Fence!

At long last, we finally got around to putting the fence up in our backyard last week.  Well, I shouldn't say "we"...The lovely people from Dickerson Fencing got around to putting up our fence.  We're so excited!  It looks great, and it's going to make everyone a lot happier, especially Rip!  Now, he will be able to go outside and wander the backyard without us hovering over his shoulder on a leash.  He also won't be able to run off into a street whenever he goes outside.  The boys will also love having the fence because it will give them a nice safe place to play.  We've been out there several times in the beautiful weather that we had this weekend.  The boys played on the playset and in the sandbox and Rip chased frisbees and balls.  I can tell that we're going to be spending a lot of time in that backyard once the warmer weather rolls around! 

(A view of the front of the house with our new pretty fence.)

(The backyard looks so much less wild with the fence.)

(The view of the other side of the yard)

(Everyone enjoys the new yard!)

Thomas Live

"They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight, shunting trucks and hauling freight."

For the past few days Evan and I have had that song running through our heads.  That is because on Saturday morning we had a date! We left Ben and Ian at home for a morning to themselves and headed out to go see Thomas Live!  Thomas the Train had come to town, and since Evan is such a Thomas fan, we had to go see it.  We decided to make it a special morning out and went with our friends Abby and Quinn (just the moms and the older boys).  Our friends Hilary and Carson were supposed to join the party as well, but at the last minute, Carson got sick, Bummer!

So, that morning, Abby stopped by and picked us up.  It was great fun being able to ride in the same car all together.  We headed to downtown Raleigh, parked in our parking garage, and made it to the show with plenty of time.  We had time to buy and eat some snacks, use the potty twice, and check out the building.  The boys particularly liked the balcony overlooking the lobby.

(The boys have some fun looking down into the lobby.)

(What a pair!)

At 11, the show started.  It was great!  Evan was entranced.  He watched the whole show which was over an hour long.  Thomas danced, puffed, talked, played, and saved the day along with all of his friends.  The best part was when they broke out into our favorite song from the Thomas video that we are constantly watching at home. 

(A view of the stage)

(The perfect snack)

When he left his first big live show, Evan was just giddy.  He kept singing the songs and couldn't stop talking about the show.  We finished off the great day with milkshakes from McDonalds on the ride home.  Yay for Thomas Live!

(Moms and their boys after the show)

(Here was Evan just after the show.  He was singing his favorite Thomas song.  I think this boy had fun!)

Don't have much...

I don't have much to say about these boys tonight.  They've worn me out so completely by Friday that my brain isn't completely functional.

This one is working on potty training and not napping.  He wears big boy pants all day long now except for nap time and bed time.  He does very well with only an occasional accident.  However, we are yet to do #2 in the potty.  He'll wait until nap time when he's in the diaper.  We've tried bribery, rationalizing, and every other method we can think of to no avail.  Oh well,  I guess he'll learn sometime.  He's also not napping.  He'll sit up in his crib for hours just talking to himself about goodness knows what.  Sigh.

This one hasn't been sleeping at night or napping particularly well.  He wakes up 3 or 4 times a night screaming.  My little happy boy is distressed because a tooth is poking though on his top gums.  He's just not his usual happy self.  (If you look closely below, you can see the offending tooth just starting to break the surface on the top right.)

I love my boys, but on this Friday night, I need some sleep.

How Long Can You Spend at Lowes?

Recently, we've been spending lots of time at Lowes Hardware.  We've been painting our master bedroom (pictures to follow once we finish), so we've been there buying paint, brushes, caulk, lumber for mirror frames, and countless other items necessary for out bedroom renovation.  I don't know about you, but when we go to Lowes, it takes us forever.  We don't know what we need and where to find it most of the time.  We spend a lot of time wandering the aisles and asking the Lowes helpers where to find things.

There's only one problem.  While we're doing all of this hardware store wandering, we have an 8 month of and a 2 year old in tow.  The little one is usually fine if we give him a rice cracker and keep moving.  However, the two year old gets a bit stir crazy.  Fortunately, we've found a way to keep a toddler happy at the hardware store.  One person wanders and accomplishes all of our shopping and one of us goes here...

Problem solved!

A Night out on the Town

Last Friday, the boys woke up from nap at about 5:15 in the evening.  I couldn't believe it.  While I was glad that they'd taken such a long nap, I didn't know how they were going to go to bed that night.  We decided to wear them out by taking them out for a night on the town. 

We headed out to our nearby Japanese restaurant, Kanki.  When we walked in, they said we had a 45-minute wait, and Ian and I both groaned.  However, we turned around and noticed a huge fish tank reaching all the way to the ceiling.  Needless to say, I had to drag all three boys away from the fish when the called our table. They had a fabulous time just watching all them. 

(Evan and Ian check out the fish tank.)

This was one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook the food at your table and put on a show.  It was great, Evan loved watching it.  He was so enthralled that Ian and I could actually have a conversation.  Evan enjoyed trying out the chopsticks, and they even modified them for kids to use with the help of a rubberband and piece of paper.  He didn't eat any of the Japanese food, but I still think it was good for him to enjoy the dining experience and be exposed to different types of cuisine.            

(Evan checks out regular chopsticks.)

 

(The kid friendly variety)

 (Evan successfully eats a french fry with his new chopsticks.)

Ben on the other hand got to sit in a high chair which he really hasn't had much opportunity to do.  He also enjoyed watching the chef, but had a much shorter attention span.  Then, we got them to bring us a container of white rice.  Ben loved eating it, or should I say playing with it.  We ended up taking home a rice-coated Ben, but he had great time making a mess.

(Mmmmm...rice)

We love taking the boys out and showing them new things.  Who knows what they'll learn next!

Mom...I'm fine

Moms always worry.  I am certainly no different.  I worry about what the boys do, what they eat, what they don't do, what they don't eat, etc.  Recently, I have been worried about little Benny's development.  He is a happy little boy, and he's been doing so well, but there are certain things that he's just not doing yet.  On top of that, some of his little friends that are younger to him are starting to do those things.  So, I worried.

By this age, Evan was crawling, so I was worried because Ben wasn't crawling yet.  He really hadn't showed any inclination of wanting to crawl.  He was only on his tummy when he had to reach to get something.  Then, he quickly rolled back over to his back to examine whatever he'd grabbed.  In addition, he had not shown any signs of wanting to babble.  Sure, he made lots of sounds, including a quite spectacular growl, but he never used any consonants.  So, I worried. 

On Friday morning, I guess Ben must have noticed that I was worrying because he decided to make me feel better.  Evan was at preschool and Ben had just woken up from his morning nap.  I set out a blanket and laid him down in just his diaper so he could practice his crawling.  I set him down and was watching him.  He looked at me, put his head down and used his arms and legs to lift his stomach off the ground in the first attempt at crawling that I'd seen.  He then looked me in the eyes, smiled and said "da-da-da-da".  He then continued to scoot around on his stomach and babble at me for the rest of his time on the blanket.  He just wanted to tell me that he was okay.  He could do those things if he wanted to and would be getting around to them in his own time. 

Sometimes kids surprise you in the most wonderful ways.  He knew just what I needed that day.  What a wonderful little boy!

Sweet...

sweet little boy!

Jet Planes, Toddlers, and Babies, Oh My!

It has been soooo cold this winter!  People in Buffalo or some city in Minnesota would probably laugh when I say that, but it has definitely been frigid by North Carolina standards.  We have seen multiple snow falls and ice storms, several cancelled preschool days, and lots of chills in the air.  We can head outside for brief moments, but all of our favorite outdoor playground haunts have been basically off limits.  Consequently, we've all gone a bit crazy.

Wednesday was a brief respite from the cold.  We amazingly had highs in the 60's and so, of course, we all flocked outdoors.  Our playgroup decided to head outside to the airport observation park.  I have written about this place several times.  Evan has always loved to watch the planes, and since his recent plane flight to Texas he's been even more excited about airplanes. 

We all had a great time!  We had almost every member of our playgroup there. (Feel better, Mary and family!)  Evan had a ball watching the planes, digging in the sand park, and just generally running around and enjoying the great outdoors.  This was the first time that Ben really enjoyed the park.  He sat on our blanket and each time a plane would take off or land he would watch intently.  He loved it! 

(Benny laughs as he watches the planes.)

(Evan digs in the sand with his friends Riley and Aaron.)

(The group has descended on the playground...yes, all except two people are part of our playgroup.)

While another cold snap and "wintry precipitation event" is on the way, this one day gave us enough to hang on to.  Spring, where are you?!

Big Boy in the Bath

Ben still fits in his little blue baby bathtub.  To get both boys bathed at once we've been setting Ben's little blue plastic tub in the bigger bathtub, and then Evan gets in the other half of the tub.  It's a bit crowded, but it's been working.  However, Ben now thinks he is too big for his little tub.  He has started to try to climb and roll his way out of the tub while Daddy is trying to bathe him.

So, he's given us no choice.  This week, we took away his baby bathtub.  He's been sitting in the big tub next to his brother.  While he's still a little precarious and tries to fall back in the water occasionally, he likes being a big boy.  We've gotten a new little bath toy that sticks to the side of the tub and creates a faucet by pulling water out of the tub.  Benny loves to sit, stare at the toy, and splash.  The only problem is that Evan loves the toy too, and we've had a few sibling squabbles over it.  Oh well, it just makes bath time more of an adventure.  Good thing Daddy is the primary baby bather, HA!

Here's a few shots of our two big boys having a little fun in the bath...

(Big boy Ben intently studies the tub.)

(Fun with our new bath toy)

The Big 3-0!

So, the big birthday finally came and went.  A few weeks ago, my 30th birthday came and went.  It came and went happily, with no angst or depression about getting older or other age-related crises.  Instead, I turned 30 and realized what a good place I am at in my life, how happy I am, and how lucky I am to have so many people in my life that care about me.  I think the purpose of my twenties was to get me to where I'm at today, and all I have to do now is enjoy the ride!

While I'm perfectly content to be 30, I still didn't mind having bit of a fuss made over my birthday-I tend to hint (a bit obviously) when my birthday rolls around that I want to celebrate, and celebrate we did this year!  My actual birthday fell on a weekday, so we didn't go all out that night.  We did have our usual Thursday night trashy TV crowd over to watch whichever trashy reality show was on that night.  I think this time it was the premiere of the new season of the Bachelor and it definitely was trashy reality TV at it's best--we loved it!  My friends Margarette and Jackie brought over plenty of goodies, Ian brought home ice cream cupcakes, and we made sarcastic comments about people on TV all night long and had a great time!

The next celebration came on Friday night.  Some of my mom friends were kind enough to take me out for a night on the town away from the kids.  Ian stayed home with them, and we headed out to the local wine bar.  We drank, we snacked, we had great adult conversation without being interrupted, and then we moved on to a nearby Mediterranean place for a little more food, a few more drinks, some live jazz, and more fun.  It is so nice to have found such a great group of mom friends to share everything with, and we had a wonderful night...thanks girls!

On Saturday night, Ian had told me he wanted to make me a birthday dinner, so I suggested some of my favorites for him to prepare.  We were going to have dinner as a family and then open presents, or so I thought.  About 4pm we get a knock at our door.  Our friends the Kaprals arrive saying that they just stopped by on their way to a friend's house to wish me a happy birthday.  As they stood in our kitchen, I kept wanting to get Ian by himself and ask him if he was upset that they had showed up to spoil our family night. 

They were there for about 20 minutes when there was another knock at the door.  This time, it was my friend Mary with her daughter Kalina holding beautiful flowers and balloons.  It was starting to sink in.  Next, I look behind Mary and our friend Vincent is helping his wife Stephanie park their car near our mailbox.  That's when I finally realized the fact that Ian had been pulling one over on me and they were coming over for a party for me!  After that, people kept trickling in and it was great.  I never knew who was going to show up next.  True to his word, Ian whipped up fondue and chocolate pots de creme, my requested birthday menu, but he made them for the entire crowd.  He would tell you that the food didn't come out as he had hoped, but everyone thought it was delicious.  Everyone had a wonderful time, and I felt very loved.  Thanks to a wonderful, but sneaky husband.

At 30, I've been married to the man of my dreams for almost 9 years.  I have the two most perfect boys in the whole world as well as a slightly dirty but equally wonderful dog.  I did a job that I absolutely loved for 7 years.  That career is patiently waiting for my return in a few years, but for now, I'm staying home, in our beautiful house, raising my two boys while I try to run and write in all of my plentiful (HA) spare time.   I've traveled across the country and around the world, lived in six states and three countries, and had countless adventures along the way.  I have had the support of caring family with us every step of the journey.  As I find myself so frequently saying, I can't what adventure lies in store for me in the next 30 years!

(The girls)

(Danielle and Sarah)

(Abby, Hilary, and I)

 

(A surprise party at our house)

So Long, Lone Star State

After a brief break for a happy birthday to Ben, back to Texas for one more post from Christmas.  Since we stayed for several days after all of the other house guests had gone home, we had a great chance for the boys to hang out with their grandparents.  On one of those days we all hopped in the car (Yes, all in one car, we stuffed Grandma in the back!) and headed down the hill to the pond in my parents neighborhood.

Evan had gotten a camera, a magnifying glass, and a microscope for Christmas, so we felt it was the perfect opportunity for him to do some scientific observation in nature.  We got out and immediately headed over to the pond to practice our stone skipping skills, or our stone plopping skills in some cases.  I didn't know Grandpa was such an expert rock skipper!  We wandered around the pond collecting little pieces of nature to examine in the magnifier, and eventually taking some pictures.  We kept trying to find a bug for him to look at, but they were hiding from the cold weather.  Evan also got the chance to climb a tree with Grandpa which was super fun!

(Ian and Ben enjoy the great outdoors.)

(Evan examines the ground.)

(Climbing trees is so much fun!)

We had a wonderful time in Texas celebrating the holidays and just hanging around.  We can't wait to head back when the boys are a little older.  Thanks for a great trip Grandma and Grandpa!

Eight Months

On 1/11/11 our little boy turned 8 months old!  He's definitely not a newborn anymore.  I can really see it when we head to playgroups and Ben is one of the older of the second siblings in attendance.  He's learning and growing so much everyday.

At eight months old, Benny likes to eat!  This is much different than his older brother.  He can down two 4 oz. containers of yogurt in one sitting.  While he's still mainly eating purees, he eyes everything that we eat and looks like he can't wait to dig in.  His normal diet consists of a breakfast of pureed fruit, a lunch of yogurt, a dinner of pureed vegetables with milk and Cheerios, baby crackers, bananas, and even the rare dill pickle for snacks.  I actually saw the frantic, panicking hungry baby face for the first time ever this month.  Lots of other mothers have talked about how their baby gets frantic and cries when they run out of food and can't get more fast enough.  I haven't witnessed this until Benny arrived.

 

He's still a happy baby, except when he's getting teeth.  He's pretty content with whatever life throws his way.  He'll play by himself, he is easy going and happy to sit with most people, even strangers.  While he's a happy baby he's a little Jeckyll and Hyde. At night, when he wakes up, he's hysterical and impossible to settle.  However, he is getting closer to sleeping through the night and usually goes a couple nights a week without getting out of his crib at all during the night.  We're getting somewhere.

Ben is fairly content to watch what is going on around him.  As a result, he doesn't want to go out and do everything right away.  While he has gotten to be a great sitter, he really has no desire to get up and crawl or walk away.  When we put him on his tummy, placing something just out of reach to encourage crawling, he'll reach to grab the toy, clutch it in his hands, and roll over to his back immediately to play.  I tend to think he'll go straight to walking and skip crawling altogether.

Ben and Evan are starting to play together a little.  Evan likes to show him things, briefly.  I can tell they're going to have a lot of fun when they get older, and also get into it sometimes.  Now that Ben takes an interest in toys and sometimes plays with what Evan wants, Evan gets a bit cranky about it, and I've heard "Mine, Ben!" come out of his mouth more than once.

As always, I can't wait to see what Ben does next and what little person he continues to become.

(Benny at 8 months, and for comparison...)

 

(A much smaller Ben at 7 months) 

(Evan at the same age)

Training Wheels

On Christmas morning, one of Evan's favorite presents under the tree was his new bicycle from Grandma and Grandpa.  He really enjoys his one without pedals so we knew that he would enjoy this one with real pedals and training wheels! 

Of course, we were all just as excited as he was, so we couldn't wait to get outside and take it for a spin.  So, Christmas Day, Ian, Evan, and I headed outside with the bike.  Evan hopped right on and started learning to pedal.  Ian pushed him about 20 feet on the driveway before he had enough and hopped off.  He then spent the rest of his time closely examining the bike especially the reflector up front.  That's his usual style, if he's learning something knew he has to examine it carefully, try it out for a second, examine it again, try it out, etc.  Eventually, he feels comfortable enough and learns whatever it is that he's trying. 

So, we kept taking him out with the bike over the next couple of days, and sure enough, by the time we went out with Grandma and Grandpa right before we went home he was ready to roll.  Grandpa pushed him a little and he actually pedaled by himself!

Unfortunately, we had to take the bike apart and mail it to North Carolina so he hasn't been able to ride it in a while.  I wonder how our riding will go when the ice melts and the chill warms up enough for us to get outside.  It doesn't matter...I can't wait!

Bike Excursion #1

(Evan's first attempts at pedaling)

(Ripple also got the chance to try out one of his Christmas presents.)

Bike Excursion #2

(Cousin Jack also came out with us to ride his tractor which Evan also had to take his turn on.)

(Another lesson in pedaling from Mom)

(The Mhire family enjoy their time outside.)

(Grandpa and Riley check out the action.)

Bike Excursion #3

 (Grandpa adds his input to the pedaling instruction.)

(They keep going, and he actually starts pedaling.)

(We follow the successful biker back home.  Yay!)