If Your Kids Wear Temporary Tattoos...

You might be a Red Neck.

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Brian brought home a Spiderman tattoo for Wyatt and an Ariel tattoo for Reese.

Wyatt was pretty excited.

And he wanted to blow on his tattoo to make sure it was really dry.
And he was so proud.

Reese is definitely a fan of Ariel. She was looking through a birthday catalogue with me and she pointed at the Ariel birthday supplies and said "Awiel. Have that."

They were eager to show off their tats.

Excuse Reese's hair, that's what it does when it's not up.

And Wyatt's new "cheese."

They love their tattoos. But that doesn't mean I want more sent home.

Baby Boy Update!

We had our ultrasound on Thursday afternoon and we have another healthy baby boy! The ultrasound tech measured everything and said that he was perfect, all the while talking to us about how to get Wyatt to break down and actually poop in the potty!

We met with the doctor after our appointment, and I was slightly nervous when he told us to come in his office and shut the door, but his nurse was in the hallway talking on the phone and she was being pretty loud! He said that the baby looks great, and complimented me on my weight gain (or lack there of) as well.

My next appointment is in late July, and there are two wonderful things about this one. The first is that it is with our favorite doctor in the practice. She delivered both kids and will most likely deliver Gooey as well. She's getting married in the next month, so they weren't sure that we could get an appointment with her, but we did! This appointment also includes my glucose test, which I am not at all excited about, but the office has stopped outsourcing the testing to Lab Corp and now does the testing in their office. That means that I can drink the nastiness, meet with the doctor, and then get blood drawn all within the same time period without missing work twice!

We only have two monthly appointments left (July and August) and then we start going every two weeks (until the last month, obviously). I'm hoping that we can schedule my completely unnatural birth at the next appointment so that he has a due date! We really want to schedule it with our favorite Doc, but we also don't want to deliver too early. We actually ran into one of Reese's NICU nurses today at Target, and she was so happy to see Reese! She even had a baby boy a year ago and named him Wyatt. She said it was always her husband's favorite name, but she really started to like it when she heard us talking about him. She also told us to relax because Reese's lung issues were just a fluke! I know they were, but the very idea of reliving the NICU experience makes me sick to my stomach.

I'm also really excited because I have a lot of projects for Wyatt and Reese I want to catch up on over the next few weeks, from baby books to making them each a photo book for each year of their lives. I just thought about that because we took pictures of her with all of her nurses and doctors and I want to include those in her book!

We are so excited that Gooey is perfect and healthy! We even got to see his little nose on the the ultrasound, and I can now say that I am 3 for 3 on passing my nose down to our kids. Ha! I am so excited to enjoy this pregnancy for the next 18 weeks, and then meet our baby boy at the end! I guess he should have a name though. We'll have to work on that....

Halfway There!

On Sunday I reached the halfway mark in my pregnancy (technically). I say technically because in all likelihood this baby boy will probably make an appearance sometime before his actual due date! The beauty of C sections (I kid, I kid).

Tomorrow is the big level 2 ultrasound where we were supposed to find out that we were expecting another boy, but instead he wanted to terrify us at our last appointment so we got an ultrasound then! Hopefully we come out of the ultrasound with news of a perfectly healthy baby boy, and we just wait another 18 weeks to meet him!

So I looked through pictures to find one of me at this same stage in my pregnancy with Reese. This is from our Yankee Stadium trip in 2008. I'm a little covered up by my sweatshirt, but you get the idea (and I think I was carrying her pretty low)!

Here I am on March 7, when I was 5 weeks pregnant with Gooey (and about 15 pounds from my goal weight). As you can see, I still had my "winter hair." Meaning - no highlights, just darkness!

And here I am on Sunday at 20 weeks with Gooey! I feel like he's pretty high and poking straight out! I am super excited this pregnancy because I am not the only person at work expecting! I am being accused of being "contagious" though because I am the first one due of 4(and I'm also the only one who isn't pregnant with Baby #1)!
Hopefully I'll be back on tomorrow to share the great results of our ultrasound! I can't wait for another sneak peak of our baby boy!

Happy Father's Day (Part Two)!

I wanted to make sure that I have Brian something "keepsake-ish" for Father's Day, and the idea for these came to me a few weeks ago. We already have a stone of Noelle's paw print, so I figured I should make him stones for his two favorite little humans :)!

Here is Wyatt's. The only problem is that these kits weren't really made for writing things in the cement, just for designing, so the names didn't come out to clearly. Fortunately I used blue stones for his...
And pink and green for Reese's! She was not a fan of putting her hands in cement, and demanded a bath immediately (which is why I did her handprint right after bath time)!

I also got Brian 3 books for Father's Day. The first is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, by Steven R. Covey (whose day planners I also happen to love)! I like the principle that when you raise your children you're also raising your grandchildren, and the other advice in the book. Hopefully this will teach Brian some time management (ha!) so that he can get through No Wonder My Parents Drank by Jay Mohr and Mike and Mike's Rules for Sports and Life by Mike (Greenberg) & Mike (Golic). We're fairly obsessed with Mike and Mike around here, so that book was a no brainer!

And finally, we found our baby girl all curled up at night with her baby (which we usuallyit take away after she falls asleep because she's not very soft, but Reese loves her!), her wolf "Ruby," and her Noelley. She just looked too cute not to risk the flash waking her up!

I'm pretty sure that Brian had a great Father's Day! We wouldn't have it any other way for my super husband, the kids' fantastic Daddy, and the best guy in the whole world! Of course, I'm pretty sure that Father's Day continued onto Monday when he got to test drive the 4 door Wrangler he's been eyeing for ages too :)!

Happy Father's Day (Part One)!

Yesterday was Brian's first Father's Day off of work since he started working! Seriously, he has worked every Father's Day for the last 18 years! Crazy! We usually go to the Waterpark for Father's Day, but since Brian was off of work we didn't go. He wouldn't really have any fun, between seeing things that needed to be corrected and fixing them, and being stopped by people with questions. So we went to the zoo instead!

Wyatt and Daddy. Wyatt is wearing his "I get my handsome from my Dad" shirt.
Reese and Daddy. Her shirt says "Daddy's sweetie." I can't believe how big my baby girl looks here!

Wyatt said he needed to clean his hands after walking through the barnyard, and he just walked right up to the hand sanitizer and cleaned them. He cracks me up!

Wyatt obsessed about the snakes the entire time we were there. I swear he would have apparated to the snake building if he could have. Which is my own personal segway to the fact that he was banging on this glass and I shouted "Hey Dudley, do you want that snake to get out?" I am that big of a dork. And it's the time of year for me to do some "re-reading." During the summer I usually read Gone With the Wind and the Harry Potter series over again. I'm thinking about throwing Twilight in there too.

Wyatt is "such a big brother." That's what he says when he does something nice for his sister, which he's actually getting really great at! That's also what he said when he climbed up on this rock and walked back and forth across it!

We came back home and we all crashed. It was a sweltering inferno at the zoo yesterday, and we were all exhausted. By the time we woke up it was time for Brian and I to go see Bret Michaels at the amphitheater. We haven't missed a Bret Michaels or Poison concert in years. I'm not really a "fan," but I tag along because I enjoy his trashy TV shows. Lynyrd Skynyrd was also there, but it wasn't really our "thing" so we left after about 3 songs!

I think Brian had a pretty great Father's Day not working! Last night we realized that he will "technically" have the Fourth of July off this year for the first time ever as well, but I'm not putting all my eggs in that basket! That tends to be a pretty busy day at the park, and I can't imagine him missing out on that.

She's Got the Magic, Magic, Magic

Brian is a big Weezer fan. And Rivers Cuomo sings on this song. And apparently Reese is going to be a Weezer fan too.

Wyatt's (and Brian's) Last Soccer Game!

On Monday the boys had their last soccer game.

Brian got the kids pumped up.

And then the game started. I used the Flip the entire time that Wyatt was playing, so I'll upload videos of him later. I was so proud of him. He scored 2 goals in his first three minute stint on the field. The parents sitting next to us had no idea who I was, and all they talked about from the minute Wyatt got on the field was how good he is and how well he handles and dribbles the ball. Needless to say, I was pretty happy to hear that!

But I was the most proud of him when he decided that he finally wanted to be a good sport. He did not want to high five any of the kids after games, and Brian and I both had a few talks with him about it. We showed him how the Yankees always give each other high fives and say "good game" at the end of their games. We explained why its important to be a good sport (but that it's okay to boo the Red Sox). And finally, at the last game he eagerly high fived the other team, and then walked down the line to give his team high fives as well.

You can see him peaking out next to Nick (#1) giving him a high five.
And here he is with his team mate high fiving one of the Bears. And can I just say that I can't wait to buy Reese pink shin guards like that?

At the end of the game the kids all got medals. This was the point where Wyatt had a little melt down. He didn't want it around his neck, and he asked Brian to please put it in his hand. Brian didn't hear him because he was giving the other kids their medals, adn attempted to put it on Wyatt. And he had a minor fit, but bounced back and now asks to wear it all the time!

Wyatt is now going through soccer withdrawal. He asks about soccer every day. He knows it was his last game, but he's still missing it. The Y has football in the fall and basketball in the winter, but the cut off is 4 so Wyatt won't make it. I think Brian thinks that if he volunteers to coach Wyatt might get in. For someone who didn't want to coach he sure had a lot of fun doing it!

Beach Day!

Brian and I used to go to the beach a lot before the kids came. His only day off was Monday back then, and I rearranged my work schedule to 4 day weeks during the summers so we could have one day together. We used to be lazy, leave the house when we were ready, not have to worry about interfering with any schedules...

That's just not the case anymore :)! This is actually the first time we've gone to the beach since either kid was born! It takes a lot more to get them onto the beach (and we were parked pretty close) between chairs, toys, life jackets, snacks and towels. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!


They had a great time, and almost as soon as we got everything set up and sunblock on everyone (which I've now decided is a task best done BEFORE everything gets sandy) Wyatt decided he was ready to swim, while Reese was more interested in playing with the sand.

But if we wanted any pictures of Wyatt swimming at all, we needed to go to the ocean. And Reese absolutely loved it (and so did Wyatt). She loves watching the waves come up and crash over her little feet!

Wyatt would have stayed in the water all day if we let him. He absolutely loved it! And yes, he wears a life jacket in the ocean. The very thought of just holding onto him in the ocean astounds me. One wave could come and knock you down. You could get bitten and startled by a jellyfish. Your grip could slip. And then what? The ocean is endless. Infinite. There is no wall. It's not clear. And the whole thing is the "deep end." I'm not taking any chances with this little guy or his sister.

Reese didn't have a life jacket yet, so she spent most of the day hanging out with me at the chairs. My little Coppertone kid enjoys snack time the most anyway :)!

We had a ton of fun on our beach trip, and we've already started a cart on One Step Ahead with the things we need for our next one! I was actually going to buy the pop up cabana tent (for our little red head) and the cart to get everything on the beach on Sunday night, but that was also the night we bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and get the curtains for our room from Pottery Barn. We've been living without the curtains for three reasons: because we had no neighbors around our room (which is going to end soon), I had no clue what to do with the windows (one is really wide), and everything was so expensive. But we did it, and I almost had a heart attack. But one set is going up tomorrow, and the extra long set should be here soon!

Hopefully we'll get everything we need ordered in the next few days so that we can have a (slightly) more relaxing time on our next trip!

Fun Night Out at a Wedding!

On Saturday our good friend Ryan married his fiancee Laura! The ceremony and reception were at the Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club, right on the water. It was super humid that day, and the guys were all wearing suits, but I think the brief ceremony and the cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony definitely helped. I was in the shade the whole time holding Pete and Shannon's baby girl Audrey, so I remained unaffected by the direct sunlight. But the heat! If you've ever held a baby you know how hot it can be. She and I were both glistening and to top it off I'm pregnant and sweltering anyway! She was an absolute angel though. Shannon told me she was afraid Audrey would cry for me because she's been crying for everyone, but she was perfectly quiet for me. She's a little doll!

The ceremony
They handed out butterflies and had everyone make a wish for them and release their butterfly!

Dave, Steve, Brian and Dave. Playing the movie game. The movie game used to be fun until they turned it into some sort of volleyball related shenanigan. All night they were talking about spiking and digging, and I was like "Can't you just make a connection between movies without the nonsense?" Plus, it was not classy!

The food was soooo good! Here is the Caesar salad, and it was delicious.

For dinner Brian and I both chose the surf and turf option over vegetarian. Brian used to be a vegetarian. When we started dating he ate no meat. Then he switched to eating chicken. The day he decided to start eating red meat was the happiest day of my life. Okay, maybe not really. But I was really happy. And trust me, we enjoyed this meal very much. Every bit was delicious!

The centerpiece.

We had a lot of fun at the wedding. Brian spent a lot of time talking with the guys, which gave me time to talk Anna and Stephanie. I was also able to enjoy a few delicious Shirley Temples. It was a great night. Congratulations Ryan and Laura!

Waterparking It

On Friday I took the kids to the waterpark to visit "Daddy's work." We had actually gone to see Brian at the end of the day on Thursday (just to visit), and since he has no air conditioning in the Jeep he decided to ride home with us. So we needed to drive him to work on Friday, and since we were out that way (and school is still in session so all the bigger kids were in school) we decided to make a morning of it.

The kids had a blast! Wyatt is much more independent this year in terms of going down the kiddie slides. I'm able to go down before him with Reese and he meets me at the bottom, or we go down different slides at the same time. He was so funny because on the way to the park we were discussing the rules for the park (that's our new thing - to talk about the rules before we get somewhere), and we told him that the number one rule was to stay with Mommy, and the number two rule was no running. This resulted in a lot of "Why can't I run Mommy?, and What does running is the number one cause of injury at water parks mean Mommy?" questions. I am in love with the "why's." (not.) Anyway, when we were walking up to the slides he would hold Reese's hand and say "Reesie, I am going to be very angry if you run. There's no running at the waterpark. Don't run away from me! We all have to stay together."


When we got to the larger pool with smaller slides Wyatt walked up alone, but I helped Reese to the top of the stairs and then met her at the bottom. The both loved it!

Wyatt decided to beat up a jet.

And apparently was astonished by something.

They had a great time, and he passed out on the way home. Unfortunately, he wouldn't go to sleep when we got home, so that made for a fun afternoon (that seriously, got significantly more "fun" as the afternoon wore on, but that's a topic for a different post). I can't wait to take them back!

Up Late

This is what my couch looks like right now. At 9:35 at night my husband and both kids are awake watching the Stanley Cup. Using hockey terminology. Because ever since Brian bought Wyatt Z is for Zamboni they've been saying things like s is for slash. Or G is for Gretzky.

I'm not making any accusations here, but I know that my Dad is going to get here late tomorrow and somebody (like the guy in the hat in the middle) might be trying to keep his kids up late in hopes that they sleep in.

Memorial Day Weekend!

We packed a lot of fun into our weekend. On Friday morning the kids and I met Shannon, Tyler and Audrey at the zoo. The girls spent most of the trip in the strollers, and the boys walked everywhere. I think we decided that next time we'll just use one double stroller for the girls so that we both aren't pushing around a double stroller with only one kid. Ha!

The boys had a lot of fun playing on the spider web. Wyatt's commentary on this picture is "Wyatt was being a scary spider and chasing Tyler around."
The boys also enjoyed looking at the snakes (and pretty much everything else). I have to say that going to the zoo on a Friday after SOLs at the end of the school year may not have been my brightest move ever. That place was PACKED with kids. To the brim. Shannon and I would race ahead of the big groups to get in front of the classes, otherwise it would have taken us for-e-ver.

I spent Saturday in immense amounts of pain because of a household accident that resulted in my ankle being injured. Basically, I'm a klutz. Anyway, my sister was kind enough to come over and hang out with us while I recuperated. She also didn't mind the Tropical Smoothie that I got her for lunch. Have you tried the Strawberry Lemonade smoothie? So freaking good!

On Sunday we had a big neighborhood barbecue. In the middle of our court! It was a lot of fun. Everyone that had a tent brought it and set it up in the median in the middle of the court. We had tables and chairs set up for the parents, corn hole set up for the guys and little kids running all around us in the court. No one dared come down our street with their vehicle because there were kids everywhere, and there was really no way to get out! It was nice because the kids all knew not to leave the court and they had the best time riding around in their power wheels, having a water fight, and just being kids in general.

The only real picture I got that day was this one. Our little neighbor Gavin is about 6 months younger than Wyatt and he is a pro at driving the power wheel. He rode around for about 2 hours in this thing! Wyatt spent a good hour as his co-pilot, but then Reese wanted a turn. She was so happy riding around the court with him. Everyone was laughing because they looked so cute. Wyatt was excited because his "friends, the big guys" let him play water fight with them.

Brian got home in the early evening, and they party still went on for a few hours. He got in a corn hole game with the guys and got to know most of our neighbors. At this point I feel like we pretty much met everyone who currently lives in our neighborhood. There are still a lot of empty lots, but there were a lot of people there! It really reinforced the fact that we made the right decision moving from our old neighborhood to this one!

On Monday we mostly hung out at home, enjoying our backyard and deck. And Trigger the rocking horse.

We had Peanut Butter and Jelly on the deck for lunch.

And everyone loved it!

But by the end of the day (and weekend), every one was pretty much tuckered out.

Including Wyatt, who is pretty much in love with his new toddler pillow.