The Accidental Boilermaker

Today was Bella's birthday party.  There was yummy cake. And fun games. Including a pinata!

Jameson is 13 months old.  Nate didn't have to work today but the kids were getting their pictures taken so I took just Jameson on a run with the hope he'd take a morning nap and not be grumpy during the photos.  It was all a success.  I had a good run, Jameson slept, and both kids cooperated during pictures. Nate discovered what books Jameson likes!  We've been trying to read books all together at bedtime and usually we read the books Evelyn gets from the library, but Jameson just never was interested.  Well Nate figured out that Jameson prefers just the basic board books, ones with big pictures and only a few words.  And once he finds one he likes, he'll ask you to read it over and over and over again.  It's nice to see him finally excited about books. Jameson doesn't have too many extra words but has added ball to his vocabulary.  He loves playing outside with Evelyn.  Sleeping has been much better lately.  He may wake up i...

Wednesday it was in the 30s so Evelyn and Nate went ice skating. Today it was in the 60s so we went to the park and flew a kite. Jameson thought it was fun. After the kite, we played on the playground and then got ice cream because it is 60 degrees in February.

What a day; we had some highs, we had some lows.  It started off good - Evelyn and Jameson gave Nate their Valentine's Day present. Then we spent the morning at Bella's house which is always fun, but often means we miss naptime. So the afternoon was long and filled with grumpy kids.  But the weather was nice enough to play outside and then Isaac and Joshua called before dinner! As usual, Evelyn blew bubbles, but this time Jameson was most interested in the sticks.

Evelyn had her 3 year check up today.  She did an awesome job letting the doctor and med student examine her.  She weighed 33 lbs (73rd percentile) and was 38 inches tall (74th percentile).  Jameson, although he got antsy toward the end, also behaved so we went to Panera for a treat when we were finished.  (Check out Evelyn at Panera this time last year for her 2 year check up - what a difference a year makes!) The temperature was in the high 50s again today and Evelyn really wanted to play outside and blow bubbles so I said why not.  At first I thought Jameson and I would stay inside, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he could play too; he can walk now.  So we all played outside before dinner. Jameson loved to chase the ball and pop any bubbles he could get his hands on.

Today was Evelyn's golden birthday; she is three years old! She wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast like Jameson but the store was out so she picked a coffee cake instead.   She still loves Frozen, but also likes most Disney princesses.  Evelyn loves to read, dance, play pretend, dress-up, and watch movies.  She is still a very picky eater.  Sometimes she is patient with Jameson and plays with him; sometimes she just wants him to leave her alone.  Evelyn is generally well behaved and a good listener, but she is also a determined and strong willed child.   One final birthday treat.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home from church.

Finally, pictures from Jameson's birthday party!  We had a John Deere tractor themed party with lots of green and yellow.  One notable exception was Evelyn's birthday cake.  Evelyn and Jameson's birthdays are only two weeks apart, but we made the decision to just have one party for Jameson. But we also didn't want Evelyn to feel left out, so she got a Frozen cupcake and everyone sang happy birthday to her too. Grandpa and Jameson in their matching John Deere shirts. Birthday boy enjoying some tractor wheels and cheese. Smash cake!  Jameson got his own little cake from the leftover cupcake batter. First taste of ice cream; of course Grandpa gave him chocolate. Evelyn's friends enjoying some cupcakes and ice cream too. Our party game was pin the wheel on the tractor.  The younger kids got the hang of it right away even if they didn't know where the wheel was supposed to go. The big kids liked the game too. ...