Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend we stayed home and had such a nice time relaxing after several fairly busy weekends. We did some local things as a family, Andrew and I got some work done around the house, and we just had a nice time laying low in this beautiful weather. Of course, Andrew and I are absolutely wiped out now that it is 9pm on Monday night after several days in the heat with the two active little men of ours!

On Saturday morning we met our friends the Kriebels for our local Memorial Day parade in town. It was small and not crowded, which was perfect for the kids. All of them had a blast - this was Ben and Nate's first parade and they both loved seeing the sites and Ben loved collecting all of the candy that was thrown.


Daddy and Nate checking out the action. Nate loves to point at everything lately and ask "What dat?" or "Dat?" and if he knows what it is, he likes to tell us what he sees. He really talks a lot and is great at repeating words and sounds. His latest favorite is "star." Whenever he sees one, he will point it out by name and often he spots stars before we even do! Here, he was pointing to the dog across the road that looked like Barney...



The three "big kids," Tyler, Samantha and Ben eating their snacks and waiting for the action to start. Thank you, Samantha, for looking and waving at the camera when I tried to get everyone's attention :).


Here comes the parade! Ben truly was amazed by all of the lights, sirens and cars and trucks that went by.

Ben and Tyler checking out the local high school band. Not as exciting as the trucks but they all still clapped their hands to the music anyways. It was really very cute!

All five of the kids watching the action...possibly waiting for the next car to throw candy out of its window :)

One of the most exciting exhibits, the John Deer tractors!

Me and the boys. These photos are funny as you watch the progression of Ben's crankiness at being told to sit still and take a photo. At least Nate seemed content to be the big cheese for the camera :)

"Come and take a picture with us, Ben..."

"Everyone look at the camera..." (no luck)

Nate has to clap for some of the most exciting attractions that pass by....and we're starting to lose Ben even before we had him!

"Hi, camera!" says Nate....but Ben is already gone! Maybe next time when there are not more exciting things to watch such as firetrucks and ambulances...

Ben quickly got the hang of running for the candy when it was thrown...and we came home with as much candy as Halloween!

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Monday:

Today I officially did my boy mom duty of the week...I helped to launch model rockets all afternoon after Ben and Andrew built one together. This was one of Andrew's favorite things to do as a kid and he wanted to introduce it to the boys. They both really were amazed by how high the rockets can go!

Here are a few of Andrew and Ben assembling their rocket. This one did not need to be painted or anything; Andrew figured he'd cross that path when Ben is a bit older.

Ta-da! The launch pad is complete...

Here the two engineers stand beside their latest vessel, just moments before the inaugural launch. What a bunch of proud guys! And yes, there is a large yellow dog in the background that looks like he is about to squat to do his business - lol!

Getting all set up for the launch...

And 3-2-1...blast off! Ben got to press the button first. Barney was terrified (as you can see) even though it is not very loud at all. That's our wimpy doggie!

Nate got a turn to press the launch button too!

Nate was intrigues by the rockets and kept pointing up asking "Dat?" and making a "whoosh!" noise!

Here it comes...down...down....down....uh oh!

Looks like the rocket landed pretty far out in the yard so Andrew and Ben had to go back into the thick brush and retrieve it. You can barely see Ben the grass is so tall all the way back there!

Daddy's shoulders are a much nicer ride through such thick grass!

And success! They found the rocket!

As the rocket was being hunted down, I snapped a few shots of Nate "walking."

Funny scrunchy nose face!

This weekend Nate started to really stand on his own for long periods of time and has taken up to 2 steps in a row. We wouldn't consider him walking yet since it's not regular and he still falls face forward most of the time, but soon we will hopefully have his own post of pictures of him walking...

Standing by himself!

1....2 steps!

Harleysville Duck Pond

This week is absolutely beautiful spring weather here is PA...finally! The boys get very rammy when they are cooped up in the house for too long so I have been trying to take them outside to play any free time we have, which they love. This morning we met Amy, Tyler, Samantha, and Brianna at the duck pond in Harleysville. What a fun time the kids had seeing and feeding the ducks!

Here are the three big kids throwing their bread into the water. I tried to give Nate some as well since he is obsessed with ducks lately but he kept eating it himself - ha ha!

Ah, l'amour! Nate and younger woman Brianna having a West Side Story moment as they spot each other from afar :) ...

Nate is on the road to walking...at last! He loves using walkers and cruising all over the place. I remember Ben at this phase and he was walking on his own within the month so we are hoping Nate will take off on his own soon.

Baby Bri!

Some cute sibling shots of my boys and also the two oldest Kriebels.

All of the "big kids" watching and feeding the ducks. I can't believe Nate is now classified as one of the big kids! :)

After all of the excitement with the ducks, the kids had fun playing on the playground as well.

Maggie and Billy's Graduation Party

Yesterday we drove out to Lancaster for Maggie and Billy's graduation party and had a fun afternoon visiting with lots of relatives and also meeting Billy's family for the first time. Here are some photos that were sent to me from the day.

Here, the two boys are in their matching outifts with their dad and grandpa. For waking up at 6:00am (the latest trend, God help me!) and having basically no naps, they did really well and were fairly content for the entire day.


Cheri with the boys...

Ben was the big helper for the day and got to help Cheri cut up the cake (and then got to have his choice of a very LARGE piece!). As we were leaving, he thanked her for helping him with the cake - ha ha! He also was a big helper when Maggie and Billy opened their gifts and is quite the self-professed clairvoyant - he predicted that several boxes would contain large construction trucks (ha ha!). Much to his dismay, they didn't actually contain anything quite as exciting to a three year old boy, but he still enjoyed helping to open them :).

As Billy opened this bottle of reserve liquor, Ben saw the gold packaging and asked if it was a Bible! LOL! Helping Maggie with her cards...

Nate was his usual jovial self during the gift-opening and entertained the masses. Here are a few candids of him.

Apparently, he didn't want Stacy to take his picture but did want her camera!

Stacy entertained him for a long time with high-5's. The photo is between giggles, but Nate was practically rolling on the floor with laughter at this little game!

Ben always loves the three French Bulldogs, and here he is with Joey, Maggie's "baby."

And last but definitely not least, here is the piece de resistance for the day - as we were leaving, Cheri bent down to hug Ben, he said "Ben loves you, CC!" and as he went to hug her, he sneezed all over her!! BOYS!! This photo captured the Kodak moment perfectly - lol!

Pregnancy Update - 16 weeks

Not too much news to report this month but I did go for my routine OB checkup on Friday and through I'd give my monthly pregnancy update. All is well, the baby is active and the heartbeat is strong and I am measuring as I should be for 16 weeks. I have been feeling better in terms of nausea and just have a relapse every so often, which is manageable. My diabetes seems to be under control now and has not been giving me too many problems, other than some lethargy. All in all, the second trimester has been going fairly well and we are eagerly awaiting our level II ultrasound on June 2nd so that we can hopefully find out the gender of the baby. I'm glad to see that so many of you have voted on my little poll I posted to the blog so make sure to check back on June 2nd to see who takes home the prize! :) Andrew and I are not in agreement over what gender we think the baby is so we are both greatly anticipating the news (hee hee...) :)

Here I am at 16 weeks:

Chang's Shower

Last weekend my mom and I threw Chang a bridal shower at my mom's house in NJ. It was a tea party theme and turned out quite lovely! Here are the few photos that I managed to take, the first of Chang with her faux bouquet I made for her while she opened her gifts and the other three of our food table, tea cart, and dessert table. Now that the shower has passed we are all eagerly anticipating the big wedding day on August 7th!