Sunday Drivers!!!!

Big Brother Trey- almost 3!!!

Let's re-cap Trey for the week... I have such a soft spot for him, despite the fact that he is constantly naughty- maybe naughty isn't the right word, although I am at a loss for what else it may be! :) He has decided to unbuckle his carseat while we are driving, which makes me SO angry and scared, but all 3 times it has happened, he had a reason- NOT a good one, and we were VERY stern with him on the reasons he can't do this, but the first time he did it, he was trying to pick up Carrington's sippy cup, because "Baby Sweetheart is thirsty". The second time was when we were driving to school with Allie, and he was SO excited that she was in the car with him, he wanted to share his books with her "Allie needs my truck book" is what he kept telling me. And then yesterday, he couldn't reach the birthday present (in the very back), and he "needed the present for the birthday". Now I understand the importance of child safety locks in cars, and I would love to know what other parent's are doing to keep their kids from unbuckling themselves!

He wants to do everything himself, and that means I am saying NO all the time. He wants to pour his own juice, get his own water from the dispenser, climb up the pantry shelves to get cereal, and most of the time, when I say no, he looks at me and says "Please, 'Mam, can I do it?" How can I say no to that politeness????

He also begs me to come lay in his bed and read books every night, which I don't always want to do, but I have to remind myself that one day he won't want me by his side all the time, and I need to cherish these moments. Last night, after Trey had fallen asleep, Doug said he missed him and went and laid next to him for a few minutes just to "hang out". I totally understood what Doug was talking about, because I feel the same way sometimes! :)

Trey is the exact opposite of everything Carrington is- he is a terrible eater, a terrible sleeper (we have to lock him in his room every night, and put a towel under the door, so he can't see out the bottom of the door and cry into the hallway in the middle of the night- this tactic has worked, because after crying for a few minutes, he will now put himself back to bed), and still cries when I leave him anywhere. BUT... the flip side of that, is that I know how much he loves us, and constantly wants to just be with us.

I've complained that Trey doesn't call me "Mama" anymore and instead calls me "Mommy" or even "Mom"- much to my dismay! For whatever reason, he has started calling me "Mama" again, and it has been the best gift I could ever ask for! I know it will one day be gone, so I'm really loving it right now!

Our quirky, funny baby girl!

I've said it before, but Carrington has the funniest little personality! She cracks herself up all the time, and I think it's hilarious! :) Trey has a tendancy to treat her a little bit like he treats our dog, Molly. When we ask Trey to get Carrington a toy, he will usually run to the basket and get her a shoe. When we ask Trey to share his food with Carrington, he doesn't politely hand her the food, he throws it on the floor, and expects her to go get it. When we ask Trey to play nicely with Carrington, he will usually throw a ball in the opposite direction and wait for her to go get it and bring it back. Yes... this is a little concerning to me (as it is probably concerning to you), but Carrington seems to love it, and I thought it was mostly harmless (don't worry, I don't let Carrington eat off the floor, or put shoes in her mouth... most of the time), but this week when I saw Carrington coming out of the front living room with Molly's ball in her mouth, I knew it was time to step in! :)

When Trey was about this same age, he had an obsession with putting Doug's boxers on his head and walking around. In the past few weeks, Carrington has discovered this exact same game, but instead, she gets into my underwear drawer and puts all of my underwear around her head. Why do my kids think this is so funny??? I'm sure you don't want to see my "unmentionables", but this pic was too cute!

Carrington also spends most of her time climbing onto or into anything she possibly can, and tries to duck down and hide where nobody can see her. It is the funniest thing I've ever seen, but there have been a few occasions where I have literally had to go looking for her, because she was hiding so well!

Her little personality is quirky and funny, and she is always having a good time! She will be 15 months on the 29th, and I'm looking forward to going to the doctor and seeing what a big girl she is! She loves pasta, and bananas, and pretty much anything you put in front of her. I'm not kidding- she will eat just about anything! She has an odd love for "weird" foods like pickles, green olives, lemons and limes, and other tart and tangy foods- so strange! She also likes to drink water like a "big girl", without a sippy top lid. And, I have to admit, she is surprisingly good at it! (It might be all the practice she's been getting in the bathtub with the toy cups- but I try not to dwell on the fact that she drinks a ridiculous amount of dirty bath water.)

She is fearless- and I'm not kidding. There is nothing that she won't do, or try to do, with no thought of the consequences. There is always some sort of bump on her head, or cut on her hand, and most of the time, I have no idea where they even come from! She can now successfully get off our bed (which sits pretty high in the air) by going feet first and free falling onto the ground. I need to go back and see when Trey was able to do this same stunt, but I'm pretty sure he was a little bit older than 14 months. Or maybe she just looks weird doing it, since she is so small!

She still isn't a big talker- she says "Dada", "Mama" (although it's much less often, since Dada is certainly her favorite word), and "Dora"- I'm not 100% sure this is actually the word she is saying, but she says it every time Dora is on TV or we are reading a Dora book, and I'm a little sad she says this more than "Mama". :( She also shakes her head yes and no, and stretches her little arms out and flexes her fists open and closed when she wants more (not exactly sign language, but I get the point). She also says "Mmmmmmmmmmm" when she is really enjoying her food- of course!

Other little habits- she constantly takes her socks and shoes off in the car, and EVERY morning I have to go searching around the back seat for the lost pieces of clothing. One morning this week, the purple sock was MIA and we had to go sockless, despite the freezing cold weather. I felt like it was a valuable lesson learned for her! :) She loves pushing her baby doll around in the stroller and playing with the pots and pans in her kitchen- we haven't gotten out all the pieces yet, since I'm not sure she's ready for so much responsibility at once (baked goods, teapots, cups, and saucers,...- so many pieces to keep track of!).

She's awesome, and I love watching her personality grow!

Hi Papa! Hi Grammy! Love, Trey :)

A New Yo Gabba Gabba Lover???

Inspired to be Thrifty and Creative!

I found some wonderful things at a thrift store downtown, and finally had some free time to work on them! One of the things I bought was an adorable little cart that I thought, with a little love and attention, would look fantastic in Carrington's room, to go with her new little kitchen that she got for Christmas! I'm envisioning her little pots, pans, and plates on the finished product :). So far, I've been able to sand and put on one coat of paint. We still have one more coat of paint to go, but it's exactly what I hoped for!

I also found some great old wooden windows that I have a thousand different ideas for, but we'll see where they actually end up! For now, all I've done is clean the panes and dream about their future use. Trey was a huge help in the cleaning process, mostly because he is in love with Windex and squirt bottles, so this was his dream come true!

Other things happening in our world... Trey had a busy weekend filled with birthday parties! One especially fun party was at Davis's house, where his mom hosted a "natural wonders" party, where the kids played outside and did crafts. Trey loves Davis and McKenzie, so he had a blast all afternoon!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but Carrington is STILL in her infant car carrier. She is almost 15 months old, but I promise, she still fits in it perfectly well, and she only weighs 20 pounds, so we are well within the recommended weight limits! But, on my way to work this morning, Amazon sent me an alert saying that the Britax Marathon carseat in "Chili Pepper"- this is the color- was on clearance for... wait for it... $81.99!!!! This is a $280.00 car seat, and I'm not one to pass on a great deal, so of course, I bought it! Plus, Amazon has free shipping and charges no tax!!! I'm so pumped about this, and although I'm not moving Carrington over to a big girl car seat right away, I'm ready when that time comes! Woohoo!!! This was definitely the high point of my day!

We are still in mid-potty training mode with Trey. He wears a pull up, and has to be reminded a thousand times in a day to go pee-pee on the potty, but I know we'll get there. A huge part of me just wants to stick him in underwear all the time, that way he'll be aware of when he is wet, but I know that everyone else doesn't want to deal with that... Either way, we're 100% potty training, whether or not Trey is ready to be a big boy! :)

Great Gift Idea- a diamond candle!

Ok, this is completely not kid related at all, but I wanted to share a fantastic gift idea, if you are ever at a loss! This year, Kristyn gave me a diamond candle... if you've never heard of it, it is a candle that has a ring inside the wax, and as the wax melts, you can get the ring out. The ring ranges in value from $10.00 to $5,000.00, so you should take it to an appraiser to see if you hit the jackpot! Either way, the rings are always cute, cocktail type rings. I've shared a pic of my candle, the "headline", and the ring inside! This is really a fun and GREAT gift to give and receive! :)

Celebrating Christmas with Uncle Adam, Aunt Shannon, and Allie!

We finally had some time to get together with Uncle Adam, Aunt Shannon, and Allie to exchange Christmas gifts! Again, with all the company, and being so busy, it's been tough to do even the smallest things!

We went over to their house last night and watched the kids open up their Christmas gifts. Carrington loved her new bubbles and coloring book, and Trey LOVED his new tools (which he slept with last night) and Gabba boombox (Trey and Carrington were so cute, jamming to the songs this morning). Our gift to Allie was a box of dress up clothes, and I'm pretty sure she loved it! :) She was adorable trying everything on- although her favorite seemed to be the baking hat and apron. She's so sweet, and I hope that she enjoys her gifts!

With that being said, Trey is a terrible sharer, and when Allie wanted to play with his drill, he pretty much had a meltdown until she was done playing with it. I sincerely hope this is a phase that goes by quickly! Yikes!

New Years Eve 2011

New Years Eve, evening, we decided to stay in and keep everything low key. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the kids, bringing in the new year. Everyone contributed to dinner: Doug made filet, I made the cheese sauce, Kristyn made roasted potatoes, and Brian (well Brian didn't make anything), but he requested mashed potatoes. It was delicious! We just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves after a day at the zoo, and when Carrington was getting ready for bed, around 9pm, Kristyn and I decided to stop in at our neighbor's party- Jean and Shawn's, for a few minutes. I was so glad we went, even if it was only for about 45 minutes, because I loved getting to see everyone, and I could tell the party was a blast! :) Times like that, I realize how lucky we really are to have such wonderful neighbors. When we got back, Brian and Doug went over to the Smith's real quick, but we were all back home together by 10:45pm. Trey was still going strong, of course! :) We played a game of "Say something nice about each person", where we went around the circle and said something that we love about each other- as I write these posts, I realize that we literally get more and more cheesy by the second! It's actually a really sweet game- you should play!

On the way home from the zoo, Kristyn and I had stopped in at Total Wine and sampled all their tastings- the point of this was to find the perfect champagne to ring in the new year. :) As midnight got closer, we poured the glasses and counted down! We then pulled out our scratch off tickets (we used the $5.00 reward money from the Gingerbread house contest earlier in the week to by lottery tickets) with the thought that it would be awesome to start off the year with new found wealth! Turns out, none of us won anything- we didn't even win back our $5.00, but it was fun, and again, the perfect way to end 2011 and start 2012. We then took our annual pictures with the kids- of course, Carrington was asleep, so just like last year, we snuck into her room to snap a quick pic. Unfortunately, in the middle of the picture, Carrington woke up and groggily looked up at Kristyn and I doing our thumbs up and smiling like crazy people. Of course, she was confused, cried for a quick second, and went back to sleep. I am confident that she will appreciate these pictures one day! :)

I'm looking forward to a happy, healthy, wonderful year ahead!

New Years Eve Day 2011- Zoo Time!

The weather has been amazing this past week, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day than New Years Eve. It was 65 degrees and gorgeous! Despite the fact that Trey had a terrible ear infection earlier in the week (which landed us in Urgent Care), Kristyn had been fighting a cold, and I also wasn't feeling too well the day before, we decided to spend the day at the zoo. Seriously, I'm pretty sure that we spend more time at the zoo than most people, and I am considering purchasing an annual pass for 2012. EVERY time we go, we have the very best time, and it is one of our favorite places to visit- and this time was no exception.

Trey ran from exhibit to exhibit pointing at the animals and wanting to see more, and Carrington was sweet as can be riding in the wagon through the zoo. Later, when we asked Trey what animals he saw, he said "bunnies, horses, and fish"- the 3 animals that we spent the least amount of time on, but apparently made the largest impact! We let the kids run off energy at the playground, and Doug told me that night that his favorite part of the day was seeing how much fun Carrington had going down the slides. My personal favorite exhibits are the giraffes, flamingos, and penguins. :) Trey was fascinated with feeding the squirrel his french fries at lunch, and we even got a group picture before we left. It was a perfect day!

What to do for fun???

After all the company left, Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn decided to stay through the new year with us and just relax. We spent our days shopping, thrifting (I found some amazing finds that I can't wait to share), watching movies, and (to add a little fun to the mix), we decided to have a Macaroni and Cheese competition! I know you are rolling your eyes right now, but this had 2 benefits- 1. It gave Doug the night off from cooking, and 2. Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? Brian, Kristyn, and I pulled out the "big guns" and cooked our best mac and cheese, and Doug was the judge (he was thrilled). Believe it or not, dinner that night was AWESOME (we also bought a rotisserie chicken), and Kristyn was the big winner!!!! :) I strongly believe that a little healthy competition is the key to a happy home!