Adios April!!

Well, April certainly went by in a blur and was full of excitement!! Marc and I welcomed our first niece (Alex's very first cousin!!!!!) into the world this month. Callie Dianne Stocker was born on April 7th at 6:33pm. She weighed 8lbs & 10 oz, and was 22 inches long (a tall one)! As you can see below, she is bright-eyed and beautiful and is already 3 weeks old! I visited Charlie, Kelsey, and Callie in California last week, along with my mom, and really enjoyed the trip! Kelsey is feeling good and looking great, and she and Charlie are wonderful parents! We are just thrilled for them and their beautiful daughter. Alex can't wait to show Callie his trucks and farm animal figurines. Here are some pictures from what went on this month in our lives...

Callie Dianne Stocker...look how cute I am in my flower suit with pink bows on the toes!

I'm getting bored of all the pictures Aunt Carrie...

Aunt Carrie and Callie in her swing, all cozy!

Here I was after church today....BORING hair.

Here I was after my hair appointment today. It's a swing bob so the back is REALLY short. I love it and am now ready for vacation!

Here is Alex today...he likes to put his toy bin on his head and run around the house. He stops every 3-4 steps to peek where he's going...cautious like mommy.

Good pics of Rummy and Willow from last weekend...it was 92 degrees outside!!

Rummy is such a good girl and loves playing fetch! Also, notice how good our grass is looking in the back yard. Marc is really working hard on it and it shows!

Alex was taking a breather here, having some juice.

He likes to throw the ball for the girls even though he maxes out at about 5 feet. Sometimes Willow just runs up and takes it out of his hand and sometimes he runs around, playing keep away from Willow. It's really funny....

Taking his duck for a car ride...

I LOVE this picture of my guys...check out Alex's cute little lip.

Okay, earlier in the month Marc took a "sim" (simulation) round in his Adam's Apple. For those that don't know, it's a regular bullet with a paint tip, used for training at TBS. Thankfully this only hit him from about 30 feet away...he will make sure his throat protector is snapped next time. He couldn't breathe for about 6 seconds which probably felt like a lifetime.

Nice one, honey.

Here is Alex snacking on a steak quesadilla this afternoon during snack time. We hadn't made quesadillas in a long time so we got out our quesadilla maker today. Alex eats them at school and he sured loved this one, too!

Here is the nice stone patio Marc and I made a few weeks ago. This has significantly cut back the amount of dirt the girls bring in and we can't get grass to grow here anyways because of all the foot (paw) traffic. (see a quick glimpse of it in video #2 below, too)

(Turn your head to the left to view this...sorry!!!) We went to an afternoon BBQ at some friends' new house yesterday (2 May) and they had an awesome playroom, complete with two trampolines w/ handlebars. Alex was all over this thing and loved it. I think we'll be getting this for his birthday...good exercise and energy user-uper, especially on rainy days or while watching Elmo.

Here is Alex, galavanting around the yard last weekend! If you listen carefully you can hear him say "cheese" after I move in front of him with the camera. He likes saying "cheese" all the time now and it's so darn cute!

Outside Playtime Videos

It was gorgeous out this weekend so we were outside a lot! Alex LOVES playing outside and usually cries when we "make" him come inside with us for his dinner time! These two videos were taken with my camera, not my video camera, so the quality is not as good as usual.

More playground...what a climber!

More March and Easter pictures

Here are some more pictures from Easter. As you can tell, Alex did really good searching for eggs! Each time he saw one (with help from mommy and daddy pointing) he got very excited and hussled over to it. He put each egg into his basket as he found them and searched for the next one. We really enjoyed the afternoon and took turns hiding the eggs for him!! There's a blue one!
I found a green one!

I see a pink one under that big rock!

Nice try hiding it in the flower bed!

Big Easter kiss for Rummy. Alex has learned Willow's name (Wi-woah) but calls Rummy and Willow the same name sometimes. We're practicing saying Rummy a lot now.

Alex tried to take his big chickie balloon for a ride in the car. They didn't really fit very well!

Turtle jammies

Naked vacuuming...too cute. The boy has got some long, skinny arms. His teachers tell us that he eats twice as much as any other child in his room, though!! I bought this vacuum at a consignment sale after looking on Craig's list FOREVER. He LOVES when we get the real vacuum out and always wants to help. This, and the rest of the pictures below are from the last week in March.

More vacuuming

Trying to vacuum the ottoman I guess...he's thorough.

New bike helmet for this spring. I also got this at the consignment sale in March. He likes it and it's "Power Rangers" (gag me).

playing outside on a wintry March day!

Daddy and Alex

So stylish!

What a poser!

All bundled up!

HAPPY EASTER

Family Easter pic after returning home from church! It was actually only 50 outside today so Alex and I just took our jackets off for the picture...we look warm, at least!

The Easter Bunny left a basket of goodies on the deck for Alex!

Checking out his basket in his pajamas and tennies...he's holding a pink, plastic egg.

This grass looks messy and fun.

Daddy just opened my Peeps...this is my first big bite!

Mmmmmm...

Now he's trying a chocolate bunny...notice the war wound outside of his right eye. He tripped and hit a wooden step outside on Friday. He and I both cried but he got over it quickly.

Mouth full of chocolate...yum.

Now for a real breakfast. Alex used his ducky fork from Aunt Megan and Uncle Michael today for breakfast and Marc and I were 100% impressed. He used it to eat his eggs, sausage, and banana slices!!!

Then he wanted another peep...

Yummy!! Sugar high...
After we got home from church, Alex wanted another Peep. We created a monster with these Peeps. We both had one and shared! Mommy does love Peeps too ya know.
Wow, mommy is eating my Peeps!

Same Peep...

Double-fisting his Peep and the end of mommy's Peep...there was sticky, pink sugar all over him after this.

What a smile!!

Marc got Alex a HUGE chick balloon on Friday and he dragged it around the house all weekend. It finally popped this afternoon after being beat up all weekend. Alex WWF slammed in on the couch...ha ha!

big hug for his chickie

check out my singing cow from CC and Poppy! We have listened to this a lot during the past week and Alex loves it!

Big kiss for the cow!

BYE-BYE CRIB

I picked up Alex from daycare at 2:30pm on Friday afternoon and his teachers told me that he didn't sleep well during nap time (only 40 minutes) and that he kept some of the other children from sleeping because he was crying. I thought...I'll try to put him down for a quick nap as soon as we get home so that we could have an enjoyable evening with him after he rested. I read him two books and put him in the crib. He was talking to himself a little bit (normal) and about 20 minutes later I was unpacking my bag from work and I heard the jingle of his blue bear...except that I hadn't heard it through the monitor. I walked from the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs and there was Alex sitting on the second step with his blue bear, just smiling away at me! After I thanked God for not letting him fall down the stairs I couldn't help but just smile at Alex! Ha ha! Well, we had a great evening and we decided to put him to bed in his crib, and then switch to the toddler bed today. I put him down at 7pm and we didn't hear a peep. I got tired EARLY at 8:30 and thought that I would just go peep in at him one more time. Well, he was asleep in the middle of his floor, in a little pillbug ball with his butt in the air. He was holding his Easter bear from Aunt Megan and Uncle Michael, which he decided to bust out of jail with. My heart melted and at the same time I thought "What a rascal!" I carefully picked him up and put him in his crib. Today we put the toddler rail up and he couldn't stop saying "Whoa!" Well, it did take a bit to get him to stay in for naptime but he slept for two hours! Tonight, we did out bedtime routine at 7:15, read three books, I put him in bed, and closed the door. He moaned/whined a little when I left but NEVER got up. I couldn't believe it...of course it's only been 30 minutes. We'll see how tonight goes but we're two for two today so far. Also, today Marc and I had a dance lesson and we did the Foxtrot. Next Saturday we have our second lesson and we'll brush up Foxtrot and start Swing. We really had a fun time! Right now we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first niece, Callie D. Stocker!!!! We are praying for Kelsey and little Callie, and for a safe and quick labor/delivery!

Checkin' out the big boy bed. Comfy!

Don't take away my tunes, mom! I love my music!

What a ham!