My Funny Valentines

I could NOT get a good picture of my two cuties this Valentine's Day.  But it was sure funny trying!

This is our normal picture behavior (yes, it is a terrible photo, but I had to show how my kids react to sitting together!).  Meg just does not want JD touching her at all!

Meg was fairly sober on Valentine's Day in general...not many smiles from my sweetie.

This is the best picture I have and they are both watching The Wiggles.

JD is looking pretty cute in this one. Love my stinker!

This was the only smile I got all morning and it is because she is stealing JD's toy away!

Again...JD's toys are pretty fun!

And a change of venue does nothing to help us out!  JD decides to scare and Meg is looking for an escape route.  Oh well!  We had a happy valentine's day anyway!!

Ole Faithful

Well, I never thought it would happen.  I prayed that this day would come for a long time.  Now that it has, I'm feeling surprisingly nostalgic! 

We are finally getting a new couch.  For those of you that know, I am actually repulsed by our current couch.  It wasn't always this way.

I bought my couch back in 2000, when I moved into my very own apartment for the first time.  I had lived in apartments during college, using old family couches, and moved in with a roommate when I moved back to Dallas, using her couch.  So it was exciting to pick out my very own couch!

At the time, a beautiful, overstuffed leather couch seemed like the way to go.  Leather only gets better with age, right?  It made a smooth transition into my very first house that I purchased in 2001.

When I first met Jon, my couch was actually a selling point in our relationship.  He would come over on Sunday afternoons with the excuse of spending time with me, but really, he just wanted to take a nap on my couch.  I have great memories of all the long and meaningful conversations we had on the couch on the road to marriage.

Then we built and moved into our current house.  The couch had a rather bumpy transition at this point.  It got pretty scratched in the move(s) (we temporarily lived in an apartment while the house was finished).  And it didn't fit very well in the living room.  Our new living room was really wide, but not very deep.  Not the best set up for a very deep, overstuffed couch.

But the couch was a very low priority compared to all of the other home improvements that we wanted to make.  So we made it work.

Then along came JD...and all of his baby bodily fluids (he was an incredible spitter)...that seemed to land directly on the couch every time.  If you know anything about "bomber" leather, fluids/stain soak right in, with no chance to save it. 

Then it was a waiting game, since we knew we were onto baby #2 shortly.  So Meg came along and sure enough, she was a champion spitter too.  And in the meantime, my busy boy figured out how to jump, crawl and scratch up the poor couch even more. 

So I have been ready to ditch the couch for at least 4 years!  But this old couch has served us faithfully, giving us a place to rest our weary bones, snuggle with the family and create lots of memories.

It's been swell, you old couch!  Thanks for the memories!

Boy Oh Boy!

I have the funniest, sweetest, most mischievious 3 (almost 4) year old in the world...at least I think so.

I have to share a few stories about JD's (mis)adventures (or as we used to say at my old workplace, coachable moments) in growing up recently.

Story #1
JD and I are sitting at the table finishing up a snack. Meg walks by, carrying some toy of JD's.
JD: Come here, you old stupid baby!
Me: WHAT did you just say???!!
JD: Meg needs to come here.
Me: No, what did you call her???!!!
JD: Stupid!
Me: We DO NOT EVER call someone stupid!! Where did you hear that???
JD: {No answer}

Jon enters the room at this point and I inform him of our son's new vocabulary word.

Jon: JD, we do NOT call anyone stupid. Don't even say that word!
JD: {A little more quietly} stupid
Jon: If you say it again, you will get a spanking.
JD: {Looks at both of us - whispers} stupid


And I guess you can figure out the rest of the story. Jon and I could barely keep from laughing during that whole saga because he and I both know that we were both just as stubborn growing up and would have most likely pulled the same thing with our parents (and probably did)! To his credit, JD hasn't said it again (at least in front of us)!

Story #2

JD LOVES Mr Potatohead right now (and has for the past 5-6 months). I love how Potatohead encourages all sorts of creative play and scenarios for JD. The problem with Potatohead is that there are lots of little pieces that fall off Potatohead or get misplaced all the time.

Most mornings (or after naptime) goes a little something like this:
JD: Mommy, where is Potatohead's (insert piece - eyes, ear, arm, etc)??
Me: I'm not sure. Did you look in your room?
JD: Yes.
Me: Under the couch? Under the table? In the office?
JD: Yes
Me: Well, then I don't know where it could be.
JD: Can you help me look for it please?
Me: As soon as I finish (insert activity - changing Meg, feeding Meg, doing dishes, etc).
JD: Now please??
Me: Just a minute. (insert whining by JD) Okay, fine.


So the other morning, I end up looking for Potatohead's ear for about 30 minutes. No luck. I finally just give up and tell JD we need to pick up some in order to find it. Just then, JD pats his shirt pocket and then pulls out the ear. Then he says, "Oh here it is. I put it here so I wouldn't lose it." Hmmm...


And the most recent story occurred this morning.

Story #3
JD went into my room with the excuse of needing to use the potty. I asked him to close the door behind him so that Meg wouldn't follow him in there. On his way back out to the living room, he closes the door again and says, "I locked it so Meg can't get in."

Me: What?! If you locked it, none of us can get in!

So then I look on all of our door frames for one of the little pinhole keys, which none of them have anymore. So I bend up a hanger and pop it open. Whew. Crisis averted, right?

Wrong.

I am loading up the car to get ready to take JD to school and I pulled the door that goes into the garage closed behind me, so I wouldn't let in the cold or have a kiddo following me into the garage. I put in JD's lunchbox, napmat, etc and go back to find the door locked! And I don't have my keys or phone or anything with me!

I start pounding on the door and hear Meg whimpering in the laundry room. Aaah! I need to get back in the house. Then I hear JD laughing behind the door and I tell him to unlock it, which thank goodness, he knew how to do. I asked him why he locked it and he said, "I didn't lock it. Baby Meg locked it." Hmmm....considering she can't even hold a doorknob yet, I'm doubting that one.

JD definitely keeps me on my toes at all times!!!

Snowmageddon 2011

More like Ice-mageddon around here...

We are on Day #4 of being housebound with two restless kiddos. And by we, I mean me, since Jon always has to work, no matter what is going on with the weather.

I ran through my indoor bag of tricks on Day 1, so I was very grateful that at least today's inclement weather included some beautiful thick snow (on top of the slippery ice).

We bundled up and braved the cold for some fun.

Doesn't Meg look cute in JD's old snow gear??

Meg did a face plant after I stood her up and that was it for her. She was content to watch JD play for awhile.

JD played for about an hour. I taught him how to do snow angels and he made them all over the yard.

But his favorite activity is to eat the snow. He definitely stayed hydrated while he was playing!