Bradley's 2nd Birthday Party!!!

***I'm having trouble posting more pics...I'll try again tomorrow!***

My cake rocks!

I love people singing "Happy Birthday" to me!

This cake is so delicious!!!

Thomas looks like he enjoyed his cake!

Pretty little Elle

Hmmmm... Do I have more

cake and ice cream or a popsicle?

I'm having a GREAT birthday party!!

Mommy's sweet little boy!

Popsicles are awesome!

Elle is giving Lauren and Bradley a ride...

what a strong little girl!

This is the life!

I love my new trike!

Look at my pants and shirt...

remember my orange popsicle???

All 6 cousins...together for the first time!

The oldest 4 cousins

The girls plus Bradley

What gorgeous girls!

We had such a GREAT time celebrating Bradley's birthday with all our friends and family! We had a large group and alot of Rachel's and Bradley's friends were able to come, plus all the great cousins we're blessed with! The weather was HOT on Saturday, but thankfully, it was very overcast and even sprinkled a little during the party, which made the outside water party more bearable. The house was not a refuge from the heat, unfortunately, since our A/C decided to freeze up the day of the party. So, the house was nice and toasty for opening presents even with extra fans and stuff. However, everyone was a really good sport about it and most people wanted to be outside where the action was! (Thankfully, our A/C worked when everyone left so we were able to sleep in a cool house!) I think all the adults had a great time and I'm sure all the kids did! Rachel, Julia, Raquel, Rylee Ann, Elle and Sophia played in the larger kiddie pools and sprinkler. We couldn't keep Rach, Juj and Raquel out of the sprinkler. They are very silly, fun little girls who LOVE getting wet, running around and squealing! The younger kids all did their own things! It's funny to see how 2 year olds don't care about playing with other kids...they'd rather do their own thing independently. So, Bradley did his own thing...mostly riding his new trike that Gege and Papa gave him. Thomas did his own thing, playing with different toys and at the water wheel table. Eli did his own thing, playing basketball and golf with his daddy, who came to the party. Lauren did her own thing...she did get in the baby pool and played with different toys. Of course, Heather and Alex didn't do much of anything, but I think they had a nice time! :) Bradley definitely seemed to enjoy himself. He loved his presents, but didn't care about opening them, just playing with them. He loved the dinosaur theme and has been saying "din-din" all week. He LOVED his cake and being sung "Happy Birthday" to, wearing his party hat and eating popsicles. He LOVED making a huge mess all over his shirt and shorts and anywhere he could. I think he just enjoyed his special day! I still can't believe that he'll be 2 tomorrow! We're going to let him open his presents from just us tomorrow and Rachel and I will make him some special cupcakes. It's so much fun celebrating my kid's birthdays!!! I am so blessed!! Bradley is a very special, loving, funny, adorable little boy and I'm VERY thankful that I've been given the privilege of raising him and teaching him things!

Havin' fun with cuz!

SWEET Baby Alex
Rachel is pushing Bradley and Juj on the swings

Daddy and Bradley

Mommy and Alex

What a precious boy!!

Love his gorgeous face!

Juj is pushing Rach on the swing

and she LOVES it!

Ice Cream for Sale!

(Juj is working hard)

Rachel's turn

Bradley's eating real food...he

is finishing his sandwich from dinner.

Bath time...the girls bathed each other! :)

Awww! They love each other so much!

Bradley LOVES laying in Rachel's bed so much

that we wonder if he's ready for his own "big boy" bed!

What sweet girls!

Bradley's eating the crumbs off his muffin wrapper

My goodness, Alex is so cute...even with

some dinner dribble!

Having a blast swimming

Juj is too cute and too cool in her shades!

Pop and Alex

Nana and Alex

He's just so cute!!!!

Bradley is sitting on his dinosaur! :)

Uncle Matt/Daddy with his girls

We've been having a BLAST ever since Wendy, Matt, Juj and Alex arrived yesterday. The girls always pick up where they left off as though no time has passed between visits. They LOVE seeing each other and playing together and even arguing! They definitely act more like sisters than cousins sometimes! Alex is so precious! He has changed so much since Rachel and I went to go see him. He's filled out so beautifully with the most perfectly round baby head and face. He's so darn cute and sweet! Bradley hasn't cared too much about his new cousin. But, he has snuck up beside Wendy while she was holding him and touched Alex's head or given her the pacifier. He's mildly interested. Rachel loves her baby cousin, but is always more interested in her big cousin, Juj, and playing with her! So far, we've played outside and gone swimming. It's been so nice having the Lanes back home! We miss them and are thankful for every minute that we have together!

Wylie's 4th Birthday

Ashley, the birthday boy's sister

Too cute with her sunglasses!

Rachel decided to push Ashley and Wylie (the birthday boy!)

Rachel is pushing Bennett, Ashley and Wylie now

Birthday boy decided to help Rachel

(This picture was right before he went inside and busted his lip!)

Rachel enjoying the swing

This evening, Rachel and I left the boys at home and went to Wylie's 4th birthday party. It was outside, which was hot and humid, but the kids didn't seem to mind. The theme was John Deere tractors, so most of the boys had on their John Deere t-shirts and there were 3 real tractor there for the kids to sit on. (I felt like I was at a John Deere convention.) There was a John Deere pinata and adorable birthday cake. The cutest thing was the goodie bag...it was a brown paper bag with a green bandana folded cutely so that it poked out and inside was a water gun and a CD with every country boy or tractor song imaginable. It was so cute and Rachel LOVED it! I admit, I loved it too...anything that I can sing along to. There were even some real songs, like "Thank God I'm a country boy" and "Country Road, take me home". And, of course "Dixie" and the Dukes of Hazzard theme song...Great stuff!

We had a great time, however, the birthday boy fell down inside (just as the party was starting)while running around with some of his friends (Rachel included) and landed face down on the hardwood floors. He had busted the inside of his bottom lip and it was bleeding. While Emily and John were trying to make it better, I guess it wore him out, because Wylie fell asleep and missed his party! We did the pinata and the birthday cake without him. Can you believe it? Emily said she would just get him a new cake tomorrow. So, we didn't get to see him open his presents...Oh well!

The Atlanta Zoo!

Rachel loved the cool playground

So did Bradley!

This thing was cool, it was like a standing swing!

Elle looks too pretty to play! :)

Just about to ride the choo-choo

WHEEEEEEEE!

The elephant habitat was being improved, but we still

loved seeing the 3 huge elephants!

Cute meerkats Elle and Sophie

Cute meerkats Rachel and Carter

Cute meerkats Lauren and Rachel

a huge rhino!

The kids lovin' on their nana/Pat

Gege and Papa with their two loves!

3 cool giraffes

the kids hangin' onto Willie B

the girls making silly faces

all the kids LOVED dippin' dots ice cream...

the adults thought it was gross!

At the "treehouse" the kids could sit in a bird nest;

here they are waiting for their mommy bird to feed them a worm!

a lovely bird at the tree house

Bradley riding on a leopard

Bradley is admiring the tall giraffe sign

Yesterday, we went to the Atlanta Zoo with gege, papa, Pat, Carter, Elle, Lauren and Sophia. It was very hot and humid, so we all sweated profusely!!! But, we had a GREAT time! The zoo not only has so many cool animals: lions, elephants, zebras, rhinocerous, gazelles, gorillas, warthogs, meerkats, flamingos, pandas, turtles, kangaroos, and many others I can't think of... But, it also has a really cool playground, a merry go round, a choo-choo train and a petting zoo. There was so much to see and do, we could have stayed there all day! We were there from about 11 to 3, but that included a LONG lunch. All the kids had a great time, even though Bradley pitched a fit for about an hour or more. He cried and yelled and was just plain ugly, but we weathered the storm. These days, he's learning so fast and is constantly fighting for control of a situation. He prefers to be in control all the time. But, he's smart enough to figure out that he doesn't always get it, however, it doesn't keep him from trying. :) Gotta love that strong personality! I'm sure he'll be a great and confident leader one day! Anyway, I took SO many pictures, so I tried to pick a nice assortment! Can't wait to go back with daddy...he didn't get to go since he was busy at work.