My baby is One!

Alex is one!!

Birth Minute

 It is nearly impossible for me to believe that it's been a year since this little guy arrived!  Alex has brought so much joy and adventure to our family.

Alex's party wasn't until Saturday, so we spent Friday celebrating with family.

Birthday Cup Cake!

Lunch at Rubys!

We decided to set up for the party a day early to give Alex some time to play in his own personal amusement park for his birthday!

The first gift Alex got on his birthday was from his big brother.



It's Olaf!!!

Some quick notes on my Big Boy:

Height/Weight: 22 lbs!  Up to 40th percentile!  

Clothing Size:12 months

Diaper Size: 3 (but honestly, he should be in 4s)

Eating: Loves eating!  Mommy is happy he's a year so I don't have to keep trying to bribe him to drink his milk/formula!

Sleeping: Overall he sleeps great!  He goes down about 6:30 and wakes up around 8 am.  He takes a nap from 12:30 to 3:30 or so everyday.

New Skills: Nothing specific this month, but Alex is growing every day!  I can't wait to see what's next for my little guy.

Alex is 11 months!

Super late, but guess who's 11 months old!!  

Okay, now SUPER super late.  I'm so behind!  And no pictures!  But since he's ONE YEAR tomorrow time to post anyway!

Height/Weight: No measurements since his last doctor's appointment.

Clothing Size:12 months

Diaper Size: 3 (but only because I have a TON of 3's left, he should probably be in 4s!)

Eating: Still a fantastic eater, especially compared to his brother who has recently decided to become much pickier.  He did start refusing all defrosted milk (we weaned a few weeks ago) and he also started refusing formula!  I know you are supposed to wait until 12 months, but we've started whole milk and he's a huge fan.

Sleeping: This month brought it's sleep challenges.  Nothing to complain about in the scheme of baby/kid sleep, but Alex started waking up about an hour after he goes to sleep screaming.  We suspect it's teeth, but it's been hard on everyone.  He is down to one nap that mommy and daddy insist happens with his big brothers nap time!

New Skills: Alex took his first steps!! He stood up in the kitchen and took two step to mommy ('s phone).  Big boy!!  He also said his frst word 'niy niy' while waving night night.  Alex also started playing tag with mommy.  He loves the I'm gonna catch you song.

I can't believe my baby is about to be a toddler.  Too fast!!

Easter 2015

We had an amazing and busy Easter this year.

First we had a picnic and egg hunt with my MOPS moms.  Since we meet after bedtime, this was my first time meeting most of their kiddos. New friends!

We also attended the Easter Egg Hunt at our church.  We attended the same event last year.  We didn't have enthusastic hunters this year.  Alex is a bit too young and Colin figured out the eggs have things in them and wants to open them immediately!  It was still a great event.  Colin was also old enough to participate in the pony ride and other games and crafts.

And this year Colin colored eggs for the first time!!

Thanks to pinterest, I used a whisk (which worked awesome!!) and the mess was minimal.  Colin also got some great counting practice in counting to 10 with each dunk.

Alex seems pretty excited to get involved.  Maybe next year, little guy!

 On Easter we went to an early church service and then had baskets and eggs at home.  I didn't get a great picture of our baskest this year.

The Willmunders invited us over for Easter Dinner.  Look at our big guys sitting at the table!!

It was 1st Easter for both baby brothers!  I can't believe how long it's been since someone else's first Easter!

What a beautiful celebration!

10 month old Alex

Height/Weight: No measurements since his last doctor's appointment.

Clothing Size:9 months, some 6 months and some 12 months.

Diaper Size: 3

Eating: Alex eats like crazy, especially lately.  Colin has discovered that Alex will eat anything and tries to use him as a disposal service for foods Colin doens't want to eat.

Sleeping: Still a great sleeper! 7 pm bedtime, althogh daylight savings time makes that hard.  Sometimes it's later and he is up by around 7.  The poor kid can't keep a nap routine because we mess with it constantly.  Don't worry, it's all for really critical things like Disneyland, or going to the Ladera Spring Celebration.  He does great despite the disruptions.

New Skills: Alex can stand by himself!!  He's done it a handful of times and it's only a matter of time before he's walking, I know.  He also started clapping!  It came seemingly out of nowhere and delighted everyone.  I've been trying to get it on video, but no luck so far.  He also gave daddy a high five!

Maybe it's not a skill exactly, but Alex has started to figure out when Colin (or anyone) is taking something from him and he does not like it.  He's normally very happy and laid back, but he will let loose if you try to get something away from him.

Alex is so much fun right now.  He laughs frequently, plays and smiles.  He's into everything and he keeps us busy, but we wouldn't trade if for anything!

Ladera Spring Celebration

 In 2010, I rode my bike over to the Spring Celebration in Ladera by myself to check it out.  I remember thinking, wow, there are a lot of kids.  Today, we went back, with two kids of our own.  It's crazy how time flies!

They had a mini egg hunt for the little guys and both of our little people participated.  It was crowded, but fun.  Alex found his very first Easter Egg!

Colin loved looking for eggs, just like last year.  He's such a sweet boy and was so gentle with all of the other kids.  The end result is not very many eggs, but several sweet sharing moments.  I love my sweet boy!

I can't believe how big our boys are getting!

Gavin and I tried to skip it, but Colin really wanted to meet the Easter bunny. Both boys did great, no tears or fear at all!

There was also an awesome slide.  Unfortunately it was for 3 and up.  Fortunately, Colin can't read...

Saturdays are so much fun.  After we came home for a quick nap, we headed out to our very first pool day of the year!  Both kids loved the water, and Colin remembered all of his lessons from last year's swim lessons!  He can climb out of the pool all by himself and did pretty good jumping in.

We BBQ'd for dinner and spent a bit of time at the water table.  It was a long and full day in the sun, and both boys were exhausted by bedtime.  Gavin and I stayed up and watched a movie, and I just kept thinking how much I love our Saturday Family Days.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place and have such a healthy and happy family.

Hiking south

We went hiking again!

This time we went the other direction on the trail.  5.1 miles.

We borrowed a hiking backpack from another friend.  This pack was a Chicco.  I didn't wear the last one, so I can't compare very well, but Gavin says he liked where Colin sat in the seat better.  

Grandma came with us so we got several awesome pictures of all of us.  Sadly, I didn't get any of her!

This was my first time using a toddler packing backback. I started off with a sort of steep cliff and a river crossing!

 Family hiking is quickly become a favorite pasttime around here!  The boys absolutely love being outside.  Colin sings songs and tells us about what we are passing.  On this hike we saw a centipede, rabbit, bugs, and birds.

Our hometown <3