Thursday, April 29, 2010

My Little Backyardigans



Playing in the backyard this week has been awesome, it isn't deathly hot and Owen has been funny with Parker and Jack.

Jen said Owen pushed the little guys around in the car for about an hour! When I took them all out there after work, he kept pushing Jack into the corner of the yard and would leave him there!

When P and J are in the swings, Owen runs around the swingset and the boys can't stop laughing at him, twisting around in their seats to get a glimpse of him.

It's funny to see them play together already, Owen loves to make them laugh and they love their big Bro.

Friday, April 23, 2010

14 month * 32 month newsletter

disclaimer: do i really need a disclaimer as to why i don't blog enough?!!

thank God for daddy.


Dear Parker, I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH.
current stats: 25.15 lbs. 30 1/4 inches tall. not walking, frequent babbling.

you are such a ham hock!

if you don't learn to walk soon and i mean SOON, my arms are going to actually dismember. you eat everything in plain sight. you grunt like an actual pet when daddy and i are eating. if we don't feed you fast enough, you make this loud noise as if you are a dying seal and you pound on the table. it is hysterical but sort of downright disgusting. and poor jack! whatever he doesn't eat, you eat the rest of it. like i said, you're a pet. oh and you're into licking the windows. if that's not like a pet, than what is.. its way gross! but you are just so sweet!

you manage to wake up from your nap earlier than everyone else every single day just so you can snuggle/fall back asleep on me in the rocking chair after playing with my hair for a couple minutes. you have this part of the day coined just for parker time. for awhile there you were giving us a little halftime show during your nap just so you could snuggle for a bit and then we could put you back to bed but thats not the case now. you demand one-on-one time until another brother wakes up and not a minute before. although mommy longs for nap time to accomplish any household duty or even to squeeze in a nap, i secretly think this is adorable.

you are such a good little guy. you play really nicely with your toys. well lets reword that because really what is "your" toy in this house? everything is shared. let's just say you play so nicely with a toy until jack swipes it from you. and mostly you let him. which is just so sweet. you constantly sit with your legs crossed like youre just maxed and relaxed. (would be nice though as i previously mentioned if you'd put those legs to work... but regardless..) you are so precious. you and Owen seem to hang a little more so than Owen and Jack. you think O is hilarious and he's always trying to make you laugh at him. singing you songs, or playing peekaboo. and you CRACK up like its the first time you've ever seen or heard any of it. you have a really cute laugh. and you're into saying "Hiiiiiiiiiiii"! You babble a good bit about Mamama and Dadadada. And lately you're hollering out what sounds like "CAT!" Neither of you guys are really interested in talking too much- and I blame this on three things. 1. possible ear situation which hasn't been detected yet in you. 2. watching sesame street too often has actually ruined you. or 3. Owen doesn't let you get a word in. it's all up in the air at this juncture. i'm not worried about it so much. because God help me when all of you are talking.


Dear Jack, I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH.
current stats: 24.14 lbs, 30 1/4 inch. not walking although becoming brave about taking that first step like you want to do it, but instead you just fall towards whatever/whoever you re reaching for. you wave hello and i wish you would teach Park how to do this because its so cute. you babble a good bit... Mama, Dada, Yaya (?) When you drop something, you look up really surprised and say, Uh Oh! Hoping the tubes will help you start yapping.

You are the sweetest little snuggler. You give actual hugs... tapping on the back hugs, arms wrapped, putting the head on the shoulder type hugs. You love your mommy. I mean clearly you love dad too. But you follow me around and want to be so closely held sometimes that I think you would actually rather be back in the womb. Although I would appreciate if you started walking as well, holding you all the time doesn't seem as downright treacherous as holding Park because that one pound seriously causes a world of hurt- and I say that with love. You usually play so nicely and quietly. You've recently become more and more interested in books, whether I'm reading them to you or you'll just look through them yourself. When it comes to sharing, this is not your forte. You steal things quite frequently from Parker , and normally he just sits there and let's you have at it. But God help Park if he tries to take what you have. You're not above a providing your poor brother with a smack on his face or head, which accompanies some sort of yelp and then you usually end up with full on tears until you get your object back. And it sure doesn't have to be anything worth a dang. You carried around a measuring cup for most of last week. It's funny to see your little personalities coming along more and more everyday.
I am so glad you survived all the drama with your ears. I'm hoping these tubes fix whatever was going on with all the infections and the hearing issues. I hate to think that all these months you've been hearing our muffled voices... but it's all better now. Daddy and I are always looking at each other noticing how you are really trying to tell us something very serious with your continuous babble of incomprehensible syllables... so don't forgot to tell us later what all that was about when you can actually say some words.

Dear O,
I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU.
You are so funny and smart. How did you get so funny and smart?? And you're so big already.
Not big enough for Mommy to still hold you like a baby, say our prayers, and sing our two songs every night before we go to bed. There are so many things that happen everyday that I always want to jot down so we never ever forget them... I'll attempt to recall a few:
You are so sweet when you wake up! You ask if we had a nice rest. If we ask you what you had dreams about, you either say tigers... or lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! You always want to know where everyone is. We could all be in the same room together and if you're looking at me you'll ask, Where did Daddy go? You'll still ask this if he's standing right next to me. Do you just want to say something to hear your own voice? It's silly, but we find it endearing. You adore grits with an egg for breakfast. You told daddy yesterday that your breakfast was "spectacular"! Your other new word this week is faaaantastic... although you say faaaaaanttasget. No matter how hard we say fan-tas-TIC, you are unable to comprehend this. you love love love sesame street. you never watch anything else. a couple weeks ago, you and i went on a special date to sesame street live and you thought it was the greatest thing on earth! we were in the front row and you kept saying, I want to hug 'em! you had so much fun. and i had so much fun watching you. you love to read and you're recently into Mother Goose- you can remember so many in such a short time. Your number one fave is Humpty Dumpty. You have a Humpty that Mrs. Mary gave you before you were born... and you put him on the ledge of your train table and you like to sit him on the wall and have a great fall. And then you must reenact this yourself for Owen to have a great fall and then no one can put Owen together again... so you pat yourself on the head and say, Poor Owen. i have to hide laughing at this because you are so serious that no one can put you together. it makes no sense. but you do this everyday. and it never gets old.

We are also experiencing the adventures in potty training. without boring ourselves too much about this, lets just say you have number 2 down pat. but when it comes to number 1, you couldn't really care less. at this rate, you'll probably still be whizzing in your pants in college unless youre reminded to do otherwise. you like doing the potty dance and getting your m&m's when you produce something fantasget in your potty. but frankly, the reward system has worn off and now its just a matter of time. if you have an accident, you'll say something like, "but mommy i'm doing my best". how can anyone be sad about that??

you are sooooooooo sweet to your brothers. you are always doing things to make them laugh. you'll play peek with them in their highchairs, or on the swings outside. they love to watch you run as fast as you can around the swingset and they crack up laughing when you sneak up behind them. its so cute to see you all playing more and more together. with books, or toys, or the water table. you'll be eating lunch sometimes and look at me and say, mommy i love my brothers. you are just the sweetest thing. now if you could just brush up your skills at being able to tell them apart, that would be a major bonus when they really start to notice....

youre obsessed with daddy! "is daddy still at work? when's daddy coming home? daddy and i can cut the grass. daddy and i can run around. daddy and i can ride my tricycle. i wanna wear daddy's tie. can we go see daddy at the office? is daddy here? i'm going to check at the window" its non-stop and its precious. when daddy leaves in the morning, you always say, "have a good day daddy. be careful driving! did you forget your phone?" and then you still run to the window no matter what youre doing to wave goodbye. you love him so much. hey me too...


Dear Quatro, I'M STILL IN SHOCK THAT YOU ARE IN EXISTENCE.
we already love you so very much. pardon the continual circus that you will be born into... we're still working out all the kinks as its not even been 3 years. we're doing our best.

Dear grandparents, we could not survive without you.

Dear Daddy, i. could. not. survive. without. you. thank GOD we love each other so much. and that we can laugh at most of this.

Nobody loves all of you like I do,
Mommy

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I always wanted twins.

I should have included this in my post about the various comments people have about our twins. I thought this blog was a good insight to the mind of a twin parent and most will never see it from our perspective. I do think most people mean well with their comments, but they don’t know what they don’t know…

http://www.hdydi.com/2010/04/i-always-wanted-twins/

Another Busy Weekend

Playing at Audubon


Parker stuffing his face with Goldfish


Happy Jack


This weekend we hauled the troops to NOLA so we could attend Melyne and Collin’s wedding on Saturday afternoon. It was basically supposed to be our wedding at Holy Name and our reception at the Round Table Club across the street, but then Katrina made us have a change of plans. It was pretty cool; everyone danced in the street along St. Charles all the way down to the reception with their white handkerchiefs waving in the air. Christine and her mom were able to watch the little dudes while Owen went with T, Vincent, and Josie to the zoo. It was nice to get out on such a beautiful Saturday. As we left, we were both dressed up and Owen always asks “where going to Mommy/Daddy?” We told him that Miss Melyne was getting married at church and he kept saying that he was going to get married and go to church. Also, that Mommy and Daddy were getting married at church. I believe somewhere in there, he also asked Josie to get married. It is funny to have a conversation with him when he learns a new word.

It was a nice wedding and reception, but of course nothing could compare to ours at St. Aloysius and Lod Cook. It was one of the best times of my life and Jen and I always joke about doing it again…without all the planning this time. It’s funny how we were at our 1 year wedding anniversary, expecting our first child, then at the 3 year mark last summer we had 3 little ones. I NEVER thought that at 4 years we would be waiting for #4 to come!!! Good thing I trust that God knows what he is doing…

As for the rest of the weekend, we had some delicious crawfish on Friday night and a Plum Street Snowball for the first time of the season (O-Bo loves a snowball). We also hit up Daneel Parkwith Owen , fed the ducks at Audubon with all the boys, and went to visit a number of open houses around town – it is kind of a hobby of ours, to walk through everyone else’s house. We saw a wide variety of houses, from a creepy weird overpriced one that looked like it belonged on Hoarders, to the Brady Bunch house with the re-design that happened in the ‘60s, to an incredible house with outdoor oasis including a kitchen, pool, and basketball court. Oh, by the way, that one was pink and over $750K so I guess I need to start saving!!! Of course, Jen is once again positioning for a move to NOLA with #4 on the way, so we will see if she is willing to have Daddy commute to BR for work…

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Jack's Tubes

Keeping Jack occupied with Sesame Street

Sad faces

Jack had 4 ear infections in the past 4 months so we had to bite the bullet and get tubes for him. While they have him under, they are also taking his adenoids out. Hopefully, this will solve all the ear infections.

After waking him up early, waiting 1.5 hours at the surgery center to get called back, and a quick 20 minute procedure, he was finished. The doctor told us they needed another suction to get all of the fluid out of his ears and all of it in there looked like apple jelly. Poor Jack, he has been underwater his entire life. He was pretty miserable after the procedure, but he finally ate something when we got home and took a good nap. He then started to smile and act like his normal self. The rest of the afternoon, Jen said he was great, but he hit the bed early and I am sure that he is on the mend. We are new to the tube thing, but I'm sure this will do the trick for Black-Jack.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

French Quarter Fest

After a CCs date and a Sam’s run with my parents in town, Jen and I were able to escape for the rest of Saturday and headed to French Quarter Fest in NOLA. Anti and Vincent met us down there and we were ready to cruise the town. The weather was beautiful so there were a ton of people on the riverfront. It was packed!! We hit up a number of booths and the food was delicious. I would love to say that the hand grenade I had was also great, but after a number of sips, I was rudely slammed into by a old man who made me spill 90% of it. About 15 people boo’ed him while I stood there like a 5 year old who just got their ice cream cone knocked over. I decided to forgo another one, even though those first sips were delicious!!!

We met up with Uncle Doose while he was hanging out on top of a dumpster watching the bands (don't ask), and we hung out with Case while Lea was on a ship. We went to her place before she met us for dinner on the scoot scoot. Yeah, a real scooter. She definitely lives the FQ life and it is pretty sweet, she can park that think anywhere!! Here is a pic of Antoinette hanging out on it.

"Buddy"

After Crawfish pie and a BBQ shrimp po-boy, Jen and I still left enough room for some delicious Drago’s charbroiled oysters. I have had these before, but not from Drago’s…seriously, they were awesome. Vincent pointed out that with enough butter and garlic anything can taste good, but seriously, I want to go back right now and get some more!!!

After our streetcar from Case's place to Drago's, we saw the following “gentleman” and his lady. Needless to say, that is her in his lap, and it was a highlight of the day. This fine young couple also went to Drago's where I held the door for him (sans lady) and he acted as if nothing was out of sorts with a woman 20+ years his younger riding on his oxygen equipped motorized wheelchair...it was hilarious.

...only in New Orleans

This was our 3rd FQF. We went when Jen was preggers with Owen and we had so much fun that we wanted to make it a tradition. We went with him the next year and it was fun strolling Bourbon with an 8 month old and carrying him around in the Snugli. Last year, the boys were super new so we weren't going to make that trek, but we continued the tradition this year, without any kiddos. It was really fun and I am glad we got to hang out in NOLA with 100,000+ of our closest friends.

I look like I belong on the Jetson's.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Easter at the Beach

The new Blue Man Group?

Will the next set be pink or blue?

Someone LOVED the beach!!


Since Daddy was off on Good Friday and it was GaGa and Pops' week for the condo in Perdido, we figured it would be a nice idea to spend Easter at the beach.

After work on Thursday, we packed everything up, fed, bathed, and put all the boys in their jammers and took off. As soon as we told Owen that we were going to the beach, that is all he could say "We going to the beach," and "Imma go the beach" (he is a huge Black Eyed Peas fan). When we got into the car, he kept telling us that he couldn't see the beach yet...and I kept telling him that we were almost there. We ran into a ton of traffic and some normal Louisiana drivers on the interstate but finally ended up in Florida just before midnight (our normal 4 hour trip took 5). Awesome. Oh, because at midnight, I still had to put together the pack and plays so everyone has a place to sleep. and BT-Dub, we had to put Park and Jack and their pnp's in the master closet. I know, Parents of the Year, again. Ahhhh, the logistics of having children so close together...

Sissy, Uncle Lea, and GaGa were all at the condo when we got there and Pops came in on Friday night, crawfish in tow. It was pretty terrific to have our family, crawfish, fried catfish, and a few bottles of Abita Strawberry Lager on Good Friday at the beach. I am still not sure how that is fasting, but I don’t make the rules so I'm going with it!!

The last time we were at the beach was last summer when the boys were 5-6 months, and Owen was 2 and just getting used to the sand. This time, the little guys were crawling all over the place (PS, the condo is NOT baby proofed) and for whatever reason, Jack continued to try to hit the liquor cabinet underneath the wet bar...hmmmmm.

Owen wanted to dig in the sand the entire time. It was adorable how he could have lived down on the beach. Thankfully, all that sun and fresh gulf air makes little boys super tired and good nappers. We were able to hit the indoor pool with Parker and Jack in the inflatable rafts and Owen wanted to join in the fun too. It was the first time that we put the boys in the pool but we are hoping to spend some quality time at our neighborhood pool this summer. They were definitely apprehensive at first, but they warmed up to it and had a good time.

We had excellent weather, it was a little windy at times, but sunny and in the 70s so no complaining here. We enjoyed some crawfish on the balcony and they were perfect, but we all joked about Pops driving 3.5 hours with boiled crawfish in the car and how none of us were driving back with that smell (and no more crawfish to eat)!!

Owen, Sissy, Uncle Lea and I had fun playing Pro Kadima - don’t you dare call it paddleball around Sissy :), and O was really getting the hang of it and seemed to like hitting it. “Ready position, eye on the ball, hit it!!" He must have repeated that a hundred times. I can’t wait to start teaching him all of my previous sports skills - most of which I will have to remember how to do.

In addition to hanging out with Sissy and Uncle Lea which we never get to do, I got to see Coach Gosey at the Flora-Bama (yeah, I went there) and Aileen came over to hang out for a while, although they are Auburn fans, we still love them…and it was good to see them.

On Easter Sunday, two 13 month olds (who are not walking by themselves) plus an energetic 2.5 year old plus 1800 of your closest "Easter Catholic" friends didn't seem like a good idea. Holding our creepy crawlers in our laps for an hour wasn't my idea of a nice church outing, so I bit the bullet and stayed home with J/P and we gave our own high five to God for all of our blessings. He continues to bless us and we are unbelievably grateful for everything.

So we crammed a lot into 3 days, plus a quick run to the outlet mall, and it was a great trip. We got some good pics and had a blast. Even though it was only a long weekend, it was just enough time to decompress and it was great to spend Easter with the fam.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Water table time

Owen loves his water table. SERIOUSLY loves it.

Now that the weather has gotten warmer, we have pulled it out of the garage and put it in the backyard. Yesterday, we put all the boys around it and just watched them all get soaking wet. It was hilarious.

I thought Owen would play with this thing about 4 times and that would be it, but in South Louisiana in the summer, it has been a good investment. I am just going to come out and say it - Jen was right and I was wrong. It doesn't happen often, so I will give her credit where credit is due.

Here is Owen with the dudes hanging out discussing water table etiquette.