Water

This morning I was sitting at the computer reading my favorite blogs(bad mommy!) and I heard Ryan in the other room, "Dwink."
"Okay, mommy's coming." I'll just finish this last paragraph.
Then I hear the water from the door on the fridge. Ryan watches very carefully(even when we don't notice) and mommy drinks water a lot. He has on rare occasion gotten water from the fridge. We keep Zach's cups within a child's reach so Zach can get his own drinks. All things considered I'm not extremely worried, but I know I need to go to the kitchen now. As I get up to head in there I hear, "Oooooooooooh. Sowwy." This about melts my heart. Whatever it is it can't be bad enough to make me mad after that. I arrived in the kitchen as he was finishing his apology. And I see the cup in his hand...the sippy cup with the wet lid. I had to chuckle to myself. He was trying so hard. I guess it's one more lesson learned in the life of a toddler. He is a bit damp and so was the kitchen floor, but none the worse for wear.

Without a Paddle

I meant to recommend this movie a while ago, but it slipped my mind(as most things do). Without a Paddle is this really great adventure comedy about some boyhood friends who get back together after years of being apart and living quite different lives. I really liked it. It's funny and sweet all at the same time. Jay said he could really relate to the guys. I think most guys will be able to at least on some level. It has Matthew Lillard and Seth Green, both very funny. Anyway, it's a really good movie and I have not seen much hype about it, so I'm going to tell everyone to see it!

Tired and Wondering

Do you ever feel like someone is trying to tell you something that you just don't get. It doesn't seem to make sense, but it has to be because it is coming up again and again? Should I take a leap? I'm not sure. I'm too tired to think. I'm going to bed.
'night

Give me a home where the buffalo roam...

I didn't think that song would apply to me anymore since I no longer live in Colorado. I guess I was wrong. I had to link to this story once I saw it on Mari's site.

All Boy!

Ryan is a B-O-Y , BOY! A dirt loving, running, jumping, sliding, climbing, tower stacking, car loving boy. I'm all for letting a child be what they are. Play with dolls and trucks or whatever they want. But there is this little part of me that sort of rejoices in my little one's natural boyishness. I know Jay is looking forward to the day he can teach Ryan all about cars:-)
All Boy 

The Gift

So, this is the secret project, the undisclosed gift that I've been dying to share. It was a gift for Ben's first birthday. We dropped by their house this weekend and gave it to his mommy. So, now I can share it.
I got this idea to use one of Ben's nicknames, TBG Express, on a cross stitch train. It took a long time to find a train pattern, but I thought this one was cute. I guess it's really more for Ben's mommy at this point, but I think it's sweet. Besides the boy really does have more toys than you can shake a stick at ;-) I'm not really sure where that expression came from. Why would you want to shake a stick at anything? It's a pretty amusing saying though and I'm glad I got to use it :-)
TBG Express

Potty Break

He did it! Ryan said "po-ee", so we ran into the bathroom and he used the potty when we got there! Hopefully a breakthrough!!! I just had to post. I'm so excited. I can't wait to get that diaper genie down in the basement. And I can buy him like 30 packs of underwear for the price of one box of diapers!!! I know this is still a long way off, but this is a good sign in the right direction:-)

Diaperless Joy

Ryan gets great joy from not having clothes on. It's not often that he gets to run around in all his glory because he inevitably pees on my floor. Today after he had a bath he was so bound and determined to get off his changing table while I was getting his stuff ready. I decided it was better to let him off than to have him fall or flip over me(it's possible, trust me!). As soon as his feet hit the floor he started running squealing with delight. It was adorable. Maybe I'll give him a little more freedom when he's potty trained;-)

Box Cars

Yesterday Zach, Ryan and I made a couple boxes into a car and a train. Ryan's train wasn't quite finished, but I needed to start dinner. So except for the fact that it only has one headlight it could be a car too. Zach made his car all by himself. We were discussing what a car has that he could put on his box: windows, headlights, windshield. When I said windshield Zach said, "Yes- and of course every windshield needs a windshield wiper." The way he said it was so funny, very matter of fact.
After dinner we took our cars out in the back yard and had a race around the perimeter. Ryan had a little trouble holding the box up and running because I couldn't find the suspenders I thought we had to hold it up. Jay helped him out for a while, but then he figured out how to do it pretty well himself.
So a couple of boxes and some construction paper provided a whole afternoon and evening's worth of entertainment. Boxes may be the world's greatest toy!
Racing

Check out my 100 Things Post

I finally finished my 100 Things About Me post!

My Birthday

my birthday daisies

I had a wonderful birthday:-) It was a beautiful day outside. The best part was Jay planned ahead and gave me several wonderful gifts. First he walked in the door with a huge bouquet of daisies, my favorite:-) Then, as a surprise he arranged babysitting(thanks grandmommy) and made reservations for dinner at a local restaurant we both like. So we had a date. This doesn't happen very often, so it was fantastic to have time together, just the two of us and to be out of the house. Before dinner he asked me if I wanted my present now or later. I thought the dinner arrangements were my gift. Wow, more?! Of course I said now! He made reservations for a really nice hotel in Williamsburg and arranged for babysitting then too(thanks grandma and grandpa!). He knows how much I miss going to Busch Gardens, so that's what we are going to do. He did say we don't have to do that if I don't want to, but I DO! It's going to be so fun to go to an amusement park without kids. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but I can ride whatever I want! WITH my husband! Hooray. What an awesome gift! I'm so excited.
Now don't make fun of me, but I'm still uneasy about leaving Ryan over night. I'm not sure he will understand. Luckily my parents are staying with us the whole week before we are leaving. So Ryan will be used to them and he will get to stay in his own house. I'm also lucky to have a husband who understands this and planned for us to only be gone for one night. So yay for getting away and yay for it not being too long! I'm still going to be nervous, but I think I'll enjoy being alone with my wonderful, thoughtful husband.

Which Incredible are you?

So Elastigirl is what it came up with for me.


Which Incredibles Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Cool!

Jay took the quiz he was Mr. Incredible.

Which Incredibles Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
I knew we were a good match ;-)

28!

Today I am 28. This is one year closer to 30. I can't imagine not being in my 20s anymore. I guess I have a little while to get my mind around the idea.
My morning started fairly well with birthday wishes from all my boys. Jay even wrote me a note on the mirror:-) Ryan's 'happy birthday' went something like this...[big smile]"earthday"[giggle]. (Let's hope he gives me a full night's sleep for my birthday tonight because he didn't last night.) Then I got online and had even more birthday wishes:-) Thanks Erin, Chrissi and mom! Love y'all!

Sunday

Today was busy. We had the usual church thing and I volunteered in the toddler room at the 11 service(I know don't I get enough toddler at home!) When I got home Ryan was napping. Jay and I had some "us" time and then we woke Ryan at 2. As soon as he was awake and ready we headed down to Landon and Katie's house where we had a little bar-b-que. We ate on the deck in the wonderful weather. The surprised me with a cake after dinner since my birthday is tomorrow. Isn't that sweet? Now we are back home and I am a teenee bit tipsy(and VERY sleepy) from the 2 drinks I had. I'm such a light weight! The boys are asleep in bed(both fell asleep on the way home. Sadly I don't really know what Jay is doing, but I'm guessing he is on the laptop upstairs. I think I will go give him a kiss now. Check you later.

Photography

I love taking pictures. I have as long as I can remember. I think it's partly because my dad loved to take pictures. He always took really cool pictures. There were times I thought he was crazy because of the lengths he went to for a good picture. I vaguely remember him getting very close to a moose(in the wild) to get a picture of it's face close up. I very much remember the actual picture. I also vividly remember being in the front of a canoe when my dad wanted to get a close up of an alligator. He was in the back. This did not sit well with me, especially when the gator dove into the water. I also remember a picture of a bee hovering over flower. I never fully appreciated this picture. I thought it was cool, don't get me wrong, but I didn't fully appreciate the skill it must have taken to get a close up of a bee and a flower in focus, perfectly centered and in amazing color and contrast(especially without the help of digital software!). These are things I have developed an appreciation for over the years. I recently became even more into the "how to"s of photography. My wonderful husband who knows how much I love pictures got me a digital Rebel for Christmas. This camera has way more ability to adjust than any camera I've ever owned. I've done a few things experimenting with some settings, but I'd really love to learn how to use it to its full capability. Hopefully my dad will be able to teach me a few [more] things about photography when he comes back. One of the things I've been trying my hand at is macro photography. Here are some pictures I've taken in the last couple days of the flowers in our yard.
Flowers

The daisies on the left are some of the ones Jay and Zach picked out. Aren't they beautiful?!

Zachanator

Zachanator

Here is a shot of our fearless Zachanator scaring the Caman away.
Really I wanted to mess around with our new Adobe Photoshop software and I thought this project would be fun and challenging. It was! I know the perspective isn't great, but I learned LOTS about the program. It's still a fun picture:-)

Garden Lessons

I planted some flowers today. It was great. Every year since Jay and I got married Zach and I have planted a little garden. I thought it would be a fun thing to do together. Zach always seems really into it until it comes to the actual work part. It has always seemed like a fun idea and I'm really excited to do it. Until we start. Then it seems more like a chore than anything else. This year it hasn't really seemed to work well timing wise. Any time we have together Ryan is around. Since we would plant in the front yard and Ryan likes to run toward the street this doesn't work well. Jay and Zach picked out some flowers this weekend. They didn't seem to be doing well, so I planted them today during Ryan's nap. ALONE! It was fabulous. I went out there thinking it would be like a chore and ended up enjoying myself. I've learned a few things about gardening that work for me. This is the latest one. Gardening alone can be peaceful, stress relieving(all that digging and hacking at weeds is cathartic) and a good time to think. Planting flowers is way better than planting seeds. I like the immediate satisfaction of having something beautiful to show for my efforts. I started out planting seeds and it was okay. It was fun to watch them grow, but I thought it would be a lot more satisfying to start from scratch than it was. Seeing the beauty right away is very satisfying to me. Another lesson I learned this year is to pick out the flowers myself OR give very specific instructions. Jay and Zach came home with 4 flowers. None were the same. 3 were similar, but different colors. This I can work with although I don't find it ideal. One was completely different. It's just one little lonely purple flower. There was one tag to tell me what sort of light, etc needed. Guess which one had the tag. Yep, that's right, the lonely purple flower. It needs full sun, there is really no place in our garden to plant a flower that needs full sun. Well, I did the best I could. Hopefully they will live for a while and people won't notice the awkwardness of the garden because the flowers really are very pretty individually. I guess when you tell a 6 year old who doesn't like to hurt anyone(or anything's) feelings you end up getting a little of everything. Variety is the spice of life, right. Well, it's the theme of our garden anyway. Another very important thing I learned this year is when your husband hooks some fancy contraption to the hose to make your life easier make sure it’s not cracked before you use the hose for the first time in spring. Otherwise you might get soaked. Luckily, since I had such a nice time gardening I was able to laugh at myself. Overall this year’s gardening experience was rather nice. I think I will perhaps pursue it further in the future.

1 Mile? Well, okay 2 feet.

My boy, Ryan, has a stubborn streak a mile wide...Well, okay two feet in this picture. Let me set this up for you. Ryan likes to wear Jay's new University of Maryland hat. Probably because he gets all kinds of attention and laughs when he does, but that's beside the point. Hats must make him think of outside, because he often puts one on and asks to go "ow sy". This time was no different. The only one around with shoes on was daddy. So daddy took him out on the porch for a minute. Apparently a minute wasn't long enough. This is what happened when Jay tried to walk in the door.
Oh boy

Sorry the focus is not good, but I thought it was hilarious.
It really captures the essence of his stubbornness, except for the fact that you can't see his face contorted and screaming. The hat fell over his face in the struggle.
It's really no mystery why he has this trait. He inherited it. He didn't have a chance really unless it's a recessive gene. I guess it's true that you get payback for all the stuff you did to your parents when you have your own kids. Oh boy are we in for it!

A few random musings

TiVo friend or foe?
I can pull up Barney, Sesame Street, Wiggles or Blue's Clues on demand and I never miss my favorite shows. There is always something on TV-I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I definitely watch way more TV than I did 3 months ago.

Is my boy ready for potty training?
1) He is obsessed with the toilet. He picks up the lid and points out the "water" all the time. He runs in and points at the "po-ee" all the time. 2) He was out in the yard with Jay while Jay was picking up after Daisy. He pointed at the scoop and said "po-ee". Wow, he is relating -well, you know- to the potty. The problem is he says "po-ee" a lot and I don't know if he means he has to go or if he just likes pointing out words that he knows(which he does). When I do try to sit him on the potty he is more interested in the toilet paper than anything else. He is only 19 months old...isn't that a little early?

Am I totally inept at raising a child at the age of 6?
Is drama just a part of the deal at 6? How come he never seems to hear me the first time? Will he ever make good decisions on his own regardless of his friends "ideas'?

How do people keep their houses clean?
Because mine is always a mess!

Do other people have more hours in their days?

Is 28 too old to learn how to read music and play the piano? If not, is it wise to try to learn from one's husband?

Will I ever get a good night's sleep again?!

Aquarium Pictures

Aquarium trip

From the top left corner clockwise around to the middle:
High jumping dolphin; Ryan; One very pregnant dolphin(I wish I had that kind of energy and muscle power!); Zach trying to scare the puffer fish because I told him they blow up and spikes stick out when they are scared; my boys in the rain forest; Jay and Ryan at the dolphin show; Jay and Zach in the paddle boat
As always you can view more pictures of our trip in my latest album(April) on the sidebar.

Fun Saturday

We went downtown today. We visited the Aquarium and did the dolphin show. Can I tell you how great it is to be a member!!! There was a huge line to get tickets, we went to the member's side and went right to the window. Apparently even once they got their tickets they had to wait until their listed entry times. We got to walk right past all the people waiting and go right in. Being a member definitely has it's advantages. I just wish it came with free parking($15 at the end of the day)! After lots of fun at the aquarium we headed over to the harbor area. Jay and Zach rode in a paddle boat while Ryan and I walked around the harbor area. We heard some cool Native American(I think) music in the outdoor theater area. Then we went over and waved to Daddy and Zach in their paddle boat. After all that it was after 6:30 so we headed home so the boys could get to bed on time. We thought it was early enough that Ryan wouldn't fall asleep in the car. We were wrong. Not only did Ryan fall asleep, but Zach did too. We stopped at Chic-fil-a on the way home-Yummmmmy. We had to wake both boys up to eat. It wasn't pretty, but it worked out in the end. They are all tucked in to bed now and I'm just hoping this doesn't mean a super early morning tomorrow!
Pictures to follow. I have still have to upload them. There are LOTS I filled an entire 256 card and started on another.

I Can't Keep a Secret!

But I'm working on it ;-) When I get a gift for someone that I think they will like I get really excited to give it to them. I have a hard time waiting to tell them or give it to them. When my brother and I were younger we had the 'I'll tell you what I got you if you tell me what you got me' game. The funny part is I played it more so I could tell him what I got him. I like getting gifts for people. I really try to get something they will like. I especially like to make things for people(if I have time and can think of something they will like).
So I have this gift for someone's 1st birthday. It was a special project and I'm very excited about it. It is all done. I took a picture and I'm dying to put it on my blog! However the birthday boy's mommy reads, so I can't do it until I actually get to see her and give it to them. GAH!(a little something I picked up from RBelle) I'm dyin' here! His birthday is past, so does that mean I don't have to keep it a secret anymore? I'm grasping at straws here, aren't I?

A John Denver Kind of Day

"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy..."
Happy Boys

Hooray for warm sunny days when we can go to the playground and play outside!!!

Adding to My Warm Fuzzies List

Yesterday I wrote a list of a few things that have made me feel warm and fuzzy lately. I have to add to this list because today in Zach's backpack I found this:
Another warm fuzzy for the list


For those of you following the 'What should Zach call Jen?' saga- that is ME. So that fact that he chose me as his favorite woman is only added to by the fact that he wrote "mommy". So if that wasn't 'Yay' enough he had also written a nice story too. I would copy it and post a picture, but it might be hard to understand with all the 1st grade spelling etc. I will type it out for you though. Any non-spelling edits are clearly marked, so you definitely get the idea of Zach's true piece.

My Mommy is special because she helps me do hard things and she is great at helping me, so that I can show Ryan my little brother how to do what [he] is supposed to do. My Mommy is great at taking me to the bus stop. I like it when she does that. I like my mommy so so so(three pages of "so"s) much. I love my mommmmmmmy soooo much.

So, hooray that I get to add to my warm fuzzies list!

A Few of My Favorite Things

::score from Sound of Music plays:: When I'm mixed up and feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feeeel sooo bad...
Okay cheesy intros aside I wanted to share some things that have really made me beam and feel warm and fuzzy lately.
1) Ryan gleefully announcing his daddy's arrival by running to the door and exclaiming "Daddeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
2) Big hugs happily given by Ryan with little pats and/or rubs on the back for that extra bit of love.
3) Zach saying he would like to do something, but he would like to spend time with his family more.
4) Warm spring days with lots of sunshine.
5) The Snickers Ice Cream bars my husband bought when he went to the store just because he knows I like them.
6) That my husband knows what I like and that he cares enough to show it.
7) Watching Jay play the piano with one boy on the seat next to him and the other in his lap.
8) Listening to Jay play music with no one in his lap and the roses he gave me this week on the piano ;-)
9) Having a family who cares very much about me(including the extended family I gained in 2002).
10) Cuddling on the couch with my favorite man and watching a movie.

Blog Stopper?

I'm not sure if I am going to continue blogging. I have bunches of mixed feelings about it. I don't want to continue at all in some ways. I want to continue anonymously in other ways. I want to continue just as I am in many ways. While pictures are a favorite part of my life and my blog I want to stop posting them in some ways too. Some of this is because of all the picture stealing going on in the blog world and some of my reasons are personal. I mostly started this to keep my family and friends up to date on what is going on with us. I feel like there are more people that I don't know reading than people I do know. I don't mean to be insulting to anyone...I feel like some people I've 'met' through blogging are becoming like friends. It's not that I don't want people I don't know in real life to read. I think it's kind of cool actually. I do however wish that I could know who is reading. I wish more of my family would read and comment so I know they are reading. Some people comment in person. Even if they just say 'Hey, I read your blog the other day' or 'I read about ______ on your blog' it helps me know my blog is serving it's purpose. I know some of them do read and that's a lot of what keeps me going. Lots of you probably noticed that I have not posted so much lately. It's mostly because of these feeling that it's not really achieving what it was meant for originally. My parents are going to be stateside in less than a month and I hope it will be easier for us to keep in touch by more personal ways. My brother is also stateside again and we will be able to keep in touch better too. They are the main reason for this here blog and since they are now going to be more available (my parents will even be in the same time zone!) it seems like my blog may have a natural ending soon. I just wish I knew that it is really a useful tool in my life. Now I'm not saying comment or I'll stop blogging, but I'm explaining how I feel about the whole thing in general.
Just so the whole post in not depressing I'll leave you with something that made me laugh this morning. Ryan slipped on a piece of paper (that he put on the floor) and fell. Most of the time he just gets up and keeps going, but this time he cried and stayed on the floor(this is not what made me laugh people-I know what you were thinking). Seeing as he seemed to really be hurt I went over and scooped him up, brought him back to the couch and cuddled him. He stopped crying, wiggled down and walked over near where he fell. He threw himself on the ground and started crying again. This made me laugh(Jay was cracking up as well). He was playing me. He is 19 months old and he is playing me! Of course, not to disappoint I went over and scooped him up, brought him back to the couch and cuddled him. I don't want him to feel like he is not getting enough attention after all. He stopped crying, wiggled down and scurried over where he originally fell. He threw himself on the floor and started crying(Think that forgot what I wrote before and I am just repeating myself? NOPE). He did this 3 times. I guess we have 2 Shakespearean monarchs on our hands;-)