Jack is 4!

Jack is FOUR! How did that happen? Over the last year he has grown so much in all sorts of ways. He has lost the last traces of babyness in his face, and he is so independent and thoughtful. Naps have been history for about two months, and he can (but never wants to) dress himself. Oh and also, he can find his way around the ipad better than I can.

We held his birthday party at Renaissance Gymnastics Academy. It was seriously the easiest party to throw. I had no stress at all about having 15 of Jack's friends at the party to celebrate. The folks at the gym took care of everything. Balloons, goodie bags, juice boxes, invitations, plates and napkins. The only thing we brought were the cupcakes and food for lunch (we had pizza delivered). EASY. The best part was that the kids had a blast and Jack was so happy.

It took Jack a little while to warm up to the idea, but he eventually put his brave face on and our cautious boy held onto the bar and jumped into the block pit!

Wyatt even got in on the fun.

Jack and Maia.

I loved seeing all of the smiles.

Make a wish!

I just looked back to Jack's 3rd birthday post. He's wearing the exact same shirt. Only the fit was much better. 

And for the fun of it, here's a look at his 2nd birthday post. Wyatt reminds me so much of him here. 

DIY Pirate and Parrot Costumes

Happy Halloween!

I couldn't let the day go by without posting pictures of the boys in their costumes. Also, these might be a small part of the reason that I haven't been around here very much. :) 

I had a lot of fun making these costumes and was really happy with how they turned out. I think they make a pretty cute pair. 

I couldn't have made them without the inspiration that I found on pinterest...

Sources:

Parrot photo via Pinterest from here.

Pirate photo via Pinterest from here.

Hat photo via Pinterest from here.

I am linking up to the Pinterest challenge hosted by:

Young House Love

Bower Power

Our Fifth House

and

The Ugly Duckling House

Back to School

Jack's first week of school was a success!  He tells me that he is in the big kids class now. It's true. The pre-K kids are in school four mornings a week and are expected to take off their coats and hang them up in their cubbies all by themselves. They pour their own drinks at snack time. And parents are supposed to just give a quick goodbye at drop off - no playtime together like we had last year in pre-school. (The first day I didn't even have a chance to give him a hug...he was off exploring the class room before I had the chance.) 

The first day, the moms were talking about how much the kids have grown and changed since last year and it's so true. This is the year that Jack lost any last trace of babyhood and turned into a little boy. 

12 months

This is going to be the last month of trying to get a picture of Wyatt on the floor for my monthly project. He just wants to move! To get this shot, Rob was entertaining him by waving a toy over my head and we got lucky to get him smiling before he flipped over and crawled away. I usually talk about what he's been up to over the past month here but I already did that in his birthday post. 

When I started this project, I knew I wanted to put all 12 months together somehow. I found a great (free!) app for collage making (called: photo collage creator) and had fun making this. He was so tiny at 1 week! It's amazing how much he changed in one year.

He had his one year check up on Friday. Here are his stats...

Weight: 20 lbs 8 oz.

Height: 30 inches (I am not sure how accurate his height is. It took me and Rob to hold him down while the doctor measured. He was sooo wiggly!)

He also got three shots plus his blood taken for hemoglobin and lead (routine for 1 year olds). He was not a happy camper. 

I am going to keep taking his monthly pictures, I just have to find a new spot to take them. 

PS. I know that last bunch of posts have been Wyatt-centric. I promise you'll see Jack very soon!

Wyatt is one!

Dear Wyatt,
Happy first birthday to you, my hurricane baby. Your first year went by in a flash. It seems like yesterday that Daddy and I would take turns pacing around the living room while you cried your little newborn cry. Standing up was the only thing that would make you happy. Now you are standing up on your own and in the last few weeks you've taken your first steps. You sometimes take as many as ten steps before you decide that you've had enough, and you slowly lower yourself down to a crawl. You've started to play. To really play. You love your stacking rings and the Rollipop game that you got for your birthday from Grandma and Grandpa. Every once in awhile, when all the stars are aligned, you and Jack play together...happily.

Your nap/sleep routine seems different every day, so I've just been taking it one day at a time. You still wake once or twice in the night, but you fall asleep much easier than you had been a month ago. You seem to have given up one of your two naps and your remaining nap is relatively short (sometimes just an hour long). So by bed time, you are one tired and fussy boy.

You give kisses. Really cute, open mouth, slobbery kisses. When you want something badly (usually food), you say, nom nom nom nom. The louder you say it, the more you really mean it.

You really are such a sweet boy and we all love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday Wyatt

Happy first birthday, sweet boy. 

Wyatt's 10 and 11 month updates

Let me just dust the cob webs off this place before I get started...

My excuse is that we've been busy over the last month. For the first half of July we were in Washington visiting Grandma and Grandpa (more on that later, I still have to go through hundreds of pictures from our trip). And since we've been back, Wyatt's been on a sleep strike, so it's been hard getting chunks of time to focus on this space of mine.  

I really want to get Wyatt's 10 and 11 month updates down (this is his baby book after all), since the details are already starting to run together. (It's crazy how quickly that happens.)

In his tenth month he mastered crawling, got lots of new teeth (including a molar), figured out how to clap his hands together and flew on an airplane for the first time. I also tried really hard to get him down to only one nursing a night and before we left for Washington, he was doing great. He (and Jack) adjusted so well to west coast time and had no problem sleeping or napping while we were there. It was coming home and getting back on east coast time that was brutal for them both and Wyatt is still not back to his old sleeping habits.

At 11 months, while we were in Washington, Wyatt started to eat pretty much 100% table food. Anything we put in front of him, he'll eat. Well, except for bananas...he still won't touch those. Last night we had steak tips and asparagus and I could not cut up the pieces fast enough for him. He loved it. I only hope that his eating habits continue through toddlerhood and beyond. Also, he dances and it's adorable. Anytime there is music or even a sound with a beat, he smiles and rocks. 

He can climb stairs and he crawls incredibly fast. I really think he'll be walking soon. As far as sleeping goes, well there's not much of that happening. Since we've been back from WA, he's only been taking one, short nap a day and getting him to sleep, especially when he wakes in the night, has been so difficult. All of a sudden he needs rocking and back rubbing on top of nursing. Some nights, it takes hours for him to fall asleep.

He is such a sweet boy, full of energy and curiosity. I can not believe that he is going to be one this month!!

Here are some iphone pictures of some of the milestones he's reached:

His first Flight. (Boston to Dallas, on the way to Seattle)

He loves vegetables!

Climbing.

The Boys' Stats

I took this picture on Father's Day at Sakonnet Vineyards. We had such a fun time there and will definitely be back. Also, it's really hard to get a picture of the two of them looking at the camera!

The boys had their well-baby visits on Friday with the pediatrician. Hmm, I guess I can't call Jack's a well-baby visit anymore, but you know what I mean. This was Wyatt's 9 month check up and Jack's 3 and a half year check up. Jack's last check up was a year ago, so it was fun to see what a difference a year makes.

Here are the stats:

Jack - 35 lbs, 40 inches tall. I can't remember exactly but I think he's in the 50% for weight and 60% for height.

Wyatt - 19 lbs 4 oz, 28 inches tall. I think that Wyatt was also in the 50% for weight and 60% for height.  Also, at Jack's 9 month check up, he was 19 lbs 4 oz too!

The doctor said they are doing great and are healthy. Of course, those are two things that we'll never get tired of hearing. Wyatt will be back in three months for his one year visit. Wait...how is he already almost one year old???

Iphone Snapshots

My goal was to get my favorite phone pictures up here on the blog once a week. Well...life happens, so today, you are going to get photo bombed with snapshots from the last three weeks! 

Driving at Home Depot.

Look! I found a four leaf clover. The first one I've ever found. 

When Jack plays with chalk in the driveway, he calls it chalking.

Typical morning.

Jack was very excited to help feed Wyatt.

Got my toes!

Swinging on the new addition to our backyard.

Boys are dirty.

Wreath I made for my sister.  

While I was taking this picture and stifling my laughter, I was explaining to Jack that he must not go out to play without telling me first. I was laughing at the fact that he had no pants on and was resourceful enough to find his rain boots (the only shoes that he can put on himself.) 

My two littlest nieces. This week, they turned six months old!

It was my 36th birthday last week. The cake was made by my Mom and Jack, who put the sprinkles on all by himself. 

Strawberry picking.

Jack made binoculars at summer camp. He loves them and they inspired his prize. By the way, he's been accident free! Yipeee!

I am linking up to A good life where there's lots of other fun phone shots to see! 

Dixie Cup Popsicles

After picking 8 lbs of strawberries last weekend, I needed to figure out how to use them all up. I made these along with Strawberry Cream Pie, Strawberry Bread, and Ice cream. These popsicles were the easiest of the four treats and the possibilities are endless. Oh, and they were a hit with Jack too! I know that there are tons of ideas for these out there, this is just what worked for me with what I had on hand.  I didn't measure anything out, so this recipe is a guesstimate. You really can't go wrong though.

2. Strawberry-Banana Popsicles

Here's what you need:

• The little 3 ounce size Dixie cups
• Popsicle sticks (I found these at Michael's. I might go for the longer ones next time. Might sound crazy, but these are so little, I am worried they could be swallowed.)
• About 1 lb strawberries, tops removed
• Just under 1/4 cup sugar - just add a little at a time until it's sweet enough (Mine were sweet since I wanted the popsicles to taste like a treat.)
• About 1/3 cup of milk
• Sliced frozen bananas that I already had in the freezer. (By the way, frozen bananas are my new favorite thing. When they are frozen they take on this creamy texture and they sometimes satisfy my ice cream craving, which happens a lot.)

Puree the strawberries. Add the milk (I think these would be just as good without the milk.) and mix in the sugar until it's dissolved.  Divide evenly among the cups, filling about 3/4 full. Place on a cookie sheet and put them into the freezer for about an hour until they are semi solid. Pull them out of the freezer and put a slice of banana into the almost frozen puree. Then stick a popsicle stick in. (They should be set up enough so the stick will stay where you put it. Put them back into the freezer until they are solid. Once they are solid you can put them in a freezer bag to save room. Also, I found that snipping the top of the cup with scissors makes it easy to peel the cup off. I guess this could be done ahead of time so you're not hunting down the scissors each time.

I can't wait to try making these with other berries or mangoes or mixed with yogurt or honey. The possibilities are endless! And I'll take it, if it means that Jack might get an extra serving of fruit!

Could he really be potty trained?

Potty training has been a long process. When it comes to life altering changes, Jack is in no hurry. He takes his time and when he's ready, he's really ready. (like starting to walk at 20 months!) It has been one year since I bribed Jack with a bubble machine and over a year and a half since his first potty success.

But now, Jack is on Day 4 of underwear only (except at night) with no accidents! He even went to summer camp yesterday for 4 hours and came home wearing the same clothes! Yay! As a reward for staying dry at school, he got to pick out a prize and he has not taken them off from around his neck (see above).

We are so proud of him!

Strawberry Cream Pie

The last time we went strawberry picking, Jack wasn't even walking yet. I remember plopping him down in between the rows and letting him explore while I did the picking. This year was a different story. He had his own basket and had no problem filling it up. He was the only strawberry picking kid in the world though that wasn't covered in pink juice by the time our basket was full. He tried one, but had no interest in eating them after that.

We picked about 8 lbs of super ripe, must use them now, berries. After I managed to fit them into our bursting at the seams refrigerator, I had to figure out what to do with them all. I managed to use each and every one of them in four ways. (okay five ways, if you count eating them just the way they are.) I was going to include all four recipes in this one post, but decided it would be easier to post one at a time...

Here's the first of four: 

1. The easiest No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie ever 

I've made this recipe tons of times. It's from the June/July 2008 issue of Domino Magazine.

2 lbs fresh strawberries, tops removed

1 1/4 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

5 tbsp. cornstarch

3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

Home made or store bought graham cracker crust

Whipped Cream for serving

Puree the strawberries. (If you do this using an immersion blender like I do, then trust me  - wear an apron.)

Combine milk, sugar, and cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and whisk until dissolved. Add the strawberry puree and lemon juice. Cook on high heat, whisking frequently, until mixture is thick and bubbling (about 7 minutes.) Remove from heat. 

This is where you could make your own graham-cracker crust, or you could use store bought. I use store bought - the one with the two extra servings.

Pour the filling into the crust and let it cool for about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Or make it in the morning and it'll be good by the evening. 

If I was serving this to a group, I would make my own whipped cream and spread it over the entire pie. But if the entire pie won't be eaten at once, I usually just top it with whipped cream in a can. Either way, it is so good. 

Stay tuned...

Recipes for Strawberry Bread, Strawberry-Banana Popsicles, and Strawberry Ice Cream are coming up!

Mother's Day

I just realized that I completely missed blogging about Mother's Day! I am only a month late. I didn't want to miss the chance to share the best card I've ever gotten. It has googly eyes. I think that all cards should have googly eyes. 

My two boys and me. They made me a Mom.

 My Mom, with her girls.