Shower Power

Its finally warming up in the Northeast and we have been making the rounds at the sprinkler parks. Its a little tricky for us to swim at the beach (Lizard eats rocks!) or the pool (I only have two arms!), so these little gems are great for us and the kids love them.

You probably can't tell from these pictures, but Caleb is wearing no DIAPER!!!! We still have an accident every so often (mostly when he's having too much fun) but, its going pretty well this time. (the third try I think) So, my advice to all of you mommies...wait until they are ready it goes a lot easier.

This is Onyx the police dog. We had a special field trip to visit him and his partner, Tex. My camera ran out of batteries, so this is the only shot we got. It was very cool to see what they can do!

Questions for Caleb.....

What's your favorite thing for dinner?

cheerios and chips

What's you favorite color?

red

Who's your best friend?

Shauna

What's your favorite game?

Zingo! I mean, banno binna bock (?)

If you're naughty what does Santa bring you?

A spider, a robot spider with a remote control. Wait, that's what you get if you're good.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A drummer

What does mommy do for a job?

I don't know...plays with us?

What does daddy do?

work, lots and lots of work

I love you sideways

Lizzy got her first cheeto the other day at our pizza party. Clearly, I wasn't looking when this happened, but it was so cute I had to take a picture. She has been a little cranky lately and I just figured out its because she is getting her two top teeth. poor baby!

She can pull herself up to stand, but has trouble sitting back down. Here, she has had enough of the water table, but seems to be stuck! Check out the hairbow, I am so tired of losing them and buying new ones, that I bought a hot glue gun and some ribbon, watched a few youtube videos and can now craft my own.

On Sunday we had friends and neighbors over to eat pizza and cupcakes to raise money for my Avon walk, (www.tinyurl.com/francesoutlaw ) I am only $199 away from my minimum goal, with three months to go!!

I let Caleb decorate the deck and back yard and front yard and the side yard all by himself. He basically ran around everything until he was out of crepe paper.

Here is Caleb "pacing" on the wall waiting for Nate to get to the zoo. (Before the security guard came and told him to get down.) There was a little mix up with the mommies....I rode the train into the city with my children and went to the Central park zoo. My s-i-l drove her two kiddos to the Bronx zoo....oops! It wasn't until we were both inside our respective zoos that we realized the mix up. Because neither of the boys wanted to look at any animals without the other, she graciously turned around and came into the city. Thankfully, they refunded her money, or it would have been a pricey mistake!

Baby Longhorns

Everyone always goes on and on about how much alike my children look. I thought the same thing, until these pictures. Caleb is in the above shot at about 9 months old. I remembered this shot and set Lizzy up in the same pose last night when she was wearing the same outfit. I don't think they look anything alike! Maybe his mature face is what they are comparing her to!

How to make my husband crazy in 3 easy steps

Even though the number of children that we have has only doubled in the last year, it seems as though the number of toys has quadrupled. Despite the fact that we have a room dedicated to toys, they are everywhere. In the living room, our bedroom, the bathroom, there is even an exersaucer in the kitchen.



A couple of months ago, Brandon said enough is enough....I am going to break my neck. Thus began the "basement project." This involved semi-finishing (cleaning, painting, adding rugs and furniture-maybe a treadmill?) and most importantly moving the toys down!! It was supposed to be a three day project, but as with most things, didn't end up that way. That was a couple of months ago, and the project still isn't complete. (In his defense, we have been really busy- vacation, Father's Day, a tag sale) And that's not the point of this story!



In my excitement for a basement playroom, I promptly located a train table on Freecycle. com (yahoo groups- you should check it out) drove an hour to pick it up and planted it smack in the middle of our current, already filled to capacity playroom. My enthusiasm for a free toy and that it was something we really needed, was only a fraction greater than the irritation Brandon had for bringing in another toy. A huge room engulfing one at that.



So the other day the kids and I were dropping off leftover items at the local Goodwill. When I pulled into the donation site, what did I see? A perfect! Step 2 kitchen just right for our soon? to be completed basement.



I rushed to the attendant, "Can I buy this please?"



She lifted her head from the bin she was working on, "you'll have to wait for me to price it."



"okay, I'll wait."



Begrudgingly, she got her price gun and stamped my kitchen $10!!! (they retail for over $100)



In hindsight, I probably could have gotten it for less if I hadn't been so excited, but its for a good cause.



So, we bring it home and clean it up and Caleb wants to bring it right inside. Oh no I say, Daddy's head will explode if one more toy comes into this house. So, we "hid' it in the freshly cleaned garage.



When Brandon came home, it didn't take long for him to discover the toy.



"Did you buy this because you finished the basement, while I was at work?" ha ha



"No, I found it today and couldn't pass it up."



He shook his head a muttered something I couldn't quite make out- thankfully, Goodwill has a no return policy, or it might have gone back.





PS. Want to know how my husband can make his wife crazy? move the clothes hamper from his side of the bedroom because its too crowded over there, and then continue to leave dirty clothes in a pile on the floor where the hamper used to be.


xoxo honey!




For those of you who missed it on FB, here's my Caleb bear picking raspberries yesterday at Lyman's orchards. Jamberry is one of our favorite books, and if you've never read it, its great by Bruce Degan.

Sparklers aren't for toddlers

For whatever reason, our town does a fire works display on the 3rd of July every year. We can see them shoot them off from our backyard, which is nice, because who wants to take babies to the beach in that crowd and then have to sit in traffic?

So, we had some friends over and grilled fajitas and ate guacamole. Happy Birthday America! I bought a variety pack of sparklers for the kids and Brandon looked at me like I was crazy. I guess three is a little young to play with something that is on fire. You live and learn. Here Caleb is helping his dad with them.

I love pictures like this, especially when I think about these two about eight years from now. They are going to be so over us trying to talk them into being boyfriend and girlfriend. Still, I cross my fingers for a Will and Grace finale repeat.

The lounging lizard princess, pictured at left, is now pulling herself up. It won't be long before she is climbing the stairs. I haven't quite figured out how to solve that problem.

I have only 83 days left until my 39 mile walk. I took a look at the training schedule. You're supposed to walk like 12 miles at a time...who has time for that? I can get out of my house for about an hour alone, and that's at 9:30. If I walked for 12 miles, I wouldn't get home until midnight. Guess I better walk faster!

I have commanded you, be strong and courageous

Here is a great shot of Caleb and Adrien in Myrtle Beach. We were so lucky to be able to share a week at the beach with our good friends. The kids had a great time. Caleb loved the ocean and would stay out in the waves for as long as he could convince someone to take him. He even got knocked down a few times, but got right back up for more!

We stayed over night in Washington D. C. and got to look around a little bit. We'll probably have to do this again when the kids are a little older because Caleb wasn't as impressed with the Washington monument as he was with the fireflies he caught and the sprinkler we let him run through.

Caleb is 3 and can finally ride the tricycle Brandon got him for his 1st birthday. Here is a picture of his birthday party, where he would not take off his Superman pj's. We had it on a Monday morning and served KK donuts and chocolate milk! yummy!

Here is Lizzy being bossy to her baby cousin Talia! and another shot of her first time in the pool! She loved it.

Eliza is 9 months old! She is pulling herself up and yesterday she tried to scoot around the ottoman to get to her daddy! I just had a tagsale to get rid of all baby stuff (sniff, sniff!) and all single strollers- there were 3!

Its been kind of a crummy summer so far, with only a few sunny days sprinkled in, all of my TX friends are probably a little jealous of the "blazing" 85 degree weather we're experiencing.

We just finished an amazing week of Vacation Bible School! I had the privilege to teach 1st and 2nd grades. Being with them was such a great experience and made me so excited about loving Jesus and sharing the words of the bible with such eager, bright, enthusiastic little minds. I have really come to love our church, although I wasn't sure it was the place for us, I am sure of it now. I am so thankful that we are there and Caleb and Eliza are going to grow up in such an amazing church family.

I will begin my days with renewed gratitude and joy for all that I have!

She's not as sweet as she looks

So, I just wanted to post this beautiful picture of my little angel.....When looking at that sweet face its hard to remember that she has been torturing us for the last week. I know this little peanut is sick, but she will not sleep in her bed. All of the progress we made has been lost and we are back to a family bed. I know she will get better and all will go back to "normal", but its hard to see the light at this point.

I love you baby girl!

Good thing this isn't a paying gig

Blogging has been in the back of my mind for a while....I am falling down on the resolution to keep up with it, but honestly, its the only one I can remember making. I told myself, that I would at least post something once a month, but that tricky February came and went so I find myself three days into March and a whole list of things to report. I'll just bullet point them for quick reference. Here's what's been happening with our clan..... (and a promise to blog at least once a week.)

In my last blog, I totally forgot about Caleb's first Broadway experience. Steph, Jay, Caleb, Nate, Lizzy and I all went to the New Victory Theatre to see Dan Zanes Holiday House Party. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to try out a live show at a kid friendly place, I hope that my children will have my love for live theatre. The only downside was that they made me purchase a ticket for the then 12 week old Lizzy....seriously, she couldn't even hold up her head.Both the kiddos continue to grow like crazy and to that cause Eliza began eating (sort of) cereal two weeks ago, and celebrate celebrate, we got the previously vegetarian (actually bread, cheese, and yogurt) eating Caleb to eat chicken last night. It took 20 minutes to swallow three bites, but its a step.

I think Eliza is going to start crawling any day, she flips over one her tummy and lifts up her head and kicks her legs.

I have really become concerned about our diets lately. Honestly, I was feeling pressure from the other moms. So, in an effort to live longer, and do what the mommies do, I threw out all of our bottles and sippy cups, replacing them with new BPA free ones. I have also begun shopping organic, much to the disdain of my hubby. To keep him happy, I still but white wonder bread, but whole grain everything else. Then I decided that all of that good was being cancelled out by my McDonald's and soda habit, so I kicked them both. I am six days Coke free, and only surviving because of iced tea.

We began regoing? to a church in Fairfield that we had attended for awhile before Eliza's birth. We're back and trying to find our place. Its big, and we haven't made a connection yet, but we love the children's programs and the sermons each week are exactly what we've been looking for. I began volunteering in the nursery last month and we are seeking out a class to join, I have faith that this is the church for us and even among the 2,000 members, we will fit in.

We enjoyed an amazingly fun visit from Aly and Adrien this month. Despite an almost two year age differece, the boys played well together. We took them to a fun playland and to NYC on Friday for a lot of excitement. It was Adrien's first trip there and we tried to cram in as much as possible. We hit the Museum of Natural History, a train ride, subway, taxi ride, Central Park, Times Square and a Ferris wheel ride at Toys-r-us!

Cabuz its been a little hectic around here

A lot has happened since our last post. First of all, I turned 31. It was a little scary, not as fun as 30 and kind of traumatic-something about being in your 30's, I guess... yikes!!! Anyway, we had a nice family night of pizza and a fudgy the whale cake. YUmmO! I got beautiful earrings and cozy jammies from my hubby and kiddos.









We wanted to host Thanksgiving at our house this year and we were very excited that Nana Cheryl made it all the way to Connecticut to celebrate with us. Thank goodness she was there, because I can only make apps and mashed potatoes. She was responsible for a beautiful turkey with all of the fixings. Again I say Yummo!

We then braved Toys-r-us for black Friday. My friend Trish (who came up with this idea in the first place) totally ditched us and we were on our own. Cheryl, Lizzy and I were in the parking lot at 5:05 and there were no parking spots. I had a list prepared, sneakers on, and I was totally ready to push and shove to get everything I needed. It was busy, but they were very organized and we were in and out in 45 minutes, with eight gifts purchased! Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, we decided to try our luck at the mall. Target at 6am? no problem- in and out. Still excited, we hit Borders and Express....by 8 am we were back at home on the couch watching the Today show and eating pumpkin pie. Tricia was no where to be found!


On her last day in town we went to brunch at this cute little restaurant. I'm not sure how good the food was because I treated my self to a/ couple/ few mimosas. Thank goodness Lizzy likes bottles.

Despite my efforts on Black Friday we still had a lot of shopping to do. Ikea became one of our fave shopping spots. They have really cool stuff and its fun to hang out there. We had a take a few trips to New Haven for Eliza's baby study so it was an easy stop on the way home.

Thanks to a friend of ours who also has a new baby, Eliza is enrolled in an Autism study at Yale. She is in the control group, meaning she is a younger sibling of a normally developing (non-autistic) child. The study's purpose is to find ways to diagnose autism at an earlier age. Presently, children can only be identified at two years of age. The study is pretty neat, when she is awake or not crying. She'll go every month until she's two. I had to sign a release saying they could use her picture in a textbook. I hope she makes it in!

We celebrated an early Christmas with the Gromeks in Brooklyn because they were going to Florida for vacation. Despite a little cold from Caleb we had a great time. Jay is an amazing cook and exchanged some pretty cool gifts. The highlights of which were definitely Caleb's robot and digital camera (for a two-year-old!) neat : )

The kids and I (and Tricia and Baby John and our friend Shauna) made our annual trip to The Westchester for Santa pictures. Neither of my kids cried while sitting with Santa, but they also wouldn't speak smile or even blink. Despite my antics they were completely stone faced. It wasn't until we were about to walk away that Caleb got concerned and said,

"Mom, what about my scooter and helmut?"

I said, "Well, you better go ask him."

Bravely, he turned around and whispered, "Can I have a scooter and helmut?"

Precious

The Westchester is my favorite mall, even though I can't shop in any of the stores. It does have some good ones like PB kids and Crate and Barrel. I was almost almost done.

Can you believe how big she is????? That mirror is her Santa Claus present and is sings a charming and catchy little tune. Call me anytime and Caleb and I will sing you a duet.

Here is Lizzy loving on her Aunt Shellie. Shellie, Leo and Jackie came to visit us for Christmas. It was a nice visit. We made cookies for Santa and ate pizza on Christmas eve. Hmmm, sounds like a good low key tradition.

I was so excited about Christmas morning this year. I thought Caleb would be bouncing off the walls and running down the stairs to tear into presents. No such luck.

7:30 I am awake staring at the baby. Try to wake Caleb

7:45 Brandon is awake. Try to wake Caleb

8:00 House is awake. Try to wake Caleb

8:30 Make Breakfast and eat it and clean up. Try to wake Caleb

9:00 Brandon, Lizzy and I open our stockings. Try to wake Caleb

9:15 Finally convince Caleb to open his little eyes and see what Santa brought. Bring on the fun!!!

I know there will be years to come when I will be awoken in the wee hours of the morning by my children and I will groan and complain, but 9:15? come on!

Caleb got a train set from Santa and we love playing with it. It comes out every day and hopefully, we finish the basement soon and have room for a train table.

The day after Christmas we of course hit the malls for sales and to do a little exchanging. It was crazy there, and Brandon was thankful that Leo didn't want to go and he was forced to stay home and watch television while the girls and kids faced the crowds.

Because we're just gluttin for punishment, we decided to go to NYC the Saturday after Christmas. And we thought it would be a good idea to go to Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center. Gee, I hope no one else had the same idea!!

You can't tell from this picture, but Jackie has lost over 50 pounds and looks amazing. She was a little grumpier than usual, so I think she should eat a little more : ) lol

Grammy got Caleb a scooter, which he thoroughly enjoyed riding around the house. Poor Shellie, mailed her presents to us and they didn't get to us until the 27th. Here is Caleb showing off his Diego helmut and knee pads. (PS- it took three adults to figure out the front vs. back) She also got Lizzy a Cabbage Patch, which is bigger than she is. Guess we'll save that for next year.

2009, has been pretty good so far. I have two new obsessions. First, the Twilight books. I got all four from Brandon for Christmas and have finished them all already. It only took me this long because I hid the third book from my self for a week. I really like the books, but it makes me mad inside that I didn't think to write them myself first. Dang!

My second obsession is Chelsea Handler. The girl is funny. So between, reading, Chelsea Lately and a new baby. I am getting no sleep.

There is more to tell, but I have no more energy. I guess I will save the rest. It will make it easier to keep my resolution to keep my blog up to date.

Peace and love to all!