Wordless Wednesday- Spring Fun

Mr. D's Video Bonanza

D is normally my camera shy little guy. He usually clams up and just makes a really weird "cheese" face when he sees the camera. If, that is, he doesn't just run away.

So, when he willing started singing and doing the cute on camera, I naturally took about 15 videos of him. I won't share all of them but these.. These make my heart sing.

Earth Hour 2011

 Did you join in?. To the worldwide Earth Hour event? Hundreds of millions of people in 35 different countries turned out their lights, turned off the computer and television and found other, greener ways to occupy their time on Saturday. Completely unpluged for a change. Every year during Earth Hour, people are encouraged to head outside, play a family game or just sit and enjoy the silence. One hour people, if you can't do that, you need to re-evaluate. Just sayin'.

"Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour." ~excerpt from EarthHour.org

We have participated in Earth Hour since 2008. Every year we turn everything off and enjoy each other's company. It usually ends up lasting more than the suggested "hour" Last year we went to a local park and had a picnic. The year before that we stayed home and played Yatzee till our arms hurt from shaking the cup. Every year I look forward to it.This year was no exception.

It was a very stormy, ugly kind of night, so shut everything down and lit the house with candles. We wrestled, we talked, we sang. A grand time was had by all.

I am not a usual weekend kind of blogger. In fact, I tend to avoid it. Partly because I feel like people should be enjoying their family on the weekend away from their computer and partly because I am lazy like that. So, I decided to wait and write this on Monday. The good news though: you are not too late! The beatufy of Earth Hour is that it can be done any day or everyday.

So, go for it.Tonight, tomorrow, or even next year. Join in on an amazing movement. One that costs you no money, no hard work. Just a little extra unplugged time with yourself or your loved ones. Doesn't that sound nice?

Touch a Truck 2011

Was a huge success. Just like last year.

( Oh, my heart!)

Srsly? Dis is AWESOME.

This Moment Right Here

This age, it's my favorite.. and this one... and the next one. I love every second of it. Motherhood. Every second spent with the boys is heaven. I miss them when they go to bed. So much so that I am not irritated when they wake up in the night and need a little extra snuggle. I am beginning to wonder if it is some kind of affliction. Thing is though, these kids... These kids are such a blessing. I look at them and I see happiness. I see the good times mixed with the bad. I see the tempers and the testing and I cherish it. It is going to make them awesome little kids.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon playing in the yard. Well, they spent the afternoon playing in the yard. I spent some of it working on the garden, some of it taking pictures and the rest playing in the yard with them. We rolled around a little in the grass, letting the little white petals from the huge Bradford Pear tree fall down on us like snow and giggled our silly giggles when one landed on our faces. We played chase. We rolled around in the big giga ball they got for Christmas. They watched as I watered the seedlings and then took turns watering the bigger plants. Then we all took a nap and woke up to snuggle on the couch.

It was a fabulous afternoon. 

Some days, things aren't so happy dreamy. Some days they can be little terrors. Screaming, kicking, running. Thing is, they are little kids, right? Isn't that kind of their job? How could I be upset, or angry or frustrated at them because they are doing what they do best? Even if they are acting like little, tiny terrorists in a public place and every one is staring. Even if they are just a little needier than usual. Even if they wake me up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. I love every single minute of it. It's just awesome.

I want to here from you though, my friends. What is your favorite moment with your kids? Which moments do you cherish the most?

By The Numbers

6 - Hours I sleep per day. Average.

4 - Hours Tommy sleeps per day.

15 - Hours the boys sleep per day. They are lazy lazies.

3 - Reasonably well balanced meals I make for the boys daily.

3 - Meals daily K refuses to even look at until his brother has taken the first bite. Ever the skeptic that one.

5 - Meals I have eaten uninterrupted and while still warm this year. I can tell you the time and location of all 5.

18 - Number of months I have been breastfeeding my K.

19 - Number of ounces of breast milk I once pumped in one sitting. That was a painful kind of day.

14 - Months since D decided to potty train himself.

4 - Total potty related accidents he has had (can I get a "hell yeah"??).

3 - Pairs of underwear D has flushed for unknown reasons since potty training himself.

30 - Years old I will be this year.

10950- Days old on my birthday.

51 - Number of months I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding. Or both.

42- Consecutive months of diaper changing.

10080 - diapers changed at 8 dipes a day.

5- number of times K poops a day. Still.

6 - years I have been married.

1,587,268,843 - years it feels like I've been married.

452 - Songs in my iTunes.

15 - Number of songs I actually listen to on a regular basis from my iTunes.

6 - Number of cars I have owned.

1 - Cars in my family right now.

90 - Hours T typically works in one week. We have been lucky lately having him home a little more though.

90 - Hours a week I miss my best friend while he is at work.

15 - Number of times my phone rings a day on a normal day.

3 - Average times I actually answer my phone on a normal day.

3 - Loads of laundry I do everyday.

1 - Of those is usually diapers because my 18 months old poops all the time. Still.

8,000,000,000 - Times a day I tell D to stop jumping on the couch/ bed/ his brother.

1 - The number of times he has ever stopped the first time I asked.

Infinite - The number of ways I love my children and husband. Even if they drive me crazy.

Gender Profiles

Yesterday, I bought my son a toy at a local consignment store. It was a little pink plastic doll house complete with little family, furniture and decorative accents. You guys, I have never seen a little boy so excited to get a surprise. He was ecstatic. Thing is though, when I checked out, the lady asked me how old my daughter is. When I replied that it was actually for my oldest son who is three, she made the awfulest face and replied that they had a boy toy’s section and asked if I had missed it. "I'm sure he would enjoy some of the Tonka trucks back there more!" To which I told her he was going to be crazy excited about the dollhouse thank you very much and left without saying another word.

See, this kind of thing happens around us a lot. It irks me to no end. The gender thing. Not that I am one of those people that would dress my boys in dresses and take them out to church like that but if they want to play dress up and wear sparkly jewelry or paint their toes, then damn it, they are more than welcome to. If it’s a forbearance that he turns out to be a gay man, then guess what? I will love him still and I will be confident in the fact that I did not stifle his growth and independence.

It started last Spring when I painted my D’s toenails. I painted them hot pink because he had been begging me to paint his toes like his mama’s. Every chance he got, he went into my bathroom and brought me my nail polish from the drawer, a different color every time.

“How ‘bout this one, mama?”

His little face all stretched upwards with the expression of trying to convince me it was a good idea. So, I did it. We sat on the end of my bed while K was napping and we painted our toenails. I let him pick out the colors. Hot pink for him and bright red for me. I did his  first, and then he painted mine. To the best of his 2 year old abilities.

I didn’t really think anything of it. Truth be told, it didn’t strike me as odd at all that he wanted his toenails painted like his mama’s. I mean, he spends all of his time with me, he has always loved pretty shiney things and also, he is my little kid.

What struck me odd was everyone else’s reactions to it. People ranged from just laughing and shaking their heads to commenting on how weird it was for him to be so happy about it to actually saying things out loud to him that were totally inappropriate. Apparently some people really are that clueless about life and everything else that they it’s okay to insinuate that a two year old will be homosexual because he doesn’t play with Tonka trucks exclusively. To a two year old.

The part that really irked me though was when I realized how it was affecting him. He showed everyone he talked to for about a week his pretty, shiny toenails with a big smile on his face. Then, gradually he got shy about it. He started wanting to wear his sneakers again. He stopped offering to show them to people he didn’t know pretty well. He would bury them in the sofa when my mother came around.

He had been so excited, so proud of having painted nails and the world had gone and ruined it for him. 

It hurt my heart. It hurt a lot. I know he is just a little kid but when the world hurts your little kid you want to hurt it back. It’s not fair that people can be so cruel. He is a little kid. It’s not that “he doesn’t know better” it’s that he wants to explore his world. I, for one, intend on helping him to explore and learn about his world in every way I can.

Those of you that know D. That have had the pleasure of meeting and playing with him, you know that D is well rounded. Does he love pink? Yes, he does very much. Does he love Tonka trucks? Yes, he does. D is very well rounded. It is something that I have always admired in him. He is comfortable in any situation with any crowd of people. He can sit and play Barbie or he can romp and dig in the mud.

So, why should I stop him? Truth is, I’m not going to. Not a chance. I may draw the line occasionally (like refusing to buy the pink, sparkly Dora jellies he really wants from Payless shoes. Who knows though, he may end up with those yet.) but for the most part, I am not going to hold my kid back because the close minded disagree.

Next time you see a little boy all excited about having his toes painted or a little girl covered in mud playing with a truck, think before you speak. Smile and know that it’s okay. It isn’t weird or out of the ordinary. Its freedom. Its encouragement. Its love.

One of Each

D is my neat freak. He can't stand to have a mess on his clothes or hands. Its pretty funny sometimes but then there are those times where it takes him an hour to eat a bowl of ice cream.


K, however, thinks that mess is what eating was created for. Napkins? Who needs napkins when you have a mouth? Shortly after I stopped recording, K decided to use his shirt as a napkin and wiped the entire glob of chocolate mousse on his belly. That was fun to clean up. (Yes, he got chocolate mousse and D got ice cream. Life isn't always fair when you are young.)

3 and a Half?!1

Yeah, having the boys a day apart means you get two updates in two days. My D is officially three and a half today. Guys, I am so not ready for him to turn four. Its silly to be dreading it but four is.. a big kid. Four is a huge milestone. Four means my baby boy that made me a mother is no longer my baby boy. He is my big boy.

D has grown into such an awesome little kid. We are passed the age of milestones and who is doing what but allow me to brag on him just a little.

He is sweet and funny.

He is friendly and kind.

He is a ball of fire and full of life.

An awesome big brother with a heart of gold.

He is a good friend to his buddies.

He is a very emotional little guy. He knows when Mama needs a hug and he is always there with a big kiss and a snuggle for me.

He wants more than anything in the world for every one to love him and once you meet him, you can't help but do just that.

He is perfect in every way. 

He is my sweet, little baby D. I hope he always will be.

18 Months

Wow. Just wow. I can not believe my baby boy is already 18 months old. Where on Earth did time go? I look in his little face and I see that tiny, blue, screaming ball of fury that came flying out my nether regions at a speed that literally caught every one off guard. Always in a rush, that one.

At 18 months, K is every bit the snuggly, full of love hulk baby he has always been. It has always amazed me how different he was from his big brother. Polar opposite even about some things but then still, the same in others.

For one, he talks more.He has always been a much more vocal baby than D. When he was tiny, he would grunt and cry and whine. He squeaked when he nursed you guys. It was the most adorable sound in the whole entire world. He also squeaks when he wakes up. He still does that and it melts me every. single. time. It's a subtle kind of sound but unmistakable. Just an ever so soft "squeak, squeak" first thing when he wakes up. As he got older, he continued with the vocal thing. Saying Mama at just shy of 6 months and yelling MOM! at 7 months. Now his vocabulary is expanding every day. He knows and correctly uses more words at 18 months than D did at 2. I tried to count them all but I got confused and am too lazy to write them all out so I can count them. Lets just say lots, okay? Chatty monster.

Then there is the classic K temper. He knows how to get what he wants and he is going to get it damn it or no one will have peace until he does! He really is a pretty patient little fellow for the most part but don't you dare cross him.

He also makes the most hilarious faces. His facial expressions have always been a huge source of amusement for me and our families and friends. Kid makes some seriously epic faces and has the most expressive eyebrows I think I have ever seen on a human. There is never any doubt what K is thinking. He is going to make one awful liar one of these days.

I think if I had to find one word to describe K's physical abilities it would definitely be: clumsy. Not wobbly clumsy, but unfortunate clumsy. He tends to fall flat on his face instead of having the time or forethought to put his hands up. If there is something to trip on, he does. Every time he passes it. If he can get stuck in/ on/ under it, he does. Its really pretty funny to watch. I blame his shortyness.

Speaking of shortyness, K is a chunk. Shorty short fatty cakes is his nickname and he takes it seriously. At just shy of 32lbs (99%), he is a chunk but add to it he is only about 32 inches tall (45%), and you get a short, roly poly little guy with a gut and cellulite on his bum and thighs. So bad it makes his mama look like a supermodel. Plus, his legs are short. Like, silly short. Compared to the rest of his body. He is built like his daddy. Maybe that explains the clumsy.

Right now, K is obsessed with cars and Buzz Lightyear. The cars more so than Buzz but he still gets that panicked little kid look in his eye every time he sees anything with Buzz on it. The cars thing actually kind of scares me just a tad. He is slightly obsessed with his big brothers Matchbox cars, which are made for kids that are a little older. Now, K is not a put things in his mouth kind of kid. He never really was. Still though, it scares me that those little wheels are such a choking hazard.

At any rate, he is perfect. Perfect in every way to me and his daddy. He is the light in his big brother's eye. The two of them.. thick as thieves. They are having so much fun together right now and it is so awesome to watch them play. I just can not believe he is already a year and a half old. I love him so freaking much it hurts and I am so not ready for him to grow up. I need him to stay little forever. Is that too much to ask?

Baby Wears Many Hats

I had never really realized it before but this week my mother pointed something out to me. K loves hats. My little man can and will make a hat out of anything. If he finds anything that looks like a hat (or is a hat) he immediately puts it on his head or brings it to me to put on him.

Some of his most recent favorites include:

Underwear Hat

Monkey Hat

Big Bro's Skully Hat

Puppy Hat