Happenins

A few random things......

Wes and his "excited arms" the other day when Gma Tina and "Shampoo" (what X calls Tom) were over last weekend. We visited with Walter's family and made homemade pizzas - yum!

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In case anyone was wondering, X is still in love with "green bottle grey bottle" and plays with them daily. The newest game is hiding the bottles and/or throwing them down the basement stairs and then going to get them.

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This is only the 2nd picture that I have of me and both my boys. Seriously, why am I usually always the one behind the camera. I need more of these!

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We visited my good friend Audrey today that just had this adorable little girl, Trudy (love that name!) She is the "pink" addition to the 3 boys they have already!

Wes tried out their swing. He thought it was a good napping spot.

Little Georgeee was mesmerized by Curious George on the computer. What a cutie!

And the 3 oldest boys had a little lunch date together.

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Xavier decided to teach Wes how to play trains.

And then my dad joined in the fun.

Bumbo

The bumbo seat is a great invention in my opinion. It gives little ones the chance to feel like they're sitting when they can't yet. Xavier loved being in the bumbo. Looks likes Wes does too.

And just for kicks I dressed him in the same outfit that I had X wearing one day when I took his pic in the bumbo. Do you think they look alike? This is X 2 years ago!

And here's X 2 years later trying to still fit in the bumbo. Silly kid!

And Just Like That...No More Crib

We set up X's "big boy cribby" (aka, a twin mattress on the floor) back in December. Two weeks ago was the first time he actually SLEPT in it. It was a snow day here and we were staying in so I decided to give it a try. All morning I was talking it up how he was going to nap in the big boy cribby today. He seemed excited. We got out the guard rail and put it up and I even had him practice laying in there earlier in the morning so he would know what to do. It's quite a change when you think about it because in his crib he slept in all sorts of positions with no pillow and no real blankets to stay tucked into.


He took his normal collection of nap time goodies in with him (binker, blankie, green bowl, and skipit). I showed him how to lay down on the pillow and I covered him up with the comforter. I told him I loved him and I would see him after nap and walked out the door. To my surprise, he stayed put and slept for over 2 hours. It took a little while for him to fall asleep, but he didn't get up. Apparently old habits die hard though because he didn't quite get the idea to stay at the head of the bed!




We stuck to just naps for a week then we tried an overnight. I got a gate for the front of his door because I didn't want him to roam around during the night if he woke up, but I didn't want him to feel trapped if the door was closed. (Walter thinks the gate is a waste because we'd hear him on the monitor if he got up but he's humoring me for the time being.) It took an an hour and a half to get him to fall asleep and I ended up laying with him for awhile. I think the newness of it all was just confusing to him and he wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't unhappy, just awake. He woke up really early the next morning though and couldn't find his binker and green bowl amongst the sheets and went into somewhat of a panic.



After a week of sleeping in the new bed overnight I decided to go ahead and move the crib out. X is now sleeping in "big boy cribby" full time. The transition was actually easier than I expected. Unfortunately he's getting up really early most days, but that has been going on for over a month so I'm not attributing it to the bed change.

The whole thing kinda makes me sad because it's another sign of how he's growing up, but at the same time I'm excited because now I can finish decorating his room! Oh, and I won't miss lifting his 30lb booty in and out of the crib!

A Valentine Birthday

On Valentine's Day I really wanted to go to this new church we've been trying out. The sermon was titled "What is a normal marriage" and I was very interested to hear it. So, we hustled to get everyone fed and dressed and be on time. We were a few minutes late (naturally) but I'm so glad we went because the sermon was great and really gave me some things to think about in my own marriage. Before heading out to church I had to get a cake made too. My mom's bday is on Valentine's day so we were going to see her in the evening.

Here's one of my little Valentines. My intent was to do a little photo shoot of the boys in their valentine shirts, but, well, it just didn't happen. Maybe I'll dress them both back up and do it sometime this week. That would still count, right?

We went to dinner with my family and my brother got a heart shaped pepperoni pizza. And, yeah, he ate the whole thing!

We went to my gma's place for a bit for cake and presents. Unfortunately she keeps it at like 90 degrees in there so we all were sweatin!

Xavier got a "Boots" stuffed animal from my parents for Valentines day. He was thrilled and now Boots is his new bedtime buddy (in addition to all his other junk he takes to bed with him!)

The birthday girl and her cake. I only did 4 candles. Didn't want her to pass out from trying to blow out the real number of candles!

We all have kind of strange looks on our faces in this pic, but it's the only one I've got with me and my mom.

Xavier enjoyed a carpet picnic to eat his cake. I think Boots even got a bite or two.

My dad and Wes right before we headed back home. Both guys are pretty tired here!

I neglected to get a picture of me and Walter together the entire day. I know, how romantic! Maybe St. Pat's day??

8 Hours and 45 Minutes

The length of time that Wes slept last night without waking. AMEN!!!!! Not in my wildest dreams did I think a child of mine would do that at 6 weeks old. (and I'm sure by saying it out loud it will never happen again!) It was a wonderful and much appreciated stretch of sleep. And since I went to bed soon after he did, I'm feeling quite refreshed today. Thank you baby boy -- you made up for being so crabby yesterday! (oh, and sorry for practically drowning you in milk when you did finally wake up since it had been 9 hours since you last nursed!)

Brothers

Auntie Donna Comes to Town

Last week my Aunt Donna came in town to meet Wesley. We had such a good time with her. She snuggled on Wes and read LOTS of books to X. Unfortunately I barely took any pictures. But I did manage to get a couple cute ones of her and the boys. Aunt Donna we miss you already and can't wait to see you again soon!!

Lunchin with the Ladies

We belong to a little playgroup that meets every couple of weeks. All the moms have girls except for me. Last week it was 5 girls and my 2 boys. Here's the 4 "older" kids having lunch at this cute little kid sized table. X enjoyed having spaghetti, meatballs, and broccoli with his girlfriends!

Going Out Isn't What it Used to Be

The other night I was desperate to get out of the house. Me and the kiddos been home for several days with colds and I just couldn't take it anymore. So, Walter and I packed up the fam for an outing. The plan was to go to the mall to walk around, let X play, then get dinner. Everything takes longer these days so we got out the door later than expected after X's nap. Oh, and we can't forget our mondo double stroller too!


We get to the mall and it's JAM PACKED with people. It's a good thing Walter was with me because had I been by myself I could have never let X out of the stroller to play. The playland was swarming with kids and it would have been impossible to keep an eye on him, the stroller, and Wesley. So we took the divide and conquer approach and Walter followed X around while I sat in the corner on the floor next to the stroller (yeah, real comfy!) and fed Wesley. While I was sitting there I made a friend. A little boy (probably 3 or 4 years old) came up to me and was fascinated as to why I had a little baby under a cover on my lap. I tried to explain without details that I was feeding the baby. He seemed to accept my answer, but really wanted me to adjust the cover so that the baby's feet were "hiding too". Kids are so funny!


Once X was finished playing we went for diaper changes before dinner. Well, it's 2 diaper changes now days and wouldn't ya know we got stuck in line for the changing table behind someone that clearly had a blowout. So we waited...and waited...and waited for our turn.


We finally made it over to Johnny Rockets to get a burger. It was already getting late so we were trying to hurry. Then we encountered the slowest service EVER! They sat us and then it took 10 minutes for someone to acknowledge us, another 1o minutes to get a glass of water, and after 30 minutes of being there all we had was Walter's shake. X was getting tired after running around like a crazy person on the playland for so long and went into a meltdown at the table with continuous crying. I took him out of the restaurant for a few minutes but it was clear that despite my best efforts he was not going to settle down and go sit back at the table. So, we had to cut and run. Yep, cancel our order waitress, we're draggin this cryin kid outta here! I tried to pay for the shake but the waitress said just to go because she knew the wait had been longer than it should have.


Since it was now after 7pm and we still hadn't eaten dinner, we just walked over to the food court and got a slice of barely warm, no good, pizza. Yuck! Thankfully X quit his crying (but then Wesley started!) long enough to eat some pizza and applesauce and we headed home. Oh yeah, and BOTH kids cried almost all the way home too.

Going out just isn't what it used to be......

Babywearing

This past fall I decided to make a Mei Tai baby carrier. Remember?
Well now that Wesley is here he has gotten to try it out. And.....he loves it! I've worn him in it several times in the evening when he's fussy and I'm trying to get dinner ready. On one of the "warm" days we had earlier this month we took the boys for a walk and Wes stayed nice and snug in his Mei Tai with me!

X likes it too. The other morning he was crabbier than all get-out and I was desperate for something to make him happy. I asked him if he wanted to ride around in the Mei Tai for awhile. He was thrilled. I put him in and strolled him around the house while I did a few things. I think he would have stayed in all day. I finally convinced him that getting out to have lunch would be a good idea.

I think this post contains possibly the most awkward and just plain BAD photography skills ever. Not to mention that I've taken the wet ponytail look to a whole new (and depressing) level with it's frequency lately. Oh well, they get the point across.

Monkey Monday