Time Flies

So my birthday just passed. Another year, I can't believe it!! We've had lots of fun lately visiting and entertaining family and friends, fishing and travelling.  Stevie is growing up fast. We've gotten him to walk on his own but he still needs lots of coercion and doesn't like when he realizes he's not holding on to anything. We had Lauren , Grace and Joe over for a few days and that was so much fun. The kids played really well together and Lauren and I cooked a lot, shopped and exchanged parenting advice. I love having other Mom's around so I can pick their brain.  For my birthday we went to Monterey and Carmel and did some serious relaxing.  Monterey was very touristy and cloudy while Carmel is more of a vacation town and seems to get more sunshine. I'm now almost 15 weeks pregnant and everything seems to be going well.  Getting to the 2nd trimester is such a relief and I must say it's nice to have my energy back.

 

Here's some pics of our newest addition.  He or she is about 14 weeks here.

 

 

 

 

Stevie likes to help us all with paperwork, bills, talking on the phone, eating or pretty much anything we are doing.

 

Here's Stevie and I having fun with the camera while Dad was fishing in Hingston slough

 

 

 

Stevie was trying so hard to hit the ball off the tee he didn't realize he was standing on his own for a long time.

 

Stevie is a pretty happy guy!!

 

All of the kids playing together

 

Little Joe learned to stand at my house!!

          At the Monterey Bay Aquarium..................

 

 

 

Watching penguins eat

 

Looking at sea sponges

 

Underwater experience

 

Happy 1st Birthday Stevie!!

I let Stevie lick the cake batter from the spoon. I think it was his favorite gift.

   Here are some pictures of the decor. It was an Avengers theme.

 

 

 

 

 

He didn't like the actual cake as much as the batter.

 

 

 

 

So his favorite toy was a baby walker I got him. He isn't walking yet so I thought this would help. He figured it out right away. The only problem he has is he gets against walls and furniture and gets stuck.

And here's a picture of Aunt Bonnie skyping the action.

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

 

 

Easter is definitely my favorite holiday

 

 

 

 

 

We made Stevie a playhouse out of cardboard boxes. I'm trying to find wallpaper for it which is hard because apparently no one uses wallpaper anymore.

 

 

 

Stevie really wanted to hold his own spoon a few weeks ago and finally I let him and look......he can feed himself. I don't let him do it all the time cuz it's messy but he gets a chance every so often.  I have to say I was surprised.

 

 

 

Here he is with some cousins from my side. I finally remembered to snap some pics.

 

His cousin Mark shown here loves him but Stevie takes his time with new friendships.  Sonja, who likes to pick out her own outfits ;), was excited to have Stevie there to. He's very popular with all of his cousins on both sides.

 

So I'm starting to realize why I always forget to take pictures when I'm around my family. The picture below shows a day in the life of a Mudd get-together. The other weekend the boys went fishing and a bunch of my sisters and sister-in-laws got together with their kids.  It was total chaos and we decided to order out for dinner.  It was really fun and the kids had a blast. When I suggested a group picture everyone said it was pointless to try.

 

 

These were some of my attempts.

 

Finally, here are some pics of the Annual Mudd Family Easter Egg Hunt!!

 

 

 

Yes, that is a solid chocolate bass.

 

Stevie got stuck in the sectional the other day. It was so funny and he played like this for a long time.

 

 And lastly, we are all so happy the the warm weather is here. Stevie loves the outdoors!!

Stevie is getting around!

Hallelujah!!!! Stevie's been sleeping 10-12 hours straight the last few nights and taking 2-4 hour naps during the day.  His brand new clothes are already starting to get too small. I hope he keeps it up because I'm feeling great. I'm like super mom right now getting things done. He's also eating like a bear so I've been trying to cut back on baby food costs by making food for him. He can stand now on his own for a second but then gets scared and sits down. I'm pretty sure he's about to start walking.Yay!!.......I think. He doesn't say many words except Ma and Da but he's noisy and yells and sings all day. Oh and he dances to music sometimes now which is so cute. 

 

Here he is trying to help me with our expenses for 2012.  He takes this very seriously as you can see.

 

 

                Stevie knows it's important to meet that April 15th deadline. Work, work, work!

 

 

 

 

 

He loves getting into the pantry which I don't mind because its safe and the kitchen is where most of my work takes place anyway.

We went to the park this weekend because the weather was finally somewhat warm. Apparently everyone in town had the same idea though because it was packed. It's perfect though because it's about a 15 minute walk from our house and I can go to the store on the way! It has lots of different activities for kids and has different sections for different age groups. I think Stevie and I will be there a lot this summer.

 

These girls were really sweet and played with Stevie at the see saw.

If you haven't noticed Steve and Stevie are thick as thieves. Steve can't wait until Stevie is old enough to fish when the weather is good. For now they'll just have to hang out at the park.