What a great day for a pool party!

Today we went over to our friends the Anderson's for their daughter's 3rd birthday party. It was a Princess/Pirate theme, which was absolutely loved by all. Most of the little girls brought their own princess dresses and they had tiaras that were so cute. The boys had pirate masks, which Emmett did not want to wear. Plus they had the party horns that unroll when you blow into them. Emmett had his torn apart and used it for blowing bubbles in the pool(he even had daddy blowing bubble sin the pool-see picture below!). Anyway, pretty cute. Emmett was yelling "Happy Birthday, Darby!" before we even got him out of his carseat and I think Darby was opening her present before we entered their backyard! Such a great age. There were tons of kids, mostly the same age and they all played so well together. It made for great conversation time for the adults since no one was haggling with their kids or having time outs with tantrums. The pinata was shaped like Cinderella and was never broken by the kids. Courtney wound up pulling out the bottom so all of the candy would scatter around the grass. They loved it all the same. All in all, it was a great afternoon of fun in the sun, followed by amazing nap times. Now I just have to convince Luke that Mexican food is a must for dinner. Zapata's craving....hopefully taken care of.

Introducing....Bruno!

Everyone, this is Bruno, Emmett's new found love. The other weekend when we all went to Billings, we stopped at Kohl's to get Luke a few new shirts. While checking out, Kohls always has their $5 stuffed animal/book deals at the end of the counter. Emmett fell in love with this dog and who could say no to a $5 dollar contribution to the children's hospital here in town(I mean, what if we should ever need their expertise?). He didn't put that dog down all day and hasn't since. Well, Bruno(not sure how he got that name), had a boo-boo yesterday and Emmett brought me the dog and a Cars band-aid. The band-aids these days are way more sticky than what I remember as a kid and we couldn't get it off the dog once it had been on for a few hours. After Emmett went to bed, I took some goo gone to the dog's leg and low and behold, the band-aid came off. We stuck him in the wash and Emmett had a healthy puppy when he woke up this morning. I have to mention that he is now covered in peanut butter from my toast this morning, but Emmett doesn't seem to mind.

Almost.....

Well, we are on the final countdown. 30 days-only one more month- til Jolene arrives! I think because we are busy for the next few weeks, the time should pass pretty quickly. We are starting to have warmer weather and less rainy days, so we are spending quite a bit of time outdoors. Sure makes life easier with Emmett! Luke and I planted the garden this past weekend. Seems to be holding its own. And the rabbits haven't found the open-all-night buffet yet! Since the driveway is mostly completed, we also planted a few flowers in the turnaround. I figured they are better to look at than dirt. Eventually we will landscape with a tree and more substantial plants.
Emmett is doing well in his final week of swim lessons. He is with an instructor, while I watch from the sidelines. He cried the first week but it seems to be a thing of the past. He had a great time in class yesterday and we look forward to class this morning. I am going to put him on the waiting list for the next class in July to keep up the fun. As long as I don't have to don the bathing suit....he can keep swimming.
My mom and sister arrive in less than two weeks for the Fourth of July festivities. We don't have much planned this year. Kinda looking forward to an easy going weekend: food, some drinks, fireworks, the rodeo and just darn good company.

All grown up

Well, Emmett is growing up too fast. He just moved into a twin big boy bed this weekend. He loves it! We bought him race car bedding and cool race track decals for the walls. Emmett and I got out of the house Saturday morning so Luke could take down the crib and set up the twin bed. By the time Emmett and I got home he was asleep in his carseat and took a nap without knowing it in his big boy bed. When he woke up he was so excited! That's when Luke and Emmett put up the decals and I took a few pics to document the momentous occasion. He seems to go to bed pretty easy and naps have been going alright so far.....

We've also started swim lessons without me in the pool with him. He seemed to really enjoy the water and his instructor til about the last 10 minutes or so. I think part of that was nap time, cause he was asleep by the time we pulled into the driveway. I guess we'll try again tomorrow and see how it goes.

On Sunday, we took a family trip to Billings for one last Costco shopping extravaganza. We also needed to bring home a few bags of soil for the garden, so Lowes was another stop. Emmett fell in love with the outdoor water features and it sure made for easy shopping while he was entertained. Luke also was celebrated as a great Dad, a weekend early, by shopping for some new clothes. We had a really great lunch at Old C's and overall a really nice day away from home.

Aunt Chrissy. She is the greatest toy giver in the world, but then she gets to go home! Last time she was here to visit, she brought Emmett a Shake-um-up/talking Ramone car from the movie Cars. He loves it, but it seems to have influenced his vocabulary. He now calls me "Holmes" as in "C'mon Holmes!" and says "Hello baby!" only it sounds like "yellow baby" because of Ramone's hispanic accent. Cute as it is, I really prefer Mommy.

Last we've seen of John

This is a video from a while back. I just took it off my camera. Pretty cute. He sure loves when John is working.....me too. It means I can plant my garden and get on with the landscaping when he's done!