Day 689 | Grandma & Grandpa Time

Grandma and Grandpa M were sweet enough to drive across the state to hang out with us for a couple of days before our flight back tomorrow. We loved seeing them (as usual) and the boys were overjoyed to spend time with both sets of grandparents during this short trip.

The boys even got a special parent-free time with Grandma and Grandpa this morning. Those lucky ducks (and Chris and I weren't complaining either). 

Thanks again to both sets of grandparents and all the other friends and family that made this spring break trip such a success!

Day 687 | Super Capes

The Easter Bunny brought the boys these adorable capes in their Easter baskets. They turned out pretty adorable.

In case you're wondering, it appears the Easter Bunny used this tutorial for the project. 

Day 686 | Family

I think this photo exactly captures the personality of both boys at this moment. :)

Our family is the best. The best. These folks are the reason our decision to stay in the District or make a life-changing move across country is even in the equation for us.

Day 685 | More Birthday Business

Robbe was nice enough to help Grandma blow out her candles.

It's my Mom's birthday! Lucky us we got to celebrate her special day in person. Woohoo!

We showed up at her office to tour her construction site and surprised her with a ballon then brought her home and surprised her with an Elsa ice cream cake. Robbe and Chase were pretty excited, as you might have guessed. 

Let the birthday celebrations continue!

Day 684 | Happy Easter

Church + Easter basket hunt + quality family time + egg dying = an amazing Easter Sunday.

Day 683 | Sugar Overload

Busy day around here. We met the Easter Bunny (for the first time) and found eggs during the egg hunt for a candy reward (first round of sugar).

Then my mom and I enjoyed some lovely pedicures and some kid-free time (thanks, Chris!). After a quick round of naps, it was family birthday party time (also for the first time, I think). We were celebrating Lane's 11th birthday and Chase's 4th. Yippee! There were m&m's (round two), jelly beans (round three), and scrumptious homemade cupcakes (the fourth and final round of sugar) to keep the boys soaring on their sugar high. 

As you might expect, they had the time of their lives. So many giggles and jubilant smiles to fill one day. It makes my heart happy. 

Day 682 | Travel Day

Better late than never! Yesterday was our best flight yet. The following car ride left something to be desired, but we'll take it. 

Safe and sound in Wisconsin and ready for a fun, relaxing, and family-filled spring break!

Day 681 | Little Piggie

Chase has been "studying" fairytales in his classroom the last few weeks. This week, The Three Little Pigs was up to bat. The teachers (ahem...kids) made these cute pig ears and nose to act out the story. So cute!

Day 680 | Cherry Blossoms

Ahead of our spring break trip, we needed to make a quick stop down to the Tidal Basin to check cherry blossom progress. Even though the Park Service declared today as peak, it was far from it. There were some fully-blossomed trees (see photo) and it was a lovely morning to be taking in the beauty and chaos of this season in the District, so no complaints when all was said and done. 

Day 679 | Thank You Art

Check out this fun art craft I did with Robbe for his birthday thank you notes.

I used a regular sheet of computer paper, "wrote" the word thanks with painters tape and then had Robbe use our dot markers to cover the tape and surrounding area. Then I removed the tape and scanned in the art to be able to print off the right size.

Super easy and super cute (at least I think so!). Hope all of you that received one felt the same way.

Day 678 | Sweet Boys

I took no photos today. Can you believe it? Me neither. 

So, instead of a pic from today, I'll post these adorable shots that didn't make the blog from the last week or so. I hope you don't mind. 

Day 677 | Haircut Time

Look at these cuties sporting their new new 'dos.

I know I've highlighted fresh haircuts a few times (probably too many) on here, but I just couldn't pass up sharing this adorable photo. Both of the boys were thrilled to be getting their locks trimmed because it meant they could watch their tv show of choice. 

Chase's pick: Paw Patrol (kind of a throwback since he's been pretty into Frozen and Inside Out, since his school movie party).

Robbe's pick: Truck Tunes (a YouTube truck music video). At least he's consistent.

Day 676 | Face Painting

Big day for our big guy: he finally agreed to having his face painted. Yep. Huge, I know.

He opted for Saturn at a friend's space birthday party. His final verdict after having it done? "It tickled a little."

Day 675 | Backyard Blooms

The plants in the District (and our backyard, specifically) have decided it's officially Spring. Unfortunately, they must not have consulted their weather app when making the call. Snow's in the forecast for Sunday.

Not cool. Not cool at all. 

Day 674 | Just a Little Leprechaun...

wanting to wish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Day 673 | Undies

Our little man is very interested in undies. Mind you, he's nowhere near ready for potty training (although he tries by sitting on the potty almost every day).

I decided to let him pick out undies to feed the desire to keep trying and the only ones we could find with trucks came in boxers (I mean real trucks, not from an animated movie). The package arrived today and Robbe immediately needed to put as many on his body as possible. 

Day 672 | Growing Up

Big day today: Robbe was released from his highchair cage. After my fight with my back, I wasn't able to lift him out of his chair for the past week. Chase has been squeezing into Robbe's chair since that fateful weekend. Today, Robbe got the upgrade. He's officially free to come and go. I hope he doesn't let the power go to his head.

Want a stroll down memory lane? Here's one of the first posts I blogged about Robbe joining our dinner table. Aren't they adorable?

Day 671 | The Cupcakes

As promised, a separate blog post dedicated to my favorite food item from the party: the cupcakes.

These turned out so delicious that I had to share it with you all and document it for myself for future use.

Here's what I did:

• Used a regular chocolate cake mix for the actual cupcakes
• Used this strawberry frosting recipe with a two modifications: 1. I used an entire container of strawberries and 2. I omitted the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar-it just didn't need it. Initially my frosting seemed to lack as much strawberry flavor as I'd hoped but the strawberry definitely came out more after sitting for a bit (I would even consider overnight).
• Pureed a pack of regular stuffed Oreos in my Vitamix. Then sprinkled heavily on top. It turned into the most real-looking dirt I could have imagined. Somehow all the stuffing got evenly distributed into the crumbs of the cookies. Perfect!

These will definitely make an appearance at a future party. I love it when an idea comes together!

Day 670 | Some Party Photos

With only a couple of cupcakes left and most of the decorations down, we're officially closing the book on Robbe's birthday.

The little guy had the time of his life yesterday. He was quite the social host and loved flitting between all the activities (a hammering station with golf tees and flower foam blocks, a sensory bin filled with fun packing peanuts for his trucks to move around, and a pin-the-wheel on the truck game), friends (8 kids, 9 adults), and food (apple+grape cars, veggies+hummus, pizza, and, of course cupcakes...which will be described in tomorrow's post),

The most exciting moment? Robbe blew out both his candles in one breath after waiting patiently, without prompting, for the birthday song to conclude. He's the best.

Day 669 | A Birthday Party [Finally]

After a week postponement, we hosted a fun, chaotic, truck-filled birthday party for our sweet two year old today. I'll post some additional photos tomorrow, but for tonight enjoy this perfect snapshot of Robbe playing pin-the-wheel on the truck. He had the best time.

Day 668 | Pizza Movie Party

The PTO of Chase's school hosted a
super fun family pizza movie night tonight. Chase (and in extension, Robbe) could not have been more excited. He asked about fifteen times if he should put his shoes on yet as we were waiting for 6pm to roll around. It's fun to experience that type of excitement through the eyes of a child, isn't it? The enthusiasm was definitely infectious, and spread to more of our family than just Robbe.

You'll be glad to know, the evening didn't disappoint. However, we now have to rent Inside Out to catch the last 30 minutes. :)

Day 667 | Shorts

Have you heard? It's been in the high 70s here. It's weird. And amazing.

Chase has been excited about the prospect of shorts for awhile now. Robbe, on the other hand, doesn't remember the freedom they offer and was very skeptical when Chris tried to put them on him. He did put them on, but Robbe kept pointing at his legs and making his "eh eh" sound which, roughly translated, means "look at this." Day two of shorts, today, led to a similar hesitation/enthusiasm. He's such a sweet pea.

Day 666 | Thank You, Friends

Unrelated to today's post, but noteworthy nonetheless: Robbe's facing forward in the car now!
Our little peanut is growing up.

The back pain hasn't *quite* subsided, but the boys and I managed to pull it off without Chris as main caretaker. That's what you call a success.

I will say, the only way we managed to survive is because of my sweet friends who took on my children (in addition to their own) to give me some much needed couch time. Thank you, Dawn and Cassie, for encouraging me accept your help. I could not have done it without you and I am beyond grateful.

Day 665 | Making Progress

I was, for the most part, the sole caretaker for Robbe today. Chris stayed home and worked while I hung out with Robbe and did everything in my power not to bother Chris at work. It was pretty successful, I'd say. Not the most exciting day for our sweet boy but at least I don't think I set my recovery back at all. That's a big accomplishment!

Pictured above is one of my favorite "mommy needs to just lay here" activities. He decorated my jeans with his favorite thing: stickers. It kept him occupied for much longer than I would have guessed. Thank goodness. 

Tomorrow is my first official day back as Chris is headed to work in the morning. Happy thoughts are once again appreciated. 

Day 664 | Patience 2.0

Don't worry...Robbe and Chase have been very gentle with me. And these little snuggles are about the only thing that has made me smile during this whole mess. Those, and Chris's jokes, obviously.

Well, I'm feeling better. But not as much better as I want to be or as I think I should be after the last 3.5 days of laying on the couch/bed/floor.

Let's just hope I crossed some sort of hurdle and will be much improved tomorrow. Everyone's thinking happy thoughts, right? Thank you in advance. 

Day 663 | Patience

Robbe and Chris doing some acrobatics while I look on from my perch on the floor.

It's been a long couple of days.  Patience, as it turns out, is not my strong suit. I don't understand why the medication isn't working as quickly as I'd like. I don't like that Chris has to shoulder the load with the kiddos all alone. I'm worried about how long this whole recovery process will take. Urgh.

Chris has been overly amazing and I'm grateful every second that he's here to take care of us. He's the best.

Day 662 | My Back

Sorry for missing yesterday's post. It was a rough day around here. Remember when I had that pesky back problem a few months ago? Well here we go again.

Yesterday's fairly normal start to the day turned into a situation where I had to call Chris home from work because I couldn't stand or move without my back muscles spasming and sending debilitating shock waves thought my entire body. And there wasn't ever a specific moment where I moved funny or did something specific to cause this incredible pain.

I finally gave in and decided to head to urgent care mid-morning and I can officially say that was the worst car ride of my whole life. And that includes driving to the hospital in labor with both my babies. In fact, I will say that these muscle spasms were a TON more painful than my un-medicated baby deliveries. It was that bad.  

As you can tell, I had x-rays taken of my back (also not the most pain-free experience, as you might have guessed). Everything was normal in the x-rays so that was good news. The bad news? The super powerful injection of an anti-inflammatory drug did nothing to ease my pain for the drive home. This experience was the longest, most painful 3 hours of my life.

Thanks to additional steroid and muscle relaxing medications, I'm feeling a bit better today. No more crazy spasms, just a very sore back which is limiting my ability stand up and walk very easily. It seems like the medications should be working faster but I guess that's too much to ask.

Fingers crossed for continued improvement tomorrow!

Day 661 | Birthdays + Materialism

We have no shortage of toys around our house. If you've been here, you can vouch. I will say, however, that the numerous times I've tried to weed some out, I inevitably find one favor from a birthday party that's acceptable for me to pitch (everything else stays because they play with it all...I swear).

As birthday season approaches, I start to feel a bit guilty about adding more "things" to our already more-than-adequate supply. Should we start asking for alternative gifts for our boys? Should Chris and I scale back on what we get them? Should I push for "no gifts, please" on the birthday party invites?

All of this swirls around in my head until, at last, I acknowledge that the boys truly love LOVE receiving gifts. They don't have to be large (in size or monetary value) or something that's been on their list forever (Chase's changes daily, afterall). Regardless of what it is, kids love the excitement of unwrapping and discovering these tokens that someone has spent time and energy and money selecting just for them. The pure joy emanating from them during these gift-openings is infectious. And I think their ages have something to do with this. They're still young enough that they aren't expecting anything specific for special occasions but they're old enough to really love new toys and get excited about all the new playtime possibilities. 

So, at the end of the day, presents are good. I'll try to be more mindful of instilling gracious gift-receiving behaviors in our boys and, on the flip side, donating the items we really can live without. 

Having said all that, thank you friends and family for bringing such happiness and excitement to our sweet Robbe yesterday through your gifts (both physical and in thoughts and well-wishes). Since Robbe can't quite express it himself yet, Chris and I will say how extremely appreciative we all are on his behalf. 

Day 660 | And He Turns Two

In celebration of our baby's second birthday, a top ten list for your reading enjoyment.

Top Ten Best Things about 2-year-old Robbe

1. His sense of humor: this guy is hysterical. And he doesn't even try.
2. His musical side: he loves playing the guitar and singing songs (mostly the alphabet variety).
3. His sweet snuggles: I've never seen a two year old that willingly offers up so much quality snuggletime.
4. His love of trucks: seeing them, playing with them, wearing them on his clothing, talking about them, reading about them, really anything related.
5. His smile: It's infectious and about the sweetest thing ever.
6. His desire to be older: to occupy his brother's mealtime chair, to attend his brother's school, to sit forward facing in his brother's car seat, to read his brother's [lengthy] books. He's pretty advanced.
7. His love of his mama: sometimes it drives Chris and me crazy (when it comes to diaper changes, for example), but his affinity towards me melts my heart. It's a special relationship, no doubt.
8. His 16 words: Robbe remains the strong silent type, but has no problem communicating (just without words). An approximate list of all his recognizable words are as follows: mom, dad, brother, kitty, doggy, water, bubbles, deal, grandma, hi, bye bye, night, good, yes, tree, green. 
9. His appetite for food: this kid loves to eat / is borderline addicted. He doesn't really turn his nose up at anything, but a list of some of his favorites includes: any fruit, any sweet, carrots, pizza, pancakes, oatmeal balls, yogurt, granola bars, and dried fruit.
10. His appetite for life: he's about the most fun-loving, adventurous, creative, affectionate little dude you'll ever meet. 

These past two years have, at the same time, felt like the blink of an eye (our baby is two?!?) and an eternity (he's only been around two years?!?). Our little family and everyone Robbe surrounds himself with are happier because he's here. Happy birthday, my sweet little sparky.

Day 659 | Truck Party Sneak Peek

With sweet Robbe's birthday party right around the corner, I decided to show you all some of the festive decorations I've created for the truck-themed shindig.

First (top left), construction sign stickers that party-goers can write their name on so everyone can keep track of their cups (one of my big annoyances at parties).

Second (top right), Robbe's friends will all go home with their own personalized construction hats.

Third (bottom), a construction cone banner that will say, "Robbe is 2!". It's hard to tell in the photo but the letters are made out of "planks" of wood and attached with little "nail" fasteners.

There are a few more fun surprises yet to come. It's going to be pretty fantastic...at least I hope!