The Gardner Family

Top Ten - Baby Items I Love

2011-11-23T17:37:00.001-05:00

Here are my top ten absolute favorite baby inventions. These are the items that I would recommend every mom-to-be put on there registry and the first things I would go buy if my house burned down and I lost everything.

These aren't the more obvious, crib, pack-n-play, car seat, stroller, baby bottles (Dr. Browns are my favorite), diapers, etc. items, these are the things I wish someone told me about before I had a kid because only moms know about these things.

1. "Rain or Shine Kids" blanket - this blanket is pretty pricey (I lucked out and bought mine on www.babysteals.com); but it is my favorite on the go blanket. It is plush on one side (which Campbell loves rubbing on her face when she is tired); and water proof on the other side. You can tie it on to your stroller, car seat or chest carrier to keep baby warm and dry in any weather; or tie it together to use as a nursing cover. It is also great as a blanket to lay baby on the ground. I like is so much more than something like the Bundle Me which is less versatile because it is only used in the car seat and gets damp in the rain.

2. Moboleez Nursing Hat - Personally I am not a huge fan of nursing covers, and neither is Campbell. This is a great alternative. Hides everything that you want to keep private is a very inconspicuous way. Plus it is pretty cute too!

3. Nosefrida - The first time I saw a friend use this on her baby, I literally almost threw up. But, then she bought me one, and I have been hooked ever since. My kids NEVER have snot dripping of their noses, because when they are stuffy I use my Nosefrida which gets everything out of their nasal cavity, not just what is on the outside. It comes very highly recommended by my pediatrician as well.

4. Boon "Squirt" Feeding Spoon - This was something I used to feed Aaron on the go all the time, and will be using on Campbell soon. You fill the handle of the spoon with baby food and squirt it our onto the spoon to feed baby. A lot of baby food comes in pouches that you can attach a spoon to with the same idea in mind now a days (they didn't have that when I had Aaron). However, I make all my own baby food, so this is perfect to fill up and throw in a bag.

5. Snug & Tug Swaddle Blanket - we have tried lots of swaddle blankets, and my Houdini babies always seem to wiggle out of them, until I found these! I give them at least particle credit to how well Campbell sleeps at night!

6. Muslin Receiving Blankets - These light weight blankets are perfect for summer babies and babies who sweat a lot during sleep. I also use mine for a nursing cover, and a sun shade over my car seat or stroller in the sun.

7. Plastic Links - They might seem super simplistic and boring, but they are so versatile and a must for baby! My kids teethed on the them, learned colors with them, shook them to make sounds, worked on dexterity linking and un-linking them, and I have used them to hook toys onto strollers, car seats and high chairs so they don't lose their toys.

8. Bumkins Waterproof Bibs - I love these bibs! Peter and Aaron actually still use theirs. They are not your average baby bib to wipe drool away. These are heavy duty, food everywhere, toss in the dish washer bibs, that I also use as painting smocks!

9. Sili Squeeze - In all honesty, I have not tried this product out, but I plan to as soon as Campbell is old enough. Similar to the Boon Squirt Spoon, but it is for when kids are a little older and can squeeze/suck the food out of the bottle themselves.

10. Baby Bjorn Baby Carrier - I probably have a minimum of five different baby carriers, slings, backpacks, etc. But I always prefer my Bjorn. I love that baby can look out when they are old enough, I love how easy it is to put on and how quickly you can adjust the size. My second favorite (for when baby is a little older is the Playtex Hip Hammock in case you are wondering.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday Top Ten - Things I Love That Are NOT My Children

2011-10-11T16:11:00.004-04:00

Being a mom of three (or two, or one for that matter) it is hard not to lose your identity and just become wrapped up in your kids. People don't make it easier either! 90% of people who do not know me well enough to know I have other things going on other than my kids ONLY ask about my kids. Well guess what people, I have more than just my kids! I had a life before kids, and I try my hardest to keep up with it as a mother.

So here you go, the Top Ten Things I Love That Are NOT My Children.

1. Washington Capitals Hockey - (you are shocked, right?) Instead of me retyping all about my love for the Caps, just go read this blog.

2. My husband - Obvious I know, but without being too cheesy, I literally found the absolute most perfect person to spend my life with. Brett lets me get away with being a little crazy at times, while also keeping me grounded. He fully supports me staying home to raising our family, and is a wonderful father. We have the exact same corny sense of humor, and he isn't bad to look at either. I should write a top ten about how awesome he is.

3. My yearly road trips - I have 3 trips that I make every year that I am absolutely obsessed with. The first is my annual trip to the Hershey Spa with my Aunt Marilyn, cousin Shellie, and friend Sun in the winter. Second is our time share at Massanutten Ski Resort the week of President's Day. Third is our trip to Syracuse for the New York State fair and my Uncle Jim's bonfire. I look forward to these trips all year because they are relaxing, and have become such tradition.

4. Working Out - It doesn't matter if I am running, biking, swimming, weight lifting, or taking a class at the gym, working out it a huge part of my life. Staying active and working on keeping my body healthy will always be a priority in my life, no matter how busy I get.

5. Working - A lot of people don't know that I work, but I do. From home, for about 2-5 hours a week, I work for and interior decorating firm Graham Designs as an Administrative Assistant. Most of my work is invoicing, maintaining the website, and paperwork; but I still like making a little money for the family and continuing to use my brain. Plus it is great to have on the resume in case I ever want to go back to a "real" job again.

6. Crafting - I love nothing more than to craft. Whether it is scrapbooking, making decor for our walls, painting, or most recently making hair bows for Campbell. It is very calming for me after a day with the kids, and a fun way to make personal gifts.

7. Cooking - My grandmother loved to make fried food, my grandfather loved to bake, my mom loves making chilies and stews, and my father cooked a mean breakfast or anything on the grill... I love it all! Which is good seeing as we can't afford to eat out much!

8. My Friends - I had people tell me that when I became a parent, I would lose all my single friends. Well I must have lucked out, because here we are three years later and we are still close friends with the people we were close to before kids. Our friends are generous, understanding of our busy schedules and very fun! I do not know what I would do with out them!

9. Music - I inherited a very eclectic taste in music from my father. Brett and I have a CD collection of over 800 albums that range from all genres and time periods. We LOVE seeing live music and make it a huge part of our every day lives.

10. Games - I will play anything (although the less coordination needed the better) Cards, mini golf, Fantasy Football, bowling, dominos; you name it I'll play.

Ask a Stupid Question, Get a Stupid Answer

2011-10-05T09:59:00.001-04:00

This morning Peter and Aaron were playing with something that I didn't want them touching.

Me - Peter and Aaron, please stop playing with that... Excuse me, Mommy is talking, I asked you to stop playing with that!... PETER! AARON! STOP!

Finally they stopped and looked at me.

Me - Can you please explain to me why I have to constantly repeat myself before you two do as I ask?

Peter - Because we are always not listening to you, Mom!

X Rated Carrots

2011-10-05T01:31:00.001-04:00

The other night at dinner, Peter handed me this carrot, telling me, "Mom, I can't eat this carrot, it has boobies!"

After looking at it I could see what he was talking about, although I probably would not have drawn that conclusion on my own.

Then this evening, I had some girl friends over for a little pot luck dinner and look what we found in a totally separate bag of carrots:

There is no way I am letting Peter see that one! I don't even want to know what he would have to say about it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Gardner Campbell

2011-10-04T11:58:00.004-04:00

I realize that my daughter has both a last name and a boy's name as her first name, but I never thought I would have the following conversations with confused individuals.

I got a call from my doctor's office the other day and literally felt like someone was playing a joke on me.

Me - Hello

Nurse - Hi, Gardner Campbell please?

Me - I think you are referring to my daughter, but she is an infant so she isn't really talking yet. Can I help you?

Nurse - Yes, hello, Mrs. Campbell...

Me - That isn't our last name.

Nurse - Oh, I'm sorry do you go by a different last name than your daughter?

Me - No, our last name is Gardner - her FIRST name is Campbell.

Nurse - Oh, ok, I wasn't sure what the first name was.

I guess looking at the 100 pieces of paper work I filled out for the doctor's office where I wrote "Campbell" under the first name section was too much work for her. Not to mention, who names there daughter "Gardner?"

Then yesterday, we went into the doctor's office for Campbell's 2 month check up and as I was signing in the woman at the front desk was equally confused.

Me - I am here for my daughter's 2 month check up.

Receptionist - Name please?

Me - Campbell Gardner

Receptionist - Not finding it, is that hyphenated or with a space between the two last names?

Me - First name Campbell, last name Gardner.

Receptionist - Oh, ok... and its a girl???

Since both incidents happened with my doctor's office, I have to question the intelligence level of the people they are hiring there. But I do love our doctor (when we see the doctor I like, Dr. Kelly).

For those people interested in Campbell's stats from the appointment here you go:

Height - 23 inches - 56th percentile
Weight - 11.5 pounds - 51th percentile
Head Size - 15.5 inches - 51th percentile
Cuteness Scale - 100th percentile (seriously the doctor said she had a perfect head, so that is what I took from her comment)

Also, a little side note - Peter had to get a shot yesterday and DID NOT CRY... I was so impressed. He is such a big boy now, it astounds me!

Tuesday Top Ten - Top Ten Lists

2011-10-04T08:21:00.001-04:00

I was recently at a party and over heard the hostess point me out to a friend and say, "Jill has a blog about parenting in Northern Virginia, with little tips about how to raise your kids and the best places to take them in the DC Metro."

My first thought was "this person does NOT actually read my blog!" - Followed by "maybe I could put more stuff like that on my blog, since I do have a lot of readers who are local mothers."

Well that was about four months ago, but last week I had a chance to catch up on my blog a little and was trying to think of a way that would force me to blog on a more regular basis. So here is what I came up with:

Tuesday Top Ten Lists - Each week I will post a Top Ten of recommendations, or things I enjoy or observe in life. They may or may not be mildly comical; but don't expect me to be Dave Letterman.

For my first Top Ten list, here is a list of Top Tens that I have been thinking about writing - My Top Ten, Top Ten:

1. Things I have learned as a parent
2. Annoying things people say to me when I am out with my kids
3. Things I do differently as a mother to baby #3 or Advise I would give to myself if I could go back
4. Things I love about MOMS Club
5. Things I love that are not my kids
6. Things I dislike about being a mom of three
7. Favorite baby products
8. Favorite kid TV shows
9. Funniest things my kids have said
10. Things I love about being a mom of three

See you next week!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Home Schooling

2011-10-03T17:40:00.002-04:00

I have always told Peter that when he is potty trained he could go to preschool. Last week, he called me on it.

Peter - Mom, I am a big boy now so I get to go to preschool now, right?

Me - Sure, Peter, we can look into it.

Peter - But, how can Aaron go with me if he isn't potty trained?

Me - Well, Aaron, Campbell and I would leave you there and go do something else. You would stay with a teacher and other kids and play.

Peter - OH... well, maybe I will be brave enough when I am 5.

So I decided to start "home schooling" him for preschool - this is for a few reasons. First of all, he flat out said he didn't want to go to preschool, which was sort of good because Brett and I didn't have to rework our budget. Second, Peter shows so many signs of wanting to learn and it is probably good for him to get a little special one-on-one mommy time while the "little kids" are napping. And lastly, I am considering home schooling him for Kindergarten next year (my reasons are extensive, so I will leave it at that for now).

Peter LOVES his "preschool homework" and spending time with me each day, but Brett (who is not as on board with the home schooling for kindergarten) has his doubts. Doubts which were revealed today when Brett got home from work and Peter and Aaron started dancing around him and singing:

"Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat! If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!" Followed by hysterical laughter.

Brett - Who taught you what song???

Peter - MOMMY!

Brett - I see the home schooling is going GREAT!

Excuses, Excuses

2011-09-30T16:54:00.003-04:00

I take being a house wife/stay at home mom some what seriously. By that I mean that I do think of it as my job to keep the house clean, make 3 meals a day for my family and take care of the kids without the help of preschool/daycare/nanny/babysitters. That doesn't mean I live in the 1950s and have heels and an apron on when Brett gets home, but I try to have a hot meal and a some what straightened house.

If I was actually employed as a house wife/stay at home mom I would have been fired today. I wasn't feeling great, so I laid around most of the day writing blogs, while the kids played, watched TV and fought over the iPad. It wasn't my finest moment. When Brett got home the house looked like a tornado hit it, and the kids and I were at the dining room table eating for only the second time today (not sure what happened to lunch).

Brett - Hey guys, what did you do today?

Peter (who has a very vivid imagination) - We had a playdate with a family of dragons.

Brett - Wow, really?

Me - Yep, that is why the house looks like this.

Coming to a Potty Near you - PETER!

2011-09-30T13:25:00.004-04:00

I am finally comfortable saying it - PETER IN POTTY TRAINED! WOOOOO HOOOO... seriously, lets have a party because that was the hardest 15 months of my freaking life!

Peter first went potty on the potty in April of 2010, had a short stint of being semi-potty trained around his birthday last year (when he turned 3), and then about 2 weeks after his 4th birthday he decided he was ready and BOOM... Potty trained in two days.

Peter took all the rules of how to potty train a kid and laughed in their face. He proved that he was strong willed, and was not going to do it until he was good and ready. I'm not going to lie, it was extremely taxing on Brett and I. Sometimes there were tears shed, and sometimes it wasn't Peter doing the crying.

Many people said things that hurt my feelings and Peter's feelings on the subject. As a parent I cannot tell you how hard it was to listen to friends say to Peter, "Don't you want to be a big boy?" and having him cry about it later.

Or how hard it was when people told me that, "Boys are physically ready by the time they are three." - Thanks, are you trying to say that my kid is delayed or that I am a bad parent?

There are moments the past year that MORTIFIED me. Being the only mom in the 2007 playgroup who's kid was still in diapers was so hard, and the few times when I was changing Peter's diaper in public restrooms and strangers walked by and said, "He is a little big to be in diapers!" I wanted to curl up and hide.

The fact was, Peter was TERRIFIED of pooping. He held it for DAYS until he would be rolling on the floor crying from the pain. Because he was holding his poop, he wasn't able to hold his pee. Because of both I had to let him wear Pull-Ups.

Based on all the research we did online, and talking to doctors and parents with the same issues, this is normal for boys. "Normal" does not make it easier to live with, but it did make me realize that I was powerless and needed to stop getting frustrated. Peter kept telling us that he was going to start wearing underwear when he turned 4.

The day after his 4th birthday I asked him if he was ready for underwear and he said, "Maybe when I turn 5." So I waited.

Two weeks later we were at the Disney store. Peter wanted everything in site. So I let him pick a toy (Cars) and a new pack of underwear and headed to check out. When I got home I put the kids down for naps and got to work making a chart (entitled: Peter and Aaron's Race to Diaper Independence):

Day 1 - Lot of accidents, Peter cried for his Pull-Ups. I gave them back and reminded him that even though he was wearing Pull-Ups he could still use the potty when he needed to go.

Day 2 - Peter wore Pull-Ups and didn't have any accidents, BUT I saw him holding his poop. I decided to give him something to help him go so it would be less traumatic. Fifteen minutes later he ran to the bathroom, went poop and has been going on the potty with no problem ever since (I think it helped that I made a HUGE deal about how it didn't hurt and wasn't scary at all).

Day 3 - Went back to underwear and has been virtually accident free ever since.

He does wear "training pants" at night (they are essentially cloth diaper pull ups, but with very little absorbancy), but he has a lot of dry nights and I am not really concerned about that.

This experience has taught me a few things, the two most important being -

1. Waiting until your child is ready to potty train is so much easier than fighting with them. Pushing when they are not physically or emotionally ready is only going to frustrate you both and could potentially do more damage than good.

2. Do not let people make you feel bad about the way you choose to deal with tough situations with your kids. I let people get to me. I knew in my heart that Peter would do it when he was ready, but outsiders frequently made me feel like a bad parent.

I know this is a much longer blog than I usually write (and more serious), but to any mom who is having trouble, you are not alone. And to people who know someone who is having trouble - give your friend/relative a break. It is hard enough without your commentary.

Next task - Aaron... who, guess what? Is also terrified of pooping. Of course he is.

Semi-New Addition

2011-09-30T11:10:00.002-04:00

Like the new blog header??? You might notice a change; or I should say an addition.

Campbell Louise Gardner (our little princess) was born on July 19, 2011. She was the biggest baby I ever birthed (8 pounds, 1 ounce) and the most well behaved! From day one, Campbell has been an easy, laid back, good eating, great sleeping baby; who is loved by the entire family... but probably most loved by her Big Brother - Peter:

Now lets get past the face that it took me two months and nineteen days to acknowledge her on my blog. I am busy people!

We are the Champions

2011-09-28T17:32:00.001-04:00

I have recently been having a hard time dealing with Peter and Aaron always competing. Everything thing we do, down to getting in our seats to eat dinner or getting in the car, is a race. That inevitably ends in one kid yelling, "I win!" And the other in tears.

It makes me nuts, so I have been trying to work on it with them. But the other day I lost my temper and before I realized what I was saying, the following works came out of my mouth:

Me - Peter and Aaron, stop it! There are no winners in this family, we are all losers!

Sadly, there is probably some truth to that statement sometimes.

Old McDonald

2011-09-22T15:02:00.002-04:00

This morning in the car Aaron was signing to himself.

Aaron - Old McDonalds had a farm E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a chicken, E-I-E-I-O. With a balk balk here, and a balk balk there, here a balk, there a balk, everywhere a balk balk.

Old McDonalds had a farm E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a french fry, E-I-E-I-O...

Hey mom, what does a french fry say???

Me - Aaron, french fries don't live on a farm.

Aaron - But they live at McDonalds!

Stick and Stones

2011-08-30T13:16:00.001-04:00

We were at the park playing today, when Peter picked up a huge stick that had fallen during last week's hurricane. As he danced around with it he almost hit another kid with it prompting a time out and being told he was not allowed to pick up anymore sticks.

Two minutes later he picked up a stick off the ground.

Me - Peter, what did mommy JUST say about your privileges with sticks?

Peter - I am not allowed to pick up sticks.

Me - Then why are you holding a stick?

Peter - This is a branch!

Me - Branches are made out of sticks.

Peter - No, they are made out of wood and bark.

EARTHQUAKE

2011-08-24T10:47:00.002-04:00

Yeah, we had an earthquake. In VIRGINIA! Nuts right?

Everyone insists on telling their story around here, so this is mine.

Yesterday at whatever time the shaking started (I don't know the date, so don't ask me to focus on time) - I was sitting on the couch watch Big Love on Netflix and nursing the baby (yeah, we had a baby - maybe I should post a blog about her). The boys were upstairs sleeping.

My first thought, "wow, the garbage truck is late today."

Immediately followed by, "Oh SHIT - are we being attacked???" Because, let's face it, when you live outside of DC and the world starts shaking you think terrorist attack WAY before earthquake.

But it didn't stop, it was getting stronger and glasses and things started to fall off the walls and shelves.

So, I ran outside (boob out and baby in arms). That was the scariest part, the cars were shaking like crazy! I don't know earthquake protocol, so I went to "rescue" the boys and bring them outside. I was screaming, "Peter, Aaron, Wake up!" in the boys room when it stopped.

Both boys were still sleeping, so I went to check on some neighbors (we have an elderly couple two doors down and several kids who do not have parents home).

A bunch of the neighbor kids ended up at my house because they were scared, so we all unsuccessfully tried to get a hold of loved ones over the phone while we watched the news and learned that there was a 5.9 earthquake.

At that moment I was a little freaked out. Brett was in his office building (which he later told me was SWAYING) so I wanted to make sure he was fine before I could breath. But the news was not reporting any major damage, so I wasn't too worried.

After it was all over and we knew no one was hurt and that there wasn't major damage, it was just really cool. I witnessed an earthquake! Not something I ever thought I would be able to say as an east coaster. Pretty awesome!

We did have two fatalities - two wine glasses that were perched on shelves in our dining room fell to their death.

Oh, by the way, people who live in Cali are absolutely freaking crazy - it was fun once, but I wouldn't really want to do it again, and especially not one that actually does do damage. I know west coasters are probably making fun of us for freaking out over this one, but we are all making fun of them for choosing to live somewhere that it can happen so frequently!

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G I-T O-U-T

2011-07-03T21:07:00.002-04:00

This evening we were at the pool, when a huge storm started rolling in. We packed up quickly and started walking home as quickly as possible. On our way, I started thinking about what we would do now that Mother Nature had changed our plans.

Me - Brett, I am thinking that I can make dinner while you get the kids showered and in their PJs, then we can have dinner, and if they are good we can do a M-O-V-I-E after (spelling it out so that the kids wouldn't know what I was saying).

Brett - Sounds perfect.

Peter - What movie can we watch?

Brett - Uh oh...

Me - Why did we teach him how to read???

Aaron Vs. Alex

2011-07-02T10:06:00.010-04:00

After Aaron's whole tooth ordeal I Googled "Ovi missing tooth" to see if Aaron had the same tooth missing as Washington Capitals super star Alexander Ovechkin. Turns out Aaron is missing the opposite tooth, but here are two photos I found in my internet search that were a funny comparison:

The toothless gaps -

Aaron

Alex

Upside-down shades -

Aaron (taken the day before he lost his tooth)

Alex

Now if only we had this magazine, we would have had a much easier time finding a dentist to pull Aaron's tooth yesterday!

An Early Visit From the Tooth Fairy

2011-07-02T08:36:00.007-04:00

Our normal routine in the evenings is to go to the pool as soon as the kids get up from their naps in the afternoon (where Brett meets us when he gets home from work), then we walk home, change into pajamas, eat dinner, brush teeth, read books, go to bed.

Yesterday was going the same as always, except when Brett got to the pool I headed out to make dinner for everyone and get ready to leave for dinner with some friends.

Right as I was finishing up cooking dinner and was grabbing my keys to leave for my dinner out with friends, I heard Brett and the kids coming in the front door. Brett looked distraught.

Brett - Aaron chipped his tooth at the pool.

Me - WHAT? Why didn't you call me? What do we do? I need to call Debbi (my friend that I was going to meet is also mother of 3 children who are older, so I figured she would have advice).

Debbi didn't have a specific dentist to call, so I got off the phone with her and went into mommy mode. While the kids watched TV (Aaron wasn't actually crying at all, but his mouth was bleeding), Brett and I were on the phone calling the pediatrician, dentists, and anyone else we thought could help. What ended up being the biggest help was a post I put up Facebook asking if anyone knew an emergency pediatric dentist.

An old friend of ours who is a dental hygienist called me right away and was able to calm us down a little (apparently chipped baby teeth were no biggie), but she also gave us the number of a friend who was a pediatric dentist. Once we called him, Aaron let me get into his mouth a little more to see what was going on. Turns out his "chip" was more like a split up the center of his tooth (the whole center was shattered away) and the dentist advised us that he would either need it pulled or need a root canal. Bad news (as if the whole tooth thing wasn't bad news) - this doctor was out of town and most of the people he would recommend were also out of town. However, he knew one dentist - Dr. Ternisky out of McLean. Another friend on Facebook had JUST recommended the same dentist, so we gave her a call.

Dr. Ternisky was EXACTLY what we needed. She explained over the phone that it wasn't going to be a fun process. Aaron would need to essentially be strapped down to the table, and we would need to hold his head while she gave him shots in his gums and then she would pull the tooth.

Knowing that we didn't want Peter to have to listen to all of crying and yelling and knowing that we wanted to both be with Aaron, we started calling around to friends who could potentially watch Peter for a couple hours. Thankfully our friend's Christy and Dave were more than willing and we were able to quickly drop off Peter and head to the dentist.

Once we got to the dentist, everything went exactly as she had explained, except she didn't really say that it would be the most torturous moment that anyone of us had ever endured. Poor kid needed about 10 little Novocain shots in his gums and into the middle of the tooth, and pulling the tooth was not at all like what I remember from having loose teeth yanked as a kid. The dentist had to get the root, so lets just say, it didn't come out too easily.

With that said - Dr. Terniski was wonderful and Aaron was such a little trooper. Through the tears he made jokes, got excited about the tooth fairy and gave us some smiles (photo post pull):

The dentist recommended that we take him out to ice cream after we picked up Peter, much to both kid's excitement.

When we got home, we put Aaron's tooth under his pillow (something I never thought I would be doing while one of my kids was still sleeping in a crib). This morning he was so excited to find a dollar and looks forward to going to the Dollar Tree later this morning.

Side note - the photo of Aaron at the pool (at the top of this post) was the last photo ever taken of his baby tooth. The dentist said his new tooth would grow back in 2-4 years, so we have a long time before we have another photo with a full set of teeth in Aaron's mouth.

Sprayground

2011-06-30T15:30:00.004-04:00

There are about 6 "spraygrounds" or interactive water fountains (that I can think of) in the DC Metro area. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about - these are play areas where water shoots out of the ground for the kids to run around in. For someone who is 8 months pregnant in the DC heat it is a great way to wear your kids out, while cooling down with splashes from the water as they run by.

Yesterday my MOMS Club was scheduled to meet at Fairfax Corner which has a fountain AND was hosting a puppet show. When I told the boys, they were BEYOND excited about the day of fun we had planned. Until we arrived about it seemed like every mother in Fairfax County had the same idea. It was standing room only to watch the puppet show and you could barely get to the fountain to play in. Try #1 at playing in water - failed!

Somehow I found two of the moms I was meeting there and suggested we go to Reston Town Center because their fountain was rarely packed, so we packed up and left. Deciding to meet at Pot Belly and then walk to the fountain together for a picnic and play.

We got to the fountain just before noon and the water was not on. Knowing that they sometimes turn them on right at noon, I wasn't discouraged and set up our picnic. After 12 noon rolled around with no water, I decided to call the Town Center management company and see what was going on. Apparently it was broken. Try #2 - failed.

We did end up staying to eat lunch while the kids ran around, but they still wanted some fun in a water fountain.

So, this morning I planned to take them to Lyon Village Sprayground. Again, I started the day by telling the boys what a fun time we would have and getting them excited to put on their swim suits. And again I got there right before 11am (the time I THOUGHT the water came on) and there was no water. Five minutes later (at 11:03am) still no water. I decided to look up the Arlington Sprayground schedule online, only to find out that Lyon Village was CLOSED on Thursday. Try #3 - failed.

However, another one was supposed to be open and was close to where we were - Hayes Sprayground. So I called the friend we were meeting and changed the venue. When I pulled up to Hayes I was delighted to FINALLY see water shooting from the ground. The boys grabbed their water pails, and we headed over to play. After all that we had finally been successful at finding a place to enjoy a day of water fun. The kids scrambled to take off their shoes and run to the water.

Five minutes later they were complaining that they were cold and hungry and wanted to eat lunch.

Not sure if you would call Try #4 a success or a failure.

The Fire Truck

2011-06-30T08:32:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, we pulled up next to a fire truck and the kids got seriously giddy. The fire fighters on board were nice enough to wave at the boys, who were practically jumping out of their car seats.

As the light turned green and we drove away the boys had the following exchange from the back seat.

Peter - I LOVE fire trucks, they save people.

Aaron - I love fire trucks because they have an eagle and Slapshot is an eagle!

There was a TINY eagle on the truck, similar to this one -

But apparently my kids are so brain washed, that Aaron saw this -

Good to know they are thinking about hockey even in the off season.

Shower After Swimming

2011-06-29T19:59:00.002-04:00

The following took place at our pool this evening.

Please keep in mind that Peter almost always speaks VERY loudly when he talks (yeah, I know, where did he get that from?)... Anyway...

Peter - (teeth chattering) Daddy, I am cold, can we go take our showers and go home now?

Brett - Sure Peter.

Peter - Can I get naked?

Brett - Yes, Peter, you will take your bathing suit off to shower, and then you can walk home in your robe.

Peter - OK, but when I am naked you CANNOT touch my private parts! NO ONE is allowed to touch my private parts!

Stickers

2011-06-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

Brett and I have each others names tattooed on our left wrists. In addition, I have "Col 3:17" on my right wrist.

I never really talk about my tattoos with my kids, and they never really ask. Which is why I was surprised when Aaron asked for a sticker the other day and put it here:

To Cloth or Not To Cloth

2011-06-27T10:02:00.004-04:00

Living in the DC Metro, on one salary, with a third baby coming is absolutely terrifying when we start thinking about finances.

A new baby means less money coming in each pay check (our kid's 529 college money gets taken out of Brett's pay check before we get it), more medical expenses, more mouths to feed, and more diapers to buy.

Thankfully, I have TONS of mom friends who have daughters and a LOT of generous hand me downs, so we didn't have to buy clothes. But the thought of $20 a week on formula, and $50 a month in diapers is enough to make me sick. So I am absolutely determined to breast feed and am seriously considering cloth diapers.

After TONS of research, polling all my friends, looking at all the brands and realizing that I was totally on board with making the change to cloth I took the last step before actually buying the diapers. Asking Brett.

Me - So, I have been crunching numbers and I really think that we should consider cloth diapers for Campbell.

Brett - No

Me - (stunned because Brett is usually very open minded - especially when saving money is in question) Um... can you at least look at my research? It will save us hundreds of dollars and thousands if we keep it up for our fourth child.

Brett - It is gross, and I just don't like the idea.

I will stop the conversation here because things got heated, but lets just say I got my point across. Once Brett thought about it a little while, and was willing to look at the research I had done he started to come around.

If you are someone thinking about cloth, here are the two sites we found most helpful:

Young House Love's Cloth Diaper Blog

I Love Cloth Diapers

After polling friends, internet ratings, and pricing we decided on bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper. Our second choice would have been FuzziBunz, but there was a SLIGHT price difference (on Amazon) and they had the extra step in washing of removing/putting the absorbent layer back into the diaper.

We also settled on using Imse Vimse Flushable Liners as a compromise to "showering" off the solid waste (this was a big factor in convincing Brett). Here is a video of how they work:

We figure we will need about 1 roll per month (200 liners come on a roll). They sell for $11.60 (on Amazon), which breaks down to about $0.06 per diaper change. Compared to Pampers Swaddlers disposable diapers which are about $0.23 per diaper change, and end up in a land fill.

Our initial investment will be:

16 - bumGenius One-Size Snap Cloth Diaper 4.0 - @ $17.95 each = $287.20
1 - Planet Wise Wet/Dry Diaper Bag - @ 23.95 (for dirty diapers)
1 - Imse Vimse Flushable Liner (2PK) 200 pieces/2 rolls - @ $11.60

Total - $322.75 - With the only reoccurring cost being the Imse Vimse Flushable Liners.

We haven't pulled the trigger and purchased these items yet, but it is looking like we will be soon. I will update the blog in a few months and let you know how things are going!

If it does work out I am going to try hard not to kick myself too much for not starting with Peter, or to think about how many dollars we have flushed down the diaper pail.

Baby Items

2011-06-27T09:41:00.002-04:00

We are pretty much finished getting ready for Campbell's arrival (and thank goodness, she will be here in 3 weeks!). All of the baby stuff that we had lent out to friends has moved back into our home, and I think the boys are enjoying them:

Peter Writes his Numbers

2011-06-27T09:26:00.005-04:00

This morning, Aaron slept in so I was in the living room with Peter. He asked if he could have a dry erase marker so that he could practice his numbers (in his little counting book).

I gave him the marker and turned around to check my email.

Five minutes later Peter walked his book over to me, set it on my lap and said, "Look at my six, Mom!"

I looked down at the book to see a nicely traced "6" in his book:

Then I looked up at Peter to congratulate him on his wonderful penmanship and saw this:

Visit to the Pet Store

2011-06-27T09:21:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we were invited to a birthday party at "My Gym" in Burke. This "My Gym" was located in a strip mall that also had a pet store. So after the party a bunch of us walked over to let the kids look at the animals.

As we were looking at all the mine, hamsters, and reptiles, I heard Aaron scream for me.

Aaron - MOMMY, LOOK! This animal died, and now he is just a skeleton!!!

What are the chances that the snake hiding under that log got the miniature person who once lived in the cage?

Fashion Advice

2011-06-27T09:11:00.002-04:00

The other day I came down stairs wearing cargo pants.

Peter - Mommy, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING???

Me - These are called cargo pants.

Peter - No, they are called FIREMAN pants. YOU are a GIRL. Take them off!

Aaron - Yeah, Mommy, those are fireman pants.

Peter - Girls are supposed to wear skirts!

The sad thing is, I did change my clothes.

Riding the Roller Coaster

2011-06-24T13:25:00.004-04:00

This morning my MOMS Club held an event called "Water Day" at one of our member's houses. Our hostess (Irene) set up a baby pool, water table and sprinkler in her yard and with the help of some water toys, balls, side walk chalk, bubbles, and a few snacks we had 2 solid hours of entertainment for the kids.

As the morning of fun was wrapping up and all the moms were cleaning up I noticed a bunch of the kids sitting on Irene's front stoop. Thinking that they were trying to get in the house (with wet dirty feet) I headed over to stop whatever mischief might be happening.

That is when I heard one of the kids say, "OK, sit down and buckle up. The roller coaster is about to start!"

Not a single one of the moms had helped this group of 2-4 year old kids think up this game, they had done it all on their own. As other kids finished getting dressed from their bathing suits they joined in the roller coaster fun, and I got a couple great photos of them "riding down a hill":

Welcome to the Family Audrey Claire!

2011-06-23T09:35:00.007-04:00

Brett and I would like to (finally) formally introduce our first niece:

Audrey Claire Gardner
Born June 4, 2011 at 2:14pm
6 lbs. 11 oz and 19.5 inches

Audrey was a long awaited addition to the family and we are so thrilled to welcome her to the Gardner Family as the first grand-DAUGHTER (Sorry Campbell, she beat you to the punch!).

Here are some more photos from the hospital:

And my favorite - Audrey sleeping on her Daddy (Don, Brett's brother):

This past weekend, Brett was able to fly down to Atlanta to meet Audrey in person. She came to pick him up at the train station looking cute as can be:

I will not be meeting her until August when we plan to travel to Raleigh for her Baptism, and am looking forward to introducing her to all THREE of her Gardner cousins!

Silent but Deadly

2011-06-22T22:52:00.001-04:00

When Brett came home from work last night, the kids and I were baking cookies.

Brett - Wow, something smells good in here.

Peter - Oh yeah, 'cause I just farted!!!

I will let you decide for yourself which parent he got that one liner from.

Pop Culture Reference Wasted on a Three Year Old

2011-06-22T22:47:00.001-04:00

This evening after Peter and Aaron went to bed I heard Peter call for his father.

Peter - Daddy, I need you.

Me - Peter, Daddy is outside watering my plants he will be up in a minute.

Peter - Nooo. I need him NOW.

Me - Patience grasshopper.

Peter - Don't call me grasshopper, Mom, I am NOT an insect! I only have two legs.

Workin' 9-5

2011-06-21T08:55:00.002-04:00

Brett has been working longer hours the past couples months, so understandably when the kids wake up before he leaves for work they cling to him when he tries to get out the door.

Then I have to spend the next five minutes explaining that Daddy has to go to work to earn money so we can have our house, and food, and toys, and so we can do fun things.

From a young age Peter has seemed to understand that Daddy has the money, so this seems to make sense to him.

But now when Brett gets home from work in the afternoon the boys don't ask him if he had a good day, they now want to know, "Did you have fun making money today, Daddy?"

No Pinching

2011-06-20T09:09:00.003-04:00

This morning I dressed Aaron in a lobster shirt that said "No Pinching Allowed."

We were all playing in the living room when Aaron walked over to me and asked me what his shirt said.

Me - It says "No Pinching Allowed" (pointing to each word as I read it)

Aaron - Uuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm... I think it says "YES Pinching Allowed"

Then walks over to his brother and pinches his arm.

And that pretty much sums up what life is like with almost 3 and almost 4 year old boys.

One Generation to Another

2011-06-18T19:00:00.002-04:00

This evening my mother came over for dinner and she and Peter had the following conversation.

Peter - Grammie, today I fell at the pool and I got a boo boo WITH BLOOD, so we came home and I got to have a BLUE CRAYON BAND-AIDE.

My Mom - Wow, Peter.

Peter - Yeah, Mommy had to get it out of her car, from the red box.

My Mom - Oh really?

Peter - Yeah, when you were a little girl did your mom have a red box in her car?

Me - He is talking about a first aide kit.

My Mom - Well, I think my mom hand Band-aides at home.

Peter - But, what if you were at the park when you got a boo boo?

My Mom - Then we would go home and get a band aide, but my Mom didn't have a car because she didn't know how to drive.

Peter - (eyes wide) WHAT?!?!? Than HOW did you get to playgroup???

Where fore out thy Gnomeo?

2011-06-18T08:52:00.002-04:00

For years Peter and Aaron have been obsessed with the movie Cars, but there is finally another movie that is a close second favorite.

Gnomeo and Juliet came out this Spring, and from the beginning credits (i.e. first Elton Jon song) my kids were hooked. We saw it in the theatre three times, and to their excitement one of my friends got it on DVD for us this week.

Their absolutely favorite scene in the movie is at the end when there is a big song and dance number to Elton Jon's Crocodile Rock. This is Peter's new favorite sing. Or, his "jam" as he calls it. He even requested that they play Crocodile Rock at our MOMS Club Musical Munchkins Class (which they did, and Peter danced to the whole time).

Yesterday, I told the kids that since Brett was going out of town for the night, we could have a special movie night and watch our new movie. While we were driving Brett to the airport Peter told him our plans.

Peter - Dad, GUESS WHAT?

Brett - What?

Peter - Miss Christina got us a NEW movie, and Mommy said we can watch it tonight.

Brett - That sounds exciting Peter. What movie is it?

Peter - I'll give you a hint... WAAAAAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH (as per the chorus of Crocodile Rock)

If you haven't seen Gnomeo and Juliet we would highly recommend it. Definitely fun for all ages, great music (all Elton Jon), and some pretty funny jokes for adults.

Here is the trailer:

Happy Birthday Sissy!

2011-06-17T19:10:00.003-04:00

Today is my sister, Katelyn's, 26th birthday. Since she lives across country I have spent the day calling and leaving messages, mailing birthday gifts from the Post Office (I would like to believe that she gets to celebrate her birthday for several days because my gifts will be arriving late), and of course harassing her online.

When I hung up from my last phone call, Peter started asking questions (as per normal for an almost 4 year old).

Peter - Mom, who are you talking to?

Me - I was leaving another birthday message for Aunt K

Peter - Is it her birthday today?

Me - Yes, that is why we keep calling her.

Peter - So, is she having a birthday party?

Me - Maybe, but she lives far away so we can't go. But we will celebrate with her when she visits next month.

Peter - BUT MOMMY, we can take the mini van! It is the fastest car in the whole world.

Me - Well, Aunt K lives so far away that we would need to take an airplane.

Peter - Oh... But, they don't let pregnant ladies on airplanes (this was information he was given when we dropped Brett off at the airport today to go visit our new niece)

Me - That is right, so we can't go there today.

Peter - OK, well maybe Aunt K wants to TRADE birthdays with me? Then we can have my party today and after you cut Campbell out of your belly we can go visit Aunt K's house on August 14th and have HER birthday party. Doesn't that sound like a great idea???

Nice logic Peter, but it doesn't work that way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISSY! I AM VERY PROUD YOU AND WISH I WAS THERE TO CELEBRATE WITH YOU TODAY.

(photo taken in Vegas last year when Katelyn's finance, Jason, flew me out as her birthday gift)

Painting the Town BLUE

2011-06-07T11:27:00.009-04:00

Brett has been working long hours and weekends recently trying to finish up a project at work by deadline. It is now complete, so he took today off to make up for some of the over time he has worked.

So, last night we turned off the alarm and decided that we would get up whenever the kids did and have a lazy morning. Since our alarm usually goes off at 6am, and the kids get up between 7:30-8am, we were hoping to enjoy two extra hours of sleep.

We got WAY more than we bargained for.

This morning I was woken up to the sound of Peter talking to Aaron over the baby monitor.

Peter - Hi Aaron, are you ready to wake up now.

Aaron - Yeah Peter, I am.

Peter - Do you want to paint with me?

My ears perk up and my heart starts racing. Then ss I jump out of bed I hear:

Aaron - Peter, NO! You painted Lovey Lamb BLUE!

I walk into Peter's room to find him COVERED IN BLUE PAINT. Paint brush in one hand, paint bottle in the other. (Of course there are no photos of this scene, but I did capture a lot of the mess).

Me - Brett, HELP!

Brett comes running in as I hand Peter off and go investigate the damage, which started on Aaron's crib, then as I moved down the stairs I saw hand prints on the carpet:

Next I saw hand prints on the floor in the foyer:

When I turned the corner into the dining room I found this on the walls:

And on the wall of the basement stairs:

The mess finally ended in the kid's playroom where he had found the paint and started his artistic debauchery by painting his trains and train table:

Also found in the basement was a container of muffins that he had gotten for breakfast, and a whole mess of craft supplies that he had taken out and scattered all over the floor (these were cleaned up by the time I got the camera).

Needless to say Peter's busy morning goes on:

And he is grounded for life (to quote my parents, who said that to me several times growing up).

It is mornings like these that I wonder why we want more kids, but the truth is even though it was a MAJOR pain in the neck to clean up, punish, etc. first thing this morning, I find this stuff to be sort of hilarious. Peter definitely has my knack for naughtiness... and creativity!

Do the Crime, Do the Time

2011-05-27T20:49:00.004-04:00

Brett and I have a rule that if the boys get out of bed at night, they get their "pets" taken away for the night. This evening a little after bedtime we heard Peter out of his bed, so Brett went up to "regulate".

Brett - Peter, you got out of bed, so I am taking your monkeys.

Peter - (cue instant tears) NOOOOOOOOO

Brett - Peter, you know the rules. Get back in bed and you can have them tomorrow.

Peter - (continues throwing fit) But I NEEEEEEED my baby monkey!!

Aaron - Daddy, that is NOT NICE! Give Peter back his monkeys!

Brett - Aaron, Peter lost them because he got out of bed and so lost his privilege.

Aaron - Well, I'll count to 20 for time out and then you give them back. 1-2-3-4-5-20, you can give them back now, Daddy.

Nice try Aaron.

Whipped at the Tender Age of Three

2011-05-27T20:24:00.003-04:00

The last few weeks my boys have become every-other-day nappers. This means that my free time is more limited (read - my house is messier), and we now have to find activities to do in the afternoon.

Thankfully, we aren't the only ones. A few of Peter's friends from my MOMS Club are also dropping their naps so we usually have someone to play with. One such friend is my friend Christy's daughter, Emy.

Emy and Peter play AMAZINGLY together. I rarely see them fight and they seem to be completely on the same page with the little fantasy games that they play together (usually Prince and Princess, or Mommy and Baby... where oddly Peter plays the role of Mommy).

This is great for Aaron, who prefers to play by himself most of the time, because Peter leaves him alone when Emy is around.

Until this afternoon.

A few of the kids from our morning playgroup stayed for lunch and to play in the sprinkler today. Playing in the sprinkler turned into everyone watering my flowers and playing in my little garden. That is when I heard Peter defending a girl for the first time.

Peter - AARON, NO!!! Do not put mud on MY princess!

I guess he hasn't learned the saying, "Bros before... princesses"

My Handsome Husband

2011-05-27T20:17:00.002-04:00

Our night-time routine with the kids is about 90% Brett's job, while I am usually doing laundry or cleaning up from the day's activities.

This evening, Brett was saying good night to the boys while I was in the next room working on Campbell's nursery.

Brett - OK boys, it is time to say good night.

Aaron - I have to go potty again.

Brett - You just went.

Peter - I have to go too!

Brett - Alright, come on guys we will go sit on the potty again.

Me - Peter, tell your dad he is a sucker!

Peter - Dad, you're a sucker!

Brett - Peter, that isn't nice.

Peter - OK. Mom, dad says that isn't nice. How about we call him a looker?

Me - Well, he is that too!

My Caps Kid

2011-05-18T19:27:00.002-04:00

This afternoon Peter took off his jacket, which lead to his friend, Lucy, and he having a conversation about the shirt he was wearing:

Lucy - Wow Peter, your shirt has an eagle on it!

Peter - Yeah Lucy, this is a Caps Kids shirt. It is hockey. That is Slapshot the eagle.

Lucy - Oh, cool.

Peter - What sport is your family named for?

Lucy - What?

Peter - We are Caps Kids. I am the "P" for Peter. What are you? Soccer? Softball? Basketball?

Lucy - People aren't named after sports.

Peter - YES THEY ARE!

Clearly Peter doesn't understand that his family isn't "normal" yet.

Questions We Just Don't Have Answers For

2011-05-18T19:13:00.002-04:00

Brett and I store our extra batteries in a drawer in the kids playroom - this was a decision we made BEFORE our children started opening drawers. But, they have learned not to open the drawer, so we have left them there (although with a new baby coming I might be rethinking).

However, today for whatever reason, Peter DID open the drawer and started to pick up some batteries when Brett stopped him.

Brett - Peter, we do NOT play with batteries.

Peter - Why? (A question I am beginning to HATE)

Brett - Because, Peter, batteries aren't toys.

Peter - Then why do so many toys need batteries?

Haircuts

2011-05-17T14:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning the boys and I dropped our dog, Rusty, off at the Pet Smart groomers to get his Spring shave. Later when we went to pick him up the following happened.

Me - (as I am opening the door to the groomer) Now boys, Rusty might look a little different with his hair cut, but he is the same dog.

Aaron - (seeing a big Husky as we walk in the door starts crying) NO, Rusty turned into another dog!

Everyone in the place starts laughing, and our groomer goes to the back room to get Rusty. During this time I calmed Aaron down, until he saw Rusty come out.

Aaron - He IS a new dog! I want my Rusty back.

me - No honey, his hair will grow back. Just like when Mommy cuts your hair.

Aaron - (grabbing his head in terror and completely forgetting about his concern for Rusty) I DON'T WANT A HAIR CUT!!! Mommy's buzzer is NOT nice!

In his defense I have given him a few bad haircuts.

Here is Rusty's adorable new haircut:

Is Peter Growing up in the 50s?

2011-05-17T08:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment, so my friend Kim told me she would watch the kids. In preparation, I explained to the kids where I was going and that they needed to listen to Miss Kim.

Me - While Mommy is at the Doctor, you will be at Miss Kim's house playing with Trey and Grant. In Miss Kim's house, Miss Kim is the boss so you need to listen to everything she tells you. Do you understand?

Peter - Yes. But what if Trey's Daddy is home, then he will be the boss?

I Need to Hire a Staff!

2011-05-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

This morning I looked at the calendar for this summer, and realized that we have confirmed plans for the following:

July 19 - Deliver Campbell (I actually packed for the hospital today, which means she will NOT come early or unexpectedly - this is the first time I packed a bag for the hospital although it is my 3rd child)

July 23 - Released from hospital (based on when having a 5 day stay with Peter and Aaron, but hopefully we will be able to leave earlier)

July 30 - Aaron's 3rd Birthday Party

August 4-5 - Brett is in a wedding in Pittsburgh, PA

August 13 - Peter's 4th Birthday Party

August 19-21 - Trip to Raleigh to meet our soon-to-be niece or nephew

I sent out invites for Aaron's birthday today (early I know), am working on Peter's and have booked both hotels for the trips we are going on. Yet somehow I feel like I probably should hire a nanny, maid, dog walker, and chef for the summer. You know, with all of our extra income.

Not complaining though - I am very excited about all the events we have ahead of us, and I have tons of amazing friends and family who are always around to lend a hand so I am sure we will make due.

Either that or my house will look like a tornado hit it, but what else is new.

Decisions to Make

2011-05-10T08:43:00.004-04:00

This morning, Peter came in my room to tell me that he was awake when I was doing the last thing I needed to do to get ready for the day - putting my earring on.

Peter - Good morning, Mom. The green light is on, so its wake up time.

Me - Great! Mommy is going to put her earrings on and then we can go pick out your clothes.

Peter - Mommy, why do only girls wear earrings?

Me - They don't, some boys wear earrings.

Peter - THEY DO!?!?!

Me - Sure, lots of boys wear earrings and you can too, but not until you are a grown up and decide if you want to.

Peter - Hhhhmmm... well I am going to be a fireman when I grow up. Do you remember if any of the fireman at the firehouse were wearing earrings?

Me - I don't remember, but we can look at their ears next time we go there.

Peter - OK, and ask them if it is OK for firemen to wear earrings. Then I will know if I get earrings.

SO, the next time we have a MOMS Club field to the Firehouse, it should be very interesting what my son asks during the question and answer portion of the program.

Baby Kicks

2011-05-09T18:38:00.003-04:00

This afternoon Campbell (like usual) was kicking up a storm in my belly. So I called Peter over to feel his sister moving.

Me - Peter come quick, Campbell is kicking in my belly. You can feel her!

Peter - (runs over and puts his hands on my belly) WOW - I feel her, she is kicking a lot!

Me - I know, she must have just woken up.

Peter - Yeah. You know what Mommy? Babies are really really good at karate!

What Do You Say?

2011-04-28T19:14:00.003-04:00

Thursday afternoons, the kids and I usually pick up fast food for lunch and then stop by my friend Georgia's house to eat and hang out (while she is "working" from home).

We arrived a little late and had been running around all morning, so I asked Georgia to put on the TV so they could have a little quiet time. After getting the kids some food, Peter asked for "dippy" sauce for his French fries, which Georgia got up to help him with.

As Georgia stood in front of Peter putting the ketchup on his plate I reminded him to say "thank you" by saying, "Peter, what do you say to Aunt Georgia?"

He replied with, "get out of my way," as he tried to get a view of the TV behind her.

Dance, Dance, Dance

2011-04-28T19:09:00.002-04:00

This evening we were out to dinner and Aaron was being naughty, standing up in his chair and not eating.

Me - Aaron, you need to eat your pizza.

Aaron - I don't want my pizza!

Me - Don't you want ice cream after? (Implying that if he didn't finish his food he was not getting dessert).

Aaron - NO, I want to DANCE! (Then proceeds to stand up in his high chair and shake his little booty).

Adult Diapers

2011-04-28T18:53:00.003-04:00

Peter is going to be 4 years old this August, and is still not potty trained. I consider this my biggest failure as a parent (to date), but the pediatrician says it is normal and he isn't old enough to worry. So, I continue to change diapers and try to gently remind Peter of the benefits and excitement that comes with going to the bathroom in the big boy potty.

Peter was actually potty trained around his third birthday, but reverted because he has a #2 hang up. As in, he is terrified of going (can't wait to show his future girl friend's this post by the way).

So this afternoon he went #2 in his diaper, but didn't tell me (I am stuffed up from allergies so I didn't notice). Until of course he was feeling uncomfortable and complained that he was getting a diaper rash. A little while after changing his diaper he was still complaining that his bum hurt.

Me - Well, Peter when you go potty on a big boy potty you can't get a diaper rash, so it never hurts. Mommy NEVER gets diaper rash because Mommy doesn't have to wear diapers.

Peter - Yeah, but you DO go pee pee in your pants when you sneeze.

Learning

2011-04-26T10:40:00.001-04:00

This morning in the car I heard Peter yell to me from the back seat:

Peter - Mommy, did you know that sharks are afraid of bottle nose dolphins and humpback whales?

Me - I didn't know that.

Peter - Neither did I, but I learned it. You should really learn more Mom.

Campbell Louise, Scheduled for Delivery

2011-04-25T16:14:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I went to my OB for my 27 week check up. Campbell still looks great, and just like Peter was at 26 weeks, she is sitting breach (head up). Not that it matters, after 2 C-sections with the boys, she will be another C-section baby.

Both Peter and Aaron were emergency C-sections (Peter after 18 hours of labor, and with Aaron I went into labor 5 weeks before his due date and they couldn't stop it), so they were not scheduled. Campbell on the other hand (as long as I don't go early) has now been scheduled.

It is VERY odd saying that I already know my baby's birthday, but if all goes as planned Campbell will be celebrating her birthday on July 19! Sorry Aunt Krennie, my doctor doesn't have hospital hours on Mondays or I he might have chosen July 18.

Now for the task of scheduling help for the boys during the week I am in the hospital. Fingers crossed I am able to go home early this time (I had to stay 5 days with both boys).

Oh, and for those wondering - My mother, Mary BeVard, will be the winner of the Baby G3 birthday pool IF Campbell waits to be born on July 19th!

1-2-3

2011-04-25T13:57:00.002-04:00

One of Aaron's fascinations is with my face. He LOVES pointing out each feature (nose, eyes, lips, etc.) and sometimes counting said features.

This morning he was doing just that:

Aaron - Here are your eyes. 1, 2, two eyes!

Me - Good job, Aaron, what else is on my face?

Aaron - Nose. 1, 2, 3...

Me - Aaron, I only have ONE nose!

Aaron - No, mommy I was counting boogers.

CAPS MOM

2011-04-24T18:57:00.004-04:00

With Baby #3 on the way, Brett and I had to upgrade to a larger car. Last month we sold our Honda CRV and found a great deal on a 2001 Honda Odyssey. Even more exciting than the deal we got on the car was the personalized plates that I was able to get - CAPS MOM.

I was so excited for my new plates, and told Brett I wanted to make the new van into a Caps spirit car. In addition to my plates, I have rally flags on both sides of the car saying "Get Caps Crazy", a license plate frame, and put many other items on my Amazon wish list (Mother's Day AND my birthday are coming up, honey... hint hint).

This evening we were driving home from another amazing Easter dinner at Brett's grandmother's house when the car next to us honked three times.

Angry that I was some how being accused of bad driving (which I was pretty sure I was NOT committing), I turned to the person honking, gave them a dirty look and mouthed, "WHAT?!?!?" in their direction.

Me - I mean, what the heck is that guy's problem? I wasn't doing anything wrong, and people are ALWAYS honking at me!!!

Brett - You know your license plates say "CAPS MOM" and you have Caps rally flags, right? I think he was honking "Let's Go Caps"... you know, like everyone does after games.

Me - ....oh, well that makes sense. (hangs head in shame)

What Do You Think is in my Belly, Aaron???

2011-04-18T20:20:00.003-04:00

So, let me start off by saying that when Brett and I were choosing a name for our daughter, we decided to allow the kids to be involved. We came up with three names that we liked (Campbell, Celia and Charlie) and then put the kids in separate rooms and asked them what name they liked best. We lucked out because both boys said Campbell right away.

Or at least that is what we THOUGHT they both said.

This morning I was outside pumping gas at the gas station with the boys in the car, when Aaron pointed out his window and yelled, "Look, Mommy, that store has a camel inside it just like you have in your belly!"

I turned to see this sign on the gas station window:

Needless to say, Peter and I spent the next 30 minutes explaining to Aaron that mommy had a baby girl (person) NAMED Campbell in her belly.

Aaron still seems pretty excited to meet his sister, but I think he was really looking forward to a baby camel.

Imaginary Friends

2011-04-18T20:05:00.002-04:00

I think it is pretty typical for kids Peter's age to have imaginary friends, but Peter refuses to do anything in typical fashion. Instead of imaginary friends, my child has named and talks to three of his fingers.

Right thumb's name is Dam. Right index finger's name is Treck. Left thumb's name is Casey.

Casey, Dam and Treck are responsible for most of Peter's bad behavior (mainly hitting his brother, making messes and playing with food), and I frequently find Peter talking to them.

After asking him why only three of his fingers had names, Peter rolled his eyes at me, sighed and said, "Because I am only THREE, MOM! Don't you know that?!?"

My Little Music Man

2011-04-18T19:51:00.003-04:00

Aaron absolutely has acquired his parents' love of music. He has very eclectic taste (like his mother), and loves playing his toy guitars (like his father). He really gets into a LOT of different kinds of music and loves learning new songs (although, not any by Coldplay as we recently learned).

This afternoon, Cee Lo Brown's "Forget You" came on the radio in the car - a current favorite of mine and Brett's and the ring tone on my phone. From the back seat I heard Aaron perk up and yell to me, "Turn it up Mommy, this is my JAM!"

Here is the music video for those who are not familiar with the song:

Peter's Light Bulb Moment

2011-04-14T10:16:00.001-04:00

This morning, when I asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast, Peter said, "A bagel with cream cheese and eggs, please."

Peter's favorite breakfast (or lunch or dinner for that matter) is egg sandwiches, so I assumed that he was asking for an egg ON a bagel with cream cheese. When I handed it to him I quickly learned that this was NOT what he had envisioned.

The child flat out lost his mind throwing a tantrum (don't let anyone fool you into thinking "the terrible 2s" are the worst stage - 3 is WAY worse... And I am terrified to find what 4 has in store for me).

Well call me mean, but I took the sandwich out of Peter's reach, and walked away (last I checked I am NOT a short order cook, nor do I listen to screaming and crying).

For the next 5-10 minutes Peter screamed, yelled, cried and threw his body around in his booster seat. I did not look or speak to him the entire time.

Then very suddenly he stopped, took a breath, and said to himself, "My mommy doesn't listen to crying."

Taking a second large breath and wiping the tears from his eyes he said, "Mommy, I am sorry for my behavior. Can I have my bagel egg sandwich, please?"

Victory!!! Now how do I get to this point without the massive tantrum in the middle???

Our Peanut Butter Palace

2011-04-13T10:14:00.004-04:00

Last night I was up almost the whole night feeling feverish with an upset stomach. This morning my stomach still hurt and I was tired, so when the kids got up Brett marched them down stairs to watch TV while I got ready.

By the time he was leaving for work I was still moving slowly upstairs so Brett got the boys some Peanut Butter sandwiches for breakfast (this is the "Daddy Special" at our house). In a rush to get to work Brett left the peanut butter open on the counter before leaving the house.

Not five minutes after Brett came to kiss me good bye, I heard Aaron scream for me, "Mommy, HELP - it is too messy!"

Aaron is very OCD, and hates having his tray or bib dirty when he is eating, so I was expecting to come down to him having a drip of PBJ on his hand or something. If only I was that lucky.

I only made it to the top of the stairs before I was aware of the enormous mess that was waiting for me.

Aaron was standing at the bottom of the stairs, hands and mouth COVERED in peanut butter, finger painting the wall. I ran down the stairs to see Peter in a similar situation at the coffee table, and next to him the dog had his snout in the open jar of peanut butter.

I am usually quick to take pictures of these type of situations, but between still feeling sick to my stomach and panicking about the enormous clean up I had ahead of me I only got this one (after both boys had a bath):

I am pretty sure I have gotten all of the mess cleaned up, but my house still has an hint of Peanut Butter in the air.

Peter Makes the News!

2011-04-12T18:52:00.002-04:00

This morning I met a friend to watch the Washington Caps practice where they were having a pep rally for the playoffs, which start tomorrow!

My friend, Jon Calvert, was approached by a camera man for an interview (some of which can be seen in the video below). While he was being interviewed next to me, I (totally afraid of public speaking and camera shy to a fault) turned the other way to ensure I was not within the camera's frame.

Peter, on the other hand hammed it up and drew in the attention of the camera man as he was getting ready to pack up for the day.

Jon was nice enough to post the video on You Tube for me because I missed the airing.

Enjoy:

And if you didn't catch it - Brett Haber says in reference to Peter (at the end), "That's already the cutest image that we'll have for the entire playoffs!"

You Wanna Know How I Know You're Gay...

2011-04-11T17:04:00.001-04:00

Before you read this post please note that if you have never seen the movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin" you will not get the humor of this story and should stop reading now. If you do have immature taste in movies keep reading.

This afternoon the boys and I were driving and I was flipping through the radio stations. Most of my preset stations were on commercials, but DC101 was playing Coldpaly's Yellow so I left it there. All of a sudden Aaron burst into tears.

Me - Aaron, what's wrong???

Aaron - I don't like this song!

Me - Aaron, this is Coldplay.

Aaron - I really really don't like Coldplay, Mommy! Please turn it off!!!

I changed the channel and he calmed down. Then I called Brett to tell him how I know Aaron is NOT gay.

Schooled By My Three Year Old

2011-03-31T22:46:00.004-04:00

This evening Brett took the Peter to the Caps game, while I stayed home with Aaron.

When they got home, Peter ran up to me to tell me all about his "big boy" night with daddy.

Peter - We saw Slapshot!

Me - No way! At your seats?

Peter - No silly, at the hockey game. He was on the ice.

Me - I didn't know Eagles could ice skate!

Peter - Slapshot is a VERY special eagle, mommy. He was wearing a black and white striped shirt.

Me - Oh, like a referee?

Peter - No, silly! Like a zebra or a kawati tail.

Me - What is a kawati?

Peter - A creature from animal junction of course! (Peter's favorite show on PBS is an animal show called Zaboomafoo)

Me - Let's look him up on the computer. (I type "quadie" into Google.)

Peter - No Mom, it starts with a KA sound - press the K button! (my 3.5 year old then proceeds to tell me each sound in the word "Kawati" and the letters that I need to push - his only mistake was a "Y" at the end).

Me - (after pulling up Google Images) Is this a kawati? (showing him this photo):

Peter - Um, maybe... but that is not his habitat. He lives in the wild.

Me - OK, how about this (showing him this photo):

Peter - Well that is better. But a kawati lives in a stick home like a beaver. Its called a dam.

Heaven help me when this child gets to school and needs help with homework, I am going to be a lost cause.

The "Eagle" Truck

2011-03-31T17:37:00.004-04:00

This morning I was sick and it was raining, but the kids needed to get out, so I decided to take them to Washington Capitals practice.

On our way we were stopped at a traffic light behind this truck:

Aaron - Eagle!

Peter - Yeah, Aaron, that's a Caps Truck!

Me - I think that is a mail truck guys.

Peter - Um, no that is an EAGLE, not mail. Eagle means Slapshot (he was referring to the Caps mascot). Slapshot means Caps.

Aaron - Yeah, that's Slapshot Mommy! He is going to hockey with us.

I think I have officially made them Caps Super Fans :)

My Baby Potty Mouth

2011-03-29T22:48:00.004-04:00

This afternoon I took the kids to the store, and as we left I noticed that someone had side swiped my new mini van while it was parked out front.

Without thinking about the fact that I was holding hands with both my pre-school age children I said, "This sucks!"

To which Aaron (2.5 years old) laughed, looked up at me and said, "Rangers Suck!"

My Charmer

2011-03-24T16:09:00.003-04:00

My husband is possibly the cheesiest and most complimentary man I have ever met. Whether it is telling me I am beautiful first thing in the morning (which I am not to anyone but him) or constantly complimenting my cooking, there is always a kind word coming out of his mouth (which I try hard not to even take for granted).

I don't know how I feel about nurture vs. nature, but one of them has made Peter EXACTLY like his father in his need to give words of affirmation and spread love. Just like his father, Peter compliments me on EVERYTHING, tells me he loves me non-stop, and gives out hugs and kisses freely.

This afternoon I was eating my lunch and Peter was watching TV. He abruptly got up from his chair and came into the dining room.

Peter - I think Campbell needs a hug and a kiss.

Me - (scooting out from the table) That is very nice, go ahead.

Peter - (hugs and kisses my belly) Thanks Mom, Campbell REALLY likes hugs and kisses.

Then he turns to run back into the living room. Stops. Turns back to me (as if he forgot something).

Peter - Mommy, you are so pretty.

Me - Thanks Peter, are you trying to get something out of me?

Peter stands there a minute looking a little thrown by the question and finally comes up with an answer.

Peter - Yeah, I would like something out of you - Her name is Campbell, she is my baby sister. Can we PLEASE go to the doctor to get your belly cut open so I can play with her now???

Hide and Seek

2011-03-15T20:38:00.002-04:00

Tonight Brett took our silver CRV to Carmax to sell it, and a little while after he left I packed the kids in the car to go pick Brett up (we aren't buying our new mini van from Carmax so he was car-less).

The kids were hungry and in terrible moods when we got in the car, but they seemed to calm down a little when I told them we were going to pick up Daddy.

When we pulled into the Carmax parking lot and Brett opened the passengers side door to get in, Aaron screamed from the back seat, "We found you Daddy! That was a really good hiding place!!!"

Life is So Good

2011-03-15T18:17:00.003-04:00

Our "normal" routine for wake up time (in the morning and after naps) is that I get Peter first, then Aaron. While I am getting Aaron ready Peter is free to play in his room or downstairs.

This afternoon after I got Peter up I saw him go into his closet and get the noise-canceling headphones that we had gotten for the boys when we took them to the Monster Truck show. I didn't think anything of it and went about my business changing Aaron's diaper.

Five minutes later Aaron and I came downstairs to find Peter and Rusty (our dog), sitting in the middle of the living room floor, each wearing a pair of headphones.

Peter looked up at me and said, "Mommy, life is so good when Rusty and I can't listen to you."

Zumbathon to Save the Playground!

2011-03-09T11:08:00.004-05:00

The MOMS Club of Annandale, VA that I am a member of will be hosting a Zumbathon in just TWO WEEKS!

We are holding it to save the playground of John Calvin Church, which has suffered a lot during the storms this past year. Here are some photos of the damage:

John Calvin Church is "home" to the 58 full-time and part-time stay-home mothers in the MOMS Club of Annandale, VA and all of their children. It's where the chapter meets for many activities, guest speakers, playgroups, and more. Saving and restoring the playground will mean A LOT to our little ones and to the whole community of Annandale.

When? March 26, 2011
Time? 2-4pm
What? $15 for 2 hours of Zumba instruction! All proceeds will go to helping with repairs to John Calvin's church playground which has had extensive damage due to trees falling.

For directions and more information please visit our event website!

Arachnophobia

2011-03-07T19:34:00.002-05:00

This afternoon our PMP (Pest Management Professional) was at the house for our bi-monthly service. Peter, who is not napping very much anymore, was downstairs with me when he got there.

Peter - Mommy, who is that man?

Me - That is RJ, he makes sure bugs don't get in our house.

Peter - Like spiders? (Peter is TERRIFIED of spiders, a fear he learned from his father)

Me - Yep, and any other bad bugs that try to get in our house.

Peter - But not the nice spiders, right?

Me - Right, he is nice to the good spiders.

Peter - But what ARE the good spiders?

Me - Maybe a Daddy Long Legs? They are nice.

Peter - Yeah, or Mommy Long Legs, or Aaron Long Legs, or Rusty Long Legs. All of the family spiders are OK, but he better make sure there aren't any others.

My First Sex Party

2011-03-07T16:06:00.004-05:00

Last Friday night, Brett and I invited a few friends and local family over to find out the sex of Baby G3 (as we call our third baby).

That morning I went to the doctor's office to get a level II sonogram and while at the doctor's office I gave them a folder with two sheets of paper - one that said "It's a Girl" and one that said "It's a Boy!".

As much as it killed me, I didn't look at the screen once (after two babies you can figure out what the sex is with that type of technology pretty easily), and asked that the doctor leave the correct sex in the envelop with the sonogram pictures then seal it up.

When they gave me back my envelop it took everything I had not to open it up and peek inside, but I resisted the urge!

Eight LONG hours later we were eating BBQ with friends and waiting for the big reveal. Brett and I stood up and opened the envelop up together to find out - we are having a GIRL!

I almost fell over from shock as Brett threw his arms in the air in excitement (he has always wanted a girl).

You can watch the video from the big moment here!

The next morning I was over being shocked and freaked out, while Brett was just starting to worry. After his mini panic attack from "not knowing what to do with a girl" we moved on to picking baby names.

We knew that this baby was going to be a "C" name if it was a girl, so we quickly narrowed the names down to Campbell, Charlie, and Celia. Then we decided to let the boys decide what they wanted to name their sister. After we asked each individually we had a unanimous decision - Peter and Aaron's sister would be named "Campbell"! I wanted a family name for her middle name, so I took my mother's middle name "Louise" for my first daughter.

Knowing the sex and naming her has made this pregnancy seem even more real and exciting. We cannot wait to meet Campbell Louise Gardner this summer!!!

The Real Reason Brett Keeps Impregnating Me

2011-03-07T15:51:00.002-05:00

There are days when I truly believe that the number one reason my husband continues to want more children (when we got married he only wanted 2 MAX, now he has agreed to 4) is that he really enjoys teaching them funny things to say.

When the kids were old enough to learn how to deliver a joke he taught them MANY...

What is a pirate's favorite letter?... RRRRRRRRR

Why is 6 afraid of 7?... Because 7, 8, 9

What did the 0 say to the 8?... Nice belt

And their FAVORITE knock knock joke:

Knock knock

Who's there?

Panther

Panther Who?

Panther no pants; I'm going swimming!

When Peter was potty training Brett taught him Salt-n-Pepa's song "Push It" as a helpful hint during a #2, taught them the course to Ice Ice Baby, and frequently comes up with little one liners for them to repeat to friends.

Last Wednesday, we took the boys out to celebrate their "Uncle" Troy's birthday (Peter's God Father). Peter brought a toy tiger and told everyone that it was a "party animal."

Then Friday night, Brett and the kids went for a walk. When they got home, Peter ran up to me really excitedly and handed me a rock.

Peter - Here Mommy!

Me - Wow, a Rock, Thanks Peter

Peter - Hey Mom, can you smell what that rock is cooking?

Men's and Women's Role in the Household

2011-03-03T09:16:00.004-05:00

Yesterday morning the kids were playing dinosaurs. Aaron had two dinosaurs that were the Mommy and Daddy, and Peter had two smaller dinosaurs that were the kids.

Aaron picks up the "Mommy" and tells the rest of the dinosaur family, "OK kids, Mommy is going to work!"

Peter quickly corrected his brothers mistake by telling him, "No, Aaron - DADDIES go to work! Mommies go to hockey."

Only in my house :)

Aaron's Favorite

2011-02-16T17:26:00.002-05:00

This afternoon the whole family went on a walk together. Aaron wanted to play in some bushes and (shocker) ended up hurting himself. He screamed out for me, but since Brett was closer he picked him up.

Aaron - (still crying) - No. I said mommy!

Me - I'll take him, he likes me better (obviously joking, because Aaron used to be such a Daddy's boy)

Brett - Hey, that's not nice.

Me - Aaron, who is your favorite?

Aaron - Blue

Me - No who do you like, mommy or daddy?

Aaron - no, Peter is my favorite! Peter is the best boy ever.

First time ever that I didn't care at all about not being the favorite.

Side note - right after I decided to ask Peter:

Me - Who is your best girl?

Peter - You

Me - Who is your best boy?

Peter - ME!

That was a little too predictable.

Pick a Penny up All Day Long You'll Have Good Luck

2011-02-16T14:55:00.001-05:00

This morning Aaron found a penny and brought it over to me.

Aaron - here mommy, I found this for you.

Me - thank you

He starts to walk away, then turns around.

Aaron - wait! Do NOT put that in your mouth!!! It is VERY dangerous!!

Me - ok, thanks for the warning

Aaron - but you can smell it if you want to. But NOT not the mouth!!!!!

Red Light, Green Light

2011-02-16T10:04:00.002-05:00

The other morning, I stopped at a red light, looked left and made a legal right turn on red.

Aaron screamed from the back seat - NO MOMMY! Red means STOP! Go back and stop until you see a green light.

I explained turning laws and then asked the kids - What does a yellow light mean?

Peter & Aaron - Slow down!

Me - What about a green light?

Peter & Aaron - GO!

Me (being silly) - Purple light?

Aaron sat confused, Peter yelled out - DANCE! DANCE! DANCE!

Baby G3 at 15 Weeks and 2 Days

2011-02-02T14:20:00.003-05:00

I had my 15 week baby appointment today. It was a spectacle to say the least.

First of all, while I was in the waiting room a former co-worker (who I had recommended see my doctor) came in for her appointment and saw me. She. Freaked. OUT. She was screaming, "Oh my gosh - JILLIAN! - You are the reason I go here!!!" Then she told everyone that worked there that I referred her (she isn't really a shy person, if you couldn't tell).

Next, the nurse called me out of the waiting room to get a urine sample. I went into the bathroom, peed (completely forgetting to get a sample), washed my hands and went back to the waiting room. Two minutes later the nurse came in looking confused and asked for my sample.

"Oh, oops... I did go to the bathroom, but I forgot to get a sample."

ENTIRE waiting room starts laughing, and many "welcome to pregnancy" and "baby stole her brain" comments start flying.

Lastly, my doctor walks into the waiting room to get me for my exam but instead of calling my name he says "Miss Popular, you're next" (I have refereed SEVERAL patients to him, so he assumes I am some sort of socialite). As I get up to head to the back he announces to the waiting room, "I mean it - she probably has a thousand friends on Facebook!"

Did my 60 year old doctor really just make a Facebook reference?!?!?

Anyway, on to the reason I was at the doctor - MY BABY!

Baby looks great. (S)he was being difficult so we saw a great profile for a second then it moved and this was the best picture we could get:

Baby had 2 arms, 2 legs, great heart beat and was moving like a crazy person. We also got our order to have a Level II sonogram in 4 weeks where we will find out the sex! I don't know anyone at that office, so hopefully it will be less eventful!

"Baby" Aaron

2011-02-02T13:18:00.003-05:00

Aaron is my baby, just ask him!

He didn't walk until he was almost 17 months old (maybe because I was always holding him), and even when he is playing nicely he always "checks-in" with me every 10-15 minutes to get a kiss or a hug or just to generally make sure I am still there.

At 2 and a half years he is still pretty needy (he is actually snuggled up on my lap as I type).

Unlike his brother, Aaron could care less about becoming a big brother. He actually refuses to talk about the new baby.

Today, he came over to me, lifted up his shirt, pushed out his belly and said, "Look Mommy, its your belly!"

"That's right Aaron, there is a baby in my belly."

"No Mommy, I am the baby."

"You are a big boy now Aaron and when the baby comes out, you will be a big brother. Do you want to kiss my belly and send the baby your love?"

"No thank you! There is no baby in there. I AM YOUR BABY MOMMY!"

Someone is in for a rude awakening this summer... I think that someone might be me!

Using My Words Against Me

2011-01-31T10:35:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of "Mom" phrases I use frequently with my boys. Three of the more popular lines are:

"That is not for boys" - when they are into something I don't want them in.

"Mommy doesn't listen to whining and crying" - when they are crying for no reason.

"If there is no blood, there are no tears" - when they have a minor fall or injury and try to milk it.

Within 20 minutes this morning all three of these lines were used on me.

During the boys breakfast I was in the kitchen cutting up onions for dinner tonight.

Peter - I am all done, can I get down please and play?

Me - Hold on, Mommy needs to wash off her hands and face, this onion is making me cry.

Peter - I thought you didn't like crying?

Me - I don't but onions have a strong smell that makes my eyes tear.

Peter - MOMMY! If there is no blood, there are no tears!!!

Me - (eye roll)

After I was finished in the kitchen I went into the living room to play with the boys. They were playing with their vast collection of "Silly Bands". I picked up one of them and put it on.

Me - These are cool, can Mommy wear some?

Peter - These are not for Mommies. They are for boys.

Out With The Old!

2011-01-30T17:30:00.013-05:00

As we prepare for Baby #3 we are doing some early spring cleaning.

Here are some items we have listed on Craig's List if you are in the market:

Dish Drying Rack

Cars Electric Race Track

Queen/Full Bed Frame - SOLD

Blue Toddler Drawing Table - SOLD

Wire Cube Shelving System - SOLD

Swan Caravan Lite LX Double Stroller - SOLD

All prices are subject to change (be waved) for friends and family, I really just want this stuff out of my house!

We have more coming, including: my purple golf clubs, old video game systems (Game Cube and X-Box with DDR Pads), 2 more double strollers, umbrella stroller, Kid's A-B-C Play mat, and MY CAR!

If you know anyone in the market for a 2002 Honda CRV, Silver, with 118K miles let me know. New tires, new windshield. The Kelly Blue Book is lists it at:

Excellent Condition - $8,805
Good Condition - $8,255
Fair Condition - $7,380

We will probably be asking $7,000 - Pictures to come in the next month!

Gym

2011-01-19T09:09:00.002-05:00

Brett and I joined a gym new gym - Xsport - this past Fall and before signing up we made sure to use the 7 day free trial to make sure the kids liked the day care. At first we had to bribe them with ice cream after if they were good, but now they ask to go (when I am too lazy to work out).

This morning I told Peter we were going to XSport.

His response, "OK Mommy, but this time you can stay with me in the play area - you should get to have a little fun too!"

Coming soon - A Niece or Nephew!

2011-01-18T18:13:00.004-05:00

Last October Brett's brother and our sister-in-law called with VERY exciting news - they were expecting. I literally screamed with excitement and started crying with joy.

The first reason (of course) was a selfish one - I have been DYING to become an Aunt. Being an Aunt seems like so much fun. You get to spoil and be fun, without having to worry about the discipline or sleepless nights. Perfect situation! I am almost more excited about becoming an Aunt than I am about becoming a mom for the 3rd time (ALMOST).

I had really fun Aunts growing up, that I was able to go visit and take trips with as a kid. I am already hoping that Don and Jen give us that opportunities when our niece or nephew is older!

The second reason for my excitement, is that Don and Jen are AMAZING with my kids. I honestly could not have married into a family with a better pair to be Aunt and Uncle to my boys. If they parent with half the love, generosity and attention that they show their nephews (and you know they will!) they are going to be such great parents.

Jen is due about 6 weeks before me, so our kids will be close in age and hopefully be good friends! They are not finding out the sex (although, from past history I am pretty sure Gardners only make boys), but here is a sneak peak of his/her adorable profile:

Monitoring my Boys

2011-01-18T16:11:00.002-05:00

We have a 2 room baby monitor. This means that we have monitors in each of the boy's rooms and the receiver switches back and forth between the rooms every 30 seconds.

This afternoon when the kids were waking up from their naps I heard the following:

Aaron - (Crying) Mommy, I need you.

Monitor switched to Peters room.

Peter - Don't worry Aaron, Mommy is in the basement, but she is coming. Mommy, Aaron needs you!!!!!

Always taking care of his brother. So sweet.

Book

2011-01-16T17:27:00.002-05:00

As I said in the below post - Peter is starting to show signs of sounding out words and learning to read. It has stirred up some interesting conversations in my house that prove to me that I really need to be quicker on my feet with answers if I am going to keep up with this kid.

Setting - we are reading books one night, and in the story the word "book" came up.

Peter - Mommy, that doesn't spell "book".

Me - Yes it does, let's sound it out. What does a "B" say?

Peter - Ba

(We go through each letter and say all the sounds)

Me - See, you put that together and it says "Book"

Peter - Well there are two "O"s - that says ooo, like "zoo" or "boo", so it says BoooK (use the "OO" sound in Zoo or Boo).

Me - Well, when there is a "K" after the Os the two "O"s make a different sound, so they say "Book".

Peter - I think you are saying it wrong. Can you finish reading me the boook (again with the "oo" sound in zoo).

Building Words

2011-01-16T16:56:00.005-05:00

I was a late reader... VERY LATE (and I still cannot spell to save my life). Because of that, I have irrational freak outs that my kids will be the same way.

My Aunt Marilyn (a life-time educator) told me that as long as I read to them a lot and talk about letters and sounds they should be fine. As a result of me probably going a little over board with her advise, and using a few of the PBS shows* as reinforcement, my boys both know all their A-B-Cs and the sound that each letter makes. Peter is actually showing signs of reading by sounding words out!

One of the tools we have are a set of flash cards that make words with a picture of the word above them.

Peter LOVES playing this game, because it is very similar to "building words" in the show Word World.

We put the cards down one by one saying the sounds, then push the letters together (building the word) and he says what it is. Peter is pretty good at actually sounding out the words. Aaron is not, but he still loves to play.

This morning we were playing and the following word came up. As we put down the cards we said the sounds of all the letters, and then I asked what the word was. Aaron pushed the letters together and shouted, "BREAKFAST!"

Then we did it again with this word and he yelled, "MONKEY!"

He will get it one day, but for now I will enjoy his funny answers.

*PBS Shows with a concentration on letters and reading readiness that we have found help:

Sesame Street
Word World (this is the one where they "build words")
Super Why

More Literal Interpretations

2011-01-15T21:16:00.003-05:00

We got ice cream the other day and Aaron was (as always) going to town (he got his Aunt K's sweet tooth).

So I asked him, "Aaron, is that yummy in your tummy?"

His reply, "no, Mommy, it is yummy in my mouth."

Toot toot

2011-01-15T21:12:00.002-05:00

The other day Peter and Aaron were playing in their playroom when I walked in to check on them. I found them both giggling and asked why.

Aaron - I made a toot, Mommy! HAHAHAHA

Peter - Yeah, Aaron made a toot - now you HAVE to laugh! Daddy thinks it is SO FUNNY.

Me - Ok guys, are you ready to come up for dinner?

Peter - Um, you aren't laughing... I said Aaron TOOTED! LAUGH!

So, we can officially say that Peter has his father (and my father's) sense of humor and my bossy gene.

Superman!

2011-01-13T19:27:00.002-05:00

This evening during bedtime, Brett decided to inform Peter about one of the worlds great superheros - SUPERMAN!

As he told Peter all about Superman's amazing abilities, including that Superman could jump higher than a house!

Peter looked at Brett with confusion and said, "Daddy, that's not very amazing - houses can't jump!"

Picture of Mommy

2011-01-13T13:22:00.002-05:00

Peter made this picture of me and wrote my name all by himself. I was so thrilled by his letters, but thrown off by the picture.

He knows how to draw people better than this. Usually they look like a head with a face, and arms and legs coming off the sides and bottom.

When I questioned Peter about why I looked like a tornado instead of a person he said, "this is you in the morning."

The Season of Giving

2011-01-13T10:51:00.003-05:00

Last week Peter went to a dinosaur class at the nature center. At his little class they did a dinosaur craft, which Peter gave to me and I hung up by my desk. Aaron is obsessed with the little dinosaur that Peter made and is constantly asking me to play with it.

This morning I was doing some work on the computer when Aaron came over.

Aaron - Mommy, can I play with your dinosaur please?

Me - Aaron, Peter made me this dinosaur and I don't want it to break.

Peter - Mommy, Christmas is all about giving. Did you forget? You need to give Aaron that dinosaur.

Laughing to myself I told Peter he was right and handed over the dinosaur for Aaron to play with.

Not long after Peter and Aaron were fighting over a toy.

Me - Peter, don't forget, Christmas is all about giving. You need to share with Aaron.

Peter - Mommy, did you forget? Christmas is over.

Peter Wants a Baby

2011-01-10T13:48:00.002-05:00

The other day we asked Peter what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Peter - I want to be a daddy.

Me - That is a good thing to be.

Peter - Yeah, when can I have my own baby?

Brett - Well, Peter you are going to have to wait at least 10 years.

Really, Brett? So 13 is the appropriate age to let your children start having their own kids?

Getting the "H" Out

2011-01-10T00:49:00.002-05:00

Brett told me a sweet story about trying to put Aaron to bed tonight and Aaron trying to stall him.

Aaron - Daddy, I am not sleepy, it is not bedtime!

Brett - Bedtime Aaron, say good night.

Aaron - But I need to give you a kiss.

Brett - OK, give me a kiss.

Aaron - But I need to kiss your nose.

Brett - Alright, kiss my nose.

Aaron - Now I need to kiss your head.

Brett - OK

Aaron - Now open wide.

Brett - AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

At this point Aaron puts his entire hand into Brett's mouth.

Aaron - You have an "H" in there. I need to get it out.

Now Aaron waits about 15 seconds.

Aaron - GOT IT!

Brett - Thank goodness.

Aaron - OK, Daddy, bedtime. Night Night Daddy.

Brett - Night Night Aaron.

Aaron - Wove you.

Brett - I love you too.

Aaron - But... I need to give you a kiss.

Scroll back up to the beginning of the conversation and re-read three times. Finally after the fourth round Aaron didn't ask for a kiss and curled up with his Lovey Lamb.

Officially the most original way one of my children has held off bedtime... so far.

To My Health

2011-01-10T00:23:00.004-05:00

Brett and I are getting hit pretty hard by all the changes in medical insurance this year. Our new plan means that giving birth this summer will cost us a lot out of pocket (I don't think we paid a cent for Peter or Aaron), so we put the max allowed into our FSA account.

This weekend we were working out our budget for the year and I said something to the effect of, "you had a great promotion and bonus, yet we are only bringing in $12 more per pay period."

Brett responded that it only seems that way because this year we have to budget for surgery (c-section), but normally that money would go into his pay check and not into the FSA account.

Really Brett? What is "normal"? Because as I calculate it I have had at least one surgery every year that we have been married:

2007 - C-section
2008 - C-section
2009 - Ureteroscopic Kidney Stone Removal
2010 - Thyroidectomy and DNC

Not to mention swine flu (Brett calls me the outbreak monkey because I had it before it was "cool"), seizures, tuberculous, pneumonia, 7 months of mono, hypothyroidism, asthma, boarder line diabetic, gestational diabetes, anemia, low blood pressure, fainting spells, sciatica, chronic migraines, a tumor and infections after both c-sections in my medical history.

I think he momentarily forgot that he was married to a 28 year old with the medical history/immune system of an 82 year old.

He had a similar laps in judgment when he thought it wasn't necessary to have life insurance on me.

Child Birth

2011-01-09T09:37:00.002-05:00

When we told the kids about the baby that is coming this summer Aaron was not remotely interested, but Peter was intrigued. Ever since the questions have been coming like rapid fire.

He frequently wants to know how big the baby is, and has even asked me to open my mouth so he could look in and see the baby. He is very upset when this doesn't work.

He is also very interested in how the baby is going to get out of me. When he asked I countered him and asked what he thought. After much deliberation he said:

"I have a hypothesis, the baby is just a little bean right now, but if you keep feeding it the bean will grow into a baby and your belly will get REALLY big like Aunt Bubbs. Then when the baby is big enough he will climb up your ladder and out of your mouth."

As traumatic as child birth is, I think Peter's "hypothesis" seems more painful... but I have C-Sections so what do I know.

Killing me with Kindness

2011-01-09T09:08:00.003-05:00

I don't write as many blogs about the funny little things that Aaron says as I do about what Peter says, but that doesn't mean Aaron isn't as funny. And trust me he talks just as much, actually Peter is sort of having trouble getting a word in edge wise lately. Aaron is just harder to capture in print. Half of what makes Aaron funny are the faces that he makes and his cute little voice.

Here is an example of "the face," but there is a range of ridiculous faces that he gives us ranging from distaste to over joyed.

The other "Aaronism" when Aaron talks is that he says things in a very polite way even when he is talking about something he doesn't like.

Give him food he doesn't like? His response, "No, thank you! This is NOT my favorite, can I have a cupcake? Please, Mommy, oh please pleeease?" (he has a bit of a sweet tooth and constantly asks for cupcakes, ice cream, pop tarts, cookies, or just generalizes to treats.)

"No, thank you" is a BIG one for Aaron. Peter will try to take a toy or play something that Aaron doesn't like and Aaron first response (before Wrestling his brother) is, "NO THANK YOU PETER, NO THANK YOU!"

But the tone and the words are completely opposite. Though all of his language is peppered with "pleases" and "thank yous" his tone is rarely polite when he wants his way. It is almost as if he is learning sarcasm (probably from his mother).

However, when Aaron drops sarcasm he is the sweetest, most loving boy ever. At night when I go to check on him before I go to bed he is occasionally sitting in his bed quietly with his eyes open.

Me - Aaron, whats wrong?

Aaron - I can't sleep. I need a kiss.

Me - OK (picking him up and kissing him)

Aaron - Thanks Mommy, I Wove you. (he cannot say his "L"s very well)

Me - I love you too Aaron

Aaron - Night night Mommy. I going to sleep now.

Heart. Completely. Melted.

Religous Conversations with my 3 Year Old

2011-01-08T16:45:00.003-05:00

Brett and I were Baptized Christians on June 17, 2009 and before then had dedicated both of our children at our church.

We try hard to make our faith a part of our kids life, but honestly during Christmas is the time when I really talk to Peter and Aaron a lot about it.

They have a Little People Nativity set that we only get out at Christmas that they LOVE, and I use it (along with some books we have) to explain the meaning of Christmas. We also use Christmas as a celebration of Jesus's birthday (with a cake and everything) to emphasis the point.

Thus far Peter sort of understands the following:

1. God made everything (this is a point he follows up with all the time... "what about Rusty's teeth, did God make those?")

2. God is Jesus's Father.

3. Jesus was a special baby that came to take care of us.

4. Mary was Jesus's mother.

Pretty good for a 3 year old, but now that he has started to grasp the idea he is asking tougher questions. The following took place when we were playing with his Nativity set:

Peter - Mommy, this is Baby Jesus and EVERYONE loves him and he loves every body. This is his birthday party. He invited all his animal friends and these three friends brought him presents. This is his mother, Mary; and this is his father, God (holding up Joseph)

Me - No Peter, that is Joseph. God gave baby Jesus to Mary so that Mary and Joseph could take care of him.

Peter - Like God gave you the baby in your belly for you and Daddy to take care of?

Me - No, Daddy gave me my baby.

Peter - But God makes everything.

Me - ummmmmmmm... Well God gave Daddy the ability to give me a baby.

Peter - What's "ability"?

Me - It is like power - God gave Daddy the power to give Mommy a baby... Like the Super Readers have the power to read. That is their ability.

Peter - Daddy is a Super Hero?!?! But I think this guy is still called God (pointing to Joseph), OK Mommy?

Oh well, I tried!

Constant Cravings

2011-01-07T21:36:00.003-05:00

For those who don't know, Brett and I are expecting AGAIN!

Baby #3 will be welcomed into the world this summer, and just out of my first trimester I am already suffering major cravings.

When I was pregnant with Peter and Aaron I would get cravings for Coffee Ice Cream and Oreos. Almost every night at 11pm. When I would ask Brett to go to the store he would always say, "I think you are just hungry, just eat something else and wait 30 minutes. If you are still hungry after that I will go to the store."

He is a smart guy, 99% of the time I ended up falling asleep and in 18 months of pregnancy he only had to go get my ice cream and oreos ONCE!

Baby G3 (as we call him/her) gives me a much spicier craving - Chipolte Veggie Burritos. And not just at 11pm - all day long. It is hard because we have one right next to our gym, but I have been good and stayed away (they are like 2,000 calories each). Until tonight.

Brett asked what I wanted for dinner and the following conversation took place:

Me - I think the baby wants Chipolte.

Brett - The closest one is a 15 minute drive... are you sure?

Me - Very sure.

Brett - How would the baby feel about Taco Bell?

Me - The baby is EXTREMELY specific about it's Mexican take out.

Brett - Why don't we have something from Taco Bell and see if the baby is satisfied? After 30 minutes if you are still hungry I will drive to Chipolte.

Guess who is currently at the Taco Bell drive through? Dang it!!!

Email Forward Worth Posting...

2011-01-06T15:41:00.001-05:00

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

11 Months Apart

2011-01-05T20:19:00.003-05:00

My boys are almost exactly 11 months apart, and being the nut that I am I usually try to dress them the same. Aaron (younger) is big for his age and Peter is a little small for his age; so around the time Aaron was about 10 or 11 months people naturally started asking me if they are twins. Every single time we are in public.

It has become so frequent, that before I can respond Peter will say, "No, we are 11 months apart."

He has actually gotten sort of obsessed with how far apart people are in age. He will tell me, "Mommy, you and Aunt K are 3 years apart, and Daddy and Uncle Don are 2 years apart." He will also randomly ask me how far apart I am from other people.

Today, Peter and Aaron were playing with cars and Peter picked up two cars that looked identical to one another. He handed one to Aaron and took one for himself, then he told Aaron, "You can play with that one and I will play with this one. But they aren't twins, they are 11 months apart."

Aaron the Whiner

2010-11-27T11:51:00.001-05:00

Our sweet baby Aaron hit birthday #2 this summer and almost right away we saw the terrible 2s rear it's ugly head. Aaron has always been more temperamental than Peter, but the whiney-ness seems to be at an all time high recently. Lucky for Brett and I, he does pepper in some entertainment.

Here is a conversation we had with him on the way up to PA for Thanksgiving:

Scene - Aaron is in the back seat whining and we cannot understand anything he is saying.

Me - Aaron if you want to talk to Mommy and Daddy you need to used your words.

Aaron (in major whining voice) - I don't want to use my works.

Brett - Well Aaron if you don't stop whining and ask nicely for what you want we can't help you.

Aaron (in sweet baby voice) - Can I whine PLEASE Mommy and Daddy? Pleeeeease???

Cafe Press - LOVE IT

2010-11-23T13:16:00.003-05:00

I just started a Cafe Press store. It was so fun to create, and now my items are for sale!

For the Washington Capitals Hockey Lover - http://www.cafepress.com/CapsSuperFan

Plus iPhone 4 cases can now be found at CafePress along with millions of personalized hoodies and 2011 calendars!

No Shortage of Self Confidence

2010-11-12T09:38:00.002-05:00

The following are two conversations that happened this morning, abut 15 minute apart:

Peter was watching me get ready, and after observing me put on deodorant asked if he could try. I didn't see any harm, so we took off his PJ shirt and I let him swipe my deodorant under each of his arms. As soon as he was done, he takes in a big breath of confidence and says, "look at me Mommy, I am VERY handsome now!"

Soon after we were all sitting at the breakfast table talking about the difference between babies and big boys, when I asked Aaron, "Aaron, are you a baby or a big boy?"

"No, Mommy, I'm cute."

I couldn't agree more.