The very very long long long list

Yesterday we visited Santa at the St. John's Town Center in Jacksonville. I wasn't sure what type of reaction they children would present. As we approached this adorable little Santa house, Sam was a little hesitant, and Matthew, well he wanted to sprint to see this gray haired man! As we were waiting in line we explained to Sam who Santa is and what this whole adventure was going to be about. Matthew was jumping between the line markers, walking all over the beautiful handmade Nutcrackers larger than Santa himself. Ah Ha! We were next! Sam still had a tiny bit of fear between his eyes, but when the lady said, "Okay, it's your turn" Sam sprinted over to the big red suited man with the long white bearded man and sat on his lap. The conversation went something like this:

Santa "Hello Sam, have you been a good boy this year?"
Sam: "Yes I have, and I go poo poo on the potty, and pee pee too!"
Santa: "Wonderful, does your brother want to come up here too?"
Sam: "No he's scared of this"
Santa: "So tell me, what is on your Christmas list this year?"
Sam: "ME? I want a firetruck with a long long ladder like the one on the truck at the park. Do you know I like firetrucks? I LUVE firetrucks. Do you know I was a firefighter for Halloween? Matthew was a fire dog with a hose? They go, vrooommm vroooom vrooooooooooooooooom, see, just like that. I want the firetruck that has lots of noise, and I also like trains."
Santa: "Do you like Thomas the train?"
Sam: "TRAINS? Did you say Thomas? I LUVE Thomas. Did you know that Thomas came to my birthday party? Did you know that Matthew, he likes trains too? I luve trains. Can you give me some? Did you know that I like trucks that crash and airplanes too?

(Matthew is now on all fours trying making a mad dash for the pine cones that are on the tree that stands on a table under the fireplace, next to the candy canes! I knew what was about to happen and heck if he was going to go close to the man with the white beard and the red suit)
Santa: "Were you a good boy this year?"
Sam: "Me, yes, I was a good boy, like Matthew"
Santa: "I will put you down on my list and I'll check it twice. Now, Sam, don't forget to put cookies out for me on Christmas Eve."
Sam: "Cookies? I LUVE Cookies, do you like doughnuts? I LUVE doughnuts and trains too.......

Mommy: "All right Sam, let's tell Santa Merry Christmas and let's be on our way!"

Honestly, if I would have let him, we would STILL be there. Our anxious little Sam is still having a hard time understanding what this whole thing was about. When Santa gave him his present, Sam opened it and was so disappointed. "I don't want this...I want my firetruck that Santa is going to bring me!" So the going home conversation was all about "wishes".

Unfortunately we were told that we were unable to take photos during this Santa visit because we were not going to purchase a 4 X 5 picture from them with snowflakes and a pretty border for $15.00. We have a visual memory of the event.

Guaranteed to make you giggle!

Guaranteed to make you giggle!
Funny Brotherly love!

Safety Saturday

We had the opportunity to meet and mingle with members of the Clay County Fire Department and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. We crawled inside a fire truck for a firefighter’s view and sat in a police cruiser to see what it’s like to be on patrol. They offered a complimentary car seat checks and K-ID fingerprinting. Sam brought his bicycle to complete a bicycle course and met the dogs who play the starring roles for the K-9 Unit. Inflatables were available for the kids and hot dogs, chips and drinks will be offered. This event was by far one of the best events we attended. The kids had a blast. Little Matthew got a taste of Cheetos and he was so preoccupied with his orange face, fingers and mouth that he forgot where he was.


For some reason, Matthew thought it was pretty funny..

Who would have thought he was scared of his car seat???

Our new love...

GeoTraxs by Fisher Price. Thank you Gaga and Papa Stan for the birthday gift. As you can see, you've captivated your grandson in many new ways! Now we understand why Sam's cousins were so dedicated.

Clearing house

We had our community garage sale last weekend! We got rid of MOST of our baby items! And wow, our closets are surely feeling the effects. We did well as we had many many many hungry shoppers. The best part about the sale was meeting some new neighbors who recently moved in or we just haven't met yet. The rain decided to move in with an hour left of the sale, so we packed up and moved in. The boys thought it was a big play date as so many friends came by to check out our stuff!

Fall is in the air!

Oh yes, the weather is perfect. Low 50's at night, upper 70's during the day. Sunny as can be and just perfect. This is why we fell in love with living in Florida in the first place. Finally those hot & humid days are of the past. All my southern friends told me that when it hit 70, we'd be freezing. They were so dead on. Look at my children. Long pants, socks, shoes and sweatshirts, and the temp was 72. It surely did feel like 50 and it was GREAT!!!! I love this fall, but we do miss the anticipation of the snow fall back home. Hopefully we'll get to visit it this winter.

Paper concentration

This is one of my favorite pictures. He requested something to read, and nothing was satisfying enough. Then a light bulb went off, "can I have the paper like daddy?" .

Ever since we pulled the "elmo potty" into the toy room, where he always poops, diaper or no diaper, he is in LOVE with going poopy on the potty. I never knew my child could poo as much as he does. Seriously, he goes at least 3 times a day. Yesterday he went 4 times. He sits there and sits there pushing so hard until something comes out. Today I figured out why. He thinks that when he toots, he needs to poop. Lovely!

"MOMMY, I did it!"

THIS IS HUGE!!!! Poppy in the Potty!!!! YEAH!
I think I'm comfortable to say potty training is going well in this house. Each day we get closer to comfort with the potty. I don't leave home without my little portable potty. Even our little friends have used the potty and think it's way cool!

Today, after some major discussions and a major breakdown, we took the little potty seat and put it in the toy room next to his train table (where he always poops) and he did it! He was so impressed with himself and was rewarded with a trip to Publix for a donought with daddy!

Let's hope it continues!

Fear update

GOOD NEWS!!!! We had a fearful fight and throw down, but it was better this morning. Still a little hesitation, but better. PHEW...I'm seeing the light at the end of the road, literally. I think we fought this fear! Oh how we love our over dramatic little boy :) My only prayer tonight is, "Please don't let Matthew catch wind of his brother's behavior".

I think I can say, without hesitation, it's behind us!

The fear of restraint

We've had a week from hell and to say the least, it's only Wednesday. Our darling little 3 year old found a fear. The fear of being in restraint. It all started on Saturday night, while we were in St. Augustine, about an hour from home. Sam has always been our over excitable, enthusiastic, full of energy type of child. For that, we love him dearly. However, the problem with the above traits is the ability to change. He likes what he likes, and that is it. He's gone to bed hungry numerous nights because he's not satisfied with the meal presented to him. He will kick and scream and throw up to get reaction from us and then he knows we'll feel bad for him. Ever since he was a baby he's been full of nervous energy. From taking medicine to being dropped off at daycare. There were so many challenges he presented to us....oh Sam....we love you so...

Well, he presented us with yet another parenting challenge. The fear of his car seat. In his little head, he is convinced that being in his car seat is pure torture. He's been fighting with this for days now. I do believe him, I do believe that he is afraid of restraint. The look of fear and anxiety in his eyes broke my heart. He would proclaim that he didn't want to go see his friends (he normally BEGS to see them). He would proclaim that he didn't want to go play soccer, (NEVER happens) etc. Heck, he didn't even want to go to Target....I knew something was wrong.

It's been a long hard week with him. Monday we sat outside in the car ALL day, besides lunch and naps, and we talked. Sam and I talked over and over and over about being scared and what it was that makes him scared. We talked over and over about how much I love him and how I want him to be strong and it's okay to be scared etc. He was a mess, and my heart was broken, and I was tired of cleaning up vomit.

Wednesday I decided I was done. After a heartfelt conversation with two pediatricians, I had to end this mess. I decided it was time to set my emotions aside and conquer this toddler disaster, which meant I was going to be in charge. I wasn't going to let his vomiting and violent acts of disaster control my life and he was going to have to get over it. After a Mommy throw down, strap down and buckle up war, I managed to get him in. I knew he was going to vomit, so I brought towels. I knew he was going to enter into a anxious state, so I brought his pacifier and blanket. I knew this was going to be the hardest thing I was going to have to see him through, but I just kept talking out loud about how much I loved him and I would never hurt him. Poor little Matthew just sat there and looked at me with worry. He had no idea why his older brother was so scared.

I got to the Target boutique kids in tow. He did it, with a fight of course, but he did it. He screamed all the way there and did what he did best, but regardless we were there. We meandered around the store talking to the baker, the pharmacist, the shelf stockers, the Pepsi rep, the little boys in the cart next to us, the baggier, the cashier, the cart collector, as I demanded Sam repeated, "I did it, I got in my car seat, I'm not scared anymore". Most of the people we spoke to totally understood what I was doing and played along so very well....until we got to the cart collector. He had no clue, but it was okay, because that was on our way out.

I could tell Sam was a little apprehensive about leaving the boutique and getting back in the car, but this time, he was a little bit calmer. He was very anxious to get home, but he did it. After naps, we got in the car again, a little bit better again.

WOW! I just learned a ton about parenting and the power of communication, the power of patience and the power of love. It's amazing what I've learned about my little 3 year old son, who now by the way has a raspy groggy voice. Pray for us and our ventures for tomorrow....it's been a looooonnnnngggggg week already.

Sonic Boom

The house shook and the space shuttle just landed. I was walking out of the kids room and literally I thought a bomb just landed on our roof, or someone broke through the window and wanted to capture my new HDMI Flat Screen! After a few moments of talk with a friend, we came to the conclusion that it wasn't just my house, it was also her house down the road and the space shuttle just landed at Kennedy Space Center. What an amazing sound. WOW, I wish we could have been outside to witness it soaring through the skies. It is definitely a crystal clear day today!

Maybe if I would watch the news I could be better prepared for these milestone moments!

Erin's Dream Minvan

Three years ago when Erin and I started to look for a new family car she really liked the Toyota Sienna. Instead of the Sienna she got a Town & Country which worked well and served its purpose. Just this last week I brought home a new 2008 Silver Toyota Sienna for Erin. She knew about it so it was no surprise but after waiting all summer for a great price it finally happened. After we were done trick or treating Erin dropped me off at the dealership. Within 1.5 hours I was back home with the van. This new minivan has some similar features as the old one but one great thing both boys love are their up/down windows, just like the front windows. They can now seat next to a window that goes down. We really wanted a DVD system in it but that didn't happen.

Congrats Erin!!! Enjoy your new Toyota Minivan.

Trick-or-Treating

Being 3 and trick-or-treating had to be about the best thing yet. He understood the procedure and totally grasped onto the concept. The boys did great. We headed out, under our discretion, around 6:30. The clouds were rolling in as the sky's got dark. It drizzled a little, but we didn't melt.

Introducing....the fire squad:

Fire dog MJT

Firefighter SLT
(he was a little distraught that his fire helmet had the number 1 on it because you do know that he is 3!!!)

Oh what fun it is to be a dog!

Oh where oh where has my little dog gone?

Watching the herd of children trample down the street.

It was a very memorable Halloween!
We can't wait for next year!

Practice Halloween

So, for about a week, we've been talking up
Halloween for the boys. We dug out costumes from previous years to help bring in our excitement! Matthew, well he wanted nothing to do with the entire idea of putting on something other than normal. Check out the first reaction...Full blown tears and screeches of distress. I know the thought of, "how dare she put this thing on me...I can't even move my head" were just scrambling in his noggin.





Then out came a walking the giraffe....within 2 seconds, Matthew thought this was the coolest thing in the entire world. Little stinker....Lesson learned...if Sam does it, then so will Matthew. Matthew's expression was priceless...Look at him look at Sam. The swollen eyes seemed to be a distant memory. Again, these were our trial costumes in preparation for the big event.

Trick-or-Treating adventure

I have one word for Oakleaf Halloween night....bizarre. What a night we had. WOW! I've never celebrated Halloween night like we did tonight. I'm convinced that 3 surrounding county's decided that the community of Oakleaf had the best candy and decided to pile in buses and ship them over to our area. The streets were draped with costumes. There was a point that I looked back to make sure that Matthew was still with us, and I couldn't see the end of the road. All I saw was a big blurr of orange, red, black. Kids were everywhere. When I say everywhere, I'm not joking. They were in massive swarms. Screaming, yelling, laughing, singing, you name it, they were doing it. Sam was quite taken back by all the kids everywhere. All ages. Incy wincy ones to adults who were often denied candy from the homeowner. I was so excited when I saw a man tell the treater to get lost! Literally!!! It was great.

Whoo...I'm still in awe of the night we had. It was fun, but I've never been a participant of such a overwhelming event. And did I forget to mention that I wasn't even sure what about 90% of the costumes were? I guess if you get done with a spaghetti dinner and forget to wash your face and comb your hair you could be considered a bum...right? Well, that is what one little guy told me. His buddy was a "converted woman". However, there were some adorable, well thought about costumes that we saw as they flew past us, almost knocking us down. A few times I had to hold onto my children as I was afraid we were going to be the first on the 11 o'clock nightly news, "the trick-or-treaters who were trompled by hungry pedestrians".

Back to the point of my children. They did great. We had tiny raindrops drizzle our tops, but overall it was a pleasant night. I think Matthew got as much candy as Sam did only because people gave him hand fulls because he was so stinkin' cute! (yes, I am bias). After about 30 minutes of entertainment, Sam decided it was time to go home. He did great, and so did Matthew. I swear I've never brushed their teeth as hard as I did tonight. They both got a taste from their buckets, and the rest will be put away!

Stay tuned for pictures, and Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all of you! We hope you had a SpookTacular day! We celebrated the holiday on Sunday night at a friends house who had their 2nd Annual Costume Halloween Dance Party. The kids had a blast dancing under the disco ball and just hanging out with all their friends. We are going trick-or-treating tonight...we hope.

The ad in the paper for trick-or-treating times(we are Clay county):
"Officials with Duval, St. Johns and Clay counties said there aren't specific hours listed but suggest using your own discretion for trick-or-treating."

So....according to the paper, I could of took the boys tric-r-treating this morning at 7a.m. after baths??? That's my discretion. Florida, love it. We haven't had any knocks yet, maybe I should remove the "baby sleeping GO AWAY" sign hanging out front?

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of our fun filled week and the pictures of my little munchkins all dressed up! And for those of you wondering....yes, Matthew DID put on his costume and loved it. Our fingers are crossed for the same participation tonight from him!

As Alivia put it...

"Look Aunt Erin, Matthew looks happy! This is the first smile I've seen!" Darn it, she was absolutely correct!!!

1...2...3...JUMP!

Fun with our cousins

What more? Some sand, water and sun! The kids had a great time playing together. Sam showed Alivia how to get down and dirty in the sand n water table!
Wind down time. How precious. You ask where is Matthew? He is stuck screaming his eyes out because he was mad that he didn't feel well.
The only pink you'll find in my house!!!
Surprise! It's Sela!

Mimi and Papa Tom came to visit!

Mimi and Papa Tom came down from WI to help us bring in the big day for Sam! The weather was hot hot hot and humid humid humid, but we all survived and made the best of it.

Their trip ended way too fast, but we'll see them for Christmas!!! Matthew before he decided it was time to spike a fever!


Eating out for breakfast!!! Man did my boys chow on their pancakes and bacon!
Brad and Matthew looking for Fish in our pond!

Check out Sam's NEW train table!!! Thanks you Mimi and Papa. Sam is in heaven with it. This is Train Table #2 for us...Train Table #1 is destroyed.
Doing something a little different, playing trains. This visit was a little different for Papa Tom. Not only was he blessed with Sam's ability to build tracks and crash them, Matthew had to impress him with his talents as well! It's so funny to see the competition beginning for the boys. I see it in their eyes. The look of, "my track is better than your track".

Mimi also played "Horse" with Sam!!! What a trooper.

Reading Stories before bed!


Train Master Sam, so sad that his birthday party is over :(