Just Couldn't Resist...

Caught a few moments on camera that I had to share...

Yes, those are a pair of Thomas's pajamas that Smart-E Bear is wearing.  Thomas decided tonight that Smart-E Bear not only needed to be rocked (both by hand and by swing), burped, and spend some time under the baby's play gym, but he also needed a diaper change, a bath, and needed a pair of "jammies" to wear in preparation for bed time.

These were the pair that Thomas chose.

Friendship is a precious, precious thing!

You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

When the road looks rough ahead

And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed

Just remember what you're old pal said

Boy, you've got a friend in me

Naptime 'Nanigans

I smell trouble when these two start sharing a room!

"Him's my friend"

Thomas has made a new friend...

His name is Smart-E Bear and he's a super-soft, Teddy Ruxbin-ish talking bear that he got for his birthday last year.

This bear goes with us everywhere these days.

When we're playing with trains,

Playing on Daddy's phone,

In the car,

And he must be present when going to sleep!

Thomas will hold conversations with him, include him in conversations with us, show him things, tend to him when he's "hurt," and basically meet any need he feels like Smart-E Bear has at that present moment.

It's really very sweet to watch Thomas be so nurturing to people/things around him.  I love the innocence and purity of a child's instinct to be helpful and compassionate to others.  They don't look for anything in return.  They just do it because they care.  What an awesome character trait! 

I also love watching Thomas grow in his understanding of what a friendship is.  Some friends and I were just talking about this the other day.  It's really neat to watch our kids form real friendships with each other.  Sure, we always hoped that they would like each other because they would be spending a considerable amount time together whether they liked it or not!  Now they ask to spend time with each other, could run around together for hours, have conversations with each other and call each other by name, and make each other laugh hysterically! 

My prayer for my boys as they grow and mature is that their friendships, old and new continue to be a blessing to both sides of the relationship as my friendships have blessed my life.  And I'll watch eagerly from the sidelines. 

Oh, what fun it is to watch!

Park Play on President's Day

We woke up to a pretty, warm day on Monday so we celebrated our forefathers legacy by playing at the park!

The Andrews' boys (and their mom, Jill) joined us for our morning o' fun.

chill Will just a-hangin'

view from the front

searching for the dog that they heard barking from behind the fence

future engineers constructing a choo-choo train

"all aboard the choo choo train, all aboard the choo choo train, all aboard the choo choo train, all aboard, all aboard...choo choo!"

What a great way to spend President's Day!

Evan "Beefcake" Blancher

We went to the doctor last week for Evan's two month check-up.  At this check up, we learned a few things about our little muffin:

*  He's healthy as a horse.
*  He's developing appropriately.
*  He's not a fan of shots.  (But who is really?)
*  He's in the 50th percentile for length.
*  His head size is in the 97th percentile.
*  He's off the charts for weight.

Our "little" muffin weighs a whopping 15 lbs 9 oz!!

Who's feeding this kid?? =)

Twins...Twice??

Is it a sign that you're good friends when you dress alike not once...

...but TWICE within a week's period of time??

Goodbye Old Friend

There are things in our life that just get better with age...a bottle of wine, marriage, a pair of jeans...

a cell phone...

Adam has had this trusty Samsung since 2006.  It's outlived three of my cell phones and is still going strong!  For years I've tried to entice Adam to upgrade to a more current model...and for years he's refused, saying that it still works fine.  If it ain't broke, right??

So the years have passed and Adam continues to rock the flip phone...

...until today.  Today he and his Samsung flip had to say "goodbye."  He was finally ready to upgrade to something more "of the times."  I think the tipping point was the scratch on the screen that irritated his cheek.

So, as faithful Dave Ramsey followers, we started saving for new cell phones a few months ago.  We had a "cell phone fund."   We finally reached our saving goal and eagerly planned our outing to make our purchases.  (I, too, was going to get a new phone but was much more excited about the rite of passage that Adam was about to take.)

Excitement filled the air as we entered the store, greeted by eager customer service representatives ready to make a sale.  We browsed, we hemmed, we discussed and we bought.

And now, I am pleased to announce, that Adam is the proud owner of a brand spankin' new...

...Iphone! 

He thanks you all for your love and support during this transition in his life.  He is sad to let his old friend go but is thrilled at the relationship he will form with his new one. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of wi-fi, weather updates and Words with Friends Adam!  It's app-solutely amazing! =)

Intern Outings

A few weeks ago, we stayed in Jackson for a weekend to spend some time with the other interns that Adam works with.

Adam works with Maria, Cathy, and Christina.  They are all married but only one of the spouses lives here in Jackson.  Everyone else is "commuting" like Adam and I are for the year.  This particular weekend, all spouses/families were going to be in town visiting so it was an opportune time to get together and meet everyone.

The weekend began with a little Girls Night Out for margaritas.  It was great to get out and even greater to get to spend some time with the girls who look after my man during the week!

We woke up to beautiful weather on Saturday with highs in the 70s.  So after naps, we headed out to a nearby park to play and to meet Christina's daughter, Katherine.  Katherine and Thomas had fun playing together at the park.  The playground area was covered with sand and a lot of their time was spent digging in the dirt...

...which provided for a fun clean-up!

There was also some swinging...

...and some soaking up of the gorgeous, spring-like weather!

After the park, we moved the party over to Cathy and Christina's apartment for dinner.  Thomas and Katherine had a ball, complete with new toys and a movie!



they both requested wipes while watching their movie...a replacement for popcorn??

an attempt at a pic of the new friends

are we shying away, Thomas??

The grown-ups had fun with good food, good wine and great stories!

we laugh at this picture...it looks like Adam with all of his followers!

 Evan had a great time as well...

 ...he was the life of the party!

We had such a good time getting to meet everyone!  Hopefully we'll get to do it again before the year's over!

*thanks Cathy for letting me steal some of your pics of the weekend =)*

Love, Love, Love!

Love...

Love...

Love...

All you need is love!...

...and some fun Valentine's treats of course!

We got the creative, economical juices a-flowin' this year for our Valentine's Day celebration.  We spelled out the letters to L.O.V.E and we each chose a letter.  Your gift or gifts needed to all start with the letter that you chose.

Adam, Thomas and Evan's finished products...

Adam picked the letter E.  His gift consisted of an ESPN magazine, a picture of Evan on an easel for his office, and some Extra sugarfree gum.

Evan "picked" the letter L.  His gift consisted of a toy lion, a light-up tiger toy and a little book.

Thomas picked the letter V.  His gift consisted of a pack of Valentine Hot Wheels vehicles, a Valentine book and Valentine candy.  Yeah, I used Valentine a lot in his gift...

He was very excited about his cars.  Wasn't too interested in the other gifts...

We had pasta for dinner in heart-shaped bowls.  My original idea was to find some heart-shaped pasta.  That wasn't successful but I did find some pasta with red noodles in it to add to the festivity.

I chose the letter O for my gifts.  I was impressed with Adam's creativity...I must be rubbing off on him!  Along with two sweet cards from him and my two little boys, I got a bag of only chocolate Hershey kisses, Oil of Olay face wash and a shower organizer.

After dinner, we went out to get some ice cream at this great place we found in Brandon.  It's called Bops and they serve frozen custard.  It was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

ice cream and wine...what more could one want??

I think out of all of us, Evan was the most excited!

It was a great day spent with the ones we love most!

XOXO, The Blanchers