Sesame Street Sunday

Sunday, we went to see Sesame Street: 1, 2, 3 Imagine with the Hess family. It was a BIG hit with the kids!! We also discovered that Oliver is a big fan of the Cookie Monster. We had no idea.

Waiting for the show to start:

Oliver, Keith, Geoff, Freddie, Stephanie, Carrie and Evelyn

We had great seats with a good view of all of the characters on stage.

At intermission, they brought out a huge bunch of Elmo balloons. You know Oliver has a love for balloons, so you can also probably guess that he got one. He was quite excited and we took extra special care of it to make sure that we made it to the car without it blowing away. We left it in the car while we all went to eat pizza. Keith and I spaced that it was in the car and when we got there after dinner, we opened the door and Elmo flew away. Oliver didn't even notice but when he started asking for his Elmo balloon we showed him that it was floating away. I think I was more devastated than he was. I felt terrible! I promised to go get him a new balloon the next day and he requested a Cookie Monster balloon. Monday, after school, we went to the party store and I made good on my promise. Of course, he picked out the biggest Cookie Monster balloon they had. It is nearly as tall as he is!

Cuddle on the Couch

This past weekend, Oliver curled up in my lap for a cuddle. Moments later he was fast asleep. It reminded me of when he was just a baby. We had many cuddles in this very place on the couch. I can't get enough of these moments.

Happy Birthday Fire Toucher

Happy 1st Birthday Parker!!!

AKA Fire Toucher.

On Saturday we joined the Stack's to celebrate Parker's 1st birthday. Like most kids, he went for the flame on the candle. This guy's got some quick fingers because he got a little too close to the flame. Later that day Oliver was calling Parker the Fire Toucher. (This is how nicknames start!) It was all quite appropriate since the party was a fire fighter theme.

According to Oliver, a party is complete with a chocolate chip cookie.

He also knows that when we sing Happy Birthday, cake will soon follow.

These kids are quick to learn!

Parker's fabulous cake

The big debate... how to cut the cake.

Hint: Very carefully!

Toward evening, Oliver and Parker hanging in the living room.

Oliver showing off his Fire Chief hat.

This kid is such a ham for the camera.

Oliver showing Parker all of the bells and whistles on the gift he picked out for his buddy.

Parker checking out his new airplane riding toy. Oliver was convinced we bought this for him until the party. He happily left it at Parker's house. Whew! Potential catastrophe avoided.

Oliver and Parker checking out some of Parker's new toys.

Happy First Birthday Parker!!

April 13

Boy or Girl?

Thanks to everyone who has voted on if we are having a Boy or Girl. If you haven't cast your vote, we would love to count your opinion. The voting buttons are on the right side of the blog. In less than a week, we'll know if we're going pink or blue!

A few hints:
I have an unstoppable sweet tooth.
I crave odd things like Sonic Burger, McDonald's, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Milk Shakes, Milk, Orange Juice and Apples. (this is all making my mouth water)
I'm hungry all of the time.
If I don't eat enough, I get a massive headache.
All of that eating and I've only gained 7 lbs... so far.
I usually dream it's a girl but the other day I dreamt the ultra sound revealed it was a boy.
My first tri-mester I was really sick in the morning and most of the night but felt normal during the day.
Also in my first tri-mester, my skin was breaking out like a teenager.
I first felt the baby kick at 16 weeks of pregnancy and it's a mover and shaker!

Celebrating Easter

This past weekend was all about celebrating Easter. On Saturday, we had an Easter egg hunt with the neighbors on the street. After the egg hunt we all went to lunch at Fudruckers. We all had a great time, especially Oliver.

Oliver did great on his first Easter egg hunt, ever! He seemed to know exactly what to do.

Here he is, grabbing an egg with his eye on the next prize.
Some of the big kids decided to let Oliver and the other young kids go first. What great kids! Here they are, waiting inside for someone to let them out to clean up what the little kids missed. Don't worry, there was more than enough for everyone.

Oliver checking out his loot.

Hanging with the Dad's while the big kids took over.

Check out all of those eggs. Nearly every one of them were filled with candy. The next 24 hours were going to be a whole new adventure.

"Three blue eggs, Mommy"

"Here's a big blue egg, Mommy"

"Two pink eggs, Mommy"

Since Oliver is getting older and now knows what candy is, we let him dive into a few of his candy filled eggs. I think he had more candy in these 24 hours that he has had in his whole life combined. We don't usually let him eat much candy. Maybe just a sucker now and then.

He didn't really know what these squishy things were until I told him they were Peeps.

Then when he found out he could eat the Peep, it was gone in seconds.

That night, when Oliver was fast asleep, the Easter bunny came hopping through our house.

The next morning, Oliver was very curious to see what the Easter Bunny had left. He was a little confused because he expected to SEE the Easter Bunny the next day. We had to explain that he had to move on to see other kids, but he left a basket full of goodies.

Oliver checking out all of the fun stuff the Easter Bunny brought him.

Cheese for the camera with his new Night Furry dragon from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.

The basket was complete with a book to go with the new dragon.

A cheesy smile with a chocolate Easter bunny.

For the first year ever, we let him eat party of the bunny. As you can imagine, it was a big hit!

Sunday morning, we also went to church with plans to go to brunch. Oliver crashed about church time and struggled to keep his eyes open. Was it the lack of nap on Saturday (because he was wired and refused it), the excitement of Easter, the 6:30 wake-up or the candy crash. I'm thinking all of the above. We brought him home and he was sleeping in no time. He took a much needed, three hour nap! We'll got to brunch another time.

Sunday afternoon, Oliver discovered a stuffed moose in the basement that Keith's Mom gave him sometime before I was even in the picture. Oliver LOVES it! He likes to wrestle it, hug it and lay on it while watching TV.

Easter Bunny

Today Oliver and I ventured out in search of the Easter bunny while we gave Keith some quiet time at home. It took some time for Oliver to warm up to the Easter bunny. Eventually he went from clinging to me for dear life, sitting next to him with me within arms reach to allowing me to completely get out of the way. He ended up having a great visit with the Easter bunny. I think the turning point was when the Easter bunny gave him an orange sucker. They were instantly friends for life. Now, when you ask Oliver about the Easter Bunny he'll tell you all about the orange sucker he got. The photos were terrible quality, but you know I bought one anyway. Happy Easter everyone!

Impromptu Aquarium Visit

Last Sunday we went to breakfast with the Stack family; Jen, Craig and Parker. After breakfast we all decided to go for an impromptu visit to the aquarium. What fun!

Oliver survived the shark tank!
Parker survived too. Smiles all around.

Keith and Oliver checking out some fish.

Parker checking out some fish. This was Parker's first aquarium visit and he loved it!

Oliver "petting" some star fish.

Parker also "petting" some starfish.

Oliver giving the horse shoe crab a poke. These guys were fast!

Oliver discovered a new fish to be a fan of, the lion fish! It is in one of his fish books and he loved checking it out.

Telling Mom all about the lion fish.

Oliver and Mom checking out the shark tank, Oliver's favorite!!

It is dark in there so it's always hard to get photos. This photo makes it look like the sharks were moving really fast... but they weren't :)

Spring Time is for Babies

Spring time is a great time for babies and baby announcements. Everywhere we look, we see babies. Babies at the zoo, at the aquarium and now, at the Hamilton House! We are very excited to announce the upcoming expansion of the Hamilton family with a new baby, due August 29, 2010.

See how far we have come.

Here is the montage when we announced our pregancy with Oliver.