Horsey Rides

They have found something they like to do together.  Yay!  It's kind of rare.  And I'm not sure how much of it is their four year age difference or the fact that C is still adjusting to his role as big brother...but seeing them actually play together (without it ending in tears!) is a real treasure.  There are definitely less tears these days (progress!) but there is still not a lot of playing with each other.  So, the other day when I heard C say "Hey W, get on my back" I made sure to grab my camera.  This game makes lil' peanut so happy!  I love it!

Dedicated to the Lord

Sunday we had lil' peanut dedicated in church.  I was nervous having C dedicated when he was 3 months old.  "Oh man, what if he cries through the whole thing?  What if he didn't nurse long enough earlier and he decides he's hungry?  What if he has a huge diaper blowout?"  Ha!  That was nothing.  This time I was scared of what might happen on stage with our mostly sweet, yet occasional crazy-fit throwing toddler!  Not to mention what might come out of my 6 year old's mouth!!  Pastor Kevin said something along the lines of "It's always fun to dedicate a two year old." ;)

 

P.S. Don't mind my tennis shoes.  Dumb ankle brace.

 

Lil' peanut did really awesome.  He smiled and waved and basically charmed his way into everyone's hearts. :)  C did the same, with his silly antics and attempts at stealing the attention.  Oh, that boy.  He does indeed like to be the center of attention.  

 

I think lil' peanut is asking "nack go?" in this next picture.  We gave him a piece of candy right before we went up there and he happily sucked on it for a good three minutes.  After it was gone he started signing for eat and saying "nack, nack, nack" over and over again.  Then he started trying to get into hubby's pocket where he knew the rest of the candy was stashed.

I kind of love how the hubs is physically connected to/restraining C in every. single. picture. Haha! When he was walking C back to class after it was over he said "I was a little disappointed with some of the choices you made up there buddy." C's response? "I know. I'm sorry Daddy. But, everybody was laughing when I did that stuff."

In an attempt to distract him from the candy I pulled his name tag off his shirt and gave it to him.  Then he named each part of my face while trying to stick it on me.  "Nose, eye, neck, eyebrow."  He stuck it on Pastor Kevin's face real good and then ripped it right off.  You had to have been there, but it was pretty funny.  The whole congregation got a good laugh out of that.

Praying over our little guy.

When he held him up, lil' peanut started clapping his hands along with everyone else and then shouted hooray.  I told you he was charming. ;)

It was a special day for our family.  I will ask "my" pastor (back in KS they started pastoring our church when I was about 8 years old and they are like family to me.  He married me, dedicated C, did Wesley's funeral...) to dedicate him as well.  It's an important thing for me...to give this precious gift back to the Lord.  And I want our families and my pastor's family to be able to be a part of that too. 

family picnic

This past Friday the weather was gorgeous!  Instead of heading home when we picked C up from school (he gets out at noon on Fridays) we grabbed subway and went to the park for a picnic.  The boys had a lot of fun on the playground and then we all enjoyed a walk around the lake.  It was so nice to spend the afternoon together (hubby was off!) and to spend it outside!

Celebrating the Lunar New Year!

Saturday morning we headed to a Lunar New Year celebration about an hour away.  We spent almost half an hour driving around trying to find parking!  We rolled up in our stroller just in time to catch the parade.  C was excited!

Lil' peanut was skeptical.  Ha!  He does not do well in the cold (a boy after my own heart) and spent most of the parade saying "all done" and "bye bye." :)

Even though the parade featured different performance groups from various Asian cultures, it made me miss Korea!  I want to go back!!!

Daddy and C had to get a better view of the dragon.  C's favorite part, he said.

 

Lil' peanut's turn to get up close and personal with the dragon.

Meeting the panda was actually the only time lil' peanut cracked a smile the whole time!

After the parade we headed to the arts center where they were having arts and crafts for the kids.  C made a lucky rattlesnake egg, they both made snake masks (2013 is the year of the snake, by the way!) and then we got in the very long, slow moving line for face painting.  About 20 minutes into that lil' peanut decided he was hungry and tired and DONE!  And he let us (and everyone else in the room!) know. ;)  C was bummed he didn't get his face painted but actually totally impressed me with how well he dealt with the disappointment (ie we only had one crying kid on the way out the door).  It was busy and crowded, but fun.  I'm glad we went!

 

Valentine's Day 2013

We've never been huge Valentine's people, but this year I had a lot of fun with it.  I think part of what got me in the mood was the fact that C is in school now.  That comes with dressing up in Valentine colors, having a special party, and of course, giving out Valentine's to friends.  Here are his first class valentines.  They were really fun to make!

I made little goody bags for both the boys and on each of them they had a heart with different things we love about them.  I set them out at breakfast with their heart shaped pancakes.  I colored the batter pink, which was all for nothing.  You couldn't even tell once they were cooked! 

What we love about C...your kind heart. your big blue eyes. the jokes you tell. your stories about school.  reading books and telling tales at bedtime.  that you turned us into a Mommy and Daddy!

 

What we love about lil' peanut...how happy little things make you.  how much you love your Ker-Ker.  your dance moves.  your dark hair, eyes, and skin.  your chubby tummy.  that you are home to celebrate your first Valentine's Day!

 

C got a little invitation in his bag, inviting him on a dinner and shopping date with Mom.  He accepted. ;)  Lil' peanut got new Elmo pj's.

Later that morning lil' peanut and I went to a Valentine's Day themed storytime at the library.  He is too cute at storytime.  Following along with the actions to the little finger plays and songs.  They got heart suckers at the end and I told him he could have it after lunch.  Remember what I said about how happy little things make him....he was so, so thrilled when it was time to eat that sucker.

I wasn't saying or doing anything to make him laugh like this.  It's really just how happy he was to be eating that sucker!

C and I getting ready to head out on our date. 

He chose to shop at, where else, Toys R Us!  After that we had a really nice dinner at Red Robin (also his choice.)  It was really nice to have some special one-on-one time with him.  To just really be engaged and talk with him and enjoy him and his silly personality. 

Hubby and I decided not to exchange gifts.  But, he broke that rule when he brought me a box of chocolates.  So, I gave him the gift of letting him choose the movie we watched that night after the boys were in bed. ;) I had a great Valentine's Day this year.  I think once we had kids Valentine's became less about romantic love and more about them (doesn't everything?) ;)  I'm ok with that though.  It's a lot fun to make my boys happy!