Oh Blake...

And here's my other little ray of sunshine. This guy has the ability to light up a room in about 1 second. He has definitely picked up Mommy's silliness gene. Even his mannerisms and all of the little voices he makes up are hysterical. One of his teachers told us one day last week while singing the ABC song, he started singing it in this low, growly voice he has made up and then that got another kid doing it. She tried to make them stop but of course they wouldn't, because all the other kids were laughing at them. Then one day he came home from school and we asked how his day was and he honestly proclaimed "Ms Makai said I wasn't listening." At least he's honest! Today when discussing Daddy's upcoming birthday, he told me we would need to go to the store and buy a cake. Then he corrected himself and said "two cakes." He came by his sweet tooth naturally!

Here are some things I love about this guy...

1. His contagious belly laugh.

2. How you always know if he's quiet or playing by himself that means he's pooping. Sorry B.

3. How he says "okay" after everything...we are still trying to figure out where that came from.

4. How he hates to wear socks and pants. The sock thing I completely understand...the pants, not sure but he will tell you "I'm hot!"

5. How he says "my's" instead of mine.

6. How he absolutely adores his brother and always wants to hug him or pat his head. He has even started calling him "little buddy."

7. How he loves to read. This kid is going to be a voracious reader. His current favorites are Maisy the Mouse and Curious George (aka Monkey George).

8. How he dances like Elaine from Seinfeld.

9. How he can repeat anything I say with the same high pitches and tones which makes his Daddy laugh.

10. How it can break my heart completely when he tells me to "leave him alone." Who knew you could love somebody this much!

Love you buddy!

Oh Luke...

Here are some fun new pictures of my little guy. He is such a sweetie. Now that he is starting to feel better on a more consistent basis (thank goodness that other top tooth broke through) his personality is really taking shape. Don't get me wrong, he still has his moments and can freak out if he realizes he is not being held after about 10 minutes of play time. But, oh my little Luke.

Here are some things I love about you...

1. You wake up happy 98% of the time.

2. You said Ma-Ma first. Though you do say Da-Da now and we are working on Bla-Bla for Blake!

3. How you light up when you catch a glimpse of your brother or hear him.

4. How badly you want to walk, crawl, sprint, whatever, but just can't quite figure it out yet.

5. How you love to splash in the bathtub.

6. How your eyes smile sometimes before your mouth.

7. You are a man of routine...you eat, nap and go night-night at the same times nearly everyday. Rarely do you fuss or make a stink about going to bed.

8. How you have mastered the pincer grip but still prefer the fist method for self feeding because it gets you more faster!

9. You have perfect skin...no signs of ezcema on this little guy.

10. How we can call you our "little fat and happy" and you just smile! I promise not to call you that once you aren't a baby anymore.

A few more vacation pictures...

I'm not sure how to describe this one. ;)

Best friends - Blake and Chloe

Wouldn't you love to know what they are thinking?

I know what they are thinking here...."wheeeeeeee"!

Thank goodness Michelle is always prepared! These stickers (and the fun part of putting them on their faces) kept Blake and Chloe occupied during a lunch outing.

I think about how small I feel standing beside the ocean and then see this and wonder what he must think.

Brothers...

These two are really starting to bond. They "talk" to each other in the back seat of the car all the time and there is nothing Blake can do that won't make Luke laugh. We thought we had tucked them both in for the night one evening when we kept hearing them both dying laughing. Well upon further investigation, Blake kept getting out of his bed and going over to Luke's (we had double beds in the condo and I slept in one with Luke and Daddy and Blake slept in the other) where he would then tickle and do all sorts of things to make Luke laugh. It was such a sweet moment...and the first time they BOTH got in a little trouble for not settling down for bedtime!

I think these pictures are so cute because you can see how different they are starting to look, yet clearly brothers. Especially in the second one...they are even holding onto the same foot! Gosh, I love these guys!

Beach Day

On Friday the Lamothe's drove over from Orlando to visit us at the beach. It was Chloe's first time at the ocean too. She wasn't all that keen on it either, but we still had fun dipping our toes in the water and filling our buckets with sand. We parents may have also enjoyed an adult beverage and some adult conversation for a change too!

After our beach time, we went out to lunch and then to the playground so Chloe and Blake could play some more. It was such a fun day and a great way to end our Florida vacation.

The logistics behind everything you do with kids makes vacations not seem like vacations sometimes, but getting to spend an entire week with your children without the interruption and stress of work was priceless.

Hanging Out

Thursday was a rest day. We had been going strong for 3 straight days so we needed a day to unwind. We hung out by the pool for a few hours (where Mommy ended up getting a little too much sun), did some swinging and sliding at a local park, had the boys in bed by 6:00 (no joking - they were pooped) and we were asleep by 8:30! Here are some funny shots of my cool dudes...

Okay, now this takes some explaining and might be one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. After Blake was done swimming in the frigid water, I stripped him down to his little swimmer. In our beach toys bag he found a deflated arm floatie that fit perfectly on his head and then became his "party hat." He proceeded to march around the pool singing Happy Birthday at the top of his lungs. There might have a few choruses from the "farmer in the dell" too. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It just reminded me how imaginative and spontaneous toddlers can be. And even cuter was his little butt cheek that kept sticking out of his diaper! I wish I would have done the video on this one, but had he even caught me taking pictures the moment would have surely been over.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!

Wednesday was the big day...Mickey day! We met our friends, the Lamothe's, at Disney World and Blake and Chloe finally got to see where Mickey and Minnie live. They love watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so it was pretty fun to see their expressions when they saw the gang in person. They were both in awe most of the day...and on a sugar high. We had to keep them going somehow! We watched a few shows, got a really good spot for the afternoon parade, rode "It's a Small World", a Winnie the Pooh ride, a train and the Liberty Belle (a big steam boat).

It's funny, if you ask Blake what his favorite part of the day was he is sure to tell you it's the "nummy bears." He got some gummy Mickey's and that made his day. Luke was such a trooper. He hardly fussed at all and actually took a nap in the shade during the parade. It was so cute to see both of their faces when we rode "It's a small world" and the Winnie the Pooh ride. And of course Blake and Chloe had a good time just being together.

Another funny moment came (anyone whose children watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse will understand this one) in the car after we left the park. We bought Blake this little set of Mickey and friends characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto) while B was taking a short nap in the afternoon. When I gave it to him in the car I was sure it was going to be a hit. He looked at it for about a minute and then said to me "there's no Clarabelle." Seriously. Are you kidding me?? Clarabelle has random cameo appearances on the show every few weeks and that is the character he can't live without!

Front row seats at the parade!

Silly Faces on the Liberty Belle!

Mommy and her happy boy.

Blake and Chloe checking out Mickey's pad.

Blake and Mommy outside Minnie's house.

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

My friend Michelle and our two sillies! Blake still has this weird thing with getting his picture taken.
The post nummy-bear crash.

Thank goodness Kurt and I had been there before in our youth to truly experience it for ourselves...because with kids in tow it's a whole different ball game. It didn't help that the park was literally insane. We all thought we would miss the spring break crowd by going this week...we were SO wrong. There were so many people there it was almost unbearable. We were there from 9:30 to 6:30 and I swear we only made it through a couple of the areas and only rode 4 rides. We all joked about how all you do with little kids is prep, feed, diaper, pick up dropped items and tend to all the other wants/needs 95% of the day.

Was it worth it...absolutely. Will we do it again...yes, but when they are about 4 and 6.

Rocket Ships!

On Monday we decided to drive down to Cape Canaveral and go to Kennedy Space Center. This was a stop more for us then for the boys, but there were definitely a lot of interesting sites for the whole family. I want to go back when the boys are about 8 and 10 because there were a TON of exhibits, movies, and interactive things that we weren't able to do. It was so cool to see where so much history has taken place. I am definitely envious of the generation that got to experience the start of space exploration. It's just amazing at how far we've come in such a short amount of time.

There was a bus tour that made 3 stops: a viewing station by the launch pad that is set to launch a shuttle on May 11th (the shuttle was on the pad but the angle of the viewing station did not allow you to see the entire shuttle), a model of some of the international space station and a glimpse into people from all over the world working on projects that will be sent to the space station, and finally we got to see a replica of Saturn V...that was the rocket that launched the Apollo missions including the launch to the moon and the infamous Apollo 13.

Kennedy Space Center is located in a nature reserve so we saw about 7 or 8 alligators (mostly from the bus, but one was actually on site at the visitors center) and a bald eagle nest.

We didn't anticipate being there for as long as we were so we ended up driving back the next day (yes, the day that the terrible storms went through) to go through the Astronaut Hall of Fame. There we saw the actual Apollo 14 module that landed on the moon in 1971. It was so neat to see something that has actually touched the moon.

Big Boy Jammies

Mommy finally bought Luke a pair of big boy jammies...two piece versus the one piece ones. Not a big deal to some people, but a REALLY big deal to me. He just looked so darn cute in them that I had to take a gazillion pictures. I'll just share a few...

Easter 2009

Easter Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day. The weather was just perfect and I can't think of a better way to spend a holiday then taking my little Luke to the ocean for the first time. He didn't care too much for it though. Granted the water was pretty cold, but the minute the water touched his little chubby feet he started to cry. I'm sure it's pretty intimidating to a 9 month old. It still makes me stop and think about how small we all really are when standing at the edge. It's a truly amazing sight and I'm so glad I've been able to experience it so many times in my life. Blake had a better time. He liked to walk along the edge and look for shells with his Daddy. He also liked playing in the sand.

And the best part of all...my boys decided it was the perfect place to nap so Daddy and I got to relax and nap ourselves.

Taking the show on the road...

Right before we left for vacation, someone said to me "you realize with two little kids it's really not a vacation, it's just taking the show on the road." Nothing could be more true. But let me say, our "show" is fun...indeed a tremendous amount of work and effort and at most times completely exhausting...but definitely fun.

And so our trip began last Saturday with our "direct" flight that had a stop over in Milwaukee. Nothing like paying a little extra to get a direct flight to only find out once you check in that the airline has decided it would be more cost effective for them to combine two "not full flights." In the end it cost us an hour, but luckily we did not have to switch planes.

Luke's first airplane ride and Blake's second were pretty uneventful. I have to admit they were both pretty good. Seeing how it was a night flight, they slept a good chunk of it, but even when they were awake they were well mannered. The hardest part was getting around the airport with 2 suitcases, two car seats, a double stroller, and 3 carry on bags...oh and two small children.

We arrived in Orlando at about 10 pm and then hit the road for Daytona Beach. We didn't get there until 1:30 or so in the morning (it took a while to get the rental car and get car seats and everything ready). We just crashed once we got to our condo. It wasn't until the next day (Easter Sunday) that we realized our condo hadn't been cleaned prior to our arrival and that we slept on dirty sheets - YUK!!! The owner was really nice and had someone out to clean it first thing Monday morning. We found plenty to do on Sunday to keep us out of the condo. :)

Happy 9 Month Birthday Luke!

I promise to add a photo when we get back...

Happy 9 Month Birthday big guy! We have had a BUSY month. In about an hour we will be at the airport and off on your first big vacation! Florida here we come!! We are so excited that our friends, the Lamothe's, have decided to go to Florida this week too. Chloe, Blake and Luke will now get to meet Mickey and Minnie in person.

You are getting to be a real chunk my little dude. You are 22 pounds and I'm not sure how long...your next well baby is the week we get back. You have this sandy blonde hair that sticks up just a bit in the back (right side only), adorable little smile (with 2 and 1/2 teeth) and sparkley blue eyes. You also have super long eyelashes that your Mommy is envious of! You, Mommy and Blake have been sick this week so hopefully the sun and sand will cure us quickly! You are trying so hard to clap, but are getting really good at patting your legs instead. Still saying Mama and BaBa, but no DaDa (you really need to work on that!). And you're getting stronger in your crawling position, but no movement yet. Daddy calls it "getting your wheels." I'm okay waiting a little longer. :)

We love you buddy and are so excited to take you (and Blake) on this trip and spend an entire week together. When you work full time, you really appreciate these opportunities to be with your children 24 hours a day...and you really appreciate those Moms and Dads who do it 365 days a year. :)