Family

We had a great Memorial Day weekend together as a family. We are thankful for each other and we are thankful for those families that have sacrificed their time together to serve our country.

Just a couple more pictures from our weekend:

This is what happens when you feed Trix to your child for breakfast and then ask him to smile for the camera. Sugar is a wild thing!

After the sugar wore off (it was literally "jumped off" by Baron on our couches), he sat down to read Gus a story.

Lastly, we felt it was important to take a picture of our expanding family. I am 30 weeks today and I can not even begin to express how fast this pregnancy is going. She is growing and kicking and reminding me often that she is there. This morning Nate asked Baron "where is Harper?" I thought that he had no idea even though we mention her now and then. He surprised me when he walked right up to me and poked my stomach. Everyday that she grows larger in my stomach, he continues to grow and remind me that he is no longer a baby!

Just like Daddy

Baron wants nothing more than to be right next to his dad assisting with every project. Nate said he is helpful in some ways because he understands directions more and more everday. However, there are only so many projects you can work on while keeping a very active 16 month old safe. I have to work hard at keeping myself from saying "I don't think that is a good idea" or "did you really thing that was a good idea?" And guess what?! There were no accidents. I think the most tragic thing that happened was when I took off Baron's Keen sandals and realized that at some point during the day he walked through wet paint. The best part is that Baron is learning from his dad and that makes my heart smile!

Independent

Now that Baron has learned to move "step-like" items around the house to climb up on chairs and couches, he likes to climb up on the rocking chair in his room the most. Tonight he was just going through the bedtime routine independently after bath...but he skipped one important step!

Preparing for the Party!

Tonight I had a girls night out with the mom's from my Stroller Strides class. Last night I overheard Nate telling Baron that there was going to be a party while I was gone. So when Baron woke up from his nap, I told him we better make cookies for the party. At first I thought I was really asking for trouble because Baron has such a short attention span and his own ideas about how we should do things, but he had a blast! This was the first time I had put a chair up to our counter and let him stand on it. I think I need to find a chair or step stool that isn't soft like a mattress because he wanted to jump on this one when he got excited! I think I had the best laugh when I handed him a tsp. of baking powder and asked him to dump it in the mixing bowl. He put the entire measuring spoon inside the bowl and I had to fish it out! It is always fun to try new things with him and watch his excitement!

A lesson from Baron

Always take time to laugh with your best friend.Take time to sit back and relax...but not too long - you don't want to miss the next exciting moment that life presents you!

Mother's Day

I love my role as a mom. Sure there are days that I can go without having a spoon full of yogurt tossed across the dining room or changing 3 dirty diapers in a row, but it is those unglorified moments that make me stop and appreciate all of the fun we have everyday. Baron has grown and changed so dramatically over the past year. He is (like all children) a true gift from God.

Family Time

Since Alyson's graduation was at 8am, we had an entire day to spend together as a family. Nate's Uncle Larry (AKA Uncle Buck) and Aunt Carol Holstein live in Spokane and invited us over for the day and an amazing lunch/dinner. This was the first time we had seen there home and it was beautiful. It was the perfect way for Great Grandma & Grandpa to see Baron in action! He played and read books and had a great time.

At one point in the afternoon Baron decided he needed a high five from everyone in the room. Here is a picture of him giving one to Uncle Buck.

While we were enjoying the day, we were also patiently (okay - not so patiently) waiting for an update from Kevin. It turns out that Susie's water broke that morning and they were headed to the hospital. In fact at one point Nate and I were discussin how long it had been since we had an update and failed to notice our son take off running down a hill. He eventually lost control, rolled a few times and then landed in a pile of dirt. Thank goodness he stopped. It was not our finest parenting moment, but it was sure funny after the fact! We learned on our way home the Caleb Alan Prchal was born on May 8th. He weighed 6 lbs and 4oz and was 19 inches long.

The next day we were packing and Grandma and Great Grandma offered to keep Baron busy. They were looking at a photo album from our trip to Maui. Everytime Baron saw a picture of us on the beach he would sign "please" to his Grandma. I guess he is ready for his second vacation!

Congratulations Alyson!

Alyson is officially a WSU Alumnae. Congrats Alyson! We are so pround of you and proud to call you a fellow COUG!
We had to laugh when we took this picture. "Make Good Choices" is a famous Grandma Lynn saying so Alyson decided to put "Made Good Choices" on her graduation cap so we were able to spot her in the sea of graduates. It worked! However, the statment looked a little odd while she held a child in her arms. She wanted a disclaimer that this is her nephew - not her son!

Grandpa and Grandma Lauwereins made the trip all the way from Chicago for an 8am graduation! They were very proud of her as well.

On the long road to Pullman

It is a long drive from Portland to Pullman. Especially when you are 15 months old or 27 weeks pregnant! To break up the drive we stopped in the Tri Cities. I was starving and Baron needed to run so I packed half a lunch (we picked up Subway too) and we stopped at an empty baseball field to burn some energy.
You have to look really close at this picture to see Baron. Nate and Baron were running the bases. I was running from the birds at our picnic and taking pictures at the same time!

I love this picture! I want to point out that I do not dress both of my favorite boys this way on purpose. I only dress the little one and the big one just happens to match (we all know this is his weekend uniform).

The trip actually went really well with all things considered. We did introduce the DVD player in our car which may have been a short term solution that turns into a long term issue since it is only for long trips. I'll leave my readers with this picture. I think by the end of the 6 hour drive this is how we all felt! Silly boy!

Favorites

This last round of teething has put an end to our strict rules about keeping the pacifier in the bed after nap and night time. In fact the pacifier is not enough. He also wants his blanket. These are his favorite items in the house and he would like them to be with him at all times! I had two bears as a child that I always slept with. I don't remember carrying them around the house. Nate had a stuffed animal dog that he loved. I hope that the pacifier doesn't last too much longer, but I have a feeling that the blanket will be around for a long time!

Trouble

When Baron was a baby and quiet I would worry that he had rolled over and was stuck or fell asleep. Now that Baron is older and more creative I know that silence is the enemy. I was starting a load of laundry and walked into my room to find that Baron has pushed a plastic tub full of clothes across my room so he could step on it and pull different books off of the bookshelf. Luckily the camera was in our room so I could catch him in the act!I feel like I need a disclaimer on the state of our room - we are in the middle of transforming the office/guest room into Harper's nursery and so that means we are trying to find homes office items and store baby items while we paint and organize.

Lazy Morning

Baron actually settles down now for more than 30 seconds and seems to enjoy it. In fact I think he might have stayed in bed with his dad for a full 5 minutes!

Making Room

The weeks seem to be flying by and we are trying to prepare for baby Harper. Our guest room/office is being turned into her nursery so we did a huge purge and decided to have a yardsale. The sun was shining and we had a pretty decent crowd on Friday. Grandma and Grandpa Weber were here to help - and good thing because Baron was busy! He loved being outside all day and waving to every stranger that came into our driveway. He ran between the tables and thankfully didn't pull much off of the tables. When he needed a break he would sit down with Grandpa and have some sort of snack (animal cookies, cheese, diet coke...haha - the kid seriously didn't stop eating all day!)

In true "Weber yardsale" tradition Grandpa Weber purchased donuts for all of us on Saturday. That was our highlight of Saturday because it rained a little and we didn't have near as many shoppers so we closed up by 11am and decided to enjoy the day as a family instead.

Pumpkin Spice

My house smelled like I had been baking pumpkin pies all morning. The only problem is that I hadn't even turned the oven on! Baron managed to get into my spice drawer, open the pumpkin spice, dump it all over the floor and play in it all while I was making him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with my back to him. I really can't turn my back for a single minute these days. Nate always asks Baron if he is related to the cartoon character Dora the Explorer because he doesn't stop exploring for a single waking moment.

First Peep

Baron enjoyed(??) his first Easter Peep today (in the shape of a Veggie Tale). The first time he touched it he had no idea it was supposed to be a treat that you eat. In my opinion that means these things were never meant to hit our digestive tracts.

Back to the Beach

We had another vacation this weekend to Seaside, Oregon. Grandma and Grandpa Weber were staying there for a week so we joined them for the weekend. Although it is a quick drive from our house, Nate and I had not been there since early in my pregnancy with Baron. The first day was cold, windy and wet! Despite the weather Baron still wanted to be outside on the sand. He liked the sand because it was hard enough for him to walk on.
The second day was beautiful! The sun was shining and the weather was warm enough for Baron to go without a coat. We took his sand toys out and he got to work right away.

Later we played on the swings.

Baron's highlight of the trip was when we rented a bike built for 4 (+ little ones) and he rode in the front ringing a bell and waving to strangers while the rest of us pedaled down the streets of Seaside. We stopped for ice cream. Baron had a spoon to take multiple bites of all of our ice cream cones.

It was such a fun weekend - I just wish it could have been longer...maybe next time!

Spring

Most of the time Baron has this happy little smile on his face. His smile grows into a gigantic grin whenever we are outside! Spring it teasing him because the weather has been typical which means one day we'll have rain and the next it will be dry (well no rain, but everything is still soggy). He could care less if it is wet or not - he just wants to be outside! I couldn't leave this picture out. Baron was multi-tasking by helping me vacuum and taking his suitcase for a walk.

Both of these pictures were taken on the day he turned 15 months. WOW - time is just flying by.

Travel Bug

Now that we are home, Baron keeps packing his adorable carry-on bag and wheeling it around our house. Do you think he has the travel bug?

More Maui Fun

I have to admit that after Easter we started to slack on picture taking, but sometimes it is nice just to enjoy the moment instead of thinking "I need to grab the camera."

This was Baron's first day on the beach. He was overwhelmed to say the least. Walking in the sand was tricky, the waves were loud and the sun was hot. He still enjoyed it, but just for a short amount of time with mommy and daddy.

Baron loved the pool. It brought back many memories of our swimming lessons we took last summer. He still loves to splash the water into his face!

Baron and Aunt Alyson shared a Push-Up. One of Baron's favorite things to do on the beach was eat a cold treat!

Look at that messy face!

I think that Nate and I had more fun with Baron's sand toys then he did! I often found myself playing with them even if Baron wasn't.

Along with the beach, we went hiking and to the pineapple farm.

I couldn't leave this picture out. I am still amazed that Nate and I have a blue-eyed child. Baron thought he was such a big boy when he was sitting in the beach chair all by himself.

Grandma Lynn and Baron waiting for Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was good, but Baron liked the Hawaiian Ice that we had for dessert even better!

We had such a good vacation. It was relaxing and Maui is always beautiful. Baron had a great time, but I think he was ready to be home and back in his own bed at the end of the week.

Happy Easter!

Easter morning in Maui - what a beautiful day! This was my favorite part of the entire vacation. Baron came out of his room and found his Easter basket filled with sand toys and bubbles!
Shortly after we headed out to the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua for an Easter egg hunt. Nate was armed with the camera and I had the video camera. I was feeling emotional as I watched Baron celebrate his second Easter. I had no idea how pregnant I was looking until I saw this picture!

While we waited for the "egg hunt" (it should be called an egg grab because the eggs were not hidden) to start, Baron ran around with about 100 other kids on a big open grass area. His hair looks oily in the pictures, but that is only because I was paranoid about his head burning.

We decided to have him practice by picking up leaves. Ha! Practice....ha-ha....I really don't even know if you can prepare a child for the chaos.

Aunt Alyson volunteered to be the guide during the egg hunt. Here they are putting their "game faces" on.

Okay - I guess Baron was just yawning, but we thought he was getting serious about the big hunt.

The hunt started and Baron ran out with the other kids. He went about 5 feet away from us and sat down. Alyson had to do alot of encouraging to get him to put 3 eggs in in his basket. Other children managed to get the eggs he was sitting on.

This is my favorite part of the video, but you can see the excitement in his eyes when he came to show us his treasures.

He was very pleased with his 3 eggs and enjoyed playing with them. Isn't his Easter basket/truck cute? Thanks Aunt Carly and Uncle Tyler.

Nate jumped in to help him open his eggs. Even the Ritz-Carlton fills their eggs with items from Oriental Trading Company!

The hunt was over and Baron was done playing with the prizes and he took off to run with the kids. Unfortunately we weren't able to get a family picture because by the time we attempted Baron had hit his limit and we had to rush back to our condo for a nap.