look who's 2!!

Happy SECOND Birthday Alex! Can you believe it? I know I can't!! Where has the time gone??? We certainly had a great birthday weekend full of fun and celebration. Yesterday we had a party at our house with family and our closest friends. There were lots of bubbles, some wet 'n wild water fun, and of course cupcakes. Who could ask for more?

Alex & Peyton working the bubble machine.

Addie "working" the splash pad.

water balloons!

not sure who was more into the presents, Alex or Ben?

the fam -- me & Alex, Ben, mom, Mike, Angie & Alan, Scott

Today we got up and met the Browns at a local park that also happens to have a choo-choo. Imagine our surprise when the boys actually went more nuts over the humongous playground. Either way there was lots of fun to be had!

we always knew he was part monkey but future rock climber too??

the boy loves his slides! and this playground had some good ones!

all aboard!!!

Belize

Last month Ben and I went to Belize with his parents, brother Alex, and sister-in-law Deena and oh was it amazing! It was a bit of an adventure getting there as we bounced from one airliner to another, on to a smaller prop plane to get us out to the island of Ambergris Caye where we were staying, followed by a cramped non-air conditioned van over to the dock and then a short boat ride out to the resort. Whew! It tires me out again just writing all that.

boarding our plane in Belize City. as you can imagine Ben about had a heart attack -- a turbo prop!? in a foreign country!?

just to give you an idea of where we landed -- Alex collecting our luggage

almost there! waiting for the boat to our resort.

We stayed in the cutest little ocean front bungalows and had the soft sand beaches practically to ourselves.

ours was the pink one, second from the end.

and this was the view from our porch.

one of the local residents.

I spent a lot of time lounging (yes, in my bikini thank you!) while Ben was a bit more adventuresome. He and his brother gave the resort's Hobi cat (sail boat) a good workout to say the least. I did tag along for a ride or two as it's a pretty good time.

my idea of a day on the beach.

Ben's idea of a day on the beach, 'Survivor' style (he collected and cracked that cocounut himself).

Ben, Alex, and Deena out for a spin.

We ventured into the town of San Pedro a couple of times to do some shopping and of course eating. Did I mention how good the food was? As you can imagine, the freshest of fresh seafood was abundant. There was also a lot of cajun/creole influence as well as curried dishes which surprised me a bit. I think I expected more of a Latin feel (being that the country borders Mexico) and got a very Carribean experience. This applied to everything, not just the food.

The highlight of the trip by far had to be the snorkeling though. We went twice while there and were just blown away. On our first time out we saw a nurse shark, beautiful giant spotted eagle ray, and a green sea turtle, all within about a minute of entering the water! The reefs were just amazing.

me, snorkeling. yes gramma in my bikini!

just a glimpse at the amazing reef.

green sea turtle we spotted just seconds after jumping in the water.

shark ray alley. it was only about 5 feet deep here. amazing!

I HIGHLY recommend adding Belize to your list of vacation destinations! A huge thanks to Ben's parents for planning such an amazing trip.

P.S. Did I mention it was "amazing"? Someone please get me a thesaurus!

Easter

I have to say I think this Easter was my favorite holiday with Alex so far. He's reached the age where he's finally "into" all of the activity and excitement that a holiday brings.

The night before we went over to our friends' the Browns house to dye eggs. Unfortunately Alex's buddy Peyton was a bit under the weather and missed out but Alex became quite the little egg master. Who knew dying eggs could be such serious business?!

Later Easter morning we headed over to the Smith's -- in his favorite new set of wheels courtesy of Gramma -- to hunt for eggs with Addie. Again, Alex was a pro and had his basket filled within minutes. I think next year we're going to have to have the bunny step it up to intermediate egg hiding.


Alex had such a great time and wasn't stingy with his Easter love. Isn't he sweet???


Later that day we went out to Gigi and Papa's house for Easter dinner which was absolutely delicious of course. Here are a few pics in honor of baby Alan's first holiday...

Spring for SIDS 2009 -- THIS Friday!!

Those of you who know me know that in February 2006 we lost our first son Spencer to SIDS. He was 11 weeks old. 2 months later I ran my first Spring for SIDS event in his honor at the company I was working for. The following year I was asked to join the National Steering Committee for Spring for SIDS and have been helping teams across the country raise money ever since.


Well, it's that time of year again -- the American SIDS Institute's annual Spring for SIDS fundraiser takes place this Friday April 24th! I apologize for the late notice but I've been so wrapped up in working with my other teams that I have apparently neglected my own efforts this year. Last year we were able to raise over $115,000 nationwide (over $6,000 of which was in Spencer's name) and hope to do even better this year!

For a minimum $5 donation you receive a Spring for SIDS sticker to be worn with a fun "Springy" outfit this Friday April 24th in support of SIDS awareness and research. If you'd like to make a donation, you can either give/send the money to me directly (make checks payable to the American SIDS Institute) or donate online by visiting www.springforsids.org and clicking on the "Make a Donation" link at the top of the page. If donating online please designate team "Remembering Spencer".

Since this is such late notice and if you won't be seeing me in person before Friday, if you plan to make a donation just let me know and I'll put a sticker(s) in the mail to you ASAP. Remember, any amount helps and all donations are put toward SIDS research and awareness. To learn more about these efforts please visit www.sids.org.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us remember our son in such a wonderful and important way.

welcome baby Alan!

Congratulations to my "little" brother Scott and his wife Angie on the birth of their son, Alan Webster! He was born at 3:33pm yesterday afternoon weighing 8 lbs 6 oz and 21.5 inches long so he's the cutest little string bean! I was lucky enough to see him within about a half hour of being born and he was so wide-eyed and attentive. Alex can't wait to meet his new cousin and start teaching him the ways of the world!

vegas

So for those of you who don't know, I have officially entered my 30's. It's true. And what better way to celebrate the onset of a new decade for a 6 month pregnant gal than a trip to Vegas?!? I've always wanted to go see a Cirque du Soleil show and Ben has never actually been to Vegas for fun (though he's been many, many times for work). Lucky for us the city is hurting right now so we were able to stay at the Bellagio for a steal. The girl at the front desk even saw it was my birthday and upgraded us to a strip view room. Take a look at that view... Jealous?

Adding to the good time were our friends Lindsey and Jarad who joined us on our little getaway. We did lots of shopping, walking, and EATING. Oh the food. And the walking. Ouch. Lindsey and I even got in the best massages ever while the boys learned their way around the roulette table. And yes, I did get to see Cirgue du Soleil. Awesome! Here are a couple of pics of Lindsey, Jarad, and myself waiting for our amazing dinner at TAO at the Venetian.



And here's Ben and I on the bridge between Caesar's and the Bellagio. It was a gorgeous night!

Can't forget to show off me in my birthday crown. Lindsey and Jarad thought it was just hilarious considering my "condition" (it read "Birthday Slut"). Ha! And what's Vegas without a little sparkle?


Thought I could get through an entire post without talking about the little man? Another HA! It was Alex's first ever night(s) away from Mommy but he had such a good time with Gramma he barely even noticed. Can we say "bitter sweet"? She even taught him that Mommy and Daddy went on an "airpane" to "Besas" (Vegas). Isn't he sweet?

our soccer tot

A couple weekends ago we took Alex to try out a Soccer Tots class. Now one might think that soccer for a 21-month old might be a bit ridiculous or even somewhat "pushy" on the part of the parents but I assure you it's neither of those. It was actually one of the cutest dang things I've ever seen in my life! And our intentions had more to do with the whole group interaction and direction following aspect than hoping to foster the next Beckham.

Alex wasn't feeling so hot so it took him a while to warm up to things but once he did, he had a great time. And with the kids being so young, parent involvement is a requirement so Ben also got in a little work out. Some of the activities included kicking the ball down the field and back (amazing how well these toddlers did with this!), some red light/green light (by far the most entertaining of the class), and an obstacle course.



Apparently Alex's favorite activity of the morning was parachute time at the end. I think he enjoyed helping the grown-ups spin it just as much as he enjoyed riding on it!


We went ahead and signed him up for the rest of the session and he goes back for his second class this Saturday. Ben and I will be headed to Vegas for my fabulous birthday celebration but I'm sure Gramma will have pics to share!

gramma and grampa come to visit

Weekend before last Gramma and Grampa Lindstrom came to visit from Minnesota. Unfortunately we weren't able to give them sunny skies and shorts weather but I think it was probably still a nice break from the below freezing temps and ice they'd been having. Alex had a great time showing them around! He took them to the park where they played a rousing game of "I see you!"...



And to the zoo where he showed them all his favorite animals...



He also took to some fun spots to eat and one of our favorite shopping destinations. There were also lots of play-doh demonstrations and lessons on how to play with cars. All in all it was a great weekend and he's already talking about what he wants to do the next time they come. But leave it to me not to get hardly any good group pics!