The Birthday Girl!

Monday we had an extra special visit with Kalie, since it was her birthday! We had delicious ladybug cookies outside and chased each other all around the yard.

Look who refused her morning nap to hang out with us!

Things always get extra silly after lunchtime with these two. Neither Sue or I have a clue where this game came from, but next thing we know, there's a crazy game of chase happening around the coffee table and my son yelling, "chicken boom boom!"

I especially love my video assistant Erica's sound effects in the foreground - too cute!

Planting Seeds

I realized this afternoon that Curious George has taught Nicholas some unique concepts that I would have never thought to introduce. As we planted flower seeds, Nicholas kept calling the dirt "compost."

As with nearly everything, he took the job of pouring dirt very seriously.

The seeds were so tiny, he kept asking, "Where are the seeds? They are all tangled!"

(if anyone can decipher what "all tangled" means to this boy, you win the prize. He's always saying that about anything he thinks needs fixing, is dirty or broken...but we've yet to pinpoint why he wants to call it "all tangled.")

After cleaning plenty of water spills with Nicholas using my large watering can, we've found his tea pot works perfectly.

Seriously, how long will it take to get flowers?

Kalie Turns 2!

Saturday was a beautiful day to celebrate Kalie's second birthday! She looked so cute in her sundress and was super excited to have Nicholas come play.

My son is obsessed with this car of Kalie's...

he can always get Kalie to "come follow me."

Sue had so many fun activities for the kids to do. I have to admit I was impressed that Nicholas knew where the donkey's tail was supposed to go.

The little ones loved decorating their own cupcakes with frosting, sprinkles and gum drops.

Kalie's older cousin was sure to let me know Nicholas was eating the frosting without the cupcake!

Special bubbles, just for the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Kalie!

We're so happy to be friends and share in your celebration!

Fix My Sleeves!

Leave it to CNY for us to have an 89 degree day in April!

Poor Nicholas was in sensory shock wearing a t-shirt for the first time of the season. He kept asking, "fix my sleeves, Mommy!"

I Dig Dirt!

Although it didn't show up in the picture, Nicholas was covered in a fine dusting of dirt after being outside for a whopping 5 minutes!

Him and Zoey go nuts playing with the neighbor's little dogs. We're waiting for them to dig a hole under the fence any day now.

This boy loves to play outside!

A Beautiful Day for the Zoo

Last Friday was a gorgeous spring day - just perfect for the zoo with Olivia! The kiddos were so excited to see the animals - can you tell?

Nicholas brought his "nock-ulars" to thoroughly inspect the elephants.

Sometimes it seems like these two are more into people watching than seeing the animals.

Olivia wasn't too sure about the goat's crazy hair-do.

How much are those babies in the window?

Nicholas can always find entertainment no matter where we are.

At the penguin exhibit, he yapped some woman's ear off about the "crazy, silly penguins."

The Spider Catchers!

Nicholas is obsessed with his new magnifying glass ("my finding glass") and binoculars ("nock-ulars"). The other night, Daddy captured an uninvited guest and Nicholas got to check it out up close.

Let's hope Nicholas doesn't get the idea to start bringing these critters into the house - we're reinforcing that bugs live outside!

"Mommy, come play with me..."

Nicholas has figured out playing with someone to get a good game of cars going is much more fun than playing by himself. He starts out innocently by saying, "I want to play with my cars and build a road. I need my garage too."

"Come Mommy....come over here and play with me!"

He really has a great imagination developing and has big plans for his road and bridge setups.

Out of the Mouth of a 2-Year Old....

When getting ready to leave with Daddy the other morning, Fred grabbed his work bags and said he was going to bring them to the truck and would be right back for Nicholas. Nicholas noticed his diaper bag still on the counter and said, "oh wait, my purse!"

One Month To Go...

Our welcoming of Baby B is just a month to go from today!

(just don't ask us if we're prepared!)

Coloring Eggs

Coloring eggs was more fun than ever expected!

Snipits from this month

Survival Mode

After a 2-hour battle for a nap and spending the rest of the day with one cranky, over-tired 2-year-old...

thank the lord for the inventors of Playdough!

Fun with the Ryan Girls

It's always a good time when Kalie comes to play!

Nicholas is ever so interested in baby Erica lately...especially all her equipment and baby gadgets, like the tops to her bottles, her pacifiers and the playmat. He told us he was going to "go to sleep with baby Erica." My guess is he's wondering why she's on her back and not on her belly with her butt in the air like his preferred sleeping position.

You know this boy likes someone when he'll share his jump drive with her!

First Trip to Rudy's

We could barely pull this boy away from the lake. He was in his glory tossing rocking in the water, despite the breezy 45 degrees.

Mommy's boys!

Every Last Bit...

We made our first trip to The Loop on Sunday. Nicholas seemed to remember the joint and requested ice cream for dinner. Leave it to my boy to use his straw to get every last drop!

The Garage Sale

Last weekend, we pulled off participating in the neighborhood garage sale (doesn't every 8 1/2 month pregnant woman need to do this in nesting preparations?). We had a late night Friday for pricing...

and at 6:30am Saturday, the garage awaited our set-up in the driveway

(gosh we had a lot of junk!).

We sure had a busy morning but got rid loads of stuff - and made a good buck!