Do You See What We See?

If you don't know, we live in a very suburban part of St. Louis County. Our neighborhood is 650 homes and we don't have a lot of large wooded areas near by but they are in the vicinity. Unlike our last home, which sat on 3 acres of beautifully wooded land, seeing "wildlife" in our area, let alone our yard, is unusual to say the least.

Saturday was a nice mild day weather wise. The sun was out and it was probably in the 50's. A sneak peek of Spring in the early part of February. Well, the boys and I were busy doing stuff inside the house and Tim was feverishly working away on the kitchen preparing for our granite to be installed this Wednesday. The "family office area" has two windows that open up into our back yard and gives you a view up into the neighbors yard as well. Well something caught Tim's eye and caused him to look up and out of the windows. Do you see what he saw?


All of a sudden I hear a "Lib, come here! Quick!" and I grabbed Jack from the computer room and went running to the kitchen (I had a funny feeling SOMETHING was outside that wasn't supposed to be there) and looked out the patio door - DEER! Four of them! Two Does and two yearlings - out for a stroll and some breakfast most likely. Just enjoying the nice weather and didn't realize how far off their beaten path they roamed.

They boys were amazed! They've never seen deer in our yard like that before. Tim and I have seen a few, but like I said, they are NOT a common occurrence.

Mason said "Just like Santa's reindeer, Mommy!" and Tim and I chuckled. The four of us stood very still in the kitchen windows watching them graze and could tell they knew we were there. I got my camera and quietly slid open the patio door to see if I could snap a few pictures before they took off. They just stood and stared.


Mason and Jack eventually wandered out onto the patio and we said "shhhhh, see if they'll stay" and they did. Staring at us as intently as we were staring at them. The yearlings looked interested. Like they weren't quite sure what to think of us. You could see their heads bob around the shrub bushes to try to keep an eye on us and one of the does would stomp her foot as to say "Stay away from our children".

We could have stood and watched each other for an hour but we had things to do and so did they. All of a sudden, they threw their white tails in the air and bounced off across the neighbors fence line for.....I don't know where? Mason said they were either headed to "Shump-way" (aka Subway) or "Old McDonalds" (McDonald's) for some lunch. Ha Ha Ha!

Best Wishes For A First Time Mommy

Saturday night Tim and I had a date night - a movie and dinner. For dinner we went to Red Lobster. Nothing fancy... but somewhere that we don't normally go with the boys when we go out on Saturday nights. We got there and had to wait for a table so we found two seats at the bar and sat and talked and had a drink. I love to people watch and saw a waitress walking around with a full plate on her shoulder that looked to be about 8 months pregnant. I pointed her out and said something to Tim and his response was "I hope she gets some good tips!".

We sat down at our table and lo and behold who do we get as a waitress?? The pregnant one - what were the chances? When she left our table the first time I looked at Tim and said "We better tip her well!" and he just giggled with me.

I didn't want to use the old standard "When are you due?" question - that's too usual and boring so as we sat there and I saw her walking around as if she didn't have the big bump protruding from her front, I thought to myself......I wonder if that baby wakes up as soon as she gets home at night when her activity stops? So the next time she came to the table I asked; "So does that little one let you sleep after a hard nights work or does it wake up and have fun?" and she chuckled and said "Most of the time he sleeps well when I get home, he's pretty active tonight actually". Tim and I both said "Well that's good!" so then I said "How much longer do you have?" her response........"Um..... 2 weeks from Monday - the 23rd" I was amazed! She was 8 1/2 months pregnant and on her feet and waiting tables - and didn't seem phased that much! I was huge, swollen and a lumbering mess by the time I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my boys!

We ate out dinners, paid our bill and she said "Thank you for coming, I hope you enjoyed your dinner!" Tim and I both said "Good luck!" and she started to walk away. Tim quickly asked "Do you have other children?" and she said "No this is my first". Awww......a new Mommy, I thought to myself, have fun, it's awesome!

Something in me wanted to tell her how awesome of a ride she was about to get on so I took the itemized receipt that you get along with the credit card receipt and wrote "Being a Mommy is the BEST JOB in the whole world! Best of luck!" tucked it back into the folder and we left the table. Oh.....and we left her a 35% tip :o)

5 Years Ago - TODAY!

Wow! I just realized this morning that it was 5 years ago TO THE DAY (Monday, February 9, 2004) that I found out that I was pregnant with our first son and going to be a Mommy! Boy has time flown and have our lives changed in such a short span of time (of course only for the better).

I remember that day so vividly.....I KNEW that my body was always like clockwork and when I had no signs at all that my period was on the horizon I went to Walgreens on my way to the office and bought a two pack of Home Pregnancy Tests and used one while I was at work.

I sat it on my desk (hidden by my computer key board from anyone who might walk into my office) and watched as the one line became TWO and was a sure sign that I was pregnant. My hands began to sweat and my heart racing! How could it be so......we had JUST started trying and it wasn't really "trying" that hard. We had been on vacation and just threw caution to the wind. This was supposed to take us 6 months to a year! At our ages, we were supposed to have difficulty getting pregnant! Even my best friend Betsy had told me to be prepared for it to take a long time! OMG! I'm pregnant!!! I was so scared! Like I had done something wrong when I knew that I hadn't.

I actually was a bit scared to tell Tim (I have no clue why)so I waited until the next morning and took another test at work and prepared myself break the good news to him when he got home from work. But what could I do? How could I tell him? I wanted it to be in a way that he'd always remember! At that time, I was a part of an online group called "The Knot" (a chat board dedicated to wedding planning. Once you got married then you would leave the planning chats and move into the chat boards focusing on becoming parents and conception). Thanks to many other women who had been through the same anxious moment that I was now encountering, I had read about a poem that was PERFECT and a great way to tell your husband that he was going to be a Daddy.

So I took the poem, superimposed it onto a picture of a precious little baby and at the bottom of it put "Happy EARLY Valentine's Day! I Love You! Libby 2/10/04 and rolled it up and put it in a box to give to Tim when he got home.

I sat in our bedroom at home that night waiting and waiting for Tim to come home. As soon as I heard the front door close, my heart started racing and my hands became cold and clammy! He walked into the bedroom and said "Hi!" and I just held my breath and handed him the box (it was a plain cardboard box about 2" wide and 8" long) and said "You are NOT going to believe what I found today that we brought home from Jamaica with us!" Like we had smuggled some poor innocent little creature home from the islands and unfortunately had met it's demise in the bowels of our luggage.

Tim opened the box with a confused look on his face and looked back at me. As he unrolled the paper and read what it said on it I saw the confused and furrowed brow on his face turn into a smile. He understood my message! That he was a Daddy and that we had done it! We had created a life and were going to be parents! Wow!

5 years ago today, I became a Mommy (and quit smoking COLD TURKEY)! I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world!

By the way, the original piece of paper with the poem that I gave Tim sat on our refrigerator for the 9 months that I was pregnant with Jack and is now framed and hangs on the wall above his chest of drawers in our bedroom. A constant reminder of that very special day that we both will remember FOREVER!

Love In My Eyes

On the Mom's Board that I have been a part of since before Jack was born, the question "What does love look like in your eyes?" was posted today. In response, we all started sharing pictures of what WE feel love looks like to us. I thought I'd share some pictures of what "Love Looks Like To Me".

Forgive me now if I start to bore you, it's hard to pick....

BOY by Mason

The drawing development of children has been documented and studied for many years in Primary Education classes throughout the world.

The first stage of drawing is called the Scribbling Stage which occurs around age 2 and is described as :First disordered scribbles are simply records of enjoyable kinesthetic activity, not attempts at portraying the visual world. After six months of scribbling, marks are more orderly as children become more engrossed. Soon they begin to name scribbles, an important milestone in development.

The second stage which occurs from 3 to 4 is the Preschematic Stage and is described as: First conscious creation of form occurs around age three and provides a tangible record of the child's thinking process. The first representational attempt is a person, usually with circle for head and two vertical lines for legs. Later other forms develop, clearly recognizable and often quite complex. Children continually search for new concepts so symbols constantly change.

Well.....the reason I am posting this is because tonight as I was fixing dinner, the boys were sitting at the table drawing and Mason says "Mommy, Daddy look! I draw a boy!" and drew this figure!

Tim and I were FLOORED! He's NEVER drawn a figure like this before it's been merely scribbles! And now a recognizable figure - and he did it all on his own! Jack didn't start drawing people until just recently (I blogged about it here).

Just thought I'd share and BRAG a bit on my baby. He's getting so big! XOXO

Snow Buddies

Now if I could only get them to shovel the driveway, I'd be set!

Small Victories

Mason tinkled on the potty last night!!! It was the second time he's done it at home (in less than a week)!!! They have the cute little kid-sized potties at school and he says he goes there all the time but has NEVER gone at home. He won't sit on the potty seat and insists on standing (much to my dismay) so he stands on a step stool and leans over and hanging on to the lid (yeah, a little unconventional stance but hey, I'm not knocking it!). So he stood there and stood there and I could see him pushing b/c his tummy was going in and out, in and out and then all of a sudden the little stream started, then stopped, then started, then stopped until he was done. I had to stop myself from laughing because it was so cute and funny at the same time.

HE DID IT! HE WAS SO PROUD OF HIMSELF! Tim and I hooped and hollered again for him and he did a little dance in the bathroom and ran to tell Jack saying "TWO TIMES I tinkled Jack!!! (holding his fingers up showing the number 2)

It's the small victories of raising children that are so great! We're on our way to potty training Mason and being diaper free but not for awhile - he's pretty hard headed - but this is a start!

Indulge Yourself

What would you do if you had ONE day to ANYthing and EVERYthing in the world, how would you indulge yourself?

That’s the question that Suzanne from Product Reviews By A Quad Mom Named Suz! & Steece's Pieces is asking as a part of a FREE giveaway that she's holding after being selected as a product tester for M&Ms new Premium Chocolates through Blogher.


Well, I'm a chocolate lover so I figured I'd "indulge myself" by sitting back and thinking about it. What would I do..........well here goes.......

I'd start my morning off by hopping on an airplane and flying to......somewhere warm and tropical.....my favorite vacation spot......Negril, Jamaica. To some, not that indulgent, but to me, a very memorable vacation destination and one I'd return to in a heartbeat. I'd take a flight DIRECTLY to the resort so that I didn't have to do the drive from the airport - I want to maximize my time that I have!

I'd be met at the entrance of the resort by employees with a tropical drink and ready to wisk me away to the spa for a "Day of Beauty" - everything that they offer, I'd get! A facial, a massage, pedicure, manicure, hair cut, hair "do", you name it. I'd be a princess for a day! I'd have a suite at the resort so that I could relax and sit under a beautiful palm frond umbrella and look out onto the beautiful aqua blue ocean wiggling my toes in the sand and feeling the warm breeze on my face.

I'd spend my day just "relaxing and enjoying myself" (something that's hard to come by). Later in the day, I'd have Tim flown down to meet me and we'd enjoy a nice dinner at the resorts restaurant and eat until we couldnt' eat any more. We'd spend good quality time with each other that evening and fly back home to "life and reality" to start the next day as we do every day - waking up to our two wonderful children. A life that I would not want any other way!

So......that's it. My "dream for a day" - being pampered and relaxing and just having time for Me, Myself and I. And.....I'd throw in a little time for Tim too!


Thanks Suzanne for letting me indulge myself on a cold and snowy day here in St. Louis! It's been fun!

Adventures In Babysitting

So last week I get an email from Hank asking if I'd watch Sophie Saturday night so that he and Tricia could go to a friends BDay party. I said SURE! Tim and I decided that we'd take the boys out too, take all three kids to dinner and then let them play for a bit. Tim would take the boys home when it was bedtime and I'd stay with Sophie until Hank & Tricia got home. Sounds reasonable and realistic....doesn't it??? I thought so.

We went to O'Charleys (so we could feed the kids for free). we got there after 6pm which meant a wait but we found four seats at the bar and entertained the kids until it was our turn to sit down. Jack was tired and said his tummy hurt but he tends to do that sometimes so we just brushed it off (BAD IDEA!). We ordered dinner for the kids and they brought it really fast. Just mac & chz -nothing out of the ordinary, I knew that Sophie would eat it. Sophie dug in like Mac & Chz was going out of style, but neither of the boys would touch their dinner and Jack kept saying his tummy hurt.

Tim and I ordered dinner and we waited and waited and waited. The kids started getting restless and then Mason said his tummy hurt too (Uh oh). I took Jack to the bathroom and told Tim to ask for our dinner to go b/c it was apparent that we weren't going to be able to eat dinner at all with the boys acting the way they were. Sophie this whole time, by the way, was chowing on Mac & Chz and being a complete angel (thank god!).

I got back to the table with Jack and we sat down. He said he wanted some water and then started crying that his tummy really hurt (he didn't do anything in the bathroom) and then proceeded to throw up ALL OVER ME at our table! I was horrified! In a restaurant.... with other people trying to eat their dinner.... my child just threw up! OMG! I looked at Tim and told him to go get the car and that he'd have to take the boys home and I'd be home as soon as I could but had no clue what time that would be. I think Tim started to have an anxiety attack b/c I could see panic in his eyes but what was I supposed to do? So with both of the boys crying for ME - Tim drove off and left me standing in the parking lot in front of my car with Sophie.

Oh - BTW the restaurant comped our ENTIRE Dinner b/c they felt bad for us and the sweet Manager helped me get our food together and met me at the door as we left (I think she really just wanted us to leave so she didn't lose any other customers)

I got back to Hank & Tricia's house and called Tim - they were almost home and Jack had thrown up again in the car on the way home. But....smart Mommy had given him a bag to us if he needed it. Amazingly enough he did a good job and just missed it a bit.

With Sophie playing wonderfully and quietly I called Hank and told him that Jack was sick and asked if they could be home by 10pm so that I could get home to help Tim and Hank said that was fine. I know that I probably scared the you know what out of them when I called their cell phone. I know that sinking feeling that you get when "the babysitter" calls you! Sorry guys!

Not 10 minutes later, Tim called me back and said that Mason had thrown up too! This one on the sofa! So I called back and told Hank that they needed to come home b/c I needed to be at home helping Tim.

I felt terrible for making them come home but what do you do when you have TWO children throwing up simultaneously? We've never dealt with it before. I was so excited to have some "pink" time with Sophie and see what trouble we could get into (just kidding)! I did manage to teach her to say Mason, which comes out "Ma" and Jack, which comes out "Ja".

Thankfully - I think it's over. Jack threw up 3 times and Mason only once. I cleaned up Jack's car seat yesterday morning (oh that was a joy! Thanks to VICKS under my nose for getting me through it) and they seem to be doing okay today too.

Now Tim and I are just hoping that WE don't get it. I told Hank & Tricia that I owed them a "rain check".

Floor!

We have a floor in the new kitchen! Came home yesterday to find Tim on hand and knee installing the tile! It looks so great (these pictures don't do it justice). Hoepfully Tim said he'll get started installing the cabinets this weekend - the light at the end of the tunnel is a tad bit brighter!!!





The tile is a composite tile and not ceramic or slate. It has grout lines already on it so all you do is use an adhesive to put it down and voila - it looks like you did the labor to lay a ceramic or slate floor!!! Pretty cool huh?

Create Your Own Caption...

Low Key Weekend

Nothing fancy to blog about but I thought I'd share a few pics from Sophie's awesome birthday bash on Saturday afternoon. Hank and Tricia threw their daughter a GREAT Birthday party with their friends, family and lots of KIDS. Make-your-own pizzas and Hello Kitty Birthday Cake were a hit. Everyone had a great time. I even managed to end up IN FRONT of the camera for a change (wow!).

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Tim, Jack, Mason and I want to wish Sophie a VERY Happy Birthday!

We love you, Sophie!

Disney On Ice

Saturday I had a bit of a flash back to going to see the ice capades with my Mom and Dad when I was a little girl... Disney on Ice was in town and I decided that I'd take the boys instead of trying to corral them in the house all morning. Tim was busy working on the kitchen floor trying to get it ready to lay the tile so we headed out for the 11:30am show. It was great! Our "date" didn't start out too red-hot but once the boys realized what they were seeing - it all turned around and they truly enjoyed themselves.

CARS, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Tinkerbell were the features of the Worlds Of Fantasy show. I was corrected on a number of occasions for "chair dancing" by my youngest and told that I could sing but "No Dance Mommy!". So here are a few clips of our day - please excuse my voice in the background - I think I was JUST AS EXCITED about some of the characters as the boys were!

Thanks for a great date boys! Mommy had a good time!

Portrait

Surely one that I will cherish FOREVER! Please note that I have ear rings and that I have arms and fingers on my hands (this is new on his people that he is drawing). The blob on the left is my jewelry box ("Where you keep your ear rings Mommy!"). Things like this make being a Mom the best thing in the whole wide world!

Life is Short, Use The GOOD Napkins

This was from an email that my Mom sent me today. It's hilarious and I couldn't help myself in posting it for my loyal readers to share with you and give you a good giggle for today.

My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (her first mistake). One day I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors was ajar. I read the box in the cabinet.

I then asked my mother why she was keeping 'napkins' in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen?

Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those were for 'special occasions' (her second mistake).

Now fast forward a few months.... It's Christmas Day, and my folks are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for dinner.

Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone. Mine was to set the table.

When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst into laughter. Next came his wife who gasped, then began giggling. Next came my father, who roared with laughter.

Then came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place setting on the table with a 'special occasion' Kotex napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!!

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the other adults into further fits of; laughter. 'But, Mom, you said they were for special occasions!!!'

Life is too short for drama and petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly....and for heavens sake, use the good napkins whenever you can!

- Author Unknown

Happy Birthday, Bear!

Here is Mason's birthday wish for his Bear (sorry it's sideways, I turned it on my PC and for some reason Blogger keeps turning it back). Jack wasn't so cooperative so I'm posting his from last year as well.

Happy Birthday, Bear! We love you!

Can You Say "YUM"?

My sister is always coming up with super creative ideas for presents for the boys and is VERY GOOD at spoiling them when there is not even a special occasion. This year has been NO different. For Christmas, she totally outdid herself and sent them a Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine! Can you say OMG!!! It's so cool!

We decided that we'd give it a try tonight so as a family we came to an agreement that we'd make Mint Ice Cream after dinner. The boys and I picked up the few ingredients that we needed when we were at the grocery store this morning and then Mason and I mixed it all up and put it in the refrigerator so that we'd be ready to go after dinner. Boy did they have a reason to eat all their dinner tonight.

After Mason had helped clear the table (which he NEVER does), we plugged in the machine, turned it on and poured in the "ice cream mixture" and watched it go to work.

After about 15 minutes (which of course seemed like an eternity to the boys)....voila.....MINT SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!!

And the coolest part about the machine is that it has three compartments for mix-ins that you can pick as it dispenses YOUR ice cream.....for that added personalization to your eating experience (ha ha ha).

We ALL enjoyed the ice cream and just wanted to send a big shout out to Aunt Diehnee, Uncle Chris, Sarah, Caroline, Peter and Jack for the AWESOME Christmas present!!!

Forward Progress

Yes, this has been one of the LONGEST remodeling projects on record but when you are at the mercy of your husband (the contractor), that's what happens and you take what you can get! I was lucky enough that he put in time Christmas Day, and two days after to get the kitchen and hallway painted and now he's getting ready to lay the new subfloor so the kitchen floor can go on.

Then the cabinets can come in from the garage, appliances can go in and the granite people can come out to run the templates for the counter tops and we can have a functioning kitchen. So my goal of the "end of the year" completion date has come and gone but I can see light at the end of the tunnel..........I'm just not sure how far away it is.

So here's a little sneek peak at where we are....

Here's the kitchen floor tile and the pattern that it will be laid in

Hardwood floor that will be in the front hall and dining room area - it will be "similar" to this but not exact as this color is NO LONGER AVAILABLE (nice huh?) New paint in the hallway (same color as the family room and kitchen)

Kitchen is painted and now ready for the subfloor to go in
My home the construction zone

Our New Year Wish

We wish you Health...
So you may enjoy each day in comfort.

We wish you the Love of friends and family...
And Peace within your heart.

We wish you the Beauty of nature...
That you may enjoy the work of God.

We wish you Wisdom to choose priorities...
For those things that really matter in life.

We wish you Generousity so you may share...
All good things that come to you.

We wish you Happiness and Joy...
And Blessings for the New Year.

We wish you the best of everything...
That you so well deserve.

Happy New Year!