Here are some vacation pics....I will post more later

As you can see from the pictures the weather was all over the map.

Looking forward to vacation!

Oh how I am so waiting for our vacation. It is our first vacation as a family and I can't wait. It will be so nice to get away and be at the beach. I am hoping for some great weather. Who am I kidding? I really just want to see the sun. In looking forward to the vacation I realized just how big my boys are getting.

Let's see...M...well he's been walking now for 7 months and I just realized that it wasn't until 15 months that E even started to walk. M is an opinionated kid with wants and needs and man does he throw a fit when he doesn't get his way. E never really tantrummed and M boy oh boy does he ever. M is also a complete ham, he just cracks me up. He has a completely different build than E, with his short stockiness. E is thin and wiry. M loves to kick a ball and he is good at it. He can dribble a soccer ball as well as his brother. He LOVES animals and will just lay on his doggie as long as he will let him. I know he will want a million pets. Loves his nuks and those will be a challenge to give up. M can charm the pants off anyone just like his brother could at this age. He is laid back, except for the demands and just goes with the flow. He idolizes his big brother and learns everything and I mean everything from him. He has figured out how to make a quacking noise and when he hears the theme song to Word World, a PBS show, he dances and shouts "wor wor". His language is coming along. Now we have Momma, da, Bo, Iye (brother's name), NO, da (that)....hmmm, I know there are more. He loves to dance and climb...he is my climber. I will take bets soon on when he will be out of his crib.

E....boy oh boy that language is never ending. He has become a bit sassy and his behaviors can be a challenge but he is a great and very sweet kid. He is easily riled up so we'll see how school goes. He loves words and rhyming. He loves to dance and run. He loves all kinds of music. One of his current favorites is "Flogging Molly". He loves the Irish rhythms. He loves to read books and race his cars. He is releasing some of his love of "Cars" the movie but it is still by far his favorite. He has a sharp memory and remembers all kinds of things. He recited the first 3 pages from one of his new favorite library books "Zen Ties". He is crazy smart and boy oh boy school will be fun! He loves to learn.

Ah, my boys....I can't wait to take all of my boys to the beach...only we aren't telling E until the morning we leave. He is far to excited and won't sleep if he knows anything new is happening.

Loving it...

I know E can be rowdy but man you just gotta love that kid. Despite is complete rowdiness and aptitude for pushing all my buttons I just can't help but love him all the time. He is a beautifully sweet boy. Today, I asked nicely if he would please pay quietly while I was trying to get Max to sleep. At first, it was a no go but then after pulling out some puzzles he sat quietly at the table. At one point, he waved to me and quietly said, "Hi momma." He was such a sweetheart. Oh how I love that boy.

His new nap schedule allows us to have a little alone time before he takes his nap. He and I get to play a game or two and then we sit and read as he dozes off to sleep. I love that time. Oh how I love my boy....both of them but I think it's time to gush over E!

My boy!

So, I am learning all sorts of things about E. Turns out if he sits in the front at storytime he focuses and pays attention much better than sitting further back. He really does the best right up front with the kids that sit right in front of the librarian. I also learned that he can be a little s*** and knows how to push buttons. I guess I already knew this but figured he only pushed my buttons. Here is how I learned of E's aptitude for pushing other people's buttons:

Library time a week ago:

Okay so we got there late and all the kids and parents were already sitting and so E did not climb past all the adults to sit up front with the kids. Instead we sat with some friends. E was pretty excited to be sitting with his friend and wanted to entertain. He also was sitting further back than usual and not as engrossed in the stories as he usually is. Anyhow, we were also sitting next to a 5ish year old boy who would shhhhush E & his friend any time they would talk, no matter how brief. E started to notice when the little boy would shhhush them and then would talk and then watch out of the corner of his eye when the boy shushed him. He did it over and over again. Finally, the dad of the shushing boy figured out what was going on and got his son to stop and then so did E. I tried to stop E previously but he doesn't like to be told what to do, especially over and over again. That's my boy....look out kindergarten! (Thank goodness I have a little time before then.)

Too long, too long...

Wow, has it really been over 2 weeks since I've blogged. Well, with E not napping blogging falls very low on the priority list. Anyhow, it seems our little cranky pants, as I call him on days he doesn't nap because he really needs one, just needs to nap a little later than usual. If I can get him to sit on my lap around 2 instead of 1 then I can usually get him to crash. He is so tired if he doesn't nap and is in bed by 7:15 in the evening, which rocks for us but I do miss my afternoons. If he doesn't nap he also acts out a lot between about 3:30 and 5:30 obviously because his body is so tired he just can't keep his shit together.

figures!

It figures that we would decide to take a vacation, book it and pay for it all and then appliances start to die. Our dehumidifier died last week and now our chest freezer is dying. I would give up the freezer except this summer we are planting a huge garden in hopes of canning and freezing a bunch of fresh produce. It looks like I should get our taxes done very soon so I know how much money is coming back to us. I know life could be a lot worse, I am certainly not going to get to riled up about this.

Change is coming

No, I am not talking about the economy! My little sister is getting married and it is starting to freak me out. It is less than 4 months away. This year we celebrated our 4 year anniversary and now my sister is going to be all grown up and get married. It hit me when I was trying on the BM dress and realized that my sis was going to be the one standing in front of everyone professing her love to James. Yikes....I just can't believe it. For so long I have been the only one in my family with any sort of significant other and now I won't be alone anymore. Will will be so happy to not be the only "outsider" at the family functions. I can't wait but man I need to be in better shape as my youngest demands to be held whenever anyone is dancing.

Waiting for spring....

With a slight warm up on the way I am so waiting for spring. I was so excited the other day when I heard the temperature outside and just wanted to get the boys out. Then I remembered that there is still snow everywhere and I would still have to put their snowpants on so they wouldn't get too cold if we were playing in the snow. I just really want this snow to go away....I am so done with it. There is another warm up tomorrow and I can't wait to get out their spring coats and go out without hats and mittens.....hooray for less clothing. Our vaca in Florida will feel amazingly warm and sunny. I can't wait for April!

A real babysitter.

Yep, we are finally going to use a real sitter. We hope it goes well, for our sitter that is but we have no doubt she will do a great job. It's always been hard to rely on family and friends and it would be nice for us to have more than one option. Now, I just have to figure out how much to pay a babysitter. Hmmm....time to ask my mom friends for help.

"That's freaking me out like a raccoon in a batman costume."

Yep, that phrase was coined by E! He has a little fear of stuffed animals dressed up in clothes. He was at the West Town mall play place and there was a little boy that had a stuffed raccoon in a batman costume. Upon seeing the raccoon E pedaled backward so fast he tripped and fell down, only to get up and beeline to the opposite side of the play area.

That's my boy!

Christmas pics!

Again, these pics are compliments of my sister. Just a few of Christmas with my side of the fam...Will's side will come soon.

Birthday Prince!

I couldn't resist this one all on it's own!

Pictures courtesy of my ever talented sister!!! & Yes she is for hire!

Here are pics of our crazy trip to OH and pics of M's 1st birthday...only my faves are here. If you are on fb & my friend you can check out the rest!

M'S B-DAY

The boys and cake!

M Dancing!

Cousins!


E & the ladies!

M & his pal Z!

The Beautiful Birthday Boy!

E & Uncle Noel playing with his favorite gadget---the iPhone!

All partied out!

OHIO trip for Josh's grad school graduation!

Sibs & nephews....exactly 9 years after my graduation from college!
Could I be any shorter?



E @ hotel!



Uncle Josh, the graduate, & E!

Big boy shoes!

Yep, my 3 year old no longer wears diapers and my 1 y.o. is now in regular tennis shoes. No more baby shoes for him. Boy my boys are getting big. I am so sad about M growing up so fast, I think that's why I put off the shoe buying as long as I did. :(

Cold Turkey

I've finally done it! No more diapers for E! Yep, Dec. 26th we took the diapers away. I knew the only way to do it was to go cold turkey and so he now wears underpants with a diaper cover over it so as not to soak everything if/when he has an accident. He will wear diapers at night and nap time but that is it. So far, we have had a couple of accidents. We've gotten some resistance, especially when it comes to pooping, but I am hoping today is the pooping breakthrough. He realized, M who is a baby, poops in a diaper and he poops in a potty. I hope that thought sticks. I will keep the web world updated of our progress.

Is it Christmas now?

It's been a long wait for E. He has been ready for Christmas for a while the week prior to Christmas he was so hyper. I thought we weren't going to make it to Christmas with all of our hair. He gets so amped up that you can't even calm him. It's been a rough couple weeks. Christmas eve came and you could see him mellow. Christmas day came and he relaxed even more. Then, the 26th came (we celebrated this day as our little family unit and Santa came late to our house on Christmas night) and E said to daddy seeing all the presents under the tree, "Is it Christmas now daddy?" Will laughed and said, "yes." E has been himself ever since.

Finally Will has his wish....

Yep, he finally has a daddy's boy. M runs to daddy instead of mommy on all occassions. Will is so pleased he has wanted that since bringing E home and E was such a momma's boy. It is nice to see M so close to his daddy but now I know why he was so jealous.

My fear....update

Nap time has been reinstated. We are back to rocking to sleep but I will take that any day over him coming out of his room and claiming, "quiet time is over." Yep, I will give up 15 minutes to get a couple hours of peace. Besides he still badly needs quiet time.

"No Mom"

The first words of my 1 year old...yep that's it. "No Mom."

E's first word was "doggie", which sounded like goggie.

I'm not sure which is better, to be trumped by our beloved family pet or to hear "no mom" as a first word? Hmmmm....I will have to think on that.

Oh the fear.

Yikes it's been 3 days of refusal, nap refusal by E. Yep, 3 full days of me putting him down to nap and not napping. Not only was he not napping, I think he was attempting to wake his sleeping brother. Here was how it went.

E...I don't want quiet time.
Mom...You don't have to sleep you just need to be in your room quietly reading or playing.
E...I don't want to.
Mom...I just need you to be in your room for a little while, if you don't sleep then you can come out.
Mom put E in room. He doesn't lay down, just sits briefly on his bed. Mom leaves and E begins to play. No biggie, I can handle playing I just need to be alone for just a little while. Just a little peace is all I need. Then E begins the shouting & the crying. Mommy can't leave him in there to wake his brother so we try to rock on the pink chair (our lovely mauve recliner in the living room). He sits quietly for about 5 minutes and then begins the squirm. Mom tries him in bed again and he is quiet for about 15 minutes. Then the shouting begins and out he comes. Clearly he is not currently tired but he will be soon or so I hope. No luck for me. He is up all afternoon for 3 straight days and on all 3 days he practically falls asleep while eating his afternoon snack between 4 & 4:30. Yep, so much for his usual 8 pm bedtime.

Please tell me he isn't weaning himself from his nap. He needs them so badly and so do I. I admit it everyday I look forward to that time when they are both asleep and I get a little me time. A little peace in the house never hurt anyone either. I hope my biggest fear is not coming true....I need that nap!