My Teeth are so Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

Turning 3 meant that it was time to take X to the dentist for his first checkup. I really wanted this to go well and for him to have a good experience. So we prepared! We had 4 books (with lots of pictures) about going to the dentist and read them over and over for about a week. X was really excited and knew exactly what to expect. He kept telling me he was going to "sit in the magic chair and count my teeth".

And let me tell you (to my surprise) the kid was a rockstar! My often hesitant child walked in there like he owned the joint, hopped in the chair, put his sunglasses on and complied with everything the dentist and hygenist asked him to do.

It was AMAZING. I was so proud of him and so thankful that he didn't freak out. At the end he got a new race car toothbrush, some toothpaste, and he picked out a toy from the treasure chest.

Great job buddy -- you made your mama proud!

Ho Ho Ho, and Now I'm 30

Christmas weekend was full of events for us. Walter and I served at church on Christmas Eve. It was the first time either of us had EVER given of our time to volunteer at church on a holiday. And it was so rewarding. It made the day that much more enjoyable to welcome others and (hopefully) help enrich their (and our) worship experience. Walter was ushering and I was working the hospitality coffee bar. I have never made so much coffee in my life! I think I earned my barista stripes that afternoon.

Christmas Eve we enjoyed a yum dinner at my parent's house and did our gift exchange with family. We also celebrated my 30th Birthday which was on Christmas Day. The lemon cake was fabulous.

 (Yes, his finger is up his nose. It's his new thing. Hopefully it's a short phase!)

( Is that a bow on my little boy? At least it's blue!)

The boys received many nice things for Christmas, but hands down, empty boxes were the favorite item. Isn't that how it always is!!

Christmas Day I awoke to the boys bringing me birthday cards in bed. Walter let them pick out their own cards so X got me a Dora card and Wes got me a basketball card. I'm one lucky lady! My hubs also surprised me with a watch for my birthday.

Later in the day we celebrated with Walter's family. X was super excited to get a Big Wheel. I think it took Walter the better part of an hour to put it together though :) It was pretty funny because the night before we joked about how many people would be up late putting together gifts for their kids. We were so glad that wasn't us. Guess we spoke too soon!

We rounded out the day with our traditional spaghetti dinner at my gma's house. My gma had this ridiculously loud walking singing Santa on the coffee table. The boys LOVED it. Everyone else wanted to chuck it out the window!

Thanks to our families for your generosity towards us and the boys. It was a very Merry Christmas.

Away In A Manger

Summer Baby

Most of you know by now that.....

WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!

Baby #3 is due July 3rd 2011. Right now I'm 12 weeks.

We're very excited that it won't be in the dead of winter this time like the last two. Although, I may be singing a different tune when it's 90 degrees and I'm 9 months pregnant :)

We had some complications in the beginning but everything is looking great with this baby as of now. Please pray that the rest of the pregnancy goes smoothly and is uneventful.

For those who are wondering, we most likely will NOT find out the gender. We didn't find out with either of the boys and it was a nice surprise when they were born. And we won't be giving any name hints either, so don't bother asking :)

Wow, 3 kids to chase -- I need a nap just thinking about that! It's going to be a busy summer for our family!

Going Cold Turkey

Walter and I decided that when Xavier turned 3 we wanted to take his binker (pacifier) away completely. So 2 weeks prior to his birthday we talked about when you turn 3 you don't need binkers anymore. We told X we were going to send his binkers to babies that needed them. He was excited and very much on board with the idea. On the morning of his birthday, X and I packed up the binkers. First he decorated an envelope with stickers.

Then we collected the binkers from his room, he got one last suck with each one, and we put them in the envelope.

X was very excited to put the envelope in the mailbox to send to "the babies".

The next morning there was a "surprise" in the mailbox for X as a thank you from the babies. He was thrilled and enjoyed putting together his new race car puzzle.

I was dreading what nap time was going to look like that first day. It was a busy morning with playgroup and X was up early so he was past due for a nap when I finally got him in his room. He mentioned his binker and I reminded him that we sent them to the babies. Well, he clearly had an "Oh no - what the heck did I do??" moment and started crying. I put him in bed and talked about all the things that we were going to do later in the day after nap. The crying ensued for about 10 minutes. I resettled him and he stopped crying. But, since there was nothing to plug his pie hole he just started talking. And talking, and talking.  He would also just make weird noises and kind of scream out. He was like a person going through withdrawals. He had no idea what to do with his mouth without the binker. He got himself all wound up singing and making noises and an HOUR later he was still awake. I checked on him and reminded him that if he didn't take a nap he wasn't going to be able to do the fun stuff we had planned for later that day. Meanwhile I was aggravated because I really needed a nap and that clearly wasn't going to happen with motor mouth in there. And we were edging closer to the time that X usually gets UP from his nap. I didn't want to budge and let him skip the nap because of the principle, but now I was wondering what this would mean for him (and me) at bedtime. Finally at 1 hour and 10 minutes in he fell asleep.

A similar situation ensued that night where it took him quite awhile to fall asleep. And since he had nothing to self sooth with, he was up in the night, then up for good very early the next morning sleeping only 7 hours total. The past few days have been pretty much the same. He no longer cries for the binker but he just takes forever to settle down because he doesn't have that soothing mechanism and is sleeping for shorter durations. As of this post we are on Day 4 Post Binkers and I'm really hoping for some improvement by the end of the week. He did take a good nap today so maybe we are turning a small corner.

I know we've done the right thing and it's just gonna take a little time. It's gotta be hard for him because having the binker to sleep with is all he's ever known. When I look at it in those terms he really is doing good with all this.

Note to self though -- Take the binker away from Wesley waaaayyyy sooner than 3 years old. Sorry bud, not making this mistake twice!

Happy 3rd Birthday Xavier

{Pull up a chair. This is a long one!}
THREE years I have had the privilege of being a mom to this great kid. It's been a life changing 3 years. Xavier's birthdays mark changes in me just as much as they mark changes in him.

So, what is my 3 year old up to these days?

- Xavier still remains to be tall for his age. He is about 40 inches and 37lbs and wears a mix of 3T - 5T clothing. This child has the appetite of an adult some days. It seems he's always asking for something to eat. He works it off though because he is on the go all day. A few favorite foods lately are yogurt, pizza, cantaloupe, bagels, raisins, and ham. He has just started taking a small liking to noodles (something I always thought all kids loved...apparently not).

- Our boy is sleeping pretty well these days. He's averaging about 11 hours at night and still takes an afternoon nap. The plan is to get rid of his "binker" (that he only gets when sleeping) now that he is three. We've been talking it up and he seems on board. I'll keep you posted on how that goes :) Xavier is fully potty trained during the day but not at nap and night.

- X's loves to talk and has a lot to say. He knows what he wants and is more clear about it lately. He also likes to mimic us. I will hear him repeat phrases that he's heard Walter and I say. Often times it's when he's talking to Wes. Case in point - I heard him tell Wes the other day "Wessa, stop whining and tell me what's wrong." X is able to string together activities that occurred over the course of the day or understand the idea of things happening in a certain sequence. This makes it fun to have conversations with him. One thing that kind of makes me sad is that lately he's calling me "mom" more instead of "mommy". I didn't think that would happen this soon and I'm fighting it!

- This fall Xavier learned how to pedal a tricycle and he's starting to get the hang of riding a small bike with training wheels. He loves to run and jump and pretend to fall, but is terrified of being held upside down. X is very interested in puzzles right now.

-Xavier likes being a big brother to Wes. He shows Wes plenty of love and likes to hug and kiss on him. He is always wanting to know where Wes is. On the other hand, X has many moments where he likes to have control over Wes. He will often get specific ideas about what he wants Wes to do or play with. Sharing is a constant struggle. Lately X seems to notice the differences in what's acceptable for Wes vs. himself. And he often wants what Wes gets. He's even been asking me to nurse him lately because he sees me nursing Wes. Sorry buddy, that's not gonna happen! Thankfully a few minutes of snuggling is an acceptable solution to him!

- As of now X knows all of his uppercase letters, some of his lowercase letters, all numbers, everyone in our family's full name, his birthday, phone number, and address. He actually has a pretty good memory. He knows several street names in our subdivision and will tell you what street we are on when we drive home. He has also memorized several books, which is really cute to hear him recite. We will probably sign him up for pre-school in the fall. For now he goes to Sunday school at church every week, babysitting at our weekly small group, and babysitting during my MOPS meetings twice a month.

- As all kids do, X has a few little quirks lately. He has given up eating meals at the table with us. He now sits at the island on a barstool for every meal. (It's not a battle I'm going to have - he's eating and that's all I really care about). So on Thanksgiving we had a beautiful table of 12 people and then there was X sitting with his back to everyone eating on his barstool :) X has also decided he can't enter the house through the garage when we come home. He insists that he go in the front door and everyone else use the garage door. Also, if we go places and they have automatic doors everyone must enter, then he waits for the doors to close, then he comes in on his own. Same goes for non-automatic doors. And so help you if you are a stranger and don't know about this quirk and try to kindly open the door for him. He will MELT DOWN on the spot. It's made for some interesting outings :)

Here's a little "then and now" comparison for fun!

We can't wait to see what's in store for this boy in the next year to come! We love you!

All Night

Wesley slept ALL NIGHT last night. Almost 11 1/2 hours straight without a peep. That NEVER happens.

Was it a fluke?

Is this the start of something (oh Lord please let it be!!)

What a wonderful Christmas gift that would be :)

City, Snow, Santa, and Gingerbread

Over the weekend we visited Walter's grandparents in the city. The boys had fun and they got a little pre-birthday celebration with a surprise cake from Grandma Gloria. X was very excited to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles. Wes was just oblivious :)

They have this little kid chair and X really wanted Wes to sit with him in it. Wes clearly did not share that feeling.

Xavier also got to try out a rotary telephone. He pretty much had no idea what to do with it at first. That tells you something about how times have changed!

Overnight it snowed and I was so happy that we had gone to church Saturday night. It was great to just stay home Sunday morning and enjoy looking out the windows. It was bitter cold so we didn't attempt to take the boys out to play that morning. What we did that morning instead was get all dressed up and take our Christmas card photo. SHOOT ME IN THE HEAD! Oh my, it is so challenging to get 2 small kids to cooperate for a family photo. Not to mention the fact that we were doing ourselves with the self timer on the camera because I was not organized enough to pre-plan and have someone else take our picture. We did about 50 takes and had to do a snack break in the middle because the kids were going nuts. X did coin a new word though. He now says "cheez-er-oni" when smiling for the camera. I haven't sent the cards out yet so I'm not posting pics of that (I'm sure the suspense is killing you....not) but I'd say "good enough" describes our picture this year. It beats last year though when I was 9 months pregnant and my face alone was as big as a house!

Sunday afternoon we took the boys to see Santa. Usually we see Santa at the Parents as Teachers holiday party, but due to state program cuts there was no party this year. I was bummed because I have zero desire to take my kids to a mall Santa and stand in a ridiculous line then pay through the nose for a picture. So, I was thrilled when we got a flyer in the mail that Santa was going to be at our neighborhood clubhouse. Yay for free stuff and no lines!! We were anxious to see how X would do with Santa since the last 2 years have been DISASTROUS. Well, he wouldn't sit on Santa's lap so he sat on Walter's knee next to Santa and I just cropped Walter out of the photo. Wes did sit with Santa. He gave him a weird look at first and then just did a blank stare. Beats screaming your head off!

It cracks me up when people ask X what he wants from Santa. He just stares at them because he has no idea what that means. X knows who Santa is to recognize him, but we haven't played up the "Santa brings gifts" thing. There will be plenty of years for present requests, so for now we are enjoying the simplicity of Santa just being a fun character in books and songs.

We rounded out the evening by decorating our gingerbread house that "St. Nick" (aka grandma) had given to the boys last week. X really enjoyed this. He didn't realize that you could eat the decorations until he saw me pop a Spree in my mouth. Then suddenly eating became more exciting than decorating. I finally had to cut him off. And I had to tell him that he couldn't eat the gumballs at all. He's never had gum so he has no idea not to swallow it and I just didn't feel like dealing with that!

Twice as Nice

Last week my friend Ruth brought her kiddos over for a play date. Ruth had twin boys 2 months ago, and she has a daughter, Noelle, just a few months younger than X. I am so thankful they came and enjoyed catching up.

Xavier really took to the babies. He wanted to love on them (a little too much) constantly. He also had an uncanny ability to tell them apart after only being told their names once. He even maintained his accuracy after they changed clothes. I on the other hand, took a few hours and several "who's this I'm holding?" to get it straight. X also loved having Noelle over to play. And Noelle was very happy that we still have our ball pit in the basement. The kids were going a mile a minute but I did manage to catch a quick (blurry) picture as they were walking around the house holding hands.

Sweet baby Micah taking a little snooze.

And a very alert baby Brian, giving me a stare down.

Wes didn't make it into the pictures. He napped for a good portion of the visit, and when he was awake I was pretty much trying to keep his curious self from attacking the babies.

Ruth, come back again soon!!

Lion Jibbies {with Outtakes}

The boys have matching camo "lion jibbies" (as X calls them). I keep forgetting to get a picture when they are both wearing them together. So that was my mission. It's a tough one for 2 reasons - my camera is slow, and my boys are fast. I locked us all in X's room and started shooting. Never mind that I didn't even have a decent backdrop. I was just trying to get SOMETHING. Here's the best of the bunch. You know it was a rough shoot when the "best" includes an unmade bed in the background, crazy sleep hair, and a big old knot on X's forehead (he was jumping on the bed yesterday and fell off - nice!)

And for fun, the outtakes:

A Different Advent

I have spent many years letting Advent go by without truly participating in this time of waiting. I'd get out my advent wreath and set up the candles. That is what advent "meant" to me. But I would be so consumed by the holiday season that it would be a few days away from Christmas before I even remembered to light a candle on it.

Not this year.

This year I am being very intentional about making Advent different. I can honestly say that I'm completely not stressed at all about the holiday season. Why? Because I'm choosing not to be. I'm choosing to focus on the things that really matter.

Our decorations are up and we are enjoying them every day. I love to listen to X talk about the ornaments and teach him about the nativity. My "gifts to buy" list is short and purposeful and almost complete. No crowded malls for me! I'm reading Advent devotions every day that are helping me learn more Bible stories. I went to my first ever Christian concert (a Christmas one at that) last weekend. We are making meals for families in need with our church small group this week. We are giving pajamas to kids that don't have any this Christmas. We are driving around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. And there is a gingerbread house to build with X very soon!

I am not over scheduled. I'm seeing friends. I'm spending fun times with the boys. I'm praying. I'm waiting. I'm not taking things for granted. It's low key. It's quiet (ok, well, maybe not when the boys are awake!)

AND. IT'S. WONDERFUL.

And, ironically, I don't even have an advent wreath this year.When packing up decorations last year I forgot that you don't put candles in the attic. When I opened the box to my wreath this year it was a big candle blob that had melted and re-hardened, and was impossible to save.

Recipe for Curing a Fever

When you have a 102 fever all day here's what you need:

- your mommy's lap
- a DVR full of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes
- a binker
- 4 doses of Tylenol

And in 24 hours you'll be as good as new!

X woke up with a fever on Sunday morning and he couldn't kick it all day long. So we spent a lot of time snuggling and watching Mickey. He even fell asleep in my arms, which pretty much NEVER happens anymore. Thankfully Walter was home to hold Wes, who was clearly feeling resentful that Xavier was getting so much of mommy's attention! 

After sleeping 12 hours last night X woke up with a normal temp and was back to his usual self. We have no idea what brought on the fever and he didn't have any other symptoms. X was disappointed to find that he would no longer be getting regular doses of Tylenol today though. The kid loves to take medicine!

Our Boys.....

are helpful.....

have a cute chunky belly......

like to drive....



  actually keep the mittens on.....

always want to wear mommy's boots......

 love to play outside......

like to have "crazy hair" in the tubby.

And we couldn't love them more!