Our gabber (sorry for the pee pee shot)

Phone talk

HE COULD TALK ON THE PHONE ALL DAY!!!! It is so frustrating when the phone rings. He screams when he can't talk and refuses to calm down. He screams, kicks his feet and screams some more until I get off! I tried wearing my blu tooth in the house the other day! That worked well until Brad informed me that my cell minutes are sky rocketing....so...he got me a land line, however, I can't call long distance. Compromise, that's what it's all about.

It was a Thomas Day!

Thanks to my dear friend Amy, we had a Thomas the Train party!!! She supplied all the arts n crafts, I supplied the mac n cheese and hot dogs! What more could little boys and girls want???? The boys had a great time coloring and making their very own Thomas book that Amy put together for them. She holds the talent I don't have patience for!!!! Katelyn and Matthew enjoyed jumping on Sam's bed and refused to wear the hats, but accepted lunch with open arms!

Web Cam

For the love of Technology...who ever designed our web camera is selfish! We had a perfectly working web cam, until we installed the cam on our new computer. Now, either no one can hear us, or see us. So, now, we have to wear this silly looking headset to talk to our loved ones...that is if it works!!!! It's on our list for upgrade along with everything else these days. However, the boys think it is the coolest thing to wear this..however, they always get in a big brawl.

Waiting for cake

Look at those patient hands! The mouth was watering and the eyes were as big as his stomach! Just waiting, patiently to eat cake at Ben's Birthday Party over this weekend! Love this picture. Thanks Kelly for capturing it for us and another Happy Birthday Hug for Ben, the birthday boy!!!

Bubbles!!!

I just wish I could sit and soak in the tub full of bubbles and fun every morning and have someone wash my hair, scrub my back and have fun! I think some days, when we don't have to hurry the boys can sit in there for a full hour..that is until someone decides to dump water over the others head. Then the screaming begins!

This is for you daddy!

Daddy thinks Matthews Flip Flops, or, "Fitops" as Matthew says are hilarious! So, here they are for you daddy! You can even see the defined teeth marks :)

The little peanut lover!

This is what I found in my kitchen today after I put sleepy head Matthew in his room. I literally was gone for about 5 minutes (granted I had all the sandwich ingredients on the counter already). However, I did leave Sam in the family room, in front of the TV and told him that I would be right back. Mr. Independent had to do it himself. Life just hasn't been the same since. Lunch anyone? Teplin house? PB&J sandwiches????? I have a peanut chef in the house!!

Doesn't this look great!!!!

Once a jelly lover, then a hater, and now since he can do it himself, he is all about loving jelly again!

And....The finished product. He is so proud!!!

Another famous sleeping pose

Let's see....maybe if Matthew would not visit his mommy and daddy a few times a night this wouldn't happen. Maybe if Matthew would not wake up so early in the morning, this wouldn't happen. You see, maybe if Matthew would not demand every ounce of me to help him build him a train track, he wouldn't be left in the toy room to do it himself, and this wouldn't happen. And yes, those are tears of sadness soaking through his blanket, but he was very content on the hard, cold, tile floor all by himself.

Sam

Sam asked me to put this picture on here for him.

For some reason, he laughs every time he sees this picture!

So, here you go Sam :)

The boys

I just had to share these pictures of the kids. I love them!

You know it is totally true....when you least expect it, you get the best shots of your children. We were literally playing in the backyard, I grabbed my camera to get a picture of the lizard that was climbing up a fence and the boys started posing. They were so fun!!! This is how picture sessions are supposed to be. No screaming involved. No fuss to get dressed.

Enjoy below!

Pink eye, San Marco & child protector door locks

Sam and I (Erin) have been blessed with pink, red, itchy, irritated swollen eyes! Who would have thought pink eye would be so painful. It is horrible, for me that is. Sam seems to be handling this with no frustration, imagine that. We got a script for Sam from his doctor, but I am headed there tomorrow to get some relief! I would rather be in pain than Sam, however, this pain is so hard to handle. We've seriously been in dark lock down all day. I guess if any day is a good day to stay inside, today would have been the day. It is freezing outside. It went from a 90 degree weekend, to a 55 degree day today. And believe me folks, 55 back home used to be warm and pleasant. A 55 degree day in Florida is killing me. So, here we sit, indoors. Just waiting for Matthew to start complaining about eye pain. We think Daddy is going to grab his sleeping bag and stay at work tonight. We all know how sensitive he is with his eyes :).

Some shots of our weekend in San Marco Fl.

Last night, as we were unloading our van, Sam disappeared in the house. We bought the boys some rocks for their sand 'n water table and we figured that Sam was headed to the back patio to wait patiently for the rocks to be delivered by daddy. No more than 2 minutes pass and Sam came running out in the garage where Brad and I were. He was completely frustrated with us. He looked at us and said, "mommy, daddy. Why do you always do this to me? You know I can't get out of here if these are on (holding 2 pieces of the child protector cover for the door handle). I'm throwing this out now, you know I don't like these things". Yes, Brad and I laughed and explained to him that he wasn't supposed to take this off, this was to prevent him from going outside....Well, try explaining that to a 3 year old. In his mind, he probably thought we locked up all his toys.

So, we think it's time for little man Matthew to get a hair cut! Check out the length!!! Stay tuned for pictures of the traumatic event.

We're here!

The boys LOVED the HUGE TRUCK!!!

The truck is unpacked and our family has spent the first night in our new home! Moving day went well. We spent all morning and afternoon on Friday packing, unpacking, driving and entertaining the little men. Thankfully the little men decided to awake rather early Friday morning. I think we had the first bed stripped and packed up ready to go at 7:15 a.m. We had to arrive at the new house by 10 for the cable man to be here to install our lovely babysitter ON DEMAND!!!! We arrived here, at the new home in plenty of time to meet him.

The temperature was a little on the hot & on the sticky side as the temps teetered around 85 with strong wet humidity. All in all, it was a great day. They boys thought the whole thing was rather amusing as the NO word was overused, and by overused, I mean overused. I think NO was used in almost every sentence. Brad and I just laughed every time we would talk to them. There was one moment that Sam was running up the truck ramp with shoes on the wrong feet, holding a rake while Matthew was wobbling behind him with a shovel, in one hand and broom in other with bare feet. Seriously, they were just trying to be helpers, and did great, however, Brad and I were both ready for our glass of wine at 8:00 a.m.

Regardless, we are here. We love our new pad. It has such great space for us. Last night going to bed was a little difficult for Matthew. He thought it would be fun to wine and cry and thrash all night. We weren't sure if he didn't feel well or he was just being flat out ridiculous. We figured it was a combination of both, so we dealt with him, and made him comfortable and decided to break the rules and cuddle with him last night. Well, our thought to make him comfortable backfired because he really didn't want anything to do with us. So we think he may have just been testing us! Well, he won last night, but tonight, we may have to turn monitors off.

We are in the organizing, re-organizing and hanging picture stages! This is fun for me!!!! Brad seems to think he is the designer and has strategically placed pictures and stuff all over the house. After all, he lives here too!!!! But, not every picture frame has to be displayed on the mantel. Not every Peggy Carr platter needs to be hanging out. Love you dear :).

Picture of the house coming soon. Sooooo, you stay tuned.

Good night, we're off to bed, even though Sam is still up trying to convince us that he 'just can't sweep'!

nene update and moving

Well, it's now been a little over a week. Sam is doing great! Sam requests his beloved nene every once in a while, when he is overtired or in trouble. However, we kind of do a little ignoring and he stops, and moves onto a different comfort item.
I have to admit a part of me is so sad for him. He's been comforted by his little nene for 3.5 years. It was the only thing that would stop him from crying as an infant, he fell in love, and now mommy took it away from him.
Well, with that said, I guess I'm over it. It was a loooonnnnggggg loooooonnnnnngggggg last week, however, we plowed through and I'm so pleased with the results. He still finds it a little challenging to fall asleep, however, we're working with him on that piece. It takes him a little over an hour to wind down in his bed now. It used to take him seconds to fall asleep.
We'll get through it. I'm hoping that when we move, he'll feel a little more comfortable without it.

Speaking of moving, we're in trouble. We think this is going to be an easy move, however, so I've heard, the closer the move, the harder it is. We get our keys to our new home on Saturday! We can't wait. Our plan is to move a little over every day, in-between play dates and every day life, naps etc. We have some great friends who have offered to help and offered to help me with my children during the day. Thank you friends!!!! Our plan is to be all moved in and settled the middle of April. However, I have many photo commitments in between now and then so I am hoping everything works out and busting my hiney. I am thinking that I am going to have to move out of the house on weekends so I can concentrate on my career, which by the way I am sooooo excited about!

Happy Easter, 2008

Happy Easter, 2008! It is a beautiful day here in Jacksonville. The weather is sitting at 73 and the sky is full of sun. It is a perfect day today, and it was a perfect day to have a outdoor brunch with the Easter Bunny! The only thing missing was family here to celebrate with us. We had a 10:00 brunch reservation at East Hampton Country Club. One of Brad's co-workers reserved us a table out on the back patio. It was PERFECT! The food was fantastic and the boys did very well...until.....that Bunny showed up. Then, we'll just say, our brunch was OVER!

The boys!

Matthew, enjoying the sunny morning out on the greens!
Sam, frustrated with his mommy snapping photos of him!!!

I happen to LOVE this picture. It is so pure. Matthew, so little sitting on a big boy chair trying to eat his jelly beans that the bunny left. He was such a good little munchkin this morning! Oh how we love going out to eat. Unfortunately all the selections of restaurants are such a far drive away.

Matthew eating his decadent! His little hands were trying to OPEN the thin layer of chocolate that surrounded the yummy fudge. So he asked Mommy to open the fudge, and by all means mommy opened it for him! It's called taking a bite :)
Sam showing me his decadent, asking me if we can get more :)
Bottom Picture Narration:
Sam: Resisting Brad's attempt to get closer to the bunny

Brads thoughts, "Come on Sam, I don't like this bunny either, but just smile for the picture....do you have chocolate on your hands?"
Erin's thoughts. "Oh yes, this is going to be a great picture to post on our blog. Matthew, if you even think about ripping off my necklace, I'm taking money out of your piggy bank for a new one."
Matthew: SCREAMING as loud as he can, crawling up Mommy's shirt with one hand on her necklace, holding on for dear life. I'm sure his thoughts were, "Get this white fluffy big eared monster AWAY from me as the words, "HOME" belted across the golf course.

Happy Easter to all of you! We hope you enjoyed your day.

Easter Egg Hunt!

What a great time the boys had at our playgroup Egg Hunt on Friday. The only hard part for the boys, was understanding that they were only able to get 12 eggs each! The weather was ideal and the friends were flowing! It was a great kick off to our Easter Weekend festivities. The boys were exhausted after a morning of fun. They hunted for eggs, had a parade, played games and even got to decorate a cookie. Thanks moms for putting together such a fun filled morning. I know my boys were so happy to be there, and were thrilled that the Easter Bunny didn't show up (hehehehehe). We can't wait for next year!
Happy Easter from Sam!

Matthew looking for eggs. Making sure to say hi to everyone, but RUN as FAST as he can when someone says HI back.
Matthew found a egg! Unfortunately the egg that Matthew wanted was in the middle of this bush, and this bush had prickly sticks surrounding the branches. No worries, he made it out alive, WITH the egg!

The egg hunters, counting their eggs!

Decorating Cookies!!! They were excellent, if I must say so myself. And they were excellent because they were made by PUBLIX!!!
Matthew getting help to decorate his cookie!Sam waiting in line to do the games! He would NOT let go of his Easter Basket.

Our New Florida Home!

Here it is! Our new home! We get the keys next Saturday! We can't wait. We drive past it at least 2 times a day! On our way to Target, and on our way home. We can't wait to get in. We'll have some work to do on the lawn and trimming the bushes, but thankfully the weather will allow us to do it ourselves, before it gets so unbearably hot. Tonight we purchased a new bed for Matthew. Since we live in Florida, and all our family lives away, we decided to give Matthews bed back to our guests, and purchase a new one, more his size! Now he will be sporting a new full size, just like Sam, and our visitors can have their own room again.

Make sure you're sitting down for this video..

NEWS ALERT! NEWS ALERT! NEWS ALERT!!!!!!!

Watch video before reading this entry.


Can you believe it? NO MORE NENE (pacifier) in Sam's world. I honestly cannot believe it. We DID it. It is GONE! GONE GONE GONE GONE!!!! I am so happy today to post the good news. Yesterday was a very very very loooonnnnggggg day, however, I stuck to my guns, stuck to my gut, and did not give in. Instead we talked and talked all day about why mommy took the nene away. He had a few breakdowns in the afternoon and defiantly had a few breakdowns near bedtime, however...needless to say....HE DID IT! He slept great last night. He did wake up once, a little disorientated, however, I ran in there and re-adjusted him and he was just fine! He did so well, and I can't even tell you how proud Brad and I are of him. He is such a big boy.

I was fearful that we would find one in his room and the drama would all unfold again. HOWEVER, we DID find one in his room yesterday and Sam said, "mommy, LOOK, a nene." Me, "Sam, can you please go throw this away, we are done with nene's". SURE enough, he ran to the garbage and threw it away!!!!!!! HOORAY for Sam.

I did have intentions of conquering the beast with both children, however, Matthew has been a little sensitive these past few days, so I figured today just wasn't fitting for him. I don't think he is as attached as Sam was, however, he will not have it until he is 3.5. That's for sure. Sam agrees with me that Matthew is still a baby and Matthew actually needs his nene! So sweet he can be at times.

Thank you dear friends who have motivated me to do this. Sometimes a little positive reinforcement from people like you is all one needs. I now fit into the, "you did it mom" club!

Anyways, again, WAY TO GO SAM! He did it and for that, we had cake :).

Sam's "You Did It" cake

I told him today that tonight after naps, we would go get him a congratulations cake! He picked it out all by himself. It was great! AND...I am now IN LOVE with Publix cakes! The Fudge frosting is a SIN! It is sooo yummiee, I can't wait for another birthday.

Gymnastics Trial Class Drop Out

GYMNASTICS!!! How PERFECT!!!!! North Florida Gymnastics has a center about 15 minutes away! How great this would be to sign Sam up since our whole home is a GIANT gymnastics floor. Great. So, I signed him up for a free trial class on Friday. We all were so super excited to go. It is an independent class where the parents sit behind a big glass window and watch the children tumble. I was thrilled. Someone else to watch my child and I could sit and cuddle with Matthew in the corner!!!! WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!

My big shot, strong willed Sam decided he did NOT like the class, after about 5 minutes. Maybe it was because of the ginormous size room with HUGE HUGE things all over the place? Maybe because the teacher said "no" to him in a very very stern voice? Maybe because mommy wasn't with me, however, he wanted me to actually leave the building, and not watch him? I'm not sure what it was, but I was so completely shocked. He got scared in the class and the teacher kindly walked him out to me and said, 'mommy, he needs a pep talk'.

Well, the 'pep' talk didn't really go over all that well. Remember the car seat episode? Yeah, well, I was worried that he was going to vomit all over, so we left and took a walk outside.

Something in there was scary to him, and he hasn't yet told me. He slept fine last night, so I'm glad he didn't have night terrors like last time. However, both Brad and I are so completely shocked of the reaction....oh dear, what will pre-school bring?

Congrats Daddy & new decisions

Well, as most of you know, Brad has received a promotion within Washington Mutual. We were aggressively looking for work for Brad back home in Wisconsin, until his 'dream' job appeared in front of his eyes. After many interviews, long days of waiting, he received the call. The call to inform him that HE was selected for the job! This 'dream' job was a fantastic opportunity for him. Although it doesn't move us back to the Midwest, it brings Brad closer to a dream of his, a chance to explore different possibilities within the mortgage world, and a shot at another new adventure. He is so thrilled, and we are so proud of him. Of course with his new position brings on new challenges for him, and us as well.

We celebrated with daddy on his good news out for Hibachi. While mommy and daddy ordered off the menu, Sam and Matthew were using their chop sticks to grab their chicken nuggets. We never thought we would be 'those' parents who brought McDonald's to a fancy restaurant....but it was so perfect, I can't even explain. We had a GREAT dinner and Daddy was all smiles! Again, Congratulations Daddy, and Good Luck on Monday as you start your new role.

With Daddy's new job, we also will be moving. Not back home, unfortunately, but to a NEW home here in Florida. We are going to be staying here for another year, and we found the 'perfect' home a few subdivisions over from ours. We love the layout, the paint selections and most importantly the location! We are steps away from the soccer fields, park, swimming pools, and most importantly some of our great friends homes. It is going to be a great summer, unlike last. We know so many of our neighbors that already it feels like home. It is similar in size to our home now, but we will have many more conveniences! We will gain occupancy of the home in 2 weeks and we will be moving slowly over. We hope to have the moving truck here sometime in the middle of April and spend our first night in our home soon there after! We can't wait. The boys love the house...they love all the new doors that they can slam, the covered porch where Sam can lock Matthew out of the house (yes, it's happened already) and a new room for both boys! It is going to be great!

Next on our list will be to sign Sam up for Pre-School. We've toured a few, but haven't made our decision quite yet. Stay tuned....it's going to be a exciting month for all :).

Attack of the Vaseline : Second son

There is something about Vaseline and my children that I am having a hard time relating to. There is something about Vaseline and naps that my children find amusing. There is something about rubbing Vaseline in your hair that is fun....I haven't figured it out yet, but I have learned my lesson about keeping the Vaseline in the changing table drawer.





Innocent Matthew decided it was time to experiment. He usually hits his pillow and if fast asleep. Not today. Today it was time to roam around the room, quietly so mommy wouldn't hear. He went straight to the changing table, grabbed the jar of Vaseline and away he went. Vaseline was everywhere. Hair, rug, changing table, shoes, socks etc. Literally everywhere.

Again, this act of adventure was done so quietly, I had no idea, until I opened up the door after nap. I took some pictures, and took a video, but the video is not able to upload. When I figure out why, I'll post later.

There is nothing better than opening up the door after nap and finding your child stuck to the pillow surrounded with slime. Seriously, for a moment, I was scared something horrible happened to him. I was scared that he was sweating profusely through his pores and couldn't stop. He had Vaseline dabbed so think on him hair, that it formed to a massive clump. His hair was sticking straight up in the air coming out all directions. His nose was shiny and his pillow was drenched. Thankfully he left the jar out so I had a good idea what happened.

Enjoy the pictures.

LOOK WHAT WE GOT????

A chance to hold a new little puppy at the puppy store! No worries, we didn't bring one home, but we do plan to frequent the puppy store on a regular basis. The boys had SO much fun. The puppy store was a retailer who purchased puppies from breeders around the state. The puppies were in cages that had open tops. We could pick out as many puppies as we wanted, one by one, and play with them in a caged area. It was so much fun. The boys could have stayed there all day. Matthew was a little timid at first, but by the end of our visit was throwing balls directly at the puppies faces saying, "go"! Sam, he just pretended to feed them and wanted so bad to take one home.

However, after about 20 minutes, the allergies started kicking in and Brad and I had sneezing wars. We were stuffed up, thankfully because the puppy poo stench was starting to get to me! Nonetheless, we'll be back to visit.