Sleeping Rudy (and Kolbe too!)

Please forgive my cheesy-ness in the post title. I couldn't help myself. Heck, I could have just called it Sleeping Beauties all together, since they are two of the most beautiful creatures I've ever laid my eyes on.

And for some reason, they often seem at their most beautiful while sleeping. Maybe it's their innocence. The pureness of their little faces. The sweetness of their little sighs.

And quite possibly it's because they're actually holding still--something that rarely happens during the active waking part of the day. Holding still. Giving me time to appreciate a favorite toy to sleep with. A blankie that makes the perfect sleeping companion. Their little toes. Their tiny fingers. The things that change so quickly and seem to be different every time I get a chance to really look.

But then every now and then, it's just the sweetness of the situation. Like an evening when Mark had gone to bed early and I opted for an evening shower. And opened my bedroom door to find this:

Or sneaking into their room at nap time to find Rudy sleeping like this:

Sights that melt my heart.
That I may never get to see again.
That I want to hold on to forever.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 41

1. This past week has been super busy. My parents came to town at the last minute, my etsy store has been busy, Mark's work schedule has been kind of crazy, oh, and Rudy has been cutting his eye teeth. I'm not sure if they're really called that or not. You know, the pointy vampire ones. One of them has broken through and the other is all sore and swollen. And he's been running a little fever with it too. Poor guy. And poor us too. He's just not a happy camper. Real cantankerous. For the most part, he's still sleeping pretty well though. So that's a blessing. Teething is just one of those parts of raising kiddos that isn't fun. And you kind of forget how bad it is until it flares up again. Though the former nursing mama in me is pretty glad they're not just born with them!

2. We were paid another visit by our plumber this week. Yippy! A visit from the plumber is never a good thing. And he just came a few weeks ago! The first visit was to replace a valve under the kitchen sink, replace a valve in the backyard, and fix a leak in the front yard. This time it was to fix a leak behind the wall in the boys' bathroom. Talk about nerve-wracking...the plumber came out mid-visit to let me know that if he couldn't get three screws out of the spout connection he was going to have to knock down the wall from the other side to get to the leak. And he was concerned because the screws were so old and rusted that he worried they wouldn't come out easily. Luckily, we dodged that bullet. I can't even imagine how much it would have cost to pull out an entire wall to get to a leak! On the positive side, we did get new hardware for the boys' bath tub that I installed myself and went ahead and bought some for out tub too that Mark installed when he got home from work. Oh, the joys of home ownership!

3. Have you ever seen The Wheels on the Bus video? My children are obsessed with it. And by obsessed, I mean obsessed. They seriously ask to watch it all. the. time. We actually found it at the library while picking our books for one of our school themes. I let them check it out, thinking that the bus and school might correlate well. They've been hooked ever since. So much so that I went ahead and ordered it from Amazon for them. Honestly, they are pretty good. Each episode teaches a moral or lesson as well as featuring different animals and healthy foods. Like when we go ride bikes down the street, Kolbe now says every single time "Mama, Argon (the dragon bus driver) says to look both ways before crossing the street." The only bad part is the annoyingly catchy songs. I find myself humming ridiculous lyrics like "eat it up, eat it uuuuuup. Kids will never grow unless you give 'em some food..." And Kolbe acts like it's the only worthwhile activity we have in our home. For example:
Me: Ok, it's time to start school!
Kolb: Actually, I think it's time to watch Wheels on the Bus.
or
Me: Are you ready to go to music class?
Kolb: No, I ready to go watch Wheels on the Bus.
One thing I guess is a positive to note is that this is the first show that has a plot that Kolbe has been even remotely interested in. He has never really been interested in the television, which thus far has been a good thing, but he's also never been really interested in books with a plot either, and I worried that, at nearly three-years-old, he wasn't "getting it." It seems like he's finally starting to put the pieces together and have the attention span to follow along with a story. I'm sure these little shows will be all the craze until the next best thing comes along....like  Frosty the Snowman in a month or so! Mark and I were just reflecting on how last Christmas every time he'd see a snowman he'd say "Raw-eee!" So cute! Can't wait!

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 40

1. Little town.... it's a quiet village...
Every day....like the one before....
         Little town... full of little people....
                             Waking up .... to .... saaaaaaayy...
Bonjour!                                           Bonjour!
                           Bonjour!
           Bonjour!                                           Bonjour!

Know what movie I'm obsessing over? That's right: Beauty and the Beast! It came "out of the vault" on Tuesday--an event I've been waiting for for quite some time! I love, love, love Beauty and the Beast. Definitely my favorite animated movie as well as one of my favorite films of all time. I have so many memories of Beauty and the Beast from my childhood. Going to see it at the theater....the night my mom brought it home on VHS.... Seriously, we flew through dinner, rapidly bathed and got ready for bed, and were back on the couch holding a bowl of popcorn in no time at all. And then there was the video of my youngest brother Dave and me singing it together for my grandmother, Mom Helen, the night before she passed away. Me, ten, and Dave just two. And yes, I'm pretty sure I have every word of the soundtrack memorized. It's the best. But no, I didn't go out and buy the DVD on Tuesday. I'm seriously trying to resist the urge and wait to ask for it as a Christmas gift. But I haven't exactly been face to face with it in the store yet. I'm sure the first time we cross paths in Target I'll be facing all sorts of temptation. And if we just happen to come home with it, I may just put it in the DVD player and click on the feature that says "play over and over." It's one of those things where I wouldn't exactly mind getting my bad-mom card pulled and letting my kids watch a DVD all. day. long.

2. We're in trouble. At least in public, we are. Kolbe has figured out that there's a difference between two little rooms found in public: the girls' bathroom and the boys' bathroom. If Mark is with us, he always wants Mark to take him. If it's just mom in tow, our conversation usually goes a little like this:
Kolbe: Mama, I need go pee.
Me: Ok, come on. Let's go in here.
Kolbe: No, I boy. I go in boy bathroom.
Me: Kolbe, I can't go into the boy bathroom. It's not nice for mamas to see other boys going to the bathroom.
Kolbe: I like those boy potties.
Me: I know, Kolbe. Next time that we're with Dada he'll take you in to the boys' bathroom.

So now I try to let him choose which stall he'd like to go into as a consolation.
Me: Which stall do you want, Kolbe?
Kolb: Uh, I guess that girl potty.
Sheesh.

3. I am now the not-so-proud owner of my third iron in just four years of marriage. I don't know what my luck is with irons, but apparently it's no luck at all. When Mark and I were engaged, we registered for a nice Rowenta iron and were so excited to receive it as a wedding gift. It was a pretty good iron. Probably not worth the lofty price tag, but nice overall. About a year-and-a-half a go, it up and called it quits. One minute it was working, the next it was dead. So I took off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with my trusty twenty percent off coupon and purchased a new, slightly cheaper but still expensive Shark brand model. Also nice and effective. Until Tuesday. I used it during nap time to iron some fabric that I was going to sew with and it worked just fine. Then after dinner I plugged in it to find the light-up screen completely dark. Determined that it was just the outlet I was using, I waltzed over to an outlet that I was sure was working (you know, one with a lighted lamp already plugged in to it...) only to get the same results. How had I managed to kill off two irons in just four years!?! I'm pretty sure my parents had the same iron throughout my entire childhood. And how do you fix an iron with an obvious electrical problem? You don't. You throw it in the trash can and head out to the store to buy a new one. Or in my case, you coerce your little brother in to going to WalMart to buy one for you. And this time, we settled on a cheapy. Now that Mark is wearing scrubs to work nearly every day and we don't have tons of ironing to do, why bother with the expensive-obviously-not-worth-it irons? Hey, if we're going to have to replace our iron every two years, we need it to be something that fits into our budget. Grr.

Three Thought Thursday: Episode 39

1. My parents left for Italy yesterday for a ten day trip. I know...I'm jealous too! Ten days in Italy must be magnificent. I'm so happy that they are getting to experience it together. I think my dad has gone before. As a former Air Force officer, he's been nearly everywhere. But it's a trip my mom has always dreamed of. I even remember her talking about it when I was a child. Early on in their married life, it was never an option. Heck, they didn't even get the chance to go while we were living nearby in Germany! You see, with an Air Force officer's salary, a stay-at-home wife, and five children, my dad couldn't exactly afford to fulfill that dream for my mother. They always chose us and our family over their own desires. But now he can. Thirty-and-a-half years after their wedding day, he can. I'm so happy for them! And it makes me realize that all of those "somedays" that Mark and I dream of might also eventually come true. For now we're happy to keep dreaming and keep choosing our boys instead. It sure would be magnificent, but we wouldn't trade it for these two little guys any day.

2. Once upon a time I wrote about a day when I had my Mommy "A" Game on. Meaning pretty much the perfect day of mommyhood. Monday was not one of those days. No, I certainly wouldn't give myself...or my children for that matter...an "A." It was more like an "F." Total failure. I won't even go into the full litany of shenanigans that took place. Just the first few hours will give you enough details to know that it was all down hill. The boys woke up unusually early. Like 5:50ish. I turned on this little Wheels on the Bus video that they're obsessed with, covered my entire body and head with a blanket and fell back asleep on the couch. Soon after, they decided they were ready for breakfast. I set them up at the table with their yogurt, bananas, and milk. I escaped for two minutes to use the restroom only to have Kolbe pop up outside the bathroom door with a message: "Mama!!! Rudy spilled his yogurt!" Great, I thought, imagining his yogurt spilled all over the table. Returning to the kitchen, my fears were far beyond realized. A small, small portion was spilled on the table. The rest he had dumped in to his lap. Grinning from ear to ear, he looked up at me with his little doe eyes as he did his best to rub it in from his ankles to his waist. Lovely. Just lovely! I thought. I grabbed him from behind and carried him straight to the tub. I started rinsing him, clothes and all, quickly stripping off each piece as I went. Then came the diaper. Wouldn't you know it, that thing was full of good ol' numero dos. Straight into the tub. And the rest jammed between his fat little butt cheeks. I rolled my eyes at the fact that I would now be cleaning the bath tub too. Forty-five or so minutes later we were all cleaned up and in one piece, ready to leave for our first music class of the fall "semester." We arrived at the community center just in time to find out that classes didn't start until next week. And of course Kolbe was not willing to understand. He was bound and determined to see Miss Kris and devastated that it was an impossibility. See. I told you the first few hours of the day would be plenty enough to get the point across. Just imagine the same thing over and over for the rest of the day. Thank God it was only twenty-four hours.

3. I've been consigning some of the boy's old stuff or stuff we have duplicates of at a little consignment shop here in town for the past year or so, but prior to last Friday, I had never been to an consignment "event." You know, like the ones you see on TV where it's just for one weekend and a ba-jillion people show up and race to get the item of their dreams before someone else does. This one was kind of like that. I went with my friend Melanie and yes, there were people waiting outside, but not thousands or anything. And no, the selection wasn't insanely good, but I must admit that there was a lot of cool stuff there. And sure enough, I went with just one item on my search-and-find list and left with quite a few more than that. But still managed to stay under $20. I can totally see why some people get hooked on going to those things. I definitely think I'll go again in the spring when it comes back around. Why not? I'm always up for a good deal!

So long, Sweet Summer!

Sad, but true, the summer of 2010 has entered the winter of it's existence. We've had several cooler days in Lubbock and even the mosquitoes seem to making their exit. But before it's completely over, I thought I'd share a few pics that didn't make any other posts but are just too good to not show.

First up, the boys and their beloved baseball helmet. I'm not even sure where this thing came from. Left over from Raider Awakening, maybe? Regardless, the boys love it and love walking around with it on. Usually backwards. They crack me up.

And then there's the boys' and my self-portrait. Kolbe loves to take pictures. Every now and then I'll give in and let him snap a few with my camera.  But one day he was very determined to get a picture of me, Rudy, and himself all together. I explained that that would be very hard to do. No matter to Kolbe. He still wanted it done. So we took a few out-stretched-arm pics of ourselves. And got two of the better pics of the three of us that I've ever seen. Sheesh! Should have tried that a long time ago!

One day Kolbe decided that it would be fun to fill up the tub in the backyard that houses all of their balls. We had done this before when we did shaving cream, but hadn't ever done it solely for the purpose of "swimming." Needless to say, it provided an entire afternoon of fun. I wish I had better lighting in the pics, but I had to put the tub in the shade to avoid sunburns. They still turned out mighty cute though!

Apparently I'm raising a spider monkey...I went inside to grab their juice cups only to hear a rap on the window from a little animal perched on the sill...

And since I'm sure you have an appetite for a delicious baby, I'll indulge you...

Yummy little fella, ain't he!

September 11th

Per family tradition, we made our annual trip to a nearby park to visit the September 11th Memorial flag display. You might  remember my post about it last year. Though it seems like not that long ago, it's amazing how much changes is just one year. Though I'm sure for the families of the victims of September 11th, it never really gets better. My heart still aches for them.

One year ago, the boys looked like this:

And here they are this year!

And if memory serves me right, it was at our trip to see the flags last year that Abby and Andy joined us and brought the good news that they were expecting their first baby! Just one year ago on this day, I think she was about five weeks pregnant. And here's this year:



Life does go on. And new life begins!

Fifth and Final Stop: Houston, TX

So to end our travel extravaganza, the whole fam took off (literally...we flew this time) to Houston to visit my parents. Our goal was to do absolutely nothing. Just chill before Mark had to start his new job. We knew it would be at least Christmas before we'd be able to do this again, so why not!?! Needless to say, we achieved our goal. We had a fun, relaxing time doing our usual Woodlands activities of going to the park, the mall, the carousel, the splash pad, and swimming. And while we were there we celebrated Mark's birthday. Oh, and Mark and I got to go on a date. We went to a restaurant called Brio and I ate the most amazing steak I've ever had in my life. It was life changing. At least in a dietary sense. No steak will ever compare. Sorry for the random tangent; now on to the pictures!

Splash Pad! Yes, in clothes. We were at the bookstore, but it was raining so they were wet anyway. Why not let them enjoy it even more?

I know this pic is fuzzy (it's from my dad's camera) but it's one of the few we have from the park. And it's adorable.

Rudy and Pa in a paci war. Kolbe has a blanket; Rudy has a paci. It's his attachment item and I hate it! We've gotten him down to the point where he only gets it when he's sleeping, but when he gets hurt we usually have to cave and let him have it for a minute or two. Case in point, he got hurt at the mall playground and cried and cried until I busted it out of my purse. Pa teased him with it but we all know who won.

Grr.

At least Kolbe had a good time playing!

And everyone loved the carousel.

Swimming at Miss Karen's was much better than last time. Why? Because no one was sick and Dada and Pa were able to come swim too!

We went to on of Mark's favorite restaurants, Los Cucos, on the night of his birthday. It's right beside a grocery store and the boys just had to check out the cool shopping carts.

Afterward, we had chocolate cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday back at my parents' house. Take a guess at who the biggest fan of the cupcakes was!