Two Years Ago Today...

two years ago today i had a doctors appointment where i thought we'd spend a lot of time talking about my upcoming induction. instead the doctor told me i had dilated more and she was almost certain i would have the baby before then... that very day maybe. i thought she was high...

two years ago today i almost barfed when i stepped on the scale at the doctor's office and saw that i weighed 202 pounds. ugh!

two years ago today i realized i really was in labor and was home alone with a toddler completely unsure where my husband or sister in law were.

two years ago today i went to the hospital at 6:30 pm. you were born at 9:13 pm. (mommy will be forever grateful for that buddy.)

two years ago today i became the mommy to the world's most awesome little boy. and you just keep getting better all the time!

5 days old and sucking your thumb!
you stopped doing that 2 weeks later...

my one year old little sweetie and his doting big sis.
not sure anyone loves you more... except me, obviously! ;)

my big 2 year old little man...
checking out the new big boy bed and posing extra cute!

you have grown so much and learned so much these past two years. you are a sweet as candy but have an ornery streak a mile wide. you just learned the words "taco" and "yellow" and you talk more and more every day... is your sister finally being quiet long enough for you to get a word in?? (ha ha!) you are a little daredevil and will climb up and jump off just about anything. you love to help mommy in the kitchen and make "nommy" foods. you LOVE to eat "nommy" food too! you've just found out about the beatles and are VERY fond of their music- you love to sing "she loves you", "hello, goodbye", and "yellow submarine"! you are at this VERY awesome age where every day brings a new discovery and i love watching you find your way in this world we live in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPROUT!!!!
mommy loves you!

Note to Self:

next time you decide to paint a child's bedroom try to pick a color that doesn't need as many coats. seriously, you are on coat number 3 and it is clearly going to take at least one more.

you better like your new big boy bedroom, sprout!! you better like it A LOT.


update:
it actually took 5 coats. F-I-V-E!
and i'm not actually done. two walls are finished and i just started the other two. oh the joys of painting a room that is FULL of stuff.

remind me to never paint again, will ya? gah!

Look who's talking!

so sprout is becoming quite the little chatter box. in the past couple of weeks he has picked up a lot of new words- including my two favorites of his, bahpa (papa) and neehnah (nana).

here is a list of some of the things he is saying now:

eeeeees= cheese
peeeee= please
bubpy= puppy
eee-ow= (meow) cat
bish= fish
yie= hi
pee-ta= pizza
bah by= bye bye
raaaaaa= (roar) dinosaur
ooohoooh-ahhhahh= monkey
me= mine
mohna mohna= bean's doll 'ellie de mona' that is has taken for his own, by the way
nommy nommy= i'm hungry, food
booh= blue
blaah= block
nohwhay= no way
nuh-uh= no
yesh= yes
bee bee= baby
beh= bed
neena= peanut
bawh= ball
bleck= yuck
mooo= move
too too= choo choo
twee twee= bird
and of course dadhdy and mahmee!

and just a few minutes ago he said "deega"= digger and "dur"= dirt because we have a large digger across the street digging a hole.

he is just starting to repeat. bean is trying to get him to say polish (as in nail polish) and he is saying something remarkably like that. it is bean's new favorite game "sprout can you say...." repeat this over and over and OVER again.

he also named a stuffed animal all on his own. he now calls this small stuffed dog of mine "neena bubpy" or peanut puppy. why? i have no idea. but it sure sounds cute!

and he "reads" books. loudly. he sits there with the open books spouting a bunch of gibberish and flipping pages. so funny. i should get a video. :)

and he still has his own made up language that he uses to communicate things too. when he smacks his lips that means "i'm thirsty, i want a drink" when he makes a popping sound that means popcorn or "i want to blow bubbles" or "daddy i want to play the bubble wrap game on your cool new iphone". (seriously!) when he takes his fists and tucks them under his chin and makes wide eyes that means "i'm scared!"

it sure is a lot easier now that he starting to really be able to tell us what the heck he wants. i can't wait to hear what he comes up with next!

Rantings...

dear sprout,
your crib is for sleeping. it is not meant to be a trampoline. stop jumping and take a nap already!!
love,
your weary mother


dear bean,
your bike is equipped with handlebars. handlebars were designed for steering. you really don't have to stop, stand up, lift your bike up, and turn it around, for the love of pete! you are not getting a big girl bike until you learn this.
hugs,
your frustrated mother


dear magpie,
it is starting to look like spring. people will be outside more. people will be working in their yards. they are allowed to be on the sidewalk and in their OWN yards. please stop barking at them. it is getting old already.
sincerely,
your 2-legged mama


dear computer,
i hate you and your stupid virus. i finally got all my pictures off you so you are getting reformatted. so there! (you are SO lucky you aren't in the trash right now....)
grumpily yours,
blueberry

He's got it all figured out...

i was playing with sprout when he, um, "passed gas".
i asked him, "did you toot??"

he got a huge smile on his face.
"nooooo! daddy!!" was his reply.

:)

Letters of complaint...

dear girl scouts,
it appears it is cookie time for you all again. it also seems that i will need yet another do over on my diet. your delicious cookies are the devil. if anyone says they can eat just one i will both hate them and call them "liar". next year please warn me not to go on a diet during your cookie escapades.
sincerely,
blueberry


dear computer,
i had gotten rid of your stupid virus. you were FINE for three days. so why the frick are you acting all squirelly again. gah! if you let anything mess you up i'm throwing you away.
lovingly,
blueberry


dear beautiful children,
please turn down the volume. i'm sitting right next to you. i fear you are causing me permanent hearing loss. wondering why god didn't provide you with a mute button...
hugs and kisses,
your deaf mama

You probably forgot that you asked for these pictures....

my twin nieces are three months old today and i just realized that i've totally failed to share them with you all. what a terrible aunt i am!! ;)

here is a few shots i got while visiting with them and their sisters today...

baby k is sleeping and baby m is awake... typical. they don't understand why mommy would want them to sleep at the same time.

baby k is starting to wake up...

look at baby m's sweet little face! ... that baby k looks like a trouble maker! ;)

smiles and nearly laughs from two of the sweetest babies you will ever see!
happy three months girls!!

and no, it doesn't even make me want another. not even a wee little bit. ;)

So...

system restore to 10 days ago- check.
download updated version of virus software- check.
run a full computer scan- check.

and i did it! yay! no more virus!

i'll be able to post pictures again. aren't you all so excited. ;)

Ugh!

it appears that my computer, you know the one with all the pictures of my darling children, the one with several months of not backed-up beautiful pictures of my sweet and darling children, has gone and gotten itself a virus. it is seriously possessed. i'm just slightly on edge about this.

***

i'm going to start my "do over" for my diet on monday- starting on the first seemed like a good thing. i'm also starting to plan out my days and meals a little better. more organization for me and the kids seems like it might be a good thing. we will see how it goes though, history has shown that i'm really not an organizer or a planner...

***

it is snowing and blowing here, again. i guess it shouldn't surprise me though, two years ago we had a blizzard in march. (remember that mommee, it was such a great birthday gift for you! ha ha!) i'm really just ready to start our zoo, playground, metropark trips back up and none of those things work well in the snow- can't push strollers in the snow and sprout is not up to walking very far on his own. well, i guess i should rephrase that. he walks but just not where you want him to go! ;)

***

here's hoping i have access to my computer with pictures again VERY soon!

Really??

the sprout is going to turn TWO in one month. TWO!

it isn't that i'm sad about it. i'm not. i love this age! he is so much fun. i would not wish him back to being a baby because this is just plain better. the problem is...
can nearly two years really have passed already?? i mean, really, where did time go?

it doesn't seem like that long ago that he was born. it doesn't seem that long ago that he looked like this...

and didn't we just have his first birthday??

i guess not. because now he looks like this:and i guess that does look like "nearly two" after all. :)

Hey Mom!

"hey mom..." "hey mom..."
i heard this about 100 times last night. everytime was it followed by a bad preschooler joke. yesterday the bean moved outside the knock knock joke box and... well the jokes were odd to say the least. why did she laugh SO hard at these:

bean: "hey mom, why did the pan start on fire?"
me: "i don't know, sweetie. why did the pan start on fire?"
bean: "because it had too much grease in it! ha hahahahah ha ha ha!!!!!"
me: "oh.....????"

bean: "hey mom, why did the shirt say hello?"
me: "ummm.... gee, i don't know."
bean: "because he had a mouth!!! ha ha ha ah hahahaha ha!!!!!!"
me: "really? wow, that is a good one....."

she is quite the comedian, isn't she? ;)

Crafty Tuesday

last week was mardi gras so of course we made masks! with a mask pattern, some traced hands, assorted buttons, gems, feathers and some streamers you can be ready to go on fat tuesday!! :)


i guess i should say bean made a mask. she is the crafty soul. sprout was not interested in such a project. he did express his creativity by pouring an entire bag of buttons all over the table and floor though. ;)

you see, sprout isn't one for crayons and coloring. markers... well, he does naughty things with those. (like writing on walls and himself and well, you get the idea.) he always tries to eat stamps and ink pads. crafts don't do anything for this kid UNLESS there is paint involved. the boy LOVES to paint. though i'm not sure he understands that it is supposed to go on the paper...

yes, it is all around his mouth because he always seems to have to taste it too. if he would have stuck his tongue out you would have been able to see that it had a stripe of blue too. really.

i think you can see why he paints in just a diaper, can't you??

he is just a little paint monster and it is a TON of fun!


...maybe next week i'll be crafty instead of the kids! ;)

Getting Goofy

they were laying on the floor watching nascar with their daddy and they looked so cute i had to get the camera. well, they noticed the camera right away and they started being a little giggly and silly. they laughed and laughed... about what, i'm not exactly sure.

it seemed that if one was going always going to peek at the camera to see if i was still taking pictures.

then they came after me. and i mean they got CLOSE.

and tried to touch the camera lens while i was trying to shoot pictures.

but then they were nice enough to strike this adorable pose for me all on their own.

if only sprout didn't have pizza on his face.... ;)

Oh yes he does...

sprout has a new favorite phrase. one you can actually understand. one that he uses to answer 99% of the instructions i give him and about 90% of the questions that he is asked. what is it?

"nohwhay!"

it is great. oh, yes, it is!
just imagine my day...

me: "sprout, let's go inside now."
him: "nohwhay!"

me: "sprout, time for nap."
him: "nohwhay!"

me: "sprout, come here so we can put shoes on."
him: "nohwhay!!"

and i'm sure you know what he does after saying it, don't you? if you are thinking that he dashes in the opposite direction you are correct. if you added him crawling under the dinning room table to hide you get bonus points.

of course i'm not helping any when i yell "yes way!" and chase after him, am i?

Seems logical...

bean was eating a cheese stick. "mom," she says looking thoughtful.

"what is it?" i ask her.

"welllll, sponge bob is on the package for the cheese sitcks that we had at school..."

"and?" i prompt as i continue to prepare lunches.

"but the cheese sticks are round..."

"soooo?" i reply plopping sprout's lunch down in front of him.

"well, i don't think sponge bob should be on the package. he is square, not round."

i stop for a second and take that in.
"so you are saying that sponge bob should only be on packages of square cheese sticks? that makes sense to me, " i say smiling.

then as i walk back into the kitchen she says, "or sponge bob needs to be round."

ok. i guess we could go in that direction too.
hmmmmmm. sponge bob round pants.... um, no. on second thought i just don't think i can go with that one. ;)

Holy Snow!!

we've had a lot of snow. this past monday/tuesday was the third snow storm this month! i'm not a snow hater by any means, i actually really like it BUT this is starting to get a little ridiculous. i mean the poor magpie is having trouble going out to do her business...

the snow is actually deeper than her legs are long. but since some of the snow has been here a while and is compacted she is not sinking all the way down. now you may be thinking that i should dig the poor dog a path. well, we did that one year and she simply refused to use it. she just bounds through the snow like a deer. i think she likes it. but i still haven't figured out how or where she is doing her business out there....

there is at least 20 inches of snow on that flower pot. we've had more actual snow fall than that but some of it was quite wet and heavy and compacted down and iced over a bit. i'd say if you added the 3 storm totals together you would easily get over 2 feet.

here you can see the paths that the magpie was created through the back yard...


and you are wondering where the kid tracks are right? well, the bean and sprout have both been quite sick and miserable so we have been STUCK INDOORS, OMG! (no, i'm not suffering from cabin fever, why do you ask??)
here is a shot out the front door...

as you can see, i hadn't gotten off my butt and shoveled yet.
and look! the mailman really does come even in these conditions! here are his foot prints as proof!! ;)

and yes, there is more snow in the forecast however it is just a slight chance... i think.

***update: they changed the forecast. it is going to RAIN for two days. ugh! it is going to be some kind of ugly sloppy mess out there!! ;(

A boy and his Bubpy

sprout loves dogs... well, i guess i should say he loves "bubpies". he calls all dogs "bubpies" which is a sproutism that means "puppy". ;) bubpies say "baah baah baah". or "bark bark bark". one of his favorite bubpies is the magpie. their relationship has grown quite a bit over the past year. the magpie often allows sprout to hug and snuggle on her.

they really do get a long even though the magpie looks a little put out! ;)

he just loves his dog, i mean bubpy, SO much. :)

Oh i was supposed to be doing that working out thing, wasn't I......

um.......... i need a do over on that losing weight/getting healthy thing.

you see, i'm at the point where i'm afraid to step on the scale and the wii fit for fear of what they will tell me. (the wii fit can be quite shaming, let me tell you!)

am i saying that i haven't worked out in a month? am i saying that i haven't been paying attention to what and how much i've been eating? what? stop looking at me like that!! FINE, i ate lunch at a pizza buffet saturday then sat on my ass and ate junk food whie i watched the olympics for the next 2 days, does that answer your questions??

i'm in search of motivation...
anyone got some that i can borrow?

Crafty Tuesday

it was valentine's day so of course we were crafty! we just had to make valentines for bean's friends and teachers at school. we saw the little owl valentine in the family fun magazine and bean loved them. so, we took a trip to target and found some valentine's pencils in the dollar spot- 10 for a $1! yay! we came home and found some paper in the closet. the valentines cost us only 10 cents a piece because all we had to buy was the pencils!!! we ended up with these:

we also made flower bouquets for her teachers out of egg cartons, tissue paper, and chenille stems. bean totally preferred this project. i basically made the owls myself, all she did was glue on the hearts. but the flowers she painted and glued, all mommy had to do was put on the stems. they turned out looking like this:

they looked pretty cute spread out over our table this morning... yeah, school was closed last week on valentine party day and monday for president's day and today for a snow day! so we are hoping to hand out our adorable crafts tomorrow. darn snow days! ;)

don't get me wrong, i actually really like snow days, i just don't like them on school party days!

so were you crafty this week? let's see what you got! :)

*** as of this evening they have closed school for tomorrow and offically canceled the valentine's party at bean's school. boo! :(

Someone thinks she's funny...

four year olds tell some very interesting jokes. they think that they are hysterical. and us adults usually end up sitting there shaking our heads and wondering what the hell they are laughing about.

bean is really into knock knock jokes. 99.9% of them make NO sense at all. but every once in a great while one actually makes a little bit of sense and might even make us laugh for real. here is a sampling of some of her better ones...

"knock knock!"
"who's there?"
"lamp!"
"lamp who?"
"lamp, you need to put a light bulb in me!"

"knock knock!"
"who's there?"
"peanut butter cup!"
"peanut butter cup who?"
"peanut butter cup i'll eat you up!"

"knock knock!"
"who's there?"
"peanut butter!"
"peanut butter who?"
"peanut butter there is nuts in you!!"

"knock knock!"
"who's there?"
"ask me a again and maybe i'll tell you!"

bwah ha ha haha ha!!! i just LOVE that last one!
oh! and she makes quite the fashion statement too. ;)