1st Time Flying a Kite

Wes had gotten a kite as a prize at the library for reading books and was anxious to fly it. I told him we had to wait for a windy day. Well sure enough, the first windy day we had, Wes was sure to tell me that it was time to fly the kite. I wish I had pictures of the moment, but that would have been impossible. I had Nate on my chest in the sling and I was running around the cul-de-sac getting the kite in the air. Somehow, I don't think I could have managed my camera too. I got the kite up for Wes and let him fly it the rest of the time. He had so much fun and we can't wait to fly a kite on the beach this summer. While we were flying the kite, my mom pulled in the driveway to pick us up for lunch. Wes started walking back home and took the kite with him. We have two giant olive trees in our front yard and there was no way the kite wasn't going to get stuck. I tried pulling on the string gently to get the kite out of the tree but it wouldn't budge. My mom decided to throw her cane at the kite to dislodge it from the branches. Her cane got stuck in the tree and the kite fell to the ground! It was pretty funny. We got the cane down and went to lunch. Wes certainly had the full kite flying experience for his first time.

Wes's 3rd Birthday Party

I can't believe that Wes is turning 3! He is getting to be such a big boy. Especially, ever since Nate was born he just seems so grown up and such a big helper. Wes loves animals, so we decided to have a petting zoo come to the house and have a farm themed 3rd birthday party.

The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on those animals, they were so cute.

The petting zoo came from a little farm nearby. They brought full grown goats, young goats (3 months old), brand new baby goats (2 weeks old), bunnies, fuzzy looking chickens, pigs, a sheep, and a donkey.
The kids were allowed to pet, brush and hold the animals in their lap. It was really neat and I think all the kids had a great time.

While they weren't taking their turn with the animals, there was Pin the Tail on the Donkey to play, snacks to eat and lots of running around to do in the backyard.



I worked really hard to make the sheep, pig and cow cakes to go along with the theme and I think they turned out pretty good. I'm not much of a baker but I am determined to decorate a cake each year for each of my boys birthdays, so far so good.

While everyone was eating cake, Wes opened his presents. He got a ton of nice clothes and toys that he has lots of fun playing with. Papa even got him a special Ping putter cut down to his size. Now, Wes and Papa practice their putt in Papa's backyard and Wes even has his own ball marked with at "W".
It was a very fun party and I'm glad everyone came over to help us celebrate our big boy's 3rd birthday!

1st Hair Trim

Nate's hair was getting a little out of control. He has crazy baby hair which includes a natural mohawk with poofs on the sides and bald in the back. The poofs on the sides were starting to hang down over his ears so I decided to give him a little trim. A little off the top and the sides made him look very handsome. I even saved the little bits I cut off for the baby book.

Fort!

What do little boys love more than forts? Not much. One morning, I decided to turn the couches around, bring in some kitchen chairs and sheets and make a fort. Wes ran around to all the bedrooms and gathered all of the pillows he could find. We piled them in the fort and jumped in. Even Nate liked the fort because there were fun designs to stare at on the ceiling (the extra set of sheets for Wes's bed).
Shake took on the unlikely role of the "bear" that was trying to attack our fort. As you can see, she eventually made her way in. The fort was a lot of fun and produced a lot of giggling.

Pik-a-nik

We had walked up to the library for story time in the morning and got home just in time for lunch.
The weather was beautiful and we have two lovely citrus trees in our backyard that provide tons of shade.
Add a blanket, some PB & J, strawberries and milk...and you have yourself a picnic. Wes loved it and Nate practiced holding his head up while sitting in his Bumbo. We'll have lots of years of picnics to come.

After eating, we laid down and enjoyed the view of our nice shade tree...relaxing.

Wha...Huh?

A Trip to the Zoo

Before it got too hot out, Jen Woods and I decided to take the boys to the zoo for a play date. Luckily, Suzanne was off that day and was able to join us with Will and Cate.
Nate did a lot of sitting in the stroller and observing, but what more do you want from him? He's only 3 months old.

Here is Patrick, Wes and Will checking out the turtles and fish in the pond near the monkeys.

We saw lots of animals, played on the new playground in the children's area and ate our sack lunches.
It was a fun morning with some good friends. Now, time to go home for a nap. Nate had a head start.

Wes Quote of the Day

I was nursing Nate and Wes came over and watched me thoughtfully. He pulled up his shirt, inspected his nipples and said, "I don't have boobies, I have nipples like Daddy. I'm sorry".

3 Months Old

I like to take the boys for the requisite studio photos at 3-6-9 months and at each of their year birthdays. Here are Nate's first studio photos.




With an extra photo with his big brother in their train jammies, just for fun.

What a Chunk!

Big Boy Room

Wes has been sleeping in his big boy room, very successfully, since October. I wrote a bit about this on our old website, but I never got around to posting pictures. So, without further ado, the big boy room. Daddy and Papa painted the room while I was at work one weekend and Wes still talks about it. Every once in a while he will say, "Do you remember when Daddy and Papa painted my room for me? That was soooo nice.".

I was in charge of all the shopping, shopping and shopping...with help from Grandma Dee Dee. I decided to go with a transportation theme because Wes can't decide if he likes cars or trains more. I also wanted it to be kind of neutral so that it can be easily changed if he decides in a couple years that he MUST have a dinosaur room.

My mom and I found the furniture at Costco Home. I looked all over for the right furniture and am really happy with what we ended up with. I hope it will grow with him and be his furniture until he goes off to college. We decided on a full sized bed for this reason and the bed we found is great because it has a ton of storage and even has a trundle that pulls out for future sleep overs.

I pieced together the accessories (which really are what makes it a transportation theme) from all over. I found things at Target, Marshalls, Holland Boone and a couple different online stores. I spent countless hours scouring stores and online for just the right things...that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I think it turned out just right and Wes seems to love it.

Nate Sleeps in his Crib

Now that his nursery was all ready, it was time for him to try the crib on for size. Like the super good baby he is, he slept perfectly soundly in his new diggs. Straight through the night without a peep. I felt like he was very far away, but in our house, everyone sleeps much better in their very own beds.

Nate's Nursery

It was really important to me to have Nate's room completed before he slept in his crib for the first time. We had begun working on it back in October when we moved Wes into his big boy room and Daddy and Papa painted the room while I was at work one weekend. I had spent many months searching for and gathering everything I needed. Then finally, I got the nursery completed.

We used Wes's baby furniture, with the addition of a new changing table/dresser. The one we had for Wes was sort of falling apart and they had added a new, larger option to the line. When I found out I was having a boy, I knew I wanted to get bedding I had seen in a Pottery Barn catalog. It was mostly red and blue with a surfer/beachy look. I started looking for this while I was pregnant with Nate and was bummed to find out that it had been a summer style and was no longer available now that it was winter. Luckily, I was able to find different pieces available on Ebay and Craigs List and got everything I wanted, for a lot less. There wasn't a mobile that went with the set though. So, I found one made by a different company with sail boats, that matched really well.

I found new frames for all of the baby pictures that had hung in Wes's room, and painted them to match. I also painted the N-A-T-E to hang above the crib. I made a bean bag chair to house all of the stuffed animals. It's a good place to flop on the ground and has a zipper in the bottom so the animals can be taken out to play with and put back when finished.

My favorite thing I made was Nate's lamp shade. I had searched and searched for a lamp that would go with the room and found nothing. Finally, I just got the same blue lamp base that I had gotten for Wes's room. I remembered that one of the lots of bedding I had gotten on Ebay included a duvet cover that I would never use. I used the matching fabric from the duvet cover to cover a lamp shade to match the room. I made it up as I went along and it turned out really well.

Nate's room may not have been ready for him when he came home from the hospital but I worked hard to make it special for him, with homemade touches and all.