Happy Birthday Nate!

Nate with his train cake.

I thought this picture was fun enough to post. Stephen took a picture with the camera while I took a picture with my phone.

Blowing out his 3 candles!

Jack posing for the camera.

Sweet Caroline.

Nate eating a train wheel, aka mini Oreo cookie, from his piece of cake.

Nate turned three on Sunday! We celebrated on Saturday with some friends. We didn't get many pictures of the event, but Nate had fun and I think his friends did too. We planned a sports themed little party, but due to the 100+ temps outside the games we planned didn't happen. 

Nate's cake was themed around his favorite things: trains and balls. I had decided on a train cake for his birthday, so when I discovered the foil wrapped chocolate sports balls it was a perfect fit. I was fairly pleased with the final product, but I think this cake will be one that I never attempt again. So, if we ever have another little boy - Sorry, buddy. No train cake for you. Or at least not one like this.

Scattered

We've been in our new house for a week today, and I'm still quite scattered. Unpacking and putting everything in its place has been more challenging than I imagined with two little ones to take care of. Plus, Stephen had to attend training all week. And I had a colonoscopy on Wednesday (no problems, just preventative due to a bad family history). Those two things definitely hindered the process. I think we'll be living with boxes for a few months!

We're flying to Kentucky tomorrow morning to stay for a week, and upon our return I have high hopes of blogging. I guess some pictures of the new place are in order!

Color outside the lines

We went to story time at the library on Tuesday. The theme was bees, and Nate got this coloring page to bring home and color.

And color he did!

I don't know at what age kids learn to color inside the lines, but I'm pretty sure Nate isn't ready for that lesson yet. And I'm pretty sure I could use some lessons from him about coloring outside the lines.

Our new house

I mentioned earlier that if we didn't move to Kentucky this summer we would most likely buy a house in Texas. Well, we are! Above is a picture of what will soon be our home! Everything is falling into place, and we're scheduled to close on July 23rd. A week and a half from now! Nope, we haven't packed any boxes yet. I'm really hoping they'll pack themselves.

I'm starting to get a little sad about leaving our little home of two years. Mostly because I have such sweet memories of watching my babies grow here. But I'm also nervous about moving to a bigger space. We'll almost be doubling our space. I'm so used to having all of us right here all the time, and it's cozy. The kids won't get lost in the new place or anything, but it will feel big to us.

But, I'm going to have a kitchen! With a double oven! And cabinet space! And I'll be able to work in it while the kids sleep because they'll be far enough away that I won't wake them up! And the driveway is fenced in the back so Nate can ride his bike. And there's just enough yard to enjoy. I could go on. We really like the house.

So, the next couple weeks might be a little crazy for us. I'm not sure what moving with two kids to take care of looks like, but I'll know soon enough!

Winkler Wedding

Elizabeth and Matthew's professional wedding pictures aren't back yet, but I'll post what we have so far. A few days after the wedding their photographer posted some pictures on a blog that you can view here. Of course Elizabeth was a beautiful bride. Every detail of the wedding and reception played out perfectly. Since everything ran so smoothly we (and I think I can speak for everyone else involved) sat back, relaxed, and had a great time celebrating the bride and groom. And now Elizabeth and Matthew are enjoying sweet wedded bliss!

Because Stephen and I were too busy chasing and taking care of our own kids to take any pictures, others have been generous enough to share their own with us. Here's what we have so far:

 At the rehearsal dinner, tucked away in a corner so the kids wouldn't disturb the party.

 Evie gets giddy when she's tired, and it makes for cute pictures! (Thanks, Jessica!)

 The bride-to-be at the rehearsal dinner, holding some very cool m&ms that had a picture of Matthew and her on them. It really looked like them too!

The bride and groom.

 Nathan and Erica (Erica is expecting #2. Yay!)

Click the "Read more" link to see more pictures.

Picture overload

Warning: I'm posting way too many pictures from our time in Kentucky, so for those of you who want to see them all, click "Read more" at the bottom of the post. For those who don't, just breeze through to the next post. I haven't sorted through Elizabeth's wedding pictures yet, so bear with me! That will be the next post.

Elizabeth has Mom's piano at her house. I found "Jesus Loves Me" in the hymnal and played and sang it for Nate. He kept singing it.

And then played his version of it while he sang.

Evie playing with her Aunt Liza.

Hard decisions

Our prayers were answered and Stephen had an interview at a middle school in Northern Kentucky. He was offered the position, just like I knew he would be if he could just get an interview. So, why aren't we packing up and moving to Kentucky?

Bananas

Nate was a good big brother and shared his banana with Evie.

Evie LOVES bananas!

She eats at least one a day.

And small bites are out of the question!

These pictures were taken before our trip to Kentucky. I have lots of catching up to do. I'll post Kentucky pictures and an update soon. But, for those who don't know, it looks like we're staying in Texas for a while!

Taking a trip

We're preparing for a road trip to Kentucky. We'll leave sometime Sunday and drive through the night. That's our plan. We'll see if the kids comply with it!

The main reason we're going is for my sister's wedding on June 12th. Only one week to go! We'll get there a few days before, recover from the drive, and help out with whatever wedding stuff there is left to do. We're excited that the wedding day is finally (almost) here. We can't wait to see Elizabeth and Matthew as husband and wife!

Somersaults

Starting position ...

Forward roll!

Nate learned how to do somersaults last week. He's not brave enough to do them anywhere except his bed yet, but maybe after enough practice he will be. I did a few somersaults myself to help him learn how, but I think my somersault days are over. I see stars every time I do one! I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old(er)!

Evie's Birthday

The Birthday girl and me.

Another one with her looking at the camera instead of the cake!

Nate was VERY excited about Evie's cake. 

He did a great job resisting the temptation to dig in before it was time.

Another unprofessional attempt at cake decorating.
It has lots of flaws, but overall I was happy with how it turned out.

We're not big on birthday gifts, especially since the kids are too young to know the difference, so Evie's cake was her gift. Since it was a gift I thought it should look like one. I bought a silky pink hair bow for the topper and found some matching ribbon to wrap around it. When she's a little older maybe she'll think it's fun to wear the hair bow that was on her first birthday cake. Maybe. If not, at least it will be a fun keepsake.

Nate was a great big brother and had fun celebrating Evie's birthday. He sang "Happy Birthday" to her for a few days beforehand, and didn't seem to mind that we doted over her a little more that day. He's a sweet brother, or maybe just too oblivious to care!

Our friends Nathan and Lynsi (and Jack and Caroline) came to celebrate and eat cake with us. We mostly took video while they were here, and while Evie dug into her cake. Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to post videos. Sorry!

A year ago today ...

My first view of Evelyn Ray, May 25, 2009.

It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since this sweet baby girl arrived. She has grown and developed so beautifully, and has brought such joy to our home. And she's only one! I can't begin to imagine what kind of an amazing woman she'll become, and how much more joy she'll bring us.

I had some hard days surrounding Mother's Day this year. Mom died on Mother's Day two years ago, and I grieved hard this year. I can't explain why - maybe because of all the commercials on TV and ads in stores leading up to the day. They only reminded me that two long years had passed without seeing and talking to Mom. That she hasn't watched Nate grow into the rough and tumble two year old boy that he is, who looks so much like her own Nathan did at this age. And that she hasn't even met sweet Evie girl. And that I just don't want more time to pass without filling her in on all the details of our life, like I used to do every single day.

As I raise my young children, there are so many things that remind me of my own Mom. Like how every birthday morning when we woke up, Mom came in singing Happy Birthday, but she always sang an extra verse to it that made it better than just the regular Happy Birthday song. I'm not sure where she learned it, because I don't know anyone else who sings it, but I can still hear her alto voice singing it to me.

So this morning, just like Mom did every morning on my birthday, when I went in to get Evie out of her crib, I sang Happy Birthday to her with the additional verse that Mom always sang. And I could almost hear Mom singing with me. It goes like this:

So today is your birthday, That is what I've been told.

What a wonderful birthday, you are one more year old.

On your cake there'll be candles all lighted for you,

And the whole world is singing,

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, sweet Evie girl!

Peek-A-Boo!

A game of peek-a-boo?

Nope, just trying to get this silly hat off!

And pretty cute while trying!

Nate still asks to hold Evie. 

He forgets she's not so easy to hold anymore!

Blan Family Movie Night

Of course Nate had to sit on top of me instead of next to me.

And when I moved to a more comfortable position, he still found a way to sit on me. I'm sure I'll long for him to sit with me some day, but these days it gets a little old!

He liked his milkshake so much that he went scrounging for our end-of-the-shake slush. Yuck!

Finally! Sitting under a blanket NEXT to me for the end of the movie.

We hosted our first ever Blan family movie night Tuesday night, complete with popcorn made with Mom's at least 20-year old air popper that Nate LOVES, cookies n' cream milkshakes made with homemade oreos, and Toy Story. We filled up the living room with our air mattress and blankets so we could stretch out. Nate didn't love the movie, but he watched most of it, even in spite of it skipping and messing up a lot. (Always test run your library rentals!)

Stephen, always the photographer (and a great one!), took several pictures. Next time I'll know to shower and put on some makeup first. It was the end of a humid 90 degree day spent mostly outside and finished off standing next to an oven that I'm convinced lets out more heat than it keeps in, and it shows.

Unfortunately, Evie didn't participate this time. We started after she was in bed. Sorry, Ev!

"Nate really never blinks!"

Peeking through the fence to see the dog next door.

Working a puzzle - one of Nate's favorites pastimes these days.

And swinging - another one of his favorites!

We were with some friends last Saturday evening, and after studying Nate all evening a friend's little girl ran up to her mom and said, "Mom, Nate really never blinks!" When he was a baby we used to say he never blinked, but we'd kind of forgotten about it. I guess we're just used to his huge blue eyes gazing at us now. But, he really never blinks. It's confirmed!

You can click here or scroll down a few posts to see those huge non-blinking blue eyes up close!

Miss Ev

Pretty in pink!

That same old stoic look we used to know so well.

Singing into the microphone. She really gets a kick out of it!

Evie is 11 months old! We have lots of little nicknames for her, and Miss Ev is one that Stephen says a lot. All of a sudden she's moving all over the place - not crawling, but pulling herself with her arms. We've never really had a mobile baby since Nate didn't crawl until right before he walked at 15 months, so this is new territory for us. It's great to see her getting around! And there's really not much for her to get into, except for whatever Nate is playing with. She's already learning how to push his buttons!

Cheerios with Joe

We've seen a lot of our friend Joe the last few weeks. I normally watch him every other week, but it's been more frequent than that. He's four months older than Evie, so it's not quite a taste of what having three kids would be like, especially since I get to give him back at the end of the day. Anyway, we've had beautiful weather on the days he's been here, so we've played outside A LOT! These are some pictures of a day last week when he was here. After naps we had a cheerio picnic outside on the patio.

Also, I didn't plan it, but you can see my newest project in the background between Nate and Evie - cilantro and basil plants. They're doing great, and I've really enjoyed going out and snipping off just as much as I need without buying a whole big bunch that goes to waste. I don't know why I didn't start growing herbs a long time ago. I might have to add something new soon!

Baby Bird

Evie is a good eater most of the time, and when she's really excited to be eating she opens her mouth extra wide and waits for it. She looks kind of a like a baby bird waiting for the worm in these pictures!

Pictures!

Problem solved! We've completely reorganized our photo storage system, something that we've needed to do for a couple years. We suddenly ran out of space because we got a new camera (!!), and our new picture files take up a lot more space than the pictures from our older camera. So, to justify the purchase I guess we'll have to take even more pictures of these sweet kids and post them for everyone to see. Hope you can handle it! We'll start out with some favorites of sweet Nate.