Fun fun fun....until Mom and Dad pass out

We had a big time for Christopher's last weekend with us. We spent Saturday at Frankie's Fun Park and then hit a Durham Bulls Game complete with fireworks. Ethan was so excited to be able to do the big boy things that CJA can do and was thrilled to be able to spend so much quality time with Daddy. The age difference is hard on all kids since Ethan adores Christopher and we want to ensure he gets his fill while also providing some good summer age appropriate fun for Christopher. Jason is so mellow he can tag along for whatever and people watch.





Our day today started with miniature golf, some go carts, bumper boats and dinner with Jeff's friends. It was a nice time and then we headed off to the game. Here are the kids with Wool E. Bull. Yes, I am serious. Ethan has him sign his hat every time we go and they were also putting on their rally caps and turning their hats inside out. It didn't help.




Sunday we went bowling and made a nice dinner at home. Here are some shots of the bowling prowess of my crew. Jeff beat us all even with letting Jason take his last shot. And who said the WII didn't help?






Christopher leaves early tomorrow morning and the gang will all be sad. Ethan stil keeps his picture on his dresser and Jeff misses him every day that is away from us.
I will miss him too and am already planning our Christmas together in the mountains.

More b-day pics and a funny story

So Jason's teacher at school tells me that Ethan comes running at outside time to the fence to catch a glimpse of baby Jason since their playtime overlaps by a few. Since it is hot and it is summer time, Ethan approached Jason's teacher in an accusatory voice and asked loudly, "Did you put sun scream on my brother?" She says the boys hold hands through the fence as well until it is time for the younger class to go in. It amazes me how close they are and I love it! Hopefully he will share some of his b-day toys!

Ethan turns 3

Wow. It seems like yesterday that he was keeping me up all night, starting daycare, learning how to navigate stairs and requesting big boy underwear. Now, he calls himself "Mr. Independent" and wants his "allergy" (translation: privacy) when visiting the restroom. He dresses himself (although I pick the clothes to avoid any issues with harassment at school since he would only wear his favorite jammies day after day), demands a hat, certain shoes, and his belt and sunglasses....depending on if his pants have belt loops, of course.

For his birthday, Ethan asked for a party hat, cake and a birthday card. I was happy to oblige but we did also add an old fashioned sit and spin which he helped Dad to assemble and some Thomas trains for his collection.

Here are some pics of his party hat:






Helping Dad:



Jason's kickin party outfit from Aunt Susan:


His birthday seemed to last for days (reminded me a bit of mine actually). Thursday night we had Mr. Peter and Susan, Grandmother and Granddaddy Ed for dinner. We were so excited to see them since they came from so far for E's day! Andy was here putting new shoes on the horses and he even let Ethan nail on one of Easy's shoes. E was thrilled.

Friday the kids did dinner at Aunt Susan's while Mommy and Daddy went out to Angus Barn for a private dinner and wine tour (can't even possibly do this one justice with words). Earlier in the day Friday we had a Thomas the Train party at daycare with his new friends. This was followed by a few hour tour of IBM with Mommy while Daddy finished up his work. Jeff and I had made up great favor boxes shaped like a caboose and had some matching plates and napkins. Our party invitations matched as well for our official family and friend party on Saturday. I bribed Jeff to help promising him time on the Wii that he got for father's day.

Saturday brought everyone together with all 3 sets of grandparents, Aunt Susan, Unclue Mikey and Marie and Teo. We also had some great friends come and we had a super time! We ordered a really special Lightning McQueen cake which he picked out himself. For dinner we had a simple but nice catered Italian dinner (from Daniel's) and some special items from Mom as well that included her famous eggplant parmesan and meatballs. Ethan even got to beat Paw Paw at Wii bowling. He can't get the hang of golf since he just muscles it everywhere. No concept of "putt", "easy" or "lightly".

Sunday we played with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and then did a family movie night in the "Jeff Theater" and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (compliments of Aunt Jean). Monday we went to Pullen Park with Shannon and her kids, Clare and Nicholas. Ethan got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and drive his new pick up truck.

Through all this I made 28 notes about the "all about me" mentality and had a few frustrating moments as we got out of our routine. And to think, he is stuck with me all week since daycare is closed.

3 year check up

We took a trip to the pediatrician this morning to get E his physical. He was right on the money still at 50% for height and weight and doing fine on all counts. The tubes in his ears are long since gone but now that the tonsils are gone, the illnesses are fewer. After the appointment, we went to Starbucks for milk shakes and had a grown up meeting. E then asked, "Mommy...do they have a rest room here?" It was so cute. After our date, I dropped him at school and went off to work. Mr Peter is due to come over for dinner so we are looking forward to that. It is going to be a great weekend!

And next week we get our new dog, Tanner. Here are some pics from his visitation day:

My little man

We were walking back to the barn tonight after feeding the horses and cats. I was holding Jason's hand and he was doing his darndest to walk all the way back which I appreciate given his weight. Ethan was trotting back and forth in front of us when he stopped and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I am not a little boy anymore." I smiled since all he keeps talking about lately is how big he is getting and how he is just sure he can drive the car and reach the pedals now. But I bit and I asked him, "so E, what are you then?" He started walking again (with his baby) and said clearly, "I am a MAN." Now, that is cute enough in and of itself but you add in the fact that he is hugging a lion stuffed animal and I had to sleep with him last night for 3 hours due to a thunder storm, and the sheer irony of it is poetic.

He does try to be so grownup. I love my work at home days the most although I miss carrying them into school and getting them settled. He marches in the house those evening while Jeff is still unloading Jason and tells me how many stars he got for behavior at school that day. "I got five stars today" and then he always asks, "What you doing all day, Mommy?" He always notices if I have cleaned up his toys or washed his favorite jammies or white t-shirt. He would wear them everyday if he could. He insists on us eating outside on the porch since it is warm and helps me set the table. He then tries to feed Jason, correct his brother's baby antics and thanks me for the "dee-lish-us" (with his strange Scottish accent) dinner every evening. Well, okay, most evenings. I do have to make stick fish, hot dogs, pork loin or baked chicken for that honor....and yes, need to refrain from serving brussel sprouts or asparagus. I have been doing better lately as reality has set in: it isn't worth the argument and it is okay to microwave chicken fingers when you and the husband want stuffed tilapia. Welcome to sanity.

I still love our bed time routine and laugh at his continued negotiation. "Mommy, will you lay with me 2 minutes?" followed by "No, you not going yet" and then "Mommy, tuck me in." Which, of course, I have to do multiple times since for some reason, I never seem to get it right the first time. Yes, I know I am being manipulated but I let it happen since the days he says he wants to go away from home or go live with Grandma just break my heart. The other sad part is you always have to choose. The kids go to bed at the same time and I can't be in two places as once. We read a story in the living room together and I give them their baths and kiss their faces but I can only tuck one in at night.

I think I need to clone myself so I can do all I want to and not miss a heart beat. So that I can hang onto the smell of the baby, the feeling when I kiss their eye lids, the little hands in mine, their giggles and contagious laughter. And there are the more annoying habits you also adore...the chewing on my nose, climbing on me, repeating things he shouldn't be saying (or hearing from me), kicking me out of bed when I do have to sleep with him, chasing him around the house when he decides he does not want to get dressed (99% of the time). And there are the subtler things like the constant teaching as the vast blue eyes ask "why?" over forty times on the drive home. "What's this place, Mommy?" "Does this take us to Beaver Creek?" "Are we going to meet Grandma at the gas gashion" "I see boating. Are there boats on your side too?" "Where we at?" "What they doing there?" "Why are they not working?" "Why are they working?" "Are we going to the post office?" "Why are we going to the post office?"

Need I go on? Can you teach an almost 3 year old that knows the alphabet and can spell his name to type wikipedia? Why not? "Mommy, don't say why not. You need to answer me when I am talking to you."

Disney with the Duo

We took advantage of a good opportunity and took the boys to the Disney the first week in June. I was there for a conference staying at the Disney Swan and Dolphin and Jeff, the boys and Mom and Dad came down for a long weekend. We had great weather and were able to do some nice things with the kids. They were both still free given they are under 3 so even though it was a bit old for them, they had a blast.



The first thing we did was head to the pool for a swim and a trip to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. We had a great dinner aboard an actual boat with some friends of ours that were still here from the conference. Ethan can't stop talking about Josh and Mr. Peter. The next morning we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast with the characters. Ethan loved them! Jason was great with the mice but not so great with big things with "goofy ears" or "duck bills". The restaurant was at the Contemporary and we got to take the monorail which was a big deal for Ethan.



We took lots of pictures with the characters and I have posted a few here. We then went off to Magic Kingdom where we did a few rides (Pooh, Dumbo, Goofy's rollercoaster, the carousel) and a few shows like Mickey's Philharmonic. The Mah's gave us their plans as they had done the parks before us and I had a great book compliments of the Baratta's that was a huge help. I had planned the character dining ahead of time, where to eat lunch, naps in the afternoon and I think that helped to keep it all sane.

Strollers? Who needs them when you have a Grandpa?

Jason loved this little set of characters we bought him and he played with them the entire trip home. He seemed to like playing with this size a lot better since even on our last night when he saw Goofy and Pluto, he was NOT happy and would just bury his head into Jeff and bawl.



Ethan was amazingly patient waiting for his turn with the characters and really enjoyed the experience. He kept asking if we could go back and if they were coming home with us.





The hotel pool was a blast and all they boys wanted to do was get in the water and splash around. They had a waterfall that E finally went under and a slide for Jeff. Ethan just begged Jeff to take him swimming and he was really trying to paddle and kick.

Little bro's b-day

It is Jason's birthday today and as we are all scrambling to get ready for his party, Ethan decided to play dress up.




I couldn't resist taking a picture even though I know someday he is going to do the whole "Oh Mom" thing with the frustrated voice and deep sigh. I can't help myself. He actually was a great help woth blowing out candles and opening presents and sharing party favors with everyone. He did insist on having his own party hat and we accommodated.

Showering at school

So today was an interesting one. When we got to daycare to pickup the boys, I grabbed Jason and Jeff went to get Ethan. We met at reception where I got to hear about Ethan's latest escapades. They have a star system for behavior and E has been doing great getting 4 or 5 stars and Ethan has been so proud of his improving scores and gets so excited telling me he got "5 out of 5, Mommy!" But alas, today he lost a star at the very end of the day. Why? So glad you asked. He was playing in the sandbox and got dirty so decided to take a shower in the sand box and use the sand as his "shower spray" (and hair spray). When he realized this did not really help to make him feel any better, he went inside and grabbed the hand soap and put that in his hair as shampoo. Needless to say, his appearance was not much improved by this attempt either.

We are also still repeating everything I say....and many things I would prefer he not say. Why do they sound so much worse out of his lips than they did when they passed mine? For example...Jason has this wonderful habit of tossing peas, carrots, corn, (whatever) off his tray just to watch them fall. He leans WAY over so he can watch the entire trajectory. Now, the first 12 times he did this was sorta cute in an annoying way. Now at 1500, I am losing patience and the word "No" or attempts at redirction are met with a steady glare and smirk. No lie. So this one evening after going through my 12th napkin and 40th pea, I said "oh for pete's sake, jason....keep the food on the plate and eat it" and had to hear for the next week, "oh for pete's sake, oh for pete's sake, oh for pete's sake" ad nauseum...and to a catchy tune.

Ethan has one more lovely habit....throwing your discipline back at you. Jeff tells him he is getting tired of the bad behavior and playing around at the dinner table and E shoots back, "Well I am tired of you too Daddy." Does he WANT to make it to a teenager?

Spring pics

We had school pic proofs come back and they were adorable except that Jason was teary eyed. I felt so guilty since I had been away when the pics were taken and couldn't be there as I was for E's first school pictures. So this week we took them to Sears to get new ones. Jeff deserves a medal for humoring me but this was part of what I wanted for Mother's Day. Riding my horse and sleeping an extra hour were the others but that is a story for a different time. Here are some of my favorite shots.





For more, see my Kodak gallery.

Robot Wars

Jeff and his friends all went to the Durham Museum of Life and Science this weekend to see some robotics exhibit and to watch some robot wars. It was pretty cool and we packed up the kids and made a day of it with a picnic lunch, Dad and Joyce and all 3 boys in tow. We had a great time and toured the animals outside, did the nature walk and played some instruments before running wild on the playground and in the sandbox. They have some great things for kids and Jeff's friends brought their kids as well. E had a great time with Max and was so bummed to have to leave.

Come on dude!

Ethan's latest expression....and some nice pics to show the "bad" image that goes with that.




And then the sweeter side.....

It's almost spring time...

Not much of a winter here but we did run outside to catch snowflakes once. I would have loved to take him to see snow but we are going to wait until next year when Jason can play in it too.



And Ethan came home last night saying he wanted to eat dinner on the porch. He is so funny how he gets an idea in his head and just executes. Or how he get fixated on something. For example, there are just certain rules that have to be followed.

1. If you have belt loops, you need a belt
2. You cannot possibly leave the house without sunglasses, a car/truck and one of his babies
3. Mom needs to do laundry more frequently cause he actually picks his clothes and picks the SAME clothes that he just has to have....including his basketball shirt and Valentines Jammies. And he is not even 3. Imagine as a teenager.
   

Some other things that amaze me are his ability to negotiate. He has been having some issues sleeping lately and wants me to lay down and sleep with him. Of course that would be easy enough to do and would get him to sleep but it wouldn't teach him to go asleep on his own and have confidence in himself. And if he wakes and I am not there, he would just melt down. So we we tuck him in and love on him and tell him he gets to sleep like a big boy. We have a wonderful nighttime ritual. Bath, teeth, books, bed and we chat a few minutes about his day, give eskimo kisses and snuggle. Then the lawyer comes out. "Mommy, you come sleep with me two minutes? Then you can go do my laundry." Humph. Another funny thing is if the phone rings during our ritual. Aunt Jean called and he told her "it is late and we are done for the day. Good bye" and I nearly fell over. Our most recent books have been Cars and Trucks and Things That Go where we find Goldbug and Our World. He is able to recite the latter after just having it read to him for a few days.

Here is a pic of Daddy reading to the boys:

Kids really do say the darndest things...

And I want to file them all away with how good they make me feel. I love when we go to sleep at night...

"Can we go shopping?"

"Ladies and gentlemen..."

"For goodness sake! Can I say that?"

"Wait a minute!"

"Daddy, Mommy and I are talking to ourselves"

"I know I am small now but when I am bigger, I am going to drive a dump truck. And Jason is going to drive his own dump truck. His is white"

"I am a good boy today. I did not hit, I did not punch, I did not push or kick any of my friends at school. I'll try again tomorrow." Now would that be he will try to kick them tomorrow or he will try again to be good tomorrow? Judging by the amount of time he spends in time out, I am thinking the former.

"When we get home, I want to go outside and play with Daddy. We want to play football outside before dinner." Substitute golf, basketball, etc as the mood suits him and the season allows.

"May I want some ice cream please"

"Can we watch a movie? And make popcorn?"

"Sing Hush Little Baby, Mommy". We have our own version. I bought this great book that uses that lullaby with different words. Things like Mama's going to show you the evening sky instead of buying stuff to make their baby happy. We love it and sing it every night as we read the book.

"You want to sleep with me?" We snuggle together at night for a while and he always asks me. We make tunnels with the covers and I pretend to eat his ears and neck and nibble his toes like a monster and he just giggles.

Happy New Year

We finally had some rain around here but today was beautiful and about 48 or so. I took Ethan out to play and blow off some steam before we went over to celebrate New Years with the family. We had a great time but Ethan didn't want to go down the slide after the first run since it was too cold on his bottom. Hello? Aren't you like a 2 year old boy? It actually is par for the course. Last night we toasted with hot chocolate and watched a DVD and he was all worried about wiping the table from where his cocoa had dripped. He is too funny. He does love the swing set and takes such pride in remembering that Daddy and Grandpa built it for him and he helped measure. For such a neatnick, he does love his tools. This past weekend he got to use his new drill from Santa to help Jeff build a stool for the garage workbench. He was thrilled. He and Jeff spent the entire afternoon together on Saturday doing projects, playing basketball, swinging on the glider and it is now all E can talk about. He still likes me to tuck him in and sing him songs so I think my job is secure for now.





We spent the rest of the day today over at the Becker Grandparents having more food....yep, appetizers, pasta dinner, and dessert once again. Ethan grazed all day and Jason just tried to grab at anything that wasn't nailed down. All he got was organic baby food - peas and bananas to be exact. He was less than thrilled. Here is a pic of the boys playing together:

Santa Claus found our house!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends. We have had a busy and exciting day so this will be brief (ha!). The boys woke at the crack of dawn as usual and got to play with their Santa presents and open their stockings. They were dressed alike in their reindeer jammies and Ethan just adored showing Jason all his presents. Jason just liked the chew toys best.

Waiting on breakfast....with JT eating his new cell phone/chew toy:





Our beautiful tree:


The haul:



Jason wearing Ethan's stocking stuffer.....E loves sunglasses and sports them in the next picture surveying his Santa presents (the unwrapped ones).





Daddy is dressed for the minute in green....but Jason got him before long.


And E gets dressed and insists on wearing his new belt even without belt loops...


And notice how he will not put down the drill. I wish there was an off switch on this and the guitar...mental note...do not buy toys without volume switches and adult friendly on/off switches.



Notice Jeff is now in blue. Thanks, Jason!

After stockings, the 4 of us had a fabulous pancake, eggs and sausage breakfast and then got dressed and waited for the grandparents before opening all the rest. Aunt Susan arrived bearing gifts and food. We had a wonderful present for all when Granddaddy Ed came for the dinner party and we were thankful he had good flying weather and made it.

Menu:
We had quite the dinner choices thanks to help from Mom B, Susan, and Aunt Marie:



Main course:
Turkey, stuffing and gravy (Mom B)
Ham with cranberry chutney (Jenn - like how hard was this one?)
Corn casserole (Aunt Marie)
Broccoli casserole (Susan)
Spinach stuffed tomatoes (Aunt Marie)
Autumn salad (recipe from Grandmother Whitfield and made by Susan)
Cranberry walnut mold (Mom B)
Deviled eggs (I actually made this one)

For appetizers (I did all of these):
Brie with a fig pear jam
Blue cheese and walnut dip with crostini and tapenade
Pears and grapes
Smoked salmon with horseradish and capers

Desserts:
I can't type this much but my mother bought pies...apple, harvest berry, pecan.
I made cupcakes, lemon bars, 7 layer bars, almond toffee bars, peanut butter grahams, Jeff's bourbon balls (Mom's recipe and hard work too), choc magic cookies, Christmas cookies etc etc etc.


Family pics:

A few of us ripping the presents open....





The train table from Aunt Jean and trains from Jeff and I (with a cool tunnel from Grandmother and Granddaddy Ed)






And a few of us playing with E's tractor from Grandma and Grandpa (being opened above):








JT looks so grown up there....sigh....

And a peek at the sand and water table for JT from Grandma and Grandpa:



And some of the rest of the family and the kids:
















Christmas reflections:

We need to do even less next year!

Remind me that I need to hide the Chipmunks CD from Ethan. He loves it and rocks out in his carseat but trust me when I tell you, there is only so much an adult can take. Thanks for this one Jeff. :-)

Sharing is a two way street....Jason doesn't just have to share with Ethan.

Buy 2 Christmas trees next year since Ethan continually asked if we could decorate again and I so wanted to say "okay".

I love the Heat Meiser and Rudolph needs to get a voice coach or sinus medication.