Time Out

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas???? Nope, it's Uncle Christian and Kate taking a timeout at Lay's. Lay's is the BEST breakfast stop on the way to Kirkwood.

San Francisco Zoo

The whole Hansen clan went to the San Francisco Zoo. We thought it was just going to be us, but then everyone wanted to go too - it was great! We saw all kinds of animals .... lions and tigers and bears, oh my. We dressed as reindeer, we went on the carousel and we hung out with Reese and his family. It was great.

Did he come?

When Reilly woke up he arrived in our room. He was convinced that Santa had not come because he didn't hear him yell HO HO HO from downstairs. (Santa had instructed him earlier in the week to listen for a HO HO HO - and then to run to the window to watch him fly away in his sleigh.) After letting him know that we could go downstairs to check to see that Santa came, ate the cookies that Reilly had left out for him (chocolate chip and one oatmeal), read his note, and left him a present or two -- he was ready to go downstairs to see the proof.

Shad and I had tried for quite some time to build out the wooden train track that we had purchased used from Craigslist. We just put it together in an attempt to use most or all of the pieces. There were also about four wrapped gifts for him by the couch - and one wrapped for Kate. In an improvisational move I "read" the note Santa had left and said "Wow Reilly, Santa wrote you a note back it says HO HO HO Merry Christmas - the train set is for you and your sister Kate." (I had a hunch Kate would go eat the train track and thought it would be a path of least resistance) Kate sure enough crawled right by her toy and over to the train track to pick up a piece and start sucking on it. Gotta love that wood train track, I'm not sure it's truly edible but it's not far off.

After about 30 minutes we asked Reilly if he had any interest in opening something else - he didn't. So, it was actually kind of boring because Reilly had no interest in anything other than the train - we really did not have to buy him anything - he would have been completely satisfied with the train set. Live and learn I suppose. And, Kate was easily as happy sucking on the new toy. After about 40 minutes Reilly began criticizing Santa's train set up. He felt that he could have done a better job setting it up. That darn Santa.

All in all, it was really fun watching him get so excited. I took him to Church with my parents at 11am where he said Merry Christmas to everyone he saw. Then it was off to the airport to head off to California.

Shad and I didn't buy one another anything this year. I gave him a book and a set of coasters from the kids.

It was really a great year for us as a family - just being together and Reilly's first year appreciating who Santa is.

To lie or not to lie...

that is the question.

We're getting on a plane to California on Christmas Day. This is my dilemna. Do I lie and tell Reilly Christmas is actually Christmas Eve? OR Do we celebrate Christmas morning on Christmas morning, go to Church, and head out on a plane leaving all his new toys as a memory? The problem is we head to our cousins on Christmas Eve for a family gathering, Santa will swing by on his way around the world. He will sit down, read a book, pass out presents, have a drink and be on his Merry way. Chances are pretty good that if he came to our house the night before, he shouldn't be at my cousins that night. Hmmmmmmmm, perhaps I'm overthinking this. I have about 12 hours to decide.

Look at my belly....

At dinner I often find myself saying "I'm full" and I have seen that Shad says something similar. "I'm full" or "I'm stuffed". Observing this night after night I think Reilly started to intepret it as he felt it meant, literally. At the dinner table now Reilly will lift up his shirt and say "Can you look at my belly? I think it's full." At first I was responding by a "yes, it looks very full" but then I realized he would stop eating when I did that. So lately, I have said "oh.... I see room for some more chicken, right over there" and I'll point to the side of his belly. He will then continue to eat the rest of the food on his plate.

Literally and figuratively took a long time for me to figure out - I think we have many more years of this type of intepretation to come.

Laundry

Being obsessive about clothes has brought Reilly to the conclusion that clothes can be cleaned instantaneously. This morning Reilly asked if he could wear his new ghetto basketball outfit that Nannie bought him. He has been wearing the shirt for the past few days and he pee'd in the pants. As I lay in bed discussing this with him, I said "no, you can't wear your shirt, you've had it on a couple days in a row, it's dirty". He replied "Can you wash it?" I told him I could and he then said "Could you get up and do it right now, please?" I responded by turning on the tv to distract him. Guess that's the answer.

A thief at 3??? Can't be-

At LL Bean Reilly picked up disposable handwarmers, he said "what are these?" I told him they were the things that Daddy put in your pockets and they made him all warm. "What?" he replied, I repeated "the things that Daddy put in your pockets and they made him all warm". He then came back with "I should put thme in my pockets and give them to Daddy?"

Ahhh, no Reilly, put them back. It's time to go.

JJ Ellemenopee

You figure it out! Here is a hint A B C D E F G H I JJ....

Metro at 3? Can't be...

Everyday Reilly's first priority is picking his clothing for the day. He asks for help, but chooses to pick something that you do not. No matter who the helper is, it's not the right choice for him. If he spills the smallest drop on his clothing, it's reason for a complete makeover. Today it's a blue striped shirt that obviously only goes with the blue sweatpants with the white stripes. I have learned to just go with his choices. This avoids a long drawn out crying fit and the lecture of how I am frustrating him or how I have hurt his feelings. Gotta love him because he loves having a mind of his own. And, it has taught me NOT to shop for anything that is an outfit or a coordinating shirt and pants.

Jump Jump Jump

Kate's playmate, Baby Bennett came over this morning for some "chillin in the crib". Kate is not sure what to make of someone hanging out in her toy so she tried to tip him over, using all her weight - to no avail. You gotta give her an "A" for trying though, right?

The end of the world as he knows it...

Kate has begun to crawl. Reilly is learning how to covet the toys he is playing with.

The house rule is if she takes something from him, he can take it back, but he has to replace it with something else. Inevitably she wants what he has. He doesn't like this new way of life. And she appreciates it with a smirk on her face.

What's inside

your tv???

Elmo is inside ours, and did you know if you talk to him, he can't hear you? Reilly told me this. I told Elmo we were going to "shut him off" and Reilly said to me "Mommy, he can't hear you, he's inside the tv."

Going to see the Big Guy

Today we headed to cousin Stephen and Alison's house for the annual Christmas party and to see Santa. Santa was a trooper, he hung out as all the children simply stared at him. They would walk close, say something, and run back to their parents. Reilly was the same. He was curious but not enough to take the plunge. By the end of the afternoon he had stood about a foot away and quietly said he would like a blue tractor with a backhoe and that Kate would like her own toy to play with.

I guess that's some progress, right?

Holiday Traditions

We don't really have any family projects aside from the tree and some decorating, so we started down the path of decorating cookies.

I guess half the fun is eating the frosting and the decorations... but, Reilly is going to be wound up for a while after his decorating endeavor today.

Given that I am a procrastinator, Shad, Reilly and Grandma picked up ingredients last night. I figured we would bake the cookies as a night project and frost the following day. Well, given the impending snowstorm, and all the school and business closings before the storm was even here, I think many people had the same idea. Needless to say, we were confined by pastel stars, tubes of frosting without the tops, and red and green sparkles. We had limitations for sure.

24 Cookies later, actually 23, we gave the soggy one Reilly kept licking all the decorations off of to Nandi for a snack - we have almost 2 dozen over overdecorated, frosting heavy cookies for consumption. There are about 5 that I would not really eat b/c the frosting is much thicker than the cookie and it has blurred decorations from Reilly licking his fingers in between sticking stuff on each one.

All in all the project was fun. Nicole is dealing with the sugar high. I am upstairs looking out at all the snow wondering if it really will stop today.

Oh no, my nose

The last few mornings that Kate has gotten up, I have picked her up and she has very gently just started sucking on the tip of my nose. It's the cutest thing. Then, she just leans her head back, looks at me, and smiles. She is so cool!

(S)He knows our number...

So... mysteriously Santa called Reilly from the closet in the master bedroom. (S)he told Reilly in her deepest disguised voice that he needed to listen, share and be a good boy. Reilly responded with an "okay" and a "yes" and an "okay" in a soft submissive voice. Santa replied that he really wanted Reilly to be good b/c he wanted to see him on Christmas Day and ended with a HO HO HO!

On the way downstairs I asked Shad who had called - he turned to Reilly who replied "oh it was Santa". When asked what they discussed he said "oh, it was nothing". Then he followed with a "But... Santa is a girl".

Anyone have a number for Santa?

I swore I would never do it, I never wanted to participate in the commercialization of Christmas or manipulate our children with old Saint Nick. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Today it was about pants.

It was a busy weekend, holiday parties, purchasing a small tree and wreath, a U2 concert, etc etc. Needless to say, laundry wasn't on my list hence the lack of clean "jeans" in Reilly's draw. He prides himself in choosing his outfit each day. And today, he asked me to get out of bed at 6:50am and wash him some jeans. (he had asked Meredith to wash them in the dryer the night before) I told him it takes time and he would have to wear something else for the day. He's got about 4 other pairs of pants - but they are not denim so they don't fit the bill.

I began with the less fortunate approach. I am my mother and I tried to guilt him into wearing what he had in his draw. Only, for me, it was the starving people in "Beafra". To no avail. And then... it happened, with Kate in my arms, I looked down at her and said "hang on Kate, I have to call Santa because Reilly isn't cooperating" and I proceeded to begin dialing the phone (really my voicemail). Reilly jumped off the bed and yelled "NO NO NO NO, I'll wear them, I'll wear these ones, see? Don't call, don't call" and within seconds he was wearing a cute pair of khaki cords. Phew.

I must admit, since the effect was so prompt and got me my desired outcome, I'm sure it will be in my bag of tricks moving forward. I really am doing all those things I thought I would never do prior to being a parent. Oh well.

Nice and Tight

Reilly has come to appreciate the art of sneezing and the responses from those around him following a sneeze. Today, as he quasi-sneezed for Nicole he repeatedly said "nice and tight". When queried, he said "Nice and Tight", Nicole asked do you mean "gesundheit"? He said "yah, that's what I mean."

Black Friday

It has become a hobby of mine over the last decade to partake in the shopping phenomenon of Black Friday. I have convinced Shad over the years to be my sidekick in this process. This year was unlike the others because we had to solicit childcare for 4am (thanks Wiggs) to make it an efficient and cost effective trip.
We scoured the newspaper ads and the web to find out exactly what was going on in the retail stores and online. We had top tier stores which included Target, Best Buy, Kohl's and Walmart. We had ommitted Walmart from this expedition in 2004, and learned afterward that they too have some great deals among the mayhem. Second tier stores included Radio Shack and LL Bean. They had "nice-to's" but not "have-to's" for us. After reviewing all the flyers, Best Buy was cut from the list.
Thinking I was clever, I thought we should arrive at Walmart (open 24 hours but sale beginning at 5am) during the 4am hour. Ignorantly, I had thought I would be able to put the sale items in the cart and be ready to cash out at 5am. To my suprise, others were HOURS ahead of me - perhaps even a half day ahead. People had begun standing in line at 10pm Thanksgiving night to purchase one of the FEW $378 HP laptops and at 1am for the desktops. HOLY COW! I guess good for them because I was unwilling to do so. We did, however, manage to pick up many electronic items and a PINK Care Bear for Kate. I had no idea those were in this year, but shoppers were filling, yes FILLING, their carts with these $5 gems. I thought I should jump on the bandwagon and do the same - afterall, I do have a little princess now that I can give it to! While text messaging Shad as to my whereabouts, I was able to observe other shoppers. I think on Black Friday there are two types: People that are happy to be there and excited about the potential bargains and people who think they deserve the bargains because they got out of bed. I classify myself as the former because I think the whole thing is exciting and energetic. However, there are so many of the latter - it often makes you wish you stayed in bed. While waiting for Shad I did see one man start screaming with excitement "YES YES YES YES YES! I got one! he said. "I got a computer - I mean my wife got it! She's been in line all night!!!" You can't help but feel happy for the guy. Good for him.
Next we stood in line outside of Target. The Thanksgiving snow had made it colder than I wanted, but we only stood for 15 minutes or so before the doors opened. Target was smart, they had people outside walking the line offering an additional percentage off if you applied for a Target card on the spot. I didn't see any takers, but I don't think people were willing to put down their Dunkin' Donuts coffee to fill out the application.
They opened the doors to Target before all the lights were on. It was like herding cows as we all grabbed carts and headed for the electronics section. Shad and I grabbed the last "item" off the bottom shelf. It's what we had gone in there for. Phew. After a few other purchases we made our way to the registers and headed to Kohl's - they had 50% off all toys. It was not yet 7am.
Walmart and Target were great when it came to cashing out. They had about 20 registers open and waiting for shoppers to buy. It made the line nonexistent. And the people were very nice and helped at every step of the way.
Given the positive shopping experience at the last 2 stores I was totally disappointed walking into Kohl's. The lines resembled the ones we stood in at Best Buy last year. It zigzagged around the front and wrapped around 3/4 of the store. It was NOT worth my time. I left in hopes of hitting the tier two stores. Bean and Radio Shack. Both of these were ended up being worthwhile stops as the first two were.
All in all it was a good time. I was back home, lying on the couch at 8:45 and we had completed most of our holiday shopping. I can't write about all the deals b/c I'm certain a reader or two is on my list. Can't wait till next year!

Bring it On!

Kate thinks she's all that and a pot of coffee and it makes me laugh. We give her her bottle and lay her on the boppy - she swings it around like she's been holding her bottle for years. We give her the pacifiers and she swings those around, puts them in her mouth, pulls them out, puts them in, rotates them - again, like she's been doing it for years. It's this cocky infant thing - it really makes me smile to see her so confident.

Just a little bit...

I think we are experiencing the evolution of potty training. It is no longer

just a little bit

in the pants, it's

just a little bit on my shirt.

So... now we are teaching Reilly to pick up his shirt, pull down his pants (on time) and hit the cheerios that are targets in the potty. Good times.

The Rocker - not as in John

Kate and I were signed up for the Mommies and Me class at the gym. It's for children 6 mos - 2 yrs. The only prerequisite is that your crawling. The class started November 7. Note the past tense of start - we did not attend and will not be attending this session at all. Kate has taken to rocking, not crawling. I understand rocking to be one of the first phases prior to crawling and going in reverse is another. Well, she has them both down pat. It's just a matter of time before she is able to get into everything. For now though, I'm perfectly content with having a "rocker".

Big like Dad....

This morning we were getting Reilly ready for a doctors appointment. It's part of his morning ritual to choose his own "outfits". Today was like every other - he chose his outfit. He had on pants that rest just above the ankle bone. I said Reilly, I think this will be the last time you wear those pants, they are too small. You are getting big, just like Daddy. He replied "Yah, and then we can switch heads."

Ummmm, okay, I do recall having the logic that my brother Jeff would one day become a girl. So, this works in the circle of life I suppose.

Like Dad...

Reilly said to me this morning:

My job is going to be next to my house when I get bigger. It will be blue. I will have gloves, masks, white dr coats, and sepascopes.

I said

"Are you going to be a doctor?"

He replied

No, I'm going to help people feel better - like Dad. That's what he does.

The Tribe Has Spoken....

A friend of mine has 2 boys who are 4 and 2. She told me that her kids favorite game is Survivor and they love to play it in the backyard. Well, I got to thinking about Survivor and in the grand scheme of tv these days, it's not that bad. No real violence, no smut scenes, and generally, it's a pretty clean show. I decided that Reilly could watch a little with me prior to going to bed at the 8:30 commercial. He has liked watching Survivor with me, so this week I decided to let him watch the whole thing.

Well, if you don't know, supposedly they were going to vote out Gary, but he found the Individual Immunity Idol which eliminated the tribes ability to vote for him. Instead they had to vote out someone else.

Jeff read the votes, I yelled at the tv, Shad (who refuses to get involved) asked for an update as he walked in the room, and Reilly asked "what happened, where is he going, why did they put that boys fire out?" I said, "oh, it's time for him to go home, his not-so-friends asked him to leave."

About 15 seconds later the sobbing began and it lasted for about 30 minutes. When Shad and I asked Reilly what was wrong he simply said "I don't want Bobby John to go home".

I don't think Reilly will be watching the entire episode anytime soon. I think the first 30 minutes is plenty.

Guns and Monsters

Reilly came home from preschool yesterday and for the first time ever he started talking about guns. Oh great. They are talking about things they are afraid of in school - monsters are a recurring theme. Apparently one of Reilly's classmates wants to kill the monsters with guns. So, he taught Reilly to do the same.

Not that you can prevent exposure to those kinds of things, but you do the best you can. He hasn't seen any movies to my knowledge with guns - the Incredibles is awful for the first 15 minutes - so he hasn't seen that yet. Anyway, I guess this is the first of many unwanted introductions that we don't really have a say in. We just handle the after effects.

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga

What could be better than a family night at the Wiggles concert? I'll tell you a family night at the Wiggles concert followed by dinner at Chuck E Cheese! Oh there were about 17 of us enjoying this experience together.

Reilly, Brenna and Connor went into Wiggle overload singing and dancing and jumping up and down from the balcony seats. Seats that were a reasonable cost until the ridiculous $9 service fee gets added to each ticket! I tried to be clever and bring Reilly's Wiggles souvenir (a Wiggles flashlight) from last years performance in hopes that it would be sold again - it was, he thought the thing was brand new. (it's been in the toybox for a year and never had the value that it had last night)

It was good to see Shad up dancing with Greg, Anthony, Murray and Jeff, I knew he had it in him!

Ma Ma

I distinctly heard Kate say "Ma Ma" today. Da Da Da Da Da has been going on for quite a while. We have opted to hear this as a form of Daddy. But, with the Ma Ma - I KNOW it was for Mommy. :-)

More than just a little bit...

Last night, Reilly, Shad and Kate came to the office to bring me some dinner. The three of them had just been to a high school soccer game and getting "shortcuts" (Reilly's term for haircut or SuperCuts). I met them in the parking lot and Reilly said "I pee'd in my underpants just a little bit". I said "you did?, how come?". His response was "I don't know." Well, I picked up his shirt to see if it had come thru his pants. Reilly's definition of "a little bit" and mine, are TOTALLY different things. His pants were soaked down to his mid thighs and his backside was also soaked.

We headed into the women's bathroom and I thought it was that scene from Austin Powers, he was going and going and going and going - I thought he was done - and he started going and going and going again. When he finished up he said "why is it green?". That question will be answered another day in the MOTY blog.

Dumb and Dumber

Okay, so this isn't really a MOTY-specific entry, but I thought it was worth writing about. My sister(Kate) and her husband (Mike) had their car broken into not too long ago. Among some the things stolen was Mike's new cell phone which has a built-in camera. Well... if you were a dumb thief wouldn't you take photos of yourself with the camera phone? Then, if you were dumber, would you ditch the stuff you stole in a field? Well... they were dumb and dumber and they did! So, now that the phone has been found, we all know who took it because there are photos with time stamps to prove it. Ahhhhhh......................... hello!

Treats.... definitely

At 3, imagine knowing what "good candy" is. That's sad. I don't recall trick or treating and getting to select out of someones candy bowl. I recall going to a door, saying "trick or treat" and having a treat dropped into my bag. None of this "take a piece or two". Perhaps this is what is driving a 3 year olds desire to self-select thereby customizing his bucket of treats to his own liking. Our little frog said on more than one occasion (in between saying "I want to go to that house") "do they have good candy?" I hope it's not going to evolve into greed, and I hope it's not something I have really taught him. I hope it's something that can just be "what a 3 year old does".

Da Da Da Da Da

Why is it that Kate says DaDa before MaMa? Reilly did the same. What's up with that?

It's just a hole...

Today Reilly and I were playing planes in the living room. He was taking his little plastic plane in for a landing on the arm of the couch. Once it hit the middle of the arm, he decided it was really time to zoom it in for the landing - he gave it a good push and let it go. I heard a THUMP as it hit the wall.

- "REILLY, PLEASE DON'T CRASH YOUR TOYS INTO THE WALL, YOU'RE GOING TO MARK UP THE WALL!"
- "it didn't leave a mark on the wall"
- "It didn't leave a mark on the wall??????"
- "No, it's just a hole"

Ugh. I sat up and sure enough there was a hole from the propeller on the wall. What are you going to do?

Neck Cheese

Poor Kate - she's got a fair amount of excess flesh. It is often that I have to lift up rolls to clean food spillage. Well, her neck rolls are one of the most prominent areas for harboring old food and milk. And, if you happen to miss cleaning after a meal, the odor from that area is foul! As she laid in my bed this morning, I thought what I was smelling was a real-time smell, it wasn't. Upon further investigation I realized it must have happened sometime over the course of the night or perhaps even after dinner.

She's likely in the tub as I type. Phew!

Scrotaburn

Reilly has yet to perfect the potty training thing, however, he has a fond appreciation for being naked. He strolls from the bathroom to the living room pantsless and sometimes even upstairs. That has been all well and good until yesterday. He went upstairs to get a pair of dry underwear (because he went "just a little bit" in the current pair). On his way down, with just a t-shirt on, he decided to slide down the stairs. Well lil Reilly got a lil rug burn on his lil parts with that adventure.

Poor lil guy, he wonders why his "pee pee hurts"! Ouch.

Poop Logic

So why is it that a 3-year old needs to look in the toilet and name their poops upon completion? Reilly gets so excited and proud of himself - the other day it was

"LOOK LOOK LOOK, I did a Big Daddy Poop, A Mommy Poop, A Baby Kate Poop, and a Nandi Poop!"

The other day, one of them actually got named after Nicole too - it was a big day. I don't think it was one of the bigger ones though, should I worry if it is? Does that mean she is more important than the rest of us? Probably not, I think I should mostly worry if the dog, Nandi, get's the biggest one named after her. Then the family hierarchy is really in turmoil!

Just a little bit...

Why when you are potty training a child do they think pee'ing in their pants "just a little bit" doesn't count?

Reilly constantly says, "I pee'd in my pants just a little bit so it's okay".

Hunh... not sure on that one.

The Safe Microwave

We are at the Bar Harbor Inn today. It's raining, Kate is napping, and Shad and Reilly are improvising on lunch. Reilly thought he would try the ginger peanut noodles we brought with us from Trader Joe's. We had been keeping them in the fridge - and he's used to having noodles warmed - so they were cold. He asked us to heat them up but we told him we couldn't. Reilly told us to come with him to the closet to heat them up. There was a safe on the floor of the closet. He thought we could "warm them up in there". He wasn't too disappointed to find it wasn't true, but a little confused as to why there was a safe microwave in the closet.

Excuses Excuses

It takes about 10 threats and an hour to get Reilly to bed these days. The process typically begins around 8pm. It's the usual routine, potty, brush teeth, read a book, pray and go to bed. However, now we have added in, cup of water with ice, another trip to the potty, another book, stories about whatever happens to be on his pajamas that day, his ears hurt, his tummy hurts, his pee pee hurts, he's hungry, he's thirsty, he wants the light on, he wants to lay on the couch... the list goes on and on. Unfortunatley every night these days ends up with some empty threat or some yelling.

Thank goodness for Nanny 911 or SuperNanny - whichever one we saw that night a few months back - this type of procrastination goes on in many households, not just ours.

Good Night Reilly.

I'm up and I can't get down....

This morning I put Kate in the pack and play to take a nap. I sat her up with a few toys to give her time to transition and wind down. I went into the next room (kitchen) and did somethings, it was quiet. About 15 minutes later I hear crying and moaning, I thought "well, I'll give her a minute to let her try and work it out". It was a different cry - exhausted and wimpery - so I went in to check on her. Well, what I found is little Kate sitting up in her pink fleece pajamas and a pacifier in her mouth with her eyes closed - she was swaying all over. It turns out, she didn't know how to let herself down or lay down so she had to sleep sitting up.

I'm certain eventually she would have toppled over and been just fine, however, it was good to go in there and lay her down.

Lesson learned.

6 Years In the Making

It's been 6 years since Shad and I married. It's been the best 6 years of my life. Today, around 9:30, while Kate and I were sleeping in the big bed, Shad and Reilly were downstairs making us girls a little breakfast. Around 9:45 Kate and I were greeted by Reilly and Shad who made us (me specifically, it would take hours before Kate would taste it :-)) bacon, scrambled eggs, pupcakes (aka pancakes) and syrup. It was pretty cool to have that in bed. Although, I should note, Reilly ate most of the bacon.

It was a Happy Anniversary!

Just a wee bit....

In the potty training world - what's I pee'd in my pants "just a little bit" mean? Well, for us it means, my underpants are soaked, my pants are pretty wet and I really have to go the bathroom.

Dry Heaving

Remember when you were a child and somehow you ate (whether you put it in your mouth or someone else did) something that tested your gag reflex? Well, as I watch Reilly eat, I'm often reminded of those nights of cold meatloaf, cold green beans, and cold creamed corn. After having to eat those meals about an hour after they were actually prepared - it was a battle of the wills with my parents. Anyway, watching Reilly do it with pretty much everything other than chicken, pb&j, hot dogs, stuffed shells and french fries makes me laugh at him pretty hard. I don't think he realizes that we know what he's going thru. It's that thrust of the neck, gagging, eye watering, knee buckling feeling - and no matter how old you are, it's stinks every time.

Gerber Babies

When brother-in-law John Michael was queried on if he thought his God-daughter looked like the Gerber Baby, he replied.... "no, she looks like she swallowed the Gerber baby!". Okay... she is a little "thick".

Outta Town

Baby Kate and I got on a plane yesterday b/c I had work in CA. Not even 24 hours away and look at the email I received from a girlfriend! Those darn boys....

I'm in the deli section waiting for the chick to finish cutting my lunch meat, when I spot your husband and son. Shad's got his hands full of the Spongebob yogurt, 4 other adult yogurts and a gallon of milk in one hand. I ask Reilly how his "boy time" with Dad is going. He tells me
he's "just getting a few things" at the store. So, to make conversation, I ask him what he had to get. He replies, "Spongebob yogurt!" He seemed so excited about the fact that it's Spongebob. So I ask him, "Spongebob like your underwear?" Reilly then proceeds to quickly drop his pants to check if he's wearing them. The poor child seemed quite confused when he saw plain old tighty whiteys instead. Shad just stood back and shook his head while my face turned bright red knowing I was the cause. Luckily, it was after 8:00pm, so there were very few people in the store. (However, the 70 year old lady standing at the deli counter seemed quite horrified.)

So, I'm sorry! See what happens in less than 24 hours of you leaving the state?

I'm tickling my bum

So... this morning, Reilly, who is currently being potty trained comes in my bedroom with his hand in the back of his boxer shorts.
I said "Reilly, get your hand out of your pants"
"it's okay Mom"
"why is it okay"
"because it's not through"
"it's not through what???"
"it's not through my underpants, it's just in my shorts"
"well.... what are you doing"
"I'm tickling my bum"

I suppose a light went on. The light that showed me that in the world of a 3 year old, tickling your own bum is perfectly acceptable. As a matter of fact, it's a good time.

Buh Bye Pacifiers

We toyed with all the possibilities in cutting Reilly's tie to his pacifiers. We knew it was going to be pretty tough because he had been sleeping with them for three years (give or take a few months). Shad and I thought that we would tell Reilly that we needed to put them all in a box and bury them in the backyard. We started this discussion a month prior to his 3rd birthday. "When you turn 3 we will put all your paci's in a box and bury them in the backyard", he didn't seem to have a problem with this concept. It was about 2 weeks later we realized Reilly thought he would just dig them up when he needed them, so we altered the story. "When you turn 3 we will put all your paci's in a box and mail them to a little boy in California". Again, it was met with acceptance, however this version of the story was questioned.... "why do I send them to a little boy?"... to which we responded "it's a little boy who needs them and doesn't have any and when you turn 3 you will be a big boy and you don't need them anymore."

When August 12 came, we collected all the paci's we could find and we put them in a special box. Daddy took them to work the next day and mailed them to California. (actually they are probably still on Shad's desk, but he was told never to bring them home again)

The first couple days were tough, and we occassionally have a request, but other than that, the separation was successful.

And there was blue....

Da da da da... And Red.... da da da da.... And Yellow.... da da dada... And Purple too... ~The Wiggles

One of Reilly's favorite songs... we play it from the iPod over and over and over again. We sing it, we hum it, and we dance to it. Well, Nicole often says

"oh great, now that song is going to be stuck in my head."

A few days later the song was on tv, Reilly said to me

Is this stuck in Nicole's hair?

Oh, the toddler's mind - it's so cool!

Happy Birthday Dominic

Kate's Baptism was August 7, the same day as my Mom's birthday. Being late, as I always am, I ordered the invites just a week before the service. I had verbally invited those who we wanted to come, but I had not done anything formally. So, I went on Shutterfly, customized the invitations, paid to have them shipped overnight, and then I would send them out just 5 days before the service. I suppose they were just a formality and nothing more. So, a day later, Nicole let me know they had come in the mail. When I got home from work she and I opened the box from Shutterfly. To our suprise there was a box of invitations with some Star Wars guys on the cover and a little boy. We opened the invites and learned that Dominic from Redwood City would be celebrating his 5th birthday on August 12. At least his Mom had planned more in advance.

I called Shutterfly, they couldn't do anything for me prior to the Baptism aside from giving me a credit. How bummed was I??? Very. I didn't know what to do. So, I RSVP'd to Dominic's birthday party - actually I just told his Mom I had her invites. To make a very long story short, she emailed me all the addresses of Dominic's friends and I mailed them out for her.

Later, I did order one invite just to put in Kate's baby book and I saved one of Dom's to put in there for her too.

Soccer... at last...

I played indoor soccer with Shad on Tuesday, it was great. It felt so good to be back running around. But my abs and my quads hurt so bad.

"Look what I made"

We took Reilly and Kate hiking at Gap Mountain on Sunday. Reilly hiked on his own and Shad carried Kate in the Baby Bjorn. This was the first activity I had done that was more than 30 minutes since Kate was born. (It had been 15 days since she was brought into THIS world. :-))

Reilly did a great job hiking - he walked all by himself. It was a single track trail with lots of roots and rocks. Reilly wanted to jump off every rock - so it took a long time to hike the little that we did.

When we got back to the car - we changed the kids. We decided to let Reilly "air out" since we were the only ones there. Shortly after that while Shad and I were cleaning up and putting away stuff - Reilly went over to Shad and said "Look what I made". Shad went over to see the little poops that Reilly left in the woods. Reilly was SO proud.

It was a big day - for everyone.

Baby Pickles is here

We welcomed Baby Kate into the world today. She is healthy and 6lbs 11ozs, 19.5 inches long. She is beautiful and looks just like her brother. :-)

My delivery was great compared to Reilly's. Karen, our midwife was excellent and really made it a good experience for both Shad and me.

We're so happy that our family has been blessed with a little girl.

Terrible Two's or Three's

Perhaps it hits later for some than others but... Reilly has decided that it's more effective to whine and throw himself on the floor kicking and screaming versus using his new found vocabulary to communicate. Somedays I have the patience for it, and somedays I do not. Ugh. Fortunately when I don't have the patience Shad does, so we complement each other well that way.

Reilly wants what he wants when he wants it. I would imagine it will be magnified even more when Baby Pickles comes into our home.

Ugh.

dot com

I'm not proud of this but... I do find it fascinating... Reilly and I were having breakfast this morning and watching pbs. The theme song for pbs came on and it started out with "pbs kids" and Reilly added "dot com" at the end of it.

Wow... how times have changed.

Easter Egg Hunts

Reilly and Brenna had about 20 eggs to "pick up" yesterday in our annual Easter egg hunt at my parents. It just so happens that Reilly grabbed all the ones with candy and coins and Brenna grabbed all the ones with Matchboxes in them. Lucky me - a candy high - and wanting all of Brenna's cars.

I guess this is the beginning of the always wanting what the other kids have phase. Here come the 3's. :-)

Trucks... trucks... trucks...

Playing trucks with Reilly is fun - however, playing by his rules is not quite as fun. There is only one truck and one person I can play with. The other 26 are his and I'm not allowed to touch them. What's up with that?

Happy Birthday.... oops

Now, we've known it was Daddy's birthday today for quite some time. Reilly's known for several months but since he's a 2 1/2 year old, I reminded him over the past few days. And me, well, I've known pretty much since I met Shad 8 years ago that today was his birthday.

Blame it on pregnancy hormones, my self-centric world these days, or whatever you want but... Reilly and I forgot to say HB to Daddy today.

Fortunately we caught him on the way to work and Reilly was able to sing him a little birthday tune. PHEW... thank goodness for cell phones. (right Deep?)

Black or White in a toddlers world

I am beginning to see that Reilly thinks in black and white and gray is not part of his world yet... many things have reinforced this theory to me, but most recently this is what happened:

"Reilly, ask Daddy if he's grumpy"
"Daddy, are you grumpy"
"No, I'm hungry"
"No, no, Daddy, I said grumpy not hungry"

It's a Floater!

So... picture this... Reilly is taking a bath with his 25 bath toys and Shad is sitting on the edge of the tub reading a biking magazine. I am walking from the laundry room to our bedroom, which passes Reilly's bathroom, I hear a VERY distinct grunt. I say "Reilly, are you pooping in the tub" and he replies with a winded "no mommy". Not more than 10 seconds later I hear Shad with a defeated "oh no". I walk in the bathroom to see Ernie on his waterbike and the rubber duck floating next to one of the biggest "Baby Ruth" bars that has been produced since August of 2002!

I said to Reilly, "if you have to go potty you just need to tell mommy or daddy and we'll put you on the potty". He looks up at me and says, "I have to go potty". He sat there for the next 20 minutes shivering, reading a book and finishing his business.

Naturally I needed to document the moment prior to the disinfecting process! All toys and tubs are clean again. :-)

He loves the big bed...

It was time to transition Reilly from his crib to "the big bed". The only catch was we needed to get him a "big bed". We spent an entire day shopping - I NEVER knew how kid friendly furniture stores could be. He could walk around with cookies, ice cream, balloons, juice, you name it, they had it and it was FREE. Not to mention bean bags strewn all over the place and tv's with kids movies on them. These amenities certainly made the process much more bearable!

By the end of the day we had ordered bunk beds that we be at the house four days later. Four days later Reilly spent his first night with a gate on his door and a new bed in his room. He cried once during the night - but other than that he has slept soundly since.

If asked, he says the crib is for "Baby Pickles".

This has been MUCH easier than I imagined.

Shower Theories

Have you ever noticed that some of your best thinking is done in the shower? Why is that? Have you also ever noticed, that like dreams, they often disappear from the mind once you dry off? Perhaps it's pregnancy, perhaps the solitude is the catalyst for such innovative thinking.

And if I were to describe the "perfect date", mine too would be April 26.

Gone but not forgotten...

So, if you're ever 7 months pregnant and you lose something credit card size or smaller, be sure to check above your stomach and below your chest. It can often be found in that newly created crevasse.

Toddler Logic

It was 6am when Reilly started saying "Daddy, I want some more juice". Shad was getting ready to leave for work and brought Reilly up a cup of 'juice'. Reilly pushed the cup away and said "no, no, no... I want a smoothie". Shad told Reilly he had made him a smoothie and he could have it when he woke up. Reilly said, "Dad, I did wake up".

Tastes like Chicken

Reilly had a tough night last night. I think he's cutting teeth. Poor guy, he's so far behind his peers in this area that I think he's more aware of the pain. I think when you teeth and have the ability to communicate it's a double edge sword. You can identify what hurts and it hurts whereas when you're six months old, it's one of a few things that you can identify as an area that would cause discomfort.

Well, anyway the waffle didn't sound good for breakfast this morning so Reilly pleaded for chicken nuggets and ketchup. ICK. He had a fruit smoothie and nuggets. Since he protested so dramatically I figured it was a battle not worth fighting this time. I don't think I would have won.

Until Next time....

Big Boy Bed

I would leave Reilly in the crib forever if I didn't need to pull him out to make room for Baby Pickles. I think his crib is his comfort zone - as well as ours. We pulled the side off it the other day to make it into a toddler bed and Reilly had a meltdown. He actually hit Shad and yelled at him. That was a nice family moment - one we will treasure forever.

Baby Pickles

Shad and I have been asking Reilly for months if he wants to have a baby - the response is always the same - an emphatic NO. Call it daycare and his classmates having siblings, or just him "coming around", last week he must have had an epiphany. When asked if he wanted a sibling he said yes. When asked what he wanted to name it, he replied with "Reilly, I want a Reilly". When asked if he wanted a boy or girl he replied with "a girl, Baby Pickles". So this child that is kicking me on a regular basis has a new name "Pickles". Thanks for that Reilly!