Andys birthday..

Andy woke up in a great mood today.. looked over at Max & said "meow, meow" until we pulled him out of bed, silly duck.
We opened gifts first thing, every package the wrapping came off, Andy said " Wow!" oh "Whoa, cool" It was adorable to see hes finally gotten the concept of gifts.
He was so thrilled, as if he had no idea what he had done to have such an exciting wonderful day but he was sure enjoying every minute of it! Mike said tomorrow he'll be like "uhm, dont I wake up to gifts today too?"









Then came the big gift.....

Check out this video: andy gets a car!



He eats muffins in his cop car, while on the kitchen beat...




Here is the cake I made for him, not quite done yet...I decided to be a slacker while I still can & just make it in the pan, rather than doing a figure 8 track. I figure right now, all he cares about is 2 things..that its cake, and the cars on top of it!




We've jumped on the bed, danced to YMCA & the bunny hop, eaten our new pretend food, colored pictures with new crayons & driven miles in the cruiser..
Andy is napping now & when he wakes up, Daddy will be here with balloons & we're headed out to play in the kiddie pool!
Pizza for dinner & a bubble bath with some new boats..How fabulous it is to be TWO!!

The big #2!!!

Happy Birthday Andy-Roo! We love you!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Swim!

Today we woke up & it was HOT outside! At 11am we were all dying even inside with the air on so we thought it would be a good day to blow up the big slide & splash pool we got for Andy..

Then we figured, by the time we went to the stroe & found what type of pump it takes to blow it up & get it blown up, it'll be late & it was SO hot Andy couldnt have stayed out for more than an hour. We have MILLIONS of cats in this neighborhood so we dont want to leave it blown up all night b/c it will get popped from our beloved Fluffy or one of her kittens so Mike went to 2 Walmarts to find our towns most popular item of the day.. a $5 pool!

He found one & Andy got lotioned up & headed outside for his first little pool adventure.

Go figure..the second we walk outside it cools off & is about to rain, so the water is FREEZING, Andy refuses to sit in it, just stand while splashing abit, throwing water balls & looking a bit cold & occasionally terrified as he slips & gets splashed by the cold water.

Sooo.. as Mike sat with his feet in the pool I put on a swimsuit ( yikes) and ran outside to hop in!

Holy crap.. no wonder Andy wouldnt sit..it was FREEZING! So I slowly got in & then sat down & tried to coax him to play with me, we splashed Daddy & daddy soaked Mommy..and Andy cried "Noo Noo" and told us to stop & then took away my cup of water I was using to splash him & Dad with. Ah.. a bossy one we have...

Finally it got too cold to be outside in the pool anymore so we got a screaming Andy inside & hes currently zonked out in his bed. Sweet baby, I cant believe he's almost 2 =(

The sun is back out, hopefully heated up the cold water a bit.. and we'll head back out later, for another try!

Birthday!

Can you believe Andys second birthday is a week from today?? I sure cant.. Somedays it seems like just the other week I was crabby, overly pregnant & dying in the Florida heat convinced that kid was never going to come out...And here we are.


Andy is almost 2 AND he has a little brother!!


He's been blossoming since Ryan came home, hes added hundreds of words to his vocab since April, hes even stringing them together slowly, which is exciting! Or as Mike likes to joke when Andy wont stop talking "maybe I liked it better before!"


No party for us this year, we figure, soon enough he'll want a party for all his friends to come to, so we might as well enjoy just small family fun while we can!


I am so excited, we got this for Andys big gift-

Which we're going to set up & bring into the living room when he wakes up on the big day. I can not WAIT to see his face!! As much as he loves his cars, having a Andy sized car should be just too much for him! I'm even making a race track cake, complete with grass & cars! Hopefully he likes it, I know I will!!

Ahh my little man, turning into a NOT so little man.. kind of sad, kind of exciting..I suppose its why they call it bitter sweet. I never thought things would turn out this way, but lately, when I'm giggling with Mike as Andy calls himself a silly duck, while trying to resist his nap, or Ryan is gigglign as Andy talks to him & offers him toys..I simply can NOT beleive how much I love these 3 boys. I am so incredibly lucky to have them all!

Keep an eye out next week for a video I made to colaborate Andys 2 wonderful years!!

Gigi & Nana

Welp.. today the boys met Gigi ( Sharon, Mikes mom) and Nana ( Mikes grandmother)who live in Florida, for the first time since Andy was 7 weeks old & Ryans 1st time all together!
For as iffy as Andy is.. I must say..it went quite well!!! He played kitchen with Sharon, giggled & held Nanas hands & asked her for walks.. He sat on Sharons lap for books & just jabbered away to his new found friends!
Ryan of course, was all smiles, as usual. Silly boy, theyboth cant believe how happy he is, neither can I sometimes!
Andy got pushed on the swing for about an HOUR, even some silly twisting & turning with his fun Gigi.. And Mike of course, is absolutely thrilled to see both of them.
Tomorrow we have the towns Heritage Fest so all of us will be embarking on a food adventure.. I mean.,.. craft adventure.. I mean.. uhm.. Yeah.. lots of food..who are we kidding?
And another long day of fun memory making for the grandmas!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm grateful we're all here to celebrate our freedom (keeping political jokes to myself here..)

Music Time!

Ah Story/Music time at the library.. I remember going to read books with Miss. Bee and sit in the little cheese house at our local library as a kid.. So, when our friends Emily & Sam ( who is 2 months older than Andy) asked if we'd want to go to Tues. morning Music Time, I thought "sure!"

10am isn't that hard to get to as I remembered alot of the classes started at 8 am.. when we're still asleep. So. we made plans to go this week.

We woke up at 9:30.. late for us and realized music time started in 30 minutes! Mike juggled the kids ready while I got ready & we raced out the door, Andy still bleary eyed clutching his bear & insisting he wear his little straw cowboy hat.

Luckily, the library is only a mile or 2 away, so we get there just as its starting & take a seat in the circle of young kids & moms.. I sit on a block & plop Andy on my lap, everyone smiles & Mr.Jim keeps singing his tune.. Oh Andy..my shy little boy.. his face goes white & he squeezes his eyes shut as tight as they can go, as if he could possibly will himself to be somewhere else.. And sits like that.... the entire session..

Emily & Sam showed up a minute or 2 after we arrived & Andy opened his eyes to peek at Sam, but as soon as Mr. Jim turned the book to the side of the room where we sat, Andy closed his peepers as tight as could be!

I have to say.. I actually got really sad sitting there.. Andy looks about 4 years old, hes so big.. And I feel sometimes, like people assume he is much older & wonder why Mike or I still carry him, or why he doesn't talk much, etc. Hes not even 2 yet, and he's shy, and a loud singing man first thing in the morning would scare me too, to be quite honest!

So, we moved a bit further back in the room & with 5 minutes left, Andy stood up, right after everyone else sat down from shaking themselves along to a song & watched from a small distance as music time finished up. All the kids excitedly took a turn using a pick to strum the guitar, to which Andy squeezed his eyes once more, when he was asked if he wanted to try.

"Maybe next week!" I said, and we went to play a puzzle with Sam.

Once Mr. Jim left & Andy found the large cushioned train caboose he could stare out a window & look at cars with he loved the place, he almost didn't want to go home.. So the goal is, next week.. Music time with eyes open for at least HALF of the 30 minutes..and the week after that, we might aim high, and even shake ourselves a little bit during the "shake shake" song!

And They Garden

Andy & I did some gardening this weekend so our yard looks pretty for when Mikes mom & nana come visit!
Andy helps by throwing rocks out of the garden, and I used a weed wacker for the first time. (Lets just say, our neighbor nearly peed himself laughing at my face of terror/amazement as I wacked weeds left and right!)
We had a nice chat about ants & I am pleased to say, Andy will follow in the family tradition of being a green thumb.. or so I hope.