William's 2 Year Appt

William had his 2 year check up on 5/19. I have a big boy on my hands that's for sure! He took his shots better than I expected as he almost seemed to know what was coming. I blew in his face, a trick I'd heard about, and it sort of seemed to distract him a bit. I still say the shots are worse on me than on the kids. I absolutely dreeaaaad them!

My boy is growing very well!

weight: 33 lbs 8 oz (just under 95th%)

height: 37 1/4" (97th%)

holy moly!

I scream, you scream, we all scream

for ice cream!!!!

We took the kids down to the pool after dinner tonight (first weekend open!) but literally right when we walked through the gates it started thundering, so everyone had to get out. Ella was so disappointed, we decided to try to salvage the evening and took them for ice cream.

William, so far, isn't really into sweets. I was surprised when he wanted some!

We hung out in the back of our van eating...it was fun!

The kids wear their food very well!

And William thought it was better to use his finger to get the ice cream out of the cone instead of a spoon. :)

Dandelion Paintings

The kids love to paint. Today we decided to paint with a paintbrush alternative. We went hunting for dandelions in the neighborhood (not too hard to find :)) and came back with a bunch.

They stamped with them...

and smeared the paint with the dandelions..

Got a little messy too!

and William decided to paint the table.

Come back and check this post later for their finished paintings!

More wet weather

We had a nice warm-ish rain tonight, and Ella begged to go play in it. :)

This was as much as William was willing to do. :)

She had so much fun playing in the rain. She wanted puddles to splash in, but still fun without them.

Hail Storm

All of a sudden the weather turned really weird tonight. Rain, thunder, lightning, and hail.

They were BIG!!! And pounding at the house making a racket! Once the kids got over the scariness of it all, they thought it was pretty cool.

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Another hot day to enjoy the sun and sand and water table.

Doesn't he look so tiny?

Taking a break...

My sweet girl.

Summer is Here

Ok, not technically, but it sure feels like it with this heat!!

We had to break out the sprinkler, per Ella's request. :)

The sand and water table entertained them for a good 45 minutes! What a nice morning we had.

Fun in the Sun

How adorable is he?

And this is just funny... he was showing Ella his belly...

...so she showed him hers!

William is very eager to learn how to ride his tricycle. He just needs to put more pressure on the pedals. :) He's got the steering pretty well down!

Ella talking on my phone... I think she was talking to Nana...

Off to feed the ducks at the pond! William is ready with bread in hand.

Aren't they sweet? They're holding hands!

William got tired but refused to ride in his car that he insisted on taking with us (grr), so after I got tired of carrying him, I put him on my shoulders. He enjoyed it for a while.

I see lots of trips to the duck pond in our future this summer.

Preschool Graduation

This morning was Ella's 3 year old preschool graduation.

Singing some songs...

Standing with William and her teachers as her teacher said a few nice words about her. She said that most kids walk into the room every morning, but Ella hops into the room every morning. How cute!

Getting hugs... even William had to get in on the hug action. :)

Ella and her certificate. :)

What's a party without a cupcake?

and a little ice cream sundae? :)

My baby has finished her first year of school. What an accomplishment.

Sand and Water

There's a great outdoor shopping mall near our house. They have fountains that the kids love to make wishes and throw pennies into...

...and a fun little sand area with rakes and shovels.

...and turtles to sit on. :)

Once it gets a lot warmer, they have a kind of splash pad where the water shoots out from the ground and jumps around. It's so cool! I can't wait to have the kids try it out again this summer. Between the fountains and the sand area, it makes shopping at a few stores tolerable for the kids since they know what's in store for them. :)

Ella's Library Bag

Ella was so excited to decorate her own library bag.

I think she did a great job!

Birthday Celebration

Ella's summer birthday was celebrated at school today. William and I spent the morning with her, and I think she really loved having William there with her more than having me there. :) But I still have one more month before my baby turns four!

Jump!

Ella attended a birthday party a few days ago at Pump It Up - one of her old favorite places. It was awesome! We (the party goers) had the whole place to ourselves. I especially love this place because I get to jump and slide too. It is so much fun!

William had fun after I was able to finally get him in one of the bounce houses. He refused to go down the awesome slide though. Hopefully he'll come around in the next few months. He has no idea what he's missing!

This slide is so much fun! After a few slides Ella didn't even need me anymore. Darn it! It was hard to get her off this slide. She would slide and climb right back up and do it again. It was hard convincing her to try something else. :)

We went through this maze of inflatables together and it was so much fun doing it together. We climbed this huge wall then went down an even faster slide! I remember when she was two I had to basically shove her up this wall. :) Now she does it all by herself!

We had so much fun!! What an awesome party!

Now these pictures just crack me up. They were taken while the birthday boy was opening presents - right behind them. ;)

I have no idea what Ella's doing to William, but it looks like he's going with it! :) Ella did ask me at the party if she could take William around and show him off to everyone. How cute!

Another little girl wanted to love on William too....but Ella did not like that. She is very protective of her little brother, and apparently she is the only one allowed to give him love. :)

Isn't this too funny? They didn't even know I was taking their picture. This is just how they act together. :)

Uh oh... the little girl is hugging on William again...

He's mine!

Ella finally decided it was ok for someone else to hold William's hand too. There was enough William to go around. :)

I think Ella's very happy William is her baby brother. :)

They just melt my heart. Do other two and three year old siblings act like this un-coerced? :)