Birthdays bring presents, cake and ... doctor visits

Last week was my busiest week as a stay-at-home mom.  We had two birthdays, two dentist appointments, two well checks (on different days), a field trip, a doctor visit for me, a dentist appointment for me, an overnight business trip for Brian, a trip to the airport to pick up my in-laws and birthday party for the boys.  I'm exhausted!

We've been celebrating Carter's birthday since before his birthday.  My friend Julie and her kids were unable to make it to the party on the 15th so we met her at Chuck E Cheese the week before to celebrate.  We got there at 9:30 and pretty much had the place to ourselves - very nice.  Here are the boys on the roller coaster video ride - their absolute favorite

On Carter's actual birthday, we went to iHop for breakfast and they sang him Happy Birthday and gave him some ice cream.  Ice cream for breakfast is probably a high ranking birthday wish for a 4 year old.

That evening we went to Pei Wei, Carter's favorite restaurant because he can watch them cook with fire, with Mom & Dad.  He got a kids camera from them as a gift.  Such a great idea since he is always stealing mine.  Cole likes it but thinks it's a view finder.

On Monday I went to the dentist and the doctor.  Most of you probably have heard by now, we are expecting our third child in August.  Everything went well and we have ONE strong heartbeat.  There was some speculation that I might have two since I seem to be having more side effects this go around.  I just say it's because Brian's tolerance for my complaining has waned. 

On Tuesday we had our usual swim lessons and the boys are doing wonderful.  Cole is officially floating all by himself and will hopefully move up to the Golfish class soon.  That will be a cause of celebration because I will no longer have to get in the pool with him.  Carter has completed all his tasks except learning a basic shallow dive.  He's a great swimmer.

After swimming I took the boys to their dentist appointments.  This was Cole's first time, since he just turned two.  He was a handful, but did good.  Dr. Zummo said that he has good strong enamel and thankfully, much more room in his mouth for all teeth.  Carter isn't so lucky.  His poor mouth is just to small for those pearly whites.  He warned me again about saving for braces.  Carter did have a small cavity in a deep pit on the side of his back molar.  The dentist said those are very difficult to prevent in children (mouthwash is your best defense and he's just too young).  So I didn't beat myself up too much about it.  Though I'll be honest I did feel guilty and still do.  Dr. Zummo is the same pediatric dentist I went to when I was a child.  And he still has the SAME arcade games in the waiting area for the kids to play.  Cole loved it!

On Wednesday Carter had a field trip to the local fire station.  They've been learning about fire safety at school.  You should see him stop, drop and roll.  It was a cold day in Houston.  Here are all the kids in his class.

After school I picked him up and took him to Dr. Hayes for his four year well check appointment.  He was 41" and 39 pounds.  That's the 80% in height (so he's tall) and the 60% for weight.  She said that was a good proportion.  He had to have 5 shots and I did tell him ahead of time he would be getting "some."  He didn't fight the nurse and did well.  I took him out for ice cream afterwards.  He was doing well for about 4 hours and then BOOM - he wasn't. He couldn't walk and he was so fussy.  I let him sleep in bed with me since Brian was out of town on business.  Poor kid wouldn't let me look at his shots, it's like he was embarrassed.  Fortunately after some ibuprofen and some sleep he was a new kid by Thursday.  Here he is talking on my phone in the exam room.  He loves to steal my phone and scroll through my recent call logs to find Grandma or Uncle Matt. 

Thursday was Cole's actual birthday and we went back to iHop with Mom & Dad for breakfast, but after really slow service we skipped out on the ice cream.  Sorry Cole!  That afternoon, we picked up Nan and Pee Paw at the airport.  They flew in from Indiana for the boys' birthday party.  We had a nice visit.  Carter showed them all his games and toys, particularly the Batman Cave they gave him for his birthday. Here's Cole opening a gift at iHop. 

Friday was Cole's turn at the doctor.  He was in the upper 95% of height, he was 37" tall.  And weighed 28 pounds, that's roughly the 55% for weight. It would appear that both my boys will be on the tall side as the get older.  I can tell it in their pants, they're actually needing new ones before the ruin them with mud, food, markers, and holes. 

Earlier that morning Nan and I took Cole to the mall while Carter was at school.  Cole enjoyed riding the carousel with Nan. 

Saturday was the big day for the birthday party.  It started out cool and rainy.  Not a good day for an outside birthday party - but thankfully the rain cleared enough for all 15 kids to play outside in the SpiderMan bounce house.  It was a dual party, half Toy Story decorations and half SpiderMan decorations.  Lots of balloons and cupcakes.  I made the cupcakes myself and was pretty proud of them.  We have such good friends with beautiful sweet kids.  That makes for a fun party.  Plus having Nan & PeePaw AND Grandpa & Grandma there made it extra special for them (and me since they helped clean up!)

 Carter blowing out his 4 candles.  Next year I'll probably have to do a cake, I'm running out of room on the tiny cupcake for how many candles we need!

 Cole ate icing all day long.  Every time I turned around he snagged another cupcake and had licked the icing off of it. 

Picture of Niki, me and Joanna

Family shot in front of the jumper.

Sunday was another rainy day so Nan and I took the boys to the movies.  You see that BIG bucket of popcorn between the boys? It was gone at the end of the movie.  The boys went to town on that thing, it's probably why they last the whole movie.  But man, that's alot of popcorn!

Monday morning we had to say goodbye to Nan and PeePaw, but not before I got a shot of them with the boys. 

So as you can tell we had a crazy busy week.  And I now have a healthy 4 year old, a healthy 2 year old, lots of clean teeth, a healthy mommy with a baby in-utero, a great visit with grandparents and many more toys to organize!  I don't mind being busy if it means I get to have all these things to be thankful for.

Divide and Conquer

I've been enjoying some one-on-one time with each of the kiddos lately.  Brian and I will split up the day and the kids so he has one and I have one.  Then we'll split it up so he has some alone time and I have some alone time.  It has been working out well.  Of course we still do lots of things as a family of four.  But every now and then, just a simple meal with one of my boys or a routine trip to the mall can make some very fond memories.

Here is Cole enjoying his favorite breakfast food - a taco.

On Sunday afternoon, Cole and Brian stayed in during the cold rain to watch a movie while Carter and I ventured out at the mall.  I had plans to get some clothes for myself and finally make a dent in some of the gift cards I received over Christmas.  But I opted for some fun memories with just Carter and I. 

Here he is at Olive Garden being cheesy for the camera. He was so well behaved.

And eating ice cream at the mall.

Now that he's four (birthday pics to come on seperate post) he said he could ride the carousel alone.  He was proud and I was thankful I no longer had to endure the spinning t-cups.  Can you say nauseating!

Boys are Messy!

Like you didn't already know that, right?  We make messes in this house all the time.  And, as a whole, I don't mind cleaning up after them.  Cole has recently learned it can be fun to pick up after yourself, but he still finds making the mess much more fun.  And well, Carter, he'll make a huge mess and tell me "I'm just too tired to clean it up." "Well then go take a nap and I'll clean it up" is my response, and that will genenrally get him to pick up some of it. 

Carter's new favorite mess is drawing on himself.  A few days ago Mom came over and saw he had drawn a perfectly straight line in ink from the top of his forehead to the top of his nose.  I told her that was just what she could see.  I pulled down his shorts and underwear and showed her the many lines on his butt cheeks.  Seriously, he stuck a pen down his pants and wrote on himself.  I just couldn't understand the reasoning behind it, it's not like he can even admire his artwork!

This is washable marker all over his face. 

  And mud all over Cole's.  He and Carter played in the rain and mud last week and made a huge mess. 

We do lots of art projects.  Here they are stamping.  Carter thought he should give me some stamps on my hands and arms like his teachers do at school after music and motor class.  I didn't take a picture of my tattooed arms. 

Here is Cole squishing jelly out the container with his mouth at iHop on New Years.  Brian and I were starving the next day after being out all night.  I barely had a half cup of coffee before we threw the kids in the car to run up and get something to eat.  I told Brian "for a woman who didn't have anything to drink last night (I was the designated driver) I sure do feel hungover!  Food made it better :)

Speaking of New Years.  We had a great time at my friend Niki's house.  Mom and Dad graciously watched the boys until the wee hours of the morning.  I couldn't imagine what a babysitter would have cost that evening!

While sitting on the couch with my girlfriends I noticed a great photo op.  So I hollered at Brian "hey honey, come over here so I can get a group shot of the girls." He came over and stuck his head in the picture, as if I wanted him IN the shot, not TAKING the shot."  In the end I'm glad he was in the picture, my friends like him and vice versa. He's a great guy :)

And here is the one he took with me in it.

Well this concludes my first post of the year.  I hope to update once a week.  My friend Phoebe made that her goal last year and she achieved it with three kids running around her feet all day.  I guess I can try and keep up with her.  We'll see ...

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and everything else

Swooosh - did you hear that?  That was the sound of Christmas whizzing by.  Man, it felt like it would never get here and then I woke up and it was over.  We had a wonderful week of festivities though, so I guess the whirlwind literally flew by.  My birthday is on the 23rd and it always kick starts the Christmas celebrations.  Mom and Dad are so great at making my birthday special, not just as a side dish to Christmas.  I'm my own entree!  This year they took us all (me, Brian, the boys, and Matt & Alli) to Benihanas.  To say Carter was enamoured would be an understatement.  He had a blast.  Cole did too, though he wasn't has interested as Carter - I'm not sure any one could have been though.   There was alot of food flying in the air, and most of it was caught.  Carter even got to throw some edamame at the chef. 

Brian gave me a new digital camera to keep in my purse.  I have nice DSLR but it's so bulky that I can't drag it every where that I drag the kids and I miss out on so many photo ops.  It's hard enough to wrangle the two boys, much less that ginormous camera.  I haven't read the manual yet, and I need to, but I put it on the easy setting and took a few shots.  Pardon the blurry, dark or over flashed shots - I'll learn the ins and outs soon.

Uncle Matt and Aunt Alli.  As part of my birthday present, they took the boys out for the afternoon to Chuck E Cheese while I got my hair cut.  Brian said he thought that M&A were more excited about the outing than the boys, and that's saying alot!  They're are a wonderful Aunt & Uncle.

 Cole ate pretty well at dinner, but was really excited about my ice cream.  He's good with a spoon when he wants to be.

Our group shot.  I promise I'm not drunk, really.  I was just trying to keep my hat on as Carter was trying to bite it off. 

After dinner we went back to Mom and Dads were we did our annual Beer Draft.  They started this 4 or 5 years ago.  Mom and Dad pick out 20 or so different speciality beers (and a few large normal ones too) and then Brian and Matthew take turns "drafting" their picks - do you get the play on words there people.  Very clever I think.  In years past Brian would go for the 24+ ouncers and Matthew would go for the 12 oz eclectic ones.  Well finally they've learned each other tricks and now it's all out warfare.  3 years ago after seeing that Allison and I were left out, Mom and Dad started a Chocolate Draft.  No play on words there, just lots of yummy expensive chocolate that we'd never indulge in through out the year. 

The next night was Christmas Eve and after picking up Grandmama and running in and out of church (long story, let's just say that we were blessed that 2000 people were worshiping the birth of Christ under one roof), we came back to our place and had a Tamale Dinner.  We were embracing our non-existant Mexican heritage.  Or maybe I should call it our Tex-Mex heritage :)  Mom made awesome mexican rice, I made homemade charro beans and waited in line the day before to pick up 4 dozen of the best spicy pork tamales in town.  It was a fun evening.  Here is Carter helping me cut cilantro

 All the presents to and from Mom, Dad, Matt, Alli, me, Brian and both the boys.  Plus ones that Nan, Pee Pa, Nana, PaPa, Sissy, Ruppert, Jerry, Lois, yada yada all sent.  We are lucky to have such generous givers in our family.  We want for nothing :)  I will say, I did put up a few toys in the closet to bring down in May.  Since the boys have January birthdays, it's just overwhelming so I try to sneak a few away and then bring them down in a couple months for a nice treat.

 Instead of cookies, Carter thought Santa would want some of he and Daddy's special rice krispy treats.  Santa left a note the next day saying he was thankful for the change of pace, or something like that.

And of course the next morning was Christmas.  I made Matt & Alli come all the way from Kingwood to arrive at my house at 6:30 just to make sure they didn't miss Carter waking up.  There were on time.  As were Mom, Dad and Grandmama.  Turns out they were still asleep when everyone got there, but you can never be too careful. 

Carter on his new 16" Spiderman bike that he asked Santa for.  Cole asked for a tricycle.  He isn't quite tall enough to ride the 12" Trek that Carter is passing on. 

 Allison showing off her new purse from Mom & Dad.  Matthew hamming it up with his new work shirt.

 Carter is very excited about his new Batman cave that Nan and PeePa sent him. He told Santa he wanted one, but then changed his mind for the bike.  Glad to see Nan & PeePa have Santa's phone number :)

 And the favorite gift of all to Cole was the Buzz Lightyear that Grandma & Grandpa gave Cole - as did Uncle Matt and Aunt Alli.  Great minds think alike!  He loves anything Toy Story, but the talking Buzz is a huge hit.  We took the extra one back and will be getting a talking Woody when they're back in stock.

I like this picture because it is Matt and Alli prentending to be surprised after opening the patio heater Brian and I gave them.  Carter showed them the box earlier in the week and told them what it was.  Don't tell him a secret that you don't want anyone to know. 

 Choices Choices.  We got several Imaginext playsets that Cole just loves.  He loves figurines and pretend play.  I set them up all around him in the playroom like a big city.

 And Sissy - I told you he'd get lots of cool toys but would still find the Shake and Go Woody awesome.  I'm always right!!

 Carter received Spiderman skates and pads from Uncle Matt and Aunt Alli.  He tried them out on the patio, but mostly Brian just pushed him everywhere.

 The boys picked out some Superman underwear for Brian.  He's such a good sport.

 Playing with Buzz again.  "To Infinity and BEYOOOOOONNNNNDDDDDD"

 Some of the hundreds of Legos Mom and Dad got Carter.  They gave Cole some Duplo ones with a zoo theme, he loves to carry around all the animls and Carter builds the cages.  I love Legos too, except when I step on them...

 And to prove my theory right, it won't matter what name you put on the gift tag - Cole will play with Carter's toy and Carter will claim Cole's.  It's just how it goes.  Here is Cole on Carter's bike.

 And Carter on Cole's trike.

As you can tell we had a fun Christmas.  We spent alot of family time, Dad took off alot as did Brian. It was special.  Tomorrow is New Years eve and Brian and I are going to our first "adult party" since before we had kids.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for watching them.  We are going to enjoy a night out.  Depending on how incriminating the photos are, I might post some in the new year.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well.  And a Happy New Year to come.  We anticipate a very blessed and bountiful 2011.