March Madness

No, not "back-eet-ball" that Turner and Heath have been watching. We just have had a fun March (and specifically Spring Break week), and I am behind on blogging. I am going to try to go heavy on pictures and maybe bullet points with a little alphabet (I am trying to resist doing that, but we are all over the map and I want to remember these pictures) to recap...it may make you wish I updated more:). But hoping it won't be that long!

A - Atlanta - Mom, Lindsey and I went with some friends for a quick, fun trip to Market. We shopped and shopped and I found some cute jewelry and fun stuff for the kids. The dads pulled their weight and did a beautiful job with the kids, almost all by themselves!

B - Basketball - Heath played basketball with some of our friends, Aleah and Mikayla. After work, so in his suit of course. Do you know Heath? :)

C - Chattanooga - The kids and I traveled to Chattanooga with Jami, Brooks, Read, Laura, Pearson and Elizabeth Ann. That was 3 moms and 6 kids. We had a great time and stayed with Jami's in-laws, Nana and Pops at their great house at the top of Lookout Mountain.

D - Doing yardwork - Now that spring is here, Heath is back to cutting the grass. And he had 2 helpers

E - Eating bananas - This child made a HOT mess. I was driving down the road and swore I smelled a banana. I had one in the diaper bag for snack, and I kept looking back and didn't see Turner or John Burke eating it. Well, someone ate right through the skin and tore his banana up. And very quietly, I must add. This was what I found when I went to pull him out of the car.

F - Fish Fry - Laura hosted a fish fry for our Nursery friends at her house. So fun, and SOOO good. Wanda knows how to fry a fish. And Kina helped Laura's dad outside at the fryer. Laura, Jami and I watched in awe at these ladies and the delicious food they made!

G - Golf - We played miniature golf with the Harlesses last weekend at a new place near our house. I wouldn't say Turner and York grasped the concept of golf, but we had a good time.

H - Hot Dogs - We had a cookout the other night with the Harlesses (you think we hang out a lot?) and Turner had 3 bites of hot dog!! He also ate 3 bites of chicken tenders at dinner the other night (dipped in a large amount of Ranch). This is huge for our little vegetarian. Don't worry - John Burke ate a hot dog and a half. And when we got home, he had SEVEN pieces of hot dog between his diaper and jon-jon.

I - "Eyeing" jellyfish and sharks

J - Just relaxing - We have been taking some beautiful naps. Because we are so tired from all the running around, especially now that this weather is so great!

K - Kissing penguins - We went to the Aquarium in Chattanooga. Penguins are so cool!

L - Licking suckers - Turner has entered into an obsession with suckers. Every time we pass a Regions, he says "Sucker, please, Mama!" Good marketing on their part.

M - Mr. Roper 2.0 - Check this 70's superstar out. I bought it when Turner was a little baby because it made me laugh and think of Mr. Roper from Three's Company. Well, it was Burke Burke's turn to wear it yesterday. And it still cracked me up.

Turner at 8 or so months as Mr. Roper the first - trying to tell how much they look alike (John Burke is almost 11 months)

N - Nanny - We have been checking on our Nanny. She had her 87th birthday this Tuesday, and we were more grateful than anything that we were able to spend time with her and help her celebrate! She is back home and doing very well! Praise the Lord!

O - Overdoing it on naked time. Or diaper time. My little artists and musicians. And house destroyers extraordinaire.

P - Parks - We have been to the park 10-15 times in the past 2 weeks. That is not an exaggeration. The boys have a ball, and John Burke would love it more if he walked. I am sure that is coming soon enough.

Q - Questioning everything - This would be Turner. "Why Momma?" "What's that?" "Huh?" - he is talking up a storm. I love it, but it is exhausting!

R - Rock City - We visited Rock City in Chattanooga. We had fun, but you can't take a stroller, so I carried Fatty in his Baby Bjorn. And he LOVED it - I didn't hear a peep out of him for over an hour.

S - Snake - We were at Veteran's Park last weekend, and we saw this little beauty. Heath had NOTHING to do with it, and I tried to get Turner to pet it with me. No luck, but I was fascinated. Because I knew it was a pet. But weird.

T - Touching turtles - We were all over some reptiles! We touched these turtles at the Aquarium. This made the "big boys" - Pearson, Turner and Brooks laugh. They were intrigued.

U - Underwater Sting Rays - We didn't actually touch these. Turner would act like he wanted to, and then jump back when they got too close!

V - Viewing 7 states - Turner scared me to the point of hysterical screaming twice while at Rock City. He knows no limits, and climbed up on walls such as these. I really did scream so loud that I had to apologize to the people behind me. Ughhhh!

W - Words with Friends - I thank Mom and Derek for roping me into this game. So fun - who knew I loved Scrabble so much? And, Derek - watch out. I am coming for you.

XYZ - York and yogurt - I mentioned we hung out with our faithful friend, York. Or "Ork" has Turner calls him. And, we have probably had yogurt/ice cream every day since it has gotten warmer. Usually with our buddy York - but this picture was chocolate cake.

Turner-isms

I have been meaning to write these down for a while now. Turner has the funniest little voice. I need to keep recording it on video, so I won't forget it. It is pretty high - and he is learning so many words and talking in sentences. It sometimes amazes me that I can communicate with him so well, after 2 or so years of talking TO him and not WITH him.

Do you like his European capris at the park today? I need Aunt Lindsey to hem them. ASAP.

Every time you ask him how old he is he smiles and says "Poor (4)." He says it with such confidence. And then I say, "No, really how old are you." He will say "Really. 3." Like he is negotiating. I have heard him one time - only once - admit that he is really 2. And he laughs - so he knows he is messing with me.

Lounging around with Daddy (and Ellie)

Also, if he doesn't know where someone or something is he will say they are "at work." This stems from me telling him that Daddy is at work all the time. Every morning he starts out saying "Mommy - I wan get out!" until I get him out of bed (praying that the baby bed lasts for several more months. We will see.) Then he says "Where Daddy?" followed by "Burke Burke awake?" or "Where Burke Burke? Awake?" I have made up a song for Turner when he asks about Daddy - "Daddy at work. Daddy at work. Daddy at work, work, work." I am a talented songwriter. Even Turner looks skeptical when I sing it.

Doing their favorite things - drinking a bottle, and hanging on to nasty Duck and paci

And, he calls Gordon "Wunny". Not sure why, but he is insistent that is his name. Today he said "I wan' say hey to Wunny" and spent several minutes in the side yard hanging out with Wunny. And of course, now I only call him Wunny, which makes Heath crazy!

It took me a few minutes to figure out "Mer!" (sounds like myrrh) Oh, that means "come here!" I hope I don't sound like that to him all the time. Today at the park he said "Pisa" (Pearson or pizza, depending on the context) "mer!" Oh, and I couldn't find him at one point, and I heard some wailing in the distance. I looked for him, and followed that familiar whine, and I found him in the bottom of a tube-like slide - it looked like a submarine and was high on both sides and dipped down in the middle, and high on the other side - sticking his hand out of a hole for me to pull him out. His little face looked so pitiful. I should have felt bad for his crying, but I couldn't stop laughing. I had to climb in, and he was saying "Turner stuck" over and over again. Then, I had a time figuring how to get out, but we made it.

This guy hanging out at the park - eating a stolen chicken nugget and "tanning"

We had fun in Andalusia this weekend, and we went to a fundraiser for Meredith's Miracles, a philanthropy for Heath's sweet cousin that died of cancer when she was five. The event was called "Cookies With Characters" and there were about 1400 or so people there at the Kiwanis Center in Andalusia.

We met up with Parrish, Katie and Sylvie, or "Suffy" as Turner called her. She is so adorable!

These boys had a ball! So many characters - Mickey, Minnie, Dora, Diego, etc. But there was only one that we were zoned in on. Ehmo.

He stared at him in awe as he danced on the stage, and then jumped down to find him in line to take a picture with him. But, when he did, he wouldn't go any closer than this??!

Playing with cousins Winston and Sam - someone was jealous of their light sticks

Guess who got light sticks of their own? This turkey was practicing his favorite pasttime - pulling up and trying to stand.

Burke Burke had fun getting to know Sophie. She was so sweet and let John Burke love on her, over-pet and pull her every which way. And Turner found a definite partner in crime in Ellie or "Eh-yee." When we were packing the house on Saturday to leave Andalusia, Kate and I heard little toys being thrown over the balcony into the den. As we looked, we found little chess pieces all over the floor. And, we looked up and found a guilty Turner, arm ready to launch, and Ellie, handing them over and laughing. Trouble. In the car on the way to the park today I overheard Turner saying "Love you, Mommy. Love you, MeMe, Love you Ellie. Ellie at work." And we ask for Kate and Ellie lately (Uncle Jay was working so he wasn't there.)

Look at this little angel. He is a happy, happy baby. He is laughing all the time - especially in the car. They entertain each other very well. Good thing, because we are always in the car! I got this picture this weekend.

It was very sweet!

And this was at a restaurant last week. They were sharing a high chair.

But, don't let me fool you. Most of the time we look just like this around here!

Off to take a bath...