Where has time gone?

Wow, has it been a long time or what!? The last few months have been a whirlwind here and I managed to forget about this family blog!!

You all should know by now that we have added a BEAUTIFUL baby boy to the family... Mr. Jack Nolen Suggs. Born 6/23/09 at 6:50p.m. at a whopping 8lbs 6 oz! He has been such a joy to us all. I already knew what a good big brother Nelson was but it has been wonderful seeing his tenderness and love showered on Jack. And Henry...I was worried about him but he has stepped up to the plate and been awesome with Jack! Aunt Pam was able to be here and really help with the big boys while we were at the hospital. She and Leah were also there to witness the birth.

In addition to gaining a new brother, Nelson and Henry have gone on a couple of vacations this summer. After Aunt Pam went back home, the boys went to Galveston and Schlitterbahn with their Nina and Pops (James & Gale). They had a blast and especially loved the volcano cake they ate at The Rainforest Cafe. Not long after that, they stayed a few days with Aunt Pam and enjoyed playing outside, picking veggies in the garden, shooting hoops, and swimming with her, Allex, Muncle Allan, and Taylor. Yesterday, they returned home after a few days of staying with Mimi and Grandpa (Debbie & Al). They spent a lot of time in the pool, playing the wii and an afternoon at their cousin Cody's first birthday party.

On top of that.... Nelson has learned to ride his bike with no training wheels! We are so proud! He loves to ride his bike while James runs. Now days, Cocamo escapes from the yard and runs with them. Henry, Jack, and I stick to walking around the neighborhood with Blue. Nelson has been practicing pitching with James too. He is really loving baseball and already wants to play again. He's collecting baseball cards and wants to watch EVERY Rangers game that comes on tv. Tomorrow we are going to our second game of the season. Nelson has also really enjoyed reading...and wow... can he read! He just finished (in two weeks) the first Harry Potter book (17 chapters!). He is really looking forward to starting school next week with his new teacher and classmates. We can't believe he's a big 2nd grader!

Henry has been learning to write his letters this summer. He's doing great and is always asking us how to spell words so he can write them. And the other day at the dinner table he said "Mom, I am F-U-L-L!" I didn't tell him how to spell that so I'm not sure.. maybe Nelson did? He really wanted to ride his bikes without training wheels when Nelson did so we tried it but...Henry getsa little frustrated with things sometimes. Needless to say.. training wheels are back on but he won't ride it at all now. He has realy grown this summer, physically and emotionally. He's taller and he has calmed down some. He's much easier to reason with now and is MOSTLY staying out of trouble. You know, he's a little mischevious! :) After going to meet the teacher night he is really wanting to start kindergarten but we are going to have him wait another year. He'll be five on the deadline so he could start but we feel it would do him better to wait. But, he does start going to gymnastics once a week and is really excited about that! If you know Henry, you know how much he loves to swing, jump, and flip off of furniture, swingsets, trampolines, etc. So gymnastics should be a good fit.

In the 8 weeks that Jack has been here, he has changed so much! He's up to 11.5 lbs. He's smiling like crazy...such a happy baby! And he's finally getting on some sort of schedule. I had a terrible time breastfeeding the first two but Jack has been wonderful. I'm amazed at how "easy" it is this time around and I LOVE the bond it has created between us. Jack has also started to try and reach for things. Well, so far just one thing. The parrot on his rainforest activity gym. He is slowly learning to like being put down. Yes. I love to hold him so he is so use to that and did not like to be put down at first when I finally remembered I have two other children that needed me too! Ha ha!

I would make a paragraph for James and I but you can tell from above what we have been doing! Add to that James works schedule and there you have it! :) I'll put a slideshow below of pictures to get you caught up. Tomorrow we are off to celebrate Henry's birthday a few days early. We're going ice skating and to the Rangers game. I'll post pics of that later too!