catching up

After a fun, but busy week of having my mom and nephews in town (and getting ready for the annual garage sale), I am now finally getting around to catching up on some things and my blog is one of them! So, while the kids are taking a nap and the laundry is in the washing machine and dryer, I thought I would take a few minutes to get caught up. Brace yourself for a mass amount of postings, but I just couldn't pass up sharing some of these fun pictures. Enjoy!

9 month old sweetheart

How is it possible that my sweet baby boy is already 9 months old??

double trouble

About a week and a half ago, I posted about Austin finding the Tupperware drawer, as well as a picture of Mikayla "back in the day". Well, today I found BOTH of them together getting into the drawer and making a mess. Two times the fun = two times the mess! So, which one do you think was the ring leader?

fun times with cousins

My nephews, Jacob & Noah, came down from Tacoma, WA on the train with my mom (who will be staying with them for a month or so) to visit this past week. My sister and brother-in-law stayed in Tacoma to get ready for the baby who will be coming on July 4th! Their things from Japan finally arrived at their new home in Washington, so they were busy unpacking and sorting as much as they could while the boys were here. Jody, my brother-in-law, is also in his 2nd round of chemotherapy, so this was a good time for him to be able to "rest up".

We shared some fun times with the cousins this week. Mostly we just hung out around the house, but we got to do a lot of playing outside since the weather was so great!

Grandma, Mammy, Gwamma...whatever you want to call her. She's the "jack of all trades". I love having my mom around to entertain. Those grandkids sure do love her!

Nothing beats PB & J for lunch!

Pool time entertainment. I love when the weather is nice...look at all those white-skinned babies!

Jacob (7 yrs.), Noah (2 yrs.), Mikayla (2 yrs.), Hunter (11 mo.), Austin (9 mo.)

(Apparently Austin wasn't up for the photo shoot.)

DO try this at home!

Wow! This weekend was a scorcher! We couldn't help but pull out the water toys again and with some creativity on Ryan's part, we decided to set up our outdoor slide to go into the pool with a hose that runs down the slide for extra slickness. My nephews were visiting, so Mikayla had some good times playing with her cousins. The kids had a blast playing in the water and it helped them "beat the heat". Summertime is so much fun!

strawberry pickin'

Saturday was a nice, sunny day, so Ryan took Mikayla out for some strawberry picking. I was happy to stay at home with my little boy (especially since he would be taking a nap). Mikayla was all excited to go with daddy, but mostly because she got to wear her favorite rubber boots. It was reported that Mikayla had a wonderful time (who knew she would like playing in the dirt?) and probably polished off a dozen or so strawberries (good thing they were small). It sounded like it was a successful morning and they brought home about 12 pounds of strawberries. Many of them we froze, some we will eat during the week, and others we will save for yummy desserts (strawberry shortcake anyone?) Tonight we enjoyed a fresh strawberry smoothie and as Mikayla would call it...a "moothie". Summertime is meant for fun times and fun memories! I hope you're all enjoying yours!

like sister, like brother

Austin found the Tupperware drawer the other day. He just loves banging things together and especially on the floor. I grabbed my camera and got a little picture happy with snapping shots of him having fun. I thought it would be neat to show Mikayla doing the same thing when she was just discovering how to open drawers. Mikayla was 9 1/2 months when she first started to get into mischief and Austin decided he would do it a little earlier at 8 1/2 months...does that mean he will be getting into MORE mischief than she did?

splashing on Sunday

For Father's Day we just hung out around the house as a family and enjoyed the sun! We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get out the pool. What fun it was to see our little kiddos playing together.

it goes a little something like this...

After seeing an opened bag of chips on the counter, Mikayla and I begin our conversation...

Mikayla: Mommy, I wanna a chip.

Mommy: OK, I'll give you a chip.

Mikayla: 2 chips.

Mommy: You can have 2 chips.

Mikayla: 6.

Mommy: Here's 3 chips.

Mikayla: OK (and off she runs).

That little stinker got me, didn't she? But how can you refuse a sweet face like this?

Friday fun in the sun!

We officially broke out the water table today and had some fun in the sun! We are so thankful for this nice weather because it feels like we've been a little cooped up indoors for way too long. Let's hope it lasts longer than just the weekend. We need summer!

I think Austin was a little jealous that he didn't get to splash around with his sister. Look at that face...please, mommy!

a lesson learned

Today we FINALLY got some nice weather and headed to the park to play with some friends. There is a big open field at this particular park and Mikayla decided it would be fun to chase the birds. As she started to run away, I noticed that she kept getting further and further, so I yelled for her to stop and come back. My "good listener" kept going. By this time, my friend was headed that direction as her daughter was also tagging along. I noticed that there was an area that looked like it was a little swampy, and of course, Mikayla was headed straight for it. Assuming that she would notice that it might be a little muddy and turn around (she hates being dirty or wet), I decided I didn't need to hightail it over there and rescue her. But oh no, she kept going and then proceeded to fall down into the mud. She wasn't in tears but she did have a look of horror on her face as she walked up the hill in muddy shoes, pants, and hands. Did I mention that she HATES being dirty or wet? We ended up needing a change of clothes which luckily my friend had an outfit to spare. Being the loving mother I am, I felt I needed to take a picture to document the event and will use for future lesson telling as she continues through toddlerhood.
"Remember that one time you didn't listen..."

fun times with "tato head"

For Mikayla's 2nd birthday, she got a Mr. Potato Head (which she lovingly calls "Tato Head"). She's had some fun times creating "new looks" for her newest friend. I love that there are toys that can keep children entertained for awhile!

This picture was taken a couple of days after her birthday party. We had fun putting this look together and Mikayla picked out all the right pieces.

This picture was taken a couple days ago after she did it all by herself and, as you can see, she didn't quite get all the pieces in the right spot, but it's cute all the same! Notice the tongue is his ear and the lips are his nose.

mommy's little helper

Last summer, Mikayla (at 15 months) wanted to help with the laundry.

Today, 10 months later, she wanted to help again.

I hope 10 YEARS from now she will still be so excited to help me with the laundry.

what big eyes you have

My sweet Austin boy, how I love your big, blue eyes!

a few of her favorite friends

I couldn't help but share all of Mikayla's friends that join her each time she naps or goes night-night. And there is no trying to "clean sweep" that crib because she KNOWS which one is always missing! Pretty soon, she will be moving into the world of big girl beds, so I can only imagine how many more friends she is going to want to join her.

balancing is an art

I was making lunch today and Mikayla was playing with some pots and pans in the kitchen at my feet. She is really starting to amaze me with her creative thinking because when I turned around and I saw that she had stacked them to create her own little sculpture, I couldn't help but be proud of her masterpiece. What I really thought was funny is that she used the smallest pot and got larger as she built the tower...and it was still balanced. Is that a gift or just luck?

addicted to baby food

I'm not addicted to eating baby food, I just love making it! Since Austin started eating solids (finally around 7 months...he wasn't interested before), I have really enjoyed pureeing various fruits and veggies to freeze in ice cube trays. I did this with Mikayla when she was first starting out, so I decided to do it again with Austin. For some reason I get a kick out of pureeing things. I just love using my blender! Mikayla loves to help me by pushing the buttons and she especially loves when I make us smoothies.

So far Austin has liked most everything I've made (especially the fruits, of course!). I've made peas, green beans, white sweet potatoes, carrots, yams, squash, and pears. He's also had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, applesauce, and prunes. That boy can't seem to get enough! I guess he's trying to make up for lost time and trying to pack on the pounds onto his skinny little body.

a day at the zoo

On Saturday afternoon, we were able to go to the Zoo with the Newtons. Ellie and Mikayla are great friends and love to be with each other, so it was a blast watching them interact with one another. The older they get, the more they are beginning to have "conversations" with one another. The weather was not too cold, but it wasn't hot either, so we were able to walk around comfortably and enjoy the animals. Mikayla is getting good at naming animals, so it was good for her to see so many. Austin's favorite part of the trip was not necessarily seeing the animals, but more just "going for a ride" and people-watching.