Back to Normal...

What is normal, really, though??????

So Sam got sick, I got sick, then Jake got sick! YUCK!!!!! BJ played Mr. Mom while I was down, which was Thursday through Sunday... bless his heart! BUT - I remind myself that they are his children too so that I don't have to feel AS bad for him!!!!!! He actually really enjoyed spending time with his boys. I think they were all a little stir crazy by Sunday, though!!!!!! (One might ask HOW BJ avoids these sicknesses... my answer is I HAVE NO IDEA! But we'll take it!!!)

Nonetheless, six plus bed changes later (from the puke - theirs, not mine... I made it to the toilet), we are all back to 'normal,' whatever that is, and feeling much better!

Pictures will have to come later... not TOO many piled up yet, but I have a few Sam and Jake stories:

• BJ put Sam in his bedroom for timeout (which BOTHERS him SO MUCH), and through the crying and hysterics, we hear him knocking on his door and saying, "Come on in!" Good thing he couldn't see us cause we started dying laughing!!!!
• Sam's favorite line right now is, "Weeeellll...." with those little hands outstretched. Mimi asked him something the other day and he said, "Weeelll, Meems, if you say so." HAHAHA!!!!!!
• Jake has grown up overnight. He is walking all over the place. Poor guy, when he gets going, Sam is right on his heels (WHY?), and usually ends up 'bumping' into him and knocking him down. "But it's not too bad," in Sam's words as we're putting him in time out!
• Jake is a CLIMBER!!! He can climb up the ladder of his slide in no time. I don't have any pictures of this because I'm usually freaked out and running to the slide to be sure he doesn't fall... and he just has a BIG OLE grin on his little face! No major trauma yet (besides my minor heart attacks... normal for any mother of a toddler). The other day, I looked into the kitchen only to see his little head popped up over the island where he had climbed up Sam's 'helper ladder' in the kitchen!!!! That doesn't stay out anymore!!!!!
• Jake is saying so much now. Probably not discernible to most, but I understand (and those who are around him regularly)! It's funny how I used to be that person looking at that 'proud mom' that thinks her kid is a genius and wondering what the heck her kid just said that could cause that look of pure proudness to cross her face. Well..... MY kid can say cute things now too.... and I TOTALLY get how parents can be so proud of the darndest things - heck, I about did flips when Sam tee teed in the potty the first time, and that's pretty normal!!!!!!!! ;)
• Anyway, Jake says: "Amma" (Amen), "Amo" (Elmo), "Ah Duh" (All done), "Mee Mo" (Mickey Mouse), "Aba" (ball), "Abu" (book).... come on.... you couldn't figure those out???????
• Discernible words include: "Mama," "Daddy" (I wish you could hear the inflection he uses over the blog, it's so cute), "Pop Pop" (of course! Mimi comes out as 'MayMe'), "Ni Ni" (night night), and a few others I can't think of right now! He also blows kisses (while saying "Mooha"), waves
• And just today, Jake pointed to his diaper and said something (even I couldn't really discern that one), so I checked his diaper and there was POOPIE in there!!!! He was telling me he had a poop!!!! Pure genius already!!!!!!

Thomas and the Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Cordele, GA (about 3 - LONG - hours away) to see Thomas the Tank Engine. What an adventure! The good part is that we met Mama, Daddy and Nanny down there - we celebrated Jake's 1st birthday and Nanny's 85th.

OH - it was POURING DOWN RAIN. Driving down was a nightmare because of the rain. Driving back was a nightmare because of the kids! The things you will do for your kids...

OK - here's the beginning of the adventure....... See that house thing? The motor home is parked across from that (you can't see it b/c of our UMBRELLAS). We had to walk up this huge hill to get to a trolley (that we had to JUMP in front of and flag down to stop and pick us up). Mind you, we have two kids (Daddy and BJ and carrying them) AND an 85-yr-old woman with us!!!!

Made it to Thomas. See how hard it is raining?The name of the cars that Thomas was pulling were the Sam Shortline!Jake was so interested in Sir Topham Hat...Sam would have nothing to do with him - so he just had his picture with Pop Pop! Boarding the train (I'm sorry... THOMAS)Sam checking out the agenda, I suppose... the agenda was drive 15 minutes one way, then reverse for another 15 minutes. Yep, that's the ride!Can you tell the camera lens was fogged up? Because it was SCORCHING on board good 'ole Thomas!!!!!!We really did have fun anyway! The kids loved it! See the sun coming out through the window????? =)And we're moving...Is that really the sun coming out?Then Jake found some food - he was a happy little guy the rest of the ride! See?Playtime with Mimi...Sam and his daddy cutting up!Jake was all tuckered out! Personally, I think Thomas looks a little creepy! BUT... kids love it!?The Lego Thomas was just as entertaining as the 'real' one!!!! Don't let these images fool you... they DID fall asleep as soon as we got back in the truck. However, and hour later, they both woke up. We ate dinner, and NEITHER of them went back to sleep until we got them in bed!And can you believe this little innocent guy SCREAMED for a good hour on the way home? You don't have to... I lived it!

We got back home about 9:30, got the kids in bed and crashed... only to get up and head to the zoo on Saturday! It was so worth it once we got going (it was basically me and BJ that had to get ourselves in gear - the kids were up and going full-steam regardless!). It was a beautiful day, and Sam and Jake LOVED looking at all of the animals. We were going to a Kids at Heart event (through CHOA), and went to lunch at the zoo with all the participants. This is the point where we are SO INCREDIBLY THANKFUL and GRATEFUL for Jake's health. There were kids there in wheelchairs and with other obvious 'issues.' Selfishly, we are so relieved and thankful that Jake is not like that. Thank the Lord!!!!!

Here we are with the big daddy stroller... ready for the zoo!

Heeheehee!!!!The elephants...That's a ferret in the background. And for the record, the kids were supposed to dress in their Halloween costumes, but Sam wouldn't and I didn't feel like making him. I DID draw whiskers on his face (he was supposed to be Mickey), but he promptly rubbed (most of) them off!!! Oh well.. can't win them all!

This was Sam's favorite... the giraffes, hedgehogs and something else that were in the same exhibit.Sam's favorite thing to tell us was, "OK, let's go see some more animals real quick!"Sam wasn't a fan of the Willie B statue!Nor of the actual gorillas... they just sat there!

They had lots of fall displays in the pavilion where we ate lunch (raw pizza)...Typical...

BJ was having to hold Sam up... I wasn't aware of that and was taking my sweet time to take the picture!!!!!The petting zoo...Sam decided to give this goat the leaf he had been carrying around for the last hour...

The goat dropped it, and Sam was trying to retrieve it!

That's about it for now... I think I'm up-to-date for now!!!!! WHEW....

Trick or Treating 2008

BJ's dad and Inny (Opa and Ernie) came over to hand out candy so that BJ and I could both take Sam and Jake trick or treating... it was AWESOME! It was so much fun watching Sam (Jake rode in the wagon and was just happy to be there) go up to doors and get candy... then figure out eventually that he could go to EVERY door and they would ALL give him candy! He even went up to a spooky house and wasn't scared at all!

We went around with our awesome neighbors who have a little boy and a little girl. They were Buzz and Minnie Mouse. Minnie and Mickey were really cute... Buzz and the pumpkin were too, of course!!!

Yep... plenty of pictures...

Getting ready to go out:

Can you tell Mickey was extremely excited and happy? He and Opa were joking and laughing so much!

Opa and Mickey

Our little family before we headed outHere is Sam and Jake with Mark and AddisonAnd we're off...Jake pretty much just 'chilled' in the wagon the whole time!

Mickey and Minnie...Sam rode with Jake some too!

As it got darker, Sam and Mark had to hold hands... to 'take control (they meant 'care') of each other!' It was cute... blackmail for later!!!!Minnie was D-O-N-E and started crying... this picture really doesn't convey that so well...Then Jake followed shortly thereafter!Sam ended up eating a sucker, a few Milk Duds (thanks Opa!), and a few other things all before bed... I had to give him some Pepto Bismol before bed because he had a tummy ache! Didn't affect him too much because he woke up and, downstairs and got his bucket of candy first thing this morning!