Water Babies

Elise has mastered sitting, so we decided to graduate her to the big tubby. Cole was so excited to get to take a bath with Baby Sister, and Ellie has found her new favorite activity! She LOVES the water and has no fear. She splashes, giggles and scoots around the whole time. My two little water babies would spend all day in the tubby if they could!

Ellie's first big tubby bath. Cole kept Ellie giggling almost the whole time :)

I Need Something

This is Cole's new favorite phrase. "I need something". He says it all day.

Well, we have been off and on with potty training lately. Some days he's excited and other days he wants to be a baby he says. I'm not pushing it, but we do get excited when he decides to be a big boy and use the potty.

Today, he decided to be a big boy. He ran to the potty and sat down. Then he said, "Wait, I need something!" A few seconds later he came back with a handful of crackers, sat back down on the toilet, and did his business.

I personally don't like to eat while on the toilet, but that's just me. Hey, whatever he needs to go potty on the toilet :)

Zoo Crazy

Our Zoo Adventures begin! Cole asks to go to the zoo almost on a daily basis, so I broke down and bought us a zoo pass. We have a cute little Cole-sized zoo that he loves. Lately his favorite animals are the flamingos, the giraffes, and the huge tiger.

Trying to sneak into the "Falingos" pond

Loves to look at the huge tiger, but doesn't want to get too close (Notice that Addie and Rykker are pressed against the glass while Cole keeps his distance)

He also loves to feed the goats with his friends

And we can't forget to feed the fish...I just hope he never falls in!

As always, Ellie enjoys the view from her stroller. What an angel!

There is also a train that Cole and Elise love to ride, but it wasn't running today. Good thing we have a pass so we can come back :) I have a feeling this is going to be a zoo-filled spring and summer!

Easter

We had a packed schedule this Easter season. We made it to 4 Easter Egg Hunts:

#1: Des Moines City hunt

#2: Fun Friday Hunt. "Is that all?"

#3: Church hunt

#4: Waukee City hunt where we also met the Easter Bunny

Cole was so excited to meet the Easter Bunny...until it was our turn. He resistantly gave the bunny a high five to get another egg, but he wasn't about to give the bunny a hug for a picture.

Easter morning we had our traditional Easter Basket Hunt. I think the Easter Bunny went a little overboard this year:

We had a lot of fun this year enjoying all the hype of the holiday, but we are still mindful of the real reason we celebrate Easter: our Savior Jesus Christ. We are very grateful for this special holiday to celebrate His life and atoning sacrifice for us, and especially His resurrection. He lives! And for that we are eternally grateful.

6 Months

Elise is 6 months old! My sweet baby is growing up way too fast. She weighed in today at a whopping 18 lbs 12 oz and is 26 in long. She has mastered rolling and almost has sitting mastered. No teeth yet, but the way she is acting it won't be long. She LOVES to eat...anything, except green beans :) She is happy when her tummy is full and sad when it's not. She loves to suck her thumb and sometimes fingers. She thinks that Cole is hilarious and loves to play with him most of the time. She loves to look at her handsome Daddy, and makes sure that Mommy is always close by. She has major stranger anxiety, but it is getting better...she doesn't always cry when she sees a stranger anymore, sometimes she even smiles! Cole loves her giggle, Mommy loves her smile, and Daddy loves her chubbers most! Ellie is such a sweet angel and we all love her so much!!

Spring Break

WARNING: This is extremely long!

Ben got a whole week off for Spring Break! It has been so much fun. First, we got a new car (a Honda Odyssey)! Thanks Daddy for giving in so that Cole and Mommy could have a van :) Then we took our new car to Minnesota:

We went to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

Elise got to go swimming for the first time!

We spent a whole day at the Mall of America:

First stop was Legoland. Ben and Cole were in heaven, they could have played here all day!

Next stop was Nickelodeon Universe. Thanks to the Webbs we all got to ride a few rides!

Ellie was happy to stay in the stroller :)

A few rides was enough for us, then Mommy and kids hit the stores while Ben hung out in a flight simulator. Win-win for us all!

We spent the afternoon in the aquarium:

It was amazing to watch the sharks, stingrays, fish and turtles swim right over us!

Cole's favorite things were the jellyfish

As usual, our sweet girl was happy watching from the safety of her stroller

We thought it would be fun to go to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. We lasted long enough for a few pics before Cole was too scared to stay any longer.

So much for that idea.

We hit the aquarium one more time after dinner, ran into IKEA!!!!, and then started for home about 9 pm. It was a really fun vacation...just what the doctor ordered!

After our fun little trip, it was time to get to business and find a new dryer. (Ours died last week) We spent a few days on Craigslist with no luck before we broke down and got brand spankin' new ones!!! I know, I am spoiled :)

We also spent a day at the Incredible Pizza Company. It was a blast, but our camera battery was dead so we didn't get any pics. We will just have to go back :)

Today we went to an Easter egg hunt downtown. It was kind of ghetto, but hey a hunt is a hunt. Cole and Ellie had fun, and that's all that matters.

Cole found his two cute friends to hunt with :)

We were in desperate need of a break from school, and this week has hit the spot. Thanks to our tax return we were able to play and buy all week! It will be hard to send Ben back to school on Monday :( We will have to start another countdown until summer.

Stuck

I was in the kitchen making lunch when Elise started crying and Cole yelled "Mom, I'm stuck!"

Ellie had rolled across the room and gotten stuck under her bouncer and the piano:

And Cole, being his curious self, managed to get stuck the wrong way in Ellie's jumper:

At least we aren't stuck inside anymore. We have grass and leaves!!