Two-ness

This weekend Steven's parents were able to come in town because his mom was speaking at a woman's retreat here for a local church. I was able to have my first girls' day out! The retreat was on the grounds of the Biltmore House, and I was able to have a wonderful morning of great speaking, good fellowship, and a great lunch. I even came home to two happy little boys (one who took a bottle really easily for the first time!)....well actually steven edward was grumpy but overall the day was a success. Steven was even able to do several jobs around the house with his dad! (One of which was assembling a crib for Sam because he had outgrown the weight limit of the bassinet feature of the pack and play by almost 5 pounds and the matress part was actually bending!) It was a freeing feeling to be able to leave all the boys and just have a morning out. Steven and I plan to spend a night away in April.....baby steps.


So now that Steven Edward is actually talking, I have some fun toddler stories to tell! To adopt a phrase from my sister we will call them Steven-isms

* On Friday we went to the nature center to look at the animals. He was walking up the path and just stopped suddenly, clasped his hands together and said "pray." He mumbled some words and then said "AMEN!" and started running down the path again. So random.

*This week he ran to the pantry and pointed to a coke can and said, "mama's juice," then pointed to the apple juice bottle and said, "jen jens juice" (Jen jen is how he referrs to himself.)

*And then tonight when I was putting him to bed, after reading two other books, he pointed at the Bible story book and said...."jesus, God." It made me smile.

He also knows almost all his colors and has started in on his letters. It is amazing that one day they just can tell you things! Today he started pointed out letters he knew amongst the alphabet magnets on the fridge. He also is very into the two-year old possession of things. Everything is "mines." I suppose the extra "s" comes from Mama's and Dada's. He is also all over the.... my do it....or no do dat. Welcome to twoness....we have arrived. Yesterday when forced to leave the Thomas the train table at Books-A-Million....he screamed and kicked so hard that I literally had to drape his waist over my shoulder while holding his feet to get him out of the store. This was just after the throwing himself on the ground screaming...........nice. Thank you Courtney for saying, "My child will never do that." Lesson learned.

Sam at 4 months....and Steven Edward at 22.5

I can't believe my boys are growing so quickly. Sam is the sweetest, smiley-ist baby! He is incredibly predictable and so much fun to be around. He coos a lot and is really laughing. He is also starting to take more interest in toys. He has started holding them in his hand and playing with them and very much enjoys his play-mat and exer-saucer. Even though I vowed differently, he has still taken the back seat when it comes to pictures. As a second child myself....I would be different. I would take just as many pictures of him as I did of Steven Edward. I would take many of him by himself. Yea...not so much. It is the thought that counts, right? Here is a video of him to make up for some of my inadequacies as a picture taker of my second. Sorry Sam.




Steven Edward is EXPLODING with words. He went from having very few to gaining a couple everyday. He now can say the names of all his friends and can point out the majority of things that are in books that we read regularly. It amazes me the things he knows and remembers. This morning his milk spilled and he looked at it and said, "bad cup." I have no idea where that came from. Their brains amaze me. He is also OBSESSED with Thomas the train. He wakes up in the morning saying it and goes to bed saying it. He runs around saying, Thomas, James, Gordon, Engine. Luckily for his obsession, he will acquire a train table for his birthday. I'm not sure if this will appease or enlarge the obsession. We will find out.

"I'm not sure about this Eli...."

Steven and his friend Eli....he calls him i-e

This morning we went to a coffee shop created for moms that has a play place for the kids. The kids have their own place and the moms have a separate place to sit and enjoy a coffee. But....as usual...somehow they all ended up spending at least half the time at our feet. Oh well. A good attempt to complete a sentence with an adult. Better luck next time.

Steven and Ana playing

Gabe with a pirate ship

Steven sat at this seat with this toy for at least 30 minutes. It was amazing. No ritalin for us.

Ryan learning about a magnadoodle.

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was my 28th birthday..... man 28 is like hitting 18...the 7's just seem younger. When you hit the 8's you are on your way to the next decade!

My husband had a late night at school, but he was able to get away for lunch. Then 5 of my friends came over for fun and thai food. They came without their kids and we were able to hang out and have adult conversation. Here is a picture!





I even had a cake with candles! I haven't had that in years.




And here is my son's new favorite food group! He is so much fun right now. I think he acquires at least two words a day!

Heavy Weights

Sam....3.5 months... 17.5 pounds
Steven Edward....22 months....28.5 pounds
Courtney.....back ache

Snow....and Irbys

Today was another pseudo North Carolina snow.....a light dusting that our meager amount of highway equipment couldn't handle. And seeing as it was single digits at 8am, they called off school. Luckily there was lots of fun in store for Steven Edward on this snow day........not only did his daddy stay home but....

Steven's cousin Irby and his wife Katie were passing through town and stopped by for a brunch with their son Irby III who is 5 days older than Steven Edward.








Then after his non-nap, he and daddy created a fun hotwheels track to play on.





Sam was a great spectator!

The reason cookies exist....

I had planned to stop eating as many sweets after the Superbowl. I'm going to run a 5k in may...and am on track to get back in shape. This was going to be one of my steps. But this afternoon shed much light on my theory...........

My eldest is screaming in his crib (thank goodness we're not in a "big boy bed" yet) and has been for an hour....i just changed my clothes (and Sam's) for the third time today....... and the lingering stench of spit up still hangs over my shoulders in the air. After I put Sam down and he was screaming too, I happily walked to the pantry and snagged not one, not two, but three oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I sat down on the couch to have a bit of heaven while I turned off both monitors....and the boys cry. Without cookies....... let's not think about it. Thank goodness for electricity, by which i can make my lattes and my cookies.

Here is a fun picture from when my mom was in town this past weekend. We had a great time of just being together. We had lots of fun food and even made it to the Health Adventure so Steven Edward could play. We used her camera for most of the outings...but I managed to snag this cute one of her reading to them both. As you see....Sam is catching Steven Edward in size. What a chunk to lug around!