the cutest thing...

i hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!!! ours was spent walking around (3 kids in a wagon) watching fireworks for a little while before it was time to get jordyn into bed. we played at a neighbor's house, who was lighting off some fireworks. he was so nice, he even shared his sparklers and offered his very last sparkler to jack. what a sweet kid!!! hope mine figure out how to do that someday!!!!

after that, we headed home and cleaned up, then got jordyn into bed. the boys stayed up and watched fireworks from the bathtub. i sat in there with them, and at one point, had one on each knee. there wasn't the display i expected, but i think that was because of the rain. daddy told me that lots of placed cancelled their displays and rescheduled them for today (though today doesn't look any less rainy). we'll see. i don't think i can do another late night with the kids.
so i got jack into bed and then jacob. jack always asks if i will lay down next to him. and it's SOOO cute when he asks, "lay down nex to me." (no i didn't forget the "t", that's just how it sounds). i always tell him that i have to get bubby into bed and then get ready for bed myself. so he'll change the question to, "then you'll come back and lay down nex to me?" i always agree...but he's always asleep. tonight was no different. but i had already taken a shower, so i thought i'd go back in.

when i went in, i think he was almost asleep. but i laid down on the floor next to his crib (which he refuses to get out of for a big boy bed). as i laid down, i see this little hand come out of the slats of the crib. he wants to hold your hand if you're laying by him. so i reach up and hold his hand. then he started to rub my hand with his thumb. what a sweetheart. it took just a few minutes, and he was asleep. so peaceful...with a crib full of stuff:

• 2 bears (that he CAN NOT sleep without)
• 2 blankets, that have to be on him in a certain way
• 2 other bears at the foot of his bed
• pillow for his head
• 2 books that sometimes he'll look at when i put him to bed
• a viewfinder (new yesterday)
• a case to hold his viewfinder "movies" (new yesterday)
• a cup of water (only about 1/4 full in case he actually drinks it

and all these things have special places in his crib. and he 99% of the time falls asleep on his back, holding whatever his newest "toy" for bed it. it's really just the cutest thing ever. i guess he needed all these things to replace the binky? who knows. but it was just too cute to see his little hand stick out of the crib. it just made my heart melt.