Spring is Here!!

This is our first spring at our new house, so I'm loving seeing all the springtime blooms around the house!  Here are a few pictures I snapped during our brief time outside this morning.

I have always loved Bradford Pear trees and now we have one!

I should have taken this a few days ago.  It's already starting to lose the flowers and turn green.

Lovely flowering tree.  Not sure what it is.

Close-up of the blooms

Azaleas in the front garden

There are also a few of these around...

Ethan brought in a 'sunflower' for me!  I had to put it in a vase :)

One day this week, we decided to have a picnic in the park to enjoy the day.  It was windy while we were eating so, in effort to keep our food/trash from blowing away, I didn't take any picnicking pictures.  But here is Ethan enjoying the park part!

He used to need help to just climb the steps at  this park, now he does this all by himself...tear.

And he told me he didn't want to swing in the 'baby swings' and that he wanted to 'go high as the sky'!

Happy Spring!!

Fun-Filled Weekend

We had a fun and busy weekend around here.  Saturday morning we headed out to the Decatur St. Patrick's Day parade.  We met the Maxey family there and Ethan and Braden enjoyed lots of candy.  At one point, we looked down and Ethan had a sucker in his mouth and another one unwrapped in his hand waiting on deck.  The parade was alright, very heavy into dogs, politicians and 'girls on roller skates' (roller derby girls).

Very intent on those suckers.

This is how Nora enjoyed the parade.  She isn't asleep here, just appears that way :).

Then on Saturday night, Dustin (Jared's brother) and Amanda came up to spend the night and his parents came up on Sunday.  We had a great Sunday hanging out and playing outside.

Swinging with Uncle Dustin and Amanda 

Grandma Karen and Grandpa hanging out with Nora

Grandma Karen and Nora

And Sunday evening, after our company left, we decided it was the perfect evening for some fishing!  So we loaded up and headed out to Judy's (a wonderful former co-worker) pond.  But not until after Jared dug up some worms.  Ethan was super excited and has his own pole.

Giving him a little instruction! 

Jared's fish on his first cast!

He's a natural!

And...done with the fishing.  On to running and eventually throwing dirt in the pond.

Beautiful pond view!

Ethan gave the fishing another try.  And caught a good sized catfish!  He cast it and helped reel it in!

Nora was there too, she just spend her time in the house.  Judy wasn't upset by that at all!  Besides it was a little windy and starting to cool off.

All in all, we had a great weekend!  I love the weekends!!  Especially with this beautiful weather :)!

Yum Yum!

Friday we decided to try rice cereal with Nora.  I remember wondering if Ethan would EVER eat that stuff.  So, I was expecting a gagging, spitting, head-turning baby girl...I was wrong!  This girl loved it.  She figured it out by the 3rd spoonful.  And when I wasn't moving fast enough, she let me know.  It was crazy!  She now locks in on the spoon and starts leaning forward with her mouth open when she sees it.  

Her 1st Bite

Give me more!

Happy customer!

And, I can't forget about Ethan.  He is such a ham sometimes...

He loves this applesauce!  And, I must say, it's much less messy than the regular stuff.

Beautiful Days = Bath Nights

I'm afraid to say it, but I think spring just might be here!  We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and spending a lot of time in the backyard, at the park, walking/biking.  All the time outside means baths are necessary.

Might have been a better picture if there was not a lovely trash can behind him...

Enjoying a nice ride

I looked out the backdoor and saw this...Adorable!  I think they found an old baseball and Jared was unraveling it.

 Bath time!

He moves too fast sometimes...

Such a sweet face!

I couldn't choose which one to post, so I chose both!

Oh, and on a totally different topic.  Nora found her toes!

Happy Housewarming

Abby and Alex moved to Troy a few weeks ago and they invited us over to see their new place and for a delicious lunch.  It was a great time, and their apartment is very nice!  Ethan and Haley had a good time playing and pretending...

Lovely couple in a lovely place!

Pretending to nap on the stairs...

And, more pretending to nap.

Katie Sue is 7 months old!

Linda and Libby

Just hanging out!  Linda, Jared and Nora

Thanks, Abby and Alex, for having us over.  We will definitely come back.  In the words of Ethan, 'I liked Abby and Alex's new house'! 

Cute Kids!

We've been doing fairly well with keeping Nora upright.  She is getting better at tummy time and it seems that she is beginning to like her bumbo seat.  Now, we've moved on to the excersaucer...and she seems to like it too.  Ethan is always finding new ways to entertain himself, and us!  Here are a few pictures from the other night, just hanging out.

Happy Girl!

Such a sweet brother!

He loves to play in this footstool...

And he always wants it completely closed!

 Onery face...and cheesey face.

BathTime.PlayTime.FunTime

These are a few snapshots I've taken over the past few days...

Ethan still loves his baths.  His new favorite game is filling an empty bubble bottle with water and then squeezing it to make a water fountain.  Such a funny kid!

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of this one.  I walked in his room to see what he was doing, and this is what I found.  He loves for us to read him Bible stories.  His favorites are the 10 Plagues (or 8 Plagues, as he says), The Boy King, Josiah (I think he knows it's not his cousin) and The Big Fish (Jonah). 

We've been doing more (Dr. ordered) tummy time and upright time.  After her 4 month visit the Dr. was slightly concerned about positional plagiocephaly (flat head).  He thinks it's mild, but told me to make awake time, tummy time.  She loves to lay on her back...so this is not easy to be 100% compliant with.  We're trying. 
Sometimes she's happy...

 But it usually turns into this...

 The bumbo seat is also acceptable since she isn't on her head.  She likes it...sort of.  It's better if she has something to gnaw on.  Teething stinks!  I'm hoping those suckers pop through soon. 

Last, but certainly not least, we have spent a little time outside.  It was super windy, but enjoyed by us all. 

Nora's first time in the carrier and she liked it!  I did too, even if I did have to walk backwards for a while so the wind wasn't in her face.

This is all he wants to do when we go outside...Golf! 

Nice form!