a new decade

Happy Birthday to me! I've officially entered a new decade today, the 30's. I had a nice brunch with my mom and the boys this morning and Nick made a delicious homemade meal this evening with a chocolate cake for dessert. Not a bad start to a new decade!

celebrating with my boys

Oliver loves birthday candles, so we put one in the salmon!

 he decorated the cake with four candles

and had a lot of fun blowing them out!

sophie

I introduced Sophie the giraffe to Elliott yesterday, and she was a hit! He couldn't get enough of the soft rubbery, squeaky toy in his mouth. And because she is rubbery and squeaky, we have to be very careful with her around Penny. I don't know what it is about the toy, but Penny can smell Sophie no matter where I hide her and is always very interested when I take her out.

very Angry Birds

Oliver went out with Jim Baer today to fly his new Angry Bird kite. He dressed accordingly and wore his Angry Bird hat that aunt Nancy made him. Apparently the hat and kite made the real birds so angry that they targeted poor Oliver's hat. I guess it's better they got the hat than his hair!

Sunday

We were out and about yesterday, and with my mom in town, I ended up in a few of the pictures.

Elliott and I made a (rare) appearance at Family Coffee!

My mom joined us for the Theo Chocolate Company factory tour! Let's just say I don't think I've ever eaten so much chocolate in one hour before! And yes, even Elliott was required to wear a hairnet.

aunt Shannon

My sister Shannon came to visit us for a few days and the boys had a great time with her! Jim Baer promised Oliver that his aunt Shannon would take him to the playground every day and Oliver made sure she held up her end of the bargain! He insisted on riding his little radio flyer bike down there each day. He also loved that they had matching green jackets.

matching jackets, hands in pockets

Mr. Elliott had fun with her as well!

And just before Shannon flew out today, my mom arrived for her visit. Here's a rare group shot!

brothers

Another sibling comparison :) Elliott on the left at 3 1/2 months, and Oliver at 4 months.

me

Yesterday, my friend Julina posted this on her blog, and it made me realize that it has been awhile since anyone has seen a picture of me as well! It's hard enough taking pictures with two little ones, let alone trying to get one with me in them.

last week

Here are a few more pictures from last week!

hello!

I am such a happy baby!

Ready to work! Oliver is wearing a dental mask and his sunglasses since he doesn't have child-size versions of the real things. I'm not sure how well the sunglasses worked for him since they were working in a dark basement.

Like father, like son! Oliver copies so many of Nick's mannerisms. At night he'll either lay in bed with his arms behind his head or his pillow over his eyes, because according to him, that's how daddy sleeps.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a pretty low key St. Patrick's day over here. Nick made Oliver green eggs (eggs and spinach in the blender) and bacon for breakfast and I tried dyeing a few more foods green, but he wasn't quite a fan yet. Oliver and Nick went to Ikea this morning (at Oliver's insistence - he loves the small shopping carts they have) to pick up the bathroom vanity and mirror for our downstairs bathroom. We also ordered the tile (which of course has some green in it, like just about everything else in our house) for the floors and shower. Here are a few pictures from the day:

green eggs for breakfast - Oliver only ate the bacon

all of the boys wearing nearly matching dark green fleece shirts

hey there!

even Penny had a green treat!

lounging in bed!

bathroom tile - bright and fun for a basement bathroom

Video: Elliott - Month 3

He's becoming much more vocal! I still haven't managed to catch him rolling over on video yet.

Oma

Nick's mom Julie (Oma) and husband Mark came to visit Elliott for the first time this weekend. We had a nice visit with them and Oliver sure enjoyed the extra attention! The weather even cooperated enough for a trip to go to the zoo on Saturday.

Oma with Oliver and Elliott

matching

Two boys 

in matching pajamas 

at bedtime.

preschool

A quick shot of Oliver at preschool this morning. I told them all that I had a cupcake in my hand which is why they are looking at me (off to the side) instead of at the camera.

elimination communication

Elliott has recently graduated to using a regular potty instead of his bucket. We actually still use both for him, but I think he prefers the big boy potty when it's available. Oliver always seems to need to use it at the exact moment Elliott is on it, so it's a good thing we have four of them around our house!

holding baby

"Hold baby Elliott" is what Oliver frequently tells me he wants to do. Since Elliott is a little more stable these days, I decided to try to get a picture somewhere else besides the pillows on our bed. I love these photos because you can really see the love that Oliver has for his brother. He has also named all of his baby dolls "Elliott" and you can see one of them in the last picture. He ran to get his own Elliott and posed like this after I took the pictures of him with his little brother.

3 months

Look who's happy about being three months old today! I can't believe my little baby is 1/4 of a year old already! I'm pretty sure he's not considered an infant anymore! He's doing really well and interacting with everyone. He especially likes to smile and coo at strangers. One of his favorite things to do is just giggle at anything his older brother is doing :) Elliott is so much more stable now too, as you can see him sitting quite well with minimal props behind him. He is eating and sleeping pretty well, and obviously gaining weight like a champ! We love him!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to topple over right after you take this picture!

hands

 Someone has a new favorite toy - his hands! Since Elliott has discovered his hands, they are pretty much in his mouth all the time now.

nom-nom

Oliver keeps him company as usual

and shows me that he can eat his hands, too!

and Penny is always close by, overseeing all the play

downstairs bathroom, part 1

I've been lagging in my home remodeling posts lately, but here's an update on the new bathroom Nick is adding downstairs. Two weeks after Elliott was born, and since he was off work, Nick decided it would be a good time to dig a large hole in our basement to add a sewer line for a new bathroom. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed having a pile of dirt sit in the laundry room for a month! The plumbing is now finished and Nick poured and leveled a new concrete floor earlier this week. This weekend, Nick and some friends worked hard to get the drywall mostly complete. Next up is building a shower pan and tiling the shower, floor and walls. Oliver has loved this project because it's the first time that Nick has let him help out for most of it. While the hole was in our basement Oliver always wanted to go downstairs to dig more holes! It's not every day that a little boy gets to use his shovels and wheelbarrow inside the house!

new plumbing inside the bathroom

new sewer line

yesterday Oliver did some prep work

wearing Jim's pink hard hat

he wanted everyone to notice his tape measure clipped to his pants

this morning, mixing drywall mud with Jim

mudding with an expert

obviously enjoying himself

and proud of the mud caked all over his hands!