Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Baby Nate

Singing to our Birthday Boy
Blowing out his candles!
Oh, Wow!
Could he be any squishier?
Birthday fun at the park! Handsome big brother!
Oh, my sweet little boy!
Going for the big climb!
Racing done the slides!
Peek-a-boo!
Song time at Chevy's
Daddy and Big Brother!
Joking around with mommy!
I love Nate!
Cat Cake!

Happy Birthday sweet Nate! How in the world is our baby 3? Oh, this little boy has been such a joy since the moment when knew I was pregnant with him! He is our miracle baby and we love him to bits and pieces. There is so much to know about Nate at 3:

• I have never-ever met a happier/more easy going guy than Nate! He is completely sweet about just about everything! He is a go with the flow guy and we love that about him.
• On the flip side he is PASSIONATE/STRONG WILLED if he gets his mind set on something! He has outgrown the terrible twos and oh were they terrible!
• He is fun, fun, fun which usually translates into constantly on the go (running, jumping, bouncing, tumbling, etc...).
• He is a numbers guy: He counts to 30 and beyond, and he can do some adding. He loves patterns and using pattern blocks, puzzles, and more.
• He is a builder. Wow, can this little boy build. Lego's, duplos, wooden blocks, and lots of new fun things, magna tiles and zoobs.
• He is addicted to playdough. It is like crack for Nate.
• He loves to cook, cook, cook! He loves to cook in his pretend kitchen and he really loves to cook with me!
• The boy is animal lover! He loves, stuffed animals, animal figures, pictures and books about animals. He loves cats above all things (poor milo).
• Nate loves! He loves his mommy and daddy and brother! He loves deeply and sweetly. He hugs you close at night when you sing him songs!
• He is destined to be a rock star!
• Nate is a social beast. The guy runs with a pack of girls at preschool (Alex, Lola, Paige, rory, etc...).

We are so amazed by our smart little boy! He is a sweet, imaginative, creative passionate, loving little boy.

He had a fabulous birthday! We opened some presents, had cake for breakfast, took brother to school and then he and I came home and opened the rest of his presents! We then went to the pottery place and he painted an orange kitty! This was his first trip to the pottery place and he was so excited! After lunchtime and rest time we went to the Humane society to drop off the tons of dog/cat gifts our friends brought to Nate's birthday party instead of gifts for Nate. The boys got to go in to the cat visiting rooms and pet a ton of cats and they got to visit with the bunnies and dogs! We then went to the park for an hour of play time in our gorgeous 75 degree weather! Finally, we finished up the night at Chevy's! Nate at about 2 pounds of chips and salsa though he felt that it wasn't spicy enough. They sang to him and gave him a sombrero! IT was adorable!

Happy birthday sweet baby boy! I know you say your not my baby, but you will ALWAYS be my baby!

Nate's Birthday Party Extravaganza

Nate getting his kitty face painted by the fabulous Natalie!
Nate as an orange kitty! This is what he has always wanted!
Eli's transformation into an adorable spotted puppy!
Puppy dog Eli!
The kids singing with Miss Teresa (Nate's fantastic music teacher)
The whole group!
Pretending to be animals
Sleeping during a song!
The drums sticks are always a huge hit!
Three picnic tables full of hungry kids!
Singing happy birthday to Nate!
Nate blew out his candles (with a tiny bit of help from big brother)
Cupcake heaven!
Orange kitty and white puppy cupcakes!

Oh, what a day we had! We celebrated Nate's 3rd birthday with all of our friends today (a few days early). This time we decided to party at our house with a face painter and songs and games provided by our long-time music teacher, Miss Teresa! It was a blast! All the kids that wanted to had their faces painted. Nate was an adorable (and squishy) orange kitty and Eli was a spotted puppy! We also had pirates, cats, butterflies and pirates! Too funny! Then Miss Teresa game and sang, did the parachute, drums, animal games and balls with the kids! Nate was in heaven, as music and miss Teresa are two of his favorite things! The kids then pigged out with pizza and snacks! Then we gave them all a sugar high with puppy and kitty cupcakes followed by an uproariously funny 30 minutes of crazy play! Whew! What a day! The best part of the day was that Nate loved every minute of it! He hugged all of his friends good by when they left!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... with great friends!

Nate, running to keep up with the big boys!
Taking a break from the animals!
Eli and Harrison have been friends since they were 10 months old!
Wild tigers!
Eli talking to a very friendly bird!

We had so much fun on Wednesday! Eli, Nate and I met our three other playgroup families at the zoo in Normal/Bloomington, IL. It was a gorgeous sunny day and all of the animals were active and exciting! The boys had so much fun playing with our long-time friends! After we were done with the zoo. We had lunch at the awesome park attached to the zoo and then played more! What a fun way to spend a spring break day!

The Indianapolis Children's Museum: The Thank Goodness we don't use strollers any more edition

Nate at the sand table. He REALLY didn't want to leave the sand table.
Crazy-eyed Eli pretending to be a squirrel in the tree house
The water table is always a favorite
Nate fixing a sink in the "Build the Builder" exhibit
Nate driving a car. Whose eyes are crazier? Nate's or the car's?
Eli "drafting" his plans for a house.
Excavating dinosaur bones in the Dinosphere
Nate excavating dino bones
Dinosaur Eli hatching his dino eggs
Pure Joy! Eli loves the dinosaur exhibit!

We pretended that today was a weekend (Sam had to take a furlough day) and we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum! We had such a great day. I can't get over how big my boys are and how these trips are a pure treat now! No stroller, no diapers (Nate was dry the whole day), no temper tantrums (minor miracle). They both loved the dino exhibit. They got to see all of the fossils and excavate for fossils in the dino dig. They also got to watch two real life paleontologists work on the skeleton of a triceratops. They were fascinated by the tiny drills and tools. We ran in to one of Eli's best school friends and his family. Eli claims that he was too busy excavating to talk to Leo, but he did say hi. I think Leo felt the same way. BOYS! Other hits were the Bob the Builder exhibit, the Egypt exhibit, and of course the water table and playscape. This hands-on museum is amazing. The boys finished their day with a scoop of rainbow sherbert and an hour long nap ride in the car on the way home! Life is, indeed, very very good.

What to do

What is a boy to do when he is sad from an ear infection/bronchitis/early pneumonia, lack of sleep, cranky parents, and cold weather? Why, clean of course! The only explanation for this is that Nate is Sam's son. We all know I don't clean (very often, or very well).

Squeaky

Meet squeaky. He is one of two adorable guinea pigs that belong to the preschool and K/1 classrooms at Eli's awesome school! We volunteered to take squeaky home with us over a three day weekend in February. It was so much fun! Squeaky and Eli were instant buddies! They loved hanging out in the play pen together! Nate was less sure about squeaky and liked to feed him but not stay with him in the play pen! We were all so sad to see squeaky go...except milo!