Just Dance

Last weekend Nate's cousin, Kelsey celebrated her 16th birthday. She had a party with a DJ. Nate had the best time dancing and playing with his cousins. He also had a great time playing with a balloon Darren tied to his belt loop. He loves to tackle his stuffed animals and that's what he's doing to the balloon.

Kelsey and Nate

Bubbles and Daffodils

My parent's have the most beautiful row of daffodils in their yard. Daffodils have been one of my favorite flowers since I was a child. Yellow is one of my favorite colors and daffodils just seem so bright and happy. Anyway, I thought I could get some cute pictures of Nate with them. He loved looking at them and especially loved picking off the buds that hadn't bloomed yet (sorry Mom).



Darren and I realized that we had never blown bubbles with Nate (shame on us, right?). We bought an inexpensive bubble blower (I'm not sure exactly what to call it, but aren't those the best things ever, much better than dip and blow). Nate loved it! He had so much fun chasing the bubbles and trying to catch them. Some of the sweetest pictures I got are of him with his hands in the air trying to catch the bubbles. If you notice in one of the pictures he is holding a stick. One day he and Darren were outside cleaning up the yard and picking up sticks. Now any time we are outside and he sees a stick he thinks he's supposed to pick it up.



Every time we go into our garage Nate goes straight for the rake. He loves to drag it around the yard. It's obviously a little big for him, so my mom bought him this kid's rake for Valentine's Day. Thanks Nan!

Look Mom, No Hands!

This was one of Nate's Christmas presents. He loves riding in it. Notice I didn't say driving it, because he doesn't drive he just rides. We have tried to explain to him about steering, but he would just rather ride. When Darren gets tired of keeping him on the straight and narrow he will find an open area and turn the wheel and Nate will just go round and round in circles. It's pretty hilarious.

Nate's First Tractor Ride

Nate rode with Darren to get hay for the cows this afternoon. He had so much fun and actually rode the entire time (I was surprised he would sit still long enough to go across the pasture twice for two rolls of hay). We are lovin' this warm weather!

This seems to be...

a slow time of year for posting, at least for us anyway. There just isn't a lot going on right now. Nate actually has a fever. This is his second fever in a couple of weeks...and it's not just a low-grade fever. Tis the season for sickness, but it's really making me want stay at home...but I'm not good at staying at home. I like getting out of the house, so I guess that's not really practical for us.

Anyway, this post is supposed to be about the great bargain I got a couple of months ago. We love to go camping and have been looking for a good quality, used bike trailer. I have looked at kids market and other consignment sales and haven't had any luck. I helped with our church yard sale a while back and found this one for $20.00! I thought that price was too good to be true because it was clean and in great shape and new would cost at least $100.00. I quickly discovered that it was broken and that's why it was so cheap. We decided to get it anyway and thankfully the part (shipping included) only cost $12.00. Darren fixed it today and he and Nate went for a short ride. I wasn't sure what Nate would think, but he really liked it. We are really looking forward to warmer weather and hopefully lots of fun camping trips.

18 Months

Nate was 18 months old on January 10th. At his checkup he weighed 23 pounds 5 ounces and was 33 inches. This morning on the way to church I was thinking about what I want to remember about him at this age. I was also thinking about how much I love him and how there aren't even words to truly express how I feel about him and how much he has blessed our lives these last 18 months. I know all of you moms out there can relate. :)

• He is loving books right now. We always read one before nap and bedtime, but lately it seems like he's wanting to read almost all the time.
• He loves looking at pictures of himself and family members.
• He can do the following animal sounds...horse (my favorite), dog, duck, monkey, cat, cow, tiger, and chicken.
• He is saying so many words that I've lost count.
• He still eats pretty well for the most part and still loves his green veggies, but he has a few new favorites... biscuits with jelly, pancakes, blueberries, and fries (we don't have these too often, but when we do it's more, more, more)
• He loves running through the house naked after his bath. Darren and I get a really big kick out of it also. We probably won't think it's so funny when he tee tees on something or us. I should rephrase this. I won't think it's so funny. Darren would probably think it was hilarious if he tee teed on something or me.
• He loves to wrestle with Harry, his big stuffed hippo that his Uncle Dale gave him for Christmas.
• He loves to build things with his mega blocks and playing with tractors.
• He loves puzzles and is surprisingly good at them.
• He loves for Darren to tuck him in like a little burrito before bed. Every night before bed we read a book and say a prayer. Then Darren tucks the covers around him and we call him our little burrito.
• He rubs his bellybutton when he's tired or sleepy.
• We have a front load washer and dryer and he loves to help load the washer and dryer. Even though it takes about 10 minutes to put a load of clothes in the washer, he loves helping mommy.
• He loves being outside. Today it was finally warm enough to play outside for a little while. I was inside and Nate and Darren were outside. I saw Darren go by the window with sticks and then Nate go by with sticks. He loves helping and wants to do whatever you are doing.
• He loves for me to sing to him and already has favorite songs. He shakes his head no until I sing the song he wants... or maybe he's really saying no more bad singing, but then when I keep going he just gives up and decides to wait it out.

Studio B

We're getting some culture in our neck of the woods. An art studio opened in town several months ago. It's similar to sips n strokes. A friend invited me to go tonight. I knew it would be fun, but I was a little hesitant since I have zero artistic ability. She assured me that it would be easy and fun and she was right. We had a great time and I really like my painting.