Pincher

The boys and I babysat Aidan for Michelle and Tom yesterday morning while they went to have a sonogram done of their tiny peanut!  By the second half hour and with two episodes of Barney having been watched, Aidan seemed to be enjoying himself!  Once his mama got back we tried our hardest to figure out what to do with our little men since we're sick of being indoors and it's still so SO cold out!  Aunt Mich suggested going to Five Below where they have all kinds of toys for $5 or less.  Sam heard the word "TOYS!" and well, needless to say our decision on where to go and what to do was made for us.

At the store, Sam picked up one toy after another, thinking carefully about each one before telling me, "Let's keep looking," and off he'd go to inspect the next one that caught his eye.  After about twenty minutes, he'd found the perfect one.  A Robot Arm, or as Sam calls it, "A Pincher."  Behold, the toy he turned down a Darth Vader lunchbox, a battery-operated pewer, and countless balls of all shapes and sizes for:

Grabbin' stuff.

Better watch out!

 

Bounce U!!

It's too TOO cold out for the end of March if you ask me.  Michelle and I packed the kiddies in the car and drove up to Clarksburg to have fun at Bounce U.  And fun we had!  Bounce U is two huge rooms of bounce house heaven!  They offer a few hours of open bounce time for kiddies under five each day and throw a snack at the kids halfway through!  

Tire 'em out, feed 'em and get 'em home for a deliciously long and deep nap.  This is my standard recipe for happy babies when the weather is nice and we can spend all day at the parks and going on adventures in the woods.  But while it's 35 degrees and the parks are still frozen, Bounce U sounds right up our alley.  So away we went.  

And when I say that Sam fell madly and deeply in love with the ginormous slide?  I mean it.  Check out this video of him bravely climbing the stairs all by himself before sliding down the steep slide and running to do it all over again.

I didn't take many pictures or videos today.  I couldn't wait to climb up that ladder with my boy and squeal with him coming down the slide!  

I'm thinking the boys and I have another date set with this awesome place next Friday.  Can't wait to see how much fun the Hubs has there too!  Happy Friday everyone!

Sam Day

According to the goofy ticker to the left, our biggest boy is 3 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 2 days old today.  He's pretty much the most amazing person I know.  I remember when he was born and I finally got to really hold him in the hospital (after they'd rushed him to NICU to make sure he was okay and that the acrobatics he performed in order to get the cord wrapped twice around his tiny neck did not actually hurt him) and I locked eyes with that little miracle and he actually picked his head up to stare back up at me . . . my heart was his.  My Sam is so curious, smart, calm and sweet-natured.  He's the best parts of his daddy and I wrapped up in in a tall, skinny body and sealed with a goofy grin and big-bellied laugh.

*Sigh*

Love him.  To pieces.  

So imagine my heart-break when I picked him up from school today to hear his teacher report that he "had a rough day."  At first I thought she meant he was extra tired or didn't want to leave the water table or maybe refused to drink his milk.  But she continued to elaborate by saying that "he had some trouble pushing other children and seemed short-tempered."  Blinking back the tears, I hugged my big boy and tried talking to him after getting him in the car.  He didn't offer any insight though (remember, he *rarely* talks about how school went) so I called the Hubs.  He felt terrible too and suggested that maybe Sam's just feeling left out.  We both talked about how yesterday he'd asked each of us only half a million times to read the same book with him.  I kept putting him off to do laundry or change Max and Dave came home from work and made dinner with barely any down time with the boys.

We both felt awful with our realization.  Sam needs more of our time and FULL attention.  I realize that even though I've taken the lead on the majority of the housework as a stay-at-home mom, I need to separate myself from it even as it surrounds me daily.  I can't let my desire to stay on top of the daily chores cut into the time I should be spending with my Sam.  I need to trust that the house won't crumble and fall if I skip a day or three of housework and focus instead on reading books, building forts, taking walks, digging holes and making projects with my big boy.  And be in the moment completely, not distracted by the never-ending list of to-dos running through my head.  The Hubs, feeling just as bad, has decided to try to get to work much earlier to be able to get home much earlier to spend more time with the boys.

So we agreed that we needed to do something special for our Sammer Jam.  We decided to surprise him with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and playtime!!  It was loud, kinda crowded, and the pizza is still disagreeing with my tummy, but our guy had a blast running around, spending tokens, and collecting tickets!  I loved seeing him  with his Daddy having a great time on a random Thursday night.  I told him we were celebrating "Sam Day."  He was thrilled.  

Here he is too excited to decide what to do first:

Wackin-A-Mole or three:

I love the Hubs in the background, cheering him on!

Little brother, always watching big brother:

 

Flying high in the helicopter:

Riding Scoop with his buddy Bob the Builder:

 

And lots and lots and LOTS of climbing, sliding, and running through those ceiling tubes.  

Love this boy.  I just hope I can be a good enough mother to give him a childhood that oozes with happy memories of us doing stuff together.  I want him to feel loved and listened to and appreciated every day of his life.  I want to have the energy and desire to always be able to put aside whatever chore I'm trying to cross off my list to sit and read that same book for the millionth time.  Because one day he's not even going to ask me.  And that just breaks my heart even thinking about it!   


Here's to being actively in the moment.  Paying attention to those you love the most.  Making memories that will bring smiles to their faces when they're older.  Happy Sam Day!!  :)

 

So unless I'm totally enjoying some z's myself, one of my most favorite parts of the morning is when the little little guy wakes up from his morning nap.  This morning Sammer Jam and I were in the basement playing together when I heard some familiar noises on the monitor.  I was just about to bite into my piping hot plate of (pretend!) corn on the cob before dipping in to my (plastic!) chocolate cookie in the shape of a burger patty (all carefully and lovingly prepared for me by my first-born) in the kitchen corner when a naughty little thumping noise called down to us.  Of course I ate every bite of my delicious meal and thanked my little chef graciously before watching him skip off to play with his digger while I made my way upstairs to Maxie-Pie's room.  Here's how nap time ends each morning in our house:

First I creep as quietly as possible on our creaky floors into the boys' room.

Then I whisper my hellos and I love yous to my little wall-kicker before ducking down out of sight next to his crib.

The he giggles and I giggle and he rolls over to look for me . . .

pushes down his bumper, squishes his face against the bars and looks for his mama . . .

with some bumper-munching along the way ...

and I pop up to say hi . . .

And we both giggle and squeal!!  This fun game continues until his squeals become demanding yells!! 

 Oh I could just eat him I love him so much!

Showing off his bug socks.

Such a happy little guy.

And to think of all the goofy moments like these that I missed out on with Sam while I worked.  Oh how I love these boys!

aaaaaaAAAAAND We're Back!!

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post?  Yikes!  Here's me, jumping back on the blogging horse!

We've been busy around here in the last month with some highlights including:
  
~Granny and Furry Grandpa came to visit the boys and spent a wonderfully long and relaxing weekend at our house.  

~The Hubs and I celebrated our first official date to a 10th grade dance we went to waaaaay back on March 11, 1993, eighteen years ago!  Okay, so maybe "celebrated" is too strong of a verb . . . more like reminisced  . . . right before I went to bed.  Hot, huh?  :)


~Maxie-Pie turned 8 months old and celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day.  One of the two cutest little Irish boys I know!

~Our little family drove to visit all the grandparents and half of the boys' cousins in NY for a nice long weekend and ate our weight in corned beef, cabbage and cupcakes with green frosting!  Granny's an amazing cook!


But when I went to look through all the pictures I'd taken of these gloriously warm moments in our wonderful life, I found only these:

The Hubs mowing/mulching the lawn, getting the yard ready for his parents' visit!

And my Sam, always ready and anxious to help his Daddy, whatever the job.

With Rosie's help, of course.  (Someone's got to protect the family from the evil lawn mower.)

The boys, hard at work.

Watching and learning.

One of these years he'll probably hate that this is his job!

Several times in the past month, I did find myself thinking that I should grab the camera to take a picture.  But in trying my best to keep this blog up and active, I've discovered that sometimes life is just so much more fun when you're living presently in it, not watching it through a lens.

Before you call me on the above as bs, here's some cute shots of the boys at the park today!

Diggin'.

Choosing the right tool for the job.

The closest thing to a smile he would give and I could catch.

Sticks are great tools too!

Making the road smooth.

This is what happened on our long three block walk home.
One second he's kicking his brother and pulling on the straps and the next?

Out.  Still holding on to the strap though.  Stinker.

And now they're napping.  And Rosie's napping.  And I'm debating whether to tackle the laundry or vacuum the floors.  Maybe I'll let Dr. Phil followed by Oprah decide for me.  

This is a great life.