Random Cute

Emily wouldn't leave my parents' cat alone.  Here she is petting it.  What a patient kitty.

Andrew loved having Grandma read him books.

Andrew has been turning pillow cases into sleeping bags lately.  Cute little buddy.

He has also been wearing my shoes a lot.  He gets around pretty well actually.

Sorry this is sideways, but here he is with his "recipes."   He saw these boxes in the pantry and got so excited, carrying them around and saying, "I weading my recipes." 

Emily watching Andrew and Daddy on the swings.

Emily's favorite time of the day - bath time!

This frog is NOT cute.  It was in our toilet Sunday morning!!!!  It freaked us out.  Mike said it must be an evil one to go through a trip like that.  BLECH.  It just stared and stared and then tried to escape into the house.  I wanted to just flush it, but was afraid it would come back.  I don't know why it creeped me out so much, but I'm still shivering when I think abut it. 

Buddies

Last week we got to visit our families in Salem.  Emily loved all the baby time she got at both houses.  

Emily and Noah had lots of fun together and really seemed to get along.  Cute little babies!

Snuggling cousins

Andrew loved playing with his Uncle Jason and the babies, too!

Noah followed Emily around kissing her all week.  He really adored her, and she didn't mind.  The only time he didn't like her so much was when he bit her on the cheek and she bit him back and when she splashed in the tub.  He wasn't a fan of either of those things.  :)

Grads

Michael graduated on Sunday!  I can't believe it's already been 3 years.  He has worked so hard.   At the graduation, the dean of the school was talking about how nice it will be for the graduates' families to have their son/husband/etc back.   I'm so thankful for my husband, because not only was he a really great student, but he has made such a huge effort to make his family a priority.

I'm also extremely grateful to my Heavenly Father for allt he strength and blessings he has blessed us with during this last leg of school.  It was a really great day and made a great Mother's Day. 

Congratulations, sweetie!!!

Andrew and me watching the ceremony.  I was so impressed with how good the kids were during the whole thing!  There was a very nice, long-suffering lady in front of us who was very understanding when Andrew a) sat on her back and b) pointed at the stage and decided that resting his hand on her head was a good idea c)tried to draw on her back with a crayon.
Emily was impressed with all the clapping.  When everyone was clapping for the 2012 graduates at the end, I told Andrew they were clapping for Daddy and he looked happy and shocked.  Then he stared at everyone clapping, got excited, and clapped like crazy.  He also yelled out, "YAY DADDY!"  when Mike walked across the stage.  It was so sweet. 

Emily wasn't too impressed with the hat.

Mike and his dad after the ceremony.  It was so nice of my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law to come all this way and to help with the kids.  Thanks everyone!

Isn't he handsome?

My favorite boys

Me and the greatest lawyer I know. :) 

Keeping Up With the Kiddos

Going on a bike ride, drinking an applesauce.  Em wasn't a fan of her helmet, but I sure was.  Don't they look adorable?

These kids are getting so big and doing so much.  It's so hard to believe that they will be turning 3 and 1 next month.  Insane. 

It was hot at the zoo this month.  Emily wasn't exactly impressed.

 Some of my favorite Emily moments:
     1.  She's learned to say "Hi."  She usually breathes it out softly with a huge smile on her face.  She also holds these conversations with me now.  I have no idea what she's saying, but I love the way her little voice goes up and down and her tiny expressions.  She's such a sweet little talker.
    2.  She has learned to cruise!  Andrew's not super excited about that because now it's harder for him to keep his toys out of her reach.  Emily's pretty thrilled, though.
    3.  She has one little tooth and another trying to poke through.  I'm excited for her.  It's got to be hard to eat with no teeth!  :)


Emily adoring her great grandma

Eating a backpack strap.  What?  You don't do that?

Visiting the Hamiltons in St. Louis.  This was before she got too excited and started mauling Amelia.

Favorite Andrew moments:
   1.  He is learning his numbers and letters!  He's really doing well with it, too.  He searches the house for numbers and is usually right.  My favorite letter?  Q.  Because he thinks they're called "Cutes."  And that is definitely cutes.
   2.  The way he plays with "Elowee."  He might get a little rough sometimes, especially when he's Mickey Mouse and she's Pluto.  Let's just say, those loving pats on the head can turn quickly into whacks if he gets too excited.  He loves to make her laugh, she adores him completely and they have a good time together.
   3.  "Andrew me do it."  "Mommy you do it."  "How 'bout......no?"

Trying on some boots.  I think we need some in his size...

Sharing his juice box with his little duckie.



Surprise Date

 Okay, these pictures are all backwards, but whatever.  :)  For those of you who don't know, my husband is the absolute worst at keeping secrets.  Whenever he finds something I would like or wants to tell me something fun, he just can't wait.  It's pretty cute.  He DID, however, surprise me with a date a couple weeks ago.  It was so thoughtful, too.
  About 5 years ago we were talking about what kind of art we would want to do if we had the chance.  I hadn't remembered this conversation, but I had said pottery (which is true).  He remembered that all this time and found a place here in town that had lessons.  Michael is so sweet, seriously.

 Here I am with the finished product.  It's supposed to be a bowl.  Let me just say this.  Using a pottery wheel is freaking hard.  The clay is all wobbly, and for some reason, I'm not a prodigy.  :)  It was really fun, though and I ended up with something that looked like a tasting bowl.  (Kind of.)

 It kind of looks like a Muppet mouth from this angle.

Quasimodo does pottery.

Thanks for the fun date, sweetie.  I love you.