A Visit with the Greats!

Grandpa and Grandma Ockler came down to visit for a couple of weeks so the boys and I went up to Modesto for a quick visit and lunch. These are the boys Great Grandparents so it's fun for them to see each other. Grandpa gave each of the boys a dollar and Gannon wasn't shy to accept, Garrett on the other hand wouldn't take his. We went to grab a sandwich for lunch and the boys had more fun running up and down the hallway so we had to take our crazies outside to run off some steam before the drive home.

Happy Birthday Cousin Nicholas

Cousin Nicholas turns 4 so there of course was a party! Grandma and Cindy had a great party for Nicholas and the boys had so much fun. Garrett was in love with these styrofoam gliders that Cindy had bought for the kids to play with and Gannon was just interested in exploring. It was a very nice day so being outside was so nice.

Nicholas and Garrett plying with their gliders
Gannon, always happy to be with Grandma

Nicholas blowing out his candles with help from his Mommy

Gannon enjoyed the cake

Garrett was cute watching Nicholas open all his gifts

I wasn't worried about trying to put Garrett down for a nap when we got home since bedtime was in just a couple of hours. As I was making dinner this is what happened! All the excitement wore him out, but let me tell you this little power nap didn't do much for him. He was a SUPER grouchy when he woke up from his power nap. Now I remember why he still takes naps - he needs them!!!

Taylor's 21st Birthday!

I can't believe my little sister is 21! Taylor wanted to go on a 3-day cruise to celebrate her birthday so Kendra and I joined her and some friends. We had a great relaxing time. We didn't encounter and native with machine guns when we got off the ship in Mexico so that was good! Instead of doing the traditional Papa's and Beer day in Ensenada we bought wrist bands to the place across the street ~ Mango Mango! $20 all you can drink, can't beat that! Mango Mango had a few of the same things a Papa's and Beer without all the crazy people and obnoxious staff.

On the last day Kendra and I spent the day doing all that we could on the ship, we watched the Hairy Man Contest by the pool, couple rounds of Bingo, Vegas style show, comedy, and a little dancing at the club with the gang.

The weather was great, drinks were good, and Taylor had a great time which is really at that mattered.

On the shuttle to Mango Mango
Taylor with her 21 crown and first drink of the trip

Taylor and I Girls at Mango Mango

All the girls on the dance stage

Kendra and I with our first drink at Mango Mango

The entire group - with Meno who sold us the wrist bands

Taylor and Justin at the final dinner

Kendra and I at the final dinner

All Packed Up and No Where to Go!

Garrett has a little rolling backpack and Gannon LOVES it! We have been using this for extra clothes for our newly potty trained. On Monday mornings we pack it up with clothes and shoes for Garrett to keep in his cubby at school, just in case! When we get to the school Gannon rolls the bag all the way to Garrett's class. We leave it in the cubby all week and if Gannon see's it, he goes right for it to bring it home. He loves to roll it around with the little handle so I thought I would try it on him and he loved it. Silly boy. I'm all ready Mom!

Big bag for such a little guy!

Colored Food

For St. Patrick's Day Garrett's class made green yogurt so when I picked him up I asked him how it was. "I don't like it" was the answer I got. Garrett loves to make and eat pudding so I told him we could make green pudding when we got home. He was very excited about that. I guess I opened a can of worms with this one - all our food might be a color from now on!

Garrett mixing the green pudding, Gannon wasn't being very patient as you can see!
Thanks all done!

Yummy face!

So this morning Garrett wanted to make pancakes, red ones! I mixed up the batter and he had to put in a few drops of red. Which really meant we had pink pancakes.

Pink pancake mix

The simple things that make kids happy...a little food coloring.

Soak It Up

Gannon is now 14 months old and learns so much everyday! He is now at the running stage, but never looks down so he falls quite often! He knows exactly where food comes from (starving boy) and will go over the pantry, pull on the door knob and give the sign for eat. This little guy eats SO MUCH! It's not a rare occasion that he eats twice as much as his three year old brother. We call him our Buddha Baby because his belly sticks out so much.

He finally decided he would drink whole milk in place of his formula, thank you baby! I guess I didn't realize how much milk this would mean we go through. I would have to say we drink 3 gallons of milk a week! That's a lot of 1/2 carton milks. Maybe one day we will not buy cartons, but it does taste better so we'll see.

Gannon has quite a lot to say these days, all in terms of dat dat daaat with lots of hand gestures to go along with that. It's actually really cute to watch him explain something in his terms. He emphasizes certain parts with both hands, sometimes just one and will pause and move towards his topic. He now knows when I ask him where something is and he will go get it.

Gannon loves this book we have called, "Gossie" and wants to read it all day. He will bring it over to me and I will sit Indian style and he will turn around and plop down to listen to the story. OVER AND OVER! I try to sneak in other books, but Gossie always comes back.

This little guy loves to be outside and loves to get dirty. As I mentioned, he is a big eater and that includes dirt. He tries to eat everything, dirt, grass, flowers, or whatever he can find. So I have to really watch him because you never know what he will find!

How Mommy?

Garrett's new question for everything is "How Mommy?". I'm not sure I've ever heard a kid ask how as much as he does. I always thought they went through the "why" stage. Maybe that will still come, but he cracks me up with his how questions.

Example -

Mommy - Come on Garrett we need to go to the store.
Garrett - How Mommy?
Mommy - We are going to drive.
Garrett - Oh, we're going to drive?

He really does understand the driving part. He knows this means we need to get in the car. He grabs his blankie and head to the garage.

All day long!!! How? How? How? I have found that I have to vary my answer or he keeps asking. Such a funny little guy.