BOO!

We had a weekend full of birthday parties, Jo's bank's Family Fun Day, and a Halloween party this afternoon with about a bazillion kiddos in oh-so-cute costumes! The boys went as a football player and a tiger (thanks William for the costume)!

A rare picture of Mama with her boys!

This picture is for my mom ~ I know everyone thinks Luke looks like Joseph, but there is a baby picture of me that is IDENTICAL to this one that Joseph took of Luke tonight. I tried to find it and couldn't, so Granny, you need to be on the lookout! I need proof!

Happy Birthday to Maryn!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little girl I know! Your Aunt Say sure does love you! I can't wait to see you in 2 weeks! I hope you had fun at your birthday party ~ hopefully we'll be there next year!

School Pictures

Doesn't he look like such a big boy? I definitely teared up when I saw these for the first time!

My Boys

I could eat this one up with a spoon!


Ford loves to sit in the Bumbo and immediately yell, "I'm stuck!" I can't believe he'll be 2 in less than 2 weeks!


Bed Head


Sweeter than Sugar - he smiles ALL the time!

Kathleen Elizabeth

Shealy and Clayton are having a GIRL!!! She's perfectly healthy and she's a girl!!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm a little excited? She will be named after both of her grandmothers; my mom is slightly overjoyed to not only have a little girl to sew and smock for but to also have a namesake. Pretty special! Kathleen (or Kate - they haven't decided what to call her) and Luke will be in the same grade ~ how fun is that! The first thing Clayton said when they told us was "Luke, you're now my eyes and ears!" This little girl is going to be rotten to the core - her favorite (only) aunt and granny will make sure of that! Congratulations, Bug and Clayton. Your little girl sure is blessed to have the two of you. Know she is prayed for constantly! Love you!

Let me just tell you...

how excited I am about having an entire weekend alone with my husband! Well, not exactly alone, since we'll be hanging out with his entire graduating class (almost all 48 of them) and listening to Drew tell his favorite Joseph stories, number one being the one where Joseph's mom was the one to tell him that a girl broke up with him:) I've heard all the stories a million times, but there's nothing like seeing Joseph with his childhood friends ~ they love to tease but they would all still be there for one another in the blink of an eye! Shealy and Clayton are taking care of Ford and my parents have Luke, so my boys will be well taken care of. Thank you sweet family for making this weekend possible! We owe you BIG time!!

As close to a "vacation" as you can get with 2 kids...

We had the best time at the beach this past weekend! My dad recently bought a condo in Laketown Wharf, a new development in Panama City. It is the most kid-friendly place I have ever seen! A zero-entry pool (or zero gravity as my parents kept calling it), a kiddie pool with tons of water features, a nightly "liquid fireworks" show...the list goes on and on. The elevators are glass and have a view of two of the five pools, and everytime we'd ride one, Ford would shout "My POOOOOL!" He was in heaven! There was a lake that had a bazillion turtles, which just so happen to be one of his favorite animals. And he had the almost undivided attention of 6 of his favorite people - pretty much the best weekend of his life!

Luke was a total angel the whole time we were there - happy as could be to lay on a blanket and watch the ceiling fan for hours. Both boys slept in bathrooms ~ and they slept HARD! Shealy and Clayton were a huge help with the boys and got in lots of good practice for Baby Mac. My parents absolutely adore their grandchildren, so I think a good time was had by all. Although I will never again go on a trip with my dad during an Auburn game...let's just say it put a bit of a damper on the Saturday night festivities!

Here are some pictures...if you're ever interested in renting a fantastic 3 bedroom condo, let me know!

Sliding with Daddy

Baby Mac's first appearance on the blog! We find out next Wednesday if it's a boy or a girl!

Ford "posing" ~ he kind of likes to be the center of attention! Wonder where he gets that from?

Ford loves his Aunt Bug and Uncle Clayton

See this little boy? He's totally stolen my heart. He's got a dimple in his left chin, and when he smiles, I pretty much melt into a big gooey puddle. He's going to break some hearts one day, and I have a feeling mine will be the first!

Not the greatest family photo ~ unfortunately it's the best one out of about 33! And it was obviously dinner time!

My little tigers

We had another great football-filled weekend! One of my favorite things about living in Auburn is we are almost guaranteed to have friends stay with us every home football game. Last weekend it was Wes, Allyson and baby Harper, and this weekend we had Brent, Ashley, Abby and baby Collins! I love it!

We took the boys tailgating for the first time this year and they were amazing! Ford and Abby loved all the activity - corn hole with the daddies, lots of fun snacks, and a rousing game of beer pong at the tailgate next to us to cheer for! Luke was his typical laid-back self, and his aunt Lenzie was there to be an extra set of hands when he got tired of the stroller. We had planned to walk around and see other people, but Ford was having such a great time we just stayed put! We headed home for naps and watched the game with the Muncies ~ all in all a perfect day!

We're heading to the beach this weekend with my family. The boys and I are going with my parents tomorrow afternoon, and Joseph, Shealy and Clayton are coming after work on Friday. It's the first Melton family vacation we've taken in a long time ~ since before Ford was born! The car ride should be interesting...me between 2 carseats in the back of my dad's truck might make for a long ride. The portable DVD player is charging as I write this, so I'm sure we'll watch a whole lot of Mickey!

Oh, Luke slept from 8:30 - 7! Praise the dear sweet Lord! We made the tough decision to let him cry it out Sunday night. It was AWFUL!!! Babywise says you should let them cry for up to 45 minutes 3 nights in a row to break the habit, so that was our plan - 45 minutes of pure torture. I lay there with a death grip on the sheets, sweating, heart racing, watching each minute tick off the clock. Joseph rolled over at around minute 37 - "Oh, is Luke awake?" WHAT???? How do you not hear that piercing cry that shakes my very soul? Are all men like that? Anyway, at exactly minute 44, the crying stopped and he slept until 7. So I was geared up for another round of Torture Mommy last night but he slept straight through! It definitely makes those 44 minutes of HELL well worth it! And we had turned Ford's sound machine up a few notches so he didn't hear a thing. Hopefully tonight will be another good one!