Nathan's 3rd Birthday!

Nathan's 3rd birthday was on April 30th and he wanted a pirate party. We decided to keep things really simple this year for both of the boys' birthdays, so we just had Nana, Papa, and my brother's family come over for dinner, cake and ice cream. Even with just the 11 of us, Nathan thought it was a real party and was so excited for his cousins to come see him.

When I asked Nathan what he wanted to eat for his birthday, I was thinking about dinner. His response was: "CAKE!" My neighbor gave me a magazine a few months ago that had a cute idea for a pirate cake, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was my first time baking one of their birthday cakes before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. My mom gave me an awesome chocolate cake recipe (Nathan requested that his cake be chocolate), and I went from there. The final result...

For Nathan, all it takes is a chocolate cake, some balloons, and a few presents to make his day special. He's pretty easy going, which works out well for me! We kept the dinner menu simple, too: hot dogs (Nathan's request), hamburgers, a fruit tray, a veggie tray, and chips (a special treat at our house).

Time for cake!

I love how all the kids get so excited for presents, even when they know the gifts aren't for them.

Nathan and all his loot

I almost can't believe my baby is already 3 years old. Pretty soon he won't be "the baby" anymore, which is hard for me to imagine. He has been my little buddy when Tyler was at preschool and I have so enjoyed our one-on-one time together. He makes me giggle all day long with all the funny things he says and the way he acts out entire scenes from his favorite movies. He's "in character" a lot of the time, and he's quick to correct us when we call him Nathan and not Mario (as in Super Mario), or Po (from "Kung Fu Panda"), or Luke Skywalker, or Darth Vader, or Cubby (from "Jake and the Never Land Pirates"), or Leonardo (the Ninja Turtle). He is my cuddle bug, always ready and willing to give hugs and kisses, and I hope that doesn't change any time soon.

Preschool Field Trip

At the end of April, Tyler had a field trip with his preschool class to the Museum of Science downtown. Tim took Nathan along for some errands that morning so that I could focus 100% on Tyler during his field trip.

Tyler made friends with lots of the kids in his class this year, particularly with the boys, so he was excited to see his friends outside of their normal school routine. We spent most of the time working on a scavenger hunt around the museum and then we had a session in the Discovery Room where a very entertaining leader told the kids about different animals. In the Discovery Room they had the opportunity to touch different reptiles. Tyler passed on touching a big lizard and a beetle, but he did touch a turtle and he even held a piece of petrified dinosaur poo!

Tyler and his buddy Michael

Ms. Pam talks to Michael and Tyler about the toads they just saw

Standing in a dinosaur's footprint

Tyler wanted to take a picture in front of this dino skull

Checking out the box turtles

In the Discovery Room

Holding dino poo--it just looked like a big rock

This video was from the Discovery Room when the kids were given the opportunity to pet the turtle.

Easter Photos

Easter was almost 2 months ago, but I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures of the boys. It was a pretty low-key day that started with Easter treats from our family in Missouri, a worship service at church, lunch at Nana and Papa's, and dinner and an egg hunt at the Pittmans' house.

After church, we tried our best to get good pictures of the boys, but Nathan's silly side just had to come out. I remember last year I got all up-tight about getting "perfect" photos of them in their Easter clothes. I was getting so frustrated because they weren't being very cooperative. For some reason I didn't really mind this year that I wasn't getting them to do exactly what I wanted. Maybe I'm learning that, years from now, these photos will remind me of how they were at this age--constantly moving and just plain funny. Last year Tyler was the one who had ants in his pants, so it was Nathan's turn this year...

I sure do love these guys!

Tyler wanted to take a picture of Nathan and I at Nana's house. Also making an appearance in this photo is the remainder of Nathan's black eye which his brother bestowed upon him the preceding weekend while we were in Atlanta. (I was at the store with my cousin Jenny when it happened, so I'm not exactly sure what happened. From what I could gather from Tim and the boys, Tyler kicked Nathan in the face while wrestling...)

The boys and their cousins were so ready for Easter egg hunting by the time we arrived at the Pittmans' house that afternoon. Tim and Jonathan were assigned the task of hiding over 100 eggs in the big backyard. Becki and I enjoyed watching them through the windows because once they'd used all the "good" hiding spots, they just started tossing the eggs into the grass to get rid of them. It was a ridiculous number of eggs, but we were expecting one more child (a friend of Becki's and her son were supposed to come, but couldn't due to sickness) and I think my mom and I just miscalculated how many we had filled. It was fun for the kids, though, and it made the hunt last longer than usual.

Ready to hunt

Cooper and Tyler were hard to catch for a photo. They were constantly on the move!

Eliza was moving a little slower

Gabe and his goodiesNathan, with a little help from Nana, had a very full basket!

Cooper insisted that there be a golden egg, and whoever found the golden egg got a special prize. Grandma Pittman wasn't given much notice about the golden egg expectation, so she wrapped gold ribbon around a plastic egg to serve as the prized item. Pretty good idea, I thought. Well, Nathan was actually the first one to find it, but since it looked like a wad of ribbon, he refused to put it in his basket. Tyler ended up finding it next and won the prize--a book about Easter!

We always try to take a family photo on Easter, so here's this year's. It's exciting to think we'll have a 9-month-old baby in next year's!

Speaking of baby, we received our first baby gift on Easter! Becki made a diaper cake for us, which served as the centerpiece of our dinner table. It was her first time making one, and my first time receiving one! I've made several in the past for friends' baby showers, so I can really appreciate the time that goes into putting one together. And who can't use diapers? For Baby #3, it's the perfect gift!

A Day of Races

I took a month long break from posting for a variety of reasons--mainly because we've had so many "events" going on while simultaneously doing our best to get things ready for our baby's arrival. I'm 36 weeks today, so we could have a new member in our family in just 4 weeks (maybe sooner if this one decides to arrive as early as his/her brothers)!

I plan to go back and catch up on posting from everything I skipped since Easter, but before I do, I wanted to post about today's adventures.

Tim has run the NC Triangle Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 3 times previously, placing 3rd twice and 5th last year. This year he won! It wasn't a fast time for him since he ran most of it in the lead by himself, but it's always fun to win. The boys and I weren't there to see it because it started early, but of course we were all still very proud of him. Right after his race, Tim came home and took us back to the race so Tyler and Nathan could participate in races of their own.

Recently Tyler has been asking when he would get to run a race, so when Tim asked him last week if he'd like to the mile fun run at the Race for the Cure, of course Tyler said "yes". He was really excited to be able to race this morning, especially because Daddy would be there to run with him.

All smiles before the race

Stretching with DaddyWaiting for Tyler's race to begin

Tim and Tyler started toward the back of the pack, so they had to get past lots of walkers before they could really start running. Once they were out on the big crowd, Tim said Tyler had lots of questions and kept talking the entire way. When Tim pointed out that they'd reached the halfway point, Tyler commented that it didn't seem like they'd run that far. When Nathan and I saw them near the finish at the top of a long hill, Tyler was passing other runners and smiling like he was having so much fun. He didn't seem to really be working very hard at all.

At the top of the hill

Heading toward the finish with Daddy

Tim clocked Tyler at 10:31, which was faster than I thought he would run. It was a hot, sticky morning, so I thought he would need to stop to walk a bit, or at least take a break for water. Nope. Apparently Tyler has already mastered the skill of running and drinking at the same time because Tim said that's what he did.

Afterward, Tyler couldn't stop smiling. He has only just turned 5 a week ago, and he's already experienced a runner's high. He's already talking about doing the same race next year.

Not sure who was more proud--Tyler or his dad

After the mile fun run, we headed to the Kids Zone where there was a kids dash for kids ages 3 to 5 sponsored by the Carolina Hurricanes. There were race numbers for each of the participants (all the same number: 97) and different heats for the different ages.

Ready to race

Nathan wasn't the fastest in his heat, but he certainly was the cutest! He looked adorable barreling down the little slope and waiting patiently for his sticker and a hug from Stormy (the Hurricanes' mascot) at the finish line. Tyler, having just turned 5 a week ago, was toward the back of his heat, but he was still all smiles. As long these two little guys are having fun, that's all that matters to us.

Ready, set, go!

Spring Break

I'm several weeks behind in my posting because it has been a whirlwind of activity at our house. Once we returned from Atlanta, it was spring break for Tyler. We managed to stay busy during that week leading up to Easter.

On the Wednesday before Easter, we went to the Pittmans' house for a day of fun with Cooper, Gabe and Eliza. They were on spring break from school as well, so it was the perfect time for the cousins to get together. Grandma Pittman had planned some activities for all the kids, and in between they played outside in their huge backyard.

The kids' first activity was to decorate their own piece of a big egg puzzle. They each had their own style and technique, which was cute to see. Somehow I never got a photo of the finished product, but it looked really cute and festive displayed on the Pittmans' front porch on Easter Day.

Before lunch and Easter egg dyeing, the kids went outside to play. Cooper, Gabe, and Tyler spent quite a while digging for worms and caterpillars under a tree. Nathan was out there for a while, but then he decided he wanted to be inside with me while we cleaned up from their first activity. He was more than ready to go back outside when it was time for tractor rides, though.

All the boys enjoyed their ride with Grandpa Pittman, except Tyler, who declined the offer. He just wanted to continue digging in the dirt.

Gabe felt like making us all laugh, so he hiked up his shorts like so. Look at those legs!

And Eliza just wanted to swing on the playset, so of course Grandma obliged. Who could say no to those cheeks?After lunch and dyeing Easter eggs, it was time for us to head back home. Both boys fell asleep on the way because all the fun completely wore them out. They always have a blast when their cousins are around. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Pittman for a fun-filled day!