1 year old presents

1 year old birthdays are not really about the 1 year old. To the birthday child, being 1 year old is no different an being 364 days, ya know? It is for us, the parents, the siblings, the extended family. It gives us a reason to allow our child too much sugar, to make a mess of themselves and the floor, to tear paper, eating some of it, and staying up way past bedtime in an effort to celebrate as much as possible, but being grumpy because it is waaaaaaay too late to care about opening presents. Wait.... Why do we do this again?

Because it gives our eldest a chance to decorate.

Kari has been counting down Dylan's birthday for several weeks now. On Monday, she went to her calendar and said, "Yep, tomorrow is Dylan's birthday. Right on schedule."
Birthday morning she came into Dylan's temporary room
(my older sister and hubby contrived to surprise me with a visit, so she is in his room,
and he is in ours), to see "How big he was now that he is one."
Here he is. Freshly bathed. No more frosting in his hair, or ears. I have umpteen cute cupcake pictures, but it was too many to fit in one post. So, I figure I will do that one tomorrow. That way, since I know you want to see cute cupcake pictures, I know you will come back :)

Ooooh look. Paper.

He got his first pair of big boy tennis shoes. I think he has worn shoes, maybe, twice in his whole life. Mostly he is a sock kinda kid. But, I hope he will be walking soon, so he will need some growed up tenny runners.

One shoe off, and one shoe on. Diddle diddle dumpling my son Dylan. Wait....

We stood him up, and he balanced with no help for a whole 15 seconds. It was great!

Reading a card from the great grandparents. Please note his fists full of paper :)

Just a cute shot of the shoes and the bum. Can't get much better than that.

Reading a card from Aunt Stacy and Uncle Matt.

Wait... This wrapping paper is more interesting. Sorry Stacy and Matt :)

Go ahead Dylan, dig in... Wassin the box?

More paper! Yay!!!

And Cars!

I love how he is sprawled out with his new shoes and his new car :)

And what did the girls do? They promptly each grabbed one, took it to the other side of the room, and started playing. I guess it is good that Dylan shares.

That's alright. It left him alone to unwrap his last present. Timberrrrrrrrr!

Daddy had to show him what to do.

Sometime in the proceeding, Dylan got bored, and went to play with his socks. Kari, being the wonderful, helpful sister that she is, decided to drag him back to finish opening his last present (since we had already told her she couldn't).

Who knew socks were so helpful at opening presents!?!?!

The End.

He also had his one year check up at the pediatricians today. He has hardly gained any weight... only 2 oz, so he is 22 lb 10 oz (50%). But, he has grown an inch, now being 30 in tall(55%). Guess I need to start fattening him up :)

Rant + Good Stuff = OK

First the rant, and then we will get to the better stuff :) Firstly, my last born child is officially 1 year old. A year ago today, right now I was probably just waking up in recovery with my dad by my side, and my hubby walking in with my newborn monster of a 2 week early little boy. He has been sweet and loving ever since. If you ever want a cuddler, have a boy. As is tradition in our family, we went to get his pictures done. Well, I have been spoiled, apparently, by going to the same photographer for the last 2 years. Something happened (I dunno what) and she doesn't work at Sears anymore. So, I figured I would go to the local one (since my girl was 45 min away) and try that one out. Well, not such a good experience. Not bad by any means. He was professional, and got some decent shots. But, 1- he was not a "people person" and 2- (again maybe I was spoiled) he was a real rule stickler. Now, I am not saying I want you to break the rules. I am not saying I want you to do something bad. But, for crying out loud, when I have been a loyal customer for 3 years, spent umpteen gazillion dollars with you, and planned (notice I said planned) on coming back for the next 10 years and spending umpteen gazillion more, can't you just kinda bend the rules a little bit and save me a few bucks or be nice about the things I am asking? I mean, come on!?!?! Needless to say, I think I will be trying to find another venue for my picture taking needs. If I can't get what I want, then at the very least I may be able to find something cheaper and still not get what I want.

And now for the good stuff :)

Today is my Chunk's birthday!!!! He is one year old. So sad, and exciting all at the same time! Tomorrow is his 1 year check up, so I will have all kinds of stats and updates for you. But, for today, I am just going to post the results of my slightly less than satisfactory picture taking experience. At least the subject was a super cute chunky monkey :)

This was the very first picture. He wasn't quite warmed up yet. Cute curly feet :)

Getting there. A little better.

There it is: a cute smile :) Can you guess where I am sitting?

There's my cute boy. Dimples and all. Please disregard the bruise on his forehead. Dylan and the corner of the fridge got into a fight. But, you should see the other guy :)

Such a cute sweet boy! Also, please disregard the wings. See previous post.

Aaaaaaand my favorite :) You can even see his little teethies coming in...

I love my little boy. I am so happy he came to live with us. Now, if only I could get him to stop growing up so fast....

Must. Have. Scissors.

The poor kid needs a haircut... I just haven't been able to do it yet. I don't know how, and I just haven't been able to get together with someone who said they would help me. Now that I am so close to his 1 year picture, I am thinking about leaving it for the photo session, then cutting it afterwards. That way, he can start a whole new year with short hair.

Its a good thing he is so cute. Long hair and all :)

Things I think about...

The other night I dreamt I was on a boat. It was rocking back and forth and I was afraid I was going to fall off. And I knew when I did, it would be so far down I would just keep falling. Strangely, I woke up to find that I was on my side, on the far side of the bed, and I do mean the very far side of the bed, with an inch to my name. Hubby was on my other side. It seems, he wanted to cuddle, but I kept "running" away. And then, when he did get close, he tried to roll over, and push me out of the bed. How rude. Sometimes I wonder how things like that get worked into your dreams.

Also, the hubby lets the dog sleep in the bed. I allow this for a few reasons, #1 not being that I have no say so. (Think what you will, but, I do have some say so around here.) The Rules: 1- it is ok because she doesn't shed. If she did shed, it would be a whole different ball game. 2- she sleeps on hubby's side. 3- when she wiggles around too much, I kick her off. Sometimes, I mean that in every literal sense. What I wonder is how she knows when to come beg up. Most nights, when we get off the couch, she stays where she is for a minute, but by the time we are done brushing our teeth, she is sitting and patiently waiting by hubby's side of the bed. On nights when things get, shall we say, frisky, she doesn't show up to beg until everything is finished. Weird. I wonder if we "smell" different.

And lastly, I have often thought about where sayings come from. Things like, Bob's your Uncle, or Shoot, or, well I can't think of anymore at the moment, but you get the point. The other night at dinner, something upset Kari (again, can't remember) and she said "God Shoot." Well, we quickly tried to explain to her that God is an important person, and we don't use his name like that, but I wonder where she got it from....

That is all. I really don't think about many things. Having 3 children fries my brain. :)

Home Depot and the Wiener

Since we bought the house, we have spent quite a bit of time (and money) in the home improvement stores. Lowe's (in my experience) has slightly better prices, but Home Depot is closer. One day, as we lugged our mile long shopping list and 3 small children into the store, the greeter at the door told us about the kids workshop thing they have. It actually took several trips to the store to sink in, as well as to find a convenient Saturday, but Kari went to her first workshop on Saturday, and I believe she is hooked. It is for ages 5 and up and on the first Saturday of the month (at participating Home Depots {you gotta say that in the announcer voice to do it justice}). It is completely free.

Kari got her own apron with her name on it, a "badge" (as she calls it) for this particular craft, a certificate of completion, and all the parts and pieces needed to make a rain gauge.

The kids collect badges for each craft they do.

Kari is so excited she has so much room for all her badges.

Kari with her finished product. She had originally wanted to paint it, but, impatient
as she was in waiting for me to watch her paint, she busted out
the crayons and colored it. Now we just need to hang it up :)





In other news, the wiener by a landslide was to wait until after breakfast to brush your teeth. Thankfully, now I can go on to dreaming about other things, and not worrying about my oral hygiene (or lack thereof). I dreamt about a boat recently. But, that is a whole 'nother post :)

Comparison Shopping

What with a new mortgage and all, money has become a bit tighter. Not to say I can't handle my bills. Not to say that I am in over my head. Because I am not. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest :) (Before the new house, new car, etc came into the picture the budget was well thought over and calculated.) That being said, I definitely don't have as much "play" money as I did before. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to save a dime here or there. I have some friends who have had great success with the couponing thing. And, I will admit that I am jealous that they can get $300 worth of groceries for $29.72. But, that would require subscribing to a news paper. And since I prefer to remain ignorant of all goings on in the world and wouldn't actually read the newspaper, it seems silly to pay money for coupons and waste perfectly good trees.

My next best bet is to just find good deals within the stores that I shop. Normally Wally World. I have also been experimenting with different brands. I am not really a brand snob (usually). And most of the time, generic is fine with me. There are a few exceptions, however, where the off brand just won't cut it.

My latest endeavor has been into the world of Sam's Club. We haven't lived close enough to one before that it was ever really a viable option. The gas and time used in driving for an hour, not to mention trying to keep children entertained for that long, was most definitely not worth it. However, since moving into the area, I have discovered one about 15 minutes away. I decided to investigate.

Firstly, I called and asked if it would be possible for me to go inside and look around without being a member. Being a member of something like that does me no good if they don't offer things I need/like. Surprisingly (to me) the answer was "Sure. Come in. Look around. See what we got." OK! So, loaded down with the 3 chillin's and a notepad and pen I walked every single aisle, writing prices and quantities as I went. I did mostly the things I could use on a regular basis. I am sure their mattresses are nice, but being that I am not in the market for a mattress (and hopefully won't be for at least another few years) that didn't really matter. Without buying anything, the children and I left and went home. In my regular grocery trip later that week, again loaded with all 3 kids, I again took my pen and paper and wrote all the prices of the things I wrote from Sams.

When I got home, I typed everything into excel and compared. I wanted to make sure I would, at the very least, recoup my membership fee, if not save in other exciting and large ways... According to my research (name that cartoon), not only would I save my membership fee, but I would do it in the first month. Therefore saving quite a bit of dough throughout the year. True, there were some things that were actually cheaper at Wal-Mart still. And, it will be a pain to have to go to 2 stores, have 2 lists, take twice as long to do everything. However, I am thinking maybe saving upwards of $300 would be worth it.

Now, I am not a paid spokesperson for Sams? I wish, right?!? Then I would be getting even more money. Nor am I saying if you aren't a member that you need to be. What I am saying is that, this just might work out for my family in a good way. I would link my spreadsheet somehow, but I am just not that technologically savvy. (Feel free to tell me how in the comments section) For that matter, if you are interested in seeing it, I would be happy to email it to you. But I made my first trip to Sam's yesterday and became an official member.

Moral of the story is this: I did a lot of work. Spent a lot of time. But, I think it just might work. Now, I need to find a place to store all these super huge cartons of things :)

The Stairs

I had a very fun weekend. On Saturday morning we drove down to Pa's house. It was finally nice enough to play outside, and Pa has quite a bit of "outside" so we enjoyed it. Kari got to practice riding the bike (which we brought home with us so she could continue to ride it) and Kaitlyn loves to play in the dirt and with the rocks.

She put on a sweatshirt to go outside that had pockets in it. She showed it to me and said "It doesthn't have any rockth. I need go find rockth. I have a pocket for my rockth." Apparently, the only point of having pockets is to put rocks in them... And yes, I am working on her lithp :)

Anyway, then, on the way back through, we stopped at a friends house. We invited ourselves over, overstayed our welcome, and talked until the wee hours of the night, all while letting our 5 combined children all under the age of 5, stay up until midnight:30... Good times. Crappy thing is, the kids fell asleep on the car ride home (another 45 minutes), while hubby and I had to stay awake, drive home, unload the children, unload the car, and eventually make our way to bed around 2:30. Boy. Are we dumb or what?

Needless to say, I am tired. And, because I am tired, all I can manage to put up today is a video. A cute video of Dylan, who, one day decided he didn't want to play with any toys available to him downstairs, and so decided to go and search for some more desirable ones somewhere else. Apparently, these reside in the upstairs bathroom. :/ I am all about a clean bathroom, but now that he loves to play in there, I feel like I have to disinfect it 8 times a day... I don't, but I feel the guilt none the less.

So, in honor of my fun weekend, and my getting oldness (which means my ability to stay up waaaaay too late and still function the next day has gone out the window) here is the video. I was going to say with limited commentary, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Enjoy :)

My Own Zoo

There are definitely times when I feel like I am living in a zoo. Between the noises, the smells, and the messes, there are days when you will be hard pressed to find a difference. This was one of those days. Poor Dylan's stomach bug had gone from the top end to the bottom, and his poor little bum was cherry red. So, we aired him out a bit.

It doesn't look that bad from here, but, its still pretty cute :) Don't worry... He didn't last like this for long. I don't trust cute little nakies :)

Random Pictures

It started with this one. I took it last night. Sometimes, I forget how small he is until I see him standing. And I think "Isn't he taller than that? Nope. Not really." He just seems like such a big kid, although it already make me sad that his one year birthday is less than 2 weeks away.
And then, this morning, after we got dressed and ready for the day, I was looking at Kaitlyn and thinking that she reminded me of my sister, Pickle. I think it has to be the choker. Pickle used to wear this funky, not quite bike chain looking choker almost every day through high school.

And, Kari desired her picture to be taken as well. However, in this picture she is no longer Kari. She has transformed into Prince Eric, complete with cape, bow and arrow (although said arrow is broken), and sword (which you can't see because it is hidden under the cape. In all actuality, it is a paint stirrer)

The End.

Earthshine

Do you ever have one of those days when something totally random brings something else totally random to mind? No? Well, me neither. I mean, why would my husband brushing his teeth make me thing of a field trip I took in, I think, 4th grade... If you bear with me for a few minutes, I think I can explain.


Growing up, what can I say?... I was gifted.... And by gifted, I mean I was in the Quest program in my elementary school. The Quest program (for the life of me, I can't think of what it stood for or meant) was for those labeled "gifted" (whatever that means) that allowed us, once a week, to go spend some time with a teacher doing some pretty cool stuff. The teacher was Ms. Dawkins. And I will forever love her. Anyway, Quest got to go on a field trip. I think it was my first overnight field trip. It was a first for many things, actually, but we will cover that in a minute. We went to Earthshine. A quick search on the Internet proved that Earthshine is actually still up and running.


We got to do a lot of cool stuff there. There couldn't have been more than 20 of us, probably less than that. But I still have quite fond memories of the trip. We got to kinda go back in time and do things like the pioneers did them.

I remember feeding and taking care of the animals.

Making candles.

I vaguely remember something about an Indian.

Sorry dude.... gimme a break. I was in 4th grade.

We got to go on some cool nature hike things.

And there was definitely some awkward 4th grade
team building/circle of trust thing going on.

It was very rustic. I remember being impressed, even as
an ignorant 4th grader, how quite and peaceful it was.

And beautiful.

It was the first time I had made chicken and dumplings. I haven't done it since, but there is always a first for everything. It was also the first time I had seen the reproductive organ of a male horse. Lets just say that image stays with me today. It was also the first time I had shared a room with anyone other than my sister, or otherwise family. (Now we are getting closer to the point).

My friend Caroline got to come with me on the trip and we roomed together with a total of 6 girls in the room. It was a 3 or 4 day trip, so the first morning we woke up and I noticed that Caroline got dressed, then went straight to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Before breakfast. I thought it was probably pretty polite of her (no one wants to smell morning breath, right?). So, I determined that I would follow her example the following morning.

I got up. Changed. Brushed my teeth. Went down for breakfast. Guess what? It was horrible.... Everything tasted funny. We had Orange Juice!!! If you have not had the pleasure of brushing your teeth and drinking orange juice, DON'T. I would not recommend it. After that meal, for the life of me, I could not figure out why Caroline wanted to brush her teeth before breakfast. I determined never to do that again.

Well, today, not that it is any different than any other day, hubby brushed his teeth before he went downstairs to grab his breakfast and run out the door. As I wallowed luxuriously in bed, not having to get up right that second because hubby could get the girls their morning addictions (chocolate milk for Kari, juice for Kaitlyn), I pondered on the situation. Surely, he is only doing it because he will be eating his breakfast in the truck, and therefore doesn't have time to brush them before he comes upon many unsuspecting office people. Nope, not true. He does it on Saturday's too. And, while pondering in my half awake state, it brought to mind my experiences at Earthshine, my friend Caroline, and that dad gummed horse.

My point is this: It made me curious... What does the world, at large, hold as socially, morally, and hygienically acceptable practices, as far as morning teeth brushing? I will admit that I am a "as long as I brush my teeth before I leave the house, it counts" kinda gal. And always before bed. To this day I have a fear of toothpasty-orange juice. It haunts me in my nightmares.

I have posted a new poll on the side of my blog. Take a moment, if you please, to vote on your teeth brushing habits. Maybe I can put my orange juice fears aside, and dream about unicorns and rainbows, if you can tell me that my oral hygiene is ok. Please?

*All pictures technically stolen from the Earthshine website*