Foot Pictures

For some reason my kids are obsessed with taking pictures of their feet. I guess that means you get to see all of Nora's cute shoes! (and some Zeke feet too)

Easter Egg Hunt with Friends

On Easter Monday we got to spend a gorgeous spring day outside with friends. We had a barbecue, played, hunted Easter eggs, ate strawberry shortcake, strengthened friendships, and played some more.

Zeke counted out his eggs all by himself and proudly declared he had found 16 eggs. 

Nora wasn't interested in counting eggs and abandoned her yellow basket to go slide some more. 

Nora played and played until she just couldn't take it anymore, and she fell asleep in the swing. So sweet! 

When it was time to head home for dinner we were sad to go. I'm so glad we have started getting together more often.

The quote of the day belongs to Zeke. Not long before Nora fell asleep, the kids were swinging and sliding and the moms were sitting nearby chatting. Valerie said something about monkey bars, and Zeke replied 'I don't like monkey bars, I like granola bars.' :)

Angry Birds

We all enjoy Angry Birds at our house, Zeke in particular. One day he was building houses out of blocks and I suggested we make our own game of Angry Birds. He loved that idea and quickly set up the blocks on the table. 

Then we found a ball to be our 'bird' and knocked down the towers.

And some people say video games aren't good for kids. ;)

Winter Cuteness

Lots of cute little moments happened this month in-between our preparations for Christmas, closing on our house, and trying to heal from a couple different kinds of sickness. These kids make me smile.

Zeke loves all things winter (except maybe the cold....). He loves snowmen, Christmas lights, pinecones, snow on the ground, presents, and the list could go on. But one of his favorites is wreaths. He has been pointing out wreaths on doors all year long, and when probably 90% of our community had Christmas wreaths this month, he insisted we needed one for our door. We looked but couldn't find one we liked. Then Aaron's mom offered us her old wreath, and it's perfect! Aaron added a string of battery-operated Christmas lights, and Zeke is soooo happy. 

Another winter item Zeke loves is scarves. He can zip up his coat and put on his boots by himself, but he can't tie his scarf. So he drapes it around his neck and says 'Mommy, I want to be a present'.

Nora's vocabulary is growing and growing. She's picked up lots of new food words, especially with all the holiday treats we have received and made. She added marshmallow, pretzel, cookie, and M&Ms to her list in the past month. She's an M&M addict. A neighbor left a plate of chocolate chip cookies and Christmas M&Ms on our doorstep, and I couldn't get her to eat the cookie; all she wanted was the M&Ms!

Nora's latest trick is taking her socks off, and when I get her dressed in the morning she checks to make sure I didn't try to put socks on her (I don't - I've learned they'll just come right off!). So when we go out we have to put on both socks and shoes. At least she leaves her socks alone when her shoes are on! She's got to have cold feet, but as long as she doesn't complain about it....

Z is for Zeke

If you ask Zeke his name, he will tell you  it's 'Zeke! It starts with Z for Zebra and Zeke...' He feels a kinship with zebras I think. After all, what else are you going to put with Z in an alphabet board book? That's how he's starting to associate all his letters now, actually. As he reads a letter, he'll tell us what it's for. L is for lion, N is always for Nora, X is for xylophone, E is for elephant. K used to be for kangaroo, but now it is for Kyle. I have to admit that I've played around with writing a board book for the Loertscher family: A is for Aaron, Ashlynn, Alyssa, and Ashley. B is for Brielle.... 

Zeke also loves to write his name and have it written. In any medium. Last week he was writing his name in blocks and markers / colored pencils. It helps that his first name in all caps has no curves :)

Kids Pictures

Seems like there's always someone looking away or making a funny face when I try to get a posed picture of Zeke and Nora together. Got some cute ones though; it's life as it really is!

Paper Pullers

We were at Grandma's house over Memorial Day weekend and I saw Nora doing this:

It was a serious flashback to photos of Zeke doing the same thing - at nearly the same age, and in nearly the same outfit!

Love these kids, despite their need to scatter things far and wide.

Believe it or not, Zeke is older than Nora in these pictures, even though he is smaller and not crawling yet....

Time to Move On

There's something about packing box after box after box - with the knowledge that I will be unpacking them later - that really takes some of the excitement out of moving. But it was worth it. Totally and completely worth the $40 for the perfect moving boxes, the 51.5 hours of paid time off it took me to get us completely out of our old place and the basics set up in our new home, several late nights, sore backs, dry skin from handling boxes all day, taking the long way home from work to move more stuff, and spending a lot more than usual in the Auto:Fuel category of our budget.

We have been wanting to move for several months and seriously trying to figure out the details for the last couple of months. We talked about and looked into several different options in several locations, all of which felt right at the beginning but then didn't work out. Then everything fell into place and we love knowing we are where we need to be.

Here are our cute kids in the midst of the move. Pictures of our new place to come after we get out from under these stacks of boxes that are slowly disappearing.

Asleep on the Pillow

Zeke is getting so grown up. It's even more apparent when I see him next to Nora because it's obvious how baby-like he isn't. But every now and then there is a moment that melts my heart just because he's still so darn cute, like this one yesterday.

Oreo Face

We gave Nora her first taste of Oreo recently. Of course she loved it and of course it made quite the mess. I thought we did pretty well at limiting the mess to her face, and then after we got her face wiped and bib off she started drooling chocolate.

I'm so glad Aaron got the camera because it's definitely a moment to remember. As I was giving Nora her treat I was remembering Zeke's first Oreo experience. He was a bit older than Nora so we probably just gave him the cookie and let him go for it. He had a great time.

Such a Brother!

Zeke has settled into the big brother role with no problems at all. He helps us take care of Nora, he loves to hold and comfort her, he makes sure we know what she is doing at every moment ---- and he likes to bother her and see how she reacts. Poking her while she's asleep, dropping the burp cloth on her head, shaking the boppy as she tries to eat, trying to climb on the play yard when she is in it...and he thinks it's really funny. It's a good thing we have the play yard, otherwise the poor girl would be completely defenseless. Of course, she's a pretty good little sister too - today Zeke just looked at her and she started to cry.

At least they seem to spend more time being cute than being irritating!

Summer Splashing

I had plans to give Zeke lots of water play time this summer...but they got derailed when those same hot days that are so good for water just make me want to stay inside where I'm more comfortable. But we did get the pool out, and Zeke had a blast.

It's like a gigantic puddle!

And of course, you have to take the water to other parts of the yard.

Making Zeke tracks on the sidewalk.

Getting Into Things

I told Aaron that I have been taking fewer pictures of Zeke around the house lately, probably because he wasn't getting into funny situations as much as he did when he was younger. For the most part, he knows what he wants and goes after it, although I could take pictures because he is so darn cute most of the time.

And then Zeke decided to prove me wrong about getting into things:

It's tight, but he does just barely fit.

Can't wait for summer splashing.

Closet - which involved climbing a tower of boxes.

And of course he loves to get into the dirt. Nothing new there!

Pancakes

Saturday mornings mean pancakes and eggs for breakfast, unless we have to be somewhere early in the day. Pancakes and eggs are two of Zeke's very most favorite foods.

A while back, we had leftover pancakes in the fridge from a mid-week pancake lunch. Friday night Zeke pulled them out of the fridge and brought them to me. I told him to put them back and we would eat them the next day. He did, but it wasn't long before they were back out again. And this time he decided to take matters into his own hands.

A piece here, a bite there ....

When the short stack was half gone, I decided we may as well warm them up with butter and syrup and make it an offical pancake bedtime snack.

Pancakes make for one very happy Zeke.

Plane Lost and Found

Zeke got a little biplane for Christmas and a couple of weeks ago I realized we had no idea where it was. (Not surprising, because the pick-up-the-toys routine has disappeared in the past few months...) So I rallied my strength and did some picking up and some cleaning of places like under the couch and the space between couch and desk where Zeke likes to drop things. Still no plane.

Yesterday Zeke was playing by himself in the living room. When Aaron looked over to check on him, he told Zeke to show me what he had. The very plane I have been looking for! I asked Zeke where he found it, and he told me 'Up in the sky'.

Of course - where else would you look for a plane? (And the one place I hadn't checked.)

Lessons Learned from Zeke

A little kid in a bathtub can soak a bathroom in a matter of seconds

There is a difference between being able to do something and willing to do something

Some things (like soaking the bathroom) are worth doing despite the consequences

The purpose for picking things up and putting them in a container is to dump them out again

Hearing 'I love you' is of course wonderful, but 'Thank you Mommy' is right there with it

Blowing bubbles, playing in the dirt, and looking at stars are fun every day

If you want to make friends, offer candy and high fives

Toys that bounce or roll are generally not a good choice for church

When you try to deviate from an established routine, your child will let you know you're doing it wrong

After being given consistent praise for a certain activity, feel free to praise yourself while doing it

When you forget your lines, your preschooler can supply them ('Ouch!... [mom, now you say] What happened?')

Shred and Scatter

Lately Zeke has been going in our downstairs bathroom and closing the door for a little private time. But it's not because he's suddenly interested in using the toilet. It's because our half bath/laundry room is also part office and houses our paper shredder.

He has had great times scattering the shredded paper we haven't yet recycled. It would be a lot more fun for us if he would clean it up and put it away for next time. We have since started keeping the door closed and put a cover on the doorknob so he can't open the door. Unfortunately, paper shreds have already migrated all over the house by sticking to our socks.

Just another reason why I am so excited for spring.