Random January

Oh January, why do you seem to be the most uneventful month of the year?  Besides just getting used to a new year and recuperating from the previous busiest month of the year, I feel that you get the short end of the calendar stick...and you aren't even the shortest month.  I admit that I do often appreciate the slower pace to start the year because I know how quickly things start to pick up the pace around here.  I always take the least amount of pictures during this time of year, and this year was no exception.  Most of my pictures were just snapshots taken on my phone which I am trying to utilize more and post more to Instagram and Facebook.  Documenting the remainder of this month will be a pretty simple matter.  We didn't have any exceptional winter weather this month although after a week of cold, rainy weather, we have been enjoying some milder and even occasionally warm days.  While I know most of the country would be happy to see an ending of winter soon, we would still be okay with a little winter weather and snow in February which is actually when we usually get the white stuff.  So here is a glimpse at what most of our month looked like.

We have been spending some quality time at the doctor's office for our weekly visits to check on Baby Mattox.  As you can see, these two find similar ways to entertain themselves.   And yes, that does mean they usually leave the entertaining of the toddler to a certain pregnant lady.  Sigh. 

And that paper covering is no match for him. 

With Daddy being gone many nights during the week, we eat dinner at this establishment, McAlister's Deli, which offers a kid's eat free special on Tuesday nights.  It is an economical as well as convenient choice since Mommy is finding it difficult to keep up with cooking and cleaning up in the evenings along with baths and all the chores involved with getting two kids in the bed at a decent time.  Anyway, Hugo is the mascot for the Charlotte Hornets (our NBA team), and we were encouraged to post pictures with a special hashtag with this character. 

Brody loves cheesing for pictures and couldn't resist one in his new favorite sweater he got at H&M for $3.  He calls it his diamond sweater because diamonds are his favorite shapes. 

And who can resist taking a picture of a cute sleeping child cuddled up with their teddy bear and blankie?  He enjoys sleeping in Mommy's bed while Daddy is away. 

After Daddy's first week away, he brought home some nice warm weather so we all enjoyed getting out for a walk/bike ride in the neighborhood. 

Daddy had dog walking duty because Mommy and the boys cannot handle that task right now. 

Happy boy on the swings.  He wanted to use the baby swings. 

Big brother slowed down for a minute to graciously give little brother a push. 

Quality time together.

Brody is very big on pretend play and was happy this older girl played store with him.  He likes to be the storekeeper and serve his customers, but he has not quite figured out the most polite language to use.  "What do you want?" may not be viewed by all as polite.  Haha!  

And yes, the wood chips serve as both the tender and the merchandise in his store. 

I get very few pictures of Evan these days.  He is just too busy.  I figure this will probably just increase in the future as he approaches the teen years and objects more and more to picture taking.  

The weather was so nice, some ducks stopped by for a swim in the pond. 

The reflective still water and the wildlife really made me wish I had my camera. 

I just thought the pond looked so pretty on this day with the trees reflecting in its smooth as glass water. 

One weekend after a particularly tiring day with no nap, I went looking for Brody and found him sleeping in his bed before dinner. 

Evan loves playing tennis.  Is there a sport involving a ball he doesn't like?  We haven't found it yet!  And he has a decent amount of skill at every sport he has tried.  I took a tennis class one summer when I was in middle school because my mom hoped I might play tennis in high school.  Our high school had a really good girls' tennis coach and team.  Needless to say, I did not possess the necessary skills for success and could barely manage to get the ball over the net.  This kid has an awesome forward and back swing.  I think we will have to look into more lessons in the future.  

And this pregnant lady's feet just enjoyed being in the sunshine.  The ground was still a little too damp to walk barefooted though. 

Brody was so excited here on another warm day at the playground. 

In an effort to keep up our preschool lessons, we worked on making our shape of the week, a triangle.   We also made the letter C with marshmallows, but before I could get a picture of it, I found Brody eating the marshmallows.  I had put it on the kitchen counter to let the glue dry, and I came back to find Brody eating them.  Yes, with glue on them.  Sigh.  I guess he isn't the first preschooler to eat Elmer's glue, right? 

This dog just wants to be close to Brody.  Seriously, she loves him.  If I get him to sleep on the couch for a nap, she will come along and immediately try to wake him up because she just wants him to play.  Like I need another difficulty with getting him to take naps these days.  Ha! 

Brody also enjoys playing with his tools and fixing things. 

I love how cute he looks when he puts his protective eye wear on his head. 

Sawing the couch in half? 

This was an interesting sunset picture that looked like that tree was on fire. 

The whole sky looked like it was on fire. 

Evan and his cub scout troop enjoyed watching some cool science experiments. 

His troop made some elephant toothpaste. 

In anticipation of Baby Mattox's arrival, I have been organizing and washing baby clothes.  In anticipation of our move, I have just piled the  clean clothes into the crib because it seems pointless to hang them in a closet or put them away in drawers when I will probably be putting them into a suitcase soon.  Thankfully, I kept most of the boys' clothes so we seem to be in good shape for a while. 

And Brody and I enjoyed making our D for dinosaurs last week.  

Bring on February, the month of love!