Sweet Child O'Mine

Wordless Wednesday!!

2013-01-30T12:25:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Photo Shoot

2013-01-29T19:21:00.002-05:00

The hubs and I recently took the kids to Melbourne, Fl while we were staying in Orlando for a few days. We headed to a local park and had a wonderful friend/photographer take some pictures for Valentine's Day. This is the 2nd time she has taken our pictures, if you got our Christmas card the family picture was taken by her a few months ago. She and her family created this beautiful Kissing Booth and decorated it beautifully for her Valentine's Mini sessions. She was gracious enough to fit us in during a day not scheduled for her mini sessions.
The day wasn't the best of days and it was a bit windy and chilly, but she got some great shots of my boy by themselves and together. Here are a few from the shoot.

Pictures Taken by: Nicole Cangiano
Website: http://nicolecangiano.com/

Its been awhile..

2013-01-27T15:29:00.001-05:00

Well its sure seems to have been quite awhile since I last wrote on here. I don't have too much time by myself with two boys running around and always wanting something or just wanting attention. When I have had a few minutes I've been filling my crochet hat orders. I have an influx over the holidays and it has begone to slow down now.

If you haven't ever visited the Etsy page for the shop please do. You can click the mini etsy shop badge on the left side of the blog or visit this link www.etsy.com/shop/stitchinginlaws

Right now we are getting ready to celebrate Kalen's THIRD birthday! I really cannot believe he will be three next month. We are keeping his party small by inviting family and a few friends. Even with that it should still be a decent size. With that said I better get back to preparing for his birthday party.

I promise I will be back soon with another post!!

Our Elf on The Shelf

2012-12-05T15:05:00.001-05:00

Kalen and Lucas finally got to meet Our Elf. He has been patiently waiting for about two years to come visit. I wanted to wait till at least Kalen would understand him and actually look for him each day. He showed up a few days before Thanksgiving, because he knew we wouldn't be home. Clever little Elf. He showed up during nap time and brought with him marshmallows and a box of rice krispies so we could make Rice Krispy treats. Kalen was way more interested in the marshmallows at the time.
After we made Rice Krispies we sat down and read the book that came with the Elf. He still didn't exactly understand that the Elf would leave at night to go see Santa. I think he kinda understands now. We also watched the movie, The Elf on the Shelf, an Elf's story. He loved the movie.
Our next task was to get our Elf a name. This took a few days. I thought for sure his name would be, Frank. He calls a lot of things Frank right now. Surprisingly that wasn't his name. The hubs and I would point to the Elf at random times and ask who it was. Kalen started responding with Santa. We think he was slightly confused because we keep telling him that he goes and sees Santa. So one day when The hubs came home from work Kalen told us it was , Chris King. We have no idea where he got this from and we thought it was funny he gave him a last name. We think he was maybe trying to say Chris Kringle. So we went with Chris although he still calls him Santa also.
He loves Chris and freaks out when he finds him. Lucas actually found him first one morning and was screaming at him.
Since we can't touch him he has mostly come back to pretty high places. I don't want to tempt the kids to play with him since he does look like a toy (A slightly freaky looking toy). The one day he was in arms length Kalen would run up to Lucas and tell him "No touch, Wiscus!"

Here are some pictures of where Chris/Santa has been so far

Waiting for the Boys to get up!!

Kalen found him, trying to get all the marshmallows without touching the Elf

Hanging upside down on the garland. This was the day Lucas spotted him

Chris hanging with the Snowman

Chris hanging out with some wedding pictures

Pretending to be an ornament

Sitting on top of the entertainment center

Monday morning he dyed our Milk green!!! Crazy little Elf. I told him to keep his shenanigans to a minimum since he has to keep this gig for a while, he doesn't want to run out of them.

Silly Chris.. dying our Milk Green!!!

When Kalen asked for Milk Monday morning I opened the fridge and he saw Chris attached to the Milk. He first told me he was stuck. Chris only used two tiny drops of Milk so our Milk isn't super green and you can't really notice till you get it out of the fridge. Kalen was laughing and dancing. He was so shocked Chris dyed our milk green. When I went to pour the milk in the boys cups, he told me "Careful, No touch." Such a cutie. He was also telling Lucas that the Elf was silly and so funny!! He has been back multiple times to the fridge to check on Chris.

Thanksgiving Week

2012-11-26T17:06:00.002-05:00

We sure had a busy couple of days!! We had a lot of fun though. Our original plans for Thanksgiving were going to be just staying at our house and having a small dinner. However the Hubs found out he also got off Wednesday so we decided to go to Orlando and spend the holiday with his family.
We left after he got off work Tuesday and had plans to get up early Wednesday get breakfast with my "biggie" (sorority big sister) and then head to Islands of Adventure.
Wednesday morning we had breakfast at the slowest Denny's on the planet, seriously I could not even imagine if they had more than 4 full tables. After we were all full we headed over to Islands of Adventure, this was a pretty exciting trip because Kalen was actually Tall enough to ride the bigger kid coasters. As soon as we got in we headed towards the Harry Potter part of the theme park and Kalen & I got in line for the Hippogriff Roller Coaster. Our wait wasn't to bad and he did great in line. Of course he collected a few leaves while we waited, and they made it all the way through the ride as well. He has a new fascination with leaves that started at The Gator Game. We got to the front of the line and climbed in to a cart. The only thing that stinks about these rides is the fact there is one bar. So the bar stops as soon as it hits my legs, leaving Kalen free to fly right out. So I just turned and placed my leg over his and pulled him close. I really had no idea how he would feel about the roller coaster, being that he has no control of his body which was moving around. I had a pretty tight grip on him the whole time so he didn't move much. I yelled "weeeee" the whole time so he would understand that roller coasters are not "scary" they are "fun." I put those in quotes cause I know riding a roller coaster is not fun for everyone. He yelled "weeee" the whole time too, but I'm still not quite sure how he feels about them.

Waiting in line

Heading to the top!!

After the ride we headed over to the Butterbeer cart and got a few and camped out in front of Honey Dukes, which is the candy shop in HP world. We always get butterbeers and I fill up a candy bag full of Lemon drops and other yummy treats. So while we were slurping down our drinks Kalen was watching the Chocolate Frog open and close in the window and he thought the Froggie was hilarious so we got him one of his own.

Nom Nom Nom

Daddy getting some Chocolate Frog!!

He was making him Ribbit

We rode a few rides in Dr. Suess land and then headed home. The nice thing about passes is we can go for a few hours and leave!!

Riding the Caro-Seuss-el

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving and the boys were going full blast at 9am. They never left the porch all day!! They had so much fun playing with their aunts, uncles, and cousins. I really have no idea how they made it. They did get a tad cranky around 6, but nothing a bowl of icecream wouldn't fix! haha I only got a few pictures of them because they were pretty much blurs all day. Daddy also sent Kalen and his cousin Blase on a flight while they were in Cozy coupes.

Flying!!!

Here is a video of what was happening!

Anytime the cars would touch the ground they both would start yelling "Fly!!!"

After dinner Mike's parents set up a few "Minute to Win It" Games and we got into couples and hashed it out. We ended up tieing with Mike's Sister and her husband, but neither of us wanted to compete again so we ended in a tie. The Games were so much fun and Kalen and his cousin Blase got in on a couple of games and I have a video of them shaking ping pong balls out of a tissue box!! They were too cute.

We ended up heading home after we did a little black Friday shopping so we could still have a little weekend!!

Kalen at the Swamp

2012-11-18T00:13:00.001-05:00

My mom who came up for the weekend also gave up her ticket to the Gator game. So the hubs and I decided we would bring Kalen. The weather was suppose to be in the high 60s and it was the last home game of the season. We figured the weather would be perfect for him because every other game this season was hot, seriously I left every game a hot sweaty mess!! I went in with not so big expectations. I was sure we would be leaving early and really had no idea what he would do being confined to a seat for a few hours. He did great and he loved every minute of the day. He had been to a game previously but he was only about 6 months old and slept through most of it. So this was a whole new experience for him.
For the past couple of days I have been asking him if he wanted to go see the Gators play. He always said yes and would add "Alligators play, football play." Last night (Friday) when we put him to bed I said we would go see the gators play tomorrow (Saturday). When he woke up this morning he told me "Mommy Alligators play, Football." While my mom got him changed from the night I went to go finish getting ready. In the time I left his room and went into mine, he freaked out. He thought I had left him. :( We left the house around 9:15, made a stop at Dunkin Donuts to get some coffees and donuts and then headed to Gainesville. We got in around 10:30 parked and started walking to the stadium.

Excited little mister!! Going to see the Gators Play

Getting carried by daddy

On our way he found some piles of leaves and had to pick one out, not a problem until he dropped it and we had to double back to get to it. The leaf made it all the way home along with one we picked up on the way back to the car. Our first stop before the game was the Albert and Alberta statue outside the Alumni center. He was so cute getting his picture taken!

Kalen with the Statue (yes that is the leaf in his hand)

We headed over to the Booster tailgate which was inside the O Dome. Kalen filled up on lots of junk food, a souvenir cup of popcorn, chips, cookies, and lemonade. He was in heaven. While we were waiting, the volleyball players started practicing, so we went and watched them for awhile. We figured we would try and stay here as long as possible since he wasn't getting bored. Once we left we met some friends outside the stadium and chatted for a little bit. We had to wait on my hubs friend to get there with his ticket, since Kalen was using my moms. Mike left to go get his ticket and Kalen and I headed in.
He was in complete awe when we walked in. He pointed out every alligator he saw. Needless to say he said alligator a lot. (He also pointed out all the Alligator cars on the way in, which is any car with a Gator sticker on it). We got to our seats and he sat right next to me and was just looking around taking everything in. We watched all the seniors come out and he clapped for them, it was pretty cute. Then he got to experience some cheers, yes we do these at home during the games but its much more exciting at the game. He loved when each side of the stadium yelled the teams colors. The Student section yells Orange then our side yells Blue. He ended up yelling Blue long after the cheer was over. He also yelled 'Go Gators' a lot. We said the Pledge and sang the National Anthem and even got a Flyover, Kalen loves planes so his eyes lit up when they flew over, the Jets got lots of "Wows". It was then time for the players to run out of the tunnel. On the Jumbo tron you start watching Gators in their swamps swimming around, which led to "Mommy, alligators". Then all the players came running out. "Wow, mommy look". I walked him down to the wall so he could see the players warm up and say their prayers in the end zone. He was just completely amazed. It was so neat to see what I've been watching for 20ish years through his eyes. Everything was about the coolest thing he had ever seen. Just seeing the field was so neat, the flags, the band, he just loved everything. He watched and cheered through most of the first quarter and then he pulled out his leap pad (I packed it along with a phone for movies, I wanted to be prepared if he became disinterested in the game). He played on it for a little while and then we got him some cotton candy. The cotton candy kept his interest for quite awhile, all the way through halftime.

Luckily we had some extra seats in our row, so Michael got to sit with us. At the beginning of the second quarter Albert started making his way toward our section so I took him down to the wall and he got to meet Albert!! He loved him!

Albert

Kalen with Albert

He came back and sat in his seat and began playing with our tickets and I had tickets from previous games so he was making it rain tickets while staying in his seat area. We decided to change his scenery and we headed over to the student section where Mike's friend was. At the end of the game the Players gather near the student section and sometimes jump on the wall with the students. We thought Kalen would like to see that.
On our way over we stopped to get a picture with a giant Gator head.

Kalen looks so small (the remaining cotton candy is in his hand)

Kalen got a lot more room over here so he was moving up and down the row in front of us.

Sitting.. for a moment

We moved a few rows down at the end of the game hoping to see a few players up close. After the players sang the fight song they started walking down by the students and giving everyone high fives. A student moved out of the way and let Kalen get on the wall and he leaned over and got to High five Jon Bostic (who got a pick 6 in the game) I tried to get a picture when he was walking over but if I let go of Kalen he would have fell right onto Bostic because he was leaning so far over. I thought it was pretty neat, he just knew he high fived a Gator. He then saw Alberta so we waited for her to walk down. A cop actually asked if we were waiting for her and then went down and got her. He was excited.

Kalen and Alberta

This little mister had a blast. I never thought we would make it through the whole game. They end up being 3-3 1/2 hours long, I mean keeping a toddler engaged in anything that long is hard let alone when he only has a seat cushion of space during the span of time. He never once cried, had a meltdown, or asked to go. He was the happiest kid all day, and we were gone for over 9 hours. I was beyond shocked. I also never expected him to sit and watch the whole game, which was why mommy came prepared with a phone, leap pad and some snacks. He only played with the leap pad for about 10 mins. He imagination did come out big time, the tickets he was playing with became monsters at one point. When we moved over to the student section his sippy cup became a rocket that was blasting off , flying around, crashing, and landing. He ended up watching a decent amount of the game too, with lots of cheering.

We left the game and Kalen gave a few Go Gator cheers on the way out. We got to the car and he did not even last 5 mins, he passsed out!

Passed out with socks on his hands

He slept for about an hour and as soon as we got home he blasted off. I seriously have no idea where the energy came from. Maybe he stored up the sugar from the cotton candy and released it when we got home. But from the time we got home till bed time he was going full speed.

I leave you with his jammies...

His "alligators jersey"

Whether or not he remembers his "first" game I know I will. I seriously had a blast with him today and I know Michael did too. Can't wait to take him to more games.

Date Night with the Hubs

2012-11-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

Well its been quite awhile since I last posted! Sorry.. we have been doing lots. Blogging has been the last thing on my mind, both my boys are super active and always on the go no matter what is happening. We went to Mickeys Not So Scary in Sept, The Pumpkin patch in the beginning of Oct, went Trick or Treating on Halloween, and went to a Fall Farm Festival. Hopefully in the next couple of days I can get some posts up with pictures of everything we've been doing.

This weekend my mom came down and watched both boys Friday night so the Hubs and I could go on a date night. Woo hoo we don't get out alone often. We went to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 2 and loved it, they did a pretty decent job with the last movie and although its been awhile since I've watched all the movies this one might be my favorite of them all. We did have a man sitting behind us that was sleeping during the previews..well about a 2/3 of the way through he started giving side comments which were hilarious (we figured that maybe that's when he woke up). We were laughing at everything he said. I wanted to ask him for his number so whenever we go see movies we can bring him along.
The second part of our date was to go out to dinner. We could not figure out where to go at all. We must of sat in the parking lot for 10 mins trying to figure out where to eat. We wanted to go some place that we wouldn't normally take the kids, to make it special. We ended up at Longhorn, The hubs had actually never eaten there and I hadn't eaten there since sometime in high school. Well both our steaks were Ahhmazing. We haven't had really good steaks when eating out in awhile, so it was super nice. We both laughed in the middle of dinner cause we actually got to talk to each other. Usually one of us is trying to stop Lucas from throwing food on the floor, and Kalen from crawling under the table, stop him from taking off the top of his cup so he can get to the ice.
Our next stop was Target. I mean really who goes to Target on a date night, we do!! Going to Target kid less is awesome. I managed to browse through the clothing section and the shoes. We actually walked out with nothing, which I am pretty sure is a first for us.
We ended our date at a frozen yogurt shop, Mochi. Which I love and could probably eat everyday. We had a nice night together. Its nice to go do things without the kids every once in awhile.

Saturday we took Kalen to a Gator Football game.. which I will write about next!

My Two and a half year old got harassed

2012-09-04T12:56:00.002-04:00

Today was going to be a normal run errands kind of day. Lucas had a 15 month Dr visit and then we would go to the craft store. Our day was moving along nicely, we finished Lucas' checkup and then headed to our first craft store. They were out of what I needed so I thought I would try the Joann's down the street. As I am getting out of the car and open Kalen's door to get him out a man starts yelling at me across the parking lot. I ignore him and finish getting the kids out of the car. I walk over to the cart return and put the boys in a cart. The man is still yelling at me. He is yelling as loud as he can that 'The Gators suck'. I have never been a sports fan that says or does Rude things to other teams fans. I am sure there has been the occasional brag or taunting, but it has only been done to people I know and its never Rude. So I continue to ignore this Rude man.

As I continue to walk into the store I hear "Hey lady with the Gator tag and blue car, the Gators Suck." He repeats this phrase a few times and I have yet to acknowledge him or glance in his direction.

We finally make it inside, and I am shocked that this man continued to yell at me through the parking lot. I have two kids with me and the guy can see that. So I have no idea why he felt the need to keep yelling at me.

As I am pushing the cart the man has gotten out of his car and followed me into the Joann's. This man has clearly lost his mind. He pushes my shoulder and continues to yell "The Gators Suck" at me. I am just pushing my cart along and trying to get away from him. He then tells me to look at his shirt, and starts saying "Roll Tide, Roll Tide, Baby." Of course this man is an Alabama fan, this is not the first time I have encountered a Rude Alabama fan. I know every team has fans that are rude and generally do not fit the overall Fandom of that team, but I have encountered quite a few rude Alabama fans.

Since I have been ignoring him he decided to yell at Kalen, "Your Mommy picked a crappy team to root for, you're gonna grow up liking a Sucky team, the Gators Suck." Luckily Kalen was more interested in pushing our cart than paying any attention to this man. I was so pissed he started talking to Kalen.

Usually when I encounter a rude person I always walk away thinking I should have said something. And later I think of ten different things I could have said. So I was actually shocked I said something. I got Kalen's attention and said loudly enough so the man could hear, "That's what White Trash looks like." The man clearly heard me and turned around to give me a dirty look.

Was this my best Mommy moment, No. Do I regret saying what I said, No. I am sure there was a better thing to say to him. But I doubt he would have listened or done anything different. I am sure this wasn't his first time harassing a fan of a different team. My Mom said I should have just yelled "Rape" over and over again in the store. This probably would have been pretty funny and really got the mans attention. But who knows what other choice words he would have yelled at me or my kids.

I can just hope that I raise Kalen to be a good sport about his team, have pride in the team he likes but, never be rude to another teams fans, or be Rude period to anyone. That he would have an understanding that everyone likes different teams, I mean it would be pretty boring if everyone liked the same team.

This man could have just said, "Roll Tide" in the parking lot and left it alone. He didn't need to repeatedly yell Sucks with my kids around. He definitely did not need to even talk to my kids. He clearly lacked any common sense if he thought it was at all appropriate to yell like that to someone, let alone a woman with two young kids with her.

Picture Coasters

2012-07-21T12:28:00.001-04:00

I made two sets of picture coasters as Christmas gifts last year. I never posted pictures of them when I made them since they were gifts. But, since people say its "Christmas in July" I felt it would be appropriate to post them now.
They are pretty easy to make and my mom and dad loved them!

Materials:
White tissue paper
Mod Podge
Paint brush- I used the foam brushes
Blank tile coasters- I bought two packages of the travertine tiles from Home Depot, I believe there were 6 in each although there could have been more. They only cost a few dollars for a package
Clear acrylic sealer- comes in a spray paint can
Felt feet- I bought the sticker kind, easy to put on. So they don't scratch whatever surface you place them on

You also need a printer and tape.

Start out by picking out a picture per coaster. I picked two of each boy, since I was making a set of four.
Once you have your pictures picked out you need to print them on the tissue paper.
To do this tape a piece of your tissue paper to a piece of printer paper. Then print the picture as usual. I printed mine in black and white and loved how they turned out.
Once you have your pictures, lay out the tissue paper over the tile (I trimmed the excess picture off to make it fit over the tile.) Some tiles are really porous and the tissue paper will rip so I would choose a less porous tile out of the bunch.
Using the foam brush Mod Podge the the tissue to the tile. Use two/three coats letting each coat dry before applying the next.
Once you have applied the ModPodge spray the acrylic sealer on top to protect the coaster. I used three coats to be on the safe side. Let dry. I let them dry on our porch over night.
I added four felt feet to the bottom of each coaster (one in each corner).

They should now be ready to use or gift! Enjoy

Kalen's 1st Bday Picture

Lucas at Christmas

Lucas about 2 weeks old

Kalen at the Fall Festival

JELL-O Cookies

2012-07-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

I saw these Jell-O Cookies on pinterest and decided to make them to take with us on the Fourth of July. Here is the original site that I followed. I put Lucas in for his nap and Kalen and I had Mommy son time making and playing with our Jell-O cookies. Since we were making these cookies to take and share Kalen got a separate batch to play with before we baked them. He really enjoyed making the cookies with Mommy. I will post the recipe at the bottom after pictures. I am sure these will become a favorite to make in our house since there are so many flavors to try out.
The cookies turned out great, I didn't really know what to expect. They were definitely different, but good. It's crazy because the cookies taste fruity from the Jello and I think you just expect a suagr cookie taste. I used Berry Blue, Lemon, Cherry, and Cherry Lemonade Jell-O.

Mixing the Flour and Baking Powder

Dumping the sugar in

~~Kneading~~ playing with the dough

So Proud

Testing his creation

Lucas approves

Our Red, White, and Blue Jell-O cookies (Cherry, Lemon, and Berry Blue Jell-0 flavors)

Ingredients

*3.5 Cups of Flour

*1 tsp Baking Powder

*1.5 cups salted butter-softened

*1 cup sugar

*1 egg

*1 tsp Vanilla

* 4 pkgs of Jell-O (you pick your flavors)

Directions

Beat butter in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Divide dough into 4 sections. Sprinkle 2 Tb of jello onto each section. Knead together with dough. You can add food coloring to make the colors bolder.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the extra jello from the packets. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of bowl.
Bake 8 to 10 min at 350 on lined baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets 2 min. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies. I had more because my cookie balls were not the same size.

July 4th Fun

2012-07-09T21:35:00.001-04:00

My favorite Holiday has come and gone! I absolutely love everything about the 4th, celebrating America, hanging with family, eating BBQ, being outside, and the best part the Fireworks. This year we headed up to Jacksonville and then headed down to the St. Augustine area and headed to my Step dads sisters rental on Vilano Beach.
We spent all day outside either at the beach or at the pool. Neither of the boys have been to the beach so I was really excited to see how they reacted to everything. Both boys immediately ran for the Ocean. We tried to tell Kalen to slow down and wait for us but he was clearly way too excited and a wave tackled him right when he made it to the water and as soon as he stood back up another one got him. Kalen didn't really enjoy that what so ever, so he took himself back up to the tent and was content on digging in the sand for a while. Lucas however is a fish and stayed out in the ocean with Daddy for ever. He was hanging out on a boogie board and wiggling around in the Ocean. After all the kids were done with the beach we spent the rest of the day in the pool.
Our night was caped off with a trip to the Vilano Beach Pier to watch the St. Augustine Fireworks.

Lucas heading to the water

Lucas with Daddy and Uncle Nole

Digging

Bubble break

"Yes" He was excited for the fireworks

Watching the Fireworks

Lucas loved the Fireworks, he kept saying "Wow"

Long day!! He barely made it off the pier

Sweet Reads

2012-06-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Reading for fun!! Never in my life did I ever think I would read for fun. You can ask my mom, I am sure she is just as shocked. In high school I hated reading. I would do everything I could to not read a book. I do not think I read one book I was required to, Cliff notes and the Internet were my friend, when I was having a test or doing a homework assignment on a book. I probably spent more time trying to figure out books than if I actually read the book. I mean homework was to only read a couple chapters a night. Seriously I couldn't even do that. I hated to Read. So much so that when I started taking AP classes in HS I refused to go into AP English.
I met my Hubby my freshman year of college and he loved reading. His favorite is the Harry Potter series. He was always trying to get me to read. But I just didn't think I would like it much less enjoy it. Fast forward through college and into our first year of Marriage about 5 1/2 years. I still was not reading, I read my textbooks in school but that was the extent of my reading. Finally I decided to give HP a try. The hubs was always saying it won't disappoint. I had seen all but the last 3 movies (since the last book was two movies). So I pretty much knew the story line just not all the details that the movies left out. So J.K. Rowling with her brilliant writing and my husbands persistence finally got me reading and I haven't stopped. I think deep down he regrets convincing me to read because I often keep him up at night with my light so I can read. I quickly read through all 7 HP books, with the last two being my favs simply because I had no idea what was going to happen, since the movies were not out yet.
After HP I quickly read through the Twilight series. I read books here and there for the next couple of years. I was part of two book clubs, yes me the girl who use to hate to read. So I was reading whatever was the book of the month. Then the hubs got a Kindle for Xmas. Needless to say this is the best invention ever. I quickly stole his and read The Hunger Games, some random books I would get for free, and the Fifty Shades series. Then the hubs bought me my own Kindle for Mother's Day so he could have his back. I hardly put it down!! The library and amazon free books are my fav. I have gotten so many books from there and I have yet to purchase a book for my kindle yet and it is stocked full of reads a lot of recent releases too. I recently got Sophia Kinsella's new book, I've got Your Number, and I loved it.

I pretty much will read anything. I love young adult books (teen books too), I have read all of Emily Giffin's books, Madeliene Wickhams (aka Sophie Kinsella), and most of Kristin Hannah. I began the Maze Runner Series, but it hasn't grasped my full attention and I haven't started the second yet. I'm reading a series about Vampires right now and I have a dystopian series waiting. I have seriously read more books in the last 6 months than I have in my entire life!! I think I am up to 15 since the year began.

If you have read any good books lately let me know! I am always looking for something new and exciting to read.

Father's Day Fun

2012-06-18T09:14:00.001-04:00

We had lots of fun celebrating Daddy this weekend. He had more of a weekend celebration than just a Sunday celebration. But shouldn't we celebrate mommy and daddy all the time! Ha. The hubs is such a good daddy!! The boys and I love him so much and we couldn't have asked for anyone better!! He was celebrating his 3rd Father's Day! Four years ago I actually told him he was going to be a Father soon on Father's Day, which was also landed on our First anniversary.
The family started off the fun with some fun outdoor time. The kids played outside, we set up the bubble machine and then eventually the water sprinkler ball got turned on because everyone was a hot sweaty mess. The boys love anything to do with water, and would probably play in some sort of water all day if allowed.

Some pictures from our outdoor fun

Bubbles!!!

Chasing the Bubbles everywhere

Big Bro taking Lucas for a ride

So Happy!!

We usually do dinner the night before to beat the huge rush of people. Having two kids wait for a super long time to get to a table and then expect them to sit nicely for the whole dinner is just not ideal. So we celebrate early for the kids sake and our sanity. So we headed out to the hubs pick of the night BoneFish.

Lucas enjoying the chopsticks

Daddy and Kalen, he loved the bread
Sorry for the quality, forgot the camera, so we used the phone

Sunday I woke up with the kids got there breakfast going and then Kalen carried Daddy's gift to him. The Hubs wanted fractional weights, so that's what he got. Ha ha. He wanted Dunkin Donuts coffee and a bagel for breakfast. So off I went to make the hubs happy. After we ate we headed back outside for some more water time fun. The hubs has wanted a super soaker for awhile, so his wish was my command on Father's Day. So he became a kid again while we were outside.

Kalen flailing himself in the pool

Daddy attacking the Kids

He is having so much fun

Helping Lucas shot his bro

Kalen figuring out the water gun

Of course we added the slide for more FUN!!

To finish off the day we had a little cookout and I made the Hubs a Chocolate cake with Peanut Butter Icing. I could have just eaten the icing as if it was a dessert in its self.

Helping clean the utensils

Everyone gets some PB icing

Finished Cake

I will be uploading a lot more pictures on my facebook page!!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Party!!

2012-06-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

I pretty much knew not long after Lucas was born that his first birthday party would be The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. Even though I knew this I still pretty much waited till the last minute to plan his party! I love just love the book and so do the boys. I had big plans, but big plans require lots of money. So I did most everything myself, bringing out my inner sorority crafting skills. I love to craft and get my creative juices flowing, so this party was a lot of fun for me. I perused the Internet especially pinterest to get some ideas.
The first thing I wanted to make were little goody bags for the guests. I order super cute Hungry Caterpillar fabric. As soon as it came in I started on the first one. However I quickly got frustrated and the bags never got finished. I made one and it took forever. I am okay with a sewing machine, but I think I could be a lot better if I took a class and actually learned about sewing instead of just reading the manual. The bag looked fine and I will use it, but I like my crafts to be worthy of giving to someone else not like I tried to make it is a quick as possible. So I decided I would just skip the bags. Maybe another party down the road.
I moved on to ordering Lucas' pictures from his first year and made his picture hangings which can be seen here. This is my absolute favorite thing to make I just love looking back on the pictures. I saw it in a Martha Stewart magazine a few years back, before I Kalen even turned one and I knew I would be making these every year.
Next I wanted to make a pretty big Caterpillar to hang over the food table. I saw a bunch made out of balloons but they weren't all that appealing to me so I decided to use Chinese lanterns and then cut out the different features of the Caterpillar. I loved how it turned out and it was super easy!

I also made another Caterpillar out of Tissue paper pom-poms and hung those up by the front door.

I have been looking through the Internet for some time before the party and I came across a blog that had a free printable of all the days and what the caterpillar ate. I saved the image to my computer and now I cannot find the blog to give her the credit! I'm so sorry. So I printed them out and glued them to card stock for a little extra excitement. For the Mon-Fri days I attached them to jars with the food inside. For Everything he ate on Saturday I just taped those up in the guest bathroom, for everyone to read while washing their hands.

Caterpillar Growing into a Butterfly. I love the fat one!! haha

I make the kids Birthday Banners every year and hand them on the entertainment center. Lucas' was fun to make since I got to make "Happy" into caterpillar.

Just a few other small details. I wrapped the silverware with a little caterpillar wrap and I bought some cute cardboard straws for everyone to enjoy their drinks with.

Straws from Making Memories Fun

Wraps from Soiree Chic Shop

On the front door hung Lucas' Birthday Wreath. Which is still there because I have yet to make a summer one.

Last but not least his yummy birthday cake. I had the bakery that made our wedding cake make Lucas' Bday cake! The Bakery use to be called Sheila's but they changed it to Dessert First . They made him a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and delicious butter cream!!

Smash Cake

Lucas in his bday shirt from Munsker & Roo and his bday shades from my friend Ashley.

Enjoying his smash cake!! Yummy

Adorable Invite created by Park Side Prints. Kelly Myers was great, she helps in any way possible

Lucas Is the Big ONE

2012-06-05T15:12:00.000-04:00

So clearly I have been in La-la land!! Lucas turned one about a week a half ago,on May 24. Just like every other parent out there you wonder where in the heck the year went. You could have sworn you just brought your bundle of joy home a few weeks ago. Now the little mister is walking and trying to make words with the sounds he can get out. As I looked back on this past year I thought about how similar Lucas is to Kalen and then how completely different he is.
For every birthday I print out pictures from the past year and arrange them in a number, for how ever old they are turning. I love doing this and I'm sure one day the boys will be utterly embarrassed about it, but I don't care. Its so fun to look back and see how much they have changed. Obviously they change so much in the first year. Lucas was completely dependent on his mom and dad. He could really only squirm around and his only way to communicate was to cry. Luckily Lucas was not much of a crier. He is pretty much all smiles unless he is teething or hungry. Now the little mister is walking wherever he wants to go, lifting his arms at you if he wants to be picked up, and feeding himself finger foods. He also loves yelling out for his Da-da.
Lucas loves to play with toys and can entertain himself just like his big bro Kalen. Which is nice for the rentals to get a break every now and then. Just like his brother his happy place is in the Bath tub! No matter whats going on if you turn the bath tub on both kids come running at the bathroom like they are giving away puppies and lollipops in there.
Lucas is so much like his father. They are almost identical! Although when I took him for his one year check up the nurse said he looked just like me and I told her if she saw my husband she wouldn't think he looked anything like me. As newborns both boys looked just like their father. Kalen has changed a lot and I think he is starting to favor me a little more. Lucas on the other hand still looks like his Pops. They have the same skin coloring, which makes me extremely jealous, you can put sunscreen on both of them and they still tan up in a matter on minutes!! Just as when my hubs was a kid, Lucas has a darker, dirty blond coloring of his hair, but when he goes in the sun it turns this beautiful golden sunshine color. His hair is also starting to curl a bit and its getting thicker by the day. The hubs has wavy, thick hair as well.
His personality is really starting to come out as well. He is much more of a lover than Kalen was. Lucas likes to be held sometimes and will come up to you and throw his arms up when he wants you. he will also sit on your lap for a little while. He is still super active though and doesn't like to stay in one place to long. He loves to laugh and anything you do can pretty much trigger a fit of laughter. He also loves anyone and everyone. If you look at him he flashes you a huge grin and usually some laughs. He is definitely more of a people person than Kalen is. Kalen takes a little warming up but then he is usually good to go.
This little guy has so much love. He loves his Big Bro so much and makes me happy that they are so close. He follow Kalen everywhere, plays with him, runs away laughing when Kalen chases him, and just loves to be around him. Kalen loves him as well, yes he gets jealous of Lucas, and sometimes doesn't want to share with him, gives Lucas a good whack every now and then. But he always says sorry and gives him a hug and a kiss. Kalen doesn't quite understand how much smaller Lucas is because he often tackles him while giving hugs. Kalen doesn't like when Lucas is upset, either. Often times he runs up to him and says "sorry" even though Kalen isn't what made him cry. He will bring him his juice and milk, bring him food, and "Lucas'" toys. when Lucas wakes up from his nap Kalen usually runs to his room and starts yelling out his name and laughing and Lucas starts going nuts in his crib, laughing and smiling at his bro.
Here are a few pictures of his bday night and then pictures of the 1s I made. Its so fun to look and see how much he has changed in a year! Lucas has pretty much stayed the same in his face since birth, where Kalen looks nothing like he did when he was born.

Enjoying a slice of Cake on His Bday

All smiles after his cake

Pictures from his first year of life in the Shape of a 1

Close up of the 1

2nd #1

Reggie

2012-05-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

Well as many of you know The hubs and I first child is Reggie, he is a 3 1/2 yr old min pin. We love him dearly as do the kids. This past week we thought we might lose Reggie forever. It was one of the scariest times in our lives. It started last week on Monday. I was getting the kids ready to head up to the Splash park, Kalen gave Reggie his treat that he always gets when we leave the house. Reggie was completely fine when we left. When we got back a few hours later I noticed he was a little sluggish and just kinda laying around. I got both boys in for their nap and I took Reggie outside to do his business and then we both crawled in the bed for nap time.
When I woke up Reggie had pooped on our bedroom floor and it was not a firm as it usually is. I made note of it, cleaned it up and went on with the day. All dogs get a bought or diarrhea every now and then so I wasn't too worried at this point. The Hubs came home early that day cause I had a Doctors Appt in Ocala for my knee. While I was gone Reggie had a few more diarrhea episodes and he began throwing up. Later that night after we got the kids to sleep we wrapped Reggie in a blanket and laid him next to us so he would be comfy. He hadn't eaten since this morning and every time he drank water he would throw it up. We both decided if he wasn't showing signs of getting better by morning I would take him to the Vet.
As night came his diarrhea turned into straight liquid and he could barely hold it in while we tried to get him outside. We felt so bad for Reggie. So we just tried to make him comfy through the night. We finally started getting him to hold down water. We would let him have a few sips every now and then as long as he could keep it down he could get more in 15ish mins. By 2 or 3 in the morning we put one of Lucas' diapers on Reggie because he poor little tushy was leaking. He finally fell asleep around 4:30 for a few hours. As soon as the Vet opened I called to see if I could bring Reggie in ASAP and I wasable to get an appt for about an hour later. Reggie just wanted to lay in a blanket on the floor in our room. His diarrhea had stopped and so had his vomiting, we thought he was on the mend but still wanted him to get looked at because he seemed dehydrated. His appt finally comes around and I had requested to see a certain vet because his wife and I are friends and we have a play date every week. So I knew I could trust him with Reggie. As I left the Hubs said Kalen started calling for "Treggie" and was looking all over for him.

Waiting at the Vet. He usually is trying to play with all the other dogs

The Vet tech took Reggie's vitals and got a stool sample. Well there was nothing but dark red blood that came out of his tushy. We thought this morning that there might be blood in Reggie's poop but we weren't positive because it was still mostly brown. His temp was taken 4 different times with two different thermometers because they thought they were broken. His temp was 96 which in dogs it should be around 100. This meant his blood was not circulating well enough. Reggie was also severely dehydrated. So they knew he was going to need an IV but wanted to wait till they got his blood results so he could gets meds at the same time. It took hours to get his blood work when it should have taken no longer than 20 mins. His red blood cell count was extremely high and the machine could not read it. His blood was thick and almost black. The Vet was starting to get extremely worried about Reggie so he took him back to get his IV started. We knew Reggie was in bad shape when he willing let Charlie, his vet, take his blood and then pick him up. Reggie likes Charlie just not in the Vet office. He just slumped in his arms.
Charlie told me I could go home and he would call with the blood results, but I didn't want to leave until we knew what was wrong with Reggie. So he let me stay in the room for another 45 mins waiting on the results. They were finally able to get results and this is where I finally broke down and started crying in front of a family friend. Reggie has a severe case of HGE which is a gastrointestinal disease, which causes vomiting and diarrhea among other things. He could have gotten it anywhere, Charlie figures he must have ate something which triggered it. Because Reggie is so small all the symptoms were fast tracked in him and he became deathy ill in a matter of hours. His intestines where being torn apart and his body wasn't trying to fight the illness. This illness also caused him to get severely dehydrated since he couldn't keep anything down. HGE is treatable however another thing that showed up on the blood work scared the crap out of Charlie and me. His kidney and liver numbers were extremely high which means his Kidneys could be failing. There is nothing they can do for kidney failure. They can give Reggie medicine to help with symptoms but they cannot stop his kidneys from deteriorating. Charlie wanted to keep Reggie at the Vet so they could give him an IV, medicine, and keep him on warm blankets to raise his temp. He brought Reggie back to me before I left so I could give him some pets and tell him we love him and he needs to get better. Charlie told me to keep my phone with me in case Reggie started turning for the worse so we could go up and be with him. Then I left. I immediately called my mom cause I wasn't ready to go home to tell my Hubs about Reggie.

Reggie with his IV, right before I left

Finally I got home after being at the Vet for hours and I sat down and told the hubs everything. I held myself together until I had to tell him Reggie might be in Kidney Failure. That was harder than being told myself about Reggie. When Kalen got up from his nap he was asking for "Treggie", it never occurred to us the effect Reggie being gone would have on Kalen. Which made it harder that Kalen loves Reggie as much as we do and he was upset he wasn't home.
Later that day Charlie called and said Reggie was responding to the IV and he seemed to be getting better. He was still super lazy and had droopy eyes but he would lift his head every now and then to see what was going on. His red blood cell numbers were dropping but we wouldn't know until morning about his Kidney numbers. He also told me he was going to bring Reggie home with him tonight to keep an eye on him. I was relieved by this cause I didn't want Reggie all alone through the night. They live a street over from us so he said we could stop by when he got home to see Reggie. The hubs was thankful for this since he hadn't seen Reggie since that morning. While we visited with Reggie, Charlie explained in Doc terms what was happening to Reggie and what would happen if he was indeed going into Kidney Failure, which scared the crap out the hubs and I. We were all hoping it was a crazy fluke to do with the HGE and he would be fine but Charlie was preparing us in case it wasn't.
The next day the hubs went to work and we waited not so patiently for the phone to ring. It finally did and I was excited and scared to answer the phone. Either Reggie was getting better or we might be losing him way to early. THANK GOD it was the first!! All of Reggie's numbers had dropped back into the normal range. Reggie wasn't in kidney failure. He wanted to run another test for Addison's disease to see if that caused Reggie to get so sick. If he did have it it would require Reggie to get an injection every month for the rest of his life. He wouldn't die from this his body would just need help producing certain hormones. (This test came back negative, Thank goodness). I got 2 more update calls throughout the day. Reggie was eating and they placed a small drip IV in him to get him a few more liquids. Charlie said we were most likely going to have Reggie home tonight!!
Charlie drove him home and I went to go get him and all the meds. When Reggie saw me his tail was wagging and he was jumping. I couldn't have been happier to see him move around like that when only the day before he couldn't even hold himself up. He needed to take 2 different liquid medicines and a pill for the next 5 days (1 liquid three times a day and the other with the pill twice a day) and he was also on a special food as well. The medicine was a nightmare to give Reggie, its like he knew it was time for it and he would run and try to hide from us. He also had a bandage on his leg that could be taken off in an hour. So I brought him home and Kalen was watching out the window and was yelling for "Treggie" as soon as he saw him. Reggie was so happy to see the hubs he was wagging his little nub and was giving kissed.
About two hours later we went to take off Reggie's bandage and realized he still had the catheter in his leg from his IV. So I texted Jennifer, Charlie's wife, to see what I should do. Charlie called and then came over to remove it. He said how sorry he was they left it in his leg when they were suppose to take it out. I told him it wasn't a big deal I just didn't know what to do with it.
Reggie is now off his meds and he eating crunchy food. He finally seems to be himself again.
I cannot Thank everyone enough that kept Reggie in their thoughts and prayers. I also can't Thank our Vet Charlie enough. He went above his duties to help Reggie, when he didn't have too. He brought Reggie to his house so he didn't have to stay at the Vet, let us come over for visitation, home delivered Reggie, and made a house call.

Reggie Easter weekend

Lucas at 11 months

2012-05-02T14:48:00.000-04:00

This post is a tad late!! But, April 24th Marked Lucas' 11 month birthday!! Yay!! He will be turning one at the end of the month. Crazy to think how fast the time has flown by. It is definitely true that kids are little time accelerators. Every time I blink it is a new month and the kids are learning and doing new things.
Lucas is doing great, he is eating me out of house and home. He seriously eats whatever you put in front of him barely leaving a crumb behind. It is amazing he is so skinny, I know if I ate as much as he did I would surely gain a few pounds a week. He is pretty much an expert walker, he is even starting to "power walk" to keep up with his brother. The little man can also get up from a sitting position without grabbing a hold of anything.
Lucas learned how to clap this month and claps at everything. If you say 'Yay' he will usually give a few claps while laughing. I'm still pretty sure laughing and smiling is his favorite thing to do. I'm sure he will be quite the ladies man because as soon as he knows you are looking at him he flashes this huge smile at you. He thinks this tactic will also stop him from getting into trouble if he is doing something he shouldn't.
Kalen and Lucas have also started playing more with each other this past month. Lucas loves everything about his big bro and pretty much follows him anywhere. They will often go into Kalen's room and play and all I hear is giggles. It so cute!!! We have tried to sneak a peak at them while they play in the room together, to see what is just so funny. We are usually caught cause we start laughing. Lucas usually crawls into Kalens bed and tries to run from Kalen when Kalen gets on the bed. I'm not sure where Lucas thinks he is going but its so funny!! Hopefully they will always be super close since they are only 15 months apart. I just love that they "play together"!

Here are a few pictures from the past month

Playing in the splash area at Universal

At Universal

Clapping!!

New Ride

2012-04-17T20:06:00.000-04:00

I had been driving both kids around in a Honda Accord. It works great for just toting them all around. However the stroller takes up most of the trunk so when we go to the Big City (Ocala) and do our weekly shopping the trunk fills up fast and some stuff gets put in the back seat. We had been talking about getting a bigger vehicle for awhile now. Just to make everything easier. We visit both our families pretty often, so when we pack up the car it gets pretty tight. There is also no way to have anyone else ride with us unless they feel like squishing between the car seats. I have done this a few times and it isn't that bad for short hauls.

So this past Friday I headed to Ocala with the boys and did some shopping at Target. I needed a new big Tupperware so I could put all the boys winter clothes in. I got out to the car and thought "Okay here goes." It was not a problem at all to get the Tupperware in the trunk. So I went off to the next stop, where I would need the stroller. So I had to take out the Tupperware, then the stroller, put the Tupperware back in. Then repeat to put the Stroller back. Needless to say I was cursing the trunk. Meanwhile the Hubs is in Vegas for business and he is getting texts from me about needing a bigger car.

So I looked online and found a few cars I liked and we decided to go out and look. Well we found a used GMC Acadia SLT. I love it!!! It has leather and a bunch of other upgrades. What I loved most was the 2nd row of seats are captains chairs. So If anyone wants to ride with us it is super easy to get into the 3rd row. You can just walk through. No need to take out the car seats so we can fold down the row or trying to climb over to get in the back. There is so much room, the captains chairs move so we can make more leg room in the 3rd row as well!! I also love the fact it is Blue!!

GMC Acadia SLT

Big Booty- Yes that is my tag... it was my nickname in college, my maiden name was Ballard and I refuse to let it go! haha

Car seats in the Captains Chairs and the 3rd row

We also had both kids with us while car shopping and the dealership we got the Acadia from was supper nice and pretty much let the kids take over. They got balloons, Kalen helped print our papers out, and they pretty much toured every office there. I was so greatful that not one person rolled their eyes at the boys playing in their offices.

Easter 2012

2012-04-17T12:48:00.001-04:00

Well this post is a little late! But better late than never. We had a great Easter full of dying eggs, egg hunts, yummy food, and family. We had already went on an Easter Egg Hunt a week before. So Easter weekend we just hung out and had nice family time. We dyed Easter Eggs early Saturday morning and Kalen had a blast doing this. By the end he hands and arms were a nice shade of Blue. He felt it was best to place the egg in the "color bath" and then remove it multiple times with his hands.

Sunday morning we woke up to a visit from The Easter Bunny, we had lots of fun stuff in our baskets. The boys dived into their baskets and then wandered the living room to find Easter Eggs!! Reggie quickly decided this is his favorite Holiday. He was getting treats all day. As soon as one of the kids opened an egg out popped a few treats for him. Later that day we had a nice Easter lunch/Dinner and headed on home. We had a great weekend!!

Kalen's on the left, Lucas' on the Right

Wow!! Look at this!!

More Cars!!!! YES!!!

Kalen found the first Easter Egg

Reggie found one too!!

Lucas Finally got one

Lucas' 1st Easter!!

Easter Bunny 2012

2012-04-02T12:05:00.002-04:00

Our visit with the Easter Bunny went great!!! Kalen walked right up to him to get in his lap and Lucas loved him too!! Lucas was all smiles sitting on the Easter Bunnies Lap. They were such cuties even though Kalen refused to wear his tie!

Official Lucas and the Easter Bunny

Official Lucas and Kalen with the Easter Bunny

Lucas loved him!!!

Kalen loved him too

Eggstravaganza

2012-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday we headed out to Crystal River to go to the Eggstravaganza! They had a few egg hunts for the different age groups and other activities for the kids to do and some local shopping for the parents. We got their early enough to sign in and let Lucas do his Egg Hunting with the "Crawlers". He was so cute collecting his eggs. He wasn't sure what to do, but he got an egg open and was a happy camper, it was filled with Gold Fish. Kalen was excited too, luckily Lucas is nice enough to share!

While we waited for Kalen's age group to start (1-3yr olds). Kalen enjoyed playing on a Fire Truck, He tried with all his might to push and pull the truck. Crazy Little man! We finally got all lined up for Kalen's turn and we went towards the back where there wasn't a bunch of kids lined up. There were at least 50 eggs right in front of us. So when the kids finally get the go ahead, Kalen takes off towards the middle of the area, grabs a couple of eggs, throws them in his basket, drops his basket and then books it. We had no idea where he was going. Clearly he thought he was in The Hunger Games and ran as far away from the middle as he could. He then would grab random eggs while running and chuck them!! Well as Kalen is having the time of his life running around kids keep walking by and checking out his basket. This little girl walks over looks in his basket, meanwhile her mother is standing a few parents away from me and starts yelling at her girl to take the Eggs!! Seriously! She was cheering on her daughter to steal Kalen's eggs! "Take those Eggs", were her exact words!! I was in complete shock, way to be teaching your child to steal from other kids. I didn't say anything to her she had other kids with her and I'm not sure I would have used child friendly language. After all the eggs were found they were trying to get all the kids out of the area, so they could start setting up for the next group. Well Kalen was the lone kid in the middle running circles around a tree, so I guess he won his version of The Hunger Games!
He finally makes it back to us with his basket, he had no eggs, but I'm pretty sure he had the most fun out there. Luckily his friend Stover collected a bunch of eggs and shared some with Kalen.
Over all we had a great day!!

Kalen playing on the Slide

Lucas' first egg

Kalen and the Fire Truck

Kalen in the middle of the egg hunt

His abandoned basket

Stover sharing his eggs

Trying to get a picture of them both looking! ha

Inside the Fire Truck

Lucas at 10 Months

2012-03-28T19:49:00.000-04:00

Oh my Littlest Mister is growing way too fast!! He turned 10 months on Saturday March 24th.
He took his first steps on Feb 28th and has not stopped. He seems to prefer to walk over crawling. He walks as far as he can and then plops down. He sometimes takes little breaks when he needs to go somewhere far. He will stop halfway and hold onto whatever is near him and then continue on his journey. I just can't believe he is walking so much already. Kalen was just starting to walk at 10 months and Lucas is almost mastered it. Crazy

Lucas has also learned to wave. He does not always do it when you say bye bye, but he is learning.

I would say his favorite toys right now are cars, He loves to push them around and make the car noises, quiet loudly, if he is anywhere near you while he is playing with cars you can forgot hearing anything else. He also loves his brother as long as Kalen isn't taking toys away for him. We can usually talk Kalen into giving him one of the toys he is playing with and Lucas appreciates it, until he wants to play with something else Kalen has.
Little Mister is loving himself some Mickey Mouse right now. He lets out a big squeal when he sees Mickey making his way to the Clubhouse. So I can't wait to go to Disney and let him see Mickey in real life. I'm sure he will love him just as much as Kalen did when he first met him.

Lucas is growing in length, not really weight. He is now 29 1/4 inches and weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces. I really don't understand how he stays so skinny. He eats a massive Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and usually has a couple of snacks throughout the day and his bottles. Anything you put in front of him he shovels into his mouth. But, he is really active, I guess he just burns off everything he eats. He hardly ever sits still, always on the move to get close to his brother, Reggie, or The Hubs and I.

Lucas is a very smiley dude. He loves to laugh and smile at you. He already knows if you tell him "No" to turn around and flash his smile. Seriously where do kids learn this at such a young age? I am pretty sure the little dude has some teeth trying to move in. He has his 2 bottoms, 2 tops, and one of his top incisors. He is constantly chewing on stuff. Poor guy.

Showing off some of his chompers

Wordless Wednesday!!

2012-03-21T16:00:00.003-04:00

Shaking his locks

Bubbleman

St. Patricks Day

2012-03-21T15:53:00.001-04:00

Oh the days of going out all day to drink in support of a Holiday!! I enjoyed those days (not the following day), but they do not even begin to compare to my days now! I enjoy everyday with my two little misters, who make me laugh and smile everyday.
This past weekend marked St. Patrick's Day, I have a wincy bit of Irish in me, so I will gladly celebrate. I use to go out to Irish Bars and have been to Savannah for the festivities. I look forward to when we can go to Savannah as a family and celebrate, or even to Chicago and watch them turn the river Green (how fun!!) I think they even do this in Tampa/St.Pete area, which would be a lot closer.
This year we just played at the local park, watched some March Madness and went out to Gators for some Wings, Nachos, and plain non-green beer, and a stop at Mochi after. We had lots of fun just hanging out and enjoying the hoops games. Even though we didn't do anything to exciting we all wore our green, Kalen and The Hubs wore matching Green V-necks, while The Hubs and Lucas had on matching Jordans!! Mommy felt a tad left out of the twinies situations.
Here are some pics (of course I should have taken the pics before dinner, oh well)

Kalen added some nacho ingredients into his hair

Lucas Playing with a truck at dinner

Little Misters

Mommy and Lucas

Daddy and Lucas

Walking to the couch

Little Misters Playing

Kalen playing (he wouldn't let me get any pictures of him)

Lucas Taking Steps

2012-03-14T16:50:00.001-04:00

I swear kids will be doing the most exciting thing ever and when you whip out a camera or video camera they refuse to ~~perform~~ cooperate. Lucas has been letting go and taking steps toward whatever he wants for a little bit now, he took his first steps on Feb 28th. He has taken at most about 6 or 7 steps before plopping down. He will be stepping like a champ and ~~the video camera~~ Mommarazzi comes out and forget it. Well I was waiting for a good video of him taking a decent amount of steps. But if we wait for that he will be running. So I am gonna give you a tiny glimpse of what the little man is up to. When I say tiny, I mean it this video is 4 seconds!!