{Cole} Our 20 month old baby moose.

Oh this little boy toddler of mine.  Cole being less than four months away from turning two years old is a weird idea for me.  He is such a fun-loving, happy, spunky, stubborn little guy -- but I swear he has to be turning almost one, not two.  Then he throws one of those "yep-I'm-almost-two-years-old" tantrums and it brings me back to reality.

This kid has many loves: his beloved "dog dog" (stuffed animal), 'toons, action figures, balls, the backyard, milk, cellphones, the swings and/or slide, toy cars, bath time, mega blocks, wrestling, story time, his big brother...

...but dislikes: haircuts, the drive through car wash, bed time, dirty hands, raw tomatoes.

He is a big boy wearing big boy clothes... size 3T... and size 9 toddler shoes... weighing in at nearly 37 lbs.  

I always say I wish this time would slow down, but I am looking forward to the next steps in his development.  I guess that is why this switch from baby to toddler-hood is truly so bittersweet.  But, one thing is for certain -- Cole is our baby moose and I love him so.        

Smiles for Miles.

Meet our little friend Jeannie, the daughter of the hubs's best friend Eric.  She turned 3 in September and is from Mexico.  Eric and his family are visiting for a year or so and we are so happy to be able to spend some time with them.  

I took these random photos of Jeannie a couple of weeks ago... she was so happy to have her pink sucker and I just had to capture that smile.

Anyway, happy Wednesday!  We made it halfway through the week... I'm ready for Friday, how about you?

2013 Junior Jog

This weekend Kingston and his cousins Brooklyn and Tatyana ran their 3rd annual Junior Jog, part of the Mason County Forest Festival.  They were pretty pumped up for the race and could not wait to get their medals.  

But, for the 2nd year in a row, Kingston decided to cry/scream the entire race.  Don't believe me?  Scroll back up to the picture of the hubs and him running in the race.  That's a sad/angry face, people.  After they crossed the finish line, the hubs talked to Kingston about the crying.  Apparently Kingston was a little overwhelmed by all of the kiddos racing.  Whoops - I guess we should have gotten to the race earlier than one minute prior to race time (mom/dad fail).

In the end, all was fine and everybody was happy... especially once the ring pops came out of my purse (candy cures all). 

Summer Soccer

We decided to sign Kingston up for summer soccer this year - the first year he is eligible to play.

To get him pumped up, we picked out some shin guards and socks to go with his hand-me-down soccer cleats over the weekend.  The boy thought he was Joe Cool with his "gear" on... so you know I had to take a picture.

Kingston ran around our house for a good 15 - 20 minutes "practicing soccer" by himself.  We were rolling.

But seriously - how cute are those little legs all dressed up and ready to go?!  I die.

Practice starts June 17th, games June 24th.  More photos to come, for sure.

Adventures In Toddler-Sitting

Today we went on an adventure.  This momma went for a walk through our neighborhood with 3 toddlers and a baby in tow.  To keep us in line, we made sure to watch for butterflies, birds, airplanes, dogs... and the elusive garbage truck.  They had a blast.  I got a work out.  Fun was had by all.  

But before the adventure, we snapped a few photos.  The poses?  A way to keep the wiggly kiddos still.  We'll try for a "normal" photo next time. 

Captain Cowboy, a True Adventurer

Knights, pirates, cowboys... and Curious George?  Kingston's imagination is definitely raring to go these days.

Of course, he wanted me to participate in his pirate-play today, rewarding him with pirate gold for completing pirate missions.

And wouldn't you know that one of those pirate missions was to pose for a pirate picture; the biggest mission there was, rewarded with 10 pieces of pirate gold.  This boy sure earned his keep.  

Easter Egg Hunting

So, we probably should have prepared Kingston for Easter egg hunting... because when we went to the  community Easter egg hunt on Saturday, he only picked up a handful of eggs.

Which, to be truthful, didn't really bother me - in fact, it was pretty sweet how he wanted to stop and open each one that he picked up.  My parents joined us and loved helping Kingston sift through his "treasure" - so even more sweet memories were made.

We also did a little Easter egg hunting at my parents home on Sunday.

It was more of a challenge at my parents home, as my dad actually hid the eggs rather than just placed them all over the grass.  Kingston had fun hunting and we played a little "hot, cold" to help him find the last few eggs.  

While Cole did not get to hunt this year, he had fun watching his brother go through the eggs and even helped out by holding onto a few of the plastic eggs for his brother (show me a baby who is not amazed by those plastic eggs!).  We'll get 'em next year, Cole.

3 Toddlers, 1 Baby, & a Tired Momma.

Our nieces were in town last Friday and Kingston was beside himself with excitement.  He was so thrilled to have them come over and play at his house, with his toys.  Although the hubs was around for a couple of hours before baseball practice, I spent the majority of the day with all three toddlers (and our little Cole, of course) on my own.  Although extremely tiring, it was fun and we had a great day.

They read books, colored, played with toys... had snack time... played red light/green light, tag, hide & go seek.  We played boardgames and watched a little Tom & Jerry during quiet time.  They also practiced their culinary skills and played with Kingston's kitchen, filling pizza orders and preparing cake to go by the slice.  

All activities lasted about 15 minutes before the next... and they kept me on my toes.  But I am happy to say there were no fights, no time-outs.  These three love to play together.

A Boy and His Superheroes.

My boy loves his superheroes.  He has quite the collection and they tend to be his go-to toys right now.  So when I came into the kitchen yesterday afternoon to start dinner, I wasn't surprised to see he was actively playing away with them.  What I was surprised to see, however, was Kingston playing with his superheroes on our kitchen trashcan.  Again.  For like the second or third time this week.  Instead of interrupting him and asking him why, I quickly grabbed my camera to take a few photos.  Isn't that what you would have done?

Momma's Looks, Daddy's Charm.

While Kingston definitely has some of his daddy's features, we always hear how much he looks like me.  And for awhile, I didn't fully believe it... until I looked at a few photos of me that were taken around his age (see an example I posted last week HERE).

So, okay... I suppose he does look like me... but his mannerisms?  100% his daddy.

Take the above photos, for example.

When the hubs was a little boy, he would touch his upper lip with his finger.  He would do this so much, that he would get a little blister on his lip.  Now, on to Kingston.  The above photos were taken on our drive up to visit family nearly two weeks ago.  But since then, I've seen Kingston touching his lip (like pictured above) a time or two.

A small example, but something I can't help but smile at.

Close-Ups

{Cole, 7 months.  Kingston, 3 years.}

These two finally started to feel a little better on Sunday - their colds hit them pretty strong this last week and I am thankful they are finally pulling through.  Maybe it was having some of their favorite people in town this weekend that helped.  

Photo credit: THIS lady.

Throwback Thursday.

{Me, circa 1985}

They say Kingston looks a little like me.

The Heartbreak Kids.

{Carson and Kingston, 3 years old}

Matching pirate jammies after Carson's pirate-themed birthday party?  Ye bet yer lucky starrrrrrs, matey.  

Oh what a fun weekend away we had.  These two boys had a blast playing together and it was so fun to overhear their conversations.  They are too much.

Spaceman

Santa hooked a brother up this year!  While Kingston's main Santa gift was the beloved knights he had been dreaming about since he saw them displayed in a local toy shop last summer ("momma, can we go look at knights?!" - a quote we heard over and over again from August until Christmas), this boy also hit the jackpot with his stocking goodies... particularly the picture projector flashlight in the photos above.

Flashlight? YES.
Projector of about five different space-related images?  EVEN BETTER.

Our boy is really into rocket ships and the moon, so I'm glad Santa did his homework and picked up this little number from Land of Nod.  Go Santa.

Easy Rider

Kingston got a big wheels for Christmas.  He was super excited to ride it... even though it is a little big for him.  So, the hubs fixed him up right with an outdoor cushion.  And when I saw him riding down the street like this, I just had to take a picture.  

Love this boy of mine.