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Hank got a special treat last night… A bubble bath! Daddy always has such fun ideas!

Bubble Kisses

Grumpy came up to visit us last weekend and, of course, to run the half marathon! Jason, Hank, and I got to go to see him run. Hank was so excited to watch Grumpy run and even cheered on all the other runners!

Taking a cheering break to wear Daddy’s shoes

We found Grumpy at mile 4! RUN GRUMPY RUN!

We even got to see some more friends! Ms Julie and Ms Sharon from my work…they ran the whole 26.2 miles!!!

And we saw Chris…look closely, he is fast!

After mile 4 we went around to the finish line at the Coliseum. To say it was crowded would be an understatement. So, the Bynums found the only square inch of shade available and parked ourselves. We kept ourselves pretty entertained until Grumpy found us!

We found Aunt Alex and her buddies!

Alex and Chris

Grump was a little worn out…it was HOT!

Grumpy finished with GREAT time and we are so proud of him! In fact, since Saturday hank will randomly break out into yelling “Run Bumpy!” and take off running…super cute!

The Flowers Girls invited us to play at the zoo with them this week. Of course, we accepted… I would NEVER turn down a chance to go to the zoo and Hank would NEVER turn down a chance to see Charlotte!

We saw a few of our favorite animals but spent most of the time playing in the bouncie house and on the playground…which is awesome!

Hoe cute are these two?!?

Tackle!

Don’t worry! Miss Charlotte can hold her own! Maybe that’s why they play so well together?

Sweet Caroline

It took us a little while but we finially found the smaller kids playground which was really fun and way less crowded. We had to do some major “off roading” in the strollers but it was totally worth it!

Charlotte was kind enough to share her sunglasses with Hank!

We love these girls! We are keeping our finger crossed that they make a move for the West coast sooner than later!

So check this kid out! Hank loves Chinese food…Is he a Bynum or what?!?!

Some of that rice actually made it into his mouth (not much, but some)! And what would a dinner of Chinese food be without at lease one “Walrus Face”?

We have always felt like God might call us to China one day…we just might fit in!

For Easter weekend Jason’s parents came up to stay with us. We love having Grammy, Granddaddy, and Aunt Lucy here! On Saturday morning we headed down to the Community-wide Bellevue Easter Egg Hunt!

Hank with Grammy and Aunt Lucy, getting ready to find those Easter eggs!

It was a little crowded!

Hank found one!

“Where did all the eggs go?”

We were a little sad that Hank didn’t really get a chance to find many eggs, and that there were adults pushing small kids out of the way and scooping up all the eggs! I tried not to let my “Momma Bear” instinct surface and fight some of the parents, so after Hank got his 2 eggs we decided to move on to something else (before someone got hurt… i.e. the mean parents pushing my kid!) So we stood in line to get an Easter tattoo, Daddy would be so proud!

Hank’s Easter Ink!

So after we left the Chaotic Easter Mad House, we headed down to Smyrna to have our own egg hunt with Norah and Charlotte. It was way more fun!

Sweet Norah

Examining the loot

Even Charlotte got an egg!

Hank playing Easter Egg Fetch with Katy

Playing outside

Future Soccer Stars

…Or Future Baseball Stars

After a yummy dinner, thanks to Aunt Alison, we were all a little worn out from a busy day. Norah, Hank and Aunt Alison ended the evening with a little computer time…they were all so cute!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family to celebrate Jesus with!

Today was such a beautiful day that we just had to get out and enjoy it! We called up the Newell family and met them at the Nashville Zoo. You might remember our post from last year, also featuring the Newells…they must be our zoo buddies.

Ava & Hank are ready to go in our awesome wagon (Thanks Aunt Janine & Uncle Carl!) that even has a UV protection cover!

Checking out the Meerkats

Love those pigtails on Ava! She is just the cutest!

Hank & Daddy watching Zebra…this exhibit also has Ostriches which Hank appropriately called “Ducks”. I said “No Hank, that’s called an Ostrich” and he replied with a point and a “Quack Quack”!

Tower (Jonathan), Ava, Jason, & Hank

The Newell Family…We love these guys!

Checking out a goat. Hank was showing Ava that goats are friendly.

She needed a little more help from her Daddy.

But soon enough, Ava warmed right up!

The goat was a hit…maybe that should be our next pet!

…And my favorite, The ELEPHANTS!

“What does an elephant say?”

The Bynum Family

We ran into some friends from Murfreesboro, The Johnsons. I love how sweet little Owen and Jeff have the same expression on their faces! Ha!

How adorable is Owen?!? Finally another child who might be able to rival Hank in size, we love big boys!

Off to the Carousel

What an amazing day!?! I can’t think of anything more perfect!

Hank had his 18 month check up today (he has actually been 18 mo old for about a week). I can’t believe he is growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday we were excited to see if we were having a boy or a girl…and now, he is ALL BOY! Between the all running, jumping, climbing, throwing, banging and destroying, there is no question that this kid is a boy, through and through! He is learning so much these days and really working on his speech. New words are flying all around and he is repeating just about everything I say (which is scary!). Here are his official 18 month stats:

Weight: 29 lbs 14 oz (90%)
Height: 35.5 inches (^97%)
Shots: Hep A (the LAST shot until Kindergarten, Hallelujah!!!)

Our “Office Picnic” with Daddy today

Hank is becoming more independent every day and I am finding that he gets frustrated if I interfere too quickly. He says “I do!” when he does NOT want my help, which is wonderful and frustrating from my end as well. I love that he has the drive and initiative to be independent and can feel comfortable exploring and is not afraid to do things on his own. However, when we are in a time crunch and he has decided that he would like to put his shoes on by himself (he is not quite coordinated to get them all the way on yet) it can be a little problematic. Also, the diving from the top step and wanting to do all of the Big Kid activities on the playground (i.e. scary ladders and poles that are made for a 6 yr old, not a 1.5 year old) can be unnerving. He is saying 20+ words and is repeating even more than that. Most frequent and easily understood are “Ball, Outside, All Done, More, Juice, Apple, Banana, Hot dogs, I Do, Bubble, Bath, Shoe, Sock, No, Yes, Please, Thank You, Bye Bye, Night Night, I Love You”. Hank LOVES to be outside! In the rain, snow, cold, warm, whatever the weather he wants to be out in it! He loves the park and running in the grass and always gets sad when it is time to come inside. He never tires of throwing the ball, kicking, or jumping (which in Hank speak “Jump” sounds more like “Jeff”…hilarious!). In the unfortunate times we must be inside he has taken a great interest in coloring, drawing, and playing pretend. It is so much fun to watch him play, he interacts with his toys now and does all the animal sounds of his farm and will drive his cars all over the house. And, lest we forget, the Instruments!!! Drums, guitar, mandolin, accordion, and Xylophone together create a full symphony of noise in our house at all times (between Hank and Jason, I will never experience a quiet evening at home again)! His favorite foods are still corn dogs, broccoli, chicken, bananas, grapes, strawberries, and goldfish. Some new additions are tuna fish, french fries, “Naked” Green Machine juice, muffins, and potato chips. He still will not eat a sandwich, but eats the meat and cheese and leaves the bread. He loves hugs and kisses and is very social with other children and adults. He is such a “people person” but also has his moments where he prefers to sit alone and look at books. It is funny and amazing to see his little personality blooming. Jason and I both agree, Hank is the perfect addition to our family and he makes us feel complete! We thank Jesus everyday for this precious gift!

Cousin Norah stopped by for a play date.

Sweet kisses for Baby Charlotte

Jason and I got the opportunity to have a little getaway this weekend. Many thanks to Grammy and Granddaddy who were so nice to take the day off work and come up and keep Hank. This was the longest we have ever been away from Hank, but we knew he was in good hands and Jason and I were so excited to have a whole weekend to ourselves. About a year ago were reserved tickets to go see the live radio show Rick & Bubba . They tape the show from 6 to 10am so we decided to make a trip out of it and stay a few nights. Neither of us had spent any time in Birmingham, but with some great suggestions from friends we had some great food and lots of relaxation.

The Vulcan

In the Rick & Bubba Studio or “Red Velvet Lounge”

Hank had so much fun with Grammy and Granddaddy all to himself. We had a GREAT time too but were so ready to get back to our baby…who is looking less and less like a baby and so much more like a big boy! It is amazing how much that kid can grow in just 2 days!

We are so thankful for the warm weather and have been soaking up as much vitamin D as possible! Every chance we get we head over to the park and have even tried out a few new ones! Check out all the fun Hank has been having!

Big Muscles

Afternoon ball playing with Grammy

Hanging out with Granddaddy

At the park with the Flowers Girls!

Charlotte (The love of Hank’s life…besides his Momma, of course)

The Whole Crew: Hank, Charlotte, and Caroline

On my day off last week, Hank and I decided to make cupcakes. We host at small group at our house on Thursday nights and wanted to share a treat with all of our friends. We mastered cookies a few weeks ago, so we were ready to step it up with cupcakes!

Notice Hank’s new found love for being shirt-less, actually, he would love to be totally naked, but when baking, I feel like it’s appropriate to at least wear pants.

Hank still gets a little confused when we have to put the un-baked cupcake batter into the oven. That seems to be hard concept. So I didn’t get any pictures of him standing at the stove crying and saying “Please, more”. It was really cute and kind of sad, however, the finished product more than made up for it!

(Notice the pants are already long gone!)

And, as a special treat, Nana stopped by and helped us with a taste-test.

Silly Boy!

Can’t wait to see what our next baking adventure will be!