Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire turned two a few weeks ago and we celebrated the weekend before by having Grandma, Grandpa, and her cousin Kate come to visit. Although her expression doesn't show it, she really did like her cake!


Nicholas and Kate had lots of fun playing together. Claire joined in whenever they let her. She didn't understand why they kept getting mad when she knocked down the towers they built!


These two little monkeys (and our neighbor) climbed the tree in our front yard. That was no easy talk since there were so many branches to maneuver.


Helping to deflate the air mattress was something they all had fun doing together.


They also had lots of fun playing with Grandpa!


One more picture after we said goodbye to Grandma, Grandpa, and Kate. Nicholas was very sad when they left so we made a paper chain to help him count the days until we will see them again in Ohio. Claire asks about Kate at bedtime as she names all the people she can think of who are going to bed, too.


Some friends of our came to visit one evening and drove their motorcycle. Nicholas was very excited to try it out!

Catching Up

Nicholas has been enjoying the Legos he got for his birthday. I'm amazed at the things this little boy can make all by himself! He's got a great teacher (his dad) to help him, too.


Here's one of his recent machines he made.


Yeah for bath time!


Silly face!


There's nothing like father-daughter naps.


Nicholas played soccer this spring and even though he said many times that he didn't like it, you sure couldn't tell when he was playing!


He did get sidetracked sometimes by cool bugs on the field but most of the time he was right in the middle of the action.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

I realize I'm over a month late in getting these pictures posted but better late than never! Nicholas asked to have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this year. We also had a small celebration the weekend after his birthday.



Nicholas got a big boy bike this year and has been riding it every chance he has!



Aunt Lily and Uncle Joe gave Nicholas this fun Thomas puzzle. It's almost as big as he is!



Nicholas' cousin Kate came down with his grandparents to celebrate again. He didn't know she was coming and was super excited to see her! They finally got to have the sleepover they'd been planning for a while.



Claire decided to make a chair out of a storage container and Nicholas thought it looked like fun so he joined in, too!



Nicholas and Claire are pretending to be babies.



Every day when John gets home Nicholas and Claire hide and wait for daddy to find them. This was their hiding spot one time.

Train Time

All aboard!



"See mommy, I'm not too big for my doll's stroller!"



Nicholas wanted to take a picture and this is how it turned out. He did a really good job!



It's time to play super heros!

Christmas 2010

What would you like for Christmas?

Nicholas often looked through this magazine to show me what he wanted for Christmas. One day as we were getting ready to leave the house he showed this to Claire and asked what she would like.


This was Claire's first experience playing in the snow.


She was so bundled up that when she fell down she couldn't get up by herself!


Claire discovered recently that when she can't reach something she wants, all she has to do is use the step stool to climb. I'm sure she learned to do this from watching her big brother!

Claire's first 18 months: newborn, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 month pictures. Somebody please slow down the clock!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we traveled to Gatlinburg, TN to be with John's side of the family. This picture was taken on the balcony of our cabin.



Grandad and Claire had lots of time to get acquainted and bond while we were together.



Grandad and Nicholas spent lots of time reading together.



Nicholas had a great time helping Aunt Lily make his very own pizza!



Nicholas taught Uncle Joe how to build sheds for his trains. They became best buds very quickly!



Nicholas had a great time playing fireman in his new costume from Grandad and Grandmom.



Nicholas got to roast marshmallows for the first time.



Claire provided some meal time entertainment with a lively game of peek a boo!






The Aoun Clan