Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Birthday Boy

Today was a busy birthday day for everyone in this house!
Parker picked out presents, helped wrap them and kept it a secret from Carson until this morning.
Shhhh! Don't tell him I got him 2 little people cars (a digger and a recycle truck), and a Lightening McQueen car! 

We started our adventure at Grandma/Grandpa Stecher's house for a few gifts and a quick visit.  Parker wanted to bring treats so we stopped at Old Towne Bakery for some sugar cookies! 
YUM!

Then we headed to Chuckie Cheese Pizza....we did this for Parker as well. 
Carson was thrilled with the "characters" on stage...
His brother, not so much.
Check out Parker hiding in the background in the booth in the very back row, chewing on his fingers in distress.. 
Carson wanted to say...suck it up...but since he's so wise in his 1 year of life...he kept the comment to himself.  
WOW!!! This thing moves... 
These two really DO look alike...

Then we headed to Toys R Us for his birthday crown, balloon and overhead announcement.
"Hey, hey, did you know it's my birthday today?"

After returning home, Grandma Vancil came over and delivered a present to the house. 
AHH!  Another gift...FOR MEEEE?!?!

LOOK it has a BOW!
Carson was excited and stimulated to find many different colors of Elmo's on his first birthday blanket made by Grandma...Parker liked it too, after Carson went to bed he wanted to snuggle on it to watch Caillou. 

Carson and the rest of us had a great day celebrating this little 1 year old!  It's crazy to think how it was just a year ago that he came into our lives!
We are gearing up for a birthday party on Saturday...more pictures to follow.

Happy Birthday Carson!

Happy Birthday
Carson Patrick Stecher!!!
June 27th, 8:04 AM
8lbs 6oz.


We are excited for a fun 1st birthday!
More pictures and details to come!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Who am I?

Hi Guys!  Can you guess who I am?? 
Betcha don't know me now though...do ya?
It's me Silly!!! Carson! 
Not feeling the dog get up... 
AHHHHH!!!! Who turned out the lights!!!! 
WHOOOOO THAT was a CLOSE one! 
Aye, aye Cap'in! 
Put 'em up! 
Whooooo am I now?!? 
I already told you....not feeling the dog get up...
 
THIS is more like it...and I haven't even had a doughnut yet!
WOW!  
Mom says I look just like my Dad in this photo......

Which one is your favorite Carson?? :)

The Cousins

This weekend we took the boys on their first overnight trip....anywhere...
We went to "The cousins" (as Parker would say) near Des Moines.  We figured we would start with an overnighter where there were already young kids and young kid "stuff" so if it flopped completely at least we'd be among family! ;)
I am pleased to say that it was not a flop, indeed, I dare to say it was a success, minus a few bumps along the way...such as:  Carson not sleeping AT ALL the whole 4 hour ride...no wait, I take that back, he fell asleep the last 15 minutes..
or, 
Parker taking 2 hours to fall asleep the first night there..with me reading on the bed next to him...
or, 
Carson not sleeping the first night there and needing to be drove around by Heather and me (I'm not complaining about this, I got to see the area ;)
or 
leaving at 6PM so the boys would sleep most of the way home only to have Parker talk, literally talk, the ENTIRE 4 hour drive home, much of it through a blinding rainstorm....no wait, I take that back, he fell asleep when we got on the 34 ramp 5 miles from our house...
anyway 

these were small in comparison to the fun memories we made watching all of  "The Cousins"  interact, watching Carson really get his "scoot on" with the flooring at their house, having great nutritious meals (and recipes) to bring home and quality time with family!

On Friday we went to the Blank Park Zoo!  I love zoos and so do the boys in my family!  We had a great time and I'd love to go back again soon!  If you're in the Des Moines area, I highly recommend it! And, if you have a Naibi Zoo membership, you can get in free...just don't leave your membership card at home they have no data base to look you up...not that I'm speaking from our own personal experience or anything....

 They have this great area where mechanical animals randomly shoot water out at you.  Parker thought this was a RIOT! 
Carson and Parker and Mommy were fascinated the whole way through the zoo....
All in a row (minus Carson) Oldest to youngest. 

 

"Hey! Give that back!" 
Picnic lunch...YUM!

The rest of the time, minus a great excursion to a furniture MEGA store, we just hung out! 
Making ice cream in something that looks like a hampster toy....
Reading books....
Sitting around enjoying the nice weather....
and 
Celebrating someones upcoming birthday... 

 
OHHHHH! I've always wanted some of these...
 
HOHHHHHH!  Fuzzy Chickens!!

Thanks Miss Heather, Uncle Kirk, and all the Cousins for a GREAT first overnight getaway!

Why can't I keep this updated?

I can't seem to keep things updated so here are a TON of things we've been up to:
Play dates:
Parker is having Play dates on Tuesday and Wednesday with some groups of friends.  This is our Tuesday group, minus Carter and Lucas.

Marriage Mondays
The boys go to Kim's on Monday's to keep them in the routine of daycare for when the fall comes around.  Travis and I have been using the time for "date days".  Marriage Monday's have been a lot of fun, it's nice getting to run around once in a while like we did before the boys.  We have grown to love American Pickers on the History Channel and one Monday we went to their store in LeClaire. 



We didn't see Mike or Frank and it's a lot smaller than it seems on TV but it was a lot of fun!

Tents
The boys have been loving playing in "tents" in the house.  We actually have a small tent that we got out a few days ago, but blankets and chairs work just as good! :) 

Almost 1

 This kid has decided to spring up a funny personality that rivals his brothers!  He is coming up with tons of facial expressions that crack us up.  Here he is playing with a sand bucket while big brother is sleeping. 
 Hey!  I've got an idea...

Watch this guys....

I'm the orange headed masked superhero....

Dad...you can be my sidekick!

Walks
Travis has been taking the boys on walks in the mornings...it's quite a work out!  Not only the cardio, but he's pushing over 50lbs.!! One morning I caught them coming back up the walk...look closely... 
Out like lights!  Must have been a relaxing ride! :)

Father's Day
Travis had a great Father's day!  He got to take Parker on his first fishing expedition...I don't know who was most excited...Parker, Travis, or Grandpa Stecher... 
Ready to go!  Parker had been practicing his "casting" out in the back yard a lot!
Parker has indicated that he "does not like worms!"
Parker caught a fish on his first cast out!  There actually were many fish caught that day and I'm sure it will make Parker want to come back again soon! 
After fishing we enjoyed a BBQ and an ice cream cake from DQ!
Happy Father's Day Trav!