Easter 2017

The Easter Bunny was very good to the boys this year!  Their baskets were filled with Cardinals gear and chocolate from Crown Candy.  The bunny must really like them.

Gabriel was very excited about his Cardinals street sign.

Bennett got a new Cardinals hat.

The annual chocolate monkey from Crown Candy.

Thomas got a Fred Bird.  It's probably the favorite present.

We had Nana and Grandpa Ron over for the Blues/Cardinals game and Easter Dinner.  The Easter Bunny even visited Nana's house this year.  The boys received some awesome sidewalk chalk and coloring books.   

We finished dinner with a Federhofer's cake.  The cake was amazingly good.  Even Gabriel ate his entire piece for the first time ever.  The sugar high lasted 3 plus hours.  Scott took the boys to a playground to run.  Gabriel proceeded to run around saying he was The Flash!  

It was a great Easter with the family.  

Easter Egg Hunt

The MOPs (Moms of Preschool Students) group that I belong to is in charge of the St. Monica's Easter egg hunt.  This year the boys were old enough to enjoy the hunt.  

They were divided by age and Bennett got to go first.  I took him over to get ready.  He was a little nervous, but he quickly figured it out and got a ton of eggs.  Gabriel was able to grab a ton of eggs as well.  

Our first Easter Egg Hunt was a success.

Tons of Trucks

We attended Ton of Trucks, held by the Ballwin Parks and Recreation at the Target next to where we get haircuts.  We tried to go last year, however it was insanely crowded and we couldn't even get a parking spot.  This year the location and space was so much better.

The boys enjoyed seeing the trucks and loved the idea of getting inside them, but waiting was not ideal.  Here was a bunch of police trucks, scoopers, fire truck and ambulance.

Soccer

We finally signed Gabriel up for soccer.  He is on a "team" of about 6-7 kids.  It's mostly practices until he gets older.  It is a great intro to soccer for him.  

A couple weeks before the first practice, that ended up being rained out, the Y asked if parents can help.  Scott told me to reply saying he can help, but had very little soccer knowledge.  Fast forward to the very first practice and Scott texts me to let me know he is the COACH!

He did have a couple teenagers from the Y helping him out, but he is the coach.  I think Gabriel liked that.  So Scott is now going to YouTube how to run a soccer practice for the next one.

Bennett helping coach.

Dribbling practice

Team push ups

First Foods

We got the ok from the doctor to start trying foods with Thomas at his 4 month appointment.  Of course, we ended up waiting a while to actually try them.  This was not because we needed to, but because I kept forgetting to buy food.  

This kid was more than ready to eat like his brothers. He was so excited that the attention was all on him. We went with green beans first and once the initial shock of the new texture, he inhaled it.  We have tried green beans, carrots, peas (hated), apples (iffy), sweet potatoes, and bananas.  He finished everything, but the peas.  

Home improvements

There are a few things that Scott and I have talked about doing to our house for years.  For example, changing flooring, lightning, painting.  We finally did almost all 3 in one weekend.  We had our electrician install 6 can lights in the living room and hallway.  Then we removed the faux mantel - something that I've never been a fan of and repainted the wall.

The biggest change was the lights.  We can now see clearly into both hall closets. Plus, the lighting really helps make painting much faster.  We replaced the mantel with a shelf to hold the tv stuff.  The wall has a much cleaner look to it now.  

Scott ripped up the carpet in the master bedroom and laid the same flooring that is in the hallway and bathroom. I kinda miss the warmth of the carpet, but the flooring looks nice.  We have a little more work before that is complete.

Donuts with Dad

Since Father's Day is during summer vacation, Gabriel's preschool has Donuts with Dad for breakfast in April.  Scott took the day off and took Gabriel to breakfast at school.  This is what Scott came home with:

I wish there were more pictures, but that would have taken away from the fun.  Although the things Gabriel has been saying lately just crack us up!

Family Hike

We woke up one beautiful Sunday morning and wanted to get outside.  The boys really enjoyed our hikes in the fall and we wanted to continue the love.  We loaded them up and headed to Castlewood State Park.  There are so many trails, some easy and some that lead to amazing views.  We opted for easy.  

The boys did great on the entire hike.  We think we walked just under 2 miles.  Thomas didn't fuss at all in the baby bjorn, I ended up carrying Bennett the entire way back and Gabriel was a rock star walking the whole way.  

We did see a small snake and a few turtles on this adventure.  Once our weekends get a little less crazy, this might be a more regular family outing.

5 Months

Well, little man turned 5 months.  His sleeping has improved a lot. He now wakes around 2am for a feeding and then back to sleep.  He will sleep till 5:30 or 6am eat and depending on his noisy brother, go back to sleep. His day time napping is not consistent.  I've been taking Thomas and Bennett to the Y for an hour and Thomas will sleep the whole time or just watch the other kids.  He usually takes his afternoon naps a little later than his brothers, 2:30-4, and wakes up ready to go. 

He has recently started foods.  He likes green beans and tolerants carrots and peas.  The kid is just happy sitting on the table during dinner.  He hates to miss out on the action and his brothers still want to be around him. 

He has rolled over twice.  I'm not really encouraging or trying to hurry this up yet.  He loves sleeping on his belly.  If I put him on his back, he thinks it's play time.  He is working hard to sit on his own.  He will spend a lot of time in the Bumbo seat or the newly acquired exersaucer.

Happy 5 months Mr. T!

Zoo trip

I took the boys to the zoo by myself on a Sunday... that statement in itself deserves some serious cheers.  I did this crazy feat so that Scott could have the house to himself to replace flooring in out master bedroom.   So, he wasn't having tons of fun enjoying quiet.

For the most part the boys were pretty easy to take along.  I carried a Thomas, who slept most of the trip, and pushed the boys in the double stroller.  We had a great time.  We walked most of the zoo.  Each boy got to see whatever animal they requested.  The polar bear put on a great show swimming around for us and we saw a camel stuck on a rock.  

Since I have one trip under my belt, I'm ready for summer and many more trips now that we are members!