She loves the little chairs we have. She hauls them all over. Here, she’s trying to figure out how to get it up the step. Owen is singing in the background.
Category Archives: Kids
The poop song, versions 2 and 3.
A gift from Katie
She loves playing in the pile of gravel by the shed. Today, she brought me this, in a tiny closed fist across the whole yard:
She didn’t want to get up.
I had to wake Katie up to go get Owen from school. She heard me and just stretched then changed positions, obviously not wanting to get up. Can’t say I blame her—I don’t like getting woken up either.
Owen’s first school pictures!!
Hell, technically his first ever professional pictures!! (I had the professional photographer come when he was about six months old but that never turned out…and I had my professional photog cousin take some pics one weekend at a family gathering, but it wasn’t anything official.)
I am BEYOND THRILLED and honestly a little amazed at the perfect smiles and cute poses! I mean, just look at the goofy grin I got this morning! I was really worried about getting one good shot, and I got three! Of course I think Pose B is hilarious because that’s just SO not him but it’s such a typical school photo shot—I love it! I had no idea there would be three options, as the form we filled out just let us pick a color background (beige, blue, or red) and accessories (the letters J-O-Y, etc.).
So after I posted them on Facebook, Tom messaged me:
Tom: OMG! How did you know?
Me: How did I know what?
Tom: The Shirt. Rob and I had to wear matching blue shirts for every school picture, until 6th grade.
Me: Ha ha, I had no idea. I just wanted him in blue since he looks good in blue and I knew I could pick a blue background.
Talk about fate. 🙂
Oh, and…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 😈
And, wow have school photos come a long way—you didn’t get an order form ahead of time. As I mentioned, we just got the background and accessory request. You get the order form with the proofs about two weeks later with a website and code numbers to see the proof and order everything from holiday cards to mugs and notepads. I haven’t gotten to check the prices on anything yet, but I’m guessing I’ll just get the smallest package that gets me all three pictures and then I’ll use them as I normally would in my Shutterfly things. STAY TUNED.
NANNA!
We went to Sam’s Club this morning. Since we’re Business Members we can get in early and they have a table set up with coffee, OJ, fruit, and pastries. I usually get Katie a banana and she will eat the whole thing while we’re shopping. (As an aside, she takes full adult-sized bites. She has to put the whole banana in her mouth. Freaks me out just a little.)
So this morning I grab a banana like usual, she sees it, gets excited, and says “NANNA!”
Well, that’s a first!
Last-minute homework
I don’t always remember to check his bag at night…so some mornings it’s a rush to get it done. Of course this morning it was a dot-to-dot using the alphabet and he pretty much had to sing the alphabet to complete each letter—when he just did one completely by himself with no singing about two days ago. Only because we were running late, I’m sure. 🙂
Preppy Owen with the new shirt and hair gel.
Of course he has to pose with some of his Lego minifigures. 🙂
Aaaaaand then…classic Owen “Smile!” face. If you don’t giggle—or at least smile—when seeing this, you are a better person than I.
Things about me you might not know.
This game has been going around Facebook whereby you are given a number and you are then required to tell that many unique or fun things about yourself that most people wouldn’t know. I’ve really enjoyed reading the answers from all my friends, and while I didn’t officially get a number I thought it would be fun to play along.
- At a very young age I knew I didn’t want children and actually asked my mom if I could get a hysterectomy. Wisely, she assured me I should wait.
- I still didn’t want kids until a few years after getting married… But that changed during the few days after finding out my Grandpa Len had died and I was with all my extended family back in Michigan and I realized how much I loved my family and didn’t want it to end with me. It’s a good thing Tom was on board.
- From that moment, it took three years to get pregnant and involved both of us being tested (no issues), though one of those years Tom was deployed. 🙂
- We are currently on our third deployment: ~9 months, ~13 months, and hopefully this one with kids will be the shortest at ~6 months. When you dream about falling in love with a military man (Oh! Those uniforms!) you never think about the sucky parts.
- In college I made a list of the top 25 or so things I was looking for in a partner. The top 5 were CRITICAL. When I met Tom? He had none of the top 5 but I still knew from the first night he was the one. Yes, I knew the very first night that we would get married. It took four years but we did it!
- I loved every part of my wedding and would do it all over again in a hot second. I loved all the unique touches (trumpeter, writing our own vows, one of the groomsmen barfing in the bushes during the ceremony, reception on a dinner train, personalized cake topper, and a horse and carriage) and to this day people still tell me how awesome it was.
- For someone who is a homebody and doesn’t like change, the military is not really the best thing for me. I always said I would wait to have kids until we were settled so they wouldn’t have to move schools…but life just doesn’t work that way (I got old too fast and Tom had decided to stay in for 20). But, we have met the greatest people and can’t imagine life without having met our best friends Roger & Ursula Mitchell and Tom & Karen Trimble).
- I :heart: Amazon. If I never had to leave my house to shop I would be just fine. I have my fingers crossed that someday we move somewhere that Amazon delivers fresh groceries. If you ask me where I got something, chances are probably 90% it was from Amazon, 5% it was from another online source, and 5% it was local. 🙂
- If I never had another job again I would be just fine. I am NOT someone who has to work to feel validated.
- I don’t consider myself a hoarder, but my pantry has been referred to as Dharma. Yes, I also :heart: Costco and Sam’s Club.
- I hate being late. For anything. Even with two kids on a hectic morning, I still make it to Pre-K (with a 15 minute drive) at least five minutes early.
- This was the first year since we got married that we didn’t have Chinese for our anniversary dinner (it started as luck then we planned it and even managed during his past deployments). We changed it to steak and shrimp this year so we’d be eating the same thing on the same day!
Our little monkey goes to bed.
In Owen’s old monkey PJs.
Not minding being covered up.
Look at me being cute!
Guess what? We’re outside again!
I have a feeling this is how she’s going to get her first split lip or her first set of stitches…trying to climb up the ladder when I’m not looking.
And this is her complete glee at stealing my seat!
My little helper.
Mama! I want to do it!
Maiden Voyage
Post-nap cuteness
New car seat + Tom not here to deal with it = mini panic attack
I’ve read the book and watched videos…but I still get really nervous because he’s ALWAYS done them. I’ve NEVER done them. But it actually took longer to get the old one out and clean out the seat than it took to get the new seat in.
The mess under Katie’s seat:
It seems sturdy enough and I’m sure it’s safe but I’m still anxious.
She climbed right in!
Then continued to play in it all morning!
Outside yet again!
Owen: MOM?! Can Katie come outside, too?
I don’t know why he wants her out there so badly…he usually plays with her for two minutes (if that) then is off on his own. 🙂
Yep, one shoe off after about 45 seconds…that’s about right.
This is honestly what 98% of my attempts look like. 🙂 Now aren’t you even more impressed when I get really good shots?!
She got out, he left, and she got right back in!
Watching Owen. (And I just now realized I took all these pics as Square—a new setting on the iPhone. Oops.)
Yes I get a little nervous when she’s that close to the edge. 🙂
Kinda Christmas-y
I think this is the closest to a Christmas outfit she has. Valentines socks, but you can’t tell with pants on. And Owen’s old jeans. 🙂
My girl was cuddly this morning.
I’ll take it since it doesn’t happen too often.
He knew.
Me: Owen, come here, I need to talk to you about something.
Owen: What?
Me: Mama isn’t happy with something you did downstairs last night.
Owen: What?
Me: You know what you did.
Owen: Looking sheepish. I sprayed hair gel all over the bathroom.
Me: Yes, and it made a sticky mess.
Owen: I’m sorry.
Me: Well it was kind of funny because I went to the bathroom and the seat stuck to my butt.
Owen: Giggle.
Me: But you made a mess and you have to clean it up.
Owen: Why?
Me: You know.
Owen: Because we clean up our messes.
He knows. 🙂
So I gave him a Clorox wipe and he did a cursory wipe over the sink, toilet, and floor. I would have made him do more (or better) but it was a school morning and we didn’t have that much time.
He’s lucky I have a night to sleep on it.
URGE TO KILL.
I just went to the bathroom downstairs and thought “What the hell is running down the wall that’s sticky?” Then I got off the toilet and wondered why the seat was sticky. Then I noticed the mirror was covered in something…as well as the floor.
DAMMIT.
Owen got a hold of the spray gel that was in there (from when I did his hair a few days ago). So THAT’S what he was in there doing when he didn’t come out right away after going potty and “washing his hands.” GRRRRRRRRRR.
I will just say he was VERY lucky I didn’t discover it when he was still awake and I will have a night to sleep on it…because I was already on the edge from his snotty refusal to pick up like I asked.
Needless to say I cleaned the bathroom tonight but he WILL be cleaning it tomorrow because we clean our messes.
Breathe.
Sibling Love
He starts off whining because she’s climbing up on him…but minutes later she’s still there and they’re both content. 🙂
Funny face kids
GI checkup: 3-6 more months, minimum
Not much has changed…we have some good days and bad days, I still need to do the mini clean-outs every other weekend, and the doc said this is normal for three months post-hospitalization…and 6-9 months is the normal time frame before we HOPEFULLY start seeing more of the good days. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. (I hate marathons and sprints, but I’d rather do sprints.)
So anyway, we at least got updated stats:
Weight: 64.2#
Height: 47.12″
EEK! No wonder his 4-5T pull-ups have been looking a little tight…AND why he’s in size 8s.
Helping—she handed him his shoes then tried to put them on with him.
Playing together while waiting for the nurse.
More waiting. It’s frustrating because the actual time with the doctor is about five minutes (which is fine and all we really need) but since it’s just him and one nurse, it takes 20 minutes for her to come back and schedule your next appointment since she’s in with other patients. We always get in on-time (if not early) so overall it’s not bad (and it’s still way better than having to drive three hours round trip to Wilmington) but it’s just slightly frustrating.
Anyway, they both did pretty good waiting and Katie loved looking behind the blinds.
Then some family fun…
I noticed that Katie was sticking her tongue out (no idea why) so we all did! This might just be my favorite picture of the month. 🙂
Singing the poop song.
He sang a funny on-the-spot made up poop song for me so I asked him to sing it again so I could record it. Of course it wasn’t anything close to what he originally sang, but it was still cute. PLUS! I got the bonus of a pee song. (It’s obviously school-related since he talks about teachers and going back to your “center” which is the different learning areas of the classroom like Library, Housekeeping, Art, and Science.)
I’ll try again another night and see what I get!
A Smaller Slide
Since she’s finally interested in the slide, we pulled out the smaller one. The first part of the video is her first time on it, figuring it out all by herself!
Happy Katie & Curly Katie
Look at the curls! We really only get to see them post-bath and sometimes the next morning (like now) if her bed head isn’t too bad.
This is what happens when you tell her no.
She will close her eyes and tilt her head down.
It’s more effective as a video but I haven’t captured it yet. 🙂
I got a request to go outside.
She was standing at the gate saying side and making the more sign. 🙂
She knows how we get outside.
Finding her shoes.
Tasty!
She dragged the chair off the deck and around the yard before settling here.
The polish way of doing things. 🙂
Happy girl!
Climbing and whining.