Meemow

Have I mentioned Mae loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?  Well she does. She calls Mickey "meemow", and now we all do.  I love adopting toddler words into our vocabulary. 

"Don't pick the destructions in the becycling!" which is Andrew's version of, "Don't put the intstructions in the recycling!"

                      

Mae's favorite Christmas gift is this $1 Mickey doll from Walgreens.  And a sure way to entertain her for 15 minutes is to cue up some Mickey on the tv!  

Here are two videos of her watching the intro.  She has some hand gestures she does at certain parts.  Not sure if she is translating the lyrics into baby sign language (my little genius) or just being weird (more likely).

2+2=4

After a marathon Christmas break, the kids are all back to school.  Thank you Jesus!  I was officially done with Christmas by 12/24, so getting back to our routine has been long overdue. 

The rainbow loom saved me from losing it with Grace.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse saved me from losing it with Mae.  (Actually, I can't imagine getting sick of her cute little face...I mean really, look at her!  But the TV sure came in handy.)

But nothing has saved me from losing it with Andrew.               

Some intense milk drinking at Alterra.  Note the 2 straws. 

After I told him I wanted to drop kick him into Lake Michigan (don't worry, he knew I was kidding)...  I came to the realization that 1 four year old "Andrew" is equal to 2 two year olds.  Naughty, whiny two year olds.

Lots of this...
"But Mommy, I cannot clean up this mess.  My hands are soooo small.  I am soooo tired.  My back hurts sooooo much."
Followed by:
"I am the strongest person in the whole wide world!  I am the Incredible Hulk!  Look at my skin!  It be turning green.  AHHHHH!"

"Mommy, I cannot eat that because my nose is runny.  And I cannot stop crying, until someone gets me a tissue!!!!!"
Followed by:

"I not want the syrup on that side of the pancake.  I want syrup on the hodder (other) side!  AHHHH!"

"Oh Mommy, I love you sooooooo much.  I just want to kiss your face all day."
 Followed by a big hug and:
"Oops, I got a big booger on you."

But he is cute when he sleeps.  

And he is cute when he crawls in bed with me and asks to cuddle.  

He is cute when he dances to songs we shouldn't let our children listen to.


And he is cute when he wears these glasses.

So we will keep him....for now. 

TBT

Julie and Janie - Late 1950s

Special Spot

A few months ago, Andrew brought home this cute little card for Kevin.  That is batman on the front, you can tell by the "long ears" coming out of the top of his head.  It is super cute and Kevin wanted to save it.  Who wouldn't?     

 

So it sat in our bedroom. And sat. And sat. Whenever I would ask him to do something with it, he would say, "Ok" and move it to another surface in the room. Dresser to dresser to nightstand to dresser to dresser...you get the idea. 

 

Well one day I had seen enough of this yellow card, so I said, "If you do not do something with this @#&$^*#@*#&^$^#  card, I am going to %^#*@(#)%*@&!^$$.  So Kevin said, "I have a special spot I put stuff like this."  He walks into his closet and puts it on a shelf. 

 

Basically his special spot is a shelf in his closet where he shoves crap.  And it is not more than three feet from where this card has been sitting, driving me crazy, for weeks.  Anyways, thought I would check out what else he finds "special".

 

 1. A unopened children's Christmas CD.  Uh okay.  Goodwill pile.

 

2. A current credit card and three checkbooks for my bank account.  What are you doing with this Kevin?  Are you stealing from me?  Secret spending habit?

 

3. A bumper sticker to a restaurant we like to visit in Hilton Head.  Didn't really take you for a bumper sticker kinda guy, but alrighty then.  When this actually makes its way to your bumper, I am sure the proprietors of the Sea Shack will appreciate all the advertising you are doing for them.  From 1000 miles away.

 

3. A stack of old coupons, membership cards and gift cards.  All expired 2009 or earlier.  The Blockbuster card intrigued me, I had to check it out.  It is filthy.  It is laminated.  It must be really old.  Well there is no expiration date on it but it is your MOM's card.  So, please return this to your mom and give her money for any outstanding late fees.

 

5. The empty box for a cold weather face mask.  We were sent this face mask a few years ago by one of Kevin's college friends who thought the guy on the box looks exactly like Kevin.  And I totally agree.  Spot on.  Total look alike.  But why keep it Kevin?  The only reason I can come up with is that you have added "male model" to your resume, and you need to keep this as proof? 

 

To be fair, this is a picture of my dining room.  I still haven't put my house back together after Christmas. 

Yeah yea, pretty bad.  But whatever, at least I don't hoard garbage in my closet. 

TBT

TBT Fat Andrew

March 2010

Oh Grace

Positively angelic at about three o'clock in the afternoon....

 

and by four o'clock, she was listening to Justin Timberlake and throwing down some crazy dance moves as only Grace can.

 

 

A few of my favorites from 2013

Trip to LA

In late October, I took a long overdue trip out to LA to visit my good friend Kelly and her baby twins!  

It was so fun to meet the girls and see where Kelly lives.  The picture below is from the top of the hill she lives on. 

After a day, Kevin flew out and we drove down to Orange County for a few days.  We had a great time relaxing, eating out and walking on the beach.  This trip also taught me that I should not travel west and expect to get any sleep.  I was up at five am everyday and ready for bed by eight!

2013 Blog Headers

Jolly! Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas morning.  The pictures never seem to turn out for us.  But the kids were very exciting.  Andrew got everyting he asked Santa for...stuffed eel, Batman castle (cave) and new batteries for the drill Santa gave him last year.  Grace and Mae were also happy with their gifts.  Grace got her coveted American Girl doll "Molly".  Such lucky kids!

Andrew helped me set the table and was in charge of the decor.  It was his idea to sprinkle Christmas bows at the place settings. 

 

Oh yeah, Monty came to Christmas too.  He was nervous and awkward the whole time.  You can practically see him quivering in this picture.

Here Mae is telling Monty to just chill out.  Stop being so odd.  Relax. 

Grace was thrilled with her Molly doll.  She also got a few outfits for Molly, some books and a Molly bed from JuJu and PopPop.  Lucky girl!

No Christmas morning is complete without a wrestling session!  Look at Mae dominating PopPop with a Micky Mouse doll to the face. 

 

Finally, here are some of Andrew's facial expressions from Christmas morning.  

He is one expressive little guy.

Jolly! Christmas Eve

We had a very nice Christmas  Eve this year.  We got a ton of pictures of the kids.  Of course, Andrew and Mikey were too cool to pose nicely.  However, Andrew was willing to give him a big smooch for the camera!

Mae was a total ham for the camera.

 

She tried to show Ben her "cute face" pose, but he was not into it.

But I did get one cute shot of him - such an adorable little guy!

The kids were spoiled with all their gifts.  Grace loved her cowgirl boots from Aunt Molly and her new rainbow loom from Grandma Jane and Bop.  I love the rainbow loom too.  It keeps Miss Grace busy for HOURS!

 

When Andrew opened his Lincoln Logs, he said "Whoo hoo!  Ya hoo!" and did a little dance.  Then he got serious when he saw his Batman toy. 

Mae was totally confused by Christmas.  She had this stunned look on her face.  Like why is everyone going crazy?  New toys?  For me?  What is going on?