William's Pirate Birthday Party

Ok, so we're in February now and I'm just writing about William's birthday party, but I had such a fun time planning it that I wanted to make sure I wrote about it. As the title suggests, it was a pirate party. I gave William the option to have his party anywhere he wanted... Anywhere! I suggested his favorite locations and all he said was "I want it at home Mommy." My first thought was "Ugh!" I don't want to have to prep my house for yet another birthday party, but once he said he wanted it to be a pirate party I started getting excited too.

For starters, you can't have a bunch of pirates running around without eye patches and bandanas! Annette, my mom, and I spent the night before the party cutting fabric and making eye patches - pink for the girls and black for the boys. I couldn't have done all that without their help!




They came out really cute and the kids loved them!








For games, we had a pin the patch on the pirate poster and a treasure hunt. The kids had a list of items to find in the sand pit and by groups the kids dug for their treasure. I should have done 2 buckets, but this seemed to work out ok with the little ones.





And of course they had their loot bags tied with rope to keep all their treasure plus a few other goodies.



The pirate cake was beautiful and tasty!







The main reason William wanted to have the party at home is because he wanted a water balloon fight. That was fine for me since we have a blow-up pirate pool and it's usually very hot on William's birthday. Not this year! It was barely 70 degrees, way too cold for swimming and even a balloon fight. So, I had to improvise and we had all our little pirates get the "Big Bad Captain" (A.J.)with the water balloons! It was a sight to see and the kids had a blast! My only regret is that I didn't do more balloons... although I'm not sure how A.J. would feel about that. ;)






William loved having all his friends over and kept saying this was his best birthday ever! I loved it because he's old enough now to truly enjoy it and understand what a birthday is all about.




Madeline came up with Grampy and MaMere which was a treat. Brody and Brodie were there as well as some of his classmates, Hutch from this year, and Dylan from last year. Also, Addyson and Family. He hasn't seen Addy in quite a while, but at the end of his party they seemed to be picking right up where they left off.

They were deeply involved in the cutest conversation - which I'm sure was much more interesting than any babble they had a year and a half ago!



William's actual birthday was a few days before the party and we spent the day at Monkey Joe's.





We had dinner and cupcakes at home then opened up some awesome presents. It was a great couple of days and I hope he felt as special as he really is!!!

The Next Generation

I needed to share this photo with you all. Yes, it captures my 2 and 4 year olds each playing on an iPod. Yep, this is the future right here!

September

As usual, September was a busy month for us. The boys started school... yep, both boys are in pre-school this year! They go 2 days a week, Mon & Wed, and they love it. William's teachers are Mrs. Mindy and Mrs. Elizabeth and Caleb's teachers are Mrs. Alicia and Mrs. Sarah. The teachers are so great and the boys just love them. This is a picture of their first day...



I know I've said this before, but the boys really do love school, which makes me love their school. William is learning to write so well and in fact, just wrote his name all by himself on plain paper (not tracing paper) and no one helped him spell it! He could not do that a month and a half ago! And Caleb is doing great in his school too. It's so funny because every time I pick him up, I ask him how his day was and what he did in school today. EVERY time his response is "I juss... pay cars!" He brings home craft projects, but the highlight of every day is playing cars I guess. Although, the Wednesday before Halloween, I got my first new response. I asked him what he did today and he said, "I juss... hmmm... I juss (he hesitated and I was fully prepared to say 'pay cars' with him in unison) made ghost!" What? Must have been some ghost for him to stray from his normal response. And it was... It was a cute little ghost made from his footprint. But yesterday, business as usual. Caleb jus pay cars!

For our anniversary this year, we decided to do a weekend family trip to celebrate. AJ and I had a really great weekend without kids in D.C. in August, so we thought it would be nice to include them in our 6 year anniversary celebration. We went to Chattanooga (Chugganoona - as Caleb says) and stayed at the Chattanoogo Choo Choo hotel. So basically our anniversary was all about the boys, but it was ok. They loved it. We did so much in just a day and half and they held up pretty good. We stayed in an actual train car that was converted to a hotel room.


We went to see the huge model train museum and spent a lot of time in there looking at all the great detail they put into it. It was pretty impressive. Then we headed off to ride an actual train for a little adventure. A conductor came by and took our tickets, we went through a very dark tunnel, and even watched the engine turn around on a huge turn table... all things these kiddos were familiar with after watching Thomas and Friends and Dinosaur Train.






We headed back to the room to nap, but I was the only one who really slept. I guess I was the only pregnant tired one in the group :-) Then it was off to the Aquarium. It was really neat and they had some great animals. The boys got to touch some stingrays and we all got to see penguins for the first time.



We settled down at TGIF's for dinner then headed back to our train car room. We left the next morning... it was short and sweet and a nice time for all.

Next on the busy agenda was the start of soccer season. William is doing awesome this year! He's with players his age this year and he's kickin' butt! He scores mulitple goals nearly every game.


We also went to this event called "Touch A Truck." This is our second time going and the boys just love this event. It's just held at a church parking lot and all kinds of trucks, trolleys, cars, and tractors are there for kids to climb up in and honk horns, etc. The trucks are all parked and it is such a simple and entertaining thing for kids to do.







This is my favorite time of year, not only because of the awesome weather, but there's so much for kids to do and family activities to keep you busy in the fall. Next up, William's Birthday and party!

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Yesterday morning when the boys were walking downstairs to start the day, William says "I have a sword!" In response, Caleb shouted "I have a Penis!" Completely out of the blue!

I'm pretty sure that's the funniest thing I've ever heard! I literally laugh out loud everytime I think of it. The sheer randomness of it (there was no talk of body parts, diaper changes, etc.) and the fact that he's just 2 years old!

I hope everyone who reads this gets as big a kick out of that as I do. Sweet boy...

Big News!!!

It's official, We are expecting little baby #3 and we could not be happier!!!

We found out our big news on July 23rd. Of course, as usual, I did not believe the first test and thought it necessary to take another one the next day. Hey, I usually take 3, so I did good this time! Well it was confirmed a few weeks ago at the doctor's and today we had the first ultrasound! That little baby is only an inch long and has some serious moves already. We always have a 'dance party' with the boys, in the car or in the living room and this little peanut fit right in! I've seen the boys squirm around this early, but this baby has some rhythm... head bobbin and arms going in and out together. It was so fun to watch! And clearly he or she gets the skills from me ;-)

I tried to see if the ultrasound tech could tell us the gender, but she affirmed what I already knew and told me it was too early. BUT, I get to sneak in her room at 16 weeks and have a look-see to find out... 4 weeks earlier than normal. Woo hoo!

We are not planning on any more babies after this... 3 is the magic number! But it is bittersweet for me since I love making babies. Hmmm... did that come out wrong? I mean, I love experiencing the whole pregnancy excitement, seeing the ultrasounds, and feeling those movements. Personally the first 12 weeks and the last 5 I'm not a fan of, but the middle is great! It's a feeling that can't be described unless you've been there. However, I do my best to give AJ every last detail of every ache, pain, movement, nausea, exhaustion, emotion, hunger pang, craving, and the list goes on...

The reason I even mentioned that this is my final pregnancy is to hold myself accountable for updating this blog as much as possible throughout the pregnancy and beyond. I slacked the last year, but after going back and reading some old posts I remember why I started this in the first place. This is my journal and my baby book. All my anecdotes about the boys are so fun to read. It's amazing how much you forget so quickly.

I almost forgot to mention the details (pregnancy brain!) So I'm due April 3rd (or April 1st depending on which wheel the doctor used today) which makes me 9 1/2 weeks pregnant. It's not typical for me to announce the news before my first trimester is over since I'm such a worry wart, but since this is #3 I wanted to share the excitement. Not to mention I've been hibernating since I feel so awful most days that I didn't want people to start worrying. Any and all prayers for a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy are welcome and much appreciated. As wonderful as pregnancy is, it is also very nerve wracking. I worry about just about everything (realistic or not) so maybe a few prayers for me might help too.

Below is a first snapshot of our sweet little baby peanut. Isn't it gorgeous??? One of the the three best lookin' peanuts I ever saw! :-) Feel free to leave comments since I love to know if anyone actually even reads this... it keeps me censored too, haha!

Recap of the Last Year

So much has happened since last year and the boys have grown so much, that I'm sad I have not been updating this regularly. But, I am going to do my best to cover the highlights.

Starting with William - Last Fall was his first soccer season ever. He did pretty good... and by that I mean we did good to have him on the field at all. But who can blame him when we snuck him in a season early. He also started pre-school at a great school nearby. His teachers loved him so much! Everyday when I'd pick him up I'd always hear the other moms ask how their kids behaved that day... always with a nervous smile. Usually the teachers responded by "he only went to time-out once" or "he's getting better, but we did have some issues today." So I thought I should ask how William behaved. The teacher kind of laughed at me while she said... "Ha, William is just perfect. Always well behaved and such a good listener. He's truly a joy to have in class." That made me feel amazingly proud of my little man. Although, I can't help but wonder why that is not the same little boy that came home from school. I guess his perfect behavior has a time limit and he reaches it in the 5 hours at school. Ha ha ha! Just kidding, William is a great kid. Being a 3 year old has had it's moments though. You get warned about the "terrible two's" but no one ever mentions how much worse 3 is! Why is that? With strong opinions and the desperate desire to be more independent, mixed with the fact that he's only 3, posed quite a few conflicts this last year.
Spring time came and he played his second season of soccer which went much better! He scored and played most of each game. He's fully potty trained at night now and has been since about 3 1/2, which has been wonderful. Another big change for William was that he now shares a bedroom with Caleb. He was running in there every night at bedtime and in the morning waking him up that I thought, why not? It's been about 4 months now and it has definitely had it's challenges. I love it now though. They finally go to sleep (for the most part) and it's much easier putting them to bed in the same room. They have the cutest little conversations at night and I love listening to them giggle themselves to sleep.

Caleb's turn! That's such a common phrase around here since teaching these boys to share is a job on its own. Anyway, Caleb is growing like a weed! He's so tall now and his pretty solid. The only thing that's not growing much is his hair! Poor guy, he may be bald forever. He's 2 years old and has only had 1 haircut and that was 2 months ago. It hasn't even grown back enough to need another cut yet. The amount of growth that he's done in the last year is truly amazing. He has such a great vocabulary and that isn't a word that he won't at least attempt to say. He's knows all his basic shapes and can count to 3. He can make it to ten if 4 and 7 don't count. :-) He knows what colors are, but has some trouble identifying them occasionally. But he always recognizes orange so we'll say that's his favorite color. He loves singing his ABC's and although he still struggles with identifying his letters, he always tries to say them when he sees words.
Today is Caleb's first day of school ever! He's been home with mommy since day 1 so this will be interesting to see how he did today. He let me leave with no problem, but unfortunately, most of the other kids in class were crying so I can only imagine the domino effect. The good part is that Caleb is in the classroom William had last year so he's pretty familiar with the room. It's so hard to leave your baby at school for the first time. There's this magnetic force that keeps me wanting to run back in his room and scoop him up. As unrealistic as my little fantasy is (he'd never let me hold on to him for more than 3 seconds) I'm actually doing just fine now and enjoying my very quiet house. I don't even have the TV on! William also had his first day of school and he's in the 3-4 class. He had that sweet look on his face that looked like he may want to cry but was being tough. He gave me two sets of hugs and kisses (his new thing) and said "Mommy, you can go when I count to 10." So he counted to 10 and said "Ok, you can go now." So off I went, all by my lonesome, resisting that magnetic force to run back in there. No little one in tow and no one to chase. This is weird. What do I do with myself now? I'm sure I'll find something (wink, wink)

And as for us... AJ has stopped working on HauntSurveys.com for now and has rediscovered his passion for games. So much so that he is now designing them. Organized Chaos is his first game and it's awesome! It's a fun card game, that I am still shocked came straight from his noggin. Not to say that I don't think he's intelligent, but I could never imagine being able to design a game like that. He is pretty talented. He's also working on a zombie game now (go figure!) and he's working overtime and then some to get this game ready. AJ also played in a men's league softball team this summer. He said it seemed really slow compared to baseball, but I loved seeing him play the sport again. He still does some of his little idiosynchrasies that he did when I saw him play many years ago.
I am still working my Premier Designs business. I love selling the jewelry, making my own schedule, and the income is great too. I've got a jeweler in my downline who is great and I've been working with her for a few months now. I spent a good part of May and June doing some redecorating, painting, and dealing with the installation of new carpet that kept me pretty busy as well. But, for the most part I have spent my days being a referee, trying to find fun things to do with the boys, and doing my best to raise decent, well-rounded children while maintaining my own sanity! The joys of motherhood, I tell ya. (And I love it!)

I think that is it for now. I will post pictures soon. Love to all!

Coming back...

I'm awful to have gone nearly a year without updating this blog. It has been a rollercoaster year with so much going on, but it's been amazing. I was just reading my last post and I loved reading about what the boys were up to this time last year. My how fast they are growing. I will be posting soon and I will include pictures from the last 10 months as well. So Uncle Charles, (since I think you might be the only one that checks this regularly, hee hee) be sure to check back soon and I will update all that my little munchkins have been up to.

Love to all!
Jessica