Spring at Our House

Jerret and Holly...
Oh, wait - wrong file...






We hope everyone had a happy Easter and you are all enjoying spring - whatever that may mean in your area! Since I haven't updated in a while, I'm afraid this post is mostly pictures. I have been taking them but haven't had time to put them on here until now.




Getting ready for church on Easter morning




Playing together



Time with Daddy is a valuable commodity



Something's hilarious

Mom and Dad's bed is the coolest place to hang out in the morning

Bruce is almost 2 and now talking 90 miles a minute! He talks almost constantly and I have even heard him talk in his sleep! He has really grown to love the big brother role, for which we are very grateful. He loves to hold Autumn's hand, help me rinse her in the bath and change her diaper, and shares his toys with her. He still calls her Au-ti, the name he gave her when she came home. He even adds her in the bedtime ritual, saying "Nite nite Au-ti" following "Nite nite Mommy". He's learning so much so fast that it's hard to keep up sometimes! His most endearing quality is how he looks out for everyone around him. He will bring Jerret his shoes when he's getting ready for work or tell me if Autumn is awake from her nap. He always reminds me to let Willow in from outside and not to forget Autumn when we leave the house. He has recently developed an obsession with construction vehicles, particularly the backhoe. For example, he pointed out 4 of them on our 30 minute drive today, making sure to emphasize that they were YELLOW ones. He also pointed out 3 green tractors on the same trip. He's also big into colors right now. Here is some of what he's been up to.

The Med Evac Helicopter visited his preschool.
He was slightly overwhelmed but really enjoyed it.



Here he is sitting inside the helicopter. There was so much to see in there!




Showing off some cool stuff he found in his Easter basket



Egg hunt #1 (out of 3 total for his first egg hunting year!)



B's improvement on the more traditional method of sliding



Bruce and cousin John at Clark Gardens



It was pretty difficult to get him to stop playing in the water long enough to take this one!



Bruce and Grandma watching the trains at Clark Gardens

He recently discovered the purpose for dandelions

"Pull me! Pull me!"



I think all kids love boxes - I did too!



Big shoes to fill



Enthralled with the egg dying process

Autumn is a very happy 6 month old. She's turning out to be a very social little girl! She is constantly looking for someone's eye contact to get their attention and smile/laugh with them. She's very flexible and isn't a big fan of schedules. She will let you know when she has a need but is just along for the ride otherwise. Her latest favorite pass time is watching her brother's entertaining antics. He can make her laugh by just being himself. She's now scooting and will not be in the same spot if you leave her on her blanket on the floor. She's still a tall, skinny one. It almost seems like all her growth has been lengthwise. She is now eating solid foods and we have yet to find something she doesn't like. She's a very good eater just like her big brother.

First time in a real swing

Hanging out with GG (Great-grandma)



Loving the jumper...


...a little too much!



I love the sleeping pictures!



All dressed up for church on Easter morning

Just a slice of what goes on at our house




Egg hunting

I have been lax on blog updates but am having so much fun spending time with the kids lately! Although blogging is fun, it's way more fun to be a mom than to document it! I'll try to be better in the future. No promises!

Autumn is now 5 months and is eating a few solid foods. She is such a happy little thing! She can now roll over and sit up with support. She's very healthy and growing out of her clothes quickly! She's already in 6 to 9 month clothes - she's tall and skinny! She has been teething for months (drooling, chewing, and some pain) but no teeth have come in yet.

Ready for Saint Patty's Day


"Here I am! Let's get this party started!"


Partied out


Dressed for church (the patent leather shoes were already kicked off)


Happy girl!


Autumn lol
(Too bad this pic doesn't come with sound)


Here's Autumn eating her first bites of solid food. I think she was more thrown off by the fact that no one was holding her at the dinner table like they're supposed to!

Bruce will be 2 next month and is talking up a storm! He says pretty much anything so you really have to watch what you say around him. It will come right back out! He has new phrases every day. Some of the most recent are "Nite nite Audi" (Audi's what he calls Autumn), "I love you" (pronounced "wubbi"), and "Sit truck, please" (a request to sit in Jerret's truck - the other day he said this for HOURS when Jerret was at work!!!). He can now say most of the basic colors, including the recently acquired, not-so-basic "camo" and "khaki". :)

The snowboarder genes come from Mommy


Action shot: Bruce mid-sumersault

Bruce wearing his "bug ears" from Great-Grandma


Special delivery!


I came into B's room and found a new toy in the toy box!

Playing in the snow - at home this time!!!

We are enjoying SNOW in our area today!!! Although it's fun to play in and pretty to look at, the best thing is that Jerret was home early from work yesterday and is off today! The thing about snow in Texas that's very different than snow in Colorado is that it's a total novelty. It's an event when it snows and a holiday when they call a snow day. I have seen more snowmen in yards here than I probably ever saw in Colorado in 30 years! I have also learned of snow ice cream in the past couple days. Yep. I now have two different recipes for this. I haven't tried it yet but I will let you know how it is if I make some. The things Coloradans take for granted...
(After publishing this post, it came to my attention that at least one of my Colorado friends has made snow ice cream. Maybe I'm just out of the loop!)

Our neighbors (who we NEVER see outside their house) actually built a snowman about 8 feet tall!



And then there's the Texan version...



Willow loved it of course

Bruce is warped for life - we are now sure of it. We have to withhold seconds on things like celery at dinner in order for him to eat anything else! I know some of you are thinking "Heck, let him have more celery. I would kill to get my kid to eat celery". Don't get me wrong. We are very happy that he has a taste for healthy food! He just can't live on celery alone, that's all. I can picture it now. He gets to high school and the other kids let him in on the secret. "Dude, nobody really LIKES celery".

Best friends in the snow

He won't fit in here for long!



Awwwww...



Daddy's clothes are still a bit big

"Nite nite Mommy"



Autumn laughs and smiles all the time! She's a happy little thing. We still haven't been able to catch it on video, but there's a cute one below anyway. :)

The Past Month or So

We've been keeping very busy in the month or so since our last post. We did make it back from Colorado and had a great time there. Jerret missed us just as much as we missed him. While we were gone, our area of Texas had a white Christmas! That's pretty much unheard of here. Of course it happens while most of our little family wasn't around to see it! That's okay though. We had plenty of snow to play in while we were in Colorado. We got to see lots of family and some friends, but still not everyone we wanted to. :( Autumn had a great first Christmas. She just enjoyed being passed from one snuggly set of arms to another. Bruce was nice enough to open her many gifts for her, even though he had a ton of his own to open as well! We had to mail 8 boxes of gifts and clothes home! He had great fun watching his cousins play and even might have learned a thing or two about snowball fight and/or Nerf war strategy. We have been keeping busy since we've been back with nothing in particular. Everything we do seems much more busy with our larger family!


Autumn is almost 4 months old already! She is warming the hearts of everyone around her with her smiles and brand new laughter! Her health remains good. Her reflux is lessening as she gets older and her weight gain is appropriate. It looks like we have another tall, skinny one for the Eastburg family! She's growing out of her 3 month clothes more and more each day, which is both sad and happy at the same time. She is a great sleeper, getting up only once in the night most nights and taking better naps throughout the day. It's very interesting to see her little personality develop and to note that it's clearly different from Bruce's which is even obvious at this young age.


Bruce is talking more and more every day. Among his latest words are shoes, blocks, sauce (being anything that you can dip your food into), please, cracker, and Autumn (whose name changes often according to Bruce - Auta, Audie, and Awa are the most recent). He can show you all the basic colors and can say a few of them as well. The oval (pronounced "obal") is his current favorite shape and he will point one out anytime he can. He is very helpful in caring for his little sister. He will bring a diaper if she needs to be changed, wipe her mouth if she spits up, and even give her her pacifier when she is crying. What a sweet brother! Below are some of the pictures from our trip and some pics and video of our time since we've been back. Enjoy!

Making the Watergate salad for Christmas dinner




Ripping into the presents




Sleeping through all the chaos





Having a great time!




Meeting the rest of the family




Uncle James showing off his Christmas present - yikes!
The older cousins got smaller versions of this Nerf gun. If you weren't there to witness it, I'm sure you can imagine the craziness of it all! Bruce really wanted to join in but it quickly became obvious that it was an activity for older kids. I'll have to agree that it looked like fun. Maybe next year, Buddy!




Wouldn't want to run across these two in a dark alley!




Out in the snow with the cousins




Snuggling with Aunt Kimmy




Reading with Aunt Christa




Snowballs!




He's a very busy man




Cuddling with cousin Faith



We went to Focus on the Family while we were in Colorado. They have an amazing area for kids to play! It was like it's own little world in there!

Watching Veggietales on the big screen




Going into the Wardrobe from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe or the movie Narnia




In Narnia with Aslan behind him




Exiting Narnia




Discovering the sound effects used for the radio show




Peeking through the port hole





Exploring the huge airplane




What a fun place!




In a boat in the toddler play area




Putting on a show with the older boy cousins




Posing as the radio stars outside the sound booth




Us




The more collective Us




Snuggy




Visiting the family grave sites




Christmas jammies




Holding her head up




More tummy time




He really wanted to be in the picture so I let him




Christmas Bible




He put on his hat and mittens and then I had to break it to him that we're home now and there's no snow outside!




Precious




Reading a bedtime story to his sister




Oh, I'm sorry. Are we interrupting you?

Here's a video of Autumn's smile. I tried to get one of her laugh but of course, she won't do it when the camera's on.



For your listening pleasure...