Happy Birthday Cake Mommy!

Tonight we opted for a night at home to celebrate my birthday. Robbie made a wonderful steak dinner and Connie made a yummy cake. I walked out from the bedroom and Tate said, "Dinner is served, mommy." The kids were just excited to get birthday cake. They made me the cutest cards and kept saying, "Happy Birthday Cake Mommy". I am blessed that I was born to love them.

Picasso

While mom's away, it's time to play...I called Robbie to check in from Atlanta on Saturday. He sounded so overwhelmed and I could hear the kids running around the house. He informed me that Lily had found a red marker and used her artistic expression on our bedroom door. As I sit here typing, he is painting the third coat to try to cover her designs. Another day...

Zoo Visit

Wednesday I took Tate and Lily to the zoo with Heather and Jamie and their kids. We had a great time. It's so nice that we each have older boys and younger girls and they are all close in age. They are almost to the age where they actually enjoy spending time together more than the grownups do. We went to the zoo, ate some pizza and played video games at Pisa Pizza, and then went to Coolidge Park to let them run loose for awhile. I wish we did this more often. The kids had a blast...not to mention the adults!

Nonny Time

Tonight when we got home, I went into the bathroom to change my clothes. I heard desperate cries from Nonny. I ran out into the kitchen and found both kids on top of her tickling her and holding her down. Lily was actually choking her by pulling her hood. It is so wonderful to have someone with such a beautiful connection with the kids. They just adore her and I know she will be a part of their lives for a lifetime.

Egg Hunt

This afternoon Robbie and Connie hid Easter eggs in the front yard. Thanks to the coin contribution from Mamaw and Papaw, there was a prize in each one. Although it was a little too chilly outside, the kids were running around to find the most eggs. Of course, as soon as Lily found one with jelly beans in it, she sat down in the yard and started eating them.

Peeps

The kids had a fun time hunting for their baskets. Last night I put Robbie in charge of hiding them. After several suggestions, I finally told him where to hide them. He's not so good at that, I guess. Tate loved his freight cars and although Lily had a beautiful My Little Pony, she was more interested in the candy. She opened every piece and would take one bite and then move to the next. I finally moved her basket to Robbie's original hiding suggestion...on top of the refrigerator.

Papaw's Gift

Robbie's parents drove down this week and brought the rest of the pieces to put Tate's bed together. This was out of sincere desperation for my two year old daughter who has learned to jump out of her crib. The kids were so excited to get there new beds. We took Lily to Target to pick out her new linens. We settled on the Shabby Sheek Girls' line. Real girly and so cute. So far, Lily has gone straight to bed and not tested her new found freedom. I just told her that Big Girls don't get out of their beds at night. So far so good...

Bobo Visits

It was great to see Bobo and Cami this morning for a visit. The kids played outside and put puzzles together. Bobo, of course, brought a refill for the monster spray since Tate was running low.

Isn't She Lovely???

My daughter never ceases to amaze me. The past ten days have been extremely challenging with her. I have told her numerous times that she needs to get over her PMS and get back to my sweet Lily Bean. Well tonight she decided to shake her grouchiness and spend some quality time with her mommy. We usually go straight to the rocking chair to sing and pray, but I walked into her room and she was laying on the floor. She said, "Right here, mommy" and pointed to the floor. We laid on the floor, snuggling, and singing all of her requests. She kept rubbing my face and saying "Mommy and Lily". I think the PMS has left the household for the time being at least.

Tough Guy

Well we now have our second head injury in a month. Fortunately this time we didn't have to get stitches. They were able to glue it together since it wasn't that deep. Isn't that something???? My son is actually glued together. Some kid at school took his lego and he jumped up to get it back. Being the terribly graceful child that he is, he tripped over his feet and fell into the table head first. I have a feeling this is two of many trips to the ER with this child.

Big Girl Panties

The Battle of Wills started about three months ago when Lily showed an interest in the potty. I wasn't prepared to potty train, but she insisted on taking her diaper off and heading to the bathroom when it was time. So...I headed off to Babies R Us, bought some big girl panties, skittles for the gumball machine, stickers and a potty chair. As soon as we got home, she was so excited to get it out...she used it right away. We danced around the bathroom and made a big deal about it. Now mind you...this is THREE months ago. Since then, she will NOT use the bathroom. I take her every 30 minutes. As soon as she pulls her pants up she comes over and says she's wet. I decided to take this to her teacher and see what was happening at school. Turns out, Miss Lily uses the potty regularly at school with the other kids. So...I decided not to get in a peeing contest (literally) with my daughter and I have not mentioned it in a few weeks. I figure when its time, she'll show an interest again. So...this morning she drags the potty downstairs, pulls down her pants, opens her book, and sits in front of the tv, watching Charlie and Lola, all the while sitting on her throne. Of course, when she stood up, there was nothing deposited. Back to the drawing board...

Snow Angels

This morning we woke up to an inch of snow. Of course every ten minutes Tate was begging to go outside and play in the snow. We finally mustered up enough strength to get some warm clothes on and take them out for a few minutes. Poor Tate has been couped up on the house this week with a bunch of sick people. He's watched more tv this week than in his whole life, I think. I was laughing as I was bundling them up. They looked like homeless children...my NY friends and family would have been embarrassed by our outerwear. They were wearing bumble bee rain boots, layers of sweatpants under wind pants, gloves that were too big, and thanks to Stef...some very warm "Life is Good" socks to keep the tootsies warm. I can remember a day when I had the boots, jacket, snowpants, hat, scarf, mittens and even sled to match when I headed out to the snow. Once outside, all Tate wanted to do was throw snowballs and Lily kept eating snow...IMAGINE THAT! We are now cuddling inside laying around in our thermals.

Vicks Vapor Rub and Ice Cream

This has been a rough week in our house. On Sunday night, Lily started to come down with a fever. By 9:30, I had decided that I would stay home with her the following day and get her in to the doctor to "nip it in the bud". Poor thing has been so sick this year, I hate for her to go through it again. The soonest appointment I could get was at 4:30 that afternoon. By that time, Robbie decided to meet me at the doc's office and get Tate checked out too. During the appointment, the doctor looked at Robbie and said, "You don't look so good." He said, "I don't feel so good." And so began our week-long endeavor with the flu. Lily took it the hardest. She is still fighting with a pretty hefty cough and runny nose. Robbie has had a nagging version all week with lingering symptoms. Thursday and Friday I was knocked out with a high fever, aches and chills. Luckily, Tate has fought it off so far but we'll see. Today, Lily finally got her appetite back and had many pieces of toast with grape jelly (see pic). Hopefully two more days of cabin fever will wipe it out completely.