Lately

Whew, I need to do better at posting! We've been keeping busy around here. Memorial day weekend snuck up on us so we didn't have any big plans. Danny took Cohen camping for one night while Ezra stayed and Gramma's and I got a night to myself! We had a few plans here and there and we kept busy. We took the boys down to the Children's museum and to a big dinner out at Costco. That's how we roll.

Cohen has been a busy boy too! He has just 2 more weeks of school left so we went in for a meeting with his teachers and therapists. He seems to be doing well and likes going. It's always good to hear from the teachers because all Cohen says about school is "nothing".  We went over his IEP and goals that will continue on to next year.

Cohen also moved into a big boy bed. It was strangely emotional to see him in a real bed, not a toddler bed anymore! From isolette to an actual bed, he looks so little. But he loves his bed and we repeat many, many times a day to the boys that the bed is not for jumping, but they both like to hang out up there. Cohen has also enjoyed telling anyone that will listen that "I'm turning four soon!" and that he wants to have a "farm animal and trucks and tractors birthday party". He is also getting SO good at his riding his balance bike. He has always loved walks, I think it's calming for him, and now he can ride his bike while I push Ezra in the stroller. Ez is usually content to just sit and ride, which is way easier than Cohen speeding down the sidewalk on his bike and Ezra stopping to look at every bug and flower along the way.

Ezra's just been keepin' on being a toddler. He learned the words "no" and "mine" in the same week. He and Cohen fight frequently, but then I hear them over the baby monitor giggling and laughing and talking when no one is watching and it's the best. Love these brothers so much.

Easter 2015

I'm a little behind, but here are some pictures from our Easter.

This handsome little boy was not pleased when I put this outfit on him. He cried and cried, sorry kid! I really wanted the boys to have bow ties to wear to church so I made them each one a couple nights before Easter, not perfect, but made with love!

Every year we do an Easter egg hunt with the cousins. My sister gets all the eggs ready and we go to a little park in between all of our houses. We had a little picnic and let the kids go "find" eggs, they really just ran around picking up as many as they could since it's just an open field. The boys loved collecting the eggs and stopping to open each one to see if there was candy in it. 

Easter morning we keep pretty simple. The boys each got a stuffed animal and some bubbles. Cohen was so curious how the Easter bunny got into the house. The Easter service at our church is always one of my favorites, we have an Easter choir and they always do a really great job. This is the best picture I could get Easter morning. 

I asked my sister to take some pictures of the boys in their Easter clothes before the egg hunt. I got the boys all dressed up and crossed my fingers that they would cooperate. The pictures turned out SO cute! Don't they clean up nice? They are the sweetest! 

Out for a Walk (again)

We had a pretty mild winter around here, but that doesn't mean that we are still SO ready for spring! We've had a few days of heavy rain and I've been at work so this morning we were all ready to get outside. I took the boys for a nice, long walk with no expectations so they could dilly dally at their own pace.

 Cohen insists on pushing a stroller and Ezra has decided that he needs one as well, which he usually ends up riding in at some point.

They love exploring on this path. It's great because it's paved but also has some woods around it so they can "adventure" and pick up sticks and throw rocks and roll in the dirt a little.

Can someone please tell me how these little boys are growing up so fast!? I just want to hold onto each age and keep them there, but it's also so fun to see how they grow and change.

Cohen - 3.5

If I'm in denial that Ezra is almost two, I'm definitely in denial that this guy is almost FOUR!

 My little hero.  He is growing so much. Like (literally) leaps and bounds. Getting more steady on his feet and more confidence in his heart. Always up for adventure.
 
He loves preschool and riding the bus. He loves hanging out with his Auntie and playing with his cousins. Whenever we go somewhere he says "Are my cousins going to be there?". He also loves pushing his shopping cart(s) around, trains and cars. Nearly every day I find our front door mat over the transition from the hardwoods to the carpet in his room and it's the "ramp" for his cars/shopping cart/trains. He also likes to connect and hang things across the house, which we have tried to limit to his room because otherwise the house turns into quite the obstacle course. It's so interesting to see his little mind working to make things happen and then carrying them out.

He is our Mr. Literal and just wants to know about everything about everything. "How does it work? Why does it do that? But why? But why? But why...." One day he was very persistently asking the same question over and over and I said told him to drop it. He said "But Mommy, I don't have anything to drop!" Oh dear...Always keeps us on our toes!

Extreme Sliding

I used to love winter and look forward to the cold weather and rain so I could stay inside and read books on the couch. Since having kids (busy kids), I'm more of a spring/summer kind of person. We have been quite pleased with our mild winter and have been trying to get outside pretty much any time it isn't raining.

These boys, they are so full of life and energy and spunk and adventure. My cautious adventurer and my not-afraid-of-anything daredevil.

The boys went outside today for a quick episode of what we call "extreme sliding". Spring, come quickly! 

Christmas 2014

We had a pretty quiet, calm Christmas over here. Just the way we like it. We didn't put any presents under our tree until a few days before Christmas so that we could start telling the boys they were going to get to open them soon. This year we went with the "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to need" for gifts. And the boys didn't even need anything to wear so they just got a couple things each. 

Christmas Eve we had some hot chocolate, read "The Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story out of their little Bible. Then we made peppermint hot chocolate and let Cohen open one present before bed. Once they were in bed we turned on a Christmas movie and set out to put their trampoline together (which was harder than we thought it would be). 

Christmas morning the boys woke up and wandered out to see their presents. Cohen was excited about the trampoline and wanted to open his presents on it. They were probably most excited about the chocolate kisses they found in their stockings (which had to be confiscated until after breakfast).

We had our traditional "coyote" breakfast (fried bread dough with powdered sugar on top) and just had a quiet morning at home. Later we headed over to my parents' house to have Christmas with my side of the family.

The trampoline has been a big hit and Cohen has been getting lots of energy out (and it's supposed to be good for building core muscles and coordination too - bonus!) And no one has fallen off and broken their necks either (another bonus!)