Brotherly Love

       When Damon was almost one, we thought pretty seriously about having another. I didn't know if I was ready for the craziness that having two little people close in age would bring. I had two older brothers who were close in age, and they fought with each other all the time. So I was worried, but I couldn't let the thought that they COULD be enemies keep me from having another one.
      When I got pregnant, I swore it was a girl. It was a little different than the first pregnancy so I took that as a sign that it was a girl! Yeah, I was way wrong. And I'll admit I was a little sad at the thought of no tu tu's and glitter in the house. But the closer I got to my due date, the more excited I was for two little boys.

This picture was taken a few hours after Rafe was born. One of my all time faves









           Now that Rafe is getting older, he is starting to fight back and become more aggressive. These two are a handful, but they are so much fun and they laugh and giggle together more than they fight. I thought I was going to die the first year after Rafe was born. I just couldn't seem to really feel on top of things. The sleepless nights, opposite nap schedules, and the nagging that would go on during the day, and not to mention the dreaded trips out of the house. It really only took me a few months before it seemed like no big deal, but to this day sometimes ask myself if I had them too close. Or if I should have given Damon more time with just Dan and I before we added another baby. Damon was only 20 months when Rafe was born. Right now Rafe is 18 months and it is CRAZY to me that I was getting ready to have another one with Damon at this point. Rafe seems so small still!
            A few weeks ago our A/C broke and we were dying of heat, so we had dinner at McDonalds and let the kids play at their strangely clean play place. There were tons of kids. Damon went over to try and play, but they wouldn't let him. They were all quite a bit older and I think they were all friends. Damon went over to the part that's just for 3 and under kids and just sat there and watched the kids. It seriously broke my heart. He just looked so sad, and I couldn't help but think this isn't the first time he's going to encounter this problem. Kids can be so mean. Anyways, Rafe was finishing up eating so Dan got him out and said go find Damon! and Rafe ran over to where Damon was sitting and gave him the biggest smile. Damon automatically lit up and he ran over and hugged Rafe and they started playing together.
My heart could have exploded. It brought tears to me eyes to see the friendship they have and to know that whatever happens at school or with their other friends, they will always have each other.

Fourth of July!

         So I'm lame and still haven't gotten a hard drive so I can transfer all my pics off and have room for new ones! So no pictures once again....Now that I think about it, I didn't even take pictures. Haha oh well!
I'm going to write this really quick before this Monster kicks in and I do some serious cleaning.
          Dan worked from home of the fourth. Because he just got his new job, he doesn't have vacation days yet. So lame. His family was coming in the evening of the fourth so he asked if he could work that, and take Friday off. So they let him work from home which was so nice! Then his family came in earlier than we thought so it was a win/win! Dan's brother Joe and his wife, Thea, are moving to California and Tom and Val were helping them move. So we got to see all 4 of them, which was great! I've never really had a chance to get to know Thea...or Joe really. Dan and I got married while he was on his mission and I've only seen him about 3-4 times since he's been home. So it was great getting so see them and spend a few days together! I absolutely love when Tom and Val come visit. We stay up late and play games and talk. Val is always so helpful around the house and is so good with the boys. I really enjoy their company, and not many people can say that about their inlaws;) I'm a lucky girl!                                          
         We had kabobs on the grill, which were amazing! I love having a grill for two reasons. I don't really have to cook, and it's outside so the house stays cool. After dinner we just kind of hung out and watched movies. The next day was a lot of the same. We went to the outlet malls for a bit, but other than that, we just relaxed in the A/C and talked and played games.
           On Saturday, we all drove to San Antonio and went to the Alamo and did the River walk. It was awesome! San Antonio is a cool place! It was really hot, but it felt good to me! I think I'm starting to acclimate to this heat! The boys did pretty well. Damon really wanted to ride in one of the boats and was practically ready to jump right into the river, but besides that, it was a blast!!  We were sad to see them leave! Especially Damon. He kept asking where Grammy Val and Papa Tom were going and if Joe and Thea were coming over for breakfast. I love having family around! It just breaks my heart when they leave and Damon asks about it. He loves all the attention he gets and gets so attached, that when we aren't together he still asks for them days after. That's when I wish we had tons of money and could just go visit family all the time. Or live close to all of our family. That would be the life. It truly is the most important thing. Thank goodness for Skype and Facebook so we can keep in touch with everyone and see pics about whats going on in their lives!
       It was my 2nd 4th of July that I wasn't in Melba. My family always does a big family reunion and it's just a week of partying and doing fun stuff together. This year I did feel pretty lonely, but having some family here helped a lot! They helped snap me out of my lonely state leading up to the fourth and the days after I didn't even really think about it. Growing up in Melba it was always a HUGE celebration. Living outside of Melba...haha not so much. It's such an important day for our Country, but no one seems to celebrate it like people do in Melba. The times away will make it that much better when I go back.
       In other news! Damon is potty trained! You can read more about that at my other blog, www.mommybrigade.blogspot.com  Can I just say, It's about freakin time?! But this time was a lot easier than the other times I tried, which was so nice!
    I hope everyone had a great 4th! I can't believe we are already almost half way into July!