CFA v. McD

There really is no comparison when it comes to the food at Chick-fil-a versus McDonalds!  But that is not all that matters!

And CFA knows this.

Almost every week since Reese started gymnastics we have gone to lunch at one of these “restaurants” after her class.  Recently we have been sticking with CFA because, like I said, there really is no comparison in food taste. 

Lately there have been a ton of kids there who are rough in the play area.  Specifically one little two year old boy who is mean and then he always tries to touch Sam or other babies with us.  We are constantly having to watch him because his nanny is out yapping with her friends.  I don’t know how many times I have said, “You can look but please don’t touch.”  Today Reese asked if we could go to McDonald’s instead so I said yes.

While we were there Reese needed to go to the bathroom so I packed all three of us up and we went.  When we walked in there was a male worker in the women’s bathroom working on one of the doors to a stall.  I assumed when he saw us he would leave until we were done.  But he did not.  I closed the door behind us and let Reese go to the bathroom.  We left and went back to eat our lunch.  As Reese was playing I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the man did not leave us with some privacy.  My mind began to wonder to the future when Reese is old enough to go to the bathroom alone.  I would have been livid if she went alone and then told me later that a man was in the bathroom while she was in there.  Or what if something happened while she was in there alone and she didn’t tell me because she was scared.

I decided on our way out that if I saw a manager standing up front that I would just mention this to him.  I was not mad but just wanted someone to know how I felt.  As we walked by the counter there were three men behind it with shirt and ties on.  So I asked who was the manager and one of the guys stepped forward.  I let him know my concern and he just kind of looked at my like, “What?”.  So I turned to leave and one of the other men in a tie said “Sorry about that!”.  I left there more mad that I originally was!  All I wanted was for them to understand the danger that I saw.  I didn’t even want an apology.  And I don’t feel like he understood my concern.

First of all, I can not even imagine that scenario happening at CFA.  And if it did, the manager would have tried to give me his right arm, if he could, as an apology while saying, “It’s my pleasure” (which I love by the way). 

From now on, I think we will stick with CFA.  Even if we have to drive across town to another one that is not so crazy and busy!

Am I over reacting?  Would you have done the same thing or felt the same way?

Chuck E Cheese

Tonight we took Reese to Chuck E. Cheese as a reward for something we have been battling for a while.

Here she is being Cinderella...


She was in HEAVEN!!


We, of course, had pizza and she got to drink out of a princess cup.

The only thing Reese didn't like was leaving.

More Than Disgusting

This afternoon I needed to straighten up around the house a little.  Reese was sleeping, Sam was awake.  So I put Sam in his car seat in front of the TV, turned on his Praise Baby DVD, and got to cleaning. 

Sam was perfect.  He was watching the movie and checking everything out around him in his car seat. Not making a peep. I was getting some things done.

I walked around to the TV to put something away.  I looked down at Sam and thought why does he have thrown-up carrots all over himself.  They were on his clothes (he only had on a onesie), arms, legs, and face.  I couldn’t understand how he could have thrown-up carrots since he had not had any since the night before and I didn’t hear him make any noise.

I walked over to him and realized it was poop...everywhere!  Apparently the way he was sitting in his car seat made the poop come up and out of his diaper.  And he must have thought it was something to play with!  Like I said, it was everywhere…including his face.  Which means it most likely ended up in his mouth!!

I was so disgusted! (I must confess that I thought about taking a picture during all of this but felt bad leaving him that way for much longer.) I didn’t even know where to start in the clean-up process.  I took Sam upstairs and cleaned him off the best I could with wipes.  Then went back downstairs to clean up the car seat. Then took Sam back upstairs for a mid-afternoon bath! 

Reese woke up as I was going downstairs and I told her to meet me down there.  She asked what I was doing and I told her.  She said, “That is sisgusting!” and I told her, “No! It is more than disgusting!!”

Clown Shoes

She thinks it is so funny to wear two different colored Crocs!

He thinks I am funny...

Or maybe that I sing bad...

Rainy Day!!

What a bummer of a day!

This morning we were supposed to do the March for Babies but the rain had different plans. I woke up with Sam around 6:00 am, got him fed, back to sleep, and then went to check the weather. It looked like there was going to be a break in the rain around 9:00 (when the walk was supposed to start). So I went back to bed for a little while and waited for the alarm to go off. When the alarm started going off it was still thundering and lightening. As much as we wanted to go downtown for the walk, we knew it would not be smart to take the kids out in the rain/storm. We were feeling bad about not going down but then around 9:30 it started storming again…and we didn’t feel bad anymore. It would have been horrible to be out in the rain and lightening/thunder with a two year old and 5.5 month old. BTW, thank you to everyone who donated money...we are so sorry we couldn't walk today!! :-(

Tonight we were supposed to go to a party at a friends house but all day we have been fighting a yucky nose with Reese so we were afraid to take her and get all the other little ones sick. I wish I could keep her separated from Sam so she wouldn’t get him sick. We finally got him all cleared up from two back-to-back colds. Now I am sure he will have another runny nose soon.

Hopefully this rain is on it’s way out and we can have a nice day tomorrow!

Group Picture

I borrowed this picture from my friend Jenny’s blog. This was the group of friends who went to the firehouse last week.  We see this group of friends at least once a week (most weeks) sometimes more.  Each of us is on round two of babies and so far everyone is having/had a boy.  There is only one who doesn’t know what the gender of her baby is…she is waiting until it is born in July.  Round one has three girls and three boys…round two has five boys (so far) out of six babies.  Can you imagine what our playgroups are going to be like in a couple of years? “Let the wild rumpus start!”

Wordless Wednesday

Braids

Reese starts the day out like this most days…


And then when I start brushing her hair she looks like this…


Yesterday I took Reese to the mall with me so Lance could have some quiet time at home.  We went to Crazy 8 and they have a little bench with a TV that Reese loves to sit in front of.  She usually just sits there while I shop.  She came up to me and said she wanted braids in her hair.  I said ok and she went to sit back down. Shortly after that I walked over towards the bench and saw this…

If you can’t see the picture well, this little girl (with braids in her hair) was “braiding” Reese’s hair.  Imagine my surprise that Reese was just sitting there and letting this happen.  She wasn’t screaming.  She wasn’t crying.  She was just sitting there and letting this little girl play with her hair.  If I had even thought about holding her hair this way, she would have started screaming and crying. 

Sitting

Sam is getting good at sitting…or at least “tripod-ing”. 


Going down


And I’m back

I can’t believe we are already to this stage!  He loves to sit up and see the things around him.  The other day we were at the grocery store and Reese wanted to ride in the car cart so I strapped Sam on in the Baby Bjorn and let her do that.  It won’t be long before they are both able to ride in the car cart.  That will be so fun (or as Reese would say, “That will be so excited!”

Unexpected Date Night

Last night we were supposed to have small group but at the last minute (Tuesday night) they cancelled it. So Lance and I were left with a babysitter and no place to go. Enter: date night! We originally asked Reese if she wanted us to leave Sam with Lindsey and take her out with us. She said no! She wanted to stay with Lindsey. So we left both kids with Lindsey for the first time and we went out to dinner. It was great to get out for a couple of hours with Lance and just chat! We had a "mini-State of the Union" discussion about money, enjoyed some yummy pizza at a restaurant we had never before been to, sat on the patio, and just enjoyed each others company...and of course got a milk shake from Chick-fil-A on the way home!

Daddy Fun

Reese-isms

*Sisusting: Disgusting

*Blooding: Bleeding

*Barefooting: Barefooted

*Sonaba: “Sonofa”…this is our fault…Lance and I are both bad about saying “sonofa” when something happens.  For instance, if I forget something or stub my toe, I will say “sonofa”.  The first time I heard Reese say “sonaba” I almost fell over.  It was hilarious.

*Reese replaces all R’s and L’s with a W.  She says things like: Weese (Reese), siwwy (silly), weawwy (really).  I love when she talks about her friends at school: Ahwizabeff (Elizabeth), Awissa (Alyssa), Weswey (Wesley), Sawa (Sara), Caweb (Caleb), Ms. Shawon (Ms. Sharon), Chawee (Charlie).  Tonight we were trying to get her to say her L’s.  It is so funny when she is trying to do this because she is focusing so hard that she ends up getting it all wrong.  When we were trying to say “Wesley” she ended up saying “Leswey”.  I am going to miss her sweet talk when she grows out of this. 

Catch Up Post

This is a catch up post from the last couple of days/weeks of pictures and videos.

Reese’s new pose when we ask her to smile for a picture…


My friend Kristin is letting us borrow this bath seat. Sam loves taking a bath with Reese…I am not so sure the feeling is mutual. I think it is much easier to have them both in there together and get it done fast!


Our little photographer took this picture. I did some cropping but she did a great job!


In February we were supposed to go to a friends birthday party but it was the weekend it snowed so much and stuck to the roads. The party was a “firefighter” themed party and we were supposed to go on a tour of the local firehouse. Since the roads were so bad the tour was cancelled. Today we were able to finally go on the tour. The kids had a blast.

Reese decided she wanted to be pouty though. She didn’t want her picture taken. She didn’t want to get in the truck. She didn’t want to talk to the firefighters. She was just a grump.




Until the kids started running around like crazy people. You know when a dog starts running around in circles? That is what they were doing. Then they would run over to the police truck and bang on it.







The firefighters were some of the nicest people! They were so great with the kids. Reese was the oldest of all of them so you can imagine what kind of attention span there was. The firefighters just went with it and were so sweet with each kid.

When it was time to leave I asked Reese to tell the men goodbye and thank you. She would do neither. As we were walking out I was explaining to her that when adults are speaking to you that you need to look back at them and speak back. She told me she did not like firefighters. I reminded her that Aunt Leah is a firefighter and she told me, “I like Firefighter Aunt Leah but I don’t like the other firefighters.” **Sigh**

Our Little Man…

…is getting big!

I took Sam in for a vaccine today and they weighed him. He weighed 16 pounds, 14 ounces (with clothes on)! He has gained two pounds this month!! Woohoo!

I was getting pictures of Sam for record of his fifth month. Then I realized he was wearing this same outfit when I took pictures of him at four months. It is just one of those outfits that is super easy to get on and off so it is a good one to wear to the doctor. That is probably why he is in it both months. He is definitely getting too big for this outfit now.


And, of course, not to be out done, Reese needed to jump in the pictures too.

Mish Mash

*Reese is a sleep talker.  Several nights I have heard her talking in the middle of the night while I am up with Sam.  I usually can’t understand what she is saying but last night I heard her as I was leaving Sam’s room.  She said, “Let’s put all of these in order so the other people can use them.”  One night when she was sleeping with me (when she was sick) she was calling for “DW” and sounded just like Arthur saying it.  Hopefully she is never a sleep walker!!

*Sam has been rolling over a lot lately.  A week or so ago he finally figured out how to roll from his back to his belly.  Every time I put him down he does this but seems to have forgotten how to roll back the other way.  Occasionally he will go all the way over but it is rare.  Several times his legs have gone through the slats of the crib and he can’t figure out how to get them back through.

*After everything I went through last night to get dinner made, Reese and Lance both disliked it.  Bummer!  I could have saved a lot of trouble if I had known that ahead of time.  For the record, I liked it!

*Sam has had a rough day today.  He has been very needy and wanted to be held. I think his teeth and belly were both hurting him. Several time I had to stop feeding him because he kept biting me.  That does not feel good.

*Tomorrow the little man is going to be five months old!!!

*I watched “The Time Traveler’s Wife” today. I read the book about four or so years ago so I don’t fully remember it.  I do know that I liked the book better though.  The movie was sort of confusing and not really engaging early on.  The end was touching though. 

Hey You!

Yes, you! Yep, you, looking at this page right now.

See that link over to the right ------>

We would greatly appreciate your donations to March for Babies! We are so grateful for our healthy children and want to help every one have healthy babies!! If you feel so led, please take a moment and make a donation.

Thank you!!

What a night!

Being a cook is tough business sometimes…and tonight I learned that.

While making dinner I was rinsing out some cans and sliced my left thumb on the lid.  It didn’t hurt because it happened so fast but it immediately began to gush blood. 

As soon as Lance walked in the door from work we headed out to the Minute Clinic at CVS and she sent me on to the urgent care to get stitches. 

Reese was so sweet and concerned the whole time.  She would rub my back and ask if my finger was feeling better.  On the way there she told me that I needed to be more careful.  Now I have four stitches in my left thumb.

Since dinner was postponed for a while we got McDonald’s on the way home.  What a lucky night for Reese!

Things that are hard to do without a working thumb:
*changing diapers/clothes
*buckling my kids in the car seats
*making dinner (which I finished and froze when we got home)
*putting my hair in a ponytail
*showering
*pretty much everything!!!

This is going to be a long ten days!

Wordless Wednesday

Green Beans

Sam got his first taste of green beans yesterday....



So funny!

It is hot!

Today was hot! Since it was in the 80's I let Reese play in the pool. I filled it up about two hours before I was going to let her get in it because I knew the water would be freezing! When we finally went out the water was still cold but she had a blast.

Our Daddy Rocks!

Friday Reese and Sam bought their Daddy a cookie cake because they love him so much!




They just wanted him to know how much they love him and how proud of him they are!!

He rocks!!

Happy Easter!

We have had a wonderful Easter!  It has been a beautiful day and fun with family. 

Now we are watching Princess and the Frog!!  I finally get to see the ending!

Easter Weekend

Today we went to the zoo with some friends.

It was a beautiful day! The sky was blue and there was a nice breeze!


Reese, of course, was in heaven because she had a big girl to follow around!


This is the life!




We had our own little kangaroos!




Most of the animals were out and about so we could see them.


The best part of the day was watching these guys!


The zoo puts on an Easter egg hunt with the gorillas. For the smaller gorillas they hid Jell-o eggs. It really was so cute watching them run down the hill and find the eggs.


The bigger gorillas got to find paper mache eggs with food inside of them.


Lance overheard some of the zoo employees talking about how excited the gorillas get. They know what is happening when they put them in to their cages and see the employees hiding the eggs.

This guy is so handsome!

After the egg hunt we headed towards the exit but not before taking a quick peek at these guys.


The giraffes were busy eating so we only got to see their backside. They are so tall!!


And now we are ready for the Easter Bunny to come. The Easter Bunny got really creative this year and gave me a bunch of these shirts!


And the Easter Bunny delivered Lance these YUMMY Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. We had these for the first time when we were at Disney and they are amazing!!


Sam is getting several things of Gerber food (the Easter Bunny knows he can’t eat any candy yet), a cute little outfit, a Praise Baby DVD, and a Noah’s Ark toy with animals that make sounds.

Reese is getting a Minnie Mouse doll, Princess and the Frog DVD, a cute little dress, and a bunch of candy!

Happy Easter, everyone!