Miss Mary's First Recital

Mary had her first ballet recital this past Sunday and it was so much fun. She loved getting her hair and makeup done and could barely wait to get there. I dropped her off backstage with her ballet teacher and she went from excited to very quiet which made me a little teary-eyed. The next time we saw her was on stage and she didn't even crack a smile. But then, the music started and she hopped up, put on a HUGE smile and danced her little heart out. At first the tears welled up in my eyes because I couldn't believe my little baby was dancing on stage but then they started spilling over when Mary wouldn't stop hamming it up. She forgot where she was supposed to stand and just decided to stand directly in front of the other girls and perform. She was laughing, dancing and having the time of her life. I was laughing, snorting and wiping the tears away. The video we took is terrible because Ryan was laughing so hard he couldn't hold the camera still. Note for next time: bring the tripod and keep my snorting away from the camera.

Motorcycles Are Dangerous

Ryan broke his hand the day before Mothers' Day after a little spill off of his motorcycle during a race. What a thoughtful gift. Mary has been talking about Daddy's broken "nickel" (knuckle), going to the hospital, motorcycles, etc. every second of every day since. Aunt Stephanie caught some of the hilarity on video. That Mary...wise beyond her years.

Isn't He Pretty?

Mary was helping Patrick accessorize.

Patrick's first time in the swing. He loved it and Mary loved pushing him. Win, win!





She's Almost Three

Mary is such a smart, sassy and thoughtful little girl. Every day brings something new. Like the slide in the picture below. For the longest time she would never go down it at the park because it was so high and twisty. She'd get to the top, sit there and then inevitably turn around and come down the stairs. But a couple of weeks ago, she just went up there and slid right down. No big deal. I was WAY more excited than she was but she did think it was pretty fun.

And below you are witnessing what we call the "potty" scooter. We had promised Mary a scooter once she used the potty every time she had to go and it was finally time to make good on that promise. She had a hard time choosing between the Tinkerbell and Princess scooter but ended up going the princess route. Excellent decision.

Driving lessons from Daddy...

The other day Mary was suspiciously quiet so I called out from the other room, "Mary, what are you doing?" And I hear "I'm just riding Chasey."

Seven Months Old

Somehow Patrick is already seven months old. I'm not sure how it happened so fast but he's the happiest, chunkiest seven month old I've ever met! He loves to laugh, especially at Frankie and Mary, and it sounds more like a cackle than a laugh. But when you hear it, it's impossible not to laugh out loud too. Definitely contagious. He also barrel rolls across the floor to get to what he wants, is eating lots of different fruits and veggies and babbles like a champ.

Patrick also loves to stand. Prefers it to sitting actually. His legs are like tree trunks and his feet are like meatballs so he's actually pretty sturdy.

Mary's Fairy Party

A few weeks ago Mary and I went to a fairy party at a local garden center. We met Mary's friend Mallory and her mom Kathleen and the girls were in fairy heaven. They got wings, wands, a tutu, a fairy figurine, made a fairy necklace, went on a fairy hunt and ate sparkly fairy cupcakes and had magical fairy punch. Mary is still talking about her "sizzle" drink...it was lemonade with pop rocks in it!

This was her fourth cupcake. You know, just one more for the road.

More Easter Pics

Easter weekend started off with an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. You'll notice the double stroller in the background...Patrick snoozed his way through the chaos. He had the right idea.

Easter Sunday was full of fun, food and more Easter egg hunts. This year, Mary was poised and ready to throw elbows for some candy.

Our Babies

I apologize that I haven't uploaded Mary's ballet video yet. It's a huge file and I'm challenged when it comes to video editing and uploading. Challenged as in I don't know how to do it. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are a few pics of the babies. Mary looks more and more like Ryan every day. Sometimes it's borderline creepy to look at her and so distinctly see Ryan's face and expressions. You know, creepy in a heartwarming kind of way. And everyone says that Patrick looks just like me which honestly, makes my heart so happy. When I found out we were having a boy I was crazy nervous but he's my little man....ahhh, don't you just love him!?!?

Sandles with tights underneath on Easter? Yup. I can't believe it either but I a) didn't think it would be so chilly and b) didn't have another appropriate shoe option. Don't worry, I won't let it happen again.

More Easter pics to come. Not better Easter pics, because they're all kind of bad and blurry, but there are definitely more. ;)

The Perfect Sunday

Last Sunday, Mary and I went to the grocery story while Patrick napped. When we got home it was so nice outside that we packed everyone up and headed to the park. Ryan dusted off the "good" camera and took some great shots of Miss Mary in her element.

After the park, we headed home for naps and then to the barn to see Nutt-Nutt and Selah. Mary has been talking about riding Selah every single day for the past several months but I still wasn't sure she would actually want to go through with it. But oh boy, she hopped right on and didn't even bat an eyelash. Mary was so confident, calm and sweet...we couldn't have been any more proud or excited!

Is it really April already?

These photos start off with bathing suits and watermelon, transition to winter coats and hats and then back to short sleeves and sunshine. They're not out of order...that's just Ohio these days.

Remember Mary in a box? Well, this is Mary in a roll of wrapping paper. And as she would say "surprise - open your gift. It's Mary!"

 This is Mary, happy as a clam, riding in the cargo basket of our single stroller. To quote her daddy "So glad we got that double stroller."

 I mean, really, those cheeks? It's so hard not to just kiss 'em all day long!

 Her new favorite outdoor activity: climbing the stack of mulch bags.

Ryan dusted off the old DSLR and took some amazing pictures of Mary at the park as well as riding Selah for the first time. He's seriously talented with that thing. They'll be up soon, along with a video preview of Mary's ballet routine. It's priceless!

March mega-post

Spring is here and we went from directly from having the heat on to having the A/C on. Not a bad problem to have.

Patrick has been enjoying the warm weather, especially because this is the very first time I have allowed his sweet baby head and toes to feel fresh air and see sunlight. He loves it so much he does happy baby grunts the whole time we're outside.

Mary has been enjoying one of her top five favorite outdoor activities: digging in the dirt. I just give her a shovel and a bucket and she occupies herself in the flower beds for at least an hour. Note: mulch is difficult to wash from the hair and scalp.

And somehow Mary knew that this was a daffodil. I was so proud of her for correctly identifying the flowers that I didn't mind when she picked them. All.

Last week Aunt Stephanie came to the zoo with us after ballet class. She and Mary watched the polar bears swimming and even rode the giant carousel. A special thank you to Steph for riding it with her...merry-go-rounds make me want to hurl.

Patrick and I hung out on the sidelines...

Last week we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in honor of our little "P" - do you like his shades? He looks more Elton John than leprechaun...

Auntie Erin sent the kids a box full of Irish goodies and Mary was shreiking with excitement as she opened the box. They loved everything, including Patrick's bow tie! (sorry for the blurry photos - I couldn't get her to stand still)

 Ryan is going to kill me for posting this photo ;)

This past weekend Ryan and I had a "date day" - it was the first time we'd been anywhere together without the kids. It was really nice and well, I only lasted a couple of hours before we headed back to Nutt-Nutt and Papa John's house to scoop them up. They were still napping when we got there but as soon as they woke up, it was go-time! Mary had a very important job to do and Patrick just enjoyed soaking up the sun and airing out his little piggies.

On Sunday evening the tornado sirens went off and we had brief but severe thunderstorms. On Monday morning when we went outside to play, there were huge worms getting swept down the street as everyone's sump pumps emptied out. First Mary took her shoes and socks off to splash in the puddles and then she decided to rescue the worms. Her Dora gardening gloves were too cumbersome so she just went for it with bare hands. She'd say "Squirmy is swimming away - hurry!" and then scoop the worms up and THROW them in the grass. Not sure there was much rescuing going on but she had a blast.

And I thought since I posted a silly pic of Ryan that I would post one of myself too...share the embarassment.