A day at the park

I took the day off of work last Friday so we could head out camping for the weekend but with the awful heat & humidity we've had lately, we decided to skip the camping weekend.  Instead, the boys and I (along with my sister & nephews) headed to the local park before the heat of the day got too bad.  The petting barn was closed (which was a bummer!) but the kids were still able to see quite a few animals and get some good play time in on the playground!

Wyatt swingin'

Colton swingin'

Cousin "I" on the merry-go-round

Baby cousin "N" swinging with the "big" boys

We had to try it...swinging together!

Me & my boys!

12 month photo session

After having quite a busy month of July, I finally got around to taking the boys 12 month pictures this weekend, with them sporting their "1st" birthday t-shirts. They really weren’t in that much of a cooperative mood – especially Colton, who wanted to jump ship every chance he got!  They look like such "big" boys in these, don't you think?

Here are my favorites, along with a few out-takes:

All smiles!

Their facial expressions in this one are priceless!

Toys are the only thing that kept them sitting for me long enough
to get a few "good" shots.

This is how most of the pictures of Colton ended up looking like...

Colton wrestling with Mr. Penguin

Wyatt's new trick & most favorite thing to do - stand on his head!

Random Photos - July

Here are some more random photos from the month of July off of my small point-and-shoot camera. 

Lunch at Panera Bread - Colton

Lunch at Panera Bread - Wyatt

Wyatt trying on funny hats while shopping for birthday party supplies.

Yes, we buy our diapers in bulk!  (Colton)

Splashin' in their new kiddie pool the afternoon of their 1st birthday party.

Wyatt cooling off.

Colton was more interested in the toys that day...not so much the water.

Random Photos - June

Here are some random photos from the month of June off of my small point-and-shoot camera that I don't get uploaded onto my computer as frequently as I do from my DSLR.  (Excuse the quality of a few of them.)

The boys all dressed up for Cory's cousin's wedding

Wyatt...so handsome!

Colton...so handsome!

Daddy & Colton taking a nap while camping.

Colton's 1st trip to Buffalo Wild Wings.

Wyatt's 1st trip to Buffalo Wild Wings...decisions, decisions...

Enjoying B-Dubs with my three favorite guys!

Children’s Museum on a rainy day

I took last Thursday & Friday off of work. My original plans were to do some fun “summer” activities with the boys during those two days off – swim at the pool, visit the park and hit up the local fair…unfortunately, Mother Nature had a different plan for us. Both days were cloudy, cool and rainy – not ideal weather for the activities I had originally planned. We shifted gears and came up with a new plan – visit the local children’s museum! My sister and her youngest (5 months old) came along with the boys and me to enjoy an afternoon of playing inside.

Our local children’s museum has a separate “toddler” play area, for kids 4 and under, which wasn’t busy at all – we practically had the entire area to ourselves. All three boys had a really fun time and it felt so good to get out of the house for a couple hours.

"Ridin' in the boat"
(...staring at the other kids playing, we obviously haven't worked enough on manners yet...)

Wyatt loving the mirror/sensory area

Colton playing in the "garden"

Cute baby cousin "N"

Colton crawling through the tunnel for the 9,864,329th time - he LOVED it!
(Wyatt wouldn't even attempt it.)

Wyatt in the boat again - LOVE that smile!

1st Birthday Re-cap - Part 2: Pictures

A few pictures from the boys' birthday fun at home on the night of their 1st birthday!

Playing with their new toys....and birthday hats!

Wyatt

Learning to share with your brother is rough!

Colton

The boys with their big cousin

Colton with his birthday cupcake - carrot cake, yum..yum!!

Wyatt with his birthday cupcake - carrot cake, yum..yum!!

12 Month Checkup Update

We took the boys into the pediatrician Tuesday for their 12 month checkup. After a fun 9 month checkup with no vaccinations, we were not looking forward to this one which has 4 vaccinations and a finger-poke blood draw (to check for anemia).

The boys were both in good moods. Both boys checked out great and the doctor was very happy with the progress they have made so far. He was still very happy about and continues to see improvement in the shape of the boys heads – great news! He was very excited that we had already made the switch from bottles/formula to sippy cups/milk.

Here are their updated measurements:
Wyatt – weighs 22 lbs. 13 oz. & is 29.75 inches long (2 foot 5 in tall!)
Colton – weighs 22 lbs. 10 oz. & is 29.75 inches long (2 foot 5 in tall!

Wyatt
Birth: 4 lbs 11 oz | 17.5"
1 week: 4 lbs 8 oz | 17.72"
2 weeks: 5 lbs 1 oz | 17.72"
1 month: 6 lbs 8 oz | 19.29"
2 months: 8 lbs 6 oz | 20.47"
4 months: 13 lbs 4 oz | 23.62"
5 months: 16 lbs (35%) | 25.59" (32%)
6 months: 17 lbs 1 oz (34%) | 26.18" (29%)
9 months: 20 lbs 3 oz (43%) | 28.25" (49%)
12 months: 22 lbs 13 oz (48%) | 29.75" (46%)

Colton
Birth: 4 lbs 15 oz | 18"
1 week: 4 lbs 14 oz | 17.91"
2 weeks: 5 lbs 5 oz | 18.11"
1 month: 6 lbs 5 oz | 19.49"
2 months: 8 lbs 4 oz | 20.28"
4 months: 12 lbs 11 oz | 23.43"
5 months: 15 lbs 9 oz (27%) | 24.80" (9%)
6 months: 16 lbs 10 oz (26%) | 26.18" (29%)
9 months: 19 lbs 10 oz (33%) | 28.13" (45%)
12 months: 22 lbs 10 oz (44%) | 29.75" (46%)

The boys did really well with their shots. They both cried but recovered pretty quickly. After getting them settled down & re-dressed we had to head to the lab for a finger-poke blood draw. After their series of shots, this wasn’t a fun thing to do either. Both boys did pretty well with that too, even though they cried during it, they settled down quite well afterwards. It was quite a long appointment. We don’t go back for a check up for another 6 months – for their 18 months check up. Wow – with going to the doctor so frequently during their first year, it’s going to be weird to go that long without seeing the pediatrician.

Wyatt & Colton’s 1st Birthday Bash

We celebrated the boys’ 1st birthdays on Saturday with a party with family & close friends at our house. The weather was quite warm, but just bearable enough to keep the party outside as originally planned. We saw just a couple sprinkles right as the party started – but nothing that ruined the day. We had an awesome turnout – just about everyone was able to make it. We timed the party to take place between the boys’ morning & afternoon nap, which worked out pretty well.  I decided to do a "red, white & blue/firecracker" theme for the party.

We had a delicious lunch of BBQs, pasta salad, fresh veggies & watermelon, cheesy potatoes and chips. We also had a huge assortment of desserts for everyone to choose from including cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, brownies & scotch-a-roo bars. A BIG “Thank You!” to everyone who helped us out by bringing some food for the meal – my mom, my sister, Cory’s mom, Cory’s brother’s girlfriend, Cory’s godmother and both of Cory’s grandmothers.

Red, white & blue cupcakes

Photo/art projects display (including a 1st year slideshow on the laptop),
with all their "months old" pictures hanging above
(got the hanging picture display idea from another MoM's blog!)

The birthday boys' special balloon

Close-up of one of the hanging decorations - Cory was in charge of
decorating the garage & did an AWESOME job!

After lunch, we had the big “cake smashing” event. A good friend of mine (who was unable to make it to the party that day because her sister was getting married) offered to make the boys’ smash cakes for our big event. She is super talented & they turned out amazing!!

Colton's cake

Wyatt's cake

Smash cakes pre-smashing!

It took the boys a little bit to get into what they were supposed to do with the huge mounds of sugar in front of them but really got into it once they tasted a couple bites. Wyatt did his share of smashing but kept himself pretty low-key & clean throughout the whole event…Colton was another story! Colton really got into the smashing (& flinging) of his cake – he was a huge, sticky mess when it was over and it took quite the scrub-down afterwards to get it all out of his ears – silly boy.

Colton's "messy" cake mess

Wyatt's "neat" cake mess

To conclude the days’ events, we had present opening after both boys were all cleaned up. They both did really well and really got into ripping the wrapping paper off of the presents. They received a ton of awesome gifts – clothes, jammies & toys – which they really needed!

Wyatt sporting his "1st" birthday t-shirt (purchased on etsy.com!)

Colton sporting his "1st" birthday t-shirt (purchased on etsy.com!)

Playing with all the new gifts

Present opening ran a little into our normal nap time and both boys were showing it a little bit so after making a quick round of “Thank Yous!” to all of our guests the boys went down for their afternoon nap.

We had such a fun party and we feel so lucky that we are very blessed with such loving family & friends.