the baby is 2...

Happy Birthday, Tysen!
2 years old!!! we took him breakfast in bed with birthday candles and sang happy birthday (as is our tradition)....he was soooo excited...that was fun to see him so happy. he blew out his candles and promptly ate his cereal bar...laying down... :)





we got him a camping chair (each of the boys have their own), and since he loves flip flops sooo much...we found some buzz lightyear ones for him. i'm pretty sure he hasn't taken them off all day! he also got a toy story beach towel, but he thought it was a blanket...he'll get to use that soon! :)

too soon...

me: "ian, we do not draw on ourselves....only on paper"

ian: "ok, mom"

10 minutes later...

ian: "mom, can i just pretend that its hair all over my stomach?"

not much

someone is not a big fan of 'time-out'...

my matching boys....

8 years...

andy and i celebrated our 8 year anniversary on tuesday...and for the first time since we've been married...he made me dinner all by himself!! (he has cooked me breakfast many times, and he cooked a few times while dating, but this was the first solo attempt since we've been married) it was fantastic!!! it was sooo delicious, and we had such a great time just hanging out...after dinner we sat down and relaxed while watching my new favorite obsession "gilmore girls"....thanks for a great evening, babe!

he even made brownie pizza for dessert! he was sad cuz the chocolate and caramel sauces looked awesome, but after being in the fridge all ran together so it didn't look as cool....it did not affect the taste though! so yummy!!

different kids

its still amazing every day how you can raise kids with the same two parents and the same techniques, and them turn out soooo different. one of my favorite examples was a few years ago...logan and ian used to love to play with money....ya know, just a big pile of pennies and such. they were argueing, so i split them up, and gave them each their own pile of pennies. i watched, very amused, as logan maticulously lined up each penny, and then made more lines and rows perfectly ordered. then right beside him, ian had handlfuls of pennies that he was dropping on his own head...and then he actually laid down in the pennies and moved his arms and legs as if he was making a snow angel in the pennies. so different!!!

i saw another key difference yestarday. when logan started pre-k, he was overly excited about the aspect of doing homework. i would venture to say giddy. he didn't get very much, but every time he had a coloring project or reading assignment...that was the first thing he did when he got home. pull out his project and finish it. he always had such a sense of accomplishment from those simple projects he called 'homework'.
well, ian has started pre-k. and he got homework yestarday. i assumed he would be thrilled, just like logan was with his first assignment. as we got in the car, i was excitedly talking about the 'homework' he had been given and said we could do it when we get home...as he buckled up in the car, he sighed and said, "i don't want to do it right now'....i was a little surprised, but gave him some space. he had, after all, just had a long 3 hours at pre-k! so after we had been home awhile, he was drawing in his notebook, and i reminded him of the coloring project he had from school. once again, sigh, then "i'll do that after i'm finished with this"....such a different response than i expected!
thankfully this morning, he finished one of the projects...making progress! :):)

laugh

a big step in our world...logan can now take a shower all by himself! its so great...just hang in there all you moms of young kids...your time is coming, and yes...its marvelous!

so tonight, i went to get the shower ready (he doesn't quite know how to get the temperature right yet)...i saw him strip down, but when i turned around to let him in the shower, his underwear was there, but he was gone. i walked out calling his name...and found him standing completely naked in front of the fridge getting a drink of water. i kinda laughed, and said, "logan! what are you doing? in what world is it ok to come out here and get a drink-naked!"....he giggled, shut the fridge door, and headed toward the bathroom..."i don't know. naked world?"

ian's in pre-k!

so, pretty much since ian was born, i've just had it in my head that i would hold him back a year (in the school sense) because his birthday is so late in august...everyone acts like its just a given to hold your kid back if he's a boy...i hadn't thought too much about it, i just figured we would. well, yestarday, it was brought to my attention that he actually might be ready for kindergarten next year. i'm not gonna lie...the thought threw me into a tizzy, since i hadn't really even considered it. i had also expected my sister-in-law (who will remain nameless), ya know...since she is a former kindergarten teacher...to tell me if he was ready.... so i shockingly turned to kyle (so much for remaining nameless), and said, "do you think ian's ready for kindergarten?" and she sorta shrugged, "yes...he'd be really bored in pre-k".....what??!!?? i was pretty stunned. maybe i rely too much on other's advice, but how am i supposed to know this stuff? i don't want to be that mom who thinks her kid is perfect....so i'd rather an expert tell me its ok go ahead and put him in kindergarten...well, she's learned her lesson, and now knows she doesn't have to be asked to give her advice. :):)
anyway...kyle suggested trying to get him in a pre-k program for these last 2 months of school to help get him used to it...so, i called today, and there was one spot open at an elementary school not too far from us. (i had hoped he could get in at logan's school, but they were full)...we went to fill out the paperwork, and we finished just before class was to start, and they said he could go ahead and start today! he was more than anxious, and seemed thrilled to get to 'go to school' (and said that he hoped there would be cool boys and pretty girls!)... he ran right in his teacher said that he did great! he actually had a lot to say about it when he got home...it was pretty cute to hear him tell me everything he did...
my head was spinning from it all happening so fast...but that's just me...when i decide i'm gonna do something, i want it done immediately....but i was still kinda surprised that he started today!
i think of all of us, tysen was most traumatized...he cried and screamed "no! E!! no!! E!!" while watching his brother walk away into the building...i felt so bad for him! (don't worry, he was calmed pretty quickly with a little music from highschool musical)
what a day!!!

Easter

its so rare to find even the same style of shirts in tysen's and the older boys sizes, so i was thrilled to find these shirts at children's place! the same shirt, just all different colors...thankfully, i have an Easter tradition of getting them a new shirt for Easter...so i had an excuse to buy them one!

they insist on doing a funny face for every normal picture i take...:)

later, we invited a bunch of family out for a cookout and Easter egg hunt...here's ian showing ana how the chicken "poops" jelly beans!

after the egg hunt...

with granny...

my sweet bunch of boys...

we decided to not have a 'big' party for tysen's bday this year and just celebrate with the family...so here's my ty-man blowing out his 2 candles for his upcoming birthday. and he's been singing happy birthday to himself ever since!

eye doctor

ian had an eye dr. appointment last week, and thankfully, we are able to start weaning him off his eye patch. it will still take 2 months, but its good to know he'll be done after that! (hopefully)

i had noticed tysen blinking kinda weird, so i wanted to get his eyes checked early, and the dr. said he looked good! he did remarkably well...i think he just liked climbing in and out of the chair.


it was kinda bright, and tysen wouldn't wear the disposable glasses the dr. gave him, so he wanted something a little more fashionable. :)