A Little Boy Lives Here

And just like that, my baby boy is no longer a baby. Yes, I know he is over four and I shouldn't really be calling him a baby anyway, but in these last 2 weeks, it seems he has grown so much and is so much older.

It all started with giving up his nap. After I cried for 3 days over this (it is really hard to give up whatever "alone" time I had each day), I have grown to accept it. We now use that time for some quiet time and then time for the two of us do things we are unable to do when Aubrey is awake. We practice writing letters, draw pictures of people that now have arms and legs and he likes to help clean. In this same time period, he has decided that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches should be eaten for every meal. How little boy is that?

He was a pirate for Halloween. He did a clinic at a local store and built a pirate ship with daddy this weekend. He used a hammer!

He has developed the habit of wearing a dishcloth clothes-pinned around his neck for the better part of the day pretending to be various characters. Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast, The Beast, and today, he was Superman. Never mind he has never actually seen Superman and the only concept he has of him is that he flies. He was running around the house, showing his muscles and asking daddy to make him fly. This morning we had to convince him to take my lovely blue and white gingham dish towel off and leave it in the car during church. He yells "Go! Go! Get him!" at the tv no matter what football game is on. He drives his bicycle around the house in circles as fast as he can, giggling wildly as he fishtales in the kitchen.

He is a boy, hear him roar. (But he is still sleeping in footie pajamas tonight!)

Cute things...

Kids can be so darn cute sometimes. These are my recent favorite "moments":

Evan is such a loving little dude. If I sit with my arms stretched out with a big smile on my face, he starts giggling and eventually comes over and gives me the biggest bear hug his little body can muster. Today he was happily playing on the floor and I tried this move. It took about 20 seconds for him to come running. Love it!

Aubrey's verbal skills shock and amaze me daily. The other night we were rocking and she put her hand on my shoulder and asked, "Mommy, what's this?" I told her that it was my shoulder. She said, "No mama. This is your Holy (then pointed to the other shoulder) and this is you spirit." If you point to hers and ask what they are, she says the same. Guess this changes the whole "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song. How sweet!

Every day at preschool drop off, Aubrey will not walk out the door until she hugs and kisses Evan while he is standing in line. Thankfully, he is still totally into this and it doesn't bother him in the least.

Not so cute moments:
The "I Do It!" phase. They demand independence in anything and everything. Boy does it take a long time to get out the door these days.

Screaming. For no reason. Just to see how loud they can be. The neighbors are thankful that the open window season is coming to an end.

Tantrums. Times 2 some days. Do they ever end? If the answer is no, please let me down gently.

I love these crazy maniacs of mine!

Birthdays

Because I have been a terrible blogger, I have not posted about either child's birthday. Yes, I know, one was months ago. Guilty as charged.



Aubrey turned 2 in fabulous fashion. We celebrated here at the house and had the whole family here. Kids ran amok in the backyard, grown-ups chatted, cake was eaten and presents were opened. The next day was Mother's Day and it was a nice time to reflect upon really how special it is to be a mom.














Evan turned 4 and had a Buzz Lightyear party. All he wanted were Buzz hats and a Buzz balloon. Ah, simple requests. He too had a backyard party with family. I cannot believe that he is 4. More on that later. He wore new Buzz jammies to bed and took a few new favorite toys up with him too.












As for our vacation, we went for 3.5 days with some friends to a cabin in the woods. Can I say, if you have never spent 3 days with 5 two year olds, you really should try it! Chaos, yes, at times. Priceless memories of total cuteness, absolutely! We really had a wonderful time and all of the moms loved having time to hang out, chat, cook, talk about motherhood and the changes it brings in all areas of life, and to have few good drinks! The weather wasn't the best, but other than that, a super trip!

An update...

I know, I have been terrible about posting again! Since my last post, we have vacationed, survived a heat wave, celebrated a 4th birthday, mastered the phrase, "Hold on a minute mommy.", and a collection of other things. I will share all of these soon. Summer is coming to an end and preschool is starting again soon. I tell myself that then I will have more time to blog.

Fall is bringing a new speech therapist, gymnastics, dance classes, preschool and sanity. I am looking forward to all of it!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

So tonight I was home alone with the kids and we were all getting restless from being together all day, so I loaded them into the mom-mobile and we just went for a drive. I live in the same community I grew up in so I decided to just drive down a whole bunch of streets I haven't been down in years. Now, my current driving from home radius is not that wide on an average day. Preschool, the family, the grocery store, that is about the extent of my scenic driving. Frankly, I am surprised I didn't get us lost. Good thing, I took no diaper bag with us.

As we drove along, I started seeing all the things I remembered as having some significance from my past, mostly my high school years. I saw houses where friends and classmates used to live and wondered about what happened to many of them. Did they live out the dreams that they had back then? Did that guy ever come out of the closet? Do they have kids yet? Did she marry him? I wondered if anyone's parents still lived in those houses and if they were in good health. I passed places that my friends and I hung around. The football field where many Friday nights were spent, the place I worked in the summer and all the good times we had there, the fast food place that we went to after the movies The longer I drove, the more I recalled how very lucky I am to have had the childhood I had. I was blessed with good friends, a wonderful family, no real problems, a great community that I still love. Looking back, I cannot recall any real tragedy in the grand scheme of things. I was dumped, I got a bad grade, I wasn't allowed to go to _____ with my friends. But in the long run, did it ruin my life like I thought I would back then? Nope. All those experiences and non-experiences made me who I am today and I don't think I would change anything. (Except maybe that another girl had the same prom dress I did...oh the horror! )

As I looked in my rear view mirror, I couldn't help but see the faces of my kids and have the feeling down deep that I want them to have a childhood as great as mine was. I want them to have fond memories when they walk, drive, teleport down memory lane when they have kids of their own. It was a nice ride...

and then I got a sandal thrown at the back of my head and snapped back to the present.

I need a new invention...

So I have realized that I have the need for something that doesn't seem to exist. I need a machine/contraption/doo-flingy that will take thoughts and send them directly to my computer. I get the best blog ideas at the most inconvenient times. In the car, at the grocery store, waiting in the preschool pick up line, in the shower. And I always swear to myself that I am going to remember those thoughts and write a kick butt blog that night...

Then someone honks at me, Evan comes out of the preschool, or I hear a deafening crash followed by, "Mom! Look what Aubrey did!" and all is lost. Gone, gone, gone forever. Now I sit here with everyne else in the house asleep, time to write and I got nuttin'.

My mission for tomorrow is to devise some way of catching these random thoughts throughout my day. Flypaper in the car? Writing on the shower walls with soap? Crayon on the dashboard?

Here I am!

Hello! I am here! After a crazy spring/start of summer and a minor sign in problem with something they changed on this site, I have returned. Lemme see if I can get everyone up to speed...

Aubrey has turned 2, Evan has finished school and gymnastics for the year, I had my gallbladder removed (finally!), Chuck is working on our backyard to get it more kid friendly, the dog is still crazy, Evan made a trip to the ER for a piece of metal in his eye, Aubrey flung herself from her crib, we opened the cottage for the summer, and we all still like each other. How was that for a quick summary?

Upcoming plans: summer gymnastics for Evan, a scrapbooking night for me, a family vacation that will be with my online friends, the 4th of July. Fun times!

Overall, the biggest news would be on my own health front. I had my gallbladder out the first week of May. I was quite disenchanted by the whole thing for the first 4 days, but for the week after that, things got better. I now feel like a new person! I am off the daily medication that I was taking for pain and haven't yet had a puking day. (Except on surgery day...general anesthesia did not agree with me!) I now have the energy to play with the kids, take walks, clean the house and do a lot of things I haven't done in a while. I am so very thankful to my specialist who fought tooth and nail for this surgery to happen. He went to bat for me numerous times and it looks like he was right! Turns out that the surgeon found a kink in one of the bile ducts and he has only seen that one other time and he looks as if he has been on the Earth for a while now. Hee Hee! I still have some pounds to put back on, but I am very happy with the results thus far.

And now I must go to bed, but I will be a better blogger. Really. I mean it this time!

This I know...

You know you are a parent/mom when:

* You have uttered the words, "Get your finger out of your brother's ear!" and can say it with a serious look on your face.

* Half way to the grocery store you find yourself singing along to the CD and the song is The Ants Go Marching...but there are no children with you.

* You roll over at night to find Woody is in your bed. No, not a slang comment related to your husband's parts. No, he is a little cowboy with terribly pointy arms and legs that jab your thigh in the middle of the night. Suppose making the bed each day would make the hiding spot harder to access?

* When you have a moment alone in the bathroom, you find yourself reading Elmo's First Babysitter wondering how it is going to turn out.

* When shopping for clothes, you choose clothing that will hide chocolate finger prints, keep your boobs covered during a toddler tantrum, and are on sale.

* Your ideal Saturday night activity is going to the Science Center where the kids can be entertained with little effort on your part. While there, you assess that this activity is way better than hanging out at the bars like you used to.

I will be back with more on another day but must go to bed. My alarms do not have a snooze button.

Oh What a Day!

This has been a great day. Really and truly. I'm not being sarcastic.

For starters, it was sunny and 72 degrees and who can be grouchy on a day like that. It has been a long winter and the taste of spring was wonderful. The morning was smooth. Evan off to school, complete with snack and his reading cutouts for the Book-it program. Aubrey and I went shopping and got some good deals and an Easter dress. We came home, the kids went outside and played for an hour. Lunch, naps, back outside, dinner, bath, snack and bed. Lovely. Wonderful day.

It really all hit me while I was cooking dinner. I cried while cooking. And not because the recipe was failing, or kids were pulling at my legs. Nope. I was listening to the radio and the Rascal Flatts song, My Wish came on. Ever heard it? It is a wonderful song and beautifully says what I want for my children. Chuck was out back with the kids playing in the yard and I had been out there a few minutes earlier doing the same. As I turned the chicken and opened a can of corn (no, Martha Stewart I am not) it hit me how truly blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful, healthy children. There are many people in this world that would love to have what we do. We have our families close and they are supportive and helpful and loving. We have enough. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, hands to do what needs done and bodies to move us through life.

Why did this all hit me today? As I was outside, raking leaves, cleaning up dog poop, and playing with the kids, I thought back to last summer. Everything I did today was too much for me to do last year. Granted the kids were more demanding last year at this time, but really, it was my stomach issues that didn't allow me to do what I wanted to do. The thought of taking the kids outside overwhelmed me last year. Physically, I just couldn't keep up. Yard work was way beyond me. This year, while all my issues are not solved, I feel 100 times better on any given day than last year. I know there are people who have bigger health issues than I do, but today I was really reminded to appreciate all that I have, while I have it.

Today was a good day.

Proud Parents

This is going to be a completely braggy post. Now is your chance to back out.



You really want to stay?




Last chance?



Here goes!
Evan is turning into such a little boy. Everyone that reads this blog that I know of, knows Evan's speech is a work in progress. He is doing so well in spite of his therapist (that is a whole 'nother blog!) and amazing me every day. Today when I took him to school, we were crossing the parking lot when another little classmate joined us. He happily said "Hi Jane! How are you?" And do you know what? It was really Jane! And she understood what he said! Our little man can initiate conversation...with an adorable little girl no less!
He is now officially completely potty trained and relinquished his "Cars pants" in order to do the poo on the pot. We have this funny little song that we sing on the way to the potty to poo and today, I thought we were headed on a poo mission and started singing the song. He said "No Mama! It's ___ ______ __________ _______ pee-pee!" He made a joke! He is capable of making a joke! Who knew! He is also getting really good at telling Aubrey what to do. I have not yet determined if this is a good thing.

Aubrey is making strides of her own. She is our little chatterbox. The other night, I was carrying her down the steps and she counted, alone, from one to thirteen! Yay! She is a smart little bugger too. I have wonderful on-line friends and we all exchanged cards and pictures at Christmas time. I have rearranged them repeatedly but Aubrey can name them all! She says, "Hi friends!" each time we go to the fridge. I am a bit concerned because she gets all ooogley eyed when she names a few of the boys.
Another of her accomplishments is her stating the rules of diaper changes. I get the diaper off and she runs away. She then comes around and says "No, no, No! No pee-pee on cawpet!" Then she runs away laughing and pees on the carpet.

Ok enough bragging for one night. Thanks for sticking around!

Way too long.

It has been way too long since my last update. I know, I know, bad me!

Christmas and New Years has come and gone. It appears that winter is finally making an appearance. We actually got enough to have school canceled, the driveway needing shoveld multiple times and enough for the kids to play in.

Little People: Evan is in the process of getting his new big boy room and bed! This has been the project this weekend including painting, matress buying and putting away of nursery things. *sniff, sniff* He thinks this is great so far, but Mommy is having a bit of a time putting away all those baby days items. My little boy is growing up. Aubrey is doing her best to keep up with her brother. Her newest obsession in shoes. Any size, color or kind is right up her alley. She loves the black patent leather ones she wore for Christmas and calls them her "shiney shoes." I have a video clip of her saying this and it is adorable! (OK, from the first draft of this, many weekends have passed. The big boy bed is a hit and he hasn't fallen out yet.)

Big People: Chuck is still working. I am still home and all the walls are still standing. The kids are clean (most days), fed, and happy so I guess we are doing alright.

Really, I am going to get back on track with this blog one of these days. Keep checking back. Maybe you will be surprised to see something new every now and then!