Hayes-isms

I had big plans of doing an update on Hayes at 2.5 years old but I totally missed that day. Now here it is two weeks after that day and a month since I last updated this blog at all. I know I am going to be so sad one day not to have these posts to look back on and I wish I could do a lot better. I should plan a special day that it dedicated to updating here but laundry and housework seem to have taken over any free time in my life. Not that you would know because my house looks like it is constantly in disarray and the laundry basket is always full. But I really am ok with that because we are so full of doing life.

Hayes...Hayes is a hand full. It is a good thing he is so cute because man oh man he gives me a run for my money. He is very independent and has many opinions. It took him a long time to learn to really talk in a way that we could understand him but once he started it was like he had been talking forever. Hayes can not be disciplined. He could care less about the direction I give him. He keeps me humble. I have learned that if we are home and he disobeys that sitting him in his bed is a great punishment. When we aren't home, I have nothing (other than the threat of putting him in the stroller). He is so strong. If he doesn't want to get in to his car seat, I have to basically lay on him while buckling him. He is a great sleeper. He still naps and I don't see an end to that any time soon. He goes to bed easily but has started waking up earlier. Once he can feel the energy in the house of some one being up, he starts stirring. He is potty trained and that was a breeze!! Easiest kid to potty train out of all three and he stays dry at night. I still put a pull up on him just to be safe but at nap time he stays in his undies. He LOVES dogs. As much as my other two hated dogs at his age, he loves them. He doesn't care about the size of the dog he just wants to pet it. We have been teaching him to ask permission before chasing down a dog.

 Some of my favorite things he says:
-Muah Hugs: Kisses and hugs; If he doesn't give kisses and hugs to one of us before bed time, he will cry while saying "muah hugs Daddy".
-"HoleJew": Hold you; this has to be my favorite!! He says this when he wants to be picked up. I remember when Reese was little and we had a friend whose daughter would say this and I thought it was the cutest thing. The first time Hayes said that I died from the sweetness.
-He calls Sam "Bubba" or "Bubby"...just depends on his mood. He has recently started calling him Sam as well but that is usually when Sam is being a pest.
-Right, Mommy?
-Why?
-Bluebabies
-Nek-nek: naked
-Save me Mommy: when he is running away from Sam being a pest (see a theme here?)
-Geor-George minute?: He will ask this when he wants to watch Curious George which is by far his favorite show. It is the only one he requests. I think he adds minute to the question because some times I will answer with "Just a minute".
 -Reesey
-Pet it?: Any time he wants to touch something he will ask if he can pet it...dogs, water, fire truck, etc
-Many times I will ask him how he got so cute or who made him so stinky, etc and he always answers with "Gandaddy". It always cracks me up.

This boy can make me cry as fast as he can make me laugh. I am constantly correcting and redirecting but I am also constantly laughing at him. He has the sweetest smile and voice. And the curls, oh the curls! There is no doubt that God put curls on him so that when I was getting on to him the curls would melt me. It is funny that my two with curly hair are my spunkiest kids. It is absolutely a warning that says "I am cute but deadly".

Counting Down

Our summer countdown has officially started. Having last week off for spring break really got us in the mood for summer.

Our first day of Spring Break was Saturday. We cleaned up around the house and then met at a friend’s house to walk to church. Our church held several Easter services and we decided to attend the Saturday night service because they were having a family festival after the service. There were all kinds of fun carnival type games, bounce houses, a small train, and CFA for dinner. It was such a fun night and the kids had a blast. 

Easter Morning the kids woke up to some rain boots and a book in their Easter Baskets. The Easter bunny decided to leave all the candy at Gigi’s house this year. We quickly got ready and headed to church again because Lance and I were serving that morning.

After church we headed to my parents house. The kids were so excited to see that they indeed did get some candy for Easter…and of course, many other things like bunny ears.

After eating lunch, the kids had an indoor egg hunt in the basement. They had so much fun running around finding eggs, playing the drums, and jumping on Papa and Granddaddy.

This is the best we could do…

Granddaddy and Papa with these crazy kids

Monday we were up and headed to the ball field. Sam was in a baseball camp Mon-Thurs. He was super excited to get to do camp with his best buddy Dylan. When we got to camp, Reese and Maddy conspired together to get to have a play date so Kristin took them home with her. When it was time to pick the boys up they were begging to have a play date too. We decided to let them all have a short break from each other and we headed home to have lunch. After lunch Kristin was bringing Dylan back and I decided to have her let Maddy stay too. The kids all played so great together and some how during that time they all planned sleep overs. So that night I had the boys at our house…

While Kristin had the girls at her house…

And boy did they all have fun! They couldn’t get enough of each other. I took the boys to camp and then headed over to pick Reese up. The girls were begging for more time together. We decided they probably needed a little break from each other while they were still getting along. Ha!

Instead Reese and I headed home. I cleaned the inside of the car (there is no point in cleaning the outside since there is so much pollen out). Reese went to her room and played with Legos for a long time. After camp, the kids were asking for more time together so we all went to lunch at Moe’s.

Wednesday morning we decided to walk to camp.

After drop off Maddy was going to walk back home with us and play for a little while. Denver was not happy that Maddy got to walk with us so we let him walk back too. It was so cute too see these sweet little friends walking through the woods together.

We got back a little early for pick up so we could watch them run some drills. The littlest brothers have so much fun together too. They kept asking for play dates. We promised them soon enough.

Wednesday night we headed to Atlantic Station to meet Lance. Becca and I headed to Leah’s house in Florida to spend a long weekend with her. Lance took the kids and they went to see Home. They said it was cute. Lance took Thursday and Friday off to spend with the kids. Thursday they took Sam to baseball camp. One day he took them all to get hair cuts, they went out to eat (many times I am sure), and they watched Night at the Museum 3 Friday night.

Thursday Leah, Becca, and I headed to the beach. We spent most of the afternoon there.

Around 4:00 we headed back to her house and got ready to go out to dinner. We went to a place called Stinky’s. It was an hour and a half wait so we hung out at the bar next door (still Stinky’s bar) until our table was ready. It was the perfect time to hang out with them! Friday Leah had to work so Becca and I headed to the beach again for the day. About mid afternoon the fog rolled in and it got chilly so we packed up. We decided to drive down 30A and check it all out. After our drive we rented a movie and got some pizza. Susan got home just in time from work to watch the movie with us and then we all headed to bed.

Saturday morning we were going to meet Leah for breakfast (she had worked a 24) but she had a late call and didn’t make it in time to eat with us so we waited back at her house for her. Once she got back we said our goodbyes and then headed home with everyone else on the gulf coast. Lance had to go in to the office on Saturday so Reese and Sam went to a friends house and Hayes went to Hadley’s house. Lance had told them all he should be done around 12:30 (he hoped). Well, that didn’t happen. They had a few hiccups. I got in to town around 5:30, picked up my car that was in Atlantic Station, met Claire to pick up Hayes there too because they had gone to the Dogwood Festival, and then we headed to get the other two. I got to them around 6:30…nothing like spending 10 hours with your friends. They all had a great day though and we were so grateful for everyone’s help! I told a friend that I crashed landed back in to mommyhood…it was like I had never even left. Lance didn’t get home until midnight that night. Sunday we headed to church and then Lance went straight back to work. I decided to take the kids for a hike.

They all did good. Hayes wanted to be held several times but hates when I put him on my shoulders. We headed home for lunch, naps, and a lazy day to wrap up our spring break.

I think the Monday after spring break is the hardest Monday to get back in to it. Summer is just around the corner and we can’t wait!

Life Lately

Hayes started taking gymnastics. It has taken him several weeks to get comfortable with going out on the floor with out me. Each week I have to walk him out there and he will just stand on the edge of where his teacher is and watch. I am hoping soon he will just run right out to her.

Hayes LOVES dogs. Every time we are at Claire’s house he wants to hold them.

Baseball has started back! Sam is really enjoying it and doing really well!

Because of conflicts in the kids schedule and Lance getting home from work, Sam has been able to spend some special time with his best buddy. So thankful for friends on the same team!

Soccer has started back as well. This is what it looks like with us trying to get us all to the field. Unfortunately, there are many weekends where there are game conflicts so we will have to divide and conquer. Lance is an assistant coach for Sam’s team so it looks like he will be doing baseball and I will be doing soccer.

Reese looked awesome on the soccer field this past weekend! She had great ball control, passing skills, and was aggressive! Lance is bummed that there are so many conflicts this season because he said he really enjoyed watching Reese play last weekend.

After many days of rain, Reese had soccer practice and the boys found their heaven. I am pretty sure half of this dirt hill came home on the boys.

Reese and I got to serve at a Women’s Shelter on Sunday. We served dinner, did a Bible lesson, held some precious babies, and played outside with the kids.

Claire watched Hayes for me one day so I could be the mystery reader in Sam’s class. While I was there I got these super sweet and funny pictures. Claire said at one point she couldn’t find the kids and was calling their names.  All of a sudden she heard some quiet giggles and found them hiding from her in this box.  They just love each other and are best buddies.

Hayes seems to be a good sport when it comes to dressing up too…

Sam got to bring home his class “pet”, Toad-ally Awesome. He was super excited. That same day we met his friends from class at the playground to play.

That night little brother kidnapped Toad-ally Awesome.

The first half of this week has been so beautiful. We have tried so hard to take advantage of this spring like weather. We have eaten on the patio.

Taken walks…

Showed our bellies…

St. Patty’s Day

He said he was going to school…he loves to pretend like he is leaving for the school bus. He will tell me bye and give me kisses and hugs.

The kids took a get well bucket to their sweet little cousin. They all love each other so much.

Hayes and I spent some sweet time together taking a walk in the neighborhood yesterday. He loves to go “see pool” so we walked to the pool and then played on the playground for a little while.

I usually do my Bible study while Hayes is taking a nap in the afternoon. After seeing that it was going to be rainy and cold today, I decided to enjoy the beautiful weather outside while I did my Bible study yesterday. It was a nice change of pace. I am loving this study. It is so challenging and convicting. I imagine it is something I am going to need to refresh myself on often.

When Reese got home from school yesterday she had her report card. She couldn’t wait to open it and see how she had done. I am always so proud of her and she was so excited to see good marks. The thing she was most excited about was her report card from her Target class. They only do P’s (progressing) and S’s (satisfactory). In the area of creative thinking she has always received S’s but with critical thinking areas she has gotten P’s. Obviously, we are totally ok with that because that is exactly who she is…she loves any and all creative outlets. Well, yesterday she had all S’s in every section and she was so pumped up. She couldn’t wait to tell Lance and was finally able to FaceTime with him so she could show him. Way to go, Reesey-bug! We are so proud of you!

a WICKED good time

Reese and I had a girls night last night that has been in the making for three and a half years. She has been asking when she could go see Wicked since Lance and I went in 2011. We kept telling her we would take her when they came back to town and if they didn’t come back to town we would go to NYC to see it…which I totally still plan on doing one day.

When we saw that it was finally going to be back in Atlanta, we snagged a couple of tickets. Lance really wanted to go with us but when we started adding up the cost of tickets and a babysitter for the night, we decided to make it a girls night instead. Reese and I started our night off at dinner together. It was a fun dinner because we talked about the Wizard of Oz so that we could trigger her memory about all of the characters.

Then it was off to the show. She was soooo excited. She kept saying over and over how excited she was.

We stopped for all of the perfect memory making pictures.

Once inside we headed straight to the bathroom which was a great idea because when we came out the line was twice as long. She had seen the shirts on the way in and asked if she could have one. I text Lance to see what he thought and he said to go for it. Well, if I had known how much I was going to actually spend on a tee shirt, the answer would have been NO. But she was so excited and put it right on. It is a little too big so hopefully we will get our monies worth.

After buying some popcorn and drinks, we headed to our seats and they were amazing. I am so glad Lance and I spent the time to find the right seats for Reese to watch this show. We were just left of center stage in the balcony. I grabbed her a booster seat and it was perfect. While waiting for the show to start we look at the huge map of Oz hanging up on stage. She told me about the things that were listed on the legend and we talked about different areas of where things would happen in the play.

Finally it was time for the show to start and she had the biggest grin on her face. She just sat in awe the whole time. She ate her popcorn and drank an entire bottle of water. Right before one of my favorite parts she said she had to go to the bathroom. I told her she had to wait until “Popular” was over because she loves that song from the sound track and I was not about to miss it. As soon as that act was over, we hightailed it to the bathroom. There was  not a single other person in there so we were speedy quick. It actually worked out perfectly because we didn’t miss any big part of the play and we didn’t have to go and fight the crowd during intermission. Shortly after we got back was the final scene of the first half and it is when they sing Defying Gravity…best part of the show!!

During intermission we just stretched our legs and recapped the first half. I thought this Glinda was hilarious. She put on a great show and even ad-libbed a few spots. During one line she is telling Elphaba to “let it go” and she looks right at her and says “let it go” again to play off of Frozen (if you don’t know, Idina Menzel played Elphaba on Broadway and is the voice of Elsa in Frozen). Reese’s favorite part is when Glinda is teaching Elphaba how to flip her hair so the boys will like her. One of my favorite lines is when Glinda decides that her name no longer sounds like Guh-linda and she tells someone her name is “Glinda, the guh is silent”. She really was hilarious. I am always amazed at the singing and how well the two sound together.

After intermission was the final 45 minutes of the show. I could tell Reese was starting to get tired because she kept leaning in to me but she did great. It is a long show especially for a seven year old but she held on to every word. I even told Lance I was surprised at the parts she picked up on that were more subtle. The only part she just couldn’t figure out (without ruining too much of the show) was why Elphaba and her sister didn’t have the same dad if her mom was only married to one man. I decided to just let that question go for now and told her we would figure that out when she was older.

Since the show ended at 9:30 and we had to wait a while to get out of the parking lot, Reese didn’t get in to bed until 10:30 last night. This morning when my alarm went off I knew there was no way either of us was going to wake up easily. I decided to break the rules and just let her sleep in. Sam is usually my alarm clock but he didn’t come in to my room until 7:45 (thank you time change). I woke Reese up at 7:50 (when school is actually starting) and told her it was time to get moving. That is so against my rule-following nature but I knew it was best for her. I checked her in to school an hour late with a smile on my face and then went straight over to Sam’s school to drop him off. She wanted to wear her Wicked shirt to school and it was so cute.

I had such a great time with Reese. She was so well behaved, didn’t complain one time, and really enjoyed the whole night. I am so glad we got to do this together and we can’t wait to see this show again!!

Rockstar

This week Reese’s school had a spirit week of sorts. Each day was a different theme. The day she was looking forward to the most was “dress like your favorite teacher day”. Reese chose her art teacher. She is a fun, loud, silly teacher and Reese totally loves her. For a week or so I had Reese watch how she dressed so we could try to replicate it as best we could. She said that she wore school spirit shirts almost every day (the PTA president is always making all of the teachers cute shirts with their school initials on them) and an apron every day. The day before she told us that her art teacher always wears a microphone around her neck and will walk down the halls, set her frequency to a classrooms frequency, and whisper “Rockstar” through their speakers. She said you never see her art teacher do this but will always hear her. That just cracked me up so we made a microphone to hang around Reese’s neck and she carried an art pallet and paint brushes. She was so excited for this day and couldn’t wait to go see her art teacher. When she got to the art room she said her teacher took a picture of her. Reese said she was the only student to dress like her that day.

Ten Years

Today, Lance and I have been married for TEN years. Time really flies! It is crazy to look back on these last ten years and all of the things that have happened. Our life is so much better than I could have dreamed on that day ten years ago. I was so naïve and really was just living in the moment. I had known my whole life that I wanted to be a mom who got to spend the days with her kids but I truly didn’t know if that would happen. Ten years later, Lance has worked so hard every day to keep that dream a reality.

 

One year in…Lance wanted to know what it would look like to shave his entire head with a straight razor so he did it right before we left for a cruise. Needless to say, that hair-do has never come back.

Two years in…pregnant with Reese

I could not find a single picture of the two of us from around our third anniversary…that is what happens when you have kids…this was taken in July and it is looking up my nose…you’re welcome.

Quite honestly, there are no more pictures of us alone for a long time after this last picture. Ha! When we do have date nights or alone time, we don’t think to take pictures of ourselves.

And here we are ten years later!!

And just for a little comparison…