Catching Up

Aaron recently started a new job. He worked from home for a few weeks before starting his first project. It was wonderful having him home and it gave us time to do some fun things. We went on a hike to Silver Falls. I'm horribly out of shape so we only made it to two falls. At one point I was so tired from carrying Daniel that Aaron carried both boys for a bit--what a tough guy!

                                      I wasn't the only one tuckered out. Daniel was conked out by the end.

My handsome boys! Mikey is such a daddy's boy.

We also went to an amusement park, the Enchanted Forest. We had a great time! Mikey was a little freaked out when Gretel pushed the witch into the oven.

Boys going down the huge slide

                                                                            One of Mikey's favorite rides

                                                                     What's inside this rabbit hole?

  And just a few pictures of my Danny boy. At eight months he loves to give cheesy grins and melts my insides with his giggles, snorts and puppy dog eyes. He has a sweet demeanor and the fortitude to explore every inch of every place and then find the exact thing he should not have (cords, tiny pieces of whatever). He is endlessly entertained by his big brother and has a hearty appetite. Just when I think he can't get any more entertaining, or more exhausting or more mischievious he defies my expectations. Yep, he's a keeper!                                                

 

Spring

Aaron and Mikey had a great time visiting family in Arizona a few weeks ago. They were gone an entire week--I sure missed my boys. Mikey puts his backpack on and says "go airplane, go choo choo park" every day still.

Mikey, Davy, and Glori at Railroad Park

Mikey and Papa at the zoo

We had a nice Easter weekend with the boys. On Saturday we went to the Tulip Festival. There weren't as many tulips this year, but they were still beautiful. The highlight for Mikey was making a new friend.

Mikey was excited at the goodies the Easter Bunny brought him and Dan. Here are the boys before church with their bunnies.

Mikey dyed and decorated Easter eggs. He especially liked putting lots of stickers on them.

My handsome boys

Just a cute picture of Mikey helping Aaron mow the grass with his bubble lawn mower.

Blessed

On Sunday, February 19th, Daniel was given a name and a blessing by his dad. Aaron gave a beautiful blessing and was eloquent as usual. He was able to stay focused even when Daniel started crying. I'm so grateful for my little family and that my parents were able to be there for the blessing.

2 Years Old

It's hard to believe that my Mikey is two years old already! His birthday was January 8, but we celebrated a few weeks ago when Papa and Mimi (Aaron's parents) came to visit. Every time we told Mikey happy birthday he just looked at us like deer in headlights, but he had a fun day even if he didn't understand it was his birthday.

Mikey likes the tv show "Blues Clues." Blue is a puppy who puts her paw prints on three clues to help Steve figure out what Blue wants to do. We put three paw prints around the house that would lead Mikey to where Blue was hiding. Clue #1 was Daniel's car seat.

Clue #2--car keys. Aaron helped Mikey draw the clues in his handy dandy notebook.

Clue #3--Mikey's shoes. Where was Blue hiding? The car!

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.

And then came back home for cake and ice cream and opened presents. Mikey ate so much for dinner that he didn't even eat his birthday cake.

Hey, what's this thing doing on my head?

Mikey thought the birthday hats were pretty cool. Happy birthday, Mikey. We are so glad he is part of our family.

We had a nice time with Papa and Mimi. Mikey and Daniel both loved the attention and admiration.

Isn't Daniel getting big? Last week at his 2 month checkup he weighed 10 lbs. 14 ozs--5 more pounds since he came home from the hospital. I can't get enough of his beautiful brown eyes. They are hiding behind his eye lids most of the time.

More pics

Here's a few more pictures of Daniel.

Brotherly Love

I was concerned how Mikey would adjust to having a new baby brother after I repeatedly found his doll tossed in the garbage. To my surprise, he's adjusting very well. Of course Mikey has his moments. He sometimes tries pushing Daniel off of my lap while I'm nursing him, insisting that it's his turn. On occassion he'll act like he's giving Daniel a kiss on the head, but instead bite him. He has his moments when he's whiny and clingy. But for the most part Mikey loves being a big brother and takes his role seriously. A couple weeks ago Daniel had to have some blood tests done. When Daniel got pricked and started crying, Mikey kept saying to the nurse, "uh oh, uh oh, no, no" and then started crying too. This last Sunday a little boy got "too close" to Daniel during nursery, so Mikey told the boy to go. When he didn't, Mikey pushed the boy away. Here's a few pictures of some of the kind things Mikey does for his brother.

Mikey holds Daniel several times a day.( It's hard to believe they are brothers...I think they look very different.)

He loves giving him lots of hugs and kisses (don't worry he's not biting Daniel in this pic)

Mikey will stop whatever he's doing to help change Daniel's diaper. When Mikey wakes up in the mornings he grabs a diaper, points to Daniel and says "poop", and then rushes to the bathroom.

When Daniel starts to cry, Mikey gives him a pacifier.

The other day I noticed that Mikey's favorite blankie and ball were over Daniel. Mikey is always putting toys next to Daniel...I guess he thinks his brother gets bored.

And just a few pics of my cute hubby with Daniel. Aaron has the magic touch. He could sleep this way for hours.