Father's Day/ Anniversary

I know it's been a while but Molly is officially crawling and my life just got a whole lot crazier, didn't think that was possible. She is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up using couches and chairs. The other day she pulled herself up and turned around and tried to take a step. Of course she fell but seriously, she's 7 months! I'm looking for baby ankle weights.

We had a very nice Father's Day. It was also our 7th Anniversary but we decided to make it a special day for Drew. Drew played golf with my dad and brothers in the morning. I took the kids to get donuts and then we came home and started making all kinds of gifts for dad. We painted a big sign, made a picture frame and card, and painted rocks that said "Dad Rocks". On the way home from getting donuts as we were talking about things we could do to make dad's day special, Andrew came up with the idea to save some of his donut for dad so you'll see in the picture there is a little bag with a piece of each boy's donut. So sweet!


Drew got home from golf during nap time so he was able to relax and cool down from his HOT match. Then we went to mass since we were busy the night before and Sunday morning. We had Andrew take a picture of us when we got home so we could remember our 7th Anniversary.

Tuesday we met our old neighbor's the Fitzpatricks at their grandma's pool for a swim. It was so good to see them again and hang out. The kids had a great time. I didn't manage to keep Matthew or Molly awake on the way home but luckily Matthew transferred...that is huge!


Wednesday Andrew had a great day! We have been using a "penny" system of discipline for him for several months. He starts the day off with 25 pennies, however many pennies he ends up with at the end of the day equals the number of minutes he can watch TV before bed. Each time he does something he knows is wrong, he loses a penny. Well, Wednesday was the first day since we started this system that he had 25 pennies at the end of the day. We have always told him if he keeps ALL of his pennies he'll get a special reward. Here he is on his big day!


Thursday I did my favorite thing in the whole world and went to get some work done at the dentist;) Of course every time I go to the dentist it is worse than the dentist expects. He was working on three teeth and one of them ended up needing a root canal. So he scheduled an appointment for me to get that done as I was leaving. Then I went back to my parent's to get the kids with a very numb mouth.

Friday we had a fun birthday party for Andrew's buddy Dylan. It was at Rainbow Recreation (the place that sells really nice play sets). The boys had a blast running from one set to the next. Andrew and his buddies pretended they were pirates and Matthew couldn't get enough of the "tunnel" slide. Then Friday night my parents came over to watch the kids so we could go out for our anniversary. I realized I didn't have my camera as we were leaving but didn't dare go back in so we don't have any pictures of our date night. We met John and Allison at Villa Farroto and then went to Fox and Hound after for a few drinks. It was a ton of fun but we got home a little late...Sorry mom and dad! I think we were just really excited to be having adult conversation...we got carried away. Our gift to each other for our anniversary was a new digital camera. It's a bigger/improved camera that takes great pictures. We still have our little digital to keep in my purse for snapshots.

Saturday Drew took the boys to Lowes for a Build and Grow activity. They come home with some really cool monster trucks that they constructed. I think Drew had fun too considering his favorite store in the whole world is Lowes.



Sunday Drew's friend Sam and his wife Candice stopped by since they were in town for a wedding. It was so good to see Sam again and meet Candice for the first time. Sam was also a huge help in moving a few pieces of furniture with Drew that needed rearranging. Thanks Sam. Then Sunday evening we had a photographer come over and take pictures of the kids. He did an amazing job. He was so good with the kids. I'll be sure to post a link as soon as the pictures are available.

Monday and Tuesday were character building days for me. I had my root canal on Monday and then more work done on Tuesday. I was not blessed with good teeth and it's a pain but trust me, things could be worse.

AND FINALLY, today we went and visited Christina and Josie for a little play date. It was so fun to play in their basement which they converted into a play area for Josie. Of course the boys got a little rowdy towards the end so I knew it was time to go. We had so much fun AND an added bonus: I was able to keep Matthew awake on the ride home!

7 Months...oops!

We were at a birthday party this weekend and I was telling everyone that Molly was 6 months old. Apparently I'm losing my mind because she turned seven months on Friday and I didn't even realize it! Oops!

Well here is a picture of her at the party, the day after she turned 7 months:)



She is growing up so fast. She now has one tooth that has popped through and another one almost there. Both on the front bottom. She still isn't a fan of baby food but is getting more adventurous with the textures. I have started pouring it right on her tray and basically letting her figure paint with it. A little bit always ends up in her mouth so little by little she's tasting it. Baby steps. She can get wherever she wants to go, which is usually for Andrew's tiny legos that he forgets to pick up. She has loved our trips to the pool this summer. She stands in her bed now and isn't afraid to get down. She'll just fall face first on her mattress when she's had enough. Lately Molly has been waking up between 5:30 and 6 for the day. This sounds horrible but it's the same time Andrew wakes up so it's not a big deal. She then has been taking an early morning nap which is kind of nice b/c I can still put her down and go somewhere if we need to before lunch and naps for the boys. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. She is at such a fun stage but I'm a little sad she is becoming so independent and not so cuddly. Happy 7 months Molly! You are such a good baby!

HERE'S MY 1ST TOOTH

Strong Willed Matthew

So the past couple of weeks Matthew has decided to make nap time and bed time a challenge for mom and dad. This week he decided to make it impossible. Before we even go to his room he says, "will you lay with me for one song"? I tell him I will and then after the one song, everything starts to go down hill. The crying, begging, and pleading begins. Wednesday night he woke up at 11 and was up and down the rest of the night. Drew and I took turns laying on his floor and I'm not sure he ever fell soundly asleep until about 5:30. Until yesterday, I have been able to leave his door open and he has stayed quiet but not napped. I know he needs a nap because if go anywhere in the car, he's sound asleep. Yesterday I had had enough and decided it was time to "re-ferberize" him. I laid with him for one song told him I loved him and it was time to go to sleep. He SCREAMED for about 5 minutes and then he was relatively quiet. The next thing I know, Molly is screaming! What in the world? I go upstairs and somehow, Matthew has managed to quietly climb out of his crib and go into Molly's room. Oh man! I calm Molly down and lay her back down then put Matthew in his room kicking and screaming because his genius plan did not go as planned. I sat outside his door for 35 minutes while he wailed and finally he was quiet and asleep! The poor kid woke up very hoarse and not happy with me. I tried to warn him not to mess with me. It continues to amaze me how irrational 2 year olds are. I promised him a new truck, his obsession, if he went right to sleep without crying. Bribery? Yes, but I was desperate. Last night the crying lasted 25 minutes and he slept through the night! I feel like I have a 4 month old again.

Despite Matthew's sleep issues we have had a fun week. Tuesday we had Allison and her kids over to play. The kids played inside for a while and then we took a trip to the pond to feed the ducks.

Tuesday night I had a great dinner with my friend Annie. It was so nice to catch up with her!

Wednesday, we took a trip to the library and then I had another girls dinner that night. Lucky me! I went to Sugo's with my bible study girls to celebrate my mom's birthday. It was a great restaurant and reasonable.

Thursday I dropped Molly off with my mom and then the boys and I met Allison and her boys at the zoo. We got there as soon as the rain stopped and it was a great zoo day. My boys are always obsessed with the train. We had a talk on the way down that the zoo is to see animals so that is the main focus. I told them we could ride the train but once it was over we would not talk about the train again. Luckily, the train was the first thing we did and they were pretty good about focusing on the animals after that. We rode the carousel and looked at lots of animals. It was so nice to be there with just the boys and not have to worry about Molly getting to hot or bored. Thanks mom and Allison for a great day. Of course the boys fell asleep before we even left the parking lot and woke up when we got to my mom's to get Molly...oh well.




Friday we had a really fun playdate with a bunch of Andrew's Little School friends. One of the mom's invited everyone over to play. (How brave is she?) Of course we always cause a scene. As soon as we got there the boys wanted to play in the basement. I took them down, then brought Molly back up to chat with the other moms. As soon as my foot hit the top step, I heard Matthew start screaming. He wasn't so sure about being left down there with the other kids. I tried to calm him down while holding Molly so one of the moms offered to hold her, at which point we discovered he had pooped. So I changed Molly with my big helper Matthew and then we were all good. Matthew warmed up and ventured away from me a few times to find trucks. Andrew of course was no where to be seen except to eat lunch. Then when I went to find him to leave, I discovered Superman instead!

A Day in the Life

Today is a day I will look back on and think, "those were the days" but today I was thinking, "Really?". Nothing bad or out of the ordinary happened it was just an annoying "mom" day. So it started at 5:30 because that's what time Andrew wakes up everyday, no matter what time he goes to bed. Then Molly woke up at 6 and Drew was already half way to work. Matthew has decided that napping is a bad idea the past few days so amazingly he slept in until 9! In theory this is awesome but by the time he woke up, Molly was already an hour into morning nap and Andrew was beyond bored. Once Matthew eased into the morning and I got some cleaning out of the way I fed Molly and decided we would take a walk. I put Molly in the stroller and the boys drove the Gator. About 5 min from our house the Gator completely died. This wasn't a big deal b/c we really weren't far from home. I made Andrew get out since he weighs the most and decided I would have Matthew steer while I pushed the Gator and the stroller. Then I got and even better idea, have Andrew push the Gator. This would have worked perfectly if Matthew actually knew how to steer. Instead, he would turn the wheel completely one direction and Andrew would push him in a circle. So I tried steering and guiding while pushing the stroller. Needless to say it took us a while to get home and both Andrew and I were very frustrated.

Once we were home, the rest of the morning consisted of Andrew pushing Matthew's buttons and Matthew losing all vocabulary and screaming. I decided vacuuming would be a good way to "quiet" them. Unfortunately, Molly didn't think being set down was a good idea so she helped me. Then it was finally getting time for lunch and Molly was getting tired. I laid her down and started making lunch. My laid back Molly was screaming which is unusual but happens every once in a while when she is over tired. I looked on the monitor and SHE WAS STANDING UP! We haven't lowered her crib yet and she was about to fall out. I ran upstairs grabbed her and finished making lunch one handed. Once the boys were settled I decided to try and lay Molly down again, this time I took out her bumper pads, thinking she may have been using them as leverage. I came back down, checked the monitor and sure enough she was standing up again! I needed Drew to help me lower the crib so I ended up putting her to sleep in my arms and then laying her down.

Then it was time to put the boys down. Matthew has been going through this phase of fighting his nap. I know he needs it because when he does fall asleep it's for a long time. Anyway, he fought it, I laid with him, tried leaving, laid with him, we did this for about an hour. Then Molly woke up and Matthew finally fell asleep and of course Andrew woke up. Just 5 minutes to myself would have been nice, but that wasn't in the cards. When Drew got home we went on a family run, made dinner, did baths, then bed. Of course Matthew threw a HUGE fit at bedtime. I told him I would lay with him for one song which usually works but not this night. So it ended up being 9:00 before everyone was in be asleep. What a tiring day!

In other news, last Friday, Max pointed out a turtle in our neighbor's backyard. I was so excited because right before he noticed it I was sitting there wondering what on Earth we would do that morning. We went over to the neighbors yard to get the turtle but by the time we got there it was nowhere to be found. Now how does a turtle disappear in 2 minutes? I finally noticed it by the neighbor's basement door in between all the hoses. I thought I would just pick it up and carry it to our house. Well, I kind of freaked out when it's long legs came out and the claws scratched me. I decided we needed to get a box. So I ran home while the boys kept and eye on it. Then I put it in the box; we gave it grass and a bowl of water and loaded it up in the Gator so we could take it back to the pond. When we got it out of the box it literally looked like it was sprinting to the pond. Who knew turtles could move so fast? We looked in to see it swim away and noticed it landed on it's back and was stuck in the mud. I had to flip it over and then it was on it's way. The boys were so excited about the whole experience.





On Saturday, we went to the neighborhood pool for the first time and the kids loved it! Drew finally realized I wasn't crazy since I've been telling him there is no way I can take all 3 kids by myself. Molly of course needs to be held the entire time. Matthew doesn't realized you can't run in the pool so he fell face first a couple of time and Andrew can stand but you never know what he's up to if you don't keep a close eye on him. So we made a trip to Target that evening to buy a "ghetto" pool to tide us over until the dad can go with us.




Molly is cutting her first tooth. It's starting to poke through on the bottom. She doesn't seem to mind too much so I'm hoping that continues and she's a good teether. She is also sitting up completely unassisted and goes from laying down to sitting up on her own. I was shocked the first time I walked in her room this week and she was just sitting there. I love this age. She can also get where she wants to go by scooting. She gets up on all fours but still only rocks. Now I can't take my eyes off of her for a second because she prefers the boys toys much more than her own. And Molly is quite stubborn in the food department. She is still refusing a bottle and HATES baby food. I have tried everything ( I think, any suggestions would be great). I even tried those crazy messy biter biscuits which I thought were going to work but as soon as a piece got in her mouth she freaked out and spit it out ASAP. I'm thinking there is definitely a texture issue.


The boys are really starting to act like brothers. Andrew has started telling Matthew to do and say things so Matthew will get in trouble. Then he laughs and Matthew enjoys Andrew thinking he's funny so he continues to do it. If I leave them unattended someone is always hurt, crying, or whining when I get back. "Potty talk" is their favorite past time these days. Oh the joys! I did discover that we have a tiny library in walking distance to our house so we have been making daily trips up there for new books and DVDs...great way to pass the time and keep everyone happy....for FREE!

Amigos

I found a mom as crazy a me! Last weekend, my mom told me that a teacher from her school's friend was moving relatively close to us AND she has 2 boys and a girl the same age as my kids. The excitement doesn't stop there...she said, "I know we would really get along if she runs and drinks":) I have a new BFF and have no idea who she is! After talking to my mom, I came home and found out that my BFF contacted me on facebook. The craziest thing...I know her! We went to the same high school and even though she is 5 years older than me our paths have crossed several times because of field hockey. What a small world!

So my new/old friend Allison and I set a play date and met at Faust Park last week. The kids had a great time. I knew we would get along great when she pulled up in the same minivan and said, "hey, nice wheels!" I called Drew as soon as we left and was like, "you'll never guess what she drives!" He said now if they have a black lab this is just going to be too weird....they have a chocolate.

Friday we had my friend Tracy and her husband over for dinner. They were such troopers because they are pregnant with their first and our house is chaotic. The boys were so excited to have guests. Andrew came down from nap in a t-shirt, clip on tie, sunglasses, and a hat. He said he was getting dressed up for Tracy. Luckily we got the kids in bed at a reasonable hour and were able to have some nice adult conversation. It was a lot of fun...maybe too much:)

Saturday I met my mom for a girls day. We did some shopping, I got fit for a bridesmaids dress and had a delicious lunch. It was so nice having my mom all to myself for a few hours. We had a nice family afternoon when I got back. The boys decided to "wash" my car and didn't realize that my phone was nearby. I wasn't too upset because my mom was on her way over to watch the kids so Drew and I could have a date night. The date started off with a trip to the Sprint store to find out my phone had water damage. They erased all my data and said it should work for a few weeks before completely dying. AWESOME. Then we had a very nice dinner at BC's. It was so nice to take our time, talk without being interrupted AND not have to do baths and bedtime. Thanks mom!

Sunday we went to church and then had Allison's family over for dinner. It was the first time for the husbands to be involved and everything went great. We had a very low key dinner and everyone seemed to have a great time. We were even able to have bits and pieces of adult conversation.


Then Monday our little family went exploring at a park close to our house and had a picnic. I didn't think to bring bug spray so the lunch portion was short lived but the boys enjoyed exploring before they got too hot and tired. Then we came home and rested up before our Memorial Day/Grandma's birthday celebration. Andrew was pretty much done by this point and had a few melt downs but overall it was a great night. It's so much fun when all the cousins get together.









Molly has really grown up a lot this week. She is sitting unassisted and scooting/crawling. Basically she can get where she wants to go which is scary since the boys toys are everywhere. Looks like it's time to baby proof and change some rules for the toys.

We laid low the past couple of days to let the kids recover from such a busy weekend. I've been debating boarding school for Andrew:) JUST KIDDING! Today we went to Allison's house and had a play date. They haven't moved closer to us yet but we wanted to get together again before their summer/moving gets too crazy. Molly has started a strange schedule of waking up at 5:30 and then going down for her morning nap at 7:30. So we left for their house when she woke up and she was so happy the entire time. The boys had so much fun playing with all the trucks her boys had. As we were leaving they both asked if we could write birthday lists when we got home because they wanted ALL the same trucks as Blake and Chase. We left there and decided to meet Drew for lunch since we were so close to him. As I put the car into park at The Daily Bread, Andrew said, "mom what is all over Molly?" I opened her door and she was cover from head to toe in poop! Oh my gosh, where was I even going to begin in cleaning her up. Luckily I had just refilled my wipes and I just started going to town. It was a disaster but I got her as clean as possible, changed her clothes, washed our hands and we had a great lunch. Of course the boys were at the end of their ropes when we got home and there was lots of screaming and crying but everyone ended up sleeping. I can deal if everyone naps. It was a great day!