Sweet memories

Just one of those things I decided to slow down long enough to enjoy.

Bath memories

Amidst the hectic schedules of getting 3 little ones fed, bathed and off to bed every night, I really do try to enjoy the precious moments that creep up in the most unlikely situations.

Katherine is plenty old enough and big enough to bathe herself, but playing in the bathtub with her 2 little brothers is still a treat for her.

A visit with the pumpkin yard ornaments once again...

October 2008

October 2009

 (Notice the difference in the grass/temperatures between 2008 & 2009?)

October 2011

I just love reminiscing and seeing how our family is changing and growing. :)

Another year under his belt and he's 2!

Well, another year has passed in our little man's life! What a blessing he's been. Sometimes cantankerous, sometimes extremely independent, but most of the time loving, caring and full of mischief.

On his actual birth day, we made cupcakes. Nathan's extremely independent self kicked in and declared, "I do it!" when it came to icing the cupcakes. And he means it too. Every single bit of icing the cupcake he wanted to do "aw by mysef, Mama!" He was holding the butter knife, dipping it in the icing tub, smearing it on the cupcake (which essentially de-topped the cupcake), holding it up for review, "Look Mama! I did it!" and eating the cupcake with bits of paper after refusing to have someone help him pull the paper off.
He is an extremely independent little fella. He enjoys playing with his sister, but after he's had enough bossing, he plays very well on his own.Don't you ice cupcakes in your underwear while collecting icing in your bee-bo? And speaking of underwear, little man here is already showing signs of being a male chauvinist. Try explaining that to the pediatrician during a 2-year well visit. As long as it's just me around, everything is kosher. But as soon as Dada is within eyesight of returning home from work, Mama becomes obsolete. He all of a sudden won't eat for me anymore and won't do simple tasks I request of him routinely throughout the day. His response is, "NO Mama!" He will even pass on me taking him out of his bed in the morning because he'd rather his Dada get him out. But unfortunately, Dada is at work and he'll usually figure that he's going to have a long day in that crib unless Mama gets him out. Forget about going to the bathroom on the potty, if I ask. But, if Dada asks, we have success.I have calmly explained to Dada (while totally smirking inside and conjuring up what Katherine and I could do) that HE will have to be the one tied down to the house to enforce our 72-hour potty training boot camp. I'm not aware of anytime since kids though, that Dada has been house-bound for a full 72 hours. Usually he gets antsy after about 36 hours and I send him on his way to do a project elsewhere. But we'll see how the potty training thing goes. Nathan's ready. Mama's not prepared for the attitude that might accompany it all.

His heros are all the men in his life. Sometimes when it's difficult to get him to go to sleep at night, we'll mention who all is asleep like, Papa, CowPapa, Mr. J., Uncle R, cousin J, the lawn mower and Dada's tractor. He gets quiet while imagining all of them asleep, then makes snoring sounds to imitate what they're all doing. So far, it's worked about 90% of the time.
When this little guy turned 2, he got a big dose of "Big Boy." He is speaking in complete sentences. On the way to the well visit, he declared, "Mama, I onna see da chwuck puhwin' da chwaiwer."

Translation: "Mama, I want to see the truck pulling the trailer."

Pretty good, I thought. The doc seemed to think so also.

He will tell you, "I two yeav old" and hold up his thumb and index finger. Katherine thinks it's funny.
He is still extremely interested in trucks, heavy machinery, tractors, lawn mowers, tires, nuts, bolts, screwdrivers, hammers, banging objects, loud noises and engines.

His ear infections have slowed down enough to where his occasional bad attitude can mostly be blamed on being ornery. He loves Cars the movie and will declare "To infinity and beyond" when he sees Buzz Lightyear. He has a fantastic sense of humor and comedic timing, already! He still blows kisses to older ladies in restaurants and waves to the men. When the right tune comes on, he bobs his head up and down, then adds in the fancy feet moves.

I knew it would happen, so I don't know why I feel like I'm writing something unexpected, but he has stolen my heart. He loves to give really big hugs around my neck, give slobbery, movie-star kisses, talk to the baby in my tummy then blow slobbery zerberts on it and says, "I wuv woo, Mama."

That's it. I'm done. Gone forever. Lost in my children's beauty and charms. Thank goodness they act up every now and then because it sure would be easy to turn them into heart-idols.

Happy Birthday Nathan! We love you so much and are so proud of you.

~Dada, Mama and big sister Katherine

A little reminder of last year...

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 3

Our next day included a ride on the trolley train and a trip to the oldest jail. Nathan cooperated wonderfully and fell asleep on my lap during the train ride (I just love that).
He's looking like such a little man, these days.

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 2

Saying the kiddos were exhausted that first night is an understatement.
Our next day's journey took us to the Alligator Farm.
Same situation as the previous day's: July, beautiful cloudless day, in Florida, with little to no wind, outside. Red cheeks were everywhere.
The alligators all started looking the same, eventually, because there were sooooo many of them.
Then we realized there were a group of us, strangers included, suddenly and very interested in Gomek, an 18' crocodilian display. He was interesting and so were the snakes and fish. (Can we say rooms with A/C)?
We wrapped up looking at what felt like a million alligators, grabbed a bite to eat, had a great swim and headed off to our favorite eatin'/stompin' grounds, The Columbia. No visit to St. Augustine and The Columbia is complete without a little stroll along St. George street. Nathan somehow bumped his head on the way out, Jim looked cute carrying around a pink tote alongside his brother pushing a stroller and one more annoying family picture was taken. (And no, I will not stop taking them. You'll thank me for these one day.)
Aunt N had a special treat for the kiddos. She bought some silly bandz earlier in the day and after our ice cream treat, she handed them out and traded them with the kiddos.

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 1

If you recall, last year's summer vacation with the fam was our trip to Disney's Fort Wilderness. This year we decided to take a trip to good and faithful St. Augustine.
I must admit. Back in my college days, my roommate and I would do crazy things like go to St. Augustine for the day. We were both so excited. We'd get all packed up, driving in the blue F-150, windows rolled down, radio blaring (her singing every word correctly, me mispronouncing and misunderstanding about 3/4 of the words), telling stories and gossiping the whole way there. When we'd finally arrive in the historic area is when our paths veered, drastically.
She is very much a history buff. Me, not so much. I'm very much a beach-lover. Her, not so much. It would usually take us about an hour or two to realize that we had both planned on going to St. Augustine for very different reasons. We'd always find a way to keep both of us happy, but it certainly gave us even more to laugh about after-the-fact.
Still to this day, when I hear St. Augustine, I hear beach; but to most people, they hear, history.
I'm just gonna apologize right now. Even typing the word history sends shivers down my spine. It wasn't something I was ever good at, kind of like cooking, and something I still have no desire to be good at (unless it came with no effort).

My brother-in-law, W, is a major history nut. He can talk about anything in history, anything and he knows it and knows it well. Bless his heart, he's tried many times to get me over to the other side, but it has never worked. He used to be a tour guide in St. Augustine so he really does know his stuff. One time there, the words "Hugenot Cemetery" came out of his mouth and I was done. You might as well have been talking about cooking terms like duxelles or oeuf or sabayon and set a wood spider on my shoulder. The rest sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher and I was instantly more interested in quickly leaving the premises and checking out the shopping.
To give him his credit where it is due, he did just graduate from the University of Florida with his PhD in Archaeology. So, bravo Uncle W. We are extremely proud of you. I really do wish my brain was wired to retain history.
Our trip started with a visit to the Fort. In July. At 4:00 in the afternoon. On a beautiful, cloudless day in Florida. In a 16th century structure (translation: no A/C). It was beautiful, but it was definitely hot, also. The kind of hot where you're glad the shirt you have on is thin and breathable but also wishing that same shirt was a little bit heavier for fear of creating a wet t-shirt contest in front of the whole family. (Note to self: remove camera lens cap from the front pocket of shirt before taking any pictures. Heck, just put it in your shorts pocket, goober. People probably thought you had a mouth full of dip.)
Our precious little ones opted out of the no-nap plan driving there. The Princess Party wrapped up that same day before lunch and in all of my motherly wisdom, I had it planned out for them to sleep, so they'd be rested, and ready to play nicely, and be pleasant for their exhausted parents. Ha!

WHEN

WILL

I

EVER

LEARN?
Good news is, that they were much better behaved than I had expected.
It could have been the built-in entertainment in cousins and loads of help we had there with us the whole weekend. Sometimes, uncles have just the right shoulder.
Nathan, big surprise, was fascinated with the cannons and their ammo. He was pretty sure he could pick one up and bring it home with us.
And Katherine noticed that there were no princesses to be found, anywhere.

Unless you include herself and her cousin, of course.

We stopped by a local hot spot for supper later on that night and took a stroll on the beach.
I thankfully am that annoying family member that is always asking the kids or the whole family to get together for a posed picture. I'm so glad I did, because this one is priceless.
This is what happens when you tell them you have french fries in your nose.
Someone learned the valuable lesson re: throwing sand up in the air.
And this one reminded me of a picture I took a year ago on another vacation. The kids had a favorite hang-out spot in both hotels.