Happy 4th of July!

Our sweet baby celebrated another first a few weeks ago... his first 4th of July! We started the day with a fun parade and festival in our little town. There were bouncy slides, rides, and good food. We took it all in.

Trying to get a family selfie is a lot harder these days. At least Jonathan and I were ready! 

Daddy and Holden posing for a picture at the park.

One of the joys of a small town-- we met up with our besties! Here is Bennett with his very best friends! :)

Holden and Ashtyn's first picture. Jess and I can use this one at their wedding one day!

Bennett and Emma and Evan had a blast riding on the golf cart together and chowing down on the candy they collected from the parade.

Bennett and Evan decided to take a turn on the monkey bars.

After we left the festival, we headed home to get Holden a good nap and then headed over to the neighbor's for a cookout. It was SO good. A good BBQ cookout is my FAVE!

My pretty baby!!

This picture was the best we could get of the two of them. 

My sister and I were persuaded to go back across the road and gather swimsuits so the kids could try out Mr. Jimmy's slide. Bennett was not a total fan of his face getting wet! :) He did better than I anticipated.

After we ate, we headed back into town for the fireworks. The kids watched them from the back of Grandma's car!

And.... Mommy was a little tardy with the sticker and remembered it on July 5th. I'm sure there is a 24 hour rule :)

Holden has also started holding on to things like his rattle and Sophie the giraffe. He loves to sit up on the couch-- usually watching a little TV with his big brother.

This picture is of a baby with a HORRIBLE cough. I took him to the doctor since we were days away from going to the beach. i didn't want to be out of town and without Dr. Ellenberg if it turned in to something serious! Here he is before our doctor's appointment sporting one of the outfit Jonathan wore as a baby. Is this outfit precious or what?

We left the doctor with a prescription for an antibiotic and orders to use some Zyrtec to thin the mucus. Three days later, we weren't any better-- and getting closer to our beach trip. Our sweet doctor ordered a chest X-ray just to make sure baby lovebug was all clear! Let me just say that WE LOVE our doctor! He even text me later in the week to check on Holden. We are so thankful for him and the wonderful care he takes of our whole family!

Bennett decided he wanted Holden to play with his toy spider before the x-ray.

Holden did great during the x-ray and the techs were super sweet and got things done in a jiffy! They suited me up so that I could hold him still and he would have someone familiar. 

Bennett also had another field trip-- to the McDonald's PlayPlace. I had managed to keep this place under wraps pretty well. Mainly because I think these places are DISGUSTING. They make my skin crawl just thinking about them. Apparently, Bennett ate HALF a cheeseburger. What??? He never gets a cheeseburger when we go. He had a blast and wants me to take him back!

Holden is a big boy-- especially when I compare my babies in the same outfit! It's crazy!

While Bennett is at school, Holden and I have school of our own. I like to "help" and encourage his developmental milestones a bit. He he! Here he is exploring a bit with lights and sounds.

Bennett is DETERMINED that H will love shoes as much as he does. :) Here he is trying some shoes on his baby brother. I LOVE the way Holden is looking at him!