Things About My Children, Right Now

Cullen is 4 years and 8 months old.

He loves:

-Following Rules. There is no doubt in the my mind that he will be the kid the 3rd grade teacher taps to write names on the board of the kids who act out while she runs to the office to make copies.

-Asking Questions

-Country music

-Castles and knights.

-Books and learning how to read. He has an incredible memory and is catching on to reading very quickly by memorizing words. I try to get him to sound it out, but half the time he just recognizes the word. He is so proud of himself.

-Being a big brother

-Laughing really, really hard (enough to tinkle in his pants...happens more than I care to admit.)

-Sports. Lord, does he love sports. He has memorized every icon of every profession and college football team. His favorite show is 'the bottom of ESPN'. We justify it by saying that it is a good way to learn math (and have realized that only our child learned how to count by 7s before 5s). 

*****

Bennett is 2 years and 7 months old.

He loves:

-Monster Trucks

-Planes

-'Doin it mah-self'. He is incredibly self sufficient by choice. He even wants to do things he can't really do like put on his shoes and zip his jacket, pour his own milk and cut his own chicken.

-Going to the Shop 

-Doing his own thing. I will never have to worry about Bennett giving into peer pressure. Granted, while all his friends are drinking at the party, he might be at the Farm figuring how how to do a flip on a dirtbike, but he will definitely always do his own thing. We are fairly certain that he will go to Alabama and join the Navy...just to say that he didn't go to Auburn and join the Army.

PJs, his 'pack-pack' full on Monster Trucks and sneakers, while watching Planes = Bennett's Happy Place

-Not Being Affectionate. Bennett is so unaffectionate, that when he does tell me he loves me or ask me for a hug, I know how much he means it and it moves me to tears. 

-Being a little brother and a big brother. I've never seen a child who looks up to and loves playing with his older brother so much, while completely understanding and loving his role as that to Wells.

-Telling Jokes. His latest? He came up and put his arms around me and I said "Aw thanks Bubs, I love you" and he looked at me scare in the eye, smiled, and said "I tooted."

*****

Wells is 5 and a half months old. 

He loves:

-Eating. Formula, breastmilk, oatmeal, purees, pancakes, puffs, mum-mums...you name it, he will eat it and smile at you like you are the hero of the world for providing it.

-Being the happiest baby around. I constantly say that we could rent him out to friends contemplating having kids and fool them into thinking all babies are this easy. 

-His brothers

-His dog. I don't remember the boys being fascinated by the dog until they were older, but when Wells spots Frankie, he bursts out into a huge smile (okay, technically, he smiles at everything, but it is still cute).

-Sitting Up

-Jumping in the jumpy thing

-Bath time 

-Being held 

-Waking up around 4am for a snack and more smiles (feel free to give that up whenever you are ready, little dude)

****

There are so many other things I love about right now. I love talking to the boys in the car about their school days. I love playing sports with them in the basement. I love building forts, talking over lunch, reading to them, listening to them play together and watching them wrestle interact with Kev. 

A few weeks ago I wrote a(n unfinished/unpublished) post about why I was so grateful I got married and had children in my 20s, but basically, instead of spending that decade 'finding myself' I was able to let my husband, and these 3 wonderful little humans that we created, challenge me, mold me and refine me into a better person than I ever would have found on my own. 

They surprise me, frustrate me, exhaust me, astound me, love me, annoy me and inspire me every day. 

I love being a wife and mother so much, so much more than I ever expected to, even though it is the one thing I wanted to be more than anything else in the world.

Thank you boys for giving me the ultimate blessing of being your Mom. 

I love you so very very much.

How to be a Good Boy Mom

When an Uncle Bummy suggests taking the boys to Monster Jam, you go. 

 Bennett is ob-sessed with Monster trucks and aside from the fact that Monster Jam was smack in the middle of his nap, he was zoned in on the event.

 The boys (and Uncle Bummy) were most excited to see Grave Digger

 Pop came too, while Nana was home hanging with at home with Wells. 

 After Monster Jam (and tears from Bennett that it was over), we came home to an awesome dinner cooked by Nana and a happy Wells after his few hours of one on one time with his Nan.

Sunday morning, we headed to church and brunch and then came home for a family 3 hour nap. Seriously. Kev fell asleep with Bennett and Cullen passed out with me on the couch while Wells snuggled in his crib. It was a glorious afternoon and great way to celebrate Sweatpants Sunday, a new tradition as of right now.

*****

PS - Thanks to all of your who left such a sweet comments on Friday's post. I really thought it was just funny that Kev and I had the same dance moves so many years later, but I appreciate you not pointing out the extra 10 pounds and inches of curves that 3 kids in 5 years have so graciously blessed 2007 hungry-bride Kate with. Either way, I love that Kev and I have the same enthusiasm then and now when entering a room together :)

***** 

PPS Remember that vacation I was craving?

Kev and I are off to Florida Thursday morning for a last minute long weekend and I can't wait!

We Haven't Changed All That Much

Our Wedding, March 2007

My sister in law Kate's Wedding, December 28, 2013

Photo credit: Bruce Larrabee Photography  Edited with permission by Me ;)

Snow Days (ssssssss)

A little snow in the DC area has turned into a crazy week of school closure and a Mommy some boys going a bit stir crazy.

On Tuesday, when the snow actually fell I pulled out the big camera and snapped a few pictures of Wells' fascination by it. 

 And then bundled the boys up (which took longer than the actual amount they spent outside).

 And that was the only time we have spent outside since it is so brutally cold out, so the days have been spent playing trains, playing with friends, wrestling, baking, shopping with Marme and visiting Papa and Bummy at the shop. 

Now, someone please make sure there is school on Friday. 

Please.

Meet Teddy

On April 23, 2014, Theordore "Teddy" Fish was born. This beautiful baby boy came into the world of Mary and Alex Fish and like all parents, that moment changed their lives forever.

But unlike all parents, a short 7 months later, Mary and Alex found out that their precious boy had an extremely rare disease and will likely not live past his 3rd birthday.

The Fish's are a family friend of a former student of mine and when Kaitlyn asked me to share their story, I knew I had too. As a parent myself, I just can't imagine the heart break of losing a child and I want to do anything I can to help ease (in the very slightest of ways) the burden that this family is facing.

While Mary and Alex have sadly accepted that their son will not live, their goal for the remainder of his life, and theirs, is to make sure it is not all in vain. 

They want you to know about his rare disease: Menkes Syndrome, which affects the copper levels in a child's body. Mary noticed shortly after Teddy's birth that he had 'kinky' hair and an indention in his chest. Then after his 2 month check up, he began to regress in his eating and sleeping habits, while also not meeting his general milestones, and after countless visits with specialty doctors, Teddy was finally diagnosed. 

There is no known for Menkes Syndrome, but there are treatments if it is caught early enough (it was not in Teddy's case). 

You can help by donating to their Give Forward page- a fund to help offset some of the extreme costs of Teddy's medical bills.

Or you can tweet this story out at #FUmenkes

Or you can leave a prayer or uplifting words of encouragement on their Caring Bridge site and read one of Mary's many moving journal entries about this journey

Or like their story and share your kind words on their facebook page

Or follow along on Instagram @SuperTeddy423

Or you can share this post, or any of the pages above, on your social media sites to help spread the word.

Whatever you do, the comments on my post are turned off, so please take the time to visit one of these outlets and give some love to the Fish family.

Our prayers are with you, Teddy!

What We Did

It has been a while since I did a basic weekend recap. The past few weeks (months) have been so crazy, it has been a long time since we just hung out, took a lot of pictures and had some quality family time.

Friday night we had dinner with my parents and Kev's parents to celebrate my mom and Kev's dad's birthdays. (You might remember that they were friends looong before Kev and I started dating, so it is also fun to hang out with the 4 of them). 

Saturday morning, we went to an estate sale (and I bought a new end table) and ran a few other errands before heading home for nap. Then Saturday afternoon we lazed around the house and later in the afternoon Wells and I headed out to Homegoods for new plates, coffee mugs, bowls and bedding. It had been years since we updated those things and it felt nice to use some extra cash I had been hanging on to and buy some new things for the house.

Sunday morning we went to Mass (where Bennett tinkled on my leg...classic. And you might have seen on instagram, but I didn't have extra toddler clothes with me, so he rocked some 6 month pants for the better part of our morning).

That little accident led to some early baths and an impromptu photoshoot to replace some bathroom pictures of cute boys in the tub.

 Since Kev and the boys had Monday off, we had a welcome extra day of weekend. I wanted to go visit my grandparents (Oma and Opa) who live about 30 minutes south of us, so we loaded up early for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A (the only one close-ish with a playplace). Kev and I had a great parenting moment when we realized being at Chick-Fil-A was almost like a date since the boys were totally occupied and we drank our coffee while it was still hot. 

 Afterwards we visited with Oma and Opa for a few hours, which is so special considering that my boys really know their great grandparents. Soon as they get to Oma and Opa's, they play the organ, dump out the toy bucket, raid the candy box and 'go on an adventure' through the 'huge' upstairs- all things I did as a child. It makes me, and my boys' great-grandparents, extremely happy.

After our wonderful visit, we went a mile down the road to Chinn Center (another childhood favorite place for us) and took the boys to the indoor pool.

 Wells took a little nap before dipping into his first pool.

The places in-between this weekend were spent home improving:

Here is my new bedding, plus some old curtains (sign that you are a military wife? You have a bucket full of curtains from various houses and the ability to 'switch curtains out' when the mood calls for it) that are new to the bedroom. I actually don't think I ever showed you my furniture after I painted it while 37 weeks pregnant. It used to be white, now it is gray and I love it.

 We also finished Wells' letters for his room. Cullen helped me add some glitter and we hung them above his shelf of special things, which I will delve into when I share his whole nursery now that it is done.

We also made some kid-art into fine-art for the living room (and spray painted a mirror, and moved the Monterey paintings to the sides of the China hutch).

 And added a bulletin board to the boys' play space for school art.

Also, clearly, my boys don't need any more toys

 And that is what we did this weekend. 

How about you?