Things I Heard Today

Living with boys is an adventure every day. Here's an example:

"Mom, when are we going to buy an ice cream store?!"
-Hayden, said in a whiny voice just like he was asking for a Matchbox car

"I love Mario Kart because it has Yoshi and he is SWEE-EEET!"
-Hayden, who learned "swee-eeet" from preschool. Oh, how I love preschool.

"Mom, you're my best friend. Dora's my best friend, too."
-Roman, who apparently sees Dora and me on the same level.

"I'm not touching my butt, Mom. I'm scratching inside it."
-Roman, after I asked him to stop touching his butt in the bathtub. Ew, I know.

"The fish's food doesn't taste good."
-Roman, after he fed the fish and then proceeded to lick his hand. Again...ew.

"There's a gorilla molesting people on campus?"
-Jeremiah, in response to someone's status on Facebook.

"I didn't want to play with my friends in the playarea. I just played with Lovey."
-Roman, who lately prefers to hang out with just Lovey if he's in a situation without Hayden (aka nursery or the YMCA playarea).

"We weren't doing anything! We were just sleeping!"
-Hayden, half hour after bedtime, both of them on the floor with toys in their hands. Oh man, even my four-year-old thinks I'm stupid!

Welcoming Summer!

Woohoo! I'm so glad summer is here, although the humidity is already about killing me. I was getting frustrated with the cold and rainy weather, it can get a bit depressing. Now we're making it a point to go outside and the boys couldn't be happier - and I love that I have something new to threaten with in order to get good behavior =)





Here's Aubrey in her first outfit of the summer - Jeremiah was practicing for later and insisted she change into more appropriate shorts before leaving the house. She was showing way too much skin, and with all those thighs, I have to agree. But she was super cute and I think she loves not being all covered up all the time. She's finally found her toes!

The boys picked flowers (aka weeds) for Aubrey and me. Most are in my hair, lucky me, but I got one to stay in Aubreys. Sorry for the messy hair, it's windy and her hair is as ornery as she is.

So the boys share a room, and it isn't the most ideal situation. Hayden has always been a pretty good sleeper, but Roman will do just about anything to stay awake. I've found him in his bed at 10pm, having snuck a gazillion toys into his bed with him, and playing like it's daytime. Where Hayden would probably sleep in til 8am every morning, Roman will wake up anywhere from 6:30am or later. So not only does Roman keep Hayden awake at night, but he wakes him up in the morning. As much as I love that they can share a room, it just isn't my favorite arrangement. There is a point to this...

One night we put Hayden in our room because Roman wouldn't let him fall asleep and although I heard Roman upstairs, I figured he'd eventually fall asleep...and he did...


We keep the top part of Aubrey's bassinet under Roman's bed just in case we have her sleep in our room overnight. Roman moved his bed away from the wall and fell asleep in there. This is like 11pm. Jeremiah wanted me to leave him like that overnight, but I'm not that mean.

Finally, a welcome to Norm and Fishy, formerly called Squishy and Fishy (Hayden can't make up his mind). Hayden's preschool had a carnival and they came home with a ton of dumb toys and these fish. They love taking turns feeding the fish, and I'm surprised they've lived this long because they also love shaking the fish bowl.

For those who care, Fishy is the white one and Norm is the orange one. But they'll be dead before any of you meet them.

Easter Weekend

Easter for us started on Saturday evening, when I did what any crazy mom would do and had her kids dye easter eggs. On the dining room table. With no floor covering. Fortunately, there is a happy ending to this story. The only dye job was to the eggs themselves and our fingers. I had pink and blue fingers for days. The boys had fun, though, mostly because once the eggs dried they got to decorate the eggs with Transformer stickers. Cool huh. So fun.

Although no floor covering, I was smart enough to put an old tablecloth down. We even put them in some of Jage's old shirts, even though they didn't spill. If you look in the back, Lovey even joined us. He's becoming more and more a part of our family. I even had to buckle him in the car the other day to "keep him safe."

Ignore Roman's I-didn't-nap expression. He had a good time.

The Easter Bunny made it to our house amid threats that he didn't deliver to boys who didn't listen to their moms. That Bunny must have been feeling pretty lenient because there was not a whole lot of listening going on. Hayden found his basket and some eggs and got a Mickey Yahtzee game. I had to look at the picture to spell that correctly. He loves it, and I found a preschool game I actually don't mind playing. It's not obnoxious like most games (who's up for another round of Chutes and Ladders?).

Roman also found his basket and eggs (with a little...okay, a lot of help from Daddy). Roman's not a morning person, even though he's the first to wake up. He prefers to sit and make everyone else do things for him. He got Madagascar 2, which I love because I love King Julian. We've watched it enough that I know what King Julian is going to say, but I laugh just the same.

So these pictures were taken a little late. We were all sick Easter weekend, Hayden was in the ER Friday the 10th at 10pm with an ear infection, and the only reason I consented to take him was because he was screaming and crying, so I knew he wasn't making this one up. So this is my first attempt at Easter pictures, I had to post it because Aubrey and Roman are looking too cute, and Hayden is doing what he does best - bug Roman. I even got it on camera.

Another 2 out of 3 shot. Aubrey's more interested in Roman at this point.

See how much they love each other? I love these shots. It actually looks like they get along!

See the foot? That's me trying to keep Aubrey sitting up long enough for a picture. Sadly, she toppled to the right after the picture, because of course she couldn't topple to the left where I was ready to break her fall with my leg.

Doesn't this smile just cheer you up? It's the only thing that put me in a good mood this morning at 6:30am when the kids thought it was wake up time.

So, Easter was pretty good. For dinner we had ham steaks with pineapple, potatoes au gratin, rolls, and a salad. The boys watched Madagascar 2. I think I even napped.

As an update to a previous post, Aubrey is 19 1/2 lbs. She's a chunk, but we love every bit of her. She says "da da" and has the cutest little voice. And she's advanced to actual baby food. She's not a fan of sweet potatoes but loves pears.

Dark chocolate and such

So Celeste tagged me awhile ago, I'm supposed to list my top ten things that start with the letter D. I'm having a hard time thinking of more than like 2 things right now...let's see how this goes.

1. Dark Chocolate. I used to avoid this, it was all about milk chocolate. I think growing up, being 29, has made me more refined =)
2. Dads. I love mine. He's the best in the world. Sorry if you disagree.
3. Dogs. I can't wait to have one.
4. Dinner. My favorite meal. I love making new things, but I also love going out to dinner and ordering things I'd probably never make at home.
5. Dancing. I'm awful at it but my kids don't know any better. They think I rock.
6. Dumbbells. This is my euphanism for exercising. I used to hate it, but I'm getting into my groove.
7. David. From "Kings", the tv show they are sadly cancelling. He's hot.
8. Doughnuts. They are so unhealthy, they take like half my day's calories, but sometimes I need a good doughnut, like Giant Eagle's blueberry doughnut. I'm almost tempted to go drive out and get one immediately.
9. Deep sleep. I had to fit in sleep somewhere. Although I'm starting to forget what deep sleep feels like.
10. Daughters. This is the best. She's awesome. She's saying "da da" now, another D word, and it's so cute. Too bad she's not a fan of Deep Sleep.

Oh, and a sidenote, I'm planning on blogging about Easter because of course I took pictures of the early morning hunt, but I didn't get any cute pictures in cute outfits because the kids decided to get sick (rude, huh?). So for those who are waiting anxiously by their computers for cute Easter pics, sorry, you'll have to wait longer.

Aubrey's so grown up!

Gasp! Aubrey is six months old! We celebrated the day with sweet potatoes, which she unfortuately did not like all that well. I blame her little cold though, so we'll try the sweet potatoes another day.

Aubrey is usually such an easy baby. She sleep through the night until 8 or 9am, and when we go get her from her crib she greets us with the biggest smile, enough to put a cheerleader to shame. She loves her brothers, she laughs at them when they dance for her and is always excited by the toys they bring her, but she certainly doesn't love when they lay on her or try to wrestle with her (she always loses). She loves her Bumbo, her swing, and her jumper. She puts anything and everything into her mouth, including my hair. She's learned to put her binky back into her mouth if she drops it. She LOVES to be held, so needless to say there are days that I don't get a whole lot done. She still has her long hair, which has been pulled into a barrette and we now have learned (we? I mean me!) how to put it into a little ponytail.

Aubrey after her bath with her curly hair. I put mousse in her hair after her baths, otherwise her hair gets a little crazy.

Aubrey on her half birthday.

Laughing at the boys dancing for her.

Here' s a picture of Pebbles Flintstone. Take note of her hair, and check out the similarities (minus the bone) between her and Aubrey.

Sorry Hayden is topless, how rude! He got his shirt dirty at dinner.

Our weekend in pictures...okay, and a few words (I couldn't help myself!)

So Wednesday nights Jeremiah has class until 9:30pm, leaving me with the kids throughout the evening. Aubrey was a bit fussy and I wasn't sure what to do for her, so I put her in her Bumbo and turned on Dora (hey, it works for Roman!). Sure enough, I walk back in the room after a few minutes and all three of my children are glued to the tv. They are so a product of their environment!

We finally broke out the grill. Much to Jeremiah's initial dismay, we grilled chicken instead of a nice, juicy steak. Apparently in Jeremiah Land, steaks are the way to begin grilling season, but my freezer isn't stocked with steak, but it did have some chicken waiting to be eaten. Good news is Jeremiah loved the chicken, said it was SO good, and even stole some of mine. We ate it alongside pineapple that we'd battered in butter and brown sugar (sounds healthy huh?). It was delish, and the boys had a blast playing outside while Jeremiah cooked.

Poor Roman touched the grill. He's always so curious how things work and what things do, but I think he might stay away from the grill for awhile. He carried around an icepack all night, even taking it to bed with him.

Our grocery store invited the Easter Bunny for a visit, and the boys were estatic. It's all I heard about all week. They wanted to sit on his lap and tell him exactly what they wanted for Easter (sound familiar?). However, we learned upon arriving at the store that Roman is deathly afraid of large bunnies, even large bunnies who offer him Easter treats. So the store took a photo of Hayden sitting with Mr. (Ms.?) Bunny and Roman was totally fine sitting with me and not getting his pretty little picture taken. We then went on a scavenger hunt around the store, ending at the Eagle's Nest (the kid's play area where I normally drop Hayden off) where they each got a goodie bag, including a new book, stickers, tattooes (more about that later), and a pencil. They also got a cookie and some juice, and Roman braved up enough to wave at the Easter Bunny. Oh, and I got a call from the store because Roman won the big drawing. I'm not sure exactly what he won because I didn't really pay attention (who really wins these things?) but I think it's a big stuffed bunny (because we apparently need more stuffed animals) and a DVD. I just know they'll be excited when we pick up the prize on Tuesday.

I took this picture of Aubrey while holding her. Don't you just want to eat her? Or at the very least...kiss her cheeks?

Hayden went to his very first drop-off birthday party this weekend, and on the same night, my friend offered to watch the kids so Jeremiah and I could go on a date. So with Hayden at the party and Roman and Aubrey at my friend's house, Jeremiah and I went to dinner. It was lovely, even though I had to ban law-school-talk about halfway into dinner, only to have Jeremiah start in on politics. It's a Lafranca thing. We're trying to get in as many dates as possible before he leaves for Utah this summer.

Anyway...because I'm going somewhere with all this...Hayden's party had a pirate theme. He came home with a fake earring that I refused to allow him to wear in public. I caught Roman wearing the eye patch and earring today, I thought he was too cute.

I promise Hayden isn't sad. But look at those tattooes! Batman and pirates on one arm, Batman on the other, and he would have had an Easter egg tattoo except I sort of botched that one. My kids are obsessed. Hopefully they grow out of that before they realize you can actually get real tattooes that never wash off!

Here's Aubrey during tummy time before bed. She's leaning because she prefers to roll onto her back instead of actually stay on her tummy. Lucky for her I'm persistant. Crazy me is eager to see her crawl!