Construction Begins!

Today we started building a wooden swingset climber in our backyard. Both sets of grandparents and Dan and I had talked about it before, so we are making it a family wide project instead of any of us trying to do it on our own. It is going to be so cool!

Dan and Dad started by building the sides.

Alison started her own hammering project on a log.

By the time the guys had the sides up,

Alison had started another building project...this time a fairy house complete with a pumpkin patch and a garden.

At the end of the day, Alison got to try out the play deck. Why can I see her putting on shows up here?

Stay tuned for more updates!

Ian absolutely loved watching the guys building. He cries when I vacuum, so I though he would be terrified of the saws and air compressor. Nope, not one bit, he loved them! Even when we came inside, everytime he heard them he would stop what he was doing and look outside to see what he was missing.

Ian loves Trucks

I figured since I was working on Ian's love/hate relatonship with things, today we'd talk about trucks. Yesterday mom and dad dropped some stuff off so we were outside by the truck. Dad wondered if Ian would like to play in the back of the truck so I put him in.

He loved it! He walked all around the box holding on the edges, he'd thump on the sides and squeal with delight. It was very cute.

Then he tried to crawl. That he didn't like so much. So he was up on his toes trying to make it across the middle.

Finally he found one of the covers for the tie down hooks. The amazing thing is that he tried to put it right in the hole where it belonged. We were all amazed!

Ian hates sippy cups, kind of...

The past few months we've been trying to find a sippy cup Ian likes. We tried every single one that we had saved from when Alison was little. Nope, hated them all. I bought one with a super soft spout, he'd bite it, but not drink from it.

He always seemed jealous of Alison's sport bottles with straws. Then I found one that had kind of a stawlike top, but you still needed to tip it up to drink. He's used that one for a couple months now. Right before his birthday I found a really neat one with a real straw. The lid spins and the straw folds in. He loves it.

Until yesterday...Alison got a new sport bottle for her birthday. He yelled and screamed and took it away from her and sat down to try to drink from it. He liked it so much that he didn't want to give it back to her. She was a great sport about it and let him play with it. Dan decided to stop and get him one on the way to work yesterday. He loves it so much that he wouldn't put it down when it was time for his morning bottle.

New picture links

I changed the link to the party pictures and added the link to my parent's pictures. Somebody let me know if they still aren't working, ok?

Six Years Ago Today

Alison was born. I was in shock, she was 5 weeks early. Thankfully other than being tiny (only 5 pounds) she was perfectly healthy. Now she is such a big girl. It's amazing!

She woke up today positively vibrating with excitement. Dan got her some really cool outdoor gear, rope, carabiner, compass and hot pink water bottle. Ian got her a new 100 piece Strawberry Shortcake puzzle. I got her the Fairytopia Rainbow Barbie that she wanted. It comes with a dvd game that the doll controls. She's excited about all of it.

Plus she is going to the movies and out for dinner with grandma and grandpa. So much for us worrying that she'd be disappointed by having her party a week early.

It's Ian's nap time and I put him in his bed about an hour ago. I had heard him in there playing for awhile, then it got quiet so I went to check on him. Poor baby must have fallen asleep sitting up because now he is folded in half on his own lap. Guess that's one of the hazards of falling asleep on your own. I don't dare try to move him for fear of waking him up, so I hope that if he gets too uncomfortable he'll wiggle himself into a better position. Well, I think he got too uncomfortable, he woke up just a few minutes after I started writing about him.

And as promised, here are pictures of the cucumbers we are growing out on the deck.Alison is excited that she'll be eating cucumbers that she raised soon.

Sleep Craziness

I guess Ian really is taking being a "big kid" to heart. The last three nights, I've cuddled with him awhile like we normally do, but then lay him down awake and he plays in his crib then falls asleep alone! It feels so weird to me. I've heard about kids like this, but never in my house. Alison was a horrible sleeper until she was about 2 years old. Ian has always cuddled to sleep. If I walked out before he was asleep, he'd cry until he was very upset. Alison would cry until she made herself sick. This is so different for me. It's kind of nice, but I'm afraid it's not going to last.

I don't think I updated after his 1 year check-up but he was 23 pounds and 30 inches long! So much bigger than our 6lb 14oz 20in baby we had a year ago. (the new pic was taken last week Weds on the scale at the hospital where he was born)

Alison's cucumber plant has some tiny cucumbers on it and tons more blooms. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them. She is so excited! She's been busy this week playing with the early birthday presents that she got at her party last weekend. She's been very creative. She's drawn pictures for all her thank you notes and now I have to help her write her messages.

Not much else is new around here this week. We are going to try to go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow. It seems like each time we try to go, it rains.

Whew!! A perfect party day!!

Yesterday we had a double party for Ian's 1st birthday and Alison's 6th birthday. It was busy yet fun! It ended up being a perfect day to be outside. We were sure worried on the previous 2 days when it was so hot and humid.


First we had Ian's party from 1-3pm. His was a bookworm theme and he got tons of great books and toys. Ian loved his birthday cupcake. He started with just dipping his fingers in the frosting, he tried hands free. That wasn't as good as he thought it would be so he went back to wiping the frosting off. Then I cut it in half so he could see the cake inside. He ate the first half so fast that I took the 2nd haf away so he wouldn't get sick. After his cake and frosting were done, he picked up the plate and licked it. Here's the before pic of the cake.






Dan's parents gave us his bookshelf that his grandpa had built for him when he was younger. Much cooler than a store bought one that we were going to get.







Then from 3-5 we had Alison's party. Her birthday isn't until next week, but she was really jealous about his party being first and didn't mind sharing the party.



Alison had a camping party. Dan set up his old tent and the kids had fun playing in it. We made a campout cake. Her party was a big success. We had camping/camp activities like making sand art jars, stargazers, rock necklaces (cool idea, didn't work so well), and popsickle stick art. The kids could also make their own ice cream and have smores cooked over the grill in the fire pit. Oh and the pin the flame on the fire game that Alison made up.

Let's see if these picture links work.

My pictures

Mom and Dad's Pictures