Chips

Thanks Aunt Lindsey for recommending these!  Everyone in our house loves them!!

Puddles!

The Pacifier

Both of my boys have been pacifier children.  Wade may be slightly more attached than Nathan ever was.  Wade is a much more orally fixated child in general,now that he is walking more, it has gotten better, but he still puts some awful items into his mouth.

This may be his most interesting pacifier in a pinch.

A little nightlight...I did not provide this for him, he found it all by himself, we have a wonderful improviser on our hands!

Get Your Motor Running

The classic big wheel, such a shame that they are not made anymore.  Luckily, Granddad found one in creek bed at the land!  This thing has seen better days.  The large front wheel has some dirt in it, so it is loud, and it is missing the seat, but Trace has rigged a little back-rest up.  It has provided lots of entertainment for both boys!

Posing for the camera.

This is my favorite picture!

If you look closely he has toasted marshmallow stuck on his chin.

Matchy-Matchy

I love me some little boys in footed pajamas, especially when they match! 

Goofy face on N, but they are so cute in their rocket jams!

Wade does whatever his big brother does.



It is soooo hard to get them both looking at the same camera at the same time!



Morning Delays

This morning I had a few appointments and the boys were going to go to their Grammy's house for the morning.  We were doing good on time, clothed, fed, and the car was warmed up.  Nathan gets done brushing his teeth and says, "I need to wash my hair before we go."  Alright, I think, he is going to wet it down to get it under control...So I go to the kitchen to grab drinks for them and return to find this:

He literally washed his hair, with Softsoap, at the bathroom sink.  It was so funny, I had to stop for some pictures.  Next time this happens, I will be sure to take him literally!

Yipee, He's (almost) 3!!

We celebrated Nathan's third birthday on Saturday.  I am amazed that my little guy is 3 years old.  Well, officially not until Tuesday, but we are close enough!  Time truly does fly!

I had a party "theme" months ago...I found an adorable shirt on etsy that served as inspiration.  I loved the melon color and decided to go with blue as an accent color.  So, orange and blue "Yipee, I'm 3!!" it was.  These shirts are amazing, by the way.  She uses no ink and they are hard to describe how cool they are.  I ordered two for Nathan and one as a gift, I highly recommend this shop. 

Despite my early theme decision, the party snuck up on me, I felt so rushed at the last minute.  My wonderful mother was here to help, thankfully - thanks, Mom!

Lindsey designed the most amazing invitations and thank-you cards, I figure most of you received one, so no photo on here.  They were very cute, you are so talented, Lindsey!

Only other thing I did not take a photo of was the favors.  I ordered the neatest sidewalk paint kits from this seller on etsy, here.  They were packaged adorably and look like so much fun, I cannot wait to try one out myself!

Onto some party photos...

dining table

Snack table - fruit, the most amazing pretzel treats, powdered sugar donuts, fall snack mix, and cupcakes.

side note- scrapbook paper makes an amazing table decor

ribbon banner

my sweet birthday boy

sharing his cupcake with Wade, such a sweet big brother

Trick or Treat 2011

This is a bit late, but here goes the Halloween overview for this year.  I am going to dress the boys along a theme as long as they allow me to...Last year they were Shrek and Puss 'n Boots. 

This year Nathan has been into Charlotte's Web and I had a spider costume from Nathan's first Halloween already, so on the hunt for a pig costume I went. I shopped ebay and Craigslist and found one for less than $20, "Yeah!", I thought.  So it arrives, well in advance, but it was sooooo small.  It was a 4-5 according to the listing, so I figured it would, if anything, be too large and he could wear clothes under it.  In addition to the 4-5 tag it says, "Fits to 33 inches".  What?  Wade is over 33", Nathan is about 37".  So, I rush upstairs to see if the spider will fit Nathan.  Thankfully it did, as a shirt, which worked.  And the pig fit Wade perfectly. 

This was Nathan's first experience with trick-or-treating and he did very well.  He only went to about eight houses, which was better for me because I do not have the temptation of the candy! 

We also made a trip to the fire station. The boys got a fire hat, a bag, and some candy. They were not too sure about Sparky the fire dog.

Welcome Fall!

A cool front arrived yesterday and the boys set out for some outside time. They went for a tractor ride and made it into the pickup for some pretend driving.  Wade is starting to walk (YEAH!) and lolves it outside! 

Trace and I were laughing because we bundled them up like there was a blizzard!  It was about 60ish, but felt way colder with the wind. 

Welcome fall!

Wade is One: stats and pictures

Here are the last remaining birthday pictures from the celebration of our baby's first!

We went to the doctor last week and my littlest is one big baby:

Weight = 24 lbs 4 oz
Length = 32 3/4"

This is Nathan's size {give or take a little} at 18 months!  He is such a bruiser!  We are squeezing into a few 12 month items, but mainly are into 18 month clothing.  Trace hates putting a 12 month onesie on him because thet are very dificult to snap.  He is not walking yet, but pulls up on everything and cruises along things.  He is a pro at climbing up the stairs and is working on backing down them.  He said his first word a week or so ago, "Peek-a-boo!"  It is so cute!!  He has 8 teeth fully in and is working on an upper molar, that has made for a few bad nights, poor guy. 



After cake, playing with a balloon string.

 

I love this one, this is Wade's buddy, Mason, riding bikes!

Into his balloons!

"Happy Birthday to Wade"

Newest Member of the Workforce

No, we have not put the kids to work!! 

Trace has added a new tractor to the lineup, hopefully the old one will be finding a new home soon.  This one is a yellow beast with a loader, Nathan loves it.  He asks his daddy to, "Put the loader  in the sky!"

Note the cat in the bucket!

Party Nibbles

I failed miserably in taking photos of the food, so this is mainly a link post to my tried and true, go-to  finger food.

Finger foods seem to work well for young and old alike.  Sometimes more prep work is required, but I think clean up is easier, which is always a plus for me!

This year I tried two new recipes that were popular and a few old ones that I love.  I did the usual fresh veggie tray, fresh strawberries, and grape clusters.  I wanted to do fruit kebobs and my mom brought some small sandwich picks that we laced with raspberries, kiwi chunks, and mango chunks.  They were so pretty and I am mad at myself for not taking photos.  Some chips and an amazing dip that I altered using roasted hatch chilies instead of jalapenos - that may have been my favorite thing.

For "main" finger foods I made Hawaiian ham and swiss sandwiches, Nigella Lawson's pigs in blankets with mustard dipping sauce, and pimento cheese triangles with my mom's awesome garlicky pimento cheese.  The pigs in blankets were a huge hit and we should have made many more.  The mustard sauce is super delicious.  For N's second, we made bacon wrapped pineapple that I love - it is a highly recommended, and will be seen again at his third birthday this year!

I purchased a small cupcake for W at the bakery in town and made cake pops for everyone else.  Cake pops were not all that successful - they were really more like cake balls with a stick in their side!  I could not get them to stand up without falling apart.  I think I will stick with cake balls if I make them in the future.