Luke & Alexa - 18 months!

Is it weird that I still vividly remember being pregnant with these two crazies?  I swear it was just a couple of days ago that I was lying in a hospital bed admiring their cuteness...wondering how in the world I was going to take care of them.  Well - so far, so good!!

Lexi Loo...She is a spitfire!  If you ask her a question she will always have an answer.  When looking for her stuffed animal she says, "Kitty...where'd he go?"  She loves to give long kisses and hugs with large grunts.  Out of the two of them, she is my climber.  She knows what a kitty, cat, cow & snake say.  Her favorite things to say are, "Mmm hmmm" and "No."  She loves SHOES!  She freaks out if she can't get a shoe on her little foot.  It cracks me up.  She also loves hats, sunglasses, necklaces and so on.  She loves doing patty cake and singing The Wheels on the Bus and There Was A Little House.

 She has gigantic blue eyes...untamable light brown hair...adorable teeth and such delicate features all the way around.  She still sucks on her little thumb when she gets tired.

 Her stats for her 18 month checkup were:

Weight - 20 lbs 11 oz - 3rd percentile

Height - 31.5 inches - 34th percentile

Head Circ - 46 - 30th percentile

My little mama's boy through and through.  He freaking loves me...to the point that he might need therapy one day.  He is in love with his puppy!  He is also in love with dirt.  Or sand.  Or small gravel.  He just digs his hands right in and flips it up into the air with delight.  He also is my water baby.  He LOVES baths, swimming, splashing, puddles, and the sprinkler.  He also loves dinosaurs and cars!  I would have to say that his favorite food is fruit.  He loves it all!  He is a little man of few words at the moment.  Mama, cracker, mm hmmm and all done are the ones he says the most.  When he is in a great mood he does this weird oriental jabber talk that is hilarious.

His teeth are tiny and perfectly straight.  His crazy blonde curls are the best.  I will probably cry when they get trimmed off.  His little belly after he eats is huge.  He walks with it sticking straight out with a cute little waddle going on in his hips.  DARLING.

 His stats for his 18 month checkup were:

Weight - 23 lbs 1 oz - 11th percentile

Height - 32 inches

Head Circ - 48.5

I love them.  SO FREAKING MUCH.

April

April started out with a prank.  I poured some Jell-O into classes, stuck a straw in and hid them in the fridge until dinner time.  I sat out the kiddos dinner, and BAM.  APRIL FOOLS!  Caleb freaked...Rylee was confused and only got upset because Caleb did...Taylor was a little confused, but totally rolled with it.  Tee hee.

Sweet Taylor headed outside with the bin of sidewalk chalk one day.  Shadow just wanted her attention so badly!  She couldn't get her drawing done because the cat just would not get out of her way.

Caleb had a whole week off from school for Spring Break.  One night me and the older 3 went to stay at the Crystal Inn.  We went swimming (Caleb perfected the belly flop)...went to McDonald's...ate popcorn in bed and stayed up until 11 watching the Disney channel.  They had a fun time!

The kids FINALLY got to put on some snow gear and experience winter.  Look how green the grass and trees are?  It was a fabulous spring snow storm.

Casey didn't want his picture taken.  He lost.  I took one anyway.  Look at little Luke....and silly little Lexi.  I want to remember these two like this forever!

Later that same night I went to check on the sleeping beauties....seriously...this little girl is a sleeping beauty indeed.

And I love that Luke was passed out like a total man.  Camouflaged, sweaty, sprawled out and fast asleep.

The net around trampolines is ingenious.  Forget about the safety issue for older kids, it is the best outdoor play pen ever.

Have I mentioned that I love this cat?  I bet I have as many pictures of Shadow that I do of my kids!

Ashley had her sweet baby boy.  Jackson Derrick Bodine.  Luke & Alexa were surprisingly sweet with him.  It was adorable.  It blows my mind how little the start out and how quickly that tininess goes away.  Sniff sniff.

 

March

Luke....the best helper EVER!!

For St. Patrick's day the kids & I made a rainbow cake.  It was delicious!

Oh look...a picture of a sleeping little one.  SO CUTE!

We went nuts and went to Draper and visited Aunt Sandra one afternoon.  We took a little hike on the river trail with the kids.  They loved it.  That night we went to dinner with Shelby & his family.

My girls and their cereal.  If I would let her...Taylor would have cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For Easter the kids made adorable rabbits.  Rylee's whiskers crack me up.

Here is Luke loving on his puppy.  Such an adorable boy!

HaPpY EaStEr!

The thrill of searching for your Easter basket.  I remember it well from when I was little.  For some reason I felt like it was a race to see who would find theirs first.  The kids were searching all over outside and they just couldn't' find them.  Silly rabbit - he decided to hide them inside this year!  Caleb found his in the cleaning closet and he had a package of Mr. Sketch markers.  He was so excited!!  The markers all have a fantastic scent.  Blueberry, strawberry, lemon, root beer...they are fabulous!  Rylee's basket was behind the couch and Taylor's was in the bathtub.  The each got a mermaid Barbie & they love her!

Caleb was so excited about his markers.  He ran to get a piece of paper and this is what he drew.  This child has the best imagination when it comes to drawing.  His amazing stick people never cease to amaze me.

Luke & Alexa found their baskets behind the recliner in their bedroom.  They even got an adorable pop-up lawn mower.  It even came with a mini gas can.  It's pretty cute.  Luke was a big fan of the Easter grass.  I bet I am finding in places for the next several months.  Alexa was a lover of her peeps.  A girl after my own heart.

Freeze Easter Picnic

The Saturday before Easter we headed out to Dove Creek to party it up with the Freeze side of the family.  I was in an AWFUL mood...which I now regret, but holy crap.  At that moment mad was the only emotion I could muster.  Sorry everyone....but it really wasn't entirely my fault!

 

My mom was so nice & offered to watch Luke & Alexa for me.  I don't know if she'll offer again thought.  Luke is a pistol.  An adorable little pistol.  I really do appreciate when people babysit for me.  I would lose my sanity without the occasional sitter.

 

The afternoon started with lunch.  Brad woke up at 4:30 AM to start getting wood coals ready for this pork roast he made.  I'm not sure what it all entailed, but it was delicious!  Tamara's deviled eggs are always the best ever.  She needs to make a dozen just for me to stuff in my face.  Mona's Dutch oven potatoes were also delicious.  Somehow I got off easy this year & just had to bring some fruit.  Caleb loves his cupcakes!  Taylor, Rylee & McKenna always like to play with each other.  Mona definitely won the Easter bonnet contest.  I love that Annalor hauls her own trailer and stays for the weekend and sits by the fire with her crocheting.  She's a trooper if I have EVER seen one.

 Mona arranged for everyone to do the bunny hop.  Brad headed up a game of redneck baseball.  I made Tamara take a selfie with me.  Casey helped the kids fly some awesome kites.  I took the kids on a few 4-wheeler rides.  There was even an Easter egg hunt!  It was a nice day out also.  Jacket weather, if you were just sitting with a breeze every now & then.  Hopefully the next time we all head out, I will be in a much better mood!

Anderson Easter Picnic

What a beautiful day!  It was a bit windy at times, but not to hot and not to cold.  This 7 year old boy & 4 year old girl stage is pretty adorable.  They were all pretty excited to get up on the hill and find their Easter eggs!  Taylor & Rylee always have each other's backs.  They would pick up the their sisters egg and take it back to their bucket for them and say, "I found one of yours!"  I think that Rylee had the best day ever.  Everything made her smile with delight.  She went on a 4-wheeler ride with Derrick & they got to see a white cottontail rabbit.  She came back and excitedly said, "I got to see the Easter Bunny!"

At lunch, Caleb loaded up his plate with a handful of each kind of chip and said, "I'm RICH of chips!!"  He spent the majority of his day sitting next to my dad's truck tire to stay out of the wind.  Rylee loved the lizard that was caught & having Grammy help her fly her kite.

Luke & Alexa have never had so much freedom!  Luke was cranky the second we got there so Casey took the babies on a 4-wheeler ride & Luke was asleep in no time.  Lucky for me, Angela is an excellent baby snuggler.  After he woke up he LOVED digging around in the dirt.  I just had to make sure he wasn't playing with any cow pies.  Lexi cheesing it up with Ashley cracks me up!

Griffy Poo and Blake were pretty chill this afternoon.  Loving on Ruger...a couple of wheeler rides...relaxing by the fire.  The Easter Bunny sure goes to great lengths to hide their eggs!  Griffen finds one in a pile of cow or horse doodie every year!

This girl is the greatest!  She loves to ride on Ruger...she loves frosting...she loves exploring...and loves to see everyone!  I think it is so cute that she leaves her sunglasses on.  She is a true darling diva.

We all headed home covered in dust with rosy red cheeks from the sun.  The kids went through their Easter eggs, took a shower & relaxed the rest of the night.  A very successful Easter picnic.