Happy Easter!

Only two weeks after the fact. That's pretty good I think. We had a wonderful day filled with our church family, Easter egg hunts, food and plenty of friends. We started the day by having the kids find their Easter baskets and of course they ate some of the candy. This turned out to be most of their breakfast I think. After we got dressed we tried to get a family picture before we left for church to make sure the kids were still presentable. We did okay I think, although we didn't get any of just the boys together with their matching outfits, sorry Grammy. Joshua wanted to video tape this special occasion. Isn't he cute modeling his argyle socks!

I love how Joshua and Nicholas are holding hands. They really do love each other.

We then headed to church, arrived a little late as usual, scurried Nicholas up on stage to sing his song, which of course he didn't. He will sing at home, but not in front of a crowd, especially one on Easter Sunday that was full to capacity.

After they sang Joshua and I headed to the nursery. We had a wonderful time with all the little ones and adults too. They even got to make little bags for the Easter Egg Hunt. When church was over, which I hear was a great service with some amazing music, we rushed outside to see the kids gather eggs. Nicholas made it outside before I had a chance too so I was late in capturing the moment, but did get some of it. His bag was already full by the time I saw him running around.

Joshua decided to make a friend with Carl during this time. That might be due to the fact that he opened an egg for him and gave him jelly beans. They were cute together and Joshua went right to him which is unusual at this point in time. I was glad for the open arm.

We then headed over to our friends the Roberson's for lunch. They invited all of us that don't have family in town to join them. We celebrated with them last year and were excited to do it again this year. Shea always decorates to the tea and has set-ups for the children too. We all bring a dish or two and then chow down. Everything was yummy and the company was great as always. All the kids ate outside and didn't bother us too much which is always a plus. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends to celebrate with.

After we ate we gathered all the children for the Easter Egg Hunt. They were all waiting in anticipation to get outside and find all the candy filled eggs. This picture, by the way, only shows half of the children.

Now, if you didn't think these boys looked alike to begin with, check out these series of pictures. The expressions on their faces are almost identical. It is funny. They were very intent on getting into their eggs and enjoying the "goodness".

Joshua thought it would be cool to take Nicholas' basket, along with his, and see how far he could get with them. Good thing Nicholas wasn't paying attention. Sneaky fella he is.

Another attempt at a family picture.

Joshua and his buddy Carl.

The whole gang- Emerson's, Khan's, Roberson's, Hammond's, Ross', Rogers'

Two tuckered out boys. They partied hard, however, they didn't take long naps like you think they would have. Nicholas actually perked right up when we got home and played with his trains and Joshua only slept an hour or so. Silly boys.

We had a blessed Easter. Hope you did too!

Happy 3rd Birthday Nicholas!

Sunday was Nicholas' Birthday. Wow, what a big boy he is becoming and he isn't afraid to tell you that either. His favorite phrase is to say, "I'm a big boy. I am tall just like daddy." He then proceeds to stand on his tiptoes and say, "Seeee". It is very cute, but can't he stay small for a little longer???? I will dote on him more after he has his well visit next month.

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday at our church playground. It was the perfect day for it. The weather was gorgeous and the kids and adults seemed to enjoy themselves. We had about ten kids and just as many or more adults there. We ate pizza and cake and watched the kids run around like crazy on the playground. So much fun.

Nicholas was blessed by all the presents he received. He got some really cool things. I do have to say Thomas the Train is his favorite right now, but he certainly plays with everything else when he tears himself away from the train set. Joshua takes up the slack for him. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends here in Montgomery (and Florida) to share this special day with us. It was nice to be surrounded by such loving people and enjoy the outdoors on a Saturday afternoon. Thank you to everyone for making Nicholas' 3rd Birthday so special.
Burt and I decorated the cake all by ourselves. It took forever, but it was fun to do together. Nicholas loves Thomas the Train so we made the engine look like Thomas, kind of. And not to brag, but I made the cake and icing from scratch too. It was yummy.

I also made a sheet cake for the adults, not from scratch, although the icing is. Sorry adults. I should have had them eat the good stuff though since the kids were more interested in the candies on top and not the cake. Oh well. It was cute.

The parents having a chance to sit and relax. That's the good thing about a fenced in playground where we are the only ones on it. The kids can't go far and it is age appropriate. Yeah for that.

We had a State Trooper Helicopter fly over us and sound the siren while all the kids waved. It was too cool. Burt told Nicholas he asked them to come for his party which he was very excited about, but he wanted to actually ride in it. Maybe one day. In reality there was a storm the night before, which turned out to be classified as a tornado, that hit right next to the church and the Mayor was surveying the damage. Nicholas will never know the difference.

Trying to get a head start on the cake while waiting for their pizza.

Let's get to the presents now. I love how they all are trying to help out and get as close to the gifts as they can.

Hey, what did you get???? Joshua is too funny in this picture.

Get ready....

Get set...

Blow...thanks for helping out Barrett.

Can we just dig in to the extra cake and candies now???

Joshua stealing candy. He went down the bench and ate a little bit of cake from plates that kids left behind. Sneaky fella.
Digging in to the frosting.

Playing with his new Thomas the Train set. He chose not to nap and played with this the whole afternoon and evening. He loves it let me tell you. He talks to them, sings the songs and wants to sleep with them thinking they will be gone the next day. Oh to have such joy.
Happy Birthday Nicholas. We love you!

Joshua at 15 months

It's that time again. Another Dr.'s visit for our little one. This time around he weighed in at 22 pounds 14 ounces (25%), measures 31 inches (50%) and has a head circumference of 18 and 3/4 inches (65%). Right on track with what he has been doing, but still smaller compared to Nicholas. All that moving he does keeps the weight off I suppose.

He is such a character. He makes me laugh constantly and although he is not talking he makes up for it physically. He does say dada of course and squeals in delight to the point of making my ears hurt, signs please, all done, milk, thank you, and eat, blows and gives kisses sort of, waves at times, makes lots of car noises, sniffs, blows to cool off his food, tries to eat with a fork and spoon, climbs up on everything, even to the point of piling dvd cases to make a step for himself, loves to be outside (he brings us his shoes to put on often), tries to ride Nicholas' scooter and bike.....I could probably go on and on, but I will stop there.
Even though Joshua doesn't like to nap, thankfully he sleeps through the night and now that we have moved Nicholas' recliner to his room he enjoys reading with us much more which I love. It is nice to sit in the chair at night and read with him. Oh, and the most precious thing ever is that at mealtimes he grunts, holding his hands out, until we take them and say our prayer for the meals. How adorable is that. I also love that the boys are playing more together and enjoying it most of the time. Joshua brings lots of life and love to our household and we are blessed to have him in our family. Happy 15 months!

Singing a little early

So, just a quick note, Nicholas' birthday is on Sunday, but apparently he thinks he needs to sing happy birthday to himself everyday until then. He goes around singing Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday Dear Nicholas, Happy Birthday to Me. It is really cute, but strange at the same time. He sang it all throughout children's class this evening. Fun.

A Day Out With Thomas

Thanks to Amanda's post I found out that Thomas the Train was making an appearance in Calera, AL. Nicholas is obsessed with him right now, even though we don't even have a train set, but we do have the videos and a few books about Thomas. He lines up all his cars instead to make a train or pushes blocks around. So, what better activity to go to on a Saturday afternoon than this. It was so much fun to watch the excitement on his face. It was a surprise for him so when he walked up and saw Thomas he went wild. I wish I had taken the video camera. He also enjoyed the other trains he could board, putt putt golf, the mini train, the bouncer slide, the singing one man band and meeting Sir Topham Hatt. Joshua had a good time too by the way, although he did not like Sir Topham Hatt. He screamed his head off next to him. Wish we had that picture. He enjoyed the "band" and the trains though. It was a lot of fun and a new experience for us all.

The whistle was a little loud for Nicholas.

I don't know if you can really tell in the pictures, but for every shot Nicholas would have his tongue sticking out in great concentration. He was really focused that's for sure. He probably played three or four rounds of putt putt.

Nicholas walked right up to Sir Topham Hatt and starting poking his belly. It was so funny. He really enjoyed him which is weird considering how he was at DisneyWorld with all the characters. What a difference a few months makes. He also gave him a high five after taking pictures.

We did not pose him. This is how he chose to ride the little train. Chillin', kicking back, enjoying the scenery and the beautiful weather. What a character this little guy is.

Kind of looks like Nicholas is pushing Joshua's head through the bars here, but really he did it all on his own. Makes for a fun picture though.

Great train shots of the boys before we took off. They loved being able to look out the window as we rode "Thomas".

Joshua enjoying drinking from a straw by stealing my lemonade. Sneaky fella.

Nicholas with his monkey climbing a tree. He was very excited about this, plus having a Percy tattoo on his hand. Fun times.
Our last stop before heading home was the slide. Nicholas kept bargaining for more times to go up. The staff member finally grabbed him for us before he headed back up the ladder so we could go. It was almost 6:30pm by this time and we had an hour drive back home. You think he had fun???? Yeah for a Day Out With Thomas.