Facebook

Thanks to Amanda and Alaina, I think I'm pretty "in the loop" regarding what's popular these days. I try to pay close attention to what they are into, which can be quite a task at times! Of course, they were both into Myspace for a long while. I would use Amanda's login to check up on what she was doing online and, while I was there, I would poke around on the Myspace pages of family and friends of mine. It was neat, but I was never tempted to create a page of my own. I just didn't feel like it was a good use of my time (not to say that I don't waste time on other things that are way more pointless, because I do!).

Then Facebook became popular. As soon as Amanda started high school, she sort of ditched Myspace in favor of Facebook. I've looked at her page when she's been logged on, but I never really took the time to explore what was out there. Until Saturday. This past Saturday night my sister wanted to show me some pictures on her Facebook page. Since I didn't have an account, I logged into Amanda's page. As I was poking around, my sister was telling me how EVERYBODY has a Facebook page and challenged me to look up some people I know. So I did. Imagine my surprise when a whole lot of people I know actually came up when I searched! However, with Facebook, you actually have to be someone's friend to see their information. It didn't take long for me to decide that I should start my own page!

In the past few days, I've been able to reconnect with several friends and some family that I haven't talked with in years. These are people that I've thought of, but I haven't known how to contact. So fun, but so addictive! I am really going to work hard to limit my Facebook time to a reasonable amount each day. The only real free time I have is when the kids are both napping and I really *should* be using that time to get important things done. Wish me luck!

A Glimpse Into My World

I just thought I'd offer a glimpse into my world this morning...for the sake of a laugh. I wrote my previous blog entry while sitting on the floor in the kitchen because Nicholas didn't have a diaper on (I was trying to get him to poop in the potty and want to keep potty activities off my carpet. I knew he needed to go and thought we'd have better luck without the diaper on). While I was writing, Nicholas strategically piled all of his cars into Newman's water bowl and then dumped the rest of his shredded wheat crumbs on the floor for Newman to eat. In the meantime, Avery blew out her diaper, and the mess not only covered her clothes, but also the seat cover on her swing. I put Nicholas' pants back on, changed Avery's diaper and went upstairs to clean the poo out of her clothes. While I was doing that, Nicholas finally pooped...in his diaper. Ahhh! Now that they are both asleep, I'm taking a much needed moment to myself to recover!

The Wonderful World Of Boys

I still consider myself pretty new to this raising-a-boy thing. I've always heard that the experience of parenting a boy is very different from parenting a girl. Boys are more rough and daring, they like things with wheels, yada, yada, yada. When I was pregnant, I received a book titled Bringing Up Boys. I never finished the book (though I still hope to some day!) but in the very first chapter, the author pointed out a truth about the difference between boys and girls that I still think and laugh about to this day. Here is what he said: If a girl thinks that there is a chance that she could get hurt doing something, she won't do it. On the other hand, if a boy believes that he stands any chance of not getting hurt doing something, he'll give it a try. I knew this was true as soon as I read it (Keith has a long history of hurting himself doing foolish things) and Nicholas hasn't disappointed!

Nicholas is constantly doing things that Keith and I just can't believe he's willing to try. From about 18 months, he's been pushing the ottamen into the middle of the family room and jumping off of it onto the couches (or whomever is sitting on the couch). When we took him to the pool this past summer, he didn't waste any time taking running leaps into the water. Most kids his age are scared to jump in and don't like going under...not my boy! He couldn't get enough. If fact, we'd try to stand in the pool to catch him when he'd jump off the side and Nicholas would intentionally dodge the person in the pool so that he could leap in without being caught! He took the tunnel that he got for Christmas and dragged it up the stairs and then tried to slide down the stairs in it. On Christmas Eve, he received a collapsible play tent from his Grandma B. Nicholas pushed it next to the chair in the family room, climbed up on to the arm of the chair and did a swan dive on to the top of the tent. Needless to say, his collapsible tent did just that--collapsed under his weight. Nicholas ended up doing a belly flop on the floor and knocked the wind out of himself. The crazy part is, after a long cry and realizing that he was okay, he headed back over to the chair to try it again! As we all sat there laughing (of course, not allowing him to do it again), I couldn't help but think that he's a boy and if there is any chance he can survive it, he'll try it again! I'm sure he was thinking that maybe if he approached the situation a little differently (maybe jumping a different way?), then the outcome would be different. How I'm going to survive the stress of raising this child, I have no idea!

Nicholas' latest "boy" thing isn't as daring as it is funny. He has always loved balls (in fact, that was the theme of his birthday party last summer)...footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, vending machine bouncy balls, etc. Well, the older boys across the street let a few of their basketballs bounce into our yard the other day and, when I went out to get the mail, Nicholas followed me and recovered the balls. He brought them into the house and carried them around with him all day...even to nap time. I made him leave the ball next to his bed at night and told him he could play with it outside in the morning. Sure enough, he woke up and the first thing I heard over the monitor is "my ball. outside." Yesterday he carried around a volleyball. All day. When we had to run some errands, I told him he could take a toy and he chose the volleyball. Then, last night after I got Avery in bed, I told him that he could lay on the couch with me and watch Planet Earth. He gathered up his cup of milk, his blankey and...the volleyball. So there we were, laying on the couch under a blanket, just Nicholas, me and the volleyball. I laughed out loud as I lay there thinking that I suppose this is what boys do. Instead of having a doll, Nicholas is toting around a ball. Maybe we could draw a face on it and give it a name like Tom Hanks did in Cast Away. I have to admit, I just don't get boys! Though, I can say without a doubt that I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine my life without my very special little man!

Random Odds And Ends

It seems like we've had a really busy few weeks since my last update, but when I think back about it I can't remember what all I've been busy doing. I know that my phone is a piece of crap and I've had to make several trips to Verizon to have it switched out. I know that we've had several doctor appointments. I know that having two sick babies made things more chaotic for a bit. Poor Avery was so unhappy for those few days while she was sick. I tried to get her 5 month picture, but she just wasn't into it. This was the best we could manage.

A few of our doctor appointments were to see the pediatric allergist. I've suspected for a long time that Nicholas has allergies and he seems to constantly have red, puffy eyes and a runny nose. They did some testing and we found out that he is allergic to oak, maple and box elder trees. He also tested positive for egg whites. You can imagine my joy at hearing that news, especially since the nurse that delivered the news told me that we'd have to put Nicholas on a special egg-free diet. Ugh! Eggs are in a TON of foods! Since he's never had any severe allergic reactions, I asked the nurse to consult with the doctor again on just how necessary a special diet was. Thankfully, his allergist said that we could just avoid anything with raw eggs and not feed him eggs as a meal (no problem since he won't eat a scrambled egg anyway!). We still have to follow-up with a tolerance test at some point. I guess to see just how much egg he can have before he starts having symptoms. I'm not sure exactly how this works...I picture them bringing him a plate of eggs and someone trying to make him eat them. This makes me laugh because I'm thinking who makes the eggs and where do they make them? I don't remember seeing a chef or a kitchen in the doctor's office, but in my mind, I picture someone coming into our exam room with a big white chef hat on their head and a silver platter of eggs. As the scene unfolds, I picture this person trying to make my 2 year old eat the eggs, which, I know he won't do. He hates eggs. This scenario has disaster written all over it! There must be another way that they do this! I guess we'll see.

Avery also recently started using her jump-a-roo and her exersaucer. She'll hang out in either one for about 10 minutes and then she's over it. It's so funny because Nicholas loved the jump-a-roo. I'd put him in it and he'd go wild! Avery just kind of sits there and plays with the little bead things. She's not into jumping a whole lot. My sweet little Avery Grace is still content to sit in her swing (which Nicholas didn't really like), watch what is going on around her and play with things that she can pass back and forth between her hands. She has very impressive dexterity for her age! She also likes to roll around on the floor. I really have to watch her now because, in the span of a few short minutes, she can roll all the way across the room!

The girls were off of school on Monday for MLK day. All day on Monday there was big talk about a snow storm that was supposed to hit Charlotte and the surrounding areas on Tuesday. The forecasters made it sound like a sure thing--the biggest snow fall in 5 years, they said! According to the weather experts, it was going to start snowing on Tuesday at midnight and snow all day until 5 pm. We were going to accumulate 2-4 inches, depending on where you lived. Of course, this is very exciting to the children, not only because it will be a day off school, but also because it means an opportunity to play in the snow! Since everyone seemed to be so sure about this snow storm, I told Nicholas all about how it was going to snow while he was sleeping and that we would play outside and make a snow man in the morning. Imagine our disappointment when we woke up to this...

School districts and business all over NC began announcing closures by Monday evening. I knew that CMS (Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools) would be cancelled, even when I woke up at 4:30 and it had still had not begun snowing. Sure enough, at about 5 am, I got a text message that school was called off. I took this picture at about 9:30 yesterday morning. By 11:00, the sun was out and by noon, the snow was all melted. No snow men or sledding for us! The lack of snow did mean that I was able to watch the inauguration, which was a treat. I forced Nicholas to let me take his picture just after Obama was sworn in.

That brings us to today. Today is a big day because Avery tried rice cereal for the first time! I think she really enjoyed her breakfast and had fun playing with her bowl and spoon afterward. She's such a big girl! I can't believe in just two short weeks she'll be six months old!!!! Oh, how time flies! Avery has also started smacking her lips (last pic). Eventually she'll let me get it on video.

One more exciting thing about today is that Lost is FINALLY back for its season premiere tonight. I'm so excited! It's such a good show but I do get so frustrated with it's schedule. It seems like they start the season in Jan. and then in March they're like "new episodes next year." Of course, this is a slight exaggeration but still, it annoys me. Lost is one of those shows that always leaves you hanging and I hate waiting so long between season. Oh well. For now I'll just focus on the joy of having the whole season ahead and all of the crazy, twisted story lines that are to come in the upcoming episodes. Yeah!

A Look Back At Hawaii...

Amanda and Alaina are with us for spring break again this year, so Keith and I have been thinking and talking about what we should do. As we discuss different possibilities, I can't help but think about our trip to Hawaii (O'ahu).

It was exactly 2 years ago that Keith and I were sitting on the couch thinking about where we wanted to take the kids for spring break. I don't remember how Hawaii came up, but it did, and I mostly remember thinking it was a longshot as far as vacation destionations went. Well, obviously, everything worked out for us to be able to make it happen! It was such a fantastic trip and I have so many wonderful memories of that time with my family. I think that is why I absolutely love Hawaii and why I can't wait to go back--but this time to the islands of Maui and Hawai'i. I just have this deep desire to spend more time there and to see more of the natural beauty for which the islands are famous.

Another trip to Hawaii definitely isn't in the cards for spring break this year (my goal is 2011!). I think that anyone who knows Nicholas knows that 9 hours on a plane with him at this age would be enough to make a person insane. And I have no desire to go any more crazy than I already am! We will probably take a trip out west somewhere. The girls have only been to the airport in Denver (where we stopped on our way to Hawaii) and there is a lot to see on that side of the country that will make for a nice vacation without going so far from home with 2 little ones.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our Hawaii vacation. Amanda was 13, Alaina was 10 and Nicholas was 9 months old.


At our hotel the day after we arrived

At the top of Diamondhead with Waikiki Beach in the background

Getting ready for our first trip to the beach

Hanama Bay

Hanama Bay to go snorkeling

Nicholas wearing his mommy made lei crown on our whale watching cruise

Easter morning

Easter morning before church on the beach

At the Dole Plantation

O'ahu's north shore

At the north shore

At Blowhole on the east side of O'ahu

Our day on Waikiki Beach

Welcome 2009!

As much as I'd hoped for things to settle down a bit, it has yet to happen! 2009 is off to a busy start. Nicholas was really fussy on Christmas Eve and Christmas day and I just KNEW it was the beginning of a virus. Well, mom was right! Last Sunday he was pretty sick all day and night. He's doing better now, but, of course, he's given it to Avery and now she's not feeling well. She's all congested, has a fever, and has a terrible cough. I feel so bad for them when they are sick. I wish I could take it away and make them all better!

We had a really nice visit with grandma. She flew in on Wednesday after work so we were able to ring in the new year together. As always, she spoiled all of us! Nicholas got lots of treats and a fancy new toy that makes lots of noise. Grandma and Nicholas played with toys and had a lot of fun spending time together. We even got grandma to play the Wii with us (she bowls a mean game and even beat Keith every time they played!). We all had a really nice time and were so sad to see her go!

Amanda and Alaina were with their mom for the second part of their time off school. They came home on Thursday evening and then left on Friday for a retreat with their youth group. They just got home this afternoon and are back to school tomorrow. Both girls are frantically trying to finish their homework right now. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Okay...off to tend to my poor little sickies!