Oh Boy!

Well, the day has come. Everett has officially said goodbye to his crib and is currently sleeping in his big boy bed! At least we think he's sleeping in it. He has made a couple of surprise attacks on us tonight. He kept popping up whenever I turned around - not something I am used to! I hope I don't have a pair of eyes on me as I sleep tonight.....

Happy Half Birthday to Everett!

If you know me, you know I love half birthdays. A year is a long time to wait to celebrate your birthday, so why not celebrate halfway? And why not celebrate with half of a cake?

Everett is 3 and a half! That's incredible! That's 42 months! He was super excited to celebrate and loved that he got a cake. So fun!

Lionel West (AKA Mini Billy)

As Lionel looked on to Everett's cake and our singing, he had many faces for the camera. He's such a ham!

The Underwear After-Party

Things got a bit messy during the cake, so we had to strip 'em down! The boys just love this. It's the ultimate freedom! Everett gave us a "muscle" show and Lionel played inside his clean laundry. Chooches!

Starting to Look a Bit Like.....

.....REAL brothers! Actually playing together - it's a miracle!

Really, Mom?

One of the "treats" I got for the boys for Valentine's Day was a pack of window markers. Totally an awesome idea - markers you can write on the window with and then wipe clean. Everett looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears when I told him to color on the window. He quickly barked, "We don't color on windows, Mama, we color on paper!" I guess I trained him well! Lionel had no hesitations whatsoever! And you can see that it only took 5 pictures for the marker to end up in his mouth.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a little party for Valentine's Day today. The boys passed out valentines and had cupcakes. There is no picture of Everett eating his because when I turned to go get the camera, he literally inhaled it. Lionel savored his a bit. All you could hear was, "Yum!"

Field Trip!

We ventured down to Tempe last week to check out the new aquarium. It was super fun! Perfect for kids....everything was low to the ground and very interactive. Everett got to touch a starfish in a touch tank. I asked him how it felt and he replied, "It felt like a starfish." Of course, silly Mom for even asking! Lionel learned a new word - fishy! Everett forgot his camera, so I let him take a picture with mine. Of course he wanted to take a picture of me, not the fish. The first one is practice, but he does well the second time. A great day!

And He's Off!

After lunch, it was clear that Lionel needed an outfit change (please note: his second one before noon!). The boy is messy! And he is a climber! He just loves when I forget to put the gate up and he races over to the steps. Before you can even say his name, he's all the way up!

Say Cheese, Mama!

After watching Elmo play with a camera on Monday on Sesame Street, Everett became obsessed with cameras. He was using a toy as a "make-believe" camera until I remembered I had my old camera in the garage. I put a battery in it so it can flash and make noises and Everett hasn't put it down once! As I peeked in on him tonight in bed, he said, "Mama, I have my camera! I took 7 more pictures. I'll just take a few more." It's absolutely adorable! He asks me to say cheese all day long and then he looks at the back (like it's a digital camera) and says, "Wow, that was a great one, Mama!"

Where's Lionel?

There he is!

Tight Quarters

We have rooms and rooms of toys and a large yard to run, but both boys played in this shelf for way too long! Lionel kept trying to sit upright and was mad he couldn't.

Yum!

While Billy was away at a conference, Everett and I made homemade smiley pizzas! We found the idea in his Highlights magazine. They were yummy!