Last weekend

This last weekend Mommy and I enjoyed some time at the park while Daddy was playing "loud and violent" video games at home and Mommy said we had to get out of the house before it started rubbing off on me and before she went crazy. So, we headed off to the park and had fun times - including on the swing, one of my favorites.

Then we went to the beach in Gig Harbor and threw rocks, sticks and shells into the water. Daddy threw BIG sticks to Rock (a dog, not an actual Rock) (confusing, I know) and he went into the water to get them - crazy dog! Doesn't he know that water is cold? And very salty? Grandma kept calling Rock - Rocko and that seems like a much easier name to say - 2 syllables instead of just one, for a dogs name.

Here I am with some sticks and rocks - getting ready to make the trek down to the water. It was cold and windy and Mommy made me put on a jacket and hat. I put up a fit for a little bit, until I felt that icy cold wind and then didn't complain a bit!

Ahh - another family picture at the beach in the winter. Do these people ever not take pictures or what? Good thing I know what a camera looks like and even know what it means to pose for the camera and smile!

Grandpa's visit

Grandpa came to visit Alex recently and they had a great time. Alex showed Grandpa his legos and all sorts of toys. He even let Grandpa hold him for this picture - along with his classic grin!

Making cupcakes, Birthday cake

Alex helped me frost the cupcakes we took to preschool and helped Daddy put the sprinkles on them. Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

And Grandma T. made an amazingly fantastic cake in the shape of a Choo-Choo train! The first car was the engine, the second car had animal (crackers) and the third car had (gummi worm) logs! How creative is that? Alex LOVED the cake and kept on eating the animals and with his full mouth say - choo choo train!

Happy Birthday Alex

Happy Birthday Alex!

You are two years old today.

We taught you to say "Happy Birthday" and you can say it very well now. You've even added on "Happy Birthday Alex".

When we ask you how old you are you say "Two!". You want to hold up two fingers, just like we do, but it's pretty darn difficult (one finger is so much easier!). So instead, you just happily and proudly say "Two!"

Love only describes a little bit of how Mama and Daddy feel about you. We love you so much and have enjoyed watching you grow. We can't imagine our lives with out you and when we look at pictures of ourselves before you were even a twinkle in your Daddy's eyes - it is difficult to imagine before you were born.

It's even more difficult to imagine how small you were when you were born and how much you've grown physically over the 2 years.

Born: 5 lbs 2 oz

2 years old: ~30 lbs

Born: 18.5 inches

2 years old: ~36 inches

We thought it would be fun to look back at some of the old pictures. Enjoy, my sweet!

Not too long before you were born (~28 weeks pregnant)
In the OR, just after you were born and your Daddy proudly carried you up to the NICU

You in the NICU, with your Daddy by your side - all night long.

The first chance I had to hold you in my arms - 2 days after you were born - a Wednesday. (not a great picture, but the emotions were overwhelming to Mama. Mama remembers this moment very clearly)

Our first "Family" picture.

A wonderful day in the hopital where I held you all day long.You slept a lot and were so cute when you slept. Two years later, I still watch you sleeping.
The day we brought you home from the hospital. I remember your Daddy, as we walked in the door of our house, said "What do we do now?" and it was a clear representation of what we were feeling.

After that - you wanted to be held a lot. You even wanted to sleep on me - most of the time - and made your requests known.

It's so difficult to remember how small you were.

Because now you are so big. You are so tall. You are so strong. You are so brave. In fact, you are fearless.

Flash foward to your first birthday - you loved balloons and had your first cupcake! You still love balloons and helped me add frosting and sprinkles to your cupcakes this morning that we sent to preschool.

You chowed down!

Yummy!


Happy Birthday, my love. We love you.

Bounce, help, jump, jump

Wow! What a boy we have! I was looking through these series of photos and realizing how active he is. These photos we all taken with 15-30 minutes - just goes to show you HOW ACTIVE HE IS! His activity level is normal to us (now), but is especially highlighted when someone else experiences Alex's movements. I also heard a fact, that I think is a little underestimated, in Alex's case - - - that a toddler will have on average 3 requests per minute from their parent/s. If you haven't experienced this yet - let me tell you - it takes some getting used to. I felt like I had ADHD for a long while.

Enjoy the crazy photos!

Bouncing on the big ball - by request

Helping Daddy do push-ups

Running and jumping off the stairs

Jumping off the bench onto Daddy's back

Big funny smile

This weekend we were outside and although I've been (mostly) taking a photo a day - I feel like I haven't been taking as many photos. I take one-a-day, but not 30-40/day of a setting. So, I grabbed my camera and although nothing great was produced, I did catch this BIG SMILE from Alex. I had my camera and took some pictures of him, then asked him to smile big for Mama's camera.

And this is the result.

So funny!

Big shoes to fill

Daddy wears mens size 14, I wear toddler size 8.5 when I'm 2 years old?!?!

Who wants to bet I'll have big feet?

mama, why do you always take pictures?

Because I LOVE YOU!

Bookshelves!

My first thought when I found out I was pregnant, after getting over all the excitement and all that, was "We need more storage for toys!". So Lance and I hatched a plan over 2 years ago to add cabinets and bookshelves around our fireplace. It seems like such a blank wall, I'm surprised none of the previous homeowners did this. We worked all last summer with Steve and Lance learned a lot about woodworking and all the details exact measurements that go into making all this. This fall/winter we worked on choosing the right combonation of stains to get just the right color. It ended up being a wood dye and stain combonation that took 4 separate speps each piece (conditioner, 2 coats dye, 2 coats stain, clear coat). And now we have it installed!

And it seems like it was born there!

But first, Alex watched Daddy and Steve do lots of drilling and he got right in there and did some "drilling" too! Lance got him his own tools last year for Christmas and they sure have come in handy. A drill, hammer, screwdrivers, etc. His "drill" has a drillbit (which we took out) and it just has a light and turns a little bit when you push the trigger. Apparently he did lots of drilling - about 2 hours worth Saturday afternoon. What an attention span for a 2 year old!

Alex also helped by loaning out his ladder - not an easy thing to do when it's "mine!". He finally let Steve use his ladder to install some pieces, but after much "No, mine". What a generous boy!

Here's the before picture!

(the boxes on the ground are the cabinet pieces that we just didn't have any room for in our garage)

And the after picture!

We are absolutely thrilled with the results. We love the dark color of the wood. We love how it "fills" in the wall. Now, you'll have to do some imagining - as the mantle isn't quite finished yet. Neither are the shelves for the upper part. But - I'm sure you can picture a nice substantial mantle running right in between the two bookshelves and on top of the stone fireplace. And shelving and books, etc filling the top part.

I'm now on the hunt for some art to put above the mantle.... Fun!

Spring is here?

Hellebores in bloom finally!

More Snow????

Spring is in the air!!!

Snuggling

March 2008 "sick boy"

He may have been fighting off a bug or may be getting sick. That may have been the reason for waking up crying last night and wanting to come sleep in Mom and Dad's bed. What ever the reason, once he was there - it was like that was exactly where he needed to be. He hasn't slept in our bed in a long time - I can't even remember the last time.

I carried him into our bedroom with his legs wrapped around my waist while he carried his "dog-dog" lovey with him. I layed him down in between us and he squirmed a bit. It wasn't quite what he wanted and he squirmed a bit more all the while being fairly quiet, not crying. He finally decided that where he wanted to be was on my chest and got himself in just the most comfortable spot, turned his head a few times and passed out.

I was amazed. He hasn't wanted to snuggle like this since the last time he was sick.

His little rosy cheeks so round and warm. His mouth having a dream where he was smiling. His eyes closed and off in dreamland. I am thinking that here is my baby, not so small anymore and although most of the time is too wiggly and and too independant to hug me much anymore, here he is laying on my chest and I'm loving it and soaking up as much as I can. It's so difficult to remember when he was always attached to me and to think of a time when I hadn't held him for hours/days/months. Now he's ~36" tall and hangs down so far when I pick him up and stands so tall against my legs. He's so strong and fearless. A big boy snuggling his Mama. Yet so calm and sweet on my chest. Just where he's meant to be.