Everyday Stuff

Blake loves to dance, even if it is to Justin Bieber on the Today Show. I laughed so hard because the band's dancers were all over the stage and waving arms around, so that is exactly what Blake did!



Brandon collapsed after a call night, and the kids were running all around him and screaming... he didn't budge! He is finishing his last week as an intern this week! On to brighter days and less call nights!


Blake has been getting his incisor teeth- the pointy canine teeth- and has been a little whiny. One morning, he was up so early that he was exhausted by 9, and this is what I found around 10 am... a sleeping Blake with the world moving all around him. I guess he takes after his daddy in the sleep department.



We watched John Burke the other morning, and he is one easy/happy baby! Kate was a big helper, and I had to beg her to let me hold him. If I didn't have to carry it, Kate took care of it, and it was as easy as this one, I may think I could handle another one now! I think we will wait.

Blake is getting more independent these days too. He was a little bit of a plumber this day. He wants to feed himself- which is why he is only wearing a diaper- and has started pitching some nice fits. He is doing well with time out. I set him in his room and tell him that we do not pitch fits and when he is done he can say he is sorry. I really was doing it for consistency reasons, but he actually does calm down and walk into the room I am in and says, "Soddy." Funny little guy!

Happy Birthday Kate!

We were at the beach for Kate's 3rd birthday this year. Brandon had a crazy week at work, so he couldn't come with us, but we celebrated when we got home. Kate's birthday always falls on Memorial Day weekend, so it is hard to have a party because people are always traveling. But, we had a sweet friend bring us cupcakes when we got home, from Dreamcakes in Homewood. AMAZING!!! They are all different flavors, and Kate had strawberry with a cream cheese filling. You can tell by her face that she enjoyed it! Blake had chocolate icing on a yellow cupcake, one of my favorites!





We celebrated with my parents, Kelly and her family, and Derek and his family at the beach. We had all 5 grandkids on my side there to help Kate blow out her candles. She said she wanted a pink cake, so we got her a strawberry oreo ice cream cake, and it was pretty good! Kate loves all of our big family, and she loves holding these new babies. She tells Kelly and Stacy, "I can hold him/her for a little while." There is no asking, she just tells them that she can. We got home and Brandon had a few surprises waiting on her. She may not have had an actual party, but she celebrated for the whole week! I like it!
P.S.- she did not get her ears pierced, but she got some play makeup and sticker earrings for her birthday... someone asked me if that is what she got for her birthday.

Still Here

I promise I am still alive, but we have been busy! Kate finished Mothers' Day Out, so we have had a lot of energy in this house. Brandon and I got away for a weekend without the kids to go to the beach, and it was MUCH NEEDED! He has not had a break in a long time, and it is always nice to get a break from these wild kids. Brandon had to get back to work, so Kelly and I took our kids to the beach and had a few low key days there. It was still great to be at the beach, even if everyone around us thought we were crazy. Life with little kids is just what you make it to be. I always tell people that you can stay home with 2 kids or you can go to the beach with 2 kids, and I would rather do the beach sometimes! Anyway, my laptop crashed, so I have no way to get pictures up right now, but I am hoping my tech-savvy husband will work on it this weekend. The kids are getting so much better around the pool. Kate just puts her floaties on and she is in the pool for hours. Blake will hang around the steps and play with water toys, and occasionally get in the water with floaties. My plan is to go to my parents' house all summer and get them very used to the pool, and maybe try to get a little sun while we are there! I hope I can get some pictures up so you can see some cute beach shots.

Too Funny!

I had to share these for my own memory, but they may be a little "politically incorrect" or something. We went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and one of the waiters walked right by Kate speaking Spanish very quickly and she stared at him the whole time. A few minutes later, she started talking a bunch of gibberish and when I told her to stop talking like that, she pointed at the waiter and said, "That is what he said, mommy." I am sure he saw her pointing, so that is awesome! I wish I could have stopped laughing long enough to really explain why we don't do that. She is pretty smart, but a little rude to do right in front of him.
Also, this is an old story, but I was reminded of it with her cultural "experience" today. Last year, I was at the beach with Kelly and Turner and my kids, and we went through the McDonalds drive thru for a quick meal. The lady at the window was oriental (not sure if she was Chinese), but Kate shouted from the way back of my Suburban, "Ni Hao, Ni Hao Kai Lan!" If you don't know, there is a cartoon about a Chinese girl called, "Ni Hao Kai Lan" on Nick Jr, and she loves it. She was really trying to be friendly, but I quickly shushed her and told her that we don't assume people speak Chinese just because they look like they might. She really does keep me on my toes!

Fun and Cheap Clothes

Kate and Blake (Brandon) gave me some spending money to buy a new bathing suit, but they (he) didn't know that I had already found one on sale a while ago... so they (he) bought me a few other things. Happy Mother's Day to me! I am thankful for two sweet babies to keep me on my toes.
I don't know about any of you blog readers, but I have a hard time finding clothes that look cute and are in my price range. I know many of you are moms, and you know that bodies just don't look the same after babies, or some clothes look like people are trying too hard to stay young. So, I thought I would let you see some of my finds.


I found some cute new clothes today! I was so excited to find shorts that were not to short and not too long. These are called the "boyfriend shorts" from New York and Co. Their whole store was 50% off, so I paid $14 for each pair of these shorts. I got the colors pictured here, but there are plenty of other colors available. I also found the fun tube dress at Old Navy for $15, and it will be a favorite for the summer. It has a strap that comes up from the middle and ties around your neck.
I hate to bore you with a commercial for clothes, but I was pretty excited to find a few things- and you can bet that you will see me wear them over and over again!
I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day with their mother or their children today. I am thankful for all the mothers in our families!

Sound Machines & Other Important Things

Do any of you use sound machines? We sure do! We have always used one for Kate, because when we had her, we lived in a tiny condo and her bedroom wall joined to another condo. And then we used one when we had Blake because Kate was loud and because he was in our room for a while. We like the white noise/rain sounds, and we like it pretty loud!
I used one in college, and Kate used that same one until it recently broke. A while back, Kate started needing a nightlight because she was scared, so we started using the light projector one for her instead of a nightlight. She loves it! We usually love our sound machines... except for at 3 o'clock this morning. Our power flickered and they were gone! Kate's was off completely, and Blake's was a LOUD nightmare of birds chirping. Kate woke up immediately begging for her light, but she went right back to sleep. Blake didn't wake up (I don't know how), but I had to go into his room and turn off the birds and put his rain back on. Seriously, can they not put in a battery backup like my old-school model had? Who in their right mind wants to wake up to a host of chirping birds?
In other news- my sister and sister-in-law had their babies last week. Kelly called me early Wednesday morning as she headed to the hospital. I got to be in her delivery, which was not the most fun one for a previous NICU nurse. She will post the story on her blog soon, but I was just glad to be in there. It is amazing to see every time! John Burke is so sweet and little, and hopefully I will get my hands on him soon!
Then, Friday morning, Derek called and said that Stacy was in labor too. Seriously? We waited to hear more news later, and it was slow to progress, but baby Chloe was here around 5 that night. I finally got my hands on her Saturday morning, and she is tiny- 5 pounds, 5 ounces!
I have to say that it was perfect timing because Brandon had a pretty easy rotation last month and it was all ending this past weekend. He was able to watch the kids so I could be in on most of the action. The kids went up to the hospital 2 or 3 times, but it is no place for kids. They ate junk, tore up waiting rooms, probably annoyed lots of people, ate way too much junk, and just got bored! So, it was great that Brandon kept them home for most of the time. I am sure that is how he wanted to spend his off-time, but he sure didn't want to chase them through the hospital! Also, it was so nice because Kelly was still in the hospital, so we made a home-base out of her room while Stacy was in labor. Their rooms ended up being right next to each other, but Kelly was leaving as Stacy was coming up! We couldn't have planned it any better.

Sharing

We have been working on sharing lately, and I got some rare pictures of the kids trying to share candy, of all things. Having them so close together has given them no choice but to share, which is nice, but we all need a little reminder to share every once in a while. Sometimes, it is sharing a toy, sometimes a sippy cup when we are out and I can only find one (I don't care though, I would rather have them sick at the same time anyway), and sometimes it is sharing someone's attention. I feel bad- I have been busy sewing lately and I know that they are craving my attention when they want to just sit in my lap while I monogram things. I am trying to share time with them, time with Brandon when he is off, and time sewing... which is why this blog has been a little bare lately. And to be honest, I just don't have anything exciting to blog about. Give me a week to a month and I will have a new neice and a new nephew to show you!

I have to admit that today I didn't feel very good, and I have been VERY impatient and snappy with the kids. I love having such a talker in Kate- she makes me smile or laugh right when I need it! Earlier, I told her that I was sorry that I had lost my temper and she said, "That's ok, but where is your temperature? Can you find it?" I laughed because she had no idea what a temper was, and she was already over the fact that I had hurt her feelings. Also, sometimes God uses that little girl to change my heart in a second. I was so frustrated getting them into bed and was waiting for her to come back to her room to get her pajamas on (after she did a naked lap through the house screaming "naked jaybird"), and right as I was about to scream at her, she ran in and hugged me and said, "I love you this much." My entire mood changed in a second, and I thought of Proverbs 15:1, "A gentle answer turns away wrath..." Her sweet words turned away my bitter frustration in a second. I am thankful for these babies that teach me more than I ever knew was possible. I promise I won't go so long before the next post!