Showing Off...

I forgot to post this pic earlier this month... I took it right after I got back from Birmingham. Wesley wanted to build a track in the foyer, so I carried his bin of tracks in there for him and left him to his work. This is what he built. I did not help him one iota, and not one piece was previously connected. Wes built this from scratch! Don't know if you can tell from the photo, but it's pretty well engineered for a 3-year-old! He's been building his own tracks for awhile, but this is his most elaborate to date. I finally remembered to post it because he built another doozie of a layout last night, but I didn't take a photo. It's still taking up my foyer though (who needs a foyer anyway??)





Anna Kate has been showing off her own set of skills lately. Wesley didn't learn to somersault until after he turned 3!





She spends a lot of time on her head these days. Wesley is suddenly very into coloring. He's always liked to color, but he used to just scribble and it never held his attention for too terribly long. Now he takes his coloring very seriously and sometimes it can buy me up to an hour, which is great! He likes to pick a coloring sheet off of Nick Jr. or Noggin online and have me print it. Then he painstakingly colors it and then frames it on the side of the fridge with his letter magnets. For some reason he likes to color the same picture over and over, but he colors it differently each time. This is the 4th (same) Ni Hao Kai Lan (that's a new cartoon featuring Chinese words... it's currently Wesley's fave) picture he has colored this week!





Okay, on to randomness... Wes was cracking me up yesterday wearing his sunglasses inside. He put them on the end of his nose so he could see over the rims to watch cartoons while he ate lunch! -Below- The key to getting a good picture of Anna Kate is to snap it before she sees the camera... this is what happens after she sees it. She yells, "I wanna see! I wanna see!" and runs to me to try to snatch the camera out of my hands. She's figured out she can pull down my stretchy elastic-waisted pants (you know I usually sit around the house in heels and pearls, but this is my late evening ensemble... you do know the heels and pearls were a joke, right??) when she's mad and it at least gets my attention! She's floored me more than once!





Wesley is still my social butterfly. He loves to talk on the phone... this is him talking to his cousins on the phone this afternoon. Anna Kate loves to pretend to talk on the phone, but will not participate in a live phone chat to save her life! Even when Michael and I were in San Diego and it was the first time I'd left her and she was constantly asking for me, she would not take the phone from Grandma to talk to Mommy. It must wig her out or something. But then she'll walking around with a toy phone on her ear and say, "Hi Mimi!" and just chat away. Wesley is beyond excited about going to Grandma's beach house next week! He had lots to talk about with his cousins today!

200th Post!

Yup, count 'em... 200! My first blog post was in February 2007 - we had just found out that Anna Kate was a girl and my first post was one of her ultrasound photos. 200 posts later and Anna Kate is older than Wesley was when I started this blog! Let's all take a moment to ponder how quickly time passes and how they are growing up too fast and how they will be grown and gone before I know it. SOMEONE GET ME A TISSUE!!





We drove to Georgia for Memorial Day weekend to visit Mimi and Grandpa. The kids were perfect on the drive! They both slept for a long time, and both were so excited about where they were going that they didn't fuss or whine or complain once. And I mean not ONCE. Amazing! We had planned on stopping at a McDonald's about halfway there that has a huge indoor playground, but Wesley refused to stop. He didn't even want to stop for gas or to go to the bathroom! We had to coerce him out of the car to make a pit stop! He was a boy on a mission! Hands down our easiest drive EVER. (Wesley did ask if we were there yet about a million times, but this I can handle!). And yes, that's Wesley's winter coat he's wearing over his shorts... he found it while I was packing his suitcase and he wanted to wear it. I thought he'd get hot after about 5 minutes, but he wore it until I made him take it off to go to bed at Mimi's!

Patricia and I went shopping on Saturday... we were supposed to be shopping for Wesley, but I couldn't pass up these baby and me matching gowns! The set was on clearance at Macy's. I put the gown on Anna Kate as soon as we walked in the door - we couldn't take the clothes off the only baby doll we had with us, but AK didn't seem to mind!





We kept calling her a pretty princess... the next day I was scrolling through pics on my digital camera and she came up behind me and spotted these pics and exclaimed, "pretty princess!"





This weekend was the first time that any of us had played a Wii game - we got seriously addicted to the bowling! Michael and I have been firmly anti-video game from the onset of our marriage because my brother Corey has largely thrown his childhood and teenage years away as a result of this addiction (I know that sounds harsh, but that's how I feel! At least he had some good toddler years of running around outside breathing fresh air!). We have tried our best to stay away from video games and only allow V-tech games or computer games like Playhouse Disney and Noggin in our house. I still seriously doubt that we'll ever give in and own a Wii, but it sure was tempting!! We had a blast! We figure it will just be something special Wesley can look forward to doing at Mimi and Grandpa's. (By the way, my brother is a wonderful, caring, kind-hearted person, and I love him dearly... despite his video game addiction! Maybe I'm just jealous that I can't compete with his first love for affection!)





We have never taken Wesley real-bowling before, so he had a little bit of trouble grasping the concept at first. The first day I had to help him hold the controller and we all had to coach him quite a bit... Sunday afternoon I took a nap with Anna Kate and when I woke up I was informed that Wesley was bowling 150 and above with absolutely no assistance! I had to see it to believe it, but here it is. I am in red, Michel is in blue, and Wesley is in green! Michael and I were both seriously trying our absolute best to crush our 3-year-old in bowling, but we were powerless to match his skill! He did this with no help from us! He lines up his shots and everything! I am simply amazed at how quickly Wesley learns, and how driven he is to figure things out. When you have a toddler, it seems someone is always telling you he or she is a genius, and you really never have a clue what's advanced and what's not. I've always thought Wesley was smart, but I'm biased and I've never really been sure if he is as advanced as his teacher tells me he is (she probably says that to all the moms!). But I am confident of this - Wesley has more drive and determination than any toddler I've ever seen! ...Wesley celebrating one of his many bowling victories with his happy dance





Monday we took the kids back to Hollywood Connection where Mimi took them last fall. Both kids remembered it and were super-excited to go back. Anna Kate loved watching the mechanics of the horses going up and down... she kept saying, "round and round and round and round." She's making great strides in carousel evacuation... we've progressed from total meltdown to tantrum to super-sad face. She sniffed a little but took it like a big girl. I'm proud of her!





Wesley wanted to drive this car but got scared when it activated, so Michael had to take over and put Wes on his lap.





Anna Kate is a born cheerleader... she immediately erupted into, "Go, Daddy, go! Go, Daddy, go! Yay, Daddy!!!"

Anna Kate is talking so much that I don't know where to begin to convey any idea of her communication level... I keep wanting to write something about it for her (since I see this as my mommy journal to them), but her speech has just exploded over the past 3 months and I really don't know how to sum it up! I'm sure others don't understand her as clearly as I do, but I'm communicating with her like she's 16 or something! We have long conversations and we even argue back and forth now. Tonight I was trying to type on my laptop after Michael got home (I know better than to attempt to pull it out when I am their only source of attention!). I thought I could get away with it with Michael home, but Anna Kate kept throwing herself across my lap, intentionally covering the screen with her hands and yelling, "Talk to me, Mommy, talk to me!" Finally I gave up and said, "Fine! What do you want to talk about?" She smiled and tapped the side of her mouth with one finger and said, "Ummmm, how 'boooout... Facebook!" She wanted me to play the Facebook Song (search for it on YouTube... hilarious. My kids love it and can sing along). AK loves to sing and she's learning most of the words to many songs like "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head and couldn't wake up in the morning." It has rained every day for about two weeks now, so she's got that one down word-for-word!

First Hairdo-be-do-be-do!

Last night I attempted to "fix" Anna Kate's hair for the very first time. I love her curls so I've never wanted to pull her hair back before, but her hair is starting to get really tangly and unruly in the back, I decided it was time to explore our styling options. Yesterday I bought a bottle of detangler spray and a large-tooth comb... came home, gave Anna Kate a bath & got to work! I didn't really have a clue what I was doing, but here's the end result.





Anna Kate knew I was trying to take her picture so she was running circles around me!





Another reason why I never tried to fix her hair before it because I was certain she would pull it out. But (for last night, at least) she allowed me to mess with her hair and was quite proud afterward. Then she wanted to fix my hair!





"See how dainty & feminine I am, Mommy?!" She loves to twirl! She really does look SO girly with her hair up! I've still never painted her nails or put any type of jewelry on her... can't have my baby girl growing up too fast! One thing at a time!





Friday is Wesley's last day of preschool and this morning was my last day to be the parent helper. It was supposed to be splash day, where the kids run in sprinklers and play other water games (which is why most of the kids are wearing bathing suits), but it has been crazy rainy all week. The playground was soggy and it could have started raining any minute, so we scrapped splash day and played in the courtyard. The above photo reminds me of Sound of Music! They were blowing bubbles through the gate (left to right: Jonas, Wesley, Andria, Ellen & Jacob).





We also pulled some bikes off the playground and let them ride in the courtyard like they did for the St. Jude trike-a-thon. Wesley loved it! When he had to give up his bike to give another kid a turn, he would just run alongside the bikes. He rode/ran laps for almost an hour! Wes doesn't take naps anymore, but I've gotta say I'd be shocked if he wasn't tired enough to take a rest by this afternoon! ...Wes putting on a puppet show for Jacob





I brought cupcakes so we could celebrate summer birthdays (Jacob, Erin, Own, Jonas & Wesley). We sang happy birthday and the birthday kids got to blow out candles. Happy early birthday, Wesley!



Friday is the last day of school and then we're headed to Georgia for Memorial Day weekend!

BEWARE of Silence!!!

I was enjoying an uncharacteristically quiet lunch today when I decided that it was toooo quiet...usually means someone's up to no good! That's toothpaste, by the way.



Back to the tub! (going for a world record in baths per day)

Derby 'n Stuff

Last Saturday was Derby Day (1st Saturday in May, rain or shine!). I tend to get extremely homesick on Derby Day, so a couple of years ago we threw our first Derby shin-dig. Last year Anna Kate was little and the Derby sneaked up on me, so we celebrated the Derby by heading to KFC after the race. Somehow it just didn't do the trick! The Derby sneaked up on me again this year, but we were able to arrange a last-minute get-together with a few friends. Here's Wesley with his buddy Katie (if you haven't already noticed, all of his friends are girls!). Emma Hoyt & Emory Hubbard playing in the cabin.

My delicate little flower and Cambelle. One of the benefits of DVR... you can pause the race until everyone gets their food! We actually did end up watching it live because it took them longer to load the horses than it took us to get our food! The most exciting two minutes in sports... can you tell?? Not a particularly exciting Derby this year... but at least they didn't have to euthanize a horse on the track this year! That would have been a real buzz kill last year if we'd had a party. All horses finished alive and well, and Amanda Law won the Rogers grand prize for her horse picks - altogether a successful Derby!

Who's child IS this??? Good grief! Kinda ironic, because here's a verbatim quote from my Derby party blog post two years ago: "Honestly, the biggest challenge for me as a mom is dealing with all the muddy, icky-sicky, food-encrusted mess." This was in response to the fact that Wesley had dirty hands and a smudge of dirt across his face. Ha! Wes was NOTHING compared to Anna Kate!! Wesley's messes were typical toddler messes... Anna Kate, on the other hand, delights in waller'n in filth. She will bathe in any substance sticky enough to fully coat!

Michael snapped this picture of us sleeping the next morning. On a typical morning, whichever child wakes up first will lie in bed with me and occasionally fall back asleep. I usually have to get up when the 2nd child wakes up. But on this particular Sunday morning, Anna Kate didn't notice that Wes was asleep in my bed (I plopped her down on my other side before she could catch a glimpse of him), and then she actually fell back asleep too! So I got to snooze with a sleeping baby on each arm. Very rare, but a wonderful start to a beautiful Sunday morning! Michael is campaigning hard for me to ditch smocking, pleats, and page boy ensembles from Wesley's wardrobe. We've compromised at taking turns dressing him on Sunday mornings. Guess whose turn it was this day???

Last Monday (May 4) Wesley got to go to a school friend's birthday party. These are all of Wesley's preschool pals. Clockwise from bottom: Andria (birthday girl), Ellen, Maren, Wesley, Owen, Aiden, Erin.

Friday Wesley's preschool had an art show and family picnic in the park. Here's Wesley proudly showing me his artwork on display. When we brought it home he instructed me to go get the hammer (he has seen me hang more than a few pictures in the house). I got out of making a new hole in the wall by removing a wall hanging in the den and hanging Wesley's art in its spot. He's very proud of it... Michael and I are wondering if we'll ever get our spot on the wall back!

Why wasn't Michael at the family picnic, you ask?? ... because he was fishing! His reward for watching the kids while I went to Birmingham. They went out 80-90 miles in the Atlantic. Here he is with two dolphin (mahi-mahi) he caught. I'm gonna be needing a lot of good mahi-mahi recipes!

While Daddy was gone fish'n, we dined at Chick-fil-A with Sarah Sesser and her girls. Anna Kate was really too small to play in their play place... but you couldn't tell her that!

Glad to have Daddy home!