In December, I kept Thatcher while his mommy, one of my best friends, had his little brother Crosley. Crosley ended up having some apnea complications and had to go into the NICU for several days, so we literally kept Thatcher for like 6 days... maybe it was just 5, but it was definitely a good little chunk of the week! The thing was... y'all I cannot keep ANYBODY's kid that long, really. Usually after a day, I am pulling my hair out. But Thatcher is different, because Thatcher is Cai's best friend, and you stick them in a room together and they literally babysit themselves! They are so happy together playing, except when I heard Cai bashing T over the head with his microphone. That wasn't so good, but I promise you, that was like the worst thing that happened all week. These little boys were having a blast and they did everything, but sleep in the same bed, which they did ask to do.

Plus... Thatcher has a way of putting a spell on me. He's got some charm, I tell ya.

I took T to meet Crosley for the first time, along with Cai.

He had to have a little monogrammed hat from us, of course.

(See...Charlie Robnett... I need to know little boy's name... because I'm pretty sure Erskin Alfred would be weird on your baby hat. Just sayin')

Those newborns are so tiny!

All 3 "brothers" haha

 Thatcher did great with little Crosley until he REALIZED that Crosley was really his new brother and suddenly he did NOT want Crosley. This is perhaps my absolute most favorite moment ever.

Oh and how could I forget this LITTLE detail... Crosley was born on 12-12-12 at 12:12 PM... NO LIE Y'ALL. How cool is that!?

Some daddy 'washing machine' cheered him up and he was ready to be okay with Crosley.

It was sweet to witness the newness of this family of four.

Because it will never be the same...

ever.

No-la-la Play date

The day after my unforgettable 27th birthday, Nola and Cai had a little play date.

They played with some hats. It was adorbs, as usual.

I love my sweet friend and little No-la-la.

I made Nola her little Christmas skirt. Cutie patootie bootie.

We did some swinging by the lake.

 Little Miss Nola just did NOT want to get off the swings!

I had to post this photo because she's so cute in her little sweater jacket crying! haha!

 I love her crafty talented mama and her bow clip skills.

We played "Stick" toss.

The time we get to spend with Steph and Nola is always sweet and WAY too short!

 Can't wait til baby Erskin Alfred Robnett is born!

{No, Erskin Alfred Robnett is not his real name. Charlie is being a punk and won't let Stephanie tell me his name... SO um... I'm gonna call him Erskin Alfred until I know his name. Please tell me I didn't guess it!}

Our First Friend Birthday Party!

Micaiah's little friend, Israel, turned 2 last weekend and it was his first "friend" birthday party! It was a special time, because it was the FIRST birthday that we got to actually celebrate with Israel, since being adopted from Africa by our sweet friends, the Gerlachs! Carla planned an awesome party! The kids LOVED it!

This (above) picture is from earlier in the week when we took our boys to the mall to play! Yes, I now go to the mall to PLAY...shopping...what's shopping?

Israel had a rockin' Elmo cake made by Jessica and some pretty darn cute cupcakes, too!

Carla had one table that had bags that you could decorate for an Easter egg hunt and take home party favors! Such a cute idea that I want to re-use!

Micaiah did pretty well for himself against the "big kids" and ended up with 4 Easter eggs... Daddy might have had something to do with that, too!

Then came the crazy present opening time where all the kids flocked of course!

I made Israel a cute birthday dog shirt with his name on it!

It was pretty fun! I remember that Micaiah was ready to GO though...toward the end he decided he was ready to go home and ran around waving buy to everyone! haha! He's got my extroverted-ness, but Hart's social time frame! Best of both worlds! lol!

Good job, Carla! It was fun!

Shirtless

How come when I just wrote that title my mind instantly sung it like Dia Frampton... "Heartless!" Did you guys watch the Voice? We loved it! Can't wait for the next season.

Anyways that has nothing to do with the post. This is about boys. Like the last three days... I guess I have a theme going this week. Boys are funny. Especially eating their chili....shirtless.

When my friend Carla stripped Israel down to eat his chili...I was glad I wasn't the only one that did that! Aren't they super adorable?

Look at Issie's little gut...too cute! That child can EAT!

Cai loves his friends. All night long, he tried to go get in the Cozy Couple car with Israel or hug him or share his toys. It was sweet. I pray he stays that way!