Escape artist

While we were in California for Christmas we had Joshua sleeping in a pack n play. He actually did fairly well in it until the sixth night. The next morning he walked into my mom's room. How you might ask....well, I guess he figured out how to climb out of it. So from then on he got out on his own during naptime and in the mornings. Thankfully there was only one night that he got up at 3am instead of 7am. Now, this brought me to wonder what would happen when he got back into his crib. He has been trying to figure out how to get out of it. When I would see him attempting it it looked really awkward so I wasn't too worried about it. However, sadly, I was wrong. Yesterday morning, our first morning back, he appeared in our room and he got up from his nap on his own too. I guess we will be changing his crib into a toddler bed this weekend and have some long nights ahead of us until he transitions. Fun times. He is too smart for his own good and a climber/daredevil that's for sure.

13 weeks

Okay, so I am way behind on posts and don't think I will ever catch up, but I thought I should post about our exciting news. Many of you know this already, but for those of you that don't we are expecting our third child in June 2010. We were a little surprised, but are very happy and blessed to be adding to our family. I am still not feeling completely well, but am hoping to turn that corner anytime. Really I am hoping by next week as we will be traveling to CA and I want to enjoy all the yummy food I don't get to eat in AL. Here's praying. From the title I am around 13 weeks currently. I go back to the Dr. next week so I will try to get an official due date from him then. As for now, all is well. The first ultrasound looked great and the baby was moving quite nicely.

Now, on to a funny about the baby. We have asked Nicholas and Joshua what they would like the baby to be, a baby brother or sister. Nicholas is pretty adament about it being a brother and it kind of sounded like Joshua said sister. Nicholas thinks this means a brother for him and a sister for Joshua. Nope! I only saw one baby, really. Then the other day I was eating some popcorn as a snack and Nicholas asked why I was eating it. I told him I was hungry and the baby said it wanted popcorn. He then replied, "wow, my baby brother can already talk." It was so cute. I then had to inform him, not really, but kind of. And he still said brother. Fun times. We will see who wins out, him and Daddy or the rest of the world who wants us to have a little girl. Only time will tell.

A Birthday Prayer

Burt brought home a wonderful dinner tonight for my birthday, plus a chocolate molten lava cake. Nicholas was very excited about it being my birthday as he knows you usually have cake. When Burt came home Nicholas immediately asked if he brought cake home. One track mind for sure. He said he did and that he could have some after we ate dinner. As we sat down for dinner Burt asked if Nicholas wanted to say the prayer this evening and he agreed. This is how it went.

"Thank you God for Mommy's Birthday. Thank you God for Daddy bringing her a birthday cake. And thank you for it being closer to my birthday. Amen."

I was smiling from ear to ear and trying not to laugh. He knew what he wanted and what he was thankful for. His friend at school had a birthday Thursday so he is eagerly anticipating his. Little does he know he has six more months, his daddy's bday, his brothers bday and many more friends before that, but each time he will get cake and can be thankful it is closer to his birthday. Too precious. I love this boy. All four of us gathered around the cake, on one plate, with four spoons, and dug in. Joshua mainly played with it. Boy was it good. Happy Birthday to me :-)

Dinner Disaster

So, all was well. I had dinner in the oven and was washing up some dishes when I heard what sounded like one of the oven racks falling. I turned off the water and opened the oven to find this........


Needless to say I was dumbfounded. How did the dish break???? It was not cold to begin with so I am not sure what happened. Then I realized one, that I had to think of something else for dinner and two, that I was going to have to figure out a way to clean this up once the oven cooled down. Fun times. We ended up having cheese quesadillas and popcorn. Healthy don't you think. Oh well, gotta do what you have to in these times right. But now I have to cook tomorrow night too. Ugh! Hopefully the meal will turn out better this time.

Labor Day Weekend

We packed up and headed to Florida for the weekend. On Friday night we stayed with our good friends the Carter's and their kids. The boys loved all the attention and new toys they were able to play with and we enjoyed visiting with Melanie and Ryan and even got to play games with them this time around. It was great. Saturday morning after breakfast we headed to the bay. We stayed there until the storm came in. It was breezy, but beautiful weather to hang out in the water or in the sand. We then made it home for lunch and naps. After naps we hung out a little more before heading over to the Hemphill's. The boys loved playing in their backyard and Burt lounged in the hammock. Rough life.

Burt and Ryan with seaweed for hair.

Too cute.

Our boys have no fear of the water. Just chilling.

Ahh!

I love the waves.
Rose was content hanging out in the sand with the gals.

We made it to the Hemphill's in time for dinner and bedtimes. Brandon ended up having to go in to work early Sunday morning. So, Burt took the older boys down by the beach to fish while Brittny and I took Sophie and Joshua to the playground. We then all met up for lunch and naps. After naps we played inside and outside and wore the children out. We had dinner and were able to get all the children in bed by 8pm. Wow! Then us adults sat around and watched tv and talked and laughed so hard we could hardly breathe. It was so much fun. We miss having them closer that's for sure. We finally called it a night around midnight. Monday morning we all had breakfast together and then Burt and Brandon went fishing for a little bit while the kids played. We then ate lunch before heading back to Montgomery. We made a potty break at Priesters Pecan Shop. We enjoyed some samples, ice cream and a horse swing ride before getting back in the van. It was a fun pit stop. Definitely a short synopsis of our fun, but you get the point. It was great to see everyone this weekend and enjoy some relaxing fun and catching up with our friends and their children. Thanks for having us over!!!! Sophie and Joshua were not happy they couldn't go fishing with the big boys.

Sophie and Joshua said cheese for the camera, but Christopher and Nicholas were too zoned from not napping. They were busy watching tv and vegging out before dinner. Joshua loves to swing. Nicholas decided to push him along a little.

Fun words/thoughts by Nicholas

I wanted to share a few of the funny things Nicholas has said lately and the next post I am going to add random pictures since I havne't been good about blogging about our activities. Currently he is using the words "beautiful, delicious and wonderful" quite often. He will say, "wow this is delicious" to a dinner I made which always makes me smile, "that's beautiful" or "how wonderful" to various things. It is just funny to hear him say sentences with those words in it. The latest funny story goes like this. Usually at bedtime I go in to read Nicholas a story and then Burt comes in to pray with us. Once Burt leaves I hang around for a few songs and Nicholas plays with my hair a little. This particular night Burt was laying down with us. After the prayer and when Burt said, "Goodnight, I love you", Nicholas turned to him and said, "Goodnight Daddy, I love you, now go away." It was the funniest thing. He made sure Burt knew he didn't want him to lay down with us. Too cute.

Potty trained!

Nicholas has finally decided that he is ready to use the toilet. Praise the Lord!!!!! Thanks to all our friends, family and Nicholas' church prayer partner for the prayers lifted up the past couple of weeks. It has certaintly worked.

Two weekends ago Nicholas told Burt that he wanted to wear his underwear. We told him sure, but that meant he needed to use the toilet. He of course said ok, but only once did he use it in the time span of Friday to Tuesday. I was trying not to get frustrated again this go around and did pretty well with it I think. I did get him to sit on the toilet a few times and coerced him with lollipops and stickers which seemed to work this time. I was up for anything that would at least get him to try. The only downfall to that is Joshua "needs" one everytime too. Oh well.

So, finally on Wed I think something just clicked for him. The first time he went for the whole day was at 4pm. That is weird in itself, but at least he told me in needed to and actually sat on the toilet. He was very proud of himself and I was proud of him too. He wore his underwear to church that evening. He went with me to try a couple times, but nothing. When we got home around 8:30pm he said he had to go. By this time he had already started, but we were able to make it to the toilet to finish. Progress. Then, on Thursday morning when he woke up he went straight to the bathroom and from then on he has told us when he needs to go, goes in there, does his business, comes out yelling "come see what I did" and then yells "bye bye pee!" when he flushes the toilet. It is cute. He also gets his lollipop. I am trying now to cut down on that, but we will see when. It has now been five days with no accidents and he has even pooped twice on the toilet. Burt and I are very excited and I know Nicholas is too. No turning back this time. My big boy has finally had the light switch turn on for him. What a huge milestone.

Regret?

Now, before you read any further, if you are expecting some profound and deep thinking message here, stop reading. We finally decided to get Joshua a haircut after much deliberation. I was okay with having it done knowing it would grow back, but I think it might have been a mistake once it was over with. We loved the curls and now he looks like such a big boy. sob sob.

Joshua's very curly hair after being in the pool and letting the sun dry it really fast. This is how I liked it the most. The ringlets were too cute. They would be adorable on a little girl.

Before
After

He kept the same dumbfounded look on his face the entire time. He did very well sitting by himself in the chair, but I am not sure he knew what was going on. And, the haircut is growing on me now. It has been a couple of weeks now and has had time to grow slightly or just lay better. There are also some waves still and the back of his hair is starting to curl up again. Fun times. Maybe this time it will grow out the same length so we can keep the curls. The mullet look when wet was just not good.

Hey, what's the big idea?

Now, this phrase can be used in many instances, with many different parts emphasized. Just imagine this coming out of a three old now, funny isn't it? At least I think so, but others might not when they hear him say it and take it out of context. This phrase comes from the show Imagination Movers and never is used in an "ugly" way, but sometimes when Nicholas uses it, it is almost in a context of, hey, why are you doing that. I find it too funny. It was especially funny this morning at 3:30am. Now, normally I would be not so happy, but first of all, he didn't come in our room just because, he actually had a good reason. His diaper had leaked and he was all wet. So, Burt brought him to our bed and turned on our bathroom light so he could change him and this is what I heard.....Hey! What's the big idea? Hilarious I might say. Oh out of the mouth of babes.

And, don't you love it when you go to see what your child is doing and he looks at you and says, "I'm just pooping" before you even say a word. Why on earth will he not go on the toilet???? I might have to start trying again with him because waiting on him after our first go at it is taking forever. Hmm....I will have to think on that one.

Lastly, the other night Nicholas told Burt that he wanted two Annie and Clarabels and Joshua needed two Annie and Clarabels (trains). When Burt said it was bedtime and plus that required money and we didn't have any, he responded with, "Daddy, you need to go get money". Okay then.

Trip to Arizona (better late than never)

I don't know why it is so difficult for me to keep up with blogging....maybe because I choose to read others before working on mine and then the kids wake up or it's my bedtime, but I figured I would try to post these pictures from our Arizona trip way back in May. We all packed up and flew to visit my Grandma, Aunt, Aunt and Uncle, cousins, and my Dad and step-mom flew in from CA to meet up with us too. As an added bonus one of my best friends lives in Phoenix so I was able to spend half a day with her too. It was actually quite relaxing given we only were there from Thursday night to Monday morning. Since we were only there to visit family we were not rushing from place to place to see stuff and could just enjoy being "still". The plane flights were the longest part of the trip, but the boys did really well. A few people gave us looks when they were being loud, but wouldn't you prefer loudness over crying???? So, without further ado here are the pictures, finally.

Four generations

One of our main reasons for visiting, besides to see family we haven't seen in over five years, was to try to get a four generation picture. My Grandma is the only grandparent that is still alive for Burt and myself. Seeing as she hasn't been feeling 100% lately and my Dad was about to have surgery we finally just picked a date and went. Not that we thought anything was going to happen to either of them, we just knew it was way over due. It was hard to get all of us to smile at the same time, to look in the same direction or even stay on the couch, but I think we did okay.

Great Grandma with her great grandsons. I can't remember how many this makes for her, but I think it is around 12 or so.

Grandpa building ships and "train tracks" with the boys. Nicholas loved to knock the creations down. My Grandma had these blocks in her closet from many years ago. She says she pulls them out whenever the great grandkids come to visit. It was a lifesaver to keep the boys entertained while we talked.

Lots of pool fun at my Uncle's house. It made it not so hot in the 100+ degree weather. I didn't really notice the heat that much, especially with their being no humidity.

We tried again with the picture of the five of us the next day.

Stacey came to my Uncle's house. Logistically this was much easier and this way she was able to see Burt and the boys. It was great to see her even if it was only for a few hours.

Uncle Ken with Nicholas.

Joshua trying to tackle Uncle Ken.

All the kids joining in.

What's better than a popsicle and juice???

Emily and Nicholas

My cousin Nicole has three children. We tried to get all five of the kids to sit still for us so we could have a 2nd cousins picture (I think that is right). This is what we got.

All and all it was a wonderful trip. We had some great conversations, tasty food and lots of relaxation. The boys slept well, thank you, and we were able to catch up with my family. The only thing is I didn't get a picture of everyone else. Next time....and hopefully that won't be in another five years.

Cutie pie

Click here to see pictures of Joshua. Our friend Anita took them and once again she did a fabulous job. She captured his personality perfectly. He's a ham even if he did take some prying to get these pictures taken. Although, he did love it when her husband came into the room. Go figure. Enjoy!

New Phrase

Nicholas has a new phrase around the house now when someone does something interesting or funny mainly.

(He, Joshua, that, etc)...is flat out silly.

Wonder where he got that expression???? The boy is a sponge these days I tell you. It is funny when he says things like this, but other phrases aren't so wonderful. We definitely have to be on our toes about words we use that's for sure.

Joshua- 18 months

Wow, is it that time again already. I can't believe we are already in July. On the 3rd Joshua turned 18 months old, crazy. We went to the Dr's today. All is well. He now weighs 24lbs 11 ounces (30%) and is 32 and 3/4 inches tall (70%). He says about 5 words that everyone could probably understand and 5 or more words that we can understand. He also signs about 5 or so things. He is a very active child. Loves to be outdoors doing anything, climbs like crazy, can almost do a somersault and loves to wrestle. He has some of the funniest expressions and still has curly hair. He is a hoot is all I can say. He definitely keeps me on my toes. That's all for now. Just wanted to give a short update on his progress. He is still a lightweight compared to Nicholas, but you can't tell him that since he doesn't seem to notice at all. Guess that's the second child syndrome.

What in the world????

So, isn't there a philosphy out there that once your child gets hurt from something that he probably shouldn't be doing, that they won't do it again??? For example: touching a hot stove, climbing over the couch, falling and hitting his head on the window seal, running too fast and making friends with the pavement, climbing on the kitchen chairs and falling, etc, etc. These are all examples of what my fearless second child does, cries about it, comes to tell me what hurt him with a small hug from me and then goes about his business to do it once again. Crazy!!!! I didn't get a picture of his first black eye, but here is his second one he received yesterday by trying to catch himself while falling and ended up sliding on the pavement with his cheek. I would say poor little guy, but he doesn't seem to care that much, but it is sad and of course I don't want him to keep injuring himself. I want to get 18 month pictures taken in a couple weeks, but at this rate I don't know if I will be able to. I am just surprised, but so thankful, that he hasn't broken anything yet. I will keep praying for him on that one, among everything else. Gotta love the second boy wanting to be like his brother way too fast.

Okay, so I had every intention of posting a picture, but after I wrote this I ended up getting sick and have been down and out for the past week. Today, the following Thursday is the first day I have had any energy and that's not that much to begin with. It hasn't been the greatest week. Thank goodness my mom was here part of the time to take care of the boys, but bummer that we missed days to do fun stuff. So, sorry there is no picture, just use your imagination.

Beach Weekend (back in May)

Over Mother's Day weekend we were able to go to the beach with our friends the Fureigh's. Joseph and Britney invited us down to their condo and who were we to refuse. We drove down on Friday afternoon and returned Sunday evening. We arrived in time to unload the car and head to dinner. The kids did fairly well considering they had been in a car for three and a half hours and we had some of the best grilled shrimp I have ever tasted. I don't know what kind of seasoning they use, but boy was it good. After dinner we stopped to have some ice cream and then back to the condo for bedtime. Joshua and Rylie went right to sleep, but Nicholas, of course, took a little longer. Us adults stayed up and watched tv and talked for awhile and then hit the bed ourselves.

The next morning after breakfast we headed out to the beach. The boys loved it. Nicholas went straight to the ocean, but we couldn't actually swim due to high tides. We just waded and splashed in the water as much as we could. Joshua loved playing in the sand and just hanging out in the puddle we made for him. Rylie wasn't so sure about the sand, but did play in it some. After a couple hours at the beach we headed to the pool and then up to the room to have lunch and take naps.

While the kids napped Britney and I headed to the outlets to shop. It was a lot of fun to go shopping with a friend and just go to look for myself. I haven't done that in quite awhile so it was nice. I didn't buy anything for the boys. Hard to believe isn't it. We met up with the men and children for dinner at Lulu's. While we waited the kids played in the sand and Rylie got her hair braided. Then at dinner we sat where we could see the boats go by which entertained the kids. By the time we were done and headed home it was bedtime. Yeah for that. Although, even though the kids were in bed and we had time to actually play cards or Wii or anything we just sat and watched tv and talked. What is up with that???? What party poopers we are. Oh well. It was nice to just sit and relax and listen to the ocean.

Sunday morning we opted to just stay at the pool. Joshua wasn't interested in doing much so he just sat outside the pool and played in a bucket of water. Rylie and Nicholas swam to their hearts content until lunchtime. We ate, packed up and tried to make it out before the meltdowns began. We did pretty well I think. Joshua slept the whole way home and Nicholas took about an hour nap and then watched his movie the rest of the way. All and all it was a wonderful weekend and first trip to the beach. Hopefully there will be lots more to come.

This picture has nothing to do with the beach, but it is one with all of us in it. This was taken back in February.