Birthday WEEK

Yep, I get a WHOLE WEEK. My gram started this tradition when I was in high school (maybe earlier?) and I look forward to it each year! A present a day for a week until your actual birthday! I wish birthday weeks came more often :) Thanks grandma for spoiling me this week!

And just a pic of mommy and the kiddos before heading off to work. Looking forward to having Friday and Monday off to enjoy with the munchkins!


And yes, we're still wearing fleece jams in mid-April. It's COLD outside! Come on spring!



Disaster

Have you ever gone out to eat with your spouse or your friends and the waiter seats you by a table with a bunch of noisy/rowdy kids? You're trying to enjoy your meal and good conversation but all you can see and hear are the wild children sitting across from you? You think to yourself, "Wow, my kids would never act like that!--Those kids are so naughty!"  Has that ever happened to you?

Well...last night...we were THAT TABLE. We were the table with the wild children! Mom, dad and I took the kids to Texas Roadhouse. Talk about a train wreck. Food everywhere, kids trying to climb on the table, Colin chatting with the people behind us...you get the picture.  Just for fun, we often rate our children's behavior on a scale of 1-10. 10 being good...1 being naughty. I'd give Addison about a 7, Brady maybe a 3, and Colin a 1. Such a disaster! I don't know what their deal was but I'm surprised we weren't kicked out. Thankfully, it's so noisy in there anyway that you couldn't hear them squawking. So much for enjoying one of my favorite restaurants! We won't be going back for while. We'll just have to stick to Dairy Queen!

I love.

You wanna know what I LOVE??

*Getting 3 toddlers out of bed in the morning. Best way to start my day. This will never ever get old.
*The fact that my kids go to bed without a fight at 8pm and sleep until at least 7am.
*Listening to the boys talk back and forth when they go to bed at night and when they wake up.
*The way Colin kisses me with his mouth completly wide open. I love his little baby breath and the fact that he drools in my mouth doesn't even bother me.
*The way Brady blabbers all day long. His little voice is my favorite.
*The way Addison kisses me all day long. Such a kind heart..
*Holding my babies while they sleep. Not much longer and those days will be over.
*The fact that my kids are so different, but yet have so many things that are similar.
*Being able to stay home all summer long with them...every summer.
*Watching them interact/play/laugh with each other...knowing that they will be best of friends very soon.
*The fact that I don't have to send them to daycare and that they get the best care a kid could have..from their grandmother.
*Being a mom to the best 3 kids ever. Best job EVER.

And do you know what else I'd LOVE? For you to stop growing up.

Brady and his dance moves...

Brady likes to dance. He dances everywhere...in his crib, on the couch and even tries to do it in the tub! Caught him dancing on the table tonight!

Little bit of everything

Grandma's gas bill has been a little high lately so I invited her to stay the night with us! We took the kids for supper at Dairy Queen and they were PERFECT! They loved the fries, chicken strips and grilled cheese! The orange pop and ice cream were a hit too. We'll definitely go back! :) We then headed to Lowes to look for paint for Addison's room. She moved into her own room several months ago and I still haven't done anything with her room. Check back for pictures soon :)

Perfect angels at Dairy Queen



Brady LOVED the Orange Pop!




What...the ice cream is GONE?!?!




In Lowes looking for paint. This cart was perfect for us!



Back home for snacks on our new table! (Will be painted soon)

And just a few random pictures from mom's camera...enjoy!

Great-Gma and gpa have a merry-go-round in their yard!! WEEEEEE!!



Kisses

I'm cute and I know it.

Walking on a beautiful spring day with the birthday girl!



Auntie's turning 21!

Auntie Samantha was home this weekend to celebrate her birthday! She turns 21 on April 5th! Can't believe she'll be that old!! We had a nice day in Marcus--the weather was PERFECT! Really made me want spring to be here EVERYDAY!

We love Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Auntie! WE LOVE YOU!

Addie likes to help open presents.

Aunt Jean (my mom's best friend) came for a visit!

Addie Girl

Impossible to get a good group picture when we're outside! Too much to see and do!



Brady

 

So photogenic!



Visit from the relatives!

We enjoyed a nice visit from Ryan's grandma, his 2 aunts Cindy and Mary Jo and his little cousin on Wednesday! Ryan's aunt Mary Jo wanted to celebrate her birthday visiting us! How nice! We hadn't seen them in quite awhile so it was a much needed visit! Looking forward to making our 1st trip to visit them at the end of May!  The kids didn't cooperate for too many pictures while they were here! We'll get more next time!

Cousin Sharidan loved playing with the kids...especially Addie!

We love Grandma Betsy!

The kids weren't really cooperating! This made me laugh!

The kids with the Birthday Girl! Hope you had a happy birthday Mary Jo! Thanks for spending it with us!

Naughty Addie

Addison is naughty. The pictures will explain.

She excuses herself from the table when she's done.

I'm done..get me out of here.

If you're not going to let me stand in my hi-chair, I'll stand on the back on the couch.

Queen of the couch!

15 Months!!!!

Happy 15 months to my beautiful babies!

Loving them more and more everyday!



15 months



I imagine this same thing will happen in 15 years when these 2 are fighing over the ONE car they will have to share!!

This girl always gets what she wants!!

15 months!!

Loves the park!

15 months!





Future Ski Bunnies!

Grannie went skiing a few weeks ago and brought the kids back some cute shirts! Can't wait to take them on our Annual Nelson Family ski trip in a year or two!



Toughen up Addison!



Sometimes I think my kids look like they are little homeless children! Maybe it's the sweatpants and Addie's wild hair?!



Bye Bye Bottles!

 NO MORE BOTTLES! WOOHOO!! So far so good! Yesterday was the first full day without them. They didn't drink much milk before bed so I was a little nervous. They all made it 11.5 hours last night though. My babies are big kids now!

Beautiful Wednesday afternoon!

Spring is here...I hope?! We've had 2 beautiful days. The kids LOVE playing out on the deck and have enjoyed a few stroller rides the last 2 days!! Ryan and I took the kids to the park to swing today! Hinton has a new park a few blocks away from our house that will definitely come in handy the next several years. Being outside definitely wears them out. They were all in bed by 7:30 tonight! Looking forward to many more nice days! 

Ready to go!

Colin almost fell asleep in the swing!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Addie loved it too!

Pretty Addie

Wild hair Addie!

Goodbye Gate!

We've taken down the gate! I was getting sick of them standing at the gate whining everytime I went upstairs. Problem is now solved! They are really good at going up and down the stairs so I thought it was time to give it a shot. We keep our bedroom door and bathroom door closed. They can go into their bedrooms and play. We keep the closet doors shut so they can't get into much! They don't spend a ton of time playing up there yet...they just like to go up and down the steps.

No one has fallen down the stairs yet and it's been a week! I'm sure that will happen tomorrow now that I've posted this. Anxious to see who'll be the first to figure out how to WALK down the stairs. My money is on Addison! More freedom for the kids = less whining!!

Forgot to Mention...

Last week, I was getting ready for work in my bathroom. I thought I heard a THUMP but just assumed it was Colin kicking his crib. None of the kids were up...or so I thought.

I went out into the hall to find Brady standing there...looking quite proud of himself. I assumed my mom had just taken him out of his crib and had run downstairs to do something quick.

NOPE. I was wrong. Brady had gotten out of his crib...all by himself!!!!!!!! His crib is as low as it goes too. We took out his bumper pad and he hasn't done it since. I don't know if he used that to help boost him or not? I can't imagine that would help him that much?

Cutie Patooties!

A booger?!?!? NOPE--It's a Lucky Charm!

Trying to hide from mom!

Aren't we cute!?

Addison Ann

Waving at grannie!

3 little monkeys jumpin on the bed!