{The BIG 3!!}

Jonas is 3!!!!!

After weeks and weeks of planning a Monsters, INC party....Jonas promptly changed my mind when we went to get supplies at the party store. He picked up the Thomas the train plates and wouldn't put them back. Soooooo.....Thomas the Train it is! :)

Opening his "Bus Book". This is his favorite book ever. We read it before bed and naps. It goes like this:

Mom:riding the..

Jonas: Bus

Mom: to..

Jonas: Mcool (school)

Mom: to

Jonas: Mcool (school)

Mom: riding the...

Jonas: Bus

Mom: to

Jonas: Mcool (school)

We repeat this several times. He also knows some of the animals that get on the bus. Its my favorite to read it with him. He cracks me up.

Alyvia got lost in all the wrapping paper :)

Since my parents and sisters arrived earlier in the day, they were here for the party too. (We celebrated early since we were leaving and didn't come home until the day of J's birthday)

I think this was the first year that J realized he could just keep opening gifts because they were all for him. He loved opening. Brookie just kept bringing him more and more. He got so many things I couldn't list them all. Among his favorite are...

• The Cars Pop-Up tent from my parents. He sleeps in it more than his bed.
• The flashlight from Gma and Gpa Misrasi. They sent other things, but the flashlight goes with us and he HAS to have it at night.
• The Bus book. (I expected this)
• The Mickey Mouse scooter from Mom and Dad. Although so far he just stands on it and wants to be pushed around. That's not gonna happen forever buddy!!

Jonas is such a sweet, special boy. He loves his Dad and thinks his Mom is ok (as long as Dad isn't around!). He is very careful with Alyvia...he calls her Ayaya. His vocabulary is BOOMING!! His recents are: Carry me, Hold me, and WAIT! (he uses this at night when he doesn't want you to leave him in his room for bed.) The last 3 years have been lots of fun with Jonas in our lives. We're so happy to see all the progress he's made, all that he's learning. He's taught us to be better listeners, to smile and laugh more, and he's helping us learn patience every day.

Happy Birthday JoJo!!!

{Just Stuff}

Blogger is being weird. Whatever.

Hot, Humid, Sticky, Yucky, July is in full swing here in Maryland. This is the time of year I REALLY want to move. I hate feeling like I have an elephant on my chest. Anyways, since its been so sticky, we've been laying low indoors. Jonas is working on his last few days of school for the summer...and we're preparing for family to arrive TOMORROW!! Here's a quick re-cap on the last little bit.

• Lyv ate rice cereal and baby food like a champ one night. ONE night. Now she gags if I even get the spoon near her mouth.
• We went to a different Park (still next to our house) the other day. Through Jonas into a minor out-burst. The kid LOVES the park. Every day...several times a day he asks..."how 'bout the park?" Once he saw all the toys at the "new" park..he was fine. We've been there before, but its been awhile. He had fun with the tunnel...as he did last time. He played in there until I laid Alyvia down. Then he was gone. (She's poison, you know)
• Speaking of Alyvia...she's been killing me as of late. Up every 2-3 hours hungry as a hippo. This is the longest growth spurt EVER!! She's also bored to tears with all of her entertainment. Devin got the jumper down last week, and she's really enjoyed it! She bounces a little, but mostly she eats the seat and hits the birds above her head. I should also note that for an entertainment fix we can turn a movie on for Jonas and let him hop around near Alyvia. Makes her happy every time.
• Jonas got his first black eye a few weeks ago. He was hopping around, tripped over one if his gazillion blankets he loves and hit our entertainment center. He cried. A lot. It looked painful and I worried if his eye would be ok since when I first looked it had already started turning purple. It never did swell much. Just turned all sorts of colors. This was towards the end of it. I didn't think to snap a picture of it before this.

{4th of July-2011}

We celebrated the 4th this year with lots of fun. We started on Saturday by going to the Wheaton Park. They have a carousel and a train to ride. Jonas had been there with Devin a month or so ago, so he was VERY excited when we pulled in. They are also building a huge playground that we are pretty excited for. We were smart and let the kids have a nap so we could actually enjoy ourselves.

I got to ride the carousel with Jonas...he dragged me on here. I thought he was excited. He was...until we got on...then he was shaking with fear.

Alyvia got to chill with Dad.

Everyone on the train :)

Look at this little boys face...he LOVES the train!

All 3 kids ;)

It was pretty hot and VERY humid. Add to that a not so patient almost 3 year old...and things start to look like this...

If he'd had the strength I think he would have broken down the gates! He was just so excited!

On the actual 4th we had a lazy morning (well, Jonas had school so he wasn't lazy), took long relaxing naps, and then headed to the Castle Park to play and watch the fireworks. We hadn't been there in a while and Jonas was SOOOOO excited. Honestly Devin couldn't keep up with him because he was running around so excited. Then it started to rain and most of the people left or took over-so Jonas had the place to himself. He was in heaven!

Pretty wet boys!

Cheese!

Jonas didn't even mind walking around and getting wet.

Alyvia and I kept nice and dry under our umbrella. We kept all the stuff dry too. It was nice to NOT have to sit on a wet blanket for the fireworks. Lyv managed to get a nap in too.

It was a great idea to play at the park and then watch the fireworks from there. Both kids loved the colors and brightness. It was a great night!

{New Things}

We've had some pretty nice weather the last few days...so we have been trying to enjoy it. Including-

Watching our shadows :)

Capturing cute little faces

(again)

Checking out the architect of the new gazebo at the lake

and just being happy to be outside!

Its a little scary to take Jonas next to the water since he loves it so much. He doesn't have that sense of danger quite yet. Scares me to death!

Also Jonas has discovered the joy of chocolate. Chocolate pudding, chocolate chip muffins, chocolate cookies, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!!

He also uses pudding as paint. That's not my favorite.

We also moved Jonas into a big boy bed. He loves it.

This was the set-up. I was..........paranoid that he would roll off the bed. We've since moved the mattress.

Lou-Lou thinks Jonas' big bed is pretty fun too!

Jonas has a habit of putting stuff in, on, and over Lyv's face. She doesn't mind. She adores her big brother!

We watched CARS in our big bed the first day. Also I should mention that Jonas refused to sleep on the mattress for the first few nights. He wanted to sleep on his crib mattress. So he slept on the crib mattress on the big boy bed. Comical? Yes.

We've learned the art of making forts. Except Jonas sits on them. Every. Single. Time.

Lou DOES NOT like cereal. At all. So we'll hold off for a while....at 15lbs 10 ozs....she won't starve to death :)

Philly

Devin had to attend a conference for work a few weeks ago. It was in Philadelphia and I'd never been there...so the kids and I tagged along. It was a quick over-nighter..but very fun! We rode the train up and it was the BEST idea ever! It was relaxing, quiet, and only took 2 hours. I loved it and the kids really loved it...especially Jonas. He is very in to trains right now!

Alyvia slept all the way to Philly and all the way back :)

Maybe Jonas liked that he could be mobile and watch whatever he wanted to.

Once we got to the hotel, Jonas found lots of ways to entertain himself. We had a big floor to ceiling window that he could stand in it and see the river between Philly and Camden, NJ. He thought it was way cool to play in the curtains and hide from Mom and Dad!

Its hard to tell, but he has a BIG smile plastered on his little face.

There's that cute smile!

This was right out our window. It went over a freeway in Philly. The taller buildings you see on the other side is New Jersey.

Jonas also discovered the phone. We eventually had to unplug it because he wouldn't leave it alone. He called, Kaylee, Taryn, Brook, Papa, Gram, and Dad about 1000 times.

Devin had meetings half a day both days. I really wanted to see the city, but I was nervous to go out on my own with the kids. Luckily, Ruthie-Devin's co-worker, brought her husband with her. He just happens to be on the Arlington City Police Department. He let us tag along with him while he toured the city. He was a great body guard and was so helpful with the kids. My sister, Taryn, said I was "cheating" on Devin :) Richard and I did look like a married couple! Thanks for protecting us Rich!

Jonas and Richard feeding the pig (its a statue- the money goes to help hungry kids in Philly) money. Jonas thought it was pretty funny when the pig talked back. We were in a HUGE indoor market that was amazing! They had ever kind of everything you can imagine. Food, handmade stuff, junk...everything!

Jonas giving the "Philly Fanatic" a hug. It went against my Dodger Blue Code of Ethics to let him hug the Philly's mascot, but he loved this guy...so I let him.

Jonas and Mom at the Liberty Bell. Very cool to see...although they usher you in, and usher you out.

This is in the building that houses the Job Corp Office (Which Devin also works for). Devin is over the Philadelphia region and met some of the people he talks to everyday for the first time.

Ruthie and Alyvia. Seriously Richard and Ruthie treat us like family. We loved spending time with them!

Jonas and Dad in the pool. We had a great time swimming-especially J. He LOVES the water!

Alyvia swam too. I think the water was a little cold for her. She liked putting her toes in the hot tub better. I just thought she looked super cute in her new swim suit!

While we were tagging along with Richard we saw a brief reenactment of a drumming parade. Jonas was VERY into it. He marched around the little park with the people and had a great time. We had fun watching him march, march, march!

A glass Tiffany's Mosaic...also at the Job Corp building. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful. They also had super cool elevators. (Obviously don't frequent big buildings in big cities!) When you pushed a button it flashed a number or letter on the keypad and that was the elevator you were assigned to. It seemed totally awesome at the time...

On the second day Devin got a little (or a lot) bored and left early. So we went to the Philadelphia Zoo. I was a little disappointed. It was very expensive and not any better than the National Zoo in D.C. which is free!

Jonas and the Sheep (I didn't go with him into this part of the Zoo since I was feeding Lyv, but Devin said Jonas was SO scared of the sheep!)

Jonas with some black and white monkeys in the back.

Ms. Alyvia liked the Zoo too. How cute is she?

All in all it was a great trip. We ate a real Philly Steak and Cheese (not my favorite), and had some really good ice cream. It was nice to get away for a day or two. I loved the train ride, and we enjoyed great company. I don't, however, think I will visit Philly again any time soon. It has soooo much history-but our family is a little young to enjoy that yet. Someday I will go back...and be a little more brave!