Lex's 3rd Birthday

Lex's birthday was last week! It was a great day. The only drawback was that after he went to sleep that night he came down with strep throat. Poor kid.

For his birthday, we let him open one gift the night before. That was a mini market. We planned to save the rest of his gifts until the evening of his birthday, but Lex went birthday crazy during the day! I was reading him some birthday wishes from family members when he suddenly started saying, "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday!" and ran over to his gifts to open them. I called Jer at work and he said to go ahead and let him at it but get it on video. So here is part of his greed!

We really enjoyed this day as much as Lex. It was the first year that he didn't cry during the "Happy Birthday" song. Austin did, though!

The video below is five minutes long, so no pressure to watch it! It shows Lex getting his first gift the night before, then part of his birthday craziness. I love when all the gifts have been opened and Lex shows remorse. Lastly, it shows Lex blowing out his candles.

Our little chunkster

I make no secret of how I feel about chunky babies -- I love them so much! So, I am thrilled that Austin is turning out to be a super chunk just like Lex was. I took Austin to his two month appointment a few weeks ago. He weighed in at 15 pounds, 11 ounces. He doesn't even get a percentile since he is off the charts! He is still a few ounces shy of Lex's two month weight of 15 pounds, 13 ounces, but Lex started out in life a whole pound heavier than Austin. I think Austin has done a great job of catching up!

Beach Trip

We also took the kids to the beach in their new wagon a few weeks ago. Here are the photos:

Lex on the Lanai

We took these photos on New Year's Day, and I thought they were cute. Lex was outside on the lanai just taking in the scenery!

Disney Photos Revisited

There were several photos I didn't post from our Disney trip a few weeks ago. We couldn't believe how many photos we messed up on when we were trying to get a nice photo for our Christmas cards! Here they are:

More Sad News

My Grandpa Hill passed away last week. Above is a photo my mom took a few years ago of Grandpa with Grandma Hill. Grandpa Hill was a great storyteller, and whenever I think of him I'll always picture him chuckling while saying, "Well, hello!"

Grandpa had the coolest birthdate -- he was born on 9-10-11. Anyway, he brought me great comfort in the days after September 11. I called him to give him a belated happy 90th birthday, and we were talking about all the events that have happened during his lifetime. For instance, he was a child during WWI. He remembered being told not to take candy from strangers since it could be poisoned. When Pearl Harbor happened, he was already an adult in his thirties with a wife and children. He was delivering milk that day when he heard. He said that back then horrible events didn't affect you as much since you weren't exposed as much as you are today. The only way to see video footage of things was to go to the movie theater. It really helped me to put things into perspective and to realize that life would go on even if things seemed really sad right then.

I will miss Grandpa Hill, but I am also happy that he is no longer in pain. He lived to be 97 years old.

New Years

We had a fantastic New Year's Eve! Crystal and TJ, who until last week lived in Virginia, came to visit us. We hadn't seen them since last Christmas. We are very happy that they are now living in Florida! So, we had Crystal, TJ, Chris, Paula, and Jackson to ring in the New Year with us. Here are some photos of us from that night. When midnight came, TJ and Lex were already asleep, so the picture of TJ is from earlier. Since TJ wasn't available, Austin subbed in as Crystal's New Year's kiss.

Tummy Time Austin

My mom is a huge fan of tummy time. Here are a few shots for her to enjoy. I also included a video but no pressure to watch it. I mostly made it so the two Grandmothers could see Austin's tummy time in action. I don't think it is riveting entertainment for many other people!

Austin's take on the world

Austin was watching the news with us the other night. He was very concerned!

Christmas Photos

We had a great Christmas! We were just on our own Christmas morning, no extended family. I was a bit nervous it would be sad to not have any extra family around, but we were fine. It helps when you have two little kids to cuddle with! Later on, we went joined Chris, Paula, and Jackson for a very nice dinner at their neighbor's home. The host had the most amazing decorations. Jer said it reminded him of DisneyWorld. The best part is that the little boy who lives there also loves Thomas and Lightning McQueen, so Lex was pretty happy there! This was the same boy who gave Lex the ride on train I blogged about several months ago.

Anyway, Lex enjoyed all his gifts. Poor Austin didn't get much. He just didn't need anything, and I knew I could get away with it! Poor guy!