Happy Birthday to Me!

Tuesday was Sara's birthday and Trevor celebrated by starting his day like any other day - going to the cupboard, getting his cereal box and carrying it over to his high chair. Although on Tuesday, he added a step to his process by tripping on his own feet and landing on the corner of the cereal box. Poor guy almost gave himself a black eye! Ouch! Mommy and Trevor spent a lot of her special day playing ball. We seriously need to record him saying ball. He's so excited at the sight of any ball. Baaaaaaaahhhhhllll! He likes to pick it up, carry it, throw it, roll it, and even kick it! Baaaaaaaahhhhhllll! Unfortunately, Brian was home sick on Tuesday so we had to cancel our babysitter and our plans with our neighbors but even with a two week old baby, our neighbor and friend Katie insisted on taking Sara out for some birthday drinks. She even brought a gift - you see, Katie and Sara are junk-food girls so it was only appropriate that instead of baking a cake (remember, two week old baby people!) she wrote a super nice card and gave Sara lots of Reese's peanut butter eggs. Delicious and the perfect gift for the birthday girl. So when Sara got home she lit a candle, sang happy birthday to herself, and devoured that little piece of heaven. Yes, you may remember a similar story from last year...only with red velvet cake but that is okay. Sara's family all came over on Sunday night and had a birthday dinner so not all was lost this birthday. We enjoyed yummy bacon wrapped filets of turkey and beef and had 2 cakes! Sara only wishes Brian felt better. Maybe her birthday week will continue with one more celebration when Brian feels up to it. Until then, Sara is perfectly content with her new iPhone that Brian gave her on Friday before our 3 hour car ride!!! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes - you all mean so much to me!

Walker Getaway

Sara and Brian took a weekend getaway to Walker, MN and our favorite resort - Chase on the Lake - to celebrate Sara's new job! We had such a fabulous time but missed our little guy terribly. It did help to know he was in great hands with Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Steve but 48 hours was such a long time to be away from him. This was only our second time being away from him overnight and the first time was only for one night! Chase on the Lake is such a fun resort - we jam packed the weekend with lots of eating, chatting, and lounging. We visited a nearby casino and won a whopping $18 on the penny Jackpot Party slot thanks to Sara picking a 5x multiplier present and Brian picking the 360 credit present - fun! We relaxed in the hot tub even though Sara couldn't get her upper back wet due to having 5 stitches after having a small cyst removed the week prior. We drank yummy but cheap drinks at the resort's bar while listening to a great band...and danced a little. Well, mostly Sara but Brian did get out on the dance floor once or twice! One of the best parts though...a private bowling alley you can rent out. Which we did, more than once!

The other time we were at this resort was last Memorial Day when the weather was a bit warmer. But, the property was still beautiful as was the lake!

Grandma Jeanne texted many pictures of Trevor to us and in everyone Trevor was smiling! He loves spending time with his Grandparents! Let's see - he had pancakes, he read lots of books, he met Jim, Annie, and Sam out for Sunday brunch, he danced around the living room, he pretended to bowl by knocking over granola bars and he got to go sledding! What a lucky little boy!!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for watching him so Mommy and Daddy could have a fun getaway!

Red and White

Dada brought Mama home a beautiful bouquet of red and white tulips to help celebrate good news! Sara is going back to work full-time. Not sure if we even shared on the blog, but Sara's job was eliminated while she was on maternity leave so she's been busy being a good Mommy to Trevor and looking for a job for the past 14 months. Boy is that exhausting! But she found a good opportunity with Target Financial and Retail Services managing a team of analysts responsible for Target's IVR (press one, press two). Think of it as a product management role where we are working with various teams to ensure the guests and employees have a positive experience when calling Target. It's a bit of operations, marketing, research/analysis and finance. It will be very different than working as a Director at an advertising agency, but it is a welcome change. Sara's commute doesn't involve any highways and will take about 4 minutes. No she won't be in Brian's building and she won't wear red and khaki each day :) Sara specifically targeted this area of Target because of their flexible culture and work hours which is important to Sara given that Trevor and Brian are still top priority. Trevor will be going to a daycare center which is one block from our house until he goes our top daycare choice in mid-June. That center is one mile from our house and is on the way to/from both Sara and Brian's places of work. Trevor seems to enjoy himself at both places but we'll see how it goes when he has to go back day after day. He's done very well at Target's back-up daycare the days he's gone when Sara has had interviews and we hope that continues now. What has Trevor been up to? He's big into hide and seek. Here he was hiding under the desk and then popped up to see if we found him. Peek a boo! One of the exciting things about having two incomes again is having our house cleaner back. Although, not sure we need it because our little guy likes to clean. Here he is dusting the floor but he's excellent at wiping his highchair tray!

Grandma and Papa Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Hillins spent the past five days in Minnesota and Trevor really soaked up every minute he could with them. He was SO happy to see them!




Randle was best buddies with Grandma Pauline....

...but Papa got to have some play time with Randle too! Spoiled doggie!

You can't hear Trevor's happiness in these pictures but you can sure see it!

Grandma even crunched her way into Trevor's house. Trevor wasn't sure what to think of that and eventually told her to get out by showing her the door!

Of course, no visit is complete without a few books!

After Papa read the book Trevor brought it to Grandma to see how she would read it!

On Friday, Grandma, Grandpa, Lauren, Brooke, Trevor and Mommy met for breakfast and then headed to the hotel where they were staying so we could go swimming! For the festivities Trevor wore his adorable bathrobe and booties from cousins Katie and Anne. A bit small at this point, but cute none-the-less!

We watched a little TV prior to hitting the pool - you know, to let the food settle - can't swim for 20 minutes after eating remember! Apparently, it was a good show :)

Ooooooooh!

Who knew that a pile of pillows could provide so much entertainment!

And then back to TV. They were all hypnotized!

But eventually we did make it to the pool. All of us! Even Grandma donned a suit and joined in. Love it!!

The best part of the day though was when Sara and Lauren made chocolate chip cookies while the rest of the peeps took afternoon naps! Such a good helper Lauren was!! She likes to sample the ingredients just as much as Sara does :)

On Sunday we got to go back to the pool for a final swim with Papa. Someone is hiding! Who can it be?

Trevor really enjoyed moving the buoys up and down the rope...apparently Dada did the same when he was a little boy!

And then Trevor looked like he could have fallen asleep in the pool so he took a little break. It's hard work playing so hard!

But soon he was back at it - even jumping to Dada from the side of the pool and from the ladder.

Practicing his back float too!

Trevor really enjoyed getting 'beautified' from Grandma. She'd blow dry his hair for a second, he'd run away and then run right back for more!

On Sunday evening we enjoyed grilled steaks at home for dinner. While the steaks were delicious, the hit of the night was leftover 'surprise cupcakes' from our taco fiesta the night before.

Trevor went around the table asking for some more cupcake. We think he has his Momma's sweet tooth!!

No pictures for our Monday activity but Grandma and Papa went to see Trevor at the Little Gym. He proudly showed off his skills on the balance beam, bar, and floor. It sure was nice having them around and we already look forward to seeing them over Memorial Day!

Our Little Monkey

So not only did Trevor learn how to push himself backward and forwards on his little car this week...

He also learned how to stand up on said car...

I'm doing it Mommy...are you watching Mommy? Are you going to tell me to sit on my bottom?

Proud, oh so proud of his latest accomplishment! And it doesn't stop at the car...he climbs up to his glider, the couch, the ottoman. You name it, our little monkey will crawl up it and stand!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our little guy proudly sported his Irish green today but boy was it difficult to capture a picture of it. The little stinker kept running away!

Not even putting him up on the table solved the problem. Mr. squirmy pants!

They're Baaaaack!

After spending what seemed like forever in Arizona, the snowbirds are baaaaack and we couldn't be happier! Trevor was screeching in delight to see them but promptly gave them a tour of everything they've missed seeing - his house, his car, his popper, his books but Grandma still managed to get a quick squeeze in!


Not the best picture but we love Trevor's happy face in this picture. You can see him saying "ooooooh!"




He was super happy that they brought with them his fruits, veggies, and shopping basket that we purchased (and left) down in Arizona.


While he gave Grandpa some attention, Trevor was definitely all about Grandma.

They spent the night on Saturday so we could meet some friends out for dinner and then Jim, Annie, and Sam came over Sunday morning for brunch. The food was extra yummy but the best part was watching the cousins play together. They took turns pushing each other in the car. Too cute!

Ear Update

We met with a peds ENT on Friday morning and based on his recommendation have decided to wait on ear tubes for our little guy. He's 'only' had three ear infections this season and although it took a few months for the fluid to properly drain it did drain on its own so we'll wait and see how the rest of the season goes to see if tubes are necessary. We were glad to know that Trevor's hearing is perfect and his ears looked great at the appointment!

After the appointment we were able to meet Sara's cousins Katie and Anne and Katie's step-daughters Cassie and Dani at the MN Zoo. We had a fun time exploring the indoor exhibits and having lunch before Trevor got a bit grumpy (can you say nap time?) but before we left we had to take a quick picture in the bubble where we spent a bit of time watching the fishies and turtles. Thanks for sharing your day with us chicas!

Happy Friday!

This guy is happy it is Friday! He brought Mommy the camera just so she could take his picture. After taking it, he sat down in her lap so he could review the picture. It must have received his stamp of approval because after seeing it he went back to his favorite activity of the week.


And that activity is taking the granola bar box out of the cupboard, carrying it around, then plopping it down so that he can take out and put in bar after bar!

Sometimes the bars even make their way to his mouth (can you tell he is getting some new teeth in?)

He's so proud carrying the heavy box around!

His other favorite activities for the week are trying on Mommy's shoes:

Lounging in an empty diaper box:

And taking out and putting back pots and pans. Make that all of the pots and pans!