Baby Hummus

My brother, Todd, and his wife, Michele, are expecting their second child this July. They chose not to find out the baby's gender ahead of time (awesome!).  My nephew, Ben (the two year old big brother-to-be), lovingly refers to the baby as "Baby Hummus."  It has really caught on and that is what we all call the baby now.  It's going to be hard to actually call the baby by his/her real name!  (For the record, I think it's a HER, but we'll find out in July!)

Today, we celebrated his/her upcoming arrival with some girl time getting pedicures and then out to lunch.  Here are Avery and and Ben going through Michele's purse while waiting for their lunch....

Sour faces after eating lemons...

How adorable are these two?  

Lunch was followed by some rough housing with Uncle Todd...

And then the cake that we all helped make the day before....

CANNOT wait for this next little cousin to arrive.  I love HER (or him) already!  What a blessing! 

Baking

I never remember to set the butter out to soften before I am ready to start baking.  My mom taught me the trick of putting the butter under your arms to soften it.  So I gave this task to the kids...

 It was crazy how fast their hot little bodies softened up that butter!

 This particular cake involved one of the kids newly discovered favorite foods...NUTELLA!!! I've loved it since I first tried it in Italy, but we never really gave it to the kids until just recently.  

 Mesmerized by Daddy's culinary skills....

 There was not much spilled on the counter, but Grayson found any little speck of sugar he could and got it into his mouth.

 Here is the finished product.... (I finished it after the kids went to bed, which is when all important tasks get completed).  Explanation of cake to follow on next post....  

At the car wash

While Avery was out getting pampered, my boys were hard at work washing my car.  Grayson had more fun than we anticipated!  I think we'll be doing this more often.  

He is the only child I know who LOVES to wear sunglasses!  They weren't even in the sun, but he left them on the whole time. 

Girls Day

For Avery's birthday last year, she was given a "coupon" for a girl's day at Sweet and Sassy from her Great Uncle Bobby and cousin Madilyn (this is Adam's Uncle and first cousin, who just turned eight).  She finally redeemed it this Saturday and had a great time.  I wasn't there, but I am grateful to have these pictures from Bobby's phone.

  First they got pedicures...

Then they got braids (which looked awesome!)....

Then they played in the fountains...

We are so grateful that Avery has a older cousin (technically second cousin?) to look up to.  She learns a lot from her cousin Madi during the time they share together at their Nonna's (which is Madi's grandmother and Avery's great-grandmother).  Lucky girls!!

Better than a pool

The water table is back out for the season!  Avery got this water table last summer for her birthday and the kids both enjoyed it so much they couldn't wait to get it out again. Grayson likes to play with all the little pieces, while Avery loves to pour the water into different containers and then onto herself...repeatedly!

Truly one of the best purchases we've ever made!  It's a quick and easy way to cool down in the summer...and all I have to do is sit there and watch them entertain themselves!

The doc is in

Grayson fell and got a boo-boo (which happens at least five times a day!).  But this time, Avery insisted on being a "doctor" and fixing him up.  First she put Neosporin on...

 Then, a Band-Aid...

 And then the final touch...a kiss, of course! 

Fountains

I enjoyed another day off  HOT day off!  So we headed over to the Promenade Shops to enjoy the fountains....something I've been meaning to do with the kids since last summer!  I wasn't even sure if they would be running yet, but they definitely were and there were tons of kids there.  We even ran into to some friends there, which made it even more fun!

Avery had a blast!

 She liked to put her foot over the water and then take it off to let the water shoot back out.

 She also like putting her butt in it!

She tried her hardest to get Gray to go in too....

 but he was just as happy hanging out with Mom eating his lunch

and climbing!