I’m a Proud Mama

Anyone who has been to our house over the past month and half knows about our baby birds – I’ve been a bit “enthusiastic” about it, you could say.  A very nice Carolina Wren couple decided to entrust our Geraniums with their modest (yet effective) nest made of all sorts of random things.  They thought they were pretty smart building their nest up on our deck where the wind and rain couldn’t get to them, but that was before the weather got really nice and we started spending more time outside.  But I think they got used to us, and perhaps even liked the fire table and weekend movie nights :)  Let me tell you, my motherly instincts sure kicked in with these little fellas, and when they actually hatched I was so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’m proud to say that (as far as we know) we helped raise 6 fine looking baby wrens who are undoubtedly having a grand time dive bombing Polly and pooping on our cars. haha.  Here are some pictures I took over the past month…

April 2nd – 5 eggs! (when we first noticed the nest there were only 3 eggs)

April 3rd – Mommy Bird sitting in the nest, likely getting ready to lay another egg (it’s hard to see her but you can make out her left eye and tail if you look closely)

April 4th – 6 eggs!

April 6th & 8th – No major changes

April 8th – a picture through my bathroom window of Mommy bird laying on the nest.  For about a week she sat tight almost all day and night.

April 20th – BABIES! They can’t be more than a day or two old here.  They hatch with no feathers and are blind.

April 22nd – Feed us! [~4 days old]

April 25th – Starting to get some feathers [~7 days old]

April 27th – Getting bigger [~9 days old]

April 28th – Mommy or Daddy bird leaving after feeding the babies

April 29th – My last picture.  Look how they’re perfectly placed 3x3 [~11 days old]

We think they left the nest around May 1st which would have made them about 13 days old (they typically leave around 12 to 14 days and are said to do so quickly).  Carolina Wrens mate for life and stay together even when they’re not breeding.  I’ll tell you, after watching the Mom and Dad I’m convinced that every new parent on this planet says to their mate “What were we thinking?? All they do is eat and eat! I’m exhausted!” Those parents were busy…

But it’s all worth it in the end.  Here’s to the newest additions of our extended Ward family!

Full of Giggles

Dylan has been full of laughs these days. I guess it might have something to do with finally cutting 8, yes, eight, teeth (he has the top and bottom 4 already!). He's really been such a joy to be around. Well, ok, for the most part. After 6 pm babies just go into their "Witching Hour" and I just don't count those ;)

Easter Fun

Where to start with this post?! We had a Ward Family Invasion for Easter and it was a blast! :) We took Sean to the community Easter Egg Hunt where he found eggs, pet lots of animals and rode a pony for the first time.  We spent some good time just relaxing, shopping, eating, celebrating John’s birthday, boating and just catching up.  I can’t explain how much it means to all of us that everyone drove all the way here – it’s a long haul but we’re always so happy to see everyone.  And Sean was pretty enamored with his Aunt “Chelle”, Aunt Megan and Uncle Marshall – he’s still talking about them! haha

HAPPY EASTER 2012!

Matching T’s Photo Shoot

Thanks Aunt Laura and Uncle Ernie for the awesome T-shirts!

Touch a Truck

Last weekend we took the boys to an event called Touch a Truck where you can get up close and personal with all things trucks.  They had cars, fire trucks, buses, dump trucks, 18 wheelers… you name it.  You can only imagine Sean’s excitement when we got there – he’d never seen anything like it.  Our first stop was a dump truck.  The driver actually asked Sean if he wanted to honk the horn but Sean politely declined.  He said it was “too scary” ;) Here’s a glimpse at some of our stops:

At 2:00, all of the cars/trucks planned to honk their horns at the same time. For the adults, it was actually pretty cool… I couldn’t help but take a video of it:

It went on for over a minute, and we all know that’s like a half hour in kid time.  This was the the final result, poor baby.  He tried so hard to be brave but the last 15 seconds just did him in.

Afterwards we took the boys to the Big View Diner and got Sean his first milkshake!

By the time we got home John and I were giggling – we decided we acted more like grandparents than parents that day! No naps, running around in and out of trucks, milkshakes for dinner… haha.  But those are the best days, aren’t they?

Mamaw Ward

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.

Here, There, Everywhere

So what’s been going on these days? I need to get back in my blogging groove because my posts lately seem to just be catching up instead of keeping up!  For starters, Dylan turned 9 months old:

Pop Pop and GG came to visit for a few days.  Sean was excited to use Pop Pop’s cane that we was using after getting a “new knee!”  We had  a good time, hung out and enjoyed the weather, made some good food and drank some good wine :)

They took Sean to the FIRE STATION!! He got to meet real firefighters and sit in the FIRE TRUCK!

They went to feed the ducks…

… and of course to the mall to ride the trucks

Dylan has been clapping a lot and will put his hands on his head when you ask him “How big is Dylan?”

And Sean has been having fun playing outside, riding his bike and watching the neighbors play with their racecars!

Can you believe spring is here? We’re getting excited for a busy spring and summer!!

Really? It’s March??

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Where does the time go these days? We’ve been busy here and have been enjoying some unseasonably nice weather over the past few weeks.  Here’s a recap:

Dylan figured out how to roll over, sleep on his back and pull up all of his blankets around his face.  This of course totally freaked me out so I went in (took a few pictures first) and pulled his blankets down a bit.  He must have been in a deep sleep though because he hands didn’t even move!

We celebrated my 29th birthday again! John made an amazing cake, Dylan wore his ‘Momma’s Boy’ t-shirt, the boys made me a Mommy ribbon and painted a picture frame, and Sean serenaded me with Happy Birthday a few times that day. Fabulous!

We celebrated baby Lucas’s 1st Birthday.  As you can see Sean was very fond of his Lucas’s new bike….

Grandma Leigh and Grandaddy came to visit!

WHAT? NO PICTURES? How in the world could that happen?? I guess when you have that much fun you forget to pull out the camera :)

Dylan figured out how to sleep on his side (mouth still open!)…

Finally, I had to put this little video clip together to show you a glimpse of Sean’s boundless energy.  These days he just runs and runs and runs… all time time.  Everywhere. And usually in circles. (should I be worried? haha)…

What Color Are Those Eyes?

I’m convinced that Dylan’s eyes are still changing colors. When he was born they were a dark bluish grey like most newborns.  I think we all thought they’d turn brown pretty quickly, and when you look at him from far away they look dark brown.  But when you look at him up close his eyes are anything but – they are still greyish blue around the outside but have neat pockets of brown in the middle.  I’ve been trying to get some good pictures to show all of the cool colors you see when you have him up close – this is as good as I could do.  So what do you think? Will they stay like this or go totally brown?

See how they look totally brown from a little further out?

And what about this kid? Can you guess the color of his eyes? ;)

8 Months and 2 and-a-half!

February is a fun month because Dylan is 8 months, Sean is 2.5 years, it’s Valentine’s Day and I’m 29 again! How exciting! Dylan is doing great, he has 4 teeth and the fifth one is almost in.  He’s sitting up unassisted, babbling, and showing *some* interest in rolling over.  Sean is proving to be a really good big brother, although when it comes to eating he doesn’t like to share that time with Dylan :) Sean is starting to sing a lot more, talks in complete sentences, shares the tub with Dylan, especially likes playing with his friends Grant and Julia, and loves going grocery shopping with me on the weekends (as long as we find the racecar cart. if we don’t it’s a loooong Harris Teeter trip).  They’re both lovely and we’re having more and more fun with them every day!

And here are the outtakes of my 2 and-a-half year old’s two-and-a-half year photo-shoot:

Super Bowl Sunday

Sean’s most favorite lady, Julia, and her brother Lucas came over for Super Bowl Sunday.  We had a fun time hanging out, eating and chasing after the kids! We figure by 2014 we’ll all be out of diapers and might even be able to let them play in another room so we can actually watch a little bit of the game!  A mother can dream… :)

Words I Don't Want to Forget

Kids have all kinds of funny ways to pronounce words as they're learning to talk. And Sean has certainly had his fair share of them. But when we were reading his bedtime story tonight his new one caught me off guard and I just had to write a few of the memorable ones down so I don't forget:
- "Pluh-SEE-GEE" [one if his first really funny ones, it meant 'please'. How in the world he came up with this one we we'll never know!]
- "Sean'd" [this is how he said his name for a few months]
- "Hobit-dopter" [how he currently says 'helicopter']
- "Up-pwane" [current word for 'airplane']
- "El-fa-nant" [elephant]
- "Am-in-als"[animals]
- "Pa-weeee" [Polly]
- "Swishy-swipers" [the one that made me laugh tonight. It meant 'windshield wipers']
Don't you just want to bottle up all that cuteness??? :)

First Official Brother Pictures

We took Dylan in for his “6 month” pictures (really he was 7 months and some change) and we got some really great ones of him and Sean.  Here is a link to a slideshow our photographer put together.  How adorable?!