Silly Kids

I originally took this video to showcase Katie singing the theme from Super Why. She sings it constantly. Of course, per her norm, she stopped singing it and started singing more nonsensical things once I turned on the video. Instead, listen to Josh. He's talking about the playdoh man he smashed. I didn't notice at the time, but I watched it again and found it to be pretty cute.

Playdoh Time!

These pictures were taken the weekend before Josh's birthday. He loves playing with his playdoh. We love it too. He has such a great time. Katie eats it, which is kinda gross, but she loves to poke her fingers in it. She also will fill some of the little cookie-cutter things with the playdoh, then push it all out. I didn't catch any of that on film though (can you really say, "on film" anymore? This whold digital age stuff is messing with our sayings...).

This picture is the result of my making the coolest little guy with a tall mohawk. Josh kept saying, "It's me, Mama, it's me!" I ran to get the camera to capture his coolness, and this is what I came back to. The results of a 3-yr old "helping:"

Katie sat in her high-chair with us and played a little. Mostly though, she sat and sang her little nonsense songs. I tried to take video of her singing the theme from Super Why! but you can't tell that's what she was singing because, of course, she stopped as I was filming. If you can't tell from the picture, I cut Katie's hair. It started with my giving Josh a haircut, no problems. Then I thought it would be great to cut the stringy baby-hair ends off of Katie's hair, so I barely cut any off. It was uneven, so I had to go back for more. Uneven the other way, so back for more. Needless to say, I won't be cutting her hair again until she can sit still for a decent patch of time (I think Miguel would kill me if I cut her hair again - he wasn't home when I did it).

I did try and make a new little playdoh man, but it just didn't turn out the same. I didn't bother with the mohawk, but Josh still liked him. It was a good day.

Josh's 3rd Birthday

My boy turned 3 yesterday. I took the day off of work and we had a great time. We had a full day, first we took the car to get new tires. We walked over to the store while we waited for the car and Josh got to choose his birthday present. Oh My Gosh. Talk about a kid-in-a-candy-store. He wanted everything (of course!). He finally settled on a new Star Wars action figure set. He was hopping up and down and loving life. By then it was getting to be lunch-time and Josh's next choice was where we ate lunch. He kept saying he wanted McDonald's, and Miguel and I kept laughing. He thought having chicken nuggets, apples and chocolate milk would make the perfect birthday, until I suggested Red Robin and then he wouldn't let go of it. We suggested alternatives, but he'd made up his mind. I thought it was the perfect choice.

I was pretty excited he chose Red Robin because I thought it would be great fun for the staff to sing to him. As soon as we were done eating we started hearing the cheering and clapping of the staff all coming to sing to him. He looked all around trying to see what the fuss was about. When the waitress set a big hot fudge sundae in front of him, his face was priceless. These pictures do NOT do it justice. He was mystified and slightly embarrassed and completly loving the attention. He got a balloon too. He loved every minute of it.

At that point we went home for naps for everyone. The kids were pooped becuase we'd done so much in the morning and they ended up napping late. After they woke up, we went to the store and got cupcakes. He chose "Green ones!" We were all set for a quiet little get-together around the webcam at home in the evening. He knew we'd eat the cupcakes after dinner.

We had Josh's choice again for dinner (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in squares and triangles, with blackberry jam, bananas and milk). After dinner we grabbed the cupcakes and settled down in front of the webcam so Grandma and Grandpa Felix could help us sing Happy Birthday and watch him get messy and gross from the frosting. I'm a terrible mom, because I didn't even realize I didn't take pictures of him with his candles and cupcake. I was so excited to have Grandparent participation I didn't even consider saving the moment forever in time. At least we got pictures from Red Robin.

After getting quite messy and staying up a little bit too late, he finally went to bed. We will be buying him a big-boy bed very soon and he talks about it all the time. He can't wait to give Katie his crib and share his room with her.

It was a good birthday for my Josh. He had a great day.

Kookie Katie

I wish I had a video I could post here to prove how Kookie she really is. She is 16 months old now and adorably contrary. Examples:

*She never performs on command.

*She runs when you tell her to come.

*She can make a "Ma" sound, but if you tell her to say, "Mama" she says, "Daddy" - it never fails.

*She never wants to be the "only kid" - if Josh is sleeping while she is awake, she goes out of her way to wake him.

*She will try and scare you if she gets the chance, by sneaking up on you and saying, "BAH" in your face. It works, ask Miguel, she has scared him.

The only other word she says perfectly clearly is "Doggie" which she also knows the sound they make (ask her, she'll tell you... unless she doesn't want to). She knows a monkey sound and will do most things asked of her; She will even clean up when you ask her to, unless she thinks you're asking her to perform, then see above.

The other day I noticed she looked especially tired at dinner. I got up and started to clean up dinner and when I turned around, this is how I found her:

Josh's Bedtime Adventures

My son is turning 3 in a little less than 2 weeks, and he's just recently figured out how to climb out of his crib. This is something I was not looking forward to, but because of, we have discovered what a good boy we have. He won't get out of his bed unless he hollers out a request for permission and he gets it. He'll even cry in the bed if he thinks no one is around to answer. This is his doing, nothing we "trained" him on.

So we've decided since he's able to climb in and out himself, we'd give up on the 1 diaper-a-day policy we have (only at night) and give FULL potty-training a try. It's been amazing. It's been about a week, and as long as we wake him up before 6 am for a potty run, he's kept his bed dry.

Generally, in the later evenings (as in, after he's been put to bed) he'll ask if he can go potty, we'll tell him yes and to get right back into bed, and he does. Last night, on the other hand, I heard some rummaging around in his room after he was done in the potty. I didn't really pay much attention becuase he was pretty quiet and very quickly fell alseep.

At some point in the late evening I went to check on him and found this:

I about woke him up as I giggled and called Miguel to see. I love my little boy. He's getting a big-boy bed soon, and he's very excited. I wonder how that will work if he manages to do this with a CRIB??!!????

We're not dead...yet

I promise I have more entries coming...they are currently in development. Do not give up on me just yet.

Coming soon:
Josh's birthday!
Kookie Katie
Josh can get out of his own Bed

and probably more, but that's all i have planned for now...STAY TUNED!

New Years Eve Mega-Party!

Ok, so it was only our little family and it ended when the kids went to bed at 8, but it was a great time. I made the best Nachos ever, we ate junk food, wore silly hats and the kids made a lot of noise. Miguel opted to get the kids noisemakers - on purpose. He also watched football and we all listened to some great music. It was a fantastic time.

Miguel and I made it to the New Year...barely. We were both worn out from the Mega-party...ok, we're just getting old.


Katie looks a bit possessed after I removed the red-eye, but aren't they cute? Yes, that is a temporary tatoo on Josh's arm. He is potty-trained but we're still occasionally rewarding him with stickers and tattoos...Star Wars themed, his favorite.

Here are our most recent full-family pictures!

This was the best of the photos...which I agree isn't saying much, but we're all in it! Katie was trying to escape and you can't tell that I'm pinning Josh down too. Good times. I fully respect those who've braved the professional studio; it was easier taking pictures of the 3 dogs together than those kids.