Ant bites

Last Thursday when we got home from picking Cam up from school I finally got around to planting the last few bulbs for Spring ( I know it's super late). Anyhow, I put out a blanket for Maggie, Cam was 'helping' me dig the holes and I went to work. Not too far in Maggie started crying and screaming. She had crawled closer to the flower beds, but wasn't actually in one. I grabbed her up and checked her out and didn't see anything, no bugs crawling on her or what not. She continued to be upset as I pulled the pack n play out and added toys and snacks to it. Our neighbor let her dog out, so we walked over to see him and to see if that would calm Maggie down. When she reached out to pet the dog, I finally saw that she had about 10 ant bites swelling up on her hand. I couldnt' believe how swollen and red her little hand was, but now knew why she was crying so much. I ran her inside, gave her some Tylenol and rubbed an numbing gel on her bites. That all seemed to help and calm her down. When I got back out to the garden I was able to find the very small ant bed she must have stuck her hand into to get bit. You can still see a few of the bites and I just felt like such a bad mommy letting her get bit. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid any more bites, at least from ants. The mosquitos are a whole other story.

The Kentucky Derby

Don't they look like they just need mint julips?

Maggie's Birthday Party

We held a small birthday party for Maggie with her other about to be 1 year old friends on Tuesday, April 14.  She was super excited to be at the Little Gym and was trying to hard to get into the gym while we waited our turn.

I just love that large bow.  It looks so good in her bald head!

Hitting sticks to a song.  The babies loved this!  They also brought out the air track, bouncy balls and of course the very popular bubbles.

We sang "Happy Birthday!" and the adults ate the cupcakes with Maggie.  I think all of the babies had a good time and got great afternoon naps when they left.

It was really hard to figure out what to do for a 1 year old birthday.  We only did family parties for Cam for his first birthday.  However, Maggie has quite a few friends in her age range, so I really was looking for something to do with them.  I think the Little Gym was a good location since everything was padded and I didn't have to plan any activities.  This was also good since it was so close to Easter this year.

Happy Birthday my little Cupcake.  It's so crazy that it's been a year since you were born.  We have done so much and been through so much in that time.  I keep comparing you to your brother, but am constantly reminded that you are different children in many ways.  You are already talking up a storm.  You eat more than your brother any given day.  And you just aren't too interested in walking.  At your one year check up, you weighed 20 lbs and some odd ounces, putting you in the 50th percentile for weight.  You were 27 and some odd inches long, which puts you in the 10th percentile for height.  Finally I can't remember the measurement on your head, but you were in the 25th percentile.  So you are a chunky little thing.  I just love those rolls on your legs and am constantly hearing other people say the same thing.  Every day you are finding something to investigate.  I am almost certain we are having to baby proof the house more than we did with Cameron.   You are very attached to me, but are also good at visiting with other family and friends.  I am confident that you will have a similar independence to your brother.  You love your brother and your daddy and get so excited when they walk into a room.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings for all of us.  It will be so exciting to see your progress as you learn to walk, talk more, and start MDO.  We pray every day for you.

El Dorado

At Heritage Park pool, across from Landolt

Flooded swings

Rock Band

Part of the fun Saturday night was that we stayed up til midnight playing Rock Band.  That game has been such a good family investment.  Slowly everyone started to leave, but we got in a variety of songs and play time for everyone.

Okay Kaiden and Cam aren't playing with a real Rock Band Guitar.  They were playing with a guitar my grandmother found through the Discovery Store.  It totally makes the boys feel like they are participating with the rest of us.  The guitar actually does play notes and so forth and can even hook up to an iPod to 'play' that music as well.

Gotta be like daddy!

Super Boys!

Our Birthdays with the Family

Along with our family egg hunt on Saturday, we celebrated Maggie's 1st birthday and my 30th birthday, too.

Maggie with her cake.  Oh and her awesome outfit is courtesy a nifty eBay seller.  She was able to speed the outfit to us in time for the family get together.

She needed a little bit of encouragement to dive into the cake.  So Nana gave her a taste of the icing . . .

Then Daddy shoved her face in it

After that we cut her a slice of the cake, which she really seemed to enjoy.  

I got a cake in chocolate, of course.  Doesn't it make for a cute 'present?'

We ordered the cakes from Jenny's Bakery over in Nassau Bay.  I think they did a really good job and the cakes tasted awesome.  I will be using them again.

Family Egg Hunt

We had the family over to do an egg hunt and celebrate birthdays on Saturday, April 11. It included the Jones', Davaul's, Majure's, and Geary's. It was fun to have everyone over to our house to celebrate together.

Chris is really enjoying having his brother in the same city once again. He's able to pick on him all he likes.

Here's the grandkids all in one pick. From left to right, Zachary (aka Zackzilla), Maggie, Cam, Brady, and Kaiden. I had to point out Zachary's nickname because he is truly a force! The second he walked through the door he was looking for something destroy. I am not really sure how Bek balances all those boys in one house, but I give her major props for it.
This shot is shortly after Zachary swooped by and stole all of the Maggie's eggs. Since they weren't in a basket, he felt they were fair game.
The boys up in the hideout.
Even Brady got to do some egg hunting. He's got the sweetest cheeks, makes you just want to kiss all over him. I'll have to post a close up of him soon too. I'm so excited to have him close by so I can spoil him and love all over him.

Church Egg Hunt

On Saturday, April 11, our church hosted an Easter Egg hunt and picnic.  This is the first year they've tried doing it on a Saturday and I really liked it the best.  The kids both enjoyed hunting for eggs and getting to sit out on the lawn to visit with friends.

Maggie gathering her eggs.  Once we showed her how to put them in the basket, she was cleaning up pretty good.

Nana showed Maggie that if she opened the eggs there were goldfish inside.  That ended her picking them up and instead she was opening them and eating the goldfish.  Ah, that girl loves her food.

This our sweet buddy Zoe.  She was born shortly after Maggie, but as a premie.  She was oh so tiny when she was born, but is catching up fast.  She's such a sweetie and loves to "talk" to everyone at church.

Cam, showing off his loot.  He got a lot of good candy, but we are pacing him on eating all of it.  

The kids really enjoyed the egg hunt with their buddies.  We did cut down on egg hunts this year and did only the church one and one at the house.  We had been doing 3 or 4 each year and just kept ending up with tons of candy and eggs.  Too much for us, so we cut back.

Easter Bunny Pics

Our very cool friend Cristy, who works for the mall, met us this morning for Easter Bunny pictures.  Thanks so much for our super duper coupon!  

Here's the official bunny shot - 

Then Cristy grabbed her camera to take a few candid shots of me and the kids playing with the decorations.

Wow, Maggie looks huge in this picture.  Especially after I've been holding Brady, I can't believe she was once that size.  Ohh, my little girl is growing up.

Happy Easter

Here's Maggie's Easter Basket pic.  She was having a great time trying to eat the eggs.

Cam is trying to tell Maggie, "This is the face you are supposed to make."  I wanted to find the one that was taken of him at PI when he was 18 months because we got some super cute Easter ones of him then.  He made the best faces for the photographer.  However, I'm not really sure where that's all archived at.

Bulldozing McDonalds

We got a note from our friend Sarah this afternoon that the McDonalds on Bay Area was going to be bulldozed.  So I took Cam & Owen to sit in the parking lot to watch the action.  We met up with the Babins and Whites for the fun.

Below Cam's sitting in the tree watching the bulldozers go.  In this pic you can see that something is up with his lip.  He got a hold of Pop's razor on Sunday night and tried to shave.  He immediately got Nana to help him with his boo boo.  He was quite embarrassed and didn't want to show anyone what happened.  And today was class  pictures! 

Checking out the bulldozer knocking down the walls of McDonalds.  It was really gross to see the amount of grease that was in the kitchen area.  Really makes you think twice about eating there.

After the adventure watching the construction crew, we came back to the house and had an adventure in the backyard.  This pic was cracking me up because it looks like Cam's laying in wait to attack Owen.  Really, he was having some trouble getting up the slide with everything he had in tow.

Of course, since brother was going up the slide, Maggie thought she could figure it out.  She did pretty good getting one leg up but then couldn't really balance to get the second one going.  I keep thinking she'll surely get up and start walking any minute, but maybe it's easier to have me carry her around.  Cam was walking at this point, so I guess we are just waiting at this point.

The Little Gym

We also spent part of the day at the Little Gym with playgroup.  The kids always have such a good time on the equipment, the bouncy, and this time we got to try out soccer.  It was so funny to watch Maggie chase a ball, hit it, have it roll away, and then chase it again. 

I'm not really sure what Maggie was doing in this pic, but knew my mom would recognize the shirt.  It's one of mine, however, the sizing says 2T.  There is no way this girl is wearing the shirt at 2T if she keeps up her current sizing.

Isn't that a wild shot of Cam?  He jumped right as I was going to take his pic.  I thought it looked neat so had to post.

Waiting for the bouncy to be blown all the way up.

It looks like Maggie and Irelynn are having a conversation.  Hmm, do you think it's about shoes (none on), food (none in the gym), maybe it's clothes?  They get excited when they see each other and it's so cute to watch.

Bunny Baskets

Sam came over to hang out with us again on Friday while mom and dad took sister to her field trip to Bayou Wildlife.  I was ready with a craft for the boys to do, per my friend Kim's idea.  

My bunny basket

The boys picking out their supplies.  Cam's favorite color is blue (so blue ears for him) and Sam's is yellow (yellow for him).  They did a great job of creating their own baskets.

The boys with their completed bunny baskets.  And after a little while the Easter Bunny made a stop by the house and dropped off some pre-Easter candy too!

First Time to Book Babies

Maggie and I dropped Cam off at school Thursday morning (4/2) and headed to the library to return books and pick some up.  We were pleasantly surprised to realize we were there in time for Book Babies.  Then we got another surprise, some of the ladies I play Bunko with were there with their kiddos as well.  So Maggie got to do her first Book Babies with some friends.  

She absolutely loved the experience.  They have singing, clapping, bubbles, what's not to like for a baby.  At the end they put out bins of toys and books and those were also fun to look through.

The other baby in this pic is one we met at Book Babies.  She was born a week after Maggie, but is already walking.  She was very cute and walked around to say hi to everyone. 

Maggie was discovering her feet and the carpet.  We had such a good time I am going to try really hard to make it to this more often.

Old Family Video

When we first got our Mac we were so excited to play with iMovie.  Chris had created this video that recapped from us meeting to December of 06.  So if you haven't seen any Cam baby pictures, this is the video to watch.  Obviously it's a little heavy on the photos from late '04 forward since that's when Cam arrived.  

It is about 14 minutes long, so if you decide to watch, get comfy.

Oh, and I realized in watching this, that Maggie does a lot of the same facial expressions as Cam.  Is that nature or nurture?  I don't know.  Cam also has quite a few that are just his own.  He has always been quite expressive, but it was fun to look back at this pictures and see exactly how much so.  

Oh and Chris has only been married once, so yes, that is indeed me in the wedding dress.  I can't tell you how many times people comment on how I don't look like myself in my wedding pictures and portraits.  I do weigh differently than I did then, so I can only say that maybe that's the reason.

Watching the Kids

On April Fool's Day I got to watch our friend Sam while his big sister went to Girl Scouts.  Cam & Sam played out in the backyard most of the time.  Their favorite game is Tom & Jerry Star Wars.  I'm not entirely sure how the two combine to make one activity, but the boys are content to create their own "show" and it's fun to watch them.  Here are a few shots from the day.  Oh, and Sam's joke of the day was, "You're shoes are untied . . . April Fool's."  This was especially funny since Cam & I were wearing Crocs, yet still continued to look down at our shoes.

My kids waiting in the front yard for daddy to come home.
This is our rain gutter system that the dogs are continuously disconnecting.  The boys found it much more useful for playing Telephone.

The mini trampoline is quite  a bit of fun.  I have no idea why the boys got under it, but Maggie thought they were funny.

Ah, more fun with the rain gutter.  Playing horse.
Thoughtful boys.