A train ride

We met up with the Ahlemeyers and the Moores for some train riding fun at Roaring Camp this weekend. We knew that Luke would love riding the "choo-choo" again, especially with his equally train-obsessed buddy, Jack.

Riding in the open-car train:

Hanging with one of Luke's favorite people - Gina:

The Boys:

Goofing around with Aidan:

Ice cream!

Oh, and the girls had a good time too - sweet babies Bailey and Mia:

Her Royal Cuteness

and it doesn't hurt that she continues to be super sweet, very mellow, full of smiles and "talking," and just generally a really happy baby ....

...now if only she were sleeping through the night!

Christmas in March?

Yep, we had just a little final Christmas hurrah today for Luke.

Michael and I had intended to get him a train/activity table for his room at Christmas, but when we finally found one we liked (this was no easy task - it had to match the furniture and be the right size), it was out of stock. I even called the company and was told that the manufacturer was redesigning it and that they planned to carry it again as of January 15th. No big deal, right?

Well, January 15th came and went. I called a few more times, and on my most recent phone call I finally talked to someone who was honest with me ... they don't know if or when they will have it again.

SO, we decided to go ahead with something that I thought Luke would love and that is nice to have now that the weather is turning warm so that he can play with it outside - a paint easel.

Luke was really excited about his new gift today - I hope that he continues to love it and will get a ton of use out of it in the months (years?) ahead.


The first stroke



The artist at work



A chalkboard on the other side (and a dry erase board underneath the painting paper)


The first finished product!

A "picnic"

Luke set up a "picnic" today. Everything is about pretending and imaginary play right now, so I wasn't surprised when I found Luke setting up a pretend picnic for us. What made me run back and grab my camera was the fact that he set a place for Linus ... and Linus was there cooperating.

We turned Luke's pretend picnic into a real one when I decided that we would eat our real lunch (made up of items that did not crumble or stain!) right there on the staircase landing.

Mia joined us when she woke up from her nap.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday morning

...and we're off to church.

I just couldn't help snapping this picture of our sweet, dressed-up babies.

Feeding Mia

It isn't often that Mia gets a bottle, so it was quite the treat when Luke got to feed his little sister.

He's been asking (well, actually, he's become a bit bossy so "asking" is putting it nicely - more like "ordering") me everyday since to "pump, Mommy, I need to feed Mia a bottle."

Behind!

So, I've gotten a bit behind on the blog ... and I think that I'm just about up to date now. I've added some posts for February (I always try to put the correct dates to them so that when I turn this into a book for Luke and Mia, the timing is all correct and sequential), so scroll down to see photos and read about what was going on around here last month!

Siblings

When I first found out I was pregnant with Mia, I thought a lot about how I might possibly love her as much as I do Luke. I also worried for Luke about how he would fare once he didn't have all of our attention. I had even found a poem that I blogged about (see "Loving Two") that described my feelings at that time.

As Mia begins to grow and become her own little person, I watch in awe as Luke takes on this new role of big brother. I honestly could have never imagined that he would actually like her, much less LOVE her, in these early days when she requires so much of my attention ... yet, he does. He shows concern for her, compassion, love, and a protectiveness that makes my heart swell. He told Mia today that she is "just so pretty."

Luke, your love for your sister makes me love you even more (if that is humanly possible). I feel so blessed to watch the two of you develop your relationship. I know that there will be so many challenging times as siblings (some of which Daddy and I will have to referee), but I am completely enjoying this time as you get to know one another and develop a bond that you will share forever.

Loving life

Mia's smiles

Baby Blues

What do you think? Will Mia's eyes stay blue?

New Kicks

Luke is movin' on up in the shoe world. Those feet are growing ... right out of his size 7s. This calls for an entirely new shoe wardrobe. Check out one of his new pairs (and Luke's current favorite)!

We heart Tahoe!

We just returned from yet another fantastic Tahoe weekend. Fun was had by everyone - skiing for Daddy, a few hours of snowboarding for Mommy, frolicking in the snow for Brooklyn, cuddle time for Mia, another dinner out at our favorite sushi place and Luke ... well, here are a few pictures:

Picnicking with Day outside - they set up a little table in the snow after some fun snow-play time

Gambling with Paw on his slot machines

Hanging out in the snow with Brooklyn (she and Luke share a love for all things SNOW)

Luke also enjoyed another round of "cave sleeping" (sleeping in a sleeping bag on the heated floor of Day and Paw's closet), and built an awesome fort inside out of blankets, which he spent quite a lot of time in.

Mia was a star traveler. We stopped once on the way up to console her, and not at all on the ride home - she slept the entire way!

All in all, a fabulous weekend (minus the "vase incident," which I won't blog about here, but we can talk about in person ... let's just say that toddler and fancy vase do NOT go well together - thankfully the toddler "won" in this instance!).