Jared's first soccer game

Jared has his first soccer lesson yesterday. It was absolutely priceless. I thought my heart would explode with how adorable these little ones were and how much fun they had. It was a little like herding cats to start with but as the hour went on they did better and better. The coach said that they had done very well for an under 4 team. He says it is usually a lot more chaotic.

They all got their team shirt and shorts and socks. We had to supply the boots and shin guards. Their colour is orange and they all decided that they will be known as the Tigers!! They also each got to choose the number that they wanted to be. Jared chose 6. The shirts were of course 3 sizes too big on all of them. But nodoby even seemed to notice.

The lesson started with 30 mins of warm up and excerises with the ball. Jared would not part with "his" ball for anything. He made sure if it wasn't in his hands that it was very close by at all times. They did some running between cones with the ball and some stretching once they were warmed up. All very professional for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds. In the beginning I thought we were going to have to can the soccer idea and rather enroll Jared in Basketball because he wouldn't leave the ball on the ground. He insisted on picking it up and no amount of "no hands" was going to convince him that was a good idea. He caught on after a while though and seemed to get it.

After the warm up they all got a snack and a juice. And then the big moment of their first game against another team. They played against the grey team - The Dinasours. Now that was a sight!!! There were tears from one little guy because the children wouldn't play with him, they were all running away. He never realised they were chasing the ball and not running away from him. Jared cried because he couldn't get the ball. One of the others was crying because he just wanted a turn. Hannes went onto the field with Jared and explained to him that the game was to chase the ball and try and get it away from the other children. He shrieked with laughter declaring that was a fun game and was off and running. From that moment he was all over that ball like a rash.

I tried very hard to limit the photos but it was very difficult so here is my best selection from over 100 pictures.

Warming up between the cones. Notice Jared with his ball in his hands.

Getting the hang of the no hands rule finally.

Doing stretches for their warm up. Too cute to even try to describe.

Still stretching

Playing Red light, Green light. When the coach shouts "green light" they have to run kicking the ball. When he shouts "red light" they have to come to a stop and put their foot on top of their ball.

And it's a green light!!!

Soccer mom in training.

Snack time.

Soccer dad and the team mascott in training.

Jared fast on his way to get the ball from the coach.

GOT IT!!!!

A plane flying overhead with a beautiful vapor trail. Jared loves seeing this and is convinced that it is a shooting star. He spotted this one and the result is in the photo below...

He had the whole team stop what they were doing and all were trying to see the shooting star that he was all excitedly pointing out to them.

Team huddle before the start of THE BIG GAME!!!

Jared and this little guy were both after the ball. Jared was trailing behind...

He caught up and got the ball...

And this was the end result of that little run. No tears, these boys are tough.

I love how big these shirts all are. It's just a reminder of how small these little guys actually still are.

Running full tilt with the ball in his hands while the coach was shouting "no hands, no hands".

This was an awwwww moment. This is the coaches wife with her little boys. He little guy ran and went and sat down on her legs, Jared saw this and decided that would be a fun thing for him to do too. She totally just took it in her stride with a big smile as though it happens often.

Our beautiful little man.

'Till next time xxxx

A day at the zoo

Spring has finally arrived. This has been the worst winter in terms of amount of snow and duration in the last 30 something years apparently. We all survived it though and nobody threatened to leave on a jet plane. In fact, if this is as tough as it gets, we have nothing to worry about.

We spent yesterday at the zoo enjoying the sunshine. Jared had a ball running around and jumping in all the puddles with his shark boots. Joel had fun too being pushed around and watching the world go by. It was a really lovely day out. Here are a few photos of our beautiful boys taken at the zoo.

This smile lights up the room. Joel was 4 months old yesterday.

Like his brother, Joel has beautiful blue eyes

We treated Jared to an Oreo cookie ice-cream. Let's just say he enjoyed every morsel

Our cool cat with his sunglasses

Check out the shark boots. The day we bought those we tried them on in store for size and he refused to take them off. The sales lady had to cut the tags off them while they were still on his feet and then he would pretty much only take them off for bedtime for a few weeks.

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake

Jared and I decided to bake some cookies yesterday. We have never baked at home but he loves to help in the kitchen so I thought it would be fun. I usually keep him busy while I'm cooking by filling the sink with water and giving him measuring cups and spoons. He amuses himself for ages pouring water from one sink into the other. He doesn't always manage to keep it all in the sinks though!!

Anyway, the baking went really well. We had fun. It was a very easy recipe but I'm guessing it has to be in order for it to be flop proof. With the amount of tasting that Jared did and sticking his fingers into the mixture and poking and prodding I was sure that the recipe would flop but it didn't. I must say the cookies are not the nicest I've ever tasted but they are edible. Well Hannes and I think so anyway. Jared seems to think that "they are yucky mommy". It was fun to do though. Next time I think we'll try some cup cakes (pup cakes as Jared calls them).

Here are a few photos that I managed to snap in between the baking. We are still enjoying the I have a really silly grin on my face stage! I have faith that it too shall pass.

Very cute in one of my aprons and wearing his Chef's hat that he got at Christmas time at the cookie decorating stand

This is the closest I got to a normal smile

Concentrating really hard on getting everything well mixed

So much fun!!

Messy boy adding the M&M's

Very proud with his cookies all ready for the oven

The silly grin covered in chocolate from all the tasting

The finished product. Jared's Polka Dot Cookies

Twins almost 3 years apart...

When Joel found his thumb a few weeks ago I decided to go through all Jared's baby photos to see how old he was when he found his thumb. I could not believe how alike they are in these photos. In fact, they really are such similar looking babies they would be easily confused.

Jared at just over 4 months old and Joel at just under 3 months old

I took the boys for some photos on Tuesday in celebration of Joel's 3 month birthday and Jared's upcoming 3rd birthday. While we were there I did some unplanned shots with the boys which I was very happy about in the end. I think she got some lovely pictures of us. When we go again for Joel's 6 month mark I think we'll do it as a family shoot again like we did in December. Here are the photos.

Joel took to his new cot very well. In fact, it was a good move because he went to sleeping for 12 hours straight a night after the first night in his own room. I go in when he wakes up in the morning and feed him and then he goes straight back to sleep until he wakes up himself or until I have to wake him on school days. He is growing beautifully. I will hopefully get to the clinic to have him weighed and measured on Wednesday but my arms tell me that there is no doubt that he is gaining weight well. He is still a very happy little baby and loves to chat. He loves to watch his big brother and hardly takes his eyes off him when he is in the room.

Jared is doing very well. He still loves school. He knows exactly what he wants and isn't afraid to let you know. He is a very confident little boy who talks to anybody and always has a smile ready. He loves his brother and still calls him baby Joel or Joelie. He will often just walk past him and stroke his little head and sometimes give him a kiss. We have been incredibly lucky that he has had no jealousy issues or real adjusment issues since Joel arrived. It's hard to explain but it's almost like he just understands that Joel is here to stay and is still small and so needs my attention often. He loves lying next to him on the bed and thinks it is very funny when Joel "pumps me" (that is Jared speak for bumps him) with his hand or foot.

We are thoroughly enjoying our little boys and life couldn't be any more perfect with them in our lives.

'Till next time xxxxxx

My gorgeous little boys

Joel was already 2 months old on the 10th. It feels like he has always been with us though, he has really fitted in so nicely. Jared loves his baby brother and is still very good with him. We do have to remind him from time to time that Joel is still little. He will try and give him a train or a car to hold and I'm not sure he understands why Joel won't hold it. I wish I could bottle it to show him in a few years time when he is frustrated with Joel who won't leave his toys alone!!!

We moved Joel into his own room tonight. It is a month earlier than we did with Jared but he sleeps so much better than Jared did at this age, and also the house is so much warmer than the house we were living in when Jared was born was. I don't have to freeze walking down the passage to the nursery and I don't have to worry about Joel getting cold in the middle of the night. Our house is a constant 22 degrees so it's really nice and toasty. Not to mention the ease of the breastfeeding versus the bottle feeding and fighting with kettles and bottle warmers etc etc. Joel's early morning feed is 15 to 20 minutes start to finish!! Now it's just a question of him liking his new, bigger bed as opposed to the cozy little crib he's been in for the last 2 months. Mmmm... I'll update you all on that soon.

Here are a few photos I took of the boys just before bathtime tonight. I managed to get a few of Jared too. You'll see the proof of the cheesy grin I mentioned in my last post.

Baby Joel at 8 Weeks

Look at this little frown!! So many people comment on how cute his frown is. It is terribly cute and he has frowned like that from birth. It is a really enquiring little look he gets. Joel is doing really well. Let me just say that he is the chairman of the marketing department. He sleeps for 8 hours at a stretch at night. He is breastfeeding like a pro and is just overall an incredibly content and happy baby. We are very blessed indeed.

Jared is still doing very well and he is enjoying his little brother. He takes great pride in introducing him to people as "this is my friend, baby brother Joel". I am also "my friend mommy" and Hannes is "my friend dada". It is very precious. We have enrolled him to start playing soccer at the end of April. I have no idea how they control a bunch of 3 year olds with 1 ball so I'm thinking they must surely give them each a ball!! We'll see how they do it. We may even learn a thing or 3. He still loves school. We may have to concede and send him 5 days a week for 3 hrs after the summer break. I don't have any new photos of him to post I'm afraid. It is a challenge getting decent photos of him these days. We're at the pull a funny face when I see the camera stage. You'll just have to take my word for it, he is still beautiful and still has the happiest most contagious smile I know!!

'Till next time xxx

Joel at 7 weeks

I can't believe that it's been more than 7 weeks since this precious little boy joined our family. He is really such a happy, content little guy. He feeds like a pro and sleep really well (for the most part). He loves watching his big brother and is very generous with his smiles. He is incredibly chatty and will talk to you and smile at you for ages. He still loves his bath at night. We're really all enjoying him tremendously.
Here are some photos I managed to snap on the bed a few days ago. I even got a bit of a smile captured. He was very funny, he would be smiling until I lifted the camera up to my face. Then I would get this cute little frown, a kind of "hey, where did you go" look.