Happy Birthday Zachary! I can't believe that our boy is now 9! It seems like yesterday that he was a baby, not a crazy, adorable, nine year old boy. Zachary did have a great birthday, partying all weekend at various celebrations. He loved laser tag at his party with his friends, and enjoyed baseball cupcakes at his game:)

One more week to go before summer vacation and we are all chomping at the bit. Soon the boys and I will be off and can enjoy ourselves.

The Baldwin Brothers are Back!

Summer is so close we can taste it, and Zach and Alex have been taking full advantage of the good weather. Between Zach riding his bike and Alex saying, "Side, side", we feel like we are never indoors. Zach is almost done with baseball and although his team really is this generations version of the Bad News Bears, they have shown improvement and Zach loves being the team's catcher.

We have already been camping and Alex loves it as much as the rest of us do. Zach played with buddies all weekend and Alex did his best impression of Pig Pen. Alex continues to do well and is going through a big growth spurt right now, eating us out of house and home. He is talking more and more and loves to imitate everything his big brother does, including a somersault this morning! Maybe I'll get my Olympic gymnast yet:)

Zachary had his spring concert and true to form his teacher continues to put him behind taller children. He did a great job and we did the bob and weave so that we could see him show off. His birthday is coming up and he has given us ideas daily for gifts (far more than we have the money for of course:) Soon Zachary and I will be done with school and we have some great camping trips planned for the summer.

BTW The nail in the finger is NOT real, just our son's sense of humor at work.

Toodles!

Spring has sprung!

Baseball season has begun! Zach had his first game tonight and did really well. The other team was really good so we won't talk about the score, just that my boy had a single and made some good plays. He continues to do well in school and reports that science is his favorite subject.

Alex continues to grow and thrive. He does tend to be in the dog house (hence the picture) but is such a lovable little boy. Alex is talking more and more every day and is quite spirited ( my nice way of saying that he has a temper:) It's hard to imagine that in a few weeks we will have known Alex for a whole year. It seems like yesterday that we saw our beautiful little boy sucking his thumb, wearing his famous pink outfit. Toodles!

My Boys!

I have nothing exciting to post, just some cute pictures of my boys. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

The boys had a ball decorating eggs at Em and Kara's house on Friday; though I think we wound up wearing far more dye than they did:) Sunday can quickly and Zach was more than willing to tell us when it was 6:00am so he could get up (nice try Bud). The boys had a ball searching for their Easter baskets and eggs, and Zach was so cute helping Alex. Every time that Alex found an egg, he thought it was a ball and threw it across the room. Unfortunately we will have less egg salad this week as he cracked about 5 eggs;) The boys looked at their stash and chased each other around the house playing cars.

Soon it was time for church, which was slightly disastrous. Zach was great, Alex was another matter. Many shrieks later we left and brunched with the Hines' at our house. Even though there were only four kids; boy are they loud! In the afternoon we traveled to Don's grandmother's for a visit. Zach and Alex both had a ball playing with their cousins, and we all came hope happy and very tired.

Here are some more pictures of my handsome boys

The Boys are Back in Town

Hello all! Everyone in the Baldwin household is currently germ free (for a change) and trying to survive this miserable winter. Zachary is currently on winter break and we are enjoying a quiet week at home. School is going well for him and he continues to look forward to his weekly guitar lessons. Pretty soon we will have a rock star on our hands I'm sure. The Wii is a favorite game for us right now, and Zachary loves to beat his parents in some crazy racing game that I don't quite understand and as a result play very badly. Zachary continues to be a good big brother and I love to watch him take care of Alex.
Alex is doing very well and the pediatrician is very happy with his progress. He is growing by leaps and bounds and he still amazes me with the amount of food that he takes in. Climbing and Thomas the Tank Engine are currently Alex's favorite things to do, so needless to say baby proofing is a priority in our home. Another favorite past time is giving Zachary surprise hug and kiss attacks, spontaneously jumping on him in an effort to spread the love:)
I love to watch Alex and Zachary interact. I was initially concerned about the age difference between the boys, and whether or not they would have a close relationship. I shouldn't have worried because they are wonderful together. Alex looks at Zach like he is the sun, moon, and stars and Zachary is very patient with his little bro. They played Mega Blocks the other day and pretty soon the Matchboxes were having battles with Star Wars clone troopers. You have to love when that happens.

He has chosen....

Just so you know that my youngest is not a front runner (I say my because Don does not agree with Alex's decision). He has made the very important and life shaping choice...... of football teams. Yes, my son is a Giants fan (both actually). Don is a very lonely and sad man today. GO GIANTS!!!!!!!

Pictures from Hershey

Christmas and Beyond

It was a wonderful and crazy Christmas at the Baldwins. Alex had a great first Christmas and Zach loved to tell him all of the things that we do as a family during the holiday season. Alex is too small to truly understand but he did get caught up in the excitement. Zachary's Santa list seemed to grow by the day and soon it was Christmas Eve.

The boys had a great Christmas Eve spending time with both families. Alex was pretty overwhelmed when it came time to open presents so Zach stepped up and helped his little brother out. Christmas morning came and we had to wake Alex up. He was relaxed but seemed pretty surprised to see his grandparents at his house. The boys had a great time opening their presents and we enjoyed a breakfast to celebrate Alex's first Christmas with his family. We spent the day with our families and had a ball seeing the boys play with their new toys.

Two days after Christmas we went to Hershey, PA for a mini vacation. The boys loved the pool and we spent our time at amusement parks beautifully lit up with Christmas lights, eating chocolate at Hershey Chocolate World, and enjoying (and shopping) in Amish country. We even saw a calf being born, boy was that an interesting conversation with Zach. Zach became a temporary worker for Hershey and searched high and low for the perfect vacation toy (like he didn't get enough already).

Our Stars

The boys are enjoying the holiday season and all that it entails. Zachary was so excited to get our tree with Alex this year, and loved climbing on the trucks at the Boght Road Firehouse. His Santa list gets longer by the day, and he was very sweet finding items in the Sunday papers to buy for loved ones. Zach's guitar lessons are going very well and he has added Jingle Bells to his growing song list. Last week we went to Zachary's first night time Christmas concert and it was wonderful. His group sang so well and Zachary seemed like he had a great time performing for the crowd. Though he was nervous, Zachary is definitely not shy;) Zachary was also named Star of the Week. We are all very excited about this and are happy that he is putting such effort into school.

Alex continues to thrive and seems unfazed by all of the holiday craziness. He is growing by leaps and bounds and thankfully we are almost up to date with all of his shots. The poor little guy is getting 4-5 shots a doctor visit! Alex's vocabulary is growing and the pediatrician reports that his speech is advanced for his age. Not bad for a boy who never heard English before May!