Busy Days!

We've had a busy few days, thus lots to post about!

Last Thursday night, Grant had his 1st soccer practice. I laughed so hard that I hurt. Let me just say that my child was in his own world. He totally cracked me up. I had told him that his coach’s name was Rusty, so as soon as he got out of the car, he started yelling, “Rusty, oh Rusty,” as he was running toward the field. He was also very excited about his shin guards and kept telling Coach Rusty that he had his shin guards on. The coach would tell the kids to do something and Grant would just do his own thing. There were several times I had to go fetch him when he’d get 50 yards from the rest of the team. He said he liked it, but he really had a solo practice. Hopefully, this week will go better. I don’t really care if he’s any good (but I’m sure his dad does), I would just prefer that he stay with the team and have fun! Three & Four Year Olds playing soccer might be the best entertainment yet. His first game is 4/4, and it ought to be a blast!

Shortly after this, he totally abandoned his ball to go talk to the coach about shin guards!

He was right up in the huddle. See him all bent down?!

Friday, my mom, Grant, Claire and I headed out for a little weekend trip. Friday night we stayed at my aunt’s house in Louisville. Saturday morning, the kids and I got up and drove to Northern KY (think just outside Cincinnati) to visit one of my friends from college and her family. Grant has always been an easy traveler, but, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Claire. She fussed quite a bit in the car, especially every time her raisins or puffs ran out. She also had a really hard time sleeping both nights we were gone. I just hope that all of that will improve before we decide to take an extended vacation to a destination that might be a longer drive!

Saturday, we headed to Totter’s Otterville. I had never heard of it before, but it was so much fun. Grant & Claire both loved it! I wish that it were nearby. There was so much for both of them to do. I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures of the day there! Claire got so wet in the water exhibit that I had to strip her down. Here are a few pictures of our 4 kids together. Right now they are ages 4,3,2,1. Pretty much every time we’ve seen each other in the past several years one of us was pregnant, but not this year so I guess there won’t be another to add to this pic anytime soon! We had a great time and look forward to seeing them again. Grant really didn’t want to leave this time, so we’ll have to get together sooner rather than later!

all 4 kiddos together. i think i have 12 pictures, but this is the best one!

And this is what I did ALL DAY Monday.



I ended up taking the day off Monday just to get my house back in working order. You wouldn’t think I could get so far behind in just a few days, but I did. Plus, I was behind before I left. I feel like I’m always behind on chores. Things just pile up, and I think I’ll get to them, but I turn around and it’s a month later and the pile is still there. I hate clutter, so this is very frustrating for me! I had all these things I wanted to get done, but pretty much all I did is unpack, laundry, dusting, picked up toys, and “did” our floors. No grocery store trips, no yard work, no blogging, and no pictures uploaded! What a way to spend a day off, huh?! I’m itching for another one, but doubt there will be one until my little trip in April!

These is just a cute picture of my Claire Bear! She was hiding between the sliding door and the panel on it eating her goldfish.

I Found Me Lucky Charms!

I meant to post these last night, but never made it around to it. I'm not at home so it's driving me crazy that I haven't edited these at all and that Grant is in desperate need of a haircut, but oh well! We enjoyed the beautiful weather at the park yesterday afternoon & hope to do the same today! Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patty's Day!

Too Old for Baby Magic??

When are they to old to be washed with Baby Magic and slathered with Johnson’s Baby Lotion? I have used Baby Magic on both of my babies since the day they came home from the hospital. Some folks gave us some of the Johnson’s Baby Wash, but I never liked it as much, and always went back to the Baby Magic. The only pain with Baby Magic is that Kroger & Wal-Mart don't carry it. Target does, but that always means an extra $100 I didn't even know I needed. Nonetheless, it's my favorite and it's all I've ever used. I feel the opposite about the lotion. I do not like the Baby Magic lotion. It seems too watery to me, but I love the creamy Johnson’s Lotion. There’s something about that baby scent that’s almost heavenly. There’s no other scent quite like it, and when you get to experience it in your own home night after night, it’s even better.

All of that being said; I’m still using this baby soap/shampoo and lotion on Grant. He’s just a little over 2 months from turning 4. This approaching birthday seems like a big one to me. So now I ask, when are they too old to be using this stuff? He doesn’t know the difference so he’s not fighting it, and I can’t imagine him smelling fruity or anything else for that matter. Should I just hang on until the big boy in him tells me he’s too old?!

Oreos and Grant

Who does this?! Seriously! If you know me at all, you know I have a bit of an obsession with all things O-R-E-O! My good friend Meleah keeps me stocked when the seasonal Oreos make their debut. Yesterday, she gave me a fresh pack of the new Spring design. I’m not sure if this is fact, but it always seems to me that the seasonal designs have more of that marvelous creamy filling than just plain old Oreos, but less than the Double-Stuffed. For that reason, they tend to be my favorite. That, and let’s face it, they’re just cuter with their colored fillings!

Meleah didn’t know that I decided to start trying to count points (Weight Watchers) again yesterday. I finally weaned Claire a few weeks ago and that extra calorie burn is gone! My eating habits, however, have not changed so I’ve got to do something if I plan to continue wearing my clothes! That’s my battle for the week (or until they’re gone), but I appreciate the thought (& the colored cream) and so does Grant! The picture above is his uneaten Oreo! He asked for one, I obliged and this is what was left! Who eats less than ½ of an Oreo? The self-restraint he must possess at such a young age is astounding! I couldn’t let this portion go to waste but instead of ingesting all 3 points of it; I only licked the cream.

Grant has been quite the character lately. Apparently, he has a knack for memorizing commercials that he sees and he tells me about the products I could have if only I could CALL NOW! He also made me aware of Cash 4 Gold, just in case I needed to turn my gold into cash. I only hope that he doesn’t start telling me about feminine products or male related drugs if you know what I mean!

Saturday night while I was cooking dinner, he told me he wanted to do some “art.” Art to him means cutting up paper, but that’s usually the extent of it. Saturday he somehow procured the tape too, and started taping his little pieces together. Before I knew it, he’d taped something up under our island without me even knowing it. You may not be able to tell what it is, but it’s his name. He taped little pieces of paper together to make letters. I was pretty impressed because I couldn’t even get him to practice writing a few weeks ago, and now he’s writing it and attempting to cut out letters! (I accidentally took a video of the name & deleted the picture I took..sorry!)

A few nights ago when I was giving him a bath, he asked me why I had so many purple polka dots on my face. I really didn’t know I did, but I told him it’s because I’m getting old. I still haven’t figured out exactly what he’s talking about, but if you see purple dots on my face, please point them out to me!

Falling off the Wagon

The blog wagon that is. I miss blogging..I really really do, but it seems that when I have a moment to sit down at the computer ALONE, there are more pressing things to do...like check my email or read other people's blogs. I go through my day thinking, "I could blog about that," but then it never happens. I think I could be pretty interesting, or maybe even funny if I had some spare time. Oh well, I guess that's not really what's important, but I do miss it just in case you wondered.

I have taken like 5 pictures in the last month which is sooo not like me. The casing on my camera has cracked & I am so afraid that it is going to break at any moment that I am limiting my camera use. Totally dumb because if it does break then at least I'll have an excuse to buy a new camera. The only problem is that I want an expensive one!

Anywhoo! Last week, I picked up Claire's 1 year pictures & her panel from the photographer. It is so precious, but it totally cracked me up. I didn't realize how badly her hair had fallen out on the sides. I remember talking about it some, but she seriously had a comb over, and it looked hilarious! She never lost any hair on the top or back of her head, but lost ALOT on the sides. You can't really tell in any of the pictures but the 3 month one. It's amazing how much they change that first year, or even in the first few months. The 3 month pic is so much different from the newborn ones I had done at 2 weeks old.

I hung hers right below Grant's. Since they were done by different photographers, they are a little different, but still similar. The main difference is that Claire's actual images are bigger, so it makes her look like she was a bigger baby...which she was a little, but not by a huge margin. I think they really started looking alike around the 9 mth mark, other than their hair color, of course. I don't know how much you can see of them here, but I added a close up of each one too. For some reason though, I can never click on my actual pictures when I upload them to make them bigger...any pointers here?

It has been a pretty long few days around our house. I took Grant for his follow up ear appt. on Friday and all was good. Tubes are in a great spot, the one ear that was draining had stopped, etc. We went to a birthday party Friday night, and I noticed Grant coughing a few times, but tis the season. Friday night we let Grant sleep with us, and he woke me up barking like a seal. There were a few times that he had a really hard time taking in a breath. Needless to say, we made our way to the dr. 1st thing Saturday morning. They gave him a breathing treatment after some severe fighting from him. The funniest part of this was that he was really throwing a fit. At one point, the nurse & I were both holding him down trying to get the mask on his face, and he starts yelling, "poo poo head, poo poo head." I totally busted out laughing. I've never heard him call anyone that, so I guess he was really mad! We finally subdued him, and he sat in my lap for the treatment. They decided he has croup. His breathing was really bad again on Sat. night, but seems to have improved some now. Hopefully, he will be on the mend for awhile. Claire is picking up the slack with her snotty nose. First thing in the morning 2 days in a row, she has been a sight to see with dried snot all over her face & her hair stuck in it. yuck I know! I'm just hoping she doesn't get croupy again!

Grant's 1st "Procedure"

I only have a few minutes, but wanted to post real quick. After several ear infections over the past few months, one of which took 4 antibiotics to clear up, and another that ruptured his eardrum Grant's dr. decided it was time for tubes. I, honestly, had no idea how many he'd had because I feel like we're at the dr. all of the time anyway between the two kids. Tuesday was the day, and I was fretting about the separation anxiety that might take place at the surgery center. He's been really really attached to me lately, and has had multiple meltdowns at Mother's Day Out and at church, so I was afraid the hospital like setting may be disastrous. However, the wagon and the Buzz Lightyear that the Nurse Anesthetist gave him proved helpful. He also got to blow lots of bubbles in the holding area. I guess they are used to little kids. He woke up screaming saying he was hurting, which really shouldn't have been the case. Then, he threw up in the car on the way home and drifted off to sleep. We got home a little before 11 am and he slept until close to 2:30 and woke up a new kid. He was totally confused and thought it was a different day because he'd been asleep for so long. Hopefully, these will eliminate all of those trips to the doc.

I totally forgot to take my camera to document the experience, but did take a pic with my phone. Notice Buzz spinning in the picture!

Now I'm off to traffic court for the ticket I got for going 46 mph on New Year's Eve

totally random

i love this picture. as i mentioned in my last 'real' post, claire and i went shopping a few weeks ago because she was in desperate need of new shoes. her feet might be the thickest things you've ever seen. they are as tall as they are wide, so she's hard to fit to say the least. grant lived in pedipeds until he was 2 1/2, and i absolutely love them. they are cute, plus i feel like they're pretty comfortable. so of course, claire has her fair share of thsoe. she was starting to outgrow her first ones so we were on the hunt for some transitional shoes. the above is what we came home with. the 4th pair was actually sophie's, but we're borrowing them for those outfits that you must have brown for since we outgrew our brown ones. a girl can never have too many shoes right?! everyone has already done all of the circus posts, but just for memory's sake we did attend the circus this year. grant has never wanted to go until this year because he says he's scared of clowns. this time when i asked, he said he wasn't scared anymore. thankfully, none of the clowns got too terribly close to us. we had a great time. the elephants and the motorcyclists were my favorite. claire was really into the whole thing too. she watched all of the people so intently, danced to the music, etc.

we really haven't done much else these past few weeks...just hanging out. we're always busy, i'm just not sure with what exactly. claire is my one woman wrecking crew and may put me over the edge very very soon. the kitchen we got her for her birthday may have been a mistake. i don't know how many times per day i can pick up the same fake food. she doesn't play with anything! she just pulls EVERYTHING out and moves on to something else. it's exhausting, but she is in her own little world and has no idea she's putting anyone else out.

i was getting ready to type that grant and claire are really getting along well, playing well, etc. then i heard a myriad of things flying into the hallway just now. when i asked grant what he was doing, he replied throwing things at claire. so maybe it's not as good as i thought. they are getting a little bit easier to manage. i even took them both to home depot & kroger with me today ON PURPOSE and they were good.

claire won't say anything still except for ball, dada, dog, and the occasional mama. she says ball over and over and over again! she also grunts and makes little noises to indicate what she wants all of the time. there's no question that she knows exactly what she wants, and usually it's independence. i am already picturing teenage struggles :-)! it's going to be a wild ride!