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!

Easter Egg Hunt

 On Saturday morning our community had their annual Easter Egg hunt.  People weren't joking when they said that they had 8,000 Easter eggs for the kids.  Look at them all spread out over the grass:

And in the playground!  Trevor should be able to find an egg or two :)

Ashley assumed her usual position by sleeping away while massive amounts of doughnuts were consumed by her big brother and lots of coffee was consumed by her Dada at the 'bagels and brew' portion of the Easter festivities.  Gotta have energy to find eggs, right?

 They split off by ages.  Trevor was in the 3-5 group.  

 When their group was called they headed towards the playground and once everyone was around, the Community Director said 'go' and the kids started finding eggs.  Except Trevor, he wasn't so sure.  He is definitely an observer taking it all in before taking any action. 

 Thank goodness there were lots of eggs so he had the luxury of taking his sweet time.  How funny is this picture.  Looks like a shadow of the Easter bunny on the rocks!

 Finally he asked to take his shoes off and then he really got into it!

 Trevor has a knack for finding things that are hidden - even eggs buried beneath the sand!

 He was on a roll...filling his Easter basked until he couldn't fit anymore!

 They had a Easter bunny to take pictures with so you know us, of course we were going to have the kids' picture taken!  Turned out cute!

 After that there was a magician putting on a show.  Trevor preferred to run around the grass while this was going on :)

 And Ashley...she got to try out the upper seat of the stroller.  She seems to like it just fine :)

 She almost has a look that says, 'just try putting me back in that infant carrier. I fit just fine here' :)

Friday fun!

On our last fun Friday outing with Nana Jeanne and Papa Steve, Sara and the kiddos headed to the Wildlife Zoo kinda by Sara's parents house.  What a great place this is!!  It's amazing how close you get to the animals!

 And the little blockades that keep them from you!

 Seriously, so close!

 Trevor sure enjoyed carrying the map around and telling us where to go next!  He loves maps!

Trevor played on the playground for a bit before we had lunch.  Sara will never forget how on one piece of equipment (chain link balance bridge of sorts) two kids knocked into each other and one of the kids just stayed where he fell onto the ground.  Sara knelt down by him to ask if he was okay and he couldn't even talk.  He just had tears running down his cheeks.  With the way he was sitting Sara thought he might have landed on his wrist but Sara's Mom ran over and said she thought he just got nailed in the privates :(  Poor kid.  Another kid came over to Devin to see if he was okay and Sara asked her to go get an adult which she did.  The classroom helper walked over to try to help but he was in so much pain and in Sara's opinion she wasn't really saying the right things given the situation so Sara went in to Mommy mode to help Devin.  Eventually he did get up.  Sara is now thinking she is going to attend every field trip that Trevor and Ashley go on so as to always look out for her kids.  If only we could just keep them in a bubble.

Anyhoo, we at Dillion's BBQ right on-site.  Yummy food and there was an aquarium to keep Trevor entertained.  Our boy was wiped out from all of the activities and had no problem falling asleep in his car seat within minutes of leaving the zoo.  So precious!

 Friday evening John and Pauline came over for cheese pizza (or in Sara's case dairy-free chocolate chip and walnut waffles).  They also helped us hang up artwork that Pauline found that would work perfectly above our fireplace.  Nothing like putting an extension ladder on top of the fireplace sitting area, watching Brian climb up with artwork in hand and just praying he didn't tip over and fall flat on his back.  Just a few attempts and modifications were made and the artwork was hung without injury!  Looks perfect!  Thank you so much Pauline for finding the pieces and Brian for being brave enough to hang them up!

Trevorisms

Trevor is such a hoot these days.  He knows he's part comedian by always making us laugh!

 A few things he's said that we want to always remember:

- One day Sara and Trevor were driving back the store when Sara asked Trevor if he knew whose birthday was coming up.  He said 'mine' and Mommy said 'nope guess again' so he said 'Mommy's' and she said 'yep, you're right.'  Well it was quiet in the car for about a minute when Trevor said 'but Mommy you already had your birthday cake.' Although correct, Trevor doesn't yet realize that Mommy celebrates her birthday on quite a few occasions during her birthday month!

- Mommy asked Trevor what he wanted for lunch.  After giving him choices like hot dog, chicken nuggets, peanut butter sandwich he stated he wanted mac-n-cheese.  Then proceeded to say 'we have a box left Mommy.  Remember we bought two boxes at Target and we ate one so we have one left'  :)

- He really does have a memory of steel.  Often heard in our house these days is 'remember we talked about that Mommy/Daddy' - can't get anything past him!!

Speaking of memory, he is a whiz when it comes to memory games.  He has moved up from the 'easy' setting and breezed through the games in record time.  Way to go Trevor!  Such a smart kid :)

Finally Got the Bunny!!

After months of antagonizing her, Ashley showed the bunny who was boss and grabbed onto it so proudly!  Way to go big girl! 

Ashley's 4 Month Onesie Pics and Appointment

Ashley had quite the big day to celebrate her 4 month birthday.  First we met Nana Jeanne and did some shopping, then we met Grandma Pauline for lunch and a little shopping. 

Then we headed over to her pediatrician for her 4 month well visit.  As usual she passed with flying colors.  Her are her stats:

Weight - 13lbs 7oz (44th percentile)

Height - 24.75inches (70th percentile)

Head - 42cm (78th percentile)

She got all red-faced and cried a bit after her shots.  Like a minute until Mommy nursed her then all was well in the world again.  

We took her 4 month pictures and of course big brother wanted in on the action again!  He loves her so much!

Just a little smile here but look how their eyes are the exact same color!  Pretty blue eyes!

 Ashley was way more interested in trying to sit up in her chair than taking pictures.

 Finally Mommy propped her over to one side and got a somewhat good picture.  When Sara's Dad was over on Saturday they put a shade screen on her window to help with the heat in the summer and let us tell you those things work.  Her room (along with the hallway) has limited sunlight now.  Good for heat, bad for pictures :)

 And what seems to be becoming tradition, Ashley once again flicks off the camera! 

 Typical Ashley pose right now.  Those teeth must really be hurting :(

 This also seems to be Ashley's smile these days.  She's biting her own lips to help alleviate the pain!

 Happy 4 month birthday pretty girl!!  Love that you discovered your toes now and are always grabbing at them!

It should be noted that Ashley had a different reaction to her shots this go around.  After her 2 month shots she slept the rest of the day and most of the next day, just waking to eat.  This time she was up most of the same day and even super fussy about four hours after the shots were given.  She was almost screaming in pain - nothing could comfort her for close to an hour.  Not nursing, not rocking, not standing, not sitting, not laying.  Poor girl :(  We hate seeing her so upset but after that she was just fine and we were back to her regular routine and personality, thankfully!

Trevor's New School!

Trevor's first day at his new school finally arrived!  He couldn't wait to go to fire truck school and insisted on having his picture taken outside of it!  At drop off he didn't shed a tear - he waved goodbye and said 'Bye Mommy, love you' and went off to play with his new friends!

The school sent out a picture of his preschool class eating lunch together:

Trevor looks like he's having fun!

We got an email too that said what a great day everyone had.  Trevor's favorite part of the day when asked?  Playing on the fire truck playground :)

We surprised Trevor by both of us picking him up from school and letting him choose a restaurant for dinner.  Of course he picked nearby Cocomo Joe's...he loves chips and soup (his words for chips and salsa).