Family Pictures

Today we went in and got our family pictures taken. I told the lady checking in that we were only getting family pictures since I brought the kids in earlier this week to get their pictures taken. But when we got called back the lady actually taking our pictures told me that she HAD to take our individual pictures. I told her the same story I told the lady before and that I didn't want her to have to go to all the trouble with the kids when we wouldn't buy any. She still insisted that she had to. At that time I was thinking, "great with my luck these pictures are going to turn out better and I'm either going to hate myself for not buying them or I'm going to hate myself for getting suckered in and buying them.." Either way it was a loose/loose situation. We tried posing the kids and getting them to hold still at least five different times with no luck. The kids wouldn't hold still long enough for the lady to snap a single picture. Eventually she just gave up. I thought it was pretty funny. I think that was the only time I was actually kind of glad that my kids were acting up and not cooperating. She did take a picture of just Nathan and me and I guess I did get suckered in and bought that one. Mainly because it's not very often that Nathan and I have a picture of just us. I think the last one was a couple months after I had Easton and it's really not the best picture. Probably because it is one of us that is taking the picture. Anyways, back to the pictures.

8x10

It's not my favorite picture but I still like it. Our family picture frame in the living room has to be a vertical picture so this was what I thought was the best vertical picture.

4-5x7 for grandparents.

I thought this was the best picture of all of us and I was a little sad that it wasn't a vertical picture.

8x10

Pictures!

I took the kids to get their birthday pictures taken today. Here's a glimpse of what we got. If you're lucky you might get some in a few weeks!

This was the best together shot we got. Blair really didn't want to get her picture taken. She just wanted her mommy. All the other pictures she is either crying, crawling away, or doing her stinky face. Although Easton is really just giving Blair a hug it almost looks like he has her in a head lock. I guess this is tradition (looking as though he is hurting her). Last years picture it looked like he was pinching her cheek but really he was just trying to tickle her. I got 2-5x7 and wallets in this one. If a grandparent wants the other 5x7 of them together let me know. The first one to ask, gets it!

Easton took some really good pictures. It was really hard to narrow it down. I got an 8x10 of the one above.

I got wallets in this one.

I'm kind of wishing now that I would have gotten some of this one. He looks so much older in this one.

We got a lot of pictures of Blair taken but unless she had something to hold on to she wasn't very cooperative.

Blair holding on to my leg. Like I said she just wanted her mommy. Although I really don't like that my leg is in the picture (it would have been so much cuter if it was just Blair) it does show who Blair truly is. She is definitely a mommy's girl! I guess this picture is just very fitting for Blair. I got an 8x10 in this one.

I got wallets in this one.

My Birthday!

So I turned 25 this year and Nathan was kind enough to inform me that I'm a two boxer now (it takes two boxes of candles to put the correct number of candles on my cake). He surprised me though by bringing home a cake and lighting 25 candles. He brought it in the house lit and didn't realize that I had just gotten out of the shower so all I hear is Nathan and Easton yelling that the house is going to catch on fire (Is that another hint that I'm getting old?). Luckily I had my outfit all picked out before I hopped into the shower so it didn't take me very long to get dressed and run down the stairs. Nathan wanted to take a picture but I wouldn't let him because well I just got out of the shower. I was a mess. So there are no pictures. I guess Nathan knows me well because we ate cake first and then went out to eat at a restaurant.

The next day we headed over to six flags. We ended up getting season passes so we will probably be there quite a bit this year. This one has animals and lot of fun things for kids to do. We definitely had fun!

We saw the tiger show.

Easton got to pet a baby alligator.

Blair just chilling out. Last official day with her pacifier.


Dad and Easton riding the balloon ride.


Easton riding the swings all by himself!
Most of the rides he isn't tall enough so he has to have a parent with him.

Dad and Easton riding the safari ride.


Video of the whale show:

I uploaded some videos in the last post so don't forget to check them out as well.

Videos

Some videos of Easton and Blair that I forgot to put up with their birthday posts. Enjoy!

Video of Easton getting his bike:

He just woke up so that probably explains why he isn't very excited. Also excuse all the boxes. Like I said in Easton's birthday post we just moved in the day before.

Video of Easton riding his bike w/ Dad's help:

We definitely need to practice with him so he knows how to use the peddles himself.

Video of Easton fishing:

This kept Easton entertained for quiet some time while we unpacked boxes.

Video of Blair putting a rock in her mouth:

Video of Blair climbing the stairs:

Video of Blair eating her cake:

Video of Blair walking between mom and dad:

We took this video yesterday after I did her one year post and surprisingly she seems a little more interested in walking. She is starting to be less timid and more daring so we might have a walker sooner than we thought. As you can see she definitely can do it, she is just too scared.

Blair at one!

First lets see how much Blair has grown over the past year...

4 days old

1 month


2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Here's a little bit about Blair at 12 months:

Blair loves to eat and can pack it away too! This little girl has no patience when it comes to food. If she sees food or knows that it will be coming shortly she screams and hollers until it is placed in front of her. She also screams when her food runs out and she wants more. We have been trying to teach her the sign for more (which she has done a couple of times) but I think she realizes that screaming is more effective for her. Also if she sees someone with food they instantly become her new best friend. The other day she ate a whole banana, a hot dog, and 2 pieces of bread. After which she freaked out when she saw me eating ice cream because she wanted some too!

Here's Blair eating her first sucker. It took her a while to finish it but she sure loved it.

Blair is down to 1 feeding at night and we officially took her pacifier away a week ago (well except we did give it to her briefly at church on Sunday). This has made naps and bedtime hard. Blair got a baby doll for her birthday that came with a pacifier and a couple of times she has tried to steal it. It really hasn't satisfied her though.

Blair gets into everything and puts everything into her mouth. Her favorite thing to do outside is to put rocks in her mouth. We have tons in our backyard so I'm constantly squeezing those cute little cheeks to get a rock or two out of her mouth. Inside she loves to pull everything out of my cupboards and either hit things together or on the floor. I often find Easton joining in on the fun as well.

Blair isn't walking yet and doesn't seem as though she will be for a while. She really doesn't seem to be interested in walking. She's content with crawling, cruising, or holding onto a single finger. She really doesn't like to walk without something to hold onto. She has taken a few steps between mommy and daddy but she wasn't all that thrilled about it.

Even though Blair doesn't enjoy to walk she does however enjoy climbing. She tries to climb everything. She loves to climb the stairs and probably her most favorite thing to climb on is Easton's bed. I think she just enjoys looking out the window. I have caught her a few times doing this. When I find her there I take her down and carry her outside his room but of course she crawls right on back to his bed, climbs up, crawls to the window, and pulls herself up. I've also seen her try to climb on our kitchen chairs but fortunately she hasn't quiet figured that one out yet.

These two are very cute but they do love to pick on each other. Easton and Blair are also very jealous of each other too. If I'm holding one then the other has to make their way over to me as well. I often times try to hold both of them but they (mainly Easton ) will try to push the other one away. I have no idea what we will do if or when we add another little one to the mix.

Blair is such a funny little girl. It is too early to tell but I think she might be the comedian of the family. She is just so silly all the time. She seems to do things just so she can get a laugh. A couple of weeks ago she was constantly going around all day making her stinky face. Recently she is going around sticking her tongue out (especially when Dad's around) and she is also sticking her fingers up her nose. She thinks that is so funny.

Along with being funny she is such a tease. I think she gets a lot of joy out of teasing other people (especially Easton).

Blair loves to play peek a boo and she also loves it when she thinks she is getting chased.

Blair at Ikea riding the red moose.

Wearing the sombrero from Easton's birthday dinner.

Happy 1st Birthday Blair!

Blair turned one on the 8th. It would have been fun to go all out like I did for Easton's first birthday but #1 we really didn't know anyone to invite and #2 it would have been a little weird to invite people we didn't know, so instead we had a small family party. I think this was more fitting for Blair's personality though. I'm not sure how well she would have done with a big crowd. I did however have a cute theme picked out but I guess it will just have to wait until next year...

It would have been nice to say that Blair was really happy and excited on her birthday (she did have moments where she was happy though-see picture on the left and her cake picture) but most of the day was spent like this...

Does the song, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" pop into anyone's head. Well this was sung to her by her daddy a couple of times that evening and I think she was a lot more happy by the time he got home then she was the rest of the day. In her defense though I think it is safe to say that she was teething because she now has her second bottom tooth!

Here's Blair all dressed up in her cute little outfit. As you can see she wasn't very happy but at least she wasn't crying.

She really didn't know what to think of her tutu.

Birthday cake and smash cake for Blair.

I think she would have preferred the cake over the smash cake as you will see in a few pictures.

Singing to Blair. This time we actually sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Easton had to help blow out the candle.

She loved and I mean LOVED her cake! It definitely made me happy that she dug right in and ate it all up.

One happy baby!

I guess I now know that if she is ever in a bad mood that all I have to do is give her a cupcake and she'll be happy!

Opening presents. As you can see Easton had to help in this department as well. Blair wasn't opening her gifts fast enough for him.

Blair had more fun sitting on her gifts than opening them. Silly girl!

Happy Birthday baby girl! We sure loved having you in our family this past year.

Recap of Easton at 2 years

24 months

25 months

26 months

27 months

28 months

29 months

30 months

31 months

32 months

33 months

34 months

35 months

Boy does time fly. I can't believe my baby boy is three already. Even though Easton hates it when I call him baby boy he will forever be my baby boy. This last year has definitely been a roller coaster ride full of fun and exciting times but also very challenging and hard times as well.

Some fun things:

-Easton learning to speak in full sentences. It has been fun having someone to talk to all day long now. He is constantly saying the funniest things that just cracks me up.

-"I love you". This by far has to be my favorite thing he says. It is one of the few things he says with his sweet little voice. And the best thing is I know he means it when he says it. This coupled with one of his famous hugs just melts my heart and it makes being a mom the best thing in the world. If you haven't gotten a hug from Easton I would highly recommend it. It is seriously the best thing in the world. I love it!

-Easton praying. I love to hear Easton pray because again he says his prayers with his sweet little voice. I also love to hear all the cute things Easton is thankful for (i.e. toys, bed, etc.).

-Easton wanting to help. I admit sometimes it is not very helpful but I really do like the fact that he wants to hang out with me and help me.

-Easton learning new things like colors, letters, and numbers. Also singing songs like I am a child of God, teach me to walk in the light, ABC, Old MacDonald, BINGO, etc.

-Finally getting potty trained!

-Playing and sharing with Blair. I love the few minutes each day that he is so sweet and kind to her. I especially love it when the two of them are laughing together.

Some not so fun things:

-We all know that he is very stubborn. I'm told that this trait will get him far in life. I really hope his stubbornness will be a blessing in the long run. I would say about a quarter of the time though his stubbornness is quite amusing and entertaining so it's not all bad.

- Easton and time outs have gotten to know each other pretty well this last year.

-Easton got stitches again this year.

Although we have had some challenging moments this year we definitely love having our little Easton in our family. We love you baby boy!