Tatoo Boy

Over the course of his two and half years, Alex has had his fair share of visits to the doctor's office. The one joy of going for him has always been the end of the appointment when he gets to pick one of those wonderful stickers out of the bin. We had quite the collection of stickers. And they don't just come with his doctor visits. My OB has stickers for kiddos to get when they accompany the mama's to their pregnancy appointments. Well, he has officially abandoned his love of stickers and moved up a level. There are three bins to choose from.

1. The pencil bin...which he is much too young to appreciate. He would more than likely end up revisiting the doctor after falling with one in his mouth.

2. The sticker bin...very popular for most kids. Friendly to all ages. Though Abby enjoys dining on them if she gets one.

3. The tatoo bin...temporary tatoos for youngsters to decorate their skin with. How can you go wrong with these?

So Alex has moved on up to a love of the temporary tatoos. I couldn't let the little monkey wear temp tatoos for the longest time because his skin was just too darn sensitive. He'd break out from anything on his skin. Well, he has officially toughened up and is no longer a sensitive little dude. (still won't try the smell-good laundry soap though) He loves, loves, LOVES those tatoos. We get them whenever we can. I think that he is going to have an absolute blast when we go to the state fair this year. They give out those tatoos at nearly every booth. I'll be taking a before and after photograph of that day. I think it's the cutest thing to watch him brag about his tatoos when we put them on him. So without further ado, here are a couple of pictures of his latest temporary body art.

Dinosaur Tatoo

Spiderman Tatoo

Move Over Jack Sparrow!

Optimus Prime just kicked poor Jack Sparrow's butt. As far as guilty pleasure movies go, Pirates of the Caribbean has been the movie series that has topped my popcorn-watch-ability chart since I saw the first one in the theatre. But here lately, I've taken a liking to Transformers. I didn't get the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen and I regret that now. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, eh? Well, as you may have realized from the most recent blog entry below this one, I was scheduled to see Transformers 2 today. Well, I just got back and all I can say is...HOLY COW!!!! Okay...that movie was beyond awesome! If you know me, you know that I'm a geek to the core. I mean, you can't see a movie 11 times in the theater (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) and not be classified as a geek, ya know what I mean? So I've been watching Transformers at home on the trusty DVD player and have gotten absolutely hooked. I will not admit to the number of times I've seen it. Okay...nevermind that last statement. I have no shame. I have seen it 10 times in the last two months. (Go ahead. Roll your eyes.) It has bumped my love of Pirates of the Caribbean down a level on the ol' favorite list. Seriously folks, the movie rocks. But not nearly as much as the second one. I know that I have a list of movies that I must see, but I shall give this advice to you. If you are going to see one movie in the theater this year, then see Transformers. Michael Bay (director) knows what the viewers want. I laughed. I cried. And I was literally on the edge of my seat wanting more by the time the credits hit. I mean, I love Harry Potter and all, but you can't see a Michael Bay film for the first time on your couch or you just won't get the full effect of it's magnificence. I can't wait until Alex and Abby are old enough that they can go with us to enjoy the awesomeness of these kinds of movies.

So as far as getting out of the house and enjoying some personal-away-from-the-kids time...that part was great too. The kids are finally old enough to leave them for a day with Grandma and Grandpa. They had a blast and were little angels. They didn't even suffer from mommy-complex issues this time around. I must admit that is has got the wheels in my brain to start turning. I am wondering if it wouldn't be nice to stick with just two kiddos instead of the three that I had planned on having eventually. Though I will probably change my mind again later. It was so nice to get out though. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! I'll be sure to drop them off in a week or two when I need to see the movie again.

P.S. Seriously folks...go see Transformers 2. You won't be sorry.

My Day Out

Tomorrow is the big day. Well...one of the big days. I shall take a minor leave of the kiddos to go spend some quality time with Josh. If you follow my movie counters on the side bar, then you will know that tomorrow I will be seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I am so incredibly pumped to get out of the house for awhile. We are dropping the kiddos off at Grandma and Grandpa's house tomorrow morning and catching a nice noon matinee of the flick. It's going to be great. I do so miss the movies. Josh and I used to pretty avid movie goers pre-kid and since Alex, I think maybe we have seen three or four movies. That was a one month quota a few years back. For now I'll just enjoy the rare times I get. I fully plan on kickin' back and relaxin' tomorrow for 2 1/2 hours of joy joy popcorn movie goodness. Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!

When a Good Idea Goes Bad

Abby is in her experimenting phase. She loves to try everything she can. She is starting to babble more and learning more words as the days go by. She tries, with all her might, to do everything that Alex does. For the most part, she is generally successful. Right now, one of the things she enjoys doing...or at least trying to do...is putting on hats. I got quite a few random hats from garage sales for the kiddos. Police hat, fireman hat, pirate hat, etc. She does enjoy them. (she also enjoys attempting to smash them while yelling 'hi-yah!', but that's a story for another day) So when she sees a hat, she plops it on her head and parades around the house with a goofy grin on her little face. Well...little Miss Thing decided this weekend that pots and pans could fit on her head as well. Oh the amazing things to discover when you are a toddler. As you may well know, pots and pans were not originally intended for use as head wear. Unfortunately, Abby was not aware of such an obvious rule. She decided to put an angel-food cake pan on her head. You know the pan, right? Has a nice convenient hole built right into the bottom? (see image on right)

Well, that pan fit every so neatly over her head and slipped right down to sit on her shoulders. Well, there was a little lesson to be learned for even the adults in this kind of crazy situation. Apparently, what goes on, doesn't necessarily come off as easy. Actually, it may not come off at all. I'm sure Abby thought it was a fun idea to wear it as a hat. But...

...it was not a good idea in the end. As you can see, Her head came through just fine. We pulled and buttered her up and even tried to put tape around the inside of the hole to ease her head through. It wouldn't budge for love nor money. She was screaming bloody murder by this time and something had to be done. I've had this cake pan for many a year and was sad to have to do it but in the end, Josh got his tin snips out and...

...we had to destroy the pan. Every time we tried to pull it off, it would nearly slice her forehead open. We had no choice in the matter, but she is safely now without a cake pan on her head and much happier. Did she learn her lesson? Well...we won't know because it was the only angel-food cake pan we had. I'm sure if given the opportunity, she would gladly go for round two.

Gene Splicing

Since Alex first gained his mobility, I've noticed a trend with both the kids over the 2 1/2 years. You know that the name of this blog is called Little Monkeys, right? Well, my general thinking was that the kiddos had some sort of monkey genes that they developed the older they got. Seriously, folks...they would swing from vines (yes, both of them) if I had them hanging from the drop ceiling. Some days, it is all I can do to keep them from literally climbing the walls. So, yeah...there you have it. My kids are part monkey, part human. Well, up until two days ago, I would never have been able to accurately compare them to another animal. Abby decided to climb one of the slides outside because she dearly loves to be as high up as she can possibly go. Before I could get to her, due to attending to Alex's needs at the time, she had attempted this fateful climb with a cellphone in one hand. Once at the top, as I was bookin' it for her, she tipped over backwards and went tumbling down the slide landing with one arm awkwardly behind her back. I'm sure you can picture it. She just laid on the ground screaming as I got to her a split second too late. At first, I was convinced it was broke or dislocated because it drooped at her side like a little limp noodle. Finally, after an hour, she started regaining use in it. She still is favoring it because it is a little sore. What I realized after this was that she, along with her brother, have been consistent about climbing to the highest point they can (i.e. tables, chairs, beds, counter-tops, air-conditioner units...you know, the usual). Do you know an animal that fits this description of needing to be on top of the highest point? Well, goats are like that. So it is now obvious that Alex and Abby are 1/3 human, 1/3 monkey, and 1/3 mountain goat*. There was some serious gene splicing going on here. Anyhow, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Here is Logan with one of Alex's monkey stuffed animals. Alex shares with him. :0)

*Please note that I do not actually believe that my children have monkey or goat genes. That would be impossible, folks. It is a joke for all intents and purposes.

Sometimes You Gotta Laugh

This may be a bit strange to some of you, but I found it really funny and cute. If you are a follower of the blog, then you'll know that Alex has to have quite a bit of medicine to control his Asthma. One of the medicines that he has to have twice a day, is called Pulmicort. It's a medication that he has to breathe in with the use of a nebulizer. The best way for a kid his age to inhale it properly, is to use a mask. So this is what he looks like when he is using his mask.


Not funny, right? It actually makes me feel bad that he has to do his at such a young age. And it's even sadder that he is incredibly used to it. But, honestly, he doesn't mind it too much because he gets to watch YouTube videos for the 6 or 7 minutes it takes to do it. He enjoys watching the monster truck, tractor and firetruck videos. He even knows how to put the mask on and turn the nebulizer on himself. He's a little pro. So everytime I see him do this, it reminds me of a sci-fi movie. Anyone out there able to guess which movie I'm talking about? No? Well, it reminds me of Star Wars. Big surprise, eh? So I couldn't find an image from the movie on google, but I did find a picture of one of the action figures of Han Solo when he is hunting mynocks inside the space slug during Empire Strikes Back and when you put the two images together, this is what you get...

It makes me laugh. It was a my way of putting a good spin on a poopy situation. And sometimes, you just gotta laugh.

Say hello to my little friends!

This weekend, we had a very unexpected experience. We were all outside enjoying the lovely weather when we saw a very cool, and maybe rare, thing. There, on one of the kids riding toys, was a newly hatched batch of praying mantis babies. It was truly fascinating! There were probably 40 or 50 or these little guys frantically running amok. Josh was absolutely in awe of the tiny critters. The kids didn't really know what to think of them. We let them run around our hands and Alex got to hold a couple of them. Abby just wanted us to move so she could play with the car. Now, the car that the mama mantis decided to lay her eggs on is bright yellow and red, so we decided to give the hatchlings a helping hand and moved them, one by one, onto the nearest tree. I got the camera out and tried to take some pictures of the little buggers, but they were just so tiny that the close up pictures weren't in focus. So here is a picture I found of what exactly it was we saw.

But I did get a few pictures of them that came out. This shows the top part of the car with all the little dudes running around. I kept the image full size, so you can can click on it for a bigger version to see them better.



I also got a video of them. They were all over the car and the ground around the car, but you could see them best on the yellow part.



So it was a pretty cool thing, all in all. The best part of the whole thing actually happened today though. Seeing as how we have plenty of birds, I figured the majority of the babies were doomed to a fate of bird chow. But today, I was sitting on the bench by the tree and three little babies crawled up onto my arm and sat there for awhile. I looked around, and sure enough! Those tiny babies were still hanging around. They even made it through the crazy hailstorm we had last night. They are a tad bit bigger and turning more green. Maybe they will stick around and we can watch them grow up to be big guys. They are helpful bugs and would keep the other bugs in check. So we welcome them and hope they stick around.

It's gonna be a B-E-A-utiful week (sarcasm noted)

Dont go Daddy!

Yesterday, Josh headed back out to his out-of-state work for the week....again. It's becoming old hat for me now. I am rather used to his absence lately. This will make for the third week in a row where he is gone. I believe that the kids are starting to get confused with his random weeks away. When he gets home on the weekend, the kids turn into absolute disasters! They cry, whine, fight, and throw more tempers than during the days that Josh is actually gone. Then again, they are also kids. It could be purely coincidental, right? The worse part about Josh being gone is the lack of company for me. I don't mind doing all the work around here or the constant, never-ending need of attention from the kids. That part, I can handle. I miss the little chit-chatting and my warm body to share a bed with (thought I don't miss the snoring...sorry Josh). Heck, I even miss the constant clickety-clackety of the keyboard when he is playing World of Warcraft. At least there is someone in the house with me. *sigh* But, alas...I am alone again this week and am biding my time until he gets home. It does make for a long week. The other bit of annoyance is the food. The kids are super-picky and so making normal meals is almost pointless when the only one who eats it is me. Why bother, right? It just makes more dishes. So it's the constant blah of chicken nuggets, fishsticks, and spaghetti. Ugh...heartburn central. But, to top the wondrousness of the week, Abby caught croup. What the flippin' monkeys?!? It's spring! Croup with a side of snotty nose is not exactly how I wanted to spend my week. What's worse, is that croup and asthma can be a very nasty combination and can easily land us with a midnight trip to the ER. We are just praying that the massive amount of meds Alex is on, will prevent this from happening. Here's hoping, eh? So I hope you all have a spendid week...I hope we do.

Alex & Abby saying bye to Daddy again for the week.

So here is that video that I promised y'all this week. I think it's pretty cute. Too bad he couldn't wear his firefighter helmet that I got for him at a garage sale last weekend. Would have been the icing on the cake. Enjoy!


FIREFIGHTER ALEX

Big Truck Day

What a fun day this was! My mom called me on Friday night and informed me that at the town's high school parking lot, they were holding an event called, "Big Truck Day." One of the local organizations put together a super fun event for kiddos of all ages (big kids like me included). They get a whole ton of big vehicles to park in the parking lot and they open their doors and all the glories inside for all the world to experience. Okay. So maybe it would be boring for someone without wee kiddos. But seriously, unless you are an ex-convict or someone who regularly breaks the law, how many times can you say that you get to check out the inside of a police car. Wow, folks. I tell you, I had no idea, whatsoever, that these things come equipped with laptops and more bells and whistles than I could ever have imagined. It was truly fascinating. So, in case you weren't aware, Alex is beyond obsessed with trucks, tractors, and emergency vehicles. More boy, the kid could not be. Abby, of course, plays right along side him and drives her Hot Wheels around just as much as he does. All in all, I don't think she was nearly as thrilled as he was. When we got there, it was a bit of a struggle to get him interested. He needs the average 5 minute warm up time to realize just how cool the situation is. But once he got started, he was all over that stifling hot parking lot, darting from big truck to tractor and back again. They had firetrucks (got to sound the siren on one of those bad boys), tractors, a skid steer, police car, ambulance, an excavator, a fed-ex big rig, and various other odds and ends. I tell you what, the local law enforcement around here is really friendly and I tip my hat to them (if I were to wear a hat, that is). So I will leave you with a mass overload of pictures of the eventful evening. I have a video of Alex putting out the 'fire' at a play fire house with a big fire hose. It was adorable and I'll try to post it this week sometime. Until then, enjoy your second hand experience of the Big Truck Day.

The Elusive Olderous-Brothercis

Me and Russ a few years back.

Okay, okay...so this is all supposed to be about what is going on in Alex and Abby's lives, but hey, sometimes I'm really pressed for info for this blog. How many times can you blog about poopy diapers and temper tantrums, right? So this little number is dedicated to my long-lost bro, Russell. Or as he put it, my elusive Olderous-Brothercis (like the elusive bigfoot...somewhere out there, but hard to find). I have four brothers, in case you were wondering. Three full bloods (Jake, Jeremy, & Aaron) and one half blood (Russell). But honestly, does blood really matter these days? I think not because I have other 'brothers from other mothers' too and love them as well. (A story for another day, perhaps) So long story short, I'm the oldest of the full bloods (if I must use that term again) and I was closest to my long-lost bro because I knew him the longest. I believe if it were not for his collection of old Star Wars toys, I may never have grown nearly as fond of the movies as I am today. He moved to another state awhile back, but I get to see him from time to time. I haven't got to hear from him in quite a while, but always find myself wondering just what he might be up to these days. Well, I just happen to be a member of one of those 'find friends and family' websites. I won't admit which one it is, but yes...I have fallen prey to, like millions of others, the insanity of these websites. Apparently EVERYONE is on there. Okay, so not everyone, but pretty dang close! I got the notion one boring evening that my long-lost brother might just be floating around on there too. I looked him up and, WA-LAH! Instant reconnection! I am proud to say that I found him. I have a lot of great memories of us growing up. I miss him a lot and am thrilled to be back in contact again! So this is for you, brother dearest: "Ha ha ha! I found you! Welcome back bro!"

Note the red hair. Must be from Dad's side of the family. :-)

Chompers Cometh!

Finally! Whew...the wait is finally over. Miss Abby finally got another tooth.Left Lateral incisor, to be precise. She got her first two bottom teeth forever ago and has finally, after a much anticipated wait, gotten a third tooth. 14 months old, this girl is, and she still must gum her every meal. Honestly, I don't know how she eats as much as she does with two scrawny little teeth. She out eats Alex at nearly every meal! Anyhow, it may be the shortest blog I've written to date, but hey...now you know the rest of the story.

The Life & Death of an Imaginary Friend

Perhaps you have all read my past post where I mentioned Alex's imaginary friend. Well, in case you aren't aware, he has this imaginary friend that he frequently talks to. His name is Floppy. "What, pray tell, is Floppy?" you ask. Floppy is a lady bug that he carries around with him in his pocket. Sometimes Floppy is carried around with him in the mornings and other times he is just a little sidekick that Alex enjoys carrying a conversation with when he having some quiet playtime. It's very cute. He has even carried the little guy...or gal...up to me and asked me to hold it or pet it. The best part is seeing him gently carry this fragile little pretend friend around in his small cupped hand. He is so tender with it. I have absolutely no idea what ever sparked Floppy's creation. Who can unravel the mysteries of a two-year old's mind. Not I, that is for sure. Perhaps you are now asking me, "So Jessica, why is the blog titled, the life and death of an imaginary friend?" For that answer, I will share a conversation with you to the best of my blogging ability (sorry, no video for this one folks. It was one of those random moments of life experiences.)

We were outside enjoying a moment of family time and Alex seemed bored so I asked turned to him and asked, "So Alex, how is Floppy doing today? Where is he right now?"
Alex shrugged and looked down at his pockets. As he stared at his obviously empty pockets, he said "I don't know."
I asked, "Is he riding in your pocket again?" Alex nodded and reached into his pockets. Floppy never showed and he told me so with another shrug of his tiny shoulders. So I offered to search his pockets for the elusive bug and he agreed happily. I searched both of his pockets and pulled Floppy out saying, "Hey! I found him...is this Floppy?"
Alex smiled and said, "Yeah! Hi Floppy!" He took Floppy from my hand and held him in his palm gently. He asked Floppy a question that I couldn't hear and then without hesitation looked up at me and then threw floppy on the ground. I was shocked at his sudden change of attitude towards his little buddy. So I told him, "Be careful so you don't smash him with your foot."
Alex then proceeded to jump on poor helpless Floppy. I laughed in spite of myself and asked him, "Why did you smash Floppy?"
He looked up to me, shrugged once more and said, "Because he's mine!"

Now, I have no idea why all this took place but it was funny to see. So I offered to bury Floppy in the sand and Alex agreed. As soon as we buried him, the kid promptly unburied the bug and put him back in his pocket after saying something to the resurrected lady bug. No idea what his little whispered conversation was, but in the end, it was cute to see. Strange, yes...but cute. So Floppy has been created, killed and brought back to life. Ah...the life and times of an imaginary lady bug.

Pocket Monkey

Kids seem to get the strangest obsessions as they grow. It seems like it changes every day too. As Alex has grown, he has now become quite the little character. He is constantly pretending things. Lately he has taken to a new 'imaginary friend'. I'm not sure it is really a friend, but that is the best thing I can call it. He will walk around with his palm facing up like he is caring something every so gently. It fools me quite often. Sometimes I really do think he is carrying something. When you ask him what he is carrying he will tell you that it is his lady bug named Floppy. But there is obviously no bug there. He actually will wake up in the mornings and come out of his room carrying his imaginary bug. It's cute. One of the other things that has developed, is his awareness of pockets. He loves love LOVES his pockets. True to little boy nature, he puts everything he can find into his pockets. Sometimes I find things that I have absolutely no idea what it is or where on Earth he got it. Rocks, twigs, pennies, bottle caps, bits of trash, plastic chunks...the list goes on. The funny part of this is that I never remember to check his pockets before I do laundry. So it has become part of my normal routine to check the washer/dryer after laundry is done and see what I can find floating haphazardly in the bottom of the machine. Each laundry day makes for yet another handful of surprises. I've even found a dollar bill and an old cellphone in there. I took a picture of one of my 'hauls'. It makes me smile when I see those random knick-knacks in the washer. I'll be interested to see what I'll find in there when Abby discovers pockets. I have a feeling she will follow every so closely in her brother's footsteps when it comes to this. It's only a matter of time before my laundry treasure hunt doubles in size from two pocket monkeys.

This is what I found after just own load of laundry. Funny thing...the dinosaur has been through the wash at least three times now. It must be a favorite.

Pickles the Bunny

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family...

Pickles.

Isn't she adorable? I must admit that Alex picked a fine looking little bunny. This past weekend we all piled into the mini van and headed out into the country to pick a bunny. She is a holland mini-lop and will grow to a whopping four pounds. Okay, so whopping was a stretch for words. She's going to be a small one, but that is better all around. At first, I had the notion that she might become an indoor rabbit. You've heard of people doing that, right? Well, those people are complete nutters. In case you weren't aware of this little tidbit, rabbits are stinky little critters. Their pee smells like ammonia and they poop more than a newborn human. They pretty much leave a perfect trail of constant poop behind them when the hop along. It's disgusting. It's even more disgusting when your one year old wants to follow the bunny around so she can pick up the 'present's' and put them in her mouth. (Seriously, I'm compiling a list of disgusting things Abby eats) Anyhow, she came to live in a small cage in the house until we can get a hutch built for her outside. No indoor bunnies for his family. To say the least, Alex is smitten with Pickles. Abby adores her and wants to hold her all the time (not good for poor Pickles). Unfortunately the smell got to be too much for our tiny house and Pickles had to go live at Aunt Mandy's house with thier new bunny (Pickles litter mate) Nacho. Click here to meet Nacho. Alex was devastated to leave her there, but in the end I explained it all and he was fine with the idea of building her a hutch. Hopefully all will go well and we can get a hutch built soon so Pickles can come home. We miss her furry little face already.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! Today my mom turns...ah ha! I bet you thought I'd be cruel enough to reveal her true age. Not a chance peeps, so don't ask. It wouldn't be lady like, ya know what I mean? I hope you have a super great birthday.

Actually, there is pretty much no question whether she will have a good birthday. She will. Do you want to know why? Because...yes folks...another woman got bitten by the Twilight bug. And that woman is my very own mother dearest. And for her birthday she will spend the evening engrossed in the series. I gave her the first book for mother's day and she was slow to start, but alas, she has become just as addicted as the rest of us Twilighters. It's pretty funny because she was set on the fact that it would just be another book. A good book, she was not hesitant to admit, but just a book, nonetheless. One book, one movie, and and one obsession later, she has joined us on the dark side of temptation. He he he...I have turned her into a monster. She even bought the second book before I could get it for her. She also now proudly owns the movie. How do I know she is 100% hooked? Because she has told me she will be seeing New Moon in the theatre. This may not seem like good proof to you, but look folks. She doesn't see movies in the theatre. So that's sayin' something. Good for you mom! You'll be joining me on my second viewing of it come November. She has sped through Eclipse and has almost finished and will be probably knocking down my door tonight to borrow the last book. So once again, Happy Birthday Mom! Go treat yourself and get some more reading in. Love you!

A Phlog (Photo Blog)

Yes, I made that word up. Phlog is not a word. Actually, come to think of it, it might actually be a term these days. Seems like most words that don't seem real are actually words that people know by heart. But I'm not hip to the text/internet lingo. So for your enjoyment, I have some photos to share. I have been slacking in that department, I must admit. So kick back and enjoy the phlog.

We got to go to my parents' house for Memorial Day and my mom's Daisies fill the whole front yard. The kids had a blast picking them.

Alex and Wesley really are great buddies. But I'm still not sure Wesley is diggin' the whole hug scene. He's still gettin' used to crazy Alex with his lack of respect for personal space.

This is funny. Alex loves this video about firetrucks that we check out constantly at the library. So one day he decided to get dressed in his fire gear. He has on a fire hat, fire coat, fire boots, and fire gloves. He told me this as he put each item on. He searched, but couldn't mangage to find a fire mask.

We got to enjoy the three day weekend with a little 'fishing' with my Mom and Dad. Actually, there was no fishing for me or the kids. I wanted to, but chasing them around and herding them away from the constant attempts to jump in the water kept me too busy. But my parents caught some good catfish (sorry you weren't there Ben).

Alex and Grandpa

Abby and Grandma

A moment of future torture, forever captured on film. One day I will bring this photo out to torture them when they are older. Cute though, eh?