Easter Weekend

Britta and Steven came up to Grand Forks on Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend. They always jump right in with the kids and help out. We played hard with the kids while they were awake but got a couple of card games in during naps and bedtime! We love the Skalmans!!

 The boys flock to Britta:) 

A little backyard baseball!

 Isn't he adorable?!

 Outfielders

 The boys don't always love our help but Cooper took a quick lesson from Steven

Home run!

Easter Day

We had a nice, "quiet" Easter here in Grand Forks. The twelve days leading up to Easter we did the Resurrection Eggs with the boys. Each egg has a little trinket the goes along with a Bible verse and story all leading up to the cross. The boys had fun remembering all the different parts to the story and it was fun watching them learn and get excited all week.

 A little pre-church photo attempt. Gotta love babies in sweater vests:)

   It was a bit chilly but the boys still had fun doing a little Easter egg hunt!

 The boys got a little Easter package from Nana and Papa with some tattoos. Nothing says Easter like a spider tattoo on your neck or chest, right?! 

 And sweet baby Cros, along for the ride! He went to church in a sweater vest and came home in his pjs due to a MAJOR BLOW OUT! Happy Easter:)

Crosby is 6 Months!

Wow-big month for Crosby! He's rolling over, eating solids, getting time in the exersaucer, jumping in his Johnny Jumper, and took his first bottle.

 This video was from a couple of weeks ago. Now when we set him down in a room he will roll all the way to the other side. LOOK OUT!

 He seems to like rice cereal...but who wouldn't like to be spoon fed in daddy's arms?? 

He has gotten so used to chaos that this is how he lies...

...when this is going on all around him! 

  The other day Tim and I were talking in the kitchen and we heard snoring. Glancing over we realized that Cros had fallen asleep in his jumper:)

The first time we tried giving Crosby a bottle he put up a 7 hour fight. The next time Tim tried a new strategy and let Cros hold the bottle himself. It only took 2 hours:) Why did we wait this long??? Oh well, he'll get it down eventually!

Carter is 3 Years + 8 Months!

Well, they are STILL sleeping! I just did some laundry and cleaning and back to the blog. What a gift of some down time today-thank you Jesus!!

I'm really struggling for pics this month but here is Carty man in his pjs, blowing a duck honker, holding his current favorite toy (7 colored legos that he calls his "Rainbow Stick"). There you have it...things to remember!! Other noteworthy things: Carter loves playing baseball in the backyard. Mike and Sherah got him a tee for Christmas and he also does great when we pitch to him. He still hasn't mastered riding a bike. We can't seem to keep him interested long enough to get it down...I'm sure it will come. He is very social and last time we went to the park he went up to a group of kids and introduced himself and played with them for about 20 minutes. It was sweet to see him make some friends! Carter loves talking to us at the dinner table. When Tim and I try to have a conversation, he will start singing very loudly or talking nonsense just so we can't talk. We are trying to work on that!

Carterisms:

-"Dad, can we be pals and friends and buddies?"

-After asking him why we wrecked our lego tower: "Uhhh, it's just what boys do, Casey!"

-He asked me to lift him up to reach something and I told him I couldn't because I was too little. He replied, "You aren't little...you are a BIG MAMA!!" Hmmmm

-Carter wakes us up most mornings. Just yesterday he came into our room and loudly said, "Guess what mom and dad? God shouted and the sun CAME UP! God has given us ANOTHER new day!!!" How sweet is that?

Toddler Conversations

Carter: Hey Coops, I think we should make tuna.

Cooper: Me tooooooo!

Carter: You aren't old enough Cooper.

Cooper: No

Carter: Yes, you aren't old enough.

Cooper: No

Carter: Yes

Cooper: No

Carter: Cooper, it's just an expression.

What??!!

Not the best picture but the only recent one I have of the two of them...guess I need to get the camera out!

Cooper is 2 Years + 2 Months!

All 3 boys are asleep! I should be making dinner, cleaning, or getting other work done but I'm going to sit and remember the past month in the life of Cooper John. 

Blogging is something I said I would never do-I am not a photographer and I really don't like to write...but I have found it is such a sweet way to record the milestones and remember the sweet and funny moments along the way.

 Sweet boy! Coops is becoming quite the little charmer. We went for a walk yesterday and he said "hi" to everybody we passed. He brings smiles to so many people:)

 He is still into yellow legos! He has also loved doing puzzles this past month. 

He is saying "cheeeese" here! Anytime he sees the camera he says that on repeat:)

 Why not wear swim trunks and cowboys boots?!

A couple other things from this past month:

-Cooper struggled a bit at nap time with turning the lights on that he recently could reach from his crib. I am hoping we are over it but for a couple of weeks there it was a challenge! Usually it was right as Carter fell asleep:(

-Coops is a really good eater...fast and furious! Such a contrast to Carter Man.

-To get the boys to eat Tim does something we call "eating cheers". Everybody gets food on their spoon or fork and we all yell "cheeeers" and then all have to eat at the same time. Cooper LOVES this game!

-We've been to the park multiple times this month and Cooper is FEARLESS! He tackles the big slides and ladders and it is both great and terrifying! (Tim thinks it is great and you can guess what I think...)

-Cooper has also thought it is funny to put his toys in the toilet this month....another thing I think and hope we are over and done with. We'll see!

-Tim plays a game with the boys most evenings called "Football Wrestlemania". Basically whoever has the football gets tackled until they give the football up, etc. Cooper asks to play it ALL DAY and can't wait until Tim gets home!

Story time with Carter: The Little Mouse...

Carter picked this book out at the library (The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Hungry Bear) and after a couple of days he had the whole thing memorized. He loves "reading" to his brother...so sweet!

 The last two pics are of the boys reading behind the chair in our living room. This is their favorite hiding spot and recently a new place to read a book! Why not?

Play All Day

Play play play...all day! Inside and outside, quiet and loud (mostly loud), we spend most of our days playing!

 Dunking with Daddy 

 Legos...I really do thank God for legos! 

 Masking tape race track

And the "Jump Pile"...a game I often resort to on the stir crazy days. In this video you will also notice they are in swim trunks from another go-to game, "pool".

Afternoon at the Park

What a beautiful spring we've had-thank you Lord! These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago when we got out as a family. I am LOVING having trips to the park back in our daily routine...so fun!

 Cros is ready for action! Man...those cheeks!!

 Cooper tries to keep up with Carter...it has led to some bumps and bruises but he does pretty good!

Not the best, but the best we could get!  

 LOVE that smile!

 And isn't Coops adorable??

 Rough day! Oooops, I must have forgotten to take Cros out of his pjs AGAIN!

 Carter and Tim were working on running UP this slide for a good 20 minutes or so...

And HE DID IT! All boy:)