Jumparoo

Nathaniel has such strong legs that he basically stands up in our lap whenever we are holding him and just seems as if he wants to be upright. So, we decided to break out one of Ben's old favorites - the Jumparoo - this weekend. Right now, Nate is just tall enough to reach the ground on the lowest setting and he didn't catch on to the whole idea of "jumping" just yet, but he seemed to enjoy being in it and bouncing a bit. Here he is testing the waters.

Not too sure about this thing yet...

Ok, maybe I'll give it a try...

Mesmerized by the lights, music and bouncing!

West Coast Visitors

Last week Andrew's sister Michelle and her 11-month-old daughter, Madelyn, visited us for a week from Seattle. Maddie is Ben and Nate's only cousin so it was so fun to have them with us and for the kids to be able to interact with each other for a full week. We had so much fun taking pictures of all the kids and spending time with them.

Here are some photos from home that we took throughout the week. Luckily we had beautiful weather for the most part so we were able to spend some time outside. Here we all are in our backyard.

Maddie is having so much fun on Ben's little scoot-along trike that he used last summer.

Maddie and Mommy.

Nate slept through our outdoor adventure in his travel swing.

Ick! Grass is really, really strange (at least Maddie thinks so!). It doesn't help that the landscapers had not been here in a week so it was really long.

Barney, of course, is part of the action. Maddie has a Yorkshire Terrier so she is not afraid of dogs (which is huge since most children are). In fact, all she did was giggle and try to grab for him whenever Barney came near her!

Bubbles are always a fun outdoor activity. What a way to occupy little children for more than a few minutes!

Our little "mo-mower man." Ben is obsessed with the landscapers and calls them our lawnmower, or mo-mower, men whenever he sees them outside. How exciting to discover that he has his own lawnmower in the garage that he did not remember from last summer!

While Ben napped one day, Nate and Maddie had some time to interact on their own.

Thanks to G and CC, the kids had a few coordinating outfits to wear throughout the week for our visit. It's a tough job to get three little ones to sit still for photos but we did alright and thought the photos we got were really cute! :)

Eating dinner together... we have two fairly good eaters in our family, veggies and all!



...and especially dessert! Here's our redneck son in his bib without a shirt, covered in chocolate dessert. Ha, I thought this photo would be a lot funnier than trying to get chocolate out of his white Polo shirt :).

Playing together. Maddie is very girly but she loved all of Ben's trucks and boy toys. She always went for the biggest truck of all when given the choice!




And here's Maddie in Ben's Anywhere Chair. She loved it!

Maddie took her first steps right before she came to visit us so here she is walking (and very proud of herself, too, I might add!)

Just some miscellaneous photos of Nathaniel. Here he is with Aunt Chel and also alone below that.

Finally, we had fun giving Ben and Maddie their bedtime bath together in the tub. They did surprisingly well, give or take some sharing issues and some standing up in the tub. We, of course, loved the photos!

Maddie, post-bath and curly-haired!

Trip to VA

While Michelle and Maddie were visiting us, we rented a minivan for the week (since we had three carseats to deal with) and we all drove to Norfolk, VA together for our cousin Kate's wedding reception. It's about a six hour drive from our house and the kids did very, very well. We bottlefed Nate in the car and only stopped for lunch on our way down and on our way back. Quite impressive for a carload with three children! Of course, they all had fussy moments but on the whole, they did great. Here they are in the car, all set for the big voyage. Ben loved being able to sit in the third row of the minivan! The big boy of the bunch...

Here's Ben in our hotel room in his own bed. It was the first time he had stayed in a hotel bed and he had a blast jumping up and down and playing in the covers. Both nights we were there, he was playing and jumping, talking, laughing, etc. when we turned the lights out...and about ten minutes later he was passed out to the world for the next twelve hours! I guess wearing him out during the day was a good idea since I had been worried about how he would do in the bed alone.

Here's Ben and his hero, Uncle Ron. He developed an immediate liking for Uncle Ron but was even more impressed when he found out that he is a truck driver and drives a car carrier, Ben's favorite truck! All he kept saying (and still is saying!) is "Uncle Ron...car carrier...WHOA!!!" all weekend long. Oh, and yes, Ben is in his pajamas for breakfast in the hotel lobby. They're his favorite so we decided to give in and let him hang out in them one morning :).

Aww...our two babies fast asleep in the car.

Peek-a-boo! Madelyn with her new stuffed elephant, Ellie.

Here's Nate all decked out in his button-down and tie for the wedding...awake and then after he fell asleep in his carseat!

And here is Ben passed out sleeping on our ten minute drive to the wedding. Yes, it was a very busy day for him so this catnap did him good (especially since he normally naps for 2-3 hours during the day and did not have one this day). We know he is exhausted if he actually falls asleep in the car these days.

Maddie and her mommy at the reception.

Ah-ha, Ben found Uncle Ron again at the recpetion!

We thought this picture was so funny. It's Ben right after we got to the reception after he had been awakened from his nap in the carseat. He is still very tired and was basically staring off into space for the first few minutes of the party.

Here's Aunt Cinty holding the little man Nate with the groom Ricky. Her daughter Kate is the bride but all of my photos of her came out too dark so I have no pictutes! :(

Aunt Cinty and David during a mother of the bride photo shoot.

Andrew holding Nate. Of course he had to wear semi-formal attire, even at 10 weeks old. Every baby needs black loafers, chinos, a button-down and a tie!

Michelle and Maddie stayed with a friend during the trip but came to hang out with the family during the days we were in VA so here we are in the hotel room with the two youngest kids.