sakjackproductions

Thank goodness, I have my son back!

2012-01-29T20:56:00.002-05:00

last Sunday, Dylan started with a fever mid day, around 101. He didn't break that fever until Thursday am, & was as high as 104.2. I had taken him into the doctor Monday am thinking it was ears since he was waking so much at night & hitting his head, but they were clear, & was diagnosed with a virus & inflamed throat. We still went in on Thursday for a recheck even though the fever broke since he was still so uncomfortable. Sure enough, ear infection presented this time. Damn ears. It's amazing to me how both kids have shown signs of ear pain before the ears show sign of infection. And it certainly is bothersome that the infection can show up within hours of leaving that doctors' office. Think its about time to buy an otoscope.
Dylan's finally coming back into his own. This morning he was playing with his sesame street ball, trying to kick it & heading the ball, even when it was sitting still on the ground!! LOL. He's swirling his arms side to side with music,& wanting to play in the water every chance he can get, holding his hands out as if to wash them when he sees the kitchen sink get turned on. Tonight, he even took a few more steps; were up to 5 in a row now.

The things she says...

2012-01-21T22:23:00.003-05:00

Two of them occurred today & need to write them before I forget.

Me: "B, You can take your nap in bed with me today, but if you keep talking, you'll need to head down the hallway to your own room & lay down. Do you understand?"
B: "Mommy, if that's how you go down the hallway, how do you go up the hallway?"

(Background) So we were looking on the web at various disney cakes, and she asks me to click on an Alice & Wonderland cake.
Me: Have you seen that movie?
B: No
Me: Well then how did you know that was Alice & Wonderland?
B: I just do. Did you watch the movie Mommy?
Me: No
B: Well, then how did you know who she was?

2012-01-21T22:14:00.003-05:00

Brooklyn has been counting down the days till my birthday since Tuesday! She ran into our room this morning, talking in the one volume she knows, "Mommy, I'm so excited, it's your birthday!"
Me: "Me too babe, but be quite, dad & Dylan are in here & still sleeping."
B: "HUH?, what'd you say?? I'm so excited Mommy. Yeah yeah yeah!!!"

And since everyone was now awake, we headed on in the living room to start our day.

Dylan was very curious about all the phone calls today & held a 'conversation' with just about everyone! It's the first day we've put the phone to his ear & hasn't just stared at the phone or us with a puzzled look.
I also received some birthday money & Brooklyn asked if we now had enough money for her to take ballet lessons! lol. (She's been asking about taking ballet for over 4 months now.)

We played most of the day together & enjoyed my dinner of salmon & broccoli, followed by a delicious pink cake!
Overall, it was a great day.

Getting closer

2012-01-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Dylan is egstatic that he can now climb into B's bed all by himself! He gets up, and practices getting down feet first. We still think he's going to be our trouble climber. Sean watched him the other day push B's little black rocking chair to the side of the couch, & climb up that way. Luckily, he didn't fall over the back.
He's getting more facinated with the steps too, throwing things down thru the gate & watching them bounce, roll or do nothing but get stuck on that first step completely out of his reach.
Starting 1 week ago, I've been holding on to the back of his PJ's when we get ready for bed & have him "walk" over to Daddy to say goodnight. We're only talking from the couch to the chair here, but it's getting him used to 'walking' without me holding his hands way above his head. We've noticed its' helped him gain confidence a little more as he'll go from his music table to us about 1-2 steps away by himself. Before I know it, he'll be running down the hall!

2012-01-17T15:52:00.000-05:00

So this last week, B has been very in to role playing. She wants to be the mommy & I'm her, Dylan is now my baby brother. This isn't a 1/2 hour activity for her, she will stay in role all day long & try to correct me if I get out of charactor.
The funny thing is how she uses words & phrases like Sean & I do...."Let me think about it," "did you understand me?" and calling me honey. I then gave Books some of her own medicine asking why a lot, and whining that I didn't want to take a nap, all why you could tell she was pausing & thinking about what to say next. LOL

She's also seeking out her "project books" again is curious about mazes, figuring out more than/less than, and thinking about simple addition(3+1=4, 2+3=5).

Another tooth!

2012-01-15T15:45:00.000-05:00

Top right tooth finally broke thru last night. Thank goodness! He's had a stuffy head since Friday afternoon & orajel moments overnight. Brooklyn had a fever most of Thursday with a stuffy head too, so I'm hoping they don't pass it to one another.

Dinner tonight

2012-01-14T15:47:00.000-05:00

at dinner, sean say to Brooklyn to eat 5 more bites and asks her to count them out loud. she counted, but didn't actually have any food on spoon bite #3. Sean called her out on it & her facial expression cannot be explained except to say she knew she was caught & was tryint not to bust out laughing.

Happy 89th Birthday Papa Obie

2012-01-08T16:06:00.007-05:00

So today we had great weather for January & headed out to Granny/Papa Obie's for a surprise birthday party! You could tell he was really happy to have everyone there. After singing an off-key version of happy birthday, Sean, Aydan, Brooklyn & Paul headed outside. Someone gave Aydan a new jump rope & given that he doesn't stop until he's mastered it, started jumping. Sean wanted to show off that he still had skills & jumped even after jamming a toe & turning it black & blue. Books thought everyone was just silly & showed them that they don't need a rope to jump! LOL
Dylan was inside, hanging out with X, playing "snag the pacifier." He'd take it out of X's mouth, try to put it back & repeat several times. Every now & then, he'd lean over & give him a big ol drooling kiss on the forehead. We're also giving Dylan credit for taking his first step today! Yeah!! It was towards aunt Mere Mere who was holding up a shiny round christmas ornament.
Both the Cats & the Bengals were on today, but we headed out around 5 as both of our kids were about to crash. Bengals ended up losing their wildcard game.

Odd weather thus far for 2012

2012-01-06T22:00:00.003-05:00

So today it was 64 degrees at 3pm, so we headed outside for some January fun of a wagon ride to the library for some new books. I took this picture on Tuesday. This brief snow took everyone by surprise & resulted in icy conditions that gave me a 2 hour ride home.

2012-01-04T22:08:00.001-05:00

Mimi came over tonight for a little while so we could go out & meet up with my old college roomate for after dinner drinks. It was so much fun catching up. Hopefully, we'll be able to do this about every 2 years.

A lil belly ache

2012-01-03T22:06:00.000-05:00

D was fussing in his bed a little longer than usual so I went in to pick him up & rock in. 10 seconds later I was covered in vomit. YUCK. Quick bath, & he was back to sleep in under a minute. Slept all the way thru the night & woke happy so I guess dinner just didn't settle well.

New Years Eve

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

Noah came over in the morning & spent a good part of it racing Dylan up & down the hall, & helping him learn how to walk. He certainly seems to be a good big brother/cousin.
Damon, LeAnn & the kids came over later for games & the ball drop! Popcorn, confetti, & empty champagne bottles filled our home! Brooklyn had her latest night yet going to bed at 1, & Dylan, going to bed at 11, slept thru all the blowing horns. It was a great night. Bring it on 2012!!

Nearing the end of family week

2011-12-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

Headed to the Children's Museum today with our friends & Daddy! This has been a fantastic week with just the family, & we're looking forward to starting off the new year. This just summarizes how we spent most of our week together: in our new pj's/robes hanging & playing with our new toys/games. Yes, Brooklyn, just so you know, your dad played Dora wii dance with you. (I was forbidden from taking digital proof.)

Now THIS is an avacado! Jungle Jim size.

2011-12-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

2011-12-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

It's a little wobbly, but still helps a guy learn to walk!

2011-12-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe we've ignored that little rule of NOT trying new recipes the day of a big event! Our ham that according to directions was to be done at 1pm, wasn't ready until closer to 3. The rest of our new dishes: succotash, apple/fennel straws, & green beans with exotic mushrooms all turned out great, just took a few extra chefs in the kitchen to get everything prepared on time (well, for that 1pm we were planning on!) Luckily, Sean had made a big batch of vegetable soup & others brought appetizers so that held everyone over. I can't believe how good all the kids were considering we didn't open gifts until after our late lunch!
With 17 of us here were were spread out everywhere. Granny & Papa Obie were able to Skype with cousin Tracy, Mere showed off her volleyball skills on Kinect again (beating me!) & the two youngest boys seemed to enjoy their first Christmas. Dylan was given a tool set from The Evans gang & he could have cared less to open anything else afterwards, playing with it continuously. Tents & Tunnels, cars, microphones, scooters, phones, toy story characters, plates/cups, calendars & books were some of the fun things the kids received.

Doing Wii Dora Dance while waiting for Christmas guests to arrive

2011-12-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

SANTA CAME!

2011-12-25T11:00:00.001-05:00

As usual, Dylan woke at 6am to come & snuggle with mom & dad for a bit solo. Around 8:15, a hear the dragging of a blanket across the floor & the footsteps of Brooklyn coming down the hallway. No shrills of excitement out of her, but instead, calmly comes into our room & says "Mommy, Santa left us 1 present, lets go see what it is."
Amazed as to why she says "ONE present," we got up to head into the living room. She heads right for the tree, bypassing all of the unwrapped presents in the middle of the living room, to get the one present wrapped in Tinkerbell Bell paper. "Lets open it & see what it is!" I told her to turn around, that I think Santa left her all those over there. She turns & gives a big OH WOW!!!! Lets go tell Dylan because Santa did leave something for him too! LOL (No Dora kitchen, but she did get a pink computer of sorts...a Leappad).
We played for a little while but had to quickly get ready for Mimi & Grampers who were coming over for a late morning pajama breakfast of a waffle station with various syrups- VT maple, & homemade orange & blueberry plus eggnog butter. A nice big tropical fruit bowl to accompany & I was ready to start the day off great!

Prepping the country ham for!Christmas lunch!

2011-12-24T05:27:00.001-05:00

2011-12-23T23:51:00.000-05:00

Our neighbors came over tonight too, with a little train for Dylan, a UK jersey & some new barbies for Brooklyn. The train was a big hit, until she found one of the barbies she could go online with her own secret code & make into a ballerina barbie!

The famous JK arrives

2011-12-22T17:19:00.000-05:00

Dylan's godmother came out for a visit bearing her famous cookies, & a gift for both the kids. Brooklyn was super excited to put together her new grinch puzzle & also received a pair of ballerina pj's. Dylan received a pair of sports pj's & a super snuggly soccer outfit. (which he might be in all the time!)

2011-12-22T17:05:00.001-05:00

Brooklyn went to school for a special 2 hr Christmas party today, which meant mommy got to get a little extra shopping done. Note my orders to make sure blankie & kitty were in the photo too! She brought home some new holiday pencils, erasers, & a puzzle & Dylan was given a new train.
After school, we went out to Florence Mall to take Dylan to see Santa. Our first sighting of Santa was impromptu @ The Children's Museum. Brooklyn wouldn't sit on his lap & Dylan was sleeping. Up until now, she kept saying she'd send Santa a letter because she didn't want to see him! LOL The only thing she has asked for (Thank You TARGET ads for putting on the front page of everyone of your ads the last few weeks!) was a Dora Kitchen. We tried telling her that she already has a kitchen & that there were so many other things she could ask for. Finally, last night, she realized that mom & dad share a kitchen so it was ok for her & Dylan to share that one. When we asked what she would like instead, she said "a computer!" Finally adding that it should be pink, because she loves pink. In fact, she wanted everything to be pink.
Sooo......back to us standing in line for Santa......we're up next & she's now hiding behind my legs. Dylan, clueless is just staring at Brooklyn. A wonderful elf comes over & asks me her name quietly. Then bends down & asks if her name is Brooklyn. Amazed, she says it is & the elf tells her that Santa has been waiting for her to come. Just like that, she takes the elf's' hand & heads up to Santa, sits on his lap, & when he asks what she would like for Christmas yells "A DORA KITCHEN!! and Dylan needs an Elmo potty seat so he'll stop poopin in his diaper!"

2011-12-20T17:16:00.000-05:00

Aqua babies- splishin & spashin! Can't wait for next pool season!!

2011-12-20T17:13:00.001-05:00

Helping mommy bake some chocolate crackle cookies!

NEW TOOTH!!

2011-12-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

Top right tooth finally broke thru!

2011-12-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

not one to want to be in the walking toys, but does like to push them around.

2011-12-18T17:02:00.000-05:00

Working on standing up by himself & teething on some asparagus. YUMMY.

2011-12-16T16:57:00.001-05:00

We headed up for what we thought was The Grinch play with Aydan, but turns out, it was his Christmas Chorus. Green tie, & front row, & the entire time, Brooklyn kept looking for him!

Coloring together

2011-12-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

And sometimes taste testing them.

Cousin Slumber Party

2011-12-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn has been a bit hestitant to spend the night anywhere besides her home, but the idea of a cousin sleepover got her interest! She brought her pink sleeping bag, fave blanket & kitty & was ready for fun! They played dress up, help put together the grandkids tree, roasted marshmellows by the fire & watched the Smurfs movie. After pancakes for breakfast, dad arrived for pick-up & she didn't want to leave! LOL Isnt' that the way it always goes? :-)

I already have everything I need Santa.....

2011-12-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

DADDY'S REMOTE!

what the?

2011-12-09T16:42:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn didn't agree with the way I fixed her hair with a green ponytail holder to match her outfit, so she went back to the bathroom & found the butterflies that she wanted. Now I can't believe she actually got them cliped into her hair, but how she managed to get one strand so that it would be perfectly 'floating' on her forehead made it picture-worthy! She was so proud.

Grinch singin'

2011-12-07T16:37:00.000-05:00

The tree is up & decorated. I had a helper this year with the ornaments, who asked lots of Q's as to where each ornament came from or whom. Her ornament for her 3rd year was Dora, that we found hand crafted at the Woolfest. Dylan has a Hallmark of Oh the Places you'll Go. Every night, the GRINCH is on in the house. We're at #7, and we're barely thru the first week of Dec. She heads over to the tree & sings the songs with all the Who's when they do.

Being a great dad!

2011-12-03T16:28:00.000-05:00

Playing in a Dora tent with his kiddos!

2011-12-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

Dylan LOVES playing kitchen more than Brooklyn it seems. His first task every morning is to dump all the food onto the floor. Then he'll pick up a few pieces, put them in the cart & start walking around! We took him to the childrens' museaum & he purshed around a Kroger cart there too. Several other moms were crackin up laughing at our little guy; it really was cute. Sean said I should have taken video & sent it in to Kroger. They could have made a "E-trade" baby comercial out of it..... D: "so, you been shopping here long?" to another baby pushing a cart. :-)

X baptism

2011-11-26T16:19:00.000-05:00

Headed up towards Dayton this morning to celebrate Baby Xavier's baptism.
Dylan hung out with Grampers & fought out X for Uncle Steve time. B played with her friend Grace & all the little kittens!

We got to babysit baby Xavier!

2011-11-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn made sure he received plenty of stimulation with conversation, & Sean helped with naptime!

practicing with our first sippy cup

2011-11-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

In the mail today

2011-11-19T09:09:00.001-05:00

Sean's certificate arrived. Only 7,368 people have passed the test! Congrats again Babe!

Practicing ballet with Angelina

2011-11-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

Dylan's first tooth has just broke thru!!

2011-11-15T21:57:00.001-05:00

comments

2011-11-13T00:03:00.002-05:00

Brooklyn comments (that I can remember) over the last month:

"Mommy, why do we only sing some of the colors names if all the colors that we know live up in the rainbow? I think we should sing about Pink, and Brown, and black & our other crayons too."

"Wasn't me, the baby did it!" .....says this after she farts! lol

She wanted to take her flip cards of states & capitals in the car. She read Mississippi & told me the capital was Jackson. Then asked me what its lower case was.

2011-11-12T22:38:00.002-05:00

Yep, this is my REAL life! I have a dirty kitchen & 2 kids pulling on my leg. And I wouldn't change a thing!! :-)

Official big girl bed!

2011-11-12T09:19:00.003-05:00

We've been switching all week between her sleeping bag, Dora couch, & big girl bed. But she's been doing a great job. Twice she has woke around 11 to go to the bathroom, and comes into the living room once "the sun comes up!"

I see leotards & a recital in our future

2011-11-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Since he birthday, every night after dinner she wants to put on her ballet shoes, skirt & "do ballet." We're asked to hold her little broom up b/c its her ballet bar, & she changes in her dressing room (the bathroom!) I did call today to find out about ballet & tumbling lessons. Enrollment doesn't start until January so we've got some time, but she can go in for a 1 day class to see if she'd participate.

2011-11-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

And now's Dylan's added "uh-oh" to his vocab! (dada, mama, & uh-oh thus far) He doesn't seem to say many words but he & Brooklyn have "discussions." A series of squeels & noises she makes & he repeats! It's pretty darn cute.

Mommy's from scratch Apple pie has everyone wanting to try it!

2011-11-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

2011-11-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

So, this morning she decided she was a big girl now. She started her morning by showing all of us she could climb out & over her crib. And mommy decided we should take the front of the crib off now instead of waiting until after Santa comes! We were going to do it tonight however, she asked if she could sleep on her Dora couch. This would be a good test to see how many times she would come out of her room. To our surprise, NOT ONCE! And since I'm pre-dating blogs because I'm catching up, she's been sleeping on her couch for the last 3 nights sans problem. Enjoy the video, its super cute.

2011-11-05T21:39:00.000-04:00

So what did the birthday girl want for her special breakfast? "chocolate chip pancakes & prunes!" LOL

2011-11-05T21:30:00.000-04:00

After breakfast, we opened family presents- new click start games from mom & dad, singing cards, 'monies for my bank!,' and a new book.

2011-11-05T21:20:00.000-04:00

Throwing on her Dora boots, Sean & her went sent up to the party store to pick up her party balloons while mom & I cut up the tomatoes & lettuce for the taco bar. I heard the front door fly open with a loud " MOMMY, look at all these DOOOOORA BALLOONS I got!!!"
Sean said she was so excited at the store, & the cashier told him "sounds like you've got a talker on your hands." lol. Apparently told everybody it was her birthday!

2011-11-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

I told her it was just about time to get dressed for her party........this is her version of "party attire!" :-)

2011-11-05T21:07:00.001-04:00

Cake looked good. The cake was good! In Dora show fashion, Brooklyn needed to get to her present table. But who do you ask for help when you don't know which way to go? THE MAP! Map said she needed to go over crocodile lake, thru Isa's flower garden, past bubble forest & find the wishing crystal in Benny's barn to wish her presents back. The kids had a blast on their adventure & went thru it several times! B's present table was in our lower level with a sign saying SWIPER NO SWIPING! We took the presents back upstairs so everyone could see her open gifts. She was super happy! Dora couch, dolls, crafts, tunnel tent, ballet slippers/skirt etc. All the kids started playing right away.. little Izzy, another big Dora fan, even telling her mom which Dora gifts she wanted for Christmas! lol.

"A Dora guitar! Just like my daddy!"

2011-11-04T21:30:00.002-04:00

Our neighbors came over tonight to give B her birthday present! Fully excited & ready to play.

2011-11-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

G-ma Kay decided Brooklyn should open her presents a day early. Turned out to be a good thing, because there were so many! Over 10 Dora things, with this outfit being one of her favorites. After this, we made Dora bracelets & headed up to Kroger to get our last minute party foods! B was super excited to go without Dylan b/c this meant she could ride in the car cart!

First finger foods

2011-11-03T21:20:00.000-04:00

2011-11-03T21:11:00.000-04:00

Rainy days means off to the Museum! Dylan had so much fun playing in the water, the sand, the ball pits. Both took nice long naps afterwards.

2011-11-02T22:41:00.000-04:00

DID I JUST HEAR SOMEONE SAY "MA-MA?"

Dylan sporting some college gear!

2011-11-02T20:54:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-04:00

WOW! I'm thinking this is a holiday that is going to mandate a half day @ work from here forward. Brooklyn was SO excited to get her Dora outfit on. Talk about a giddy school girl! Usually we'll tell her she's our 'silly willy' or something along those lines, & she'll respond with "No, I'm Brooklyn." Tonight, she was Dora MORPHED.
Everyone was rushing to get dressed-my mom, Mimi & the boys who just arrived from Dayton. Dylan wasn't overly excited about what was on his head, but once we got outside, he just started looking all around & forgot about it. By the way, for those who don't know what he is dressed as, it's Dora's best friend, Boots (a monkey).
Ok, so she totally got the concept of trick or treat this year, bouncing from one house to the next with her pumpkin bucket out & ready. Some let the kids pick what they wanted, Brooklyn sorted thru trying to find something pink! lol.
We made it all the way up to the house where the inflatable scooby doo was & back, which was about 30 homes. Came back, & Quinton was still handing out candy. I think the boys have more fun trying to scare kids than getting candy! Ended the night with ghost shaped individual meatloafs & warm cidar.
Most of the candy Brooklyn collected wasn't safe for her to eat so a "Halloween Fairy" traded her candy for a coloring book, movie & some safe candy. We went to a local dentist office that was participating in Operation Gratitude to donate the candy to troops overseas the next day. They gave the kids goody bags which had a new toothbrush, Halloween stamps, & a pair of silly mask/glasses. Overall, it was a fun night!

Getting our pumkins ready!

2011-10-29T21:16:00.001-04:00

So, guess who finished getting their pumkpin ready first! LOL. We started with prepping Sean's so she could see the inside of a pumpkin & help scoop out the seeds. While Sean finished carving, we seasoned them up & started baking. yum yum yum.

Happy Birthday Sean!

2011-10-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

Dylan was a super big helper mixing ingredients for our cupcakes! We made a mix of Halloween & Birthday theme. Since Sean had a big test the next morning (GPEN), he resorted downstairs to study early & we had his favorite BurbonHouse pizza & cupcakes on a non nervous belly the next night. Of course, he passed his test with flying colors, which was a great gift to himself. :) WAY TO GO, BABE!

Grandma Kay arrives

2011-10-25T21:01:00.000-04:00

In prep for an upcoming Dora birthday, she also found a Dora "mommy's little pumpkin" shirt.

Getting ready for my first Halloween!

2011-10-19T20:57:00.000-04:00

2011-10-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

I just got the "Mmmmmm, Mommy this is good. You can make it again" award!!

Another busy day

2011-10-15T22:11:00.006-04:00

So we made pumpkin maple muffins this morning. I told her not to stick her fingers in the muffins, that she could lick the bowl clean. That's my girl!! :-)
Next we headed up to Whole Foods. They had her fave show charactors there, Super Why & Wonder Red. We waited in line for a photo op with Super Why & it was Christmas with Santa all over again......She was about to fly over my shoulder, scared to death! I even told her it was just a grown up dressed up as Super Why for Halloween & that didn't help. However, from the safety of the grocery cart, she gave Wonder Red a 'hi-five' as we passed her in the aisle! They had a great set up for the kids today with a smoothie bar, trail mix bar, salad bar, craft table & face painting. Everything was safe for her to sample! We came home & she headed out with Sean to pick up Mimi & Grampers at the airport & watch a few planes first. We finished off our family day with a little bike ride.

2011-10-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Thus far, no alleriges for Dylan

2011-10-11T22:25:00.000-04:00

He's now had wheat, barley, egg whites & dairy without a negative response. It's a relief & yet we have to be so careful to tell Brooklyn when he's having something that could hurt her- since he tries to put everything in his mouth. Not sure why, but these last 2 weeks, B is going thru some oral stage herself- either putting toys in her mouth or her fingers.
I finally bought some of the self feed dairy melts & the baby mum-mum biscuits, which he did very easily. Guess I could have bought those earlier!

Daniels Petting Farm

2011-10-08T21:53:00.001-04:00

Close by, & so fun! We met up with my boss & his family. Hay rides to the pumpkin patch were every half hour, & while you waited, they had a huge inflatable slide, playground area with slides & a wooden school bus...where Brooklyn was the driver every chance she could get. We were able to feed several animals, & were surprised it wasn't overly crowded given the 79 degree weather. We could have easily stayed for another hour or so, but we had a Euchre tourney to go to that night & B was already napless for 2 days straight. We headed home so I could start making appetizers & B took an hour rest in her bed; sans nap. I still can't believe she stayed up at the party until a little past midnight, but she was having so much fun with all the other kids there! That made for a late night, & a very lazy Sunday.

2011-10-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

So, here we are, getting ready to head out to Woolfest! Mimi & Aunt Di held a booth again this year & were blessed with beautiful weather all weekend. The hair bow is one of this years' creations!
She was super excited to see Noah there & we headed around the corner to see him make a pottery piece.
Dylan pet his first goat....and then grabbed its' poor lil ear!

TEETH!, Where are you?????

2011-10-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Still nothin.

2011-10-03T21:17:00.001-04:00

So, the city has their weekend Farmer's Market & today added a As soon as Dylan woke from his nap, we headed up there to find 2 long rows of tables of painted pumkins! They were all still there to view & those that didn't have a bid on them, you could purchase for $2. B was a little bummed we couldn't bring home cinderella but she was on the prowl for another pink pumkin. Sure enough, we found one! She started jumping up & down all excited she found one. A new pink hairbow & a lolipop pull rounded out this trip, but I'm not quite sure D was ever awake! lol.

Happy 60th Birthday Mimi!

2011-10-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

A nice, big family celebration @ Karlos!

Got my keys!!

2011-09-19T21:13:00.000-04:00

Movin on up into the car walker!! He's been pulling up on the furniture, but not daring enough to try it alone just yet.

Aunt Mere's Baby Shower

2011-09-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn & I had a girls day @ a shower for baby Xavier.

The new norm in our house- D tackles B if she's on his toys!

2011-09-16T21:24:00.000-04:00

2011-09-16T21:03:00.002-04:00

All the toys in the world, & his choices are plastic bags, the kitchen garbage can, & staring down a toilet.

Getting the new toys out again! He's pulling up on everything

2011-09-13T21:29:00.000-04:00

What am I in for?....conversations with B

2011-09-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

Visualize: We're getting ready to leave for daycare. I'm at the garage door with Dylan in his car seat on one arm, her lunch bag, her backpack & my purse on the other. "BROOKLYN......IT'S TIME TO GO. MEET ME AT THE GARAGE DOOR!"

Casually stolling around the corner comes a pair of feet & eye balls wearing her bright pink Dora sunglasses, because that's all I saw of her!

"Books, You're allowed to bring ONE THING in the car each morning, You've got 4."
(She had her JK blanket, Dylans' JK blanket, her kitty, & his bird.)

....and this is her response.......

"Mom, I DO have just 1 thing. 1 PILE. Do you know what a PILE IS?"

annnnnnnd so I let her bring all 4 since she was usin' her noggin' on that one!!

2011-09-04T21:15:00.000-04:00

IT's been almost 2 full months now that she's been carrying Allie's picture around with her. We went down to the animal shelter today just so she could see & pet a number of cats/dogs, hoping this would get something? out of her system. We saw about a 6 month black lab being adopted right as we were leaving- she thought it was one of Allie's babies. She's played with a beagle named BUD that was apparently on the news that morning for awhile! She's definately an animal lover, & I survived not coming home with a new pet. Hopefully this helped her for a little while.

2011-09-01T14:24:00.002-04:00

No camera, so here's your visual.
We put Dylan in a baby swing at the park. There's so much extra room in there & he's leaning forward. B wants to stand in front & push him. She give him the ol 'heave ho' & he barely starts to swing, but he's crackin up. He swings back forward & grabs a handfull of her hair. He's laughing even harder, thinking he's "caught her," & she starts in with "now Dylan, we've talked about this....NO PULLIN MY HAIR!"

DA DA DA

2011-08-23T21:04:00.001-04:00

Letter B

2011-08-23T21:01:00.002-04:00

They're working on writing their names at daycare & practicing each of their letters. Good thing she likes doing this; we didn't exactly pick a short name!

finally able to keep her feet on the pedals for a full rotation

2011-08-23T20:54:00.002-04:00

2011-08-21T19:58:00.002-04:00

Seems like so much has happened this last week. D is getting better & better with crawling, but thus far hasn't ventured beyond the living room. He'll now crawl over & up into our laps (which I am LOVING!) and then try to stand up from there. He seems like a little live wire & half the time he tries to walk like Mowgli (Jungle book.)
Last month, he had just sticking his tongue out & licking his upper lip but now he's realized he can say LALALALA & he's thinking he's a big shot now! He'll usually glance over to see if he has his big sister's approval & then they just crack up laughing. She's calling him Dilly lately, and saying she's going to go play with him....which translates into 'I'm going to swipe what D has & give him something I'm less interested in.'
I think tonight I read Dora Friendship Day for the 100th time just this summer. This past week, she's been heading out each night to play with Lexi our neighbor, on the swing set or chalking in the driveway. Cathy drew a hop scotch & it's pretty cute watching them try to hop. I'm surprised she hasn't turned red this week as she's likely ate 50+ little tomatoes right off the vine. We also went for a walk down to lake & I mentioned the foreclosure house finally sold. "ohhhhh, Santa Clause must be movin' in!" Still wonderin' why his name came up!

All Boy!

2011-08-16T23:36:00.001-04:00

Dylan loves the remote, Brooklyn loved the ipod

Yo ho Yo ho A Pirates life oh me!

2011-08-12T21:03:00.002-04:00

Mere, Mimi, all the kids & myself headed down to the BB Riverboats for their Pirate cruise. It was a nice hour & a half trip up & down the river. They got pirate tatoos, Aydan got his face painted, wore their eye patches & said Arrrr, even walked the plank towards a treasure chest. Showed her the stadium & said 'that's where BP plays!" (Brandon Phillips) Think Seans' got her baseball brainwashed!

2011-08-09T21:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, let's make it official....Dylan can sit up by himself now AND sleep thru the night. He has a slightly different schedule than Brooklyn where he prefers to go to bed at 7:30 & wake around 6am. He took a little nap tonight for a half hour & then he went to bed around 9. I'm hoping he'll sleep in a little later!
Brooklyn pushed back the blinds in the dining room tonight to check in on Sean cutting the grass. All of a sudden she starts clapping & jumping up in down & I hear "Mom can I go outside? Can I? Please! Pretty Pretty Please? My Lex is outside." This is the first time I've been 'pretty pretty please'd' & yep, I buckled. Gathered up Dylan's dinner & headed around back. Thank goodness he's such an easy going guy! Sean was finished trimming & then he helped me get them all baths & into bed. 9:30 & just getting dinner & then heading to bed early tonight. A long day today!

6 mos appmt.

2011-08-05T20:53:00.002-04:00

Today my little man is 6 months old already! He's 15.56 lbs (18%), and 26 inches long(36%). He takes his shots like a pro, a quick whimper & thats it. Thought I'd include one with his prune face from tonight!

...AND SO IT BEGINS

2011-08-01T21:56:00.002-04:00

crawl, crawl, plop, army crawl, roll.........reeeeaaaaaaaach & grab B's toys/books she's left on the floor.

"NO NO NO DYLAN. THAT'S ALLL MY STUFF!"

I've never seen her pick up her kitchen play food & books so fast before! At least she was nice enough to exchange a banana for his Elmo.

She loves learning

2011-07-30T22:27:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we headed to the Library for Toddler Time class, & to check out a few new books. She seems overly excited with the book selection we came home with: Curious George, two more Laura Numeroff books ( If you take a mouse to school/If you give a mouse a cookie), Dora & Diego help the Dinosauer Level 1, & Pooh's Christmas sled ride-Level 1.
At bedtime, she picks 1 big 1 for us to read, & then wants to try to read one to us (usally will attempt a few pages.) She's doing really well.
(I'll post a clip here soon)

She has a placemat where she can try to trace letters, but she's not tracing on the placemat. She's taking a piece of paper & trying to copy after looking at them. Her favorite letters that she can write now are: i, t, l, r, o. I'll have to have her write her name & some other letters & save it for her scrapbook &/or post on here.

2011-07-30T22:04:00.001-04:00

Working on sitting up by his big boy self!!

BASEBALL

2011-07-30T21:43:00.004-04:00

Ok, I had to post both of these. This is classic. Ok, so Sean & B decided to play baseball in the house. He pitched the ball to her 3x's before I got the camera out, & made contact all 3 times!!!! I caught #4 on video (posted). Then she visited la la land & missed #'s 5-12. #12 is also posted!! Baseball luvin dad is getting a litle frustrated......& the real games haven't even started yet!! :-)

2011-07-30T21:30:00.002-04:00

Soon enough kiddos

2011-07-29T22:11:00.002-04:00

They each want to play together sooo badly.
She invited him into her room to play stuffed animals this morning

First foods

2011-07-27T22:07:00.001-04:00

Dylan is apparently all boy when it comes to eating. He did well sleeping thru the night for almost 2 weeks, & then I heard the yelps of FEED ME SEYMORE!!! Here is first photo with solids, not to keen on the oatmeal! In fact, prefers his toes most days! So far he's also had rice, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, applesauce, banannas & peas, the last two of which seem to be his favorites. With both Mere & Mimi having backyard gardens, & the number of vegies/fruit now consumed in this house, I've actually begun to puree some of his food! Always thought that was something my friend Kelly would have done.
I'm pretty sure his belly is plenty full when he goes to bed, it's now those oragel moments & a little bit of a stuffy head waking him now. Hopefully his first tooth will pop soon enough for him & stuffiness will go away. Nights can be the worst for him lately.

PIZZA PARTY!

2011-07-24T22:05:00.000-04:00

Our first one. Well deserved for great behavior during travel times!!

Lovin his funny face!

2011-07-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

Nagshead NC- Nana Boutelle 90th Birthday

2011-07-22T21:25:00.001-04:00

WOW! What a great time. A 12 hour car ride wasn't too rough either way. Mimi hooked us up with a DVD player & a "magic box" of new toys. The weather in NC was the hottest they had seen since the 1950's, with heat index of 103, but that didn't stop us from playing hard! We went to the beach 1 day with just about everyone. Brooklyn had fun packing sand around a sand castle with her cousin, Lauren. She wasn't a huge fan of the water given it was fairly cold & a wave knocked her on her tush! Flat out told us she preferred the pool! lol. Dylan also noted the cool water trying to do a little dance as I let the water rush over his feet & he sunk deeper into the sand! If you know me, I wasn't about to get in! Sean on the other hand headed out with Mark on the boogie boards.
We hung out poolside quite a bit & Aunt Brianna helped her learn a special dive & how to jump in by herself! Other highlights included B chasing Brinkley around the house, played catch phrase, enjoyed a super hot hot tub, Nana's dinner party @ Lone Cafe, & D's new crab swimsuit/towel & B's butterfly jar & beach toys from Gma/gpa Boutelle, & just good fun with family!

2011-07-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

This is my new fave pic. It's 6:30am, all snuggled in bed.