Sooo BIG!!!

April ~ 2011

Geesh, can't believe it is already May. April passed by so quickly!! We had a month that was TOO busy! Chris' 40th birthday came and went, Easter, our 5 year wedding anniversary, we moved!! On top of it all, we had the wonderful company of my cousin Cortney, who was doing her final college internship at the hosptital I gave birth to Chrisitian at. Pictures of Cortney's visit and our new house to follow!

Let's start with Chris' birthday. Can you believe my wonderful, hot, funny, caring, romantic husband is 40?!?!

Had to make my honey's favorite cake, pineapple upside down!

Chris and Christian standing in front of the collage of pictures I hung of Chris.

To highlight a few...

hehehehehe!

In addition to Chris' momentous birthday we also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Obviously, we have been simply blessed within those years, having our beautiful two boys. But, it has also been a very busy time. I'm almost embarrassed to say that in our 5 years of marriage we have lived in 4 different states. CA, NH, NY(NJ), WA. Of course, most of our time before marriage was spent in California and most of our married life spent in New Hampshire. Although, we have now already been in Washington for 15 months!! I feel like, we can conquer the world together! Truly, my best friend! Chris suprised me with an overnight spa/dinner date at the Salish Lodge, known for it's location perched on a beautiful waterfall. We had a great time and we were so grateful my cousin was there to watch the kids.

Here is a picture Chris took from his cell phone of us out front of the falls.

Easter was pretty mellow this year. It rained in the morning, but the sun came out after nap time, just in time for the egg hunt in the back yard!
Perfect rainy Easter morning activity...decorate easter popcorn balls courtesy of my Aunt Jeanne. Nicholas really gets into these! I think it's funny that he wore his Christmas pjs on Easter!

Final product! Chris' Easter bunny wins the prize. Cortney's egg takes a close second! Mine and Nicholas' in the back!

This is what the Easter bunny brought! A yummy basket full of treats and two watering cans for the backyard.

My little GQ model!

Brothers!

Egg hunt...Nicholas ate as he went.

"Look what I have!"

Hunt in action!

"More eggs!"

Our Easter family shot!

Nicholas at an Easter egg dying party we went to earlier in the week.

More random cute pictures from the month of April:

Nicholas 2nd visit to the dentist another success!

BFF's

Nicholas with Ruby and Tessa after the May Day Festival. I have none from the festival this year:( but it was so much fun and a beautiful day!

Nicholas and Tessa, hiking partners, making silly faces!

These were so cute, we had to get two. A big one and a little one!

Saturday afternoon trip to Pikes Place Market.

Best Friends!

I love how the boys are starting to interact more and more! (And fight over toys more and more!!)

Playground buddies!

Beach buddies!

Playing buddies!

Snack buddies!

Christian's 12 Month Update

Today was Christian's 12 month wellness visit. He is now 19 lbs 3 oz and is 30 in tall. He continues on the same growth pattern, long and lean. Big brother Nicholas was two pounds heavier at this time and one inch shorter. Christian is very social and really likes to "flirt." He has been walking since 10 months old and loves to walk around the house carrying and throwing balls. I still think he is our athlete! He is proud of himself and often walks up to you with something in his hand saying, "dis" (this.) He is "talking" all of the time and often mimicking sounds and words, but I believe "dis" is the only confirmed word he says. He does say dada as well and some would argue with me, but I think it is still without meaning. Christian is often mistaken for a girl, even if he is wearing green or blue or brown. But, I really take it as a compliment actually when strangers refer to him as "my daughter" because I think it is his pretty eyes and luscious lips!

Christian and Nicholas are beginning to play with each other more and more. I'm not sure what is it about boys, but Christian is a rough houser. He loves to wrestle his brother and although it can make me nervous, sometimes it' s cute. Check out him being the aggressor in the series of pictures below.

Christian's approach

Climbing on top of his brother to get thru...

Such determination!

While it may not show according to his weight, this boy can eat! He is also a very messy eater and always seems to want to rub his hands all over his face as he eats! The picture above is with him wearing avocado and black beans all over his face!

On a totally separate note, here are pictures from an unexpected February snow that I had been meaning to post.

Nicholas was so excited to wake up and find snow. He wanted to go out right at 8am.

Happy as can be!

Ok, so it wasn't that much snow! 3 inches at the most. This picture reminds me of when I was a child living in Greece. We got about an inch of snow and all of the schools were closed. It was my first time ever seeing snow and we built a mud snowman in the backyard. I guess the point is, kids love it wether it's a half inch or two feet!

If you did not read the post about Christian turning one, read the previous post. We had a great day celebrating Christian!

Christian is ONE ! ! !

Well, that year flew by! We cannot believe Christian is one today! Our little boy made our family complete. He is such a happy addition to the family and really balances out some of our other cranky personalities! While life has become busier, crazier, and more hectic it is now also, the most joyful, fun, and rewarding. Nicholas has grown fond of life with Christian and is sometimes bothered if he goes out without him or takes a short ride in the car without his brother sitting next to him. I would be lying if I said life is a walk in the park with two boys, but it is truly fulfilling. We love you Christian, happy birthday! What a wonderful year it has been.

We celebrated Christian's first year with Mom-mom and Pop-pop who flew in from Philadelphia.

The cake: looks cute, but not that tasty. Should have made my own...next year (maybe!)

Pop-pop and the birthday boy!

Hahaha!

Daddy and Christian

Our baby! (or toddler, but forever our baby!!)

Chef Nicholas (carefully being monitored by Mom-mom) cutting pineapple.

Happy birthday to you!

"What's this?!?"

"Actually, YUCK!"

He wasn't that impressed with his first taste of sweets.

Nicholas received a superhero cape for being such a good big brother this year. The cape is suppose to help Nicholas protect his brother and keep him safe. Too bad five minutes later he made Christian cry when he took something out of his hand!

Opening presents...

Trying presents out...

... But I actually like the packaging best!

Getting a family shot of everyone looking is next to impossible!

Quiet time with Daddy reading a book after such a long day. Life is good!

Stay tuned for my 1 year stats after my wellness visit. Mom and Dad are keeping their fingers crossed that I'll weigh 20 pounds so we can turn my car seat around!