Helping out around the house

Granddaddy and Grandmother arrived on Wednesday and Andrew has had fun getting to see them again. Here are some pictures from him helping us all out around the house.

Andrew trying on Granddaddy's shorts.


Andrew is in between changing from his bedclothes to clothes for the day, but took time out to help Daddy and Granddaddy fix a leak in the sink (because something always has to start leaking when we have guests!).

Wait, there is dirt to play with in the kitchen?!? I'll be right there! Andrew helping Momma freshen up the soil of her kitchen plants and then vacuuming up what we spilled.

Play pictures from today

Just some pictures from our day today. Andrew had fun coloring before playing with his hats this morning. Then playing with his elephant mask and some time on the couch with Momma and Raquel after school.

Andrew's first easter egg hunt.

Saturday turned out to be a full and interesting day for our family.

We started out with a big run in the truck to the recycling center to drop off a full load which we have been stockpiling here for quite some time. Andrew really likes to go for some reason, and always is quick to say that he is interested in going with Momma and Daddy to 'cycle' on the weekends.

After we cleared out the back of the truck we headed over to the mall to get a picture with the Easter bunny. He was really tired since he got up especially early on Saturday. So by 10am he was tuckered out already. But we were able to perk him up by saying that he could see the Easter Bunny and take a picture with him, so I dropped off Momma and Andrew at the door and parked the car out in the lot while they waddled in.

Fortunately, Momma knew best as she timed it right when the mall opened and the Easter Bunny was just starting to take pictures. So we were second in line and were able to just walk right up and snap a good one!

Andrew did really well with the Bunny and even when the little boy before him was scared and started crying, he just shook it off and got on his lap and smiled away with one of his signature open mouth, tongue out pictures... But we will take that above a crying shot any day!

From there, we ran home and picked up some cameras so that we could make it over for the 11am Easter egg hunt that our church was holding at a local elementary school. It was PACKED!

Again,I dropped Momma and Andrew off as close to the field as possible, and then had to park on the opposite side of the school. So I am really glad that we were able to get them close to the action.

I grabbed the camera and stroller and high tailed it over to the field where everyone was queuing up, but I just missed the start of it! So I quickly ran to the side of the field with the camera and snapped a couple of Andrew picking up some eggs, but missed the build up and the mad dash for the eggs.

This was the third year that the church has held the Easter egg hunt, and they put signs all over town so there was a HUGE turn out. It is more of a Easter egg grab or pickup, than a hunt in traditional fashion. It was a 25x25 yard area cordoned off with caution tape on the ground and everyone lined up along three sides. Then when they said go, everyone scrambled into the field where hundreds and hundreds of plastic eggs were laying scattered about. So there was no real hunt about it, and since it was mixed ages, everyone ran for them. It was a sight to see!

Andrew had his bucket and really did well! He piled them in and filled up his bucket with Momma, while Daddy snapped a few pictures.





After all the eggs were collected, the participants and their parents filed out one side and turned in the baskets and buckets filled with empty plastic eggs so that they could be replaced on the field for the next 'shift' of children. When you gave back your eggs they would give you a little plastic baggie with some treats in it and a coloring page or two with some Easter bunnies and other seasonal pictures on it.


We left at this point as Andrew was all tuckered out and really needed a nap (we didn't let him sleep between the picture and the egg hunt)! So we went home and got a nap once home.



It was a great morning and the day was still young!

Daddy

First day of Spring!

Today didn't look like the first day of spring, but we made the best of it!

Started out with a wet wake up outside, and it was really windy all day, but it was sunny for a good part of the day and while it was chilly, not too cold.

Angela and I had another weekly appointment and everything is going well. Nothing out of the ordinary, and it looks like little miss peanut is going to take her brother's path and stay in as long as possible!

I was on my way home from work to pick Andrew up at day care and I saw something that made me change my plans for dinner though. I picked up Andrew and I told him that we were going to surprise Momma tonight. He was absolutely ready for a surprise. I built it up all the way to the restaurant, so he was really looking forward to this surprise with Daddy.

We were ordering our first spring meal after they opened up for the season and Andrew was such a flirt! He was waving madly at each of the two girls at the window, and they were reciprocating which only egged the little man on further. By the end of the stop for take out, he was doing everything he could from waving, smiling, laughing, and blowing kisses to the girls that they just kept egging him on.

We made it home and I kept building up the suspense with Andrew so that when we got out of the car I had him running into the garage and up the stairs (as much as a 2 year old can run up stairs!) to greet Momma.

It was then that we sprung our surprise on Momma! We brought home dinner from the newly re-opened Dairy Queen! So hot dogs and ice cream for everyone!

I made the observation that Andrew is the complete opposite of his Daddy in that he wolfs down his ice cream. Daddy still hears disparaging stories about his younger years with dripping cones and sticky seats in cars from my doddling while eating ice cream.

Andrew on the other hand is a sprinter! No brain freeze or waiting for it to melt for him! We only gave him the cone with the ice cream up to the top of the cone, but he was finished with that before Momma or Daddy could make a dent in theirs and started in on Momma with his, "More! More! More please!"

So he got several small spoonfulls after the cone as well! All from a little boy who didn't have much for dinner other than some of the hot dog bun, half a banana, and pecked at the hot dog...

Just like all children, there is always room for ice cream!

Ahhh, Spring has sprung!

Nathan

Sleeping in!

Today Andrew 'slept in' for the first time since he was born. I say slept in as I have not set an alarm in a very long time since he usually gets up before we need to get going in the morning.

But today, I was surprised that he woke up and I listened for a period of time like normal, but then when he called out for the first few times I got up and looked at the clock... 7:30! Wow! Of course this meant that my 9am meeting was going to be tough to get to the office for as he still needed to get up, get dressed and ready for school as well as eat prior to getting us going.

I made it right at 9am, but really had to hustle him in to school this morning, and by the time we got there they were already getting ready for their first circle time reading, so no 2nd breakfast at the table with everyone else prior to school starting for Andrew!

This time change has gotten him to sleep later, but we are also letting him stay up nearly an hour later than normal, so it is no real net gain of sleep for him. But it sure surprised Daddy this morning!

-Daddy

Hi daddy! Thanks for the bath!

Fun in the tub.

Our weekend entertainment.

Here is a little video highlighting some of the sparking tree, and the aftereffects on Sunday while the road was still closed down.

Some recent videos

Here are some recent video's when we went to the park (last week).

Andrew riding on the motorcycle...



Andrew on the 'big boy' swing!



Andrew on another rocker and then climbing up the tires (for the first time).

Crazy week

This week has been a crazy one so far.

The weekend was a bit thrown off with Andrew being ill and then the storms and tree being blown over, and it has continued through the week so far!

Monday I had to go to our PA office for some meetings, which threw off Andrew a bit since I wasn't there in the morning when he woke up or able to take him to school. But Momma did a great job of dropping him off, even if there were a few tears as she couldn't play blocks with him in the morning!

We also found out that Andrew's class at school will be having changes as well, not something we look forward to with changing his home environment so significantly in the coming weeks either!

Both of his teachers are moving on to other opportunities at basically the same time. So he will have two teachers who while he has familiarity with through the other classes they are in at his school, they are not the constant which we would have liked through this coming changing time with a little sister on the way!

Tuesday, I stayed at home and worked as I was under the weather similarly to Andrew, so I was heading to bed early when I got notification that there was something up at work and had to go in for a bit. Not what I wanted to do when tired and sick, but it had to get done anyways.

Yesterday while I was still under the weather I went in for a series of meetings which lasted all day. As the day progressed, I got more and more affected, and finally by last evening I was having all sorts of problems which lasted through the night.

When I walked into Andrew's classroom yesterday they were busy cleaning up where he had thrown up but by the end of the evening, he seemed to bounce back (kids are amazing).

Andrew woke up early this morning (around 4:30a) and was crying as he had taken off his pj's because he also was having the same problem Daddy was having and needed to be changed. But he was really upset, so we couldn't put him back down at all.

He was a bit cranky, but overall seemed ok, as he ate through half a muffin followed by two waffles along with water, milk, juice, and some hot apple cider (He sure was parched)!

After observing him for a few more hours we took him into school and he seemed to do just fine so far.

Crazy crazy week so far... Is it only Thursday?!?!

-Daddy

A tree.. and electrical line... down

Well it looks like the heavy rains of yesterday were too much for one of our tall spruce trees out front at the road. Around 7:30 PM our neighbor calls to ask us if we've seen that one of our trees is leaning against the power lines and causing big sparks and smoke to rise into the sky. Yikes! Of course we hadn't noticed, and since Nathan was putting Andrew down for bed, I had to quietly tip-toe to the kitchen window to look out for any signs. Since it was still pitch black from night and from the thunderstorm, it was pretty easy to see the sparks, but the smoke was mostly hidden by the other trees. The police ended up closing down the road and it stayed closed until Sunday afternoon once the tree crew and power company made it to us to take down the rest of the tree leaning into the road and fix the power line. Since the line came down in our driveway we stayed home during this time!


Some pictures of our tree out front, and the electrical line it took with it, from after the storm on Sunday.

The base of the tree, giving way at the roots causing it to lean into the neighboring tree and power line.

The top of the spruce tree after it was burnt off by the electrical line. It took close to 4 hours for the line to burn through the tree trunk. Thank goodness everything was so wet, otherwise it might have set the branches on fire!

The power line dangling in the center of our driveway.




These pictures are actually from Wednesday, March 12, after the power company took down the top of the tree on Sunday we were left with the bottom half of the tree still standing. Since our road is a county road, the county tree service came and took down the lower half of the tree and cleaned up all the branches for us, just leaving a stump. Thank goodness!

Just saw animals going by two by two...

We have had SO much rain in the past two weeks. Since March started only 8 days ago the weather station said we have had over 3.75 inches of rain! Whew!

That would be plenty from last week, but yesterday it was drizzling and today we are expecting another 2+ inches of rain. Just no where for it to go!

I thought that Amy (Angela's sister) was the only one allowed in this family to have Monsoon like weather (while in Taiwan)!

So it has been pouring for the past hour, just a rainy gloomy day. Good day to curl up if you are sick and sit by a fire (this will come once Andrew wakes up and can "help" Daddy start it).

Daddy

Sick little buddy.

We were a little surprised that Andrew didn't want to eat anything last night, but sometimes he goes through spurts of feast or famine, so we didn't think much of it. But this morning he woke up on the wrong side of the crib (and there is only one way out!) and didn't eat much of his oatmeal or anything else.

Daddy was able to entice Andrew to eat some grapes, but nothing like his normal first (or second) breakfast appetite.

We had some contractors come this morning to get an idea of the project we are looking at in the basement, and Andrew came down to see what all the commotion was, and was his usual jovial self, playing in whatever space we were in, just to be near the guys.

Once we finished with the walk around and the contractors left, we went upstairs and finished preparing second breakfast with Momma. Momma and Daddy sat down and Andrew didn't even want to have second breakfast with us even with the promise of pancakes or sausage (both morning favorites)!

While Momma and Daddy sat and ate our breakfast Andrew was actually moping around the living room. He knelt next to his chair and laid his head down on the seat of it for nearly five minutes until he decided it was too much work staying on his knees, so he just laid down on the wood floor and layed quiet for the majority of the meal.

Near the end he did stand up and walk into the dining room (you know Andrew is either sick, tired, or up to something if he is walking) and then laid his head on Great Grandmother's pink chair while watching us finish up. He even turned down the offer of sitting on Momma's lap (a real treat at 8 months into our pregnancy)!

We picked up breakfast and then got clean pants on before Andrew walked out into the hallway, turned around and emptied the entire contents of his stomach all over the floor. Poor little guy!

Once he finished, I took him into the living room to sit on my lap and he had a little more in him, though this time it was all stomach acid, so he got a little more upset with this one.

We cleaned up the mess, then Andrew layed down on Daddy while we got out a special movie from Nana and Papa. It was Veggie Tales Easter Carol which we got last year (or prior to that even!). Since we hadn't seen it before it was a special treat, and Andrew sat with quarter open eyes through the majority of the 45 minute show.

We swapped out to Momma's lap and he was tired of the show (even while sick he doesn't watch much TV, there are too many things to look at while awake in this world!) so we just sat and talked for a bit until he got sick again while still sitting on Momma.

He had taken a few sips of water during his show and this is what he purged this time. After that he was telling us his tummy hurt and kept pulling at his shirt.

It's times like these I wish we could help him some way.

After cleaning this up Andrew started to fall asleep on Momma's lap so I closed the blinds in the room so he could settle in on her lap (it's the best place when we are sick).

He took about a 10 minute cat nap and then wanted his nap mat, so got up and was coming in from the living room when he got sick again. This time mostly nothing came out, but a little stomach acid, so he really is empty now.

He is now quietly sleeping in the living room on his nap mat that Momma made for him and Momma is sitting next to him tending her little one the best she can. Such a good mother hen.


Hopefully he gets enough rest to fight this off. It's a gloomy rainy day here, so if he has to be sick, this is the weekend to do it.

Daddy

Andrew and Daddy go hiking

Over the last weekend Andrew and Daddy were able to bundle up a little and go out for a little hike. We had a lot of fun, while staying warm for our 1/2 mile hike, but I can see that I have created a monster as he now asks about 'backack' all the time!

So we wonder around in the yard and in the forest at the back of the yard, but overall he is starting to really enjoy being outside.

This spring will really be a lot of fun taking him out for bike rides and hiking in the parks as well as I hope to take him out on the Appalachian trail a bit also. Some in the pack, some on his own. It will be slow going with him walking, but I think that he will like being out there and seeing all the new surroundings.

Now if I could only get him to carry me around in a backpack! That would be some trick.

-Daddy

Poopy on the BIG potty!

Andrew has decided that sometimes in the evenings he will use the BIG potty. This still works (though not as well with the oval toilet that we have in the bathroom) with his seat insert, so he is so cute sitting there perched atop the big boy toilet!

Tonight he went both pee pee and poopy on the toilet! He was so happy just dangling his legs over the side. There is no way to get up or down from there without help, so we will have to work on placement of a stool for him soon.

We are so proud of our big boy!

-Momma and Daddy

Pics from the park

This park is a great one, they have 3 different areas which cater to the different age ranges and have slides from simple open ones and enclosed corkscrews to two great big two story slides with an obstacle course on the way up to the top! It is really well designed. It even has the rubberized ground coverings for the toddlers and the little tyke areas, and rougher bark for the bigger kids side.

We are planning on really taking advantage of this park this Spring and Summer with Angela being out on maternity leave. It is only five minutes from Daddy's work, and has a great place to picnic right outside the fence. It can get a little busy on beautiful days, but on this one we were one of only 10 or so kids.

Climbing up the stairs to the big enclosed slide.



Snack break! Time for some water and raisins with Momma! Though it was sunny, it was still chilly! Andrew's hands were icy by the time we were finished at the park.



Vroom, Vroom! This motorcycle was a real hit. He really enjoyed the buck 'em bronco style rides at this park.



Momma, did you see me climb up on that motorcycle all by myself and ride it for everything it had?!?!



Andrew's first time on a big boy swing! He really enjoyed the swings, and jumped off each one (in mid swing) just to see if any of the other ones were different. We tried all four swings and had a blast!

Fun at the park.

Yesterday, Thursday, March 6, we had a host of appointments for Andrew that we wanted to get out of the way prior to having a little one show up unannounced, so we ran from office to office, and appointment to appointment all day.

But we did have time to stop at the park which is down the street from Daddy's work and have some fun for a while.

This is the first time we have been out to a park this Winter so it was a real treat for Andrew. He enjoyed playing on the slides, and even got to try his hand at a big boy swing and really enjoyed it. While the pumping of the legs will come with time, one thing we need to work on immediately is learning to tell Daddy or Momma that we is ready to get off instead of just leaping in mid swing! Of course, in a year or so this will be a great amount of fun, but until he has a little more control I want to teach him not just to fling himself to the will of gravity just quite yet.

Daddy

Reading books

Momma and Andrew reading books this morning.

Parade lap 4!

This was the last lap of the parade. It employed party favors from Momma's birthday party and Andrew is really mastering the use of them. Although a chomp here or there or a slobber coated horn sometimes hampers his ability to get a really good horn extension!

The marching continues!


I can blow it up!


And down!

Andrew and our 'pee pee potty' progress

Andrew is doing really well in the evenings and some times in the mornings as well with making it to the potty. He really enjoys the praise and I think that he is starting to almost build it into our nightly routine.

We now get changed and before putting on our nightly diaper we go to the bathroom and go pee pee potty followed by washing our hands (with some play time built in there), and then put on our diaper and brush our teeth.

This makes Momma's brushing while being assisted by Daddy right before book reading a lot shorter. But they still manage a few bed time kisses!

The little scamp is starting to learn the power of pee pee potty though! He has even pulled the 'Andrew pee pee potty?' line right after reading all of his books and right before our last book of the night. But since Daddy wants to encourage his desire, we took him in and he was able to go again. But I can see this being a little ploy for a few more minutes of awake time coming up!

-Daddy

Parade!

Momma and Andrew have really enjoyed hosting several parades lately. This one was in honor of Momma's brithday and we had several passes around the house. This was the first with the flag waving. Others followed which included Daddy with instruments, party horns, and even an all balloon lap!

Andrew sure does enjoy marching around with Momma to whatever beat or song we come up with. One of the most popular is the simple "Marching, marching, marching around!" It can always get Andrew giggling and high stepping.


Entering the parade grounds...


Wave, step, wave, step...


High stepping to the beat with Momma!


Cheering away!


Momma and 'Peanut' are enjoying the parade as well.

Breakfast silliness

Every Saturday and Sunday, Andrew and I have fun in the mornings until it's time to have second breakfast and run in and wake up Momma.

We call it second breakfast since usually his first stab at breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal, some milk, and one of the various offerings of fresh fruit. Typically it is a banana, some blueberries, strawberries, or various apple, nectarine etc.

This is plenty to get a little guy going in the morning for a bit fun in the rough and tumble world of a two year old.

Usually this first breakfast is enough to tide Andrew over until Daddy can make a pot of coffee, clean up a bit, play blocks or cars with Andrew and then start making 'second breakfast' for everyone.

This is usually where I get some help from my sous chef (Andrew) in any way he can. Usually it involves carrying things from the refrigerator, pouring ingredients into bowls, mixing or the like.

Lots of help, and I can't wait until he turns three and we allow him to fry eggs and bacon and just bring them into Momma and Daddy's room and wake us with a flower in a vase and some freshly squeezed orange juice (a father can dream can't he?).

When we have second breakfast, Momma joins in the fun and Andrew is usually quite a ham during the meal. This time he decided to hit the classic baby pose with a plate on his head. So I had to run to get the camera to capture it. I missed most of the fun, but did snap these few gems.


Andrew in his serious pose


Hamming it up


I see you Momma!


I see you Daddy!


Some of our best times are at either first or second breakfast. Although I wish we could just skip the first two hours some weekends and head straight to the second one. But then I think about all of the fun that Andrew and I have nearly every morning. It's our special time together.

Daddy