Friends, friends, and weights

Cole's Birthday party is just around the corner. I had some good help putting the finishing touches on Cole's Ice Pea piñata:

We had several more nice days spent with friends at the park.

I love this picture of me and Lexi on the swings. Lexi is just the cutest.

Cole and Calvin

I think Lily must have spilled water on her shirt and when Charlotte saw her without clothes, she insisted on taking her shirt off as well.

My girls.

Charlottes's mom Heather has been wonderful and will occasionally pick up Lily for a playdate. 

Watching the lobsters at Wegmans:

Hanging out Downtown after visiting the Children's Museum on the Downtown Mall:

Glad these girls are friends! 

Lexi is still sleeping in our room (something that needs to change ASAP). She still wakes up 2-3 times at night which means we're both tired in the morning.

She's learned a new trick! She can stand up! She has to be holding onto something, but for 8 months old, that's pretty good!

I just thought this boy looked super dapper in his church clothes. 

I still wish he would smile "normally". Oh well. 

We had the Knights over to play one day! Lily and Cole LOVE Evangeline and John. Cole says that Evangeline is his best friend.

Mmm. Nothing better than cookies after playing in the yard.

I reached a new personal record in my deadlift! I finally got to 2 plates! That's 225 lbs!

Thanks goes to George who was my photographer to document it! My goal is to reach double body weight (about 260 lbs) before the end of summer! 

Birthday celebrations and lots of family

Whenever the kids have a birthday, we let them choose what they want for dinner that night. They usually choose to go out to eat and this year, Cole chose his favorite place: Panera Bread.

He LOVES the macaroni and cheese. He has good taste--it really is so, so good.

Watching a funny video together:

George will kill me if he knew I posted this (and yes, he is wearing pants). This is what happens when you squat with over 300 lbs on the bar:

That mark stays for hours. 

Way back in November, we had a shed built in our backyard. In February, we finally got around to painting it.

My friends Sara Knight and Heather Kasik came over and helped me finish the trim while George was at work one day. Lance helped, too.

The kids really wanted to help, so George let them roll some of the paint.

With no garage and no basement, we were really hurting for some extra space. Hooray for sheds! 

Jude was the only kid this year that was supposed to make a Valentine's box. He wanted a Nerf Gun theme, so we took the guns we made for his Birthday cake, made a few extra guns and targets, and viola! He painted the sides of the box with cute little Nerf guns and told me where to put the perler bead guns. I think it turned out cute!

Lexi insists on feeding herself these days. She won't let me put food in her mouth unless she's held it first.

It makes for a very messy girl!

It didn't take Bender long to realize that Lexi is a walking snack. Anytime she's in her seat, he's right there next to her. She even sneaks him some bits every now and then, laughing when he licks her hand.

We made it up to Ashburn one weekend to celebrate my Mom's 57th Birthday! 

Aunt Amy is a favorite. She will watch all the youtube videos the boys love and laughs along with them. They think she is amazing and always ask if Aunt Amy will be at Grandma's house when we visit.

We took Mom to Sweetwater for her Birthday!

57 never looked so good!

While up in Ashburn, we also got to see Uncle Dave and Aunt Colleen and family!

We missed George who had to stay in Charlottesville to work. 

The kids had fun hanging out with cousin Devon who was like a second mommy to Lily.

Grandma always has fun surprises for the kids. While we were visiting, she gave Lily and Cole their Birthday gifts:

TENTS!

Lily's is a ladybug and Cole's is a frog.  

We set them up on their beds and they've been sleeping in them for weeks. Grandma is the best!

...and February begins

Trying to power through the last few months...here are some pictures from the first part of February.

This little thing is crazy. One minute she's yelling and angry and the next she's loving on you and asking for kisses. If this volatility is what everyone claims girls are capable of, I'm terrified for the future. 

It's a darn good thing she's cute!

And this monkey continues to be all smiles. She's still army-crawling but has discovered climbing! I've found her stuck like this a few times already.

Don't you just love her little fuzzy head?

The weather this winter has been interesting. One day is really cold, the next it feels like spring. Apparently it was warm enough at the beginning of February for the kids to be outside like this:

I was feeding the snakes one day and Lily wanted to hold the frozen rat. She kept petting it and saying it was cute. It is really cute which makes me feel just a tiny bit guilty whenever I pull one out of the freezer.

Cole turned 5 on February 8th! On his Birthday, we took in cupcakes to his Preschool class. He wanted blue cupcakes with blue frosting.

Around 5, all our boys discovered the "fake smile", you know the one they put on when you say "smile!", so I'm just preparing myself for a few years of every picture looking like this:

Lily was thrilled to be with the Preschool class.

See? This weather is crazy! We met up with some friends at the park on one fine day and enjoyed the 70 degree weather.

Lexi LOVES the swings.

And yes, I know I need to stop dressing her in clothes that make her look like a boy.

Trying so hard to climb the slide.

Love these girls!

Eek! Look at her teeth!

I seriously want to bottle up this baby and keep her forever. She brings so much happiness to us with her cheery little personality and happy smile.