Pregnant Belly

I really wish I had blogger back when I was pregnant with the boys. I just think it is so fun to see how your pregnant belly grows. I will warn you...there is one exposed pregnant belly in this lineup....ha! So if you get weirded out by prego bellies, this may not be the post for you! But I think it is so sweet to see the progression and to relive the sweet memories (I have blocked out the icky, morning sickness memories!) of way back then.

This first picture is the only digital one I have before having Burrito. This picture was taken 8 days before I delivered him....and he was 16 days early!

3.29.04

And then here is a better progression of my pregnant belly when I was pregnant with Noodle.

3 months pregnant

5.10.05

4 months pregnant

6.16.05

5 months pregnant

7.7.05

6 months pregnant

7.30.05

8 months pregnant

9.4.05

still 8 months pregnant

9.13.05

9 months pregnant and ready to burst! i delivered 17 days later.

10.6.05

And this is a crazy reminder of how I had 2 babies! They were just 18 months apart! Noodle is 9 days old here.

11.1.05

Oh the sweet memories of our crazy life back then! Thank you Lord for giving us 2 healthy boys and making us a family!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter 2009!

I am loving holidays with the boys this year. They have such better understandings of things now that they are a little older and it is so sweet to me to share with them the reason we celebrate this holiday called Easter.

I had found an Easter sticker book at Mardels several weeks back that I bought for each of them. It worked out great because there was a story for each day leading up to Easter, starting with Palm Sunday. Each night we read about the week leading up to Easter and did a sticker activity to reinforce what we were learning.

We attended the Maundy Thursday service this year at our church. I think it was the first time we've made it since having kids. It is always sweet to take communion as a family.

On Friday, the boys and I dyed Easter eggs. We did this right after their nap and snack which explains the undies and chocolate-ringed mouths! This is something I totally loved as a child, even well into teenage years. My boys....not so much. They colored about 2.5 eggs and then were done. I ended up decorating the rest of them. Better luck next year I guess!

The finished products!

On Saturday we went to Mimi's and Poppy's for our Easter celebration. The boys got Easter baskets full of goodies, including some Lego sets that kept Daddy and Poppy busy. After eating an excellent Easter lunch we headed out for the big egg hunt. The boys had a lot of fun, racing around the backyard looking for eggs. This was super sweet to me because this was the yard I did all of my Easter egg hunting in. Then it was time to check out the loot!

This morning the boys opened their Easter goodies from Nina, Pappaw and Nonna. Thanks everyone!

Then we attended a wonderful service at our church and even ran into some old friends. I thought the boys looked especially handsome in their Easter duds!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ~Luke 24:1-9

backtrack

well, with all the hype and planning of the party behind me, i can finally post these pictures and random updates.

a few sunday nights back, our church held their annual dinner, variety show and auction. this has always been fun and we try to make it every year. when the boys were younger, we would make it through dinner okay, but our attendance there would always be cut short by a tired or restless child. i can remember maybe the first year getting through dinner and part of the show with one of the boys (or maybe both) strolling around the back of the sanctuary. each year, we were able to stay a little later than the previous year but we never made it through the entire show. well, this year was such a pleasant change! the boys, john and i sat right up front for the entire show and had so much fun! we all laughed and laughed at the performances. it felt like such a good family bonding moment. now trying to explain how an auction works to a 5 and 3 year old was not such a family bonding moment, especially when noodle won the items he had placed a bid on but burrito did not. oh dear. lucky for me, noodle's win included several items and he was sweet to share. so sweet in fact, that i looked out our back window and saw this:

look close at what is in john's hand. yep, that's right....you see a child's water hose sprinkler...and is a child using it.....you be the judge, ha, ha! this was one of the items won and john was using it to water our new sod! he did share with noodle too! :)

and i've been meaning to include a true after shot of the swingset we stained. the after shot that i posted before did not include the fort tarps we had to put back on. john used armour all on them to make them really shiny and they look great!

and burrito is so proud to have mastered the art of the monkey bars that i couldn't resist this picture. check out the pure joy on his face....i LOVE it!

and last but certainly not least:
last week when i was scurrying around to grab last-minute party supplies, the boys and i were at a craft store and i heard some snickering behind me. when i turned around, this is what i saw:

this will certainly work to my advantage one day, don't you think?

Happy 5th Birthday Burrito!

Happy Birthday Burrito!

5 years ago, at 8:26 a.m., you made us a mommy and daddy and you have taught us so much! Your spirit is infectious and your energy level is unmatched!

Some things about you at age 5:

You weigh about 34 lbs....you are a skinny little thing but you are fast!

You love cars and have a bazillion you play with each day.

You notice details....details of cars, of friends, of commercials....it's really amazing!

You do not care for many meats, especially chicken, but I am hoping this will change.

You love your friends Carter and Andrew at school.

You love your little brother though you sometimes forget to show it!

You know about 20 sight words and you are reading your little readers from school so well.

You know all of your letters and numbers and know many phonics as well.

You love to run and play tackle football and wrestle with Dad.

You have long blonde hair that I am constantly needing to trim.

You LOVE drinks....just like your dad....and could care less about food....only the drink!

You learned how to do the monkey bars and look like a monkey going across them.

You love school and though you only go 3 days, you would be just as happy to go all 5 days!

You do not know a stranger and you will talk to anyone about anything.

You learned to whistle a few months ago and we are working on how to tie shoes.

You love God and you love to read Bible stories, especially the one with Jacob yelling....ahhhhh!

Burrito, you are the best first son a mom could ask for and I am so proud to be your mom. Happy Birthday!

Burrito's Big Batman Birthday Bash

How's that for some alliteration?

Today was the big day....Burrito's 5th birthday party!

I think everyone had a good time and I was so relieved! It takes a lot of planning but it sure was fun to see all of the little batmen running around! There are a lot of pictures here but I promise I did not include every single one that was taken! :)

The backyard swingset was a HUGE hit and I probably could have gotten away with not having any activities. The boys were all over it!

But, first up, was a bat craft. I had the boys glue bats with googly eyes on a white sack and decorate to collect their goodies that would come later. Here's Burrito hard at work!

Next was a game of Pin the Bat on Batman. The boys are all lined up waiting for instruction.

I love this picture of the boys all together...it looks like they are plotting on how to win!

And I was quite proud of the batman poster I drew and colored for this game! Ha, ha!

Here's Noodle taking a turn.

Here's Noodle barking out instructions!

Next the boys played a game called Stomp out the Bad Guys. I taped pictures of the batman bad guys on balloons that were filled with bubble gum. The boys had to stomp or sit on the balloons to pop them and retrieve the gum. I didn't know if they would have a hard time popping the balloons or if they would be scared of the noise.....but they LOVED it and it happened so fast, we didn't even get a picture of it!

Next was the Batman training course. You can see the cones set up behind Noodle for this. The boys had to run through some little orange cones, kick the soccer ball in the goal, shoot the basketball in the hoop, go across the monkey bars and end up at the swings to "earn" their batman cape and mask. They all did really well and it took all of us to help, so again, no pictures of this event.

After putting on their capes and masks I explained to the boys that the Riddler had stolen the birthday cake and it was their job to catch the Riddler and find out where the cake was hidden. So on my signal, John a.k.a. the Riddler came running through the gate. This was HYSTERICAL, as John held nothing back in running through the backyard like a crazy man with a cake carrier in his hands. Finally, the boys caught him, put him in a chair, and "tied" him up with toilet paper. I even made him a green shirt with purple question marks all over as a costume. So after reading his riddle, the boys knew the cake was hidden in the fridge and it was time to eat!

Check out those bat muscles!



Burrito gets so shy and embarrassed when all attention is on him, so this is what he did while everyone sang "Happy Birthday."

Here's a before picture of the cake before it was devoured!

Check out the black icing lips....priceless!
Some action shots of the boys in the capes....

There were 10 boys that turned into bats by the end of the party....thank you friends and family for making it such a special day for our Burrito!