Bennett Meets Mr. Bear

When Nolan was born my friend Julia made him an incredible present, one I hope he will treasure forever. She made him a bear, thats right I said made not bought. The nose and paws of this bear are made out of a dress of mine from when I was little. I know, adorable. Well when Bennett was born Julia made him a special bear as well. This bears paws are made out of Nolan's "back-up" blankie. What's a back-up blankie you ask? It's the blanket we use when Nolan's treasured blanket is either missing or disgusting!  Julia snipped a little off the blankie and then put it all back together…Nolan will never even notice.  That is until he's old enough to read this post!  So here are some pictures of Bennett meeting Mr. Bear for the first time.  (Mr. Bear is the oh so creative name Nolan gave to the bear….strikingly similar to the name he gave his own bear.)

And here is another comparison picture, I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of these. On the left is Nolan meeting his "Mr. Bear".

Just Because

He's cute…and I like him.

Holy Party Batman!

My sweet little boy turned 3 this past weekend, and we decided to celebrate "hero" style.  So we broke out our favorite superhero t-shirts and tackled the evil villains at the park.  I haven't had time to go through all the pictures yet, but thought I would share a little teaser with this collage.  I'll elaborate later when I have more time!

Here is that handsome 3 year old on his actual birthday.  Yes, in case you were wondering that is a bike without pedals.  I never ever ever thought I would buy one, but apparently they are all the rage these days and I wouldn't want Nolan to be deprived.   I mean he really does look happy doesn't he?  Michelle, I can hear the "I told you so" ringing in my ears.

Field Trip

Last week we took a little field trip to the Museum of Transportation.  Sounds pretty educational right?  Don't let it fool you.  We use this Museum merely as a glorified Playground.  Something new and exciting to climb all over (even if the signs say Keep Off…surely that's just a suggestion not an actual rule).

I did manage to sneak in a few pictures while we were there.  And before you ask, NO Stephanie and I did not call each other to coordinate the boys outfits for the day.  But they did go together quite nicely for the pictures, great minds must think alike and these are two great minds lets be honest!  Once again poor Bennett spent most of the day in the stroller, but once again I needed to document that he was actually with us so more stroller pics for you!

Imagination and Sleeping Babies

Today as I sit in a chair trying to recoup from a busy weekend I am thankful for Nolan's very abundant imagination and his ability to make a simple ladder and 4 small superhero guys his entertainment for hours on end.  Up and down and up and down he has gone I can't tell you how many times.  The superheroes have gone to the store, taken naps, fixed my ladder…everything EXCEPT save the city from the evil villains.  Not sure Nolan quite grasps the true powers of superheroes just yet!

I am also thankful for a sleeping baby.  Bennett decided to nap at the same time and is dreaming away undisturbed by the superhero madness going on around him.

Yes folks I am lazy today.  It turns out that drinking after you have been pregnant for 9 months is not exactly like riding a bike, I think I need the training wheels back on!  Nolan always says "you just need to keep practicing", surely that applies to this situation as well!

Here are my boys on our lazy day.  Don't judge me.  Yes it is mid-afternoon and Nolan is still in his PJs and Yes Bennett is sleeping on his changing table (don't worry Grandmas he doesn't move yet).  They are both happy (at the current time) and thriving so just let us be.  I fed them both reasonably nutritious meals, we read 1 million books, and they are now sound asleep in their respective beds so I can do important things like Blog.  I included the last picture of Bennett because I feel like the poor guy is getting the shaft on this blog.  Every time we have an adventure of sorts he's stuck in his stroller and gets no good love from the camera.  So I thought I would let you all see his cute little face on this oh so special day!

Dear Chad,

Surely tomorrow I will post something about how much laundry I did, and that wonderful meal I prepared for you.

Keep Dreaming,
Your Lovely Wife

Child Labor Laws?

Chad went to the store to get paint supplies and he knew that he would have a little buddy who would want to be his little helper, soooo he came home with this oh so cute little roller for Mr. Nolan to join in the fun.  Did Mom think this was a good idea?  No she did not.  Chad let Nolan partake in the festivities for oh I don't know 2 minutes or so (just long enough for me to take these 4 pictures) and then we cleaned up the lad and he was on his way.  Don't feel bad for Nolan, I tried to help Chad and he also only let me paint for I'd say another 2 minutes and then politely asked me to step away from the project.  Sometimes it pays to be a sucky painter!

We Escaped!

That's right folks the Struckmann Clan was on the loose Labor Day weekend.  Chad was in California for a Wedding (yes rough life for Chad I know spending the days at the winery and nights at the bar/reception, don't worry I remind him constantly how lucky he is) but that didn't slow us down!  My Grandma is in town from Colorado for a  few weeks so my parents were looking to do something slightly "touristy" and I was quick to get myself and the two boys invited.  I'm not much of a stay at home and do nothing type of chick, so I leap at the chance of doing anything outside of the homestead.  And lets face it bringing along extra helping hands is ALWAYS appealing.  Am I right?  

We decided to head out to Eckerts and check out what they had to offer.  We were not disappointed.  They had rides, a petting zoo, a nice little restaurant and you could pick your own apples.  It was still rather HOT outside on this particular day so we basically had the place to ourselves, besides a sprinkling of a few other kids that apparently needed to get out of their houses as well.  Nolan was quick to make friends with one of the little boys, he has a tendency to make friends wherever he goes.  I'm thinking he gets that from my Dad who would talk to a brick wall if it talked back (okay, he'd probably talk to it no matter what lets be real here).  So Nolan found a buddy to ride on the rides with until Bennett gets old enough to join.  Speaking of Bennett, you will see I did at least take a picture of the poor little guy just to prove he wasn't deprived and did in fact get to come with us on this little adventure.  I'm sorry to report Bennett…you slept through the whole thing.  Shocker.  We'll get em next time champ.

What does Nolan think?

At the top of the frequently asked questions list since Baby Bennett joined our family is the ever so popular "What does Nolan think about the new baby?" question.  I really have no idea how to answer this to be completely honest.  Nothing ever seems to bother or phase Nolan, and this little life altering addition is no different.  I will say it took Nolan a good week to really warm up to Bennett, but now he seems to be a big fan.  He likes to show him his toys, read him books and LOVES to give him kisses.  I think mainly he likes to give him kisses because it generally serves as a stalling technique around nap time, or bed time, or any other time when we are trying to get him to do something else…but it warms my heart every time so all I can say is Well Played Nolan, Well Played.

Here are a couple pics of the lads together.  The first one I would LOVE to know what is going through Nolan's head, but it surely has to be something along the lines of "why is he making that noise and when will it stop".  

       

Here are my two sweet boys and a little example of Nolan's stall tactic at work.  Tell me you wouldn't let him stay up five more minutes for that?

And Chad wonders what I do all day….

I mean really, how am I supposed to get anything halfway productive done when there is this cute little creature staring at me all day long? As if he is saying "please take my picture Mom". I need to play dress-up while he still allows it and while he is still unable to tell me "no pictures Mama". I will say though that Big Brother is becoming a bigger fan of getting his picture taken these days, not sure if it's a jealousy thing or what but I'll take it. I'm sure I'm scarring my children for life but at least they'll have pictures to look back on and show their therapists.