Easter

We are a little late saying this but we hope everyone had a HAPPY EASTER! The boys really enjoyed finding eggs all over the house. The Easter Bunny left a trail of eggs from Sebastien's room, down the stairs and to the couch where he left all the baskets.



Sebastien was quick to figure out there was candy in the plastic eggs. I think this may be one of the only times that morning he was quiet!

Manti had fun banging the eggs together.

Here they are sitting on the couch with all the fun Easter stuff.

Sebastien followed the trail of eggs down the stairs. There were too many to carry so he would pick them up then look at Troy and say "Here go dad."

Manti got a head start. He found an egg before Sebastien came down stairs.

We have started a tradition of making Hoot N Annie pancakes (aka German pancakes) for breakfast and then having a nice dinner after church. This year we had homemade french dip sandwiches and had some friends over.

I think sometimes we get a little caught up in the materialistic part of Easter and lose sight of the REAL reason we celebrate. My goal for next year is to really focus on teaching the boys about the true meaning of it all. We are so thankful for our Savior. This is such a special time to reflect on HIS life and what he did for us.

9 Months

My little baby boy is now 9 months! I cannot believe how fast it has gone. He is such a happy boy and I love waking up to see his big smiles.

Manti is a really good eater. He will have 3 jars of baby food, cereal, four 6 ounce bottles and any baby snacks I give him. He currently weighs 16 pounds 7 ounces and is scooting all over the house. This morning he was actually crawling on his knees but just for a few seconds, then dropped to his belly and off he went.

Manti really loves his big brother. It is so cute to watch them play together, even when it ends up with one of them in tears.

He is also starting to discover the stairs and I found him doing this...

Looks like the baby gate is going to be coming out again.

Some of the other milestones he has reached are; waving, gives kisses, holds his own bottle, has two teeth and clapping his hands. Before we know it he is going to be walking and having his 1st birthday!

Talking, Talking, Talking

The reason for the title is, Sebastien is NEVER quiet! Our little boy is growing up so fast and talking SO much. We really have to watch what we say, not that we use bad language, but the little things we don't normally pay attention to, Sebastien says. For instance, I was doing something a couple weeks ago and things were not working out like I wanted, not even paying attention I said, "ah, crap". Wouldn't you know, there was this little voice behind me that says "ah, crap. ah, crap". Oops! That is not really something I want my 2 year old running around saying.


Some of the other funny things Sebastien does:


The doorbell rings and Sebastien goes running to the door yelling "I get it."


When asked "Who do you love?" He replies with "Meann. Kids. Ty-Ty. Daddy. Ganma."
(I can never get him to say mommy)


When going to church he either says "bally bally ball" (volleyball) or Paul, Tis-Tine (Kristine)


When changing his diaper he says, "STINKY bum"


He wakes up in the morning and yells "MOMMY" until I get him out of his crib. Then the first thing he says "Daddy go?" "Ty-Ty go?"


He picked up a new habit in AZ that I love, when you walk in the door he comes running as fast as he can and wraps his arms around your legs so tight and says "HI".


Going up and down the stairs he says "I beat you"


When asked if he wants something "Uhhhh, no."


If Manti is crying "Mommy, Ty-Ty crying! Mommy, Ty-Ty crying!" that will go on until I get Manti to stop crying.


I just put them in the same room last night, so this morning I hear Sebastien saying "Ty-Ty wake. Mommy, Ty-Ty wake."

He will grab a book, sit on my lap and say "read book, please"

It is really fun to see him talking so much. I know we will have many more "funny" moments and I cannot wait.

Blank, Blank

I made this blanket (with help from my mom) for Troy when he was in basic training and took it to him when he had training in Cali. I wanted him to have something special while he was away. Since then, it has become the blanket we keep downstairs to use when we watch movies. When Sebastien gets tired he always wants a blank blank to hold and once he saw his daddy using this one, he decided he needed it. It is now official, Sebastien has taken over the airplane blank blank. We will try and offer some of his own blanks but he says "NO!" he only wants daddy's. It is so cute. So now I need to decide, do I make another one for Troy or let them fight over it?

Enough thinking about it, since I don't have a sewing machine, quilting frames or mom around.....I will just let them fight over it. Let the battle begin!

Why Oh WHY??

We got home from our trip late Tuesday night, by Friday we had THIS:


Driving was ridiculous! One minute the roads would be some what clear and you could see. The next minute you would get this...

VERY minimal visibility and huge snow drifts! We turned a 10 minute drive into an hour, just trying to be careful and not slide off the road.

Look how high that snow is! The wind drifts just kill me!

Troy had to shovel the driveway before we could pull in. We didn't want to get stuck or slide into our neighbors car.

Here is the Durango hanging out in the driveway while Troy clears it off. Good ole Cheyenne! I keep asking myself, "WHY did we come back so soon?" We went from playing outside everyday to THIS!

More Pictures

We were so lucky to have the opportunity to take a 4 generation picture! Since we don't see family too often I really wanted to make sure we did it this time.

Grandma and Grandpa GiGi with all of their great-grandchildren. They are not all happy or smiling but at least we got them all to look. Pretty good if you ask me. (Notice who is being the biggest pill...SEBASTIEN! I don't know what was up with him at that moment.)

We were finally able to see our good friends Jason and Melissa. We barbecued at their house and the kids played together. Sebastien and Stori were so cute sitting together in the Elmo chair.

Sebastien loved having popsicles at Gma & Gpa Egnew's house. It did not take him long to figure out where they were. As you can tell, Manti thought they were pretty cool too. Sebastien had to eat really, really fast if he did not want to share.

Sebastien and Manti sitting with Grandma & Grandpa GiGi after dinner. We went to Sweet Tomato, then fed ducks, turtles and really big fish at a pond behind the restaurant.

Pictures

Davin, Annabelle, Meridith and Sebastien sitting in the jeep. At one point, Meridith was driving all of them around! Made me a little nervous! :)

Manti LOVED the attention from his cousins. Meridith, Manti &Annabelle watched cartoons together.
Here is the little man swinging in Gma & Gpa Egnew's backyard. He was always so mad when I took him out of the swing and would just about jump out of my arms to get back in.
Sebastien and Olivia had so much fun riding all the cars at Chuck E Cheese. They were really cute together and would take turns letting each other "drive".

We enjoyed the weather so much we actually got to go walking! Manti looks so comfy with his feet propped up.

Recent Travels

A couple weeks ago the boys and I packed up and went for a drive. A very long drive. It started at 6:30AM and ended at 10:30PM. That's right folks, 16 hours in the car with an almost 2 year old and an 8 month old. Thanks to Meann, as Sebastien says, it was a great drive. We left Cheyenne, drove to the Denver airport, picked up Aunt Meann, had breakfast with Uncle Jeff then continued the drive to AZ! Thanks to the dvd player, Sebastien watched many Thomas the Train movies, baby einstein and other disney movies. He loved it! We owe a big "THANK YOU" to Meann, for being so willing to make the drive with us. She entertained Manti, fed him and sang his favorite song when he got cranky. I think during the whole drive Manti only had about 5 minutes of maddness. I love my boys, they are such great travelers!

We had such a great time in AZ. Sebastien loved playing outside. I think the only time I saw him was when it was time to eat and naps/bedtime. Even then I had to drag him in the house. It was such a nice change of weather and gave us a glimpse of what our summer in Cheyenne will be like. We got to do many things this trip. We had an Egnew Family Reunion, went to Chuck e Cheese, the zoo, many lunch/dinner dates with family, a pinata, visits with friends and much more.

Troy joined us after a week and a half and had quite the adventure getting there. After a down day at work (due to weather) he headed to Denver mid morning for his 7o'clock flight. About 30 minutes after leaving town, the freeway shut down due to a 40 car pile up caused by the yucky weather. Thank goodness he missed that mess! As Troy headed to Denver he called Southwest to find out about flights and they told him all flights up until 6:00 had been cancelled. He should check back with them throughout the day regarding the evening flights. An hour later I get the call from Troy, ALL FLIGHTS FOR THE DAY ARE CANCELLED! The earliest he would be able to get on another flight was Saturday mid morning (two days later). I was so sad! After many phone calls to airlines, research online and $188.00 later, he was able to catch a last minute flight on a different airline. He had a rocky flight but made it safely. The boys and I were so happy to have daddy with us!

We had such a wonderful trip and can't wait to see family and friends again soon!

(pictures and videos to come soon)