Odd places

For whatever reason, BBZ loves to hang out in our dog, Maggie, crate. I have no idea why. Normally, I would shoo him out, but lately? Well, I just don't care anymore. I guess it's just an odd place to hang out, but he likes it all the same.

Picture perfect

Yes, BBZ continues to have an obsession with my shoes. Yes, he has no pants on. And yes, he is walking around with a firefighter's helmet on. Maybe he thinks my shoes are his boots and he just forgot to put his pants on before he went to fight the fire.

Shoes

Apparently, another fun thing to do in our house is walk around in Mommy's shoes. Oh, if only they knew how much "fun" it really is, I'm sure they would throw them off.

Just plain silly

After dinner is our silly time around here. I seem to remember saying the same thing when LMA was growing up. Well, this tradition has continued and frankly it's gotten sillier with two knuckleheads. Which, let me tell you, since doing this alone, this little part of my day has made it that much more bearable. These two were at it again this night and kept repeating Cheese since I had my iPod pointing at them. Soon after they would both run up to see the pic!

Odd spot, wouldn't you say?

Sometimes my boys find the weirdest spots to play. Like the front hall closet that has nothing but shoes on the bottom and coats up above. Alas, they love to close the door and hide inside in the dark. So when they found this play spot, well I guess I should have expected it. But, it's still weird.

Picture Perfect?

Not that I really think I have any business entering a photo contest, especially one that both my father and uncle have entered, but I thought I would try my luck. I've had some good ones, at least I think they were, but here is my favorite of LMA. Here's the photo that I entered into Greeblemonkey Greeblepix July contest.



Top 10 will be picked this Thursday by the blog author. We'll see.

Momma? What's a ...?

Little Man is in the curious phase. More the "what's this?" and "what's that?" right now, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the why's start.

So the other day, when he came into the kitchen asking me a "what's this" question, I didn't think otherwise... until I turned around.

LMA: Mom?
Mom: Yeah? (Looking down at the dishes I was washing)
LMA: What's a redneck?
Mom: What's a redneck? It's a.... (then I turned around to see this)



And right behind him was daddy with a huge smirk on his face. Needless to say I didn't answer him and told him to go pick something else out to wear.

Memorial Day fun

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial. I also hope everyone appreciated the military service members, both past and present, for all the freedom and effort they have done and are doing for our country. I know I definitely do.

For us, Memorial Day weekend was also the start to pool season. And thankfully, hubby was home or else we definitely would not have enjoyed it with just mommy on duty. I was super excited to see how BBZ would react to the pool. It was a little crowded, which was expected, but we had a great time. Until of course, LMA was running and decided that on the concrete was a great place to learn how to slide into base. Not good. Shredded up the tops of his ankles and one knee. (He decided to add more coals to fire last night and do it again to the knee that wasn't injured the first time).




Later on after dinner we brought out our own little pool. The water from the hose was a little cold (we tried to off set it by adding a couple gallons of hot water), but both seemed to enjoy it.


Looks like I have two water boys on my hands. Can't wait to take them to the spray grounds water park this weekend.

Day Trip

Since Daddy has been working a civilian job lately, he's had some weekdays off. So we have decided to make the most of still being in the D.C. area and visit places with the boys while we still have a chance.

This week, we ventured via metro to the National Zoo. The metro trip alone took more than one hour before we reached the zoo. We got there just in time for lunch, so we found a cozy spot and tried to convince Little Man A to eat his lunch so we could see the animals. I think he was too excited with anticipation because it took a lot of coaxing on our part just to get him to finish his yogurt.


Last time we visited the zoo, we made the mistake of taking our time while traveling downhill to the end of the zoo. The trek on the way back up the hill was one that we did not want to experience again... especially while pushing a 40 pound child and a stroller uphill. We tried to make a beeline for the end, but there of course were diversions. I mean, how can you just walk past an orangutan sitting in the doorway of the outside exhibit. Or pass by the elephants without taking a picture.


We eventually made it down to the Kids Farm (an hour later), but unfortunately the petting zoo area was closed for the season (not sure when the season even starts). However, a keeper was out walking a pony so LMA was able to pet the pony and see the donkeys going crazy because they were jealous of the "escapee". That, I was later informed, was LMA's favorite part of the day.

BBZ was even enjoying himself. He unfortunately skipped his morning nap and thought the train ride was a little more exciting than trying to go back to sleep (poor kid had just fallen asleep in the car when we parked at the metro station then we moved into the stroller). So after lunch, I was able to face him toward me in the baby bjorn carrier so he could take a little snooze. When he woke up we were passing the Kids Farm and heading to the Reptile House. LMA and BBZ loved spotting the snakes, watching the turtles swim, and smiling at the iguanas bobbing their heads at each other.

On the way home, which wasn't until 4 hours later (and unfortunately after the normal metro rates kick back in), both boys zonked out on the train. This of course was great for bedtime later considering LMA had just woken up. But we eventually settled down.


















Next week, we were thinking of heading to the Baltimore Aquarium. Stay tuned for great animal shots from the zoo.

Gotta love 'em

Damn hormones. Not only do us women have to deal with them on a monthly basis, it's especially fun before and after having a child. All those emotions raging around inside can make a grown women just plain tired (try carrying around a 10 pound baby too).

Lately, those same hormones have been making my hair fall out. While I was pregnant, my hair became a thick, lustrous mane that would actually be nice to prepare for the day's events. Now, every time I take a shower I cringe at how much hair comes out into my hand. It's especially worse when I don't wash my hair every other day (because lets face it, it really doesn't need to be washed every single day).

At bath time, if I don't pay special attention to the tub, Little Man will hand me over a hair about every 2 minutes.

LMA: "Hair, Mama."

Me: "Sorry, buddy."

LMA: "Is that Daddy's hair?"

Me: "No, Daddy's not here, buddy. That's mommy's."

LMA: "Darn, mommy."

Amazing

After living here with my two boys for almost five months, there are five things my father still finds amazing.

1) That a child, either the 4 month old or the 3 year old, can fill a diaper just 10 minutes after it was changed.

2) How fast 2 hours can go by when occupied with a 4 month old, especially when he is fussy.

3) That when caught at the right moment, BBZ can be asleep within 2 minutes of me putting him down for a nap.

4) How fast the mood of a 3 year old can change (okay maybe not that one, but it still surprises me sometimes).

5) That Gramma is extremely jealous that he gets to watch her second grandson grow up while she is in California.

A mom's nose knows

Why is it that mothers have such a keen sense of smell? It seems as though every time I walk downstairs I smell one of my children emanating roses from theirs behinds. And even Pop-pop, who is sitting no more than 5 feet away, can't smell it.

I picked LMA up from school yesterday and sure enough, he had a poopy diaper. Unfortunately, none of the teachers detected the pile of roses in his diaper and so by the time I retrieved him it was up his butt so far, it was almost out of his diaper. Of course they felt horrible having missed it.

He used to tell us when he had a poopy diaper, but now no more. He only tells me when he has a really big pee-pee diaper after his morning explosion. And the extraordinary part is that he holds it ALL NIGHT LONG and then sometimes an hour into the day.

We've been trying so hard to get him to be potty trained. Gramma even tried while she was here over Christmas and made LMA walk around without diapers or even big boy underwear. One morning he managed to pull his pants down and poop on the rug downstairs. I've tried rewards from candy to trains to a huge tube of 70 cars and trucks that is hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Even a chart where he can put a sticker on it when he uses the potty. Still a no go. I've been telling him that I'm not buying anymore diapers for him. What he has in his room is all we have left. As of right now, only 14 left. And I have no idea what we're going to do when they are gone.

I've come to the realization that I'm going to have a four-year-old walking around in diapers.

I haven't disappeared...yet

It's hard to believe that 2 months ago today BBZ entered our family. Sometimes it seems as though it has gone by in slow motion while other times it seems he just arrived.

He has definitely been giving us a run for our money. More Pop-pop than Mommy sometimes. And LMA is a great big brother but has a nasty case of the "No's" right now (the threes are definitely worse than the twos). Nothing that I can elaborate on right now since I should really be heading to bed, but I just wanted to let the blogging world (although there are not very many people who follow me) that I'm still here.

Although there are days that go by that I do not take a picture of my newborn, I've been able to capture these great shots.

Brothers watching tv together. I can see this being something that will be happening every morning.

How cute are these boys?

Pop-pop reading while BBZ listening intently.

Beautiful angel sleeping

Stay tuned for my roller coaster of a ride that I've had over the past 2 months with BBZ.

It's a date

Hubby officially started leave on Monday. Since he has so much time off built up, he has to take some now before he gets promoted. Or else he'll lose it. So, he has this week and next week off before he has to go back in to out process from his current unit.

Yesterday we both took Little Man to school, which off course he was super excited about showing Dad the gym and the "Po-Po" (police) car. Like always, I had to make sure to take his jacket off first before he runs away. Then he gives us both a kiss good-bye so he can get back to playing.

Afterwards? Hubby and I had a date.

It felt like we stepped back in time three years. Just him and I out strolling where ever we wanted and taking our time. We headed to IKEA (I know - of all places) for a cinnamon roll and free coffee and tea (since it was before 10am). Of course it felt weird (only slightly) to be out alone. It's not like we haven't gone out before by ourselves while Gramma and Pop-pop were watching LMA, but this was obviously different. Not to mention the cheapest date we have ever been on!

What was really funny was when we saw an ambulance and a fire truck and turned around to look in the back seat.

We're thinking of hitting up Starbucks and Panera Bread tomorrow morning for our "date". Hopefully, if the new kid doesn't come out sooner than expected (only 9 more days), we'll be able to get three more dates in before our family of three becomes four.

Photo Ops in Williamsburg

With my new camera in tow, you had to have known that I was going to be on the look out for some great photo opportunities. Although ALL the pics were great when taken with my new camera, these were the ones that I really enjoyed taking the most. I was able to capture all of these while at Busch Gardens.







I'm definitely going to have to find some great places in the nearby area to take my photography skills to the new level. Then again, it does help to have a great camera as well.

Williamsburg, VA Part 2

After a fun-filled day at Busch Gardens, how could we possibly beat it? Why a visit to Water Country USA, of course. Besides our small local Spray Ground park, we have never been to a water park.

I was a little nervous about LMA going into the water, mainly because he just had surgery to have tubes placed in his ears. He handled everything like a pro. There were only a few kiddie areas that he could explore (before the big kids started to arrive before lunch time), but he had a blast!


Even though he submerged himself a couple times going down the kiddie slides into the water, he kept going back for more. He even braved a couple tube rides with Daddy.


Although it was an overcast day (it definitely would have been better if we had visited the day before with the humid heat), we had a great time. We'll definitely have to make sure we check out the water parks in the future.

Visit to Williamsburg, VA

While we are still in the area, we decided to take advantage of our proximity to Busch Gardens... and the free admission for military families. Besides Walt Disney World in Florida, this is LMA's second amusement park visit. This one was especially fun for him since Busch Gardens Williamsburg now has a new Sesame Street themed area for kids.


We checked out the "Forest of Fun", but shortly after arriving LMA heard the familiar sound of a train whistle. We took the train ride around the park for a cool, relaxing break from the humid heat.

We joined Elmo and friends for lunch, which was of course really fun for LMA. This was a nice way to get out of the heat and make sure LMA had a good lunch.... and have fun.


Afterwards, we headed back to the local Naval Post to rest before finishing our day. We decided to go out to dinner first so we wouldn't have to stop in the middle of fun to get dinner, or pay for dinner at Busch Gardens. Then we made our way back to the park until closing time.


It made for a really long day, more for Daddy and me especially since LMA didn't fall asleep until almost 10:30pm, but it was definitely worth it.

Next day, Water Country USA.

A nice day with a great camera

My birthday was extended by another week. My father and hubby did the shopping for my new camera and picked up an extra large camera bag to boot. I already have enough bags to carry and the battery that came with the bag didn't work with my camera. When we went back to return the camera bag, the deal became even sweeter when my camera went on sale as a bundle offer. I was able to snatch a Macro lens (75mm-300mm) and an extra battery with the camera. So not only can I take excellent close up photos, I can take a picture of the lion's ear when visiting the National Zoo.

Not that I really want to join the realm of photojournalists out there, but I had to show off more photos with my new camera. These photos were taken at our local park over the weekend. I love how the colors just pop!


As a side note, wish me luck. Today I have my second glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. This fun blood test takes over three hours since they are drawing blood every hour after I drink a nasty, flat orange drink. I really don't want to be on a special diet for the remainder of this pregnancy.

Just for fun

I had to show off some of the other pictures that my new camera took. It's just amazing the difference between our little Olympus point and shoot camera to this new beauty.

Take a guess

I thought it would neat to see what everyone (okay, all of four people who read my blog) would guess what I'm having. We find out on Tuesday. I'll let the suspense hold until the end of next week to see how the ruling goes, then I'll tell you.

Just to give you some comparison, with LMA I had sensitivity to smells (nothing in particular) which would make me nauseous from weeks 9 to 12. With this one, it was more nausea all the time (not just from smells) and wicked heartburn from weeks 6 to 9. With LMA I would have different cravings for certain foods/candy every 2 weeks or so. This time, I was hungry non-stop during the first trimester for anything and everything, but no cravings per se since then. With LMA, I could feel the little kicks and rolling at 15 weeks and same with this one. With LMA I gained a total of 25 pounds (maybe 30 because the starting weight was at my 9 week appointment). I've already gained 20 pounds since I found out I was pregnant (at 5 weeks) and I'm only halfway through.

So click on the link to the right and let me know what you think I'm having.