Saturday afternoon at home!

Yesterday daddy was gone for the afternoon and evening so the boys and I were home alone. After we made some delicious cookies and had some dinner, we headed to the basement for the rest of the evening.

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It's hard to play upstairs for long periods of time now because Jayden will not leave the tv stand alone! He wants the cable box more than anything!!! I remember these days with Jack too - but it's ok. There are lots of fun things to do in the basement.

And we can all roam more freely :)

Jayden likes to explore the tent and tunnel. He won't go in too far yet without getting scared or nervous, but he likes to play around the edges.

Jack still loves his train set and is always setting up tracks and trains!

Someday they will play together more...... I hope!

Jayden's new skill!

Last weekend Jayden started getting really good and pulling himself up to a standing position by using toys. And he can usually get himself back down without too much trouble!

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Now he can have so much more fun :)

He absolutely loves this music table, especially when Jack plays with him.

And he recently discovered the big jungle musical/ball toy in the basement, and LOVES that.


And he likes to pull himself up on to the sit-n-spin toy, turn the music on with his hands and do his bouncy-dance.
It is very cute !!!

Mom's Birthday!

The birthday celebrations started last weekend with lunch and cake at Stollenwerk's for Megan and my birthdays!

Later when the boys were napping Jeff and I went out to dinner at Olive Garden for Valentine's Day.

On Friday afternoon (my actual birthday) Jack helped me make this amazing cake for dinner at B's on Saturday. It was chocolate devil's food cake with crushed oreos in the mix and cream cheese frosting covered in more crushed oreos (a whole bag to be exact - minus the two Jack and I tested before we smashed them! Had to make sure they weren't stale or anything...)
Me and my boys!

Jack was so good over at G&G B's. He played very nicely all evening.

Here he is playing trains with Jayden before dinner.

Sitting down for dinner.

Jayden was very good in his high chair for my whole meal - until cake, then he came out and sat with me. He had fun chewing on a plastic fork and cup cover. Jack had lots of fun sitting next to Auntie Katie, and he did eventually finish his chicken pot pie. They were good!!!

Opening presents!

Jack is waving his arms around saying "Happy Birthday!"

Cake time!

Jack helped me blow out the candles and he sang "Happy Birthday" magnificently :)

Jack and Grandpa

Daddy and Jayden relaxing after dinner in their matching shirts!

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I had a wonderful birthday, thanks everyone! And now that the weekend is coming to a close and the cake is just about finished, it'll have to be over until next year

(when I'll be turning 28 again, by the way!)

Jack, my baker!

This afternoon I was making my birthday cake, and of course Jack was helping. Then when it was in the oven, he got out his play-food and made me another birthday cake!

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He mixed it all up, put it in his "pan", added candles :) and then put it in his "oven". When it was done he sang happy birthday and "ate" it with me!

What a sweetie :)

I took a video of him singing and talking about it, but it won't load on here properly :(

mixing....
baking....
giving!

Love that grin!

Boys being silling with the winter gear!

The other night Jack brought this music play table up from the basement and Jayden immediately fell in love with it! He just sits and hits the different "instruments" and laughs and laughs and laughs. It is so cute :) He especially like it when Jack plays with him. Jack is usually pretty good - and he always gives Jayden his stool to sit on.

Updates...

A few important things I have neglected to post recently, mostly because I don't have "pictures" of them and I usually base my posts off what's on my camera !

The first is that at the beginning of February Jack "gave up" his baba !!! Actually, what happened was that he was having trouble drinking from it, he kept saying "it's not working". I don't know... at some point are kids mouths not able/too big to drink from a bottle ??? So after about two days of that I told Jack that his bottles indeed did not work anymore and we'd have to put them away because they were baby bottles and he was not a baby, he was a big boy. And surprisingly he took this explanation quite well. He still drinks milk at the same times, before naptime, bedtime and in the evening after dinner, but now he uses a big-boy cup! Go Jack :) Now we need to work on potty-training..........

The second is that Jayden can sit !!! He had been getting close since late January (about 6 1/2 months) but he was always kind of lopsided, leaning on his arm and falling over a lot. Now he can get himself in and out of the sitting position and he only falls backwards occasionally. He's so cute when he sits up and plays :)

The third important thing is that mommy's birthday is on Friday !!! And yesterday afternoon because both my children napped for 2 hours (at the same time) :) :) :) I made really delicious cookies for myself, and I really enjoyed making them because I didn't have kids around me the whole time wanting attention..... or to "help"....... I have to have cookies on my birthday... a cake too, but homemade cookies are a must for me.

Happy Birthday to me (tomorrow) ! Jack said he is going to help me make a blueberry cake.... I've never made a blueberry cake, and I'm not sure where he got the idea for that... but maybe we'll give it a try. Or maybe something with chocolate, and Oreos, instead ?!?!

Jayden is 7 months old!

How time flies.....

Jayden is crawling all over the place and even pulling himself up on things (boxes, low furniture). He is very strong. He loves to roll around and play on the floor with toys. He loves any attention he can get from Jack. This morning Jack said "Jayden is my favorite boy." :)

Super Bowl!

We had a nice quiet Sunday at home awaiting the start of the Super Bowl.

Saturday evening I made my green & gold cupcakes (strawberry cake). They were very yummy :)

We had a nice dinner of homemade pizza and then settled in for the game. The boys spent most of the first half playing clipos..... and then they (and me) went to bed.

All set for a Packer win!

Into the Big Tub!

The past 2 times I have given the boys baths I have put Jayden into the big tub with Jack for the last few minutes.

I have to hold him up, of course, but they both love it! Jack has been very gentle and played really nice with Jayden.

Packer Friday!

The boys sporting their Packer-wear on Friday morning!

Blizzard of 2011!

...or so they say... there is a lot of 2011 left!

But we did get a lot of snow ! And school was cancelled :)

We found out yesterday afternoon that both Jeff & I didn't have school today, so that was nice. We could relax Tuesday evening awaiting the blizzard to start. And we did hear a lot of wind!

We got about 6 inches or so of snow on Tuesday morning/afternoon and probably about another foot over night Tuesday/Wednesday. And we had some big drifts on the driveway.

Jack went out with daddy to clear the driveway around 8:30 this morning, but he didn't stay out too long. It was pretty windy and cold. So he spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing inside with Jayden and I. Daddy spent most of the day clearing snow.

The boys upon waking up on our first snow day of the year... they were both up early! They must not understand that on snow days you can sleep in!

I started my day by baking!

I made Paula Deen's Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake. It was delicious!!!

You have to have something sweet to eat while stuck at home in a blizzard, right?

Watching continuous news coverage.....

Jack and Daddy getting all bundled up to head out into the snow drifts.

The back door no longer has a step, you can just walk right out!


It took a long time to clear all that snow....
But we survived. And it seems as though both boys are now sleeping - so maybe I'll get a little break today too :)

We ended our day with some coloring before bedtime - Jayden discovered Jack's coloring box, he loved it!

Jayden can crawl!

Last night and this morning Jayden took off!

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He can go a few "steps" forwards at a time crawing, but he'll get what he wants eventually. His favorite targets so far are Jack's toys and snack cups that are sitting on the floor, and the remote control, of course!

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Gotta keep an eye on him now!