Happy Easter

Carter and I dyed some eggs on Saturday. Fun for Carter, messy for me.

Ready, Get Naked, Go!

Two eggs for me, none for you!
"Mom, that was boring, I will just play with the decorations from the box"
EASTER MORNING

Before meeting we tried to get some pictures of the boys in their outfits.



Kisses for Camden

So funny!
Carter's "Spidy man" Basket

Carter and Bryanna
Notice Bryanna's dress . . . Carter and I were shopping and Carter really liked the dress. I reminded him that boys don't wear dresses (at least not in our family) and he said "NANA" (what he calls both Bryanna and Bananas ?????) and so I asked him if we should get it for Bryanna. He said "Nope." This is what he says for everything right now so I assumed he meant yes and we took it home. I have to say, having a niece is so much fun. I love pink and lavender and cute dresses and princess Easter baskets. Checking out the loot.
Yummy lunch!

Huntin' Eggs.
The big boys hid the eggs for the kids while we got lunch ready. (Basically they threw them in the grass so they were easy to find . . . the kiddos are 1 and 2 ya know) Meanwhile, Bree was inside asking where the Easter Bunny was. When we let them out, they went crazy finding eggs.

Got one!

Me too!

Camden couldn't quite carry a basket this year so he hung out with Daddy.

Our boys

Carter Talk and the Many Faces of Camden

Carter is talking up a storm lately. Jeff got home from work and the jibber jab started with a warm, "Daddy's coming!!!!! He home. House!"

Daddy is not wearing his "scheewsh" He is wearing "fip opps" instead

An airplane "up high in sky"

"Kiddy Cat is O Side"

Tip your head sideways. . .

No Carrots for Camden

He loves sweet potatoes and applesauce, bananas and well . . . he doesn't really like Carrots.

I'm going to try peas today . . . wish us luck.

The week flew by . . .

I can't even tell you what night this was, maybe last Friday or Saturday.

The Anderson's came over for Pizza and fun.

Fun is now defined as "watching 3 little boys run around and trying very hard to get 1 decent picture of the 3 of them.)

One day last week, I was lonely and Amanda could sneak out of work early. We took the boys to the park to enjoy the warm weather.
Carter now says "UP UP HIGH" after seeing Dane swing.

Good thing there is a barrier there, Dane is such an athletic dare devil he would've just jumped down 10 feet. He tried to climb it but failed.

Camden Eats

We had a routine Dr. appt yesterday and Camden now weighs 16.25 lbs and is 24.75 inches long. He is a chunk. Bigger than Carter was at this age. (Carter weighed just over 25 lbs and was 33+ inches long.) The Dr. said we could start introducing Camden to foods. We tried rice cereal today. He has been really interested in food lately. Watches you take every bite at the dinner table. This wasn't as great as the steak we had the other night but it will do for now.

The people who love us . . .

There are some people who love us. I know because they must think of us often. At least weekly as far as I can tell. I know THIS because they send me coupons for diapers and wipes and little notes of hello and how ya doin'? Thank you Great - Grandma Klock for always thinking of us. I love to go to the mailbox, get my coupons, you know the ones I use but never have time to clip myself . . .

I think that's possibly what it definately maybe is . . .

This has been the phrase of the week.

On Sunday night, Carter started a fever. I thought maybe it was the 4 teeth that have been trying to appear for about a month now. Nope, the kids came down with the flu, a 24 hour nightmare where I was jolted out of bed every 45 minutes between the boys bedrooms. I finally just sat on the landing between their doors rather than climbing the stairs every time one cried. (Although the stair climb would be a good workout, I was exhausted by flight #7 so I chose to park my rear in the hall)

As you can tell, Carter and I both look rather ill. He just snuggled in with me and wouldn't let me move. If I had to pee, I had to take him. If I had to sneeze and I moved he whined, If I had to cry, he had to cry with me.

We did get one sweet " cheesh" out of him, then he started whining again. The flu left as fast as it came but Carter and Cam are still rather cranky, teething now. . . maybe, I just have no clue. I wish they could tell me exactly what was bugging them . . . without whining. And then tell me how to fix it . . . without whining.

This is the only glossy eyed sicky picture I took of Camden. Love his big blue teary eyes.

Yesterday, we played in the yard. It was a bit windy but Carter was tired of being couped up. The boy, a juice cup and the cat . . . doesn't get any better than that.

Until you find earthworms and try to feed them to the cat, now that's really fun.

(sorry no pictures of that)

Not too little to Giggle

This was the first day Camden REALLY laughed.

For the fan club. . .

We managed to rally the boys for a couple pictures this evening. It seems they are growing so fast, the pictures I took yesterday seem outdated.

Carter now says "CHEEESHHH" when he sees the camera, then he has to see the picture we took of him. He laughed when he saw this one of himself.

Mommy and her favorite boys, minus one.

(Look to the lower left of the picture,

Carter is waving at the camera from under his chubby little thigh)

I said "Smile" for the camera.

What I got was my first "Oh, Mom" eye roll from Carter and Camden just continued to play. This is what I'm in for I see.

Say "Cheeeshhhh",

Carter tried this time, but was so anxious to see himself I had to hold him back while Jeff snapped the shot.

Camden started to giggle today. He loves to watch Carter and when Carter jumps or falls down it tickles his funny bone.

Too much influence . . .

I often wonder how much influence we have in raising our children. Do they take in everything we do all day, do they watch our every move, are they absorbing our actions? And if I do something just once will he remember?

He must, I don't vacuum often . . . and this is what he does when I'm not watching.

Favorite things

After a long day with some cranky, teething, fussy, children . . . After a long bath time, and and even longer session trying to brush only 12 little teeth . . . I came downstairs to shut the blinds and found this little John Deere tractor sitting on the window ledge and it reminded me how lucky I am. Evidence that I have healthy, playful, active children.

Happy Birthday Poppa!

Well, Mommy told me it was your birthday. I thought I would spread the news. I started with Picassa but she seemed mad at me for sharing. Either that or she was scared I was gonna reach out and grab her, little does she know . . . I'm not that coordinated yet.

She wasn't too amused, she just stuck her butt in my face.I tried to tell Daddy and Carter but Daddy just kept shoving this bottle in my mouth and talking to Carter . . .typical.
Then as I was about to scream "Happy Birthday to Grandpa" Carter gave me this big smooch.
I confided in Elmo, he understood. No one listens to him around here either.
Anyway, I wish you a VERY Happy Birthday. Miss you and love you lots.

(I'm sure Carter and Daddy do too but they are just too hard to communicate with.)

Sneaky

Our little man has figured out how to open the fridge and help himself . . .

Messsy?

"Hey Carter, are you messy?"

For my Jeffy . . .

You make me feel less crazy . . .

We have a Nephew

Welcome to

Jhett Lewis Shepherd

He arrived at 5:34pm today. He weighs 6lbs and 5oz, and his is 19.5 inches long.

He is SOOOO tiny and very cute. Sqeaks when he cries and likes to open his eyes and look around. He actually looks a lot like Jessica's brothers. Jessica is a SUPER trooper! Talk about tough, no epidural, although she wasn't really given the choice. She is my hero.

This was a sign in the waiting room.

"Life is a Splendid Gift" . . . yes it is.

The wee ones are typically not allowed to go back into the patient rooms, so we took turns going back and forth to see the newest Shepherd cousin. The kiddos got "treats" (suckers) to celebrate. The ones I brought were pink, not because I was planning on a girl being born but because it's Bree's favorite color.

There was a fish tank in the waiting room and Kari took Carter to see the "ishhieys"

Valentine's Day

Camden reads his favorite book.

Apparently it is quite funny.

Brotherly Love

"Hey Buddy"

"Ok, See ya later Camden."

Erin sent very cute shirts for the boys. . .

I couldn't get a very good pose out of Carter but this one says Little Peanut.