My Independent Duo...

I took both Evan and Logan to the play area at the mall today.  Evan spent the whole time being silly of course.  He met a friend and said, "Do you know my name?", "It's Evan, silly dude.".  Then it was like he was holding court, a couple friends were just watching him as he talked and talked.  He introduced Logan and said, "This is my baby, Logan, he is 1.".  Then he played hopscotch and of course said, "1, 2, 3, 4, underpants!!!".  That boy is too silly.

Logan was all over the play area, he was smiling the whole time.  I think that Logan is taking on more of Evan's personality these days.  He is showing some of his independence. After he took a few steps a few days ago, I have been trying to see if he will do it again.  Well, as soon as his back was too me at the play area he took a couple steps again!  This is so like Evan, he won't do something if we ask him to do it.  It has to be his idea.

This evening Logan walked from the coffee table to the couch (about 3 or 4 steps).  Once he did it once you could tell he was excited and he tried a few more times.  His balance isn't quite there yet, but it is cute to see those first steps.

Frustrating Day.

Yesterday, Colin had soccer practice and his soccer end of the season party (even though they still have a couple games left).  The funniest part of the party was that a bunny rabbit came up and was watching the kids and then ran away.  Well, as we were getting in the car Evan says to me "Was that the Easter bunny or not?"

Today, I got extremely frustrating news.  I called the place we had booked for Evan's birthday party, because I never got a confirmation email from them, and I found out that they had double booked us!  I can't believe that I booked a month ago and nobody caught it.  So, now I am in mad panic to come up with an alternative plan and since we only have 1 1/2 weeks, most places are booked.  I also need to notify all the kids from his class once I do change the place.  Looks like we might have to do it at our house, which is not ideal since it is on the market and it is a pretty large group of kids/parents coming.  And, I will be out of town that day all the way up until a half hour or so before the party.

Anyway, I was hoping that this horrible news would be balanced out by some good news today...but, nothing so far.  Yesterday, we were told that the people who saw our house Saturday have us in their top two (along with another house in our neighborhood).  Unfortunately, their realtor doesn't know when they will make a decision, so we are still in a waiting game.  My hopes are not too high, because we have been through this before, but the waiting is very stressful.

Well, I gotta go do some research and see what I can come up with for Evan's party.   Ugh, it will be a busy next week or so trying to pull this together, I thought that we had everything covered.

Easter 2011!

Dennis and I are exhausted and can barely keep our eyes open after this fun filled weekend.  We will be heading to bed very early (especially since Dennis has a very early flight in the morning). 

The weekend started with Dennis taking Friday off.  We went to the mall and bowling.  Logan was fussy from not having a morning nap (after a day of only 1 nap, he seems to be back to his regular schedule of 2 naps).  So, I put Logan in the carrier and attempted to bowl with him, that definitely threw my game off, but it was fun.  Evan of course was over the bowling half way through, gotta love a 3 year olds attention span! 

Speaking of Evan.  When we were at the mall he saw a little person go by.  Never having seen one before he stopped and slowly watched her go past him.  Then he looked up at Dennis and I and said, "Awkward.".  It took everything we had to not laugh because the way he said it was so funny!  Luckily, she didn't hear or it would have been extremely embarrassing.  Needless to say, I had to talk to him about it.
 
Saturday we drove up to Northern VA for our nephew Alex's 4th birthday party.  After a fun party and naps the kids dyed Easter eggs and then Dennis and I went out on a date.  We had an amazing dinner while Julie and Phil watched the kids. 

Sunday we were woken up very early by Colin and Evan, they were so eager to see their Easter baskets.  Even Logan seemed to enjoy his.  This was followed by church, egg hunt, and lunch at Grammy's house.  Almost my entire Mom's side of the family was there so there were lots of kids!  The boys had a great Easter and I wish we could have another weekend day to recuperate. 

Outside Time and Logan's First Steps!

Well, I am trying my hardest to keep Colin busy for his spring break.  Yesterday, he helped me clean the house for the showing.  Colin did a wonderful job babysitting Logan while I vacuumed the top two floors.  He really is great at watching him.  Then we headed out to the mall for lunch and then to Monkey Joe's (a bounce house).  Later in the day we spent some time outside enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather! 

Logan is proving to be much less cautious than his brothers.  He surprised me by not being afraid of the grass at all.  I put a blanket down for him to play on and he just kept crawling right off it and all the way across the lawn.  He kept climbing up the deck stairs.  We might have our hands full with this little boy!

Today, Evan was home too, so we went for a long walk and then to the playground.  Colin and Evan rode their scooters and I pushed Logan in his new car that he got for his birthday.  He loved being in something other then his stroller.  After naps we had some more fun outside and then we had Movie Night!!  Ordering a pizza and letting them eat in front of the TV makes me the coolest Mom in the world to them.  I wonder how long it will take them to no longer think this is the best thing ever.

Update on the showing for anyone that was curious...the people liked our house, we are in their top 5 (whatever that means, they must have looked at a lot of houses).  However, now they are heading back to NY and they still have to sell their house.  So, sounds like they aren't in too much of a hurry.

On a happier note, the most exciting thing that happened today....Logan took 2 steps!!!  He still has some balancing to work on, but he was laughing and so excited that he took a step.

Colin's Spring Break

This week Colin is on Spring Break.  So, while Evan was at preschool, Colin, Logan and I went to the playground and went for a walk outside.  I am trying to think of things to do with Colin to keep him busy and make his Spring Break fun, but it is a bit tough since we have to plan around Logan also.  After all, Colin told me, "I can't write in my journal that all I did during break was sit in the house all day!"! 

On another note...Logan is clapping his hands now.  And, when we sit down to say the blessing before dinner, he puts his hands together!  I think that he thinks we are clapping when we fold our hands for prayer, because he gets a huge grin on his face too.

Well, Dennis is out of town and I got a call this evening that we have a showing tomorrow, so I have lots of cleaning to do as soon as I put these boys to bed...

A "Date" Weekend.

What a great weekend.  This weekend was all about bonding with our boys and taking them out on I guess you could call it "dates".  Dennis and Evan first went out to breakfast together on Saturday.  They went to a pancake house.  It rained all day, so once again soccer games were cancelled.  This allowed me time to get away and get a pedicure (I guess you could call that my own personal "date").

Saturday evening Dennis and Colin went to a Richmond Raiders arena football game.  They enjoyed being in the second row.  Colin also enjoyed getting to stay up late!  While they were gone Logan, Evan and I cuddled on the couch and watched Shrek.  Actually, Logan switched back and forth between playing with his toys and sitting with us.

Today, I got to take both Colin and Evan out to the movies.  We went and saw Rio in 3D.  This was the first time I had gone to the movies with them, usually Dennis takes them.  It was a great treat!  The weather was absolutely beautiful today, so we also spent some time outside playing and grilling.  I couldn't have asked for a better low key weekend.  It was just what we needed since Dennis travels this week and next to Indy and I am going to be out of town for at least part of the next five weekends!  We will take this family time when we can get it.

Play Date Fun

Evan, Logan and I enjoyed a play date today with a couple friends of ours.  We went to a playground and had a picnic lunch.  Evan was mostly fascinated with the pile of mulch in the parking lot, but when he wasn't asking if it was time for lunch, he had fun on the playground equipment too.  Logan loved the swing again.

I was so worn out after the play date and then playing soccer and "volleyball" with the boys outside after naps that I suggested we go out for Mexican after dinner. I love, love, love, this weather and could spend all day outside.  Unfortunately, it looks like we might be getting some storms tomorrow, so we really tried to enjoy it as much as we could.

Evan was pretty good today, he didn't leave his room during nap which was a plus.  However, I did find him hiding under his bed.  Baby steps I guess...

Testing my patience....

Being a Mommy is a never ending job, there is always something...

Today, I was putting makeup on in my bedroom and Logan comes over curiously smelling like my perfume.  I figured he must have just touched the bottle or maybe even put his mouth on it.  Well, when I went in to the bathroom I saw that he had dropped the glass bottle, which had shattered on the floor, and there was a huge puddle of perfume on the floor.  Eight hours later and I still can't get rid of the smell!  I guess it is also time to do something about my bathroom cabinets so he can't get in them anymore.

As if this wasn't enough, while I was on my way down stairs to get some cleaning supplies I noticed that Evan's door was open (he was supposed to be 1 hour in to his nap).  I look inside the room and there was no Evan.  I then go in to the bathroom (he always seems to have to go potty as soon as it is nap time).  Well, once again there is no Evan.  I then notice Colin's door was closed, so I open the door and Evan is sitting on Colin's bed!  I yell at him and say "What are you doing, get to bed!" He looks at me and says very seriously, "I am in bed."  He was already on my s**t list because he took an hour to clean about 6 items that were on the floor in his play room (he spent most of the time whining that he couldn't do it and needed help).  This was after taking an hour to eat lunch because he kept getting up (he has ants in his pants these days).  I think after the Colin bed episode he knew I meant business, because he took a two hour nap and never got out of bed again.  Have I mentioned the 3 and 4 year old stage is my least favorite??

Summer of Boys.

Today I found out the sex of the final baby that is going to be born this summer...Carol is having a Boy!!!  Carol and Mike are shocked after having 3 girls (4 girls for Mike).  This baby boy will be our 3rd nephew born this summer!  My sister Holly, as well as Robert's son, Paul, will also be having boys.  Apparently, it is a summer full of boys because my cousin, Vanessa, as well as Carol's sister in law, Alyssa, are both expecting boys in July!  What a fun summer!

Well, my baby boy Logan and I had a nice quiet day at home playing.  He seems to be transitioning from 2 naps to 1 nap.  Some days he needs both and other days he fights the second one and just talks for a couple hours in bed.  So, today I decided to try and keep him awake through the morning and then just put him down for 1 long nap after lunch (which is what his brothers do).  He did get fussy around 10, so I had to keep him entertained until lunch.  He then took a 3 1/2 hour nap and was great the rest of the day.  I am not a big fan of these times of transition, because I am a schedule person and like to know when and for how long they are going to nap.  That way I can base my schedule and errands around their naps.  So, I am not sure if I should go ahead and move him to 1 nap a day or just follow his lead which could be different every day.  I guess I will just see how things go over the next couple days. 

Luckily, he seems the most adaptable of my three boys when it comes to his schedule.  This is  probably a result of having to be woken up for the other boys sports, having to nap on the soccer field, and being woken up for showings or put down for naps late after showings.  I guess the third child has no choice but to be adaptable!

Big Buddy Breakfast

Dennis and Colin had a "Big Buddy Breakfast" at Colin's school today.  Basically the kids got to bring their Dads to school for breakfast and then they had some fun playing games with a balloon in the gym.  They both said it was a lot of fun!  It is always nice to get to spend some one on one time with one of the kids.  Evan was sad that he didn't get to take his Daddy to school, so hopefully we can figure something out for Evan and Daddy to do one day.

Well, overall the feedback on the house was good this weekend, 2 of the showings loved the house, but the corner lot is killing us.  It is frustrating that there is nothing we can do about that!  One of the showings have us in their top 3, but unless someone says we are number one, I am not optimistic.  We have been in someones top 3 before and nothing came of it.  We are still waiting to hear on the other showing, which is probably a bad sign, maybe tomorrow we will hear...

Carnival and Evan's Teacher Conference

I don't know if it is the $5,000 price drop on the house or just the fact that a price drop moved our house back up to the top of the MLS, but we actually had 3 showings this weekend.  We have never had more than one showing in a weekend, so we were shocked!  Actually, we were supposed to have 4 showings, but one canceled last minute after deciding that they didn't want our neighborhood.  We haven't really heard much from the showings, which I always take as a bad sign, but Dennis and I don't really get our hopes up anymore anyway.  There is just too much inventory for people to choose from.  Anyway, between trying to keep the house clean and keeping the kids out of the house, I have been too tired to blog the last few days.

The weekend wasn't too eventful, soccer games were cancelled due to the fields being too wet.  We did go to a friends birthday party and we went to our neighborhood spring carnival today.  The boys had fun jumping on the moon bounces, playing games, and eating ice cream.  They also enjoyed getting balloons shaped into a gun and sword (I wasn't too happy about this as I wanted something less violent).  I guess someone must have heard my prayers because Colin's popped within 10 seconds of him getting it and Evan's popped about 2 minutes later!  Of course, both were followed by tears and that is when our trip to the carnival ended.  They both took extra long naps when we got home!

I also wanted to mention that Evan had his parent-teacher conference last Thursday.  I was so proud of him.  His teacher said multiple times "I have no concerns with Evan".  She says he is just great...rarely gets in trouble, plays well with other kids, is doing everything he is supposed to, and answers questions in front of the class.  She also thinks he is a bit advanced compared to the average kid.  Evan also has a friend at school, Connor, who just LOVES Evan.  He always asks his Mom in the morning if it is an "Evan Day" at school (since Evan only goes 3 days a week and he is full time).  Evan's teacher told me that Connor also dresses special for the days Evan will be there.  It is so nice to hear that other kids like your kid and look up to them!

As Evan is getting older him and Colin are definitely getting louder and more active.  Now Evan is able to fight back and instigate things with Colin, which makes things very physical around here.  I think Dennis and I are both worn out from telling them to keep their hands to themselves and to be quiet.  I can not move in to another house fast enough, one that has a large basement!  I am glad that Evan, and Colin too, are at least on their best behavior at school. 

Dig Deeper!

The last couple days have been pretty uneventful.  Between the rain yesterday and someone working on our fence today, we haven't really left the house.  I did a ton of laundry which of course has already accumulated again.  It amazes me every time how quickly it builds back up now that we are a family of five.  Folding laundry with Logan took a whole lot longer, but was a whole lot more fun too! 

I wanted to mention a couple things from the weekend that I forgot to mention...First of all, Colin was one of only two kids from his class whose art work was chosen to be in the Chesterfield Art Festival this weekend.  Unfortunately, with the birthday and family in town we didn't get a chance to check it out, but we were very proud of him.  Evan was also proud of Colin when he was watching him play soccer.  He was cheering for Colin and he said "Go Colin, Dig Deeper!"  "Dig Deeper" is a saying from the Insanity workout videos Dennis and I have been doing, so I was laughing hysterically when I heard him say that.  I guess he has been watching us work out!

Logan 12 Month Well Visit

Logan had his 12 Month checkup at the Pediatrician's today.  Once again the doctor said he was tall and skinny.  However, I was surprised to see that instead of dropping in percentile for height he is back up to 90%,  31 1/4 inches!  He seems to be dropping on the scales for weight though, he was 21 lbs (almost 25%).  So, he is taller and skinnier than last time.  I was told I need to try and get more calories in him.  Of course the head remains large (95%).

Logan has been sleeping in later the last few days, I am not sure if that is because I stopped nursing or if it is just coincidence.  Maybe he is sleeping in longer in preparation for dropping one of his naps?  He slept until after 7 again today.  As a result, I put him down a little later for his morning nap which resulted in me having to wake him up to go to his doctors appointment.  Short nap along with the appointment going through what should have been lunch time made for a cranky baby.  He wasn't too happy every time I laid him down on the table for the doctor to look at him.  Overall, he is a healthy and doing everything he is supposed to be doing. 

Logan's Party!

Today when I took the boys outside to play, Evan said "It sure is a nice day." .  He was right it was a nice day and a nice weekend too!

Saturday after soccer games we had Logan's birthday party.  We did a monkey and banana theme which turned out fun.  The kids had fun making paper monkeys and racing balancing bananas on wooden spoons.  We chose to "just" invite family, since the house is on the market and we didn't know if we would have to change the time last minute.  Well, I am glad we stuck to just family because it was a full house.  My parents have 10 grandchildren (plus 2 more on the way), add that to all my siblings, their spouses, my parents, Miranda, Dennis' Mom and Robert and we had lots of people to help celebrate the big day.  Of course all the kids made the house very loud and very messy (which I tried to not get too stressed about but probably failed). 

Logan didn't get an afternoon nap (he just talked and talked in his bed for about 2 hours), so he got a little tired and clingy and one part, but after he had his evening milk he was laughing and having a blast.  He seemed to really enjoy his cake and was smiling and laughing while he ate.  He also really enjoyed his gifts and actually played with them instead of the wrapping paper.

After the party, we watched the VCU final 4 basketball game and then played Catan with my parents, Julie, and Phil who all stayed the night.  I guess Logan was exhausted from his big day because he didn't get up until 7:45am this morning!!! 

Today I enjoyed church with my parents and then Evan and I played on the church playground while Colin went to church class.  I asked Evan what he learned during the children's liturgy and he said "God was very mean and than he wasn't.  He put mud on a guys face and eyes and then he washed it off and the guy could see."  I tried to explain that it was Jesus and that he wasn't being mean he was helping the blind man to see, but I don't think Evan believed me.

Dennis spent the entire day today power washing the fence in preparation for it being stained tomorrow.  I spent a lot of the day putting the inside of the house back in order.  And Logan has been playing with his birthday presents all day! 

Brother Bonding

Colin was off school today for a teacher workday.  Unfortunately, the weather was gloomy again, limiting our ability to get out of the house.  So after a morning of hearing Colin and Evan play, argue, play, argue, play argue, etc...I let them run around outside not even caring that it was still wet outside and they would be a mess when they were done playing.  They didn't seem to care either, they had a blast outside as always.  Logan was forced to stay indoors with me so he watched and laughed from the door....

After that Colin and Evan made books.  It is pretty cute that both boys books were about their brother.  Their pages said stuff like, "I play soccer with my brother and I play football with my brother."  I am really glad they have each other to play with even if it does come with some very annoying arguing too. 

While they were busy playing, I got a few last minute birthday party preparations done for Logan's birthday party tomorrow.  We are looking forward to family coming in town to celebrate!!!