Mommy Weekend

Will is in the long stretch of his "no days off" month.  Today is the last day and so back to his normal schedule...Yay!  Since daddy was working all weekend I made sure that the kids had a busy agenda to help keep our minds off missing him.  On Saturday, we went to one of our favorite parks.  Then the kids helped me make potato soup - which was delish.  For the evening, I let Colin pick a movie from Red Box. He felt like such a big boy picking out the movie and using the machine. 


Colin also got to pick out leaves earlier during our walk for his art project. We made foxes.  This proved to be made more difficult by Meli's presence.  She wants to help with everything.  Her idea of helping is getting on top of what you are doing.  Whatever you are doing she wants to stand on it.  Colin gets just a little annoyed with his little sister at times. 

I told the kids to get ready to go to the store.  Colin got his flashlight that he made at school and Meli gave me what shoes she wanted to wear.  Her little cowgirl type boots that grammie sent.  We were the most stylish family at the store. Our little girl is obsessed...I mean OBSESSED with shoes.  She does not get that from me. 

Today we headed to the National Zoo with my friend Andrea (from Barnes & Noble days) and her family.  It amazes me that the zoo is free.  D.C. is such a neat area.

It was perfect weather today for a trip out.  Colin is going through a sweater/sweatshirt phase.  He did not need to wear it but he likes them. 

The last time we went to the zoo was during the summer and all of the animals were hiding trying to avoid the heat.This time they were all out and about.  We even saw an orangutan swinging across an obstacle made for him that runs across the different sections of the zoo.  Very neat.  Colin was afraid he would fall, but thankfully Andrea saw a sign that said they do not fall because they are master climbers.

Meli loved this big statue.  She did pretty good.  At one point I had to let her loose and she actually was good at listening when it was time to turn around.  She prefers to be on the move even if that means walking in circles.

Well, time to wake the little girl up.  It is kind of a late nap, but I did not want to deal with Ms. Crankypants.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Meli Trying to Jump

This is a video of Meli trying to jump.  I love watching kids learn that act.  It is so cute seeing them trying so hard but not quite getting the concept of getting their feet off the ground.

This is Meli and Colin rocking out as mommy was cleaning. 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Blah...

I have spent the last three days at home sick...not only sick but accompanied by two sick kids.  It is so much more difficult "getting well" when you have to also take care of two little ones who do not totally understand what is going on and who cannot do things for themselves.  Meli's birthday gift to daddy was a high fever and staying up all night.  Poor Will.  Since this is his busiest time of year (and it was his birthday) I stayed up with her so he would get some sleep. I told Will that we are celebrating his birthday in October next year.  Poor baby girl.  This is the first time she has really been sick.  Thankfully it only lasted a short time.  Mae is definitely a drama queen.  Once she got better, Colin started showing signs of being sick and then I got sick.  I knew it was inevitable.  I always get sick when one of the kids are.  So, birthday week did not go totally as planned but we made due and were still able to show Will that his family loves and adore him.  I still managed to make him his first choice meal on his "day".  He wanted meatloaf but cooked in a muffin pan.  He heard about it somewhere and thought it sounded cute.  It did cook a lot faster, but I am not sure if I can ever use that pan for muffins or cupcakes again.  Meat will always be tied to it. Yuck, now I am grossed out.  The past few days have shown me that I may not be "stay-at-home" material.  Every once in a while I envy woman who get that role.  It is great for a woman or man to be able to do that for their child(ren).  I think there are positives for both ways and for Will and I we felt more strongly about the positives of not staying home.  Still sometimes I wonder if I could do it.  I know my recent experience was while I was sick but I am thinking probably not so much.  Not the part of being around my kids more. I would love that. Plus, I love planning little crafts and outings...but I think something would just be missing.

During naps this week, as I try to catch up on sleep I was able to think a lot about future plans.  Next steps.  I really need to decide if I want to move forward with my Masters.  The idea just sounds horrifying.  Possibly it is still to fresh.  Although, I am one of the rare few who probably do better with online classes than in class.  When I attend a class I just want to sleep and usually drown out the teaches, but with online I can do it when I want and just have way better focus.  It definitely takes a certain type to do online. You have to be self-motivated.  I was iffy about it at  first, but I came across some excellent teachers.  Some not so good ones as well. With today's technology it really can be like sitting in a classroom, without the hassle of driving there.  With my Masters though, I may try to mix it up a bit more.  I still need to figure out what direction to go in as far as majors. 

Oh, I had my second to last eye appointment (for after my ilasik surgery)...all is well.   My left gets dry sometimes but that should go away in time.  They feel so much better than when I was wearing contacts.  It is so weird to wake up and not need to reach for the glasses.

OK, time for NyQuil and sleep. 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Birthday Week has begun...

We kicked off Will's week of birthday celebration on Saturday.  That means he gets 7 days of his favorite meals and this year we are doing a little gift each day.  Colin and I had a blast picking out gifts this weekend.  Grandma Liz and Uncle Michael came up on Sunday for some Redskin football and turkey burgers (and other "football" food).  Here are a few pictures from our weekend.





Colin playing daddy a song on the accordion




Little princess Mae




Colin and Meli were playing dress up with their winter clothes - then chasing each other




Birthday boy!!




Meli clapping for the "happy birthday" song - Yay Grandma Liz!




Mae-Mae loves her daddy



~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Mommy & Son Fun

For those not on facebook, I just wanted to share a few pictures of Colin & I having fun with the camera on daddy's phone (his is cooler than mine)...




This is our "say cheese" face




Colin said to do a "monster" face - of course




Colin told me to do a "slow" face - I had no idea what that meant so I just looked at his




A nice one for the grandma's




Then I just had to squeeze my little guy - I love him so!



~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

 The B Family

My Baby Girl is a Toddler



Our little blonde, blue-eyed girl



Time for a little Meli update. The last time we weighed Meli she was 21.8 lbs.  That was a few weeks ago so it could be a little more now.  She is just turning into a little toddler - which is so fun but at the same time so sad that my little baby is growing up! She has ended one small chapter...she has finished her time at Ms. Barb's.  Now she has transitioned to Colin's school.  Her first 16 months has gone by too fast.  She is loving her new daycare.  She is trying so hard to keep up with the other kids (she is the youngest).  Thankfully right now it is a small group (only three) so that will make the transition easier.  It is amazing what being around a group of older kids does for a kid.  She is learning so much.  Colin is focusing on what he needs to do to be prepared for Kindergarten (so sad...but exciting at the same time).  I cannot believe I will have a kid in school next year. 

Some things she has been doing are:

• Shaking  her head and saying "yes"
• If you ask her if she has poo-poo in her diaper, she will point to her bottom and say "poo-poo" and wave her hand like it is stinky




Go Ravens!


• Some new(er) words since her last update are: cracker, apple, ball, bottle, no (but a lot of times it is like "NOOOO"), cookie (she says it in a very rough deep voice, not sure why), diaper, dirty, hat, puppy.  Lately she has been starting to form little sentences and it is just adorable.  A lot of words or just grumbles but we can make out a few.
• She loves to do animal sounds like quack-quack, moo, tweet, roar, etc.  Then when you say fish she makes a fish mouth and if you say bunny she tries to wiggle her nose.
• She is playing peek-a-boo (where she does the hiding) and is trying to sing.  So cute. 
• Colin has taught her to say "GO" after he says "Ready, set..."
• She will also say "two" after Colin says "one".
• She has learned some baby signs, like "more"
• She also learned the hand gestures for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The Itsy Bitys Spider
• She has 12 teeth
• loves shoes - I think we are foreseeing a problem

Meli has shown that she is a very independent little girl.  She is going to do what she wants to do.  So, if she wants to climb on top of the table no matter how many times you try to prevent her from doing it - she will continue to try until she is successful.  This will hopefully end up being a good trait but right now it is very tiresome.  I may have a gray hair or two now.  Thank you, Meli.



She loves her big brother




Meli has no fear



I am sure I am missing a lot of new things...

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Conversations with Colin

My son has always been a talker.  He is a mover and talker. I have never seen a kid with more energy and one that could talk non-stop for hours.  He will run circles around his friends. It is not even little boost of energy - it is all-the-time energy.  Without naps too. The talking part, I would have probably given him a run for his money, but not on the energy part. 

Lately, Colin has been talking a lot about zombies, monsters and death.  I believe that these topics have been brought to Colin's attention from this little girl at his pre-school...she has moved on to Kindergarten, so hopefully the topics will run their course and be gone.  Now he keeps asking me about death and points out that everyone will die at some point.  Even though this is true, it is not a topic I want to be having with my 4 year old.  He also thinks that zombies are real.  He says he does not believe that but he acts like he does.  It scares him a bit and now he has been having nightmares more often.  I may have already shared this, but one day Meli fell and scraped her knee - Colin looked at her knee and then said to me, "Don't worry mom, it is not bleeding, so she will not turn into a zombie". Oh, boy.

This is a story from his pre-school teacher: A while back, Colin was playing with a toy phone.  He is talking into it and all of the sudden she heard him saying "Obi-Wan, how do I fight this monster baby?" That happened to be the day that Meli was visiting at Colin's daycare for the day.

A few weeks ago during storytime we were reading this book of short fables.  Each night we would read one story.  It had ones like The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.  I remember those stories as a kid, but I must have either been told "nicer" versions or I was not really paying attention.  Those stories are HORRIBLE!  We would be reading a long and all of the sudden the wolf gobbled everyone up. Then, they had to cut open his tummy to free Riding Hood and her Grandmother.  Yucky.  Do not even get me started on The Tin Soldier...that was just depressing.  Colin loved them though.  I think mostly he liked that we were taking our time reading a big book.  Each night he would ask how many stories we had left.  I was so glad when the last one was done. 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
The B Family

HOMERUN!!!

This morning we had special family time...this took a little more effort on Will's part since he had a little too much wine last night and was hurting a bit this morning. My husband is such a  good sport and sucked it up so we could stick to our Sunday plans. Thank you, honey...

We treated the kids to breakfast at IHOP.  We rarely eat out (which makes it much more exciting when we do) and Colin loves pancakes.

Colin with his make-a-face pancake.

Meli being a good girl in her booster seat.

Colin is on a big baseball kick right now.  This last Friday, Will's work sponsored a trip to the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins. The whole week it was all Colin could talk about. I picked up Colin early and dropped him off at Will's work so the two boys could catch a bus to D.C.  Colin thought the stadium was super cool and loved the baseball food. He was also happy he was getting to stay up way past his bedtime.

This meant that Meli and I were able to enjoy a girls' night. We went on a nice, long walk and she got to enjoy the whole bathtub and was able to play with any of the toys that she wanted to.  I thought it was interesting that she grabbed all of the ones that were Colin's favorite bath toys.

After breakfast, we headed to a local school to play baseball.  Colin wanted to try and hit a ball and run the bases.  We had a great time playing.  Meli loved running in the outfield and would actually try to chase the ball.  Will, Colin and I all took turns hitting the ball.  On Colin's last hit we yelled for him to run all the way home - he ran around the bases yelling "I hit a really good homerun"!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family