What we did this summer

Over the Labor Day holiday I actually had a few minutes between loads of laundry and other chores, to sit on the couch, get the boys down for a nap and watch one of my guilty pleasures....One Tree Hill re-runs.  This particular episode in which Brooke reflects on all that she did over her summer vacation, got me thinking about what I did with TJ and Matthew all summer.

As the school year wrapped up in May, I was really looking forward to spending time with my boys.  During the school year I leave the house by 7 and don't pick them up from my mom's until 6pm.  My time with my guys is usually at their worst....they are typically crabby from 6-8pm and then they relax and go to bed.  I basically get 2, maybe 3, good hours a day with them and it breaks my heart.  I love my job and I need my job both financially and for mental well-being, but I hate being away from these two little boys.
So, vacation begins....which really meant that the hard work was just beginning.  I had the task of trying to get these boys to sleep in their own beds, all night AND I had to wean them from breast feeding.  Yes, I was still nursing them at 14 months.  Quite frankly it was just too easy to keep nursing them, so I did.  I kept delaying the weaning process because I was terrified of how TJ would react.  Matthew is pretty "go with the flow" but TJ can be quite opinionated and temperamental.  As it turns out, it was HARD to wean them...It took almost the entire month of June.  It was harder for me than it was for them.  I felt like I was letting go of the last thing that connected them to me...just me.  Nursing them was something only I could do and it soothed them better than anything else.  These two guys are not attached to anything..no pacifiers, no blankets, no toy...Just Mommy!  By the end of June they were fine, TJ will still occasionally make a move to try to nurse but I push him away. He is so stubborn.
During the summer I spent all but 2 days with my boys, when I let their grandmother take them for the day so I could get some things done around the house. 
So, what did we do all summer...
Well, they mastered climbing.  These guys must be part Monkey.  They climb on anything and everything.  They have no fear.  I had to remove the patio furniture from my deck so they wouldn't jump off the deck.  They went swimming in Nana's pool a bunch, they fly to NY to visit my family, we went to Cagle's Dairy Farm twice and had a blast.  I dragged these two to the farmers market and to garage sales all over the county. We have played at the Bounce House, had play dates with friends, been to a birthday party, climbed and jumped some more, and we wrapped up the summer with a trip to Zoo Atlanta.  I also discovered that these two, while messy little boys, love to clean up.  They help load the dishwasher, take clothes out of the dryer (unfortunately it is at the same time as I am trying to load it) and they go crazy trying to vacuum and mop the floors.
What we didn't do this summer.....go shopping...they are complete disasters in a store or a restaurant for that matter.  These boys HATE to be strapped into a shopping cart or their stroller. HATE IT.  They scream like they are being beaten or they just pull a "Houdini" and escape!  I'm serious, they can get themselves out of everything but their car seat.  High chairs are a joke...we don't even use the straps anymore. 


Garage Sale find #1 - IKEA kid table



Father's Day with Nana and Pop

Getting ready to jump at Cagle's Dairy

NYC - pool time at Aunt Marie's

With all of their NY cousins

TJ and Matthew with their very best buddy - John

Yankee Boys

Play date with some friend

Happy Matty at the Bounce House

TJ loving the bounce toys

1st Haircut

Post Hair cut bliss

Loving some Onion Goggles

Onion goggles take 2

Matthew loves some glasses

Playing with bubbles at Nana's

Typical family photo....I have a feeling this is how it's going to be for a few years

Enjoying the Zoo

Loving the petting zoo

All in all....we had a great summer, even if I was selfish and kept them to myself for the majority of the time.  I just don't want to share them....is that wrong?   Probably, but I only get one chance to have this time with them!