Happy Birthday Harvey

Happy Birthday
to our little man!(1 Day Old)

You've grown so much in these short 3 years.
I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

(First Birthday)

From crawling, to walking, to running and hopping all around...

(Second Birthday)

You have impressed all of us with how quickly you pick up new skills and
how easily you learn from your older sister.

You have your own style, your likes (cars, robots and Team Umizoomi).
Even though you still have your moments that show your age,
you still know how to turn Mom's frown upside down with
your sweet little smile.

Now you're the big 3!
And we are so proud of you!

Here are some photos from his birthday celebration....

(Opening presents....this is a little Kitty named Scamps)

(and a Zhou Zhou Pets ball....Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Weisensel!)

(2 Look and Find books from Mom
- notice how thrilled he looks.)

(And the super cool car race track he got from Dad!)

(This "little bear" has claimed Harvey's balloon.)

(And she also feels that Scamps belongs to her. Lucky for her, Harvey allows her to play with Scamps liberally!)

(Harvey's choice for dinner
- Culvers grilled cheese Scoopie Meal.)

(Miss Rowan was wanting Dad to take some silly pictures of her.)

(After 3 attempts, he blew out his candle all by himself!)

(All of his absolute favorite characters from TV.)
(Love the Popeye smile!)

Our little swimmer

We have been very remiss in posting updates to our blog. Our apologies. Sometimes it seems like a month will fly by and I haven't gotten anything done. The sewing project hasn't moved off the shelf, the knob is still missing from the kitchen cabinet, and on and on.....

I'll try to get back "on the wagon" and post more often.
Here's the latest info on the kids swimming.

Harvey:
Was generally good in the water. He really seemed to enjoy blowing bubbles, kicking, and jumping in from the side of the pool. Harvey's last swim class of the session could have gone better though. He didn't want to participate in anything. He only wanted to play with the swim toys in the basket. Harvey had half of his abilities checked on his "report card". Since he has to continue to work on his skills (and he's not yet 4 years old) Harvey will have to stay in the parent/tot swim class.

Rowan:
Rowan did fine in all of her swim classes. She has some issues with trust yet. She thinks I might let go of her or I might dunk her under the water. By the second to last class, she trusted the swim teacher, Betsy, enough to swim in Betsy's arms.Rowan didn't like blowing bubbles at first, but the skill grew on her. She loved swimming with the noodle, barbell, backpack and life jacket. She LOVED the life jacket because she felt like an independent swimmer with it on. Too bad the life jacket was only shared with the students on one day. Rowan also really enjoyed jumping in from the side of the pool. There were several times I tried to bribe (read: encourage) her to jump and put her whole head under water. I offered her a dollar for each time she put her head under. She was brave enough to do that twice one night and twice another night. I guess 2 dollars was enough for her as she refused to do any more bobs under the water.
Even with her reservations, Rowan was still given the clearance to move onto the next swim group. Children in Aqua Kids need to be at least 4 years old. It will be nice to have Rowan swim with her peers now....and not in the baby swim class.
Here's her report card:

A nice day in May

One very nice day in May, we decided to walk down to Tivoli Island with the kids. This was our first trek using only baby carriers and no strollers.
It was a great experience. The kids got to see a few ducks, walk the trails on the island and see a nearby dam.
We bought a loaf of cheap white bread to feed the ducks. It turned out that these ducks must have been fed by many other people prior to our visit. Only 2 or 3 ducks nibbled at our bread.

Ursula loved crossing the bridge. She did it several times.

Nicer Weather

Maverick says that it's so nice out, he just might sing!

Uh oh....are there tears coming?

So close, you can almost smell the food on his face.

I'm experimenting with taking close up photos.

Harvey! Show us your belly button!

Rowan is spinning around.

Happy Dad got the slide out of the garage.

Now I'm experimenting with jumping pictures.

Jump Harvey!

Throwing the red ball.

Daddy's new gate - he built it himself!

Jelly Belly Day

Tuesday, March 30th

Grandma and Grandpa Allord took all the grandkids on a tour of the Jelly Belly facility. We started our day with lunch at The Chancery restaurant in Kenosha. The kids were measured because the cost of their lunch was their height. Rowan's meal was 43 cents and Harvey's meal was 36 cents.

Ursula didn't need to be measured.
She just nibbled off of other kids' plates.

Here we are in the tram that drove us around the warehouse. Everyone was given a paper hat to wear.

Here are all the grandkids next to a Jelly Belly VW Beetle. It was an actual working car that was just parked up by the gift shop door.

It was a fun trip and the kids all got a special treat from the gift shop afterward. Too bad part of Harvey's special treat was getting lost and meandering outside alone....scaring his mother half to death.

Thanks so much for the fun trip Grandma and Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Little Bear!

Happy 1st Birthday!
A year ago today, you came into our lives in the most amazing way. Just by being born you have transformed me. Every day I thank God for blessing us
with the gift that is you.

In one fast year, you have achieved so many milestones. Every day I am amazed at your abilities, your heart, your determination, and your sweetness.

I look forward to each day....to watch you grow and to give you hugs and kisses all along the way.

Ready to eat!

A little help to blow out the candle....

"mmmm...my very first cake!"

Not too messy, but just messy enough!

"Ooh, I got some new shoes and a necklace!"

"Don't even think about touching my new xylophone, mister."

A pretty new hat and girl scout cookies!

I bet I can ride this thing with my eyes closed!

"Yay! A fun activity table!"