Wednesday, February 29, 2012

For the Record...



For the Record - Potty Training doesn't really land on my top ten things to do in a week. The big littles are actually doing pretty well, but perhaps you haven't cleaned up a puddle of pee recently? It sucks. Period. This little right of passage does not come without a little pain. I am SO freakin' grateful for all y'all's words of wisdom though... Thank YOU!


And... they sure are cute in their undies...
I am talkin' SWEET cheeks running around this place.


FYI - Getting the mail has become our favorite post nap activity. We bundle up and Big K hauls Dax Man's little heiny around in the wagon and it is Daxi's job to cling to the mail key as if our lives depend upon it (Kaelster asks him about the key no short of seven times per trip); and I push Ace a' Spades in the "baby bike", aka the stroller, and we make the trek. I think they feel that this daily feat is comparable to crossing the plains, scaling a mountain, medaling in the Olympics... something along those lines. It brings them such a grand feeling of accomplishment and they take the preparatory steps so seriously. It cracks me up.


As a Side Note - I adore and love my husband. Especially when he says things like, "You're a brave woman, Amb." Really, you couldn't say anything sweeter to me when I am up to my elbows in pee and undies. That is the equivalent of saying, "You're super woman, and I get that what you do is hard." Bless you, Bless you and smack you on the rear with a love tap. And thanks for my evening outings to fancy shmancy places like Walmart just so I leave the walls of our home and avoid a serious case of lunatic-itis during this stay at home, learn how to use the pot stage of life.


By the Way - I think I got the short end of the stick as a young'en. I did not get to go to the Pediatric Dentist since there wasn't such a thing in my tiny town. But these guys? They have it made. They have no idea how cool it is to play video games in the waiting room and they certainly don't think it's a big deal to watch a movie in the ceiling while someone gently flouridates your pearly whites. On the flip side, they have zero fear of the dentist. They also have zero cavities. Thus, they have a very happy mama and daddy-o.




Seriously - I can't get over how big Ace is getting. Here is his five-month photo. I am dying at the way he can almost sit up like a big boy and the way he grins and munches on his toes. He is such a happy little content dude. If we're running like crazy around him, he is giggling and smiling at the chaos. He just likes the wild company he keeps, and we adore him right back.



Speaking of Cuteness - I love the fact that brothers are so sweet to one another. Does anyone else with boys get that? I swear, boys take care of one another. Not in a motherly or nurturing kind of way, but in a "you're on my team kind of way so I've got your back". They are just cute. Do they beat on one another? Yes, of course, but then they exchange trucks and are friends again. I don't know how else to explain it and that is a meager job at doing so, but if you have boys, you know what I'm saying. It's kind of magical.


Finally, I'm gonna end by just proclaiming a little known fact... I am Crafty McCrafterson. You heard me. I have been creating. It's probably just a home-bound induced phase, but regardless, I am doing "stuff" during those quiet and luxurious nap times. You must know that something strange is happening here because, I would not normally take the time to do something as tedious as marking 1/4 inch tick marks on this painstakingly accurate growth chart (which is a pottery barn knock for which I found the blueprints on Pinterest). These types of details make me crazy... I'm a big picture girl; but this.... oh I got this. How adorb to mark my little men's heights on, right?

P.S. RyGar hates when I abbreviate words that are not normally abbreviated like... adorb, amaze and tots (pronounced "totes" and standing for totally) are a few of his least favs I think. Oh, and probably fav and/or favs. Holy Mid-Week Tangent. Sorry. :)

Monday, February 27, 2012

Siwwy Wabbit...


He is big...


And neither one of us is quite sure we like it.


But we are quite sure that he can "Beam you up, Scotty"... Or perhaps we were channeling the Easter Bunny? Nice accidental posing for the first big cereal eating moment, eh?


Good news... the big boy still looks cute with a messy face and strange ears.... Whew.
Congrats big man... I promise we'll shovel better tasting grub down your little gullet soon!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Good Things Come in Threes...


Just a few little reasons I'm very happy this Friday...


It's been a Rainbow kinda day around here.


Everyone is happy, sweet, hilarious and napping...
(yep, napping all at once... 'tis a miracle!)


I love this little trio...


Happy Weekending!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Dear Little Letters...


Dear Home Show... Thanks to you, I am spending my few spare moments each day dreaming up ideas of how to utilize my small team of babies and toddlers to refinish my cabinets and create a kitchen that looks something like this...


And a dining room that has a light fixture like this...


And a living room with curtains like this...


And a little boy wonder room that looks something like this....


Or this...


As if my ACTUAL to do list isn't long enough, now I think of things like cashing in the penny jar contents to buy new throw pillows, or glass jars for the master bath. But you sure are purty... aren't ya.


Dear Buddha baby, a.k.a. Ace Machine. How amazing are you to literally hang with the girls and walk around listening to us oooh and aaah over bedding selections and infinity pools all weekend long? Additionally, you let perfect strangers pinch your cheeks and speak to you in goofy baby language and you gave them all the right responses. You rock my socks off.


Dear Winter... I love you and your balmy fifty degree days full of sun. If you're going to put on shows like that - you can come every year. If not, don't bother.

Dear Kael... You are such a good brother. I adore how you ALWAYS ask for an apple for you and one for "Daxi" and the way you run around the corners of the yard when you can't see your little shadow and ask, "You OK, Daxi?" just melts my heart.


Dear Pinterest... I take it all back. You give me ideas of stellar activities like this to do with my little tigers and I love that. Therefore, I love you. We can be friends.
Sorry for talking smack about you before.




Dear Cooper... Stop eating the boys' sidewalk chalk. What the hell? Are you talc deficient? That is so dang weird and now when I scoop your poop it is all psychedelically colored.
You are crazy, dog.

Dear Aquarium... My kids LOVE you. The penguins or "kenwins" were a total hit with them. Now we talk about going to "Kia" (Ikea) and "Kenwins" "morrow" all the time. Sounds like we'll be back soon.



Dear Swamp People... You make me stare at my TV in total amazement and laugh profusely at your strange speech (once I finish reading the subtitles). I love you. I have frequent nightmares about gators in my yard, in my tub, in my bedroom, but that won't stop me from watching you. Holy deliciously crazy entertainment and on the History channel no less!

Dear Dax Man... I love how you scold Cooper for eating your chalk ALL the time. Today while you were talking your little self to sleep I heard you say no short of ten times, "Coopa eat chalk... sit at waw (wall) Coopa. Yucky. No No No." Way to tell him little drill sarg.


Dear Readers of this Blog (All two of You)... We are currently prepping for the big marathon known as potty training. I am totally scared. This week we are talking about the potty non-stop and sitting on our little car potties and gushing about underwear and looking at the candy jar by the potties and holy crap, this is already exhausting. Pretty please, send me your secrets? I feel as if it could be a very long, no good, rotten kind of week next week. Heaven help us...

:)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Carpe Diem Daddy-o...


This weekend I am leaving my big littles in the hands of this handsome man...


And they won't skip a beat. They are in love with their dad.
They are connected to him in ways that leave me dumbfounded.


Because, yes, I can snuggle and play and read and feed and dance and sing and wipe tears and kiss to make things better... but I am not a Daddy. Just a Mama who is thrilled that they have theirs, who is the best out there.


And I'm taking this little love with me. (What? You didn't think I'd get off totally scott free did you?) The truth is, I wouldn't know what to do with myself all alone. They are kind of who I am at this stage of life. And I'm good with that. And having one baby love, who is my most content of all babies, will be like "having a goldfish" to quote my friend. :)

So, a brief pause to soak in their perfect little features and to send a loving, thankful glance to my hubs, who knows, like the genius that he is, that sometimes it is best for mama to recharge her batteries with her best girls... and I'm off.
To Carpe the hell outta this Diem!
Muah. :)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A Love Note...

It Can't Be Camouflaged, Valentine...







We Love You with All Our Hearts!

XOXO
2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Baby Sugar...


Stick with me, I am about to explain a concept that involves a chain reaction of events and other concepts but we'll go full circle by the time I get it all out.
Ready?





My kids are currently obsessed with "baby sugar". Which is also known as "sugar butt" because that is where one puts baby sugar. Which is really baby powder. Which they realize looks identical to powdered sugar. Which they learned about from Grandpa Hee Koo. Who taught them to dip their little oranges in powdered sugar during one of his visits. Which makes me wonder about the whole grandparent thing because they also learned to dip strawberries in normal sugar from my mom. And prior to the whole sugar dipping obsession they were totally content to eat both oranges and strawberries without any sugar at all. Which makes me think that my parents are totally getting revenge on me by teaching my babies about sugar. And we all know the effects of sugar overdose in young'ins. On the flip side, and as a total tangent, Grandma & Grandpa Gardner showed up last night with BBall tickets and open arms to tend babies and give us a surprise night off. Not to spurn on a competition or anything but THAT is sugar. Heavenly, granulated good stuff. G&GG are one up on the nice list as far as sugar and everything else goes. :)



Back to it, we now need "baby sugar and sab" on our heinies whenever we get our diapers changed and we've done something "gross" in our pants. This is why I'm gearing up to potty train the two big littles... if you can request baby sugar and salve for your rear because you've gone poop in the corner, tis time to move on.

Think of the money I'll save on diapers, butt sugar and salve. I'll be rollin' in it soon, ya'll. Holy potty talk, Batman, I SO apologize... better end things on a sweet note.



Or Two...


:)