Memorial Day

MJ and I hosted my entire family for Memorial Day last Monday. My aunt and godmother from Massachusetts was visiting, and I hadn't seen her since our wedding almost 10 years ago. It was a great opportunity for everyone in our family to get together, visit with her, and let the cousins play.

Auntie Arline with Hayden

Patrick and Braxton

Bryson looking so handsome! Love this pic.

Susan and Hayden

We purchased a $28 inflatable pool this summer, quite the upgrade from the little kiddie pool we got last year. Seriously, $28 on Amazon. Even if Memorial Day turns out to be the only day we use this pool, I will feel like we got our money's worth. The kids loved it.

The kids also loved the hose. It came in very handy cooling off the slide -- an impromptu water slide! 

We served pork, which MJ had been smoking on the Big Green Egg since 8:30 the night before. It was falling-apart tender and tasted amazing. Even the kids loved it!

After one last splash in the pool, it was time for baths and pajamas. And obviously, it was easier to just strip the kids naked and soap them up right there in the pool. This picture is going to haunt the kids for the rest of their lives.

Best. Cousin. Picture. Ever.

Photo Friday

The kids, entranced by the new birdfeeder in our backyard (a gift from my aunt who visited us this week -- more in a future post!).

As CC says, "The birds are yearning, Mommy! They're yearning how to eat from the birdfeeder!"

Street Festival

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the kids down to a huge street festival that our city holds every year. It's always good for people-watching, fried food, ice cream, music, etc. The weather cooperated, so we slathered on the sunscreen, loaded up the stroller, and headed out.

The kids were decked out in their finest patriotic attire:

Lunch: chicken fingers and a giant corn dog.

Dessert: ice cream sundaes!

As we meandered through the festival, we recognized some music and saw that our favorite local kids' musician was performing live. CC was beside herself with excitement and started dancing right in the middle of the street. I had to take some video!

(Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asoR0XcCF0Y)

Museum with Family

Last week, I took the kids to visit my brother Jon, sister-in-law Susan, and Dane and Hayden. We had a great time, as always, and one of the special things we did was take a trip to an amazing local museum. 

Apparently this museum has awesome indoor exhibits. I wouldn't know -- we spent the entire time outside. The campus is enormous, with incredible exhibits around every turn. And even better, my parents joined us there, since they live pretty close.

The kids unanimously declared that their favorite part was the train ride:

But we also walked through a forest with dinosaurs, built contraptions out of large bamboo poles, strung beads on strings to create snakes, and walked through an enormous butterfly house. Next time we will have to visit the petting zoo, wildlife habitat, sailboat pond, plus all the indoor exhibits!

My three, plus Hayden

I love this picture of Little Man with my dad

Photo Friday

Some sidewalk chalk, a few colorful traffic cones, some riding/pushing toys, and four road signs ... a network of intersecting roads to entertain three toddlers on a sunny afternoon!

(The road signs were MJ's when he was a boy. Aren't they adorable? I foresee many hours of outdoor fun in our future.)

Two Little Monkeys ...

Sweet Pea and Little Man have turned into monkeys this last month. If it's there, they will climb it (or at least try to). Sweet Pea, in particular, is impressive with her climbing ability, considering how small she is.

Sweet Pea can climb onto CC's bed:

Little Man can climb into his car seat:

They can both climb into their high chairs:

(Sweet Pea figured out how to drag a stool over to the high chair and use it to climb up. Little Man watched her just one time and had it figured out, too.)

Oranges

CC has a recent obsession with oranges, so I picked up a bag of clementines for her at the grocery store. She insisted on peeling one herself, so here you go: CC's first attempt at peeling an orange.

She did it perfectly, although she was  a bit over-precise with the peelings!

Photo Friday

Headed out to CC's first baseball game! (She made it to the 5th inning -- not bad for a 3 year old.)

Profiles in Cuteness

(sorry, I couldn't resist!)

When CC was 18 months old, we had her silhouette cut. I never would have thought of this, but it was a gift from some of our dearest friends, and I was thrilled with how it turned out:

So when Sweet Pea and Little Man turned 18 months old, I had their silhouettes cut as well:

It's surprising to us how well we can recognize each child from just a profile silhouette! I think the artist did an excellent job, especially considering she does it freehand, with no drawing or tracing at all. Even better, she included multiple copies for each child, so I have extras to put in their baby books.

In case anyone's interested, we used Kathryn Flocken, and her website is www.paperportraits.com. 

Baby Braxton

Our nephew Braxton is now almost 6 months old, and I had the opportunity to take the kids to see him last week, when my mom was babysitting him for a few days. We met at the play area of a local mall, and everyone was excited to see him (and Memere too, of course!).

Braxton is a SQUISH! He weighs almost as much as Sweet Pea, but because he's still so young, all his weight is chubby yumminess. Picking him up is like picking up a heavy pillow. And he's so happy and cuddly! I held him for about 15 minutes before he snuggled right up to me and went to sleep.

CC was fawning all over him from the second she saw him. She was begging to hold him, help feed him a bottle, hug him and kiss him the whole time we were there.

Sweet Pea was very affectionate, too -- a split second before CC walked in front of the camera, my mom caught this picture of Sweet Pea giving Braxton a hug. Pure sweetness! Look at those closed eyes and those little hands trying to reach around him!

Little Man was more concerned about me holding someone else -- he doesn't like sharing his mommy! But as long as I made room on my lap for him too, Little Man was satisfied.

Short Bryson update: my mom was caring for Braxton because my brother Patrick and his wife were with Bryson at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. A specialist there sees Bryson regularly to keep tabs on the diameter of his trachea. And there was some great news after this most recent trip: Bryson's trachea has actually grown a bit! It's still much narrower than it should be, but any growth is reason to celebrate!

Happy Mother's Day!

This year I told MJ that the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day was a picture of me with the kids. (Actually, I would have loved a picture of all 5 of us, but there would have been no one to take it!)

I've had a wonderful day, and I am full of thanks for the mothers in my life, especially my own. We've been so blessed! And as on all Mother's Days, I sent up a special prayer for those who long to be mothers, and those whose mothers are no longer with us.

Photo Friday

Pear-y cute!

First Dental Appointment

Now that CC's a big three-year-old, she's due for her first dental exam. She had some initial trepidation, but off we went.

The hygienist was very nice. She explained everything to CC, let her see all the tools, had her pick out a pair of sunglasses to wear while the bright light was on, and gave her a bag of stickers, toothbrushing charts, floss and a new toothbrush.

Seeing CC's hesitation and anxiety, the hygienist recommended we call it a day and come back in 6 months for another try. But CC wasn't crying or resisting, so I thought we should give it a shot.

I'm so glad we did! CC did great. She wasn't particularly happy, but she obeyed every instruction the hygienist gave her, and lay quietly for the entire cleaning. I was surprised that the hygienist did a complete cleaning, just like they would for an adult, with the picks, hooks, mirror, water squirter and vacuum tube, and polished CC's teeth with the drill-like thing.

Then the dentist came over to complete the exam and count CC's teeth. Again, CC cooperated reluctantly and got a lot of high-fives from the dentist. He declared her teeth to be nice and healthy, and although she sucks her thumb, he says her teeth show no signs of being pushed out of place. Yippee!

After a quick picture, it was time to go home. CC was very proud of herself. "I did so well at the dentist, Mommy! We can come back again sometime."

They recommended I floss CC's teeth every night. Yeah ... I'll get right on that.

Drenched with Sun

The warm days of the year are just starting, and already we are in the high 80s. I am a person who has always loved the heat, so I'm very happily saying goodbye to the dreary, chilly days of winter. 

For the first time a few days ago, I filled the water table on the deck and let the kids splash around. MJ was smoking wings and grilling burgers; we were sipping frosty beverages; Rory was sunbathing in the grass; and the kids were shrieking and laughing and watering my plants and pouring from one cup to another. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Aaaah ... hello, summer.

Dino Days

MJ and I took the kids to a dinosaur exhibit last weekend, and we had a great time. 

I was worried that the dinosaurs (animatronic, so they move and make noise) might be scary for the kids, so I spent the last week stomping around the house and roaring like a dinosaur, making them giggle like crazy, hoping that it would keep them from getting scared. If anyone would have seen me through the windows of our house, they would have thought I was a crazy woman! 

But I think it (kind of) helped. CC was a little nervous at first, but eventually asked to walk back through the exhibit area twice. Sweet Pea wasn't scared at all -- she stomped around and roared right back at them! But poor Little Man completely lost it the minute we walked in. His body went rigid and trembling, his face turned red, and he screamed bloody murder. 

Fortunately, the animatronic dinosaurs were only half of the fun. The other half of the exhibit hall was full of dinosaur-themed bounce houses! We spent most of our time there. Many of the bouncing areas were restricted to children under 6, which was nice. And since we'd arrived the minute the doors opened in the morning, we had the place mostly to ourselves for a while.

CC climbed up this "rock wall" in the blink of an eye:

Sweet Pea is turning into quite the climber. I'm glad she's so tiny for her age, because her short arms and legs keep her from climbing more! She figured out how to climb up onto the bouncy slide after I showed her just once:

One step ... 

Two steps ...

Success!

Little Man had a blast running around inside the bounce houses, and climbing in and out:

CC successfully completed an inflated dinosaur maze (twice):

There were a few administrative glitches. First, no one was allowed in the bouncy houses without socks on. My kids, of course, all showed up wearing sandals. Conveniently, the gift shop sold socks. Sigh. We're now the proud owners of three pairs of unnecessary, too-big, ugly socks.

Also, although the website for the exhibit clearly said that children under 2 were admitted free of charge, it failed to mention that children under 2 were not permitted in any of the bouncy houses. This could have completely ruined our day, except for a staff member who nicely looked the other way. Whew.

I just love how Sweet Pea and Little Man are old enough to really enjoy family outings now! I am excited for more things like this in the future.

New Tenants

This week, we discovered we have uninvited guests -- a mama robin and her nest of babies! They're living happily in one of our front bushes (the very same bushes we had aggressively trimmed last week -- I am amazed that they survived!).

I've held CC up so she can see them, but although the nest is at the VERY top of the bush (thanks to the recent trimming, I'm sure), they blend in well and are hard to see.

Mama is none too pleased that we've discovered them. She doesn't appreciate our peeking. But I'm using this as a learning lesson for CC -- we don't touch animals, especially not babies. Whenever we're taking a look at the nest, CC notices the mama hovering nearby, squawking at us. She says, "Mommy bird doesn't like us getting close to her babies." Very true. 

I don't think this will be an issue for long, though. The four babies are not newborns. They have adult feathers on their backs and not much fuzz left. Since baby robins mature within a month of birth, I assume these little ones will be gone soon. I am just hoping not to find one hopping on the ground with a broken wing!