Two Months Old!

Estella is two months old

and growing fast!

I am going to now chronicalize her growth for the next year by doing two things. I bought these adorable owl stickers (ones on her belly) that show what month she is and so each month i'll put a sticker on her and then place her monkey next to her as well. It is going to be fun and sad at the same time to see how big she gets each month. I love this picture! Her eyes are really blue right now, and while I know that all babies eyes start out blue/grey I can't help but wonder if she will keep her bright blue eyes. It is possible, for all those of you who are wondering, as my grandmother had red hair and blue eyes and Tone's dad has blue eyes. So there ya go.

Is this face hilarious or what?!

Happy 5th Birthday Nikolas!

We celebrated Nik's 5th birthday with the standard Train Party. Why both of my boys can't seem to get out of the train party rut is beyond me. Don't they know there are other themes we could be doing? Mainly I just want to make something other than a train cake, like a rocket ship or something, ANYTHING but another train cake. At any rate, Nikolas was very excited about having a "Rocky" train party. If you don't know your Thomas the Tank Engine trains then let me fill you in. Rocky is a crane train. He can swivel around and pick up derailed trains or move downed trees and is, as are all the trains on Sodor Island, "very useful". (Except that mean ol' Diesel 10, he's always up to no good) Isn't that right Elly? (Another small train aficionado)

Mama's rendering of Rocky.

What can you expect at one in the morning? Thankfully I had just picked up my niece Alex at 10:30 that night so she helped me decorate and prep for the morning, as well as keep me awake while I frosted. Eating a large spoonful of frosting helped too. If you asked Nik what his favorite part of the day was he would answer with, "wrestling with my cousin and my friends". I love how little boys look up to bigger boys and young men so much. I love it even more when those bigger boys and young men will take the time to interact with the little boys, like my nephew Zachary did. He wrestled with them, played ball with them and helped them play video games. It made the little boys feel important. Thanks Zach!

One tired birthday boy snuggling with his daddy.

Estella's First Smiles:)

Our sweet little girl is smiling now, and it's not just because she has gas! I had hung a toy from her car seat handle and as I was doing something nearby I heard a little giggle. I looked at her and saw her staring at her toy and smiling and laughing. It was so cute!

Little Pink Riding Hood

What?! I'm in a picture!

Tone' and his little "peanut".

Nik's New Ride

Nikolas' 5th birthday is coming up and he was needing a new bike as his other bike was a 12" with teensy little tires that couldn't keep up with his pedaling. So off to Toys R Us we went and brought home a new "Shark" bike. He is one excited little boy!

Riding off curbs

and a video of him riding off the ramp Tone' made him:

He took to his new 14" bike with ease and is able to ride so much faster.

Tone' is about ready to take him on the bike path, though we're just a little worried about whether he will pay attention to other bikers so he doesn't get run over or end up in the blackberry bushes.

Then there is little brother Lukas.

Who, at 3, still only wants to ride his litte Retro Rocket that he started riding when he was a one year old. Once in a while he'll go out on a limb and ride a tricycle, but only when he's feeling daring. It really is cute though to watch him pushing that thing all over the place, especially since he has no clue that he is always last when he races Nik. They both say, "I won!".

And here is a video showing he does have a little bit of a daring side:

An Honest Answer

I was reading to Lukas from the Bible about Jonah trying to run away from God and being swallowed by a great fish. When I came to the part where Jonah finally obeyed God, Lukas said with big eyes, "OBEYED?!?!" I said, "Yes, he obeyed. Do you obey?" Lukas responded with,
"No. I don't obey."

Well, at least he's truthful:)

A New Bunk Bed and "The Rules"

The boys now have a new bunk bed, which happens to have been Kellie and mine, and they are quite ecstatic about it. Nikolas is the most ecstatic as he is the one who gets the top bunk, just like I did:)
They were both playing on the top bunk while I was changing Estie's diaper and I overheard Nikolas giving Lukas the "rules" for being on the top bunk.

Nik: Okay Lukas, rule #1: No jumping on the bed
rule #2: No rolling or you'll fall off
rule #3: no standing by the edge
rule #4: pause.....more silence....
rule #5: no throwing things off the bed
(apparently he couldn't think of anything for rule #4 so he moved on. Makes sense to a 4 year old I suppose)
rule #6: no breaking the bunk bed
rule #7: no using my blanket
rule #8: no scratching the walls with tools
rule #9: no taking my stuff out of my wall pockets
rule #10: no breaking the rules!

I walked over to their room to watch this unfold and saw Lukas' response after the last rule. He rolled, stood up and started jumping. Ha! I had to keep myself from laughing.

Hello Spring

Would you come out to stay please?