Tulip Festival

My mom (aka Mau-Mau) was here for a quick little visit. I (Brian and Russell, too) love, love, LOVE having her here. We cook, shop, craft and just play. It always goes too fast. We missed her the second we dropped her off at the airport curb. I am so thankful to God travel, phone calls and skype are so accessible-it makes the distance between us not so big. We are already counting down until our next time together (June). And in June, BaPaw will join in the fun! I am just so thankful I have such fun, loving, active and healthy parents-I love watching the relationship mature and flourish between Russell and his grandparents. He is so blessed to have 2 sets of involved grandparents. Something I didn't have growing up and always longed for.

Preparation for the Easter Bunny

We have been "practicing" how to hunt eggs around the house the last couple of nights.  He doesn't quite get the idea behind finding and collecting as many as he can see and then open them. He finds one and wants to open it right away. Funny. hope he catches on before the big hunt at the Pate's house this weekend!

He kept dropping (splashing) the eggs into the cups and then saying, "where did the eggs go?"

He was manipulating the kitchen tongs like a pro! Didn't drop an egg once!

The finished product. Do the shells disintegrate...? These puppies were soaking for a very long time...  and in multiple cups. Best part is he had a blast. He made a huge mess, but no big deal. Easy clean-up. Way better than pumpkins from Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Russell Bear

Neither one of us can believe it was 2 years ago we met Russell. It was a wild 48 hours leading up to the meeting and a new challenge and adventure in learning (still learning) how to be a parent. Thanks for being patient and forgiving of us. We love you very much and are VERY thankful to God for your health and happiness. You fill our hearts and make us smile daily. Happy 2nd, Little Bear!

You love watching Finding Nemo right now. You particularly love the whale part (all of maybe 5 minutes of the entire film) so we thought you'd like a whale-themed party. I made your little whale T-shirt. Brian and I made your cake together-vanilla with fresh (frozen from last summer) Oregon strawberry filling. As you will learn over the years, your mom isn't that great at baking. :) You cousins Kari, Joel, Aubrey and Grant came to celebrate as well as your Aunt Andrea, Uncle Blake and Grandma and Grandpa Arnold. You were far more "into it" this year as opposed to last year where you gagged on the cake. This time you liked it and even helped mix it up in the mixer and licked the spatula! We had a great time planning and celebrating you. Looking forward to many more years of parties!

12.5 Weeks

Baby 'A' #2 is growing and healthy! We had an ultrasound today. ...

Ultrasounds are kinda rough on me. This is the gestation where we were told Russell was going to have major chromosomal abnormalities. So I was rather stressed and nervous. On one hand the scans are so cool? Especially when they are still so tiny you can't feel them moving yet. But from the past, they just scare me the whole time I am laying there. Wondering. "Why is the tech still concentrating in this spot?", "Does she see something abnormal? Am I going to have to sit through 30 minutes and just wonder until I see the MD who can discuss the results with me?" So I was very thankful to have Vicki with me today. She entertained Russell and was able to talk to Russell about what was on the tv screen and I hand a hand to hold. Russell was rather uninterested in the boring tv show! 
This weekend I started to feel much, much better. I don't know if it was just knowing I was leaving the 1st trimester or if their really was a change in hormones, but either way I am very thankful. I don't have that extreme fatigue-I despise that part! It is like it just lifted and went away overnight! My anxiety is practically absent. I guess it is really true-the 2nd trimester is the best. I still have major skin disturbances, though. That's ok-I'll take that over being tired any day!

Making it Pretty

Time to sweep the porch...springtime is coming!!

Helping Daddy plant flowers for Mommy...

Enjoying the outdoors..even if the sun isn't out (yet)...it's coming!

My boys brightened my day!

A walk in the yard...

Russell and I enjoyed the warm, fresh air this afternoon, at least for a few minutes...

First to the shed...

Making sure I was coming...

Digging in the dirt...

Dirt on his garden hands? Nope. That would be DOG POOP. On his hands and sleeve. He fell off the steps by the shed and rolled in a pile of doggy doo-doo. The worst part-we don't own a dog...Our walk in the garden was cut short for bath time.

Winter Happenings

 My parents came for a nice visit. We went to the zoo, shopping, dined out, crafted (with my mom), and enjoyed Russell. Can you believe this is the ONLY picture we took-well the only one I took. I am sure my mom has every moment captured on her camera!

 While my parents were here, Brian surprised me with a overnight stay at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. Kinda an early Anniversary (7 years in April!) celebration. It was so fun not setting an alarm or having little footsteps wake us up before dawn!

 Russell LOVES to help Brian around the house. He uses his lawn mower as a vacuum. He even pretends to plug it in on makes motor sounds. This particular day, I guess he felt it was gonna be a dangerous adventure so he donned his helmet!

Enjoying his tractor in the rain/snow. We usually get some outdoor time awaiting Daddy to return form work. It is an exciting time as the mail truck comes the, too. Russell thinks the US mail system is AWESOME!And lastly...we got to see the first ultrasound of Russell's sibling!!! Due to join us mid-September!