My Baby (Who's 4), and a Story

Soooo, I sent the check for preschool last week and signed Abram up for Fall soccer on Friday.  This is going to be a big year for him. I'm not going to lie, when I think about it I start to cry like a big baby get a wee bit emotional. I tried to convince him that when his birthday rolls around in October he should just be 4 again.  He told me he was done being 4, even when I tried to convince him otherwise.

And on another random note-Kris and I both spoke in Church today.  We tag teamed sitting with the kiddos. I spoke first and the kids did great. When I sat down they decided they needed to go to the bathroom. Upon coming back into the chapel and walking to our seat, Abram continues to walk up toward the stand/pulpit where Kris is speaking.
I whisper loudly: "Abram, our seat is here."
Thinking he just passed it by accident-to which he replies (with the "hold on a sec" finger in the air) loudly not whispering, "Just a second! I have to check on Daddy!! (who is mid-talk, speaking)"
Me: "Daddy is fine, come sit down."
Abram (waving both arms) "Hi Daddy!! Daddy!! I'm over here!!"
Kris nods as if a 4 year old could pick up on that aknowledgement.
Abram (still waving): "No, Daddy! Right here! Hi Daddy!"
Reese not whispering either: "I go potty! Pee in da potty! Mommy, PEE in da potty!!" (no, he is not potty trained-but he does like to play on the stool in the bathroom)

And just as a side note did I forget to mention that at that exact moment it seemed as if everything got very, very quiet. I don't know if it was just me thinking that, or if it really happened. But oh how it made my kids voices seemingly amplified...

Me (sweating): "C'mon guys, let's go back to the potty." (Hanging my head and walking out of the chapel, but totally grinning because seriously-my kid just waved at his Dad and tried to have a conversation while he was mid-talk. If it was someone else I would have been cracking up.) Oh, the joys of motherhood.

OH-IO (Part 2)

Oh yes, we did.

It started 20 years ago.  We all had the dream that we would be able to go to this concert together, and it never happened-until last weekend.  A lot changes in 20 years.  I did a lot of laughing at this concert.  Mostly at how much I have changed. You see, when I was 13, I really believed I would marry Jordan Knight, I mean I really thought it. And while I was at the concert, I could help but make fun of him and all of his v neck shirts.  But then he stared dancing and it all came back to me.  The concert was good, and it brought back a lot of memories. But I must say all of the crotch grabbing and thrusting made me embarrassed for them, though the crowd filled with people ages 13-45+ seemed to love it. 

Sorry Jordan, it just wasn't meant to be.  We are from two different worlds, and we both are happy now.  Even with all the serenading you did for me at the concert-that was great and it was good while it lasted, but I'm married now with 2 amazing kids-it's time for you to move on.

Lunch on Thursdays

....and Mom only thought she wanted grand-daughters.

OH-IO (Part 1)

We went to Ohio last weekend to see our family and for Layla's 2nd birthday party.  As usual, we had so much fun, and it's always hard to leave. It was funny because when we got there Abram wanted to go home (we got there around 1am-he just wanted his own bed, and didn't realize where he was) and the FOUR OF US ended up sharing a bed.  It went like so, 2 people slept peacefully, 1 person snored like a bear (saying later that it must have been why the others slept so soundly-it soothed them) while 1 person slept off and on hanging off the edge of the bed and debated if the floor would be more comfortable.  The next night Abram thought we should try that again........I laughed.  When we left, Abram was crying and freaking out saying he wanted to stay FOREVER. And he was crying as he kept saying "Bye Kate! Bye Kate! I'll miss you!" When we pulled out of the drive way the crying stopped immediately and in his matter-of-fact voice said, "Well, that was fun wasn't it?" He is so funny.

The kids had their first water gun experience. It was SO HOT while we were there and the party was outside, so the kids and the "kids" had a blast with them....especially Sam.

The Birthday Girl



Love that lil' stinker

Can't tell he looks just like his Mommy, can you?

Best Buddies/Cousins

Who is this kid that looks HUGE climbing up the side of the playhouse?

He'd get to the top and yell, "I did it! High Five!"

One of my favorite parts of the party. Layla opened this outfit and screamed, "Oh my goodness!"

Buddies

This was another favorite part.  As you can see, the guest are gone, everything is cleaned up, and what is Isaac doing over there by himself?  Finishing off Layla's cake! No joke, he sat there for a good 15-20 minutes by himself just eating away.

Splash Pad

First visit to a splash pad.  Not a lot of pictures because well, I was splashing.  It was really fun, and really sad.  Fun because of this:

And this:

And this:

And this (please note my 2 year old grabbing the squirter from that big kid-and after taking the picture, I did tell Reese it was not his turn):

However, upon telling my oldest to stop stalking this older kid with a shark, I heard it. A blood curdling scream like none other, and I knew that scream belonged to me.

I turned around to find Reese coming from behind a bench and saw a HUGE brown wasp fly away. "Please no, please no..." I thought.  Yep, he got him, and got him good.  I comforted my baby and wondered if he was allergic as his arm was swelling and breaking into a huge rash from wrist to elbow. 

This is an hour after the benedryl, it's hard to see, but it looked like a big hole right in the muscle of his forearm.  Of course it was the day we were leaving for Ohio.  I called the pediatrician just in case because of the puss bubble that formed. I wanted to make sure I knew what to look for.  After wasting 10 minutes of my life on hold to be told, "Neosporin and a band aid." I laughed and hung up.  Really I just wanted to know if I should pop it-grose I know. It had been so long since I have gotten stung, I couldn't remember.  Poor guy, after a good nap, he was good to go-and we have had no problems.  He did have a good size knot there and it changed from dark red, to blueish purple.  So, other than the whole "wasp experience" which has given Reese some post traumatic stress in the bug department, it was a great time!

Detoxing of the Sleepover

Abram had his first "sleepover" last night....at his Grandparents house.  It was a last minute invite, in fact I think it went something like this,
A: "Hey Nana, can I come to your house?"
N: "Yes, of course-if your Mommy says it's okay."
A: "Mommy can I please please please please please (times a million) go to Nana's house?!"
Caught off guard, "Uh uh...are you going to sleep there?"
A: "YES! Nana, am I going to sleep at your house? YES! YES!"
Me: "Okay"

I don't know if my Mom was more focused on spoiling him, or punishing me.  I say that because after staying up way past his bedtime, eating at IHOP for breakfast (chocolate pancakes), going to the movies and eating a tub of popcorn and candy, a trip to Walmart for toys and a backpack......Abram was fit to be tied, literally.  My Mom said he did well, I think he was able to hold it together until he got home.  Reese saw his "bumbo bee" transformer and lost it-Abram didn't want to share, the sugar high soon fell.....you get the picture.  And to top ot all off-my poor Sister and her family were watching the boys that night so we could see Harry Potter (which was awesome by the way).  I thought about not going, but we had already bought the tickets.  When we came home, Natalie looked worn out and said, "I don't know who that child was".

Next time there will be a better game plan.

Nights I Miss the Pacifier....

If you are a wee bit Obsessive Compulsive, you may have noticed that my last post and this one, is at 4:30 ish A.M. Here I am, blogging away, when I should be asleep.  The past couple of nights Reese has been waking up screaming. And when I say "screaming", I mean "SCREA-MING" like in a horror movie.  So one of a few things happen-one of us will go in and change him and he will fall back asleep (rarely) or I will hold him and comfort him and then he will go back to sleep, or a couple of times when it was around 6AM I would bring him in bed with me while Kris is getting ready for work and he would either go back to sleep, or just lay there quietly and be cute. (I believe that if any of my former English teachers read that last sentence they would be embarrassed that they ever taught me.) This is a night where none of the following is working so we are doing the ol' "cry it out" method. And by "we" I actually mean me-and Abram (they share a room).  Kris is SNORING away in dreamland as I type this.

I have no idea what has gotten into the little booger.  He woke up SCREA-MING at 2:42AM and Kris went and checked on him.  He comes back says, "He's fine." except that he was still screaming with the same intensity. I waited a few minutes, he's still screaming- I go in comfort him and calm him down, change him, lay him down and still SCREAMING. I bring him in bed with us where he lays still for a while and then starts being cute and cuddly and talking in his cute-WIDE AWAKE voice. I try to lay still with my eyes close as Kris passes out.  Reese is rolling around, so Kris takes him back to bed-and it starts again. 

Abram starts yelling, "Reese! You are hurting my ears!" and then Abram has to go the bathroom.  Then, Reese sees that Abram gets out of bed and the screaming gets louder. You see where this is going right? Kris is asleep.  Abram goes back to sleep and I look at the clock-it's 4AM.  The two year old has been screaming for an hour, and is not letting up. I know if I get him it'll just make it worse, so I wait.....and wait...and listen to Kris snore.....maybe if he wasn't screaming "MOOOOMMMMMYYY!! Mommy!!! Mommy!". Why can't it be something that's not as heart wrenching-ya know? Like Daddy, or hamburger, or Dino Dan.  So I decided to be productive, catch up on blogging-and maybe whine a little.  (By the way, the "Mommy!'s" are getting further apart-and may be a little bit in his sleep, but I have to give it to him for perseverance-it's almost 5AM).  Ugh-I know what you are going to say- "It's a phase." I HATE that, because even if it's true- "PHASES" last for who knows how long.  And my kiddos do not know what "sleeping in" means. 

I hope we aren't talking about the "cry it out" nights in therapy in 10 years....

Drive-In Movie

We took the kids to their first drive-in movie a couple of weeks ago to see Cars 2 on opening night. I haven't been to the drive-in since I was really little. In fact, I don't know if it's a made up memory or not-that's how little I was.  There is a drive in not too far away, so we packed up the kiddos, some treats, and met some friends.  The trick is, to show up really early-so you can park by your friends and get a good spot.  We were there two and half hours before the movie.  Someone brought a "Mater"-like tow truck to entertain the kids before the movie.  A cute idea that in no way made me cringe a little thinking about tetanus shots....

The movie started an hour an a half past bedtime.  Abram did great (although confused at why some cars were getting killed-yikes).  And thankfully didn't catch on to the word "idiot" which was used over 100 times.  Reese had a hard time, after some squirming and crying I put his carseat in the trunk, strapped him in and sat next to him-after that, he did great and fell asleep as the credits started.

I have a lot of friends who like the movie.....I think it was better for older kids.  I wasn't impressed with the violent parts, or explaining to my 4 year old why they were trying to make the other cars explode and die-just my opinion.

Other than that, we had a good time- definitely something we will be doing in the future.  Kris was hoping they would fall asleep so we could watch the double feature (Green Lantern), Abram was wide awake-so that didn't happen.

"Best Fourth of July Ever!"

As quoted by my 4 year old tonight on the way home.  Today was SO busy and fun.  We went to three cookouts today! SO much fun. In fact, I made these

and these

The strawberries I copied from another blog, the cupcakes I figured out on my own. 

The first two cookouts, I didn't get any pictures unfortunately.  It's hard to get in on the fun while taking pictures.  It's harder to contain a 2 year old, while taking pictures. And now, looking at this post-it looks like I wasn't even there. Luckily, Kris took one for the team and watched him so I could take some pictures.  Delicious food all day long.  We ended the night with some good friends that also have 2 cute boys (the youngest being a week apart!).
We had a blast with water ballons, chasing bugs, sidewalk chalk, a shrimp boil, crab cakes, homemade ice cream, sparklers, and fireworks.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Please note that we made tie dye t-shirts!!! (summer to do list check!)

Kris nailed Abram with a water balloon, he freaked until he realized he could get him back.  He kept hitting Kris, but the balloons wouldn't pop.  I took care of that one for him.

 Snapping fireworks...

Reese played in this tree for 20 minutes being a monkey, so cute.

Catching the parachute fireworks....

The first time with sparklers. Note look who looks nervous, and who doesn't.... 

More fireworks... When we were on the way home we had the windows down, watching fireworks and Abram yelled, "This is the best 4th of July everrrrrrr!" It was a great day, spent with great friends.