Oh shit!

I literally mean, oh shit, here it comes again. It seems both of the kiddies have picked up some kind of bug and the result is a house full of poo - so fun! When the kids woke up this morning, everything was as it usually is. About an hour and a half after waking up, Lauren started getting cranky so I gave her a bottle and put her down for a nap - nothing too unusual, but it was about an hour earlier than normal, and she only drank half the bottle - this IS unusual - the girl likes her food so I should have known something was up. When she woke up from her nap, I went to her crib to find it full of her breakfast - I literally had to scoop out mashed up bananas with a spoon from her crib - gross! After getting that little mess cleaned up, I went to throw all of her bedding in the washer, oh wait, the dryer is broke so this isn't going to work. Luckily I called my neighbor, and she was nice enough to let me borrow her dryer so I could get the mess cleaned up today versus waiting until Saturday (the day the dryer is getting fixed). Shortly after that, Ryan ran into the bathroom. Within seconds of being in there, I hear, "I got the sharts." Great, well at least he made it to the bathroom so the clean-up shouldn't be too bad. Of course it wasn't that simple, yes, some of the poo made it into the toilet, but the rest of it was in his pants and undies - fabulous - one more mess to clean up. After the activities of the morning, I packed the kids in the stroller for a short walk. Upon arriving home, Ryan was back in the bathroom - I'm assuming everyone can figure out what happened so I won't write it out again. Lauren was getting fussy again - thought maybe she wanted to eat - nope, just sleep - very odd. Both of the kids took naps without eating lunch -maybe they just need a little extra rest. After her nap, Lauren and I went downstairs to hang out until Ryan woke up. Unfortunately, she didn't last that long as she had a little (big) sharting incident of her own. One minute she is playing, the next, I hear a rather juicy farting sound - this can't be good. She starts crying, I pick her up, and there is shit everywhere - up her back, leaking out of her pants, everywhere (including the new carpet). Her clean-up takes a little longer as she needs a bath (or a hose down) to get rid of everything and a couple of towels and blankets need to be washed - time to call the neighbor again to secure some "dryer time" - thank god for nice neighbors! So that is my day so far (it is only 4:00pm). Luckily I have to work tonight so Daddy gets to take over the "shit patrol" - oh, how I wish I could be around to see his first clean-up. Somehow I could see myself getting a call at work to come home - we'll see.

Enough with that crap (literally), here are a couple of pictures of the kids. Ryan went on his first field trip yesterday to a local pumpkin patch where he got his face painted. Lauren is showing off her new pink sweater from her future Auntie Ann - doesn't she look cute!

I hope my kids don't read this someday and get mad at me for writing about their pooping issues. I just look at it as my right as I am the lady who gets to clean up after them - sounds about right doesn't it?

Enjoying the outdoors

The weather has been pretty nice lately so we are taking full advantage by getting outside as much as possible before it won't be an option anymore. Here are some random pictures during one of our backyard outings. It is so nice that Lauren can get down and play on the ground now - it is so much easier than trying to hold her and play with Ryan at the same time.
Ryan was loving the camera this day (as you can tell by the many poses he did for me) until Daddy came home. Then he had no time for it and hid until I put it away - can't blame him, the poor kid has a camera in his face almost daily. I can't help it, it is just too fun to stop.

Nurse Auntie

Auntie passed her Nursing Boards!! We are so proud of her. I'm not sure if she'll go by Nurse Auntie or not, but that is what Ryan calls her. When we found out (she called at 7 in the morning to tell us), we decided we would head to St. Peter for the afternoon to spend some time with her, and Grandma and Grandpa too. It was a perfect day outside so we took the kids to the park to run and play. Ryan found a "grill" to play with for a while and Grandma kept Lauren busy on the swings - it was fun for everyone. I of course brought my camera to get a few pics. My favorite is this one of Auntie . . .She is deep in thought here. She's probably regretting passing her test because now she has to get a job, pay her own bills, and be a real live grown-up. The caption should be, "oh, sh**, what have I done!"

Back to the kids. Here are a couple of action shots from the afternoon.

After a quick visit back at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we packed up and headed back home, had supper, baths, and went to bed. It was a fun way to spend the day - something a little different than usual.

WAY TO GO ASH!

Where's Ryan?

Is there such thing as too much camouflage? Not if you ask Ryan. In fact, the more he wears, the less anyone can see him - how cool is that? So today, he decided to really go all out. He wore his "army" pants along with his "army" shirt and socks, and to top off the outfit, he put on his matching "army" coat and hat - he was practically invisible. Luckily he was nice enough to let me get a few pictures before he disappeared into the surroundings - check it out.After I was done taking pictures, Ryan went back into "hiding" so we weren't able to see him for a while. But, it appears as though Lauren may have some kind of super power as she was still able to track him down in hiding and in full camo gear - simply amazing. Here are a couple of pictures of her when she finds Ryan "hiding" behind our bedroom door. She was so excited to find him - look how happy she is.
I had to put the last one in because that is her "signature" face. She breaks it out whenever things get a little out off control in her world, which is usually a couple of times a day - such a precious little girl isn't she.

"Act like a mom, Mom"

Ryan's mouth is still going . . .

A little background on things before I tell the story. Ryan has been a "big boy" at our house pretty much since Lauren arrived. He was no longer the baby, and he wanted everyone to acknowledge that. Seeing as though the "big boy" status is so important to him, he hates it when anyone calls him a baby. Unfortunately though, there are still days when he whines, cries, and just plain acts like a baby. During those rare (maybe not so rare) moments, I'll say, "quit acting like a baby." Regardless of what he is doing, his usual comeback is, "I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy" and then I'll comeback with, "well act like a big boy then." Our conversation usually ends after that and he gets over whatever is causing his issue and we get on with things. So there is the background for today's story.

So, the kids and I were down stairs playing today - Ryan and I were playing cars and Lauren was getting into whatever she could find - I seriously have to do some better baby proofing, she will crawl, grab, and pull everything in sight - nothing like her calm, cautious big brother was when he was a baby. Anyway, back to the story. So there we are playing our never ending game of cars - basically we raced around pretend roads, then parked in our pretend garages, fixed our cars, then did the whole thing over again about 100 times - needless to say, I was getting a little bored with it. So I decide we should do something else and Ryan has no time for it, he really wants to play cars still. I decide if I have to keep playing this little game, I'm going to spice things up a bit and make my car be super fast and do really cool flips in the air - none of this sounds remotely good to Ryan, but I just keep on (like any good mother would, right?). After a couple minutes of me not following Ryan's strict rules for the game, he grabs my car and holds up his hand at me and says, "Stop it and act like a mom, Mom." Really? So does this mean I'm a bad mom because my very own son is not pleased with my actions, or does it mean he is super lame and needs to loosen up a bit - you be the judge.

Either way, it was yet another new thing Ryan has picked up on and started using in his own vocabulary. I'm seriously going to have to start thinking hard about the things I say and what it could mean if Ryan starting using my own words against me - kind of scary.

Football, stollers and tats

As I mentioned in the previous post, the kids spent the weekend with my parents, and as usual, they had a great time. Friday night they just hung out around the house, playing outside until it was time for baths and bed. Saturday's big event was the Homecoming football game. The weather was perfect for a day at the football field so the kids got to play and run until they were both tired and ready for naps. Sunday was rainy so they had to come up with some fun indoor activities. Lauren took this as an opportunity to work on her "mothering skills" by learning how to push a baby stroller around. She apparently loved it. Ash took a couple of pictures to show her excitement.So that only leaves Ryan. What can you do with a three year old to keep him happy? Maybe play a board game, watch a movie, or even just have a simple conversation. Apparently none of that sounded good that morning so they went for something else - tattoos. Ryan, as we all know, loves tattoos and luckily we had packed up a sheet of them and sent them with him for the weekend so they had a variety to choose from. When they had finally decided on the perfect tat, it was time to figure out where to put it. Now, I know Ryan had a few tattoos on his arms and legs at the time, but there was still plenty of room to stick another one his shoulder or calf, but instead, Auntie and Grandma (although they both claim it was Ryan) decided to put the tat here . . .

. . . great, now Ryan has a tat just like Auntie - I'm so proud. The best part is that he is sooo excited about it and will you tell, "I have a tramp stamp just like my Auntie." Awe, isn't that precious! Do you think I should let him show it off on Thursday during "show and tell" at school?

Let's pretend we're rich!

Trav and I had another kid-free weekend - yes, we are very spoiled to have two sets of grandparents who love spending time with their grandchildren - thanks grandmas and grandpas, we really appreciate it and the kids love spending time with all of you. Back to the weekend . . . with the kids away, mama and papa got to play. Trav had gotten a gift card to Manny's (it is apparently one of the best steak houses in the US and a very expensive one) a couple of weeks ago so we decided Saturday night was the perfect night for "date night", and what better place to have a date than Manny's. We got to dress in "real"clothes for a night - no sweatpants or sweatshirts, I actually did my hair - this means washing, blow drying, and styling, and we got to drive in a quiet car all the way to a restaurant where we got to focus on each other instead of keeping the kids entertained - it was a sight to see! The place, which is known for their steak (obviously), had a great atmosphere (very adult) and good food, although Trav and I both decided we probably couldn't tell the difference between the "top of the line" steak we were eating, and a steak we bought at a local meat market - whatever, it was free and we were having a good time. Because the gift card was for $150, we made sure to use up every penny, even if that meant eating way too much (steaks, loaded mashed potatoes that could have feed at least 4 people, and a "brownie" the size of a cake covered with whipped cream, caramel, and hot fudge) and having that one extra beer that we didn't really need - so fun when it isn't your own money you are spending! After a couple of hours at the restaurant, we both managed to squeeze out of our chairs and head back home. We were home by 8:00pm - an early night, but a very fun one. Here is a picture I made Trav take with me so we would have a memory of our night living like the "rich folks" do.