Cupcakes

Big sis ADORES the Wizard of Oz. She begs to watch it all the time. I keep distracting her from watching it lately b/c she is in another "scared" phase and she won't let me fast forward through the worrisome parts. So to avoid the inevitably long discussions at bed time about bad witches, tornadoes, and flying monkeys we watch Dora instead.

Spring time in the south means tornado weather and funny enough that was when our local grocery store displayed the Wizard of Oz cupcakes. Ok, maybe I am reading into the meaning behind the cupcakes but I had to laugh when I saw them.

Big sis was OVER THE TOP about the cupcakes. And I just couldn't say no to her request to buy them. Big sis spent forever trying to decide which one she would eat first. She started with the wicked witch of the west and gulped that bad witch down - take that you green meanie!

Weekend Top 10

We had a busy weekend - it was fun and loaded with family time! I hope to have pictures from some of the activities to post later in the week. But for now a quick recap:

10. Took the day off Friday to play with kiddos and Aunt K

9. Got my hair cut and donated it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Which also led to getting my eyebrows waxed (can't have a new do with a unibrow)

8. I bought new bras. For those of you out there wondering about why you have to hear about my new bras, well, I will never breastfeed again. Which can be a bittersweet experience until I realized I get to take some time to concentrate on ME. And that means new bras.

7. We hit some major rummage sells around town, scored some sweet deals, and ate Krispy Kreme donuts.

6. Painted pottery with a bunch of 4 year olds - YIKES!

5. The kiddos ran through fields of daffodils

4. Little man puked, little man screamed, we have since confirmed little man still has an ear infection

3. Palm Sunday rocked with live sheep, goats, dogs, a donkey and a llama. We even got to see a baby sheep moments after its birth.

2. The kiddos ran through fields of daffodils a second time.

1. We put up a HUGE tent in our living room - this family is ready to go camping!

That Psycho Squirrel Park

Thanks to catlady, we now have a new name for the park we frequent most often - that psycho squirrel park. It has to do with a very unfortunate incident at big sis' 4th birthday that would take too long to post at this moment. (Although the pics I included today are from the b-day party).

The last two days we have spent a lot of time at the park. Yesterday was great because I was able to pick the kiddos up early so we spent extra time at the park while big sis played with her friends. Little man was much more independent and self-entertaining than usual which for the first time made the park much easier on me.

Today, we had to go to the park out of necessity! I had a blah day at work. Big sis and little man were extremely grumpy after I treated them to a sugary after-school popsicle (not likely to offer THAT again!). And my mood and the kiddos crying/whining began to drive Disco a bit nutty as well.

So it was time for a change of scenery after dinner - and the park was again a perfect distraction. The weather was beautiful, the crowd of parents and kiddos was light (and surprisingly pregnant!), there was no line for the swings, and it brightened everyone's mood. Well, little man was a little grumpy about leaving - but who could blame him. That psycho squirrel park rocked tonight!

Savin' Our Monies

It is spring break - finally! And while many people are heading off to sunny destinations we are enjoying some family time around the house. But we all desperately want to go to Disney World again! Little man doesn't know that he only visited the Magic Kingdom while incubating in my belly. We talk about it enough that he joins in on the conversation like it is the best place he has ever visited.

We talk about "saving our monies" for Disney World all the time. It is part of our discussions about why we can't buy everything that big sis sees when we are shopping. She even brings it up herself from time to time.

During our nightly walk through the neighborhood tonight Disney World came up again. Just after we passed our favorite whimsical house with the magic trees and gnome garden, big sis spotted an airplane in the sky. She shouted "Aw, they saved all their monies and are going to Disney World!" It was too cute! And a gentle reminder to me and Disco that there is a reason we are working so hard to stick to our budget and save some money for our next big family vacation . . .

Going to Gaga's

Little man will stay at Gaga's house overnight for the first time tonight. It is his first overnight stay without mommy and daddy. Big sis was excited about "teaching" little man about this process. Although she could not peel herself away from Dora to help pack. I am not sure if little man knew exactly what he was in for tonight - but he was thrilled to go to Gaga's house. And Disco and I, for the first time in a LONG time, had a date night!

All the "huh-poes" are packed and ready to go

The overnight crew

In the car and ready before anyone else

So excited!

Unexpected Monday

It was a whirlwind day. Little man was home sick - mister grumpy pants has another double ear infection. Which is not surprising after two weeks of thick green ooze draining from his nose. So little man and I hung out together all morning as we recovered from a late night and prepared for a doctor's appointment. Little man was really cute about being grumpy. At naptime he was just really frustrated and restless so I decided to pack him up in the car for a drive. After I got him settled in the car, with ALL of his hippos, he yelled out "i happy now" over and over again. It was really cute!

Naptime with little man - poor little guy!

Disco picked up big sis at lunch for me so she and I could go to the dentist in the afternoon. She was the perfect patient! I have never seen anyone so excited about going to the dentist. Big sis told everyone she was 4, waited patiently while I had my teeth cleaned, and let the dental hygienist (who was WONDERFUL) do all of her checking and cleaning. And big sis was still smiling when we left!

Dental Super Star!

"Treasures" from the dentist

After the dentist we did a couple of errands and then we all took little man to the doctor (where we found out about his ears). We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening OUTSIDE enjoying the beautiful weather. It was a random yet overall pleasant day. Ok, a pleasant day if you disregard the multiple hours of grumpiness from little man - but who could blame a teething toddler who has a double ear infection! At least we ended the day with smiles:

Two happy kiddos with frozen treats on a sunny afternoon :)

A Billion Tiny Moments

Every time I turn around lately the kiddos do something that makes me think "I want to remember this!" It is impossible to remember it ALL. But they are so cute and growing up so fast. So here is just a snapshot of today's moments - the ones I can remember . . .

Everyone slept all night in their OWN beds - amazing! All four of us spent family time for 30 minutes of silly giggles and ticklefest and talking in mommy and daddy's bed after we woke up. Little man had to take a shower this morning and spent the whole time giggling and holding my hand - for some reason it was a fun little adventure for him. Big sis has the cutest little curls at the very tips of her hair. During little man's naps during the weekend, big sis and I usually do a special mother daughter project - today we planted bell pepper seeds. Each time little man cries big sis makes a special effort to try to comfort him. As I left the house tonight for a quick errand, both kiddos stood in the front window smiling, waving, and blowing kisses. If you haven't seen little man for at least 5 minutes he comes running to you with arms outstretched for a hug like it has been a week. Those kiddos LOVE their aunt K (especially when she takes them on the carousel)! Cuddles, hugs, kisses - and many random cute quiet moments all day long that I have already forgotten.

I love those kiddos!Big sis, little man, and Aunt K

The Winning Wean Team

The Wean Team was back for a third round this week - and they were triumphant! It was an odd series of events that led to this week being the week of weaning. I thought we would get to this point until my spring break. But I couldn't be happier to be DONE! Of course I still shed a tear or two Sunday night as I thought of the end of the breastfeeding process for our baby boy . . .

We tried to wean little man at 15 months since that worked out so well for big sis. He was NOT interested. Again, we tried at 18 months and that was even worse! Little man is now almost halfway through his 21st month. I guess the third time is the charm!

I am looking forward to a couple of margaritas, a large caffeinated drink whenever I want one, more chocolate, more sleep . . . and the time when I can get back to cuddling with little man before bedtime. Momma misses those sweet moments with little man before he drifts off to sleep . . .

Pretty much you can stop reading this post now - the rest is just to document what happened this week so I don't forget:

A few reasons why this FINALLY worked

1) Little man has been sick for almost 2 weeks with a head cold. During that time he had a hard time breathing through his nose making it difficult for him to breast feed. So any night time session has been shorter. And my supply was seriously low because of the limited breastfeeding time.

2) For almost a month little man has been teething. And he has been GRUMPY because of it. So everyone's tolerance for his crying and fits has been high. There has been so much crying anyway what is a little more? While I hate that we took away one of his "comforts" at this time - the teething was also creating a very frustrating and painful breastfeeding experience for me. And no one was sleeping. I made it through all the other teeth except these final molars . . .

3) After 3 weeks of tests I ended up with a week of less homework. Which meant more time to spend with the kiddos this past weekend. And more time to think about how weaning might work this time . . .

4) Bed time has been little man's adventure time - it is when he gets all excited about playing with his "huh-poes" instead of reading books. Between tickle-fests, jumping on the bed, and plenty of laughter his focus on breast feeding was waning.

5) The Friday before big sis' b-day, little man just slept next to me in the bed. Didn't even ask for "night night" as he calls it.

Saturday, March 6 (yes, on big sis' 4th birthday) we did our night time routine as usual. Reading books in big sis' bed, breastfeeding, and then daddy put little man to bed. I decided to sleep in big sis bed to break the "routine". So when little man plodded to our bedroom in the middle of the night it was daddy who comforted him. He cried for a little bit and then went to sleep. We repeated the same process on Sunday night. On Monday, little man didn't even ask for "night night". So we cut it out of the bedtime process. As with big sis, he reconsidered his decision Tuesday and Wednesday night at bedtime and asked to breastfeed. But with a little distraction he forgot all about it.

A Magic Piggy Bank

Tonight we talked about big sis' piggy bank and the special things it "did" this year. It is divided into four sections: save, spend, donate, and invest.

For big sis' birthday she got the chance to take some money from the "spend" and "donate" sections. She chose to buy an Ariel tag book at Target with her spending money. She was very proud to carry her "monies" around the store in the new bag Miss Leigh made her!

We talked about the special gift her "donate" section from the piggy bank gave to Haiti. Between her bank, her friends at the party, and gaga's tunica quarters we raised $100 - I was amazed! It was very interesting that she related the destroyed homes in Haiti to the story of the three little pigs. She asked whether the wind blew them down and if there were sticks lying all around the ground. Big sis decided that it was magic that the money would travel through the computer to help re-build houses for children in Haiti. For her the term "re-build" meant something very literal. I know her understanding of the situation is very basic. But she was excited that her piggy bank could be part of the magic to help children in Haiti!

Counting to Four

Big sis had a great birthday! We will get more pics up from the party later this week. For now an exercise in counting:

ZERO:

ONE:

TWO:

THREE:

FOUR:

Turning Four

Big sis turns four this week. And I had all of these great posts in mind about how she can't be growing up so fast and a collage of her different birthdays and a list of her current things she is doing or into these days. Yeah, I know. Even without school I couldn't have managed the time for all those blogging goals! Still hoping to dig out some old pics for a post on Saturday . . .

Anyway, it hit me that she doesn't get as much tube time as little man. So we pulled out the video camera for a quick "interview" about turning four.

Yes - she does already have all of the items on her wish list. Another reason why we are requesting donations to UNICEF instead of gifts. And no - we aren't having pizza for her birthday party. Going much more simple this year with just cupcakes at the park. But I loved that she is looking forward to "hugging" everyone and singing happy birthday after she turns four. And she has a killer hum! I heart that little girl!

Then and Now

A comment on studying (since I have been studying for mid-terms 3 weeks straight):

College:
Mid-late nineties (1993-1997)
4 years of studying hard during the week and playing hard during the weekend
Study buddies - my best friend Ashley

Graduate school (the first round):
Back at the turn of the century (1999-2004)
Umm . . . same as before only this time I got married and bought a house
Study buddies - an international crew of bandits

Graduate school (part deux):
Now
Work, family, school . . . pretty much the same again only not as much beer
Study buddies - little man and his "huh-poes"

All of this came to mind today when I was cramming in a few minutes of study time while big sis was at dance and little man was running around the house. I got through one set of notes before little man began bopping me with a cardboard block saying "mommee, huh-poes nee howes, up, up, nee howes" (he wanted me to help build his hippos a house). He is good at reminding me that building a house for his hippos make better memories than studying! :)