Oliver is Two!

I've been quizzing Ollie about birthdays for the last month or so:

Me: "Ollie, are you going to have a birthday?"
Ollie: "Soon!"
Me: "How old are you going to be?
Ollie: "Cake!" or sometimes "Big!"

I can't get him to respond by saying two. But he knows he is getting cake. Or at least that's what I think he is saying. Maybe it's "Chips!" He loves those too.

Here is a short list of how awesome my little Ollie man is.
- He is a very snuggly boy.
- Drinks probably half a gallon or more of milk a day.
- He's very helpful. He throws away diapers, gets toys for Nora when she is sad, puts away his toys and books, and goes upstairs to get his own toys and blankets that he wants.
- Ollie s so sweet to his sister. He loves her. She's usually the first one he asks for when he wakes up in the morning or from naps. He gives her hugs and kisses all the time and loves to make her laugh. And occasionally, he will even share his blankets with her.
- Counts to ten and likes to continue on saying "evan, ooteen, ooteen, ooteen." We'll get there with those teens, and maybe get a twelve added in.
- Recognizes several letters.
- He sleeps on a mattress on the floor since we took his crib for Nora and haven't set up his toddler bed yet. His favorite activity by far is jumping off the mattress onto the floor. His closet has mirrored doors and he thinks it is pretty awesome to watch himself jump.
- When asked who he loves he always lists a few friends, sometimes mama and daddy, sometimes grandma and grandpa and nana and bapa, and always Abby, Sam, Andrew, Chari, Joe and Lydia. Every time. In the same order. Loves his cousins.
- He screams this awful high pitched scream when he is ready for us to get him out of bed, and is always sitting up smiling waiting for us when we open the door.
- He loves nursery and playing with kids. He understands our routines pretty well. When it's Sunday we go to church and he has nursery and gets to "play!". When we are going to the park he lists off all the friends who come to play group or to soccer on Saturday mornings.
- He loves cars, airplanes, and trains. Especially the movie "Cars." He loves to run fast and say "Me. Speed." Which I can only guess is him quoting Lightning McQueen saying, "I am speed."

We love our funny little Ollie!!

Danny is Awesome

So, one time, back in June, my sweet husband graduated from college! Yay! And I never blogged about it. So here is that handsome guy graduating.

And then! He started medical school in August, and this last weekend he was celebrated along with his class and given his white coat and very first stethoscope. Doesn't he look official?

See? Like I said, "Awesome!"

My Second Six Month Old

I sometimes have a really hard time believing I am a mother to two sweet little babies and the second one was born SIX months ago! Little Nora is so fun and sweet and easy to love. Here's the rundown on our second-born at half a year old.

- Ollie calls her Nor, sister, or a sweet little  name that I can't figure out how to spell so you would hear it in your head right. Danny's best guess would be "Xio Xio." Somehow, to Danny and I, she is Nora-bug. And therefore bug-face, bug, etc. I also call her Nora Squish. Because she is squishy, and I love it.

- She is napping finally! Except for today that is. Two naps a day and sleeps through the night. Mostly.

- She is a little thing, still fits into some of her 0-3 month clothes. She has an appointment on Monday with the doctor and we'll see how she stacks up.

- Nora is teething. We started her on some baby food about a week and a half ago and she did great for about a week, then her mouth started hurting and she pretty much refuses to open up for the spoon anymore.

- Rolls over both ways, and sits up like a champ. She doesn't mind being on her tummy but shows no interest in crawling yet.

- She has the sparkliest blue eyes I've ever seen, especially when we go outside.

- Nora loves being outside. When she's having a fussy day all it takes is to get out in back and lay her on a blanket and she'll quietly watch her brother run around like a maniac in the sunshine for an hour.

- Getting very grabby. She loves to pull on my hair, my nose, my cup as I try to drink, my plate off the table when she sits with us at dinner, Ollie's blanket away from him, the books I am trying to read to them. All with huge smile.

-She is fascinated with hats. She laughs at Danny's helmet every morning as he gets ready to ride his bike to school.

Just for kicks, here are some side by side shots of Nora (left) and Ollie (right) at about six months old. There are some similarities! I always wondered if our kids would look alike or not. Danny and his siblings all look similar to each others, definitely siblings. While my brothers and I, well...not many people have guessed we were related before.

Nora is 5 Months Old!

I truly did not realize that Nora was five months old. My little brother came over to help me with some things yesterday and we were talking about the kids when I figured it out. Holy cow! How does time go so quickly!

Here is what this pretty little girl is up to:

• She loves her big brother. He makes her just laugh and laugh. He can climb all over her, give her hugs consisting of him laying on her, throw toys at her ("share" he says) and she just smiles and laughs. 
• She hates to nap. I've got her trained to fall asleep at night in about 10 minutes, but during the day she just hates to be put in her bed. Ugh. But she does sleep through the night (except last night, for some reason). 
• She has rolled over a few times, but usually when no one is around to watch her. 
• She is a happy girl. She smiles all of the time. 
• She is in the 44th percentile for length, and the 18th for weight. We just barely started putting away some of her 0-3 month clothes.
• She is becoming a Mama's girl. I used to be able to hand her off to anybody, but she gets sad pretty quickly when she realizes she's not with me (or Daddy, he is passable). 
• She loves to dance (or maybe Danny likes to make her dance and I find it hilarious). 

Cannon Beach 2012

Danny and I love love love Cannon Beach. We had such a great time there for the Fourth last year that we immediately began planning to go again this year. Unfortunately, our children don't share our love of the beach yet.

We brought some great friends along with us this time - Kyle and Bianca Skogen - and their little guy appreciated the ocean about as much as Ollie did. Which is to say not at all.

However, we took turns hanging with kiddos at the townhouse we rented and got some time on the beach, along with a few other outings that we dared take them all with us on. Like watching the fireworks on the beach in Seaside, when Kyler hated the sand the whole time and Ollie acted he got shot every time the fireworks went off. These pictures are mostly from the first day when Ollie and Kyler hadn't yet developed the terror that that ocean brought them the whole rest of the trip.

Blessing Dress Preview

Danny's aunt Nancy crocheted this beautiful blessing dress for Danny's mom's grand daughters. And since we have the last grand-daughter to be born for awhile (besides Chari's baby - but they have a special dress they are using for her already) she gave it to us. Aren't we lucky?! My mom just finished sewing the slip underneath it this week so I could try it on her to make sure we were ready for the big day. I may be biased, but isn't she gorgeous?

Sweetest Kids Ever

Happy Easter everyone!

Week one of being a stay at home mama of two is over - and it went great. My kids are the best, I think so. Granted - Nora still sleeps all of the time, bu

t they were super easy on me this week and I am grateful.

Nora lets me sleep almost all night long - we are usually up for only one feeding and she goes right back to sleep. Ollie love Nora, he's always asking "baby?" when he can't see her, and always wants to give her some love. Which usually means laying his little cheek down on whatever part of her body he can reach at the time.

Love these two!