Dog Walkers

Corn on the Cob

Evan's first corn on the cob experience. 

In true Evan style, he wanted nothing to do with the corn that Burke shaved off a cob for him. He insisted on eating his corn like the rest of us. He did quite well.

Brownie Batter

A Little to Big...

One of Ryan's games is to imitate Evan / act like a baby.

How'd he get so big so fast? 

Relaxing

Ryan & Evan in Evan's crib

Planting Fun

In an attempt to seasonally beautify our deck, Burke bought some plants and supplies to fill a couple pots we have around the house. 

Evan reaches into the bag of potting soil...

...to fill the pot, by hand, I guess. 

Add a little Miracle Grow... 

Pat down the soil... All done, isn't that pretty?

Ryan doesn't care much for getting too dirty. 

But he does like to play with the hose, so watering the new plants was right up his alley.

Then in turned into a game of spray-the-little-boys'-feet. 

Which everyone enjoyed. 

Paci Fairy

Honestly, I would have let him keep the pacifier indefinitely for soothing at tired/sleepy times. But it was starting to look a little ridiculous. This little pacifier on this big boy. Also, we have to consider the potential tooth/mouth development issues. So, Burke and I decided it was the right time for a visit from "The Paci Fairy." After much preparation for her impending visit, she finally came to our house last Thursday night to trade Ryan's pacies for a cool toy. 

He loves his new car from The Paci Fairy, but he still asks for his paci every day. 

It's been 4 pacifier free nights and each one is getting easier and easier, but it's a transition, for sure. A tricky habit to break. We are very proud of our big boy!

Rainy Day Race

Last weekend we went to Chicago. Burke, Christine & Ryan were registered to run a race. (Christine a half-marathon, Burke a 10K, Ryan a 50-yard kiddie dash.) The weather was a major bummer (cold, rainy, windy) and the park where the race events were held was difficult to get to. But all in all, it was a pretty fun experience for us.

Riding the CTA bus was a highlight for Ryan. 

At the hotel. I said, "Ryan, you're sitting with both uncles." Joey gets up and Ryan says, "Where's my other uncle?" That was funny to me. 

Burke & Ryan flex their muscles, sporting their official race shirts. 

Race day morning, wearing his bib #1.

Post race - He got a participation ribbon and bag of candy. The candy was especially exciting for him!

Burke placed 78 out of 286 in the Men's 10K overall and 16 out of 54 in his age division. Christine was 31 out of 366 in her age division. Wow! I was quite impressed by these results.

Here's a link to some pictures of Burke running the race.
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=75606&BIB=4217&LNSEARCH=1

Clean Carpet

It's been on my to-do list for a while. Finally, last Friday we had our carpets and couch cleaned. 

Ryan sported some shoe covers to walk around on the damp carpet. 

He's keeping his eye on the guys cleaning the carpet and making all that noise.

Since then, he's been playing vacuum and carpet cleaners.

Spring Has Sprung?

Finally, we are experiencing warmer days and more sunshine. At least that was the case this weekend. We certainly hope this is the trend now and the temperatures don't dip back down. 

We spent some time this weekend outside. Burke worked on the front yard on Saturday, while I kept the boys occupied with sidewalk chalk and such. Before we headed inside for lunch, I tried to get a couple pictures of Ryan and Evan together. Quite a difficult task...Ryan was preoccupied with this rock and Evan loved the dog walking by.  

Burke helped me get a decent one where they are both looking in the same direction and sitting still.

On Sunday, Burke planted our garden and cut the grass in the back yard, while the boys played with the water/sand table. As you can see Evan was soaked. Ryan was wet too. I love watching them enjoy this toy. Thanks again, Joey & Christine.

After playing in just water for a while, they wanted to open the sand side. So we did!

Evan shovels sand into the bucket now, not onto the deck. That makes my tidy self very happy.

Intently watching the sand fall from his hand.

I feel very loved and very thankful this Mother's Day weekend!! 

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!!

Vegetable Garden

On May 1, Burke weeded our vegetable garden in preparation for planting. Evan helped.

He kept falling down. It's hard to toddle in dirt.  

Dirty pants. Dirty everywhere!

Gardening is fun, I tell you!!!