New fence and lots of mulch

It was a busy Friday at our house. On Thursday, the fence guys installed the wooden fence at the front of our house. This creates what I lovingly call the "kiddie kennel" - it almost completes fencing in our back yard so when we're outside we don't have to worry about Eli running toward the road. Friday morning we had 10 yards of mulch delivered. Tim has been planning for a year to mulch the swingset but it just hasn't been #1 on our priority list....until now. Party on Saturday, got to get the mulch down! Tim's parents came up and his Dad helped build the frame and then they started hauling mulch. It looks so good and really makes the swingset much more play-able and provides and soft level surface. It got it's test at the party today and I think it passed!

New fence in front

10 yards of mulch

Eli helping Grandpa clean up the mulch pile

Finished project - doesn't it look great?!

Help Mom - I got mulch in my pants!!

Aunt Cary and the funnest birthday ever

Doesn't that sound like a great book title?!

Tuesday night my dear friend Cary arrived from Colorado - she's affectionately known by all of her friends' children as "Aunt Cary". Eli was so excited to see his Aunt Cary and Cole was very happy to meet her. Eli went around the house every day asking "Where Aunt Cary at?". Cary has been hanging out with us and it was a special treat that she was here to celebrate Eli's birthday.

This morning, Eli came downstairs to find a balloon and presents at the table for breakfast. It's so cute now that he completely understands about opening presents. He really enjoyed that. We also used our Shining Star plate for the first time for Eli's birthday breakfast of chocolate chip muffins (with a few chocolate chips on the side!). The gifts he opened were from Baby Cole (Matchbox cars) and his cousins and aunt/uncle in Florida (a recycling truck and a concrete truck). After breakfast he proceeded to run all over the house with the trucks. Have I told you that he's TOTAL boy?! A little running around and then it was time for school.

Fun stuff waiting for breakfast

Chocolate chips and a balloon - life is good

Aunt Cary & I went to Eli's school for snack time and took a giant cookie to celebrate with Eli's friends. All the kids were so excited to see us, especially since we were packing LOTS of sugar. Our plan was to be there for snack time and then bring Eli home - aren't we smart? Jack all the kids up on sugar and then leave. =) We were going to go to the pool but thunder kept us from doing that so we just played at home. Amy, Henry & Samantha came over to see Eli and give him his gift. Then Owen came over to play for a bit. We had about 1-1/2 to 2 hours to total chaos in our house but Eli loved it! He loved getting presents, being the center of attention and playing with his friends.

Birthday cookie for school

Yummy cookie for snack time - celebrating with friends from school

The rest of his classmates - notice only one girl in the bunch!

Eli went for the thick balloon frosting when everyone was done

Eli LOVES the new recycling and concrete trucks

Cool - Matchbox carrying case from Henry & Samantha. We have LOTS of matchbox cars.

The simple joys - a fun balloon

I bought this container to keep the balls cleaned up on the porch - you see how well that worked.

Aunt Cary snuggling Baby Cole

Eli & Owen - fun playtime on the porch

After all that playing, we headed to Chick-Fil-A for birthday dinner with Ryan. (Told you with was a fun and busy day) Eli ate a few nuggets, lots of fries and then was ready to go play on the play structure. He & Ryan had fun running around with the other kids in there.

Eli & Ryan - best buds

Our attempt at a family birthday photo

Post dinner chaos, we headed home to do bath and get our 2 YEAR OLD to bed. But before bed, we tried to get a good photo of me & the boys with Aunt Cary.

Photo op with Aunt Cary

All in all, I think Eli got super spoiled and had lots of fun on his 2nd birthday. And we still have his party on Saturday!!

Happy Birthday Eli - I hope you had a great day!! We love you.

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli

A balloon, presents, chocolate chips for breakfast......it doesn't get any better for a 2 year old on his birthday. Happy Birthday my sweet Eli. Hard to believe that you're already 2. Love you lots!!

Survived our first road trip

Well, we made it - we survived our first road trip with two kids! We went to visit Tim's parents this weekend and had great ambitions as to what our weekend would entail. We thought we'd get there Friday night and settle in. Saturday would be an early bike ride for Tim, a trip to the beach, nap time and then family cookout. Sunday would be another bike ride for Tim and a trip to the aquarium before lunch and coming home. As you'll see, that was W-A-Y too ambitious and didn't happen that way but was very enjoyable.

We started the weekend on Thursday night with our friends Kara & Brian. They came over with Owen & Faye to enjoy pizza and hang out. Eli & Owen had fun jumping in the bounce house and running around like crazy boys. Owen is a bit more calm than Eli but he was running around just as crazy. With full bellies and tired from running around, both boys slept great all night long. I imagine there will be many more pizza nights and hanging with our friends in the future (and that thought makes me happy!).

Friday night, we left home about 7:45pm to head to Tim's parents house. The boys traveled great and we arrived at their house sometime after 11pm. After unloading the truck, Tim snuggled in the bed with Eli to get him to sleep while I got things ready with Cole. It was probably 1am before I got to sleep and Cole was up around 3am. Fortunately Tim was with Eli so I didn't have to worry about him as they were warm and snuggly, snoring away.

Saturday morning, boys were up by 6:30am and we started our day (I was pretty tired, I keep threatening to start drinking coffee). Eli ran around outside before we enjoyed a pancake and bacon breakfast - it was yummy! We let Eli run around more and play in the yard. Tim, his Dad and Eli ran to the grocery for Grandma to pick up things for the cookout before lunch and nap. Family and friends started to arrive at 4pm and the fun started. There was such a great turnout and there were kids running all over the place. Tim's dad had once commented that he'd love to have the kids running around and he got his wish. Lots of energy and excitement. It was a lot of fun to watch them playing together and Eli running around like one of the big boys. We ate lots of good fun (surprise surprise!) and enjoyed talking and catching up with everyone. I'd say the fun winded down about 7:30pm when the kids were falling apart. We just knew Eli would sleep soundly all night. He went down pretty easily but woke up crying for Daddy in the middle of the night.

This morning, Tim & his Dad changed the oil in his truck while Eli continued to explore the yard and terrorize the two fish in the fish pond. He loves to throw the resin turtle and frog in the pond. I think he even threw a rock in there this time. After a morning of exploration and playing with Grandma & Grandpa, we ate lunch and then packed it up to head home. (and boy was there a lot to pack / get together - it felt like we were leaving for a week when we left home Friday night!) The boys traveled great home - Eli fell asleep pretty quickly and slept for 1-1/2 hours (half the trip) and Cole also slept most of it.

So as you can see, the only thing from our list of plans that we actually did was the family cookout but it was great! We really enjoyed just hanging at Grandma & Grandpa's house and letting Eli enjoy being there. It's very laid back at their house and being away from home allows me some time to forget about all the things that have to be done (laundry, cleaning, etc). Although we didn't get as much sleep as we would have liked, I think we came back mentally rested and are ready to tackle the week ahead.

It's going to be a busy week. Aunt Cary arrives from Colorado Tuesday night (and will be here through Friday - woo hoo!), Eli's 2nd birthday is Thursday (how did that happen?!) and then Tim's parents will be here Friday to help us get ready for Eli's birthday party on Saturday. Whew - I'm tired thinking of it all.

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa for a great weekend, for taking care of us and for a wonderful cookout. And of course, there are pictures to share.....

Eli & Owen "bouncing" Thursday night

Ready to go to Grandma's - Eli pulling his & Cole's suitcase around the house

Watching Bob the Builder with Grandpa

Look at that sweet face

Uh-oh, turtle and frog in the fish pond

Landon & Cole - Landon is Tim's cousin Brady's son

All the kids running after a real live frog - ribbit, ribbit

Hanging on the deck, burgers & dogs cooking in the background

Look at this crew - Eli, Hunter (cousin), Jake & Morgan (cousins) and Ali (daughter of one of Tim's life long friends)

Brady (Tim's cousin) with Landon and Tim with Cole - no one probably ever imagined

Eli got lots of attention from everyone and he loved it

Mommy & Cole hanging on the deck

Eli did not like the shower at all

Spreading mulch for Grandpa Sunday morning

Grandma & Grandpa - Eli took this picture

Mommy Update

Had my 6 week check at the doctor today. All checked out well and I got the thumbs up to start exercising again. =)

So that was the physical check, but the mental? I'm actually doing great there too. I'm much more relaxed at home this time and enjoying it. So many people have commented on how I'm doing - in a positive way. Tim even commented the other day that I seem to be very happy and enjoying being a Mom. He's right - I'm embracing the domestic bliss! My neighbor Amy had an observation that I think hit the nail on the head. She said that with one child, I tried to keep doing all the same stuff I did before Eli got here but with two, I've accepted / embraced being a Mom and am not trying to do as much. It's so true!! I love having my two boys and every day I find myself letting go of more and not getting stressed out. The boys will only be little once and there are so many things that can wait until they're so big that they don't want Mom around.

First smile and coo

Just got Cole's first true smile and some good coo-ing. Guess who "got it" - ELI!! He is sitting here on the bed talking to his little brother and Cole is smiling at him. Perfect....

Worn out from the weekend

Whew - it was a busy weekend around here. Hard to remember everything we did. Friday night seems like ages ago - I think we just hung around the house. Oh yeah, Eli got a hair cut. That took longer than expected so we hung out after that.

Saturday: After we dropped Tim's truck off for new brakes, Eli & I went to Ryan's house and walked to the lake to feed the ducks. We saw the biggest turtle I've ever seen in my life. It was scary! The boys had fun feeding the ducks and running around. After snack time, Tim took Eli to try to get new shoes but they were so crowded that it was a bust. Lunch and then nap time. During nap, Tim managed to mow the grass while I hung out with Cole. Saturday late afternoon, we met Kara, Brian, Owen & Faye at the pool. Owen & Eli had so much fun playing together. It was fun for me to watch. Cole & I lounged on our chair in the shade and watched the crazy boys (and their crazy daddies!). Eli went to bed without a fight and slept all night - woo hoo!!

Sunday: Early morning, Tim & Eli went on a bike ride while Cole & I went on a walk. Nice to get everyone out of the house for a little while. After snack, we loaded up for a family trip to REI - always fun. Back home for nap, Eli took a decent nap. Sunday afternoon was Ryan's 2nd birthday party at Monkey Joe's. It was insane!! Not only were the birthday kids running around, there were a ton of other kids too. We took Eli & Ryan there at Easter and they weren't quite ready to tackle it all on their own but this time was a totally different story. The first time Eli took off up the "ladder" to the top of the structure and then slid down the slide by himself, I thought to myself that I really do have a little boy now - no longer my baby. I could not believe how big he looked and was acting there. After running around and getting hot and sweaty, we gathered in the cooled down birthday room to enjoy cake and goodies. Ryan seemed to have a really good time. Eli was so tired when it was over that he dozed on the way home (at 6pm) and again, went to bed without a fuss and slept all night!!

We seemed to stay on the go this weekend and had a lot of fun. Tim & I were both pooped out last night; I even fell asleep on the couch snuggled up with Cole. 

Eli trying to walk in Mommy's shoes

Love running with the big dump truck

Eli decided to try laying on his back

Cole chillin' pool side

Eli got into a splash fest with Owen and his Daddy, Brian

Look at these cute boys - Owen and Eli

Eli & Birthday Boy Ryan on the Monkey throne

Playing in multi-sport land

Look at that big boy climbing up!

And then sliding down!

Can you tell he's having fun? He was soooo cute

My sweet big boy