Prince William turns 2

We celebrated Will's birthday a day early with our family. Will felt very special and had a wonderful time. A couple of highlights for him (judging by his excitment level and the look on his face) included getting the "Happy Birthday Song" sung to him, playing his new musical instruments and getting a replacement Richard Scarry Cars, Trucks and things that Go book (his previous copy was tossed due to getting Will vomit on it during a recent bout with the stomach flu). We had to take a 10 minute break from present opening as Will couldn't wait to get his hands on the book. Will got some all around cool stuff. John and I are expecting him to arise very early tomorrow morning as soon as he remembers all the cool stuff he gets to play with.
Thank you family and friends for loving our son so well! Truly, Will's favorite part of the day was having so many of the people he loves around to spend time with him, so thank you!
Here are a few pictures of the day as well as a video of Will and Evey playing (we missed you, Andy and Libby. Hope you're having a great trip. Thanks for sharing Evey with us anyway!)









Oh, and here's Will playing his harmonica (sorry about the camera angle)

Weekend Pictures

Marta and Jacquie's baby shower

My baby is almost 2!

Janie Bug

Christy's #27 bday party

Johnny with Jane and cousin, Clara (10 months)

Will being his funny self

January Snapshot

I got the idea from a friend to do a monthly snapshot of each kid since they change so much from month to month. This is for me as much as anyone else so that I can look back and remember the kids at this age. Here goes January:

Will

Latest words: "Nope" "Snuggle" "Blue's Clues"
Favorite things: Bugs, rocket ships, Pooh, Diego, trucks, acting out "The Three Little Pigs" story
Favorite food: Pirate's booty
Dislikes: The doctor's office with a passion--literally screams for the duration of the appointment, getting his eczema lotion put on
Accomplishments: Counts to ten with some encouragement, can complete puzzles by himself
Highs: Going to the cabin in Hansville with Pa, Gramma and fam
Low: Getting a staph infection on his tummy
Tender Moments: Now gives sister good night hugs and kisses


Jane

Favorite things: Will, Mom, Dad, Olive
Favorite foods: Avocado, pirate's booty
Dislikes: Getting put to sleep
Accomplishments: Drank from a straw, can hold herself up on her arms and spin in circles on her tummy, sits up momentarily unassisted, does barrel rolls
Highs: Getting hugs from brother
Lows: Currently has a cold
Tender Moment: Her fascination with cousin, Evey

A Good Day

A good start to the day begins before the kids get up:
a.) Get up when John does, see him off to work
b.) Get showered and dressed
b.) Drink a cup of coffee, hopefully two
c.) Read my Bible.
Today all four happened before the first "Mama" and the rest of the day was just as good. The kids and I had a lunch date with a friend of mine, Marisa, who is awesome and who I miss and need to see more often. Other than that, lots of playing and enjoying the kids.
also, Happy Birthday, Christy!
Here are a few recent pictures:

Celebrating Evey

A highlight of the weekend was celebrating Evey's second birthday with the whole family:




I also got a rare couple of shots of Will and Jane together (since Jane can only sit up on her own for a few seconds and Will tends to move as soon as I ask him to sit still):

Snuffle Face and more

One thing I've learned in my experience as a mom is that things pass very quickly. Little phases that the kids go through now are so cute and seemingly unforgettable, but I know that when 2 years of memories turns into 20 years, some of these little moments may get lost unless I document them.
Jane's latest quirk--the snuffle face. She just started doing this and it cracks me up. She scrunches up her nose and eyes and breathes in and out through her nose really loudly. It's her way of being silly, I guess. Here it is:



And here is a video of Jane cracking up mid-tickle:


One side-note--Will is finally sans bottle!! I was putting off battling him to get rid of it because a.) I knew it would be a tough battle and b.) I really didn't care all that much that he still used it. Well, one good thing about the stomach flu that plagued our household was that Will's stomach couldn't tolerate milk for almost a week. And by the end of the week, he pretty much had forgotten about his bottle. Those things tend to work themselves out so I try not to waste energy worrying about them. Jane still won't take the darned bottle (or if she takes one, she then goes on a nursing strike). I've resigned myself to the fact that she'll likely go straight to the cup which is nice in a way. I'm looking forward to being a bottle-free house for a while!

While I'm here, here are a couple pics and a video of the little guy (talk about quirks, Will loves to dine naked and sometimes I oblige him):

Family resemblance

This is Will's second cousin, Jessie from Nedra's Clauson side. When I saw this pic today (courtesy of cousin, Beth), I couldn't get over it. Will and his sister don't look alike at all, but this second cousin could be his twin!