Andrew is 4!

Well, it's happened again.  Our house got hit with a wave of sickness and I've fallen behind on the blog.  During my absence, we got to celebrate Andrew's 4th Birthday!  No party this year, but we had a great day and Andrew was very blessed by presents that arrived from across the country for him!


Andrew at less than 1 day old:

We started the morning by opening a few presents:

Spinning Disk Gun from Matthew:

Tool Book from Us:

The super exciting circular saw!

 We saved the rest of the gifts for later in the day and headed to Andrew's 4 year old doc appointment, where we were told he was doing great.  He's still small for his age, but is following a great growth curve, so no worries there!   After his doc appointment, we all headed to a bounce house place, which is like a dream come true for kids.  Excuse the blurriness of the pictures, but these kids did stand still for one second while there!

Seriously--dreamy, right?

After nap, Andrew got to see his cool tool cupcakes (and do his tucked upper lip fake smile):

And, enjoyed some boxed mac-n-cheese and hotdogs.  Much to my dismay, the kid will not eat homemade mac-n-cheese.  He has this thing against melted cheese and if he sees a string of cheese, it's game over!  We are all looking forward to this passing and have learned there's melted cheese in more foods than we realized!  Thankfully, he is still completely in love with fruits and veggies and eats everything else!

Blew out the candles and is very happy they are chocolate cupcakes and not melted cheese cupcakes like we told him. :)

More Presents!  Construction add-on set for his new Duplo's from his Godfather, Uncle Mick:

Nice new clothes from Nana and Papa:

FOLDING RULER!!! from Godmother, Aunt Faith:

JIGSAW from Godmother, Aunt Faith:

To end the day, we headed to our school/church's fall festival.  Andrew painted a pumpkin and got his face painted for the first time...with a chainsaw!

It was a busy day and lots of fun!  Of course, we also spent a good chunk of the day video-chatting with family across the country.  Andrew is so blessed to have so many people love him and be so generous on his birthday!  Thank you everyone!

Oh, and so I don't forget, here's what Andrew's up to as he turns 4 years old:

1.  Building/Construction/Tools galore.  The kid can't get enough of talking, doing, watching, and learning about building and tools.

2.  Eating everything but things containing melted cheese.

3.  Thriving in preschool and, according to his teacher, being sought out by his peers because he's a happy and fun guy.

4.  Insisting on doing everything himself one day and having a total meltdown and claiming he needs help with everything the next.  This goes along with his responses when asked to do something.  They alternate between "Sure mom! Of course!" and "I don't want to be a helper today!"  Keeps us all on our toes! :)

5.  Letting us know at least 3 times a week when we tell him to go pee when he wakes up that he HATES our toilets, wants to live somewhere without potties, and never wants to go potty again!

6.  Taking great pride in making sure Matthew receives proper discipline when he misbehaves and really seems to enjoy letting us know each and every err Matthew makes.  We are currently enjoying the "MATTHEW'S OUT OF BED" shouts we get after saying good night to the boys.

7.  Letting me know quite frequently that my belly is getting really big!  Andrew's completely set on having a sister since "I already have a brother and don't need another one."  We'll see if he gets his way!  He's really looking forward to being back on choking hazard duty starting in February.

8.  Weighing a whopping 28 lbs!

9.  Talking talking talking...Andrew will chat from the second he wakes up until bedtime.  The workers we've had around the house have been quite impressed with his vocabulary--circular saw, jig saw, coping saw, level, hammer drill, etc etc etc.

10.  Sucking his thumb.  Napping 2-3 times per week.  Knowing his letters and getting really eager to read on his own.  Brushing his teeth all by himself.  Clicking himself into his carseat all by himself.  Getting dressed on his own.  Getting himself a cup of water.  Using words to ask for things more often than melting down.  Putting his dishes in the sink when he is finished eating.  Helping B with building projects.  Learning to share with Matthew.  Getting himself out of bed, down to the basement, and turning on the tv for Saturday morning cartoons while not waking us.  Pretending not to hear us when we tell him it's time to turn off the tv.  

Whew!  Lots of progress in 4 years!  We love that little man and are looking forward to seeing what the year has in store for him!  

Fallen from Grace...

Remember the first few weeks when I put Matthew in a big boy bed and he STAYED there?!?!  We had quite a battle to get Andrew to stay in bed and kept laughing about the ease of this transition with Matthew.  Was he really going to be one of those kids that just LISTENS??

Well, the other day, that little guy was taking forever to get quiet at naptime.  I checked on him a few times and had to remind him that he is supposed to stay in his bed. I thought he was in bed and babbling for a while until he got quiet for a long nap. But, check out what I found when I went to get him! Note: Room was clean and all Andrew's drawers were closed at the start of "naptime."

Needless to say, Matthew's figured out how to get out of his new big boy bed.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TO MATTHEW!

Matthew turned 2 today!  No party this year, but we did have a really fun day.  Matthew's a huge fan of animals, so we spent the morning at Wheeler Farm and had cupcakes after dinner.  Of course, we also opened presents for the big day and video-chatted with aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  I can't believe this little guy is already 2!

Here's what Matthew is up to at 2 years old:
-Books!  This boy is completely content sitting on the floor and looking through books.  We recently started reading Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry and Matthew asks "Where Goldbug?" every time we turn the page.

-Jumping--Matthew practices jumping all the time.  He can't get enough.

-"Want Honey!" is what we hear if we ever try to give Matthew a bowl of plain cheerios.  I added honey once and now he's totally hooked.

-Singing--Matthew loves singing songs, especially from Handy Manny and Bob the Builder (Can he fix it?), and he likes to join Andrew in singing about power tools.

-Babbling at bedtime.  Good thing Andrew is a deep sleeper and has learned to tune Matthew out.  The boys are sharing a room now and Matthew babbles for a good hour to unwind at the end of the day.

-Matthew's a train man.  He loves putting together his wooden tracks and pushing his "choo choo."

And, here's some pictures from the little man's birthday:

Matthew at 2 days old:

Matthew at 2 years old. Holding up 2 fingers is tough!

Matthew got to ride forward facing for the first time today (notice the thumbs-up from Andrew):

Happy guy checking out the cows at the farm:

Matthew watched the roosters and chickens at the farm for so long!

The train cupcakes:

Wow!  What a fast 2 years!  I'm so glad I haven't missed a moment of it--this little guy brings such joy to our family and I'm excited to keep seeing his great little personality develop.

Check it Out!

Look what we woke up to today!  Andrew was crazy excited to get his snow boots on again!  Don't worry, we'll be back up to 70 and sunny over the weekend, but this is really fun for now!  The ski resorts are reporting over a foot already.  This is definitely the first place I've lived where I've actually looked forward to winter!

BIG BOY BED!

We decided to transition Matthew out of the crib a couple weeks ago.  We also attempted to have the boys share a room at the same time, but abandoned that idea pretty quickly because of the crazy wild party happening for way too long in there!  So, for now, we're working on getting this nearly-2-year-old adjusted to his new room and new bed while Andrew snoozes in the guest room.  So far, he's doing great and absolutely LOVES it!

Rain and such

We had a decent amount of rain here last week, which made me start focusing on the inside of the house and the arrival of fall.  We have a large maple in the back yard and the whole thing is still very green, but somehow it has started dropping 1-2 of these a day:

I am a little excited that the biggest tree in our yard is going to turn such a beautiful red!  

I've also completely switched modes in the kitchen--I've moved away from caprese salads, grilled goodies, and light pastas and moved into comfort food mode.  I made my first batch of chili for the season and we are looking forward to some stuffed cabbage (try this recipe--it's crazy good) this week! 

Oh, wait--this was going to be a post about the rain!  Oops--ok, so usually when it rains here, the storms pass through quickly and are followed by clear blue skies.  This has this really cool steaming effect and leads to some low-clouds and beautiful views.  I snapped a picture on my way home after dropping Andrew off at school last week:

Can't really complain about the drop-off/pick-up craziness when you get to look at that during your commute, eh?

Alright--and again, for those that just want to see the kids--here ya go.  While B was out rock climbing (ROCK CLIMBING!!!) for the first time this weekend, the kids and I headed out to the nearby farm and they spent quite a while tossing rocks into this creek:

And hanging out on this tractor:

And yes, I encouraged Andrew to wear his overalls when we decided to go to a farm.

Andrew's in School!

Andrew started 3-year-old preschool a few weeks ago!  He's going to the Catholic school connected to our church and so far, it seems like he's loving it!  He has happily gotten himself dressed and eaten breakfast long before it's time to leave, so we haven't had any issues getting out the door, which I'm very relieved about.

We've had at least 1 art project sent home with him every day and I'm a little unsure how many of these "masterpieces" I should save.  How do all you other moms out there deal with this?

Clearly, Andrew is heading right to the top of his class:

This totally cracked me up.  I was handed this while Andrew's teacher let me know he did great on his first day.  Seconds later, Andrew runs over to me and tells me he had a BAD DAY because he didn't get to use the tools AT ALL!  Uh oh--someone is going to be forced to work on things other than building.  I am definitely looking forward to his interests diversifying a bit!  

Here's Andrew all ready for his first day:

Since Andrew's gone 4 mornings a week now, I am getting a lot of great time with Matthew.  He seems to love the quiet time while Andrew is at school and the boys are playing together so much better when Andrew is around.  I'll take it!

What a Day

Yesterday was "Meet the Teacher" day at Andrew's school.  He got to go and meet his teacher and see his new classroom.  Andrew let me know he was a little scared on the way there, but when we got there, he marched right up to his teacher (Mrs. Lee) and asked her if she had any tools.  Luckily, the answer was yes.  And, after some searching, we managed to find 2 tool-boxes, a bag of tools, and even a drill stored neatly on her tall toy shelves.  Phew.  I think Andrew and school are going to get along just fine.

In other news--Matthew pooped on the potty yesterday!  He looked at me, pointed to his diaper and made a grunting sound.  He hadn't gone yet, so I sat him on the potty and he went!  I got a little break from changing a morning poop diaper!  How exciting.  :)

Here's the boys on the morning of their big days--awaiting some chasing and tickles from B, I assume.

 

Tram, Concerts, and Camping--Oh My!

I feel like we're cramming all sorts of fun into these last weeks of summer.  Andrew starts school on Monday!  What a fast summer!

Last weekend, we headed up to Snowbird ski resort and went for a ride on the Tram.  It was quite a view and definitely not something anyone afraid of heights would enjoy.  But, the views at the end were beautiful and we'll have to pack a picnic next time and enjoy lunch at the top.


See that teeny thing hanging by the cables?  That's the tram we went for a ride in--it's used for skiers during ski season to get access to more runs:

The goober and I:

I forgot to take pictures at the top, but here's a view from the ride:

B and Andrew just chillin' at Snowbird:

The following week, the boys and I met up with my friend Michele and her kids and saw a free concert up at Deer Valley Ski Resort.  It was a beautiful night and I'm sad we haven't made it up there for the other free shows--apparently they happen every Wednesday evening all summer long.  It reminded me of First Friday at Frick in Pittsburgh or Ravinia in Chicago.  Such a great way to enjoy a summer night...although I'd like to ditch the kids and enjoy some wine while watching next summer!

This is what a group looks like with 2 moms and 6 kids!

Andrew had a blast dancing and running around:

On Friday night we finally got out for our first night of camping!  It's so sad that it took us until August to make it out there, but with buying a house and B's lack of weekends off this summer, we haven't had any other chance to get out there.  Anyway, we loved getting our tent and gear out and giving the boys a chance to eat, sleep, and play outside for a night.  Hopefully we can get out again soon and for longer!  The boys did great sleeping in the tent, although Matthew decided there was no frickin' way he was gonna sleep in the pack-n-play when the rest of us were all together on the ground.  Thus, I spent the night attempting to share my sleeping back with a nearly 2-year-old.  Can't say I slept great, but everyone else did!

The men:

Have I told you that Matthew LOVES saying "CHEESE" whenever I try to take a picture?

Best idea ever--glowsticks to play with by the campfire!  So fun!

Good morning Matthew!

 Matthew attacking Andrew:

Not so into saying cheese anymore:

Can't beat the fun of early morning at a campsite:

Matthew really enjoyed throwing rocks in the fire while Andrew worked on using the hammer as a lever to turn over big rocks:

So glad we got to do all this fun stuff last week and hopefully we can cram a bit more in before the snow starts falling.  Although, B already has his ski pass and we are getting a little antsy for the snow.  Hm, that's definitely the very first time I've said something so crazy!