Happy Birthday Will!!!

How is it possible that my beautiful little man is two already?  I feel like he was just swimming around inside me kicking like crazy - or maybe that is how I feel because I'm so crazy pregnant right now.

Will spent last night with his Nonna and Nonno and was all smiles when we picked him up this morning.  We came home and Max couldn't wait to show Will his present - a brand new steerable trike. 

 The one we had from Max was just plain done and while Will loved riding it, Mommy and Daddy couldn't stand using it because it was impossible to steer.  Will loved it!  He lit up and just kept asking for more and more rides around the house.  Luckily he sweet big brother was happy to oblige.

Will didn't sleep the best at Nonna's last night, and he pretty much spent his nap time ripping apart his room (I'm really hoping the refusal to nap today was just a fluke).  So needless to say our little man wasn't in the best spirits when we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate tonight.  He did at least enjoy the cupcake.  As you can see, so did Max.

I remember before Will was born feeling a huge sense of worry that I couldn't possibly love another little one as much as Max.  Now looking back, that thought just makes me laugh.  I can't possibly imagine our family without this silly, curious, adventuresome, sweet little boy.  I can't wait until he meets the new little one in just fifteen days.  I'm sure he will just as amazing a big brother as he is little brother.

Happy Birthday Will.  Mommy and Daddy love you more than you will ever know!

Happy Easter!

 Max and I spent Saturday afternoon before Easter dying the eggs.  He thought that the white crayon included was magic, so we had to write names on every egg just so he could see the magic.  He lost interest after he realized that he would have to actually wait a little while for the color to take.  He told me I could finish while he went to play trains.

I love this family shot.  Max of course has to make a silly face.  There are no pictures without some sort of silly face. We had a wonderful, restful, Easter with my parents.  Nonna and Nonno made a great meal and even had an egg hunt planned for the boys.  This was such a blessing because of my bedrest we didn't make it to the egg hunt I was hoping to attend. 

Max was a pro at the egg hunt - after all he is five.  He knew exactly what to do and I think he had ten eggs in his basket before Will even made it down the steps. 

 

After a little help from the grown ups Will got into the spirit and figured out what the whole egg hunt thing was about. 

These two little men are so darn cute.  I can't wait to see who joins out family soon. Will next years Easter picture have three boys, or might there be a little bit of pink there?  Who knows.  All I know is I can't wait to meet the little one that has been making it so tough to sleep!

Transitions

Transitions - there seem to be lots of those going on in our family right now. 

 The Big Brother Room - I can admit it now, this was not a fun transition and there were some tears on my part that it would never work.  After our first rough night Max ended up sleeping iwth us for about four nights.  Once we bit the bullet and put them both in the room together we were in for another rough week.  Now I'm happy to say we seem to have a system that works.  Will goes to bed and then about 30 minutes later we sneak Max in.  Most nights Will pops up in his bed when we open the door - he is a crazy light sleeper, but he seems to go back to sleep now right away.  Everyone invovled seems happy iwth the arrangement and I have to say they are too darn cute when they come to our bedroom hand in hand in the morning.

Bedrest - I'm officially on modified bedrest.  No more work for me.  In fact I have worked my last day for at least a year and a half.  Brian and I have decided that I will take a year long leave of absence from teaching to stay home with the boys.  The school board approved my leave and I'm guaranteed a position for the 14-15 school year.  It is hard to believe that I'm now a stay at home mom, but I'm really excited about all of the benefits this will have for our soon to be family of five!

Spring - I had to include these pictures because this is how we spent the day after Max's party - playing in the sink in our jammies while 10 inches of snow fell outside.  Crazy.  I'm glad to say that it does seem like spring in finally here - I sent the boys off today in shorts and t-shirts.  Will was super excited that he could see his knees.  It was pretty funny.  Leaves are starting to bud and the forsythia bushes are in full bloom.  This is such a great time of year, and I'm so excited that our newest little one will enter the world soon.

Party Day

I'm so not on the ball these days.  I'm officially on modified bedrest and I had to turn in my laptop from work - I miss it.  Brian has a crazy system on our home computer, so I don't like to use it too much.  But I can't let Max's big party day go without a post!  We booked it a couple months ago at Myseum - a science center type place for kids that isn't too far from home.  We had visited a couple times over winter break when the cousins were in town and it was fabulous. 

They started out with an experiment and all of Max's little preschool friends were entranced!  They then got to conduct their own little experiment.  They made glow in the dark slime!  The kids loved adding the ingredients and watching the slime change.  They thought it was too cool when the lights went off and they could see their slime glow.

 

Once the slime was complete it was time to sing to the big five year old birthday boy!  Of course Max played shy while everyone sang, but he wasn't shy at all when it came time to blow out his GIANT 5 candle - it makes me laugh because he picked out the same candle for his third birthday and then slept with it for a month.

 

Max and his friends got to spend the rest of the time exploring and playing in the museum.  There aren't too many pictures because none of the kids would stay in one place long enough!  It was a great time spent with great company.  I still can't believe that my baby is five!

Happy Birthday to Max!

Is it really possible that my little boy is five?  I can't believe he has been a part of our lives for five years.  It seems like just yesterday we were hoping and praying for our family of two to grow.  Then again, I can't imagine what life was like before Max.

We celebrated tonight with a family dinner at Max's favorite restaurant.  He loves their cheese and crackers.  Once we got home it was time to enjoy the birthday cupcake from Bread Co.  Max picked out that big #5 candle at Party City this weekend.  It was about twice the size of his cupcake and he loved it! 

Once we were finished with the birthday cupcake Max was ready to open the fun package that he noticed on the counter this morning.  Since Christmas he has been asking for Stompeez.  He was very specific that he wanted the crocodile variety.  He was thrilled to open his box and find his very own pair of Stompeez inside.  It took a while, but he finally figured out how to make them open their mouths when he walked.  I'm not sure how much wear they will get, but they sure made him smile tonight.

We are so fortunate to have Max in our lives.  He has a huge heart and he cracks me up every day.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he sent Max to Brian and I.  He is a prefect fit for our family and we love every minute we get to spend with him.   

Will Moves In

 Ever since Christmas we have been talking to the boys about becoming roommates. We wanted to give Will time to adjust to the big boy bed before baby #3 makes his/her arrival. Two weeks ago Nonno and Nonna came over and unbunked the beds in preparation. Max has been all excited a bout his roommate moving in. Will has loved playing in the big brother room and reading stories in his new bed. We let Max pick the date for the big move. He even wrote 'Will Moves In' on his calendar. We have been doing everything we can to help Max feel like he has some control in this whole ordeal, after all it is his space that is now being shared. 


Well, today was the big day and both boys seemed to be really excited.  Nonna and Nonno came over for dinner and to make the night more special.  Will didn't take the best nap today and was super snugly with Nonna so we thought it was time for bed.  Both boys seemed super excited and we headed upstairs for jammies. 

 

The boys got dressed and even shared some snuggles together in Will's new bed - and on a side note isn't the quilt too cute :)  That is the one I made for Will this summer. 

 

So far we are about an hour into the new sleeping arrangement and in all honesty isn't isn't going too well.  Will still hasn't gone to sleep.  We have read him stories, rocked him, and even laid in bed with him.  Max was super sweet and tried to climb in bed with Will to let him know it was okay.  Unfortunately Will kept standing up and jumping and Max got annoyed and declared he was going back to his bed.  Max started complaining that Will was keeping him up, so we moved Max to our bed for the night.  It seems like we need to get Will settled into his bed first.  Hopefully we are just in for one or two tough nights and things will improve.  Will is actually a pretty great sleeper, so hopefully that will continue.  We will see. . .

Toes

My OB wanted to make sure things are all good with baby.  Yes, things are indeed all good with the baby.  He/she is measuring just a bit ahead and at 31 weeks 2 days, is estimated to weigh about 4 1/2 pounds.  The tech was able to get this little 3-D picture and I couldn't help but share.  I love that baby's cute little toes are right up by his/her face.  Adorable!  I can't wait to meet this little person!

Oh, and for the record that crazy thing behind his/her foot is the cord.