Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms, grandmas and tutus in our life. Thank you for your love, support and guidance. WE LOVE YOU! Have a fabulous day :-)

6 Month Check

Lauren had her 6 month check up yesterday and passed with flying colors. She weighs 12 lbs. 9 1/2 ozs. It's scary to think some babies are nearly her size when they are born! She also cracked the two foot mark at 25 inches. She is still barely on the charts for weight, but Dr. Chronis says, "We should all be so lucky." :-) The bummer? 4 shots! Boo hoo! She only cried for about a minute, but poor Daddy shook like a leaf for at least an hour. The saying is true, it really does "hurt me more than it hurts you."

Today was haircut day for Jack. We were looking at Easter pictures and were shocked to see how long his hair had gotten. He became shaggy overnight! So Daddy took him to see Dawn today (He LOVES her toys!) and now he is handsome again. After being such a big boy for his haircut he got to pick out a new toy at Target. He loves his Joker cave. It really stimulates his imagination. He came out of his room during naptime today telling us Joker shot a missle at his bed and he couldn't nap because there was a hole in his bed. Thankfully the hole was imaginary. Darn you Joker, naptime foiled again!

What's Up Doc?

Still on the "bunny" theme here at the Fredericks residence. Jack played the role of Bugs Bunny today at lunch. Yesterday at the grocery store he was amused by the carrots with their tops still on, so I bought a bunch. Today I made one as part of his lunch. He ate it down to a nub! Who knew leaving the greens on would elicit such a response, the kid gobbled it up!!

Bye-Bye Bunny

Easter is over. Jack killed the last chocolate bunny tonight. He ate the body off and then poked his finger in the hollow head and turned it into a finger puppet. After cracking us both up, he ate the head too. He must be Rob's son because I always eat the ears first :-)

Easter Weekend

We were back on the road this weekend, headed to Redondo Beach again to celebrate Easter. Saturday we dyed eggs with Nikki and Max. Although I've come to realize more and more how many holiday activities are really for the adults! Even though we already had over 60 plastic eggs for Easter bunny to hide, we still couldn't resist coloring hard-boiled eggs. Of course, Jack wanted to make his green (is there a person alive who doesn't know green is his favorite color?). And Grandma and Pa drew bats with crayon on a few other eggs. Good traditional fun before dinner.







Our little girl seemed to enjoy her first Easter. She loves being a part of the action, so she was overjoyed to discover the thrill of the exersaucer at Grandma's. She sat up like a big girl and played with all the toys. Jack and Max helped her push and spin all the gadgets. On Sunday we had a full house of family to help the kids celebrate Easter. Grandpa Nick and Tutu came up from Oceanside and Uncle Scott spent the day with us too. Of course Nikki and Max were there, but sadly Uncle Troy was still nursing his knee, having had surgery on it Friday. The kids had too many Easter baskets! Easter bunnies brought them each four baskets! Thank goodness they were mostly toys and play things instead of massive amounts of chocolate and jelly beans. We had a yummy brunch and then the massive Easter egg hunt. Max is almost two years old now, so he TOTALLY got the hunting part down! He was grabbing eggs two at a time and would not relinquish his basket even when it got so heavy that he was dragging it! Jack on the other hand, got three eggs and said, "I got my eggs! I'm all done!" Well, with over 60 eggs out there we wouldn't let him stop at THREE! We kept encouraging him to get more, "There's one down there." to which he responded, "That's in the dirt. I don't want dirty ones." Then we tried, "Here's a yellow one in the bush!" He replied, "No. Yellow isn't my favorite color." UGH! Three years old and jaded like a teenager already! Well, Max was perfectly content to find everything that Jack left behind and Jack was perfectly content with the 20 eggs he wound up with, so it all worked out in the end :-)





We had a nice time visiting and watching the kids play. And again were blessed with an easy drive home. Lovely weekend, indeed!

Carlsbad

Back from another vacation adventure! We had a lovely time in Carlsbad visiting Tutu, Grandpa Nick and Uncle Brad. After playing in the beautiful pools and water park at the hotel, we met Grandpa Nick, Tutu and Uncle Brad for a cocktail at 5:00 on Sunday (knowing Great Tutu would raise a glass with us :-). Since Paula and I were both celebrating belated birthdays we decided to indulge our lust for all things cheesy, yummy and fattening...dinner at Ruby's Diner for burgers, fries and milkshakes. The kids were fascinated by the train that circled the restaurant. And who doesn't like a good burger? It was loud and busy, but perfect with two little kids. Best of all, they did NOT sing happy birthday to us! We all went home for a good night sleep because Monday was Legoland Day!

We had promised (bribed) Jack into potty training by dangling the Legoland carrot in front of him for the last two months. Since he is now doing such a wonderful job in his big boy underwear, it was time to reward his great effort. With a 30 degree drop in temperatures from the weekend, we all bundled up in coats and headed for fun. So many of our friends had recommended Legoland for Jack's age level and they were right. He had a blast! There were shows, rides, games, food, so much to see and do. He rode a helicopter with Daddy and drove a mini Volvo ALL BY HIMSELF (sort of, see video). Well, really, he was more like the guy stalled on the 405 that everyone honks at and flips the bird! HA! But they gave him his "driver's license" despite his obvious lack of skill. You've been warned, stay off the road. Grandpa Nick and Tutu chased him around the entire park, capturing it all on video and savoring the moment in real time too. He wore us all out before the park closed, but funny thing is he wore himself out too! While Rob and I debated what to do before we left, Jack said, "Can we PWEASE go home?" What?! In unison with stunned glances, "OK!" We bought a few Legos, headed back to the hotel and had the added bonus of a delicious meal in the hotel restaurant.

We had an easy drive home the following day and I hope to get through all the unpacking by bed time tonight. A friend posted a great quote on Facebook the other day and I think it captures our trip exactly. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." (Robert Brault) Thanks so much for making our little adventure a "big thing". We love you Grandpa Nick and Tutu :-)

Ten Toes

Lauren discovered her feet! She has been mesmerized by her hands for several weeks now, but over the last day or two she has discovered the play toys attached to her legs! Rob took this video this evening while we were finishing up with our spring cleaning of the garage. Lauren did a fantastic job of entertaining herself all day while we gutted the garage and put it back together. In addition, she managed to charm every neighbor who got within a 25 yard radius of our house. What a doll!!