I was sucked into the Twilight series over the summer time. Sucked. In. I resisted, but it was no use. I'm so thankful I fell in. Even though the first movie was below par, we have been waiting impatiently for New Moon's premier. They had no where to go but up on this one. Me, Lisa, Corinne, and Rhonda got our tickets ahead of time on Fandango and went to see it on Saturday. Rhonda even made us personalized "Team Edward" bracelets. The movie was SO GOOD!!! Oh, I want to see it again! The best thing about it, is the entire audience is as invested in the story as you are, so everyone gasps at the same time, laughs at the same time, and ogles over Taylor Lautner's bare chest at the same time. If you haven't read the series, I highly suggest it, no matter what your age. It is such a great love story!
The nerd herd...
We made a trip to the beach to visit Chris and Alicia last month. Cason had such a great time! He was a good traveler and was content to watch Nemo, eat snacks, and nap most of the way. We got down there Thursday night around 11:00pm and Cason had fallen asleep in the car around 9:00pm. He woke up about ten minutes before we got there and perked right up to greet Chris and Alicia. He played with them for about an hour before getting his bath and going to bed. The very first thing he did when he woke up the next morning was walk into the hallway and say, "Where Leesha go?" He called Chris, "T" (what he calls Tyler), the entire weekend, but we determined he was doing it on purpose because we would laugh every time. Chris was a good sport about it and kept correcting him, "No, Chris." It was quite humorous. Since we have been home, I can point at a picture of Chris and he will say "Chris," so I know he was yanking our chain.
As we were walking up to the beach for the first time, Cason said, "Wow. Big ocean." He loved playing in the sand, chasing the birds, and running full force into the freezing water. He even fell a few times, but it bothered me more than it bothered him. Friday night we went to eat at Tubby's in downtown Savannah and then we walked to get ice cream and watch the boats pass through the bridge. The next day we went back to the beach and instead of going out to dinner that night, we decided to order pizza in and go fishing in Chris and Alicia's complex. Chris and Ryan both let Cason reel in a fish and he thought he was so big. We pretend at home all the time with his fishing pole, but he's never really seen the whole process go down. You could see him connecting the mental dots. We had a really great time visiting and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Thanks for having us Chris & Alicia!
The 1st day at the beach...
What the boys caught...
This is the face you get when you catch Cason having an accident in his pants. Vicious.
He's finally getting to an age where he really enjoys playing and can interact with other little ones. Before, it was more of what they call "parallel play." Now it's definitely, "let's get into trouble together play." 
With Brayden...
At our house in his sea of toys...
With Aunt Mandy at Sammy's birthday party...
Family shot at Sammy's birthday party...
Cason has been super busy this summer! He's hung out with friends and family, seen lots of fireworks (he is officially obsessed with fireworks - which he calls "crackers"), been swimming, and even started potty training! It's been an eventful few months. He has done so well with every new experience. Meme got him some water wings and taught him to swim around on his own and he's even gotten brave enough to jump off the stairs. Nana started with the potty training a few weeks ago and he's done awesome! I even bought him some little boxer briefs so he can feel like a big boy when we're lounging at home. I look at him every day and wonder where all of the time has gone. He is definitely a little boy now, and not a baby. His 18 month check-up went great...he's right on target with all of his stats (90% for height, 50% for weight and head circumference - 26 pounds and 34 inches tall). When we were at this appointment, the nurse asked me a whole series of milestone questions, as they always do. When she was finished, she pulled out her notebook and wanted Cason to point to the cat in the lineup of animals. I suddenly realized this was his first test, and got really nervous. I even said, "Cason, this is your first test!" I'm sure the nurse thought I was crazy, but whatever. He definitely knows what a cat is, along with 20 other barnyard animals, plus their noises, but he was not interested at all in pointing to that cat. Mom was at the appointment with me, so after several attempts, she took the notebook from the nurse and tried to get him to point to the cat...to no avail. He was walking around, more interested in everything else going on besides the animal lineup. Mom and I laughed when we left at how serious we got about it. It's funny how you want your child to succeed, even at this level. I can't wait for team sports one day...I think I'm going to be THAT mom.
Hanging out with Autumn...
This is what we do for entertainment on Saturday nights...
Fourth of July...
We've had so much going on lately, I haven't had time to post! I did want to at least get these two shots up of Cason. He is getting bigger and doing/saying something new each day. He amazes us with how observant he is. He will mimic things you didn't even know you were doing (this could be a good or bad thing). He LOVES the grill outside and begs to go look at it every night when Ryan gets home. Ryan taught him what an arrow is (go figure) so now he says, "rarrow." Ryan also bought him his first fishing pole and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. He totes it around the house trying to poke Sabyl with it. Consequently, she runs around the living room and kitchen trying to escape which only entertains Cason more and he starts dying laughing. I can definitely say he's well on his way to being an outdoorsman like his dad. He is mesmerized by Alvin and the Chipmunks, Blues Clues, and Jack's Big Music Show. He loves pickles and oatmeal with honey (not at the same time). He learned to say, "love you" this week and gave me his first voluntary hug when I picked him up from my mom's house yesterday. I melted. Ryan's birthday is today, so Happy Birthday Bo! I'll be posting more pictures soon, but just wanted to give a small update.
We had such a fun-filled weekend! Saturday we went with Ryan, Michelle, Brayden, Leette, Eric, Sarah, and Skylar to the Hiram Easter Egg Hunt...always exciting to mingle with the locals. Cason was especially impressed with the helicopter that came by and dropped eggs. He has a noise he makes for aircraft of any kind, but I will not attempt to spell it out because I don't even know where to start. After that, we went to eat BBQ and after he finished his lunch, he had his first two Oreos and a sucker. He was not happy when I took it from him to get in the carseat. After a nap, we ventured back over to dye eggs with Michelle and Brayden. I use the term "we" lightly...this consisted of me dying the eggs and Cason watching while snacking on Cheetos. He did pick up a crayon and draw on one of them. Sunday morning we started the usual holiday caravan...first to Renee's house to see her and Tyler, then to Mary & Ricky's house to see my family, and then to Doug & Lorrie's to visit. It was a very tiring day, but I always say, it's a good problem to have so many close family members to visit!
