party for the 2 man

the morning he awoke, was like any other day. until we let him open a present.
it was clothes.
you could sense the disappointment.
then we sang to him before daddy went to work.
he seemed disappointed by that as well.

we ate breakfast and cleaned up.
then it was off to run errands.
more disappointment for the little guy.
he was happy to get home, eat a hot dog and grapes, and head to bed for a nap.

when dad got home from work, we took him out to dinner at Iggy's (bayli's first choice and semi kid friendly). we thought that he had done pretty well at breakfast at IHOP a few weeks earlier.
i think that we will only take him to breakfast for the rest of the year. dinner was a pain!

we gave him a Thomas the Train engine while at dinner. it lit up and made noise. that was pretty exciting until he decided to start pushing it harder and harder and then throwing it at dad. the train got lost in dad's pocket.

he was excited when his dinner finally came, so were we. unfortunately mom and dad didn't notice the cup full of ranch on his dish until it was too late. so he pretty much dipped and licked fries in ranch and didn't touch his chicken. when they brought him his sundae, his wiggles subsided for a nice moment of peace. he would have eaten the entire goblet full if we hadn't stopped him.
great parents: a belly full of ranch, fries, and ice cream. we were glad that he didn't puke.

when we got home he was again excited to play with the train we had given him at dinner, while awaiting for his party goers to arrive.
we invited his grandparents and aunt chalese over for strawberry shortcake, chase is a strawberry freak!

we first opened presents.
he opened his first gift which was from grandma and grandpa dixon. it was a train set, delaying the present opening for some time.
we really should screen presents for little ones, give the boring clothes gifts first (from mom and dad) and proceed from there.


next he opened one of said boring clothes items.
back to the train.
look a gift from sister. a bubble machine/gun. no we can't open it right now.
back to the train.

another boring gift from mom and dad, a jacket that bayli opened instead.
still at the train.

next he opened a bag of sand toys and YARD TOOLS! (from mom and dad) he wanted the shovels and rakes out now!
he played and organized those for a while. everyone was ducking and leaning back to avoid being whacked.
back to the train, for quite a long time.


then grandma and grandpa atherley (with the help of bayli) got out their gift. a tube and tent system. the kids were in love. giggles poured from every movement.
no more train, at least for a little while.


we coaxed him to his chair with a viewing of his strawberry shortcake.
he was in heaven!we love our little man, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

officially a terrible 2

it's amazing how fast they grow. our little man turned 2 today. he could care less. other than, for some reason, people are letting him rip off fancy paper and he finds a treasure inside.

much like the day we took him home, it is raining today. that must have been a sign for the trials to come. because he is all boy, and very good at throwing fits and getting into trouble.

he was a difficult baby, very colicky. he did not sleep well even as a newborn. he would wake up about every 1-1 1/2 hours. he made for two very exhausted parents. not only did mom wake up to him, but dad got the wrath of his screams. those screams that he has never overcome. he was born with a very strong set of vocal cords, and he continues to practice them well.

he did not like to be cuddled and snuggled. he wanted to be placed somewhere and left alone. he is just starting to enjoy snuggling more. but still will turn on you in a flash and want some space.

he loves trucks and trains. and he meticulously will line up his hoard of vehicles and admire them. he generally will pick the seat of the fireplace for their designated viewing site. but on occasion will line them up on the rug in the family room, or as of late, on the rug in front of the back door. the latter is fast becoming an unpreferred site, due to the fact that it is a major traffic zone (for people) and the line up quickly gets disheveled.

we aren't big tv watchers, generally speaking. chase in particular has never been interested in any kid friendly shows. he would much rather play, we don't complain too much about that. but, if he sees a show like How It's Made or anything with machinery, it has his full attention. and, a channel change or commercial will result in screaming.
he has discovered, much to our blame and stupidity, Thomas the Train over the last few weeks. he will even go to the effort of asking to watch "choo choos" and "trains."

he loves his blankie or "nigh nigh." and has latched on to one in particular. hard as we try, he won't sleep with a replacement. he will let the replacement share his bed, but he needs his blankie with the moose on it.

he is a climber and will set his sites on climbing high. we frequently find him on the bar, trying to climb up into his bedroom window, scaling the rocks in the backyard, and just about anywhere in between. he especially is great at climbing in and out of his crib. we are still on the search for a big boy bed, but in the meantime he climbs. he is very fast at scaling the bars when he hears us coming to place him back in bed during sleep time. a pull, leap, and flop into bed and he is there. we think he is training to be an olympic high bar jumper. getting out is even scarier and faster. almost right after we close his door, we hear a thud and little feet trotting across the floor.

he love, loves, LOVES being outside. it is his preference above all others, even snacks. he loves to dig in the dirt and follow daddy around the yard. he has taken to hoeing the dirt in the garden, a very scary event. everyone including the cat knows to stay a good ten feet away when he has his tool in hand. he loves to look at plants in the yard and will pat and pull at them and call them "pretty" or "nice." although he loves to be outside and play in dirt, he despises his hands being dirty, especially with wet sand. he starts moaning and declaring "yutee." he loves to take his ride on cars for spins up and down the side walk. and will even stand on them evil knievel style, again something not widely encouraged.

he loves helping daddy with everything in the garage. he is fast becoming aware that all things boyish and cool are in the garage. we often find him with his little tools trying to work on the lawn mower. he turns his rocking chair over and also will work on it for a long time. he has even found a fun game in working on everyone's toes with his wrenches and pliers. thank goodness they are only plastic.

he loves to play with tinker toys and is becoming a pretty inventive builder.

although he is busy and loud, we love our little guy and wouldn't trade him for anything. if he just had a volume control, life would be bliss.

future fashion designer

Bayli has been into making dresses with blankets. She also makes veils. Letting her watch Say Yes to the Dress did us in.
I'm sure that all of the fashion gurus will be flogging to our door to get first dibs.

"Do you like my dress? I got it from Utah."

I love how she catches on to the fact that big ticket items come from specific places. Why she picked Utah, I have no idea. Probably because we live here, and she was inspired by the fabric.

happy hobo

the things he can do with a mini twix bar.
at least most of the calories ended up on him than in him.

toad gets a pedi

Since when do toads get pedis?

That isn't a toad, it's a Bayli! And she is super excited about her first glitter toes. She now knows that beauty comes at a price, that price being PAIN.

easter delayed

We had the Atherley Easter party the Saturday after Easter.
Grandma Bev always has the hunt mapped out to make it fun for each age group. It makes it a little easier to watch each kid hunt. She also has each kid assigned to a color (Chase had yellow & Bayli had pink).

The kids had fun actually being able to hunt for eggs outside. They were pretty cute running around the yard.

Chase's group got to go first. He was so cute bending over to put the "balls" in "Emo." When he found the candy inside, his face lit up with excitement "tandee!!!"
Unfortunately we could never get a picture of the front of him. He was much to busy to look at mom and smile. At least the back of him is pretty cute too.


Bayli's group was up next. She was pretty excited to hunt for those pink eggs. Near the end she kept asking mom to pack her basket, wimp! Mom refused. Ultimately, she would bend over for an egg and lose two out the other side of her basket. We lost a few jelly beans that way.

Action shot! Always need a few of those.


This egg kept her busy searching for quite a while. She was pretty excited to finally find it.

And of course, she has to pose and do the shoulder shrug whenever a camera is on her. Such a girl.

After the hunt, we devoured homemade raviolis. Delicious!

not your average dolly

we are VERY accustomed to chase screaming over everything, whether happy or sad. but on this occasion, his scream was a little more desperate. we searched upstairs, but quickly noticed that his screams were coming from the basement.
we have a little play area set up under our stairs. where we have placed all of the kitchen items. it freed up a lot of space in bayli's room, and gave chase a dream come true, to play with sister's kitchens whenever he wished. it is perfect for all of the kids gourmet desires.
we wondered, what on earth could he be into now? it took us a few seconds to realize where exactly the little screamer was. he had trapped himself in the dolly highchair-quite a tight fit.

notice, now that help has come, he continues to mix away. as if nothing were wrong, maybe just down playing his embarrassment.
"on ou!" (i want out!) were the screams we heard when we pretended to go back upstairs.

needless to say, he hasn't attempted this stunt again.

breakfast convo bayli style

Mom: Bayli, what was your favorite thing about Spring Break?

Bayli: Being with my family. What was your favorite thing mom?

Mom: I liked being with my family too.

Bayli: What was your favorite thing dad? Kicking your kids butts?

That's our girl. Always knows how to dramatically change a moment, and get a giggle from the crowd.

easter fun

How was our spring break and Easter?
Busy, busy, busy!
With all the family in town, it was a fun filled week.
Some of the big memories were:

• fat lady twister with the nieces and nephews (no pictures necessary-but a priceless moment)

• decorating eggs with 13 kids. included in those 13 kids:

1. A very excited 3 yr old. Who stationed herself at the counter for over an hour and could barely eat dinner. The cutie was constantly asking every adult "can we color eggs yet?"
2. A very busy little 2 yr old, who won't take no for an answer. Who is also in love with anything messy.
3. Two 5 yr olds that were cute as could be, but very wiggly and liked leaning over everything. One of these cute gals sprung into goof mode, always has to be the life of the party. But, also gets the other kids wound up.
   
4. And one 11 month old who liked to be where everyone's feet were.
5. All of the other kids new that Aunt Jerri was in charge and that she meant business. All other adults were VERY glad that said aunt was in charge.

• Utah weather surprises. A week full of wind, dust, and snow. No outside hunts this year. Good thing the Easter Bunny knew where to find the baskets in the house. Chase was most excited about the "tooties" aka cookies. It was very hard to get him excited about eating breakfast. Bayli was exceptionally excited about new shoes and a Barbie Peekaboo. The poor family kite will have to sit this day out, to be flown another day.

droolicious

I love decorating baby rooms! Come to think of it, those are about the only rooms that really get made over in our home.

Since we are having a baby girl, Chase won't be sharing a room. He'll get to keep his cute fishy room for a while longer. But, I do not want to reuse his cute bedding, a little more boyish than I would like. Especially after these lovely's caught my eye. How cute are they? I love bright, cheerful, happy themes to a nursery. And anyone who knows me, would surely say that is so you.
Envisioning painted walls, with such a variety of colors to pick from, fills me with excitement.

Hopefully, Bayli will get her wish (a room of her own in the basement).
Decorating two girl rooms, I almost can't contain myself!