Day at the Lake

Poor Ben wasn't really a fan of the life jacket- but there was no way he was going out on a boat without one.  

Thanks to the Young Men and Young Women who let us crash their boating activity! :)

3rd Anniversary

Jared was in town!!!  We thought he was going to be out of town working  on our anniversary so we didn't plan to do anything too big, but we did buy each other a grill and then Grandma and Grandpa watched the kiddos while we made ourselves a dinner-using our new grill, of course-  and went for a little bike ride.

First French Braids

The wonders of Curious George- she sat still long enough for me to get done.

Stats at 5 months and 25 months

Well Check visit:
Ben for his 4 mo. and Caroline for her 2 year.  Yes, we were a month late. But these are the numbers:

Ben: 

Height: 24.25 in (3%)

Weight: 14 lb 9 oz (14%)

Caroline:

Height: 33 in (29%)

Weight: 24 lb 2 oz (15%)

They're good kiddos.  Ben got some shots but other than that the Dr said that I could go ahead and start feeding him "solids"

Ben is rolling all over the place, chewing on everything, and flirting with all the girls.

Bonding

I love watching Caroline talk to Ben and seeing his face light up. 

I really hope they'll be good friends.

They even have matching snotty noses... she's so generous.

Party like it's your birthday!

Caroline turned 2!!!  There were several times that week that I had the thought "only one of us is going to make it to her birthday and I'm not sure if it will be me or her."  But we both survived! 

We had a pretty low-key birthday and Caroline didn't seem to mind a bit. 

She loved helping me make the cake.

We had a birthday picnic at the splash pad.

She's a big fan of her new tricycle!

She'll come to one of us nearly daily with her helmet on saying "wanna ride"

She also got some finger paints which she's also enjoying.

 She got some other good stuff- I just don't have pictures handy.  :) 

Happy Birthday to our beautiful and sweet two year old!!

Ben at 4 months and Caroline at 2

 My attempts at getting decent pictures of my kiddos...  Ben was more cooperative than Caroline.  These are the best I could do: 

I was way behind on scheduling their doctors appointments so it will be a few weeks before I know their stats.

Aside from the numbers Ben:
-Is impressively inconsistent. There have been nights when he's slept 9+ hours.  Then there are nights when he wakes up every three hours to eat.  We also aren't on any regular nap schedule but most days he will take a nap in the afternoon while Caroline is sleeping.  It's great.  When we're home he is more of a cat-napper but he is a rock star when we run errands or go somewhere and has no trouble sleeping in his carseat. During the day I also never know if he will be hungry 2 hours after he eats or 5.  We can usually count on every three hours during the day, but he likes to keep me on my toes.
-Is now transitioned to the pack and play.  He was sleeping in a rocker seat.
- Is a rolling machine.  It still seems almost involuntary- but he rolls onto his stomach like a pro.  He has a bit of trouble getting back over to his back though.
- In just the last few weeks has started taking a bottle.  Hallelujah! 
- Is such a happy boy.  He is so quick to smile and loves being talked to and getting attention.
- Produces massive amounts of slobber. 
- Seems to be past the days of massive spit up.  He still spits up- but in 'my-clothes-aren't drenched' quantities.

Caroline:
-Is acting more two-ish all the time.   We are becoming well acquainted with independence and emotional drama.
-Says more now- well we can figure out a little bit more of what she's saying.
-Loves to go for rides in the stroller.
-Is a big fan of going to Grandma and Grandpas house- but she's usually ready to come home, too.
-Loves going to the splash park, the reservoir, and playing in the pool.  Pretty much she likes water- and if there's dirt in the deal it's even better.
-Likes twirling and doing action songs.
-Has started pretending.  She "eats" in her play kitchen, and she'll share her juice with stuffed animals.
-Some days she seems to prefer cars to dolls, but other days the dolls win.
-Is really good at "selective hearing"
-Likes to run away when I ask her to do something or tell her we're going to change her diaper, etc.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

This Father's Day will be tough to beat...

Jared got Lasik and a new bike.  

The timing was right to call them both Father's Day gifts :)