Saturday, May 31, 2008

Scotty's-eye view

Scotty wanted a turn with the camera, so we handed it over and he had such a great time snapping away.  He took tons of pictures and it has been fun to see the world through his eyes.

A great self portrait!

His beloved trucks and cars.  And the toes add the perfect touch!

Baby brother shot.

Here's a very artistic look at the room through the windows of the bus.


And the bathroom- which has been the highlight of our lives lately!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Questions

Scotty was recently introduced to Toy Story 2 by his cousin and he loves to watch it over and over.  But, for some reason only known to him, the more he watches it the more questions he has about it.  I'm sitting feeding Grant while he is watching it and he is asking tons of questions.  Every little thing that happens he asks why, where, what, how and who.  And then he asks those questions again about my answer!  After answering about 1000 questions I say to him:

  "Why don't you watch the movie quietly and not ask so many questions?"
He sits there quietly for a minute and then says:
  "What does questions mean?"
I laughed and laughed and told him that he is cute and I love him!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Trip report

We are back from our anniversary weekend away.  We had a great time.  We had 8 hours of driving to talk without having to constantly turn around to dole out snacks and entertain little people which left for lots of good, adult conversation!  And we got to sleep in- yeah!!  That is one of the things I miss the most about our pre-kids lifestyle.  And aside from going out to get a pizza, we didn't do anything and it was heaven.  We got caught up on all the Smallville episodes we taped and finally got to watch the season finale of The Office- it was great!!  We talked, laughed and Miles gave me a great massage.  He gives really good massages and I quickly conked out from being lulled into such a relaxed state.  We also channel surfed all 1 billion channels and marveled that there wasn't anything to watch.  The kids had a great time with Grandma Geri and Grandpa Steve.  They were happy and Grandma's house was sufficiently messy when we returned- meaning a fun weekend for everybody.  Both Scotty and Grant were happy to see us and I think we were more happy to see them.  We have been playing non-stop with Scotty since we got home and Grant has been held, snuggled and kissed the whole time since then too!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Play time fun

We've had some fun play times recently.  Scotty has finally mastered the play areas at McDonald's and Carl's Jr so he loves to go there.  He runs over and takes a bite of food, chews and swallows- following direct orders from Mommy and Daddy- then he's off to climb and play until he wants to come back for another bite.  And the last few times we've gone he has been interacting with other kids- even initiating conversation.  We looked at each other and asked who this kid is!  He's growing up and it's so fun to watch.  And when it's time to leave he goes nicely- yeah Scotty!!

Someday you'll be able to eat yummy chicken nuggets and play on the fun slides too Grant!

Here's Scotty waiting for the other kids that he's playing with to come down the slide.  

Coming down the slide backwards- an exciting first!!

Stopping for a quick Sprite break!

Last Saturday the weather was so nice and we went to the park.  Scotty had a great time and especially so when his cousin came- he's much more fun to play with than Mommy is!  Grant had a good time hanging out in the stroller and with Mommy in the shade.  It was a BEAUTIFUL and fun day.

This was actually Grant's first time in this stroller and he really enjoyed it.



Scotty's favorite part of the playground!  He's driving forklifts- in case you're wondering!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Date night - yay or nay?

Yesterday was our 8th anniversary.  Those years have been wonderful and we are still very much in love and happy.  Our anniversary celebrations are a bit harder now that we have kids.  Although we are continuing our tradition of going out to dinner on the 19th and then going away somewhere for Memorial Day weekend, we have to arrange for babysitting- for a whole weekend, no less.  We are lucky to have great family and have had no trouble finding willing family members to help.

Last night my sister in law was happy to watch the boys while we went out to dinner.  We decided to stay in town so we wouldn't be too late to get them home and into bed.  We ended up leaving later due to helping out a neighbor and when we got to her house she offered to come over to our house after the boys were in bed so we wouldn't be rushed.  What a nice offer, but I figured that we were already there and we wouldn't be very long.  We went to dinner and commented frequently how nice it was to be alone together and not have to take care of kids.  It was a really good time.  (Only the 2nd or 3rd time we have been out together since starting on the basement in September!!)  Then we got back to my sister in law's and we ended up staying and chatting for a long time.  It was nice to be able to talk with other adults, enjoy the mild weather and watch all the kids playing together in the yard.  We didn't get home until 9pm- two hours past bedtime.  Remember that kind offer my sister in law made?  I SO should have taken her up on it!!  Today was not a good day.  Scotty was so grumpy.  He just does not deal well with missed sleep.  I keep thinking that as he gets older it will get better and he won't have these problems with staying up a little later, but it is not getting any easier.  And, of course, I had my visiting teachers come over first thing in the morning.  I had to keep apologizing as I excused myself to take Scotty to his room after he yelled at one of their little boys and then apologize about the screaming coming from down the hall!  A little embarrassing even though they kept assuring me that they understand and the same things happen at their houses.  It was a hard lesson to learn that being able to go out for a nice dinner may not be worth the tantrums and hard times the next day.  
Hmmm.....I guess we could hire a teenage babysitter to come here and put the kids to bed....but we are way too cheap for that!!  After paying the babysitter we wouldn't have any $$ left to do anything!  I keep reminding myself that they will grow up and things like this will get easier.  And when that time comes I'm sure I'll be boobing about missing all the cute things about this age!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The battle of wills is on!

Now that Scotty is 3 he has learned that he has his own opinions and thoughts on everything.  He has also learned that he can express these thoughts and opinions at any time (which he does loudly and often!).  What he has trouble understanding is why Mommy still makes him do things when he has very clearly made it known that he doesn't want to.  I have already told you that I don't want to get dressed, go to the potty, turn the tv off, clean up my toys, come into the house from outside, put my dishes in the sink, get my pajamas on, brush my teeth, go to bed and stay in bed, he thinks to himself, haven't I made myself perfectly clear?  Maybe I need to tell you again that I don't want to do these things!  We are learning together about compromise, communication and patience.  Sometimes I feel sorry for Scotty because he has to be the guinea pig of our parenting skills.  By the time Grant is this age we will have mastered the patience and techniques needed to train, teach and handle all of these situations.  With Scotty we are learning as we go and just doing the best we can trying to find what works. 

Scotty is also getting into the "I can do it all by myself" stage.  Sometimes I am so proud of him and watch with joy as he accomplishes something that is important to him.  Other times I am having to restrain myself from jumping in and doing things for him because it is much faster.  This usually happens when we have to go somewhere and I didn't plan an extra 30 minutes for him to put his pants on all by himself!  
I'm looking forward to this year of growth and new adventures that we will experience with him, which apparently is going to be very exciting!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Sneak-ier!!

I was sitting in the office working on the computer when Scotty comes in and asks me where his little scissors are.  He said he has been looking for them and can't find them.  I tell him that he can only use his scissors when I can help him and he'll have to wait.  So a little while later he comes in and says "Let's go make your bed Mommy!  Come on, come on, let's go make your bed.  Get out of the office and make your bed Mommy!"  I think it's so cute that he wants to help me make my bed, so I go out and head into my room.  He quickly runs out and I don't see him again- guessing that he changed his mind and didn't want to help anymore, I make my bed without him and head back into the office.  A few minutes later I hear strange sounds from the family room and as I'm heading to investigate I hear paper ripping.  I come into the room to find him ripping up pieces of paper and sitting on the floor next to him are the little scissors that are on the desk in the office!  He had masterminded a great plan:  Get Mommy out of the office and occupied making her bed long enough for him to sneak into the office, get the little scissors down and take them out to the family room and go crazy!  He's already sneaking around and devising plans to do things behind my back??  At 3 years old???  Oh man- I do not look forward to the teenage years!!  

I will admit that I was a little proud though!  That takes great thinking.  Now we'll just have to channel that great thinking into doing good!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Sneaky

At church yesterday I noticed Scotty dancing around and had Miles take him to the bathroom.  Then a little while later Scotty tells Miles he has to go to the potty so Miles takes him and, surprise, surprise, he doesn't have to go!  He has figured out that he can have a break from church by telling us he has to go to the potty.  Kids!!  I wonder how many times he'll use this little trick.  I can just see it now:  he'll do it a few times so we'll stop taking him and then he'll wet his pants to teach us a lesson!  

We started Grant on rice cereal and he loves it.  He didn't have any trouble with the spoon and he eats a huge bowl of it.  I have trouble getting the consistency right so I always end up adding more and more until I have a huge amount.  I then think that he'll never eat that much and then he always eats it all up!  By the 2nd time eating it he was opening his mouth for the spoon- what a little smartie!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Cute Scotty


It seems that a lot of moms don't feel appreciated for all that they do.  I, fortunately, don't feel that way.  I'm very lucky to have a really cute, thoughtful little boy.  Scotty thanks me all the time for the things that I do.  He thanks me for cooking meals for him, he thanks me for cleaning- especially for cleaning "his" bathroom, he thanks me for doing his laundry, and there is a lot more that he thanks me for.  He thanked me one night when I went into his room and told him it was time to go to sleep!  "Thank you for telling me, Mommy.  Thank you."  The best is when he thanked Miles for taking him to time-out!!  It is so cute and makes me so happy- even after cleaning "his" disgusting toilet!!  And he loves to help me do chores around the house.  He loves to vacuum with me, help me clean bathrooms, dust, unload the dishwasher, do laundry and he especially loves to cook.  The other day he said, out of the blue, that someday we are going to help him learn to use the stove!  And I just know that all this thankfulness and helpfulness will continue on even throughout the teenage years!