Happy Birthday Jack!

Last weekend was a weekend packed full of fun! We had the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday and then went to Jack's 2nd birthday party on Sunday. Nathan had so much fun because it was at his favorite place...Gymboree! I was a little worried about his mood though because he didn't eat lunch, although I tried to fix him something, and then he woke up early from his nap. He started out being in a great mood, but did have a couple of fits...which I'll describe later :)


As soon as we walked in, Nathan went right to his favorite slide! Every time we go to Gymboree for our class, he has to go on this slide a few times before he joins the rest of his friends.

Here is Nathan with the birthday boy, Jack!

What was so much fun about this party, is that the kids were able to play on their own, but then their teacher would bring them together every once in a while to do a group activity. Nathan participated with the group a few times, but was more into doing his "own" thing. Which leads me to my embarrassing moment. The teacher brought out the air log, and Nathan LOVES the air log so I knew he'd have fun doing whatever activity she had planned. Well, the kids were supposed to walk on it and then jump off at the end. Nathan kept pulling me towards it because he wanted a turn. So once it was his turn, I put him up on it, but then he started crying and trying to get out of my arms. Okaaayyy, so you don't want to do it. I put him down, but then he started crying and screaming again and acting like he wanted to go back. When I tried it again, he did the same thing.! Plus he turned all "noodley" on me, and I couldn't even get a good grip on him! So I don't know what it was he wanted, but I obviously wasn't making him happy. Of course, it had to happen in front of the whole group, and I could feel all eyes on us. So I took him outside to let him calm down (and try to make myself stop blushing from embarrassment). I gave him a snack and that seemed to calm him down. I know these things are going to happen...I just wish they'd only happen at home by ourselves :)

Back to having fun again with Willow. Nathan loved climbing up this and then sliding down. He even ran down it several times!

Sweet little Willow.

Back for another group activity. Nathan actually loved doing this. They would fill the top with little soft balls and then shake the parachute really hard and pop the balls out. I think Nathan actually had a crush on the teacher because he kept wanting to help her pick things up and help her carry boxes with all of the supplies.

There's my sweet boy!

Jack and Nathan jumping on the trampoline

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles!

Nathan and mommy

This activity was so funny. The kids were supposed to lay down like cookie dough and then the teacher would roll the air log over them like it was the rolling pin. When she told all of the kids to go lay down, Nathan was actually the first to do it. He laid right down on his tummy and said "Night, night." But he didn't stay down there long enough to get rolled on.

Nathan and his Daddy

After we played and played, it was time for snacks and cupcakes. All of the kids sat at a long table and ate their food and drank their juice. Nathan actually drank two juice boxes!

Happy Birthday Jack! Thank you for inviting me to your party!

St. Andrews Easter Egg Hunt

Last weekend, Nathan got to participate in his first Easter Egg Hunt of the year. Our friends, Dan and Haewon, invited us to their church for the activities. We started the morning by meeting for breakfast, which was really fun. Wayne and I both ordered big breakfasts and then shared our food with Nathan. I actually think that Nathan ate more than we did! I gave him pancakes and eggs on his plate which he ate, and then he started eating from my plate. He's my little piggy :)


After breakfast, we headed to the church where we met Alison and Shawn, and their little girl Lauren (one of Nathan's girlfriends). I had planned on dressing Nathan in a new shorts outfit I had just bought for him, but a winter storm blew in and it was absolutely FREEZING! It was so strange to see all of the kids hunting Easter eggs and dressed in sweaters, coats, and hats. Of course, Nathan and the other kids could care less what the temperature was...they just wanted to fill their baskets!


Wayne and I did wonder if Nathan would understand the concept of picking up eggs and putting them in his basket. Well, he understood it alright! In fact, Nathan got so excited when he saw all of the eggs, that we didn't even have to show him what to do. He just started filling his basket until eggs fell out! Then he would try to open a few and start all over. He was so cute!

Nathan, there's a limit to how many eggs you can get!

"Golden eggs! Reece, you can have one, and I'll take the rest."

Haewon took this picture of Nathan through the tunnel. She also took the next two. Haewon, you are so creative with the coloring!

Reece

Alison is to the left, Nathan, Lauren is in the pink dress and coat, and Reece is getting more eggs.

After hunting eggs and having numb hands, we headed inside where the kids couldn't wait to eat the treats from their eggs.

"Alright, enough picture taking. Let's go play some more!"

There were so many activities to do: bounce houses, arts and crafts, food, face painting, and a petting zoo. Nathan especially like the bounce house...until he got tackled by an aggressive little girl. Reece was the first victim. He was having so much fun bouncing and then all of a sudden, this little girl jumped on him several times! Haewon immediately took him out. Nathan wanted to get in after that so I let him, thinking this sweet looking little girl must have just lost her balance. Nope! She gave Nathan just enough time to start jumping and laughing and having fun, then she attacked. She jumped on my sweet little baby and would not let him up! It was like a wrestling match! I tried to get in there to get him because her mother was not doing anything to get her off of him, but it took me a while because the opening to the house is meant for a toddler. When I finally pulled him out from under her, he wobbled to the opening saying "Out Mommy." It was so pitiful :(

But Nathan's tough and didn't let that spoil his time. We made a craft (actually, Nathan just stuck stickers on Lauren)

And then got tattoos. Here are Reece and Nathan comparing them.

And then headed to the petting zoo.

Although the weather wasn't perfect, we had so much fun! Now Nathan is a pro and is ready for more hunts!

Weekend in Austin Day 2

On Saturday morning, I got to sleep in, casually drink my coffee, take a long shower, and take my time getting ready because Auntie Carrie woke up with Nathan. She gave him his breakfast, got him dressed and then took him to the park. It was so wonderful! I even had time left over to look through a magazine and watch a little TV. That never happens! Carrie took my camera with her so here are two cute swing pictures.

Here's the famous "monster" face up close!

After the park, we took Nathan to an inflatable play center. The play center was geared more towards older kids, but they did have a Sesame Street bounce house that seemed perfect for Nathan. They told us that we could try it out first to make sure Nathan liked it before we paid...HE LOVED IT!

Nathan jumped and jumped, went on the slide over and over, and loved running around only to fall down. One of the workers saw how much fun he was having on the slide and thought he'd like going down one of the bigger slides even though it's for ages 5 and over. Yes! He'd love that! Nathan's not scared of anything!

"Mommy, that was way too big and steep for me. I don't like to tumble down a slide. Let's just stick to the Elmo slide OK?"
As we were leaving, I told the workers that Nathan had a blast (as if they couldn't tell that for themselves) and was ready to pay. They were so sweet and told us that they had so much fun watching Nathan have fun that it was on the house! So with we money we saved, we went out to lunch, and then headed home for Nathan's nap. He was exhausted!

After Nathan woke up, we went out for ice cream, and then went to the pet store next door. Nathan loves fish and wanted Auntie Carrie to describe each kind to him. He would point to them and then babble like he was talking to them!

"Auntie Carrie, I'll take that bunny...Daddy won't care."

Being the picky mommy I am, I noticed one little spot in back that they missed while getting his hair cut yesterday. So after the pet store, we went back to Cool Cuts. I know the girl thought I was crazy, but she snipped the back and was very sweet about our drop in. Nathan has a very good memory and grabbed another sucker on the way out!

"Auntie Carrie, you can have a lick."

Don't you just want to squeeze and kiss those fat cheeks?!

Me and my sissy...Nathan went to bed earlier than usual because we completely wiped him out so Carrie and I had fun just being with each other. She gave me a manicure and pedicure, I colored her hair (I did a great job by the way), and then we watched some TV and talked.

Here is Carrie with her baby, Otis. It's a face only a mother could love :) We had so much fun didn't we Carrie?! Thanks for everything!

And here is another video of Nathan at the park. He loved running through this blue thing and just barely cleared it with his head!