Date With the Easter Bunny

On Saturday we got the babies all dressed up in their Easter duds and went to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny. There was a long line up when we got there but they kept busy with snacks and watching all of the kids.

We had a feeling that things may not go quite as well as they did with Santa back in December. Casey has really been making strange lately so we thought he would be the one to be scared. Well, you can see from the pictures who wasn't impressed with Mr. Easter Bunny.

Casey was looking at Maggie and Mitchell as if to say, "What's the big deal guys?"

Oh, was Maggie's face ever priceless. She looked so scared and Mitchell just looked pissed off. Once Mitchell was off of his lap and just standing in front of him, he was okay and was pulling at his fur. He was actually kind of mad when we walked away and they had to go back in the strollers.

We were planning on going to the petting zoo that was also at the mall that day, but it wasn't a stroller friendly setup so we skipped it. It was a nice outing for all of us (although Maggie and Mitchell may tell you a different story).

Messy, Messy

The babies eat really well with their forks but I have to admit I've been putting off giving them spoons. Maybe it's just that I'm being lazy and don't feel like cleaning up any "extra" messes. Well, I realize I they've got to learn sometime. So the other day I gave them a yogurt and a spoon and let them go at it.

Mitchell dug right in and did pretty good, I think he just had fun getting messy.

Maggie also did pretty good, but always wanted to turn her spoon upside down so the yogurt would slip off.

And as to be expected Casey did really well and was very careful to not get a bit of yogurt on himself. He even figured out that if he held the container with one hand he could get more out and not make a mess pushing it around.


After the coloring attempt flopped because they just wanted to eat the markers, I decided to let them play around and "finger paint" with whipped cream and goldfish.

Maggie was thinking, "Hmmm, should I or shouldn't I?"

"Mmmm, not too bad". She did start to eat some of it but didn't get too messy.

Casey's thinking, "You want me to do what? I am not getting my fingers dirty!"

After a while he started having more fun just watching Mitchell and Maggie. I don't think he even touched his pile of whipped cream.

Messy Mitchell had a blast, smearing it all over his hands and arms.

On and in his nose.

And into his hair.

Looking back at their 1 year birthday pictures they were exactly the same way with their birthday cakes. Casey poked at it a bit but didn't want to touch it too much and get dirty, Maggie ate hers slowly and somewhat cleanly and Mitchell...well, there was nothing slow or clean about the way he devoured his cake.

Weekend Stroll

We were in Muenster this past weekend for a curling tournament that Daniel and his brother/brother-in-laws were in. It was also a chance for us to see the family there because we won't be back next weekend for Easter. The babies had fun at grandma and grandpa's running around their place. Casey was determined to get at grandpa's big screen tv, Mitchell found little nooks to hide in and under and Maggie liked looking at and touching the butterfly stencils on the walls. They also had fun with some of their cousins, aunts and uncles, great aunt and uncle and 2 great grandmas. On Saturday we took the babies out for a little stroll. They did really good walking holding our hands. To start out with I had Maggie and Daniel had the boys. Well, I found out that Maggie and I will be able to go speed walking, she meant business. We got way ahead of the boys, turned back around to catch up to them and then we were off again. The boys on the other hand were a little more pokey and were distracted by the rocks, gravel, trees and whatever else they saw. They also kind of crossed back and forth while holding Daniel's hands so they got a little twisted up.

Casey and I got these pictures of Daniel, Mitchell and Maggie. They looked so cute holding his hand. And so grown up!!


Daniel's parents house only has a shower so they got a tub for the babies to have a bath in this weekend. They were excited and had fun playing for a while, but then Casey was feeling a little too squished and wanted out.



Mitchell was the last one left in and had a ball splashing himself and everything around him.

We are very lucky to have such supportive parents (and grandparents for our kids). They have helped us so much this past year and and a half and are always there if we need something (or someone). Having said that, all of our family has been there for us and is always more than willing and able to lend us a hand when we need it...usually in the form of babysitting.

Grandma and Grandpa Rauckman with the babies.

Grandma and Grandpa Reiter with the babies.

My parents have been in Arizona for the past month and I think now are pretty anxious to get back and see all of their grandchildren. We'll be getting together at my brother and sister-in-laws for Easter on Sunday. Have a safe drive home grandma and grandpa!

Mr. Giggles

Mitchell is so ticklish and has such an awesome giggle. I try to get at least a couple good ones out of him each day. Here is short video clip of him.


And he is by far the messiest eater. But I can't complain because when he gets really messy that usually means he's scarfed his meal down. This was him after we had lasagna for supper, he had it pasted into his eyebrows, up his nose and in his ears.

Casey had an appointment earlier this week with a pediatric surgeon. He has a hydrocele, which is a pocket of fluid around one of his little boy parts and I guess is fairly common. We had to see this doctor to determine whether this is something that will go away on it's own or whether he needs to have surgery to fix it. I wasn't sure how things would go at the appointment. Casey has been making strange a lot lately. And he has also caught onto the fact that if we take his pants off in a doctor's office setting, something bad is probably going to happen to him (scarred from all of his shots). But even though his appointment was in the middle of nap time and then we had to wait quite a while to see the doctor, he was really good. He kept busy tearing off a few table length's worth of paper and eating snacks.


Casey will see the doctor again in 3-4 months and if it has not gone away, he'll have to have it corrected through a fairly minor surgery.

The babies have actually been pretty good at wearing toques and hats this winter. They like to wear them around the house so when we've gone out they usually keep them on. Here are a few pictures of Maggie in her toque taking advantage of her time alone before nap time. The boys go down first and then we usually spend a few minutes watching tv or cleaning up.

Almost Done

We're getting close...our new house is starting to come together. Most of the painting is done upstairs, cabinets are in, flooring will start later this week and counter tops will be done soon as well. Downstairs is ready to have the ceiling done and then they can go ahead with cabinets, flooring and painting. The stucco won't go on outside until it warms up but they are getting ready to put the stone on. We're thinking that we will move mid April and right now are debating whether or not to hire movers. Anyone that I have talked to about it has said that it's worth the extra expense.

The front looks like a bit of a junk yard right now as they're getting ready to put the stone on.

Looking from the living room into kitchen and dining room.

Looking from the dining room into the living room and then upstairs to our master bedroom. Looking at this picture, the railings are another thing that have to be installed.

The kitchen with a breakfast bar (with a counter top of course).

The downstairs family room with doors going out to our backyard.

We are really excited for it things to finish up. It will be so great to have an open floor plan and have more space for our little munchkins to run around. We're not looking forward to having to put up with all of the mud until we get the driveway and yard done but we'll get going on that stuff as soon as it's warm enough.

We've been getting outside more and enjoying our spring weather. Here are a few pictures from our wagon ride a few days ago. The babies absolutely love being in the wagons! They giggle, grin and chat away the whole time they're in them.

Loads of Laundry

The boys love to climb in and out of the laundry basket. Sometimes they can both be in there together and get along. That's actually where a lot of their giggling together takes place. But, inevitably things turn sour with someone being in someone else's space, pulling hair, getting stepped on, or something like that. So this is how things can start out, everyone having a good time.


They start giggling.

And then this is what eventually happens.

If all three of them want to be in there at the same time, that is never a good thing. Eventually the laundry basket gets put away to break up the fight and then they're mad that it's gone. Bring on the terrible twos!

Whenever I bring out the laundry basket or mention anything about laundry the babeis all squeal and get excited, run to the love seat and wait for me to dump it out so they can "help" me fold it. It's really quite cute. Maggie being mommy's little helper always rounds up the socks for me. Sometimes she'll pull apart the ones that I've already folded but she always brings them back to me.


The boys on the other hand, are total boys. They pick through the pile of laundry until they find my underwear, put it on their head or around their neck and run around the house. In these pictures Casey was wearing one of my sports bras (and sniffing the bounce sheet).


I think this is proof that children are born with certain behaviours and tendencies, girls tend to be little helpers and boys think it's funny to wear underwear on their heads!

3 Little Leprechauns

We've been celebrating St. Patrick's Day in our house for a few days so I could get some pictures. I found some fun things for the babies to wear at Dollarama, green bow ties, shamrock sunglasses and leprechaun wands.





Kiss me, I'm Irish!

The boys got into a scrap downstairs over who was going to play with the mailbox on their little house.

Mitchell was trying to hug Casey and makeup.


"What were we fighting about again"?

Maggie's bow tie turned into a hair bow. She looks like she's performing on stage.

I wanted to get a picture of the three of them with their glasses on but by the time I put them on #3, #1 and #2's were already off. So we got some individual shots instead.



Maybe we should see if Elton John needs some sidekicks, these look like glasses he would wear.