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!

Christmas Disney Trip

I thought this was a great idea, but Jer felt a little embarrassed. I had Jer wear my nursing cover over Austin in the Baby Bjorn to keep him cool, but still protected from the sun. Jer called it his muumuu.

At the Spectacle of Lights

Austin and the snow






Jer took most of the week off so we could go to Disney to enjoy all the Christmas decorations. We are staying home this year so we figured we would need something fun to do to keep us from being lonely.

We had a great time! Like last year, we had to go to the Spectacle of Lights at Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). We love that place! Austin was able to be in his first snow. It may have been 75 degrees, but the snow was cold! The video is below.

Lex was one of the recipients of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion at Disney! It was probably the lamest dream ever, but Lex liked it. We went on the Three Cabelleros ride in Mexico at Epcot. Lex loved it so much and wanted to stay on. So they gave us a pass that we could ride it as much as we wanted and have our own boat. I felt like a jerk as other people waited to ride but weren't allowed on our exclusive boat, but Lex sure loved it! We rode it five times. I really don't understand why he likes that movie so much, but he is getting it for Christmas!

Even though going through the ride time and time again was a little boring, Jer and I both agree it was the highlight of our trip to see Lex so happy. We were sad during other parts of the trips since Lex is suddenly very easily frightened. Even Mickey's Philharmagic which he usually loves made him tremble with fear and cry. We think we sat too close to the speakers and the volume was too much for him.