My 3 Sons

I can't believe it's been an entire summer since I last posted!! So much has happened... Brian took a new job at Ivy Tech, Patrick & Nate had birthdays, and Ethan is nearly crawling (he's rolling all over and scooting backwards!). Here's just some of what we've been up to these last few months...

Here are the boys wearing their karate headbands Brian bought for them when he was in Japan.
Ethan's says "Bonzai!" which is like "Hooray!" It's perfect for E-man, because he's so happy & smiley! Patrick's says "#1" (again perfect for the competitive one in our brood) and Nate's is "fighting spirit." I mean wow - it's like someone knew our little Super Nate, when they wrote that!

While Brian was in Japan, my dad & I took Patrick & Nate to the circus. It was great! This is my favorite pic from the entire day... Nate, wide-eyed, enjoying his lollipop!

Patrick's playing NYSL soccer, with his cousin Ryan and Uncle Marc as the coach. He LOVES it!

Nate's doing gymnastics and Little Kickers Soccer. Here he is with his Gymnastics teacher Miss Jill. He loves the class! And, he picks out a piece of candy at the end... we all know Nate is our sugar-bug! They really know the way into his heart:)

Here's Nate after Little Kickers with Patrick (his biggest fan... or sometimes worst) and his best buddy Zach!

Here's Patrick with his spiky hair (it makes him look so old!). This was on his 5th birthday, standing in front of the sunflowers he planted. My grandmother gave them to us - and we planted them from seed in the house this Spring. They grew to be GI-NORMOUS!

The rest are our silly boys having fun... what they do best!

Happy Fall! Next up... my favorite, Halloween:)

Our Family Photo Shoot!

We had Janel Crouch Bantz come to our house to take photos of our family! It was so much fun...

Patrick was ON, as you will see - that kid loves the camera! Nate was in shy-mode; he wanted to be right next to Patrick or mommy the entire time, which made getting individual shots of him a bit challenging - but somehow she did it! And Baby E was very alert & did well being passed back and forth, and poked and prodded by his big brothers. Here are some of the gems...Enjoy!

Patrick loves to be the center of attention... wonder where he got that from?

This is one of my favorites - that look is soooooo Patrick! You just know he's thinking of a way to tease you!

And here is my Nate. He was all serious when he was by himself - it was sweet to see this side of him. This is the side I see after naps, when he raises his hands and says "hold me mama" and then just curls up. Nate just wants to love everyone and be loved by everyone. I'm sure his mantra will be "can't we all just get along?"

Here Nate is examining Ethan's toes...

And our floppy Nate - with his hair wild and tongue sticking out... this is when Nate comes alive! Watch out!

Here's our baby E! Ethan looks like a serious baby with his wrinkled brow and big eyes. That reminds me of Patrick as a baby. But, Ethan is much more laid back! (Thank you God!)

And then they got silly:)

Thank you Janel!

Watch Ethan Grow!!

I can't believe how much Ethan is growing and changing everyday!

Here he is at 2 weeks - all balled up! So sweet! And, then with that newborn stare, how quickly they change!

Here's Ethan at 3 weeks, asleep on daddy.

And, at 4 weeks - he's waking up!

These last 3 were taken at 6 weeks! He's starting to smile more and more everyday. He looks like such a baby now (v. newborn) and he is so good!

This look is soooo Ethan! I love it!

And, yaaaawwwwn...

It goes so fast!

Fun Times!

These kids crack me up! Here's Patrick getting ready to "shoot hoops" - he thinks he's big stuff!
And Nate... he found my winter hat and gloves and marched around the house! Everyday is dress up day at our house!

Here's Patrick getting in on a picture with Daddy & Ethan! He's such a ham - if he sees a camera, he can't stop himself from posing:) Such a typical firstborn!

Here are the boys on Easter.... they're holding their Easter baskets at Mamaw & Papop's with all the eggs they found!

This is Patrick playing his Leapster before church. He's loving videogames lately... I'm not sure how long we can go without getting a Wii!

Here's Nate playing (secretly) with Patrick's hockey guys before church. I think this was moments before Patrick raced in to rescue his "special" toy!

I love this one of Nate laughing at my dad as he tried to take Nate's Easter candy!

Here's Ethan on Easter morning. I loved his bright springy Easter outfit! Thank you Whitney!

And here he is lifting his head like a big boy while my mom held him!

Patrick loves to get right in Ethan's face... poor kid! Here he is loving on Ethan.

These last 2 really crack me up... it's our 4 1/2 year old helping our 2 1/2 year old play games on the computer. Who would have ever guessed a 2 & 4 year old would be so comfortable on a laptop! And, they're so serious while they play Curious George shapes games!

Oh the fun we have!