Easter 2011

Easter Sunday Howie had to work, so did I, so I treked the boys early in the morning to church with me. We packed the stroller with breakfast, snacks, lunch, diapers, extra clothes, anything we might need for a long day at church. And they did great.
We set up for service, stopped for breakfast, then checked the boys into their class. After the first service we had an egg hunt and a light breakfast. We had to walk through the gym where brunch was set up, in order to get to the egg hunt. Brody was frieking out. He was so hungry. He got pretty upset as we walked outside. I wasn't sure he'd cooperate for the egg hunt. But he did. Here he is trying to sneek in before the hunt started.

They let the one year olds in first. I told Brody to pick up the eggs and put them in his bag. So he went for one, put it in his bag, then clapped for himself. He understood exactly what to do!

Our friend Daryl came to help out, so she stood with Luke until the two year olds got their turn. Luke knew exactly what to do too. Here he is collecting eggs in his bag.


After the egg hunt we went in for a little breakfast. Then the boys went to Daryl's until I was done at church. Once I got home, we looked through our egg bags to see what goodies we had. Luke was quite excited about the candy. Brody saw a ball come out of one of Luke's eggs and pointed at it frantically! It was obvious what he what he liked!!


Then we colored a few eggs.

When Daddy got home we had dinner and opened Easter gifts from the grandparents. These balls are Brody's favorite at Toddler Time. They loved watching the wind up eggs jump in the windowsill.

Brody's Splish Splash Bash

Oh, what a great day. Grandma fed the boys lunch around noon and then they both went down for a nap while we prepped for the party.
Food: meatballs,apple/orange boats, goldfish crackers and pretzels, blue punch, and cupcakes.
Decor: Blue and white helium balloons and lots of blue and white balloons on the floor, rubber duckies scattered around the living room, floating in the punch, and on the cake.
All our guests arrived right around 3. We began with snacks and let the kids play.
Brody got a mechanical bath time bubble blower from Grandma Chris that we got out, put on top of the tv stand and called the kids out of the playroom. The kids had so much fun with it. They were all jumping for bubbles or popping the ones that stuck to the floor. It is so cool because it blows TONS of bubbles continuously but we go through almost a whole bottle of bubbles in one playtime.


After awhile we got out the baby pool, filled it with bath toys and packing peants and let the kids go "swimming." Now that was a hit! They older kids laid in it and, threw it on each other, while Brody picked up piece by piece and handed it to Alex. My boys approach to the pool pretty much sums up the differences between them: Luke jumps in with his whole body, Brody stands on the perimeter picking up pieces.


Next we had cupcakes. Brody does not understand blowing out a candle, but very much understands devouring a cupcake.

He also did very well while opening presents. He waited patiently while Luke "helped" him open.

We also got a couple very special surprise birthday guests: Grandma and Grandpa Howland! They did not tell us they were coming and showed up at our doorstep! Mama was very excited they came.

Brody's Name in Chalk

Last April 7th when we brought Brody home from the hospital, my mom had written his name on the porch and we took a picture of him in his car seat above it. So I wanted to get a picture of him a year later with his name written in chalk on the porch. Interestingly, Brody is wearing the shirt that Luke wore last April 7th when he came to the hospital to meet Brody.

Brody's 1st Birthday

I was trying to think of something special to do for Brody's birthday. He's having a party on the weekend but his actual birthday to be special. Then it dawned on me to take him swimming. The Bellingham Aquatic Center holds Preschool Swim on Wednesday morning, which was perfect! We left the house about 9:30, ran some errands, stopped by McDonald's for some yogurt and apples, then hit the pool. After getting changed I could not get either one of them near the pool. They stopped in their tracks and just watched. So I had to scoop them both up and get in the pool. They each had a death grip on my arms. After sitting with me awhile they got used to it. Luke splashed his friends who came with us and let them pull him around on a floatie. Brody enjoyed playing catch.


When he'd lose a ball, he'd go crawling for it, no matter how deep the water got! Usually Luke is the one with no fear but the water is Brody's domain. Even though Luke played for the first little bit, he spent most of his time shivering outside the pool. All in all, swimming was a success. We were for the perfect hour. It had been packed before we got there and was packed for family swim after. And an hour was about as long as they could stand. Brody was out on the ride home.
Later today we had dinner and opened presents. Brody got lots of new bath toys that he was excited to use at bath time!


This is what Brody did while Luke opened his presents! :) Grandma Chris gave Brody a bubble blower for the tub. It was a hit!

Brody's First Haircut

Brody had his first haircut last night. Howie has been wanting to cut his hair for awhile. It had gotten quite long in the back. But I'm not sure I was ready to cut his baby curls and make him look like a little boy. Its funny how just a little haircut can make a mommy sad.



Brody started off doing a great job. He loved having his hair sprayed with water. Then she sprayed his hands to keep him occupied for a bit. He couldn't get enough of that so he kept asking for more.



He didn't seem to mind her combing and cutting his hair. And she gave him a comb so he could "help." She wasn't very quick, so after awhile he got quite squirmy. She got out a box of toys which worked for a little while. There was a squirrel in the box that we played peek-a-boo with. He cracked up! But again, after a while he got fussy. Overall, he did a really good job, wasn't scared of any of it, and looks pretty cute.