Happy Birthday Dad!

This year my sister and I decided to throw my dad a 58th birthday party.  We have had so many hurdles in the past 6 months that we thought it was necessary to celebrate something GOOD!!!  We invited friends and family over for the afternoon to celebrate my dad. It was a lot of activity for him for 1 afternoon, but I am pretty sure he had a good time.

Happy Birthday Dad!  We love you!

 

 

These first 2 are from the night before when we celebrated his birthday by eating ribs and a half iced cake (his request)!

 Papa with his grand-boy-babies

 Mom is always wanting a group shot!

 Will, Dad, Annie

 Dad and his kids

Luke's 3rd Birthday Party

Luke loves the park so it seemed appropriate to have Luke's 3rd birthday at one of our favorite parks.  This year he specifically asked for a train birthday party, but not any train, he insisted that it be Thomas the Train.  Luke was really into Thomas the Train last year, but considering we really have not watched much of him lately I was surprised that he was so insistent. 

Having a park party in March is really a gamble, but thankfully the weather was nice and sunny......and WINDY!!  I wasn't able to set up and make the party cutsie like I would have wanted (because it would have blown away), but turns out that kids don't care!  This was a good lesson for me :)  As far as the party the kids had a great time just playing.  They played at the playground, in the sandbox, with chalk, and blew bubbles!  It was tons of fun!

Guests:  Grandma & Grandad, Gigi, Aunt Becky, the Lowerys, the Jambers, the Keels, the Usserys, the Johansens,  Terrance, Roman, Andre, Chance, and Sydney

Happy 3rd Birthday Luke!

Luke and Grandad

 Ginger and Robyn

 How cute is this kid?

 Yes, he is about to eat an unpeeled orange

 Makayla

 Jack and John

 Singing along with his happy birthday song!

 Make a Wish!

 Our best attempt at getting a picture of all the kiddos.  From left to right (top row) - Colin, Ben, Jacob, Sydney, Luke, Chance  (bottom row) - Eric, Makayla, Jack

 Luke's buddy from school, Chance

 I love this picture of him resting

 At the sandbox

 MELTS.MY.HEART

 Grandma and Daddy

 Engineer Colin

 Chalk time

Twenty Questions at THREE

This is something I hope to remember to do each year with both of my boys.  I saw it on Pinterest ;)

Twenty questions answered by Luke at age three:

1. What is your favorite color?  Yellow
2. What is your favorite toy?  Teddy
3. What is your favorite fruit?  Apples
4. What is your favorite TV show?  Mickey Mouse
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Ravioli
6. What is your favorite outfit?  Striped Shirts
7. What is your favorite game?  Pirate game (I'm not sure what this is)
8. What is your favorite snack?  Cookies
9. What is your favorite animal?  Teddy (when asked about real animals he said elephant)
10. What is your favorite song?  ABCs
11. What is your favorite book?  Elmo (not sure which one, we have several)
12. Who is your best friend?  Chance
13. What is your favorite cereal?  Fruit Loops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Go to the Park
15. What is your favorite drink?  Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas (I had to clarify what a holiday was first)
17. What do you take to bed with you to bed at night?  Teddy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Oatmeal
19. What do your favorite thing to eat for dinner?  Salad (not sure I believe this)
20.  What do you want to be when you grow up? A monster, then he said "get people better like you" (referring to what I tell him I do at work)

Luke is Three!

Dear Luke,

I cannot believe you are 3 years old now.  In so many ways you seem older, but at the same time you are the little baby I brought home from the hospital 3 short years ago.  This thought makes me smile and be sad all at the same time.

At 3 years old you weigh in at 35lbs (fully clothed) and are 38.5 inches tall (75th percentile for both).  You wear 3T pants (some are too big in the waist) and are transitioning to 4T shirts.  You were a size 9 shoe.  You are not a picky eater, but you tend to eat like a bird.  You love cookies, fruit (all kinds), yogurt, spaghetti, hot dogs, gummies, and jello.

You are so loving.  You worry about us when we are not around and always make sure we remember Ben.  You tell us you love us all the time and you are going through the phase of not wanting to be left anywhere and your reason is "because I love you."  Despite some minor sharing issues, you are a great big brother to Ben and love him very much. 

You go to school 2 days per week and absolutely love it.  We rarely have problems with leaving you there, but you are always super happy to be picked up.  Your teachers are always telling me how well behaved and how sweet you are.  If I head to guess you are probably one of their favorites ;)  At school you have several friends, but your best buddy is Chance. 

Luke you are so much fun to be around.  Some of your favorite things to do are color/play stickers, go to the park, build leggos with daddy, do puzzles, and play with your cars (with doors that open).  I think we are spoiling you some because you frequently ask me "what is something fun we can do today?"

Luke we love you very much and are grateful for these past 3 years.  We look forward to your future and know that you will go on to do great things.  You are our blessing and we thank God daily for choosing us to be your parents.

Mommy

 I love that you were singing happy birthday with us!

Benji and Papa

 Luke and Papa

McDonald's, A Tradition??

On the day of Luke's actual birthday I had to work (again) so we were limited to celebrating turning 3 in the evening hours.  Like last year, the weather was not pretty so we decided to get some quick birthday playtime in at one of Luke's favorite places..... Old McDonald's (aka McDonald's).  Luke is becoming so brave.  He started out in the toddler area, but eventually explored the tubes and went down the slide multiple times! On the other hand, Benjamin wants to be big so bad and wanted to be up there with his brother.  Overall, we had a fun and quick playtime at Old McDonald's.  Happy birthday Luke!  Maybe next year we will do something different ;)

 He is only 15 months old!

I love this picture of Benji trying to stand on the guitar!

15 Months Old!

Yes I realize Ben is 16 months old as I am writing this post, but I am really, really behind :)

Benji, Benji, Benji -- where has time gone? 

At your 15 month check up you weighed in at 26lbs, 11 oz and measured 32.5 inches tall (90th percentile for both). You are wearing 12 or 18 month pants (depending on type/brand) and 24 month/2T shirts.  Your chubby little foot requires a size 4 or 5 super wide ;)

Looking back on these past 3 months you have changed so much!  For starters, YOU ARE MOBILE!  You started walking at 13.5 months and have not slowed down one bit.  In fact, before you were even walking you were trying to climb the OUTSIDE of the banister of the stairs -- true story.  You have so much energy and love to climb and explore everything.  You love to be outside and it is not uncommon to find you standing at the back door saying/crying/shouting "a-sigh."  I am kind of worried about the day you figure out how to open the door on your own....

You are talking up a storm, most of which only a few people understand.  Some of your words include: Mommy or Mama, Daddy, Bubba, GiGi, Papa, ga (cup/milk), bye-bye, No, Yes (you have a cute little lisp with yes), up (sometimes bup), down, nigh-nigh, Ma (Molly), bath (baa), and my personal favorite -- I Love you (i uh ooo).  You actually have way more words than this, I am just blanking on them right now.  In addition to words you can make the noises of a cat, dog, monkey, cow, duck, elephant and lion/bear.  One of my favorite things you are doing right now is going to talk to Papa.  When we get to Gigi's house the first thing you do is go to his room to see him.  You talk to him with such intent -- I only wish I knew what you were telling him.

You love to give kisses!  I wish I could say that you were all sweet, but the truth is that you are also a hitter and a biter.  Daddy calls you the little sour patch kid because you hit/bite, but then give sweet kisses.  We are trying to figure out how to get you past this not so nice stage....  Despite the occasional outburst, you really are a sweet boy and I will never pass up one of your kisses!

Benji, we love you so much and I am looking forward to exploring the world with you.

Cell Phone Dump

Life has been pretty hectic since my dad has been sick.  I realized that I have taken very few pictures with my actual camera and seemed to have only captured the small moments on my cell phone.  Here is my cell phone dump....

 

Watching cartoons :)

 Gigi's glasses

 My sweet super hero

 I need sunglasses, too!

 Resting on Gigi's couch with a fever :(

 This kid loves hats!

Being silly at dinner

 Gigi bought Ben a new chair and he loves it!

 Luke at swim lessons

 The puzzle Grandma Blum sent him

 Playing in the dirt at Gigi's house

 Sweet cousins playing in Gigi's toy closet