Easter 2012 and Maryland/DC trip......

Spring in the Berry house has really flown by. I cannot believe that we are already into May. We have been busy, so that might have something to do with it.
Caedmon and Jensen are keeping me on my toes while Liesel is at school. Jensen is now running everywhere he goes. When he runs his little cheeks bounce up and down. It is so cute! He loves to "explore"...........that is a nice way to say: pulling things out of drawers and throwing in trash cans, unrolling toilet paper rolls, putting things in toilets, throwing toys, taking things out of the dishwasher, etc. I don't know if Jensen is more active than Liesel and Caedmon were as toddlers or is it just because I am older and have two other kids. HA! I am much more tired this time around. There is never a quiet moment in our house. Caedmon and Jensen have a sweet brotherly relationship. Just recently I have been able to watch them interact together in love......well.........that is after they wrestle. :)
Here is a cute picture I took when they had matching shorts on. I did not plan for them to have matching shorts. I am not that organized! I buy their clothes at consignment sales. I had bought Caedmon's pair last summer. My friend Jeni has been giving me her son's outgrown clothes and there happened to be a pair of the same shorts in the pile. So needless to say, I had to take a picture. I just wish I had a "little bro" shirt for Jensen.

This is one of the things Jensen does in his free time.....

Liesel received the "Chapel Award" at school for showing Christ like character. We were very proud of her.

I managed to get some decent shots of the kids this Easter. As I have said before, it is now much more difficult to get all three kids looking and smiling at the same time. Either way, they are still precious.

I always need a good picture of Liesel and I. Great picture!

Jensen is truly a "Momma's Boy!"

After looking through all the pictures, I realize I never got one of Caedmon and I. OOPPS! Next time, I will have to make it up to my little guy. I guess this awesome one of Craig and the boys will have to suffice :)

Jensen sat down for a few moments so I could not resist. I think it is even sweeter with Liesel looking on.

So there you have it, some great pictures from Easter 2012 to cherish.

For Easter Sunday lunch we got together with some of our great friends at a park for a potluck picnic. All the kids had an egg hunt. It was fun. When we got home, it was time to pack. Liesel was on Spring Break the whole next week. We have been wanting to visit my Uncle Tom (my mother's brother) for some time now. So we headed to Maryland for most of the week with my Mom and Dad. Once we got there we were able to spend some time with Tom. It was so good to see him again. Here are some pictures from our time at his house.

While we were in Maryland, we were close enough to Washington DC so we decided to spend two full days touring the city. Riding the metro from Maryland into the city was our first adventure and the kids loved it......well the big kids at least. Jensen did not enjoy it as much. Trying to entertain an antsy toddler on a crowded subway with no escape is something I do not want to do on a regular basis. Whewww! This picture says it all.

Liesel and Caedmon were excited.

 

We saw the Washington Monument first. They were not doing any tours since the earthquake. Apparently they were still doing repairs.

Next on the agenda was seeing some of the museums. Our first stop was the Museum of American History.

Liesel's first question when she saw this dollhouse was: "Can we buy it?" Nah, I don't think so. It is so cool though.

We enjoyed learning about all the past presidents.

I give a great presidential speech if anyone wants to hear it. HeHe!

I love this picture of Liesel in front of Nancy Reagan. Liesel and I walked through the section about the First Ladies. We enjoyed looking at their inauguration dresses and their china sets.

This museum was enjoyable because there was a lot to see and so much to learn. It was also relaxing because Jensen napped most of the time in his stroller :)
After we had lunch, we had scheduled a 2 hour bus tour. Our tour guide was very good and we were able to stop at a few major attractions and take pictures. Surprisingly Jensen did great on the tour even though his mother was a nervous wreck that he would disrupt other people. It was not a very crowded bus at all so he was able to walk around.
We stopped at the Capital. Jensen loved running on the lawn!

Liesel and I were very content just resting. LOL! I kept thinking how nice it would be to sit out on that huge grassy area and have a picnic or even take a nap :)

Jensen never sat and relaxed at this stop. He kept trying to find a way out. Good thing, there was a barricade.

The White House was nice to see but the kids wanted to know why we could not go in. It was also a long walk from where our bus driver dropped us off so I resorted to carrying Jensen on my shoulders while Craig did the same with Caedmon.

Can you find Liesel in the next picture? LOL!

We were all extremely tired after a long day of walking. Next time, I might want to tour the city this way.

Day Two: I had one huge wish for this trip......to go to Georgetown Cupcakes from the TLC show DC Cupcakes. I had heard on their website and seen on the show that it can be a long wait to get cupcakes. Craig, being the wonderful husband that he is, was willing to make my wish come true. It was not on our beaten path at all. The metro only took us to the edge of Georgetown and then we had to walk 12 blocks after that. Jensen had it easy in the stroller, but the kids were troopers. I kept encouraging them by reminding them how awesome those cupcakes were going to taste. Half way through the trip, they probably would have been just as happy with a cupcake that I made at home. Ha! I kept praying quietly to myself believing that we would not have to wait very long. We made it!

Since it was a weekday, our wait to get in was only about 20 minutes.It wasn't too hard to wait when you had such beauty to admire...........CUPCAKES!!!!!! I heard one guy behind me in line tell his wife "This better be worth it." Oh but it is!!!!!!

How does one decide with so many options? I think that is why Caedmon looks so stressed in that picture. HA! I must have asked the lady taking my order about ten questions and begging her for the best recommendations because I did not want to be disappointed. I should have told her my dramatic story of how far I walked to get there, but I spared her the drama.
I was so happy to get my hands on that cute pink box. I honestly think I was more excited than the kids if that is possible. I just love sweets!

Here they are!!!!!!!! We got six to start with :) They looked too good to eat, but we somehow managed to eat them! We split three so we all could get a taste.

Craig was so good to us.........he let us get three more so we had six to take back to our room. All I can say was they were decadent (especially the frosting) and they were DEFINITELY WORTH THE WALK!!! Craig may have a different opinion. LOL!
That afternoon, we went through a few more museums. Craig enjoyed the Air and Space Museum because he loves planes. I was still on a buzz from my cupcakes that I couldn't tell you much about that museum. Hehe! Caedmon and Liesel enjoyed themselves.

Caedmon is too funny!

So, I did not get any pictures in the museum that was what "Night at the Museum Smithsonian" was filmed at.I kind of forgot about the camera because it was very fun looking at all the animals in there. Our time was cut short in there because they had a dinner planned for some important guests apparantely :( I do hope to come back when the kids are older and we all can handle more time touring.
Liesel wanted a picture in front of the tower at the Maryland Metro station as a memory of the fun she had on the train. If you ask both of them to this day what their favorite thing to do in DC was they will tell you.........riding the Metro! Yeah, I don't get it! Just yesterday, Caedmon told ne he wanted to move to a big city like DC so he could do all that stuff everyday.

Our time in Maryland and DC was super fun and we made many memories!

Catch-up time: Christmas 2011,Jensen's walking debut and other stuff!

Yes, I am just getting to my blog about this past Christmas.It is time to catch-up! I know compared to other people, I am not THAT busy but it sure feels like it here. The laundry, dishes, and dog hair needing to be vacuumed never ends! I never, ever seem to get caught up and at moments I get frustrated. A friend of mine at church gave me some great advice. She tells herself that these are just going to be her "messy years" and to remember to enjoy her children while they are still young. Great advice! I have to keep reminding myself that in 15 years from now the kids will not remember the piles of laundry in multiple rooms in the house. My mom helps me, especially with dishes, every time she comes over and that is such a blessing. Thanks Mom!!! Despite all her help, I will not be winning the clean/organized house of the year award.....if there even is such a thing....HA!

Now, on to the family update.............Christmas 2011 was a great Christmas. We got each kid one big gift and a few small ones. I have noticed that when the kids get older, gifts are much more expensive! Liesel had asked for a fish tank. We have never had fish before. We are dog people. I grew up with cats so I love both. So we decided to get Liesel a fish tank. For Caedmon we gave him a train table that my mom snagged for a great price at a yard sale. We gave him some new trains to go along with it. Family also bought him some new trains as well. Craig set up the train table in the living room and had the fish tank box out as well. Liesel was excited to see her fish tank. The first thing she asked was "Are there fish in there?" Ha!

Now Jensen's one big gift and really only gift was........wait for it..........a fisher price piggy bank. :) It is very nice when they are this young and have no idea why they are even getting gifts. HeHe!! Jensen loved it and still plays with that gift often.

However, he was excited about a hanger as well that morning. He carried that around for a while. LOL!!!
I love these pictures of Jensen napping. They are so sweet when they are sleeping.

Jensen turned 1 year old in October. He had not shown much desire to walk until early January. January 8th to be exact (I only know that because I posted it on facebook, gotta love that) we shot video of him taking those first steps that are basically only a few steps and much more falling into Mommy and Daddy's arms. When I understand technology a little better, hopefully I can post the video on here. I love the beginning stages of walking and how excited you get when they take a few steps. We clapped and said "Yeah" every time he walked to the point that he was clapping along with us :) Here he is in February showing that he is an expert walker........and happy about it :)

We are now in mid-March and Jensen is walking really fast and getting into everything. He loves getting into stuff much more than he likes to play with toys. There have been many times I have had  to chase Jensen after he took a plastic fork he got out of a drawer. I really do not know the fascination with plastic forks, but that was his favorite trick to play on his mother for some time. We now have locks on most of the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. However, we missed one cabinet that I figured would not be of interest to him since he could not pick up any of the items. Instead, he puts items in there. LOL! Here is our blender with a pair of socks, a bib and some toys in it.

How can you get frustrated with my cute blue-eyed sweetheart?!?!?????

Caedmon has been his fun self as usual the last few months. He now has received a new job that Liesel passed on to him......putting the silverware away from the dishwasher. He used to help with plastic plates and cups but one day he asked me if he could do the silverware like Liesel. Liesel was very willing to let him try it....I wonder why? HA! Jensen loves helping in his own special way too. We give him the plastic stuff and he puts it all in the same drawer. LOL! When Caedmon was doing the silverware one day he told me he was done because all the forks were in the fork family and all the spoons were in the spoon family, etc. HeHe!
One raining morning recently, Caedmon had a great idea to make a "snuggly spot" for him and Jensen. Before I knew what was going on, Caedmon had gathered many stuffed animals and pillows and was so excited to show me what he called their "snuggly spot." I just love these pictures. Caedmon is such a good brother. Jensen was not so cooperative at being as still and snuggly as Caedmon wanted.

Last little tidbit on Caedmon: Before he even got dressed one day, he made a letter/number train on the kitchen floor. After he put this all together, despite Jensen's many attempts to break it apart, he asked me what the BIG word said? Oh my! I do not think I can pronounce that!

Now on to Liesel.......She is maturing more and more each day. Sometimes though I think she is too anxious to grow up. She is always asking me how old she has to be to get an i-phone, get her ears pierced, babysit, etc. Liesel please slow down. She has shown in interest in scrapbooking. I have plenty of pictures for her to use. She has only done it a few times but I know this summer that will be a fun project for me and Liesel.

One funny thing.........we had a good friend of the family Caitlin over for dinner one night. Caitlin is in charge of the preschool ministry at our church. Liesel just loves her and admires her a lot. Liesel apparently wanted to know how old Caitlin was but did not want to just ask her so she says this instead: "How long have you lived in America?" LOLOLOL! We all laughed about that for a while. Liesel told me she was trying to be polite without asking her age. OR....maybe Liesel thought Caitlin was from another country. HeHe! Now everytime Caitlin sees Liesel at church she says "WELCOME TO AMERICA!"
Liesel is also playing school a lot. Caedmon is her student most of the time. That is very fun to watch. She reminds me of myself as a kid. I found this in her pile of stuff:

I did the same thing as a kid. I made the test, took the test and then graded the test. Liesel is just scribbling stuff down. She will get better at it. HeHe! I will have to teach her how all this "play teacher" stuff really works :)

I think that updates our family for the most part. Many more wonderful things happen daily in the Berry household. It is a fun place to be!