Andrew: Two

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew John Nullmeyer!

You are such the typical 2-yr-old. You make giant messes everywhere you go, scream and lay on the floor if you don't get your way, and then make all of us laugh with your cute silliness.

Andrew, you love playing with your big siblings. Given the choice, you will almost always choose them over me. (I would say your closest buddy is Lucas)

Unless they aren't here....then you're stuck to me like glue. You aren't good about playing by yourself yet, so you can be incredibly demanding of my attention.

You love wearing hats. I think this is so funny because you are my first child who will gladly keep a hat on your head. Again with the messes....you leave a trail of hats and other accessories everywhere you go. At least they look good on you!

Just yesterday you saw the boys getting ready for school and immediately found a vest and sunglasses. You ran up to me and said "I ready to go!"

You pretty much talk constantly and say everything. Some of your favorite things to blurt out are: "Diarrhea!" "Waboom!" "Mine!" "Run around" and "What the heck?"

Unfortunately you are a terrible sleeper. You slept in our room for the first year and a half of your life, and I think that set you up for some bad sleep habits. You start the night out in Lucas' room on the bottom bunk, but end up in bed with us every night by around 10pm. You still depend on nursing to get back to sleep, so nights are long and tiring. You nap on your bunk bed during the day for about 20 minutes, and that's it.

Your hair was a bit of a mess the other day (thanks to Mommy cutting your hair), so I took you for a real haircut. Before:

 After:

You are very loud and crazy at home, but more quiet around strangers. However, you easily go to the people in the nursery at church! They always comment on how sweet and snuggly you are.

Likes: Singing, Playing Ball, Wearing other people's shoes, jumping in the trampoline, cheese sticks, eggs, fig bars

I'm pretty sure you think you're a real baseball player. You adore playing ball with the boys! I took this cute video recently:

Dislikes: Having covers on you, being left out of fun, getting out of the bathtub, apples

We are entering the world of potty-training and I am praying you pick up on it quickly! At least you're stylish while learning.

You have a very special bond with Grandpa. Maybe you can sense your middle name was named after him? When he comes over you immediately ask to be picked up, or if he is sitting you will fling yourself on top of him and snuggle up, sometimes falling asleep.

You recently started giving me hugs and telling me "Love you". And just this week you picked your first flower for me.

Drewski (or Tiny Toots, as Daddy calls you!), I think watching you as a 2-year-old is going to be so much fun. You have captured our hearts and we all adore you so much. Happy Birthday!

Playroom Obstacle Courses

Running obstacle courses in our playroom is our newest post-dinner activity. Sometimes the kids still have quite a bit of energy to burn in the evening, so we go up to the playroom to burn it off. Well, Adam and I sit down and try not to fall asleep while watching the kids go crazy.

We take turns coming up with an obstacle course. Usually it will involve going back and forth across the monkey bars, running up the slide, through the tunnel, climbing the rock wall and tapping the ceiling. The kids each get a turn to run the race and we time them with my phone.

If Ryan or Lucas design the obstacle course, it will inevitably involve things like "shake your booty 10 times" or "Yell I AM A PICKLE!".

Often times there will be arguing over who did the course correctly, who distracted so-and-so while it was their turn, and who gets to hold my phone to start the timer. But ultimately we are having fun and making memories in our awesome playroom!

Hour By Hour

6:30am - I make a new recipe for Blueberry Baked Oatmeal and it turns out delicious! Lasts me and Andrew all week for breakfast.

 7:30am - Waking up can be hard.

 8:30 - They're excited to have the week off from school! (Actually Jenna's quite sad about it)

9:30 - I take a hot shower! I know I shouldn't complain because it's only in the 40s....but I CAN NOT warm up this winter!

 10:30 - Ryan's mood lately.

 11:30 - Adam's home early from work. Andrew joins him in the garage.

 12:30 - I sit down to this big salad for lunch.

 1:30 - The never-ending lego-sorting project.

 2:30 - My latest Imperfect Product delivery! (Save $10 off your first box here)

3:30 - Not fast by any means, but maybe the fastest 2 miles I've ever run?

 4:30 - I have a quiet minute to start prepping dinner. Jenna keeps sneaking in for some sunflower seeds.

 5:30 - I love that my boys have good neighbor kids to play with!

 6:30 - My crazy bunch at the dinner table. My favorite time of day. Andrew keeps asking for more "hot potatoes".

 7:30 - Bath time!

 8:30 - Using the face mask I got for Christmas. My skin is so dry right now.

 9:30 - I spend a few minutes in the garage before Andrew wakes up. Gives Adam and I a few minutes to talk and I'm thisclose to winning $5 from Safeway.

Rattlesnake Bar

The kids and I took a little afternoon trip to Rattlesnake Bar today with my Dad.

 It's a beautiful part of Folsom Lake with lots of rocks and areas to explore.

 Andrew woke up partway through and tentatively threw a few sticks, which he called "snakes".

The boys had a lot of fun throwing rocks. We talked about what we would do if we were stuck out there and had to survive. We decided we would rub sticks together and go fishing.

 Then we noticed some dark clouds in the distance.

 But we kept playing.

 Until we discovered a teepee!

To the left, towards Rocklin, it was blue skies and white puffy clouds.

To the right, towards the mountains, there were dark storm clouds.

 We headed back towards the car.

Unfortunately we were met with a park ranger about to give us a ticket! Fortunately she was very nice and we were able to just pay the parking fee.

We got in the car just as the rain and wind and cold temps started. We had a great time exploring the area, and will definitely go back.