Sunday

On Sundays, we usually head over to the University of Miami's campus for some family time after the boys wake up from their naps. It is so nice to spend quality time together enjoying each other and the beautiful Miami weather. The boys just eat up all the all the attention from Paul, and I don't Paul minds in the least.

The boys usually find some clever way to entertain themselves. Paul and I sit and chat and talk about how lucky we are and how we love them.

There is always entertaining done by Paul. This Sunday, it was a long piece of butcher paper. He would run fast enough for the wind to get underneath it and make it fly. First he ran by himself, and then he took each boy for a few runs around this courtyard. :)

duck chasing

Is duck chasing a favorite past time of all kids? Or is it just boys...? My boys are obsessed, especially Hawken.

story time

We have been going to "Reading ready toddler story time" at the library. They do it for almost an hour every week and the boys have the BEST time. The first time we went, Hawken spent most of his time coloring, while Matix was entranced in the story, and all the activities.

Since then, Hawken gets more involved. The lady who leads it splits the time up really well and devotes only a few minutes at a time to each activity. A simple hello song to begin, then a get your wiggles out song, then sitting to read the story. After the story the kids are given a coloring page that has to do with the story. They color it and when they are done they may pick out a musical instrument which eventually begins the next segment with is a music time. There are a few dances and things she leads with the instruments, then they clean up and she brings out the bubble machine. This is a favorite. The boys go crazy (along with all the other children) and after that we can go. It has been this same routine every time we have gone, although it varies slightly each time, and I love the structure of it all. Each transition is easy for the children to do and makes logical sense. I love it. There are tons of libraries here and we have our pick of three within 5 minutes of our house. We are switching locations starting this week and I hope everything goes as smoothly with a new teacher and a new place. I am switching for the free and shaded parking. You have to pay for parking nearly everywhere in Miami, minus the new library location I want to go to, plus it's shaded which is nice especially with the 80 degree days we have been having... Yikes. :)

animal lover

No, this is NOT an optical illusion. This dog is over 200 lbs (I wish I had a picture of him standing all the way up, he was huge!) and our fearless Matix went right up to him...

Here's the surprise factor for those of you who only know Hawken as a scardy cat... Hawken went up to the dog too! He pet it, and followed the rules (ask first to pet the dog, hold out your hand to let the dog know you, then pat the dog slowly and gently). Hawken is getting more and more like his brother and turning into quite the animal lover. He is still cautious, but will now ask to pet a dog, rather than just turn and run from it. This is a really good thing because we are bringing Sakina (our dog) back to Miami with us after we pick her up from Paul's parents house where she has been on "vacation" with them for the past 2 years!! We miss her.

evening at the park

Paul takes off time from studying every evening to come home, play with the boys for a little bit, eat dinner and help me with the rest of the bed time routine. This day we went to a park to play. It was so nice to watch the boys loving their time with their daddy. We have been really spoiled by Paul's hard work and determination, and we LOVE it. :) We know a lot of daddies who don't take as much time for their families in our same situation, and we are very grateful for Paul. This is the toddler version of racquetball:

It was hard to get decent pictures of the boys because they were SO busy. They were so happy though and the smiles were too sweet not to try to capture.

Matix's new thing...

Look very closely at Matix's ears. Can you see that there is something in there?? He likes to put acorns or marbles in his ears, whenever he sees them. Weird. :)

Here is that last shot zoomed in a bit... See???

Kenzie's baby!!!

My niece Mackenzie had her baby!!! This is her first and after many hours of labor and NO epidural, she delivered this perfect little baby boy. His name is Russell and I love him already. :)

He is 7 lbs 14 oz, and 18 inches long. He has bright blue eyes (when they're open) and dark hair and, according to his mommy, he hasn't stopped screaming since birth. :) Isn't parenthood wonderful? She'll be a great mom. Congrats Kenzie! I love you!!

Belly pics 21 weeks

I planned on posting this yesterday when I was 21 weeks exactly... but alas, blogger was down (which by the way, made me lose my last post and all the comments that were made since Wednesday, what a pain). Anyway, here are the most recent belly pictures. I am most definitely "showing" and loving every little bit of it!! 21 weeks along with baby #3.

I feel great too. Lots of little aches and pains that go along with pregnancy, but I'll take it if it means I get a baby out of it!! :) I am just barely over the half way point and I am already showing THIS much!!! I love it! Hooray for girl pregnancies, or third pregnancies, or whatever is making me this big this fast! :)

In other exciting news, my niece Mackenzie is in LABOR!!! (don't worry, she is definitely old enough to have a baby, even though she is my niece :) She wasn't due until the end of the month, but the doctor's are not concerned about the baby coming now. He is healthy and looks great on the monitors. She is trying to go the natural route, so wish her luck. I can hardly wait to see pictures of him!!

kids say...

A lot of my friends do regular weekly posts with familiar content (weirdy Wednesday, Monday musings, etc.) and up until now I haven't really had anything that regular to write about. BUT, Matix has been saying some of the funniest things lately. I didn't think he was quite old enough to quote him yet, but I guess I am wrong. :) I don't think my "kids say" (that's what I'll call them) posts will be weekly, just as they happen. Enjoy.

Scene: While in the car leaving the parking lot, we see our landlord's father, George. He is a very nice older man who often stops by just to see how we are and say hello. So, I stopped and rolled down the car window to chat with him for a minute. The whole time we were chatting I could see Matix smiling a funny smile and watching George. We said our good-bye and he walked away.

J: "Matix, why are you smiling like that?"

M: "I like smiling."

J: "Do you like to talk to George?"

M: "Yeah, he has REALLY big teeth!"

Scene: We were playing outside at our complex. Hawken was off digging holes in the sandbox and Matix was racing his trike back and forth as fast as he could go along the sidewalk. All of a sudden, Matix screeches to a halt and jumps of his bike. With a now very concerned look, he lays down on his tummy with his face only a few inches from the ground and starts talking. I walk a little closer so I can hear him better.

M: "You okay snails? I sorry my bike cashed (crashed) you! Don't worry snails. Are you sad? Don't worry snails, Matix hold you. Don't be sad. Okay, you go over here now. Be careful snails, love you."

Such a little sweetheart. He ran over some (empty) snail shells with his trike and was worried about them. He talked to them so sweetly, and held them, and moved them into the grass so they would be safe. Love love love.

Scene: We recently bought some more containers of play-doh and some of them are still sealed with the plastic wrap around the lid. Matix and Hawken had asked to play with it, and Matix chose a container that was still sealed. He pulled at the plastic for a minute, really concentrating, until it ripped off. He instantly looks surprised, and then very pleased.

M: "See dat?! I got BIG muscles. Mommy! I pull, like dat, and I did it! I got BIG MUSCLES!!!"

He says while flexing and waving around the wrapper for everyone to see.

forgotten adventure

A million years ago (or so it seems) when Stacy was still here, she wanted to take the boys for a ride on the train. The metrorail here in Miami goes everywhere. One morning we headed out and rode the train... not to any particular destination, just to ride it. The boys LOVED it.

For some reason I completely forgot to post this, but then when we were at the train museum on Saturday, I thought of it, and checked the blog, and sure enough... I forgot it. So here it finally is. :)

new playground, again

How is it that we haven't even seen half of the parks and playgrounds in our area?! This is a new favorite. It has a million cool little things and details, like binoculars on the tops of the castle area, a kitchen area, tiny picnic area for playing at, spider webs for climbing, completely covered and shaded... The list goes on.

I love all the work the boys had to put into playing, it makes nap time that much better. :)

daddy

These two little boys have SUCH an entertaining daddy. Although he is still studying every waking moment from 5am until about 8pm for his upcoming tests, he still makes time for us. Only daddy can make hats out of trash.

When I met Paul, I thought, Hmm... Well, I will certainly never be bored. :) And I never have been. He is constantly making up rhymes (which I tease him about), or dancing, or singing. He sings to the boys, or to me or to himself almost as much as he breathes. Not always in tune, and rarely with the real words, and as silly as he can be. I love you Paul and I love your quirky personality and need to entertain. You make life so fun.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to me! :) I feel so lucky to be a mom and stay home to watch my boys grow. They are so wonderful. We went out for dinner to "celebrate all my mommy-ness" (said Paul) on Friday, and I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers yesterday and as I type this, Paul is making a fancy breakfast for us, YUM! I feel very spoiled. Here is a video of the two little guys that have made my life so perfect. I love you Matix and Hawken, and although I haven't met you yet, I love you too baby girl.

Also, Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Paul's mom, our grandmas, and all our other family and friends who are moms. :)

Hawken can jump!

Hawken, at 17 months, can jump!! He has been practicing and practicing for a LONG time, and his stubborn persistence has paid off! Good job big boy!

homemade

I have been in a creative mood lately, and that means extra baked goods for Paul and Barbara and new toys for the boys. I made these monsters a while ago and I have really been loving my sewing machine. The boys love their monsters even though I tried to make them as ugly as possible. I made them from the scraps from some scrubs Stacy cut into capris when she was here, and a few pieces of felt and buttons. It only took a few minutes for each monster (as you can probably tell), but they have been worth hours and hours of fun. Hooray!

I have also been making matching games using bottle tops, quiet books for church, blocks for building... the list goes on and on. My next endeavor is weighted snakes for some extra sensory input on days we can't go out and run and jump... All my old teacher friends know what I am talking about. :)

persistent

One morning Matix announced that he NEEDED his hat. We couldn't find his, but we found Hawken's, and I guess that was okay. He put it on and ran into the other room (looking for some important thing). Then this was the conversation that followed:

J: "Matix, what are you doing?"

M: "Quiet mommy, I scoverin."

-now I had no idea what scoverin was at this point, so I repeated him-

J: "You're scoverin?"

M: "Yeah, I scoverin!" -he said, while giving me a funny look for not knowing what that was

J: "Scoverin??"

M: "Yep! I scoverin."

J: "What is scoverin?"

M: "Yeah, mommy, see dat? (he held up a stick looped into a circle) I scoverin."

-I still didn't get it until he did this-

M: "See mommy? I scoverin a rock!"

Ha ha ha ha ha! I finally got it! He was DISCOVERING! He even made a little magnifying glass with this stick all on his own. What a fun little guy I have. Matix thankfully you're even more stubborn than I am and you make sure I eventually get it! :) What persistence.

poll results

The results of our fun little boy or girl poll were right, and the majority picked girl which is what we are having. The totals were 15 votes for a boy and 49 votes for a girl, so good job to you smart 49, well 48, I voted girl too. :)

Here's the question though... What do I do with a girl? Granted I have 5 sisters myself, but I have only ever raised my two rambunctious BOYS! I know all about trucks and bugs and all that great boy stuff. Don't get me wrong, my boys are also very snuggly and love lots of typical "girl" things too, like princess movies for example... But still, I am wondering, is raising a girl that much different than a boy? If so, I need tips. :)

Help needed

We have some friends, the Mays family, who are living in Alabama. Their house was one that was hit by the tornado that went through there a few days ago. Luckily they were all safe, but their house and many of their possessions are ruined or just gone. It was scary reading about what they were going through, and knowing we were too far away to really go there to do anything about it. Their almost three year old son is out of state now and staying with his grandparents while our friends stay back to try to salvage what they can, meet with insurance reps, and figure out what to do next.

Some friends of theirs are letting them stay at their house right now, but they are still in need. You can visit their blog here, read the specifics, and see some of the pictures. Also, they have a fund set up to help them financially to get through this hard time. I know things are hard right now for a lot of us, but if you can donate, please do. Go to this link and give whatever you can, I am sure any amount would be helpful.

They are a really wonderful family, and we wish we could do more. Please keep them in your prayers and send them happy thoughts, especially for their son who is very concerned about his "broken house". Thanks.

quarter rides

The boys have discovered the amazing things that are the quarter ride on toys at stores... I don't know how I feel about it. :) I don't usually carry coins with me, and since this day, they think its just part of shopping. Get your cart, wait in line, buy your things, ride the cars... hmmm. :) Never ever do I dare buy them candy in the check out line.

zoo

We went to the zoo with a bunch of friends, probably 10 moms and 15-ish kiddos. I joked that we should take a picture of the whole group, but of course, we didn't get to it before people had already started leaving. Oh well. There were a ton of us anyway, and it was nice to chat with the other moms, some I knew, and some I just met. Here is a picture of our first stop, the flamingoes. The kids were mesmerized.

Then off to the play animals. Matix and Hawken are in love with them, especially the hippo.

Hawken showing off his sharing skills. Good boy! :)

Discovering marshmallows, YUM! And, surprisingly, a lot less messy than I thought they would be.

Giant tortoises, really really GIANT. The boys were amazed. I am loving Miami, good friends, good places to go, HOORAY! :)