NOT walking

Truth be told, I've been holding off on blogging with the thought that any day now, I'd be blogging about how my precious little boy is tearing through the house on two feet and doing his best to keep up with his sister. But alas, a watched pot never boils and a coaxed Todd turns obstinate. In the past few weeks, my sweet, laid back little boy has been showing more and more of his Hurricane sister's qualities. He's been certain to let us know that he will do what he decides he wants to do when he's darn. good. and. ready. And a full fledged walk? He obviously sees no need. I've told him, if he doesn't start walking soon, he's going to turn into a couch potato.
Now in his defense, I think he is trying. He's up to about four or five steps before he falls. He's a pretty wild walker and therefore seems to have balance issues. This process has been the complete opposite of our experience with Hayley. At ten months, she stood up and took off. Literally. In a matter of just minutes she went from crawler to full speed runner. So while Hayley may just be our sprinter, Todd is showing more of a predisposition towards a linebacker position. He's already got the eating part down. Because Todd? Todd is a bottomless pit. A bottomless black bean pit. I never would have imagined a little boy could love black beans the way Todd hearts black beans. Lucky for me, eh?
An endless supply of black beans, a closet full of fresh Huggies, and a cool sister to rock with. What more could a guy want?

Taxed Enough Already

Brian took a day off work today and we loaded the kids up to head down to our local TEA Party to peacefully demonstrate with several hundred of our fellow American patriots, or "right wing extremists" according to DHS. There were about five parties in our local area, so considering the various locations, attendance was good. We told Hayley about the TEA party last night and she was excited the entire day. After all, a passion for politics is in her blood!

Happy Easter and Todd's First Year

Happy Easter! We've had a fun-filled day celebrating the resurrection of our Christ and hosting a party for Mr. Todd. The kids got an early jump on Easter festivities by getting to open a special Easter gift sent to them from Mimi and Grandpa. Both the kids LOVE their Webkinz and Hayley took the liberty of claiming the horse for herself and naming both of the animals. The horse is named Pegasus and the frog is named Ribs... which I'm assuming is a take on ribbet. Because Froggie is already taken by one of her animals.
Todd dressed in his safari wear for the occasion.
And got a little concerned during the Happy Birthday song that genetic musical talents may have already doomed his singing career.
But a glance at his new, white pony made him quickly forget singing and reminded him of his true calling. Todd? He's born to be a cowboy!

Thank you to all of our family for the special gifts and for celebrating with us!

When Hayley celebrated her first birthday, I created a DVD slideshow to summarize the memories of our first year with her. As much as I'd like to, I don't scrapbook, so we've really enjoyed having the video to occasionally watch to remember our first moments with our little girl.

In honor of Todd's first birthday, I also created a slideshow for him. We showed this to the attendees of Todd's party today, which is why I didn't want to post the link until now. It's ten minutes long, but I know we have some relatives out there that would enjoy seeing this. Be sure your speakers are on as it is set to music!

Happy Birthday Todd

Peter Cottontail is delivering a one year old to us this year! Just a short year ago, we were welcoming the sweetest, happiest, and hairiest little boy into our world. I'll admit... I was nervous about having a boy. Now I can't imagine being without my precious son. Our family feels complete and we thank God everyday for the blessings of health and happiness he has bestowed on us. Here's a picture of Hayley and Todd, right at one year for comparison sake.


We've spent Todd's birthday relaxing as a family and preparing for a combined family Easter dinner and celebration of Todd's birth tomorrow. This morning we headed down to the church for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Todd landed himself in the middle of a sea of yellow eggs...
...while "Hollywood" Hayley refused to accept that she wasn't supposed to open each egg before deciding she was going to take the egg.

After a long search, we visited with the Easter Bunny who with her long lashes and furry white complexion absolutely captivated Todd.

You might be a redneck...

... if Mommy washes your rat tail on Sunday night in preparation for a busy week.

The Roberts Do Disney

Well, the title says it all. We returned home this afternoon from our "magical" trip to Disney World. The magic here would be that the kids were angels... even Hayley, and we had a very enjoyable three days!

Our trip began with a visit to Downtown Disney and a T-Rex dining experience!

Hayley is enthralled with all things dinosaurs right now and T-Rex was right up her alley!

Todd spent most of the trip flirting with every lady he saw. He did take a moment to enjoy the dinosaurs though.

We visited the Lego Store where Hayley got to build to her heart's content...
... while Mommy and Todd hung out together!

Then we visited the Disney store where the kids tried on some mouse ears...

... and Hayley found herself right at home with her favorite friend!

On our first full day, we visited Magic Kingdom where we took in a Mickey Mouse show on the steps of Cinderella's Castle...

before venturing to several FantasyLand rides, including Todd's favorite, It's a Small World. He really enjoyed the dancing hula girls serenading him.

So much so that by the end of the ride he had drifted off to a blissful slumber.

After an afternoon nap, we headed to Epcot where we got to see Nemo... and be swallowed by a shark!

All before catching the fantastic fireworks show!

The next morning, we got up and headed out to Blizzard Beach for a day of water park fun! We spent our time in Tikes Peak where Hayley got to fly down some slides...
... and splash in a waterfall.

All while our ladies man spent his day flirting with an older woman in a polka dot bikini...

... and flying down some slides with Daddy!

For our final day, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom where Hayley enjoyed getting to drive her own race car.

By far, Hayley's favorite ride was Pirates of the Carribean. And while the cast members kept calling Hayley "princess" and directing us to the the princess characters, Hayley only had eyes for a photo op with Captain Hook. Which I found ironic, seeing as how Haley has never seen the movie Peter Pan.

We are all exhausted and glad to be home, but cherishing the wonderful family memories we made together over the past three days!