Visiting Nicole

We didn't get to visit the hospital again, but tonight we went over to see Rachel and Nicole. Just wanted to share these pictures. She's so tiny.

Cute brothers...

Chris has been pulling up on everything to stand lately. He figured out today that he can finally reach the piano keys by himself and he was loving it!




One more cute thing- I gave Ben and Chris each a cracker- Chris was sitting in the (messy) playroom and Ben had to go in and sit next to Chris and have their snack together- it was just cute. I love that he seems to be caring more and more about Chris and wondering where he is, wanting to be by him and talk to him-- so sweet.

Panoply

Panoply is the yearly art festival here in town. This is the first year I've actually gone since we lived here, and it was really cool. Lots of music and cool arts and crafts. Ben loved it! There were art tents where he could try craft projects, there was a music tent that he really liked where they had a bunch of instruments there for the kids to try out- he loved the maracas and the violin! Chris enjoyed it too- there aren't as many pictures of him because he was typically with me and I'm the one who takes all the pictures- can't get Dave to. One new thing for Chris- though... the baby who would not take a sippy cup was drinking all of Ben's water! ;) Silly boy.





More Panoply photos:

Panoply

Crawfish anyone?

We went to a Looooousiana crawfish boil tonight. It was a weird party (a business contact of Dave's had invited us) but it was kind of cool to try crawfish, neither of us ever had. They had these styrofoam coolers full of them on each table- with these big platter things for shelling them. It's kind of like shelling shrimp- except that you first have to pop the head off. Ew. I didn't think I'd be able to do that, but it wasn't bad. They don't really have much flavor. Shrimp are way better.



A few more pics from the night:

Crawfish boil

Nicole is born :)

A new Izatt baby is here- well, a New baby that is... haha (Steve and Jeanne that was for you). The boys have a new cousin- Nicole Grace was born yesterday at 4:40pm to Dave's sister Rachel and her husband Jeremy. She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. We got to see her a little bit last night and I was only able to get pictures through the nursery window- but they turned out fine... she's sooo pretty.

I haven't edited these yet... but I just have to say that my baby is getting cuter and cuter every day!

Birthday party!

We had Ben's birthday party last night. He was so cute- he was so excited about every single thing. We had a hard time getting him to open all of his presents- in fact, one of them we just left for today because he was a little overwhelmed. We had the family over and everything was Blue's Clues since he is a fanatic!



Click here for more photos:

Ben's 2nd Birthday Party Album

Easter

They had so much fun. They loved the stuff they got in their baskets and Ben loved looking for eggs. He got to look for some at home and then more at Grandma and Grandpa's house later.

On Saturday, we were shopping at Walmart and they had pictures with the Easter bunny- I didn't know how they'd be- but for a free picture, we gave it a shot. They were awesome- Chris wasn't scared at all- more curious. Ben was only nervous for a second, then when he saw Chris went on the Easter bunny's lap, he went too.




Rubber ducky!!


See more photos:

Easter

Just cute

I just love this picture. Ben picked out this new Dora book today and was excited for Daddy to read it to him.




Chris and his crayons. He loves to play with these things... he tries to fit more in his hands than he can hold and studies them... lol

Chuck E. Cheese!

The whole family went to ChuckECheese today. The boys loved the music and all the chaos. This was Chris' first time, but Ben had been for his first birthday. He didn't like the rides back then, but he didn't want to get off of them this time! He loved putting the tokens in.

Ben sure loves painting and anything else like it. He loves doing his special things up at the table. I got him some watercolors to try, I think these work better than the poster paints- a little easier to use. He loves it!

Under and over!

Chris looves it under the table for some reason. He's still just scooting around, but today he figured how to get OVER the beam under there. He was so proud of himself!

Weekend in Gatlinburg

We took an spontaneous trip to the Great Smoky Mountains over the weekend. It was lots of fun. We rented a chalet and just relaxed and had a fun time. We went to this cool place called Wonderworks which is built upside-down. It was cool. We can't wait to go back.




More photos:

Gatlinburg

Notebooks and helping Mommy...

Ben just loves notebooks. He has a major love of Blue's Clues, has ever since he could express his preferences for what we watched. When Joe or Steve go to get their notebook, Ben goes "oh, notenote" and runs to go find his. He sits intently drawing his "clues" along with the show. Sooo cute.

And here is is "helping" Mommy with the laundry. He was having so much fun playing in there...

Teese and Ben

I just love this picture! The boys are interacting more all the time. Chris is always watching Ben and trying to keep up and Ben is really sharing more and is always so excited to see Chris in the morning or after a nap... "Hi Teese! Hayu dooeen?" If he didn't notice Chris leave for a nap or something, he'll ask "Where's Teese?"