The Pittman Family

Some pictures

2012-01-27T16:38:00.001-08:00

I realized recently that I have been super slack about taking any pictures. Especially of my own kids! I had lots of great ideas of pictures to do for Grey's second birthday and just totally don't have the energy to pull it off. :( I'm still waiting on that end of pregnancy-just before baby is born rally to hit.

But, the other day I decided I had been lazy enough and it was gorgeous outside, especially for January. So I took the kids out riding around until we found a spot by a construction zone with some wild grass growing. It was incredibly muddy and had a huge puddle in the middle that you couldn't see from the edge, but I got a few good ones!

I love how Skylar's hair is the same color as the weed here.

Grey spotted a plane in the sky shortly after we got there.

And he had to wave bye-bye as it left.

I absolutely love the color and the perfect sunlight in these pictures!

Totally not sure what they are doing here, but it looks fun!

And where did all of that drool come from? And why didn't I notice it until these pictures!

#badmom.

And today, we went out to the park by our house to play for a little while. Grey woke up with an amazing cowlick on both sides of his head and I couldn't get them back down, even with some water! This isn't the best picture (I mean, look at that face!) but it shows his hair in all its glorious detail. Remember- there is no wind here!

His hair makes him look like he has a halo on!

Skylar? When did you get so big!!

I tried to go for a posed shot of Skylar and this is what I got:

A jumping bean.

But then she gave me a good two seconds!

Anyone ever heard of a little book called, "Where the Wild Things Are"? I think my child might have emigrated from that book…

Wowza. Look at that hair… and then look at those eyes!!

Christmas!

2011-12-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

Beware of long post with many pictures!

Christmas morning! The kiddos slept in until 9, so it was wonderful!

The stockings I made last year… I really like them, but they are pretty small and I would have to make another matching one for next year… so we might have all new ones next year??

Like father, like son. Hair-wise that is!

Grey wanted to show us everything out of his stocking.

We had to keep reminding him to look for more stuff because he was the king of distraction this year!

Have you ever seen someone so excited to get new undies!?!

Grey's favorite was the chocolate of course.

Skylar made sure that Toby and Sammy each had a stocking as well and they loved their new bones. They each grabbed one up and took off to hide and eat in peace.

Skylar wanted us to open the present she did for us (at school) first, so we opened that up. I loved getting artwork made by them!

Then it was time to open presents!

They both loved all of their presents! But Grey needed some extra convincing to keep opening up new presents since he just wanted to play with the ones he already opened. Perhaps that is a sign that we got them too much stuff??

He almost has it! He has been going around saying "cheese" and taking pictures of people.

He needed a quick recharge in the midst of opening presents!

After we opened presents, Dada helped them play with their new toys while Mama cooked breakfast and then we all got ready and headed over to Nana and Papa's house. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and I'm the doofus who forgot to take her camera. :*(

We got there and ate some lunch and Grey took a nap while Skylar watched cartoons… we waited for Bill and Kristen to get there before we dug into the presents.

Poor Emma got banished to the other room when Bill and Kristen brought their new dog Izzy.

Skylar and Grey were busy little beavers in the middle of all the adults. They were dancing around and throwing balls!

Skylar helped pick out all of the presents this year, including this beaver hat she got for G-pop. I'm taking bets now to see if he will ever wear it again!

We had a great Christmas and the kids are still loving their presents!

Christmas caroling and tree lighting in Jamestown

2011-12-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

After the Christmas parade in Jamestown, Skylar and I went back home and picked up Ken and Grey, (who just woke up from his 3-hour nap!) and went back downtown to see the annual Christmas tree lightning and sing carols.

The kids loved the "hot" chocolate and cookies and watching the water fountain while we waited. We kept wondering where the infamous tree was when we realized it was a maybe three footer planted on the lawn in front of the library. Evidently they bought a new tree this year and wanted something that would grow over the years. It was a little disappointing honestly…

We stayed for a few carols and then went home for dinner. :)

Grey's first trip to the ER

2011-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

Actually, it was the walk-in clinic at Moses Cone, but ER sounds so much more exciting…

A few weeks ago, I was making a valance for Skylar's room (its finished and I love it… will post about it soon!), but I was ironing the fabric and went to use the bathroom. Grey walked in the room and dummy me, left the iron on the table.

I hear a loud crash and know immediately what happened and just prayed it wasn't his face.

It was his hand. :*(

Poor little guy was okay after the first minute, but then started crying about 30 minutes later. We had kept it in cold water at first and I guess when he left that, the burn really came back. We put some aloe on it, gave him some meds and called the on-call nurse at the Peds office.

She told us to go on in the to ER. I decided to go to the walk-in clinic instead because I knew where that was. I figured they could point me in the right direction if it wasn't right. The ER was somewhere in the near vicinity so it wouldn't have taken us too long to hop back in the car and go there instead.

Grey was pretty upset until we got to the clinic, and then he was mostly fine. I had a washrag to keep on his hand and as long as he had that, he was okay.

By the time we got in to see the doctor, a huge blister had formed over the burn. The main part was in the crease between his thumb and forefinger, but the tips of his first two fingers also got burned. You can see slightly where it goes all the way up his forefinger practically.

He was amazed by all of the "toys" in the room. He especially loved the heart rate machine…

It was late for him and he was pretty tired, so I snuggled up on the bed and we watched Netflix on the phone while waiting. I don't really understand doctor's offices and how one person comes in, asks you some questions and says the doctor will be right in. We wait some more.

The doctor comes in, asks you pretty much the same questions and says they need to check out the best thing to do for one so little…

We wait some more…

The doctor comes back in and says this is our protocol: blah, blah, blah. You are all caught up on vaccines right? Um, no….

(Do I tell them that I missed his 18-month check-up because his sister broke her leg and I was too busy taking her to all of the specialists??) No, I just didn't make his appt.

We wait some more.

The nurse comes in to bandage him up. But didn't finish.

We wait some more.

A second nurse comes in to finish the bandage.

We wait some more.

The first nurse comes back in to give him his DTAP vaccine.

We wait some more.

The doctor comes back in to check everything over.

We wait some more.

The nurse comes back to give us our discharge papers.

We can leave!!

It was a long night.

And we might or might not have broken the stethoscope while waiting.

But, Grey was a model patient for the all the nurses and doctors and let them do whatever they wanted. He didn't even cry when they gave him a shot.

Although he thought about it!

I'm glad to say that he is all healed and doing nicely! He didn't even seem to notice his hand after that, until we took his bandage off twice a day to clean and reapply cream. Then he would hold up his hand and say, "hurt" in his most pitiful little voice.

Fall fun.. with a little Christmas thrown in there

2011-12-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

Skylar can be very particular about how she falls asleep and often needs certain babies/animals/pillows, etc. When we walk in to check on her at night, this is a pretty normal scene:

Books everywhere, clothes on the floor (she sometimes changes) and dolls laid out on pillows with blankets. They need some love too.

On another note: Skylar is all into the Christmas season and loved getting to decorate this gingerbread man with my mom one day. Don't worry about the Halloween tablecloth… it has been replaced with a Christmas one. :)

But, before we jump too much into Christmas, there's still some more catching up to do…

One of the great (ah-hem) things about fall is all of the leaves on the ground and how beautiful they are changing colors. Everywhere but in your own yard. I don't have an official count, but we had somewhere close to 100 50 gal. bags of leaves and we still haven't gotten them out of the back natural area or the flower bed beside the house. Meh.

Skylar and Grey had a blast jumping in the leaves though when we raked them up into piles. They really just threw themselves into it!

Thanksgiving show at preschool

2011-12-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Every year for Thanksgiving, Skylar's school sings a bunch of songs and puts on a big potluck feast for the parents. Skylar is there on the front end… She decided not to sing any of the songs, even though she knew them all, because all of the parents were there and she doesn't "like to sing in front of the parents."

But she was cute anyway. :) Aaron, her best bud there beside her, sang his little heart out. :)

Halloween- Going back a few months to catch up!

2011-12-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

So, yes, Halloween was almost two months ago, but I want to document here for memories sake! Grey was a puppy (you might remember this puppy from Skylar's second Halloween) and Skylar was a dragon. The dragon was meant for Grey, but Skylar decided to wear it over the princess dress-up clothes that she has and I was all for that. It was a little tight… and short… but whatever, it was dark!

We didn't last too long trick-or-treating this year. The cousins came over and we went around the neighborhood like last year, but only made it to the end of our street before we had to head home!

Grey was adorable saying, "tick-a-teet, pees" and "ank-ooo", however, he assumed that he would be able to eat all of his candy immediately and got to the point where he started screaming as we left each house because he couldn't eat everything while standing at the door.

Skylar, refused to say anything, but did smile and ask me if I would say "trick-or-treat, smell my feet" for her. I refused. She did great until we got to a couple of houses in a row that had a bowl of candy sitting out to grab yourself. At the next couple of houses, she decided that she wanted to pick out her own candy instead of them handing it to her and even said, "I don't want that one!" After explaining that that was rude and telling her she needed to except whatever they gave her and say thank you, we went on to the next house. She did the same thing and so we decided then and there to make an early night of it.

We got back home and kids were in the bed and Skylar was standing at the top of the stairs when the doorbell rang a few minutes later and she yells down, "Mama, don't hand out the good candy! Not the candy in that bowl!" I told her she could eat the candy she got tonight, but we were handing out the candy we bought to hand out. So she thought a minute and said, "Just turn the light off and put a sign up that says we are out of candy!"

She thinks she's so smart…

Grey's new sleeping arrangements

2011-12-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

The past few nights, I've gone in to check on Grey before bed and found him here:

He has been taking his pillow, lamby, dog-dog, and two blankets and snuggling up in the rocking chair to fall asleep. I almost hate to move him he looks so comfy.

Almost...

What's that you say? I have a blog…. oh right…

2011-12-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, I realize it has been over a month since I have updated the blog. Basically… we've been busy. But, mostly, I've been lazy!

I was looking back through my pictures and finally got them all uploaded from my camera to the computer and realized that I don't have a single picture from November. And I don't even remember what all we did in November. Except that we were busy. That makes me pretty sad, since I usually rely on pictures to remind me of everything we have done. I have a very poor memory.

Maybe I took some with my phone? But that would require walking 20 steps into the kitchen to go get the phone… and if you go back to the first paragraph (can I call it that?) you'll remember that I'm lazy. Hopefully I did take pictures with the phone and one of these days I'll remember to upload those on the computer as well!

But, until then, here are a few pictures from December when we went to the Jamestown Parade. Grey was asleep (pretty sure Ken was too), so Skylar and I met my mom, sil and cousins out in the cold! She had a blast and loved it! She is sooo into Christmas this year, it's been so much fun!

Grey's cowboy persona

2011-11-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

He can't stand it: every time he sees the camera or phone, he stops everything to come watch himself. He LOVES to watch himself on video.

Dancing at IHop

2011-11-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

Windy Gap

2011-11-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Halloween, we all headed up the mountains to Windy Gap, near Blowing Rock, NC. Ken was playing with his old band members for a weekend retreat and we tagged along with them.

The camp is beautiful and has a very charming, rustic setting. Here is the cabin we stayed in:

And here was one of our views during the day:

Here was another view as we walked up the road towards the meeting hall and dining room:

Right by that large draping tree is a large pond with a huge slide going down the mountain into it; and a large blob (huge pillow-like bouncy thing that you can jump onto, scoot to the edge and then have someone else jump behind you and fly you into the air before landing in the water. The weekend we were there was freezing and it even snowed a little bit however there were still high school students doing the blob, swimming in the pools, and going down the slide. Crazy!

Windy Gap is a Younglife campsite and their goal is to make it a fun place for high school students to go. They feed them three meals a day and include activities in addition to worship time during the day. In addition to the lake and pool, they have a volleyball court, basketball court, snack-shop with games, horseback riding, a zipline, and probably something else that I just missed.

The kids and I had quite a bit of time without Ken while he was setting up and practicing, so we took a walk around the place. We went to see the horses and stood at the gates waving:

And oohed and ahhed over the huge leaves we found on our walk.

This isn't exactly a good picture, but I thought it was funny. Grey looks so serious here. He was just running up to me when I tried to jog ahead a few paces to take their picture. I guess he thought I was trying to run away and he was concentrating hard to keep up!

We saw this old bridge that the kids loved. Scared me silly thinking they were going to fall off though!

Grey did try to kill himself… although not by going over the side of the bridge.

Next we saw an old wagon and the kids wanted to hop up and "ride" it.

What? Were they actually having fun together?? I don't remember this phenomenon!

Grey was pretty obsessed with the lake and little rivers that ran along the property. I'm pretty sure he would have jumped right on in along with the high schoolers.

Ken's old band-mate, Scott brought his wife, Michelle and their two little girls. Skylar was so excited about seeing Abby and it didn't take her too long to warm up. They were bff's after about an hour.

Grey ran back to that same old bridge on our last walk back from the dining hall, and took his "bappa" with him and sat right on down, feet hanging over the edge. I ran beneath the bridge on the side of the river just in case… and also happened to have my camera with me! Score! Except that he was up and running just a second after I shot this one picture.

The kids had a ball and Skylar loved the mountains. She wants to go back and walk to the top of one. I told her her daddy would love to take her. ;)

What? A blog post with no pictures??

2011-11-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes. A blog post with no pictures. My display screen on my computer has died and is currently in the hands of the Apple Geeks. After Ken killed my laptop this summer, that leaves me without a computer to post pictures. I am currently using Ken's work computer and he is hovering over me like I'm going to break it.

But, I thought I'd write a post anyway since its been almost two weeks!

Tonight, Skylar was asking to see my baby belly (as she calls it) and pulls up my shirt so she can kiss my belly and rub all over it. Its very cute, unless she does it in public, which has happened. Tonight she kept pushing lightly on my belly saying she was gonna push this baby out! She is evidently really excited to see the baby and wants to meet him/her. Now that I'm huge its definitely become more real to her! As I walked out of her room for bedtime, she told me she wanted to watch when I pushed the baby out... I'd given this a little thought, but hadn't made up my mind yet. I kind of figured she would stay here at home with us and if she wasn't freaked out then she could watch the birth. Maybe she'll do better than I think! I think it would be a great experience for her to be a part of and see first hand.

NC State Fair!

2011-10-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take the kids to the State Fair in Raleigh as it was the last day it was in town. In case you haven't known before now… I'm not much of a planner and I love it when Ken goes along with one of my harebrained plans!

We went to Church and then headed down the road, luckily Grey slept most of the way and Skylar let him sleep! Well, truthfully, she tried to wake him up, but wasn't aloud to talk above a whisper and he was out cold!

Neither one of them knew what to expect and (although you can't tell from this photo) were excited when they saw all the people and rides. Here is their, "I'm ready to get on those rides" faces.

The petting zoo was the first thing we came to on the way to Kiddieland and we went through to see all of the goats, cows, camels, zebra and turtles. Grey was yelling out, "moo" which comes out more as an "ooo" the whole time, but was a little timid to get down with all the other people in there at first. We bought a bag of carrots and fed the animals, and he was a little mad he couldn't eat the carrots too. Eventually he got the hang of it! Skylar was in heaven!

And who/what is this guy? Cow? Bull? He reminded me of a bad 80's haircut.

After that we headed into kiddieland. Skylar was afraid of the larger/faster rides and wanted to check out the scene before deciding what to ride. She started on this 1-mile-per-hour train and I think she might have been a little disappointed.

Then she thought she could handle the jumping worm thing by herself. It was quite a bit faster and she said she loved it.

Grey finally got to ride one too, the teacups.

As you can see, he loved it! He got a little sideways there, but that happens to the best of us in the teacups.

Skylar ended with the carousel. She has a very serious face when she is about to start a ride… not a very good time to get a picture!

Grey wanted to ride the roller coasters. He was pretty adamant about it too… one day little dude. When you're about five feet taller.

Skylar got to play one game and she chose the duck game. For two dollars, you get to pick up a duck. And then pick a ball out of the two dollar bin. Dumbest game ever.

After she got her ball she said, "Is that it?"

Grey wanted to get a duck too, but he's still little enough that it didn't bother him too much. He was much happier with the cotton candy anyway!

Holiday photos

2011-10-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

For the three of you who read this who are not family members… I like to give presents containing photos for Christmas and birthdays. Perhaps its getting old this year? Who knows!

But, this afternoon, we went to a nearby park and took our family Christmas photo and I have strong plans on sending out a Christmas card this year. I usually have plans that fall through, but this year I am determined to get those cards out!

Here are some outtakes from the day. And don't worry, they did not wear their little hats for the "photo".

There was a man fishing near where we were on the bridge, and the kids loved watching him throw his hook in. We felt bad after the photo and left him in peace!

We walked down the trail a little ways until we found another bridge and lots of ducks! The kids started running and quacking away, obnoxiously...

I tried to take some shots on the bridge, but they both kept sticking their heads in the bars and that don't make a purty picture.

Here's what they looked like from the other side:

I did really love the light here though, if I had brought anything to help balance out the backlighting. I love the flare though!

They kept running up and down the bridge as the ducks were swimming around.

First haircuts

2011-10-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Skylar has been asking to get her haircut for months now and I kept telling her we would get it cut for her birthday… hoping she would forget. :(

Well, she didn't forget.

So, we made a trip to the salon today and decided it was time to get Grey's mullet cut while we were there. Skylar kept telling me she wanted it short and so I was showing her pictures of other girls' haircuts and she kept saying she didn't like those. I asked her what she wanted and she said, "I want it short, like Grey's." Absolutely not.

We compromised with an in-between stage…

She did great sitting still and holding her head down and to the side for the lady. If only she would do the same for me when I'm trying to brush it.

Grey was equally enthralled with getting his haircut and sat in the chair like a pro. He did keep looking back at the lady when she would cut the sides, but overall, he did great!

They were both very serious about this business!

The juice and teddy grahams helped...

No more baby curls!

After bath tonight, I brushed his hair back and this is what it did. All on its own!

Razz and Tazz Par-to-the-tay

2011-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we had a joined party for Skylar, Jaxon and JJ since they were all going to be celebrating their birthdays on the same weekend. We went out to the Razz and Tazz farm in Gibsonville, and it turned out to be a great place to have a younger child's birthday party (although don't go by what the manager tells you… go ahead and get tix for everyone at the beginning of the party instead of waiting to pay at the end. They will hunt you down periodically throughout the party and make you feel like you are doing something wrong). That being said, it was a beautiful, albeit windy day and the kids had a blast.

Skylar started off with her favorite game: catch. I'm 99% certain that Pa-paw slept really well that night!

Ruh-roh- she got caught!

They all had fun on the swings. And the corn bins. And haystacks. And tractors. And corn-maze. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of those activities!

But, I did take my camera when we went to ride the cow train! First up: Mackenzy and Aftynne!

Me thinks Aftynne was a lil' bit more excited than Mackenzy! ;) Actually, from what I hear, Kenzy was super excited about the cow train!

Then Skylar rode with Bella. Ya think it might've been a little bright that time of day? The sun was setting right into their eyes!

Grey was also really excited about the cow train and kept yelling out "cow" and "moo" while waiting for his turn. He also loves to wave bye-bye to everything and everyone. He has a royal wave.

Next up: Mama and Grey get to ride! He tried really hard to get his little feet up on the sides of the cow to lounge during the ride, but sorry charlie, Mama's belly has gotten a little too big for all that. Belle didn't have the largest stomach as it were.

I did manage to capture these pictures of Aftynne and Mackenzy on the hay-tractor. The light was perfect for these!

Skylar was back and forth between wanting me to take pictures of her and then not. When she did, she had to come over and see each one. This was her modeling shot.

At some point, we had food and cakes. A few years ago, we combined birthdays like we did this year and all three moms got cakes for their child. Huge mistake. Skylar ate one cupcake from her cake, but then only one cake was served to everyone else. My students were thrilled the next day with all the leftovers. So, this year, Michelle made a cupcake cake for JJ and Nikki made browny-cake for Jaxon and I went super cheap and made just a couple of super-easy cakes-in-a-jar for Skylar. I wasn't going to do anything, but she really, really wanted a blue cake. And then she saw a picture on my pinterest account of a rainbow cake in a jar and wanted that, only just have one color in each jar. Done and done, very easy!

Present time! Skylar got money from some of her grandparents and was like, "oooh, look mom, tickets!" But, I did take her on Sunday to the store to pick out some candy with her birthday money. Still not sure she totally gets it, but she's working on it. Its a lifestyle hazard since I hardly ever have or use cash on me.

But, betcha bottom-dolla that she knows what a debit card is.

This isn't the best picture of Skylar, but I love Grey in the background! This is what happens when your youngest chases your mom around all night stealing sweets off of her plate. Sugar high anyone?

And, just a side note: I have not found a good niche for hosting parties. I feel like you either have to be an active participant with your children, or you have to stand guard by the food to organize the food table and keep everyone on a schedule. I did that with Skylar and Grey's birthday parties last year, but really missed most of their parties. This year, I left the food table and went around with the kids… and the food time was chaotic. One day, I learn the art of hosting!

Skylar's first school field trip: To the pumpkin patch!

2011-10-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Friday, Skylar's school went on its first school field trip: to the pumpkin patch! Since they have no way of transporting the kids, parents had to pick their child up from the school and meet up at the pumpkin patch. Since mom got sick and then Ken woke up sick, I got a phone call around 8:30 at work to see if I could come back and watch the kids. So, lucky me, I got to take Skylar on her first field trip!

Seriously, aren't we the hottest fam in town? I was "blown away" when I saw this pic.

Grey enjoyed the cutouts (Skylar wouldn't pose), but didn't quite get the idea of looking out of the window at people.

After everyone arrived, we went on a short tractor-hay ride.

Skylar and Aaron. Turns out Aaron was getting sick that morning and went home and woke up from a nap with a high fever. :(

I saw this great photo op after we hopped off the hayride, but as soon as I pulled out my camera, Skylar does this number:

After the ride, we went to a sitting area for story-time. Grey just thinks he's part of the group.

"I can sit here too Mom!"

He got a little excited at one point during the story. He's reaching back to Skylar, like, "did you see that!?!"

This is his "oops, I'm guilty" face because someone just asked if he was sitting with the class.

After story-time, they had fun jumping all over the pumpkins. Did I mention it was super windy out there?

Can anyone say, "mullet." Me thinks its time for a haircut.

He loved the super big ones.

He spent about 5 minutes rubbing the pumpkins, saying, "oooohhhhh" over and over!

Cousin It! I found you!

Aaron wasn't feeling too hot, but I'm happy to announce that Skylar actually played with another kid from her class!

And then, it was time for snack!

And Grey has learned the art of adding himself to the pack when it is snack time. He perfected it during soccer games.

Birthday week (day one): School Party!

2011-10-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

I am a believer of the "birthday week" and I like to do something everyday of the week that the kids' birthday falls in. Ken thinks I'm crazy. Nothing new there.

So, yesterday we started off the week with a bang and had a mini birthday party at Skylar's school. It was really more of a birthday snack, but I got to play hookie from my school and have snack with the kiddos!

Skylar got to be the leader today, which she loves! They are also learning the letter "D" this week.

This is Skylar's picture on the door. All the other kids have cute little grins on their ghosts…

And her little star where she has to put her bag.

Part of being the leader includes getting to sit in the special yellow chair. Skylar was a little concerned at this point that they were going to sing, "Happy Birthday" to her, hence the worried face. She asked me all Sunday night and Monday morning to tell her teachers not to sing to her. I guess she really doesn't like that song.

I dropped her off in the morning and then came back later with a special birthday snack. They all had to sit on the floor (except Skylar- special yellow chair) criss-cross, applesauce style and use hand sanitizer before saying the blessing together. Then they all got up to sit in a chair at the table and wait for snack.

The good thing about having two events back-to-back: I can just make extras of the cake pops and serve them at both! Skylar and her friends were excited about the sprinkles… and her teachers were excited that they were child-size and not very messy!

Believe you me: Grey was not about to miss out on snack time. He inserted his little behind into a chair right along with the other kids. He has a snack-radar. And it works. Well.

Baby shower reunion in Chapel Hill

2011-10-10T17:49:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I went up to Chapel Hill for an annual reunion with my favorite Loveshack roommates eva!

This was an extra special year because our dear Anne was visiting the US from Italy after living there for a year and a half… and she's expecting her first child with hubby Alan! So, of course, we had to throw her a baby shower!

They did not find out the sex of the baby and are holding on to their chosen name for a boy or girl. But don't worry, Anne assures us it isn't Elvis or Priscilla. Get it?

The baby shower was team effort from the four remaining roomies and Ashley started us off with amazing invites… love 'em!

Skylar helped me whip up a few of these goodies: cake pops and chocolate-covered pretzels.

Jessica hosted everyone since she lives in Durham and made this amazing pumpkin dip. I could've eaten it all day.

Emily made chicken salad and Key Lime cupcakes. The food was delish!

And the decorations were so fun! I love the use of multiple, non-pastel colors!

I used the handy-dandy cricut to make this banner. It says, "Welcome Baby Presley" since the letters a kind of tough to see...

And the little tags on the baby food jars. Ashley ordered these really cute M&M's in our colors with personalized sayings on each of them. And the tag is a little baby… not a bear like it looks in this picture!

And here was the star of the weekend: Baby Levi, courtesy of Jess and Jon. Seriously, he really is this handsome in person. More so, in fact.

A picture of The Loveshack roomies!

And, watch out cause there's an epidemic goin' round!

Here are the four preggos at the party! Ashley (left) is due in four weeks!

Anne and her friend Kristen, both glowing and very excited to welcome their firsts!

Present time! The night before the party, we all got together and stayed up waaayyyy too late talking and had a lengthy convo about strollers and what type Anne should get. We decided on the City Mini (which was good, since that is what she registered for, ahem) and tada! her mom got her one for the party! That's her oh-s0-cute mom sitting next to her!

Levi wanted some mommy attention.

But he didn't mind some snuggles from Ashley a little later. Such a cutie, and I love how his hair flicks out on the side!

Soccer Diva

2011-10-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

There are two other girls on Skylar's soccer team who always have their hair up with bows… so Skylar now wants to put her hair up in a ponytail with a hairbow too.

My little diva! You can't really tell, but there is a minnie mouse hairbow in her hair.

Blue eyes just wants to gather all the balls for himself.

Skylar's sitting so patiently on the team blanket, waiting to go in.

While her cheer squad looks on. And Grey guards the ball.

Mason jar project

2011-09-26T17:42:00.001-07:00

I saw this project on a blog that I read a few months ago and really liked the idea. Last week, I finally got around to doing it!

It's just a plain mason jar, with hot-glue gun letters and spray painted. I really like the way it came out, although I might take scaredy-crows outta there…

Pinterest Love

2011-09-20T17:40:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to join Pinterest to gather ideas for a baby shower we are throwing together with two other friends in October. I'd heard about Pinterest for several months now and just never joined b/c I didn't want something else to take up any more of my time. I'm already addicted to blogs and facebook!

But, I joined. And, fell in love. Where have you been all my life Pinterest! It is the perfect place to store all of my ideas and inspirations for everything, in one place that is easily accessible!

One project I saw on Pinterest and loved was this:

Pickle jars and candle holders. I grabbed up some random candle holders last week at an area thrift store for about $1 each and spray painted them white. I also painted the tops of the pickle jars (also included: jelly jar and spaghetti jar) and scrubbed all of the sticky stuff off with some goo gone.

I think they came out great!

In other semi-related news… here are some ways that I have been displaying Skylar's art projects around the house in a less-disorderly way.

She made both the flowers in this picture, the one in the frame was actually a necklace for me she made on Mother's day last year.

And, sorry for the poor lighting, here are some more art projects on the top and some shots of the flowers and grass in our yard on the bottom for a bit of color in the kitchen.

And here is a wreath I finished over the summer to replace the one on our front door that had been hanging there since Christmas time…

I have a ton of ideas of craft projects and DIY projects to do around the house over the next few months and I am once again in the crafting spirit and ready to get my craft on!

Next up is a mason jar project I have in mind… :)

It's time for Socca, holla!

2011-09-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

It's time for soccer! Skylar has been looking forward to playing soccer again all summer. We thought she might have to sit this season out with her leg, but she has managed to curb her limping unless she is really tired now.

We opted to stay with the younger group again this year as Skylar was a bit of a sideliner last season until the last couple of games. But, the rest of her team got moved up to the big leagues, so we are with an all-new team this year. And we are loving it!

Skylar has four other girls on her team and has really enjoyed playing with them. The kids are mostly go-getters and really go after the ball and kick it in the goal. Quite a few of them already have the skills to stop the opponents, take the ball away and turn it back up the field towards our goal. Its quite impressive.

We had our first game today and scored a bazillion goals. The other team only scored two… well, three if you count the one our team scored for them… :)

Skylar was hustling down the field and came really close to scoring her first goal! Next weeks practice: work on taking the ball away from the opponent. And not from your own teammate. Ah-hem,… boys.

Grey enjoyed it too. He keeps wanting to join in the team.

And there's me and Skylar. And Lil'pit.

Festivalis

2011-09-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Evidently this past Saturday was the day for Church festivals. Skylar's preschool had a festival and so did a large church in Asheboro. We went to both! Throw in a yardsale and soccer practice and it was a busy, busy day.

After our yardsaling and first soccer practice, we headed over to Skylar's preschool for their festival. They had bouncies galore and Skylar was in heaven. Grey? Eh, I didn't think he had a horrible time, but the pictures say otherwise…

Look at the face!

Skylar enjoyed the bouncies and took us one-by-one through all of them. Love the look of concentration on her face here!

I mean, really, Grey? Really?

Actually, he gives us this look quite often. It means, watch out, 'cause I'm looking for something to get into...

Skylar was really excited about the big slide.

Until she tumbled head over heels a few times on the way down. I couldn't help but giggle as I rushed to her aide… all the while wondering if we were going to have to make another emergency room visit. Oh my.

Finally, a happy boy! Just give him some balloons!

So, we ate lunch there and headed home for some family nappage before heading out to Asheboro to meet my Mom, niece and nephews at our second church festival of the day. This was was over dinner-time and then they showed a movie on the lawn- "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." Actually, a pretty funny movie. I lol'd quite a few times.

They had bouncies there too, but Skylar was a bit timid after the slide incident and said that she would do the house, but not the big slide that made her go sideways. It was scary.

So, they played a little frisbee- Skylar was pretty good!

We might have to work on her form some though...

We ate to our heart's content with all the free food they had!

And then we rode the horse, which Skylar was very excited about. She keeps telling me that she wants two horses at her birthday party…

And then there was Charlie. The Mini horse who gave me a dazzling smile for the camera.

Thanks a bunch, Charles!

New Bunkbeds!

2011-09-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday, Ken and I were discussing what arrangements we would make when baby #3 comes along and decided that we would have to leave the baby stuff in Grey's room b/c the changing table system wouldn't fit in Skylar's room. And, Skylar and Grey will share a room until the baby is old enough to join whichever sibling is has more in common with… (genitalia-wise). So, we are going to leave the baby's room as is since we both love it. Score- nothing to do there!

However, we have a lot of work to do in Skylar's room. We debated about putting two small toddler beds in (two twin beds wouldn't fit) or getting them a bunkbed. We couldn't decide and didn't know how they would do safety-wise on a bunkbed, so we made a spur of the afternoon decision to drive down to Charlotte and visit Ikea so the kids could play all over the furniture there and pick out something for their room.

We came home with this:

Super-fun Ikea Kura Reversible bed!

We spent about 4 hours last night putting it together and Skylar was so excited to sleep in it for the first time. Tonight we are letting Skylar and Grey sleep in there together for the first time… or so time will tell. They have been in there giggling and running around for the last 30 minutes playing cowboy and cowgirl with little cowboy hats and stuffed horses.

Now, we have the bed and the bedding, so we have to figure out how to decorate the rest of the room. We will need to paint (the walls are purple with girly flower decorations) and pick out fabric for window treatments, etc.

And, we can change up the colors of the bed, tunnel and panels as well to match the new decor! So the question is: Do we want to go with a blue wall and red accents? Blue wall with yellow accents? Blue wall with orange accents? Or go with a completely different colored wall??

Putt-Putt

2011-09-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to Putt-Putt in High Point for my family birthday activity. It was the first time either of the kids had been and the first time in years for either Ken or me.

We started out hand-over-hand…

Skylar got pretty good.

After the initial hit, she always went back to the trusty ole' one-handed swing.

Which actually worked well for her! She got so excited whenever she got the ball in, too cute.

Grey started out like this:

But never really went much farther… :)

He was quick to cheat.

Object of game: get the ball in hole. Winning!

Grey's favorite part of the game was chasing the ball down the green.. it didn't matter whose ball it was and we often had to intervene.

We all had to take a break inside for a little drink mid-way through the game. Look at those red cheekies!

Surprise!

2011-08-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

Back in early August, we had a "surprise" birthday party for my granny…

and we gave her a real surprise to make up for her party not being a surprise!

Enjoy the video (you will probably have to go to my blog site to see the actual video…)

Badin Lake

2011-08-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went out to Badin Lake with some friends from our Sunday School class who graciously let everyone come out and enjoy their lake house for the day.

Skylar was not too excited about the lake water "'cause it's dirty" and has "crocodiles" in it… but she was excited to get on the boat… until we started leaving the dock and she wanted to go back! I think she actually enjoyed it though and said she would go back out on the boat if her friends went. And the boat didn't go too far away.

Grey loved the boat. And eating his life vest. Or maybe he was waiting for bugs.

At one point he fell asleep while sitting up on his knees looking out over the back of the boat. I noticed he was pretty heavy on my arm and looked down to see his head was flat out to the side. And he was drooling.

We went back up to the house and Skylar spent the day playing in a kiddie pool with her friends while Grey went around looking for balls. One of his favorite words now.

Did I mention that we are ready for football and basketball season to start??

Oh yea.

Madagascar in the Park

2011-08-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see Madagascar at Center City Park again. Love those free movies at the park!

Skylar was all about the camera last night and was cheesin' galore.

She had to put tissue in her ears because last time it was too loud.

Uh-oh...

2011-08-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner, I had to run to the bathroom in the middle of it… the bathroom upstairs because the one downstairs and the kids bathroom were both out of toilet paper.

That's what happens when your hubby rearranges the closet for you and put the extra rolls of TP on the top shelf where you can't reach.

And then he goes out of town for a week.

Don't worry… I think we'll make it till he get back home on the one roll left. No napkins/paper towels or kleenex here! :)

But, while I was upstairs I heard some rather loud, raucous laughter downstairs. I knew it would be trouble.

This is what I found:

One of Grey's favorite things to do now is throw food when he is done so we usually take his plate away first. Then he spits whatever is in his mouth out and throws it, so he gets removed from the table.

Evidently the mice will play while Mama is in the other room. Do you notice the look of utter innocence on that face?!?

He even had the nerve to ask me for more spaghetti! See the perfect use of that sign below!

His other new favorite thing is to shake his head no if he doesn't want anything or to nod his head yes when he does. He does really big, exaggerated shakes and nods and even has to open his mouth while nodding. Very cute.

Last day at Burmill for the summer :(

2011-08-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, to continue my last few free days of summer fun, I met some of my family at Burmill pool again for swimming! My mom picked up Skylar and Grey and took them on while I had a meeting to attend and then I met them after lunch.

Skylar had the best time with Izzy and her other cousins, while Grey was a little more cautious of the colder water. He's used to it being in the upper 90s when we go to the pool!

By the time I arrived, he was almost ready for a nap, so we grabbed his "iwwow" (pillow) and headed out to get the stroller. He was asleep in about 5 minutes, but only slept for about 10 total… stinker.

You can see how happy he is about his "iwwow" here:

As soon as she is done swimming, Skylar has a bad habit of stripping down…

She was in a playful mood yesterday and was tickling Izzy with the leaf while I was trying to take their picture.

Goofy one and Goofy two: Skylar kept looking back and forth between the camera and Izzy to make sure she was looking and smiling.

Grey's favorite part about Burmill is this slide: you can see Skylar going down here:

Skylar stole Grey's sunglasses for some reason, but he was happy to rock out the Hannah Montana glasses.

Skylar and Izzy

NC Zoo

2011-08-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

This is my last (partial) week of summer before school starts back up… waaa!

The whole working part-time during the summer is the pits. It makes the summer go by way too fast.

So, today, I took the kids to the big zoo and we spent the day gallivanting up and down hill country to see all the animals. Skylar was so excited and kept naming which animal she wanted to see next… typically the one farthest away from where we were. When I would say something like, "how about we see the gorillas on our way to the lions?", I'd get a big sigh and an "okayyy". Do I have a teenager already??

But we all had a blast and were exhausted by the end of the day. Luckily it was only about 85* today, and it actually felt great outside. Perfect day for the zoo. Now, if only my kiddos could walk the whole thing so I wouldn't have to push the Bob… but then how would I sneak my snacks in everywhere… hmm, dilemma.

First off, can someone please give me one of these?? I'm in love with this arrangement!

The black bears. The grizzlies were absent today.

Skylar's favorite today was the alligators, because they were so still. Maybe b/c she's been playing crocodile in the pool with her cousins lately?? Its my best guess.

Really Mr. Nik (Gorilla). What kind of a zoo do you think this is?

Well hello there, Mr. Giraffe.

It really was a great day to see the animals. All but the grizzlies were out in their habitats and many were active. We got to see the baby chimp up close by the glass; the uh-umm gorilla up close and personal; the giraffes and zebras were super close as were the elephants. The lion was MIA the first time we went by their place, but when we circled back around, the mane-man was lying in the grass and even gave us several extremely loud roars.

It was actually rather frightening… I had no idea they were so loud.

Grey's favorites were the monkeys. Which were really the gorillas and the chimps.

We haven't mastered our species lessons yet… but he has mastered the "ohh, ahhh, ahh, ahh" which he proudly displayed today. To Nik's heiny. Nik being the gorilla.

We learned so much today, and I'm sure everyone wants to know what questions Skylar asked me when we walked up to see Nik's.., uh-umm, nether regions, uh-umm, displayed so prominently today.. but I ain't tellin'.

Wet'nWild

2011-08-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took the kids back to Wet'nWild and Skylar was so excited because Granny and Grandma were coming with us this time! She's been wanting them to come to "her pool" all summer!

We started off with some of their favorite things: Climbing on the seal.

And blocking the water fountain on the baby whale. They think it's hilarious when they splash someone with the water.

And of course, no day is complete without swinging a little bit.

I think their most favorite thing to do is eat however.. so we spent quite a bit of time snacking as well.

We also went down a bunch of slides, but headed back to the pool area when we saw the line for the cyclone- one of Skylar's favorites.

Children's Museum

2011-08-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

The other week we went to the Children's Museum with some friends from church. Skylar was very timid at first, but warmed up nicely by the end. Grey had fun, but definitely made it known that he was not a baby and did not go into the baby/toddler area.

Really, what were we thinking?? Just look at how grown up he is! Baby? I think not!

;)

Here he is enjoying a nice afternoon in the wilderness by the campsite with his friend. Do you see any babies here??

And he was so grown up, he even got to drive the train. And watch the train on the tv at the same time.

Meanwhile, Skylar was forced to do slave labor and fill up the engine with coal.

I LOVE the Children's Museum… if it just wasn't so dang expensive!

Look who's swimming!

2011-08-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

The other day I caved in and bought Skylar the newest rendition of arm floaties at Target. She's been wanting one all summer and I just didn't want to spend $18 on a floaty. But, most pools don't allow the arm bands anymore and this new one can be used in place of a life vest. Very convenient at Wet'nWild. And both Skylar and Grey can use it for years to come if needed.

Yesterday, we spent the day at Bur-mill with some family and she tried them out for the first time. She was swimming all by herself and even showing off how she can float on her back now. Well worth the $18 in my opinion!

Here are the kiddos playing Alligator.

Cheyanne's friend Kaylee joined us for the day.

Here she is! Yelling at me not to take her picture...

Where's Skylar? Can you spot her face peeking through the orange and yellow posts? She was hiding from the camera.

Grey was all about the slide at Bur-mill and it was so fun to be able to show off his lack of fear to the family!

They also loved the splash area.

Grey's new dance moves

2011-07-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Cast update and silly walk

2011-07-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago tomorrow, we headed back to the ortho for x-rays on Skylar's leg. In order to get the x-rays we had to take the cast off, and let me tell you, it wasn't a moment too soon. There was a hole in the bottom by her heel where she scooted across the floor on it and overall, it was in pretty nasty shape. I took Ken's phone and headphones with us since they would have to use the saw, but she was really excited to get her cast off and get a new blue one on. The saw didn't scare her in the least. We went back for x-rays, which she wasn't a fan of, but did pretty well once we got her baby doll for her, and then we went back for more blue suckers from her favorite nurse and waited for the doctor to come in.

She started complaining pretty much as soon as her cast came off that her leg was hurting, as I'm sure it felt really weird for her after all those weeks of not using her muscles.

Well, the doctor came in and said that her bone was showing aggressive growth and she didn't think Skylar needed another cast on. Good news and bad news. Good news: no more cast, we can get on with our summer plans! Bad news: no more cast, Skylar was really looking forward to a new cast.

Needless to say, we left in tears because she really wanted a new cast. She was terrified on not having that protection for her leg and I think she's kind of enjoyed the extra attention lately. Especially at the playplace in Chick-fil-a.

So, two weeks later and a phone call to the doctor, she still isn't walking on her leg. We have tried bribing, making up games, going to the pool, etc. and so far nothing has helped. I called the doctor yesterday just to make sure that this was normal and they said yes. Give her lots of massages and just keep it up.

Yesterday, she actually took a few steps on her own; and she was so proud to show me when I got home from work. Today, I took some video with Ken's phone to record this moment!

Here is her "silly walk":

Gardening Adventures

2011-07-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

This summer we (as in the kids and I) have found ourselves spending quite a bit of time in the dirt. Once a week we go to McIver to meet up with some friends and tend to the garden there:

Here is what the students planted before they left for the summer. We have tried our best to keep everything alive and considering that I for one have no experience, I think we've done a good job! On Fridays, I take my group from the Autism Society over to work on the garden and then we take our harvest by the local food bank. There is always at least a full grocery bag or three to donate.

I finally took my camera this last Tuesday to take some pictures of the kids in the garden because they are precious, but made the mistake of waiting until we were about done before taking any pictures. Skylar had gotten soaked with the hose and thereby stripped nekked, so I couldn't very well take pictures of her then. Jane, who met us for breakfast and gardening, laughed and told me to drive extra carefully home so as not to get into a wreck.

Grey is a huge (?) help in the garden. Or else he will be when he learns the difference between leaves and grass. He loves to help weed, but tends to grab the nice green leaves off the plants and tear them before throwing them out of the garden.

And when we do pick some veggies? He does this:

We have to hide the tomatoes.

So, I've been inspired to take a risk and work on my own gardening at home and was especially excited a few weeks ago to go to The Christmas Tree shop and find all of their plants on sale. We got all kinds of things from tomatoes, to strawberries, to wildflowers and some hanging pots all for about $10.

Skylar and Grey helped me plant everything and have helped water them too. The other day it was time to transplant some of our little growers into bigger pots and they, ahem, were a big help then too. Ken helped, so I had a chance to grab some pictures without the fear of Grey destroying everything we did while I was busy. Oh wait, that fear was still there.

There aren't any pictures of Skylar here because she wanted to take pictures instead of be in them. So she zoomed around the porch in her little flinstone-like car and took a few pictures of Grey. Meanwhile Grey was busy digging in the dirt.

We used their picnic table as our potting area. It was a good height for them actually and worked better than the front yard which we used the first go round.

Grey loves these little shovels and rakes.

Here is some of our work from the day. The larger plant is one from my classroom that survived the school year. He got replanted in the teapot since he needed some more room. The smaller one is one of our pumpkin plants.

Here is the other pumpkin plant. Two of four of them have made it and I don't think the other two seeds are going to hatch. Although we will keep trying. These two have grown about twice the size in the last week since we replanted them!

This is where they started and where the other two seeds still are.

Here are our strawberry plants. They haven't shown anything yet and I'm not sure they will since I believe it is past season.

Grey might or might not have eaten some of the dirt as he was rearranging things.

I moved the finished plants up to the top railing to try to save them from his incessant digging and he climbed on his table to try to reach them.

Here are some of the wildflowers we planted on the front porch.

Only one of them has sprouted anything, and I'm not sure if they are getting enough sun under the porch… might have to move them out to another location.

Here is another pot with wildflowers in it. Just started to come up.

And here is our cherry tomato plant. Looking pretty good!

And around the yard. We have quite a bit of landscaping around our yard: its obvious the previous owners were big into gardening. Its been fun to see what pops up during different times of the year and it seems there is always some new flowers blooming throughout spring and summer.

Here are the butterfly plants. I'm sure I could find the name of them if I searched, but what I do know is that they attract tons of butterflies when they bloom.

Here is my hydrangea bush. It is usually a vibrant blue/purple, but its been excessively hot lately with little rain, so its died down some.

These beauties are blooming on the right side of the front proch.

While these are blooming on the left side.

Last year I went through and took several macro photos of all the different colored flowers in our yard and they now decorate our kitchen. Makes it feel much brighter and prettier!

Movies in the park

2011-07-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

One thing I loved about Nashville was that every summer, they would show free movies at Centennial Park- just bring your blanket, chairs and snacks.

I realized last summer that Greensboro started the same thing in 2009, but I never had the chance to go. Last night, Skylar and I went and met my mom, niece, and two nephews for a showing of "The Goonies" on the big screen!

The park was packed, but we had good seats. Skylar wasn't a huge fan of the movie- I'm pretty sure she got scared of the Fratelli's brother in chains- but she watched the whole movie and did great. She's ready to go back for "Madagascar" next month.

Here is Caleb, JJ, and Cheyanne.

And here is Skylar. She didn't want to have her picture taken last night.

*side note: this is why there is usually a discrepancy between the number of pictures I have of Grey vs. the number I have of Skylar.

The Fourth!

2011-07-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

The fourth is always a fun holiday. We always eat good food and have a good time, but the stress that can mark other holidays doesn't seem to inhibit this one.

This year we got up and went to the Jamestown Parade festival. The kids ate their breakfast when we got there at 10 if that tells you anything about our schedule lately. Usually they are in bed by 7:30 at the latest and up by 8:30 at the latest. Ever since Skylar broke her leg and then we have had visitors in the area, we have been staying up late and sleeping in later.

The kids enjoyed the parade (mainly the candy and the little flags they were given), but Skylar apparently thought she was going to get to ride in a float again this year like she did last year. She was a little disappointed when we set up shop on the sidewalk with everyone else!

The beginning of the parade. I really like the Jamestown parade when the kids are this age because it is shorter and easier to attend than Greensboro's downtown.

Recognize this? This was the float that Ken and Skylar rode last year.

And evidently Jim Carrey participated as well… ? Not sure why...

After the parade, we headed over the Nana and Pop's house for a last visit with Gigi and Gpop before they headed back to ole' TN. :(

We relaxed and played for a while before making some homemade ice cream. Yum!

I haven't had homemade ice cream since my Pa-paw used to make it, so its a little nostalgic for me. Skylar absolutely loved it!

We might have to invest in a ice cream maker… you know, for the nostalgia factor.

Skylar helped Nana and Papa make the ice cream. You can see what was important to her:

She told me, very seriously, that she had to lick it because it was too thick to go in the sink.

Watching the machine and occasionally adding more ice or salt.

After we left Nana and Papa's house, the plan was to meet my Mom and go to High Point's festival and stay for the fireworks that night, but we had a huge thunderstorm go through the area, so we opted to hang out at home for a while until the storm passed.

With the kiddos are dolled up in their pjs, we headed out way past their bedtime to find a good place to park for HP's fireworks since we had never seen their's before. We finally settled on just parking in the park and paying $10 before we ran out of time looking for a spot.

We parked and walked up the hill just as the show started, and ended up with some of the best seats I've ever had for fireworks.

Grey liked them, and kept pointing up and saying, "ohhhh" which is his form of wow.

Poor baby about fell asleep, but barely made it.

Skylar liked the fireworks, but was afraid of the loud sounds. Smart mom here forgot to bring some earplugs for her even though I knew this would happen…

She kept one ear pressed up again the stroller and used her pillow to block the other ear. She said her favorites were the little loud fireworks and the ones that looked like fireflys.

She did smile during the grand finale!

And here are some of my favorites from the night. I was pretty pleased with how they came since I've never tried to photograph them before and I just assumed they would all be blurry.

Gigi and Gpop come to visit!

2011-07-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty busy this past week spending time at Nana's and Papa's house. Last Saturday, Ken's brother, Joel, called to say that he was in town for the week. So, we headed over for dinner and learned that Gigi and Gpop were also coming to town on Sunday for the week. We spent most evenings with them this week and Skylar and Grey (and Ken and I too, of course) have really enjoyed seeing everyone this week.

I'm not sure that Gigi and Gpop were aware of how much Skylar really enjoyed having them here this week as she isn't one to show a ton of affection to other people. It is one of the aspects of her personality that I wish she would outgrow, although I know it is part of what makes her her. But sometimes she can come off as rude or uncaring towards others and I pray it doesn't impede her relationships over the years.

Grey also enjoyed the past week, but was mainly too busy running in circles around the house to pay much attention to anyone, unless they had food.

Bill and Kristen came up at the end of the week and cooked an amazing dinner for everyone Friday night, so of course we had to take the opportunity for a family picture with everyone here at once. Now I wish I had changed out of my nasty work clothes beforehand...

Gigi and Gpop

Nana and Grey clapping at Papa's silliness trying to get Grey to smile :)

We started with Papa first and Grey was definitely in the mood to pose for a picture. Do you think he knows what a camera is yet?

Papa was playing and put a finger up to Grey's mouth which he immediately took a little nip of and thought, "this game is hilarious, let's do it again!" Here's his I'm gonna get you face as he is waiting for Papa to put a finger back up.

When Papa wouldn't cooperate, Grey showed him how it was done. "See, I can do two fingers!"

Beach music in the park

2011-07-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

The other night, Ken had a social media meeting to go to, so I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take the kids to Beach Music in the Park at Festival Park downtown. It was crazy packed, but lots of fun. One of the downsides of Skylar having to wear a cast now is that I have to use the double stroller when I take both kids anywhere. Grey just isn't old enough to walk on his own most places- especially not to something like this. And we had quite a time maneuvering around all of these people in the double Bob!

We paid a cover charge to get in, but then all of the downtown restaurants set up booths with free food samples, so we ate well! The kids had a blast! We found an out-of-the-way spot by the bouncy house to eat our dinner and listen to the band. Grey was a dancing machine, and Skylar was boogieing her little shoulders all night.

The band was Sleeping Booty and I was actually impressed. After we ate and played for a while, we drove the Bob around to the other side of the crowd so Skylar could see the band and ended up right beside the stage, so they both got a front-row view of everything.

Grey would run around dancing and then flop down on his pillow and stick his thumb in his mouth for a second before hopping back up again.

But I knew it was time to leave when he couldn't bring himself to let go of the pillow again!

Two tired kiddos.

It is ridiculously hard to get a good picture of Grey when he is dancing. But basically, he stomps his feet, wiggles his arms around and claps. Sometimes he will throw in a squat or two.

Skylar enjoyed the music, but had to stay on the blanket the whole time because the grass was pretty wet.

Whoa buddy.

I think Grey is learning a little too much from Skylar...

Here he is clapping...

And this is the, "I'm not totally sure if it is okay that I'm doing this, but I'm gonna do it anyway" look.

Skylar was in another one of her, "don't take my picture" moods.

I think Grey got a glimpse of the ball being tossed around here. And notice the marks on the side of his face? This is what happens when I accidentally leave Skylar's travel art desk with dry erase crayons within her reach in the backseat. I should have known she was being too quiet.

I love this next series. It really highlights what I go through during most car rides lately.

First: Grey has bag of chips. Happy boy.

Second: Skylar sees bag of chips. Wants whatever Grey has. Steals first chip.

Third: Grey is keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get another chip.

Fourth: Grey gets distracted by the balloons. Happens to the best of us buddy.

Fifth: Skylar makes her move. Grey begins the "shriek at the top of his lungs" death yell.

Sixth: Skylar enjoys his torment. Also joins in "shriek at the top of her lungs" death yell.

Scene continues until chips are all gone or Grey bites Skylar's arm. This has happened twice now.

Skylar's relaxing on the blanket.

Grey really wanted a balloon. He tried to sneak over there several times.

Just checkin' to see if you were watchin' mom.

Fun with Aaron

2011-06-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today we met up with Aaron, his older brother Luke, and his mom. We went to "story time" at the Central Library, which actually turned out to be the movie Ratatouille. We left a little early and looked at some books before heading over to Center City Park for a picnic and some running around by the fountains.

The first thing Skylar showed Aaron was her band-aids on her foot that she got yesterday. Priorities here.

Skylar didn't want her picture taken here for some reason...

After we ate, Aaron and Luke ran around under the fountains for a little bit before we realized they weren't supposed to do that. Skylar would have joined in if I had brought her cast cover and Grey was too engrossed in the extra food to care at that point.

Then he got out and ran around a little bit, but kept wanting to just get in the fountain. Luke showed him how to splash in the puddles and he thought that was hilarious.

Aaron wanted some more yogurt, so he and Skylar chilled in the stroller while he ate.

Grey was still trying to figure out how to get in the fountain...

Are boys and girls really different?

2011-06-27T20:10:00.001-07:00

So far, Grey and Skylar have been mostly different as babies and toddlers. Although they were/are both happy babies, Skylar was a bit more high-strung than Grey. Especially as a baby. She learned to walk super early, learned signs very quickly and amassed a pretty large vocabulary by the time she was two. More than most kids speak. And was always very playful.

Grey was a late bloomer, shall we say? Remember, this time last year, I was about to take him in for an evaluation to make sure he was developing alright. Because he was just too happy lying around to be motivated to move anywhere…

He also does not have a large vocabulary of spoken words, but has not taken to signing very well either (maybe that's b/c I haven't been working with him as much… ya know, job and all). For the last few months, we have noticed a trend with Grey's play habits. He enjoys the dishwasher. The vacuum. The laundry. The broom. The baby dolls and accessories (stroller, food). You can see the pattern, I'm sure. Ken likes to say that he enjoys tools in any capacity. It also might be my fault for not getting him more boy toys...

Recently, however, I have started noticing a trend in the opposite direction. He likes his cars, balls, and running around the rooms. He throws everything he can get his little hands on, and it if hits someone, the more the better. He has also bit Skylar twice and likes to give Ken super strong hugs while bitting his neck…

But there are some things that don't change. Grey can be a super snuggler- especially if said snugglee has a certain pillow pet. Anywhere he sees his giraffe or monkey, he will throw himself down on it and start sucking his thumb.

I just found out that Target is selling mini-pillow pets and I'm kinda excited about them! That huge pillow is pretty awkward to carry around with us to places like Church or the pool, where he might take a nap.

And then here is the difference between boys and girls: where Nana would just snuggle little man and rock him, Papa decided this is a good time to teach Grey how to punch.

His giraffe. And Grey loved it.

Oooh, look at me Papa, that one was so funny!

Our summer activities

2011-06-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, I took the kids to McIver to do a little gardening (we plan on going most weeks this summer) and we were all hot and sweaty by the time we left, so we decided to try our luck at Wet'nWild to cool off. I was a little nervous since it was my first time since "the incident" taking both of them swimming by myself, but figured Skylar could crabwalk and float around and I could hold Grey's hand. They did great at the pool and we had a blast!

Until we got back to the car and I took Skylar's cast cover off… and her cast was dripping water. Something went way wrong somewhere, and I checked that thing constantly throughout the day and it was dry.

After hours of using the hairdryer and a tongue depressor to push a towel in between the bottom of her foot and the cast, it was still soaking wet when she fell asleep. We went to see our nice cast doctors on Wed. and luckily for us, they thought it was fine to leave on, but did recover the ankle part where it was mushy.

Not sure where that leaves us as far as the pool goes… but we have exciting plans for the rest of the summer!

Skylar and I have been practicing her writing and numbers, and doing lots of coloring and art projects. Our church is starting a summer story time this Tuesday that we will go to, and possibly some more kids movies at the theater on Wednesdays. We went this past Wednesday to see Alpha and Omega with my mom and their cousins, but Grey was interested for only about 15 minutes. And that was mostly because of the popcorn and drink… But we did get a free dentist visit for Skylar (which we used on Thursday) and a free happy meal for Grey, so maybe we'll try it again.

I work on Mondays and Fridays, and am hoping to spend Thursdays catching up with friends.

In the meantime, there are also a bunch of projects that I want to get done while I am at home, starting with our garage. It is disgusting. And filled with creatures.

So, the past two days, I have put Skylar and Grey down on a blanket at the top of our driveway with a bunch of bubbles, sidewalk chalk and toys while I have been working on the garage. And yard. Did I mention that I finally finished my bush? Thanks to hubby who stood there with a can of wasp spray and chased them all away while I worked.

Bubbles!

Btw- is it okay to be jealous of your children's eyelashes? Cause I am.

Grey's are finally starting to darken up, but I think they will be about the color of mine- kinda dark on the bottom, with blonde tips.

And Skylar got Ken's eyelashes- super thick, long and dark. Seriously perfect. :)

Skylar has really learned to get around with her cast this week- a complete change from wanting to be carried everywhere last week. It's a good thing we go back in a few weeks to get a new one, because this one will not last the full 6-8 as much as she slides on it and drags it behind her.

Playing with her long-lost toys we found in the garage. I'm pretty sure they were set aside to go to consignment. Or maybe we threw them out there before Skylar's birthday party last October in an attempt to hide the clutter inside?

Grey's about as good of a walker as I am: not at all. And he fell yesterday and skinned up his knee. He let dada put some alcohol on it (yikes) and a bandaid. He was really interested in what was happening, but immediately ripped the bandaid off like, "what is this dada?" and handed it back to Ken.

And… one of our families favorite games is "stinky feet". Skylar has always taken her shoes off in the car- everytime, and now Grey is learning to as well. And seriously, during the summer time, it can get pretty stinky in there. Let's just say, I can always tell when they have their shoes off, even without looking. Well, they think it is hilarious when I say, "Ewww, I smell stinky baby feet!" and then they want me to smell their feet and say it again. Well, Ken has now adapted the game to where he makes the kids smell his feet. And then Grey will turn his head to the side and mumble something sorta resembling "eww, stinky" and giggle.

Poor kids.

Grey has not yet mastered the art of blowing bubbles, but he sure tried! Here was his best attempt, although no air came out and he wasn't holding a wand. Typically he likes to stick his tongue out and spit at the wand.

Swimming fun

2011-06-21T10:12:00.001-07:00

The other day we tried out Skylar's swimming cast cover, praying that it would stay dry… and it worked! And to our amazement, her cast also seemed to float instead of sink to the bottom! Skylar was so ready to get in the pool and adjusted quite easily to her new situation. She floated in circles around the baby pool the whole time. She was hesitant to get in the big pool, and seemed afraid of what would happen since she couldn't use her leg to help her, so she stuck to the baby pool for the day.

But just because she has a broken leg does not exempt her from getting splashed. That's how we roll. Toughen' em up.

Grey did much better this time than the first couple of times he went to the pool this year. He was all smiles and attempted walking on his own most of the time. He even learned how to squat in the water and spent most of his time squatting down and standing back up.

And he loved the bucket of water.

And this is what dad's are good for: roughhousing. Anyone else think we should buy stock in medical supplies?

Shower babies

2011-06-19T11:03:00.001-07:00

Both Skylar and Grey LOVE the shower. Grey wants to get in pretty much every morning and he is seriously the cutest thing ever, standing under the spray. He usually stands with his head under the spray and his face pointing down. He would literally stand there all morning, I have no doubt.

And did I mention that he is a huge cheeser now? He's been giving me this face lately when I have the camera. :)

The "incident"

2011-06-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

Fair warning: I like to use run-on sentences with lots of detail. It's a bit long.

Last Saturday, I went to a graduation party of a dear friend of my family's. My mom used to watch kids at home so she could be home with us in the afternoons until I was in high school, and Christine was one of her kids. Christine was with us from 6 weeks old until she went to Kindergarten and quickly became part of the family. My mother and Christine's mother are best friends and although they have grown apart in the past few years, will always have a special relationship. We used to travel together every year for vacation. I used to take Christine and Melissa to the mall for walks and people would look at me like I was crazy for having two kids at so young an age… really people?? And she has now graduated high school. And now I feel old.

Susan put on a wonderful graduation party for Christine, with yummy food and fun entertainment in the form of Dance Party 2. Skylar was a little too shy to showcase her dancing skills, but Grey jumped right on in there for a minute!

They also have a wonderful, enclosed and fully-padded full-size trampoline in the backyard. I was kinda excited to get on myself, but Grey really just didn't want to be bothered with the heat. So, I let Cheyanne take Skylar out to jump on the trampoline while I watched from the window. They were happily jumping along, with Cheyanne enticing animated laughter from Skylar like only she can, and I turn to get Grey some more drink. I look back up and Cheyanne is pulling a crying Skylar out from the enclosed trampoline and run outside to meet them. No, she didn't fall or jump onto anything. She didn't trip over her own feet. She just got double-bounced. And it broke her leg in two places. :*(

I, being the wonderful mother that I am, believed she was just overtired and hot and needed to cool down and rest and she would be fine. She kept saying her leg hurt so we put ice on it, however there was no swelling or bruising and she fell asleep in my lap after about 10 minutes. I decided it was time to head on out then, and so we loaded up the car and headed home. Skylar kept crying out that her leg hurt and she needed ice on it, but again, I was just thinking she was over-tired.

We get home and Ken has a conniption fit over her leg (and my letting her jump on a full-size trampoline) and after another hour or so of Skylar saying her leg hurts and refusing to stand on it at all, we decided it was time to take her to see a doctor.

But, where to go?? This is where it is great to live in the same city as my mom… I can call her anytime and say, "hey, Skylar's leg is still hurting, so I'm gonna go ahead and take her in. Where should I go?" and she gives me a list of places to check hours for and sure enough, we find an Urgent Care still open. We are on our way.

In the car, Skylar is much more animated and happy than she was at home and I keep asking her, Skylar does your leg still hurt? and she replies, "Umm, it's a lotta, lotta, lotta, lotta better. But it still hurts a little, little, little bit." Complete with finger cues. I'm trying to get her to tell me that she is fine and we don't need to go see a doctor so that I don't have to shell out $75 for an Urgent Care visit for an overly-tired and hot child with a possibly bruised shin. She hates going to the doctor (unless we are going for Grey) and so I thought, "surely, she will start walking on her leg now, so she won't have to go to the doctor." I even stooped so low as to tell her they would probably give her a shot.

Yes, I know. I'm not a good mom. It's a good thing its Father's day tomorrow instead of Mother's day. Oh, the guilt!

So, we are in with the doctor and she hates it- she refuses to let them take her temperature, refuses to wear the mandatory ID bracelet, absolutely refuses to get x-rays. There was a small, slimmer of hope when they brought out the princess stickers, but that only went so far. And then she balled them up and threw them back at the nurse when she suggested she open her mouth to take her temperature.

What can I say? She has her daddy's temperament and my bones.

Overall though she was happy. When the doctor was in talking to me, she was very cooperative. Even played "itsy-bitsy spider" on my face one time and laughed when I looked down at her. In the doctor's words, "sick kids don't act like that!" He had pretty much decided to send us home with the promise to call her doctor on Monday or even try the Hospital's pediatric ER if things weren't better by Sunday.

Yet, she still refused to even stand on that leg. He had poked, twisted and prodded her leg all over and she only barely flinched when he touched the shin. She would point to a place on her shin and the corresponding calf area and say that is where it hurts (we put band-aids over the booboos to help them). The doctor was worried since kids just don't refuse to bear weight without a problem. So we did x-rays. Or, the picture machine of death as I like to refer to it now.

And he came back in our room later and said, "you won't believe this, but… she has two fractures just below her knee."

Jaw drops to the floor.

Pick said jaw back up- you never know what's on the floor of the Urgent Care…

So, we got a hard splint that night, which Skylar was very cooperative and talkative for, and headed home. On Monday, we went to the Orthopedist and got a blue cast put on. Skylar was so, so excited about the blue cast and even asked if we were going back to the new doctor (meaning the Urgent Care) because they were good doctors.

Really, after all that drama?

She was great at the Orthos until they had to remove her bandaids that we had put on at home, that were still on under her hard splint. It was like ripping a security blanket away. Literally. From a three-year-old with a broken leg, about to get a full-leg cast for 6-8 weeks at the beginning of summer. Who hates taking pain medicine.

Oh, the guilt.

She was carried out of there with multiple bandaids on her fingertips, and huge puffy cheeks and red eyes from crying over those bandaids. She still talked about them days later.

The next night we were laying bed and she asked me why we had to take those two bandaids off and I explained, for the hundredth time, why, and she looks at me funny and says, "but you left the other one" on and points to the spot that I had indeed put on a third bandaid, on the bottom of her calf. Are you sure its still on there? "yea, its right there mama!"

Whoops. I guess we will see you in four weeks little bandaid. Please don't hurt my babies skin too bad in the meantime.

Here is Skylar in sleep mode. She has taken over Ken's spot in our bed and sleeps with Grey's monkey pet pillow and the snowman pillow under her leg.

We had a short-notice cast signing party this morning at the house and here is Skylar showing Granny her cast (at least that is my interpretation of this photo?)

Aftynne and I are singing for Mackenzy and Grey while Skylar is getting Granny to put a blue star on her other leg to match the black one Papa put on last night.

She is much more excited about her stars than what is written all over her cast!

Here's Mackenzy giving her mom, Aftynne, the "what are you doing holding another baby" look while she is holding Grey! Love her! And seriously, Mackenzy talks more than both of my kids combined. She is sooo cute!

My friendly neighbors...

2011-06-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

… the kind that live in this bush.

I was trimming up the bushes/forest in the yard this evening and got reacquainted with my old friend, Mr. Red Wasp, from last year. As you can see, I made it a little less than halfway across the bush before he made his haughty little appearance.

We had a battle of the wills…

but he won.

Don't worry though, I am planning a sneak attack to best him once and for all!

My sneak attack is named Ken.

I mean, I can't leave my bush looking like this! It is the very first thing you see when you look at my house. And, since we are at the very end of a cul-de-sac and situated up high on the mountain (very steep hill), it is the first thing most people see when they look down my street.

And my neighbors a few houses down are moving and need to sell their house.

This is not a selling point… a bush with a half mohawk. Really?

Pool Time!

2011-06-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, we bought our season passes to Wet'nWild just a few weeks ago and have been once, with plans to go many more times over this summer! We also hit up the in-laws community pool a couple of times as well…. and I'm so thankful we did!

Hopefully, I can find a swimming cast cover at a medical supply store tomorrow, or else our days of swimming this summer are not only limited- they are over. :(

Here are a few pics that Ken took while we were at the in-laws pool…

Skylar and her friend-for-the-day were amazed by the frog we found swimming in the pool.

She was so much braver this year- already sticking her head under water and loving it!

Grey was not so sure about all that water. Or sunlight. Yes, if you give him sunglasses, he will wear them constantly while outside.

Ken was busy, busy pulling Skylar and her friend around the pool.

This is what happens when Grey trips and tries to catch himself with his hands… doesn't quite work. He's done this twice now!

Duck Park

2011-06-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Skylar likes to name the different places in our community based on what she likes or does at that place. The grocery store is either the cookie store (Harris Teeter) because they have the free cookies for kids, or the car store (Lowe's) because they have the car cart that her and Grey get to drive around the store. Chick-fil-a is the cow nuggets, because, well, I'm sure you can figure that one out. Target is the icee store because she likes to get a blue icee there. And so on and so forth. Although she knows most of the real names of places, she still thinks about them from in these ways and so do we. Instead of teaching her the correct way to name things, we usually end up modeling after her…

One of her favorite parks to go to is the duck park, because of all the ducks and geese running around. We tried to picnic there one night and almost lost a baby hand due to our foolishness.

We went there a few weeks ago, in the good ol' days of mobility, (before the "incident") and realized our mistake when we were sweating profusely just walking from our car to the playground. Even the kids were too hot to play too much!

My little princess, watching another little girl playing a little ways away. Anytime we go somewhere Skylar looks for all of the little girls her age to play with and volleys between being too shy to go up to them or just jumping right on in!

He's such a big boy now!! Something about this picture makes me think he looks so much bigger these days.

Lots of pictures...

2011-06-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, Grey has begun to throw tantrums. He's a fan of throwing things down, including himself (although he always lands on his butt) and then crying.

Aww, isn't this face so sad!?!

Before it reached Hell temps, we went to the neighborhood park several times a week. The kids loved it, I loved it, and they got to play in the sand. Gross.

Here's Grey's first taste of sand...

I have no idea what this face means. Was it good? Bad? Who knows.

The park has a little track around it that the kids love to walk around, picking up all of the rocks.

He was trying to find Skylar, who had climbed up into the top area of the playset.

I'm still practicing here, but for some reason, Grey has a tendency to photograph as one large blown-out white spot. Maybe its the pale skin against blond hair? Even in pictures where everyone else is normal, he will be one big blur of whiteness.

My little cheeseball!

She will turn me gray early, but I love her little attitude!

She really loves Grey too! She always has and even now as he is getting bigger, she still loves on him!

Err, and sometimes that love takes the form of hitting him in the head with some reeds.

You okay, Grey? Hey, you okay?

He just loves to share. No baby, Mama doesn't want any, thank you.

Lazy Sunday afternoons

2011-05-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we went over to Nana and Papa's house to visit and see Uncle Bill and Aunt Kristen. While dada took a nap, Nana, Bill and Kristen went to run some errands, so I took the two stinkers out for a walk. I quickly learned that Grey is not a long-distance walker and once he reached his limit (about ten steps past the driveway) he wanted me to carry him the rest of the way. Completely refused to move another inch!

So, we walked a few houses up and then got chased by a pack of ravenous dogs… three boxers… and decided that was a good place to turn around. We went back home and tried out Nana's new rocking chairs on the front porch!

Until Grey realized it was hot outside and he wanted in.

After everyone returned home and woke up sleeping beauty, we all decided to take a walk… to see the horses. One of the wheels on the stroller has a hole that we haven't patched up yet, so once again, I carried Grey all the way up to the horse barn.

Skylar loves horses and has decided that she wants us to get one for our house. She wants us to go to the store and buy a barn and a fence and then we can go buy a horse. She kept trying to call the horses to come to her so she could rub them, "c'mere horsey horsey! C'mere horsey, I want to touch you!"

Grey was not at all sure about those huge beasts.

And this one makes me laugh! What in the world happened to his hair!?! It wasn't the wind 'cause Grey's is flat… he didn't throw his head down suddenly because it is still up straight… what happened here?

GYC Carnival

2011-05-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

This past week/weekend, the GYC carnival was going on by the Coliseum. Being that we are broke, we don't usually do things like carnivals and fairs, but I thought I had read something somewhere about there being some free time for kids… so I looked it up Friday night and lo and behold, Saturday was free entrance and free rides from 10-11! So, we got up and headed out the door Saturday morning to meet my Mom and niece at the carnival! We still had to pay for parking, and threw in a few bucks for some cotton candy, but otherwise it was perfect! The sky was overcast and it was early, so there was hardly anyone there. We got to ride everything we wanted to in the park before they started charging!

Skylar was a little skeptical at first, and kept throwing her hands up at me when she went around on her first ride… but she quickly got the hang of it!

Grey kept trying to get down out of the stroller so he could get on some rides too, so I took him on the carousel with Skylar. The first time, we all sat on a bench and he loved it. The second time I put them both on a horse together and he gave me this face the entire ride… until he saw a lady walking by with food and then he kept trying to locate her in the crowd and forgot to be scared.

Granny and Cheyanne rode the ferris wheel which Skylar was adamant that she would not be going on. She did tell me that she would go on a "little big wheel" though. And side note, this past Monday a worker was cleaning up the ferris wheel and fell and died. Sad story.

Skylar was evidently, "weally weally weally weally wEALLY weally weally lotsa hungry" when she spotted all of the food booths, so she pigged out on some cotton candy while Cheyanne and I rode the Himalaya. I think she's a fan.

Grey also got his first taste of cotton candy…

I think he's a fan as well. :)

That's cotton candy in his hand there, hidden by his elbow.

I hope they do this free thing every year!

Self-feeding = 10 minutes free time for Mom!

2011-05-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Grey is a mama's boy. Through and through.

I used to think Skylar was bad, but Grey has her beat times ten.

He's 15 months old and I just stopped nursing. He gets very angry at me when he doesn't get to nurse. And that has made it hard to stop before now.

But its getting embarrassing. He likes to grab my shirt and try to pull it down. Or push it up. And I found out that can be very awkward when I'm holding in while trying to carry on a conversation. There's nothing discreet about trying to not flash a person standing directly in front of you.

And I started having nightmares. Of Grey being five years old and having to be home-schooled because he still nurses.

I didn't want to be that mom. And I didn't want Grey to be that boy.

So, I pulled the plug. And he is so much happier (angrier) than before!

Lately I've been super busy with take-home work from school plus doing homework for my online class that I have needed to take some time while the kids are still awake to work. But Grey really doesn't like that and hates it when I am on the computer at home. And then I end up writing sentences that make no sense or putting the wrong date on the school yearbook.

So, enter in 10-20 minutes of free time for me, in which Grey is happily occupied. And immobile (very important!).

Give this kid some food and a spoon! Preferable when he doesn't have any clothes on! These pictures were all taken the day that Skylar went fishing with Papa and I was sitting inside at the kitchen table trying to write a paper. I did actually finish the paper at a later time, but it was too distracting with Grey sitting right there and the camera just inches away…

Throw in a few strawberries for him to dig for and it gave me an extra ten minutes!

And just throw him in the sink to clean up while he plays with the water. It's a win-win.

Fishing with Papa

2011-05-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile... These last few weeks have been filled with lots of projects and fun, with a teeny tiny bit of stress thrown on top. So, I've been a slacker. Every time I thought about posting a new blog, I would get incredibly stressed out thinking about all of the pictures that I would have to scan through, and trying to organize those that are most important and those that are just fun. And I would hyperventilate just a little bit thinking about it all.

And then I would start cleaning.

Because, that's what I do. I clean when I am stressed, angry or just want to procrastinate.

You would think I'd have the cleanest house on the block! But I don't.

Sometimes I think Ken makes me mad on purpose, just so I will clean.

He might have hinted at it a few times over the years...

But, I finally had a weekend free of any large projects looming over my head, so I thought I had better just get to it. And so, I cleaned all weekend until now, 9:30 pm on Sunday, and I'm just too tired to clean anymore. Besides, Skylar has been intent on messing up everything I have just cleaned, so I'm not even sure what the point was.

Back in April, Papa invited Skylar to go fishing with him so she could use the new princess rod she gave him for his birthday. Skylar was stoked! She's been looking forward to this for weeks and finally the weather and scheduling worked out!

They started up on the bank in Nana and Papa's backyard, but didn't get any bites. I joined in for this part to take some pictures, but then had to relegate myself inside to finish a paper for school.

They decided to move onto the lake and hopped into Papa's boat.

Grey wanted to join in the fun, but as he is still suicidal at times (no fear), he had to stay on land. Besides, he needed to practice his walking skills on sloped ground.

Turns out the boat was the place to be! I think they caught 5(?) for the day! And Skylar loved the fish, the bait, the hooks… all of it.

Small victories are huge bounds

2011-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

We reached a huge milestone, or breached a major road block, (whichever suits you best) this past week. ...

Skylar actually talked to her teachers on purpose. She has slipped out a few words here and there in the past at times when she doesn't think they are listening, or when it is just a second nature decision to answer a question and she didn't remind herself in time that she is supposed to be mute. Wow, that was a run-on sentence.

But, on Thursday, Skylar actually responded to her teachers and answered some question(s) about colors! At least, I think that is what it was. When Ken called me, all ecstatic, after picking Skylar up from preschool, this was our conversation:

Ken: "Skylar talked to her teachers today!"

Me: "Really! Yay, what did she say?"

Ken: "I don't know, something about naming her colors. We're on our way to McDonalds for Burber-fries and sliding."

Me: "Awesome!"

Sometimes its like pulling teeth I tell 'ya.

N-E ways, so we were really excited about that, and so is Skylar. She and I pretty much had a verbatim conversation when I got home from work on Thursday. Although she did happen to add in there that she took school pictures on Thursday and all the other kids got to bring in their animals and babies.

I forgot. Doh! I am so not good at this mom thing. I couldn't even tell you what she was wearing on Thursday...

Skylar has since been arranging objects all over our house and telling me she needs to pose with those said objects while I take her picture. It's like she wants me to feel really, really bad about forgetting her school pictures on Thursday.

BUT, moving onto better and brighter topics!

Like I mentioned before, Skylar is currently playing on a pee-wee soccer team and I am coaching. It's actually been pretty fun, although we are consistently the "worst" team each week. We don't actually keep score, and let me tell ya, that is a good thing.

I'm sure I wont be asked to coach again next fall.

But, I thought I would show you a few pictures...

Here is the team at practice, stretching our arms. Skylar chooses not to participate in stretching activities.

This is before our game today, Skylar was practicing her goal shots.

And then she remembered that she is supposed to be anti-social, so she decided to take herself off to the wild, wild wonder. She's pretty cute though, right! Seriously though, where is she going?

Here we are about to kick off! See the orange and blue ball? Well, Skylar thinks that is her ball and has decided that if she is going to play in the game, we have to use that ball.

Notice the hand holding? She literally will not move unless I am holding her hand. And even then she still wont move most of the time.

Notice the two kids in the background? Looks like they are about to go at it! Not sure how I missed this!

I like this shot b/c it really shows why we are the worst team... one of my players wont move (Skylar), the other one is doing ninja moves there to her right. And then the other girl in while is practicing her interpretive dance.

But wait, is that Skylar running? On her own? Towards the ball and not the sideline? (That is what all of the other parents were thinking. And some said out loud to me.)

Oh yea baby!!

And, now she thinks she is the schtuff!

Aaaand, then she remembered she was supposed to be anti-social and took herself off to the wild, wild wonder again. But don't fret, all it took was the offer of chocolate cookies and a juice box to bring her back! (Of course, not with a thank you though... that would be asking too much.)

Fun in the sun!

2011-03-22T19:29:00.001-07:00

Hubby knows how to go straight for my heart. "Hey, you wanna go drag the kids around the neighborhood?" Short, sweet and to the point. :)

So we did. Literally. Well, I use the term, "we" relatively. Really, it was "him" doing all the dragging. But hey, I was working too! I was dragging our one good dog left on the leash. And carrying the ol' bag of poo. And kicking the soccer ball that we had to take with us. And picking up the stray toys that got thrown overboard (Grey's reacquainted with an old favorite game).

And really, really busy trying to take some pictures of this little cheeser. Hmm, evidently, "cheeser" is not a word. According to spell check, I could change it to, "cheeses" or "cheese r" and both of those would work just fine. Either way you get the idea.

Umm, Grey? I think you're supposed to look the other way? What? Oh, okay, I'll take one more of you. He's just too cute to resist. You should see him when he wants to nurse.

Don't worry, I wont be "that mom" who still nurses her babies when they are clearly not babies anymore.

Really. I will decide when it is time to stop and I will have the last say. Cuteness be darned! I have willpower!

Skylar? You are too young to try to hide from my camera. I will find you. I will be victorious! (See previous comment.)

Haha! oh, well okay... not really.

Did I say that I was the one picking up all the thrown toys? I must have been taking a picture when this one got thrown out. Or maybe picking up dog poo. Luckily, hubby has the eyes of a tiger and saw it on our way back... Thanks Grey, way to make me look bad. Sigh.

Woohoo! Here we go! Sort of...

Ya know, just because you close your eyes, doesn't mean that I'm not still victorious. I can still see you!

Ahh, I love this picture!!!! Look at his lil' flyaway curls in the back!

Hmm...

And this is what I am like on little to no sleep.

We are slowly coming out of our hibernation... grrr!

2011-03-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have brought us a mix of warmer, spring-like weather, some new foliage popping out bringing some bright colors to a dull horizon of brown and gray. It has also brought this little family of bears, complete with growling and paw-grabbing, out of our winter hibernation. We have reacquainted ourselves with the fabulous play set in the backyard. And Grey is getting some more use out of it this year. I think the slide is his fav.

This is how we roll. No fear. Fear is for babies. Um, I mean, littler babies?

He couldn't wait to get back up the slide so as soon as he reached the ground he was throwing himself back up the slide. All the excitement also brought out the drool.

And the static.

Everything is so much better with Daddy.

And one of the best parts of warmer weather? It totally wears these little bears out at the end of the day!

March Madness

2011-03-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

First off, I just want to say that Carolina beat Duke last night. So it is considered a good season for me at least, no matter what happens in the ACC or NCAA tournaments!

Now onto family business: Grey took about 10 steps yesterday at Nana and Papa's house! Completely unexpected and great! He was really steady when he took the steps. But, of course, he has flat-out refused to take any more since then. Every time we even hint at trying he goes all noodle-legs and falls to the floor. Little (big) lazy boy!

And, Skylar is now playing soccer! I am the new coach for her soccer team, The Galaxy, and she is one of four other girls on her ten-person team. We had our first practice last Thursday and she did ok. She was really whiny all day that day and it was really cold outside so that didn't help! Although she was actually playing around and kicking a ball up until practice actually started. We have one more practice this Thursday and then a game on Saturday... Hopefully we'll get some pictures or video at one of them!

A lot of things have been going on around here lately and we have had some ups and downs, so forgive the sporadic nature of the blog lately! I am currently working on some projects for my schools yearbook, which I am in charge of this year, as well as sewing some cloth diapers for Sweet Cheeks Diaper Kits. It really is March Madness around here.

Just because...

2011-02-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

One of my goals is to try to post once a week this year. I know that won't happen, but I'm going to try. I realized while looking back through last year's posts that I have a ton of good pictures that I never posted because they were "just because" pictures and didn't have a theme (i.e., birthday party, park, etc.) I also hardly ever post funny stories and cute Skylar sayings.

So, while these are the best pictures ever, they are recent and I thought I would post them!

Here is Toby, our precious, precocious, and slightly neurotic dog. Isn't he sooo cute!

Disclaimer: We have another dog named Sammy, but she is even more neurotic and not quite as cute.

Grey enjoyed the cars at the Children's Museum the other week.

And he was a crawling machine! He still has no interest in walking unless he is walking around the table or couch. He won't even walk holding onto our hands!

Skylar's favorite pastime remains the swing. And slide. But the swing is her "really favorite."

And yes, her eyes are still two different colors and will remain that way.

And, just so I don't forget, one of her cute sayings now is whenever she cries, she gets really upset because her face is wet and will start screaming, "Mommy, get these crying things off my face!" What can I say? She hates anything wet on her. And will strip in a heartbeat, public or no public.

Have I mentioned that she is neurotic too? Oh well, still love ya girl!

Just Dance

2011-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

Skylar really likes to dance, especially on the Wii with Just Dance 2. She's pretty good too, although she always chooses the same "girl" songs and sometimes can get caught up singing the song that she forgets to actually dance!

Grey's new favorite toy...

2011-02-06T16:22:00.001-08:00

... is the dishwasher! I was unloading dishes the other day and turned my back to put some plates in the cabinet and this is what I found when I turned back around. Now, he makes a beeline for it every time the door opens!

Happy birthday to my little punk!

2011-01-22T18:48:00.001-08:00

Saturday was Grey's first birthday, and true to form, it has seriously been the fastest year of my life. I'm sure I will say that from here on out, but I still can't believe that he is already one. Maybe its because he still isn't walking yet? Who knows, but he really seems to be so little to be one already.

We had a Winter "One"derland theme for his birthday party and invited some family and friends over for brunch. I borrorwed a Cricut machine from a friend at work to do his decorations with and now I really want one of my own: I loved this thing! It was so fun and so easy to make these birthday banners and tags for everything! I might have gotten a little carried away...

Some friends from work helped me make these cake balls for all of the guests. They were delish and really easy to make!

And, I made Grey's birthday cake. It was my first time working with fondant, so it is a little plain, but I think it came out cute! And the marshmallow fondant was super easy to make and Grey thought it was delicious!

Grey had some extra help opening his presents, but as you can see, he was flirting away the whole time. Little charmer. Instead of presents, we asked for art supplies to donate to our local children's hospital where there is an Arts for Life volunteer art desk where a volunteer is there everyday to do arts and crafts with the cancer patients. I'll post some more about when we deliver all of the amazing supplies we received! Skylar is going crazy trying to get into all of them, but we are trying to teach her about the importance of giving away, especially when you want to keep for yourself.

The birthday boy! The few of you who have been reading this blog for awhile will remember that I tye-died a shirt for Skylar with her name on it when she turned one, and we didn't want to leave Grey out. So here is his first birthday shirt!

More flirting, what am I going to do with this one!

His first girl, Mackenzy, waving bye-bye to him.

Our friend Liam, who turned one back in November.

And time for cake! Grey dove right on in and needed no encouragement. I wonder how this child is still in the 30% for weight... He ate two of the snowman's "buttons" off while we were still singing.

I'd say he enjoyed it!

And now its time to flirt some more with Grandma... "Aww, you think I'm so cute when I lay my head down like this. Works everytime."

Little punk, he knows just what to do. Sigh.

Almost a year ago...

2011-01-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that a year ago you were getting ready to make your way into the world. And how, thinking back on it, my labor and delivery has been so much like this past year. You decided when you you were ready, but it took you a long time to get there. After a very easy 20 hours of labor after my water broke, you were still taking your sweet time. After giving you a little push (pitocin), you decided to come super fast. After a brief period of intense pain, you were born. Perfect. In every way.

That has been the course of this past year as well. You decided to take your sweet time, studying your world, before taking the big plunge of motion. I think we are currently in that brief time of intense pain as we chase you around everywhere, but soon it will all be perfect. Not that it isn't really perfect now, because it is. Truly, it is.

I love your sweet personality. And that you are totally "Mama's boy". And I love that you are showing some sparks in your temperament lately as well. We'll deal with those, but it makes me happy to see that you are showing your opinion and defiance at this point. Especially when you snuggle close to my neck whenever I tell you "no biting!" Cause that really hurts. Truly.

So, you just snuggle on away sweet little stink, and you will have me wrapped around your little finger. Oh wait, you already do.

Maybe daddy can stand firm. ...

Super-steep driveway = awesome sledding!

2011-01-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

Yay, snow! We've been waiting for snow since we moved it, thinking our really steep driveway would provide the perfect place to sled. Last time it snowed, we were out of town for Christmas and missed it. So, when we woke up to a snow day this morning, we bundled up (extremely hard to bundle up a squirmy baby who hates to put clothes on, btw) and headed out!

Grey wasn't entirely sure about all of this at first. This was his first time actually getting out in the snow. But he quickly warmed up to the idea.

Ken and Skylar went for the first ride together. At first she was really excited. And then when the got halfway down the street I heard some shrieking.

She decided that she wanted to walk back up the driveway instead of the grass and she wanted to do it by herself. Think trying to go up a slippery, steep slide wearing slick clothing. Needless to say, it took a while!

This almost makes up for the fact that I have to make up this day at work during spring break. ..

Christmas in Oak Ridge, TN!

2011-01-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

After spending Christmas Eve with my family, we bathed the kids, put on their pjs and threw them in the car hoping that they would sleep for the 5 hour drive to Oak Ridge, TN where we spent the next week with Ken's family at his grandparents house. No such luck as I believe Skylar's favorite phrase of the night was, "I'm gonna stay awake the whole time and Grey's gonna stay awake too!" There was also a lot of "Grey! Wake up! No Sleeping!" Thankfully she passed out about 10 o'clock.

We woke up Christmas morning and waited for everyone else to get up before heading in to open our stockings! Here are our four, the two in the middle are the ones that I made for the kids this year.

My little elf!

After the stockings, we showered and headed downstairs to spend the rest of the day opening presents. These kids are totally spoiled! If you look closely, you can find the baby in there.

Here is the gang, minus a few people.

Here's Gigi playing the piano. Ken's family has a lot of musical talent, its easy to see where he got it from.

I love how everyone comes for the week and we get to play lots of board games, video games, or in this case: Just Dance 2.

I do think he was getting into the game here.

Gigi and G-pa were showing everyone how to waltz. I seriously hope that Ken and I are just like them when we grow up.

Nana with some of the girls doing the robot.

Skylar and her favorite great-uncle, Mickey!

A little football in the freezing weather.

And a little fun with the tire swing!

Notice the lack of snow on the ground? We left NC just in time for the first white Christmas in oh, 50 years.