Easter Sunday

We started out the day early with surprises from the Easter Bunny!  Addalyn & Blake got a wagon this year which of course was the main gift.  In their baskets they each got 1 book, 1 movie, sandals, a bath toy (shaped like an egg), and Addy got stuff to help mama in the garden (rake, shovel, and watering can) & Blake got a toy for his high chair.   

The Easter Bunny came!  (the basket below is mommy & daddy's combined basket!)

Checking out her basket

Going through Blake's basket!

Trying out the new wagon!

We then got ready for church and headed to Pine Island.  We went to church with my mom and dad.  We joined St. Michael's parish in February.  This is the church I grew up at, but it is in my hometown so we had never officially joined.  It is where we got married and both kiddos were baptized.  We decided when we baptized Blake to officially join so that we could start participating in their activities to have a consistent Christian/Catholic environment for ourselves and our kids to be a part of.  Also, we plan to be in Pine Island before the kids start school.  It is about 15 minutes from Rochester and we've had our eye on a few properties there.  I'm so happy we made that decision to join St. Michael's!

Ready for the day of Easter celebration!

 

A not so great family photo - Blake really does have a neck and isn't as chubby as he looks in this photo!

After church we went up to Jean & Paul's.  They were waiting for us to arrive to start the Easter Egg hunt, so we barely made it out of the car when Addy was off looking for eggs!

Then we had lunch - and Blake enjoyed himself FOREVER in this bouncer!

Later in the day we had Addy change out of her clothes so she could run around.  Her, Mira and Serafina ran around in the backyard for a long time.  They had races, played "ring around the rosy" and we snuck over to the neighbors and used their playset for a bit. 

It was a good day with family celebrating Easter :)

Easter Bunny!

One day, I dropped Addy off at Julie's as my little girl....

and when I picked her up she had become a little bunny!

(Blake wanted to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap of course!)

Addy was really into everything Easter related this year.  She would see eggs hanging on the tree when we would drive places and yell out "Easter Bunny Eggs!".  And she was always looking for the Easter Bunny outside on our lawn.  We have a bunny that usually is around our house that Addy loves to watch (not good for my garden...good for Addy's entertainment).

We decided last minute the Saturday of Easter weekend to take the kids to see the Easter Bunny at the mall.  Addalyn was very excited to see him when she was watching everyone else go up to him and say hi.



Watching the Easter Bunny



Waiting her turn...what a patient little one!

When it finally was her turn...she was not so into sitting on his lap.  Sooooooo, a picture of Addalyn & Blake and the Easter Bunny turned into a family photo!  As I mentioned, it was a last minute trip to the mall - as you can tell by all of our casual outfits!

And Mr. Blake even got his turn in becoming the Easter Bunny...but he was too little to have Addy sit on his lap!  :)

Palm Sunday

We celebrated Easter with my family on Palm Sunday.  Aaron was actually in Boston to watch Tammy run the Boston Marathon (how cool is that??!!!) so he wasn't there...but we got to talk to him while we started our day!

He called during her bath...so we had to get out so she could talk to him.  The girl loves to talk on the phone.  She'll listen to whoever is on the other end, so eventually I have to tell her to say bye, or she'll just stand there and listen!

It was a really fun and long day...lots of pictures here, and I totally had way more to choose from!  We started the day with a brunch and some "hanging around." 


Blake, Brynne & Grandma!  Brynne LOVES her baby cousin :)

While we were "hanging out", the Easter Bunny came!  The backyard was filled with eggs!

Everybody say "EASTER BUNNY"




Hunting for Eggs!

 Blake was with us the entire time.  By the end of it - I WAS EXHAUSTED!  Holding Blake outside the entire time, trying to help Addy find eggs - and sometimes she wanted to get held while we were looking (my parents have about 3 acres, so we were walking for quite a while)...my arms got quite the workout that day :)


Mama & Blake helping Addy find some eggs



Look at all the Easter Eggs!

Checking out all of the goods :)

The Easter Bunny at the Tarara house was a bit tough this year.  "Mrs" EB (a.k.a. grandma) knew exactly how many she had put out for everyone and we were missing over 20 after we could not find any more.  We kept taking turns throughout the day giving another go at looking for eggs. 

Addy and her aunt Angela looking for some more eggs!!!

The little ones were pretty tired after the egg hunt and playing outside for a few hours.  So, there was a nap "lull" in the day.  But then, it was time to color Easter Eggs!  My mom actually saves eggs almost all year long for this - she blows out the yolks when she cooks with eggs, so you can save the creations!  She has a few baskets of eggs that she puts out at Easter that are from when we were little.  Very cool to look at!

Aunt Shannon & Addalyn coloring on her egg before she "dips" it!

Hunter & Addy wanted to go look for more eggs after a while, so my mom watched Blake while I went out with them and looked for more eggs.  Those 2 are going to get into trouble as they get older, I can just see it.  Their cousin Drew will help them get into trouble too, but he was busy coloring eggs while we were outside! 

Giggling at eachother!

On a mission to find some more eggs!

This a view from near the end of my parents property in the backyard.  The eggs were hidden all around here - behind us, to the sides and around the red shed on the right, and toward the house which is behind the trees toward the left of the picture.  The Easter Bunny hid the eggs in crazy places and holes that he would find in longer grass.  I'm not sure who he thought he was hiding eggs for, because even the adults couldn't find them!! 

We ended the day with 6 kids in a tub (well, rotating through all 6 kids with as many as you could fit in the tub at one time!  All cousins accept Blake!)...and left for home at bedtime.  It was a long, crazy, fun-filled Easter celebration!

6 months

I cannot believe 1/2 a year has come and gone since our Blake was born.  Craziness how quickly time goes.  April was extremely busy for us, but I managed to capture some cute photos of Mr. Blake


Our "AWESOME" 6 month little boy!

Not many new developments this month since my last post about Blake being 5 months old.  He will sit up for short periods of time all by himself (the most is probably 30 seconds) - getting closer.  He still loves his tummy time and wants to go places...so he rolls EVERYWHERE! 

When he is on his tummy, his legs are already trying to push and get him places, but he hasn't figured out how to get his upper half to go yet...so he sometimes scoots forward with his head buried into the carpet.  Silly guy!  As soon as he figures out his arms, he's off.  But, that could still take sometime.  Addalyn was a somewhat late crawler...she was nearing 10 months before she crawled, so I'm not expecting anything soon!

We started him on veggies right around 6 months and have now gone through all of those and moving on to fruits.  He loves food...not sure what else I can say but that!  None of the new flavors really phased him, he just opened his mouth as if to say "keep them coming"!  I give him a sippy of water sometimes with his "meal" -- he sort've seems to get the concept but basically just chews on the cup unless I hold it up, then he takes drinks from it.  I feel like he's so little to get that concept, but then I remember this is when we introduced sippy's to Addy to.  Seriously he's growing up so fast.




My first veggy -- peas!



He Likes It!

 

My blue-eyed boy :)

Here are his 6 month stats:

Length - 26.4 inches (50%)
Weight - 17.6 pounds (54%)
Head - 17.4 inches (64%)

I looked back and Addy was 17.3 pounds at 6 months...so basically even.  The nurse had told me he was over 18 pounds so I was thinking he was more than Addy, but now just doing the conversions I see he was a little under.  Addy was like 75% at that weight...everyone makes comments on how "solid" Blake looks - but apparently he's pretty average for a boy his age.  He's definitely got some kissable little cheeks thought.  OMG!



Look at that face...how can you not just want to give it kisses??!!

 He's my little lover - pretty sure he's my mama's boy.  The other night I was over setting up for a garage sale after the kids went to bed - I came home and Aaron had Blake in our room 'cause he had woken up and was crying.  Apparently he had been crying for about 40 minutes (which he never does now that he's not a newborn...usually sleeps through the night).  I picked him up, took him out to the living room, had him settled within a few minutes - and back in his bed sleeping.  Aaron was talking to him in the morning about apparently just wanting his mama. 

It's nice to be wanted/needed :)


6 Months and Counting!

Toes

Toes sure are tasty...don't ya think???!!!!

Weekend Travels

In March we did a few weekends of traveling back to back.  The first weekend, we went to Madison and spent time with the Charbonneau's - Jason ("Charby") is one of Aaron's closest friends.  It was a nice weekend.  We did a few things, but really just relaxed together and caught up. 

We happened to pack a pair of jammie's for Addy that their oldest also had, so of course it was a good photo opportunity! 

Alexis (3) and Addy (22 months)

Both Aaron and Jason are such great dads.  It's awesome to watch them with their kids.  Like his wife Maryellen commented...knowing how crazy those 2 would/could get back in the day, it is funny to think that those crazy guys now have kids (3 out of 4 being little girls) and just fun to see where life took them.  :)



Blake & Addy Anderson; Alli (Allison) & Alexis Charbonneau

The next weekend in March we went to Green Bay to spend some time with Aaron's family.  We typically go to the U.P. every March, but it just seemed like a lot this year to make that drive around March, so we thought we would try and meet at a half-way point. 

Green Bay is perfect -- only 3 hours for Aaron's dad/sisters; 4 for us without stopping.  Sure beats the 7 hour drive that we have...which typically becomes 8-9 with our stops (poor little Addy is not showing signs of getting over car sickness anytime soon!). 

Unfortunately Tina and the rest of the Lindholm's couldn't make it that weekend - but his sister Tammy and the rest of the O'Brien's and Aaron's dad made the trip down.  Aaron also has relatives in Green Bay - his aunt/uncle Sue & Gary, and 2 their kids -- Dustin (Aaron's best man in our wedding) and Derek all live there. 

Friday night we stayed over at Derek's house.  I think I've blogged about them before when we went to GB after Vanessa's wedding last summer...Derek has 2 little boys.  His oldest, Tyler is a riot!  You just have to have a conversation with him -- I just can't do him justice.  He is on the go 110% of the time and total entertainment!

He has a Silverado that he wanted to take Addy for a spin in.  Not going to lie, I felt like I had fast-forwarded 14-16 years and some crazy teenager wanted me to trust him with taking care of my little girl in his truck on a date.  Crazy!

Anyway --- it's actually pretty cool and Derek made sure to run after them the entire time so that they didn't crash into anything, LOL!

Hey you two -- keep your eyes on the road!  (how cute is this??)

Saturday we checked into a hotel that has a nice waterpark.  Everyone came to the hotel for the day to take advantage of the water park and of course watch some basketball later in the evening!

In the kiddie pool!

Not so sure about it the second time around :)

After only a few minutes, Addy was over the kiddie pool, and on to their fun play area!

Peaking at someone in the fam and full of squeels!



Uncle Eddie catching miss Addalyn

Addy and Brandon also went down the big slides a few times and I took her in the pool with her floatie also.  All the pictures from the slides were blurry.  I think she sort've liked it and it sort've scared her at the same time!  

Hanging out Pool Side

Snack Break



Papa Lowell and Blake

I get so mad at myself when I come home and look at pictures and realize I hardly got any pictures of anyone.  I wish I had some of Addy with everyone (like her Papa and such).  Addalyn absolutely LOVED her time with Papa, auntie Tammy, uncle Eddie, Brandon, & Alesha.  She would go up and down the hallways of the hotel with them and really didn't want to sit still in our room.  Which was fine - she was entertained! 

I think we should meet in GB again sometime - it was a nice time and not TOO lengthy of a drive! 

Can't wait to see everyone again in May when we head to MI for Brandon's graduation.  Holy craziness....we have a nephew that is GRADUATING?  Say what??!!!!!!

5 Months

This post is a bit late, because Mr. Blake was actually 5 months a few weeks ago.  Buuuut, holy cow has life been busy.  Of course it is crazy busy on a daily basis with 2 little ones...but we've also been gone on the weekends and such, so not a lot of time to sit and relax and blog (or time to clean for that matter.  WoW!).

Life is good with this little man.  He is a very content baby these days!!  He looks at you with such serious eyes that MELT.MY.HEART.  (pretty sure I've mentioned that a few times on this blog!).

We have officially transitioned him into the nursery with Addy.  They do pretty well.  Addy is such a "mother hen" to him, always reporting to us when he is crying, smiling, rolled over, talking, needing a paci, etc....so for a while any noise he made would wake Addy up.  And, in the morning he usually woke her up earlier than normal.  I think she is starting to get used to him being there and willing to stay asleep if he wakes up earlier than her.  On the other hand, it takes a lot for Addy to wake up Blake.  He is sleeping before we put her to bed, and she'll talk, sing, etc and it typically won't wake him, THANK GOODNESS :)


He is such a sweet little boy, usually just observing and watching his crazy big sister run around like crazy.   He really has a lot of patience with her, and loves to watch her.  He sometimes smiles when she talks to him, but usually he just looks at her, like "here you are again, all up in my space"!  She gets right in his face (I mean RIGHT in his face) and says "Hi Blake, How are you?" and "Good Morning Buddy" and a bunch of other cute things that sound even more cute than necessary 'cause of the fact she doesn't have all of her words down yet.  :)

Blake LOVES his cereal too.  We are ready to move to other foods I think.  He fusses every single time we are done with it, like 'GIVE ME MORE PLEASE!'  I just am waiting for the 6 month mark I guess, not sure why though.  He starts each morning with a bottle around 6:30 a.m., then again at 10, 2 & 7.  He has cereal in between that around 8, 11, and 5.  He is growing and it shows.  He is starting to transition out of his 3-6 month clothes.  I'm excited to see his stats at his 6 month check up.

I can't figure out who he looks like.  Most days I see my side of the family in him...especially our nephew Drew when he was this age (minus the fact that Drew has brown eyes, some pics you could not even tell the difference!).  But then I will glance at him and totally see Aaron.  I think he has more "Tarara" than Addy did at this age though...

Blake discovered tummy sleeping this month also.  I will never put him on his tummy myself, but there isn't much I can do if he rolls to it in the night I guess.  And, since he sleeps through the night, I can't complain too much!  He has a somewhat consistent sleeping schedule.  He goes to bed each night between 7:15 and 7:45.  He's usually ready on the early side of that, it is just a matter of getting him in his jammies and bottle in when we've barely gotten home from work and done baths some nights...it gets a bit hectic.  He takes a morning nap around 8:30/9 and afternoon nap around 12:30.  He sometimes thinks he needs to wake up after only 40 minutes to an hour of napping...but we're working on that!

In the picture below, it was the first night that Aaron and I discovered him on his tummy.  He was sleeping later than normal in the morning when we were getting ready for work.  Aaron went to check on him and came to me saying "come look at your son".  Not only was he on his tummy, but on the OTHER end of the crib from where he started.  He is quite the wiggler in his sleep!


Officially no more swaddling after this...the animal blanket that he has his head on, was the blanket he was swaddled in for bed.  Silly man!

 

Blake Aaron - 5 months!