While I have help....

I have gotten into the redecorating mode. And its about time because we've been here nearly three years and I've lived with some pretty awful colors in my house.
And with Babe going to his big boy bed, we had to make the middle room/scrapbook room/computer room/extra tv room, more officially Buddy's. So we emptied it and painted and re purposed furniture from other areas of the house for him.

He picked out the blue and its not as bright as in the photos, but its nice. Not my choice but its okay. We still need to get a shelf for his trophies. The window sill is not a good place for them.

And we've yet to get his pictures and posters up on the walls.

He will eventually get his own comforter instead of this cool retro quilt from Gramma.. The daily use worries M.E. don't want it to get too worn out.
He seems pretty happy with his own room and has been doing his homework in there and playing by himself with his legos. I really just can't believe how big his is. Having his own room makes him seem so much older, not sure I like that.

More redecorating is in the works. As I type, Grandpa is finishing up my paint job in our bedroom with a second coat of paint. Its hard to cover eggplant colored walls. ugh! I'm most pics soon!

Easter Monday

The boys get an extra day off for Easter going to a Catholic school. I really like it as well. With Grandpa and Nana here we decided to do something special.

The Easter Bunny not only brought water guns but also a member to the local aquarium. LG has really been into fish lately, so he was thrilled.
Here LG and Babe watch the stingrays in the big tank.

I splurged and let them buy some food to feed the sting rays. It was pretty cool and Buddy had a really good time too. At one point I overheard him telling LG, "this is so fun, isn't it?"

Buddy really wanted a pic of this parrot fish, so here you go Buddy!

Here's Buddy in front of the turtle tank. I didn't have my big camera, so the pic didn't turn out very good. I will try to do better with photo taking and blogging, but it ebbs and flows around here.

Happy Day and Stay safe with all the bad weather.

HAPPY EASTER!

He is Risen!
And so was the stormy weather. It was raining, thundering and lightning but it didn't stop the boys from going out and finding the eggs the Easter Bunny hid.
He brought each of the boys a water gun and they were thrilled.

The night before the Man and I managed to make a last minute dash through Kohl's for Easter outfits for the entire family. I will say we all looked spiffy, but I didn't manage a pic. I know, I know, but it just didn't happen.

I was in charge of our church egg hunt again this year, so I was preoccupied and it was raining so we had to do it in the gym. Here's LG in his awesome vest and tie. He kept asking everyone, 'you like my bow tie?" It was pretty funny.

The pics are yellowish because of horrible gym lighting.

The Babe also has a tie on but its hard to see in this photo because it blends into the Man coat, but it was super cute and everyone couldn't believe how big he seemed. After all, he is 1.

Buddy, got a suit coat for the occasion. I never managed a good pic of him, but you can sort of see him.

His class mates will be receiving their first communion next week and getting their photos made, so he needed a nice outfit for the class photo. He was pretty thrilled with his jacket. He kept calling it his tux and couldn't wait to get it on and didn't want to take it off. If I'm not careful, I might catch him playing in it.

Eggs in the gym. Not much of a challenge, but at least the kiddos got their candy and had fun with their friends.

Happy Easter!

Coloring Easter Eggs

This is the first year, LG has had any patience with dyeing Easter eggs. He loves it, but he usually throws/drops the eggs into the cup only to retrieve it seconds later. But not this year. He gently dunked his eggs and let them sit for several minutes before looking at them and moving it to another color or declaring it finished. It took some coaching but he did a fantastic job.

Babe really wanted to get into the eggs and make a mess... Next year Babe, Next year.

Here's M.E. and Buddy. We have so much fun coloring eggs. We both want the wax crayon at the same time so we can draw and write messages before coloring. Its the most fun of the coloring egg process.

Here's Buddy's, Easter Bunny. Too cute, if I may say so myself.

And I had to share this pic. What a special surprise to pull this out of the cup and read.... I [heart] you too Buddy!

Our final masterpiece. The color is not as vivid in the photo as in real life. They look awesome this year and the pictures and messages were fantastic.
I think the Easter Bunny was very pleased with our handy work and I also think its safe to say that no matter how many eggs I boil. Its never enough.

Because we love coloring eggs soooo much.

Hope the rain stops long enough to hide and hunt tomorrow!

Babe Right Now

He has transitioned very easily to bottle with whole milk.

He adores is brothers

He can clap to celebrate, to mimic, or just for fun.

He signs 'more' for everything food related. But is learning the signs for 'eat' and 'all 'done'

He has a BIG personality.



He loves to feed himself- his favorites are baby cheese puffs, Grill cheese and quesadillas.

He can walk along furniture and stand alone for about 10 seconds and crawl as fast as lightning.

He wakes up for comfort and/or milk twice a night.

He weighs 22 lbs and is 30" tall.



He still likes to put everything in his mouth - be it food, toys or trash.

He makes lots of noise, babbled, grunts and laughs a lot.

He doesn't like getting his clothes changed and likes to roll over during diaper changes.

He likes to play with what every his brothers are playing with - legos, blocks, cars, anything not age appropriate

He enjoys being in his play pen outside watching his brothers. He can sit in there for up to an hour.

He no longer has a big fear of strangers and loves the church nursery.



He is learning to navigate the stairs down to the playroom and is loving this new freedom to roam all of the house.

He plays in the kitchen cabinets at least 5 times a day and leaves little messes behind.

He enjoys the bath too.

He makes ME very happy, very tired and feel very blessed.


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Happy Birthday Babe

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Look what I made!

How cute is this little bag? A good friend of mine asked ME to make some torn jeans into shorts for her son, so while I was having fun sewing and Babe was still napping, I took the scraps from the cut off denim and made her a cute little bag about the size of a magazine



I lined it with polka-dots. It didn't turn out like I envisioned but it's durable and cute so that's all that matters.

It felt good to be crafty although my house is a wreck. Oh well!


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Conversation with LG

LG runs to the bathroom moments ago to go potting.
Within seconds,
He calls, "Mom, I done"
ME, "then wipe your bottom"
LG, "Mom, I DONE"
ME, "then WIPE your bottom"
LG, "but I'm calling for you"
I get up and head that way,
ME, "why do you need ME? You can do it"
LG, "my belly told me not to"
ME, "your belly told you not to wipe your bottom?"
LG, "yep, my belly told me not too"

Hmmm. Not sure what to think about that except it's typical LG and oh so funny.


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Babe always makes ME smile.

-


Typical toddler into every thing.



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Random Pic

When I downloaded the zoo pics yesterday I found this on the little bloggie camera. Not sure when I took it, but its in the van at some point. I would ask myself why? but when I look at those beautiful faces, I know why. Buddy is such a wonderful big brother to Babe.

Field Trip - ZOO

LG had his annual preschool field trip to the zoo yesterday. I was happy to tag along as I was in the hospital last year with Babe during the field trip. Unfortunately is was very windy and a chilly 55 degrees. Not ideal day for the zoo. This is LG and his best preschool friend. They are like 'velcro' Justy's mom said. Where you find one you find the other...

LG in the children's petting zoo with some sheep combers on his hands. He didn't stay in there very long.

LG and Justy on a bronze turtle. They were being so silly. I don't like to think about them being separated next year. Justy will be going to public school for kindergarten. We haven't told them yet and its going to be a difficult transition for Justy, I'm afraid.

We were so ready to go home by the time we made it to the elephants. LG is obviously done! It was a fun day, even if it was chilly and windy.

The newest little cousin ...

Baby Finnegan Exley arrived today!
How cute is he! So happy he and Mom are doing well.
All our love to the whole family. He is going to be well loved and spoilt as he is the first grandchild on both sides. So glad he can receive all of Babe's hand-me-downs. Nothing better than this.


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It's finally warm again!

Several days this past week the weather has been chilly and cloudy. I personally didn't mind the clouds but I wasn't a big fan of 40 degrees.
Today however it's sunny, breezy and in the 70s - perfect day for sidewalk chalk.
As this will be one of the last Saturdays through May that we won't have something going on and As Babe naps, I sent the boys outside to quieten the house with a bucket of cars and sidewalk chalk.
LG needed my assistance he said in drawing his city.



He had a mcdonalds, walmart, donut shop and walgreens. Too funny that those are the only places he needs in his town. Makes sense though.


He also has a neighborhood, where he is parking his cars.


But he did think to include church and school and a park on the otherside of town - oh and there is also lava.

Buddy's town is much more complex with lots of streets and things happening. He also has a mcdonalds and walmart plus a jail, police station and fire station.



Here he is drawing his fire station.
I tried to draw a road connecting the two towns but Buddy said he didn't need to go to LG's town he could just draw what he needed. well okay then

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