Mommy's Favorite Things!

I love Sam's Club. Now I love it even more for offering the latest of my favorite things list. Mott's Sliced Apples.



They are cored, sliced and pre-packaged into a nice little bag making snacks and picnic lunches so easy!

My kids have both wanted at least one bag each day and there is no waste. If I were to offer Izzy a whole apple, most of it would go to waste after just a couple of bites. Mott's has made it possible to offer my kids a healthy snack on the go with no time or energy required. And you know what they say, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Let's hope that holds true. Either way, this little item will be on my grocery list every week!

John Mayer

Hubby and I had decided we wouldn't exchange gifts on Christmas and focus on the kids. Well, only one of us actually followed through with that promise. I was handed a handwritten letter full of lyrics from every John Mayer song you could possibly think of and they were arranged in the most romantic and creative way. I couldn't even read the last couple of paragraphs because I was crying too hard to see. Then, I saw the tickets to the JM concert, which brought more tears and lots of kisses. :)


Monday night was the concert and it was A. MAZE. ING.


Our friends, Nate & Amanda had tickets to the show as well, but we had no idea where we would be sitting. We met for dinner before the show and had a great time catching up like always. We were so excited to get to our seats, we parted ways and promised to text throughout the show. Funny thing, our seats were about 7 apart! It was so much fun to get to look over and see how much fun they were having and we did text the entire show. We had great seats on the floor and I got so many good pics of JM.



The show KILLED. I screamed like a little girl the ENTIRE show. I couldn't help myself. Hubby kept telling me to settle down, but I couldn't. It was too much fun. We danced and sang with the crowd and towards the end, Nate and Amanda snagged seats right in front of us so we could watch the encore together. John came out in a KC Wizards jersey which brought the house down, of course. I think Hubby's favorite part would be the 10 minute drum solo by Steve Jordan. I was a little concerned I might have to do CPR, because Hubby didn't breathe for a long time. He was so happy.



I could write an entire post about the strange people and odd attire that were present at this show. One chick showed up in a skin tight leopard dress with the most horrendous shoes I have ever seen. I wish I had the guts to take a picture so I could post it here. It would for sure give you a good laugh. A couple my parents age were two rows in front of us and they slow danced in a slightly inappropriate manner for the entirety of the show. John Mayer brings romance. One row behind us were 20-somethings who dressed in their best Jersey Shore outfits, decided they would jump throughout the show. It is always so fun to go to concerts and people watch. People are so interesting. I could do that all day.

I am so thankful to have such a loving hubby, that he made such a special night for us. And then to top it off, a surprise night with our friends. It was the best!



Great memories, what else could you ask for in a Christmas present?

Big Boy

Wednesday was a normal day. One small thing happened that made me realize, my little Izzy is growing up right before my eyes. Recently, he has refused all help while getting ready in the morning. He showers himself, dries off, and dresses himself. Every day he does it correctly, I move his pirate and it makes him so proud. Wednesday, he did his routine, but this time said, "Mommy, I am big now. I am going to dry my own hair and you don't help me at all!" He did it, he blew his hair dry and combed it. Of course, I am a complete control freak so I had to re-comb, but essentially, he is at the point of not even needing me in the morning. 4 years old. *sigh*

In the last two months, I have watched Izzy really change from a little preschooler to a big boy. He requires much less direction and I find myself not having to tell him what comes next. If I ask him to clean his room now, within just a few minutes, I walk into a perfectly cleaned room with every item in its correct place. The only help he needs is making his bed, which I gladly do for him. If I tell him we are going somewhere, there is no need for reminders for shoes and jackets, by the time I wrangle Asher he is already in his seat buckled and waiting patiently.

This whole growing up thing makes me so proud of Izzy because he seems so responsible for 4 years old. Yet, I still have that pang of heartache, that hits every time I see him accomplish something else without my help. We are inching closer and closer to complete independence.

I really appreciate Izzy so much. He is such an obedient, sweet boy. He sets an amazing example for Asher and I need to remember to praise him more for it. He has really made our lives so easy and full of love. It has been amazing having him home all week during Spring Break and I am really sad to see him go back to school. How is Mommy going to cope when my little guy is in full day Kindergarten next year? I don't think my heart can take it...

Tot Skate!

Spring break has been so amazing so far. We have had a family game night, a play date with friends, and today, roller skating for the first time!

Izzy has begged me for the last year to take him skating, but I didn't know a preschool version was offered at a local rink. A friend of mine takes her two cute daughters about once a month and as soon as Izzy is out of school for the summer, we are going to join them. It was so much fun and I am so proud of Izzy. When we first got there, he could barely stand up on his own and by the end, he was doing the limbo and skating around the rink without help! Isn't it amazing how quickly kids can pick things up? If only my body would cooperate like that! Asher just walked around pushing a little toy and he loved being a part of it. He copied everything Izzy did. At one point, Izzy was holding onto the wall for dear life and Asher followed behind him doing the same. It was the cutest. Asher and I even had a chance to dance under the lights to a little Miley Cyrus.

After skating and our snack, our friends met us at a local mall where we brought Happy Meals and had a picnic indoors! The kids laughed and played hide-n-seek and red light-green light. We had so much fun. Next week we are going to meet for another picnic and ride the Easter train. I can't even wait for those pictures!

I had to post this video, because every time I watch it I bust up laughing. This is Izzy on his first attempt to do the Limbo. He could skate around fairly well, but trying to skate and duck under the pole, well lets just say he found it difficult to remain on his feet! God Bless him, he just kept getting up and trying again. His legs just seemed so long in comparison to the other kids and it just looked like a cartoon where their legs are just flying around.

I love to see my kids smile and today brought lots of smiles and memories.



(Sorry it is sideways. One day I will figure out which direction I need to hold my camera! :)

Best Weekend Ever!

I am pretty sure Izzy had the Best Weekend Ever.

Let's review.

Friday: Mommy and Son date at Air Zone with friends.

Saturday: Woke up to find Uncle Jarrod spent the night. He spent his morning laughing, playing drums and wrestling. Uncle J also made him his own Robot Cowboy t-shirt (an original), to which Izzy has declared he will wear it every single day over the outfit I pick for him! After nap, Daddy and Uncle J take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese for the night. Izzy came home with a new pirate cup that has a treasure chest on top to hold snacks. Clearly this is the best invention ever.

Sunday: Izzy and Mommy go shopping for our littlest cousins birthday. We went to a Shrek themed birthday party which offered BBQ, cake, goody bags and each kid opened the birthday boys presents. Oh did I forget to mention the giant castle MOON BOUNCE in the front yard? Right...that was Izzy's favorite part. And my Dads. :)

This week is Spring Break and I hope the fun just continues. I have so much I want to cram into this week since I get my little guy all day again.

First goal for the week: Sleep until 8 a.m. I am hoping this happens, since I didn't change Izzy's clock with Daylight savings. Shhhhh! I'll let you know how it works out.

Happy Spring Break!


**Izzy slept until 8:15!!! Unfortunately, Asher woke up at 6:45. If it's not one...it's the other. :)

Date Night

Izzy and I got to have a Mommy/Son date night last night. I really need to make more of an effort to do that at least every other week. We had a blast and it was so fun to have some one on one conversation with him about topics that normally he would be too distracted to discuss.

We met up with a friend of mine "A" and her daughter "G" at Air Zone, a local jump place. It was family fun night and for $7 we had 2 hours open play with black lights and music. Izzy hasn't been there since he was 2 years old and he was so excited. I was even more excited, because the last time I was there with him, I was with a friend who was 8 months pregnant with twins and our 2 year olds had a hard time going through all of the obstacle course inflatables. So guess who got to climb through and push two kids up at the same time? That's right, ME! This time would be different. Izzy is 4 and is super tall and athletic. No need for help from Mommy this time. Or so I thought. First time through the obstacle course, he made it to this tunnel. The problem is, everything is dimly lit and then there are strobe lights and black lights so visibility is low. He couldn't tell where he was going and panicked. Next thing I know I just hear hysterical screaming and I think, "Oh poor kid." Hmmmm. Wait, Oh that is MY poor kid! So I have to calm him through mesh netting and he is screaming, "Get ME OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" Can I get a refund? :) I told him the only way out, was to make it down the huge slide. Finally he figured out where to go and made it down. I run around to catch and soothe him and find him laughing and smiling. Wait. What? He said, "I did it Mommy! This is so fun, I am doing it again and again!" Whew. That was close. Izzy is a little claustrophobic, as am I, so not being able to find the end of the tunnel freaked him out a bit, but once he knew where everything led, he was fine.

A and I, watched and laughed as our kids ran around like crazies. Multiple times, they would run over to us with sweat dripping off of their face, words jumbled and lots of pointing. Just enough of a break, but not to let us think they were too tired or anything. G made it about an hour and a half and then was crying to be put to bed. Izzy and I stayed the full time and that is when we really started having fun together. We played air hockey a million times, he danced and sang to the latest Justin Beiber song, I watched him race kids down the slides. It was so fun.

After Air Zone, I took him to QT for a drink and a snack and then we sat in the car and talked about everything you could imagine. School, friends, Asher, What he wants to do this summer, Kindergarten. Then he said, "Mommy we should do our fives!" He went first:

1. Mommy, I love you because you are the best Mommy I know.
2. I love you to the stars in the sky.
3. You are the best driver.
4. I love going on dates with you.
5. Because we are best friends.

The fives have been a big hit, and we do them before bed every single night. Every night, I am surprised by a couple he says, but they are always so sweet and loving. Izzy and I had a great night out together.

As we pulled up in the driveway, he got a little teary and said, "You better get me into bed as fast as you can!" My little guy was totally tuckered out. Date night was a success. This is one of those nights I will remember when he is graduating High School. Insert mental image of Mommy crying *here*.

Date nights. They aren't just for Mommy's and Daddy's anymore. :)

21 months of Lovey

Today my little bundle of Love turns 21 months old. Twenty-one months! Every month on the 9th, I think to myself, "How is it possible? I literally just had him." And yet, here we are.

I think it is only appropriate to do a "Lovey Update".

My little Asher now throws a side-eye in any questionable situation.

He loves to laugh. Not a little baby laugh, but a big hearty from the gut laugh. I couldn't love hearing it more.

The second he hears Izzy about to tell a story, he interrupts with babbling. Not a single understandable word comes out, but he feels it is mandatory that he interrupts his brother.

He officially detests bath time with the largest amount of drama and passion that one can possess. Well, he hates the hair washing and isn't afraid to throw a punch to let you know.

He runs like a football player. If football players crouched down and ran sideways.

He believes himself to be invisible in 2 situations. 1) If he feels shy or uncomfortable, he closes his eyes until he believes the company has left his presence. 2) If he wants to ignore a direction, he stands with his eyes closed and a huge grin on his face, waits for complete silence before opening his eyes.

He would literally eat a banana at every meal and be fine with only that.

He randomly comes over and hugs your legs for no reason at all.

His favorite toy is still the train table. You can find him there anytime he is not eating a banana.

He has figured out every single electronic item in the house. He is a genius.

He brushes his teeth at least 10 times a day.

He has a shoe obsession much like his Daddy.

The quickest way to make him happy is to open a book.

He falls and hits his face at least once a day.

He is completely obsessed with kitchen towels. None of us know why, or what he does with them, but if there is one hanging, he can't control himself. Much of my day is spent finding kitchen towels and replacing them. Yes, towel hide and seek.

He thinks every animal roars like a lion. Today he saw a book with a crocodile on it, smiled and said "ROAR!" ... we are working on it.

He loves to sneak into brothers room, lay in his bed and pretend to sleep.

He thinks Izzy is perfect.

He puts himself in time-out for things I didn't even know he did. It is called "self-check." :)

At naptime/bedtime he runs (crouched and sideways) to bed. He tries to climb into his crib and giggles as you cover him up. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I was thinking today, when he was born we thought his nickname would be ACE (his initials). Maybe when he is a little older, but for now, Lovey is just the perfect word. That kid is like my security blanket. I just love to be around him. He is so happy, fun, and so snuggly and sweet. He makes it impossible not to love him. I can hardly wait until morning to see his big smile and get a big bear hug (with a roar). The months have just flown by, and every day that passes, I feel like my heart doubles with love for him.

Happy 21 months little lovey, I could not love you more. Until tomorrow. :)

I have been waiting to write this forever...

I TOOK THE BOYS OUTSIDE TO PLAY TODAY!!!!!

I thought this day was never going to come. My poor boys were going completely stir crazy stuck in the house. When we walked outside and felt the sunshine on our faces we all giggled a little. It is so beautiful outside, I wore a hoodie and actually got a little too hot! TOO HOT! That is the best feeling ever. This has been the worst winter ever and I have never wanted to swim in our pool so much in my life. I have found that I am a much happier person when I can just step outside and feel sunshine for a few minutes a day. Cold darkness is depressing and I am hoping this new warmth is a trend. I am ready to love all that is Spring.

Today was a big day. Asher hit a ball off of a Tee for the first time! It was so cute. He watched every move Izzy made and tried his best to copy him. Daddy even took a couple of breaks from studying, to enjoy some play time with his boys. They played baseball, soccer and basketball. The boys pulled out a couple of ride on toys and raced around while I soaked up some sun in a comfy lounger while listening to John Mayer via Pandora on my phone. LIFE IS GOOD!

If this weather decides to stick around, Izzy is going to be so excited because that means we can start walking to school again. We love walking, it gives us a chance to talk and it gets some of that excited energy out before class.

Lets all raise our glass of Iced Tea and cheers to Spring, happy Mommy's and the endless opportunities of outside play!!! Yay SPRING!

Huffy

Things that give me the sighs...

1. Having a cold.

2. Having kids who have colds.

3. When you go to pour a cup of coffee in the morning, to find out it was yesterdays.

4. When you are home with a sick baby and the power goes out for no reason. Just when it comes back on, it is time to pick up your preschooler.

5. Thinking of a dinner menu every. single. day.

6. When you walk into your kids bathroom and your feet stick...and you don't know why? Turns out, it was the brand new kids mouthwash. Close call.

7. When winter has a death-grip on your social life.

8. 70% of peoples Facebook status'. I just don't have the heart to delete.

9. When your kid lets go of a brand new balloon and it goes straight up to the vaulted ceiling. Kid decides to turn on the ceiling fan. You know what happens next.

10. When you find your kid in a previously locked closet, climbing up onto the third shelf. You ask how he got into the closet in the first place and his response...."Are you sure I won't get into trouble?"

Say it with me....*Sigh* Much better!

Reward or Punishment? :)

Through excellent behavior and hard work today, Izzy made it to the pirate ship on his chart. Normally, he requests an Icee for his reward, but recently, it has been a smaller sweet treat and a fake tattoo. Apparently, these tats are all the rage in preschool. He got one as a reward went into school to show his friends and now everyone gets them.

I had to pick up some items at Sams club today, and asked if Izzy would like a hot pretzel as his reward. He was so excited to get something different and those pretzels are huge, so he thought it was extra special. As he is stuffing his face on the ride home, he said, "Mama, do you think I could still get a tattoo to go with my pretzel?" I told him it was no problem and he could have Daddy help him when he got home from school. Daddy was home for .3 seconds before Izzy pounced on him with his requests for his new tat. (Now Daddy knows how it feels to be me. Enough with the tattoo requests already!!! :)

Daddy broke out the tattoo booklet that offered Izzy 500 choices such as tribal (think nick lachey), koi fish (think Miami Ink), skateboard tats, alien/space,barbwire arm bands (think Pam Anderson) and other random items.

Izzy likes to look at everything 5 times before making a choice, that is just his way. I figured he would go the skateboard route, because that has been his theme recently. Today however, he surprised me. I didn't see what he had picked, but I watched my Hubby cut it out, and it was a larger one. Izzy normally gets them on his upper arm, but he threw me for another loop, when he said, "I want this on my leg *think calf*, my friend Abraham has one on his leg and I really like it." OH MY WORD. He has totally taken it to a new level! Hubby obliges his requests, adheres the temporary tattoo and after, he came running in proudly to show me his new body art. What did Izzy pick? A GIANT bird. It is the size of his calf muscle, and has peacock-like feathers shooting everywhere. It is ridiculous. I had to contain my laughter because he was beaming with pride. He has to work really hard to get his pirate ship and earn his treats, so I am happy to do whatever makes him happy. Right now, we are in a tattoo phase. I hope it ends quickly. :) When he left the room all I could think was, "Thank goodness it is winter and he has to wear pants. The last thing I need is my kid to end up on peopleofwalmart.com!" LOL!

Oh to be 16 again!

Sorry for the light posting last week, but it was Hubby's spring break. Thinking of my week in review, I thought of a story that made my mom call all of her friends to repeat, so you can be sure it is embarrassing!

Friday is the Medical School Formal, so my SIL so kindly joined me last week for a day of dinner and shopping for a pretty new cocktail dress. This event was a little frustrating to buy for. I have no idea what to expect and I don't know what other girls will be wearing. Hubby said, cocktail dress, so we went off on a hunt for a cute, but still (hopefully) age appropriate dress. We hit every store in the area that offered formal dresses that we could think of. I tried on any and everything that my SIL picked out for me.

Here are the lessons we learned:

1. I can't pull off the cupcake dresses. You know the kind that have 6 layers of ruffles and a huge bow under your bust. Right now, that is 85% of the formal dresses.

2. I need a form fitting dress for my body type. As cute as they are, I can't pull off the flowy shirt dresses or the bubble skirts or I look 5 months pregnant.

3. Tulle is very itchy.

Tulle, what a great transition for my story. Picture this: SIL and I trapped in a small, hot, horribly lit dressing room. She is prepping dresses for me and then zipping me up. While trying on one of those cupcake dresses (we didn't get the point until after like #8) I was telling her how uncomfortable it was underneath. Not only is it layered in taffeta ruffles on the outside, but it has layer upon layer of tulle and stretchy slip material that only measured about half of the length of the dress. It felt like a tulle wedgie. Trying to help me out, she goes up the dress with hands on either sides of my legs to pull the material down for me. With handfuls of material underneath, she says to me, "What is THIS?" and YANKS as hard as she can. Before I can even utter the words...there they are. My underwear by my knees! OH MY WORD, we laughed uncontrollably, tears were rolling down our faces and I am sure the professionals at Dillards wanted to kick us out for being too loud. It didn't matter to us, we were having so much fun. After a few minutes, we regrouped, but that is a moment I will never forget. We had so much fun and I haven't laughed like that in ages!

I finally did find a dress and paired with my super high Black Jessica Simpson heels, I think Hubby will be proud. I will be sure to take a picture and post it and blog all about my Prom night. SIL is sweet enough to offer to keep both kids overnight, so we don't have to worry about rushing home. We are so excited to get all fancy and make some great memories with friends. If finding a dress was this eventful, I can't wait to see what happens Friday!