Always something interesting... to me anyway!

I had yet another epiphany about God... He really HAS thought of everything! For example: no parent thinks their kid is ugly. I have yet to talk to a parent that doesn't whip out a picture of "the cutest baby/kid in the world!" I will admit, unashamedly, that I am one of those. I always tell BJ, "but our kids REALLY ARE cute!" I could have the ugliest baby and toddler in the world, but I would never believe it nor would I see it... that's what's so wonderful about what God has done here!!!!

And don't get me started about grandparents... you just THINK your own kids were cute!!!


Back to the real world now... more of what my cute kids are up to! Basically, I could make these posts everyday... always something going on around here!


Today:

• We went to Wal-Mart. Sam rode in the basket part of the cart and Jake rode in the front (in his cocoon seat that keeps him from touching ANYTHING). Sam opened a bag of raw hides for Stormie, a basket of beach toys that he kept whining about ("Want to go to the BEEEEAAAAACCCCCHHHHH!!!!!!"), and attempted to open crackers and dog treats. He kept standing up and rocking the cart - Jake enjoyed it, I had to threaten a spanking to get him to sit back down. The lady in front of us at the check-out had a gift card that wouldn't read, so it took an extra 10 minutes for them to get her finished - if I hadn't had my stuff on the belt already, I would have gone elsewhere... the boys were good... Jake entertained those waiting behind him by smiling and squealing; Sam entertained the cashier by rocking the cart again!
• Sam and I played in the Thomas tent... Stormie even came in! When I entered, Sam informed me, "No diving!" (He learned that the hard way last night!). Sam gave us both BIG hugs. I LOVED it, Stormie - not so much!
• Sam went over the fireplace (which is 'baby-gated' off... guess those are useless now) and opened the bookcase. Actually a good thing, because we found some baby toys I had forgotten about. Score for Jake!!!
• Sam informed me that Tigger has a "butt." I am SO CAREFUL to say bottom or hiney... where that came from is beyond me...
• Sam and his friend from across the street were playing with his golf clubs. Thanks to Sam, the Salvia in the planter on the porch looks a little worse for the wear. One is completely missing the flower part... pretty much just a nub! Well, it has character now!
• Sam and BJ played helicopter outside until Sam was so dizzy he could no longer stand.
• I had to tell Sam to "quit doing man-work on your brother," "Stop rolling over your brother," and "Don't push your brother" NUMEROUS times today... along with every other day!!!

Have I mentioned I have the cutest kids in the world????? Pictures are coming - one day soon!

Just another day...

Memories fade so fast. I want to be able to look back and remember 'what life was like' at this point... truly an adventure!

TODAY:

• Sam woke up at 6:30 saying he needed to tee tee. His Pull-ups were soaked (something neither he nor I acknowledged - he never has accidents during the day, so I am not concerned about this night time stuff AT ALL... USUALLY, he doesn't even wet at night). We went potty then he said, "Mommy sleep with you?" How do you say no to that? He proceeded to take up the whole bed, and I laid on a sliver. He kicked me for the next 30 minutes and never went to sleep. Finally, we went to my room and he watched cartoons while I pumped and showered.
• I had to completely change his bed and sheets.
• Sam had friends over to play.
• Jake took a 2-hour nap and a 1 1/2 hour nap... all in ONE day!? This was somewhat of a first. It's so rare that he naps more than 30 minutes!?
• Sam and I were reading a book and working on opposites. He pointed out that a bird had his eyes open in one picture and closed in the other... something beyond what the book was saying!!!!!
• Sam did MORE "man work" on Jake, who took most of it pretty well.
• I had to tell Sam to "get off your brother" numerous times. He's just loving on him, but in his two-yr-old little way!!!!
• We played outside. I pushed Sam and Jake in their swings. Jake has a baby swing and Sam has one that my grandfather made for me when I was his age. He LOVES it and will swing forever (in toddler time, that's 10-15 minutes) in it!
• Sam hid from us in a corner (where we could TOTALLY see him). He then ran out at BJ, who side-stepped him, and he just kept going right into the dining room chair.
• BJ grabbed Sam and started kissing on him, to which Sam replied, "No kissing, Dad!"
• Sam dove into the door of his Thomas tent like the floor was magically made of water or cushions or something. Only cried for a few minutes - multiple kisses to the affected areas did wonders.
• Sam repeats his prayers after us at night. He always has to add, "Bless my brother's heart" at the end. OOOOOOHHHHHH.... melt MY heart!!!!!

Adventures are Never-Ending!

In the course of the morning, Sam has:

• drank old curdled milk that had apparently sat out all WEEKEND!? How this happened, I do not know... I'm usually vigilant about putting the milk back in the frig - guess in my hurry to get out the door (we spent the weekend at the farm), I missed that one! He CRIED and CRIED about it. I don't think he got enough to do any harm... let's hope. It was REALLY stinky!!!


• utterly DESTROYED his Thomas train track I had set up in hopes to entertain him for a little while for me to look something up online. It lasted five minutes... maybe! Think he was vying for some attention????


• eaten five gummy worms in less than five minutes... again, my attempt to keep him quiet and happy for me to look that same piece of info up online! All that accomplished was me typing with one hand and holding him out of the gummy worm bag or off my arm for said five minutes!


• run around nude b/c he refused underwear, then finally wanted undies, and finally wanted pants back on... just not until I was upstairs getting Jake up from his nap and attempting to change a poo! All I heard was Sam downstairs WHINING, "Waaaaaannnnnntttt paaaannnntttsss oooooooooooooonnnnnnnnn," over and over and over and over and over....


• played his Leap Frog video game, where he informed me we needed to change the "Idiomas". For you non-Spanish-speaking people, that is Spanish for 'language'! Every time we turn it on, we have to change it back to English. I guess he heard me say that we need to change the idiomas and has caught on!!!! SMART, huh?
• attempted to do "man work" on Jake's head multiple times. Resulting in Jake crying... one thing I am determined that child should never have to do (although, unfortunately, he must cry SOME times!)


• eaten an ok lunch and gone down for a nap at 12:40 (usually, he goes down between 1 and 2). The farm wears him out, you see, so he is still catching up on sleep... let's hope he takes a really LONG nap this afternoon!!!

Sam, Jake and I went to the farm this weekend while BJ went to his brother's graduation in Tallahassee. There was no way we could have made the 6-hr drive with two little kids in tow and been able to be still and quiet for a LONG ceremony (4 hours) as well as a dinner that was a couple hours long... and made it back home in one piece!!! So BJ represented us all... quietly!

At the farm, I learned yet a few more things:

• Even after the rain is over, it still 'rains' in the woods for a few more hours!
• My cell phone is a piece.
• Four wheelers WILL get stuck! Especially when you are driving extra slow and trying to be extra careful b/c you have a toddler on the front!
• My parents still view me as a kid. Wonder why? Refer back to four wheeler incident!
• I LIKE still being viewed as a kid!

I do believe I am the first of the clan to get so stuck that I had to walk back to the barn! I was driving Sam, and was going super slow and being super careful. That was my demise, I have decided. I drove down into the creek, and the slower you go, the wider the turns become on these things. My turn took the whole width of the creek. I remember thinking, "hmmm, that looks a little deep. But this is a 4-wheeler, it will make it out - just don't stop." About that time, I stopped. BUT, I kept pushing the gas. When I first stopped, my feet were well out of the water. My back tires started digging a nice hole in the creek bed. SO, I stopped and looked around. At this time, Sam is informing me, "Four wheeler stuck?" Thanks for the newsflash! Of course, I am alone (we rarely venture out alone around there), and in the middle of the water... with my two-yr-old. I stood on the seat and lurched onto the bank while holding Sam. My thought was that I could get him high enough that he wouldn't slip back into the water - if I did, no biggie. We actually both made it. I got him to stand on the bank while I got back on the four wheeler and attempted to ROCK it out of it's hole. Back and forth... the hole just got deeper... by now, my feet are ankle deep in water. At this point, I didn't want to damage Daddy's four wheeler, so I jumped back onto the bank and scooped Sam up.

Now, the farm is 100 acres. So, just imagine me covering at least 50 of those acres on foot in the middle of the HOT afternoon CARRYING my 32 pound son. The grass is ankle to knee high, and we're walking from the creek to the barn. Watching for snakes and various other wildlife I would NOT like to meet, and scared to death that the four wheeler is going to be whisked away by the bubbling current of the creek (I know, that's silly)! I was talking to Sam the whole way - didn't want him to be scared... he wasn't. He kept pointing to the creek and saying, "Pop Pop's four wheeler in there; Mommy stuck Pop Pop's four wheeler." Yup, sure did! For those who don't realize the topography of land with water... you must travel DOWN to get to the water; SO, I was traveling UPHILL the whole way to get to the barn. I was literally on the OTHER side of the property! It was basically 'Survivor Oconee County' ok????

We finally made it to the barn. Daddy was not mad at all - neither was Mama. They were actually both laughing at me (once they were sure we were ok). Daddy and I took Mama's four wheeler back and pulled his out (well, he muscled it out), and everything was A-OK! Whew!!!

After that, Mama was driving Sam, and I was following. Sam kept looking back and telling Mama, "Mommy stuck?" He was so concerned about me! Or my driving????

I told BJ that I got the four wheeler stuck, and his reaction was, "Good!" Like, "I'm glad you did it first and not me," or, "I'm glad you were riding 'that hard'" or something!? Once I explained I was alone and with Sam, he was like, "Awww, Man!"

Really, that's it???? =)

Always an adventure!!!!!!!! Pictures to come later... yes, I took pictures of it all!!!!!!!

Where does the time go?

I shouldn't have done this, but I did tonight... I thought about time! Sam gets up on average at 7 AM. Jake gets up on average between 7:30 and 8 AM. They both go to bed on average at 9 PM. Sam naps for 2-3 hours in the afternoon (THANK GOODNESS), but Jake doesn't really nap. He catches little 20-30 minute naps here and there. BJ and I get into bed between 10:30 and 11. That means that I am up and GOING HARD from 7 AM to 11 PM on an average day (including weekends). That's 16 BUSY hours... no down time, just going and going and trying to keep my head above water!!!! Yep.... shouldn't have thought about it - just made myself tired-er! I don't think I have ever had day-in/day-out days this long before in my life!!!!

But, I must say... I'm loving every minute of it!!!!

Speaking of - got more pictures!

Jake finally out-grew the cooler, don't you think?

Sam wanted to ride the train, but he waited patiently while Kaden took his turn!!!

Those darn Thomas snow boots that I HAD to buy him because they were $3!!!This is Sam's 'leftover' train track pieces. He has a complete (connected) track that I had built for him. I was feeding Jake and I would hear Sam say, "Need nother one." Then I would hear the pat, pat pat of his feet running into the foyer. Then I would hear the crash, crash, bang of him rumbling through the container with the track pieces. Then came the pat, pat, pat of him running back to the steps, followed by some grunting and him saying, "Put it here." Then the whole process began again! He actually snapped the pieces together and built his own track! He did such a great job!!!! Man - he's so smart!!!!Smiley... no matter what Mommy puts on him!

Mama and Daddy came to help BJ put Sam's new swing set together. Sam decided to "Go off roof (the deck)" to get down to Daddy and Pop Pop!About halfway down, he wanted Pop Pop to carry him!Then the man-work began! And, ooooooo, did Sam help!!!!!!Here he is "using screwdriver" to "do man work!"

Jake enjoyed watching!As each piece was complete, Sam had to test them out!

Jake got his own swing too... he LOVES it! So does Sam!
I finally got a picture of this... my dad gives Sam his old Flying magazines to look at. This is a regular site while we're riding down the road. Sam literally turns the pages and scans them as he's flipping. He also has some next to the potty to read while pooping (don't ask how that started). Today, he was looking at his new one and telling us about "Mooneys" and "Gulf Streams"!!!!! How many two-yr-olds do you know that can look at an airplane and tell you what kind it is??????

Pictures!

Here is what Jake has been up to at Mimi and Pop Pops... Having fun - no matter what! Or where!!!
He liked the cooler so much he got a bath in it!
I believe that is is clothes he is chewing on!???? =)

I found Sam some Thomas the Train snow boots on sale at Wal-Mart for $3... he has brought sexy back, huh?
Waiting to get in the water for swim lessons... Oooohhhhh... I just can't wait!

So man... what do ya think? Dunno man! This is Riley with Sam - he is four days older, so we thought they would do good taking swim lessons together. It actually was a good thing, because they look at each other and can copy each other!So they wouldn't pose together - go figure!

Sam's BLISSFUL day of flying! We still get in the car and he says, "Go to airport?"Our little chunk... he smiles so big when you call him that! He's not 75th% in weight for nothing!!!

Man work... (that's BJ's hard hat on his head!)HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, SAM!!!!!!He celebrated all weekend long... at the farm... on the tractor... at the lake... you name it, he did it! And had a blast doing it!!!Jake enjoyed Sam's birthday too!

Sam's new four wheeler!Thank you, Mimi and Pop Pop!"Sam go fast!"
Jake's dedication... it was beautiful... and really nice to have the whole family together!

Swimming Lessons

We had our first swimming lesson today! Sam did so good - he stuck his feet out and kicked and splashed. He even laughed and enjoyed splashing around. He jumped right in the water with me and was even able to pull himself out of the pool all by himself!

Sam was watching Sesame Street this morning, and Elmo's World had penguins on. When I talked to him this afternoon about swimming, he said, "Like the Penguins?" That kid remembers EVERYTHING... he will repeat things off the T.V. or radio when I don't even think he's listening!!!! Yet... he refuses to 'listen' to the simplest of instructions!!!!

My parents have Jake, and I guess Sam has Jake-separation-anxiety or something, because he has been running a fever off and on all day!? What the heck? God really does watch out for us, because the two times Sam has gotten sick are the only two times Jake has been at my parents! He had a fever of 102 when I put him down (well, laid with him) tonight. He really clings and loves his mommy to be close when he doesn't feel good. I like it! Not that he's sick, but that he wants to be close to mommy!

The fever began this morning around 11 or so. We were out and about, so we went home, and I put Sam in bed. He had fallen asleep in the car, but went back to sleep at home.... only to wake up 30 minutes later wired and rearing to go (hence, why we went onto swimming lessons). I MADE him stay in his room for over an hour, and he FINALLY went back to sleep. HOWEVER, he decided he wanted to 'break-out' of his room (I have a baby gate at the door to limit little wandering Sam). He literally ran at the gate and didn't stop - I looked up to see him face-down on the floor on top of his gate... laughing! I had to regain my composure before I could go over to him and 'get mad'!!!!!!!!! He was like a bull - it was hysterical! He just looked up at me with that cute devilish grin of him, like, "What you gonna do now, huh?"

Now the fever's back, and he's not running over gates!!!! Hopefully, he'll be fine in the morning, because we have round two of swimming lessons!!!!

Keeping up with the boys...

I found this link and thought it was really neat!
(And can you tell I finally took some time to customize my blog? I've only had it for three years now!!!)

Doctor Visit

No pictures yet... yes, I am slack! Or just tired!?

Sam had a super birthday... we were at the farm all weekend with my parents, Bo and Jen. Then, Sunday we went to church and dedicated Jake to the Lord. My parents, Bo, Jen, BJ's dad and Inny were there for that - then we went to dinner and celebrated Sam's birthday again. Last night, Sam had more presents to open. I sang happy birthday to him all day. By the end of the day, he was saying, "Happy Birthday, Sam!" He would tell us it's "Sam's birthday," and "Sam's two." Smart, smart little boy!

Speaking of... he hasn't had an accident in his big boy pants in I don't know how long! He now tells me when he needs to tee tee or poopie! He's all grown up now!!!!!!!

We took both boys to the pediatrician today. Sam got one shot and doesn't have to go back until he's three. Jake got three and goes back in two months for more! Both got great reports! Sam is in the 95th% for weight and 75th% for height. Jake is in the 80th% for weight and 75th% for height! BIG BOYS!!!!!!!!!!

I was talking to Sam before the dr. came in and telling him what all the dr. would look at (ears, mouth, tummy, Mr. Winkie, etc), what all she would make him do and all of that. He really understands really well, and I knew this would ease his little mind when she started her examination. So she started her exam, then got him to lay back. As he was laying back, he cried and whined and said, "Look at Mr. Winkie!?" (a few times, actually) OHHH... wonder what that dr. thought!!!!!!????? BJ and I just looked at each other and laughed... what else could we do???? =)