Congratulations, Kristine and Steve!!

Congratulations to the beautiful bride and handsome groom. May God bless you with many happy years together. We love you!!

Hotel (and other) Adventures!!

The boys have had several hotel experiences in the last month, and are quickly learning the fun parts of staying away from home. The first was 3 weeks ago when we attended the wedding of some good friends in Ohio. There was plenty of down time in the 4 day weekend, and we had to get creative to keep the boys entertained. Little did we know, a luggage cart is a choo-choo in little Kyle's mind, and he could ride the halls for HOURS!! He would stand at the front of the cart, holding on very tightly and quietly go "choo-choo-choo-choo" as we rode up and down the halls. Then, last weekend, we attended a wedding reception in Peoria for the same couple. My parents and sister were staying in the hotel the night of the reception, and much to Kyle's delight, they brought a luggage cart out to unload the suitcases onto!! We didn't think much about it, but Kyle was watching the bell-hop's every move. He watched him load the cart and we followed it up to the room. Then, he stood very close and watched him unload the cart. It didn't dawn on us that he remembered until he moved towards the empty cart with a point and a grunt, and tried to get on for a ride. Laughingly, we explained to the bell-hop that he'd love it if he could have a little ride, and the bell-hop was happy to oblige. Kyle rode the cart all the way back to the elevator, smiling all the way!! What a boy!!! His memory is much sharper than we realized (scary, isn't it??) and it's becoming more and more evident every day. His ability to mimic words and remember them is increasing at an amazing rate also. It's fun to see day to day how fast they develop. Brock is also learning more words, but his physical skills are his strong point. He can climb into the jumper and exersaucer on his own, and late last week as I was sitting at the kitchen table, he climbed up onto the chair beside me, and then proceeded to crawl up onto the table!! Oh, my!! The adventure are going to get more and more interesting very soon. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of Kyle riding the luggage cart or Brock sitting proudly on the kitchen table, but here are some pics of Kyle playing in the curtains at the hotel (he thought they were fabulous, especially because no one made him stop playing in them:), and of Brock climbing on the exersaucer. Enjoy!!

Peeking out the window

"These curtains are silky!!"

"Now I see you, Mommy!"

"They go a long way into the room!!" (poor Brock missed out on this part of the fun as he had already been nabbed to put on his snazzy wedding suit!!)

Here's Brock in one of his climbing adventures:

Mommy missed the first part, but he leans over and stands on the base until he can get a grip on the other side to pull himself up. What a strong boy!!

"Okay, one leg down the other to go!!" Kyle says, "Can you believe this?? I didn't even think about doing this!!"

"I'm almost there. I didn't think it would be such a tight fit."

"Victory at last!! You can't see it, but my one leg is still stuck underneath me, but it will have to do for now until I figure out a better system:)."

Can you make your hair look this good just by running your hands through it??

You can if your hands are covered in food!!

Smear Job :)

When Kyle's done eating, sometimes he has a funny way of telling us:

"I'm already a mess, and I don't want to eat any more of this cereal bar. What should I do with it?? Throw it on the floor, throw it on my brother, or rub it all over my face??"

"Well, it smells good on my hands. Maybe it would smell good all over my face."

"Ewwww. Squishy!!"

"Uh oh!! I think I got fruit spread in my eyes!!!"

"Might as well get the hair while I'm thinking of it!!"

"There!!! All done. Do I look good or what?!?"

And just because this cuteness can't be left out:

Riding on a chair?!?

Sometimes you do whatever you can to pass the time while Mommy finishes making dinner!!

Playing in our cave

This is where Mommy finds us playing almost daily:

I love my cave!!

Longing for Spring

As the days get nicer, the boys spend a large part of the day looking outside or playing in front of the door where they can feel the breeze. We have taken many walks, but the boys aren't very steady on the grass, and they seem to like to go in different directions, so playing in the yard isn't an option yet when only Mommy is home (no fence:). Don't worry boys!! We'll get inventive and find a way to play outside safely as the days continue to get warmer!!