Mom's 50th Birthday

We celebrated my Mom's 50th birthday yesterday with a ladies only brunch. My Oma, aunts, and sisters came to my place to enjoy a delicious brunch with waffles, syrup, whipping cream, berries, muffins & bacon. We all had a lovely time.

birthday girl (looking 50 years young!!) & Ethan

the ladies who attended the brunch. Jenny (on the right) is my mom's youngest sister and they share the same birthday. So we were able to celebrate 2 birthdays.

Happy 50th Birthday Mom!

May God bless you with many more years. We love you and hope you enjoyed your day!

the boys

brotherly love

Ethan watching Seth play outside.
Oh, how he would have loved to be out there as well!

Ethan practicing his "walking"

Seth climbing up the big snow mound in front of our house

BOO

BOO!!! I see you!

Just thought I would post this more for fun, since he was trying to get really close to the camera.

more pics of the boys

Just thought I would post a few pictures of the boys.

our "pirate" boys

I took the boys outside one day last week and had them both on the sled. They had a blast and I had fun too. You forget what it is like to be a kid again! Fun times.

Ethan's first haircut

We took Ethan to get his first haircut this afternoon. Actually it was really just a trim to get it neat and tidy. It probably could have been a little shorter, but it is still cute. He sat really well and let the hairdresser cut his hair no problem. His first cut was free, and they even gave a certificate for his first cut.

don't I look cute?

here he is showing off his new do

the boys & me

I don't get too many pictures of the boys and me together, out of a bunch of pictures that were taken, these 2 were the best.

Ethan's 10 month pictures. He doesn't always like having his picture taken. Our sweet baby is growing up too fast!

Here Seth is "reading" to Ethan.

from around our home

Ethan loves to stand up in his crib, so this is how we find him after he wakes up

do you think I need a hair cut yet? I think I am getting one soon!

We borrowed the Wii game system from one of Paul's co-workers last weekend so here is Seth & Paul playing it. We had a fun night on Friday and Saturday playing it. It was so much fun!

9 months old

Our baby turned 9 months on Saturday. He is getting to be such a big boy. I think is he almost about 19 lbs. He is finally starting to eat our food put through a baby food grinder and eating some finger foods, yet with a little hesitation as he gags quite a bit. He is also pulling himself up (as you can see in the pictures below). I found him standing up in his crib for the first time last night. I guess it is time to make sure our home is baby-proofed! He is growing so fast and we love him to pieces.

all dressed up to go for a sled ride. He sure loved it!

4 years old today

It is so hard to believe that our boy Seth is 4 today. This year marks so much for him with his first time in Sunday school today, a family adventure to Texas for 3 months while Daddy goes to school and JK in the fall. He has grown so much in the past year and we are so thankful for him. God has blessed him with health & strength and for that we are so grateful! We had a party with family yesterday as Paul has to work today. He enjoyed his party and was happy with the gifts received.

I tried a fire theme this year, since he is into fire trucks and especially since Daddy is going to be going to fire school.

he received a fire truck flashlight

a back pack for when he goes to school in September, just the thought of that is quite something!

more Christmas pictures

here are the cute gift boxes my parents gave for the kids gifts

Seth is not choking Ethan, just being a big brother and loving him

We did stocking stuffer gifts for the boys this year. Ethan wasn't too interested because of his age, but Seth was pretty excited. We ended off the night with tacos for supper, checking out the fantasy of lights & watching the Cars movie and eating lots of candy for a snack.

Seth with his John Deere tractor ornament. We are going to make it a tradition to by the kids an ornament each year.