My Monster-in-law is 60!

To most the term "Monster-in-law" would bring visions of the overbearing, intrusive, possessive, Mother of your husband. But to me...it's a term of endearment! I am blessed to have a wonderful Mother-in-law! And jokingly and lovingly I've coined her my "Monster-in-law". When actually, she's just the opposite!

I don't have my mom here in Colorado...which is just the worst! We try everyday to convince my parents to move here. And every year, they get a little bit closer! So, in the mean time, while waiting, (not so patiently), for my Mother to get her bootie out here, Barbie has helped fill just a little bit of the void of this Motherly roll. She watches the boys, makes us lunch, throws a mean impromptu Happy Hour, reminds us of important events, and loves us just the right amount!

And this past weekend we had the honor of hosting her 60th birthday at our house! We had a blast with the whole Jansen fam! And we hope that she felt so loved and honored on her big day! She deserved a day to be all about her!

Welcome to Barbie's birthday bash!

The birthday girl was the first to eat!

almost the whole group out on the deck...too bad it wasn't warmer!

Auntie Sue snuggling with my little guy...just hours before he started running a high fever and keeping us up all night...who would have known?!

big boys eating manicotti on the deck

playing a friendly game of Bags

helping open up her gift- a purse all ready to go for a fun night on the town: a dinner gift certificate & Rockies tickets, and she already has the HOT date!

reading- Oma's ABC's...a book all the big kids helped write for Oma to read to the little kids at her "daycare"!

the cousins playing in Nolan's room! They sure LOVE each other SO much!

Oma's favorite- carrot cake!

"Monster-in-law", thank you so much for all you do for us! Here's to a future full of fun, relaxation, and more grand babies! We love you!

Our Little Linus

If you know Nolan, you know his blankie. Mark's cousin Karen sews little lovie blankets for all the babies in the family when they are born and has their names embroidered on them. When Nolan was a newborn he LOVED having his blankie by his face, he loved grabbing it and pulling it up on his cheeks. It has always been such a comfort to him. He and his blankie were inseparable. But when he gave up his paci shortly after he turned 2, for some reason he wasn't as dependent on his blankie anymore either. It didn't have to go on every car ride and often spent the whole day alone in his bed. But during naps and at night time or anytime he watches a "kids show", blankie is still a must! However, blankie has recently taken on a new form...

and can now be used as a cape or an apron! It's tattered and torn edge fits perfectly in between his fingers and feels oh so good!

Here's what his blankie used to look like! Bright, bold, and all in one piece!

A snap shot right before bed time of Heath and his "blanks"!

And a few pictures....just because!

I thought I'd see if Heath liked any Baby Einstein, but he watched about 20 seconds, rolled over, and watched his "bro dog" instead!

Playing in this exersaucer

And a fun new game...grabbing the spoon while Mommy is trying to feed me! But if you haven't been able to tell, he has been greatly enjoying his rice cereal and oatmeal! Solid foods have agreed with him!

Lazy Days

The past couple of days have been quite lazy around here. I had Wednesday through Sunday off, which is always heavenly, but unfortunately I've been sick! Just sinus stuff, but I've been achy and tired, and haven't had any motivation to do much! So we've stayed put in the dreary, rainy, snowy Colorado weather! We spent a little bit of time outside when we could, we've done a lot of reading- Nolan's current favorite- "Dinosaurs Love Underpants" from the Antelope Ridge bookfair, watched some movies, played Cars, and made some more progress potty training! Nolan is now going on the big potty! Yay! So, here are some pictures from life at home!

Our tulips actually survived the storms!

It was a little bright, and Heath is totally squinty, but I still thought this picture was cute!

Smiley guy!

Heath's first bubble bath

I think he liked it!

So adorable in his puppy towel from the Sloothaaks!

My "Burritos"!

n & h

When we were home in Chicago my good high school friend Becky gave us the most adorable shirts for the boys! A woman in her local town of Rockford, Illinois makes & sells them. She also makes diaper cakes and other baby goodies. For Heath's baby "sprinkle" she sent me one of the diaper cakes, which was just as equally cute! So I snapped some pics this week of the boys sportin' their matching n & h t's. Thanks Beck for always thinking of our boys!

It is SO hard to get a good picture of the two of them together! Nolan just will not sit still for a second! At least they are both looking right?

Nolan is so sweet to his brother and loves to help him out!

I love the lighting in these two pics! Heath is holding his favorite seahorse rattle from Grandma & Grandpa!

He pulls such silly faces! OH, and do you notice he is majorly balding, and getting lighter hair in it's place! He no longer looks like his Mommy! Sad! But at least his Daddy and big bro, who he is now taking after, are pretty stinkin' cute!

The best smile I could get out of this kid! He WILL NOT pose for me these days!

Looking serious! The fabric that the n & h are made out of looks like newsprint- the perfect choice from Becky because she is a reporter for the Rockford newspaper!

This little boy LOVES to smile and laugh at the camera!

And here's Nolan pretending to be a baby again! He figured out that this is the best spot for a relaxing massage! It vibrates and plays soothing music! But what I can't get over is how BIG he looks in this picture! Definitely not my baby anymore!

Vegas Baby!

LV XXX- 30th Birthday Bash!

Bradley's Baby Boy is on the way!

This weekend we got to shower Brad & Jayne with love and GIFTS at a baby shower at Mark's Aunt Peg's house! We are so excited for there to be another baby boy in the mix! Brad & Jayne, we love you and had a wonderful time with you this past week! We miss you already, but can't wait to meet our new little nephew this summer!

Sister in laws!

The hostesses with Jayne!

Uncle Marky wrote a sweet note to Bradley's baby boy and included this special gift for him to sport in Cali this baseball season!

Opening Day

"Go Rockies Go!"

Easter Egg-travaganza

I think Easter was probably the best day of Nolan's short 2 year life! Candy...that doesn't have to be unwrapped...everywhere! He was in heaven! And every time I turned around, there he was, his cheeks full of jellybeans! So cute!

He also loved dyeing eggs, hunting for specific colored eggs at Oma Bosch's house, running around in her awesome yard for hours, and receiving baskets and gifts from lots of family members!

Heath's first Easter was pretty awesome too! He got to be outside, being held, laying in the sun, snoozing, and playing all day!

But on this special day, I'm not sure who ends up having the most FUN...the kids or the adults?!

We too love participating in the annual Easter egg hunt! It's some stiff competition! And a family favorite tradition!

As always, we took a bunch of pictures and some video too! Check it out!

Hippity, Hoppity, Easter's on it's way!

Romans 6: 8-11

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once and for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Happy Easter from the Jansen boys!

sTuFf

We've had a fun filled week, just thought we'd fill ya'll in on what we've been up to...

Showering Kim with love before her baby girl arrives in late May!

The Jansen ladies at the shower!

Kind of a random picture, but we've been spending a lot of time playing outside. Nolan has been enjoying throwing snowballs, made with any unmelted snow he can find, at anyone who happens to be in his path! And notice, Uncle Brad is in the back! He and Jayne are visiting from California for Spring Break! It's been awesome spending time with them and catching up! We've been having fun this week-the boys went golfing and the girls got mani-pedis!

Nolan hit the jackpot with his early Easter bag from Oma & Opa...CANDY!!!

Heath has been trying out rice cereal these days! I'm not sure how much of it he actually ends up swallowing! It seems like a lot of it gets spit out or burped up later. But he is getting a little better at the whole eating thing! He even got to try some prunes, a bit early, because he tends to get plugged up easily!

Here we are at our wine tasting for Mark's Dad's birthday present! We are making a cabernet!

Celebrating Brady's 3rd birthday...a bit belated!

Think this silly guy is enjoying life?

Mommy sure is funny!

And here's the project that has been taking up a lot of my time...I made a t-shirt quilt...with a little help from my mama! It's made with a bunch of t-shirts from college and shirts that remind us of our good ol' dating years! I snuggled with it on the couch yesterday...it's warm, cozy, and full of such great memories! I'm becoming quite the sewing expert...Project Runway here I come!

And now we are looking forward to a fun Easter weekend as well-dying Easter eggs, Jayne's baby shower, searching for our Easter bakets, church Easter morning, and the annual and highly competitive Bosch family Easter egg hunt! These traditions just keep getting more and more fun as Nolan gets older!