Summer Vacation - T-Ball Time

Now that the kids are in school, using the term "summer vacation" actually applies to us. Before they were in school, it was just plain, old summer. This summer went by way too fast. By the time school started, I wasn't ready for it to be over. I really miss my kids being home. I'm glad they are learning and making friends. I just really enjoy having them home all day with me. Even when all they do is fight with each other and create giant messes in the house, I still miss it. The house these days is way too quiet. Evie agrees, I do believe. She randomly goes to the front door, cries and says "bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye!" This is her way of saying she wants to go see the kids. She has even begun to say rough versions of their names. (Still no "ma-ma though. grrr.)

Anyhow, this summer was pretty crazy. We had a lot of fun and a few firsts that we got to experience. The first big "first" for us was the grand entrance of sports. Alex played T-ball for the first time. He loves sports, so we couldn't deny him when he wanted to play. Granted, the greatest part for him was that he got to be on the same team as Kyler (his best bud). We had practice twice a week and five games. It's an inner-city thing that our town does through the recreation commission. It was fun and a learning experience for everyone. I played baseball/softball as a kid. It was fun to relive that through my own child. Abby wasn't interested in playing. At all. She ended up having a play-date with her friend from pre-school the same day Alex had his first game. She was more than happy to do that instead of go see brother play ball.

Alex did pretty well for his first round of team sports. He learned some fundamentals and got to have a good time with his friend. All in all, I'd say it was a good experience. I imagine he'll want to play again next summer and that's fine by me. I will say that it was pretty funny watching those little five and six year old kids try to figure out which way to run and throw. It was pretty cute and cracked me up a few times. It'll be interesting to see how much they will retain when they play again next year. Team sports, round 2  starts this week: Soccer. Yep. No clue about this sport. Gonna be interesting!

Batter up!

Third base and waiting...

Run home, Alex!

Waiting to bat with his buddy.

Mr. Cool with his John Deere hat.

Next up: Summer Vacation - Swim Lessons Round 2

First Day of School (the late, late post)

First day of school.

So, as my friend Mandy pointed out to me today, I'm epically failing on the blog front. I have a handy little post-it note on my computer with a list of things I need to write about, but have yet to do so. Fourth of July, swim lessons, the entire summer, the garden (that is mostly dying now). And of course...the first day of school. Oh, I did take a picture of my school-bound duo. I'm not lazy! I swear! Truth be told, I'm obsessed with my book right now. As soon as I finish everything for the evening and have the three wee ones off to bed, I go straight to Mr. Laptop and start working on my book. But that's not what this is about. (It's almost up for sale! yay!) So back to the first day of school...two weeks ago.

Abby is off to a great start for her first year of full day school. Kindergarten is a bit intimidating and a little too long for her, but she is getting better each day. The first day of school, she used her pink Barbie backpack and loaded it up with her lunch. Since then, she's gotten a new Phineas and Ferb backback that she is in love with, which helps her excitement level. She did fantastic on the first day! No tears or anything! I was super proud of my little Kindergartner. I will admit that I'm having some difficulty getting used to her being gone all day. I miss her and her awesome imagination and antics like crazy. Some days I turn on random shows on Netflix to fill the background with noise so that I don't go crazy. I honestly think I'm not coping nearly as well as Abby is.

Alex, on the other hand, is on to first grade. He's got the whole thing down, old hat. He wasn't very excited to go to school once he found out that his best buddy, Kyler, wouldn't be in his class. Turns out that the three recesses he has is spent playing with him, so he's getting more excited to go each day. We're still dealing with the post-summer routine switch. They go to bed at their normal "school bedtime", but it's not working out so well. Alex, my little ravenous reader, can't sleep. He sits on his bed and finds the tiniest bit of light source and reads. And reads...and reads some more. So when wake up time hits in the morning, I practically have to drag him out of bed. I actually have started threatening him with ice water to pour on him. (yes. It's that bad.) We'll get there. Or not. Either way works for me.

In short, the first day of school went pretty smooth. I've been eating lunch with Abby and saying hi to Alex everyday. I'd like to say it's mostly for them, but it's for me too. The days drag and Evie misses them horribly as well. It's going to take some getting used to. Ah, life changes. We all must adapt.

9 Months Old

9 months old

T-minus three months until little miss Evie turns one year old! Also, in a completely related countdown, three months until I am breastfeeding, no more. I'm trying to treasure the whole closeness and sweetness of the breastfeeding experience. I am. I really am. But here's the thing. Have you ever tried to breastfeed an octopus? No? Well, that's what it's like right now. Evie thinks that she can eat upside down, walking around (no joke), play with toys, bite (hello first tooth!), and watch what everyone else in the house is doing...all at the same time while eating. She also is (are you ready for this?) patting my...um...breastfeeding utensils when she's hungry. I hate to say it, but it's a little awkward for me. But here's the deal with Evie. She's busy. Very, very busy. She officially gave up crawling a week ago and is a full-on walker now. She climbs, she bounces, she even tries to run. As of now, she can wave bye-bye, nods her head 'yes', signs a few words and gives kisses. She's eating mostly finger foods now, as she rejects being spoon-fed 90% of the time. Literally, she rejects it. Spits out anything on a spoon that goes in her mouth.

At her 9 month check-up, she is checking in at 18 lbs 4 oz. By far, she is the lightest of my three. The doc says that she is way beyond her peers in the mobility department and that is why she isn't gaining a lot of weight. He told me it's time to up her calories. I'm also supposed to introduce the major allergens that they used to tell us Americans to hold off on until the first birthday. Apparently, America got it wrong with the whole "wait until they're one" method. According to the studies, countries that don't hold back on peanuts and the like have almost zero food allergies. I gotta admit, I'm a little nervous about giving her stuff, but I guess we'll do what we can. Waiting late in the game didn't help Alex so we'll try the other way with Evie. Here's hoping. He wants me to give her peanut butter soon. I'm hesitant, to say the least. We'll see.

So Evie's a busy girl and right now her biggest problem is missing her big brother and big sister when they are at school. She isn't coping well with that. She gets pretty cranky when they are gone. The moment they get home, she becomes the happiest little thing on Earth. Oh. And she is a horrible sleeper. The doc told me that if she won't sleep in her crib, I should try co-sleeping. I laughed. Docs don't normally tell you that. But apparently, because of her high skills for movin' and groovin', doc says it's okay. Who knew? I laughed because I already co-sleep half the time. I lie. It's more than half of the time. I won't say how much more.

Happy nine-month birthday, baby girl!

She's so silly! She was actually riding this stick horse around the house yesterday. How did she figure that out??

She is in love with this kitty we bought her so that she would be more comfortable in her crib. We call it Baby Kitty. She carries it everywhere.

Guess who figured out what the fun toilet paper roll does?

Jelly Bean Tree

Okay. So I have a new goal. It's simple. Just one word.

Blog.

Yep. I've been...well...preoccupied. I could easily be blogging every other night, but I've chosen a different way to utilize my computer/personal time. Do you remember me confessing that I wrote a book? Well, I did. And it's quite done now. By 'quite done', I mean I'm in the final stages of getting it published. And by 'published', I mean self published via the internet for e-readers. After more denials than I care to admit from agents, I am trying something different. Anyhow, as this post isn't supposed to be about this, I'll just sum up by saying that I've spent my evenings getting it ready and decided it was more important than blogging. On to the real post now.

Abby is by far my most creative kid. She comes up with some really fun and strange ways to play or spend her time. Right around jelly bean season (Easter), Abby decided that she wanted to grow a jelly bean tree. She marches to the beat of her own drum, that girl. So I just smiled. What I didn't know at the time, was that she actually meant to accomplish this impossible feat. She went out and planted one white jelly bean in the yard. A couple of weeks went by and wouldn't you know it. A plant grew in that very exact place. When it came time to mow the yard, she reminded me not to mow over her Jelly Bean Tree. I smiled again and complied. What were the odds that a plant would actually grow in that same exact spot that she planted that jelly bean? It had to be winning-the-lottery odds. It grew. And it grew. And it grew...into a curly dock weed.

Abby and her Jelly Bean Tree.

"They smell like jelly beans, mom!"

She was convinced that those tiny seeds growing on top would turn into jelly beans and pop out one day. So in an attempt to support her wildly imaginative theory, I went along with it. Also, I needed to cut it down before those seeds spread across my whole yard. So I told her that if she lays out bowls under a Jelly Bean Tree, that legend says, when the first sun on a summer morning touches the plant, jelly bean fruit will fall.

Getting ready for the harvest.

She was super excited and she went out to place bowls under her tree. The next morning, she woke up and went out to find her magical surprise. Jelly beans! Some of them fell on the ground and were ruined. But her bowls had plenty of "fruit" in them and she gathered her booty up and ran inside to have a jelly bean breakfast. She even shared them with her brother! What a sweetie!

Her bounty of tasty fruits!

So Abby's Jelly Bean Tree was one of the most creative things she's done so far. The funniest part was when Josh realized that I kept not mowing down the giant weed in our yard. When he asked why and I explained it to him, I don't think I've ever seen him smile so wide at something so random. His only words were, "What were the odds of that?" Abby - that girl makes me smile. I will miss having her around all day when school starts. Yep. I truly will.

8 Months Old

8 months old

Am I seriously going to have a one-year old in four months? What is up with that?? I know I'm a few days late here, but just a few short days ago little miss Evie turned eight months old and boy, oh boy! That girl is on a mission! She must have heard me talking one day to the kids when they asked me how long it will be until Evie is walking. I told them that Abby was the earliest walker at 8 1/2 months. Apparently Evie decided she could totally beat that record. She took her first steps at 7 1/2 months old. It was four steps to mama. And she's been getting better every day. Just tonight she took about ten steps to me while at vacation bible school. She monkey crawls, waves bye-bye, signs "all done", claps, and started climbing stairs. Holy cow, that girl can move!

With the speedy mobility has come the joys of fishing things out of her mouth...constantly. But the worst part is that she won't lie down in her crib. She stands up, latched on to the bars with her little hands, and screams like she's being tortured. Not "sad" screams. No, no. I call them "horror film" screams. She's not just unhappy. She's (for lack of a better term) royally pissed off! Thus, the days of sleepless nights has come to pass. I don't sleep through the night because she doesn't sleep through the night. At all. She gets up every hour...on good nights. It's exhausting. So, do I sneak in a little co-sleeping? Yup. And I don't sneak it in, either. About half way through the night, I flat out give up! She lays that little head on my pillow and is out like a light. I partially pass out shortly after. Altogether now, say, "Mommy complex!" She's got it bad. This too shall pass though and I will miss parts of it.

Otherwise, all is well with Evie. She's eating more solids everyday and gaining weight like a chubby little pro. I haven't had her officially weighed, but according to my scale, she's about 18 pounds. She's a sweetheart and I'm just so happy that I get the privilege of being her mama! She's at that fun age where she is learning so fast and I'm having a fun time watching her grow.

 

Here she is standing on her own. I am going to try to get a video of her walking tomorrow and post it. You know...in all my spare time. :-)

The Deep End

It's more obvious to me now that two of my children possibly have fish genes spliced into their system. Last year I signed Alex and Abby up for swim lessons at our closest YMCA. It cost a minor fortune for someone on our budget, but was well worth it in the end because both of them took to water like they have gills. By summer's end, they were crazy kids in the water. This year I wanted to further their skills with a second round of swim lessons. I decided, due to financial restraints, that I would sign them up at our local pool.
1. We can walk to lessons. It's two blocks down the street.
2. It was much cheaper. Nuff said.
3. They have a baby pool for Evie to play in when the kids are swimming.
All around, good idea. So basically, this was their first week. Monday, they already knew most everything they instructors taught (I should have bumped them to level 3, but had no way of knowing until they started). By today, they were both in the deep end of the pool. What?! Yep. That's right. They can survive in water. Granted, they just started learning how to tread water and there is NO way I'd just let them go in the deep end and play for a long period of time without me or Josh. But they surprised even me. Two years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed that I'd be sitting on the sidelines watching my kids jump into ten feet of water without having a small panic attack. Today, I just sit there and smile - nervous breakdown free.

Yesterday, Alex jumped off of the "high" dive. (It's not really that high...small town pool ya know.) Today, He did it without the instructor helping him get to the ladder. Then today, Abby jumped off the low dive and then strutted right over to the high dive and jumped! I was so dang proud of those two monkeys! I think we'll do swim lessons every year until they cap out at level 5 just so they get two straight weeks of pool time. It's worth it and I feel super comfortable when they are around water. And the really fun part? Evie loves the pool! She loves tootin' around in her lady bug car (complete with inflatable shade canopy!). When she sees the kids playing, it's all I can do to keep her from climbing in. So does that mean I've tortured the world by getting into a bathing suit? Yup. Pretty much. It's worth it.

Sharks on the Brain

Alex and his hammerhead shark chicken dinner. The chicken looked like a shark and I got creative. He was the happiest kid that night.

When I was growing up, I was obsessed with Star Wars. At least, I thought I was obsessed. The truth I can now see is that I knew not what obsession truly was...until now. When little boys grow up, it's pretty common to hear them get excited about certain things. Trucks and tractors and dinosaurs are generally the two big boy-loves you hear about. Sometimes a few sports get thrown in there as well. Alex has had his fair share of loves. Trucks and tractors were a phase. Then he moved on to The Wiggles. That lasted the longest and he still holds a special place in his heart for the Aussie Fab Four. When he wore that yellow, long-sleeved Wiggles shirt every single day from age 2 - 5, I thought we'd known obsession. But once again, not so much. In between we've had the football-love and The Avengers-love as well. Buy oh my! Alex. That kid! My goodness, has he got it bad!

About a year and a half ago, Alex began getting interested in all things Ocean. Because of his new found interest, Josh and I thought we'd feed that by finding the closest aquarium and taking the kiddos to that. We found one in Oklahoma and once Alex saw that they had a shark tunnel, he was pumped to go. We went last summer around this time and he had a blast. That was just the beginning of his ocean love. Fast forward to today...

He never stops talking about all things ocean. Especially sharks. Never. Stops. Talking. About. Sharks....NEVER. When I ask him to think about something else for a few minutes, he says, "I can't! I can't get sharks out of my brain, mom!" When we go for walks, he will literally talk my ear off about all things ocean and sharks for the entire trip. He owns about ten shark books right now and is begging for more. And the kid reads them...by himself...every day. He Googles. Yes. Googles. He finds the name of some random sea creature and types it in to Google so he can find pictures about them. He wants to be a Marine Biologist and go scuba diving with sharks as soon as he can learn how. I seriously can't explain the level of obsessed this kid is. You just have to hear it to believe it.

This summer we are going to go back to the Oklahoma Aquarium. This time, I can guarantee that he will know every single name to every single creature in that place and will be able to tell you at least one fact about each one. He's asked if we can go to the New York Aquarium and about six other ones he's read about. He can spot a pea-sized picture of a shark in any book he finds within moments and will beg to cut the image out so he can keep it or buy the book if that won't work. We spend hours checking out and reading the shark books he's found at our local library. A year ago, I wouldn't have known one shark from another. They were all great whites in my brain. Today, I can name and identify at least 30 of the 400 species of sharks in the world and tell you a little about them. I know terms like "midnight zone" and "denticles" and can tell you  just which shark is the "garbage can of the ocean."

Sometimes, Josh and I just look at one another and start laughing when Alex gets his shark and ocean lectures on. It can start to drive us a bit batty at times, but who knows? Perhaps he'll be the next Jacques Cousteau. Here's my big question though. How is it possible that things like Scooby Doo and Sponge-Bob give this kid nightmares, but the most frightening creature on Earth doesn't even faze him? And if you're wondering whatever happened to Alex wanting to be a Chiropractor? Don't worry. He says he wants to be a Chiropractic Marine Biologist that scuba-dives with sharks. When I asked him if he would fix the sharks backs he pointed out to me that sharks don't have bones. They have cartilage. It made me laugh.