Our 3 year old.

Things have been so crazy (good-crazy!) around here the past few days that I’m just NOW getting to post something very important.

Our daughter turned 3 years old on Friday!!!!!

Where has the time gone??

From this…

10 days old.

to this.

All in the blink of an eye!

Adelyn has grown into an outgoing, exciting, curious, eager, sweet, thoughtful and completely lovable pre-schooler. She loves to make friends. She loves to learn. She loves to try new things. She’s an outdoor fanatic. We couldn’t ask for a more wonderful daughter. She handled the transition to “big sister”hood very well and genuinely loves Colton. Even though there are times when she can be decidedly challenging, that’s what being a pre-schooler is all about. Her inquisitive nature is something I hope she holds on to for the rest of her life.

We love you beagaloo!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How did our pre-schooler spend her day?

She woke up excited and in a great mood because she knew that today! was! her! birthday!

Party hat!

Her big birthday present from Momma and Daddy was an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a white board on the other. I also sewed a ruffled smock for her to wear when she paints thanks to this tutorial from Make it and Love it. {{Super easy tutorial, and I love how her smock turned out.}}

She jumped up and down when she saw the easel…

and dove right in before breakfast.

Doesn’t she look like a little wizard with her hat and smock??

Finger painting. Colton enjoys the easel too.

She photographed her first easel painting. Lovely work.

After coloring up an appetite, Adelyn enjoyed a birthday pancake shaped like a “3″ (although, I admit, I think it looks more like a fetus than a number three… you can’t “unsee” the fetus now, can you! You’re welcome.).

I promise she enjoyed it!

And after that, it was back to the easel!

Look at that enthusiasm! These kids are into art.

Shortly after lunch, Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Kim arrived for the weekend. Lots of spoiling and playing ensued.

Doing some engineering with Grandpa.

She wanted a picture of her clip on earrings.

Also? Apparently my girl is a model. Does this, or does this not, look like an actress’ headshot?!?!

I We had our hearts set on Thai food for dinner (that’s all I wanted for my birthday – which happens to be the day before Addy’s!), but alas, they were closed for a graduation. ::grumble, grumble:: But we enjoyed a delicious dinner of bbq instead!

Colton sure enjoyed it.

Next came cupcakes and presents.

Showing off all her beautiful jewelry from Great Grandma Archer.

The last present she opened was a big surprise out in the garage. With some help from Auntie Kim, Addy unveiled…

A kitchen! A kitchen that actually has running water!!

My parents built this little kitchen themselves. Let’s take a moment to admire it! There is a pump rigged up under the counter so when Addy pushes and pulls the little black lever just to the right of the faucet, water comes pouring out! And the other neat thing? The sink drains. Addy can pop up the center of the drain and the water flows out the back. How genius is that?! My Mom did an awesome job making the stained glass window. {{Side note: Mom has her own Etsy shop where she sells some of the stained glass lanterns, lamps, night lights, and candle accessories that she makes by hand. Seriously, she is amazing. Some of my favorites include this, this and this. Check it out: Ethereal Elegance}}

My Dad with the kitchen just after they finished it.

The kitchen is seriously awesome. Addy’s has been playing with it non-stop.

Like a little housewife, doing the dishes while wearing her pearls.

That about wraps up Adelyn’s birthday day! Next up is her birthday fiesta, so stay tunnnnned…

Adelyn is 3 years, 5 days old, and Colton is 11 months, 2 weeks old.

Monthly Update – 11 mos old

Colton is 11 months old!

Well, uh… I haven’t done a monthly update for Colton in 3 months. I’m ashamed. These past few months have been filled with change for him and I haven’t been doing a very good job of keeping up with it. {{2nd child stereotype fulfilled.}}

::sigh:: But here we go!

At 11 months old, Colton:

• Takes 1-2 naps a day, depending on what time he wakes up in the morning. Goes to bed between 7-8pm, depending on his last nap. He still wakes up 1-2 times a night, but as of tonight, we are knocking those out. No more night feedings! We are slowly starting to wean…

• Has his four front teeth. Those top ones are massive! I remember thinking the same thing when Addy got her top front ones… “How can baby teeth look so big?!”. It’s no wonder he was a cranky bear when they were breaking through his gums (and, boy, was he cranky). He had a very tough time sleeping for about a week at the beginning of April as the teeth came through. He “nursed” (I use quotations because he didn’t really eat, he just wanted the comfort) every 1.5-2 hrs at night and ended up sleeping in our bed on a couple of occasions – a first for him.

{{After a rough couple of nights.}}

• Loves eating. Seriously, this kid could eat all day. He’s a slow eater, but has yet to reject anything we’ve put in front of him. He’s an avocado aficionado, enjoys corn on the cob and limes! He nurses 4X a day, but as I mentioned above, we are starting the weaning process. I’m going to miss feeling his foot turning in circles against my arm as he lays there.

{{Corn is a good teething toy.}}

{{So is a carrot.}}

{{Don’t forget about ice cream!}}

Loves to use his pincer fingers to feed himself cheerios, cheese, ham, banana, noodles, anything!

• Has hair that is getting longer and wilder. It is getting so long, it’s even starting to curl. I wonder if I let it grow out if it would be as curly as Addy’s??

{{Hair at the beginning of March.}}

{{Hair at the beginning of May.}}

Colton has even tried his hand at styling his hair a few times.

• Has incredible blue eyes that people can’t help but comment about.

• Went swimming for the first time at the end of February and had a blast kicking in the water. He’s a real little fishy.

• Loves to play with everything from boxes, to trains, to footballs.

{{He’s a natural with that football!}}

He got a bit too excited about his foam football and did this to it with his teeth, though:

• Also a huge fan of the park and slides…

…bathtime…

…sprinkler time…

…playing peek-a-boo…

…and swinging, especially when Addy pushes him.

{{Look at the concentration.}}

• Really, he loves anything to do with his sister. There have been a few incidents of hair pulling (non-intentional on his part) and toy-taking that have resulted in tears and screams, but that’s what having siblings is all about, right??

I think the feeling of love is mutual.

• Is a very happy boy but he can pierce your eardrums when he’s angry or frustrated. Seriously, he screams. Don’t you dare take a toy away from him! He is bossy like his sister (and, let’s face it, they get it from their Momma), and he’s not afraid to let you know what he thinks.

{{Happy…}}

{{Happy…}}

{{Tantrum!}}

• Army crawls, pulls up to his knees, and has figured out how to go from lying down to sitting upright. And he is so proud of his accomplishments! All this mobility has definitely given him an independent streak, and he no longer has time to sit still. Time to change a diaper? I don’t think so.



• Trills his tongue, makes lots of noises and he says “Mamamama”, but no “Dada” yet. He loves his Daddy though! Other forms of communication include shrieks, squeals and screams. Loud ones, so he can get your attention. He’s a noisy boy.



{{Trilling his tongue.}}



{{My boys, after destroying a box of kleenex.}}

• Nicknames this month include: Bear, Bear Bear, Foosa, Foosa bear

Adelyn is 2 years, 11.75 months old and Colton is 11 months old.

Colton rocks.

He rocks around the clock.

You will definitely want to check out the whole video… he must have had his entire performance choreographed.

Adelyn is 2 years, 11.75 months old, and Colton is 10.99 months old.

Because it’s Friday…

…the kids and I went to Chilis for a lunch date! And guess what? It was really fun! The kids were well behaved and had a great time, probably because we were doing something different from our usual routine. And because it’s different from our usual routine, I was surprised at the number of parents who were doing the same thing. At least 3 other tables had one parent and 1+ kids. Glad to know I’m not the only crazy one who goes out to lunch with the kids solo.

{{My little lunch dates}}

After our yummy lunch, the day just kept getting better. We picked up ice cream from Dairy Queen! {{Do I get a “Mom of the Year” Award or what?! Addy says “YES”. Also, this was Colton’s first taste of ice cream, so I think he would nominate me for the award too.}}

Let’s let Colton tell you what he thought about the experience.

“It’s cold!”

“Okay, so it’s cold. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

“Here goes nothing…”

“Alright, not bad. Not bad.”

“Look at Addy, enjoying her Dilly bar over there.”

“Sure, I’ll have some more, thanks for offering.”

“Man, what a mess.”

“Hey, so, uh, where’s my ice cream, woman?”

“What do you mean the ice cream’s gone?!”

Remember Addy’s first experience with DQ ice cream? There’s just something about it…

Adelyn is 2 years, 11 months and Colton is 10 months, 1.5 weeks old.

Be vewwy quiet. We’w hunting wabbits.

Well, the special treasures that the Easter wabbits left behind…

Let’s start with the Easter Egg hunt we went to last weekend! Just like last year, we went to an egg hunt put on by the Pinetree Church of Christ.

Look! A family shot!

Colton was the best looking boy there (next to Daddy, of course). Doesn’t he look handsome in his sweater vest?

Momma and Addy with our dear friends, Rachel and Hannah Clare.

Look how much the girls have grown in the past year! {{Hannah Clare and Adelyn, Easter 2011}}

Adelyn collected 9 eggs this year!

Colton says “Just wait until next year…”.

This morning, we partook in another egg hunt after the Easter bunny stopped by our house. Colton made sure he was dressed properly before getting started.

{{He sure knows how to model!}}

Addy is a master egg hunter now. She was moving so fast, most of the shots are of the back of her head. She found eggs on window sills…

In a stinky shoe…

By the pack ‘n play…

Colton found a few eggs too…

But he was more interested in inspecting Addy’s basket.

She wasn’t crazy about that idea… {{Mid “Nooooo.”}}

But Colton was a sweet lil brother and helped her pick up the spilled eggs. ::wink::

That’s a pretty good haul!

Happy Easter, everyone!

More Easter pics to come.

Adelyn is 2 years, 10.5 months old and Colton is 9 months, 3 weeks old.

Adelyn, the photographer

**These photos are all Straight-Out-of-Camera, taken by our almost-3-year-old.**

Adelyn and my point and shoot camera… talk about love at first sight. Small, portable, and RED, the camera just screams “Pick me up, preschooler!” And so she does.

While most photos turn out blurry…

or you struggle to identify where she was/what she was looking at…

she occasionally captures some pretty neat shots!

{{At Mrs. Lee’s daffodil garden.}}

{{Is it just me, or does it look like kale is growing behind the snap dragons?}}

{{Daddy’s birthday cupcakes.}}

The camera is like a treasure chest. What “Adelyn photos” will I find when I upload the pictures this time?

We see the occasional self-portrait…

Many appearances from her favorite brother…

And some nice shots of her well-loved possessions.

{{Yes, she likes this plastic egg.}}

It’s neat to look at things from her perspective.

I’m thinking I should give her the camera for an entire day to see what she records. That would be an adventure!

Adelyn is 2 years, 10 months old and Colton is 9 months, 2 weeks old.

The big 2-9.

It was Derek’s 29th birthday yesterday!

Wouldn’t it be great if the birthday boy (or girl) could take the day off work on their birthday? That would be fun. But alas, Derek had to work yesterday so the kids and I spent the day cleaning, making cupcakes and wrapping a few little gifts!

While Colton was busy helping me sweep the floor with his belly… {{oh ya, he’s army crawling now! Post to come.}}

Addy helped me bake cupcakes and whip up some icing.

{{Colton said “Can I try some icing too?”}}

Ta-Da! Playing around with new icing techniques.

Believe it or not, Addy took these next two pics while I iced the rest of the cupcakes:

Yum yum.

Of course, we had to sample one to make sure they were edible for Daddy.

Next, we wrapped the Daddy’s presents. When I asked Adelyn what she wanted to give Daddy for his birthday, she thought for a second and then said “Candles!”. So, we went shopping and she picked out these two candles all by herself. Isn’t she thoughtful?? {{Side note: Momma made sure they smelled good before we made the purchase because some candles? They are stinky.}}

{{Colton tried to get in on the wrapping and help out too.}}

Daddy did manage to come home an hour early, so when we heard the garage door opening, Addy hid under the table so she could jump out and yell “Suprise!”.

As to be expected, Addy helped Daddy open his presents…

And both kids helped him blow out his cupcake birthday candle.

Happy birthday to the best hubby (and Daddy) anyone could ask for!! We love you!

Adelyn is 2 years, 10 months old and Colton is 9 months, 1.5 weeks old.

We made ice cream. What did you do today?

After we had dinner tonight, we made homemade ice cream in a Ziploc baggy.

Ya, we did!

And let me tell you, it was a piece of cake (er… bowl of icecream?). We mixed everything up, put on gloves and shook the ice-filled baggy for about 10 minutes. Voila! Delicious ice cream.

Colton was excited about it.

Addy started with the shaking of the baggy…

but I soon took over shaking responsibility because the bag got cold.

I’m talking COLD folks. My hands were frozen by the end of the 10 minutes, so I would definitely wear gloves. Probably something heavier than the thin gloves I wore…{{Seriously, my fingers were an angry shade of red by the end of the shaking.}}

Time’s up!

Inspecting the ice cream.

Looks good.

Looks real good.

Derek says this is how he knew the ice cream endeavor was a success.

Did Addy approve?

You bet she did!

Colton’s impression of Addy begging for some ice cream. Poor lil man didn’t join in on the ice cream tasting (this time…). {{And don’t worry, we didn’t tease him with ice cream to get this shot. }}

Want to try your hand at making ice cream in a baggy? {{You know you do!}}

Here are instructions, courtesy of 2 little hooligans.

- 2 tbsps sugar
- 1 cup half & half or light cream (we used heavy cream because that’s what we had)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coarse salt or table salt
- ice
- gallon-sized Ziploc bag
- pint-sized Ziploc bag

1. Mix the sugar, cream and vanilla together. Pour into a pint-sized Ziploc bag and seal tightly.

2. Fill the gallon-sized Ziploc bag halfway with ice and pour the salt over the ice. Place the cream filled bag into the ice filled bag and seal tightly.

3. Start shaking! Shake for about 5 minutes (or 8-10 minutes if you use heavy cream.)

4. Once the ice cream is hard, quickly run the closed pint-sized baggie under cold water to clean the salt off the baggie. (Note: We could still taste a bit of salt in each spoonful of ice cream we ate, even though we rinsed the bag. Perhaps we had a little puncture somewhere… It was kind of neat really, getting both the salty and sweet in one bite!)

5. Grab a spoon and dig in!

Adelyn is 2 years, 9.99 months old and Colton is 9 months, 4 days old.

All smiles

Working on a post to update everyone about life around here, but until then, check out Adelyn’s first smiley face:

{{Awesome, right???}}

Adelyn is 2 years, 9.99 months old and Colton is 9 months, 3 days old.

Where have all the daffodils gone?

Last year we visited Mrs. Lee’s Gardens, the incredible daffodil paradise, in mid-march.

This year, we went almost two weeks earlier than last time, but this is what we saw.

{{Exact same place, simply shot from a slightly different angle.}}

According to the lady at Lee’s Gardens, the drought we experienced last summer really did a number on the daffodils. They just couldn’t get the necessary moisture from the ground and as a result, only a small percentage bloomed this year. And by the time we went to see them, most of them were past their prime.

We managed to get a few fun shots though!

Telling Colton not to touch the daffodils.

He didn’t really listen.

Prancing around/over the flowers.

And again, for comparison sake, a pic of the same area from last year. Big difference!

The Zivney men.

The closest we could get to a family photo. Oh well, there’s always next year…

Adelyn is 2 years, 9.75 months old and Colton is 8.75 months old.