Miles' Special Card for Griffin

While Griffin and Noah napped, I asked Miles if he wanted to make a card for Griffin's birthday. He immediately grabbed the markers and got to work. It was a labor of love -- and will certainly be a keeper!

Nature Walk with Maclaren

The kids love to explore at Latta Park. They raced over the bridge, rested at the fireplace, and ultimately ended up at "the big rock". (3 seconds after the bridge picture was taken I turned back around to see Noah peeing off of the bridge. Good grief!) This last shot cracks me up...everyone doing their own thing....

Griffin's Birthday Lunch!

Griffin is 1! We had a great afternoon at the park with Grandma and Gram & Pop. Dad joined us for lunch and Maclaren & Tracy Foster brought balloons. Fun!

Fun with Grandma!

The boys love hanging out with "Grandma Peggy"! From sword fights to painting shells, grandma is always able to drum up some fun!

Lovin' the Loop on Griffin's Birthday Eve

The Loop is one of our favorite family restaurants on Thursday nights (kids night). The kids often pass on face painting -- but on the eve of Griffin's 1st birthday, Miles and Noah embraced it --- we ended up with an awesome spiderman and a super-fast Dash! (I love the picture with Miles and Noah checking each other out. Too funny!)

Facin' Forward (one day early)!

A cool right-of-passage for every one-year-old is that you get to face-forward like everyone else on the road. Mike set Griffin up and then gave him a kiss (maybe a symbolic goodbye to all of Griff's very-baby ways?).

I definitely feel more like a bus driver now -- but it is such fun to see three cute faces when I turn around at stop lights! Here we go!

Backyard Fun!

This is the best time of year in Charlotte! The weather is warm and breezy -- and you can't help but want to play outside. Soon enough it will feel like 200 degrees here, so we're enjoying it now!

What Sweet Boys!

Another group pix after church -- we're getting better at it!

Perfect Day for a Picnic!

We woke up to beautiful weather and decided to have a picnic in the front yard. Afterwards, we played an elaborate game....I was the zoo keeper, Miles the policeman, Noah the doctor, and Mike the cowboy. Miles refused to be photographed -- and Mike was a good sport about the little cowboy hat. Gotta love laid-back days at home with the family!

Amazing Get-away in Lanai!

Mike and I had an amazing, relaxing, and super-fun time in Lanai, Hawaii! Extra huge thank you to Grandma & Grandpa and Gram & Pop for spending the week with the boys!

Check out all of our pictures at:
www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=219533067/a=45492824_45492824/t_=45492824

Miles's "The One"

Miles and I were hanging out in his room recently and the word 'girl' came up. He scrunched up his nose. I said jokingly, "you know, Miles, someday you might like girls....you might even want to marry one." He gasped and then said, "That will be so tricky! How will I know which is the right one?!"

Too cute...I'll be sharing this story at his rehearsal dinner someday!

Strange Happenings in the Night!

The past couple of nights have been interesting at the Brown house. On Tuesday night I checked on the boys and found them snuggled up together in Noah's bottom bunk (too cute!). Last night Mike checked on the boys and found Miles standing over two baskets full of toys peeing! He had pulled the baskets out (of course the ones chocked full of small toys) and was sleep peeing (he woke up confused that he was in new pjs). Needless to say, I just finished scrubbing a zillion small toys and Mike is at Target now replacing the baskets! :)

Noah B is 3!

Noah lived it up on his 3rd birthday! He played with family and some favorite friends --- and wore a humongous smile all day.

Some highlights of the day--
A new buzz costume and so many cool toys & games. A fun jumpy castle that was set up for 7 hours!! Lots of fun with water -- including Noah dumping water and bubbles on his head and ending the party with a fun romp in the sprinkler. A new basketball goal -- which had daddy smiling all day, too. A rockin' ninja turtle cake.

To see all of the pictures, check out www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=219343331/a=45492824_45492824/t_=45492824

Noah's Birthday Begins!

Noah kicked off his birthday celebration with a party at school. Miles played hookie from his class to help me set up the room and spread birthday cheer. The boys loved their cupcakes (mostly the icing) and as soon as Noah was done eating, Miles ran over to him to help with the clean-up (it very cute to witness, actually!). Here comes age 3!!

We'll Call Him Rex!

With Noah, Miles is rough-and-tumble. With Griffin, Miles is doting and protective. The first thing Miles does in the morning is run to Griffin's room to say good morning. I hear things like, "well, hello, you little cutie!" Then I hear intense laughter from Griffin and I know that Miles has just jumped into his crib to play. Miles loves to entertain Griffin and loves to keep lookout for...."Ah, Mom!! A CHOKING HAZARD!!!" Its too cute. Recently Miles decided that we must have another baby. "Three is not right, mommy....we need 4 kids." When I asked him if he wanted a sister or a brother he looked at me sideways and said, "a brother, of course!" I asked him where he would sleep and he said that Griffin would sleep with him in the top bunk and the new baby would sleep with Noah in the bottom bunk. When I asked him what his name would be he said (with great excitement!), "We'll name him Rex!"