two years old!

Wow! My baby is two! I cannot believe how quickly the time has past or that he hasn't broken an arm or leg climbing! We had the best birthday party. Some of our good friends came over with their three kids, our babysitter came and my niece. A good sized party for a little two year old. He couldn't have been a better birthday boy. He sat quietly and ate dinner. When the cake came he exclaimed "It's Elmo cake!" and then sat as we sat "Happy Birthday" with a precious smile on
his face and then let all the other kids at the table blow out the candles. When presents came he let everyone help opened and was thrilled with each gift. We kept the number of gifts to a minimum so it wasn't overwhelming and he could really enjoy the ones he received.



I kept myself busy preparing for the big day. I decided I needed to work a little harder on making the day special so I came up with a few projects; a birthday banner, pom pom balls and an Elmo cake. It all turned out pretty good and the littlest one was thrilled with it all. He looked up during the afternoon and was pointing at it all. I asked him if he liked it and he said "Uh huh. Thank you Mom!"

I'll have to post later about his birthday gifts when I get everything in place. His favorite so far is a toy coffee pot that actually brews water. We have water everywhere! He also got a kitchen but we are still waiting on some pieces to arrive. And, his Nana outfitted him in his favorite brand, Elmo! I am also still trying to find someone to paint the chair we had made for him. I had a lead but think it has fallen through so back to square one!

Our Year in a Few Pictures!

So, just looking back and realizing my last post before today was about a year ago since my littlest one is now turning two! I told my sister in law I would try to blog, for her if no one else. And I really have had every intention of doing so and lots of great topics! Let me tell you, there is no shortage of what I could share with you just being at home everyday with three little boys and one a climber at that. Maybe if I would be patient enough to capture pictures of everything he destroys that would help me out with material. So, here is my list of things I have intended to share over the last year, a renovation of our new pop up camper from this summer, playroom renovation, master bedroom update, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, trip to Hawaii and on and on! Maybe just sharing a few pictures will give you an idea of our past year. I don't think I can even begin to catch up now but I'll try harder this year! So, here are a few pictures of our year. And don't let that sweet baby smile fool you, he is a climber and louder than his two other brothers combined but boy does he have a smile to melt your heart and the sweetest little heart! Enjoy!

Birthday Chair!

Our little tornado is turning 2 in just a few weeks. With three boys it can be really hard to come up with something creative and different for gifts. So, I thought and thought and finally remembered a chair my mother-in-law has for one of her boys that I have always loved. All of the grandkids love to sit in it when we are there, mine included. I started searching online to see if I could find something similar to order for Little One's birthday. No luck. Searched some more. No luck! Darn! Seriously, do they only make rocking chairs for kids or giant overstuffed chairs? We have those. My mind was made up that this is what I wanted. What was I going to do? Here is a picture of the one my mother-in-law has.I remembered that my sister-in-laws Dad had made her a wooden cradle for my nephew. I gave her a quick call and she said to go ahead and email her dad and ask. So, I figured I would go ahead and ask and see if he could make one and wouldn't mind. A few quick emails back and just about three days later I get this picture!!


Isn't that amazing! Talk about talent! And so, now I just need to find a local artist to
commission to paint this wonderful chair and we have the perfect 2 year old birthday present!
Or do I dare paint it myself? I'll try to get back with the finished project soon!

The Littlest One is One!

Hudson's "Birth" Day

My baby just turned one! We are past the stage of night wakings and nursings and on to new things! It is amazing how quickly the year went by. I know each time I am in the baby stage it seems a little exhausting and overwhelming but it goes by way too fast. I am excited to see what this next year brings and love seeing more and more of that little personality develop. We had a low key family affair to celebrate Hudson's first. Just immediate family, pizza and cake. I started doing the boys cakes a few years ago and love it! My mom always made ours so it is a fun tradition to continue on with my boys. Love you my little Hudson and Happy Birthday!

Hudson's 1st Birthday!

Hudson's Cake!

Spring Break

I've always said we didn't need to head off on a spring break trip. It is such a busy time so I insisted we would just travel during the off season. However, this being my son's first year in kindergarten I quickly realized if I didn't plan a trip we would be at home everyday while my husband continued to go into the office. That being said, what better way than to get him to take off work and spend some time together than head off for a week in sunny California. We had enough of the long winter months and major snowfalls so a week with no coats and playing outside sounded perfect. First, we spent several days with my husband's cousin, his wife and their precious baby boy at their home in Pacific Palisades. The kids couldn't get enough of the beach, running around their yard, picking lemons and flowers. We have another cousin in the same area with two little boys so it was such a special visit to catch up and let the second cousins (all boys) spend some time together. While we were there we also went to an awesome exhibit called Noah's Ark where the kids had a blast.

Cooper at Legoland!

Hunter at Legoland!

From there we drove down to San Diego and picked up my mom who graciously flew in to help us out with the kids and get in a little visit. We rented a wonderful condo on the beach with plenty of room for everyone. Our days were busy with trips to Legoland, Sea World, Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo and a whale watching tour. At Legoland we watched Cooper's imagination blossom as he fought dragons (a rollercoaster) with his sword. Disneyland was by far our favorite. The park is immaculate, the rides amazing and very kid friendly. We were even allowed to take Hudson on many of the rides with us at just a year old! I think I could have spent several days there. Our favorites were the Finding Nemo submarine ride and It's a Small World. The boys did amazingly well with such long days and no naps. Hudson was my little champ going from two long naps a day to catching a little shut eye in the stroller when he could! We had such a wonderful trip filled with many special memories. I know our kids were young and most likely won't remember much about it but it was definitely worth it just watching their sheer delight. We also had a wonderful time with our Mimi, who was such a big help, and our friends and dear babysitter, Kayla, who was out there as well!

Hudson after a Long Day at Disneyland!

introducing my little wild things

Hunter is the oldest and, I can't believe it, 6 and a half already. The half being extremely important to mention in his opinion. He is in kindergarten this year and loving it. Hunter has an imagination that is out of this world and can spend hours with almost anything. He is currently very into knights. We get to spend hours reading all about castles, weaponry, armory, etc. Something I find very challenging since I much prefer reading fiction. We've just embarked on reading the Chronicles of Narnia so that will be a nice change. Thanks Mimi! Hunter is also extremely disciplined, responsible, sensitive and the best big brother, albeit a little bossy at times. My favorite story of his self restraint is when I put two hershey kisses in his lunch for preschool last year. He came home and one was still in his lunchbox. I asked him if he hadn't like them for a treat since he left one. He looked at me with total sincerity and said "You mean I was allowed to eat BOTH of them?" What 5 year does that? I love this kid!

Cooper, or "Too too" as he called himself for a year, is in the middle. He is turning three next week! On his list for birthday presents are a red balloon and a horse. Mimi and Pa have already offered to get him the red balloon. Thanks Mom and Dad! Guess that leaves us with the horse. Cooper is the cutest thing. He talks with this sweet little voice and if ever he is in trouble he looks at you with his big blue eyes and says "But I just love you!" Hard to discipline him! He is my little adventurer. Before he tries one of his many stunts he precedes it with "Mom, this is not too dangerous for me" and off he goes. The other day he "flew" off of Hunter's bed and ended up with a bloody nose. He has lately been telling us that he is a big boy and that basically justifies him doing most anything, right? Not only do I have to get Hunter geared up for every one of his soccer game but Cooper naturally needs to be in full gear for these games as well. He can't wait to play himself! It's fun to watch this little one grow up. He is hilarious!


Hudson is number three. He just turned 1 a month ago. He is the busiest little thing. He does everything I thought we had gotten away with the others NOT doing. He LOVES the toilet! Lots of yellow water in there too with a three year old potty training. (still working on flushing and closing the door) He empties out drawers in the kitchen so he can sit in them, climbs most everything and has recently figured out how to open the refrigerator and freezer and when he is especially patient he manages to open some of the "baby proof locked" cabinets! He is working on walking still but was crawling before he could even sit up so the walking seems to just be slowing him down at this point. He LOVES his pacy and has it at almost all times. So funny to me because neither of my other boys would even take one. Hudson loves to pick up the phone and immediately says "hi dad" and carries on his own little conversation. Right now he would really prefer to be held at all times which makes preparing meals challenging but I know that he will be a toddler before I blink and these precious baby moments will just be precious memories!


So, there are are, my little wild things and I'm sure the subject of a majority of my future blogs! I always thought somewhere down the line there would be a little girl but I wouldn't break up this trio of brothers for anything! Love you boys!!

just getting started...

I've finally decided to embark upon the world of blogging. My SIL has been blogging for several years now and has finally gotten me hooked. So, here we go. After hours spent trying to decide upon a name which wasn't in use I'm finally up and running with a lot of work still to do. Thanks Abs for all your help and patience answering my questions. I'll introduce the little wild things soon!