Monkey Moments

I have to share a few spectacular, sweet, and just downright cute moments we've seen from our little Monkey lately.

• Expressing his love ... it's one thing when you tell your child you love them, and they repeat back to you, but it's an entirely different feeling when it comes from them unprompted. In the past few days, Noah has been saying "I luff you" (emphasis on the /f/ sound in luff) to me, Chris, and even bruder. I am not sure I will ever hear such sweeter words that those.


• Saying grace ... we've recently started saying grace before dinner, with Hayden mostly leading us in the good ol' prayers we all remember from childhood, at least ones I remember saying with my family. At first, Noah would just start eating (imagine!) and then would randomly fold his hands in the middle of the meal and say "Amen" to himself. Tonight, after folding our hands and bowing our heads, he says "bwess our food, amen" with his little hands folded and held up high near his forehead. Note the picture of him below, taken before bed tonight to give you an idea of what you'd see if he was saying grace with you. Don't you love the eyes peeking out from around his little hands?
• Using the potty ... yesterday, then again today, he comes running in to me and says he needs to use the potty. Thinking he is just going to sit there for a second and then say "I all done mama" as he has done in the past, he starts removing all his clothes (not sure why the shirt comes off to use the potty, but hey, if it makes him more comfortable that is fine with me) and sits on down. Well what do you know but a few minutes later we have success - now, I am not sure how consistent it will be, but the fact that he's told me on two different days and actually gone, tells me he is getting ready to potty-train. HOORAY - this means diaper days in our house will soon be a thing of the past. Until our next baby that is .... ha ha ha, just kidding (for now ...).

Easter

Easter morning started early in our house with an excited little boy smiling from ear-to-ear ... awaking mommy bright and early before 6:00 am to get the day going. Hayden left temporarily and came running back in with his Easter basket with "look Mommy what I got!" ... so up from bed I am, grab the camera, head in to pluck Noah from his crib, and Easter morning begins! Peeking giddily through their baskets of treats and admiring their new buckets and shovels, my little boys had so much fun. Noah loved his chocolate bunny so much he clean ripped the head right off, to then enjoy a few broken pieces before his morning milk. We then set out to enjoy the morning for a few hours, relaxing together before getting ready for Easter brunch at Grammy & Grampy's house. A bit later, after dressing in new outfits we headed over for our annual Easter brunch and awaited eagerly for the Easter Bunny to hide eggs before beginning the official egg hunt. This year we also had our friends join us, my teaching partner and good friend Jennifer with her husband, Bill, and their two adorable little girls, Ellie and Lia. Jen and Bill don't have family nearby, so it was nice to offer up a tradition of my family to them and I was glad they accepted - the boys had fun with the girls, and though Lia wasn't quite able to search for eggs this year, I have no doubt by next Easter she'll have it all figured out. Following the highly anticipated egg hunt, and sneaking in a few jellybeans and other treats, we all settled in at the table for a wonderful brunch and succeeded in stuffing ourselves so full that our only option following was to sit outside and enjoy the marvelous weather, sunny with a perfectly mild temperature and slight breeze. So we sat and talked and watched the kids play, with Jen and her family for a while, and then inside as Noah napped and the rest of us watched golf. The only thing better would have been to have my family there too - otherwise, Easter was a day in which I felt truly blessed by God and Jesus for everything in my life.

Preparing for Easter

We had a fun start to Easter this weekend with some of our best friends, the Andersons ... Heather, Lance, Tatum, and Carter joined us late in the afternoon and we all went up to an Easter service at church to kick-off the holiday. We charged through the rainy weather, cooler temperatures, and enjoyed an amazing church service together. On our way home we ordered a few pizzas and after enjoying a few slices of "pie" we set out to color eggs for our respective hunts the following morning.
I fondly remember coloring eggs with my cousins, filling up plastic eggs with my family close by and then setting out the following morning to hunt them down in our backyard at home with my siblings and cousins and extended family in toe ... because the boys don't have cousins to share this tradition with, I am ever so grateful we have developed such close relationships here with our friends, that they truly do feel like part of our family. Heather and I have been friends for years - I can't imagine my life without her - and, it's amazing that our friendship brought together our husbands, who have become such great friends too, as well our children.

The older kids took to coloring the eggs immediately, knew what colors they wanted and how to place the eggs gently in the dye, but as you can imagine, our little Noah was a different story. He had fun grabbing an egg, dropping it in a mug, grabbing another egg, dropping it in, etc. etc. ... but, with only one egg tragedy, we managed to get two dozen eggs colored successfully and had a lot of fun watching and coloring a few of our own! Here are a few pictures from our "egg-stra" special afternoon together.

Grandma's Easter Treat

An Easter package arrived in the mail with wrapped treats for the boys as they each had their own to open, which included a card (and money that they both get so excited over) as well as new outfits with matching Crocs. Noah's Crocs are "Wall-E" themed and an adorable bright blue ... here is the little man modeling his new shoes from Grandma - check out his upside down sunglasses. Isn't he just the cutest??

Our Pedaling Monkey

So you've seen big brother ride his bike and now it's little brother's turn in the spotlight. Up until a few weeks ago, Noah never showed any interest in riding any of the bikes the boys have. While he got a new one for his birthday in November, he's much to small for it still and so the toddler bike that was Hayden's is just his size, and his legs can reach the pedals. He has enjoyed us pushing him in the past, but recently began showing interest in actually pedaling for himself. At first, he had himself riding backwards, which as I recall Hayden also did. Finally, within the last week, he's figured out how to continually push his feet in the forward direction to get himself moving - now that he's got it, he's a pedaling fool. He rode all around the front of the house, up the street and down the street and is now starting to figure out how to steer himself and turn around without help. With his little legs pedaling, here is our little monkey riding his bike.

A Zoo Trip

Today we planned an impromptu visit to the Phoenix Zoo - we haven't been in several years, Noah has never been, so we decided to get out of the house and go do something. We invited Grammy to come along with us too and while enjoying the beautiful spring weather, we walked around the zoo and saw all the boys' favorites, including elephants which the wildlife zoo by us does not have. The orangutans were especially cute, with the little one all wrapped up in a t-shirt while playing with her mama. While posing for the picture on the "ibex," Noah was concerned and told us "it not working" - I think he thought we were putting him on a real animal and because it wasn't moving, he just figured it wasn't working. We all had a good laugh after that and truly enjoyed the walk around the zoo and the time spent together.

Having Fun

I have been having so much fun this past week taking pictures with a borrowed "fancy" camera that my friend Lori, who teaches at my school, so graciously let me take home to try out over spring break. For a while now, I have been thinking about getting a really nice camera, especially when I think about all the money I have paid other people to take pictures of my kids and I've often thought to myself "if only I had my own fancy camera" ... so this past week, I kind of did. Lori and I've talked a lot about her digital Canon Rebel, and she's shared with me how much she loves it and a few different times offered to let me try it out. Finally, I was able to do just that and boy, am I hooked! My mom has a 35 mm Canon Rebel that I've always loved (and that she still uses!) - the picture quality is beyond compare, and when Lori told me hers was a Rebel also, I started looking into them a bit more. Especially now that I am in need of a new camera, I have been thinking more and more about investing in one that yes, will be a bit more costly, but knowing the way I take pictures, I know I'd get my money's worth. After Hayden's soccer game today, when I was able to capture some true action shots, I became officially hooked. I don't even care that it's a bit cumbersome to haul around either as I just love the ease of snapping pictures and the quality. Anyway, here are some shots I've taken in the past week with the "fancy camera" ... mostly just random shots of the boys, and a few from the backyard. Enjoy ... I certainly have!