2nd sneak peak picture!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for letting us borrow this quilt. It was made by Stratton’s great-great grandmother!

Mad-Dash Week!

Whew! What a week! We had VBS last week! I was in the 4 year old room this year, and let me tell ya, it was crazy!! We had between 16-18 every night! I was exhausted from work all day then rushing home to feed Stratton and get to church by 6:30- talk about a mad dash!! That was Sunday-Wednesday night, and was a big success! I think we had 250 on Weds night!

No slowing down as the weekend approached!! My colonoscopy at UAMS was scheduled on Friday morning at 8am, so we had decided to take Stratton to Searcy to spend the night with Jarrod's parents while we went on to  Little Rock, so we wouldn't have to get up so early on Friday morning. Jarrod had a meeting in Searcy Thursday so I got off work a little early and picked up Stratton and we drove to Searcy and Jarrod met us at his parent's house. We were in LR by 5pm, which is when I had to start my "prep". The test went as expected. They gave me a tatoo! They injected ink around where the lipoma is so that they can tell where it is when they go in to do surgery. How neat is that?! After the test, I was feeling sleepy but ok, so we grabbed some lunch and actually did a little shopping before heading back to Searcy. By the time we got back I was really feeling drowsy so I went and took a nap! The next thing I know Jarrod is waking me up for dinner! We had father's day with the Staggs and Johnson's. Stratton liked getting to play with cousin Archer! We also spent the night in Searcy Friday night, so we wouldn't have to drive home late.

Saturday we headed to Hickory Ridge. We had scheduled pictures with Jonesboro photographer  Lindsey Turner. She came all the way to HR to take pictures of Stratton in my grandparent's yard. I think they are going to be great!! My grandpa moved one of his old restored tractors over to their yard so we could use in them and Stratton LOVED it. I hope we get some good pictures! It was hot though!! Here is one she had put on Facebook Sunday! We should get to see the rest in about 2 weeks!

Saturday evening we went to my nanny and papa's house to have fathers day with my mom's side of the fam. We had a good time visiting with them and Stratton got to play with his cousins, Isabella, Alexandra, Cooper and Laney! It was a long day! He was wore smooth out Saturday night!! We stayed at my mom and dad's house Saturday night, since we were having Father's day with my dad's side of the fam on Sunday at lunch. After church the family came to my mom and dad's house for lunch and visiting. We ended up leaving earlier than we normally do, since we needed to get home so Jarrod could pack! He will be gone this week to Little Rock to do some training for work.

Last night after I got out of the shower I noticed some sores on my feet and ankles. They looked really similar to some that Stratton had about a week ago. So I went to web md, and looks like we have a virus called Hand, Mouth, Foot virus. I noticed Friday that I had a TON of mouth ulcers. I sometimes get them when I eat really acidic food like pineapples. I just thought it was from something I ate. So I have painful sores in my mouth on my feet and hands and fever. I asked my friend (and trusted medical advisor) Carla who is a PA and she said that there isn't much you can do for it, besides take tylenol. She said most people are exposed to it as kids, it's super common among kids! It's also really contagious, it can be spread just by coughing. Who knew!  I guess I just lucked out! I feel so bad about Stratton having it and us not even knowing! He did complain about his shoes hurting! Now I know why-it's painful!! He's all better now, of course! And I think I'm on the mend. Carla told me that once the fever is gone I'm no longer contagious! Thanks goodness! I stayed home from work today, and I still feel crummy but it's back to work tomorrow! Thankfully, my mom came up today and helped me with Stratton tonight! He was a mess too! I think he's had WAY too much time with the grandparent's! Tomorrow will probably be a lot of fun. I should probably get my wooden spoon ready! haha!

Ready for farming

I took these this morning (at about 7:30) before the guys left for the farm. Stratton was ready to go get on the tractor! He kept saying "Pops, tractor?!" and he just had to wear his boots. Yes, with shorts. He sure loves riding the tractor and seeing his Pops, (and Gigi, if she's the one taking him to ride the tractor, haha). I think he got to ride with Jarrod and my Dad today, both! He is staying the night with them tonight so Jarrod and I could go do some shopping for father's day.

C'mon Daddy! Hurry Up!!

Looooong week!

Whew! I am glad this week is over! I am ready for the weekend! I left Tuesday morning for a meeting in St. Louis and got home Thursday evening. I am so proud of my guys! I think they missed me, but they got along just fine! When I got home we spent some quality time outside! Jarrod was busy mowing the backyard and watering the front yard, so of course Stratton wanted to play in the sprinkler! Then he and his daddy went for a quick ride on the -wheeler.

He wasn't a fan of the blower!

We actually don't have anything much planned for the weekend! Jarrod is planning on going to the farm tomorrow and taking Stratton with him! So, I will have some time on Saturday to work on projects without interruption!

Afternoon at Grandpa and Grandma's house

We took Stratton to Hickory Ridge on Sunday, since Monday was Memorial day and daycare was closed he got to spend the night with Pops and Gigi. So after church we loaded up (Sadey, included) and headed for lunch at Grandma's house! After lunch we played outside for awhile before Jarrod and I had to come back home, Jarrod was actually on call this weekend. Stratton loves playing in Grandma and Grandpa's yard!

Such a big guy!

Running from Sadey

G'ma let him pick flowers!

Smelling the flowers

He's mad, His daddy and Pops left him!

G'ma can't have her little man upset!

Stratton sure loves his Pops!

Sadey enjoyed running around, too!

D.C Trip :: Day 6

Monday| Brett dropped us off at the airport since it was on his way to work. I hate that he had to leave so early though! Our flight left at 6:45am. But again, leaving early really worked out well. Stratton stayed awake until we got on the plane and then passed out! Poor thing, I think he was tired!

We touched down in Little Rock a little before noon. Stratton was well rested from all that napping! So we grabbed a bite at AppleBee's (well, Jarrod and Stratton ate- after finding a lady bug AND a piece of plastic in my salad I wasn't very hungry!) then got back on the road. We were in Jonesboro before 3pm, and it just so happens my mom and dad were in town running errands, so they stopped by. They needed to go to Wal-Mart and Jarrod had left to go pick up the dog from Matt and Carla's house, so I went with them and got groceries. It was a big help having them keep Stratton busy while I got the house back in order and unpacked! I really hadn't planned on going to work on Tuesday, I figured I'd have tons of laundry to do, but I got most of it done! So back to work, back to real life!

D.C Trip :: Day 5

Sunday was our last full day. We started our day with church at Fairfax, where Brett and Kristen worship. Then we headed to lunch at Costal Flats (really yummy!) which was in a cute shopping center called Fairfax Corner, so we did some browsing and shopping and had dessert at another cupcake shoppe called Cupakes Actually. Cute name, but I wasn't overly impressed with the cupcakes. Then we went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum, which in retrospect, we should have gone to one day when we had more time because the boys loved it. The Graham family are frequent visitors, and I can see why! It's so big and nice and there was lots of neat stuff. And it was much bigger and better than The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. that I had been to before.  Stratton really enjoyed it! They closed at 5pm, so we didn't have much time so we did a quick tour stopped at the gift shop so Stratton could get a plane to take home and Jarrod wanted some books on the museum. We headed back to Kristen and Brett's and decided to have dinner at the Mexican restaurant in their town center so we could eat out on the patio- it was so nice! After dinner the guys took the kiddos back home to get them in bed and Kristen and I caught a movie! Fun day!

 

In front of the space shuttle

They loved all the classic airplanes

fun at Caliente eating on the patio

 

D.C. Trip :: Day 4

Saturday!! What a fun day! The weather was perfect! Brett was off work, so he was our very informative tour guide! We started our day (late morning) at the Roosevelt Memorial then walked along the Tidal Basin and had awesome views of Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. Then we went to the World War II Memorial (which Jarrod and I both missed the times we were there in the past because it's relatively new), then on to the Lincoln Memorial (Stratton liked all those steps). We climbed back in the swagger wagon and drove around and looked at just about everything else from there- so the kids could get a quick nap. We then drove to Clyde's for lunch, which was wonderful!! The best place we ate the entire time! I had the best crab cakes! Yum! Then we were headed to the Air and Space museum, which Brett got called back to work, so Kristen and I decided to take the kids to a nearby park and let them run off some energy! Later that night after the kids were in bed Kristen and I went to the "Town Center" to a place called Blue Ridge Grill and got our food to go and went back to their house to chow with our fellas. We stayed up way too late that night! We did have some fun conversations, though! : )

Perfect Photo Op!

The ONLY picture I got of us and it's horrible! The wind was blowing and did not make for a good hair day!

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial. Not a good pic, but Jarrod and Stratton are at the top of the first set of steps. As you can see it was a crowded place!

It seemed like every time we got in the van Stratton would pass out! Poor thing!

Playing at the park