Sara's Birthday(s)

 Since we all know Sara's birthday expands way more than just one day we celebrated some more!  On Wednesday when Trevor was having a sleepover at Grandma Pauline's and Papa John's, Daddy, Mommy and Ashley went out to Black Angus Steakhouse to use up a birthday coupon.  Once Ashley fell asleep we had a pretty good meal.  Never mind the fact we were the youngest people in there by 20 years :)

Oh well, Sara got a free steak meal and Brian got to eat Sara's birthday dessert!  Ashley is certainly worth it, but dairy-free surely isn't that easy especially on your birthday!

 On Thursday night, Grandma and Grandpa Hillins, along with our clan went to Benihana for dinner to use up another birthday coupon.  Ashley was not a fan of the loud noises.  Too stimulating we guess :(  Mommy did get her to fall asleep for a while.  Funny that she appears to be hanging on to her car seat for dear life.  She couldn't get out of the restaurant fast enough!

 The rest of us had a great time though.  Trevor ate his meal with chopsticks!

We took our quick family pic - notice poor Ashley - so sad :(  Then Mommy took her out for some fresh air and silence....

 ....while Trevor took down Mommy's birthday dessert!

On Mommy's actual birthday on Friday, Mommy, Trevor and Ashley just hung out and had a fabulous day!  Trevor all on his own wanted hugs from his sister.  This is not abnormal at all.  He LOVES her.

 And the feeling is mutual.  She can't get enough of him either.  Kisses!

 Trevor sung Mommy 'Happy Birthday' and then asked if he could eat the cupcake that Grandma and Grandpa Hillins brought for her the night before.  Sure, well cake has eggs and we eat eggs for breakfast so sure, let's have cake for breakfast! 

 Friday evening we stayed home, opened gifts, had a nice bottle of wine and made delicious coconut shrimp.  Brian, Trevor and Ashley sure know how to make Mommy feel very special and loved.  :) 

On Saturday we planned to go to the outlets for a bit after our neighborhood Easter egg hunt (more to come on that later) but decided the kids should nap first.  Good thing we did - they were tired!  They both slept (at the same time!!) for over 3 hours!  Finally Mommy woke Ashley up to eat and so that we could get to the outlets before closing - ha!  

Well after some shopping we headed over to Westgate to have some dinner.  They had a band outside and Trevor loved dancing with his Daddy. 

 He especially loved being swung around and around.  Not sure how the kid doesn't get dizzy!! 

But thank you all for your birthday wishes.  You sure know how to make a girl feel loved!  :)

A little of this, a little of that!

 The weather has been so nice here - not too hot, not too cold - so we've been taking advantage and spending as much time as we can outside.  Like snacks in the park with our camera shy guy!  Ha!

Even Ashley enjoys catching some rays in the park while breathing some fresh air!  She's recently found her toes and isn't afraid of eating them.  Future gymnast on our hands!

Ashley LOVES her Little Giraffe blankie.  If she's a bit fussy just give her 'pink cow' and she settles down and falls asleep.  This was her napping in her swing.  Of course 'pink cow' is always close by!

 Trevor is enjoying Ashley's toys these days.  He calls her Bumbo her 'little potty' and really enjoys sitting in it.  We find it rather interesting that when we tried putting him in one when he was about her age his chunky legs wouldn't fit in the holes comfortably.  Now?  No problem!

Other fun Trevor things this week:

- He declared he doesn't like Daddy's favorite skinny pancakes.  Daddy made them and after one bite Trevor said 'I don't like these.  Please make real pancakes Daddy!'

- Trevor has said for a while now that he has a baby boy in his tummy.  He says his back hurts because of baby boy.  His knees hurt because of baby boy.  He says baby boy is coming out on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We'll see :)

- Trevor had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Hillins and boy did he have a fun, fun time!  He didn't even want to come home.  He called to ask if he could stay longer than we talked about.  Of course!  We're so glad they get special time together!

Ashley still really enjoys her 'kick and play' and is very proud that she now grabs onto the toys and swings them around.

She also talks back to the baby in the mirror and just has a great time!

 We're also getting to the point where napping in the swing needs to stop (sad).  Ashley now rubs her eyes when she is tired (so cute) so we know when it is time for nap.  Mean Mommy made her take her morning nap in her crib once and she did pretty good.  Woke up after 45 minutes put Mommy rocked her back to sleep and she slept another hour and a half.  We might be onto something here.  First we should probably transition her to not being swaddled.  Since she started rolling over this isn't recommended. 

 Since the blog is finally updated Mommy and Ashley have been having a few more outings on the days Trevor is in school.  On Monday we met our friend Kim for lunch.  Kim says that it looks like Ashley has flying arms the way that she holds them back when someone picks her up!  And Kim says Ashley looks just like Mommy :)

 Who knows.  We just think she's pretty cute!  Oh and she's started doing this screeching sound so Mommy calls her a little pterodactyl.  Funny thing is once she called her pterodactyl, we remember Trevor going through this exact same phase!

Diva has also made it clear that she hates her car seat or just driving in the car.  When she's had enough in the car she screams and screams.  Unless Dada starts singing.  She'll stop screaming mid-scream.  For Daddy.  Not Mommy.  And she likes 'Wheels on the Bus' over and over and over.....

 Trevor was on Spring Break this week from preschool so on Thursday we met our friends Katie, Madison and Kennedy for a project at Make Meaning.  Trevor really got into making his Easter eggs.

 Good thing Maddie (in the pigtails here) is a good sharer because Trevor took all the pom-poms to use on his eggs. 

After the craft project we went to a nearby splashpad and Trevor and Maddie had a blast running around! 

Sleepy time

 There is nothing cuter than a sleeping baby.  Period. 

Our hearts are full.

La Casa Easter Program

Trevor's Tuesday/Thursday preschool had a special Easter day and Grandma Pauline and Papa John went to participate.  They said they were very impressed with his school and really enjoyed Mrs. Harvey (his teacher).  So do we....wish she could teach his mini 4s class next year!

Trevor was very excited to see Grandma and Papa Hillins there!  They got there early and got to hear the Easter story.  Papa John said that when she talked about how the stone was removed  Trevor blurted out 'and the two hi-ya guys fell down' (the security guards).  He has quite the imagination.  Notice how he's always right up front.  :)

They had a special Easter snack of rainbow sherbet.

Looks like Grandma wanted a bit but Trevor was not sharing!

They always have lots of art projects at school and Papa John went around the room taking pictures of Trevor's!

 Love his dinosaur name!

They had an Easter egg hunt.  Looks like Trevor was a bit hesitant to get in there at first....

but once Mrs. Harvey said go he was all for finding eggs!

Go Trevor!

Looks like he found quite a few!

Not exactly sure what they are doing here but Trevor looked so cute sitting there with his friends so of course we are going to include it!

Cute picture of Trevor and 'Pauline' as he still calls her!

Looks like Trevor was able to show off his mad biking skills:

Getting some water maybe?  This age is just too cute!

They usually end their day with a story and no surprise that once again Trevor is front and center.  He loves books....he also loves Mrs. Harvey :)

Or maybe it wasn't a book at all.  Maybe it was her showing the class their special bunny art projects where they made a footprint with white paint and converted it into a cute bunny!

After school Trevor got to pick where he wanted to go for lunch and of course he picked his favorite spot 'Mimi's Cafe' but after Grandma Pauline mentioned McDonald's he was quick to change to their.  Guess the McDonald's by his school has some pretty neat activities.  They played air hockey and Trevor played a video game while riding a bike:

So glad that the Grandma Pauline and Papa John got to spend special time with Trevor and see his preschool.  Sure looks like a fun time was had by all!!!

Ashley Loves her Uncles :)

Can't wait to see you both soon! XOXO

Blog is up to date! Finally!!!

We are please to announce that the blog is finally up to date!!  Boy does that feel good!!!!!!! 

Friends!

Sara's friend Marcy and family were in town on vacation so we headed over on Sunday to the JW Marriott down the road where they were staying to catch up and have the kiddos swim!  Their daughter Abby is 2 months younger than Trevor so they had fun but probably the parents had the most fun having some brewskies by the pool and chit-chatting.  Sara and Marcy even needed another get together to do more catching up so the two of them plus Ashley went out for dinner on Tuesday night after giving Marcy a quick tour of the house per her request.  It sure is nice seeing MN friends in AZ!  We're always up for visitors so feel free to come anytime! :)

Boo Hoo!!

On Saturday after the Easter Egg hunt, Sara and Ashley surprised Grandma Pauline by showing up to her jewelry party for an hour.  Ashley was the hit of the party, smiling at everyone and playing with a little purse the salesperson had given her.  We're glad the timing worked out to attend for a bit :)

We had to get home though to soak up every last minute before Sara's parents left to head back to MN.  Although it was a beautiful day the water in the pool and hot tub is still a bit cold.  Sure didn't stop Brian from jumping (er, slowly getting in) to cool off after a quick backyard project.  We were surprised that Nana Jeanne put her legs in for a bit....

 ...as did Papa Steve and Trevor.  Crazy people!

 We enjoyed a yummy meal of pork chops, roasted potatoes, salad, yummy sourdough bread and dairy-free blondie brownies.  After a quick walk around the block we played a bit with the kiddos before bed-time.  Nana Jeanne is teaching Ashley that when she kicks her legs down Nana jumps up in the air :)

Our pretty girl certainly doesn't mind the attention :)

 Oh and of course we snapped a quick picture of the grandparents and grandkids.  Love the kids' smiles in this picture!!

Trevor opened an early Easter gift from Nana and Papa Steve and was SO excited to open fire truck jammies!  We seriously are wondering if he's going to grow up to be a fireman!

 After the kiddos finally fell asleep, the adults played a long awaited card game (we had gotten it from them for Christmas).  Nana Jeanne won and Sara came in second :)  Excited that it can be a two person card game so who knows maybe Brian and Sara will play some cards at night themselves soon!

On Sunday morning we were surprised Papa wasn't raring to go at 5am.  Instead they probably headed out a little after 7 or 7:30.  Even Randle was a little confused at them leaving.  He got pretty used to having them around, as did we.  We sure enjoyed every second of our special time and can't wait to see them again soon - this time back in Minnesota!