Easter Adventures...

Easter with a two-year old is a lot of fun!  Especially, if you're hanging out with the Roth cousins, Grandma & Grandpa Roth, and Uncle Ryan & Aunt Jennifer!  Our last leg of our grand tour of traveling landed us in Laramie for Easter weekend.  Kaleb scored big at the community Easter egg hunt...

 Sarabeth and Than also had fun chasing after the elusive eggs.  Definitely much more competitive for the over 3 crowd! 

 

Of course we colored Easter eggs...

 Then, we had a Birthday Party for our favorite 2 year old :)

 Loves the camera from Grandma & Grandpa!

 And, the crazy flashing psycho wand from the cousins.  

We'll never forget how he hit that box (which contained a really awesome bubble blowing lawn mower) with a lot of force and many laughs.  What a silly kid he is :) 

 And, then...we his parents actually gave him his birthday present...

 Good times will be had this summer :) 

 We like to pack in a lot of fun into one day so... up next, the backyard Easter egg hunt. 

 Off and running...

 Aunt Jennifer was Kaleb's side-kick... he found all of his green eggs and even scored a few bonus eggs that were hidden for the big kids.  Lots of fun!

 The cousins- post Easter egg hunt. 

 The night wasn't done yet... what's a birthday party without cake?  

So, up next was the birthday cake.  It may or may not resemble a certain fish that goes by the name of 'Nemo'.  However, this cake has had a journey and adventure nearly as exciting as the real Nemo's. 

 Wow, doesn't our 2 year-old look old.  Yikes! 

Along the way, we got in lots of play time with the cousins.  

Playing chase, coloring and just being silly together.

 

 The Roths- Easter 2013

It was a blessed weekend spending time together!

Honoring a Great Grandma...

The morning after Kaleb's birthday, we learned that Great Grandma Kozitka had passed away.  We knew she wasn't doing well and Gamma (my mom) had been with her for most the week.  Grandma Kozitka was a wonderful woman.  An incredibly hard worker who loved her family dearly and totally 'got' kids.  She raised 11 of them, of course she understood little kids.  Last year, we traveled to Minnesota in the heart of winter for Grandma's annual birthday party.  It was a great day with family.  And, that night- we stopped by the nursing home to say hi one more time.  And, this is the moment we shared and captured.  Kaleb at just 10 months old and Grandma at 86 playing together.  I absolutely love it! 

So, this past week- we took the unexpected trip back to Minnesota to honor a really great Grandma.  It was really great seeing so many family members- some of which Kaleb met for the first time in person. Kaleb's favorite part- chasing the cousins and kids through the church. 

Thankfully, he had just gotten over the icky-stomach bug so was going full speed at this point. 

Turning Two

Kaleb's 2nd Birthday was not the party we had planned.  The poor kid had been sick and was still really, really sick with a nasty stomach bug.  He spent about 5 days doing nothing but laying on the couch and falling asleep during movies.  However, he did feel better for awhile on Friday night so, we made the most of it and crammed as much birthday fun in as possible.  He slept the entire next day- totally wiped out the kid.  

 First we talked to Grandma and Grandpa Roth on the phone.  

Then, he helped Auntie make her famously awesome pizza. 

Then, we opened presents- lots of fun things!!

 Books that make sounds, his first golf set and a super cool present from Grandma and Grandpa...we'll post pics later.  Don't want to ruin how cool and fun it is ; ) 

And, then he basically melted from exhaustion, threw up the pizza all over Auntie Ashley and collapsed in bed.  It takes a lot of energy to party that hard.  It was good while it lasted anyways. 

Tummy Sad

We have blessed that Kaleb hasn't really had to deal with yucky stomach bugs in the entire 18 months he's been home.  But, this week- that all changed.  We spent about 5+ days doing exactly this-

We would ask him- 

"Is your tummy happy or sad?"  

And, he would always say "sad".

And, sometimes- he would say "owie"  

That's when we knew you better run yuckies were on their way and asap. 

Praise the Lord he's finally feeling better!!!

First Haircut

I absolutely love my little boy's curly, curly awesome hair.  I'll never forget that when we brought him home, he was bald and had two little tiny hairs that where long enough to make a curl on the back of his head.  Since then, we've watch him grow a little fuzz, then a full head of hair, then a full on wild stack of ringlets.  Oh, and they were precious.  At bath time, they stretch out nearly 2/3 of the way down his back.  Then curl into these awesome ringlets before snapping into spikey curls with the help.  

For me, as his mom who knows from where this little man came and all that he's been through... those long curls were more than just hair.  You see, hair isn't necessary.  If you don't a lot of extra nutrients- your body kind of shuts down operations on the unneeded hair.  Every time I'd see that mob of curls, it would remind me of the fact that he is happy, healthy and thriving.  Its kind of been a meter of how far we've come.  

Love my baby boy :)  

Although adorable in the bath and precious to this mama's heart... 

at some point you really do need to cut your kids' hair. 

So, after much delay and a little sadness in my heart we gave our good friend Yonga a call.  

She is a native of Liberia and is lovely both inside and out.  

 She did a great job!  

Even trimmed it out around the ears like a real stylin' little boy.  

And, just like that- I had a little boy.  Yikes, how time flies.  

Thanks, Yonga!