Elias all happy in his toy.
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Now driving around. You can almost here him making car noises.
Smiley face.
Starey face.
Helping out in the kitchen. She mopped while Daddy did dishes (she wasn't just playing with a dry mop; she actually mopped the kitchen).
Chewy face. He's teething so he chews ALL the time.
Awesome.
Addilyn got to pick out whatever cereal she wanted on her birthday. She choose Crunch Berries. Mmm! Check out those uber puffy morning eyes!
She also got to open one gift with breakfast. She got a watch. This was actually the only thing she asked for, for her birthday. Well actually she just declared one day that she would be getting a watch for her birthday so we decided to go ahead and get her one. 
Super proud of her new watch.
Lunch. Daddy made her a special pancake.
After naps she got to open the rest of her gifts. She got her very first cookbook and she was pretty excited about it. She looked at every single page and kept telling me that she would make this for me and that for me. 
Opening more gifts.
The bike. It was kind of rainy so she rode around the apartment for a little while. Here she's checking out her bell.
Venturing out for the first real test ride.
Her birthday cake. She asked for a chocolate cake with red frosting. It ended up being more pink than red but she didn't seem to mind.
Candles.
We had friends come over for dinner and cake. Hey, Brittany!!
Hey, Habluetzel's! 
Back in February we went to Shedd Aquarium. They were having a free admission day so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have some family time on the cheap. Wow. We were unprepared. Everyone and their uncle came to the free day. There was a line winding around the lobby, out the front door, and across the lawn. When we got there, we were told that from where we were standing to even get in the front door would take an hour and a half (in the chilly rain). Being the optimistic (read naive) people that we are and very determined not to waste the $19 we had already spent to park, we waited. The kids did remarkably well considering the conditions but it was still pretty miserable. Here is Addilyn enjoying the warmth of her Daddy's coat as we waited in the lobby.
Once we got in, it was crowded but nice. The free admission only covered the basic aquarium and not the dolphins, penguins, or beluga whale (among other things) but the kids didn't seem to mind. Here is Asher examining a school of fish.
If you look really closely, you can see a tiny crocodile with his head just above the water. He was trying to catch something to eat so he was staying perfectly still. He almost looked fake he was so still.
The kids really enjoyed the ocean fish exhibit in the center of the aquarium. They have a sea turtle and oodles of large salt water fish. They could have hung out there for much longer than our visit allowed.
On to other pictures...Addilyn and Elias hanging out. Elias was enjoying this set up, despite what this expression implies.
Asher really likes our chicken and rice bake. It makes my heart happy that I can make something that he enjoys this much.
Filling the crayon jar with cars.
Asher got into Addilyn's markers. Luckily his hands got the worst of it and our walls, etc are unharmed.
Elias is semi-mobile now. He can roll himself across the room if he wants. That's how he came to be playing over here.
Cutie face.
Pretending they're on a boat (or something like that).
I got to try some new recipes (without worrying whether others might like them). I chose lettuce wraps and egg drop soup. I don't try a whole lot of Asian foods so I was pretty excited (and Tyler and Addilyn seemed fine with them as well).
Yes, I made my own birthday cake. It's my birthday and if I want to make my own cake, I will. I got to christen a giant cupcake pan I got for Christmas so that was exciting.
I giggled a lot while decorating it. I have oodles of cake decorating equipment that I've never had the chance to use. It was fun to try them out. And the peanut butter frosting was awesome so that was an added bonus.
This wasn't actually on my birthday but the Friday after. Tyler and I got to go for a date. I chose to do a dessert date at a restaurant I had seen featured on The Best of Chicago. It's a show on Sunday nights that talks all about awesome restaurants in Chicago. Our date was at Hot Chocolate which was featured in their dessert show. I was giddy excited. This was their Taffy Apples dessert. It was really good.
And this was their Thoughts on a Peanut Butter Cup. Delicious. This was the dessert that was featured on the show and was therefore the reason we came. It was incredible and well worth a special trip. 
Hey there, birthday girl! How old are you today?
4?!!! That's amazing!
Gee, you're pretty. But shouldn't you be happier on your birthday?
That's more like it.
Happy birthday, my silly girl!!
I have been baking and cooking a lot lately. Actually, I've been baking and cooking about as much as I usually do but I've been trying a lot of new recipes. I have about 6 new post for my food blog just waiting for me to finally post them. 
Elias is enjoying the ExerSaucer. We have similar pictures of both of the older two kids in this toy. Though they didn't have their older brother crawling around their legs as he crawled through the bottom. Elias has been playing in this for almost a month now and has just been bumped up to the highest level (the level that Addilyn used at almost a year).
Smiley face. Elias had his 4-month appointment last Friday. He weighed in at 20 lb, 7 oz. He's off the charts on all levels (weight, height, head circumference). 
Addilyn playing EyeSpy with Elias.
Addilyn lined up all her fruit snacks by kind and then ate each kind in turn.
Addilyn made Valentines for Valentine's Day. Glue sticks...yay!!
Elias donning a hand-me-down hat (both Addilyn and Asher wore this hat).
Asher in a hand-me-down hat (Mommy's hat).
Addilyn in a hand-me-down hat (I'm noticing a trend).
Daddy in his own hat. It looks like we're ready to go on our snow adventure!
We are going to a snow sculpting contest at Navy Pier.
I don't know if there's a lot of snow under the sea (it seems like an impossibility to me) but here would be the scene if there was. Check out all that detail.
A stop at the Billy Goat for some cheezborgers (chips, no fries). This is a definitive Chicago eating experience (at least all the pictures of political leaders eating here would imply so).
Back to the snow. Do you see that ladder? We got to see the artists actually working on some of them. It was pretty amazing to see the process and watch them work.
If I remember right, this one won. It was pretty awesome.
The family (and our two strollers) at the contest.
Addilyn and I liked the penguins.
Tyler liked the drums (with ice drumsticks).