Love u more than anything...

A year in review... 2011

2011-12-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

I love putting this together... it's so great looking back on our year and choosing my favorite blog posts from each month. I really tried my hardest to narrow it down to 2-3 a month, but that's impossible... we're just such an exciting family, I'm lucky I narrowed it down to 5 or less ;-)

So here's to looking forward and celebrating a new year... while celebrating and being grateful for an amazing year.

Happy 2012!!!

January
See you soon, Nana
We just can't cut it
Zac sings the ABC's

February
Cin-City Chili
Happiness is...
I never want to forget...
Extended Bottle Feeding

March
Hooray for Carden School
He's two
New House
Best Friends

April
Confidence
For Sale {almost}
His first haircut
Alice in Wonderland
Bunk Bed!

May
My mom and I
Carden's Mother's Day Tea
Scavenger Hunts
Deacon turns 6

June
Carden 8th grade graduation
Happy Father's Day
Someone is feeling better

July
Outdoor fun & date night
Out and about
The Gerold's are here!
African Safari & Cedar Point
Our last night

August
Kidney troubles
Super Hero
In bed
My mom is here

September
Reason to celebrate
A cub scout and a frog
First day of 1st grade
Rain gutter regatta
A visit from the tooth fairy

October
Happy Birthday, Damien
His first ride in an ambulance
Carden Harvest Faire
Growing up

November
Yo Gabba Gabba
Black Friday
Outside decorations

December
A California Winter
Lack of Motivation
The Stomach Flu
Merry Christmas
Yosemite

Adios 2011!

2011-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

A quiet new years eve for us, which is just fine for me... though we did plan on going to see firework (but decided against it due to crowds). Damien and I went out for an early dinner and ended back home in time to celebrate "east coast" new years eve with Deacon and Grandma... I plan on being asleep by midnight... though we just may set our alarms for 11:59... maybe... or not.

See you all in the new year... Love you all!- enjoy our last photoshoot of 2011!

{photo's above and below taken with my iPhone}

yosemite

2011-12-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

Deacon and I took a road trip with our good friends, Ed & Logan... it was a total last minute decision to drive to Yosemite and spend the night- and I'm so happy we did, because everyone had a great time. I've never been there and have really been wanting to go... and this couldn't have been more ideal- the weather was supposed to be in the low 40's, however, we showed up and it was mid-60's... on top of that, the place wasn't crowded at all. Ed was amazing and found us a great place to stay - a little cabin with no t.v., phones (or phone service), or internet access... that's about as hardcore as it gets for me, by the way.

It was a great little get-away...

Logan kept asking if we could stop so he could play in some snow... and this as as good as it got- but they had SO much fun with it.

See you later, Grandpa :(

2011-12-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

Grandpa went back to Ohio today... I'm a bit sad that the majority of his visit was spent with my mom sick and then partially with him sick. But the kids were pretty thrilled to have him here, regardless, and didn't give him much of a break ever. I'm also on a bit of an anti-camera kick lately, so I seriously have no pictures with my dad and Zac... which I feel very badly about. But at least I got smart and took these pictures right before Deacon went to bed...

The day after

2011-12-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

Every so often these two can truly entertain themselves and have a good time with each other... and today was one of those days.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year... Zachary really "got it" and was SO insanely excited about Santa. Both boys were crazy about waking up early this morning and made sure we went downstairs right at 6:30 like we promised. Zac did a great job opening gifts- he would open them, get excited and then move on... whereas last year it took him forever to open all his gifts because he wanted to play with each of them. Deacon, of course, tore through them all and then decided which to play with.

After gift opening my dad and I got to work with preparing breakfast- french toast, bacon (which I ruined) and omelets. Ed came over for a bit to play with the kids and eat breakfast- which the boys loved. The rest of the day was spent playing, relaxing and watching movies... though by the end of the day, Zac was definitely overwhelmed and needed to go to bed early.

Favorite gifts this year:
Deacon- DaGeDar's (given by Grandma and Grandpa), Beyblades (Santa), Hex Bugs (Uncle Derek) and Perry the Platypus radio (Grammy & Grumpy).

Zachary- DJ turntable (mommy & daddy), electric drumset (mommy & daddy), Hex Bugs (Uncle Derek), Spiderman sheets (nana and beeba) and his cupcake (Santa)

Mommy- Sequence coach clutch (given by Damien)

Damien- Keurig Coffee Maker (given by Amanda)

Zachary "helping" daddy put together his new Thomas the Train set

Obligatory family picture... the boys actually cooperated (with the promise of jelly beans and cupcakes if they smiled)

This is actually Deacon's gift, but Zac LOVED it so much and wouldn't take it off, LOL

Deacon with his new Beyblade launcher

Hot stuff

2011-12-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

Every year we get pj's on Christmas Eve... and unfortunately for my mom we let Deacon pick out hers almost every year.

Hotness.

Christmas Eve- Presents!!!

2011-12-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

Our tradition is to open gifts from Grammy & Grumpy and Uncle Derek on Christmas Eve... for a couple reasons. First of all, I don't want their gifts to get lost in the shuffle on Christmas morning- I want them to be special and be something the kids look forward to opening. Secondly, Damien's family would open gifts on Christmas Eve when they were little. And lastly- it's how I did it growing up... when my family got home from mass there would be gifts from Grandparents, my siblings and my aunts/uncles-- I loved it!

So the kids love this tradition... you should have seen Zac's face when he saw gifts under the tree. He went CUH-RAZY! Seriously he went nuts and wanted to open the first gift he saw, which just happened to be Deacon's... and even when we showed him which one was his, he was still throwing a fit. Poor thing is so tired he doesn't know which way is up...

Anyways, the gifts were a HUGE success... the boys wanted to play with EVERYTHING immediately. So we listened to Deacon's iPod on his new Perry the Platypus stereo while playing with Hex bugs.... life is good.

Thanks Grammy, Grumpy & Uncle Derek!!!

Christmas Eve- Dovewood Court

2011-12-24T05:31:00.000-08:00

My family is complete and the holidays are truly upon us... my mom and dad are both here and the kids are in heaven (who am I fooling? - I am too!). It's too bad, however, that both my parents caught whatever Zac and I had last week... and it seems as though the stomach virus that got them is a TON worse than when we had it :( Thankfully both parents seem to be feeling a touch better and are able to move around a bit. We started our evening as we always do on Christmas Eve- we got in the car and drove out to Dovewood Court. We met our friends and the kids had a blast... this place may take forever to get to (well, at least that's what my dad thinks) but it is so well worth it with how much fun the kids have.

Are these two not the cutest??? Deacon is just so in love with Lexy... he gets so excited to see her and then when he's around her he spends the whole time showing off. Jeff & Joline better get ready, I think this is a sign of what's to come... sooner rather than later if Deacon can help it!

{these two pictures taken by Joline with her camera}

Pictures from my phone

2011-12-19T05:21:00.000-08:00

Looking at Christmas lights... I let the boys get out of their carseats as we drove through Dovewood Court (it's a side street and everyone does it since we're driving around 5 mph at the fastest).

Mom's here!!! And she wore an awesome hat... which was given to her by my father. Wow, aren't we lucky to have her {and her hat} here with us???!!!

Behind

2011-12-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

I have never been so behind on Christmas cards as I am this year... and as the Christmas and Holiday cards start piling up on our table (or bed, in the case of this picture) I start to get more and more stressed out. It's not like I've ordered the cards and they're not here yet... No- I don't even know what I'm going to do!!! I am honestly getting stressed about this. I try really hard to do something cute and memorable for our cards, but it seems that doing something this late in the game is silly- people aren't going to get the card until right around Christmas day and then within the next couple days after that the cards are going to be tossed. So I am VERY tempted to just pick a few cute pictures that I have taken and roll with that... very tempted.

Deacon's Christmas Performance

2011-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Deacon's music teacher always puts on such great performances... and the best part is that it's only an hour long, HA! The kids all do such a great job- and Deacon actually wanted to perform this year... unlike last year when he stood facing the back wall the entire time (because he "liked to watch the band").

Deacon looked so grown up in his big kid dress up clothes.

The stomach flu :(

2011-12-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while seeing Santa the little boy in front of us got incredibly sick all.over.me. Gross. But I was a good samaritan and I helped this single mother hold the baby while she cleaned up... and I was reminded of that tonight around 9pm when Zac woke up crying- and I walked into the room and smelled what was wrong. Zac had thrown up EVERYWHERE. So nasty. For the next 12 hours through the night Zac threw up every hour... it was hell. Poor thing was so miserable. Thank goodness the bug was short lived, but man, it was a horrible horrible short amount of time.

And finally starting to feel better...

{all photos taken with my iPhone}

Lack of Motivation

2011-12-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

This is one of the reasons I dislike blogging... I really don't like feeling pressure to blog- and thankfully I don't get those feelings as much anymore- but I still feel really guilty when I look back on the week and realize I literally only took a handful of pictures. I'm realizing this holiday season I am lacking motivation... it's seriously GONE and I have no clue where to find it.

Not only have I been a terrible photographer and blogger lately, I still don't have my Christmas cards ordered... let alone an idea figured out. It's bad this year. I've never been this behind- and in fact, I've seriously contemplated NOT doing a card.

So this weekend I decided to take the boys out for a photoshoot. I love when people use those cute wooden letters to spell things... so I thought our family could spell out "L-O-V-E." Cute idea in theory- but it didn't turn out well at all- mainly because I have a toddler who doesn't enjoy cooperating when given specific instructions. Also, it was cold outside... and, as we later found out, Zac was not feeling well at all (we learned this fact when he started barfing at 9pm Sunday night).

So at some point all you can do is laugh... and think, "I'll do better next year... or not."

Here are the outtakes from my attempts to get a good Christmas card photo... and even a couple "good" shots thrown in there too.

It's real rough to be Zachary.

Hitting Bubby.

Smile like this???

We tell him to hold out his letter for the camera and he yells, "NO!" and does this instead...

Fighting over who got to look through the "O"

He's done... and to further prove this point, he is throwing his letter off the bed.

And here's a semi-cute one...

These are ones that I really liked... too bad you can't spell anything with those 3 letters.

I love this picture...

{p.s. if I do a Christmas card this year I won't be using any of the pictures from any of the shoots this weekend, LOL}

{not so} relaxing weekend

2011-12-04T20:37:00.001-08:00

As working parents, the weekends are priceless to us... and I generally try to reserve a good portion of the weekend for us to just sit back and do nothing. But not this weekend. This weekend was spent on the go the entire time... and I'm not complaining- honest. I'm not. I just find it exhausting to spend the entire weekend in the car and out and about. But the kids had a blast... and at the end of the day, that really means the most to me- so long as this isn't something we need to deal with every weekend ;-)

Our Sunday started off at Tower Cafe and the Farmers Market with Ed & Logan... the kids loved playing at the near empty playground across the street- I think most people were avoiding the park due to the fact that it was really chilly out. Then this afternoon it was off to Lily's birthday party... and it's so much fun lately that Zac is old enough to go to these sorts of events- because he has a blast... and he's such a ham in front of all the other moms. We came home from the party and got the kids in the tub and then in their pi's... and it was off to embark on our new Sunday tradition - driving around town and looking at Christmas lights while eating dinner in the car... and this, my friends, was my favorite part of the entire weekend.

Advent Calendars

2011-12-03T23:45:00.001-08:00

My boys LOVE doing Advent calendars... and this year they're in Heaven since we are not only doing the calendar that Nana made for them, but also a Lego calendar. They're having such a good time doing this... originally I was going to get two "toy" advent calendars for the kids (like the Lego one)- that way each boy got to open a toy each day- but I'm re-thinking this idea... I like the idea that they don't get a "gift" each day- that they have to share this. And this is hard for both of my boys. It's hard for Zac because he's a baby and doesn't share well... and it's hard for Deacon because he's never had to share something like this before in this capacity. But I think it's a good lesson for them, and so far it's been a good experience.

I was worried, at first, that with the addition of the Lego calendar that that they wouldn't be interested in the Advent calendar that my mom made them. Boy was I wrong. As with every other year, they absolutely loved it... as I did when I was a kid.

Putting together his Lego that he got from his calendar

p.s. Notice the new haircuts??? I know it's not too drastic- which is exactly what I wanted... we found new fantastic hair stylist for Zachary. He doesn't do well with getting his hair cut, so we need someone who can deal with him throwing a fit- and can do this FAST. This lady did such a great job- I know the hair cut isn't the most amazing thing ever- but if you saw how he was acting you would be a lot more impressed, LOL.

A California winter

2011-12-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

I don't ever remember our fall in California being so beautiful for so long... in fact I don't ever remember the leaves being this beautiful in general. The fall is typically when I miss the midwest the most- I miss the leaves, the cooler weather, the apples... everything about the fall in the midwest, I miss. But this year, we're getting all these things here in California- and I love it. I don't know why it's taken us so long to do this, but tonight we went out to out backyard and let the boys go wild with the leaves... and they had a great time- and it's sad to say that this is the first time Zac has ever played in the leaves like this and I'm sure Deacon has only ever done this a couple of times in his life.

Sometimes you just can't hold it any longer...

Outside decorations

2011-11-27T17:06:00.000-08:00

When Damien and I bought our first house we discussed how we would decorate for Christmas... Damien had these beautiful plans of decorating in simple white lights- and just outlining out house and maybe a tree or two... nothing too big. I had BIG plans of those beautiful big old fashioned bulb lights- LOTS of color, lots of inflatables, a few electronic deer, etc... Clark Griswold is my hero. We finally made an agreement- I could decorate the inside how I wanted, he could do the outside in white (Because originally he wanted all white everywhere). We did this for the first year... and then once Deacon started becoming aware of the decorations Damien started getting soft. We are now decorating everywhere with those big colorful lights... and I think Damien is as excited about all this as I am. It's totally fun and the kids are thrilled with what daddy has done for them. I love this part of the holidays... seeing how happy the kids are (on a side note: we were shopping at Target this weekend and Santa and an elf came by in a horse drawn carriage... Zachary and Deacon were SO excited and as Santa was riding away Zac exclaimed, "THAT.WAS.SO.COOL!!!").

While daddy has been decorating the boys and I have been playing outside... despite how cold it is. Poor Zac was shaking he was so cold at one point! I'd dress them warmer, but we don't have anything warmer!!!

Zac's attempt at skateboarding, LOL

Black Friday

2011-11-25T01:22:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Sacramento, I've spent nearly every Black Friday with my friend Dawn... the two of us work really well together with the sales- and better yet, we "get" each other. We know how to shop for and with each other... it works perfectly. Well, this year things weren't going in our favor and she was unable to shop with me :(

But never fear... retailers are becoming more and more intelligent in how they do business- the majority of places go "live" online with all the same deals as they do in person. Score. So we got a lot of great stuff that way, but there were still some things I wanted in person... so Damien, being the amazing husband he is, offered to go with me to any place I chose (we got a babysitter). The two of us had a nice time, but I'll tell you what- the crowd this year was weirder than usual... and we ended up not staying out as long as originally intended... but that's ok, we got nearly everything we wanted, plus some :) And even though we had a good time, I still {very much} missed Dawn.

After coming home and going to bed, we all woke up and started with the Christmas decorations as we always do on Black Friday. It's my goal to someday have a house that could compete with Clark W. Griswold... but I don't think this is my year for that competition. For the first time ever we got an inflatable for our front yard- which Zachary was scared of. The pictures I took were hilarious since they show very distinctly his disdain for Mickey... I'm not sure how, but we finally convinced him to give Mickey a hug and a high five- and he did so not so willingly. Very funny to watch him approach Mickey as if Mickey were a criminal!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2011-11-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with Tanier, Papa and their family... it was a great afternoon with great food. The kids had so much fun playing with Papa, Ms. Tanier and Mason... Zachary especially loved playing football with Papa. After dinner, Damien and I went out Black Friday shopping... thankfully we were able to get a lot of our stuff online- but we had fun going out together and getting more. I think I may be done shopping for Deacon already!!!- and I'm almost done with Zachary! YAY! I love Black Friday!!!

How to help with the laundry

2011-11-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

Lush

2011-11-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

My kids are addicted to this store and their products! They BOTH know the store logo and what their bags look like- so there's no hiding when I make a trip to Lush. It doesn't help that these bath "bombs" smell SO amazing- it's hard for anyone to resist. So needless to say when I brought out this bath bomb tonight, the kids were pretty excited- though I will say that there is one thing I dislike about these bath bombs: it's hard to share one since the kids like to hold the bomb as it fizzes away in the water. So there is a lot of whining intermixed with the squeals of excitement :)

I say, "Zachary- show mommy your cute face"... and this is what I get. He did it multiple times- though towards the end he was doing it because we were cracking up at him... he most definitely loves to show off.

Extremes

2011-11-16T00:39:00.000-08:00

Growing up technically an only child I never really understood what it meant to have a sibling... and when it came time to start being the parent of two children I never realized just how different two kids from the same parents could be. I sort of ~~foolishly~~ assumed that my parenting skills had ~~everything~~ a lot to do with how Deacon was turning out... but the more we got to know Zachary, the more I truly learned that our parenting was only part of the equation. But it still amazes me when I experience how completely different my two boys can be...

Yo Gabba Gabba

2011-11-15T21:02:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Nana and BeeBa for the tickets... not only did we get to see the show- we got to go backstage and meet everyone after the show. It was such a fun experience and Zac had such a great time (ok, so did Damien and I). This was the first time Damien and I have ever gone out on a date with just Zachary... I think Zac definitely enjoyed the 1:1 attention from us while hubby got to stay at school extra long tonight.
For the first part of the show Zachary stayed very calm and just wanted to sit in his own seat and watch... no dancing and no singing. Just sitting and watching. Close to intermission he started getting into it (so long as he had his paci in his mouth) and by the end of the show he was TOTALLY into it. He was never scared of anything... such a brave kid! At the "party" afterwards he was very willing to go up to each character and have his picture taken- and he was particularly thrilled when DJ Lance and Biz Markie came out. DJ Lance and Biz weren't scheduled to do any sort of photo ops but because Zac was in the front row and so cute he was able to get some individualized attention. Zac was so taken aback by Biz Markie- his hero- that he just stared in awe the entire time Biz was talking... and then when Biz asked for a hug Zac wouldn't let go. It was so sweet. A very fun night... and Zachary talked about it the entire way home and into bedtime. Thanks Nana and BeeBa!!!

I'm so mad at myself for not thinking of it sooner- I should have bought him the entire DJ Lance Rock outfit!!! But that's ok... he was pretty cute sporting the hat.

The paci definitely needed to stay in his mouth the entire first part of the show- though he "lost" it eventually.

This is Zachary rapping with "Biz's beat of the day"- he was SO excited about this part, he could hardly stand it... his toy light was his microphone (p.s. this "toy" cost a small fortune!!!)

Our seats were so terrific, but the best part was that Zac got to dance in the aisles and had a fantastic view of the stage.

Zac loved the 4 seasons song... especially when the snow and the leaves came falling down.

Zac and daddy see the characters going in to the party room!!! We'll see them soon!!!

Not sure who was more excited to meet Muno... daddy or Zachary???

Toodie!!!

Zachary and Brobee!!!

For some reason he got a bit shy around Plex... which is weird because usually Plex is one of his favorites!

He was SO excited about Foofa... it was adorable. I was pretty excited too, but I think his excitement trumped mine, oddly enough!

DJ Lance didn't specifically do any photo shoots, but when he saw our little boy he picked him right up- which was a-ok with Zac!!!

Zachary and his new friend showing off their cool dancey-dance moves!

Zac would not let go! Biz was so friendly and sweet to him... Zachary just adores Biz- and to see him so excited had me in tears. It was such a neat moment.

We spent a small fortune {again} when Zac "had" to have this backpack... how could we say no??? LOL (hush all you Dave Ramsey followers!!!)

Randoms from the week...

2011-11-10T01:43:00.000-08:00

I find that whenever my mom leaves I spend about a week detached from my camera... when she's here I'm also not as good at taking pictures because I don't have her calling me up asking where "her" pictures are. But in due time I get back into my routine and will be taking pictures on a more regular basis... but for now, here are a few random pictures that I've taken this week...

Zachary has never been one to play really well in the sink... Deacon, on the other hand, lived in the sink at this age (and younger). If Deacon were upset about something, you put him in the sink and all tears would disappear. Zac? Not so much. We literally have to FORCE him into the sink- and he's usually crying that he doesn't want to be there... but once he sits down and starts to play he has a good time. This morning he had been begging to play with water outside- but it's way too cold to do that... hence the sink.

Apparently Deacon has fond memories of this rain coat- when he saw it he got all sentimental about it... and then he tried it on and realized how small he must have been when he wore it- and then he promptly lost interest in the "baby coat."

Look at this hair!!!

We call it "the sassy" face.

Tooth #2 was finally yanked out this morning! Deacon did a great job and was a LOT more brave this time around. This tooth has been very loose for quite some time- but he's been terrified of losing it. He hates the taste of blood- so the first tooth he lost really freaked him out and scarred him for life, I think! With this one we promised that the minute it came out we would put a tissue over the bloody part so no blood would touch his taste buds or go down his throat... which we did and that helped tremendously. The tooth fairy came that night and brought him a gold coin and a paper dollar bill.

Sad day... happy pictures

2011-11-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's been 5 weeks since my mom flew in... the day after she arrived I got on a plane for Texas and she got right to work. Having her here means more than I could ever express... and for the past year I think she's spent almost as much time here as she has spent in Ohio, thanks to little emergencies that keep popping up here (thank you, kidney stones). For the first time ever, Zachary made a bit of a fuss that Nana was leaving... it's never been an issue with him, so this morning I said something to him and it set him off. Poor thing kept telling us that he wanted to go to ohio too.

But despite the sadness, we sent Nana off with all our love... knowing that we will see her next month.

I was honestly expecting the worse in terms of their behavior tonight, but it really wasn't bad at all! I worked really late and Damien had done a pretty good job of keeping them calm and happy. I came home to a very peaceful household... and that quickly changed once they saw me. Both boys had moments of sadness for Grandma once they were being tucked into bed, but overall, they did a great job being brave.

Completely unrelated... the boys LOVE these new pajamas that my mom bought them and were more than happy to model them for us tonight--

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much fun for the boys this year... I was a bit nervous how Zac would do, and he quickly squashed all my fears- he did excellently. When Deacon was the age that Zac is now, he had a hard time with trick-or-treating... he was overly tired and overwhelmed. It was just too much for him... and even as Deacon has gotten older he still doesn't hold out as long as other kids his age- in fact, Deacon was done trick-or-treating before Zachary was! We're lucky enough to live in a very child friendly neighborhood and our neighbors across the street have kids Deacon's age... so we tagged along with them all night- which was really fun for Deacon. Zachary and I went at our own pace, which tended to mean we went to every other house. I had originally expected to be out for about 30 minutes, but we were gone over an hour and walked a very large portion of our development.

Like I said, Zachary did great... he was SO excited to ring the door bell and to say "trick or treat!" He was very into all the decorations and nothing scared him... Everyone LOVED his costume and at nearly every house I heard the person say they were giving him extra candy because he was just way too cute :) At the end of the night he proclaimed that he wanted to be a spider for next Halloween, lol.

Deacon also had a lot of fun... though like every other year, within 20 minutes of walking out the door he was shedding his costume bit by bit. Deacon is really sensitive to fabrics and the weight of his clothing and accessories on his body. By the time we got home I think he had shed about 3/4 of the costume- including his shoes.

Good times for us all... Nana sat in our drive way as the witch and passed out candy... which was a definite hit with the neighbors- especially with the other little girls dressed up similarly.

Zac's hair cracks me up... it's all flat and weird looking from being stuffed into his frog costume all night.

The crazy one.

2011-10-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Damien accidentally squirted water in his face... it was traumatic.

Growing up

2011-10-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at nap time Zac decided he wanted to sleep in his bed instead of his crib. We've had this bed in his room for months now and he calls it "Allison's bed" since we got it from Dawn... when we've suggested he sleep in the bed he reminds us that he's not a big boy- he's a baby- and as a baby, he sleeps in his crib. Well, guess he's changed his mind about his baby-status... We took his crib down this morning and it bothered me more than it bothered him... he didn't care one bit!

Boiling towels and wash cloths

2011-10-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure everyone cares to see this... but I found it interesting when I read it on a friends' blog, so I'll post it here too!

Our towels and wash cloths were looking really not so great... and their smell was similar- even after having been washed. I've tried quite a few tricks to get rid of the stink- vinegar and less detergent being the main ones. I also always wash my towels on a super wash at the hottest settings and always do an extra rinse cycle. It's not like they're filthy and disgusting- if they were that bad, I'd get rid of them all together... but I wasn't quite ready for that- so I tried boiling them.

I brought a huge pot to a boil and added to the water some vinegar and Borax... and then added the towels and wash cloths. I let them boil for a few minutes, put a lid on the pot, turned off the heat and let it sit for 2 hours. After 2 hours I put the pot on the floor to take some pictures:

I'm happy with the results- the house smelled like ass for the rest of the day... but I could tell the boiling process really worked. I'm a bit disappointed that the white wash cloths still look dirty. I'm wondering if I should do some oxy-clean next time or washing soda... since this time around I only used Borax and vinegar.

Daddy & Zachary

2011-10-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

I love that you can see the paci in mid-air... Zac is going through a throwing stage right now.

A budding artist... or not.

2011-10-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure when it started, exactly... or even why. But all of a sudden Deacon is REALLY into drawing and other artsy things. This child is my anti-art child... it's never been a hobby/activity that he enjoys all that thoroughly and he doesn't really have that natural/raw talent that some kids possess. In the past we've gotten him to do some fun art projects... but he loses interest quickly. But for the past few weeks he's been drawing everywhere he goes... and he's especially been loving the bathtub crayons that I randomly found in the back of the cupboard!

Tonight Zachary was asking Deacon to draw all types of things... Peppa Pig, George Pig, Daddy Pig, Mommy Pig, a pumpkin, etc... He finally asked Deacon to draw a picture of me.

He finally asked Deacon to draw a picture of me.

Not sure what I should think of this... especially since I asked if I was wearing a costume or trying to pretend to be something- and he looked at me like I was weird, "No mommy... this is just you."

I'm sure some would agree with his interpretation... but I'm hoping those people are in the minority.

A bit of a photoshoot

2011-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing too fancy, but I thought these turned out pretty cute.

I rarely ever get a good picture of Deacon so these make me SO happy

Feeding the ducks

2011-10-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Zac's 1st bus ride

2011-10-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

We took the boys over to Davis today for Zac's first bus ride and so Deacon could earn a bead for cub scouts... It was a HUGE hit with both boys, though Zachary was nervous at first.

Waiting for the bus

Typical Grumpalump... he really was having a great time- Damien just snapped this picture at the perfect time.

Next stop, please!

My favorite boys

2011-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

I asked Deacon to change Zac... it didn't end well- but it's the thought that counts, right?

Zachary brought this book for Deacon to read him... it was very sweet.

Carden Harvest Faire

2011-10-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

This year I was in charge of planning Carden's Harvest Faire- it's taken up a LOT of my time, but thankfully I had an amazing committee of other mom's helping me. We changed up a lot of things this year and by the end of the day I had a LOT of people approach me- this was the best Carden Harvest Faire they had ever attended. That made me feel great- it made all the time spent well worth it.

I didn't get a lot of pictures that day, unfortunately, since I was so busy running around... but these two were pretty cute of Deacon at the dunk tank (which was one of our biggest hits of the day).

Spending time with 1st grade

2011-10-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to be able to take some time out of my schedule to spend the day with Deacon at school...

Deacon and the rest of 1st grade were in charge of assembly this week and their performance was this morning... Deacon did SO well. I was really excited to see that Deacon wasn't as shy this year as he was last year- he looked like he was having a good time! The class did a great job- I'm so happy I was able to be there.

After assembly we were off to the pumpkin patch with kindergarten and 1st grade... it was HOT but a lot of fun. I got to drive Deacon and a few friends and Deacon's teacher- which made it a lot more fun... We have been so lucky with Deacon's teachers and classes- they're the best :)

His first ride in an ambulance...

2011-10-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

(my apologies in advance for the insanely wordy post)

I don't know that I have ever been more scared in my entire life...

I recently read a post on Facebook written by a fireman- the post was all about what a difference firemen and EMT's can make... and in the post it said something about how a fireman can make 5 minutes seem like an eternity- referring to the 5 minutes it typically takes a truck to get to your house during an emergency. Tonight I learned just how true that statement is.

Zachary has been sick since Monday... nothing major, just a fever and a loss of appetite- it's exactly what Deacon had this past weekend. As the evening progressed Zachary started going down hill... and started sounding raspy and had a bit of a cough. I thought nothing of it as I put him to bed. At about 8:30, Damien, my mom and I were playing cards and Zac's cough started sounding worse... and by 8:50 I decided I needed to go in and check on him- his breathing was VERY shallow and it sounded as if he were choking. I went into his room and knew something was wrong immediately. He was having a very hard time breathing and was turning colors... I gave him to Damien and called my friend Theresa (her husband is a fireman and she's studying to be a nurse)- I told myself (and later realized I actually said this out loud) that if Theresa didn't answer, I was calling 911. I'm not exactly sure what I thought Theresa would do for me- but I just wasn't sure that 911 was the right thing to do... which was dumb- I should have called right away. Anyway- I called 911 and the guy on the other end was amazingly calm- but quick. He kept reassuring me that someone was on the way, but he needed to ask me questions... he told me to hang up the phone and wait outside for the ambulance and they would be here in less than 5 minutes.

So I went outside to wait. And I waited and waited and waited... and all the while I hear Zachary in the house struggling to catch a breath. He wanted to cry, but couldn't. He wanted to communicate with us, but he couldn't. All he could do was stare at Damien, terrified, while trying his hardest to just breath.

And in less than 5 minutes they arrived... and those 5 minutes were some of the longest minutes of my entire life. It sounds dramatic, I know. But it was horrible. I stood outside thinking, "what the hell is taking them so long- they're right down the street! I could have run there and back by now!" But when they showed up they got right to work- and suggested giving Zac a breathing treatment in the ambulance. They said they would give him a treatment and then we should take him to the hospital... and about half way through the breathing treatment they weren't happy with how he was responding and weren't comfortable with us taking him in- so Zachary got to go on his very first ambulance ride. And as the breathing treatment started helping about half way to the hospital, he started to have a really good time. He was pretty excited to be sitting in an ambulance and hear the sirens going off.

We got to the hospital and Zac was a million times better already... though still sounding pretty rough. He was SUCH a good boy throughout the entire ordeal- and boy was he showing off. All the doctors and nurses wanted to come in and say "hi" to him... the boy was a complete ham. After being in the hospital for less than 2 hours we were sent home with breathing treatments and a diagnosis of croup- he had had an asthma attack at home and the croup was obviously not helping either.

So anyway... it was not exactly the way we had hoped to end Damien's birthday- but we are so thankful that we are now home with our baby boy... and although he's still sick and needing help with his breathing- he's healthy enough to be home with us. And we are so thankful for such amazing rescue workers here in Natomas and at the hospital...

Happy Birthday, Damien!!!

2011-10-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Happy almost 40th birthday, Damien!
For Damien's birthday we made him one of his favorite meals... spaghetti and meatballs. And, of course, he got the traditional birthday cake/frosting. I'm not sure who was more excited about his birthday gifts...

Playing in the rain

2011-10-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am in charge of Carden's Harvest Faire this year... and today was our day to decorate the campus. And today would be the day full of rain. But we had no choice- we were going to decorate the campus with the hay bails and the corn stalks. I seriously have the best committee ever- they all hung around in the rain and worked hard and worked fast. And the kids we brought along? They had the most fun of all.

It's been a while...

2011-10-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sure everyone has been wondering where I've been... and more importantly, where are all the updates and pictures. Unfortunately I'm here to tell you that while I've been gone there have been few pictures taken. You see, I had to go to Texas for 9 days for work... and 9 days is entirely way too long to be gone from my family. I was quite miserable the majority of the time... though I was made to feel slightly better knowing how much fun the boys were having without me. By the time we were nearing the end of this fun trip, everyone was ready for it to be over... my babies were very much missing me and I them. It was rough.

But I am home now and I was so happy to see my two boys I had to go wake them up in the middle of the night when I got home... and I don't think either of them minded too much.

So enjoy a few pictures I took of them... because let's be honest- I had no real desire to pick up a camera the first few days home.

I'll update more later for Damien's birthday.

A Pineapple Feast

2011-09-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

So today is Amanda's first day away on her long business trip to Texas. Thankfully, Nana is here just in time to distract the boys (as well as she can) from Mommy's absence. Today's plan... PINEAPPLE. Even better, one of Deacon's Cub Scout electives is planting something from something you've eaten like orange seeds, avocado pits and... you guessed it, pineapple tops! Mmmmm... tasty snack and sustainability lesson. What more could you ask for? Let the photos commence!

A sleepover with Skyla and Flat Stanley

2011-09-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Deacon was SO excited for a couple things this weekend... first, his sleepover with Skyla and secondly, he got to take home Flat Stanley for the week. It's the little things in life, really :)

A visit from the tooth fairy...

2011-09-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Deacon lost his first tooth tonight!!! He's had a loose tooth now for quite some time... and for about a month now the tooth has been loose enough to where I have been prepared for the events of tonight. But that doesn't make it any easier for me... I absolutely cannot stand loose teeth- they gross me out beyond belief. I'm not scared of them- they just really really really gross me out. But I try to put this aside and get excited for Deacon as he shows me his loose tooth and asks that I wiggle it for him... BARF!!! Anyways... tonight as I'm tucking him in he asks me to check on it and I told him that it's a lot looser than normal- and said that all he needs to do is play with it more... and just keep pushing it back and forth hard enough to where it almost hurts- and then it'll come out. So he asks if he's allowed to come get me if he pulls it out "in the middle of the night," to which I tell him that he can of course come get me... since I'll need to text/email/call the tooth fairy to alert her of the tooth under his pillow. About 30 minutes later I'm in bed on my laptop and I hear his door open... I think to myself, "no... he could not have lost his tooth- he's just coming to tell me something random like always." I look over at my door and the minute he walks in I know he has pulled out his tooth. How do I know? He looks like he's about to throw up or pass out... or both. LOL. The kid is white as a ghost with a hint of green. Oooops- I forgot to tell him that there's a bit of blood when you lose a tooth. The poor thing was pretty upset and it took him a good hour to calm down... but he finally went to bed happy to know that the tooth fairy was on her way.

Just an FYI... we came to the conclusion that there has got to be multiple tooth fairies out there since a lot of kids get different things for lost teeth. Some kids get upwards of about $5 and some kids get toys. WTF?- what ever happened to a quarter?- my tooth fairy growing up might have given me 50 cents for a molar- but that was some hardcore cash... and we certainly weren't going throw some type of recession then either! Well, Deacon was very excited to wake up to a Lego Mini-Fig and a golden coin... The tooth fairy said she gives a little something extra for the firs lost tooth (hence the Lego mini-fig).

Rain Gutter Regatta

2011-09-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Deacon has been so excited about this ever since he joined Cub Scouts- he was very specific about how he wanted to paint his boat... though he only had one requirement- glitter paint. The boat MUST have glitter paint he says... blue and orange glitter paint to be exact. And a Lego guy on the little flag part (what's that thing called???). This year Damien chose not to be too fancy with the boat... there are plenty of modifications you can make to the boat to make it go faster. But this year Damien decided to just let Deacon have fun decorating it and concentrate on the rules and the game. Our goal: have fun. The goal was accomplished... and even better?- Deacon got 2nd place in his little group of Tigers (8 kids in total). He was so proud of himself and winning second place was completely unexpected, which made the 'win' even better. We're SO proud of you, Deacon!

Just about to start his first race

Zac was a big help to Damien (who got to time some of the races)

While he was being timed he took things VERY seriously... and then took a HUGE sigh of relief when he hit the end. Good job, buddy!

Deacon and his friend, Matthew... his mom and I hit it off at the very first informational meeting and I'm so happy the boys are having fun together! With all these kid activities it's always a HUGE relief to find another mom you can get along with.

This was his last race... and the one that made a big difference- most of his races he was around 13-15 seconds, but this last race he clocked in at 9 seconds. He was really good at keeping the fan on the boat... and he did a great job staying calm and focused. A lot of the boys would get flustered when the boat would fall over or would run into a "wall"- Deacon seriously did so well concentrating and sticking to the task at hand... he's definitely NOT taking after Damien or myself with this characteristic!

Awww!!! So proud of himself... I wish the picture wasn't so blurry, but by the time they did awards it was starting to get pretty dark and I didn't have a flash on me. He was seriously so excited to hear his name called up there- and when I didn't hear his name called for 3rd place I was totally shocked as well. I figured the other kid had "won" 1st place based on the fact that he and his dad tricked out the boat pretty hardcore (most of the kids don't do these modifications until they're much older).

How to know when Zac needs a new diaper...

2011-09-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

He walks around like this:

Cub Scout tasks

2011-09-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

So for Cub Scouts, Deacon has a lot of things he can do to earn awards, patches and beads... most of them involve doing something for the family... which makes it so much easier on us- and, it's something we can all be involved with, even Zachary. Deacon was supposed to do a chore that would benefit the entire family... on a hot Sunday in Sacramento, what better chore than washing the cars?!- a chore hand-picked by Deacon.

Mosaic'ing

2011-09-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today we went to help Ed with his mosaic... the intended purpose was for ME to help mosaic- but the kids and Damien ended up helping and having a great time as well.

Grand opening of Natomas fire station (picture heavy)

2011-09-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

Cub scouts got to do the flag ceremony for the new Natomas fire station... a very cool experience. We all went and had a really nice time- even Zachary behaved. When asked what his favorite part about the entire experience, Zachary answered, "I see donuts and a fridgerator"- we got a tour of the fire station and Zac was enamored with the kitchen... and the donuts in the kitchen. Deacon was hugely impressed by the entire thing and behaved so well during the flag ceremony... he's a pretty wriggly kid when it comes to this sort of thing- especially when it's so warm!

You can't exactly tell from this picture, but Zac was SO excited to meet Sparky!

(a bit out of order) This is the boys practicing with the Fire Chief

(out of order) This is the actual flag raising ceremony... It was pretty neat when "all uniformed personnel" were told to salute- and there was Deacon saluting. Very proud of my boy... and this coming from a mama who won't even say the pledge of allegiance. LOL

Mr. Grumpalump pays us a visit.

They just had to have cupcakes with red icing. Picture was taken AFTER I cleaned him up a bit.

We had two very happy boys.

Fun night in

2011-09-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

First cub scout meeting

2011-09-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

Deacon is in little boy heaven... seriously. He is so excited to be in Cub Scouts- and proud. He loves his uniform and he loves being able to earn "awards." This is the first activity that I truly think he's found his niche- there's no huge competitive aspect to this and when the cub scouts get together, it's for fun... and while it's educational, it's also just plain fun. It's what he needs- to be active and have fun.

Zachary enjoyed all the friends being at our house... until his little friend played with the toy he wanted to play with. He wasn't too thrilled about that one.

Randoms...

2011-09-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

A whole lot of 'not much' has been going on around here lately- which is nice since my busy season has officially started. Here's a random sampling of pictures...

Swinging at the Carden family picnic. It's so weird seeing him on a "big kid" swing!

These lovely birds love spending time in our backyard... this was the first time we had ever seen them- at 6:30am just strutting their stuff on our back fence. Silly birds. Glad they're outside and I'm inside!!!

Zachary has always been our baby that doesn't wake up super fast in the morning... he loves to get in bed and have some extra snuggle time before truly waking up. Deacon was like this for a bit, but he mainly just wanted to get in bed with us to watch t.v.- Zac is just as happy laying there with us while we talk or read a book. It's one of my favorite things...

Deacon loves to have his nails painted... he pretty much has always been this way- and we've always obliged. Last year, however, we had to start just painting his toe nails since Carden says "no" to nail polish for everyone 5th grade and younger. I'm never too excited to paint Deacon's nails because he's super squirmy... and also, Zac wants his nails painted too- which is never easy. But tonight I finally agreed to it, and both boys laid in bed while I painted their toenails. Who says you need a girl to have a spa day?

Zac is doing such a great job with potty training... he'd be doing a million times better if we would stay consistent and just push it a bit more. But I'll be honest- I'm lazy and potty training is hard with two kids!!! With one kid I thought it was a lot easier... it wasn't "easy" but it was much easier. Add to it that Zac is the crazy stubborn one, and it's just not as easy as it was with Deacon. However!- Zachary is less into rewards than Deacon... so we don't need to bribe him to go to the bathroom... and the other positive is that Zac will never pee if he's naked- so that helps tremendously while we're at home. But the minute we leave the house in a pull-up or a diaper, he's going to revert back to peeing in his diaper (or, as Zac says, "peeing in my bottom"). These pictures were taken the evening that he was being crazy obsessive about his San Diego hat... this hat made everything more enjoyable.

dinner and dessert celebration

2011-09-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I need to remember that sometimes a simple meal can be a "celebration" meal... that I don't need to go crazy prepping and preparing just to make the boys happy. Tonight was proof of that... to celebrate his first day of school, I told Deacon he could choose whatever he wanted for dinner- without going out to eat. He wanted breakfast dinner... more specifically, he wanted sausage and pancake on a stick (LOL) with some fruit. The boys all loved it (can't say mom was overly excited about this dinner... but I'm not a fan of sausage)... and we ended the night with homemade frozen yogurt pops. It was a good day for all... Deacon loved 1st grade... of course.

Homework funny...

2011-09-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

Because I thought this was really funny/cute and I don't want to forget it...

Deacon had to come up with a word, last night, that began with the letters "CL"...

He looks at the two letters and immediately (seriously, with very little thinking involved) says, "CLAMORING!"

I have no clue where he got this... we do not use that word around here- well, I'm sure I've said it, but it is not a word we use often!

First day of 1st grade

2011-09-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today was bittersweet... Grandma left this morning- very early in the morning (5am)- and Deacon started 1st grade. Deacon has always had a very difficult time with Grandma leaving... his relationship with her is so special and so sweet- it's very hard for him to watch her go back to Ohio. So he woke up about 5 minutes after I left to take my mom to the airport... around 5am. He got into bed with Damien and for the next 2 hours he would cry, fall back to sleep and then wake himself up again crying. It was quite pathetic and clearly not restful at all. Thankfully things got better for him as the morning went on.

I watched my 6 year old put on his little Carden School uniform and I couldn't help but tear up... I feel like these 6 years have flown by- and as much as I wouldn't ever want to bring back those baby days (I don't do well with newborns), I can't help but wish I had stopped and enjoyed his younger years a bit more. No joke- I started to have a mini panic attack thinking that before I know it he'll be going to college... If these 6 years flew by so quickly what will the next 6 be like?

So anyway, he was very excited to be off to Carden... he kept talking about the "big kid playground" and seeing all his new friends- and then he was trying to figure out when he would get to go to PE and French. It was sweet. We drove up to campus and it was such a great feeling... we were one of the first to arrive since we brought breakfast for the staff- but as all the parents and students started filling in I got so excited... I think Deacon and I were equally as excited this morning. I've said it so many times before, but I just adore this school so much that it brings tears to my eyes how happy it makes me.

This year was so different than last... when it was time to go, I was excited for Deacon- no tears for either of us... just pure happiness to be back at Carden.

This is probably my favorite picture of these two boys of all time... very typical faces for both of them- Mr. Grumpalump and Fake-Smiley Boy

And here's the "cute" one... with Damien in the background making dumb noises to get them to smile for "real"

Such a big boy... well, not literally- he's actually one of the shorts in his class and the second shortest boy. Cute boy.

"Mommmmmm! Why do we have to do this AGAIN??? No one else is doing this!!!"- and as he says this there are a handful of other moms who start walking over to do the same thing... thank you very much! I think it's a GREAT idea!!!

He was SO excited about where Mrs. Facino put his desk- he's in the last row with the seat furthest away from Mrs. Facino's desk (and he's the closest to the door and window that looks out at the playground). I once told him that if a teacher puts your desk in the back it means she trusts that you will behave and listen in class.

4th grader and 1st grader... unreal

Deacon and his first teacher... Ms. Tanier- she's been with Deacon since he was 5 months old.

The gang is all back...

The other parents and I voted that we give them 2 weeks before they start getting in trouble again... and we also put bets on who would start the trouble. I'm pleased to say that every single parent said Deacon would either be the last one to join in or the second to last one. LOL.

A Cub Scout and a Frog

2011-09-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

I never imagined I would allow Deacon to join Cub Scouts... for a variety of reasons that I'm sure I don't even need to go into. But lately I've been thinking about how it might be good for Deacon... and I couldn't get those thoughts out of my mind. And the universe kept pointing me in the direction of letting him join... so I finally decided to go to the "kick off" a few nights ago- and he came with me. Oh.my.gosh. You would have thought he had died and gone to heaven- the boy was SO happy... I knew I needed to sign him up- this just felt right... I know it's a great fit for him. As much as I don't like certain things about Boy Scouts of America, I am choosing to ignore that and focus on the positives of the organization- what the organization does for the community and what they do for these boys that makes a positive impact... that's what I'm choosing to celebrate and love- and that's why I'm allowing this.

So Deacon joined Boy Scouts and a day later I get an email saying we need to sign him up to sell popcorn outside the grocery store... There was an opening for tonight- and I wanted to sign Deacon up for it, but I wasn't really able to go since I needed to stay home to work and get ready for our date night... thank goodness for Grandma- she took him. He had a great time- and did such a good job selling popcorn. What a big kid.

Grandma being amazing and getting his uniform put together with less than an hour to go!

I cannot get over how handsome this boy looks!!!

And this boy... this boy is beyond excited about his Halloween costume. He chose a frog- a close second was a Dragon costume and then he was also enamored with the Santa Clause costume... but the frog got his attention the longest. And oh he the cutest frog you will EVER see... I promise you that.

Our froggy wanted to be "Bumblebee" transformer... of course.

Damien and I were really excited that I got my stent out and was healthy enough to take advantage of my mom being here for a few more nights... that means date night! We went to a trendy little pizza place downtown called Pizza Rock with some friends of ours... had a great time, but I'm exhausted. I definitely over did it- but it was well worth it.

Reason to celebrate

2011-09-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

Beautiful boy...

So tonight we had reason to celebrate.

I GOT MY STENT REMOVED!!!

My urologist said my CT scan showed that my stone was completely broken to bits- so they could take out my stent. That's the good news. The not so fantastic news is that many of the fragments moved UP into my kidney instead of just staying there in my ureter... so it could take longer to pass them. But I do have a handful (about 4) little pieces of stone in my ureter waiting to pass (size 3-4mm)- but that shouldn't be too bad. I am SO grateful to have this stent GONE... I'll take the pain associated with passing these bits of stone knowing that the worst is behind me! Thank to all for the continued prayers and positive thoughts.

We told the boys that if they caught a mouse they would each get $5. They didn't even see a mouse... much to Logan's disappointment (Deacon was relieved).

A part of our tree came off and the boys played with it for quite some time- though once Zac got ahold of it, he didn't let go- he walked around and beat all of us with it.

Lazy Sunday

2011-08-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I came outside and this is what I see... my mom moving the van with the boys in tow.

Bubbles go up in the air and we are super impressed by that.

Building their new Lego set

This toy was Deacon's absolute favorite when he was 2... and now Zac loves to play with it. I love recycled toys!

Our Saturday

2011-08-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

I woke up feeling *really* good today... I had gone all night without pain meds- though I did very much need one when I woke up, I was really happy that I got through the night. And despite being in pain, I felt energized and motivated. So we rested for a bit (though not long since Nana got up with the boys and let us sleep in until around 8:30) and then got dressed and headed out for a typical Saturday outing... the Davis Farmers Market. It was a great day to be there... the boys got to play and I got to walk around in peace. This is a perfect time of the year for the farmers market- everything looks and tastes amazing. We even walked away with a new addition for our yard... I had mentioned how neat the leaves were of this plant and while I wasn't looking my mom bought it and surprised me with it later on <3 The boys got to plant the new plant... which of course was lots of fun for them- what boy doesn't love dirt?

I was beyond ready to lay down on the couch upon our return home- and there were many occasions, while we were out, that I felt clammy and in need of a park bench... but it felt SO good to get out for a while and do something fun with my fam bam.

Zachary and this other little boy LOVED that Damien and the other dad were reaching through the holes and getting them... their laughter was hysterical.

He's fearless when it comes to playground equipment... This slide is very high up and he loves it.

Yes, Zachary is without clothes...

I try to teach my children- never stand close to Nana when she has a hose... or if you do stand close, make sure to be holding on to an expensive electronic (a camera works well).

The past week...

2011-08-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

Oh thank goodness for my mom... she has been a lifesaver in helping with the boys, keeping my house clean (ok, who are we kidding... she first cleaned my house and has since kept it clean) and helping with the grocery shopping- I am absolutely grateful. I think most moms can attest to the following- when mom is sick, it takes a lot longer for her to get better... because very rarely does mom take a break- or at least a long enough break to recover. This time around, since my own mom was here helping force me to take a break, I really was able to completely STOP and just get better. I spent almost the entire past week on the couch- where I watch my family run around like crazy... I like this view :) Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better than I was last weekend, but I definitely still know when I've been overdoing it (and overdoing it typically means I am up and moving for more than an hour).

Here are some pictures of our past week...

The boys got much needed haircuts... it was honestly the worst experience of my life at a hair salon. Thank God they didn't mess up Zac's hair- I think I would have freaked out on them completely. It was Deacon's hair that was horrid... but easy to fix, thankfully (though not by them!)

The results of taking a bubble bath with your obnoxious 2 year old brother ;-)

It's Dancey Dance time! (yo gabba gabba)

It's always fun to kick mommy out of bed so he can do somersaults.

"The Zachary"

What my mom has been working on all week... in her spare time.

Nana Love.

So here's my update:
I was supposed to get my stent removed this past Thursday... but as luck would have it, the x-ray did not show us what we needed to see to get the stent removed. If the doctor sees the broken up fragments of stone, it proves that the procedure was successful and they are able to remove the stent and let the stones pass... If they see the stone still lodged in the kidney, they know things didn't work and you need to move to plan b (typically this means doing the procedure one more time or going a different route... literally). The problem with an x-ray of your abdomen is that it's right around a very gassy area- and unfortunately for us, the gassiness in my tummy that day was right over where my stone was lodged. If you look at the x-ray closely enough, it looks like there is a stone still there- unmoved. But, it's not even remotely clear enough to make that assumption.
My urologist said it could be one of three things:
1. The kidney stone completely broke up... into such small bits that we can't see them on the x-ray. If this is the case, we can remove the stent and go on with my life. This option makes me a little skeptical as the urologist made it seem like he should have been able to see *something* somewhere in my ureter indicating the broken up stone... and he didn't. But he said it is possible.
2. The kidney stone didn't go anywhere and is still lodged in my ureter.
3. The kidney stone is still there, but relatively broken up- but it could use another go around of the lithotripsy to get it broken up a bit more...
So the next step is to go in for a CT scan this week... the CT scan shows a much clearer picture- though they try to avoid a CT scan because of how much radiation you are exposed to... but this is obviously necessary to figure out what's going on. The stent still causes me pain and will continue to do so until it's removed... though thankfully I am able to function a lot better day by day.

Drinking {out of a straw} with Nana

2011-08-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

... and it's time to change our pajamas.

My mom is here :)

2011-08-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Most of the time my mom comes out to help Damien during my busy time... and then Christmastime, it's all about the boys. She and I definitely get to spend quality time together, but I am personally usually not the main reason she's here... and when she comes in October I see very little of her due to my travel schedule. So when my mom showed up last night it was an entirely different feeling... I knew she was here for ME. She was here to help with what I needed and to take care of me... I'll tell you what- you're never too old to need your mom when you're sick. It was pretty amusing, however, when Deacon started listing his grand plan for her visit- and my mom stopped him and reminded him that this week she was here for me- and that she would be back in a few short weeks for a LONG visit (my busy time). Deacon was quite confused by this idea- Grandma not focusing on him??!!! Blasphemy! ;-)

It's interesting to me that our kids have very little experience eating watermelon with seeds in the middle... but for the past year I really try to avoid the seedless watermelons- they have such little taste compared to the watermelons with seeds. Anyway! Leave it to Grandma to teach the kids how to properly eat a watermelon with black seeds.

They were both pretty excited to find a snail... the poor snail was probably not as excited.

In bed...

2011-08-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time in bed... and it gets boring- thank goodness for the internet, DVR and two wild kids. Zac, in particular, has enjoyed just spending his time with me in bed watching Peppa Pig or reading his favorite book... we also just sit there and chat and sing. It's a huge change from the first day home from my procedure when I was minutes away from selling both my children on craigslist.

Things with my kidneys are going ok... I was expecting to be uncomfortable, but honestly could never have imagined this much pain and uneasiness. My doctor told me I was not cleared to go to LA for work this week, which was really frustrating... but in all honesty it was also a relief. I'm not supposed to be driving due to the pain meds I'm on... and the biggest issue is that when I stand for more than 10 minutes at a time I get really sick to my stomach and my pain increases dramatically. I am SO thankful for our friend Ed who has been an absolute angel this week/weekend- he's helped pick up the kids, helped Damien with driving, and has kept me (and Damien company) when we need it.

But I was starting to feel badly that I was relying so much on Ed & Damien to get through the day... so I finally gave in and asked for more help- from my mom. Damien had to go back to work on Monday and I knew I wasn't going to be able to take care of myself all day... this made Damien really nervous too, and he asked if I could just give in and ask my mom for help. It comes as no surprise that my mom immediately said yes (and "I told you so") and 10 minutes later she had a plane flight for Sunday afternoon.

Thank God for great friends and family <3

Super Hero!!!

2011-08-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

{almost} Every night, Damien gets the boys out of the tub by playing "super hero." There are two reasons for this game... The boys LOVE it and (more importantly) it gets them excited about getting out of the tub- thereby reducing the fighting. Whenever it's Zac's turn he screams "SUPER HERO" (though it sounds more like, "soopa hee-wo!") and laughs hysterically. I'll have to take pictures of Damien doing this with Deacon... let's just say I'm impressed that Damien can get Deacon so high- though I think Deacon's days as "super hero" are numbered.

Kidney Troubles

2011-08-18T23:56:00.002-07:00

I've not been too forth coming on my blog in regards to my kidney issues... I've been trying desperately to stay positive and upbeat despite an immense amount of pain. Last week it was found that I had a very large stone stuck in my ureter almost entirely blocking the flow from my left kidney... and that I had a handful of stones actually in my kidney as well. The concern was, of course, the one that was "stuck." I got in with a urologist immediately- which doesn't really ever happen unless it's an emergency. This guy currently has a 4 week wait to be seen and an even longer wait to get in to surgery... I saw him 2 days after he was notified of my problem and I was scheduled for my procedure in the first time slot on the first day the machine would be available to my urologist. I spent this last week in some of the worst pain of my life... which magically disappeared (almost) entirely on Monday night. I got to the hospital today with high hopes that my urologist would say that I didn't need a stent put in place and that I could get by with "just" doing the lithotripsy... he said we could do that as long as the stone had shown progress and if the stone appeared to be the softer variety. A short trip to the radiology side of the hospital confirmed neither of those two things... so the stent was a go, unfortunately.

I never handle anesthesiology very well... but the past couple of times it hasn't been too terrible. So again, I had high hopes that were squashed immediately upon coming out of it this afternoon. I was awoken to my body convulsing in some of the most violent shakes I could ever imagine- I thought I was having a seizure. The nurses had to essentially sit on me to get meds into my IV... my temperature started dropping, my head was throbbing and I started throwing up as well. It was a nightmare and I couldn't even open my eyes to communicate that I was awake and terrified. Thankfully we got that under control and I realized how much in pain I was "down there" from the stent... and that pain has stayed with me all day long. The best way to describe this pain is how I felt when I was having unmedicated contractions...

So anyway, I really missed my boys today and I was so excited to get them home... but unfortunately for me, they were in HORRIBLE moods- seriously terrible. I have not seen my children this poorly behaved in a long time... though I am 100% positive it didn't help that I was in pain and pretty drugged up. Nonetheless, the kids were miserable and it made me so sad... so it was early bath time for them. Thankfully for everyone, they calmed down after they got on their jams and we turned on Peppa Pig... it was so calm, in fact, that I was even able to fall asleep and Damien could snap some pictures.

Here's to a new day tomorrow... a healthy, bright and beautiful day.

Cute boy

2011-08-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

Dancing to some Veggie Tales song

I love that what is in focus is his big belly. I think we're due for some new jammies.

He really wasn't being nasty in this picture... he was showing me his mouth.

I adore these curls...

... but it is time for another hair cut.

Discovery Kingdom (Six Flags)

2011-08-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today we left Zac home with a sitter and made the trip to the bay to go to Discovery Kingdom. I debated for quite a while on whether or not I should go with my kidney situation the way it is, but thought that getting out and getting some fresh air could definitely do me some good... and it's not as if I had to ride everything or even keep up with the gang if I didn't want to. Deacon did pretty well today- though it did take some coaxing to get him on the rides at first... and as the day wore on and he got more and more tired, his willingness to be brave started to fade. But that's ok- this is definitely a good start... though I'm certain he hasn't worked his way up to being able to make a trip to Legoland quite yet (the deal is that if he can prove to me that Legoland wouldn't be a complete waste of my money, we can go there for his birthday).

The first ride... The Cobra... Deacon was pretty brave- though the look on his face the entire ride was hilarious. I thought he was going to throw up.

He was NOT pleased to be riding the swings... and the first few pictures I got are of him looking panicked. But within seconds of the ride starting I got this picture- and he loved it.

A much needed break- watching the Shouka {the whale} Show. The kids could have kept going but I was definitely needing the shade and some time off! Thanks Shouka!

They have these misters all over the park- and sadly, I think it was Deacon's favorite part of the day, LOL.

I don't even know if this can even be classified as a roller coaster... it was that small. But Deacon was insanely proud of himself for riding it "by himself" (aka- without me).

Deacon LOVED this ride... and most kids his age have been riding it since they were Zac's age- but Deacon has always been terrified of them up until now. I will say it was pretty fun watching how excited he was- but also pretty humorous that he was the oldest kid on this ride that was SO excited about it.

Playdate

2011-08-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Despite not feeling my greatest, we headed over to Woodland to eat dinner w/Ed & Logan. Thankfully going over there requires little to no work on my part and dinner was completely made for us... so I knew I wouldn't over do it. The boys had a great time- especially once Ed made the executive decision to walk down the street to the park... getting the energy out in a more constructive manner was definitely in order. I've been spending a lot of time in bed trying to get better... so tonight was a very welcome outing.

Zac wasn't pleased that it was time to stop playing in the water... and to make matters worse- it was time to go home.

Football

2011-08-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

Deacon is going to be playing flag football at Carden this year... I don't know that he would have any desire to play if it weren't for the fact that all his school friends will be playing and (most importantly) Mr. Pena is the coach. So tonight I thought it would be a good idea for us to go outside and throw around the football... just to see where he's at with the sport.

I think we'll need to do this a lot more often...

Anyone who knows Damien knows it's pretty amusing that he is teaching Deacon the in's and out's of throwing/catching a football... But I'll give him some credit, I think Damien can at least hold his own in teaching a 6 year old (who knows absolutely nothing about the sport) the absolute basics.

This picture makes me laugh so hard. He looks like he's dancing.

Zac wanted to play too... and it was darling- he kept running up and holding Damien's hand when they played "on the same team." And then when they did well he'd give Damien a big hug. It was so cute.

Zac's interest in football was short lived... he would rather make "coffee" in his outdoor make shift cafe.

Shower time

2011-08-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

Deacon goes in spurts with his helpfulness with Zachary... and right now he's going through a good spurt. The other night I went to get in the shower and help wash both of the boys and Deacon told me (nicely) to go away... that he would take care of getting Zac washed and out of the shower properly. And surprisingly, he did a really good job. Zac never fully enjoys being washed and Deacon was able to wash Zac with no tears involved (though the faces Zac made were pretty funny). I love moments like this. We've got some good boys.

The past couple weeks...

2011-08-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

I've been somewhat absent from this blog for a while for one reason... I haven't taken many pictures at all- and most of the ones I take are random ones of Zac being silly. We really haven't had much down time since getting home from Ohio- the kids went back to school right away and Damien and I went back to work as well. Thankfully we got home on a Saturday and we were able to spend that Sunday relaxing... though with us all still being on Ohio time, the kids were up and ready to go around 7:45am. First order of business? Go out to breakfast since we had absolutely nothing in the house... ok, nothing that one would want to consume for breakfast. The rest of the day was thankfully spent really low key and we were all in bed at a normal hour. The boys both adjusted really well to their routines- my boys love a routine (though, what kids don't love a routine???). There were a few days of sadness for Deacon- he really misses his cousins... and I think that's a hard one for him because he knows he probably won't see them for another year (or possibly even more in the case of Andrew/Lauren).

But all in all, it's nice to be home... I won't lie- it's almost two weeks and we're still not 100% unpacked- but it's getting there. I estimate that by the time my mom shows up in September that we'll be unpacked. LOL.

So enjoy these random pictures I took over the past couple of weeks... I'm feeling a bit guilty that there is a definite inequality in the amount of Deacon pictures compared to Zac- but Deacon has been spending a lot of his time upstairs in his room with all his toys... and after a long day of summer camp I certainly can't fault him for wanting a bit of alone time- but maybe I should start intruding and taking some pictures. LOL- I'm sure he'd love that!

Rinsing with anti-canker sore medicine... YUCK!

Taken a few days after getting home- the master bedroom looked just as bad.

These boys love the Farmers Market as much as we do... and the white peaches/nectarines are amazing this year- though I think Deacon likes the corn dogs the best, LOL.

I don't think there is ever a time when Damien is laying down that Zac doesn't take the opportunity to jump all over him... his new favorite activity? Jumping on Damien's head. It's so funny... well, Zac and I think it's pretty funny.

Yep... still a paci boy.

We went to the pool with the Harrigan family and convinced the kids to leave with the promise of ice cream... though you'd never know by the way Zac looks in this picture, the kids all had a great time. I think Zac was just unhappy his ice cream was gone.

Both boys are obsessed with drinking water out of the bathtub faucet. Their obsession grew substantially when they realized how disgusted I was by the ordeal.

Deacon will stretch out in the bathtub like this for the sole purpose of annoying Zac... but will say he's doing it to "relax." But we all know Zac absolutely hates when Deacon does it- and when he doesn't think I'm looking he gets this grin of satisfaction every single time he does it.

"I am Bumble Bee"

Current obsession: having mommy put his hair in a pony tail... and then take it out... and then ask for it to be put back in... and then take it out. You get the picture.

Deacon and Damien will have a race to see who can find Goldbug the quickest... which is amusing seeing as though we've been "reading" this book since he was 3 years old. We can get through the whole book very quickly nowadays... whereas it used to take about 30 minutes to get through about 2-3 "scenes." Deacon can definitely kick our butts at this one.

This keyboard was one of the best purchases I've ever made. The kids play with it all the time... and they have a specific song they like the best. Zac calls it the "Marching Song" and has finally figured out which numbers to press to get the song to magically turn on... this is a pretty big accomplishment! Well after the song turns on, Deacon and Zac will march around the living room- and then after a few "normal" rounds of the song they'll turn it on "crazy" mode (they increase the speed) and they'll do these crazy dances. It's pretty cute... though it would be much cuter if they'd turn down the volume. Normally Zac won't play this "game" unless Deacon is around... but tonight he was willing to do it so long as mommy and daddy would play along.

"See you later" Ohio...

2011-07-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Sad day... saying goodbye to our family is never easy. Coming to Ohio is such a treat for us- we spend an entire 2 weeks getting spoiled with love and tons of attention for the boys (and us... sometimes, LOL). Our boys need these 2 weeks... and so do we. I say it every year- I adore our California home and family... but nothing compares to love we get in Ohio. I try to soak it in the entire time... to really watch these boys playing with their Grandparents, their cousins, their uncles and aunts- and I love every minute of it. It's nothing easy living so far away from the people you love... and I hate when we pull out of the driveway, waving goodbye to family- and I hear Deacon quietly crying in the back. But I am thankful we have the opportunity to come home... and spend so much time with people who love us.

Thank you for the great vacation... We love you!

Our last night...

2011-07-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

Dinner at Cameo... of course.

{playing guitar on Nana's arm}

Dessert at Tofts... of course.

Energetic {albeit, sad} goodbyes to two of my favorite people...

And a photoshoot for good measure... in which I didn't have the heart to tell Dan that he was not representing the East coast properly with a backwards gangsta "E"

I hate goodbyes...

The dog park

2011-07-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

The beach and the rain...

2011-07-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the beach again today- and they, of course, had a blast. After a couple hours we decided to pack up and leave... and had no clue we had PERFECT timing- there was a huge storm on the way. After showering and getting all the beach sand off our bodies, Grandma took Deacon out to play in the rain...

Saying goodbye to the Gerold family :(

2011-07-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

We've had so much fun with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew... it was really sad to say goodbye to them today. Last night I was able to kidnap my niece, Lauren, and take her to Cleveland with me and some friends to see a show... and when we came home we got the genius idea to take a picture with my sleeping brother- too bad we Lauren woke him up before we took the picture. Deacon was SO sad to say goodbye to Andrew... both of them cried- which of course makes me tear up. Poor thing just doesn't understand why we can't live near all these people he loves so much.

My dad with 3 of his 4 kids... at least his favorite baby girl (me) is in the picture ;-)

Me with my nieces

African Safari & Cedar Point

2011-07-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

Once again we made our way out to African Safari... and once again I sat in the front seat screaming most of the time. Aside from getting yelled at from some random guy for throwing a carrot into his car, a good time was had by all {sort of}.

{I took so few pictures of Deacon because he and Emma were moving around the back seat so fast- and all the pictures I took were so blurry}

{we thought these signs were so peculiar}

After African Safari, Damien, Lauren, Sarah, Matt and Mike headed off to Cedar Point while the rest of us came home to rest... At 5pm we joined the big kids for some "fun" at the park. Unfortunately for the Eversmann family, a good time wasn't entirely in the cards... Zac was NOT happy to be at a hot park, and Deacon was an inch too short for every.single.ride aside from the baby/family rides. It was quite sad... especially since the rest of the cousins were able and willing to ride all the "fun" rides. Zac and I went home about 30 minutes after we got there... and thankfully Deacon did have a good time overall. And I got my taffy.

We LOVE donuts.

2011-07-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise... I love donuts. What I don't love?- the fact that there are no good places to get donuts in Sacramento, California. Seriously, folks... none. I've tried a lot- none compare to Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme and the best place ever- Jolly Donuts. So it should come as no further surprise that we get donuts a LOT while we're in Ohio. Thanks to my dad who is willing to get up at the booty crack of dawn to get to Jolly Donuts before 8am... because if you show up after 8am there's nothing left.

I think Zac likes my obsession.

Singin' in the rain...

2011-07-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

This boy is LOVING all the rain we get while we're in Ohio... especially because he has a Grandpa who will run around with him outside so he can explore.

The Gerold's are here!!!

2011-07-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen my brother and his family in over a year- so I think I was just as excited to see them as Deacon was! It was no surprise that Deacon and Andrew hit it off like the last time they saw each other... but what was super cute was how much Zachary adored his cousin "LaLa" (aka, Lauren). I was even getting jealous with the lack of time I got to spend with Lauren AND Zachary because they got along so well- my favorite memory is the morning Zac "helped" Lauren get ready... he, of course, came out of Lauren's room with some blush and lip gloss on. Andrew and Deacon have spent the majority of their time practicing baseball (Andrew's favorite thing to do)... Deacon knows very little about baseball, so thankfully Andrew is super patient and willing to teach Deacon... we took some time away from baseball to spend a bit of time at the beach- and again had to pry the children away when it was time to go.

We celebrated Mike's birthday... with a peanut butter/fudge cookie and a fish fry. Zachary loved hearing us sing Happy Birthday to Mike, but then wanted us to sing to him so he could blow out the candles... we had to do this 3 times.

On Monday the boys all went up to Akron to the Pro-Football Hall of Fame (yes, even Deacon and Damien went... just ask them how much fun they had, LOL). While they were in Akron, I went to Put-in-Bay with Lauren and Jeana (Nana and Zachary stayed home)... we had a nice afternoon- but coming home was quite the adventure- a bad storm hit while we were in the middle of the bay. The boat actually had to stop moving for a bit while the storm passed. Talk about motion sickness!

We had a really fun couple of days getting Andrew and Lauren (oh, and my brother and his wife too, LOL) all to ourselves before the next round of cousins show up... but man are we excited to see cousins Sarah and Emma!!!

Waiting on our cousins!

2011-07-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family were showing up today so Damien and I decided to get out of the house and let my parents clean and get organized... so we took the kids to the beach! They had SO much fun- and the best part was that it cost only $10, lol. We probably could have stayed all day, but we lured them home with the promise of McDonald's and their cousins arriving shortly after naptime.

Out and about...

2011-07-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

Our day started off calmly... we wanted to take the boys out to the splash park downtown before it got too late- thinking that later in the day there would be a lot more people. Well, lucky for us, there was absolutely no one there when we showed up... which makes sense considering how cold it was, LOL. Nonetheless, the kids had a good time... even Zac- though it did take him a while. Zac spent the first 5 minutes screaming "I GOT WET" (quite unhappily, I might add) every time water splashed on him. Then my mom threw him in and all was well with the world.

On the way home from the splash park we passed Griffin airport and the boys wanted to see the airplanes... a simple trip to see the airplanes and eat lunch turned into a quick ride over Sandusky thanks to an old high school friend working behind the counter who gave us a great deal. We decided against taking Zac up with us... which made him pretty sad- but honestly I don't think he would have enjoyed himself much with how noisy it was. Deacon, however, loved it... and talked about it for days after.

{this is the neighborhood where I grew up... my old house in the top right corner}

After a busy morning the boys wanted to go to the "Enchanted Forrest" by my parents house... so we all walked over there- even Milo. We ended our day with a ride on Grandpa's lawn mower... though Zac was NOT having any of that- he was happy as can be just watching, but the minute we suggested he ride too, he panicked, LOL.

A day of rest... sort of.

2011-07-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Deacon, somehow, found out that my parents owned a trombone (the same trombone that I played in high school and the same trombome my mom played as well). The boys had SO much fun marching around the house... needless to say we "lost" the trombone during naptime. Dang!

The back of my dads truck was a HUGE success with these boys... they played in it for about 2 hours this afternoon- and Deacon even convinced my mom to have a sleepover- though "mean mommy" made them come inside around 10pm ;-)

My dad took Deacon to buy some fish for the pond... Deacon was THRILLED to do this- thankfully he did not notice that the fish died a week later.

Zac is loving this bubble foam blower thing... mommy is not loving what it's doing to his hair (the soap is forming a really gross film in his hair for some reason). But oh well, who do we need to impress?

Me and Milo-Dog, relaxing on the blow up mattress in the garage.

Outdoor fun... and a date night for mommy & daddy

2011-07-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

Zachary was playing the fiddle with nana outside... I think they did this for a good hour, LOL.

While Zac played fiddle, Deacon sat outside in tupperware while Grandpa mowed the yard...

Zac LOVES this pony and plays with it all the time... I love that he plays with my old toys :)

Damien and I ditched my parents and went out with my friend, Alison and her husband Don... they're expecting their baby girl any day now- so I was thrilled to get a chance to hang out with just the 4 of us for a while. After we had a nice relaxing (kid free) dinner, we came back to my parents house- and Zac was obsessed with the idea that Alison had a baby in her tummy... he couldn't get over it- and then came to me and asked where my "baby tummy" was... to which I just let him know that the added fat he sees is still his fault.

And then the best, and most exciting, part of the night... time to catch fireflies. The boys waited patiently by the door until 9pm- and then the fireflies came and they were SO excited. Zac had to wear his "bug bracelet" which helps keep the mosquitos away... it works GREAT- though it stinks. Zac also insisted on wearing a pair of nana's socks.

Guess which one is the "creative" brother...

2011-07-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Grammy took the boys outside to do some painting before we left today... while Deacon always enjoys his art projects with Grammy (he's been doing them for nearly 6 years now), Zac really gets into it. I love seeing how both of them like to use the paints so differently... Deacon uses the brushes while Zac is more into alternative forms of painting :)

Cincinnati

2011-07-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Canvas on Demand

2011-07-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm all for a giving some free press to a good company... we ordered our canvas from Canvas on Demand (thanks to Groupon) and it came today. We're all in love :)

Love...

2011-07-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Aiden!!!

2011-07-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to one of my absolute favorite boys in the entire world (other than my own, of course)... I am so sorry to have missed yet another birthday due to our trip back home to Ohio- but I'm glad Aiden is such an understanding friend and was ok with us celebrating a few days early before we left.

Aiden- I hope you had a great birthday party... we love you! Thanks for being such an awesome friend to Deacon!

Enjoying the weather...

2011-07-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

I love Sacramento weather {most of the time}... lately the evenings have been perfect for eating our dessert outside. Popsicles are our favorite- but we certainly won't say no to a cupcake!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

For about a month now I've been thinking that I wanted to have a low-key 4th of July... I absolutely have LOVED the past 4th's, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it this year. I just wanted to hang out... so I was pretty excited when all my friends felt the same way :) So the morning we spent our time at the pool and then came home to nap before heading to Joline's house for dinner and street fireworks. The boys had so much fun... and behaved so well despite being so late at night when we finally got home. We decided to skip the big outdoor fireworks this year- and Deacon was totally bummed... until we got home. We looked out our windows and realized you could see the big displays from Deacon's window and our window... and they were CLOSE- we didn't have to strain to see them. It was awesome. Then the big finale came when our neighbor 3 houses down set off a huge {illegal} display behind us... holy crap it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. The best part was that Zac slept through the whole thing- which was a huge surprise to us.

A beautiful day... all around.

Deacon picked out this {insanely expensive} firework from the fireworks booth... the guy referred to it as a "finale type firework"- so all night Deacon kept ~~asking~~ begging for the "GRAND FINALE FIREWORKS!!!"

Feeding the ducks...

2011-07-03T00:11:00.000-07:00

We love feeding the ducks... and by "we" I mean everyone but me. However!- I love that the ducks at the "under the bridge farmers market" are behind these neat little fences... so they can't really get me us. For a month now we've been saving the cut-off crusts from our sandwiches to go feed these ducks... and all the kids were super excited to head over there today. But unfortunately the ducks were in no mood to eat our food- not even the bread with peanut butter/jelly on it. Can't say I blame them... it was over 100 degrees and we were throwing the food in the direct sun. No bueno says the ducks. Despite the fact that the kids just spent 10-15 minutes throwing bread into the water, they had a great time- and that's all that matters.

There's this lady who walks around the park with an ice cream cart... she stops in the middle of the park and will not budge until someone buys some ice cream. She seriously stands there ringing this stupid bell for at least 10 minutes... which doesn't seem like a long time- but it is! So we finally caved after listening to our kids beg for this ice cream... which was the most expensive ice cream I've ever purchased (but oh so worth it, if you ask the kids!)