Welcome to Munchkinland

We can keep this up...

2012-01-30T19:42:00.000-06:00

Yes, my kids were perfectly appropriately dressed today. It was gorgeous. So we spent all afternoon outside playing together and playing with friends. Madison also decided that it was OK to walk in the grass when she desperately wanted to get to the sand box to play with Dylan. And although you can't really see them well in the pics below - she has moved up to size 3.5 shoes and Madison is now sporting her cute new ones that she got for Christmas from Grandma Donna and Grandpa Tom. Dylan has now figured out his swings that Santa brought him and seems to like them. When I originally hung them up a few weeks ago he told me he did not like them and that he wanted his old swings back. So I was pleased. He even pushes himself to get going and I taught him today about "pumping his legs" to keep him going and he did really well. He is getting to be such a big kid. I wish I could video tape an entire day of that one because the things he says and does are totally priceless.

Today for instance, he was asking about daddy coming home. I informed that yes, daddy was coming home tonight. And he told me, "daddy come home last night. daddy missed me." Too cute.

What else is too cute is the fact that this little girl sat in her bed this morning for 20 minutes without saying a peep just playing with her seahorse. The only reason I knew she was up and was able to capture pictures form the baby cam was because it was past her normal wake up time and I was wondering about her still sleeping.

We had an awesome day today with gorgeous weather that is thankfully going to continue for a few days. Too bad I'll be at work and not enjoying them but it does mean that the kids will get to play outside some which they always enjoy.

Miss Piggy

2012-01-29T20:54:00.000-06:00

Last night we enjoyed an evening out to dinner as a family at Olive Garden. I'm not ashamed to say this, we really like Olive Garden. I could eat my entire days calories in breadsticks and salad - actually I am pretty sure I do when I got there. And it was actually a perfect time - both kids were well behaved and ate well, food was good, the wait wasn't too long - perfect. Madison ate more of my pasta than I did I think and screamed like mad when I tried to share my her dessert. Tonight when Scott got home, he asked if there were left overs. HA! I ate my leftovers for lunch and your daughter polished off yours. Not a chance.

I feel like I need to do more updating on the kids on this blog which I have great intentions of doing so but never seem to take the time to write them down. But as a quick update, Madison has never really been into purees so we kinda just skipped that phase and waited until she could handle "real food" in little pieces. She now eats almost anything and will eat almost anything. The order in which you feed her is important - once she has yogurt or sweets she is not eating veggies in any way shape or form. And the girl spends the mass majority of the day trying to convince me to let her eat Yogurt Melts/Freeze dried yogurt snacks. I am pretty sure I need to buy them by the pallet in order to keep up with her habit. I can't totally blame her, Dylan helps out quite a bit too. She will drink milk from a sippy or straw cup and only gets one bottle at night which I will probably wean over the next few weeks. I do not understand why the bottle must be gone by 12 months but breast feeding until way too old in opinion is acceptable. But regardless, we wean near 12 months like we should. At least with Madison she never took a pacifier so I don't have to work on taking that away too. And I can't believe I hadn't told everyone yet, but Madison got moved up to the next room at school this past week. She was the second youngest in her old "infant" room and the first one to move up for she is "terrorizing" the non-walkers and non-playing kids. They said that she loves her new room, all the toys, and the older kids (they are 12-18 months old I believe). I am so proud of my advanced little one even if it means I am losing my mind at a much faster rate than anticipated trying to keep up with her.

Race to the top of the steps

2012-01-29T13:30:00.001-06:00

The kids are in their rooms napping, I am working in my office when all of a sudden I hear a blood curdling scream coming from Dylan's room. I rush up there to find him not screaming per say but ROARING. Thankfully I realized this before I opened his door and ended nap time before it actually began.

2012-01-28T12:32:00.000-06:00

Today we fully took advantage of my day off (Friday). It started with a play date at Craft Caboose with Jamie, Andrew, and Audrey. I was not sure how this was going to go over but I was pleasantly surprised. Madison has been quite the hold me baby lately and this morning was going to involve crafting, paint, glue, markers, and DYLAN. Could have been trouble. The place was pretty cute. You pay an entrance fee for the kids participating and then $1-3 mostly although they have a few that are $5-6 per craft. Dylan did great. He painted a train, made a crown and decorated it with markers, glue and fun small trinkets, glitter glue, and he made several scratch art ornaments before dissevering the paint rollers which he rolled on some paper. And the other good thing is that they are open most mornings at 9:30 AM. We were the only people there until we were just about leaving an hour and a half later when another little boy and his grandma came in. They also had a bunch of toys in an area to play with while in between crafts. Madison had fun roaming and getting into things.

After that we ran a few errands and Dylan insisted we go to Target so we did. After that it was nap time until dinner and fun at the Magic House with a coworker of mine who also happened to go to the same high school as me but the class above and her two girls who are just a few months behind both of my kids. Amazingly enough I managed with both of them by myself as Scott was working there although I would not recommend it unless absolutely necessary. It was work! For both of them are way too independent and go getters for me to keep up with them in opposite directions.

Dylan's first visit to the dentist

2012-01-26T19:41:00.000-06:00

Things worked out for us today. Dylan is in fact covered on our dental insurance - I am glad that we got smart and enrolled him way back when I thought that we weren't going to for a few years. Secondly, a pediatric dentist nearby just rejoined our in network dentists and we were able to get in to see him today. After I called they insisted I bring him in first thing in the morning which meant no school. Amazing, it was probably a good thing since all his closest little friends were out sick and not there either.

I will tell you now, he is fine. The dentist felt that in 5 years there will be no sign that this ever happened.

The first thing they wanted to do was get an x-ray. He was to sit on my lap, put the film in his mouth and have the x-ray taken. Well that took 4 of us and I was dreading the actual exam. Come time for the dentist to look into his mouth although I was holding him down he actually opened his mouth and sort of actually let him do what he wanted to do. That was until the assistant used the air pick thing which freaked him out and caused him to scream, We were able to secure his head still enough and he nicely kept his mouth open for the dentist so that he could file down his chipped tooth somewhat to make it smoother and more normal looking. As for the tooth that was pushed back and up some, the dentist says that some fibers were torn and the others stretched but neither tooth was loose which was great. He thought that as the fibers healed themselves that they may shorten up and pull the tooth back closer to its original position. The thing we have to watch the most for now is that the trauma that was done to the teeth could cause them to darken in color which there is nothing that we can do about it but he will need to go back in 3 months if that happens for more x-rays and most of the time even if they darken they are totally fine otherwise. There is only a small percentage that turns dark and gets infected and needs to be taken out. There is also a small percentage that will darken and then heal up and turn back white and a percentage that nothing happens at all. I'm hoping for the heals up fine, stays white, no issues. But all in all, things turned out OK. If anyone needs a dentist in an emergency, Dylan's dentist will take calls after hours from non-patients unlike several other pediatric dentists in the area which I unfortunately learned.

As for his flesh wound, I think that will heal up OK also and if it does leave a small scar it is in the crease of his mouth/chin so it shouldn't be noticeable thankfully.

Sorry no pictures. It's been a long week.

More excitement than I can handle

2012-01-25T21:21:00.000-06:00

Riding their bikes - yes, Madison likes to sit on the handle bars while daddy scoots around on the balance bike.

I had to throw in a picture from last night for tonight's events were not picture worthy. Dylan while playing in the tub knelt up to show me his "shark teeth" and somehow slipped and cracked his mouth on the side of the tub resulting in blood and a loss of tooth parts. He bit/cut his chin right at the crease and luckily his lip looked good enough that daddy did not think there was anything to repair aka stitch up. Two of his upper front teeth did not fare so well. His front tooth is chipped and the one next to it is impacted up irritating the gum some and pushed back. Thankfully, Scott (once we got Dylan calmed down which took A WHILE) was able to examine his mouth a little and didn't think that the teeth were loose. I know I should be grateful that these are baby teeth and that the injuries were very minor compared to what some kids deal with but I was not very happy about this situation and am still not even though I keep telling myself in my head that this seems minor and that he is OK. So it looks as if Dylan earned him a visit to a dentist sooner than I had planned. At least it was on the list of necessary visits here in the next few months anyways.

Success

2012-01-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

It is 8 PM and both kids are asleep and I am bathed. THAT my readers is a successful night in my book.

I will say that my hubby is going to make me lose my mind in that he sings songs to Dylan that are his "special" songs as in he makes up words to otherwise normal songs like "Jingle Bells" and when I can't sing them like Daddy Dylan gets very agitated with me. I do find it somewhat amusing.

And yup, I fed my kids brownies and ring pops in the same day. Mom of the year I know. I also fed them nutritious food that they ate - well, Madison ate because she eats everything...Dylan may or may not have taken a few bites. It is dependent on his mood, the day, the time...While under the care of daddy, they tried some group napping (not really) neither kid naps when daddy is around. Although that is not totally true - Madison took a great nap Saturday. And although I know good and well that right handed/left handed does not make its way known until kids are older, Scott and I both think that we may have a leftie on our hands with Madison.

And how can you resist this girl. It's hard to believe that there is anything cuter around.

And don't get me wrong, I am completely appreciative of my job and enjoy it thoroughly but I am not ready to head back in quite yet after my weekend. At least today we got in some playtime with Andrew and Audrey. The winter illness has struck many which makes for play dates a hard thing to plan. I do know that I would like the weather of today to continue for the next week and a half so that the kiddo's birthday party can be a great get together. It was quite nice out today for late January. And I am 10 days away from my baby being ONE.

Weekend Away

2012-01-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

Today although Sunday night feels like midweek for me. I spent the majority of the weekend at work. It has been planned for a while. We are moving into an amazing new building but with that brings lots of work and plenty of issues. One being that all of our instruments need to be requalified in the new space before use. So this weekend the "lab rats" gathered to work on this. Needless to say the kids are clinging to Scott which is normal for Dylan but even Miss Madison is showing her disgust for me being gone and is choosing daddy over her normal mommy-mode. It's OK. I am secure enough to not be upset by this. And daddy is thoroughly enjoying it.

We purchased the Lion King on DVD a few weeks back and we have watched it several times although not as many times as Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs which is a rental movie. Side story. Dylan wanted a new movie. We had originally told him he had to return his movie to get a new one but that wound up not being the case but he was insisting he wanted to return the Dinosaur movie and get a new one. I told Scott not to return it, that he would be asking for it again. Luckily we did not pick it up from the house and we went to the movie store with another one to exchange instead. They walked in to the kiddo section and what movie did Dylan pick out - none other than the exact same Ice Age 3 movie that we had rented the last time and ALMOST returned. Yup, so glad we kept that one for a little longer. They wound up with something else that Dylan decided he did not want to watch that night anyways. Silly boy.

Back to the original point...Lion King...hear my lion roar...

I started to sing a song tonight and Dylan decided he wanted to take over. He was super cute singing and doing some hand motions that I just had to tape him. The video isn't the best but he was in the bathtub.

This week is another full of work for me so I may be a little sporadic here on the blog. But I promise some good pictures to come for Miss Madison's First Birthday is quickly approaching!

TGIF

2012-01-20T20:59:00.001-06:00

Oh how glad i am to be typing this from the comfort of our warm home. By rush hour tonight it was freezing rain around these parts and the roads were gonna be slick. That mixed with Friday evening go home after work traffic = NOT FUN. It is bad enough that Scott was going to be in the mix of all of that but lucky for us I had a late doctor's appointment with the kids which put us right in the mix. Thankfully, we are all home safe at least until I must head into work tomorrow morning with only one less than a foot from being smoked by a car incident (or cars since it was a multi car accident). So I am extra happy to be curled up here watching Ice Age 3 for the gazillionith time with Daddy and Dylan while Miss Madison sleeps comfortably in her bed.

Earlier this week we made a trip to Target where the kiddos spent their Christmas gift cards from Aunt Patty & fam. Thanks so much - the dino and the baby are big hits with both of them.

He was swimming - floating on his back - I think just so that his ears were underwater so that he could not hear me.

And just a few other randoms. Wednesday afternoon, Dylan and I went up to the mall to get some candy and played for a while.

May you all have a wonderful start to your weekend.

Best Buddies

2012-01-15T19:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening Scott had a short conversation with Dylan. It went something like this...

Scott: Dylan, who is your best buddy? (expecting the answer to be 'daddy')

Dylan: Hannah

Thankfully, the feelings are mutual for her parents were informed that she was marrying Dylan and that her little brother was marrying Madison.

A weekend recap

2012-01-15T19:43:00.000-06:00

As I just mentioned, we had an amazing week with daddy. We manage while he is at work but it is oh so much more fun when he is home with us.

Can you believe in less than a month this little girl will be ONE. She's 49 weeks old in the pictures below.

49 weeks

Dylan and her are loving the Little People Doll House that Great Ama and Great Papa got Madison for Christmas. She is into playing with this sort of thing so much more than Dylan ever was anywhere close to this age.

We got about a half an inch of snow on Thursday morning which caused all sorts of trouble for my commute to work. At least the boys had fun on multiple days playing with what we had.

Snow piles and snow men

Little snow man

Daddy did some work on Saturday morning so the kids and I ran errands since Madison was finally fever free and seemed back to her old self. A trip to Joanne's was the culprit to the "little grabber" for Madison as Dylan informed me. The two of them had fun. It was worth the $1.50 to see them laugh, squeal, and smile.

Just because she is cute and I love her chair - although the light pink is going to drive me crazy for dirty little fingers seem to be drawn to it.

Madison was not so much a fan of the snow.

Dylan again was loving it.

They built a Mickey Snow Man.

The cuteness on the kitchen floor just couldn't be missed. They were all laying on the blankets. Madison must do everything that her big brother does.

She was just enamored at Scott in Dylan's Angry Bird Blanket. I just couldn't get over her stare.

And Mickey Mouse turned into an ice slide...

A Week of Vacation Via an iPhone

2012-01-15T19:22:00.002-06:00

I confiscated Scott's phone tonight in order to download the footage from it from this past week. He had his first week off since April 2011 this past week and it was delightful. He spent a good portion of it "working" or reading for he has a lot of studying to do for several exams over the next month or two that he needs to rock. But it was nice having him home early in the evenings to join us for dinner and playtime. Dylan and Madison both got some special time with daddy at various points during the day as well and he spent more time with us than he probably should have but we loved having him and can't wait for the next one!

Basement fun

Billikens Basketball Game

Basement fun and Dylan's candy mustache

The City Museum

Fun with Madison at Papa's, Basement fun, Outside fun, and dinner at "the moose" Texas Road House

Row & Roar

2012-01-14T20:07:00.002-06:00

Madison - the next American Idol?

2012-01-14T19:48:00.002-06:00

My Littlest Soccer Player

2012-01-13T21:27:00.000-06:00

Too tired to even eat

2012-01-13T21:17:00.000-06:00

Madison has not been the child to just fall asleep anywhere - you could tell her lack of naps today caught up with her by 3 PM when she fell asleep while eating snack.

Go Billikens

2012-01-12T20:17:00.000-06:00

Last night, Dylan, Scott, and Uncle Mike attended a SLU Basketball game. They sadly lost 67-72 to Temple but I can positively say that they had a good time. It was Scott's first time being at the on campus stadium and he was quite impressed by it all. Dylan seemed to love it for he came home after 10, raced into my room and told me all about it, showing off his super cute new SLU hoodie (which he also wore to school today). I think we are definitely going to have to keep up with going to a game or two each season. I am sad that I missed it but glad that I could be here at home with Madison who is still not feeling well.

Under the weather

2012-01-11T21:37:00.000-06:00

Maddie girl woke up from her afternoon nap on Monday with a raging 104+ fever and it hasn't budged much since which earned me an extra day off on Tuesday and my parents another child to watch today for she couldn't of course go to school. She had more than a handful of cool baths yesterday to help along with max doses of every fever relief medication we could give her. She reminds me so much of Dylan wandering around with the cool rag on her head for Dylan had the "joy" of doing so a few more times during his first year.

Thankfully, by the time we opted to take Madison in to be checked out by her pediatrician she finally was getting a break from the fever. It came back with a vengeance later this afternoon but at least she had a few hours of cooler temperatures that allowed her to be her silly little self for a while.

Some playtime occurred in the basement tonight. All three of them were showing off their safety goggles.

And there is a reason that the microwave rice bags tell you to tear at the top to vent. Boom! Yup, I exploded one in the microwave today. Thankfully no harm besides the loss of a little rice.

Showing off his kicks

2012-01-11T21:20:00.002-06:00

Just a short clip of Dylan showing off his kicking and dribbling before soccer started last week.

Some Sibling Cuteness & Daddy Love

2012-01-11T21:00:00.002-06:00

An Ordinary Monday

2012-01-09T19:58:00.000-06:00

Today was a typical Monday. We hosted playgroup at our house this morning for the boys. Madison took an hour and a half nap this morning prior. We played and then went to Costco to stock up on the necessities that were all on coupon this week. And then Madison wanted to take another nap and slept for several hours. Hopefully, it doesn't ruin her night time routine but so far she is sleeping nicely.

I feel like I complained about her poor sleep habits so much but looking back on it - it was only for 3 months. She slept good the first three and has been an angel sleeper since her sleep training which I again take full responsibility for her needing in the first place. Regardless, she has turned into the sweetest, best little girl I could have ever asked for even if she acts more like she is one and a half instead of 11 months. And her brother is still about as good as they can get (regardless of him not taking a nap today).

We spent the rest of the evening playing with daddy. Uncle Mike dropped off some ground beef he needed to get rid of so I made some pasta for dinner and Scott was going to pick up some garlic bread on his way home. He stopped and showed up with a bag of rice and no bread. Yup, definitely left the bag of bread at the check out. He's going back tomorrow to pick it up since we did pay for it. I will only partially blame him for the bagger guy only handed him the one bag. Kind of funny nonetheless.

The boys spent a few minutes scoping out the big full moon and upon re-entry into the house Dylan exclaimed that he needed hot chocolate. So I'm gonna go and have a little myself.

Hopefully your Monday was Marvelous.

Faust Park In January

2012-01-08T20:15:00.000-06:00

We knew we wanted to do something fun today but what we didn't take into account was that everything was opening late due to it being a Sunday. We just can't begin our day at 11 o'clock. Luckily, I checked into the Butterfly House and it was open at 9 AM. I had also figured we would make the trip worthwhile since the weather was supposed to be warm enough (50), we could play on the playground there for a while.

Dylan has been running around for two days pretending to catch butterflies in a net at our house so this was perfect. He was quite upset that one did not land on him - he wanted to hold one - especially after one did land on Scott and Madison. Thankfully, some running, climbing, and sliding made up for it.

She won't walk on grass. It is amusing.

She is trouble. And will climb anything she can or thinks she can.

Dylan wanted to hold her and go down with her. Obviously she thought it was a great idea too!

And again...and again...and again...

When we left it up to her to go down alone, she chose the head first method which she also did again...and again...and again...

Daddy Fixed the Chain Saw

2012-01-08T20:05:00.000-06:00

Daddy is pretty much the best. He fixed the chain saw today. Of course, Dylan helped too. It hasn't worked since about the second day of ownership due to a forgetful moment where it landed outside during a rainstorm. After a complete disassemble and reassemble, it now works and Dylan is one happy boy.

Enjoying the "Fall" Like Weather

2012-01-08T19:38:00.002-06:00

Another visit to the Magic House in pictures

2012-01-08T19:34:00.002-06:00

She required the purchase of a new shirt from the gift shop after her water play.

Just busy with life

2012-01-06T21:23:00.000-06:00

Puzzle Master

Sweet tooth and reminiscing into babyhood

Enjoying the 70 degree winter afternoon and the early moon appearance

Little girl busted her nose yesterday falling wrong and hitting the bookshelf. There was blood.

But it didn't seem to slow her down.

Or keep her from playing in mama's curtains

Or from being a crazy, silly, giggle box on the couch.

Sorry we have been scarce this week. I have no real excuse. We have just been busy with life and caught up in it all. Looking forward to the next few weekend days. Hopefully we'll report in a more timely fashion. But as always, no promises!

Use your big words

2012-01-04T20:34:00.002-06:00

Scott was eating dinner while Madison stood at the base of his chair grunting for more drinks of his juice.

Scott: I can't wait until she can use big words.

Me: Big words like Dylan? Dylan, can you use big words. Nenenenenene

Scott: Nenenenenenenenene

Me: Dylan can you use your big words?

Dylan: Big words.....please mama

A little of everything...

2012-01-02T20:30:00.001-06:00

A little

My sweet little TROUBLE

2012-01-01T20:57:00.001-06:00

The rest of NYE 2011...So long...

2012-01-01T20:29:00.000-06:00

I have no fear that she'll learn from her big brother and be fighting Madison off in no time. What a fun afternoon with friends.

And the very last of the photos from 2011...this will wrap it up...

That is HUMMUS my friends. And she loves it!

Too bad I couldn't convince her to stay in the walker when I wanted her to.

Suson Park on New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T13:49:00.000-06:00

We decided with the above normal temperatures to take advantage of the early afternoon and head to the park. The kids had fun as always on the playground and we were able to say hello to our animal friends again. Dylan loves the Longhorn they have there so we always must check out the "big cow big horns". I highly suggest that you watch at least the last 30 seconds of the first video. The things that kids say totally crack me up and this was one of those moments.

...3...2...1...Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:00:00.003-06:00

Wrappin' up 2011

2011-12-30T21:48:00.000-06:00

She is too cute and yet so much trouble! She knows she is not supposed to be climbing on these chairs hence their new location in my office - and yes, the doors to my office get closed A LOT.

Dylan bought Madison this hat from the Transportation Museum a few weeks back. She loves it.

Today we were invited to join the cousins at the Science Center for an IMAX to finish off this years membership for them. Thank you so much for inviting us and helping to wrangle the crazies. Santa vs. the Snowman was the perfect choice. And Dylan and Madison loved playing for a little while before and after too!

Kiss the baby. So sweet.

She is such a good little mommy and she even decided to let them ride in the stroller briefly before climbing in her doll stroller herself which is a normal occurrence.

My Mickey Mouse buddy

Madison in some new clothes sitting in her new chair. Could it get any cuter?

Why yes it can! Madison AND Dylan in her chair. Love.

They love this house.

Best of Friends

2011-12-30T20:36:00.000-06:00

The boys had fun running a muck at Cliff Cave Park yesterday afternoon as it was close to if not 60 degrees.

They also had an equally fun time playing in the driver's seat while I buckled in Madison!

The reason Santa brought all those gifts...

2011-12-27T21:36:00.000-06:00

...was certainly because of the extra great job Dylan did sprinkling his "Reindeer food" on the lawn and leaving cookies, milk, and carrots for all inside.

And after all the festivities have passed, there is still time for some fun in the basement.

A comparison between my old and my new place of blogging.

And just some random pictures that downloaded from Scott's phone while I was swiping all the holiday goodness from it the other night.

And for all of you who enjoyed some of Dylan's cookies...yup this is how they got made...

Even with all that little boy help and handling they were still delicious.

Just Dance

2011-12-27T21:27:00.000-06:00

While we were celebrating Christmas with Kevin, Stacy and the girls. Taryn and Abbi decided to show us some of the Kinect games once was Just Dance 3. This game looked like so much fun - I almost want a working XBox so that I can play. The girls were amazingly awesome at the songs. Scott took some video which was awesome since about half way thru both of my kids start joining in and trying to dance with them. The four of them are too cute!

The kids were gifted with some warm and fuzzy and oh so necessary footed pjs along with a Cardboard Color House. All the gifts are major hits - most of all the house with the kids (but the pjs rank very high up there with mom and dad too).

Kevin and Stacy also cooked us some delicious breakfast and several hours later fed us again with turkey and all the fixings. Delicious. Thank you so much for the kids gifts and for hosting us for Christmas Day.

A shout out to the rest of my family whom we did not get to see at my Aunt and Uncle's house that evening. We missed you and wish you all the happiest of holidays and new year.

Santa Claus Came to Town

2011-12-27T21:16:00.002-06:00

Just some of the video of the opening of the gifts that Santa brought us. I split this from the video of all the gifts from the Arizona Family that will be posted next so the video is a little choppy if you can to watch it (I wouldn't blame you if you didn't).

Arizona Generosity on Christmas Day

2011-12-27T21:16:00.001-06:00

We opened the gifts from Scott's parents on Christmas morning along with the gifts from Santa.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Donna and Grandpa Jim and Grandma Ann out did themselves as always. In the video clip you will see Dylan opening his soccer ball, soccer net, camera, sandals, and backhoe "excavator" hat and gloves (awesome - especially since I hunted for one with no luck) from Tom and Donna and an awesome pair of sports pjs and Mickey Mouse movies galore (yay for variety) and music CD/DVD from Jim and Ann. Madison was gifted with a ton of cute clothes (love the Minnie Mouse outfit) and a little Minnie Mouse doll from Jim and Ann and a festive little dress and leggings (too cute - I would have picked it out myself), two pairs of shoes and a learning soccer ball from Tom and Donna. If I missed something, I'm sorry, those kids got too many goodies for me to keep up with.

Scott and I were treated with Apple TV from Tom and Donna which after many hours Saturday night Scott got hooked up to our TV - Phew. Yay. (No fault of Apple TV...issues with our TV but it works now - yay). And Jim and Ann sent us gift cards that will provide us with delicious food - I have swiped one of them so that I am guaranteed to enjoy some portion of the gift! :)

Not pictured in the video was Great Uncle Jere's card that played awesome Christmas tunes that the kids both wandered around with and also included some green which will be put into their accounts. Aunt Patty and family sent the kids awesome Target gift cards which I know we will be putting to use very soon for some goodies. Uncle Troy and cousin Alex sent us some delicious chocolate covered strawberries and cookies which Dylan devoured. I did eat the last strawberry and when Dylan finished the one he was eating he got very mad at me that I ate the "brown one" that was in the box.

Thank you to all of you for the wonderful gifts. We wish we could have celebrated with you all but are hoping that you had a fabulous holiday as well.

I have included the video of the kids opening their gifts. It was too big to upload into one file so it is split and I did my best to filter out the Santa gifts from the "Arizona" ones so the flow may be a little choppy but if the grandparents and other family members so desire they can watch.

Here Comes Santa Claus...and Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T21:13:00.000-06:00

With this being an off year where the rest of my dad's family does not venture in town to celebrate with all of us, we decided to host Christmas Eve at our house. We had way too much food even though I only provided what I considered a mini-buffet but alas as normal - too much food. And after that followed...too many gifts. Everyone was too generous again this year - definitely a trend.

Santa made an appearance to our house as an extra special treat to drop off the first bag of goodies to open.

We opened gifts from Ama, Papa, Uncle Mike, Great Ama, and Great Papa this evening saving everything else. Molly pup got a lot of good toys and balls, Mike managed some goodies too including a beard hat by Urban Owl Knittery. Scott got some money from my parents to purchase whatever he pleases and as a reminder, my camera is the next three "holidays" for me so I was fortunate to get to enjoy my gift for the last several months. We did purchase ourselves a new printer and I got myself a finger print necklace which I'll photograph and show you all when I get it with the money from Grandma and Grandpa - beyond excited about both! AirPrint rules! Mike surprised us with a gift of a carpet cleaner although I should be offended by what he is referring to...thanks dude! Oh and my spoiled rotten little kids...where to begin...clothes, toys, tractor, puzzles, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, videos, Rio the Movie, The Muppets videos, a baby stroller, soccer ball, baseballs, football, basketball, bases, a new t-ball tee, sandbox back hoe, doll house, purse, picnic basket, toy phone, musical instruments, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines, Weeble house, cups, plates, utensils, books, underwear, and probably several things more that I am forgetting about because there was an insane number of gifts for those two. Although I will say that Dylan enjoyed every minute of opening them up. Madison was also given a keep sake little music box deer from Great Ama and Great Papa and Dylan received a 2011 World Series Ornament which was on the tree until this morning when it was disassembled and will soon find a spot in his room.

Thank you so very much to my grandparents "Great Ama and Great Papa", Papa and Ama, and Uncle Mike for your generosity to both us and our kiddos this holiday season and always. We are so happy to be able to celebrate with all of you here in person and of course we missed all of the extended family in Texas and California this year and also the in-laws and family in Phoenix.

And thank you to my cousin, Jimmy and his girl friend Candace who sent monetary gifts home with my mom from their Christmas day celebration for the kids.

I will not be posting the rest of the video from Christmas Eve on the blog for all the people whose gifts were opened that night were luckily present in person. I will eventually load them onto YouTube so if you so desire by the end of the week you will be able to view them from my channel.

City Museum on Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T18:59:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve started off right. Madison and I stayed at home making sure we had the last of the necessities ready for the next two days while Dylan and Daddy headed out to the City Museum - where the imagination runs wild. Scott and I enjoyed some fun here back in 2005 and I took Dylan last year as well but he was a little too short to enjoy most of it then. From the looks of the pictures and the video and the excitement in his voice when he got home, my two boys had a blast. And they stayed far too long having fun that Dylan did not have time to take a nap (besides the car ride) prior to our evenings festivities that were beginning around 3:30-4:00. For those of you who do not know what the City Museum is - it is basically a large building where caves, tunnels, ramps, slides and all sorts of crazy stuff are built all over including all over the roof and all you do is climb around like kids playing! It is geared towards kids for some of the places are very small nooks and crannies that us adults have to figure out how to sneak thru. But we always have a blast as well. Great fun for my two boys and I am so glad they had the chance to do something special together over the holidays.

Christine (1981) and Madison (2011)

2011-12-26T16:32:00.000-06:00

I should have thrown her tights on her for these photos.

A Sneak Peek into Our Holiday...

2011-12-25T23:18:00.002-06:00

Madison enjoyed some Angel Food Cake Pre-Dinner Christmas Eve

Dylan's Favorite Christmas Gift

2011-12-25T21:31:00.000-06:00

Scott: Dylan, what was your favorite present?

Dylan: The big yellow one.

Scott: What was in the big yellow one?

Dylan: I don't know.

And I sit here in my new desk chair, wearing my snuggie, uploading pictures from my 7D. Yup, I had a good Christmas.

2011-12-24T21:32:00.000-06:00

Isn't she cute?!? Her "school" made this for us.

And these are thanks to my hubby who normally would get yelled at for spending money on flowers but with us hosting Christmas Eve they were enjoyed by all and really did look nice on the table. Love you bunny! Did I mention that he surprised me on Thursday with tickets to Beauty and the Beast at the Fox. And I thought we were just going to the Surgery Christmas Party! Love him!

We joined our dear neighbors and friends for an evening of Christmas Lights at Wild Lights at the Zoo on Friday night. We were lucky it wasn't too cold. Don't get me wrong - it was cold and I should have worn leggings under my jeans but it was tolerable and not totally crazy having the kids outside at 5:30 PM. I will say that this is something that I would like to do every year and if our neighbors will join us even better. The zoo had some great lights and displays, the carousel, penguin house, and the insectarium was all open for viewing. And when we got cold, we meandered inside for some pretzels and hot cocoa. Delicious. I am so very glad for the invite (as is the rest of my little family).

What better than a Bobcat Excavator to start off the evening.

Wandering around, looking at the lights.

Penguins! One of Dylan's Favorites.

Carousel ride with our friends

Attempting a photo - Ha - not a chance with an almost one year old and two three year olds.

Daddy did get some kisses from Madison. Something she just really started doing this past week with regularity.

Happy Holidays!

Sunshine

2011-12-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

This was the first tutu I made. This was not the photoshoot I expected it to be. I imagined a perfectly behaved princess...what was I thinking?!?

Distraction with used glow sticks. Don't worry I did not let her chew on them.

And yes, standing up and attacking my backdrop was something totally hilarious for her.

And these pictures were the best that I could do today - a little added sunshine even if they aren't quite so picture perfect.

Playgroup Christmas Party

2011-12-20T20:48:00.000-06:00

Jamie, Andrew, and Audrey hosted a delightful holiday party for playgroup on Monday. The boys enjoyed delicious and adorable food and they all made ornaments stuffed with goodies and trinkets. And of course, they played like wild men. We had the best of times. I love this little playgroup of ours.

Ink

2011-12-20T20:41:00.002-06:00

Dylan's Holiday Tattoos

Santa's Little Helper

2011-12-19T20:34:00.000-06:00

Check out SANTA DYLAN from 2009

Because I am nice...I won't wait till tonite

2011-12-19T06:59:00.000-06:00

Lil' Baker

2011-12-15T21:10:00.000-06:00

Last night, Dylan, Scott and I baked some white chocolate chip cookies. They turned out pretty good seeing that they were a quick google recipe as we were hunting down the ingredients that we had. Dylan was a big helper and I think the part that he liked best was operating my mixer. The speed changed often.

We also took the chance for him to give us the present he made at school. It was a green rice wreath ornament that he had made and he even wrote his name on the card. I am curious at how many 2 year olds can write their name (even if it is fairly spread out onto both sides) - I'm still impressed.

And now the final part, rolling into balls, cooking and eating.

And a little holiday cheer for fun. The Santa was my craft that I made this year. I had a kit that told me what I needed to do and I figured that there was no point to not do it this year and Dylan likes him. The other pictures are a penguin ornament that Dylan's friend made him, our mantel, stockings - one year I will have 4 matching ones, Oodles the elf, and our door of holiday cards.

It doesn't get much cuter than this...

2011-12-15T21:00:00.000-06:00

Conversation with Dylan Part Two

2011-12-13T20:44:00.000-06:00

Daddy: Dylan, you need to be a good boy and listen.

Dylan: Ummm. Probably next time. In two or three weeks.

Preschool Holiday Party

2011-12-13T20:27:00.000-06:00

Love. love. love. that I'm able to escape work for a few hours to join in on this fun. The kid loves him some cupcake icing and enjoyed both crafts today as well. Daddy and I are thinking we might have to whip out some popsicle sticks and glue this week/weekend for some more ornament making fun for him since he is so into this right now.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-12T21:31:00.000-06:00

Today Dylan and I made our first gingerbread house. I should say He made since it looks as good as it does because he did it all. I was allowed to help him squeeze the icing on the roof but that was it.

And daddy came home and let him eat some of it. Thankfully, daddy was here to help tame the crazy that followed all that sugar.

Miss Madison thinking daddy is hilarious after she pinches his neck and he screams "ow"

And Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Peek a Boo in the Curtains

2011-12-11T21:32:00.000-06:00

This was the better of the activities she tried today. The second one was playing in the toilet.

Conversation with Dylan

2011-12-11T19:59:00.000-06:00

Me: Dylan, you need to be a good boy and listen to mama.

Dylan: Ummm, probably next time.

Santa Take One

2011-12-11T19:54:00.000-06:00

Holiday Parties Company Style

2011-12-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

This afternoon was the company holiday party for me. Scott was able to attend after a morning and afternoon at the building directly next to it - yet he drove all the way home to pick me up - he's sweet like that. It was held at the Moolah Bowling Alley and it was quite fun. Scott and I even bowled a game - if you call what we did bowling...

Stinking might be more of a correct term...

And a few of the kids that I haven't posted from my phone.

Madison loves this thing and is pretty crazy on it.

Dylan opening his Christmas Card from the Great-Grandparents

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-09T22:22:00.000-06:00

Tonight Dylan's school was hosting a "Winter Wonderland". For a $1 per kid you could attend and they visited the classrooms where each one was set up with a game or a craft to do. They also had a silent auction going on for gift baskets of goodies and things and they were really well put together. It was all very cute and the kids had fun. This was also the first time that Scott got to see his school and meet his friends and teachers. We saw most of Dylan's classmates while we were there and to make the evening even more special we went to St. Louis Bread Co. with two of his favorite little girls in his class and their families.

Dylan's crafts

Gardenland Express

2011-12-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

Remember THIS?

This morning we (my dad, I and the kids) went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to check out the 2011 Gardenland Express again this year.

It was just as delightful as I remember although getting photos of my kids was nearly impossible as Dylan wanted not much to do with the camera and Madison was more interested in trying to pluck leaves and flowers from the plants and play with the Caution Wet Floor signs. They both did enjoy watching the trains go around.

And even better because we are members it is free (and it is so worth us being members) - if you are not city residents (includes county folk too) can get in free on Wednesday and Saturday and then you'd only have to pay for the exhibit. Not too shabby either.

Now on to the photos...

And now you have pretty much seen it all.

Outta the mouth of Dylan

2011-12-07T20:22:00.000-06:00

Scene:

Dylan standing on the back of the rocking butterfly rocking (not at all like it is intended to be used). Madison approaches wanting to get on the action.

Me: Dylan, please stop rocking like that Madison is there and she wants to play too.

Dylan: (In whiney voice) What about me?

Dylan's Day with Ama and Papa and a Madison School Update

2011-12-07T19:29:00.000-06:00

On Wednesdays, Dylan does not attend school but Madison does. This allows Dylan to have a day all to himself with both of them. I think that this is great for everyone. Madison always gets a lot of attention when she is present because she is "little" and must be watched closely. I like having some time to focus solely on Dylan. So today Dylan painted the Monster Truck that Papa and him built on Monday morning. He would not wait to build it on a day that I was at work so they built it Monday and painted it today. He did a great job and I'll take a photo of the finished project soon. He also made cookies with them in the shape of letters of the alphabet - his and Madison's name. There were no cookies left to share with mama so they must have been good too.

Madison has now been to school 4 times. This week I was told that she did much better. She was even playing yesterday when I picked her up and today I was told that she will take her formula now without any fuss. She supposedly likes one of the lunch ladies and walks up to her wanting her to pick her up. I'm going to have to see this woman to see if she resembles any of us or if she just likes her for some reason. She is also getting a wide variety of starter foods - cereal, toast, pasta, etc. at breakfast and lunch with her friends. She likes to feed one of the little boys when she is sitting near him in the high chairs. I am just happy that she is getting better about it and making her teachers day a little easier than last week even though she screams like I've never heard her scream when I drop her off - I feel sorry for the staff although I am assured that she stops quickly. And she'll be a happy girl to stay with Ama tomorrow morning.

What actually went on in school today

2011-12-06T20:53:00.001-06:00

When I asked Dylan today what he did in school, he replied, "didn't go outside. too cold" and that was it.

I later find out that he actually did this...

We have been talking about the books "The Gingerbread Baby" and "Gingerbread Friends." We made gingerbread cookies today! We looked at, smelled, and mixed all the ingredients. The children rolled their dough in their hands. then, they put it on the tray, and patted it. The children tasted their creations after they baked and cooled. They were very yummy. Most of the children really liked them.

Maybe one day he will actually tell me what he did in school verses the status of whether they got to
play on the playground or not. I will admit - the playground is very awesome.

3 1/2 Minutes of Madison

2011-12-06T20:16:00.000-06:00

I figured that I would post a short video of just the kids being the kids. Madison is just wandering around the kitchen. This will be painfully boring to all but probably the grandparents and family members who just like to see her meander around because that is all that she is doing.

Glowing Bath

2011-12-05T21:03:00.000-06:00

We took an idea from our friends' mom and decided to do a special bath with glow sticks tonight. Dylan seemed to enjoy it and it is something that we will continue to do occasionally for our big boy.

Mama Llama fixed Llama Llama

2011-12-05T20:25:00.000-06:00

So my son loves the "Llama llama" books. So much so when they were a part of Kohl's Cares, Ama Mary got him a stuffed Llama llama. Dylan loved him so much that his neck split open and the stuffing started to come out. I have been terrible about fixing him but I finally got around to it and put him back in his room. This morning he was cuddling with him and I pointed out that he was fixed.

Me: "Llama llama is all fixed. Mama can fix things too"

Dylan: "Umm...no, daddy probably fixed it."

Thanks Dylan.

Santa's Magical Kingdom

2011-12-04T20:52:00.002-06:00

Saturday night, we bundled up the kiddos and took advantage of the not so freezing cold December weather (which is now freezing cold) and went to take a wagon ride around Santa's Magical Kingdom to look at the light display. I'd highly recommend going right at 5:30 PM when they open. We were able to get there, see the lights, and get out without any issue but by the time we were leaving at 6 o'clock or so the traffic was backing up and it was getting crowded. Enjoy a short video of some of the lights and some pictures at the end.

My 10 month old

2011-12-04T20:52:00.001-06:00

Morning at the Magic House

2011-12-03T21:14:00.000-06:00

After BounceU not having any open bounce times today, we opted for a morning trip to the Magic House. I got to enjoy playing with Madison in the infant area for quite some time before we joined daddy and big brother for some escapades. Madison loves the ball pit and blocks as much as Dylan does the construction site.

Or maybe that is daddy who really loves the digger... Hmmm....

We had a fun morning today and before we left we had to have some food from the Cafe because that is what Papa and Dylan always do! We really like having time to spend with daddy when we can enjoy fun activities too!

Kiss {another week} good bye...

2011-12-02T20:09:00.000-06:00

I told you a few days ago that she was almost another week older already and here she is.

Just a little sneak peak of the decorations in the family room and where Oodles the elf hung out today.

Yes, Dylan decided to color his head, Madison's head and my head with markers. Madison's is really the only one that showed up since she still has no hair. I love Crayola washable markers.

They both enjoyed some frozen lemonade today. Madison ate half of it all by herself.

And who needs first birthdays. Daddy shared a few bites of his Pink Velvet Jilly's cupcake with her today and Dylan enjoyed his Fruit Cake one that he picked out himself this afternoon. She also had some Gerber Yogurt Melts for the first time this afternoon and so far so good. I'm always nervous about choking when we let her try something new but she did ok with them and really seemed to like them. No surprise they are actually quite delicious.

We attempted to go to Madison's playgroup today but a feisty almost three year old and an almost one year old who did not take a morning nap did not lend itself to a successful time. We made the best of it by going to get delicious cupcakes and for me being a super mom and coming up with "hash browns" at noon by going to Sonic for tater tots for Dylan.

Holiday Cheer

2011-12-01T21:23:00.000-06:00

Dylan tells us about his reindeer and Madison checks out the tree.

Happy, happy birthday

2011-12-01T01:05:00.001-06:00

Happy birthday all those December celebrators....

My Grandpa, Justin, Kelli, Aunt Punky, and Michele.

May your birthday be the start of another great year.

Happy Holidays...

2011-12-01T01:00:00.000-06:00

...from our family to yours!

The printed version looks better but I wanted to share it with all of my blog readers as well whose addresses I do not have.

Oh Christmas Tree...oh Christmas Tree...

2011-11-30T21:53:00.000-06:00

The decorations started this past weekend and commenced with the Christmas tree tonight. Dylan helped. He also kept trying to convince us that he was going to sleep in his box tonight. We had to wait to put the tree up because our original tree protection from the kiddos is now being used to cage Miss Molly at Mike's. But now, we have our tree. And how lovely it is. More pictures to come of our decorations this year.

Madison goes to school update for those interested. Yup, as I expected - pretty bad. She was none too happy with me this morning when I left her. When I picked her up she still wasn't very happy. I was told that the main day teacher she seems to like just fine but late shift teacher not so much - as in tears every time she came close to her and unfortunately that is the only teacher that was there when Scott and I picked her up. I do know that she will eventually get used to everyone and may even start having some fun while she is there. In Madison's mind, "project torture" continues tomorrow.

Big Princess...Big Day Tomorrow

2011-11-29T20:52:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that she is actually almost a whole week older already. Time keeps getting away from me.

And well, tomorrow Madison has a very big day ahead of her. It is her first day of SCHOOL (AKA Daycare). Please think happy thoughts for her for you all know that she has basically been cared for by a handful of people and she very much likes it this way. She is NOT going to be happy about this new arrangement at first. I am hoping that by me being my borderline pessimistic realistic self that I will be prepared for what will occur tomorrow and that I will be pleasantly surprised by the end of the day report. It will be a long day for her regardless. But in the end it IS good for her. She will have the chance to play with some other kids her age. Dylan greatly benefited from being in daycare during the first year of his life and I think that she will too. Maybe they will even get her napping in a crib down to a routine. And this will give my parents a bit of a break since they have been selflessly caring for our kid(s) for the last year and a half which we greatly appreciate. And they are not getting off completely, they will still have Dylan when he is not in school like normal and they will still have Madison on Thursday mornings. Alas, tomorrow shall be interesting.

And yes, much like her brother, she is immediately interested in the giant box that UPS dropped off today. She already seems to know that it is for her.

Meet Oodles

2011-11-28T20:50:00.000-06:00

Meet Oodles. Oodles is a nice little elf sent from Santa to each Dylan and Madison to make sure they are good little boy and girl and report back each night. He then finds a new spot in the house to quietly watch from during the day. Dylan is thoroughly enjoying hunting for him each morning and the "Oodles is watching" is a nice tactic to have also. Christmas is going to be even more fun this year with him starting to understand and of course Madison's presence. Side note: I think Dylan decided on the name as it was an example in the book but his new obsession with the Mickey Mouse Club I am sure helped since "Oodles" is kind of like "Tootles".

The Days of the Week

2011-11-28T20:40:00.002-06:00

Just because he is cute...

Dylan's Favorites

2011-11-26T21:09:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-26T16:19:00.001-06:00

We are so thankful for a great holiday. Scott was on call Wednesday night so after I put the kids to bed I was able to make a few side dishes to take along to my Uncle Erv's house where we would be celebrating. After a short nap, we all loaded up and drove on over to get ready to stuff our face.

We brought the turkey with us - well, not the actual bird we ate, just Madison. Check out Dylan as a turkey here.

Dylan was all dressed up ready to go. I thought we were all looking good until I got there and realized all the big boys were in slacks, dress shirts and ties. Lookin' good men.

A little baseball to work up an appetite went on outside.

And inside we had our own little marching band.

And last but not least - the delicious feast!

Thank you to everyone for such a delicious Thanksgiving. This post took so long to publish because after dinner my mom and I headed out for a night long shopping spree starting with Toys R Us at 9 PM (we were in line at 8 PM) and ending with Sports Authority at about 6 AM with many stops in between (Children's Place, Kohl's, Walmart, Old Navy, Krispy Kreme Donuts, JC Penney, Sam's Club, Babies R Us). I highly recommend Sam's Club for Black Friday shopping. They were serving food and coffee while we waited in line to get in. They were organized and had lots of inventory that was on sale in stock and after we paid they were providing food of breakfast biscuits, orange juice, yogurt, water, and pastries. Yum! I will return again next year.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and we missed all you out of towners!

Dylan Meets the Muppets

2011-11-23T22:02:00.000-06:00

Dylan went to the movie theatre for the first time today with Papa. The Muppets Movie came out today and they spent the late morning eating popcorn, candy and drinks. I was told that he did good although he did not last the whole movie. The bummer was that there were the normal 20 minutes worth of previews that he had to sit thru before the movie even started. I will say that when I asked him about the movie today this is what I was told:

Me: "Dylan, how was the Muppet movie with papa"

Dylan: "Papa don't have money for games at movie theater. no games. papa no money. mama have money for games at movie theatre?"

Me: "next time we'll have money for the games at the movie theatre."

After we returned home from swimming, I asked Papa about the "no money for games" and sure enough he had told Dylan that he didn't have any more money. The things that stick with that kid crack me up.

Thanks dad for giving Dylan his first experience at the movie theatre.

I hope that you are all enjoying your Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I promise some good posts over the next few days.

Just some play time at the house

2011-11-22T21:14:00.001-06:00

My Rams Cheerleader

2011-11-20T20:55:00.001-06:00

Our football gear didn't help either of our teams this week but at least she looked cute

Madison...another week older

2011-11-19T20:03:00.001-06:00

Happy

And Sad

Special Play Friends

2011-11-19T18:24:00.001-06:00

This past week we had some very special friends come over and play with us. We had three quarters of the adorable little family from Bralys in the Burgh. Kyndal and her boys, Kaiser and Porter are fun blog friends of ours that I did know in real life first. Kyndal was a high school classmate of mine although I know so much more about her via the blog world than I did way back when in high school. Her little family lives in Pittsburgh while Brett is completing an orthopaedic residency. Thankfully, they were back here visiting family and were able to squeeze in a little time so that I could meet her picture perfect boys in person. And I can honestly say that they are even sweeter and cuter in person - they really could be the cover of a magazine at any given time. And to top it all off - the little guys seem to be brilliant just like mom too - and if I am recalling her high school ACT score and class rank correctly - she is the best of the "cream of the crop" and did I mention the sweetest thing too! The four little ones played happily and oh so well together upstairs, downstairs and outside for several hours with a lunch break in between. Kaiser and Dylan are just a couple of months apart in age and Porter just turned 13 months a day or so prior. Oh and Dylan has eaten turkey every day since you brought it up at lunch. Next time you are in St. Louis, I'll have a whole list of foods for you to mention to him! :)

Dylan and Kaiser - the construction truck experts

Blond cutie, Porter and Madison

The kids in action

Thank you so much Kyndal for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and hang out with us. We are excited to hear how much Porter is walking now and are really hoping that Kaiser's boo boo healed up better than you could ever imagine. You have an adorable family and we look forward to reading about the rest of your trip here on your blog!

To hold you over

2011-11-15T20:47:00.001-06:00

My life.

Camping Buddies

2011-11-14T21:07:00.001-06:00

Dylan and Scott camped in the basement again Friday night which you knew already if you follow my Twitter feed.

Saturday morning Scott woke up earlier than Dylan and was working outside when little guy rose for the day. He was calling for someone to come down to the basement.

Madison and I went down there and approached the tent where he was still sitting.

Conversation followed:

Me: Good morning buddy!

Dylan: I called for Daddy

Me: Oh. Daddy is outside. You can come upstairs and get dressed and go outside and help him.

Me: Did you have fun camping with daddy last night?

Dylan: Daddy snores real loud.

I laugh real hard.

She Walks

2011-11-14T21:03:00.001-06:00

Sorry, she is stubborn and I never seem to have the camera on when she is parading around the room. But here is a little tease of what my youngest is capable of.

Delicious Whole Foods

2011-11-13T16:19:00.001-06:00

Madison tries a lemon

If there was ever a doubt that these were our kids...no more.

Dylan loves sushi or as he calls it "fish" dipped is wasabi and soy sauce

Madison loves gelato as much as her mama.

As does Dylan - I love his "cheese" face.

Dylan liked his salmon cooked too, as did his mama.

Yesterday was a good food day.

Mom of the Year Award goes to...

2011-11-11T20:57:00.001-06:00

Yup, not me. After several days of a virus for Madison causing some spit-up and too many outfit changes due to diarrhea, you would have thought that I would have been smart enough to pack an extra outfit on our outing to the bounce house this AM. After an hour and a half or so of bouncing she soils her clothes leading to her wearing only a diaper and her coat while we were eating lunch at the new IHOP by our house. Side note: it was amazingly busy for a Friday afternoon. As I was laughing about my hoosierness with my kids, I mentioned Madison's poop incident when Dylan all of a sudden says, "Poop coming". I pick him up out of his chair and carry him into the bathroom with his hands covered in syrup. I get him in the bathroom where I pull down his pants and lift him onto the toilet. He tells me, "ok, got it" so I let go when he instantly then plops into the toilet. He replies, "i fell in. hold me." And so I do when seconds later as he is trying to poop he starts to pee with his privates not tucked down in the toilet lending to a fountain of urine I inform him to aim in the toilet and he responds with while laughing, "pee on mama". And to top it off, I'm not sure if it is carry over from the halloween candy he has been eating but his bowel movement was not typical in color and I made the mistake of mentioning that it looked like green playdoh. After I cleaned all of the syrup off of the toilet seat so that it did not look like a bloody mess (strawberry flavored mixed with maple for those wondering), we wander back out to finish eating where he announces that his poop looked like green playdoh. Yup that's my boy.

On a cleaner subject, Madison loved the bounce houses especially the giant slide that she rode on my lap and we all know that Dylan does too. A video to come tomorrow. It is currently uploading and I'm dragging my virus infested body to bed in hopes of sounding like a normal human tomorrow. Good night all.

My Artist

2011-11-11T20:49:00.001-06:00

A collage of Dylan's artwork and drawings from school thus far - and one that he colored at Great Wolf Lodge!

Veterans' Day

2011-11-11T05:45:00.001-06:00

Taking a moment this morning to remember all of service men and women who have served and protected our country across the ages and their families. I really should be flying our Navy Flag today at our house but I am doubting that I'll change out the Thanksgiving one this year.

We love you daddy! I'm not sure when this photo is from but it is one of the earliest of Scott in uniform that I have. Next year I'll have one of my LCDR.

40 Weeks and Walking

2011-11-10T21:59:00.001-06:00

OK, so she has been walking in the sense of taking anywhere from 2 to 20 steps all the time for a couple of weeks. But today she turns 40 weeks old. She was born before I hit 40 weeks and therefore she has been with us on earth longer than she was 'baking'. And we couldn't love her any more.

First School Pictures

2011-11-10T20:44:00.001-06:00

Dylan had his school pictures taken a while back (I can't exactly remember when). We had talked to him about how he needed to listen to the photographer and smile for the camera ahead of time.

I was not expecting much given Dylan's typical reaction to the camera. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw these today.

Lifetouch is the company who shot these photos. And I am more than thrilled by how they turned out. I purchased the whole bunch of them since the pricing was affordable. I have a variety of sizes for each shot so if you out of town family members are interested in a few or those family members who live here, shoot me an email with which images you like and the sizes you want and I'll try and accommodate and get them to you soon.

The facial expression in the class photo is exactly how I imagined all of Dylan's photos looking.
What a great group of kiddos he is in class with.

Soccer Stud

2011-11-10T20:03:00.001-06:00

Tonight I brought the video camera to capture some of Dylan in action. However, this was not the day to do so. I have several reasons that I think could have attributed to this.

1. He had a large fan club. Thank you to everyone who came out to watch him. I wish it would have been a different night for last week was so much fun to watch. Dylan sometimes does not behave his best when there are crowds of people (ie. family who loves him) paying attention to him.

2. Tonight for some reason they had two classes combined. Meaning that the 3 year olds were playing with the 4-5 year olds too. There were too many kids at varying age groups and experience levels. It did not go very smoothly.

3. And well, he is not quite three and has a stubborn mind of his own and can not be forced. So tonight he just might not have felt like playing and listening the whole time and that is OK too.

At any rate, whatever the reasoning, I did capture a little of him kicking around the ball and playing during the first half of the class to share with you all. Here is a little 5 minute or so video of him at class tonight.

My Fish

2011-11-09T20:54:00.000-06:00

Dylan started swimming lessons last week. I made the mistake of letting him in the pool about 20 minutes early last week so about 2/3 of the way thru he was cold and wanted to get out. He is the only kid in the class so I am not sure that it will continue for the whole 7 week session or not at this point. He is in a Pre-Pike class which is geared towards kids who are comfortable in the water and more advanced than the initial beginners class but not age 3 to enter the first intro to swimming class, Pike, without a parent in the water. His instructor today said that he has mastered all of the techniques needed to enter Pike Plus completely skipping Pike - all we need is for him to get a little closer to his third birthday. At this age, they have them swim with a flotation belt. He was using a noodle for stability for the first few minutes also but he soon got rid of that and could swim all the way back to the edge of the pool by kicking and scooping his hands in the water with just his belt. He blew bubbles and of course as you can tell loved to jump off of the side. I was so proud of how well he did today. Afterwards, he told me "he listened to his coach". And yes, yes, he did.

Number Two from my Number One

2011-11-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

I enter the bathroom where Dylan and Daddy are.

Dylan is sitting on the toilet.

Daddy asks, "Dylan, tell mom your new secret words"

Dylan, "One for pee, two for poop"

Again, I am so proud.

A mildly inappropriate conversation with our son

2011-11-06T21:21:00.001-06:00

The scene: Madison in the bathtub. I sitting on the edge with my feet in watching her. Scott knelt down by the side of the tub.

Dylan enters. Strips down. And walks over to Scott, standing directly behind him.

Dylan: "Pee on daddy" (as he is holding his private part acting like he is going to actually do what he said)

Scott: "No. No. We don't pee on daddy."

Dylan: "Pee on daddy" he repeats...giggling...

Scott replies with a similar response to before.

Again repeat.

This goes on for 3 maybe 4 times, each time Dylan starts to smile and laugh a little harder until finally after daddy says "no, no we don't pee on daddy" one last time.

Dylan responds with, "That funny".

And at that we both lose it and start laughing ourselves.

Scott: "do I have a wet spot on my back? it feels like it."

Me: "no."

And at that Dylan bee-lines it to our closet where he is laughing hysterically and closes the door.

Me: to Scott, "Grab him!!"

I fear him peeing all over our entire closet of clothes. For I really don't need any more laundry than I already do.

She wants to be just like him

2011-11-06T20:36:00.001-06:00

If it is Dylan's, Madison wants it. She eats yogurt and loves it. And so does her brother.

Now he writes his A, B, Cs...

2011-11-06T20:33:00.004-06:00

A demonstration of Dylan's writing abilities. He can indeed write all 26 letters of the alphabet. He ran out of room and changed direction a few times but he wrote every letter with chalk in our garage. I think it is pretty good for a kid who is just a little bit over 2 years and 8 months old.

He is also our helpful sweeper.

Just when I thought that I had tried every pacifier that was made...

2011-11-06T20:30:00.000-06:00

I find one that she likes.

Yes, my friends, that is...

A Ring Pop

Dylan received several during his Trick or Treating extravaganza on Halloween night. He was eating it and the swiper stole it from his hands and claimed it as her own. She was none to happy when it was not returned to her.