Instagram Photos {March}

It has only been two months and I am already tired of the effort it takes to put together the pictures from Instagram (Jan/Feb). I am going to share the pictures from March the lazy way... we will see what happens for April...

reading with Grandma while Grandpa naps//Simon is proud of himself for making to the top of the stairs

Mexican meatballs for dinner//chasing Miriam

feeding the dinosaur at the park//"I'm up here Mom"

Miriam wears her dress-up shoes daily//ballet poses with Grandpa

sometimes you just need Chick-fil-A for dinner//Mom's time to unwind

red curry lentils//playing together

all these winter clothes when it is supposed to be spring//first morning of the end of busy season

successful egg hunt//DADDY!

love reading with Dad//snow in March is never fun

riding bikes inside because it is too cold outside//hanging out

driving at night is rare//date with Dad

coloring eggs//egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's

rocking before nap//Sunday afternoon

Simon's Birthday Celebration

After much debate and weather watching we actually decided to go down into DC on Simon's birthday. We took the kids to the Natural History Museum and saw the cherry blossoms, but more on that later. After a long day with the kids we had some dinner at a Mexican restaurant (chosen by Michael and I because Simon loves salsa).

After we were full of some delicious food we headed home to celebrate Simon's birthday with presents, cake, and ice cream. Simon was spoiled all around. Michael even made him a basketball cake with Blue (two of his favorite things).

at two years old...

...Simon has quite the personality. He is learning that he can be silly on purpose to make us laugh. Simon has such an infectious laugh. He adores Miriam and wants to do whatever she is doing. Simon still loves to be held, I hear "hold you me" many times a day (which I love). He can be a really emotional kid and is as stubborn as can be.

Here are a few of Simon's favorite things (in order):

*Mom
*his blanket and stuffed cow
*watching Blue's Clues on the iPad
*the color orange - he yells out "orange, orange, orange" when he sees anything orange
*throwing balls in the "sky" - he wants us to throw the ball up in the air all the time

Here are a few things Simon does not like:

*loud noises - he runs to me when he hears the garbage truck (yet he is fascinated)
*bugs
*being dirty

Some funny things that Simon says are:

*"See me?" - when he hides or closes his eyes he always wants to know if we can see him
*"Is It?" - meaning "what is it"  followed by "hmmm"
*"What's that" - he is a typical curious two year old always asking questions
*"Don't see me" - usually means he is getting into trouble

Simon is really good at jumping. He loves singing and doing actions to songs. He loves Popcorn Popping, If You're Happy and You Know It, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, and any song related to Blue's Clues. Simon is starting to speak in sentences. He is figuring out how to describe different things he sees. He is really observant. Simon is super ticklish, it is hard to even wash his feet in the bath.

At Simon's two year check up today he weighed 26 lbs (25-50%) and was 34.5 inches tall (50-75%).

Simon's Birthday Video

Music:
Handprints On the Wall - Kenny Rogers
Beautiful Boy - Ben Harper

Happy Birthday Simon!

My little baby boy is two years old... Happy Birthday Simon!

National Aquarium - Baltimore

This year we decided to get a membership to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It takes a little over an hour for us to get there, but the membership pays for itself in two visits. After checking the weather this past week we finally decided Monday would be the best day to go. I didn't remember too much about the aquarium from the last time we went, but I was sure the kids would love seeing all the fish. Michael's Dad was able to join us and the kids loved having him there. Simon kept saying, "Grandpa look, Grandpa look". I forgot how dark it is inside the aquarium so it was hard to get too many good pictures.

After we left to get some lunch we walked around the harbor for a few minutes. It was a really windy day so we only spent a few minutes outside before going back to the aquarium to see the last two exhibits. (We really should have just gone home after that because the kids were too tired to be interested in anything.) When we go back we will have to start at the two exhibits the kids were too tired for last time...

Happy Easter

We woke the kids up early on Easter morning to make sure we had time for egg hunting, gifts, and getting ready for church. Miriam and Simon found all the eggs and tore into the gifts so quickly that I didn't really get any good pictures. They loved finding the eggs with candy and they loved their Easter gifts.

I feel like taking pictures yesterday when the weather was warm was one of the smartest ideas I have had in a while. The pictures were more relaxed instead of rushed. I was able to take my time and take a bunch of pictures of Miriam and Simon. They only downfall is the family picture. We hurried and took a couple on self-timer before heading to church (plus it was starting to rain), so we take what we can get for this year.

I took a couple more of Miriam and Simon just to document what they actually looked at church on Easter.

Oh yeah, I did snap one yesterday too...