Train Stop!

On Friday morning Brian went outside to water the "garden," and saw that the train was stopped right behind our house! This is the second time that it's happened, but the first time that the kids and I have been home to see it. Brian came in immediately to get Wyatt so he could see the train completely stopped.

Wyatt had fun staring at the train and running around the backyard doing general boy stuff.
And he just stared and stared.

Then Daddy took him over! The boys walked to the train and looked at it up close. Wyatt, and Brian too admittedly, were very excited when the Conductor blew his whistle and waved at them! The boys were even standing right there when the train started back up and blared its horn as it made its way to the intersection.

When the train comes by in the morning, it usually follows with an afternoon trip back (except on the trip back it's filled to the brim with coal). That afternoon the train went by and we ran onto the deck, where Wyatt sat and waved at the Conductor. And he waved back again. Wyatt was over the moon.

I don't know what we're going to do as the neighborhood fills up and our view of the tracks gets blocked. Fortunately no one is moving in behind us anytime soon. We do have neighbors moving in next door and putting up a fence shortly, so that will get in the way a bit. Of course, we're also planning on putting up our fence soon, so I guess we'll just have to work it out!

Not So Lazy Sunday!

This week has been crazy! The park is opening next Saturday (craziness, where does the off season go?), and Brian has been at work until 7 or 7:30 every night this week. Let me tell you, that makes for an incredibly frazzled Mommy! My kids love me, but they adore their father, and they start asking where he is as soon as dinner is on the table!

One new development this week was that some part of Brian's Jeep (I have no idea what it is or how to spell it) that we replaced last summer apparently needs to be fixed now. Ugh! This Jeep is 15 years old. It's incredibly loud (at our old house I could hear Brian turning into the neighborhood), but it gets him from Point A to Point B. You know, normally. If Brian didn't work with a nice guy who likes to tinker with the Jeep, I don't know if we'd even still have it! But with the new, longer commute on two lane roads, we're both starting to get uncomfortable with his drive. So we went and looked at cars on our date night last night.

This is what Brian wants:

Cute right? 4 doors, safe enough to drive my kids around in (he has to drop Wyatt of at preschool next year and Wyatt can not ride in Brian's Jeep), and he and Wyatt could still be "Jeep Buddies."

There's just one problem. We have a bit of a car seat phobia. I'll only put my kids in the safest car seats available. So I fork out a ton of extra money for Britax Bouelvards. They fit nicely in my Rav4, with no extra room for a Graco Snugride. Or anything. We're either going to have to give up the car seats we love to attempt to fit 3 kids across the back of my car, or we have another option: a minivan.

That's right. The swagger wagon. We also went to look at Honda Odyssey's last night. I AM IN LOVE. I'm not really a mini van mom. I don't think. But I would kill for this extra space. Amazingness. We also looked at the Ford Flex, which is pretty nice, but I don't think it's as spacious.

Anyway, we don't want two car payments. We aren't entirely sure what's going to happen when Baby #3 comes in November with my work situation. It's looking more like I'm going to be getting the new car (again), and Brian will be rolling around in my sassy Rav4. He's absolutely in LOVE with this idea. He thinks my car is too girly. But, being the incredible husband and Daddy that he is, he's (kind of) willing to sacrifice his ride for me and the kids.

Today we Targeted. The Target experience is so different, it deserves its own verb. I found some maternity clothes on sale. We found cute Disney shirts for the kids to wear in Disney World. And the kids got a bubble machine. Yay. Brian spent hours in the yard (I'm waiting for him to ask me for a riding mower), and I spent hours organizing our room. We're having a yard sale next weekend. Too many clothes. And too much stuff. It will be nice to get rid of some of it. And raise money for a new car. Or two.

Mother's Day!

Today was a super day! I was able to sleep in (until 7:25!), and woke up to cards and presents (given to me by Wyatt who was very anxious to let me open gifts). The boys also went to get breakfast at McDonald's (Reese slept in until 8 - ha!).

After spending the morning hanging out and relaxing at home we went over to Brian's parents' house for lunch. The kids spent the afternoon playing ball, blowing bubbles and swinging and sliding.

Yes, Wyatt is trying to hit the bubbles like they're baseballs.

Reese practiced her lawn skills. She actually hopped on and started driving, and I think it took Brian a second to realize that it was her! She drives this thing better than Wyatt!

After spending the afternoon with Brian's parents and Allison and the kids we went to my parents' house for dinner. After we ate, the fireman costume came out. But not for Wyatt. Reese decided that she wanted to be a firefighter today. The other day we passed the Court House and a couple of fire fighter's were in their uniforms walking outside the station. Reese saw one of them and pointed and said "Pop Pop!"

Today also marked 14 weeks along with Gooey! The baby is about the size of an orange. And I am about the size of a house! Just kidding. But I am much bigger at this stage in my pregnancy than I was with Wyatt (obviously) or Reese! And I've only gained 3.5 pounds!

Show Us Your Life - Kid's Names

Today is Show Us Your Life - Kid's Names over at Kelly's Korner.

Since I have kids names I figured I'd share how our kids got their names. I was totally a little girl who always had names picked out. When my mom was pregnant with my sister I used to look through baby books. I would come up with themes and try to figure out what names I would choose if I decided to name my kids in alphabetical order. Or what I would choose if I had twins (always girl twins, never boys).

Brian and I are also not name sharers. I wrote a post about it while I was pregnant with Reese, but I just don't like to share names before babies are born. I don't want someone who's really important to us to have an obvious disdain for a name that changes my mind. If you hate the name, deal with it (it's rough, I know)! I'm not naming my kid Apple. Or Sunshine. You might hate the name, but you love the baby. And you'll hate the name less once you're holding my baby in your arms.

Wyatt Allan

Wyatt's name was hard! Boys names are a lot less fun than girls names (to me anyway). Brian and I made a list of first names that we liked when we found out we were having a boy. We always knew that Allan was going to be the middle name. Allan is Brian's Dad's name and Brian's middle name. For first names, Wyatt could have been a Braeden or Hayden and in my opinion we had pretty much settled on Braeden. Then one day we were riding in the car and Brian said "You know, I really like what Kurt Russell named his son." I was confused. I only knew one of Kurt Russell's sons' names and that was Boston. I thought Brian had lost his mind. Die hard Yankees fans do not name their sons Boston. Or Teddy (which I think is adorable, but is out of the question). So I told him that. And he said "No, his son with Goldie Hawn is named Wyatt, after Earp." Besides being confused as to why my husband knew this and I, the queen of gossip magazines did not, I wasn't sure how I felt about the name. I couldn't picture myself calling my son "Wyatt" on the playground. Braeden, yes. Wyatt, no.

We went away for the weekend about a month before Wyatt was born and something changed. I suddenly really liked Wyatt. So while we were sitting in a Friendly's in Williamsburg waiting for my dessert (no wonder I gained 60 pounds) I told Brian that the baby's name would be Wyatt Allan. He was skeptical because he wanted me to like the name as much as he did. And I suddenly did. I thought it was the perfect name for our little boy (and he kicked whenever I said it). We knew it was fate the next day when we got to Brian's parents house to pick up Noelle and they were watching Wyatt Earp (yeah, the Kevin Costner Wyatt Earp movie, not the Kurt Russell Tombstone movie). And it was a perfect choice because Wyatt is definitely a Wyatt!

But this is not the name Brian has had picked out for a boy since he was little. So that name is still on the table for number 3.

Reese Lynn Noelle

Reese was the girl name that we decided on before we knew that Wyatt was a boy. Actually, Reese was a girl name that we decided on before we got married. I just really liked the name (yes, Reese Witherspoon is where I first heard the name, but not what inspired me to choose it. I like her, but not enough to name my kid after her specifically). Surprisingly, Brian really liked it too. So as soon as we got around to talking about baby names (which we didn't do much of because we were waiting to find out what Wyatt was), we knew that if it was a girl her name was Reese. Well, it wasn't a girl that time(ha!).

When we found our we were having a girl the second time, we knew we really liked the name Reese. But knowing that we were actually having a girl opened me up to exploring other girl names. We both also really liked the name Ryan for a girl, but we liked Reese more. I had a dream that her name was Addison, but Brian vetoed it. It reminds him of Private Practice and he thinks Kate Walsh makes funny faces and for whatever reason, that eliminated Addison. We also liked Avery and Taylor (and Brian pushed for Willow), but finally realized we didn't like any of the names more than we liked Reese. Then came the middle name issue. I felt like the name Reese needed a longer middle name. Brian really wanted to use my middle name (Lynn), but I didn't think it was long enough. Then we thought about Noelle. We both love Noelle's name and thought Reese Noelle sounded great....but there was the naming our baby after our dog issue. We don't think it's that weird. We love our dog. She was Brian's best friend for over 15 years. And we don't think Reese would have ever felt weird about it because she would know more than anybody that while we named her after our dog, we love Noelle so much and she meant the world to us. So I was on board for both and left the final decision to Brian. He couldn't make the decision either! I suggested that we give her two middle names, but Brian wasn't sure he liked it. So the night before she was born we settled on Reese Lynn. And then we experienced the devastating loss of Noelle in December. I decided then that she was going to have two middle names, and I "gave" Brian that gift as a Christmas present. But I think we actually gave it to Reese because she has a beautiful name that means so much to us!

And that's how the two that are already born got their names. We have discussed names for number 3, but are far from settling on anything. Then add in the fact that we are leaning heavily towards being surprised, and that opens up a whole new can of worms! We actually have to agree on two names now? There's a (new) girl name that we love, but we'll just have to see. It's a good thing that we have 6 months (from today) until baby number 3 is due!

Wyatt's First Team Photo

I seriously can't get over the cuteness of this.

And it's not just because my husband and son are in their first team picture together (on opposite ends).
But that's mainly the reason.

And apparently Brian couldn't get over it either because he dropped like $50 on trading cards and a picture package for a 3 year old. Who's favorite "soccer player" is listed as Derek Jeter. A. Who knew Jeter was a soccer star? and
B. I get that Brian didn't want to put Pele or Reynaldo. But Jeter?

Does It Get Any Cuter Than This?

Seriously, does it?

Reese sleeping with her "Noelley"

Beautiful Weekend!

We have been blessed with gorgeous weather over the last few days! Sunshine and warm weather make for perfect days! Friday was another long day for Brian, but the kids and I had a nice little day. I got my hair done in the morning and the kids went and played at my Mom's house. Wyatt apparently walked the entire way to Target and both kids came home with goodies (a baseball glove for Reese and a toy gecko and a butterfly net for Wyatt). After nap time we met Stephanie and Natalie at the Waterpark so the kids could visit their Dads and then went to the Aquarium and to dinner at Red Robin. The kids had a great day and were exhausted by the time we got home.

On Saturday (I believe our last Saturday together until September) we ran a bunch of errands in the morning. Wyatt's favorite part of the day (and by far the part Reese and I enjoyed least) was a trip to the comic book store for Free Comic Book Day. Brian picked up some free Toy Story books for both kids, and they have spent the entire weekend sitting in the backseat reading. After we came home we set up the baby pool and the water table in the backyard. The kids LOVED it.

They splashed in the pool, ran around like penguins, and used the hose and helped Brian clean the grill parts. They had a blast. The Yankees Triple A team was in town playing the Tides this weekend, so on Saturday night Brian and I went to the game. It was by far my worst experience at Harbor Park ever. The lines were atrocious, I had to wait 20 minutes for a cheeseburger, it was crazy! We didn't even get to sit down in out seats until the top of the fifth inning! It was still nice to get out and go to a ball game, and I even tried a fried twinkie for the first time, which was an interesting experience.

Sunday was a lazy day. I think Wyatt's 5:30 wake up calls finally caught up with us. I'm pretty sure that at some point all day one of us was taking a nap (okay, so I was probably the main culprit, but I'm pregnant). We finally got out of the house later in the day, and we were so glad we did! We ran errands and continued looking for the ever elusive strawberry plant to get in our garden, but couldn't find it anywhere! When we got home Brian and I both noticed that Wyatt felt really warm, and he was running a temperature around 100. Even though we had a great weekend, it definitely didn't end well.