Muskmelon Party!!

(picture taken 5/31/12)

Andrew's last day of first grade

Andrew's last day of school was May 31st.  He had a great year at Wiggin Street; loved his teacher and his classmates.  Each morning, he wasn't too thrilled about going to school but he always said he had a good day and was happy, for the most part once he was home.

Standing in front of the POD.  We were doing lots of packing on those last few weeks/days of school.

Second grade here Andrew comes!!

Cleveland Zoo

On May 26th, Andrew, Carson, Alex and I drove to the Cleveland Zoo to meet our good friends Karina, Anna and Tommy.  They had moved away from Mount Vernon in the summer of 2011 to New York.  We have missed them soo much.  We have fond memories of playing together at one of our homes, meeting at parks, going to the Columbus Zoo, the "indoor playground" in Powell and on and on.  They were planning a trip back to Mount Vernon to visit friends for this summer but we would have already moved (more on that).  

We were so thankful that it worked out to meet at the Cleveland Zoo.  We had so much fun with them and had beautiful weather.  

Here are 4 of the kiddos in front of the elephants.

I think we were having them look into the sun at us while trying to get a picture of them.  Check out how squinty eyed Andrew and Carson are in these next two photos.

So funny!

I wasn't able to capture a "good" picture of these four kiddos.  You know, the one where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling?!  But I LOVE this next photo.  These 4 have so much fun together!

The end of preschool

Here is Carson on his last day of preschool at his preschool (May 24).  Carson is holding a small Violet plant for each of his teachers.  Both Andrew and Carson went to this preschool for two years each.  It has been wonderful.  They had the same teachers except this last year Carson had a new helper in his classroom.  This little guy will be in Kindergarten this fall!!!!

 On the last day of school, they always go to this well loved park.  They have time to play with their friends, have a picnic lunch and usually the teachers provide some yummy dessert.

Alex chillin' in the stroller at the park.

Alex's 1 year photo

Alex had his 1 year photos taken on May 10, 2012.  They were taken by Stacey Wiles of Wiles Photography.  She does such a great job!  

Blocks and Balls

Balloons

Happy Birthday Alex!

Random pictures

Here are some random pictures of Alex taken during the month of May.  (I looked back through our pictures and I didn't take a single picture of him on his actual birthday, May 2nd.  I am definitely slipping!)

Eating some cantaloupe, we call it muskmelon in our house. (May 15)

squeezing some muskmelon

Our little walrus (May 16)

Scrambled eggs without the milk (May 23)

He seemed to tolerate these but then I forget what symptom arose, so we stopped them for a while.

A blanket ride from Carson

Crazy bed head hair after a very poor nights sleep (May 25)

I love his little feet and toes.  He often crosses his legs in the car seat, his highchair, the stroller.  So cute.

Spring Soccer

Both Andrew and Carson played in a 4 v 4 league at Mount Vernon Nazarene University this spring.  They both enjoyed this league very much.  It is such a positive program, run by the University coaches and players.  For some reason I only have pictures from one of Andrew's games.  I might have more pictures on my phone, will have to check.  I know we missed a lot of their games for various reasons.  And I was often solo with the three boys for practices and some of the games.  Perhaps pictures weren't my focus, but three active boys were.

Here is Andrew kicking it in.

Taking it up the field

Kicking it in!  (maybe, I don't remember for sure.)

Alex's First Birthday Party

Back on April 28, 2012, we had a birthday party for Alex.  I really didn't know what kind of birthday party to have.  He was 1.  Not really "into" anything at this point, he didn't have a love for Elmo or anything like that.  Chad was going to Kmart for a few things, so I asked him to see if they had any cute birthday party invitations.  He sent me a text of a couple invitations.  We went with a pirate theme since Alex like to growl a bit at this age.  (maybe it would have made more sense to go with a lion theme then?)  Warning...lots of pictures to come!

So here is the pirate cake I made.  Pirate people courtesy of Little People.  Swedish fish swimming in the water, Swiss cake roll cannons, Whoopers for cannon balls, Werthers for gold, and Hershey's Treasures for the treasure chests.

 My sister Tricia feeding Alex his banana and avocado.

Alex doing his arm extended, tense face/shoulders, eye brow raise attention seeking behavior.  Sure to produce giggles from those around him.

Some of the cousins around the table eating some lunch.

Cousin Logan

 The Birthday Boy!!

Opening gifts

This puzzle was fun to push around and then once we opened it, he enjoyed banging the wooden pieces together

Chad's brother Alan and wife Tisha with a bunch of cousins.  Andrew, Leah, Anna, Carson, Maddie and Emma

Alex wanted to dive into the cake.  I think he just wanted to touch and play with everything.

The boys and I

Feeling a little shy during the Happy Birthday song.

 Another delema I had about this birthday party was what to do for the cake.  Most traditional birthday cakes Alex and I wouldn't have been able to eat.  Since it was Alex's birthday and  I was the one preparing the cake and neither of us could eat a traditional birthday cake...I almost didn't make one.  But I thought that might be disappointing for our guests, especially Alex's two older brothers!  I asked a friend of mine who's son has multiple allergies if she had any suggestions.  She certainly did!  So helpful.  These Ernie and Bert fruit snacks were pretty cute and creative.  And this watermelon cake was pretty cool looking.  But in the end I decided to try this allergen free cake.  I did have to alter the recipe a little bit, I omitted the cocoa and vanilla.  It turned out pretty good.  It was more like a quick bread than a cake and since I used rice flour it was a bit dry and rice flour is kind of gritty.

Alex wasn't sure what to do with this.  He hadn't had anything even close to this before.

Carson decided to help him out a little bit. :)

 Alex liked it, had fun eating it and was a crummy mess by the end.  Exactly how first birthdays should be, minus the frosting.

Andrew's Piano Recital 4/15/12

Andrew took piano lessons from January until the end of May this past year.  He really enjoyed it.  He had a wonderful teacher and he learned a lot in those few months.  Here he is at his first piano recital.  He played 3 songs; Pebbles and Stones, Old McDonald had to Rock, and Hard Rock Candy.  He was the first student to play that afternoon and was a bit nervous.  He could play these songs so well at home but I think it is more difficult to play with the teacher's accompaniment. 

Carson's cartwheels 4/14/12

Here is the video of Carson doing cartwheels that he really wanted me to take of him!  He really is becoming quite the little gymnast.

Alex videos

Here is a video of Alex on 4/12/12 @ 11 months playing with his little table.  He does his stiff arm, tense face/neck/shoulders and distinct noise.  Funny guy.

Here is Alex on 4/14/12 @ 11 months walking with the little toy walker.  This is the first time he was doing this.  Took off without any problem, I think we should have gotten it out sooner.

(Sorry about me saying "Ok, move Carson." I think I was annoyed with his persistent question of when are you going to video ME?!  Once again, don't forget the middle child.)

standing and moving

Little ones always think they are big stuff each time they accomplish something new!  And they are! The numerous things they accomplish in their first year of life is amazing!

All three of our boys have loved this toy at this age.  They can stand and play with all the different things on this little table or walk around it while holding on to the table and it is the perfect height.  We found this toy at Once Upon a Child when Andrew was about 10 months old. I am pretty sure we have a picture of Andrew at this same age playing with this toy, with the same wide open/whole face smile!  I need to find it!  Here is Alex on 4/12/12 @ 11 months.

Alex discovered he can push the laundry basket around. (4/13/12 ~ 11 months)

This walking toy is lots of fun too especially in wide open places like the basement.

Look at me standing up!

I found the remote!  Alex loves anything with buttons and anything electronic.  These Osh Kosh bibs he is wearing go way back.  ;)  My mom got them for my oldest brother.  My three siblings and I have all worn them, as well as two of my nieces and now all three of our boys!  They are in really good condition, only some fraying along the bottom hems.

Carson was building something with the couch cushions and Alex wanted to help.  I think he had been pounding the cushion with his fist. (4/19/12)



Strawberry "Yogurt"

When I was on a restricted diet while breastfeeding Alex and trying to figure out his food intolerances, this is something I would make very often.  I found the recipe on a blog but can't recall which one right now, oops.  It is called Strawberry "yogurt" but really it is more like a smoothie.  Typically when I make smoothies, I add yogurt and some milk along with the fruit.  But those two were not part of my diet and I really missed smoothies - LOVE them.  This recipe is great; easy, very nutritious and delicious. 

Strawberry "Yogurt"

1 container of strawberries

a banana or two (depending on how think or thin you like your smoothie)

an avocado

coconut milk (again, amount varies on how thick or think you want it to be)

 put ingredients in blender and blend away

This is what little man did while I prepared the ingredients.

This is what he did while the blender was on.  He was not fond of loud noises at this time (4/11/12 @ 11 months) and our blender is quite loud.  So he would crawl over, pull himself to a standing position pulling on my pant leg and fuss until I stopped the blender or picked him up.

 The end result.  Strawberry "yogurt".

My cousin Jackie posted a link on Facebook where you could help fund these cool ReCap Mason jar lids through Kickstarter.  I helped fund the project and then recieved 2 ReCap lids

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I really like them.

However they didn't work well with maple syrup.  I was bummed.  It appears to be working ok while pouring but once the jar sits upright for a while the syrup runs down the jar.  Not cool.  The syrup must be too thick and collect inside the rim of the cap or something.

Works great with the "yogurt" and homemade salad dressings.