Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Best Boy Weekend Ever

This past weekend we went to a family reunion in eastern Tennessee. 

For starters, I think it is safe to say that Henry is now fully potty trained.  We made it the entire 6 hour car trip with no accidents.  I put a pull up on over his underwear and he remained dry the entire time.  Of course, it helps that we put him on the pot every time we stopped for gas.

Henry is still talking about how much fun he had at Jamie and Jon's house. (Never mind that my cousins are Jamie and Kent.)  It was boy heaven.  Jamie and Kent have a fair amount of land-- complete with an old barn, a creek, a rope swing, giant piles of dirt where they are putting in a pool, a tree house, and large unmowed portions.  Henry kept saying he loved playing in the "crick" and "da jungle".  (He also had a blast at the HO-tel, as in, the boy screams HO and then just sort of non-chalantly adds "tel" to the end of it .  He and Gracie shared the sitting room portion of our suite and from their room we kept hearing H loudly whisper, "Gwacie, we having a swumber party.  Yippee!  A swumber party!)    Oh, and did I mention that Jamie and Kent have three kids--Mara (15), Amanda(8ish), and Seth (6ish)and therefore every toy known to man.  We're talking dinosaurs, cash registers, Legos, trains, horses, barbies, balls, blocks, foozball, tricycles, and battery operated cars for the kids to drive.  Amanda drove him around in her Barbie car.  Barbie has moved up in the world.  She no longer drives a Jeep, but a pink Escalade, complete with a boomin' sound system.  And Seth took him for a ride in his little John Deere Gator.  Oh, and did I mention that my sister's brood was there as well?  So his bestest buddies, Jonathan and Isabel, were there.  When they arrived, Henry and Isabel ran toward one another with arms opened, screaming one another's name as if they were in a soap commercial.  It was hilarious.  Unfortunately, I did not get many pics from the weekend because Gracie's two toofers were coming in and she was only happy if she was attached to me.  Most of these photos are from Sloan's phone.

The reunion itself was at another cousins' farm.  It was awesome.  There was corn hole, a pool, and a stocked pond with a paddle boat.  Once again, hog heaven.  Henry loved riding in the paddle boat.  Sloan let him go out there with a bunch of kids and a teenager.  I'm really glad I didn't know this until I saw the picture on Sloan's blackberry.  I would have had a stroke. 
Henry tries fishing for the first time.
Hey Lily, Henry caught you a delicious bass.


But just in case Henry hadn't had enough fun, we took the kids to Tweetsie Railroad on Sunday.  Tweetsie is a Wild West train themed amusement park in Blowing Rock, NC.  I went when I was a kid and was scared out of my mind. There is an adventure train ride upon which a tribe of Indians hijacked it tried to scalp everybody.  Well, they've tried to make it a bit more PC.  The Indians no longer hijack the train, but save the cowboys from the evil train robbers--the Hot Sauce Bandits (aptly named Texas Pete and Tabasco).  However, the Indians' costumes and face paint was pretty ridiculous, so it was still rather lame, if not overtly offensive.  The little show the college-aged thespians put on was a bit like that play you put on for your relatives at Thanksgiving:  Poorly rehearsed, funny in parts, but overall just a bit too long.  But Henry ate it up.  He loved riding on the train, seeing the water tower, the coal tender, and sitting on one of the coaches.  The park is also great because the majority of the rides are fore the 45" and under set.  And it wasn't crowded at all.  We didn't have to wait in a single line all day. 
Gracie enjoyed riding the train too.  Despite how much Henry talked about getting an Engineer's cap, he refused to put one on.  Nor did he want a conductor hat, a cowboy hat, or an Indian headress.  Gracie is not so finicky.

Flying high!

Henry asked for a red spider face painting.  Everytime someone told him they liked his Crab face painting, it made him, well, crabby.

Riding in the bumper car--aka "Wightning Macween dat wooks wike Wamone".  (Lighting McQueen that looks like Ramone.)

Monday, June 28, 2010

8 months



This is the face that greets me most mornings. 




Ooooh, Miss Grace.  The minute I saw your face, I knew that I loved you.




What Gracie is up to these days...

*Blowing rasperries.  As in all the time she makes fart noises.  She fits in pretty well around the Phillips house.  Henry thinks it is hilarious.

*She loves the pool.  So much she has been known to fall asleep in it while floating on her back.  Of course, that's until Henry almost drowns her with kisses.

*Her bottom two middle teeth have finally erupted.  They finally broke through last Friday and it is the first time she has ever been fussy and clingy.  Normally she is all smiles and giggles.  We were in Tennessee for a family reunion and the only people she would let hold her were me, Sloan, and my nephew, Caleb.  My parents were less than happy about this.  I think there were threats bandied about her loss of smocked outfit privileges from Gigi. 

*Yoga.  She is a champ at the downward facing dog.  First she does the pre-crawling dry hump thing.  Then she pops up her heiny as though she is about to do push ups.  Then she uses her rump in the air as momentum to propel herself forward, like a runner at the blocks.  She's not crawling, just sort of flopping her body about everywhere.  I've tried getting it on video tape, but she is no circus monkey.

*She loves Thomas the Tank Engine and Pez dispensers.  Good thing we have a surplus of both around here.  Henry is cool with sharing his trains with her, just so long as she keeps her mouth off of Thomas and Lego Cranky.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Te Amo, Enrique

Perhaps the apple has not fallen far from the tree, but I'm pretty sure I'm living with a crazy person. Granted, I learned everything I know about medicine from watching House. However, I'm nearly certain Henry has multiple personalities.

60% of the time he is Henry.  Henry loves trains, jumping, swimming, doing puzzles, coloring, and eating candy.  He sings while he picks up his toys and always, always, always pushes his chair in when he gets up from the table and puts his silverware and cup in the sink.  Henry tells me every morning that he slept well.  Henry loves all things Thomas the Tank Engine and Buzz Lightyear.  He tells passersby in Wal-Mart that he has Thomas in his bedroom and when reading the Bible story of Jesus' ascension, he will say that Jesus is going "to infinity and beyond".  Henry prefers to be carried upstairs if Mommy or Daddy are also carrying Grace.  He begins conversations in the middle--randomly he'll mention that Gracie likes Santa Claus, horses eat hay, or may even tell the man checking us in at the gym that "Mommy has nipples".  (Thank you very much.)  Henry is potty trained and rarely has accidents.  Henry cheers for himself while he pees--"Yeah, Henwe!  Yeah, Henwe's penis!"  So perhaps it is safe to say that Henry is a little bit obsessed with body parts and their functions.  Henry enjoys being helpful and often 'reads' books to Gracie and will even sometimes (unfortunately) try to pick her up if she gets fussy.  Henry can write his name.  All in all, Henry is a pure joy to be around.

20% of the time he is Henri.  Henri is a grumpy Frenchman.  Henri is never content with what is set before him--be it food, activities, shoes,  or life in general.  Henri often falls apart should you offer him for afternoon snack the rest of his banana that he did not finish in the morning.  When offered food he randomly decides he doesn't like, he will often quote "Green Eggs and Ham" at the top of his lungs.  I WILL NOT EAT DEM HERE OR DER, I WILL NOT EAT DEM ANYWHERE!!!!  When I remind Henri that the Who eventually learned that he did like Green Eggs and Ham, Henri goes into what could be mistaken for a seisure.  Henri can cry on cue.  Henri does not like to have his hand held and will yell in parking lots "No, Thank you, Mommy.  You hurting me."  Then Henri goes limp.  In the middle of the parking lot.  Henri, despite that his first language is whine, is quite mannerly.  If you offer Henri water instead of milk, Henri screams at you "No tank you.  I want milk!!!!!"  Henri not only will not write his name, he will throw crayons at you for daring to mention it.  Then he'll say, "Shhhh, stop saying dat.  Mommy, BE QUIET!" Henri will only wear his red "dragon crocs".  No matter that you are going to church.  No matter that he picked out $40 keens that he loved and had to wear out of the store.  All other shoes, Keens included, are either too big, too sticky, or just down right yucky.  Henri does not like to brush his teeth and will only allow you to brush his teeth for him if while brushing you also sing the Thomas the Tank Engine song.  Henri will not go to the potty when it is convienient for you.  Henri has extraordinary will power and won't even poop for days on end--no matter how many bottles of prune juice, FiberOne granola bars, or even suppositories you give him.  In fact, we're pretty certain that Henri's major problem is bowel related. 

The other 20% of the time he is Enrique.  Enrique is pure love and affection.  Enrique tells Gracie 40 times a day he loves her.  Enrique will never have enough of Mommy's kisses.  Enrique declares all errands as "fun and a really good time".  Enrique compliments me every chance he gets--as in, "MMmmmm, Mommy, tank you for dis yummy pwoon juice,"  or "Oooh, Mommy, taking you for making me Cheerios.  Mommy is a good cook."  (Yes, he complimented my ability to have the proper cereal to milk ratio.)  Or, "Mommy gives good hugs,"  "Mommy and Gwacie have pretty curly hair".  Enrique's favorite activities include bringing a stack of books to my lap and begging me to "wead me", rubbing Grace on the head and saying "there, there, wittle baby", Eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses, fist bumps, and the ever popular zerbert.  Enrique will even offer you his foot to kiss.  Admittedly, sometimes Enrique is a little creepy. 

I fear that this is a side effect from growing up in Elizabethtown.

Or perhaps it is just life with a three year old.

Monday, June 21, 2010

First day of school 5th grade essay





I love summer because during summer I can actually enjoy my children.  No meetings to get to.  No Bible Study to lead.  No preschool to drop off and pick up.  It doesn't hurt that I've trained my kids to sleep in until 8:30.  Yeah, we have playdates, swim lessons, and Dinosaur camp, but these things are not the norm and are simply minor breaks.  Henry enjoys summer because he is actually able to play with his toys and is not stuck in the car running endless errands.  We can go to the pool, the zoo, the children's museum, the movies--but mostly, we like to simply hang out at home build legos, do crafts, and read book after book after book with nowhere to be. 

Every June I feel this way;  I vow to not put as much on my plate for the next school year.  And every August I somehow end up volunteering for umpteen different things.  Part of it, I am certain, is that by nature I am a homebody.  An introvert.  Yeah, I know.  It's a shocker for most people to hear that.  But whenever I go somewhere with other people, after a few hours I am drained.  Girls weekends and women's retreats, though fun and important, usually end with me exhausted, grumpy, and suffering from gastro-intestinal distress. 

During the school year, I do a lot of talking about living, thinking about living, and preparing for living.  In summer, we just live.  And when we just live, we do cool things like transform the sunroom into a playroom and turn boxes into trains...



Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Big H and Super G


Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with these two sweet children.  Only God could make my infertility bear so much fruit.






What a little stud!  He looks like he's about to go rush Sigma Chi or something...


Hey, single ladies...I'm a three year old male who likes to party.  I'm into trains, Lightning McQueen, Buzz Lightyear, and robots.  If you are into M&Ms and don't mind a kid who is potty trained but still prefers to poop in a diaper, give me a call.


Amazing Grace.


I'm super chill just sitting on this bench.  Boys, beware.  I have a big brother who spoils me.  Did I mention he is a little possesive of me?  And, oh yeah, my Daddy has guns...


I feel pretty.  Oh so pretty.


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Life with a three year old...

I think the photo CD they gave me is weird because it won't transfer all of the photos they took to my computer, so I'm headed back to Sears tomorrow to get a new CD. However, there were a couple of photos that did transfer without a hitch. A teaser, if you will. And quite possibly the best picture that sums up life with a three year old about 70% of the time...

7 months (a little late)...


Yeah.  I know.  It's a little late.  We took these when we got back home from the beach, but things have been sort of hectic.  And whenever I've been on the computer (which has been a bit wonky as of late), I've either been also on the phone to India with my Iyogi computer tech or the camera has been MIA. 

But just to let you know what the cutest baby on the planet is also up to...

*She is mobile.  She can push herself backwards and sometimes get stuck under the couch.  She also can do this tush push thing.  She'll be sitting up and sort of drag her rear around behind her.  It's a little like a dog on a driveway which is a horrible image.  She'll also occasionally army crawl a couple of paces.

*She air humps with great frequency.  If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about.  I figure we've got until the 4th of July until we're full on crawling. 

*She is still (relatively) toothless.  I say relatively because she has 'buds' coming in.  And she is getting in her two bottom teeth at the same time.  So lots of drool.  And eating less.  Which is to say she is eating about the same as other 7 month olds.

*Her general schedule-- Rouses at 6am.  Takes an 8oz bottle and then goes back down in her crib.  She plays with her passie and blankie and then nods back off.  She then wakes up again about 9.  She then eats a bowl of fruit with rice cereal or oatmeal.  Occasionally she goes down for a morning nap from 10:30-11:30.  She eats lunch (a jar of veggies and a jar of either pasta or some dinnerish baby food) around 12.  She takes a bottle of 6-8oz of formula at 2 and goes down for afternoon nap. She wakes up around 4:30.  She takes 2 jars of baby food around 5.  Around 7:30, she takes 4-6 oz of formula and then goes to bed.

*She love love loves her passie.  We can put her in her crib without one and somehow she'll find one.  Like a dog with a tennis ball, she seems to always be able to find one and stick it in her pie hole. 

*She likes to play with her corelle itty bitty baby, the activity table, and bead mazes.  She also is a fan of Henry's trains, particularly chewing the wooden tracks.  (See note about teething.)

*She is very laid back.  Even with teething, she is not fussy.  Sometimes she misses her 6am bottle because she doesn't fuss loud enough for us to wake up.  That said, when she wants you to get her, she'll holler.  Not fuss, but full on holler.  And as soon as the door to her room opens, she is quiet and giggly, not a tear in her eye.  I predict she will be one of those kids who yells "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" with great frequency.

*She calls everything dada.  She is able to demonstrate the flexibility of the word by having entire conversations with herself using simply the word "Dadadaddadadadadaddaaaaa". 

*Most of her clothes are 12 months.  Some are 12-18 months.  Her bathing suits are 18 months and are snug around the belly. 

Friday, June 11, 2010

A Real Conversation

Sloan:  Tomorrow we're going to a party where there will be hot dogs and a band.
Henry:  And Henwe have a beer.
Sloan: Umm, how about we get you a juice?
Henry: No, Henwe have a beer.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Long Overdue Beach Pics

Riding the cart into the hotel in Smithfield. 
(Yes, I know that's a lot of stuff for only one night.  Shut up.)

Just chillaxin' in the stroller at Alligator Adventure.


Henry has no fear of the alligator.  (Notice he is carrying the map.  He tried to 'diwect da tour'.)


Gracie did not care that her passie got sandy.  Probably because she is working on four teeth.






Dr. Phillips makes a house call. And he only made her gag once while taking her temperature.


At Broadway at the Beach.
I'm blowing this picture up poster size and putting it in his transportation themed bedroom.


In the Butterfly house at Brookgreen Gardens. 
The one butterfly he didn't try to fist bump or give a high five to.


How do you get a three year old do sit back in the stroller?
Walk him around a sculpture garden, zoo, and butterfly house for 6 hours.


We finally figured out the reason behind our mothers telling us the "You'll drown if you swim right after you eat" rule:  Mom wanted to catch up on her reading.  Solution?  Books for everyone!


Chub love.

BIG Love (Spoiler alert: SATC2)

Yeah.  I know.  It has been awhile since I've posted.  Life's been hectic.  I suppose it always is...

This past weekend I went to Charlotte for a girls weekend with some college friends.  For some reason, we took no pictures.  We spent large amounts of time simply sitting around, drinking wine, and trying not to talk about our children.  I say trying not to because we always ended up talking about them only to every fifteen minutes or so to say, "Hey, wait a minute, aren't we trying to be away from them?" 

The main reason we all got together, or at least the excuse we used, was to go see the new Sex and the City movie.  I am probably the only person on the planet who liked it better than the first one.  Let me explain why.  It seems that, finally, the group has grown up.  This is why I loved the movie.  (Okay, not the entire group--Samantha has just gotten OLD.  As in lady, you should not be wearing red lipstick and holy cow, you really look horrible with extensions.  The only time she looked young was when her face was smeared with yams.)  Charlotte is finally vulnerable.  Miranda softened a bit and is caring.  Carrie has suddenly realized that perhaps all of her relationships aren't about her.  And the big leap is that BIG is finally compassionate. As in, the ruggedly handsome Chris Noth is a Knight among men at the end of this movie--an example of extravagant love, rescuing forgiveness--and shows us what it looks like to place a relationship before one's right to be right.  He discards his pride for his bride. If you were ever an Aiden fan before, Big will knock your socks off.  Me?  Well, I don't do hipster, wooden bead necklace wearing types, so I took my socks off for Big the first time he rolled up in his town car.

And perhaps I love Big so much because he reminds me of another guy with salt and pepper hair that looks so damn good in a suit...