moving day...week... month

2 boys.
2 beds.
1 room.

2 sides of the room.
1 sound machine.
2 nightlights.
2 parents.

The numbers make it seem so simple.  Place Boy B into bed in Boy A's room.  Pat, pat.  Lullaby.  Kiss, kiss. Goodnight.

Not so fast.  Oh, Peter how you did spoil us! Moving you into the big boy bed/room was a gradual process but one that went very smoothly, if memory serves.  Perhaps that's the problem.  Perhaps my memory is shot.  Because common sense doesn't seem to be guiding me very well these days.

Naptime is atrocious.  All he wants to do is play so he's restless and active for an hour or more before he finally gives in, and that's only if I've not already given up and left him in the baby bed.  After the bedtime struggle that includes at least one follow-through on the threat to take him back to the baby bed (pure torture in his mind now that he's tasted sweet freedom), he finally settles down for the night.... or the majority of the night. Poor Hayes is the light sleeper of our partnership so he's dealing with the early rising while I snooze through to morning.  Bless that man. 

Davis has spent countless hours in there.  It's his favorite room in the house.  Nothing new except he's allowed to have his blanket in there with him.  Well, that and his brother is snoozing 8 feet away.  As in, Peter is comatose under his pillow fort, oblivious to the up-down-shake the curtains-knock over books-climb out of bed and peek out the door then run back to bed giggling as soon as the grown-ups head down the hallway-kind of game we've been playing here lately.  At least one of us is getting good sleep, right? 


2 weeks into this process and I'm ready to move to a house with another bedroom.  Why oh why did we sacrifice that other bedroom for a bathroom?! Oh yeah, so I could fit into the shower at 7 months pregnant [among many other reasons].  Silly, silly me.  Clearly not thinking ahead. 

Onward we trudge.  With the bebe coming in just over 2 months, I've got incentive and willpower.  Even Davis can't compete with me there! 

status quo

I gave up Facebook for Lent this year in an effort to refocus that time and energy on more productive activities.  Nonetheless, I still found myself contemplating daily events in terms of the ubiquitous status update.  A few notable tidbits:

• I can't bring myself to confess how much Coca-Cola I drank today. (Okay, maybe that one came up more than once...)
• My baby boy now tells me he loves me [I-uh-yoo].  I guess I'll forgive him for 'measuring' my belly and saying,"wow."
• At the end of Peter's most challenging (read: uncooperative and aggressive) day in quite a while, he still asked to bless everyone on Earth.
• Speaking of nightly prayers, the first person Davis lists to bless is our baby.
• Peter has decided he's going to marry Aunt Callie.  For real.
• I officially weigh as much as my husband.  No, it actually doesn't make me feel better that he's in training for triathlon season.   
• It's getting quite difficult to do laundry, weed, bend, lift, hold, get up, get down, or bathe the boys.  Soooo.... it's going to be an interesting (and apparently quite stinky) spring.  
• Seeking a shirt that reads, "Yes, I am absolutely sure that there's only one in here."

Peterisms:

• Once upon a time there was a baby girl named Mommy. That's you.  She was in Nanny's belly and then she grew and grew.  When the doctor did a special surgery she came out and grew to be 79 years old and became a grown up.
• Despite several discussions about how our baby will be born via surgery:  "Mommy, are you going to poop the baby out?" [I spit out my drink.]
•  I'm all exhausted from resting.
• [sick] Nanny can you send me a get well card?

easter

Spending the weekend at the lake has been a luxury that we have not fully utilized in the past couple of years.  What with weddings and birthday parties and ear infections and thingsthatcomeup, we simply haven't been down there as often as we'd like.  With the boys at these particular ages, though, it's like having Disney World to ourselves.  They are both familiar with the house and the rules of the dock, etc. They are comfortable enough in the water to keep me from lurching forward every time they come within 12 inches of the dock's edge.  (Although I admit I still have to resist the urge).  It's a change of scenery that requires little packing and no more planning than the usual grocery shopping I'd have to do at home anyway.  Reenie keeps the place stocked for all of us (clothes, food, drinks) so we could theoretically hop in the car and go, as long as we stop for Peter's precious milk and Davis's bananas.  We're set.

So this Easter weekend we had the added and unexpected bonus of Hayes having Good Friday off.  Thursday night we fought rain and traffic to get there but woke up to a beautiful morning on the lake.  Basically from then on, the kids hardly wore clothes, they threw sticks into a fire, they fished, they went on nature walks, and Davis got scratched up from head to toe but loved every minute of it.  We had boat rides and Easter egg hunts and baked and cuddled and watched TV.  It was pretty much another perfect weekend with the Bryants. 

In his underwear for an egg hunt - but happy as a clam

Do these stripes make me look fat?  (Awful picture, but you see how huge I am.) 

 

Digging for treasure

He is one tough cookie - every limb is scraped and scratched up!

Unprompted!?!

Looking for sticks to throw into the creek

I don't have a lot of pictures from the lake because I decided not to carry the camera with me everywhere.  I'm determined to get some practice as I haven't been taking too many pictures lately and I need to hone my skills before Baby Boy arrives.  Oh yeah!  He has a birthday!  If all goes according to plan, we'll have a baby early on June 29, 2012.  I know, I know.  How much bigger can I get?  ;)

God willing, we'll get to find out!

good friday indeed

'round here

• So Davis does this twirling thing with his finger every time he hears/sees/smells an airplane flying overhead, and he doesn't stop until you acknowledge the fact that there is an airplane and yes, it flies in the sky.  So naturally, he's a sucker for the airplane observation area.  Random Sunday afternoon activity?  Yes, please.  Peter was simply too busy giving orders to be photographed with anything but a scowl or closed eyes. 

Attempting to "plank" with Daddy

Hello blue eyes!

"more!"

Look!

There!

"iuhyou" [i love you]

• Joys of pregnancy:  my bedside table does not display pretty pictures or books on my to-read list.  It showcases the items needed to keep me somewhat comfortable at night:  Tums, water, nose spray and kleenex.  Note that the Costco sized Tums is almost empty.  This kid better have a head full of hair for all the heartburn he's causing!

• And may I present... a time out in three parts.

Anger

Frustration

If I close my eyes then she can't see me.  That'll teach her.

• My latest addition to the resume:  plumber

Thank goodness it looked way worse than it actually was, but we won't tell Peter that.

the great outdoors

We managed to salvage spring break by spending the final weekend at the Bryants' lakehouse. Even I (homebody extraordinaire) needed to getoutofthishouse! Peter is of course quite familiar with the lakehouse so upon arrival he went on his merry way to find the logging truck Reenie keeps for him. Not to mention the oodles and oodles and oodles of (ahem) vintage toys from when Hayes and McCall were little. Honestly, I'm so glad she kept them because they sure don't make toys the way they used to. Davis is somewhat less familiar given he has the memory of a goldfish, so we explored a bit before naptime. Peter was on the mend at this point, but Davis was still suffering from the world's most persistent fever. Honestly, I think the change of scenery and fresh air was really good for him.

 Last year we implemented the June rule, mandating that Peter cannot even so much as ask to go swimming in the lake until June. Poor Boopah got suckered into going swimming in April of last year and I'm afraid even his grandfather's hypothermia wouldn't have gotten Peter out of that water before he was good and ready. So June it is. Maybe we'll surprise him in May since it's been such a mild winter and warm spring so far. But we won't tell him that quite yet. Instead of swimming, we went on boat rides, we took walks, we lazed around the house and had picnics. Pretty much a dream weekend.

the first (and coziest) boat ride of the season

But the biggest activity of the weekend was teaching Peter how to fish. His Mickey Mouse fishing rod got quite a workout with 48 hours of "casting practice." He actually got pretty good at casting without hitting anyone! Next up - we add a hook and bait. Looks like I may need to run to Bass Pro Shops to "outfit" and "equip" him properly.

Davis had his own agenda with his fishing pole (a stick with string handmade by Resourceful Reenie) - how many times can I splash Reenie/Mommy/Callie before I swing around and hit them with my stick?

Hayes had his first race of the triathlon season in Birmingham on Sunday morning and he won 1st place in his age group!  Out of 140 participants he finished 35th, so he's off to a great start.  He's worked really hard in preparation for these next three months, so we're super proud of and excited for him.

As for me, I was so happy to return to normalcy on Monday.  Yay for school!  Yay for no more fever!  Yay for life beyond our house!  We could finally go play outside and got busy picking up sticks in the Gator and dumping them in the brush pile.  It's never too soon to put these boys to work!! Peter began his digging season so he and Chief are competing to see who can dig more holes in all the flower beds.  Davis is more than a little obsessed with bubbles so he would occupy himself with that or by playing on the playscape.  Although, I do recall a few time outs for throwing rocks at me, Peter, Chief - and even himself. (?) Our week culminated in a trip to the zoo on Friday to see the new dinosaur exhibit.  It's a fantastic setup outside with robotic dinosaurs that are life-size and LOUD.  Peter loved every bit of it, but of course his favorite was the T-rex at the end.  Davis growled back at them but I think he was a bit overwhelmed by their size and volume.  They weren't quite as cutesy as the dinos in the cartoons.  I so wish I had pictures and video but to be honest, my hands were full with the double stroller.  Peter kept hopping back in the stroller because his legs hurt... if only he cared how much mine hurt pushing 100 extra pounds up those hills!  We won't even begin to discuss the extra weight that has taken over my torso.  Suffice it to say, Mommy needed a nap yesterday.

Today we took advantage of the sunshine and went straight to the dirt pile after our breakfast date.  For three hours the boys climbed, dug, scraped, slid, climbed, ran, built, dug, hiked and splashed all over.  We saw a snapping turtle and watched tadpoles, hiked along the creek trails and even waded into the creek.  Peter (not surprisingly) maintained some sense of cleanliness, although (not surprisingly) Davis was covered in dirt and mud within 60 seconds of our arrival.  Both boys were in heaven, so Hayes and I just got to enjoy watching them do their thing.  How nice to just sit back and watch them get along with each other and other random kids without having to play referee or get in there and do the work for them.  We were so proud of Peter for offering some of our shovels and rakes to some other boys there - without a prompt!  This is the same kid who got in trouble two weeks ago for demanding tickets from random children before going down the slide at the park.  It's good to be reminded of his sweet-natured heart.  It also reminds me how hard it must be to be 4 and keep track of all of these rules and expectations while still trying to remain the center of the universe.  (sigh) 

 

Creek study

Tadpoles everywhere!!

Petting the bird

so, so, so very dirty

"Addy!  Lp! Addy! Lp!" [Daddy! Help! Daddy! Help!]

King o' the Hill

Houdini - headed for the hills...

While uploading these pictures, it has become apparent how negligent I have been these past several weeks when it comes to the blog.  Another post of various adventures will soon follow.

trapped

There has to be a name for the phenomenon of events that are highly anticipated but always seem to disappoint. New Year's Eve, for instance. It just never works out quite how you had it in your head. That's why we re-evaluated and began doing a family pizza party with friends and we are all happy to be asleep as the ball drops. Morning comes early no matter which year it is, and this mama is no morning person. But I digress.

I'm adding Spring Break to the List. I had such high hopes for this week full of beautiful weather. Zoo adventures at the new dinosaur exhibit. Park-hopping picnic. Dirt pile. And then a looooong weekend at the lake house.

I have left the house twice in four days; both times to go to the pediatrician.

Peter developed a fever on Sunday that has persisted ever since. Ibuprofen makes him comfortable but I can tell when it's wearing off - fever keeps coming back. He has thrown up a couple of times so his menu is limited, making for some fantastic negotiation practice. It's a virus, so we just have to let it run its course. Davis has been quite a trooper given our homeboundness. (?) Well, until today.

Sweet boy had another seizure this afternoon as he was waking from his nap.

Thank goodness for video monitors. Thank goodness for maternal instincts and thank goodness for the ability to text "911 D seizing" and have my husband fly through the door in 5 minutes, no questions asked.

To see him tonight you wouldn't know a thing was wrong. In an hour and a half he had emerged groggy, droopily tolerated an exam at the pediatrician, and then began pointing out rescue vehicles and machines on the way back home. By the time we had supper, he was chatty, inquisitive and demanding as ever. Add a cookie for dessert and as far as he was concerned, life was perfect.

Now we are setting alarms to dole out ibuprofen during the night to both boys. As my friend Carolyn pointed out, Spring Break does call to mind "viruses" but they are usually preceded by too much beer or rum.

So as I document this run of bad luck, I feel compelled to include how proud I am of Peter for his positive attitude this week. Being sick is a drag but he has managed to get by with only a couple of meltdowns, mostly surrounding the exclusion of milk from his menu options. Tragic, I tell you! I have rolled my eyes and complained about the circumstances, all the while washing my hands every 5-7 minutes. But I must admit that if I have to be stuck in a house for four days without so much as a grocery run, I'm glad I'm stuck with them.

a four year old's version of a pulse check

I know I have been negligent. I have been a busy bee with a project for our preschool as well as taking advantage of SPRING by spending as much time as possible outside.

Just had to drop a note today to let you know that I've added another skill to my curriculum vitae. Plumber.





Apparently when I say "3 squares" he hears "3 squares over and over until you use the whole roll!"

TGI Quiet Time.

missed a twister

After two days of buzz about the violent tornadoes and storms headed our way, we hunkered down.





Thankfully, it was not nearly as bad here as expected. We are safe and sound!

we laissez-ed les bon temps rouler

It's just so hard to resist a Zaunbrecher wedding. On Mardi Gras weekend. Yes, please! So the boys and I made a quick trip to Loozyanna last weekend for some facetime with the family. We even managed to spend a couple of nights in Birmingham with Reenie and Boopah while en route.

We spent a morning with cousins at Aunt Myra and Uncle Sonny's house, an afternoon at a dinosaur exhibit, and another afternoon at my grandparents' house, I had hoped to make a parade or two but tornado warnings and cancelled parades made that difficult. That's okay - king cake and a shrimp poboy more than made up for it.

Separation + DVDs and audiobooks + 7 straight hours = little boy bliss



Borrowed a jacket from Aunt Myra - doesn't he make a pretty little girl? ;)



At the foot of a T-Rex - "never in my whole life have I seen a foot so big!"



Waaaaay into pillow forts these days. You can imagine how much he covets my full body pregnancy pillow.



How on God's green Earth is this even remotely comfortable?!



The wedding was beautiful and festive and fun - exactly the reason I love my family so much. We have 3 more weddings this year; I'm crossing my fingers I can travel for all of them. I know this much - I won't be able to crawl to the back seat again to regulate until after BabyBoy comes. Let's just say I learned that the hard way!

Come on springtime!!

queen bee

peter has an announcement to make 

In an effort to make it a family affair, we had our ultrasound tech write down those three magic words on a card for Peter to read to us after school today.  While neither of us cheated, both Hayes and I thought we may have seen an extra little appendage when she was measuring the leg bones.  We are thrilled, Peter is excited, and Davis is too now that he's napped.  Ha!

chattanooga, take two

So we had such a good time last month that we decided to hit the road for another visit to Chattanooga.  This time with the added bonus of a hotel stay.  Peter’s eyes have never been so big as they were when we told him that we got to ride to Chattanooga in the minivan with a DVD on AND stay in a hotel AND go to the aquarium AND more surprises if little boys cooperated.  I mean, the only way it could’ve been better is if he got to hold the garage door clicker the whole way. 

So after our Saturday breakfast (where Hayes actually tried something new – kudos!), we hit the interstate with Hayes at the wheel.  I had the owner’s manual on my lap; we piddled and scrolled until we figured out how to have a DVD on for the boys and listen to our own music/podcast/quiet up front.  Once we figured that out, I think Hayes wondered why he didn’t convince me to get a minivan four years ago.  He really, really, really enjoyed the perks.  I really, really, really enjoyed two quiet boys in the backseats for two hours. 

Upon arrival in Chattanooga we treated the boys to the first surprise – a train ride.  The Tennessee Valley Railroad has a little museum from which you can take a ride on a real passenger train to another station at which point you watch the locomotive turn around on the turntable, see real trains in a workshop, and then ride back.  Did I mention bridges and tunnels?  Yes, Davis was so excited by the tunnel that he learned how to say it.  Unna.  We heard a lot about unnas this weekend.  Big hit -  I think we’ll be doing that again. 

Beside an old locomotive

An old red caboose!

We checked into our hotel for a late naptime.  Instead of the usual two adjoining rooms situation, we tried a Residence Inn that has a two bedroom suite with two bathrooms and a full kitchen and living area.  All for the same price (less, actually, than two adjoining rooms).  Any traveling families should take note – it was a relatively blissful hotel experience with little ones.  Ironically, the only one who actually got to nap is the one boy who never naps.  As tired as we all were, Davis was just too wound up so Hayes and I took turns with him while Peter slept.  After naptime came surprise #2 – swimming at the pool.  Now, I couldn’t seem to find my maternity swimsuit (bummer!) so Hayes was on his own with two boys who can’t get enough of anything that splashes.  I just took pictures and decided to order pizza for dinner.  Swimming, pizza, movies in a hotel?  Kid bliss.

To the pool!

Splish splash

His lips are blue because the water was so cold, but he would NEVER admit that.

Yeah, he looks like an angel....

All showing their muscles -- Davis hasn't quite grasped the "raise your arms" part

This morning, we woke to a full breakfast at the hotel.  Actually, Hayes returned from his early morning run and brought breakfast up to care for the kids while I slept in.  He’s a gem, I know.  After some cartoons and packing up, we hit the aquarium.  It just doesn’t get old.  Peter was as mesmerized now as he was a year ago, only his questions and observations were more mature.  We all learned a little bit as a result of his curiosity.  Davis just loved to press up on the tank glass and point and grunt at each fish that passed.  His expression of approval, to be sure.     

Do sting rays have mouths?

Can I jump in?

Shark bait

Up high on a bridge!

Since we had happened on a balmy February day, we decided to See Rock City before heading home.  We had nixed this attraction last year because we wanted Davis to be walking, as strollers are really inconvenient for this place.  For those who have never been, Rock City sits atop Lookout Mountain.  It was once a private estate but has become a botanical garden/amusement park.  No rides (except some for the gnomes you see all around), but there are huge boulders everywhere with just enough space to allow for small pathways.  There are caverns and tunnels and bridges and waterfalls, not to mention a lookout from which you can see seven states.  The boys hadn’t expected much, but they loved this place.  The tunnels helped. 

Entering Fat Man's Squeeze -- lighting was not conducive to many  other good photos!

Lunch at the grill, two tired boys and an increasingly impatient pregnant lady later, we waddled (or maybe that was just me) to the car and made our way down the mountain toward home. 

Surely this can't be comfortable?! 10 minutes in, I crawled back there and moved him from his booster to his big carseat. 

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

It's back to the old grind tomorrow but as Peter said, 

"It's nice to be away from home in a hotel for a night with your family." 

Yes, Peanut, it sure is.  

I think we have a Chattanooga, Part III in our future!