Spring Break Staycation!

The boys had a week out of school - David still had to work, so going away on a vacation wasn't really an option. Unless I wanted to take them alone - which I didn't.

My BFF, Angie, and I decided we would plan fun activities everyday to keep the kids busy. She, too, has 3 kids. Two of which are Ben and Will's age - and her middle one happens to be Ben's BFF. So it worked out great for a fun week.

Day 1: The zoo

I had Ben and Will (Andy was at home w/our babysitter, Jamie). Angie had her 2 boys, her teengae daughter and 2 of her friends. So ... we had a full house. We packed a lunch and headed to the zoo. We decided to go the first day of spring break hoping it wouldn't be that crowded. We were right. It was a great day (crowd wise) for the zoo. It had rained the week before - all week, so it was still alittle chilly out in the morning. It warmed up and turned into a great day.

Below: Will, Brayden, Jared, and Ben

The boys got to an animal encounter. They got to choose between the snake and this huge lizard. They chose the lizard.

Me, Ben and Will. An attempt to get a photo of us. You see Will didn't want to cooperate.

Ben and his BFF, Jared

I always have to bring somethign for Will to ride in. B/c of his lungs - he gets pretty tired quickly.


After it warmed up - the boys (and girls) decided to play in the water.


Here's Will enjoying himself in the water. He was the first one in and kinda the reason the rest of them were in. That's my boy. No fear Will!

Here he is - realizing he's all wet and hates to be all wet.

We had to check out the penquins before we left. Can see the one standing behind them through the glass? He came right up w/them standing there.


Ben, his BFF, Jared and the penquin.


Here's all of us for a quick group shot. The girls met up with us after lunch. They were exploring on their own for the first part of the day. From left to right: ____, Mariah, Me, Will, Callie, Brayden, Ben, Angie and Jared


This is us trying to get the boys out. After a long day - we were exhausted. In the very front, Angie's pushing the empty stroller; Callie and her friend are swinging Brayden, and Mariah is pulling Ben, Will and Jared in the stroller.


Day 2: Joe's Crab Shack

Ben and Will had dentist appointments in the afternoon so we decided to meet in the morning and play until I had to leave to go to the dentist. This time I had all 3 of my boys and Angie had just her 2 boys. Her daughter and friends were at the mall. We had a great time. Angie and I got an appetizer to share and the boys got kids meals - which were only $2 each. Great deal!

Below: Ben, Will, Brayden, Jared

Ben

Andy - he had a great time. Much more than I thought he would. At first he was upset about the sand touching his feet and getting all dirty. Then he surrendered and just jumped right in.


Will putting sand on the slide.

Day 3: Arboretum

I have a membership so I thought it would be a great (cheap) day for us. We again packed a lunch and headed for the Arboretum. I had all 3 of my boys again, and she had her 2 boys, her daughter and 1 of her friends. It's Dallas Blooms right now - so it was packed. I have never been before when it's been that crowded. Luckily, my membership saved us alot of time. There was no line for us - so we got to just go in. The blooms were beautiful and we got some great photos. The kids were able to play in the storybook playhouses that they have on display. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed our day.

Day 4: Mall and Ben's first sleepover

We decided to do something low-key since we had done big field trips a few times already. Angie and I were pretty worn out. We met at the mall. I had Ben and Will (Andy was w/our babysitter, Jamie), and Angie had her 2 boys, her daughter and one of her daughters friends. We let the boys play in the playarea and we ate lunch in the food court. We had a good day.

This was a special day for Ben because he was going to have his first sleepover without me. He's actually had 2 previous ones, but both times I was with him sleeping over as well. He spent the night w/Angie and his, BFF, Jared. They had a lot of fun. Ben went to soccer practice w/Jared and got to play also. Ben really enjoyed himself and said he may even want to play next season (which is awesome!). They played xbox, club penquin and really had a great time. I picked Ben up on Friday afternoon and he was ready to have Jared spend the night with us. He can't wait.

andy and I enjoying a beautiful day at the arboretum!

Andy and I decided to go out to the Arboretum b/c we were about to get a really bad rain storm. It was a beautiful day - and we took advantage of it. Ben and Will were both in school. We had a great time. He really was excited to be able to run around. His favorite thing was to chase the birds. He loves birds and there were plenty for him to chase.

We were there alittle while and then it started to lightly rain. He wanted his shoes off so he could walk in the little puddles.

We had a great day and I was able to get a few good shots of him.

i love taking shots of his little parts. my girlfriend, dena, gave andy these shoes. i just love them and wanted to snap a shot of them.

andy running after the birds.....

he really did love the rain! he had a great time playing in it.



our last picture of the day. as you can see he was ..... DONE! Funny, even crying he's cute : )

andy's first sentence

yesterday david and i were in the office (he was working, i was on the computer) and andy came in (he was watching word world - his favorite show). he's on david's side - pointing to a book and says "dada you see book." david and i looked at each other with much excitement. he's been talking really well - more and more everyday, increasing his vocabulary each day as well. he's put 2 words and on occassion three words together. but this was his first time to form a sentence. we were so happy with him and he knew it. he got tickeled and was really proud of himself. he's 23 months now - almost 2! we are excited that he's progressing so well and are really thankful for his tender spirit.

andy's first haircut

both ben and will had their first haircut from one of my great friends, michelle. i really wanted her to cut andy's hair - b/c it's tradition. i held out as long as i could. she lives in austin, has 3 children of her own and so coming to dallas to cut andy's hair hasn't really been an option. although i knew she wanted to.

after i was told by many people that it was time for a haircut for him i decided to take andy to cool cuts. he did quite well. i gave him a sucker and that really helped him.

here's a few pictures from his first haircut.....

he got alittle unhappy towards the end. poor little guy!

his hair! my sweet boy!

my handsome boy after his haircut!

the things andy comes up with....

ben and will were in school and andy wanted some juice. we don't give him juice boxes or the packs b/c he squeezes too hard and makes a mess. sometimes he's good. we've taught him to hold it at the top, and he'll do it - but i'm certain it's more fun to squeeze all the juice out.

since he couldn't have juice - he asked for an orange. he loves the small cutie oranges. he had been drinking a smoothie earlier and was using a straw.

i had left the room for a moment, came back and he had created his own way to get juice.....

Girls Night Out / Ben's Sleepover

My BFF's (angie) husband was out of town, so Ben and I went over and spent the night w/them. Ben and her son, Jared, are really good friends. It worked out great b/c she and I got to have some quality time together and Ben got to have big fun w/Jared. David was at home w/Andy and Will (thank you hunny!).

Angie and I grabbed some dinner at Blue Mesa (yum! yum!), and then headed over to a local bar. We had a great time. It was so fun to hang out and be adults and be able to relax with my BFF and an adult beverage.

Back at the house, Ben and Jared were having big fun as well (angie's daughter was babysitting for us!). They played xbox, club penguin, legos.... they really enjoyed themselves.

These pictures were posed .... I forgot to take them until we were leaving on Sunday.

I love my boys and my husband is the best in the world - but it's so great to get away and have just one on one time with a friend (and the same for Ben).

Andy at 22 months...

It's so hard to believe that my baby is just a few months away from being 2! We ae so grateful for you - you have brought so much joy to our family.

You at this stage -

• you are talking so much. you are speaking constantly. you will say whatever we ask and putting two words together. you are learning to use your words to communicate with us. some of the words you say are: hoe (show), juice, eat, side (outside), dog ... usually followed by 'woof woof', cat, cow ... usually followed by "moo", see (means - follow me and I'll show you), mommy, dada, beh (ben), wii (will), ganny (granny), beep beep (which means I want to get in the car and pretend to drive), k (are you ok?),
• you are sleeping from 8pm - 9am. you take 1 nap usually at 2pm that lasts anywhere from 1-3 hours.
• you are ALWAYS happy. you seldom cry unless you are hungry or tired.
• you are wearing size 4 diapers. we think you are ready to potty train and we have tried a little. you actually used the potty once (see an earlier post). you do know the sensations, and you want your dirty/wet diapers off immediately.
• you wear size 18 - 24 months clothes.

some of your favorite things are:

• playing outside,
• getting in the car and going "beep beep",
• your blanket and clifford pacifier which you call "baby". if you are unhappy or need comfort. you call for your baby and go looking for them. it always has to be the pair together;
• watching barney, leap frog's letter factory and word world;
• playing with your brothers. if they are playing rough, running and chasing - you have to be right in the middle. if they are playing with swords or lightsabers - you grab one and play along;

what i love about you:

• i love when the barney song comes on "I love you, you love me" - you have to find me and give me a big hug and a kiss;
• i love that with any situation you can laugh and giggle contagiously;
• i love that when you are playing rough and you think you may have hurt me, you lean down to my face, pat me on the back and say "k" wanting to know if I'm ok. i love that you do this!
• i love that everytime someone gives you something you say tank you (thank you);

daddy and i are so thankful for your sweet, happy personality. we hope that you never change. daddy often says that you remind him of papa b/c you love to joke and make people happy.

Fake cell phones and all their rage

All the kids in the neighborhood (at least the ones our boys play with) are all excited about cell phones and playing with them. We found out that if you go to Best Buy and ask for their "fake/demo" phones they'll give them to you - for the kids to play with. It's just a shell, not inside parts - but you can get any model that's currently being used now. So the kids just love them.
I took the boys to Best Buy to get some ... I think we ended up with like 12.
Ben and Will were at school and I was doing laundry, cleaning ... and came in the living room to find Andy putting all the phones in his pockets. I thought it was so funny. They were so heavy - it was weighing his pants down. He didn't care though - he wanted to get as many in his pockets as he could.

Don't you love the diaper peeking out. I love these kind of shots .. no matter what it is - I love seeing the little diaper.

Feburary Header

Got the format fixed and uploaded the new header... It's pretty simple but I liked the picture - so there... Let's see if it can make it through February.



And here's to all of us making it through February as well...

Dave

January Header

The header for January sure didn't last long - or is 2009 already flying by like 2008...


...and I mangled the format... maybe i'll get it fixed or just wait until Kate chooses a different one. It's hard to hit a moving target.

Dave

Is it Spring Yet?

Like a family of bears emerging from hibernation we enjoyed a brief minute of sun outside the cave, er, I mean house... But then like a groundhog that's seen it's own shadow we scurried back inside within 30 minutes... I guess we'll have a few more weeks of winter...



p.s. I know ground hog day has yet to come, but darnit, we're ready for spring now!


David

Xbox'n

Ben and Will were playing xbox and of course Andy was feeling a little left out. So he climbs into Ben's lap (which is something he LOVES to do and does regularly) in hopes he'll get to play. Ben lets him push a few buttons while he still continues to play Lego Star Wars. Will is sitting out this round - probably because he was in trouble for screaming or something.

Muffy says "Please let me rest...."

Muffy was sleeping in her usual spot. On the pillows at the bottom of our fireplace. Everything was good. She had a blanket because she was very cold. She was resting comfortably ....

And then here comes ..... Andy. He wanted to hug her and pet her and love on her. And all she wanted to do was sleep.

In the end - Andy was satisfied with the loving that he got to give Muffy and Muffy got to go back to sleep - so she was happy. Andy absolutely loves Kuma and Muffy. He loves dogs and animals period! He gets so much joy from looking at them and petting them.

Andy - age 20 months

Mommy's sick ...

David was sick over Christmas with something - still not sure what it was. He had flu like symptoms but also sinus issues. Anyway - he was sick for about a week. Luckily he was on vacation from work - so he was able to rest.

Then on Tuesday morning, I came down with something bad. I took Ben to school, but I wasn't able to take Will to school - I was too sick. I came home and needed to lay down. I think I got what David had. I guess! Still unsure. But I was down for 2 solid days. My mom had to come and watch Andy on Wednesday because I couldn't take care of him. Thankfully, David works from home and he was able to shuttle the kids back and forth from school and help me.

On Tuesday morning ... after Andy woke up - I needed to rest. I hate to admit that I used TV as my babysitter - but I so did. I let Will play the xbox on the big tv and I put baby einstein on for Andy on my laptop. It was great! I was able to get a little rest when I desperately needed it.

P.S. Sorry for the messy house. You know how it is when the mommy is out - things fall apart : )

Oh, and also - sorry for the bad pictures. David's constantly on my case about loading bad pictures that are unedited. But this blog is not about my photography - it's about getting things up so I have something for my boys and for their memories. So please excuse the snapshots.

Update (February 16, 2009): We got a letter in the mail a few weeks ago from Sams Club saying that the protein bars I bought from there had been exposed/contaminated w/salmonella. Now .. I know why I was sick!

Girls Night Out or is it Boys Night In...

Kate went out tonight so Dave got to take care of the kids... Usually that means one thing - portrait time for the boys!

...and don't be too disturbed by my hair - I was trying to cut it myself and just quit at this stage for the shock value of it... I'll finish hacking it tomorrow.

We ate chinese takeout - I got General Tso's chicken with steamed rice and the boys got broccoli chicken with brown rice... As usual they complained about it before the actually tasted it and of course then they thought it was Ok. Ben likes steamed rice and Will ate the brown. They're more in it for the fortune cookie at the end. Anyway, finished up the night with a popsicle for Will and a Go-gurt/yogurt for Ben and Andy. And then a whole lot of XBox'n until bed time.

Good times...

Dave

Andy building a tower

Andy got these oversized blocks for Christmas - which he LOVES! He builds towers and then knocks them down and cracks up. He'll grab your hand or pull on your shirt/pants/leg/whatever is nearby and say "sit down" and point to the ground. Meaning ... "I want you to play with me." It's so cute! What's funny is - Ben and Will didn't build like he does at this age. We are amazed at how much quicker he's picking things up than the other two .. and it's probably a competition to keep up with his big brothers : )



Andy - age 20 months

Yea Andy!

So, probably for a few weeks now Andy has been showing interest in wanting to use the potty. He knows the sensation of both duties and he knows when he's going. We haven't really paid it too much attention, b/c frankly potty training is a pain and he is young. I decided to go ahead and get him a potty seat to go on the toilet. Which he was thrilled about. His little butt is too small for the toilet seat - he falls in. : ) He's considerably shorter than Ben and Will - not to mention younger (he's 20 months).... so we knew he would need a little help getting up to the toilet.
Tonight - we were getting the boys ready for bed - Ben is peeing and Andy says he needs to pee. He walks over to the toilet (while Ben is peeing), arches his back (as to pee) and says pee pee. I told him to go tell daddy. I was trying to get Ben in bed - plus I thought he was just playing around like the other times before. David brings him into the bathroom, takes off his clothes and sits him down and guess what .................................. he peed! YEA ANDY! He was so happy with himself. All 4 of us (including Kuma) came into the bathroom and praised him. He was thrilled! He was so excited w/himself and Ben and Will were so proud of him. They gave him big hugs and hi-five's. Once he got all the praise - He was so happy, he kept pushing - trying to get more pee out. It was so cute!
I'm hoping that this is the start of him potty training. David and I would LOVE to get rid of the diapers. I think Andy would too.
I snapped this photo of him when we first got the seat - so I would have something to upload once he went potty.


We are so proud of you Andy! You are so proud of yourself and so excited! I can't wait to see what the days ahead deliver for us.

Andy - 20 months

Saving My Blog Headers

I'm actually having fun creating the blog headers so I thought I'd like to save them somewhere as well... My goal is to try to create a new one at least once a month. We'll see how it goes as the new year looks to be as busy (if not busier) than the last.






David

It's a New Year and a Fresh Start!

Every year the big joke is that people make New Year's Resolutions and then quickly break them before days end. Last year - I only had one major resolution, and that was to lose 40 pounds - which I accomplished! Yea me!

I do have a few NYR this year. (1) to lose an additional 25 pounds which I hope to accomplish by eating well and working out; (2) to wear my hair in a ponytail less and look at myself in a mirror before I walk out of the house. I get comfortable in my routine and sometimes it's tough to remember that I also have to be presentable for the world; (3) to document my children's life so that I leave a lasting legacy for them. You will find all those entries, ramblings, memories, and accomplishments here on this blog. I also hope to backdate this blog so I can get my children's entire lives on here. David will be updating headers in hopes to keep the blog entertaining for you and for us.


We pray this year is a great one! Lots of fun things on tap for this year.

• January 11th, David and I celebrate 6 years of marriage. Hopefully sometime in the year we'll be able to get away for a quick weekend to celebrate.
• David has his annual golf trip in August. Which may be somewhere different this year instead of the normal trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. That will be exciting for he and his buddies to be able to try out new golf courses.
• I am not sure what I will do for a vacation this year. Super Soap Weekend has been canceled at Walt Disney World. But I would love to go back to Discovery Cove in Orlando again. That was a phenominal experience!
• I am planning my parents 50th wedding anniversary party on August 29th. I'm really excited about that and so happy and proud of them.
• Will will start Kindergarten in the Fall this year! Very exciting! He can't wait. He will actually test January 24 to see if he can get into the Academy that Ben attends. We pray that he tests high enough. We are so thankful for the Academy and the great opportunities that it has provided for Ben. If he does not test in - he possibly could get a neighborhood spot in the school. The school is made up of 75% gifted/25% neighborhood. If this does not happen for him - he will go to our neighborhood school, which we also love.
• Andy will start pre-school a few days a week in the Fall. That will be great for him. He's very social and loves to be around people. It will also be great for me - as I'll have time to actually finish something.

We are optimistic for the coming year and hopeful for a safe, healthy and rewarding year.
Happy New Year!