B'day Central

It's been birthday season at our house these past 2 months, with baby boy's birth soon to round them all up. We started out with my *ahem* 30th b'day. I can't believe I'm no longer in my 20's, it's a bit surreal. Jon is thrilled that I joined him on the other side, seeing as he's been there without me for 2 years. Now I can't hold it over his head any longer!

 

My boys gave me yellow hydrangeas and a scrumptious chocolate cake. Jon also bought me a gorgeous ring that I'm in love with.

 

Next up was Jon's special day in early April. I surprised him with donuts, running out the door to get them while he was in the shower. We also enjoyed chocolate cake later that night. And he got a new game for his Xbox to play.

 

The boys were thrilled to get more chocolate cake, as evidenced by our little cake monster Jason's face-

 

Third in the birthday line-up was Jason, turning the big 2.

 

We had low-key celebrations this year, opting out of big parties since we had so much going on. That being said, we celebrated on each boy's actual bday and then that weekend with my parents. So they got PLENTY of cake.

 

Jason got to pick out his bday present at Target, choosing the big Mater below.

 

When the weekend rolled around, my parents visited and we had another bday celebration, celebrating both Jason's and my Mom's bday. Jason didn't mind more cake. Jack helped Jason open his presents, tearing into them. Jason got a cool smartphone from his Mimi and Pappaw, and lots of new summer clothes. My mom got to open some presents too, with Jack's help. Jack was so eager with anticipation pulling out the tissue paper, expecting something really cool. When he found it was a pair of capri pants inside, his face dropped and he said "oh, that's not a toy." He promptly walked away. Too funny.

 

Next up was Jack's 5th bday. He sure was spoiled on his day and the weekend after. Jack had weeks to anticipate his bday this year, since his was the last bday to roll around in our house. He was jealous of everyone else's bday cake/presents, and I kept reassuring him that his bday was only a few weeks away.

 

So on his actual bday, Mommy and Jason surprised him at school, bringing cupcakes to his class. He was so cute, acting bashful and smiling, shrugging into the table as we walked in. He clearly enjoyed the attention. All the kids sat at the tables, waiting for their cupcakes. Then Jack's teacher asked him to stand up while everyone sang to him. So what happened? Everyone EXCEPT Jack stood up, while he laid his head on the table. Awesome.

 



 

Jason sure enjoyed his cupcake, after asking for "cupcake!" all morning long-

 

Later that night, we all sang to Jack, let him blow out a candle on a cupcake, and open a couple of presents. Oh, boy, was he excited for those presents.

 

He got an uber cool transformer: Optimus Prime. He LOVES it and lovingly calls it "robot truck." He also got an imaginext playset featuring Mr. Freeze and Batman-



 

His Aunt Teri and Uncle Eric sent him a pretty cool Cars bday card, which folded out to a coloring sheet. He loved it.

 

On the Saturday after Jack's bday, Jon and I took him out for a special day. My parents kindly stayed behind, watching Jason. We started out with lunch at Red Robin's, featuring chocolate milkshakes. We then went to Putt Putt and Jon and Jack raced the go-karts, loved it.

 

Jon was so kind to drive close to the fence so I could capture them on camera, while Jack deliberately looked away from me, rascal.

 

I think my favorite event to watch was Jack driving the mini go-karts. It was hilarious. I really felt for the poor guy working this station. The kids inevitably would get stuck in the same spot over and over again, running into each other and he'd have to run out there and manually push the go-karts apart.

 

Jack did pretty well driving his kart, unintentionally cutting off this girl behind him who kept trying to pass him. He's got great instincts already!

 

Jack also got to fly the airplane! He moved it up and down himself, at will.

 

And it was time to go. Father and son, no idea I'm photographing them walking hand in hand.

 

And what bday outing would be complete without picking out a special bday present? We went to Toys 'r' Us and after looking thru the shiny row of bikes, Jack picked a Lightning McQueen bike to take home. What a big boy. He also got some pretty cool gifts from Mimi and Pappaw, including new games for his Leappad and clothes.

 

And before I forget, yes, we had more cake that day as well. I'd blame all my pregnancy weight gain on the baby, but let's face it, all the cake these past weeks sure didn't help!

 

And any day now, we will have a new bday to celebrate in the Nelson family. How exciting!! We're all about the Spring bday's in our family.

Big Changes...

If I had to choose one word to describe our life recently, it'd be something like "whirlwind" or perhaps "change." While growing our 3rd boy and preparing for his arrival, Jon was offered a new job in Dallas! This was wonderful, exciting, much hoped for news. However, we don't live in Dallas. Thus, the change. So we are now putting our first home on the market, and looking to buy our second. So my time the past few weeks has been spent de-cluttering the house and doing various home projects, moving the boys into the same bedroom, getting the baby's room ready, landscaping, interrupting said previous tasks to take one boy to the urgent care to get stitches, and celebrating b'day after b'day after b'day. Did I mention that baby boy is due in just 1.5 weeks?! I'll attempt to sort thru some of this chaos in some pictures below-

 

Jack's room as painted before:

 

Jack's room as painted before, white walls surrounding the striped wall-

 Jack's room painted AFTER-

 

Yellow walls, brown chair rail stripe (that was fun), and a blue ceiling!

 

 And the reason to paint Jack's room? We wanted to give it a new identity since we would be moving Jason in with Jack, and it'd officially be "the boys' room."

 

Speaking of moving Jason in with Jack, we had to first get him trained to sleep in a big boy bed. No More Crib, sigh. Here is Jason opting to sleep on the floor instead of his bed-

 

He fell asleep in his bed!

 

Daddy's b'day rolled around on April 2nd! Mmm, chocolate cake. Funny antecdote- when I mentioned it was Daddy's b'day, Jason's immediate response was to squeak "cake!" He's got his priorities straight.

 

Jason still figuring out the mechanics of sleeping in a bed, instead of near it. Loving the shot of just his legs sticking it, it's so reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West, no?

 

Jason sporting 3 stitches beneath his lip, after tripping over his shoes and smacking a chair head-on.

 

Jason's 2nd b'day rolled around on April 22nd. A day for more cake!

 

Playing with his brand new Mater, with Jack coveting it.

 

 Celebrating more b'days with my Mom's coming in 2 days after Jason's-

 After about a month of learning to sleep in a bed, it was time to move Jason into Jack's room, thus making Jason's room available for the baby. I admit, this was much DREADED on my part! Bedtime is a sacred ritual at our house, and I did not want to disturb that by moving the boys into the same room. It went about as well as I had anticipated. Both boys acted like monkeys hyped up on speed- jumping on the beds, climbing the furniture, screaming, throwing their feces (okay, maybe not that one), and smothering each other.

 

Evidence below of Jack using baby brother as a body pillow-

 

Jason yet again trying to kill himself, as he fell and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk, scraping up his forehead. This may be my child who's a regular at the ER...

 

Jack's b'day rolled around on May 9th, turning the big 5! We brought cupcakes to his class and he loved the attention-

 

Getting a transformer for his special day, or in his words a "robot truck."

It's been a hectic past month, but I finally feel like we're *nearly* to the point of being ready to have baby boy arrive, what with getting the house ready to list and preparing the boys for baby. I still have some organizing to do, and prepping and freezing meals, and house hunting, and a million other things- but, hey, that's life, right?

Among my list of things to do is to update my blog! So be prepared to experience my pregnancy "nesting instinct" shining through as I try to get the blog whipped into shape over the next few days.

It's official. I'm a cliche!

After 10 years of loyal service and many fun adventures...

 

 

...we traded in my Mustang for- gulp- a minivan!

 

 I always said I'd never buy a minivan, but with baby numero 3 on the way, it was time to take the plunge! And, honestly, I couldn't be happier about it! It's wonderful and spacious, and had everything I needed & wanted in a new car.

 

Here's Jack driving the Mustang one last time-

 

 And, this is what I'm talking about- S P A C E! Love it.

Jack and Jason also LOVE the van, and can't get over all the buttons it has. Jack asks if he can go into the garage and play with the van now. Honestly, I can't blame him.



Crazy cute kids

I haven't posted pictures of my boys in awhile, so consider this post a sum-up of all their most recent, crazy escapades.

 

At the botanical gardens, hmm, who's that Jack is sitting on?

 

I say smile, and this is what I get-

 

 Should I be concerned with Jack's obsession with sitting on his baby brother?

 

Jason's camera-ready grin and Jack's imitation of it-

 

 Brothers on the see-saw, hang on for your life Jason!

 

Jack's bulldozer filled with rocks, I thought it was clever

 

After letting Jason out in the backyard to play, this is where I find him-

 

Okay, you have to appreciate these photos below. They perfectly highlight an inherent difference between Jack and Jason. Jason had just grabbed mounds of dirt and proceeded to throw it all over the patio, laughing gleefully as it sprayed dirt everywhere. Jack noticed this, and to his stress, came over saying "No Jason! That's dirty!" Jack then grabs the broom and sweeps the dirt off the patio, mumbling how dirty it was. Jason loves getting dirty and sticky, and Jack detests it.

 Something my boys have in common- a love for chips and salsa!

These two are really fun to be around. Admittedly there are those days that they drive me crazy and all I want is for them to go to bed, but luckily those days are less frequent than the fun ones. They really enjoy having the other one around, playing together, running around, and wreaking boyish havoc together.