as promised: ben's birthday and our special surprise...

why, hello there! so, we posted about christmas events in february, and now we're keeping on that schedule by posting about january events in march! thanks for checking back in! :)

things have been going really well lately - i have stayed injury free (momma doesn't believe in jinxes), luke has been talking in hilarious complete sentences and trying out all kinds of new things as he nears birthday #2, and the baby to come is now only about 3 weeks away (yikes!)!! here are some pictures of a few things in january (even though you'll notice it looks like fall around here, not winter!). first up - me and luke on a trolley ride with momma. this is one of our favorite things to do when we're out and about in the woodlands. if you come visit us for more than a few days, we'll probably go on a ride together...

and here's luke in the hot tub at mimsie and grandpa's house! i did knock two of my teeth loose while playing in it that trip, but boys will be boys and we had so much fun in there!! all the pictures of me also had mimsie, and she would not approve of them being up on the blog, so you can just imagine me having lots of fun too. we hope to go back soon to play with maggie dog and swim some more. maybe mom and dad will even consider getting a hot tub of our own - woohoo!! :)

and now let's move on to the real reason we don't blog much anymore. this was a very mild winter and we still play outside pretty much every day. we love riding the plasma car and the bike and playing with lots of other outside toys. but back in january, aunt mandy and diana surprised me and luke with a very special christmas and birthday present - our very own gator powerwheels - WHOA!!! i wish everyone could have seen the look on my face when i found it in the garage, and here are some pictures of the first time i rode it...

this is luke wondering what on earth that thing is that i'm riding...

and this is luke getting his first close-up look at it (while daddy was adjusting something under the seat) - do you see this look of mischief and wonder at all the "boy stuff" we can do on this thing!?! that says it all, folks...

and here's our first ride together...

we pretty much spend a majority of every day riding around the yard on it, helping daddy with yard work on the weekends, picking up stuff, dumping stuff off in other places, collecting pine needles, wood, sticks, etc, going over huge bumps, riding around our cul-de-sac and even to the park, and generally enjoying our manliness with some real power under our feet (literally). it's a win-win because we love it, and it keeps us out of mom's hair more, so she loves it too. THANK YOU aunt mandy and diana!!! and now you all know where we are when we're not updating the blog... :)

also, i guess i have one more noteworthy update, which is that i started preschool back in january too! i go to school twice each week and even wear a special uniform and take my own lunch! i really enjoy it so far, and it gives luke and momma some nice alone time, so things are going well there. here's me on my first day (no tears, please)...

i also had my birthday in january, and that was a super awesome day. i wore the birthday hat again, and here's a quick shot of me opening something in the morning...

this is luke's reaction to having a four-year old brother...

momma lined up a really special day for me doing some of my favorite things. here's me in the backseat during our stop at the car wash, which is a favorite weekend activity of mine with daddy. even though we go very often, i still watch with such focus to see what's going on every time...

daddy had to work that day, but that gave us a good excuse to go visit his office, which we've never done before here in houston. i was SO excited about that, and especially loved riding the elevator in his building...

after that we all took a long lunch and went to eat a picnic at hermann park, complete with cupcakes and spiffy sunglasses... (you would think i could manage a smile on my birthday, but as usual, i had to play it cool instead)...

here's luke getting in the birthday spirit...

we also rode the train there, which i LOVE to do...

and we stopped to get helium balloons and then ate dinner at my favorite cheeseburger place, and then came home to open my big gift, which was my own airplane - yes!!! i was beyond excited about this, although once again, you would have had to be here to know that, since the camera sucks all emotion out of my body. the airplane is super cool, very realistic, and was a little bit pricey which is why momma still can't afford to buy me any pants, apparently...

haha - just kidding about the pants! anyway, you can see uncle scott flying the plane in the picture above, and sitting next to him is miss linda, the flight attendant, from our trip to indiana at christmas. :)

okay, well, that's about all for now. there's a chance we'll actually get some february pictures up on here before too long, so check back in again soon - bye!