Just yesterday, I was looking at a picture on Facebook posted by the mom of a little boy I used to baby-sit when I was younger. That little boy is now a senior in high school! When my family and I moved to Hawaii, this little boy was just three years old. I had a full-circle moment when I realized that my oldest was already four years old, and my youngest will be three in January! I have kids who are the same age as this little boy was when I moved across the country. Time goes by so fast, and I thought it was appropriate to write down some things about my boys that I cherish so.
Dear Michael,
You are a sweet four year old little guy. You'd prefer for me to call you a "big boy" or "big kid" rather than "little guy" though. You are very very smart and can do basic math equations in your head. You know all of your letters and can count quite high, with a little added help deciphering the pronunciation of "thirteen" and "fourteen" because they both come out sounding like "firteen."
You are my inside-comfort child. Although you like to play outside, you'd rather be inside. You are a master cuddler and you still love to snuggle your "mommy blankies" when you're tired. You have no problems putting yourself to bed at bedtime. You rarely put up a fuss at all when we give the evening warning countdown. On the weekends, you still take a great nap. Sometimes, I have to actually wake you from your Saturday and Sunday naps.
You love your little brother, but still find ways to manipulate him at times. This banter starts out like all sibling-banter does-- both of you think it's funny, and then one of you decides it's not so funny any more, and then the aggravation begins. I do know though, that you are each other's best friend and I pray that this continues throughout your life. Your ages are close for a reason and it's so fun to see you two interact together.
Your favorite shows are "Angry Birds Toons," "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Batman" and "Super Mario Brothers Collection." Your favorite movies are "Despicable Me 2" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2." Sometimes, you'll even ask to watch our shows like "Burn Nose" (Burn Notice) and "Suits" which, of course, I do not let you watch. :)
Your favorite breakfast items include Greek yogurt, blueberry waffles (we prefer Kashi brand or Eggo Nutrigrain), bacon, scrambled eggs, etc, just to name a few. You consistently ask for cheese puffs (Pirate's Booty brand) at breakfast, and I consistently tell you that cheese puffs are not a breakfast food. Your favorite snacks include cheese puffs (obviously), yogurt again, or string cheese wrapped in pepperoni or hard salami (we find these in the Publix deli section and they are SO GOOD! And low carb!) Your favorite lunch and dinner items include anything with broccoli or carrots, and most kinds of chicken or pasta. The other night, you had three helpings of pasta with meat sauce, which surprised me since you're not a really big meat sauce fan.
You are growing very well. Your hair is so thick and the blondest of blondes without being white-blonde. Your eyes are hazel. Your face is very round and you always squint your eyes shut when you lean in for a hug. :) You are wearing size 5/6 in clothes, and your shoe size is between 12 and 13-- these are the last two shoe sizes in what's considered "infant/toddler sizing" and then we move to shoe size "1" which is the first size in boys' shoe sizes! So crazy to think you're already this old!
You love baths, especially bubble baths. You mostly play with a Despicable Me toy in the tub while you're getting bathed. You like to wash the hair of the toy, even though the toy's character is bald. You were a champ at the beach when you had to take showers instead of baths. You prefer your bath time, though, and you are very relaxed in the tub.
You are such a trooper when it comes to your diabetes care. You hardly flinch anymore when we do site rotations for your pods and CGM. You've even had to try a couple of new site locations recently and you've done so well.
I love you so very much, my Michael-moo! Love, Mommy
***
Dear Noah,
You are a spunky, spry two year old on a mission every day! You wake up and hit the ground running. Sleeping in is not for you! You are now "light switch height" and find great pleasure in being the one to turn on the lights.
You are obsessed with vacuums. Yes, Obsessed. I feel like I'm living in a vacuum museum since all of our vacuums are on display right now in our living room! You have a toy vacuum, and love to follow me around the living room "pretend vacuuming" while I'm actually vacuuming. You ask me to vacuum every.single.day! You get so excited when I plug in the "purple vacuum." Your day is totally made if I use "frink-fulls" (his word for "sprinkles" which is what he calls baking soda) on the carpet before vacuuming. I'm hoping you still love to vacuum in a couple of years when it's counted as a "chore."
In a close second place to vacuums are hair dryers. You love to go get Grandma Chips' hairdryers out of the bathroom drawer as soon as you get to her house each day. You carry them around with you during the day and you make the appropriate sounds for each level of drying capability of the hairdryers.
When we go to Target, we have to walk by the row of vacuums, and if you're extra good, we'll walk by the row of hair dryers as well. We've gotten many a double-take from people who pass by our cart and hear you say "Let's go look at the vacuums again!" or "Let's go see the hair dryers now."
One day last week as I was working early in the morning, you come into the living room nearly silently, and as I looked up and saw you and said "Hey Buddy!" you reply with "Hey! Where's your purple vacuum mommy?!?" I thought that to be quite an extensive sentence for a two-year-old. :)
Your favorite way to annoy your older brother is to say "I'm Michael, I'm Michael" to him. He gets so aggravated when you pretend to be him. You certainly know how to push his buttons in a very short amount of time. But deep down inside, I know you love him so much and look up to him greatly.
Your favorite shows are "Angry Birds Toons," "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "When You Give a Mouse a Cookie," and "Tumble Leaf." Your favorite movies are "Despicable Me 2" and "Zootopia."
You ask for "dinosaur cereal" (The Publix brand of Froot Loops has a dinosaur on the back of the box) every morning, and sometimes you'll actually sit down to have a yogurt or blueberry waffle. For snack, you like yogurt or gummy fruit snacks. You are not a sandwich fan in the least, and you will barely pick at your lunch or dinner if a sandwich is involved. You're much more interested in what Daddy and I have on our plates, even if it's the same as what you have.
You are little for your age. You've barely grown out of your 18-month clothes, and are comfortable in 24 month, and 2T outfits right now, even though you'll be three in January. You show zero interest in potty-training, and I'm hoping one day you decide it's your idea to sit on the potty and it'll just click. Until then, you tell us every time you've done something that requires a diaper change. Right now, I'm picking my battles and I'm choosing to let the potty training thing slide for a couple more months.
You make up songs and you dance around the house constantly. Your little run is so cute to watch! You love to perform and you speak in lots of different silly voices throughout the day. You are learning so much, and I love your rendition of the ABC's (A-B-C-D-E-E-E-H-I-J-Kate-Now I know my ABCs!).
You are not squeemish at all around blood or needles, which is a plus in this household since those are everyday sights here. You will be a great advocate for your brother.
I love you big, Noah Scott Tater Tot! Love, Mom-mom.
***
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Life Life Life
Oy. How is it Sunday evening already?!?
Overall, this weekend was very good. My mom ended up having to work on Saturday, and she's the co-cheerleader captain with me for the Upwards program at our church. So this left me alone on Saturday to coach all the girls. We had decided earlier in the week to combine the two teams together for this one weekend and have them cheer at the same game, just in case I was left to coach by myself. I'm glad we made that plan because it saved me lots of time, and I only had to do the one hour game instead of coaching two separate groups at two different games. The single-handed coaching was fairly successful. We meant to do our halftime pom routine on both fields during each of their half-times, but one field's game (the field we weren't initially cheering on), moved way too fast and their half-time was over before I even knew it started. So, we ended up doing the pom routine on just one field and it worked out just fine. This was our second game of the season and it was the first game for a pom routine. The girls were nervous, but when it was over one of them said "I can't stop smiling!" and that made me super excited! All of the girls did so well and it's so fun to watch them exhibit what they've learned. Tomorrow and Tuesday are practice nights this week and I'm attempting to teach them an entirely new routine for this weekend.
While I was at Upwards, Aaron packed an overnight bag for our boys and he dropped them off with his mom. After I got home from Upwards, my older brother and my sister-in-law arrived and drove us to the Auburn game. My older brother knows where to park for free, and how to maneuver in the city once the game is over, so I GLADLY let him have the driving reigns. I took Aaron to Momma Goldberg's since he had never been before, even though our first year of dating was spent with me living in Auburn. He enjoyed what he got, and I of course loved eating traditional Auburn fare. We wandered around a bit, and then entered the stadium and had fantastic seats! (I'll have to do a whole picture upload post soon to show the Maryland pictures, and the Auburn pictures.) I desperately wanted Auburn to win so that Aaron & I could roll Toomer's Corner since Aaron's never done that either. But we lost in a big way. We were loyal, and stayed til the very end of the game, but we were not victorious on the field. We played Texas A&M, and our performance was dismal. My older brother got us safely back home and he and my sister-in-law slept in our guest room since we arrived home just before midnight and their 3-year-old son was sleeping at my parent's house. For the first time in WELL over a year, Aaron and I slept entirely through the night. Our "new normal" post Type One Diabetes diagnosis, is waking 3-4 times a night for either high blood sugars or low blood sugars. So, sleeping from midnight to 7:30am was a tremendous treat. When we got to church today and my mother-in-law arrived, I gave her a huge hug! My father-in-law told me later that my boys were up at 5:55 this morning--- so I'm extra thankful that I got to sleep past 6:00!
We went to my parents' house after church for a fried chicken lunch so that we could hang out with my older brother and his family before they headed home. When we came home, the boys and I all took great naps while Aaron caught up on his Formula One race and Seahawks football! We then ventured to Costco and although I only wrote 4 things on our list, we had a full cart at the end of the trip (and Costco carts are pretty big!). I gave the boys a bath since they are both sweaty-headies in this Alabama muggy weather, and then they had "jump on Dad" time on our bed before it was their tuck-in time. I took an online class while Aaron ran out to get dog food (funny how quickly those bags disappear when you feed two dogs at once). Now, I'm about to hop off of here and grab a snack and some hang-out time with my bestie friendie husband. :)
Tomorrow begins another work week and I'm not that disappointed. I will write a post soon about the new business venture going on in my life, and why I'm super pumped about an educational class that I would have never imagined that I would like, nor have the skills to do!
Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba
Overall, this weekend was very good. My mom ended up having to work on Saturday, and she's the co-cheerleader captain with me for the Upwards program at our church. So this left me alone on Saturday to coach all the girls. We had decided earlier in the week to combine the two teams together for this one weekend and have them cheer at the same game, just in case I was left to coach by myself. I'm glad we made that plan because it saved me lots of time, and I only had to do the one hour game instead of coaching two separate groups at two different games. The single-handed coaching was fairly successful. We meant to do our halftime pom routine on both fields during each of their half-times, but one field's game (the field we weren't initially cheering on), moved way too fast and their half-time was over before I even knew it started. So, we ended up doing the pom routine on just one field and it worked out just fine. This was our second game of the season and it was the first game for a pom routine. The girls were nervous, but when it was over one of them said "I can't stop smiling!" and that made me super excited! All of the girls did so well and it's so fun to watch them exhibit what they've learned. Tomorrow and Tuesday are practice nights this week and I'm attempting to teach them an entirely new routine for this weekend.
While I was at Upwards, Aaron packed an overnight bag for our boys and he dropped them off with his mom. After I got home from Upwards, my older brother and my sister-in-law arrived and drove us to the Auburn game. My older brother knows where to park for free, and how to maneuver in the city once the game is over, so I GLADLY let him have the driving reigns. I took Aaron to Momma Goldberg's since he had never been before, even though our first year of dating was spent with me living in Auburn. He enjoyed what he got, and I of course loved eating traditional Auburn fare. We wandered around a bit, and then entered the stadium and had fantastic seats! (I'll have to do a whole picture upload post soon to show the Maryland pictures, and the Auburn pictures.) I desperately wanted Auburn to win so that Aaron & I could roll Toomer's Corner since Aaron's never done that either. But we lost in a big way. We were loyal, and stayed til the very end of the game, but we were not victorious on the field. We played Texas A&M, and our performance was dismal. My older brother got us safely back home and he and my sister-in-law slept in our guest room since we arrived home just before midnight and their 3-year-old son was sleeping at my parent's house. For the first time in WELL over a year, Aaron and I slept entirely through the night. Our "new normal" post Type One Diabetes diagnosis, is waking 3-4 times a night for either high blood sugars or low blood sugars. So, sleeping from midnight to 7:30am was a tremendous treat. When we got to church today and my mother-in-law arrived, I gave her a huge hug! My father-in-law told me later that my boys were up at 5:55 this morning--- so I'm extra thankful that I got to sleep past 6:00!
We went to my parents' house after church for a fried chicken lunch so that we could hang out with my older brother and his family before they headed home. When we came home, the boys and I all took great naps while Aaron caught up on his Formula One race and Seahawks football! We then ventured to Costco and although I only wrote 4 things on our list, we had a full cart at the end of the trip (and Costco carts are pretty big!). I gave the boys a bath since they are both sweaty-headies in this Alabama muggy weather, and then they had "jump on Dad" time on our bed before it was their tuck-in time. I took an online class while Aaron ran out to get dog food (funny how quickly those bags disappear when you feed two dogs at once). Now, I'm about to hop off of here and grab a snack and some hang-out time with my bestie friendie husband. :)
Tomorrow begins another work week and I'm not that disappointed. I will write a post soon about the new business venture going on in my life, and why I'm super pumped about an educational class that I would have never imagined that I would like, nor have the skills to do!
Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Maryland Trip
**Thank you for checking the blog and reading this post! I know I've been AWOL for a while and I'll write a post about that soon. And I promise it won't take me a month to do so! :) **
Yay! For the first time since we had kiddos, Aaron and I were able to go on an adults-only vacation!
On Tuesday, the 9th, we dropped off our boys around 6:30am with my mother-in-law, and we hit the road! My mother-in-law and my mom each took turns watching our boys during the week until Aaron and I returned on Saturday evening.
Aaron and I high-tailed it to Chick-fil-A for breakfast! We ate in the restaurant and people-watched all the private school kids as they ordered breakfast before their first day of the school year.
I then drove to Atlanta and we listened to Rick and Bubba on the radio until we reached Newnan, Georgia and the radio signal got spotty. We made excellent time to our off-campus parking venue and we arrived at the airport one hour early! We weren't checking any bags on our trip up there, but we knew we might need to check a bag on our way home since we planned on buying lots of souvenirs.
We chose to fly Spirit this time. It was our first time flying this airline and we were a bit nervous about all the rules: only one personal item is free, carry-ons cost extra, checked bags cost extra, the seats don't recline, all beverages (yes, including water) and snacks are a fee, etc. I was thinking "holy cow, what did I get us into?!?" but it actually worked out quite well. It was only a two hour flight, so it didn't matter much to us that the seats didn't recline. We knew about the charge for water, etc, so we bought a bottle of water in the airport and had it with us on the plane. We packed lightly and I shipped clothes to my grandmother ahead of time so that we could abide by the "one free personal item" rule.
We arrived in Maryland around 3:00pm on Tuesday. Around 4:30pm, we hit up our first item on our to-do list: eat blue crabs!
The next day, we woke early, caught a train to DC, and took a double decker tour bus ride! That is an AWESOME way to see DC, because, let's face it: that town has a lot of walking involved! We couldn't find the right bus to take us to Arlington, so we walked across the bridge into Virginia. Holy Humidity, Batman! That was the roughest walk of my life! It was SO HOT! I'm thinking "Man, I'm from the SOUTH. Why is it so hot up here in the North?!?!" Apparently, we brought the humidity with us. I got a lot of pictures from this day's trip and I will post them soon.
On Thursday, we woke early again and drove to Lancaster, PA to Amish Country! One of my favorite places on earth! We ate breakfast at a huge smorgasboard. Yum. Yum. Yum. I adore buffets. And breakfast foods. I was on Cloud Nine. We drove around Amish Country and showed Aaron all the ropes. Aaron and I took a tour of the Amish Village and he took a turn being the photographer with my camera. :) He did a great job! He's officially hired as my back-up. :)
On Friday, we hit up Gettysburg. We toured the Jenny Wade House, and I ended up being one of the rare people who toured it 20 years ago and remembered parts about the house that have since changed. I bought some Pumpkin Butter in the gift shop (can't wait to use that this fall in some scrumptious desserts!). We then drove around the battlefield and my fatigue and constant tiredness was in full swing! Aaron appreciated the sites, though, and it was fun to see him get to experience a part of history. We then toured the Eisenhower farm-- another one of my favorite places on earth! Love that farm SO SO much!
On Saturday, Aaron helped Grandma change out a lightbulb in her laundry room, then we packed up and headed home. We indulged ourselves with McDonald's in the airport for lunch, and had a fantastic time chatting on our three hour drive home from the airport.
This trip was so refreshing and much needed. It was a delight to get out of town with my best friend and enjoy some adult time. I finished Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" on this trip, and got lots of writing done. It was such a breath of fresh air to be out of our normal routine for a few days! We are very thankful for all of the grandparents who helped us make this trip come true by taking care of our kiddos, doggies, and house.
Pictures to come soon!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
Yay! For the first time since we had kiddos, Aaron and I were able to go on an adults-only vacation!
On Tuesday, the 9th, we dropped off our boys around 6:30am with my mother-in-law, and we hit the road! My mother-in-law and my mom each took turns watching our boys during the week until Aaron and I returned on Saturday evening.
Aaron and I high-tailed it to Chick-fil-A for breakfast! We ate in the restaurant and people-watched all the private school kids as they ordered breakfast before their first day of the school year.
I then drove to Atlanta and we listened to Rick and Bubba on the radio until we reached Newnan, Georgia and the radio signal got spotty. We made excellent time to our off-campus parking venue and we arrived at the airport one hour early! We weren't checking any bags on our trip up there, but we knew we might need to check a bag on our way home since we planned on buying lots of souvenirs.
We chose to fly Spirit this time. It was our first time flying this airline and we were a bit nervous about all the rules: only one personal item is free, carry-ons cost extra, checked bags cost extra, the seats don't recline, all beverages (yes, including water) and snacks are a fee, etc. I was thinking "holy cow, what did I get us into?!?" but it actually worked out quite well. It was only a two hour flight, so it didn't matter much to us that the seats didn't recline. We knew about the charge for water, etc, so we bought a bottle of water in the airport and had it with us on the plane. We packed lightly and I shipped clothes to my grandmother ahead of time so that we could abide by the "one free personal item" rule.
We arrived in Maryland around 3:00pm on Tuesday. Around 4:30pm, we hit up our first item on our to-do list: eat blue crabs!
The next day, we woke early, caught a train to DC, and took a double decker tour bus ride! That is an AWESOME way to see DC, because, let's face it: that town has a lot of walking involved! We couldn't find the right bus to take us to Arlington, so we walked across the bridge into Virginia. Holy Humidity, Batman! That was the roughest walk of my life! It was SO HOT! I'm thinking "Man, I'm from the SOUTH. Why is it so hot up here in the North?!?!" Apparently, we brought the humidity with us. I got a lot of pictures from this day's trip and I will post them soon.
On Thursday, we woke early again and drove to Lancaster, PA to Amish Country! One of my favorite places on earth! We ate breakfast at a huge smorgasboard. Yum. Yum. Yum. I adore buffets. And breakfast foods. I was on Cloud Nine. We drove around Amish Country and showed Aaron all the ropes. Aaron and I took a tour of the Amish Village and he took a turn being the photographer with my camera. :) He did a great job! He's officially hired as my back-up. :)
On Friday, we hit up Gettysburg. We toured the Jenny Wade House, and I ended up being one of the rare people who toured it 20 years ago and remembered parts about the house that have since changed. I bought some Pumpkin Butter in the gift shop (can't wait to use that this fall in some scrumptious desserts!). We then drove around the battlefield and my fatigue and constant tiredness was in full swing! Aaron appreciated the sites, though, and it was fun to see him get to experience a part of history. We then toured the Eisenhower farm-- another one of my favorite places on earth! Love that farm SO SO much!
On Saturday, Aaron helped Grandma change out a lightbulb in her laundry room, then we packed up and headed home. We indulged ourselves with McDonald's in the airport for lunch, and had a fantastic time chatting on our three hour drive home from the airport.
This trip was so refreshing and much needed. It was a delight to get out of town with my best friend and enjoy some adult time. I finished Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" on this trip, and got lots of writing done. It was such a breath of fresh air to be out of our normal routine for a few days! We are very thankful for all of the grandparents who helped us make this trip come true by taking care of our kiddos, doggies, and house.
Pictures to come soon!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
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