Happy Birthday Trey!

Trey turned two yesterday! It is so hard to believe he is 2 years old! Trey had his birthday party this past Saturday. We kept telling him all week he was having a party and who would be there. I don't think he really understood until the actual party. The whole time he was having fun and staying busy. When I would ask him if he was having fun at his birthday party he would smile really big and nod yes.

At the party were grandparents, uncles, and cousins. Trey had so much fun playing with his cousins. They arrived a little early and Uncle Stephen was in charge of pre-party entertainment so we could finish getting everything ready.


I got most of the decorations for the Barnyard theme online and at Captain Party in Roanoke. I also used some farm toys Trey already had. Luckily I had already decided to have the party indoors, because it poured down rain all morning. As a result, the tractor rides had to be canceled, but I don't think anyone even noticed!










The first thing you do at any good party is eat. We had some pigs in a blanket, veggies from Trey's pumpkin patch, pig slop and other yummy treats.





Trey turned 2 this year so there were 2 activities at his party: coloring/stickers with an animal book and Pin the Tail on the cow.











After the games we opened presents. Trey was much more interested in his presents at his birthday than he was at Christmas. He knew exactly how to tear the paper and get into the gifts!







Anything with bubbles was a big hit. Halle helped Chandler and Trey with the bubbles.


Don't worry, Charlotte got lots of attention during the party too!


I decided to do cupcakes for Trey's party instead of an actual cake. He doesn't like cake very much so I thought a cupcake would be better. At first he wasn't sure why he had to wait to eat it until we sang to him, but once he realized he was the center of attention he enjoyed everyone singing "Happy Birthday." Trey ended up only eating a few bites of ice cream and none of his cupcake, but hey if he wants to skip out on all the sugar that is fine with me!





Trey's "big" present this year was a play kitchen that Jay made for him. Jay has been working on it for a while, but he worked long nights this past week to get it all ready for the party. It was a big hit with all the kids!












Charlotte says, "Happy Birthday Big Brother!"

What we've been up to lately

Note to the readers: None of the following behaviors were taught by the parents of these children. They were the result of the child's own preferences and decisions.

Thumb-sucking






Dressing Ourselves Can you tell stripes are his personal favorites?


Eating bananas for every meal. He ate 7 bananas in 3 days last week.


Taking off our diaper when it is dirty. Really, we have been working on just telling mommy and daddy when your diaper is dirty, not taking it off yourself!

Bowling

On Saturday our Sunday School class went bowling. I was excited that it was an event we could bring the kids to. I hadn't been bowling in years! Literally I think the last time I went bowling was when Jay and I first started dating, which was about 8 years ago. I thought I was a really bad bowler, but I actually did good. I was looking forward to watching Trey and seeing his reaction to bowling, but was dreading actually having to bowl myself. It ended up being a lot of fun and we will definitely go back again soon! Trey had a blast!

Trey's good friend Madison was there. She is going to be a big sister in June so Charlotte was available for her to practice on!





Charlotte enjoyed people watching from her position in the stroller. We are very lucky she is such an easy going baby!


Trey's favorite part of the bowling alley was the ball return. Such a magical place! The bowling balls just pop out of nowhere!


Please Daddy, can I get the big ball you use?


Ok, I will get my kid-size ball.


They have a special ramp for the kids to use.




After pushing the ball down the ramp Trey would intently watch it SLOWLY roll down the lane.


Yay! Good Job! Trey clapped for himself after each turn. I don't think modesty is in his vocabulary!


Trey and Madison had a great time playing together. It is so nice to have mommy friends whose kids are the same age. All day long we kept telling Trey we would be going to see Madison after his nap and he would get so excited.




A couple from our class that doesn't have kids was there. Charlotte was able to entertain them and give them practice keeping a baby happy at a busy, noisy place :)

House Update

I posted a few weeks ago that we were finally starting the building of our new house. Well, of course, we have a major drought throughout January and February and then monsoon rains it seems like during the beginning of March. They were able to do some moving of the dirt before all the rain hit the Roanoke area. Last week the dirt finally dried up and they started the digging of the foundation and leveling the driveway so it is not so steep.

Looking down into the foundation. You can see how the land slopes for the walkout basement.



This is a little boys dream- mounds of dirt and big machines!



The view from the front yard.



This the driveway. It is much less steep now, although it will be a slight workout to get the mail and paper each morning.



Here is a photo from the same place as the day 1 photo we took.



This week they continued working on the moving the dirt. Can you believe you actually have to have a land disturbance permit in order to move around dirt on your land? They started laying the footers in the foundation. At least that is what I think Jay said last night when we went to walk around the house site. Yesterday evening was a beautiful spring evening and it was so nice to hear the birds chirp and the creek babble as our family walked outside. I can't wait for next spring when we can rock on the front porch and watch the sunset while the kids play!

Inside the foundation





Here is the garage marked off with chalk.


Front porch markoff


Just checking, my belly button is still here!


Walking around in the dirt is hard work!


I love being outside!


Look, a bird over there.


Daddy, do you hear the birds?

Tummy Time

Infants are supposed to have tummy time everyday to help them strengthen their neck muscles and work on their rolling over abilities. I was horrible about tummy time with Trey, mainly because he hated it, so it wasn't until he was 3 months old I really started giving him tummy time on a regular basis. Charlotte has loved tummy time from day one. When she was born and the doctor put her on my chest she turned her head to look from side to side as if to see what was going on! The doctors couldn't believe how strong her neck was at birth! Now, 2 months later, she is still super strong and really needs no neck support when you carry her.