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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Happiest Place on Earth

For the Happiest Place on Earth, I sure have seen a lot of crying children!! And some fine examples of parenting. Not that I'm the pillar of parenting expertise or perfection, but I'm pretty sure that smoking a cigarette in my child's face while screaming at her telling her to stop her "pissing and bitching because we're here to HAVE FUN, DAMNIT!" isn't the best choice. At 8:30 at night. And the child was probably two years old and obviously exhausted. And this was in the parking lot as they were about to enter Downtown Disney. Enter, not leave. Let's just say there are LOTS of people watching opportunities in Orlando.

We didn't even leave our resort yesterday, until it was time for dinner! We asked the boys yesterday morning what they wanted to do, and they both said go to the playground. So we did!
After playing at the playground, we took a boat across the lake and did some exploring. We played at the activities center for a bit, had an ice cream, walked around, then decided to rent a bicycle built for four! Jack was too little for a ride, so Chris started, rode back to our condo where I met them, then I rode around for a bit with the boys. I seriously want one of these bikes! It was SO fun.

After our bike ride, we all took a nap. That is so rare! Then we went to dinner, where Jack played several rounds of Peek-A-Boo.

We then went to Downtown Disney. David and Henry are obsessed. We rode the carousel - it was Jack's first time! We may head to the beach today. . . we have no plans!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Tuesday Twelve - The Photo Edition

1. We've been having a great time so far. Well, most of us. Henry keeps asking, "When are we going to just go home?
2. Jack is sleeping in the Pack & Play. In the closet in our room. He can't be where he can see someone else, so the closet was the best (read: better than the laundry room) option.
3. Henry had his hand on the elevator door today when it opened. He didn't take it off. His fingers got wedged in between the door of the elevator and the door frame. I hope to never hear the scream that came from his body again. He's fine -- swollen fingers, bruised pride. I hope this doesn't effect his future career of choice, which is "elevator man".
4. Jack is probably the happiest baby on the planet.5. David, playing with the Legos at Downtown Disney. "Disney Town" as Henry calls it.
6. D&H riding the train at Downtown Disney. This was their activity of choice two years ago when I was here with Julie, and it's no different this year.
7. Aargh! Pirate David at The Pirates House for dinner.

8. Pirate Henry!

9. Watching a big ship go by in Savannah.
10. Mobile potty break. Note he is still wearing his headphones so he doesn't miss a minute of his movie!

11. Happy Jack on the ride from Savannah to Orlando.

12. Clearly my children. Reading their magazines in the van.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Southern Tour, Days 1 and 2

vacation:

1va·ca·tion
Pronunciation: \-shən, və-\
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English vacacioun, from Anglo-French vacacion, from Latin vacation-, vacatio freedom, exemption, from vacare
Date: 14th century
1: a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission

2 a: a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended b: a period of exemption from work granted to an employee

3: a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation

4: an act or an instance of vacating

Let me tell you, in case you were unaware, there's very little about travel with three children under the age of 5 that could be considered "a respite or time of respite from something"!

We decided to leave a day early on Saturday and went to Savannah, GA. Chris and I had never been there, and both have wanted to. The boys did really well on the drive. Hallelujah for the DVD player! Jack is getting two teeth, which I discovered on the drive. He was a bit cranky, but was for the most part great. We got to Savannah and checked into the Savannah Marriott Riverfront. As you may gather from the name, it's right on the river. The boys LOVED seeing the huge ships going right by our hotel. Shortly after checking in, we ate dinner at The Pirates' House. It was cute, has a great history, and the food was OK. Not the best we've had, but far from the worst. The boys were exhausted by that point, so it was a pretty quick dinner. After dinner, we quickly changed our clothes and I brought the boys swimming in the hotel pool. David said several times, "I just love an indoor swimming pool!" David did a great job swimming immediately, and Henry took a couple of minutes to remember he knew how. Jack, as always, loved to splash, splash, splash. Chris took that opportunity to nap in the chair as I wrangled all three slippery children in the pool. Not really what I had in mind when I asked him to "help me bring the boys swimming"! Going to bed was interesting, as we were all sleeping in a room the size of our living room. We started with Jack in the crib, David and Henry in one bed, and Chris and I in the other. It was quickly apparent that wasn't going to work! I had to rock Jack to sleep in the desk chair while David and Henry played Quiet Mouse. That meant I had approximately 43 seconds to get Jack to sleep, and thankfully he cooperated! Then David slept with Chris and I slept with Henry. Surprisingly, we all slept until almost 7. That NEVER happens with our family!

Yesterday morning we all got dressed and checked out of our hotel, then went on a trolley tour of Savannah. The boys were thrilled to ride on the trolley, and Chris and I enjoyed the history of Savannah. What should then have been a quick ride to Orlando was slowed significantly by a two hour traffic backup. Yes, two. Hours. That's like 10 hours with three small children. David was unbelievably whiny, upset about everything, and almost got thrown out to hitchhike to Orlando. Henry was amazing - never complaining, crying, whining, or anything. He was perfect. Jack was very close to perfect. Two out of three is pretty good! We got to our resort, and the mood in the car quickly changed. It's amazing. David asked if we're going to live here forever. (Henry wouldn't like that, since he keeps saying, "I just want to go home to be with Gigi." WTH?) David was exhausted and, after exploring our condo, quickly changed back to his sour self. Henry and I ran to get some dinner and an ice cream for him, because he was such a good boy. Getting everyone to bed was a bit of a chore, but I was SO glad that David and Henry are not sleeping in the same room as us!!!

Today we're going to check out the rest of our resort and head to Downtown Disney. We have no plans for the week and are just going to play things by ear. The boys are already up and playing Pictureka (Thanks Briana for recommending that!) in their room.

Have a great day!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a fabulous day. I was scared at 1:30 AM when David came screaming into our room excited because Santa had left a present underneath his tree in his bedroom. If he had seen the living room, it would have been a loooong day. Thankfully I was able to get him back to sleep. I have tons of photos, but am too lazy to post them right now. My children are snuggled in their beds with visions of Christmas overload dancing in their heads. We all got very spoiled and got much more than we need. And probably more than we deserved! One great gift my mom gave me was a printed, bound copy of my blog. Such a surprise, and so fun to go back to read it in a book form. Since we're leaving for vacation very, very early Sunday morning, we've already taken our tree and all of our decorations down, put everything away in the attic, washed the clothes we got for Christmas, and put all of the Christmas gifts away. It sort of makes me feel Grinch-ish, but I'm not coming home from vacation to a bunch of Christmas stuff to put away!

I'm going to hang out with Christopher and relax. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Not Kidding

David's not kidding, that is. About the "waundwy". He opened a couple of gifts he got in the mail yesterday. One was clothes. He. Was. Pissed. He also asked me today how Santa's elves make laundry. He said, "I fink they use that white stuff. You know, the stuff that grows in the fiewd near our neighborhood.". Um, that would be cotton. I'm pretty sure he's probably a genius.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Say What?

"I just want Santa to bring me toys for Christmas. That's my faborite. I don't want Santa to bring me laundry. Last year Santa brought me laundry for Christmas, and that fwustwated me." -David

He'll be thrilled when he opens his five boxes of clothes!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Sunny Vacation

I almost forgot to tell you . . . we're going on vacation! Or, as David likes to say, "a sunny bacation". It was totally a last minute decision, but we're going to Orlando shortly after Christmas. I can't wait!! Not because it's Orlando, but because it's vacation!

Snow Day


It snowed last week, and my children were thrilled. Me? Notsomuch. David and Henry wanted to play in the snow. We don't really have appropriate clothing for snow play. They used our only two pairs of mittens that night, and I didn't anticipate them wanting to play in the snow (or the snow still being there) the next morning, so the mittens were still wet. What to do? Don't worry -- they wore ghetto mittens. Socks on their hands.

Don't Call Social Services!

Had I been home today, my children would have been beaten. I got a phone call from my husband while I was at work. That NEVER happens. It's not an issue if he calls, but he doesn't. I missed the call, so I called him right back. I could tell he had had enough. Henry was being particularly ugly today. He was pissed and picked up a chair. And. Threw. It. What?! That child is a barroom brawl in the making. He then was mad at Chris for something so he stood on the couch. And peed. All over the couch. Yikes. I'm positive Chris was very pleased when the babysitter got there.

Then I got a call from the babysitter as I was driving home. (Just to put things in perspective, I work about 45 minutes from home, and I could still see my office from my car.) The following is the conversation that ensued:

Kayla: Kim, I'm so sorry to call you.
Kim: That's OK! What's up?
Kayla: Is there a key to Jack's room?
Kim: Um, what?
Kayla: (Sounding a bit more frantic this time) Is there a key to Jack's room?
Kim: I don't think so. What's wrong?
Kayla: David locked Jack in his bedroom so he wouldn't bother David. I can't get him out!
Kim: Um, oh my God! You can use a screwdriver and try to open it.
Kayla: I already did! Jack's screaming!
Kim: I'M GOING TO BEAT DAVID! Send one of the boys in to wake Chris up.

Chris got the door unlocked. With. The. Key. I didn't even know we had one.

Any ideas on an appropriate punishment?! I've never had to punish him really, other than time outs. And I don't really beat my children, although the thought has crossed my mind. A lot.

The Walker

It's official . . . Jack is walking! He took steps 2 at a time yesterday, and today is taking 6-8 at a time. How is this happening already?! He's so proud of himself, sitting down and clapping when he's done. I'll post a video soon. I have a ton of photos to upload, but my camera (or computer?) is acting foolish. I'm going to try uploading them to my laptop.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Do You Think?

Do you think that Starbucks planted all of their nice shrubs along the sidewalk line to intentionally block a driver's view of the line of cars at the drive-thru window? As you drive up to the Starbucks closest to my office, the shrubs line the whole exterior of the parking lot, obscuring the view. Had I been able to see as I was pulling up, I probably wouldn't have gotten into a line with 17 cars that wrapped around the building. I love some caramel macchiato, but I'm just saying.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Tuesday Ten

Yes, a Tuesday Ten. I only have ten today!

1. Would I be crazy to have all of my children share a room? I'm a big proponent of shared rooms. Even though I didn't share one until I went away to school, which is probably a good thing. Do you know my sister and me? Let's just say one of us would have been an only child had we shared a room. . . However, my own children (so far) share nicely. They will share a room until they ask not to. I am contemplating moving Jack into D&H's room with them and making Jack's room a playroom. That was how we had it before Jack was born, and I miss the contained mess. They would be sleeping dorm style!

2. Um, the wrapping? Still hasn't happened. I got all of the stuff out, realized I had no boxes or tissue paper, and put it all away. Where the hell are Santa's elves when I need them?

3. All I want for Christmas is David to sleep past 4:45. He wakes up, has to pee, and thinks that means that it's time to be up. For the day. He doesn't nap, so you do the math and figure out when that makes him turn into Satan's spawn because he's so tired. Right around 4:45 PM. Um, who goes to bed before six o'clock? My child. It's a vicious cycle.

4. D&H had their Christmas program at school last week. Which they were almost late for, because they had to be there less than 15 minutes after I got home from work. Supernanny had them dressed, coats on, ready to go, thank God. I was literally walking them up to the stage (while their classes were already there) in my work clothes and coat. Nice. David stood in the top row and Henry was in the middle row right in front of David. David vacillated between "participating" with his mouth clamped firmly shut while his arms were crossed and sticking his fingers in his ears when people clapped. Henry sang every song, did every dance move, and had a big smile. It was hysterical. I have some poor photos I'm going to upload later.

5. Should I be knocking on wood because Jack is not interested in the Christmas tree at all? I've literally had more issues with David pulling stuff off than Jack.

6. We went to two birthday parties over the weekend. At the second were our friends with their 4 week old baby. While the boys were eating cake, I gave Jack his bottle in the stroller and fed baby Joel. Jack was NOT happy. He kept pulling on Joel's pants and trying to take him. It was funny to see him like that.

7. Speaking of Jack, I don't think he's ever going to walk. Why should he, when someone can carry him? If he's standing holding my hands and I let go, he stands there for a second and then instantly sits down and starts clapping.

8. Why does December go by so quickly and so busily?! We have had two things to do every weekend since November, and continue to do so until January.

9. Chris, the boys, and I are all off for the last two weeks of December. I'm excited for us to be able to do some fun things together and also get some things done around the house. I asked them what they wanted to do when they were off from school and David said he wanted to go to Toots (which he's obsessed with and has never been there) and get two fluffy white dogs with red leashes. Um, he'll have to be OK with only accomplishing half of his list.

10. WTH is up with Henry wanting to wipe his own bum? Thanks, but no thanks. As much as I can't wait until I don't have to be the designated bum wiper, the mess that comes with him doing it himself is so gross.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Five for Friday

Have you missed me?

1. Jack developed an illness on Black Friday. A mystery illness. One involving a fever of 105 degrees for several days. It's a mystery no more -- an ear infection and Roseola. Nothing like a text message from the babysitter that says, "Did Jack have a rash this morning, or is this new?" Thankfully he's back to his shiny happy self.

2. We put our Christmas tree up on Black Friday, as usual. Unfortunately, none of the lights turned on at the same time. Um, what? After MUCH finagling by my handy husband, still no lights. Seriously, how long does an artificial tree last? And we're not talking the $88 pre-lit special from Big Lots. We've had it for six Christmases, and we had some issues with it last year. We chucked it and got a *gasp* real tree! Never fear, I'll be purchasing another faux at the end of the Christmas season when the prices are slashed.

3. David and Henry had their "gumdrop shop" at school yesterday where they can do their own Christmas shopping for $1 per item. I limited them to five gifts each. Why? Because it would have taken Henry the entire school day to select more than that. He's very thoughtful in his selections! Most of the things are wrapped in gift bags, so you know I looked to see what they purchased. The difference between what David purchased and what Henry purchased is hysterical.

4. Guess what I got at work yesterday? MY LAPTOP! I honestly felt like Christmas came early to me.

5. I was also feeling like Christmas came early yesterday when I realized that if schools are closed in the county I work in, my job is closed too. WHAT?! Love it.