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When Superheroes Meet - Christmas 2010

Spiderman, meet Superman.

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010

Happily sitting in a sea of presents...

Christmas 2010 was, mostly, perfect.*  We had our pretty little girl dressed up in lovely baby dresses. There was clean white snow on the ground. And Christopher was old enough to understand the concept of Santa and presents (which was fantastic for bribery the month leading up to Christmas Day: “Do you want Santa to come? Then you have to eat those green beans…”).

Because this Christmas was filled with so many memories, one blog post won't cover it all - so over the next few days I will share Christmas photos and stories, I hope you enjoy!

*More on the "mostly" part to come...

Important Information About Boys

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Boys have pee pees."

"Um, yes, yes they do."

"And boys drink beer."

"Oh, ok. You're a boy, do you like beer?"

"Nope, beer is stinky and icky and blegh!"

"I see. Anything else I should know about boys?"

"Ummm, no."

Go Rudolph, Go Rudolph!

Christopher had his holiday program at school last night - all the grandparents, and Baby Heart, bundled up and went to the show.  It was standing room only, and about 90 degrees in the room, but it was worth it to see my little bitty boy sing and dance with his friends.  See the action below!



P/S - Look how much he has changed from last year's performance!

Christmas List

Johnny & I have started to explain Christmas and Santa to Christopher.  He is interested in the idea of getting presents, but Santa absolutely freaks him out. This morning I asked him if he wanted to meet Santa and tell him his Christmas List.  

Christopher's reply? "NO SANTA." 

"OK, you don't have to meet Santa.  Let's write him a letter and tell him what you want for Christmas."

He held up his right hand and said: "I want ONE dinosaur for this hand."  Then he held up his left hand and said: "And ONE robot for this hand, and that's it."

Easy boy! 

I Go To Work, I Watch Elmo

 

On the way to school this morning, Christopher said: "Mama, I don't go to school anymore, I go to work." 

"Oh yeah, where are you going to work?"

"I work with Daddy."

"Oh ok, well - do you know what Daddy does at work?"

"Um, yeah.  Daddy go to work, he watches Elmo on the computer ALLLLL day. I go to work with Daddy now."

Silly boy - for the record, Daddy does NOT watch Elmo on the computer all day (or any part of the day). 

My Little Barbie Doll...

SO... Is it odd that I'm occasionally happy when there is a spit up or diaper situation and I have to change Emmy's outfit in the middle of the day?

They Say Childhood Goes by in A Blur...

Well, I keep hearing to cherish every moment with my little ones (even the bad) - because their childhood will go by in a blur.

Well, last Saturday, we took Christopher to the Indy Children's Museum for a day of fun (and we didn't know it yet, but baby Emmy was coming early the next morning). We also met up with my brother's girlfriend and her daughter, Ava - and the day LITERALLY went by in a blur (I tried all day, but couldn't get a still photo of them having fun)... See photo proof below.

Ava enjoying the runway at the Barbie exhibit
(there's Christopher, dancing behind her)

Sliding down, tummy first, on the penguin slide.

Waiting their turn for a carousel ride...

It was the perfect way to spend our final day as a family of three!

What We've Been Waiting For...

Well, it's been a roller coaster, but after several years of hoping, praying & waiting - she's here, snuggled up, sleeping peacefully in my arms.

How did we get so lucky?

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Santa Bucky

We're putting up Christmas around the house & Chris found a Santa hat - he won't take it off!

Ok time to decorate- or as my Lil Santa says "Light up the Kissmes tree!"

More posts to come, it's been a busy few days...

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Baby Heart

Baby Girl has arrived!

Emmy Nicole Buckner
Born at 9:37 a.m. on November 21, 2010
8 pounds even, 20 inches

Everyone is healthy, happy & doing well - she's already wrapped her Daddy around her tiny finger!

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An Open Letter To Baby Heart

Dear Baby Heart,

I know your current location is nice, quiet, calm, peaceful, dark - not to mention you get delicious food sent your way far too frequently - but do you think that you could hurry up and come out already?

I promise that while things may not be nice, quiet, calm, peaceful or dark anymore, I will give you lots of food (and ok, quick confession - the food you are given at first may not be as delicious as you are used to - what is better than an oreo? - but the food will be tasty as soon as you are ready for the big girl stuff - and trust me on this, your daddy is an awesome chef)!

Also, if you are out HERE, I can hold you and hug you and kiss your baby nose (one more confession - you have an older brother who is currently the only grandchild on either side, so he MAY be a bit of an attention hound, but you all will adjust to each other).

Thank you for taking the above into consideration. Seriously though, hurry up - I'm excited to meet, and officially name, you!

Love,

Mama

Where's Baby Heart?

Well, this past weekend was an exciting one - our cousin Lori & her hubby Ben had their baby girl - a precious, tiny little girl named Lucy Ann!

Maybe it was the excitement of knowing Lucy was about to arrive, or maybe it was the fact that my mom had me out Christmas shopping - but I started having contractions. Painful ones - and they were 2-5 minutes apart. After a couple of hours of this, I called the doc and we headed to the hospital.

Well, the contractions and all action STOPPED. Nothing, no baby. So we headed home.

This was all taking place during C's nap, so Johnny's brothers were kind enough to come over to hang out while Christopher slept.

When we got home, Christopher was awake and wild and ready to play. He looked at us and said "Hey, where's Baby Heart?" I think he thought we would run out to the store, pick up Baby Heart and come back home (Maybe he was thinking that if we get her at Target there is a valid return policy, right? I mean, obviously with a receipt...).

M-I-C-K-E-Y

We turn on cartoons in the morning while we beg Christopher to allow us to put clothes on him (he is NOT a morning Buckner). This morning, it was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. To distract him from the torture that is putting on socks and shoes, Johnny was chatting with him. Here is a snippet of their conversation:

"So Christopher, who do you like better - Goofy or Mickey?"

"Goofy!"

"Who do you like better - Goofy or Pete?"

"Goofy!"

"Who do you like better - Goofy or Donald?"

"Goofy!"

"Well, you really like Goofy, huh?"

"Um yeah, Goofy is funny like meeee."

Going on a Date

On Wednesday night, Johnny took Christopher on a little date. They went to a park, ate dinner, window shopped.

The next day, Christopher had their date fresh in his mind, so when I picked him up from school he said: "Mama, I take you on a date."

I said: "OH you want to go on a date with me? What do you want to do?"

"Ummmm, well you sit on the couch... and I feed Baby Heart."

Now THAT sounds like my kind of date!

What Does Mommy Do?

My little fireman holding his hat (this was his first birthday)...

Last night, I was trying to explain to Christopher what Mama does when she goes to work (my job is impossible to describe to GROWN UPS, so you know the conversation with a two year old went really well. "Well, Mama's job is to beg newspapers and magazines to write stories about Hamilton County. And then I blog and tweet and Facebook.").

So from there, we started talking about other jobs.

"Christopher, do you know what a fireman does?"

"Um, yeah. Fireman fight fire!"

"Do you know what a policeman does?"

"Um, yeah. He makes loud noise!" (the sirens)

"What about a veterinarian?"

"Um, yeah. He makes animals allllllll better."

"Do you know what a doctor does?"

"She makes kids better!"

"What about a zoo keeper?"

"Zoo keeper plays with monkeys, ooo ooo aaa aaa!"

"Gosh, Christopher - you are REALLY smart, did you know you can be anything you want to be when you grow up? So, what do you want to be?"

"A cowboy - yeehaw - and you be a cowboy too Mama! And Daddy too, when he growed up!"

End of Pregnancy...

As this pregnancy draws to a close, I sit, armed with a freshly purchased bottle of TUMS, and reflect back on the past 38 weeks of pregnancy. There are certainly things I will miss - and plenty of things I will NOT miss. Here is my pregnancy review:

I will miss the encouragement to "eat that other cookie, you're pregnant!" or "you're pregnant - you NEED that cheesecake. I bet it is just your body saying you need calcium."

I will NOT miss the morning sickness. Many people never deal with it. For others, it lasts a few weeks and then subsides. Other moms-to-be have it the entire time. I am in the middle - I have had it the entire time, but it is not a daily situation (so it could be worse, right?).

I will miss the happy smiles from strangers. Seriously, as a pregnant woman I receive more warm, wistful smiles than I know what to do with, and it is fantastic (not to mention the opened doors, offers to cut in line and assistance with lifting/carrying/holding things)!

I will NOT miss the aches and pains. Acid reflux (thank you TUMS, for your creation). Round ligament pain. Odd back & hip pain.

I will miss that while baby is in my tummy, it is super easy to be an excellent mother. Skip the alcohol, eat fruits and veggies, rest, light yoga work outs - and BAM, I am being a good mother. Once baby arrives, I have things like "making sure this tiny human grows up to be a confident, smart, kind, educated, non-pushover of a person with strong morals but a enough of a wild streak that allows them to experience life without getting into too much trouble" to worry about.

I will NOT miss turning down alcohol. I am not an alcoholic, but I love a good glass of wine with dinner, a champagne toast at a wedding, a cool beverage in my hand while I swim around the lake on a hot summer day...

I will miss the movements in my tummy. There is just something so surreal about watching my stomach bounce and roll. And I love that when Johnny talks to my stomach, she'll instantly start wiggling and bouncing to the sound of her daddy's voice.

I will NOT miss the feeling of "Great. I'm on the floor. How am I going to get up?"

I will miss the excitement of a specific day to look forward to. For nine months, my universe has been centered around Thanksgiving Day. After November 25, 2010 comes and goes I will just be back to wishing that time would slow down.

I will NOT miss the constant remarks on my appearance: "You look great for someone who is as pregnant as you are!" "Are you sure there is only one in there?" "You've gained, what, 30 pounds?" "Mind if I stand here and rub your belly while I talk really close to your face?" (OK, the last one wasn't appearance related, but I won't miss that either)

I will miss the name game! I love talking about names, thinking about names, creating name lists... Soon, we will just have a baby with a name and no more lists to review.

I will NOT miss the worry that something could still go wrong - I can't wait to just have the baby girl safely in my arms, where I can see her face, touch her skin, kiss her nose...

OK, well - miniature clothes have been hung, sheets are washed, diapers are ready to be changed - now I guess we just wait....

Cuteness Round Up

A couple of silly things to begin the week:

A family portrait

First story: Christopher's best buddy, Easton, is a few months older than Chris. He is currently in the place of life where he is trying to understand relationships, how people are related, etc. The other day he asked his mama, Sarah (my best friend) who his cousins are. She answered his question, and said "Oh and Christopher. Christopher is your cousin too." He laughed at her and said "NO Mama, Chrisafer is FAMILY." Cuteness.

Second story: This morning, we had the radio on REALLY low. The song that was playing had the lyrics of "I don't wanna break, break, a break break your heart..." Christopher somehow heard the words (I didn't even hear them!) and said "Mama, is someone going to break Baby HEART!?" Aaaawwww.

When 2 Year Olds Talk...

Each morning when I drop off Christopher, he asks me to sit at the pre-school breakfast table with him and his friends. I am a sucker, so everyday I stuff my 9-month pregnant body into a teeny tiny chair and sit to chat with a group of two-year-olds.

Today, the little ones were talking about their baby siblings.

"I have a baby Brody..."

"My baby broder is sleeping..."

"I have sister!"

To all this, I said: "Did you know that Christopher is going to have a baby sister soon?"

All of them stopped and looked at me with blank expressions.

Then, Christopher's friend Chase nodded and said: "Yeah, Baby Heart." (Read this story if you don't know how C came about calling Baby Girl B "Baby Heart.")

So, apparently, Christopher and his school buddies sit around and have really clear, serious conversations about their little siblings (and frequently enough to know that this baby is "Baby Heart")! How cute are they?

An Apple A Day...

I love apples (and eat one everyday) but, until recently, Christopher hasn't had much interest in them. This morning, on the way to preschool/work, he begged to hold the apple.

"I hold your apple Mama? Please?"

Since I can't resist good manners, I handed him the apple. I heard the typical morning giggles, but thought nothing of it. When I dropped him at school, he smiled and handed me the apple. It was all sticky and wet, so I turned the car light on I found little tiny nibbles marks all over the outside.

"That apple was yummy mama!"

Little stinker!

Depressing Middle of the Night Thought

So, I know I said I wouldn't whine at the end of this pregnancy, but I am a liar (just ask poor Johnny, he hears every bit of my whining).

Well, last night I was tossing and turning around in bed. It was 1 a.m., 2 a.m. and then at 4:18 a.m. I had a ridiculous thought: "I can't wait for this baby to be born so I can finally have a decent night of sleep..."

That thought immediately made me sit up straight in my bed and realize that I have a LONG time until I have a decent night of sleep. WHAA!

I want the magical ignorance of my first pregnancy back - at least back then I had no clue just how exhausted we would all be in a few weeks...

Rubbing My Tummy

Christopher will occasionally pat my tummy, but he seems unsure about the baby moving, so he never touches it for very long.

Yesterday, we were hanging out - just the two of us - playing with Halloween Play Dough. He set his portion onto the table, looked at my tummy and reached out to touch it. He stood with his tiny hand on my tummy for a long time, with a look on his face said (at least to me):

"Why does everyone rub Mama's tummy? I see nothing exciting going on." He kept his hand there for a while and rubbed a little, said "Hi Baby Heart" a few times, and asked me a few questions ("She wiggling in there Mama?" "She coming to live here with us Mama?" "Baby Heart can hear me Mama?"). It was a really sweet few moments in time...

Side Note: It is not all tummy rubs and snuggle time. Later that evening, he excitedly threw dirty, cold bath water into my face and thought it was the most hilarious thing ever - but I have to hold onto and remember the sweet moments, right?

Just One Toe?

The other day we were talking to Christopher about his new baby sister.

"Now, you get to help us take care of her. You can hug her, kiss her, tickle her, snuggle her."

"I kick her too?"

"No Christopher, you don't want to kick the baby."

He sat thoughtful for a moment and said:

"Can I kick her with just one toe?"

Days Away from Halloween...

Trying to teach a 2 1/2 year old about Halloween is actually easier than I thought, apparently they speak the language of free candy.

"So Christopher, what can you tell me about Halloween?"

"I knock on the door, I say trick-or-treat, I get a SUCK-ER!!!!!"

"Well yeah, I guess you've got the basics."

Naming a Baby

Well, it was easy with Christopher. I had spent my whole life imagining baby names, so when I was FIVE weeks pregnant, I made Johnny sit down and decide on a name with me. We wrote out our favorites, compared lists and decided on Christopher for a boy, Audrey for a girl. 33 weeks later, we hear "It's a boy!" and he is instantly Christopher James.

It has not been that easy with this pregnancy. Maybe because I know it is my LAST time deciding on a baby name? Maybe because I know it is a girl, so it makes the name more real or something? Maybe because Johnny is a huge name rejector and says NO to everything I come up with? Anyway, we are down to the wire - 4 weeks until my due date!

So, I will add a little poll to the blog, feel free to vote on your favorite - NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS PLEASE. Remember - you may hate the name and feel like I should know you hate it - but in the back of my mind, I remember every bad thing everyone has said about the names, and it can get awkward if the name we choose is the name you told me you think is boring or stupid or reminds you of a trampy girl from high school...

Vows...

Well, another vow is broken. NO, nothing serious - but I seriously need to stop making vows to myself (silent our otherwise).

The day that my dear friend Kori asked me to be in her wedding, I vowed to NOT be pregnant. The prospect of an open bar is a quality reason for family planning, right?

Here I sit, 8 months pregnant, sipping water from the open bar

When Christopher was a newborn, I vowed to not spank him. Why? Because I, a woman and mother of the new millennium, would use my words and reason to rationalize with my baby as he grew up. As I stared at my tiny sleeping newborn, I never imagined the day (in the not so distant future) when he would possibly run into the street, where cars drive, and ignore my cries of "Stop! Freeze! NOOOOO!" When I finally got my hands on him, after I covered him with kisses, he was lucky I didn't strangle him.

As I stared at that tiny little newborn (see his sweetness in the picture
below), I also never pictured this day.

A third promise - I would never, ever, EVER call my husband "Daddy." I thought it was weird, and for a long time after C was born Johnny was never referred to as Daddy, Dada, Papa, etc.

About a year ago, Christopher was in the bubble bath and wanted Johnny to come upstairs. He called "Daddy! Dad-dy!" Johnny didn't hear his cries for attention so he yelled: "JOHN-NY!" He then spent weeks calling Johnny by his first name, me by my first name. Johnny and I immediately started with "Mommy" and "Daddy" - and now it is just who we are...

Hanging out with "Daddy Johnny..."

My latest broken vow? During the magic of my first pregnancy, I couldn't understand the craziness of other end of pregnancy ladies. I vowed to never complain.

Well... I am sorry and ashamed to say that I am a TOTAL end of pregnancy complainer. "When is it going to happen?" "I'm sleepy..." "I'm hot..." "Acid reflux IS not fun." "Yay, I may be weeks away from delivery, but here I am - still battling morning sickness! Yay, pregnancy can be awesome." "I can't drink at Kori's wedding - whaaa!"

Now, I would NOT change the pregnancy for anything in the world - I feel honored that I can even have children - and then at the end of the 40 long weeks, I get a really awesome prize. BUT, stay away from me until the baby arrives - turns out I am a total whiner.

Strumming Along...

This $10 guitar from Target was a smart purchase. As a baby, Christopher held it and plucked at the strings. Other toddler friends play with it the moment they arrive to our house. I use it to sing my always in tune, written on-the-spot songs.

A sample from last evenings song stylings? Well, first keep in mind that I don't know how to play the guitar, so I just play all the strings and make noise. Then, for whatever reason, I assume a "country" voice.

And begin:

"Oh Christopher, you're my best friend. The best until the end.
Oh Christopher, your feet - they're full of meat!
Oh Christopher, we're singing songs.
Oh Bucky, please sing a-long..."

He smiles and bounces and claps until I run out of random things to sing, he is a good boy. He even asked me to sing the "feet meat" song again. :)

Sweet Moments with Daddy

Last night after dinner, I cleaned the kitchen while Johnny got Christopher ready for bed. After I was done cleaning up, I went upstairs and spied on a sweet little moment of Christopher stark naked, sitting on the floor, talking to Daddy as his Daddy gently put a new band aid on his toe (he cut a toenail- a band aid is no longer required, but Christopher has become attached to it). C was telling Daddy all about his hurt toe, and Daddy was listening, full of interest...

Then Daddy brought Christopher downstairs and they read a book together. Christopher likes to participate with reading aloud (as you can see from this video), and with my camera phone I caught a cute little moment of them both saying "Sssh!" at the same time in the book. My boys are so sweet!

Reading ME a Story Before Bed...

Back in July, 2009 - Christopher started reading aloud. I thought he was brilliant then:



Here he is, reading to me last night before bed (again - I can't figure out how to rotate VIDEOS, does anyone know how to do that?). He is a genius boy!

40 Weeks

Tonight we are going to visit Grandma Barbara and Papa Karlos (also known as Ganma Barbala and PaKarlos).

Christopher is VERY excited to see them, and talked about the visit all night last night.

He also must have overheard a me saying that pregnancy lasts for 40 weeks, and that 40 weeks is a LONG time, because this morning on the way to school he said:

"No school today. I go to Ganma Barbala's house for 40 weeks, ok Mama?"

Playing on a dirt pile at Ganma

Barbala's - no wonder he wants to
stay there for 40 weeks!

ALLLLLL Night

When Christopher is happy and doesn't want to stop doing whatever it is that we are doing, he says "I do this ALLLLL night." So, if you are hanging out with him and he says he wants to stay with you alllll night - you have made him a happy 2 year old.

See below for a video of the cuteness (I can't figure out how to make the video vertical, sorry!):

Todays Perk of Being a Mama - Awwwwww.....

Sometimes your baby does something so cute there are no proper words to describe it.


Thank Heavens that moments like this can be captured for forever...

Todays Perk of Being a Mama - Singing along

Christopher is occasionally grumpy during the morning drive to school and work - which I totally understand, I have been known to have a grumpy morning or two... Well, one day the song Mad by Neo came on the radio and he stopped crying and kicking.

Because I stick with what works, the next time he was grumpy in the morning, I turned that same song on.

It worked again.

Needless to say, I have listened to Mad possibly 1,000 times. Sometimes, at C's request - we listen to it on repeat throughout the 20-minute morning drive.

This morning I was humming along. He said "Stop mama, stop!" I stopped and then listened to him as he actually sang along to the words (he knows almost every single word)! He's a 2 year old genius.

It is my goal to catch it on video...

Todays Perk of Being a Mama - Eating Dirt

Last weekend, Christopher and I stayed overnight with my mom and stepdad, Karl (or as Christopher refers to him "Papa Karlos" - which has been shortened to "PaKarlos"). Early the next morning, he convinced PaKarlos to take him on a walk - well, on this walk he discovered a BIG PILE OF ROCKS AND DIRT. Which, as it turns out, is a toddlers version of Heaven on Earth. Karl took a TON of photos and videos, but this is my favorite - here he climbs to the top of the dirt mountain ("I do MY-SELF!"), he pretends to ride a horsey, he eats dirt for the first time - all in his jammies. He came back into the house covered, from head to toe, in dirt and mud - and was as happy as a boy could be.

Tiny Pink Clothes

There is just something absolutely irresistable about tiny pink clothing... Can't believe that in a few weeks we're going to have a little baby girl wearing these jammies, hats, booties. We can't wait!

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You Know You're Pregnant When...

You know your pregnant when you walk out of work at the end of the day, look at your reflection in the car window & notice LUNCH crumbs sprinkled on your neck and chest.

Did my sweet coworkers not see the lunch remains - or did they just assume I was saving something for my drive home? :)

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"I Go Downstairs, ok Mama?"

This morning, I heard a tiny little whisper... "I go downstairs, ok Mama?"

"Ok baby, have fun."

Crap! I opened my eyes and saw total darkness.

Looking to the clock, I realized it was 5:40 a.m.

"Christopher, come back. Christopher!"

"What mama?"

"It's the middle of the night, go to bed..."

"OK mama."

I felt a little tiny body climb the side of our bed. Then I felt bouncing and heard giggling!

"Hi Mama, it's WAKE UP TIME!"

I miss his crib...

The Things You Do for a Smile

As a two year old, Christopher doesn't always have an easy time with being dropped off at school in the mornings. Sure, he loves his teachers and friends - but he tends have his sweet, chubby, little arms pointed up in the air at me as he sobs "Ma-ma..." A sad little lower lip comes out and everything. When I pick him up he is laughing and playing and running, I have to all but drag him out of there.

Basically, it is Mama Torture.

Well, I recently discovered that if I give him a big hug, say "I'll be right back" and blow kisses to him the entire way out the door as I leave, he is fine - he smiles, waves. The only problem is that the walk out the door is about 30 steps, and I have to do it backwards. While waving. And blowing kisses. And yelling "Love you!" and "I'll be right back!" While dodging a sea of running children and other parents dropping off children. And while seven months pregnant.

But really, leaving without seeing the extended arms, rolling tears and protruding lower lip makes all the backward walking, toddler tripping, "Excuse Mes" worth it...

I am a sucker for a Christopher smile.

Today's Perk of Being a Mama - You Get Coffee Mama?

Through the first 27ish weeks of this pregnancy, I had really bad morning sickness (granted, it DID get a little better each week). Through the first two trimesters, the only thing that seemed to settle my tummy was this delicious tea from Starbucks.

Well, I was sick several times a week for a long time - so on the way to taking Christopher to school, I would frequently find myself in the Starbucks drive-thru ($4 a visit? Who cares - I needed to settle my tummy, right?!). Christopher would always ask what we were doing, I explained we were getting coffee (he doesn't get what TEA is yet, coffee is just easier to explain).

As everyone knows, Starbucks puts some random addictive chemical in all of their products. Now that I am no longer sick, I should stop going - but does that stop my car from driving up to the order window at the same (or maybe even increased) frequency as the days of morning sickness? UM, no.

Sadly, because of my addiction, whenever we drive by a Starbucks and don't stop, Christopher says: "You get coffee mama? You get coffee?!" He recognizes the darn logo!

Today's Perk of Being a Mama - A Bouquet of... Leaves?

We spent some time today running in the backyard (well, Christopher ran - I watched and cheered him along). He ran up slides, through the sprinkler, in the grass. I noticed him playing under the tree for a minute and then he walked up to me with a bundle of leaves in his hand.

He smiled at me and said: "Pretty flowers for MAMA!"

Aw, my sweet little boyfriend...

Baby Girl Room

The theme of the room is pink walls, pretty flowers, butterflies, girly, girly, girly!

The rocking chair has been in the family for forever. It belonged to my amazing Great Grandma - we just recovered the fabric, shined up the wood a little. My favorite touch? The photo next to the lamp is of my Mom as a 3-4 year old rocking her baby sister (My Aunt Betsy) in the same chair.

The entire room, basically done.

Parenting Lesson I Learned...

No matter what the activity, if you are ever with your child and you think to yourself: "Wow, this is going a lot better and easier than I expected" - immediately slap yourself and banish that thought. You are wrong, the moment may SEEM easier, but that is simply the calm before the two-year-old storm.

Sweet Talker

Christopher's version of snuggling on the couch...

Well, I am tired most of the time, but especially tired on Monday mornings. At the same time, a car ride to drop C off at school is especially entertaining - he never fails to say something that makes me laugh.

This morning, he was also really tired. We brought him to our room to get dressed for the day, he hopped off of our bed and went back to his room to lay in bed.

Well, on the way to school he said, in a nice, sweet, normal voice:

"Mama, no school today. We go home and snuggle."

He is such a sweet talker - it took every ounce of will power I had to not turn the car around and curl up on the couch with my baby. Then I realized he was full of lies - he would have snuggled me for 15 seconds - and then he'd be ready to play....

I Do Not

Christopher has learned a cute new sentence that he is more than happy to use ALL THE TIME.

"Christopher, do you want to eat dinner?"

"No, I do not."

"Christopher, let's get ready for bed."

"No, I do not."

"Christopher, it is time to brush those teeth!"

"No, I do not."

"Christopher, do you want a cupcake?"

"Um, yeah..."

Baby Heart

To ease my worried early pregnancy mind, I borrowed a pocket doppler from a friend. This would let me listen to the heartbeat whenever I wanted to - which, before I started getting consistent punches to ribs, was a LOT.

A few times, I asked Christopher: "Chris, do you want to listen to the Baby's heart?"

Because of that question, Christopher started calling the baby "Baby Heart." The name has just stuck, and that is what we call her too (if we don't hurry up and decide on a name in the next few weeks, I guess she'll just be Baby Heart for forever).

The other day, Christopher was running around the backyard. I was sitting, watching him run back and forth. He stopped, ran up to me, looked at my tummy, put his mouth to my belly button and said:

"Hi Baby Heart. What are you doing? You swimming in Baby Heart's room? I Christopher!" And then he zipped away.

The Walk of Shame

The Fit you see in the image above is different from the Fit told below...

To begin, I want the world to know that I have a really sweet boy - however, he is two years old and occasionally is not the most reasonable person.

Yesterday, we went to dinner. At the end of the meal (and as a special treat for his good behavior) I got him a little scoop of ice cream. Since he is two, he wanted to eat the ice cream with his fingers. Johnny attempted to show him how to use the spoon to eat the ice cream, but that is when Christopher lost it.

As he pushed his hands into the scoop of cold ice cream, he shouted: "I DO MY-SELF!!!!" He then tried to throw the ice cream across the table.

I took the ice cream away from the crazed toddler, and so he immediately threw his entire body onto the booth and started kicking and crying and screaming. Unsure of what to do, we paid the bill and ran out with Chris over Johnny's shoulders; ALL eyes were on us as he was still kicking, still screaming - creating a whole new definition for the term "walk of shame."

Best part of the situation? When we were buckling C into his seat (refer to this entry to see how well buckling him in went last night), my mom, who witnessed the whole thing, was begging me to let her get his ice cream. I made her VOW to never get him ice cream or any other treat if he ever throws a fit like that when I am not around. She vowed, but I think she may have had her fingers crossed behind her back...

Today's Perk of Being A Mama - Cute Photos

This is just an extremely cute picture of Christopher & his friend, Max.

Special Talents

Johnny is amazing with numbers. You can give him any random math question and he'll quickly figure out the answer in his head.

That is fantastic and all - but really, when do you need MATH? My special talent? My ability to recall all kinds of random pop culture facts. I may not be able to tell you the square root of whatever, but I can tell you unnecessary details about famous people, tv shows, movies and music (however, my biggest pop culture weakness is 80's music. I know the songs, I just can't remember what band sang what before they broke up and went to this or that band - I do have a friend, Stephanie, who specializes in this particular topic).

I am not a total loser, this trait is genetic. My dad, who has no tv, will glance quickly at a People Magazine and remember every single detail about Paris Hilton or Jersey Shore ("Can you believe that Sammie & Ronnie are back together?").

Really, this trait may seem pointless - but when was the last time you needed the answer to a random math problem? And when was the last time you said, or thought, "Who IS that guy? What movie was he in???"

OK, time to sign off - the Bachelor Pad starts in a few minutes and Christopher still needs to get ready for bed...

Today's Perk of Being a Mama - Confidence

It was still not quite light outside when we left for daycare yesterday morning. Christopher was still sleepy and was pretty quiet. As the sun was starting to slowly rise, I saw him checking himself out in the monkey mirror that hangs on the headrest of the seat in front of him.

We were stopped at a light when he said: "Mama?"

I looked into the rearview mirror at him and said: "Yes?"

"I SOOO handsome."

"Oh yes, baby bear - you are the MOST handsome boy I know."

Chris, nodding in agreement: "Yeah...."

I couldn't capture a picture of that moment in time with my sweet little confident boy, so here is another photo to show off just HOW handsome he is:

Today's Perk of Being a Mama - Cupcakes for No Reason!

One of my favorite things about being a mama is that I get to enjoy watching Christopher marvel over the simplest things. I mean, yes - I love eating cupcakes, but I haven't squealed with sheer glee over them in a long time (excluding this pregnancy).

This past Saturday, I had a cupcake craving. To satisfy my sweet tooth, the three of us jumped in the car to visit the ONLY place in the area to get a cupcake - Holy Cow Cupcakes in Carmel.

Christopher's cupcake, yum!

I mean, we HAD to add a LITTLE ice cream...

CHEERS!

He seems unsure going into his first bite

Uh, oh Mama - I am messy!

YAY! I get to be messy AND eat cake!

Speaking of good foodie finds: as I have mentioned before, Johnny is a superb cook. On top of cooking great meals, he likes talking about food, thinking about food, buying food, eating food, sharing photos of food. What better place to do all this than in his own food blog? He just started it yesterday - check it out: ReadyToDine.Wordpress.com.