watermelon time

in central texas, it is that time of year again...

i have memories of lots and lots of watermelon in my childhood with some very special grandparents who i miss so very much.  now, with my boys....let the memories and traditions begin...with this delish, red delicacy!!

bode's surf shack

my little bode is 1, so we celebrated with a surf shack themed par-tay.  bode has been such a relaxed, sweet angel this past year and so goes the theme for my laid back dude.  i do believe he had a nice time and i know smith did.

i made 2 signs like this to point guests toward the backyard--


and then had these cardboard cut out surf boards as you entered---they said: 'hang ten hastings', 'shaka shae', 'sick swell smith', and 'bodacious bode'


we set up the backyard in a pretty relaxed fashion with decor that kind of got wind blown, but was still cute....quilts out on the ground, a few tables/chairs, and a empty kiddie pool to house the 'crawlers' when necessary.






my last minute idea was quite a hit --i called it "venice beach graffiti wall" and the kiddos loved painting it right up...





my goal was to have it seem like a real restaurant, so i used the window between my kitchen and backyard as an order window and hired a college student to make the sliders....which was basically putting them together...i had all the layers/condiments laid out for her.  (my mom helped her out a little during the rush--thanks mom).  my talented and amazing friend, katie, made this chalkboard menu for me and it truly made the party....i so wish i had any artistic abilities!!    ---thanks kelly for modeling the order window so well :)





bode was so funny about his cake.  charlie and i laughed so much because traditionally, charlie LOVES just the cake and i eat just enough cake to get me the icing.  sooo, when smith was 1, he loved the icing and has ever since.  but, when bode got his cupcake, he tried the icing, but ended up just eating the cake.  lucky for our family we can still enjoy a whole cake together.  charlie and bode will take care of the cake and smith and i will enjoy the icing :)



speaking of cake...here is the one i made.  his invites had a surf van on them, so i wanted to make that for his cake too.



as take home treats--my mom made BEAUTIFUL iced sugar cookies in the shape of waves and surfboards. they were beyond professional looking ...she rocked it!





oh my bode...i am so madly in love with you.  after 1 year of enjoying your smile, flirting, tenderness, easy going nature, looks of love, and new sense of adventure....i am hooked.  i cannot wait to see what this year brings.  happy birthday my bode angel :)

lovely day

we had really beautiful, non-winter weather here.   really though, i guess we don't get "winter" weather here.  anyhow, the weather was warm and lovely for playing outside.  i did take the boys on a run in the double jogger and i for sure had too much sweat than someone should get in january (and i had shorts and a t-shirt on), but when playing (and not running)....it was perfect.

also a perfect night for using our homegrown lettuce for a yummy salad.  this was my 'spur of the moment' gardening at the end of the season that has grown so well throughout the winter.  i hope to do a lot more in this next growing season because i find smith is so much more likely to eat vegetables that he sees growing in his own backyard.  he will just pick at the lettuce and eat it while we are outside...love it!





on a side note: bode is now pulling up to stand....often.... and he is so proud of himself :)

bode @ 9 month

bode had his 9 month dr. visit the other day....smith did his best to doctor him right up.  in fact, when our 'real' doctor wanted to examine bode, smith was pretty upset.....because, you know, smith is bode's doctor. it was pretty cute. (thanks to aunt yaya for the christmas gift of the doctor kit!)

bode's stats are: 20 lbs. 6 oz. (46%) and 27.8 inches (31%)---quite strange for one of my boys to be under the 50th percentile.  (smith has always run above 75th), but no worries here....all is well and he is happy and healthy, praise Jesus.

what is bode up to at 9 months??  well....
-he is full on crawling (all over the house)
-he is eating solids and prefers them to his bottle (dr. daddy is not so happy about this)
-he is feeding himself quite a few finger foods
-he has 8 teeth (maybe 9, can't remember)
-he loves splashing in the tub and laughing at smith always
-he likes to stand a lot, but is not yet pulling up to his feet
-he started sleeping on his belly more often
-he is babbling a lot and screaming a lot
-he has started disliking things...mainly getting his diaper changed, or anything that i have to lay him on his back for
-he has had only 1 incident of separation anxiety (at church nursery, but only 1 time)
-he takes 2 naps per day...not the best napper, usually on 1 -1.5 hours each, but sleeps well from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am at night

he continues to be an angel and smiles as much as always.  love my boy.

brothers

doing a little iphone clean-up and ran across some great pictures of my boys.  i love that they have each other.  and, although i am not naive to the fist fights that i'm sure are to be part of their growing up together, i have such dreams/hopes for them as brothers.  i pray they will hold each other accountable, that they will be each others 'best man' figuratively and literally.  i hope they will push one another in all areas--spiritually, school, sports, finding an amazing wife....

back to the present...they are adorable and starting to have so much fun together....love you boys!!

first visit to the dentist

while we were home for christmas in b-town, smith had his first cleaning at my dad's office.  he was such a good boy....i think it helped that my dad was there, taking pictures and keeping him relaxed.  little smithy had good teeth, "plenty of room" per doc.....which is funny, because he used to tell me that all the time.  it means...we have "big mouths"....lucky for you smith, just like your mommy :)

someone is moving right along

bode is unofficially crawling...meaning, he makes pretty good distances in crazy ways, but can only crawl correctly a couple of feet before he sits up again.  he is, however, very interested in being upright...standing.  in the video below, near the end, you see he lets go and stand on his own for a second or two.  go bode go!

christmas in borger

this was my family's year for the christmas get together.  we had such a wonderful time with cousins, siblings, snow, crafts, games, gifts, and my parents.  my mom had the house looking amazing with all the beautiful christmas decorations and so very homey.  the night we got there, she had all the variety of christmas candy set out beautifully including peanut patties, pecan brittle, divinity, and gingerbread cookies.

the next day, she had all the stuff ready for the kids to paint a birdhouse...which smith really enjoyed.



we got our fill of cookie decorating for a while with some gingerbread and sugar cookies that my mom made up ahead of time.   ahhhh, they were so delicious...and beautiful of course, thanks to our handy work.  even bo and charlie got into the fun.

 thanks to the 'panhandle' weather, smith got to play some in the snow.  charlie went out there with him and he kept saying "daddy, i not cold" although we are pretty sure he was frigid.  that boy loves to be outside!





smith got some loving from his aunt bunny....both of my boys really love her.  we got to check out her and bo's new digs in borger which they move into this summer.  it is going to be great....such great views...wish i had pictures.

we had a really blessed christmas morning thanks to the generosity of my parents.  what a lovely day in celebration of our savior's birth.  i loved watching smith catch a glimpse of what christmas is about....and he enjoyed every moment.  i love my family, the older i get, the more i realize these are the moments in life that i cherish the most....

early christmas with the hastings/love clan

the week before christmas, we went down to katy/houston to have our christmas with charlie's side of the family.  we had beautiful weather and a lot of fun with the cousins.  smith and london (our niece) played so very well together.  she is just 3 months older than him and they were pretty much inseparable.  it is so fun to watch them and to see how different they act in certain situations, with the boy/girl dichotomy.  the plan was to draw and exchange gifts between all adults so that we could focus on the little ones.  and oh man....everyone did such a good job.  we appreciate all the love and gifts our boys received.



our matching stocking stuffers---headwarmers



one of the gifts i made the girls....a crayon roll, tutorial found here



bode loving the gift opening



the blocks i made for baby ben



tatum wearing the backpack i made for the girls



best buds, checking out brianna the horse



the fun chaos from above


papa and gigi with the babes

**i need to find one of us who took pictures at mema's house.....we had a blast, but i didn't take any pictures.

bode upddate

bode....my little angel.  he is great, as always.  he now has 7, going on 8 teeth and at 7 months was weighing 19 lbs. (75%) and 27 inches tall (50%).  he continually smiles at most everything and very little upsets him.  he is eating lots of solid foods....although we are having some trouble adding more 'textured' food as he seems to have a sensitive gag reflex (so fun).  he is doing great with fine motor, which we practice while eating puffs, tiny bites of fruit and cheese, and yogurt bites.  he is interacting more with smith and gives him a piece of his mind when smith is annoying him.....by yelling...loud!  i really find it so funny when he does this, because finally he is getting a say in play time.  he cuddles, which melts me...loves his pacifier and stuffed giraffe (thor) for nap time.  he is such an easy baby, i feel blessed and cannot wait to see this little, chill guy grow.