Mikey's 5th Birthday!

Oh. My.Word. I don't know that more fun was had by a five year old anywhere in the land on his special day. We started out with Dunkin Donuts and unwrapping gifts. Lunch was Chuck-E-Cheese, with pizza & games. Then, after dinner, we sang the birthday song by candle light. 

In previous years, we kind of did everything all at once, but it sure was fun stretching out the festivities over the whole day!

And, as for the 5 year old in question, most of the day involved looks of disbelief between his father and I. When did our chubby monkey get so grown up? We knew this would happen, but it kind of snuck up on us! He is so smart, and (most of the time) very sweet and patient with his little brother. They play together (most of the time) very nicely, and he just crushes our souls with his overwhelming sweetness. We are so lucky to have our Mikey!

Can't believe we'll have a kindergartner on our hands in just a few short months!!

Christmas

Christmas was good. This year, I really tried to focus on keeping things SANE (in regards to gifts for the boys). The sheer amount of "stuff" the boys had accumulated since moving to SC was staggering. We trashed/donated SO much 2 years ago, and all of a sudden the play room was full of totes brimming with plastic that the boys rarely played with. They would dump everything all over the floor in pursuit of one specific item, find they no longer had any room to play in, and would move base to "fort kitchen table." Then, getting them to clean up the disaster they had left behind was excruciating (for them and me) and inevitably led to time outs, and any toy I had to clean up was stashed in a closet.

It had gotten to the point that there were more toys hiding in closets then residing in the playroom. And I noticed something. The less crap that lived in the playroom, the happier the boys were to play with what was available, for longer. Go figure. The new plan is to tear through all the toys in hiding with great discrimination, and donate the bulk of it. Knowing we wanted to do that, we made sure to let inquiring relatives know that we were keeping it simple this Christmas. For the most part, it went very well! The boys got three things each from Santa (something to read, something to wear and something to play with), and then a handful of toys/books/puzzles from extended family.

Next year, I'm going to make it a point to do  more handmade gift giving (instead of the last minute amazon dash I pulled this year).

Besides all that, this year was special because Aunt Sarah brought home her special fella, and we all got to spend Christmas morning opening gifts and eating a ridiculous breakfast together. It was lovely.

And some of the awesomeness we scored for Christmas!

On the 1st Day of Christmas...

Hey Party People! I'm alive! Really!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus, but I've been really busy wallowing in the misery of first trimester crapiness. It just doesn't leave a lot of room for the other things in my life. Fortunately for my audience, I'm 10 weeks along, and supposedly this non-stop dull queasiness will ease up here shortly. In my defense, I went back through the archives of this blog, and not in one place did I utter a complaint about "morning" sickness... or nausea for that matter. I've read that the likely cause of the problem this time around is the sharp increase in estrogen from the second set of girl parts in my uterus. I'm pretty sure that is based in science, and not old wives tales, lol. Interestingly enough, the other authorities on the gender subject (babyman.net and the Chinese gender calendar) both proclaim that I'm having a girl as well. I suppose I shall know definitively in around 2 months.

But anyway - back to the story. Yesterday was the first day of December, and we celebrated by decking the halls, the walls, the counters, and of course, the rain gutters. We also allowed the boys to gallop around wildly outdoors for the majority of their day, which I believe contributed to their passing out upon their heads hitting the pillows lastnight, as well as them sleeping in past 7am this morning. Love!

Here are a few shots from our day yesterday!

Hello!

So far, so good. Another ultrasound scheduled for the 27th. Mostly this little one is giving me nausea I don't remember having with M and J, and I'm fairly exhausted, but other than that I'm doing great! 

The Playground...

It is weird how things happen. J and I have often discussed our desire to to get a play ground for the boys. Not a rinky-dink toddler playground in plastic, but a sturdy piece of outdoor furniture that the boys could get lost in for hours. But, seriously, these things are EXPENSIVE. They sell them at Costco, which seems to be the best place to get anything of this nature, and even THOSE were crazy expensive. Lately, G-Ma & Papa have been batting around the idea of a playground for the kids... but again... so much MONIES! 

And then randomly, out of nowhere, a lovely couple that live across the street from Ma & Pa stopped by and asked if we might be interested in the playground their daughter had outgrown. We hopped on the offer quickly (though not quickly enough for Mikey's taste). It took the better part of a Sunday to get this thing pulled apart and moved from their yard to our yard. In the process, quite a few boards were... dislocated, lol. A few boards were even broken. This baby needs a little TLC in the form of some pressure washing and a chemical hose down, and some boards being nailed back in place, but hopefully by this weekend we will have a fully functioning playground with swings, a slide, a sandbox and an awesome fort complete with it's own canopy. 

Please excuse my disheveled forest. Ahem.

And AMEN for awesome neighbors.

(and for now, try to imagine the finished product - I'll update with pictures when it is all done!)

PS - I'm going to try and embed more music here. I have been listening to this non-stop:

Last Week

{J brought me a pretty Gardenia Bloom. It stunk up my kitchen beautifully!}

 {Lately we've had the sliding glass door open, along with as many windows as possible, and little Fitz sure does appreciate the sensory overload}

 {It has been chilly in the mornings, and we've had cause to break out the footie PJ's!}

 {Elephant Ears}

 {Trying to appreciate the pretty leaves before they end up as mulch}

 {It trips me out to see how large these Elephant Ears are next to my boys - I can't imagine how large they will grow next year!}

 {The wilderness on the left side of our house. If I was a little, I would probably want to spend hours out here every day - it is like or own enchanted forest. The entire perimeter of our property looks this way, but I rarely get to this side of the house for some reason}

{The next door neighbor boy "B" showing off the fruits of his father's latest hunt. The boys seriously think this boy is THE end all be all, and hang on every word of his 8 year old wisdom}

And finally...

{Estimated due date of June 30th, 2014. Hold your breath...}