Easter celebrations started early around here. Robbie and Alex had Easter parties at school. They each had to bring in 6 Easter eggs filled with a treat. The teachers or helpers hid the eggs and they were allowed to find 6 eggs to bring home (they didn't have to find the eggs they brought). Alex's party was Tuesday and the kids had fun finding out what was in his eggs. The sweet boy that Alex is gladly shared his treats with Robbie. Robbie's party was Wednesday and he was not as generous with his treats.
Saturday was a birthday party for one of the boys' friends. They loved it because there was a bounce house. They also did an egg hunt, though it was pretty much just picking up eggs because the kids are still pretty young. There were a few hidden for some of the older cousins. :) When I put their bags of eggs in the car I evened out the eggs between the boys' bags because Robbie had several more than Alex. When we got in the car after the party Robbie noticed that there were eggs missing, but said "That's ok, maybe some of the littler kids needed them." He's pretty sweet, too!
After church Sunday we let the kids dye hard boiled eggs. I've got to figure out how to get them to dry because when the kids went to decorate them with stickers the stickers wouldn't stick. We let them decorate some plastic eggs and they were fine with that.
Our set up
Alex is excited about coloring eggs
Robbie with his first egg
Egg counting
Happy boys!
Silly faces while waiting on the eggs
The finished product. The boys loved how they turned out. (Robbie's are in the front and Alex's are in the back.)
At nap time Matthew and I hid some eggs in the backyard. I marked the eggs and told the boys they could only get the ones with their initial on them. That way Robbie didn't end up with all of the eggs. Catie wasn't too interested in finding eggs, but I think she had some fun.
Some of the hidden eggs.
Robbie off and finding his eggs
He's so excited it's his!
R is for Robbie.
Alex looking for his
Is that one mine?
Maybe it's mine!
So I just pick it up?
You want me to put it in the basket, too??
Running to find the last eggs.
We let the kids shell the eggs before dinner. Neither of them actually ate the eggs, but I had lots of egg salad sandwiches that week. :)
Catie's birthday weekend started off with her going to her 1 year check up. She is 20 lbs (though let's say 20-ish, because she wouldn't sit still on the scale) and 29 inches - the 50th percentile for both. So basically she's our perfectly average little girl. But we all know she's much more than average! :)
After we picked Robbie up from school we drove down to St. Pete to celebrate with family. We got to my parents' house with some time to play before eating dinner. The boys would have made time to play after spending so much time in the car.
Saturday we got up and got ready for Catie's party. It was a gorgeous, though slightly chilly, day, but perfect for partying at the playground. Matthew grilled up hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken - delicious as always. The boys loved playing with their cousins while Catie had a rotation of people pushing her in the swing. :) Luckily she was ready to get out and eat when lunch was ready or she may have just be left in the swing while everyone ate. We gave her another smash cake, but, just like the cake at her photo session, she wanted nothing to do with it. The cousins were happy, though, because we let them dig in. We did learn that it's not the actual cake part that she's opposed to, it's the icing. I really just don't understand because it was the yummy Publix butter cream icing.
The windblown picnic tables:
Happy birthday sign:
Catie's smash cake:
And cake for everyone else:
All of our 1 year pictures:
Matthew manning the grill:
My dad and Mia:
Alex swinging all by himself!:
Catie on the swing:
Getting ready for her smash cake!
Waiting while we sing:
What is this?
Mia and Catie (and Robbie sneaking a taste):
"What's that over there not by the cake?":
All the cousins helping Catie:
After the party we went back to my parents' house for naps and then my brother and his family came over for dinner. The boys loved having Mia and Nathan over, though they were sad that they didn't get to go to their house and see their chickens. Well, chicken and one rooster that disguised himself as a hen, but his crowing gave him away. Oops!
Sunday we went to Matt's mom's so Catie could open her presents. Then we headed to the Clearwater Aquarium, but it was packed! I had never been and it's where Winter, the dolphin from "Winter's Tail," lives and I was excited to see him, but we decided it would be too crowded to enjoy it. Instead we drove to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. The boys love it there! I think we could go every time we visited and they would be ok with it.
Checking out the lemurs:
It was the aquarium's birthday, so Alex and Robbie made birthday hats:
One happy girl!
Robbie checking out one of the tanks:
Alex and the Goliath grouper:
Robbie and Catie playing in one of the shells:
The kids could not get enough of the turtle!
Robbie's shirt had the design on the back, so Alex had to wear his shirt backward so his design would be on his back, too!:
And this is how Alex said he wanted to ride home:
We spent the night at Matt's dad's house and went to the Lowry Park Zoo with Jim and Jean Monday. It was a gorgeous day to be walking around outside. I don't think I ever went there growing up and it's a great zoo. The zoo was set up for the Chinese lantern festival. I'm sure it's beautiful at night when everything is lit up, but we still enjoyed seeing the displays. I love that the rides at Lowry Park are free with admission (unlike our zoo). The boys rode the train first. Alex had a hard time because he wanted to ride in the front with Robbie, but the sign said that you had to be 4 to sit without a parent. Luckily there wasn't anyone waiting to ride after we were done, so they let Alex sit up front and ring the bell (though not while the train was moving). Then they rode a car coaster. They loved that, too! I wasn't sure if they would like it or not, but I think they would have spent the rest of the day getting on and off. And, of course, we all did the carousel. I'm sad that my phone battery died and I didn't get more pictures. I think that means we have to go back again. :) After a pretty packed weekend the boys didn't have the stamina they normally would have, but I think we still made it all the way through the zoo. The kids took a great nap in the car and it was an easy drive home.
Catie watched Robbie and Alex open her present. But you can tell she's super excited about it! And, yes, her band aids from getting shots are still on because I'm a wimp about taking them off and I'd rather they just fall off than hurt the kids trying to rip them off.
The kids having fun playing together before getting the car packed up:
Alex feeding the giraffe. Robbie did it, too, but he said it was scary:
Conductor Alex:
We are always so thankful for the friends and family that love us and our kids and are willing to take time out of their weekends to be with us.
It's hard to believe that a full year has passed since Catie was born. While it doesn't seem like just yesterday, it certainly does not seem like a year has gone by since she was born! She is certainly an over-achiever! She got her first tooth before the boys did and started walking before the boys did. She took her first steps March 11th, 15 days before her birthday. The boys both took their first steps on their first birthday. In a way I wish she had waited, but she is already taking several steps and shows no sign of slowing down.
We started Catie's birthday off with pancakes, but no sprinkles this time. :) She loves pancakes! Matthew had to be at work early, so we had to wait to do presents. Catie wore her birthday dress, so I had to take her out to show it off!
Hanging out in Robbie and Alex's room
We dropped Alex off at school, I did a short class at the gym and then had to go to Publix to pick up a few things (which turned into several things!). This time I let Catie get a cookie at the bakery. She loved it! She couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough! I remember breaking off pieces to give to Robbie and Alex when they first started getting cookies...and I may have had a bite or two, but Catie ate her whole cookie before I even realized it!
Get in my mouth!!
What is this deliciousness??
After naps and work, Catie finally got to open her birthday presents. My parents got Catie a cute princess car that makes noises and plays songs. It's similar to a firetruck that Robbie got for Christmas one year, that's why he called it a firetruck.
She loves it!
We got her a Klip Klop Stable with Rapunzel and Aurora, plus 3 more princesses (Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel) to go with it. All of the kids love playing with it, so it's a good thing we have enough princesses to go around. :) The funny thing is, it was actually supposed to be Catie's Christmas present. It was on sale around Thanksgiving, so I bought it when we came down to my parents' for the holiday. Unfortunately, we left it at their house and we weren't going to see them until after Christmas, so we bought Catie different Christmas presents and didn't have to worry about what to get her for her birthday. I don't think she minded. :)
After opening presents, we went to Mama Fu's for dinner and then Sweet Frog for ice cream. It was another first for Catie...ice cream! She liked it, but, not only did we get too much for her, I don't know if she was as excited about it as she was about the cookie because it was so cold. But she still liked it!
YUM!
We let the kids stay up a little bit later to let the sugar wear off. Hopefully Catie enjoyed her birthday.
Today I took Catie to her 1 year check up. She did not want to cooperate for the nurse, so we guestimated her weight at 20 lbs (she wouldn't sit still long enough for the scale to accurately get her weight) and 29 inches long (50% for both). Unfortunately she had to get 3 shots, but she did great under the circumstances. We are looking forward to celebrating with family this weekend!
Yesterday when we picked Alex up from church the teacher told us that he complained about being cold and ended up falling asleep in her lap with a blanket around him. He didn't have a fever and it can be cold in church. We went to Firehouse for lunch and he ate pretty well, but still complained about being cold even though he had a jacket on (though I'm always cold in Firehouse, so I wasn't necessarily surprised that he was). When we got home the boys were playing outside and when Matthew changed Alex he noticed that his hands, feet and knees were swollen and it looked like he had a bunch of bug bites. I thought maybe he just got into an ant pile or something. We called the doctor's office and they told us to give him Benadryl and go to the ER if his face swells or he has trouble breathing. Luckily that never happened, but the swelling never did go down and Alex started saying that he hurt, so we called the doctor again and the nurse advised us to take him to the ER. Matthew took him and, thankfully, the ER doctor took one look at him and knew he had an allergic reaction to the Augmentin he'd been taking for his ear infection. I thought if he was going to have a reaction it would be with the first dose not the literal last dose, but the doctor said it was because it had built up in his system. She gave Alex a steroid, told us to keep giving him Benadryl and Zyrtec and that all of the "bug bites" (what I thought it was) are probably going to blister in the next few days. Poor Alex's feet are so swollen he's walking funny...but it's kind of cute. Mostly he asks to be carried, though. I never thought our first ER trip would be for allergies. The way the boys run and jump I figured it would have been a broken bone instead! Our poor Alex!!
