Easter 2013

I know I'm a bit late posting about Easter, but better late than never...

We went to Santa Cruz for the weekend before heading to Southern California for spring break. 

I struggle with traveling for holidays because I have such strong memories of being at home for my holidays. I still want our kids to experience all aspects of the holiday (even though we're not at home and they most likely won't remember it anyway because they're still so little), so I packed up their Easter baskets and plastic eggs and we had ourselves an Easter egg hunt!

Adaline was such a sweetheart, helping Spencer find and open his eggs. This was one of my favorite pictures:

She found one, gave it to him, and then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. I love her personality!

We had a nice Easter brunch with Travis's parents, and then we packed the car and took off for our first ever five-hour car ride with two kids. It went relatively well! It helped that the five-hour car drive ended with The Kids (my niece and nephew) pulling in right behind us and all of us running out the backdoor to the ocean! Pics of the week to follow...

Party Time

Just one more post on Spencer's birthday...

We had a small party for Spencer (Grandma Great, Grandma and Grandpa Tornquist and Walsh, Aunt Sara, Aunt Hayley, Laura and Trace). We talked about having a big first birthday party for him since we never did follow through on having a Welcome the Baby Party when he was born, but neither of us was really sold on the idea of a big party because Spencer is so sketchy on strangers. I envisioned a big group of family and friends over and me holed up in the bedroom with Spencer because he couldn't handle all the people staring at him...didn't sound like much fun. Good thing we didn't because even with just the people that he already knows over, he spent the first hour clinging to me and not wanting to socialize. Thankfully, he finally warmed up and ventured out. 

 We had a yummy BBQ meal before we opened presents...

And then cake (which Spencer really didn't care for...)

and then a few more presents...

It was a nice and calm party and we all had a great time celebrating the fastest year I've ever experienced :) How on earth can our baby be a year old and taking independent steps?! How is he already only a few pounds lighter than Adaline?! Crazy, I tell you, crazy.

Quick learner...

While I was digging around in my files for pictures of Spencer, I found these ones and had to share...

Adaline received this easel for Christmas and at the time, Spencer could barely reach over the tray.

But he practiced and practiced...

And look at what he could do by February!

Dare I say he's a genius?!

Spencer's Year

What an amazing year it has been...

From the moment Spencer came into the world, he has let his opinion be known. Thankfully, most of the time it is a happy opinion :) 

He is happy and outgoing and full of laughter.

He is a ball of energy and does NOT want to miss out on anything.

He is lovely and loved and loving.

He is beautiful, inside and out.

In one short year, our family changed completely, but feels like it has always been this way. I'll never understand how that happens, but it's true. Spencer has given us our fair share of scares already with illnesses and his fearless-ness, so I know we're in for an exciting life with this guy. I think it's his goal to keep us on our toes :) 

Happy birthday, Spencer, I am so thankful to have you in my life!

Happy First Birthday, Spencer!

It's been a year, already?!

Happy birthday to our baby boy that loves to laugh and play and make other people smile- it's hard to remember a time when you weren't a part of our family!

Big Girl Bike

Adaline was so excited to get a big girl bike for her birthday in February. We took a few short rides on the canal right away, and then late winter hit. We had wet, cold days and dry, cold days. Too cold for bikes.  Just this week we've hit the 70s again and Adaline is already asking to go on her bike again. I can't wait to get back out there with her and get her really comfortable on her bike.

Booties

I'm still knitting and trying new patterns.

I don't have a lot of time to knit these days. I love watching the pieces come together. Sometimes it takes months to finish one pattern, not because it's hard, but because I'm so darn tired at the end of the day. But still...who doesn't love seeing baby booties? My friend Hilary gave me a pair of booties for Adaline and I used them for as long as they fit. I loved them and still have them tucked in Adaline's keepsake box. My pieces are far from Hilary's quality, but they sure are fun to knit :)