweet men ( my father in law, hubby, dad & brother in law) embarked on a multiple hour journey to build this little beauty, for which they gave me endless bantering about. (Apparently, choosing a swing set for little boys should not be based on cuteness and if I could someday try and add flower boxes, which I could...just saying! haha!)

Us mother's did a lot of good supervising on this project and I am sure if not for our careful eye, this thing would not have come together!

It started the night before with the DVD and instruction packet almost as thick as the bible and continued the next morning unpacking all the blots and boards in our garage...

Then came the many hours of putting together...

You can about guess how antsy we were getting by mid afternoon, and we had some talks about patience and not throwing screws and bolts into the yard....

and the building went on, into the night...

and the next morning!

But finally the work was complete and we got to enjoy the fruits of the men's very hard work!

And, this is the very best present I could, I mean the boys could get!

Free entertainment in our own fenced in backyard for two little boys with lots of energy, thank you Jesus!

Crazy enough, this present wasn't even for me (directly)! The grandparents and Ry & I got it for both boys as an early gift for their birthdays, coming in June and July so we also did a little birthday party for the 2 of them.

And neither minded starting the celebration a little early! Beanie loved his first piece of cake and Griff LOVED the attention showered on him by his grandparents! A great weekend all around! Thanks for the help family, we will enjoy this gift for years to come!