March - Playing outside and other random photos

Nathan's 2nd Birthday..YAY!!!

Where does the time go? Our little guy turned two today! And it was a busy day for the birthday boy. He woke up to balloons and presents. We met grandpa Jimmy and Patti at the zoo in the morning and had lots of fun seeing the farm animals before heading inside to see more animals and get out of the cold. After a nice lunch, we went to the store to pick out a tricycle for the birthday boy. After a short break in the action, it was out for dinner with grandma Linda and then back to our house for more presents and cake and ice cream. It was a long day and we were so tired. But Nathan was so excited and hopped up on sugar, he was running around the house until after 10 p.m. But the birthday boy gets to stay up late if he wants to!

Just waking up

The balloons are a huge hit

checking out his new duckies and truck

out into the cold...and it was frickin freezing!

the boys posing for us

the goats were a lot of fun. the boys got to feed them lots, thanks to grandpa.

Moooo!

checking out the dolphins

after the zoo, lunch and toy store, Nathan finally crashed and slept for an hour in his car seat.
opening some presents - more Little People!
Nathan is our little Cookie Monster. If you ask him what he would like to eat, the usual answer is "cookie!"
Nathan's "Elmo's World" cake
Elmo and his pet goldfish, Dorothy
Singing to our little guy
Enjoying some cake...Happy Birthday, Baby Nate!!

Our sick little guy

It started off as a runny nose...I didn't worry. Then started the fevers of 103...I still didn't worry (don't freak, all my boys burn hot!). But when I tried to take his temp with the ear thermometer and he cried and pulled away, I worried. Into the car and off to Minute Clinic to confirm Nathan's first ear infection. Luckily he didn't seem to have any ear pain and was only miserable when the fever kicked in. He probably was pretty close to working through it himself (I tend to be conservative when it comes to antibiotics usually) but it was getting close to his birthday and I wanted my baby to feel good for his special day! He bounced right back and is feeling fine.

After running around CVS pharmacy and terrorizing the candy and toy aisles, I gave him his meds and told him to go lay down. He climbed on our bed and conked out.
Snuggling and watching a little TV
When it first started, he was my sleepy little snuggle bug. I hate seeing him sick, but he is so sweet and easy to take care of.
Feeling so much better! He helped me make some brownies
and what a good little helper he is!

Goodbye 1992 Corolla (RIP) and hello to our 2009 Forester

After many years of service, my very reliable, trustworthy Toyota Corolla was finally traded in for a new car. That car sounded bad (missing exhaust will do that), didn't look that great and really could have gone at any moment. Best to get rid of her before she conked out on us! I am sure that Chris had mixed feelings about saying goodbye. He has spent so many hours replacing parts on her. He has driven her almost everyday for many years. But once the decision was made to get rid of her, he became a man obsessed! It is pretty much all we talked about for days and I am so happy that it is over! Now we have two cars that the boys can ride in, I don't have to worry about Chris driving that rust bucket to work everyday and we have a car big enough to fit us comfortably but isn't a big SUV or mini van. So, hopefully the talk of cars is over for a long time!

St. Patrick's Day

Leprechans brought green cupcakes

and suckers

Stephanie has fun with chalk

Xander has mapped out the entire solar system.... planets, sun, meteors and even dwarf planets were included!  The little details added are mind boggling

Nate getting ready to create a masterpiece too

Taking a break

The Children's Museum

Playing with puppets

One of Xander's favorite things - the loading and unloading blocks on the conveyor belts

Nathan taking daddy for a ride

There is always a long wait to be the bus driver and us parents have to be pretty vigilant in order to fend off kids cutting in line.  When it was finally Xander's turn, he let Nathan share with him.  As always, the kindest big brother!

One of the main reasons we went to the museum was to see this big guy.  Both boys are crazy for Clifford (I don't get what they see in that show)

crawling through tunnels

and more tunnels...Chris is brave enough to climb in there with them

Simon Bear spends the night

Xander's preschool has a stuffed bear named Simon that the kids get to have spend the night with them.  Then they tell the adventures that he got to go on while visiting them.  It was a pretty boring night at our house.  If I had known he was going sleeping over, I would have made plans for something a little more exciting!

He is excited to bring him home

Xander and Simon playing Legos together

Keeping Xander company during dinner