STILL My Favorite Time of Day

Once upon a time, I mentioned that bath time with Caden was my favorite time of day.  

I still love bath time with Asher.

He loves his bath just as much as his brother

(although you'd never know it by looking at these pictures.  He was all smiles until I put the camera in front of my face and the flash started going off)

Oh look, a smile!

Rub-a-dub-dub...

Asher's in the tub!

Yep, still my favorite time of day!

Such a Stud!

Last week, Caden was invited to a birthday party for the sweet twin girls that live across the street.  Caden loves Hannah and Sophie and was really excited to celebrate with them.  The party was held at Little Monkey Business in Denver - a new bouncy house as Caden says.  We got there after the party started (CP needed a nap!), so we weren't sure who all was there.  When we went into the party room for cake, this is what we saw...

Yep, that is Caden sitting at a table with 8 little girls!  What a stud!

He was surrounded by pink balloons and Barbie.  He actually pointed to the picture of Barbie on the table cloth and asked me, "Who dat, Mommy?" We definitely do not have a lot of Barbie happening at our house!  

The boys pulled out all of their moves to win over the girls.  This is Caden's "I'm going to ignore you and eat my snack" move.

Asher's got some moves too.  This is the "I'm going to smile, wave, and look cute while I hang out in my car seat in the corner of the room" move.  Works every time!

Jeremy tried the "Look how cute I am holding the baby" move.

It's amazing I got any of them to come home with me!

We had the same talk that we always do before going to birthday parties - the one about how the birthday kid is going to get to open the presents and take the toys home.  This time it didn't seem to be too much of a problem.  After the girls opened makeup cases, sparkly shoes, and dolls, the asked me, "Where the trucks at?"  I think he felt a little sad for them that they didn't get any trucks!

Then came the bouncing and playing - oh, the fun!

As usual, it was a little too much for Asher

All in a day's work for my studly guys!

Brudders

"What do I do with this thing now?"

Chillin' at the Children's Museum

For Caden's birthday, he (ok, we!) received a family membership to the Denver Children's Museum - thanks Nana and Grandpa!  So, last Friday, Caden, Asher, Papa, Gaga, and I headed downtown to explore the museum - Seniors get in free the first Friday of every month, so I think we'll be visiting a lot!

Without a doubt, Caden's favorite exhibit was the new firetruck.   

"I spray you, Papa - pssssssh!"

We were able to visit the other exhibits too, but he kept going back to the firetruck over and over and over....

My favorite exhibit was the bubble room - Caden and I even got inside a bubble!

He also painted and played with "stuff."

Asher loved the museum too

He spent his time practicing a little tummy time

And solving the problems of the world with Papa

After the museum, we walked over to a park next door to eat lunch and have a little playtime

Wanna go again next month, Papa and Gaga?

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

For the first 5 weeks of Asher's life, he slept in his car seat in our closet.  It's hard for me to believe that I didn't get a picture of that, but I think I was too worried that I'd wake him up!  Imagine that he looked something like this, but with his eyes closed

For the next 2 weeks we slept in a bassinet in our closet

Then we moved the bassinet up to his room and he slept there for about 3 weeks.  

And then, we did it.  Last Friday, we moved Asher out of his bassinet and into his big boy crib.

Yes, he's really sleeping (you can't get a 2 month old to pose, silly!).

Yes, I was trying to wake him up (we had a party to get to!).

No, it didn't work (this kid is a great sleeper!).

We've come a long way, baby!

Talkin' With the Tots

Here are some more funny conversations I've had with the boys recently (seriously, I wrote these things down so I wouldn't forget!):

Scene: I was trying to get a really scratched Bob the Builder DVD we borrowed from the library to play in the DVD player.

Me:  "Sorry, buddy.  I don't think I can get it to play."

Caden:  "You can do it, Mommy.  You're a big girl. I know you can do it!"

(Unfortunately, even with his encouragement I was still unable to get the DVD to play!)

Scene: Caden was taking "pictures" of me on his "phone."

 Caden: "Say cheese, Mommy.  That was a good one!  Just one more!  Look up!"

And, not to be outdone by his big brother, Asher has a few things to say too

Silly kiddos!

The Official Start of Summer

Yeah, I know that the "real" official start of summer is Memorial Day (or maybe it's the Summer Solstice, I guess I really don't know!), but for Team Zahrte, the official start of summer is the first weekend in June - that's when the Farmer's Market in Golden kicks off.  Going to the Farmer's Market has been a tradition for our family, even before the littles arrived (although this is the fourth summer that Caden has attended, he swears he's never been before.  I wonder when he's going to start remembering things he's done before?).  We usually stroll around the market, get breakfast, and then head to the park to tire someone out before lunch and a nap.  Yep, our Saturdays are pretty much as fabulous as it sounds.  

Today we met Papa at the Farmer's Market and Caden got to drive a tractor...

...and take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage (a 'forsie ride) with Papa

I promise he had fun and was not nearly as terrified as he looks in this picture.  Yes, even Caden takes a bad picture every now and then!

The one who had the  most fun at the Market was JZ - we ended up with brats, bbq sauce, dip mixes, and some free swag from the tables.  Wow, he's missed that place!

Then we went to the park 

By this point Asher was HOT in his car seat/stroller, so we took him out and put him on the only dry, non-muddy place we could find - the picnic table!

After some serious playing, we left and went to Burger King for a little luncharoo

While we were there, the most amazing thing happened.  Seriously, at Burger King!  We were all eating (Asher too!) and Jeremy and I were talking about how every morning he thinks Asher has slept through the night because he doesn't even hear me get up with him any more (which made me want to string him up by his toenails!), and I was trying to think about how I was going to get everyone down for an early nap and then up in time for a 2:00 birthday party, and how I needed to finish the laundry, take a shower, etc.  I was thinking about how Asher had been fussy that morning (a rarity for him, but he had missed his morning nap at home) and how Caden had been on my last nerve the day before.  My mind was definitely elsewhere and I certainly was not present in the  moment.  I noticed a little old couple (who were sharing a chicken sandwich - so cute!) watching us.  They were smiling with Caden and oohing to each other over Asher.  As we were leaving, the woman said to me, "You are a very lucky lady.  You have a very sweet little family."  That stopped me in my tracks.  I realized she was right.  Even though they sometimes drive me crazy, I do have a sweet little family and I am lucky!  "Yes, ma'am," I said.  "I have a wonderful husband and two healthy, sweet boys."  She replied, "You're blessed!"  

I smiled and counted my blessings - all three of them! 

Happy Summer from this very lucky Mommy!