Father-Son Date

I'm behind... WAY behind... TOO behind but here we go.

Today was a busy day. It was my day off, normally hallowed ground for family time in my world. Our area had a Regional Relief Society Conference featuring Sister Allred of the General Relief Society Presidency in Madison TN (hour+ drive that felt like 20min in our packed van of fun women). The meeting was really great, the company was equally uplifting and I even got to see a few old friends I wasn't expecting to bump into. But that's not the point so I'll move on. Mike graciously encouraged me to go so I left the babies with him till I got back at 230p. THEN I had to rush home to get Cora Grace ready for a friend, Abigail's 2nd birthday party at 3p. While I would be gone I had encouraged Mike to think about taking Evan somewhere, just the two of them since that NEVER happens that we are apart like that. He reeeeeeaaaallllly wanted to do some 'spring cleaning' he had started this morning but I 'admonished' him to please take an hour break to take Evan to a playground and dinner.

A little back story, we had some terrible storms come through all of Tennessee (and surrounding states) on Friday afternoon and early evening. We needed to run some errands so as soon as we felt safe, we took off, planning to get the kids a burger or something. Evan saw "Old McDonalds" and begged to stop there. When we tried to, they told us they couldn't take orders for 30minutes (assumably from the storms knocking out power? we had no damage in our area thankfully, so I don't know what happened?). So we tried to explain to an expecting "old mcdonalds hamburger" 3 year old, it was 'broken right now' for him to try to understand-hopefully avoiding a melt down. :) Anyway, we left and got a burger for them elsewhere and he was fine. Today however, in Mike's Daddy time and after visiting a couple playgrounds with Evan, this was the continuation of that scenario:

Evan asked Mike, "is Old McDonalds still broken? Is it 'fixed' now?" and "Did somebody charge it?"

Anytime in our home something is 'broken', it means it needs new batteries or we need the cord to charge his beloved Spooka. So I guess he thought, someone might have plugged it in to juice it up. :)

He got to go INSIDE Old McDonalds (maybe his 3rd time, if that), sitting by the window the drive thru people pass (they waved to everybody. cute!), so he was thrilled but the best part was after he ate his kids meal, Daddy got them an Ice Cream sundae to share. :) Mike said he LOVED it so much, he had to ask him to slow down but that at some point, could tell, Evan was getting brain freeze cause he started shivering. Mike asked him if he was cold, Evan said "Yeah... I want to cuddle with you." Awwwwe! I just love that little guy (the big guy too). I'm so thankful Daddy took time to go out with just Evan, I'd like to do that more regularly now that Evan really understands where he wants to go etc. I can't wait for a Mommy-Son Date report. :) The End.

Sleeping Beauties

Sweet moments. I'm so glad the sun is out so I could take these pictures. It's not shown here but Evan is wearing UNDERWARE to nap! He's now up and didn't wet the bed. SOOoo excited, I believe it's his first time doing this, not for lack of asking. It was my laziness and procrastination. Look how big Cora Grace is. I need a neeeeeew baby :(.... :) he he he.

Tales from the Potty.

Here's the big boy of the house! Evan is enjoying his reward for.... going POOP in the potty! Any home of potty trainers knows of this significance and JOY. :) Tonight Evan (who was wearing underwear all day successfully) was supposed to be going to bed at 8p. At 7:58p, he runs from the couch to the bathroom. We assumed it was to stall bedtime only... he was trying to poop! It was glorious. We jumped and shouted and cheered. We didn't care if we woke up Cora Grace (it did but she went right back down). It was hilarious and is hilarious that I'm talking about it but, it is important in our household. Cora will sit on the little potty every time anyone sits on the toilet. Hopefully she starts doing something in it one of these days, then no more diapers... ahh (well, until I convince Mike of #3).

Evan, we are so proud of you for earning the 'giant lollipop' we bought you in JULY, anticipating this day. Keep up the good work buddy. :)

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

These are our Valentine's for their Day care friends this year.

Now they are for everyone reading as well. ;) xo

Hope you feel loved by someone right now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Mike, Lila, Evan & Cora Grace

Memphis or BUST

{Evan learned to push this trike up the slightly inclined driveway and let go to let gravity take him back down. He had so much fun!}

*BUST*

This past Thursday morning, I was running around getting the last bits together before taking the kids to "school" ( I hate calling it day care cause I'd have to admit I've failed at being a full-time stay at home mom) when my phone rang. It was Courtney, Evan's birth mom who is 21. She excitedly explained she was going to be in Memphis this weekend (from Carthage Mississippi) to help a friend drop a dog off. She asked if we could come meet her there. I want to see her so bad and for her to see Evan, especially since we just got to see CG's birth family but I told her we really couldn't. I had to work Saturday till 4p and Sunday was subbing in Evan's Sunbeam class. Yes I was looking forward to it but also I know from experience how precious teachers are and I was a sub - so I know how much more precious that is. That mixed with the fact, I would be working late that Thurs and all day Friday, I would have little time to clean their clothes and pack etc. As she kept talking, hoping I could change my mind, she added, "I'm getting married too". WHAAAATT? I was literally using Mike's facebook the DAY before to see how she was doing and she was making all kinds of posts last week about how lonely she was and 'if only she had a boyfriend and could get married... it's all i want' etc etc. Meaning, she didn't even have a boyfriend last week or a few days before this conversation, based on her posts. YIKES. Anyway, I really thought I should try to go now but was very conflicted. I told her not to get her hopes up but I'll talk it over with Mike to see what if anything we can do. Mike he couldn't come but pointed out how much I had just said I wanted to see her and we never know when we'll get to see her again without having to go all the way to Mississippi. He thought I could make it happen even though it might be inconvenient last minute and all and I would need to get someone to go with me of course. I got to work and saw I had a cancellation at the end of my day. I blocked it out and called one of the most amazing people I know, Amber <3. :). Her parents live outside Memphis so if nothing else, we could go say hi. She arranged a weekend for her husband and 3 boys to live without her and agreed to come with me to meet Courtney and said we could stay with her parents. She is my best friend and her family is just an extension of our friendship. I haven't met a "Berry" I don't like. :). Anyway, I let Courtney know we were on and she was very excited. Not surprisingly she had no idea what her plans were for where she would stay or even how to get there exactly. She said she was just going to "find a little church somewhere in Memphis to get married". Wow. I have never wanted to be that... "spontaneous." It was ok, I figured we'd figure it out once we were there. Later I texted her to clarify some more things and she informed me 'they' would be going through Alabama to get married first and may leave Friday night after she gets off work (i didn't ask to whom or why cause I honestly didn't think she would follow through with it. I assumed they'd break up before then. It's her record to have a boyfriend for 3 weeks, they talk about marriage and break up within days. :(.). I didn't think much of it and continued my plans to meet in Memphis. I also made plans with her to take her picture with Evan and even her husband to which she was really excited. I told her that we'd be getting in too late to visit so could we please meet Sunday morning, she said yes. It was stressful to get everything together but I did it. Mike helped by making sure the kids napped early and finished packing everything for me before bringing the kids to me when I was finished. We picked up Amber in Franklin and were on our way. The drive was nice. I call Amber my girl husband cause she knows me very well and still somehow stays my friend. lol. I like to think I know her very well too so it's always a fun conversation. Anytime Amber and I can give each other our undivided attention, it's bliss and the kids really cooperated. CG hates to be in her car seat for very long so after about 2 1/2 hours she had absolutely had it. Thankfully Jackson was just ahead and we stopped at Chick-fil-A to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat. It helped but now CG was bonefiedmiserable children in the car. We are only doing this for YOU." she said "Yes ma'am but I've been calling and waiting for this lady to call me all day." I told her in a very frustrated 'mom' voice, "Than you should have called me to tell me that before I packed these babies up and drove all these hours. We are almost to Memphis Courtney!" She didn't get it. She tried to explain that the lady with the dog was paying their way. I understand they couldn't afford to come on their own but I told her she should have called me when she couldn't get hold of the friend. I told her that I know she doesn't understand what it's like to get (herself and) two toddlers ready for a LAST MINUTE trip or to then stick them in a car for a 4 1/2 hour drive but it was miserable. BUT we were willing to do it cause we were going to get to see her for a few hours for the first time in 3 years. Sheesh. I also told her how Amber had to put her life on hold to help me, (not to mention her parents were making room for 4 house guests and they work too so they are busy as well) I didn't even mention the money this was costing our family for no reason. She really didn't have any understanding of what she did wrong. It was so frustrating and silent on the phone. I love her like a sister and Yes, I would talk to my sisters this way (they would never be this inconsiderate) but at the moment she needed a 'Come to Jesus' moment as they say here in the South. Ugh... I'm just so bummed about it. Bummed that I have to admit to myself that she is this way, likely not to change soon but over time, she is definitely capable. I love her, I haven't given up on her, I look forward to seeing her in the future, even if it was next week but not seeing her this weekend was sad. Thankfully Evan isn't old enough to understand these things but this experience prepares me to protect him in the future. In parting on the phone, Courtney got serious and said she will make it up to me and will come to us the next time she has a chance. :/ We'll see. I'm at peace about it but I can still wish for a perfect scenario right? :)

If Courtney was reading this, we want her to know we love her and are very sad we didn't get to see her this weekend. We hope to see her soon and have a great visit.

In all, we had a great time with Amber and her family. I have been around them and also Amber updates me often on their goings on so it was good to see for myself what they were up to. It was also fun to see where she grew up so much of her life when she gave me the 30min tour of her town. We thank them for their love and hospitality. <3 xo

PIGTAIL DREAMS & SIBLING SWEETIES

I have been ready to have some fun with Cora Grace's hair finally so for Christmas I bought her a pack of rubber bands in hopes to try out pigtails. Who knows where they are and I've been really wanting them. Not only am I a mom of my first little girl but I'm a hairstylist for goodness sakes so I need to be the one who gets to do her hair. She's been wearing her cute big bow out of necessity. It keeps her bangs out of her eyes while they grow with her hair but her hair is growing so much the bows slip a lot. Hence the wanting of the rubber bands I bought. It wasn't an emergency or anything but I was "side swiped" by her day care before I could resolve the case of the lost accessories and finally do something more with her hair. You see... Mike picked the kids up last week and there she was with pig tails in her hair!? Of course she looked adorable and they all love her so much they probably couldn't stand it to wait any longer for pigtails but I was robbed, I tell you! :) Sigh... oh well, I really was disappointed but I resolved myself to do them better and cuter so here you go. 

I give you... Cora Grace, in Pigtails:

Once the pigtails were in, there was no turning back so I bundled those babies up and forced them to be mamarazzi'ed in the back yard. UGH! They are so precious and beautiful. I'm glad I took the time today to do it. I've been in a funk and this is helping me. Photo therapy if you will. (now if it could help my LACK OF housework!)...

Last but not least. Here is a picture of Cora's new thing. Taking off her shoes (old trick) SO to get to her socks, SO she can take them off and put them on her hands! :D ha ha ha ha ha. She even tries to 'talk' with them like a puppet sometimes. Regardless of the reasons, I'm just glad both kids have exhibited a sock obsession. (Evans was featured on my original blog in November 2009. Don't miss his old videos on that post if you go to it. They grow up so fast!). :)

Funnies

Evan is at the stage of constantly asking questions about: what is that? are you talking to me mommy? where? can i have that? where are you going? can i come too? can i go outside? where is smokey? can i call grandma putsie? is cora asleep? do i have to go to sleep now? etc etc etc.

Desperate times call for desperate measures so, understandably I've resorted to being vague and sarcastic in my answers. That's what you're supposed to do right? ;) Yesterday, he asked me multiple times what my York peppermint patties was that I ate that afternoon. I answered "Your Momma". :) he he he? Anyway as the day turned to night, I found myself snacking again on (one of my very favorite treats) a peppermint pattie and again the questioning started.

"what is that? what is that? what is that?" ( i ignored him. i admit it)
"Mommy, may I please have some of your momma?"
Bah! ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha! worth it. :)
You know I gave him some btw. You just can't resist that, even though the kid needs no sweets. Especially at bed time. Oh well, he earned it! :)

This isn't 'funny' but, now that we leave Evan's door open, he wakes us up in the mornings by coming to "Here I am! Can I cuddle with you?". That is so sweet. THIS morning he came in after fooling around a little in the family room then was by my bed and he started to sing to me! Is that adorable or what!? He sang me two songs even. One I'm sure was ABC's, the other may have been rock a bye baby or likely, London Bridge (he busted out with that at Target yesterday and put a huge smile on the ear shot shoppers faces... and mine) or something. Either way, he's a heart melter that one is. I'm so lucky to get to finally be a mommy. These are the moments I dreamed about and hoped for the most. Though I couldn't imagine my son singing me awake! :) Blessed to be alive.