Belated Snow Pics

So yesterday was the day I was going to upload some pics from our winter wonderland onto the blog but then Mark learned to ride his new pedal bike and that took precedence! Anway, yes its crazy that its almost 80 degrees today and we just had two weeks with two feet of snow on the gound!
The first week of snow John was in Mexico and missed out. Mark and I ventured out a few times on our own but it really was so cold and windy those first few days we were actually content to stay indoors. Then John got home and it warmed up so we had tons of fun in the snow. We shoveled the driveway (yes thats fun), went sledding in our neighborhood, built a snowman, built a snow tunnel/fort, and went sledding with Britton and Leyton.
Mark LOVES the snow, as long as it dosen't touch his skin! Which on most days it was so cold he even wore goggles (tinted of course for those sensitive blue eyes) so there really was not much available skin for the snow to touch. I was there palying too I promise, but just behind the camera. I asked John to take a pic of me and the dogs and I look so horrific (picture abominable snowman) that I won't be sharing that one!

inside the snow tunnel

the snow tunnel

Frosty - with clementine eyes and bats for arms

PJ's back there too - just trying to hold the sleds from going down the hill!

the dreaded climb back to the top!

My buddy!

Leyton and Mark were so excited to see each other they just started rolling in the snow!

He asked me to take his picture with his goggles on! You'd think he wouldn't look so sad!

Here's one smiling!

Mark sledding by himself

Mobley and Rocky liked sledding too!

They call this "the double-decker!"

The shoveling Crew!

Gammy and Papa had to pull the sled downt he hill on our first sledding day because the snow was so deep!

This is how we traveled the first few days when cars were a no-go!











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Pedal Bike Time!

Well this video needs no introduction but I will say, his daddy's cup overfloweth!

Mark is 3!

Here is my baby on the day he was born. It is crazy how fast they grow!
Here we are on his actual birthday! From 6lbs 8oz and 21 inches long to 35 pounds and 40 inches tall!

We took him to dinner at Logan's steakhouse because we were trying to think of a place where they would sing to him. Well he was pretty embarressed so he had to climb in Daddy's lap while they sang. But really he loved it! You couldn't get the smile off of his face after that!

Here they are. They didn't really sing but they gave him a big "Yee-haw!"

AND they gave him ice cream! He was just a tat excited!

Aunt Brenda came too and she got Mark the coolest Woody doll for his birthday. You can pull the string inhis back and he says all kinds of things. And yes, we wrote "MARK" on the bottom of Woody's boots!

Omah and Opah sent Mark a gift too. Here is part of it!

Ever since Mark's good buddy Caden had his 3rd birthday party at Bounce U in september Mark has been asking to have his party there too. So here we are waiting for his friends to show up.

My camera didn't take very good pictures inside the bounce rooms for some reason. Here is Mark at the bottom of the big slide. (It is a favorite for all the kids!)

And here he is when his buddy Grant showed up. Just a tad excited!

So in one of the bounce rooms there is this batting practice thing. The kids love the floating ball. Well I'm putting this pic in to show off Mark's form. Just look at him stepping into his swing with his right foot! (Yes - he's a lefty when it comes to sports!) Well I just brag on that because for my family or those of you that came to my rehearsal dinner probably remember a picture of me about to hit a ball when I was 5 playing t-ball. Lets just say Mark's form is already light-years ahead of mine!

Blowing out the candles on his Toy Story cake. Thats really the only pic I got of the cake!

Sitting on the throne about to open presents!

He had some buddies that cheered him on while opening presents! "Oh! A truck! I have a truck! Look at your truck Mark! I brought you that truck Mark!" etc. etc. etc. It was pretty cute!

Norway 2011

Mark and I had a great trip to Norway this month to visit Brandee, Tim, Lexi, and new baby Lillian. Mark was honestly an ANGEL on our overnight flight there. Can't really say he was an angel the whole time we were there, but there were moments of sweetness. We'll just chalk up all bad behavior to toddlerhood, jet lag, and a stomach bug!

So our trip was to cuddle with baby Lillian, which we got to do, but it really turned out to be Mark and Lexi play time. The poor little cousins barely ever get to see each other so they had fun playing everyday.

Here we are at the Tulsa airport - about to start our LONG trip! (We are VERY proud of our backpacks)

The first flight to Atlanta - Mark kept himself busy watching little einsteins on my phone, eating pretzels, and drinking from his cool cup while mommy vomited and vomited and vomited. (the hottest flight I've ver been on combined with a dud dramamine!)

On the big flight to Amsterdam. Mark actually slept for almost 5 hours! In a completely full transatlantic flight, the ONE open seat on the plane was next to Mark! Perfect!

So the first big trip when we got there was to go ice skating! So fun! The kids just strap on some blades to their snow boots and push some little penguins on the ice. They loved it. I wish we could've done it again later in the week because Mark was really tired that first morning but once he got the hang of it he loved it!

Mark asked me to take a picture of him and Lexi. See? He can be sweet!

The band. I think Lexi is pretending to have a microphone and Mark a drum. At times there was a guitar and baby stroller involved in this concert, but so no to make John mad I won't post a pic of Mark pushing the baby stroller!

Mark LOVED baby Lillian. He asked to hold her a lot. I bet he'll do the same with baby Kate at first too. Maybe he won't get tired of her...we'll see!

We went to a really cool mall playground. Here is the awesome slide. Mark is apparently more of a daredevil than I thought because he found a toy motorcycle (tricycle size) and attempted to ride it down the slide. Well he and the motorcycle made it down the slide, but not together and not without tears! But luckily nothing was broken!

Sticker fun! We found that if Brandee and I weren't around that Lexi and Mark played a lot better together. They entertained themselves doing a lot of crazy stuff. They even invented a game up in Lexi's room called "catch-up" - we never did find out what it was. Had something to do with jumping on and off the bed.

One trip was to Ikea. They have a cool ball pit for the kids to play in. Sorry, not good pics through the glass!

Yes, I was there too. And I got lots of cuddle time with Lillian before my mom showed up! Lillian loves me, by the way. I'm sure I'm her favorite aunt! And while we're on the subject of Lillina, lets talk about the angel! She is perfect! Sucha good little sleeper. And in the evening once the two vocal toddlers were asleep she would coo and talk and smile. She's just so content and happy all the time. I think she cried once in the 10 days we were there! Can't wait for them to move over here and Lillian and baby Kate can just be the best of friends! Oh yes they're moving over here - they don't know it yet, but I just know they will! Lillian promised me she would move closer to Aunt Kristy!

Lexi and Mark loved to "take care" of Lillian.

Isn't she precious? So alert and so content!

One morning we went on a long walk through the neighborhood and played at all the parks.

Mark and Lexi opening their birthday gifts! Lexi turned 4 on the 23rd and Mark turned 3 on the 26th.

Couple pics of the trip home. Here we are waiting to board our plane in Amsterdam. I had Mark running sprints, doing jumping jacks, and here he is jumping on and off the window sill - we seriously needed to burn some energy before the 9 hour flight!

And last but not least - he crashed in his stroller in Atlanta. We had been awake for 20 hours at that point. He didn't wake up until we landed in Tulsa. Poor tired baby!

Just realized I didn't post any pics of Bran and Tim! Well they were obviously there too! Just not quite as entertaining as the kids I guess! Thanks for the great visit guys! We can't wait to see you in April!