Dad's Day

Last week, Natalie invited me to Dad's Day at her school. Since Jamie had already been to Mom's Day, I kind of knew what to expect. I was told not to be "that dad", and show up late. I arrived in plenty of time, and Natalie greeted me with a big hug. She sang a couple of songs. The teacher read a story, and then we worked on a craft together. Days like Dad's day at your kids' school are the things you look forward to in your head when your baby is first born. Owen would be five this year, and I often think of what him and his dad would be doing this summer. Probably playing catch and riding bikes. It's now getting time where I can do some of those fun things with Natalie. (I am not saying that the first three years weren't fun, just that you don't dream of changing your kid's diapers and midnight feedings.) I posted the video that I shot of the songs Natalie sang. It brought a small tear to my eye when she pointed at me during the song. (I am comfortable with being a wuzz). Enjoy the video.

Justin's Birthday Bash

Can you believe that Justin is 1 year old?! Well...he'll officially be 1 in a few days, but we went ahead and celebrated his big day on Saturday with a nice little party. We had many family members in attendance: Grandma and Grandpa Pickens, Grandma and Grandpa Curtis, Uncle Brad, Aunt Sheila and Sydney. It turned out to be a really nice day and we grilled out for lunch. Natalie kept us on schedule and as soon as everyone finished eating we opened presents and then it was on to cake and ice cream. We decided to stick with an ISU theme for his party (we did the same for Natalie's first birthday) and had a little baby Reggie Redbird on his cake. He received lots of nice presents and Justin is fighting Natalie for many of his new items!

After the party was "over" we put all the guys to work building a playset for the kiddos. This was our present to Justin...and Natalie...and the guys did a great job. I suspect there will be many of days that we are outside playing...and we got it done just in time for the 70 degree weather that's headed our way this week! A big thanks to Grandpa Pickens, Grandpa Curtis and Uncle Brad for their hardwork...and let's not forget dad...Aaron did a wonderful job getting all the wood cut and the playset started.

As for Justin's 1 year happenings....he's walking along things...but not on his own yet. He's a happy little guy and really enjoys trying to keep up with his sister. He got his first big boy haircut and it just seems that my baby has left and a little man has entered my life. He loves being outside but I have to keep a close eye on him because he'll eat anything. He loves to swing outside and play in the grass...however he hasn't realized that he can crawl on grass yet so he stays pretty much where we put him. He loves to play with my pots and pans and likes to pretend to stir things and is really intrigued by gravity. You name it...he's dropped it and then he just stares at it and makes a ssssss sound while he points at it until you pick it up for him. This is his favorite game as of right now. We've found the first thing he doesn't like to eat....watermelon...we'll try it again later and see if he changes his mind. After his 1 year appointment I'll post his stats.

Thanks to everyone for helping Justin celebrate his birthday!

Some Cute Pictures

We have some cute pictures to share. The first is Natalie in the midst of making her first pie from scratch. She chose to make a blueberry pie...and it turned out really yummy. I think we may have a future baker in our family...the whole family is really happy about this...especially Justin...he loves his sweets!





Next we have Justin who is learning all sorts of new tricks. It's really cute because he watches everything and is now starting to imitate the things he sees. Natalie and I have school time on the days she's not actually in school and he's trying to join in:

And we may have discovered his secret talent that will lead to his future career choice....

....amazingly Natalie lets him brush her hair but still runs from me...so he must know what he's doing!