Dinner Time Big Faces

Early Spring Videos

Life is crazy around here! In mid-March we went on a family vacation to Florida for my cousin's wedding. (Florida vacation pics to be posted soon!) Since arriving home, the weather has been unseasonably warm! We have been spending 5+ hours per day in our backyard. It's awesome.

Zeke's favorite activity is digging and trucking. Often he tows things too. He loads his trucks with sand, mud, and mulch. I'll have to take a picture of some of his setups tomorrow and share those.

Zadie and Ezra have been having SO much fun with our little red cozy coupe car. I would say that at least 80% of the time we are outside, the car is occupied by at least one toddler. (I wrote "baby" at first, but at 17 months, they're hardly babies anymore!) My general philosophy has been that even though they're twins, we don't need two of everything. They can share- right? Well not always.

Yesterday, I'd had enough of the fighting to sit in the car, so I picked up a second car at a consignment shop. This one is a different color and the horn plays a tune. I should've known to get one that was exactly the same. Now the old red car sits empty and all three off them clamor over the new blue car.

Ezra and Zadie have both mastered the little plastic playset in the backyard. They can both climb up and slide down. We've separated the playset into 2 pieces. Zeke likes to "sell ice cream and cookies" out of the part with the door.

Tom's good friend Matt came down from Omaha for a weekend visit in March and brought Zeke a couple of sweet kites. We've been waiting for the perfect day to try it out. Today the winds were right and we walked down to the park for Zeke's first kite-flying experience. Awesome times. Thanks Matt!

Photo Book

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February Update and Photo Shoot

Lots going on around here. Nothing too exciting, but we're generally happy and busy! I did a little photo shoot with the kiddos today, so I'll put their pics with their updates. Fun!

Ezra talks now. His favorite words are "GET DOWN" said with emphasis. Sometimes he tells me this because he wants to get down from something he's strapped into (high chair, stroller, car seat) and sometimes he'll climb up on top of a chair, table, or bed and stand teetering while shouting "Get Down!"

He's constantly helping to put things in the right place, delivering diapers and shoes, and climbing all over things. He is SO FAST. We were at Zeke's gym class this week and Ezra takes off dribbling a soccer ball better than most of the 3-4 year olds in the class.

Zadie. This little lady made me very happy this week. .

After 15 months of sleeping in bed next to me and nursing ALL NIGHT LONG, she has successfully moved into her own room and now SLEEPS 12 HOURS each night. Without nursing. Without crying. It was no small feat, but over the course of the past month, we've worked hard to establish some solid bedtime routines, get her attached to some little stuffed animals, and finally move her crib to her own bedroom.

Next step is getting her to drink from a cup, bottle, or something besides me. She spent a lot of time gnawing on an empty 2 liter bottle of cherry 7-up this week. Maybe that will be her favorite "cup". The pediatrician warned us that she might choose something strange when she was finally ready. We'll see.

Zeke is in his prime these days. He's pretty much done with afternoon naps, so bedtime happens pretty easily. About a month ago, he moved into Ezra's room and he LOVES sharing a bedroom with his little brother. He's super excited for the day that they can get "bump beds" like his cousins have. I keep reminding him that Ezra needs to sleep in a crib for now, so it will probably be a few more months (years) until the bump beds, but he's still enthusiastic.

We toured a preschool this week. Starting in September, Zeke will go to an awesome little preschool 2-3 mornings per week. He's so excited about it. This kid never lacks in enthusiasm.

Tom and I are great. We got a little love seat at an antique store last weekend (used in photo shoot today). We had so much room in our bedroom once the crib was gone (!) that we've been able to turn it into a great little seating area. It's currently the same celery green as our walls, but the wall color will be changing to a lilac/grey color this weekend. Fascinating, huh?

Also, Tom took me on a wonderful surprise Valentine's date this year. I thought that my mom had actually texted last minute to offer her babysitting services so Tom and I could run out for a quick meal (I was thinking Qdoba, Chik Fil A, or something equally gourmet, given it was V-day at 6pm and we didn't have reservations anywhere) It wasn't until we were inside the theater that I realized Tom had planned a special dinner theater date at the Rogers Little Theater. Full dinner, dessert, chocolates, a rose, and Hairspray. Great job, Tom! (And thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting and being in on the secret!)

FINALLY- Here are the outtakes of my attempt at a photo of all 3 of my cherubs. The best shot I got all afternoon is first. The next two show how it really went after that. 3 kids, 3 and under. Oh well- I'm sure they'll sit still someday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Zeke!

Today marks Zeke's 3rd birthday. Happy Birthday, little buddy!

On Saturday, we had a small party with family and one of Zeke's friends. A few weeks ago, Zeke requested a tractor birthday party, so we ran with the theme.

We looked out the window to discover that some crazy hens had escaped from their pen and laid some (candy-filled) eggs in the yard. Zeke and his friend had fun discovering all the hidden eggs. The parents and grandparents had fun eating some of the candy.

Then, we played Pin the Wheel on the Tractor. Everybody won.

Finally, it was on to presents and cake.

I'm no cake boss, but I did have fun decorating my first "shape cake".

All in all, it was a fun party. Today is his "real" birthday and we'll continue to celebrate Zeke's life all day long!

Zadie's First Year Photo Book

After waiting too long to do it, I finally put together Zadie's First Year- a Photo Book. Shutterfly is always sending out email offers for free albums, but you almost have to have one ready made in your account. Enjoy if you'd like to see it!

(Ezra will get one too- when the next free book offer comes around!)

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