Month: January 2012

splish. splash.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I feel like I am on photoblog overload.  But hey, a lot has gone on lately and there have been a lot of pictures to show for it.  Since this is my virtual baby book, this is where the pictures go.  Eventually I will write a post where I actually talk about stuff, but for this week, I’m editing, uploading, and posting tons of pictures.

Mostly, I think Groupon is junk, because all they ever post is 50% off a spa pedicure 45 minutes from my house.  Every once in awhile, they get it right.  My friend told me about a deal for 50% off an indoor waterpark and resort a couple hours from home.  Sounds like a fun weekend getaway, right? 

Welcome to our Big Splash Adventure. It was only $140 for 4 waterpark passes for both days you’re there, one night in the hotel, pizza dinner with breadsticks and 4 drinks, and continental buffet breakfast.  I think that’s a pretty great deal.

When we pulled up to the hotel, Theo said “beeeg house!”  He’s really learning big and little.  He is also getting really consistent with colors.  He still surprises me every day with the workings of his little brain.

Anyway – we got there Saturday around 12:30 and got the boys suited up.

Dexter is looking pretty sassy here, don’t you think? He knows he looks cute.
He spent most of his time in the water swing and playing with the fountains that shoot up in the kiddie pool (see below).
Theo was more interested in checkin’ out the ladies.  Aw, yeah.
Fountain thingies in the background.  Dexter crawled around all over the place every time we put him in the pool.  Silly boy.

After a couple of hours it was evident that they needed a nap so we went back to the room and got them to sleep for an hour or so.  Oh, they must have slept hard because they had the bedhead to show for it. They rolled around on the giant KING sized bed (we only have a full sized bed at home) and shared a little Puff snack.  Some of the best moments from the whole weekend happened right then. 

I. Love. This.
And this.  Dexter with his hand over Theo’s mouth.  I can already picture him doing this again in a couple years as Theo is about to rat him out for doing something naughty.  Can’t you see it now?
Well, here ya go, brother.  Have a puff.  See the bedhead?
Love.Love.Love.
Theo loved this little bunk.

There was the pizza dinner (it was only okay) and more swimming.  More rolling around on the bed and overly tired, hyper little boys that didn’t want to go to sleep.  Theo desperately wanted to sleep in that bunk.  We pushed his pack n play up next to it to serve as a rail, but he was just too excited.  Too excited about sleeping in a “grown up bed” to lay down and do just that.  We put him in the pack n play and he was out instantly.  Both boys were FINALLY asleep around 10:30.  You know, two and half hours past their normal bedtime.  Dex was up at 6ish as usual, and Theo slept until 8.  I think he would have slept a lot longer if it hadn’t been for Dexter making such a ruckus. 
Breakfast was decent, then it was back to the pool. 
We allowed ourselves about an hour and a half before we needed to go back to the room and get checked out.  It only took about half that to realize that Theo didn’t get enough sleep.  He was so tired.
Dex still loved the water swing.
Theo loved the slide.  He mostly went down by himself, this was just for funsies.

Shortly after this, Theo informed us that he was done “fwimmin” so we got ourselves checked out and hit the road.  He was asleep before we got out of the “beeeg house” parking lot.  Oh, but not before throwing a giant exhaustion-inspired tantrum in the room while we were packing up. 
Par for the course, my friends.
All in all, I’d call it a fantastic weekend.  Can’t wait to go back!
~C~

i’m really competitive so…

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I just wanted to be sure I could win the award for SLOWEST BLOGGER IN ALL THE LAND TO POST PICTURES OF CHRISTMAS.  Did I win? 

We’ve been out of town the last three weekends in a row so there just hasn’t been lots of time for posting updates.  There hasn’t been lots of time for much of anything.  It’s been fun, but it’s been a whirlwind and I’m ready to just hang out at home for a change.  Our Christmas tree is still up, for Pete’s sake. 

For Christmas weekend, we went to visit my mama and my sister and her family in Tennessee.

Apparently, this is about the best picture I’ll ever get of all 4 of my mama’s grandbabes.  Don’t worry Mom, I’ll keep trying.
Since I was a teenager, we always opened presents at midnight on Christmas Eve.  We had to let Theo and Dex go a little earlier because they would never make it that long.  We would have waited until Christmas morning but the whole fam went to church and we didn’t want to rush it.
Theo digging into his stocking.
Grammy and Dexter getting ready to read one of many Baby’s 1st Christmas cards.
Theo checking out his new “smart” phone.
Dexter’s reaction to presents was about what you’d expect.  Ribbons! Bows! Paper! Boxes!  (Priceless).
Toypalooza 2011.  Oh, HI BENTLEY!  (For the record, Theo was not scared of my mom’s dog.  I was a little nervous that he would be after the whole dog bite to the head incident).
Theo was pretty content just hanging out with his cousin, Malachi,all weekend.
We put the babies to bed and then us big kids started opening presents.  Seen here: The Aftermath.  I swear, my mom is not a hoarder.
I swear, she’s not.
The day after Christmas it was time to head back home and work a couple of days before celebrating Christmas with R’s side of the family.  I’m not complaining – having two Christmases is nice.  Sure is a lot of work, packing and unpacking so much.  I’m sad and happy about having our family Christmases at home in upcoming years.  It will be nice to wake up at home and share those moments together, but it’s kind of the end of an era, too. 
R getting his Perplexus on.  (Have you seen this? Tried this?  It is unbelievably maddening and addictive!)
Theo cooking in his new (used) kitchen with Aunt Chelle.
Spencer:  Hey, Pop Pop!  Wanna watch me play my new 3DS?
Pop Pop: Sure.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
I had such a good time watching and helping the boys open presents.
Nana is good at a lot of things – cooking, knitting, and decorating just to name a few.  It wouldn’t be Christmas (or any day) at Nana’s without lots of pretty blue things sitting around.
One of Theo’s favorite little trinkets from Christmas – a light up glitter snowman.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without some fake mistletoe.  Fake or not, it always elicits a few extra kisses here and there.
So there you have it.  Finally.  It’s been bugging me for a good week now that I hadn’t gotten around to posting this sooner.  I was starting to worry that I’d have to lump 2011 and 2012 Christmas into one blog post.  Maybe if we can get our decorations put away this weekend, it will finally feel like Christmas is over.  Oh well.  What’s the rush?
be merry anyway,
~C~

nursery and play space tours

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I’m participating in Mama G’s Toddle Along Tuesday Blog Hop once again. Today’s topic: Your child’s room and/or play spaces. Hmm. Disclaimer: No rooms were cleaned in the making of this post. (Maybe I moved a couple things around in Dexter’s room, but the tornado that is Theo’s room was left as is).

First of all, what part of my house isn’t a play space? This post will make it all too evident to everyone else why I have been complaining that WE HAVE GOT TO MOVE. Stat. It was never our intention to raise two babies in this house. But yeah – ya know!

Here we go.

Behold: The area of the living room where all things baby are shoved. The Jumperoo which Dexter refuses to use anymore. The pile of blankets we no longer bother putting on the floor because he crawls right off of them. (Hello, kitty!) The basket of toys that Theo dumps over at every opportunity. The giant red Target bag full of extra fake food for Theo’s new (used) kitchen that we literally have nowhere else to hide. The bouncy seat that Dexter uses as a jungle gym.

The aforementioned play kitchen that now plays a starring role in our real kitchen. Theo’s little step stool. Hiding behind the step stool, you can see Dexter’s booster seat that we will start using ASAP (as soon as he quits leaning forward to take a bite, therefore requiring us to recline his Space Saver High Chair seat). (Oh, hello there, Elmo. Cooking dinner tonight?)

Dexter’s room. We’re using the old old old telephone cart for the humidifier right now. I’d love to get rid of that dumb thing altogether.

Oh, hey there peanuts!

Little bit better view of Dexter’s room. Small clear tote on the floor holds a few toys. Dresser is overflowing with baby clothes, size 6-9 and 6-12 months mostly. Sigh…the baby boy is getting too big! The glider/rocker to the right in this picture has gotten lots of exercise. It has been on loan from my mama for a couple years now and I’ll be glad when we can free up the space that it takes in the next few months.

I couldn’t resist sharing – Dexter got some rad new shoes for Christmas! I can’t wait til these fit.

Another view of the dresser corner. Why, yes. We are still rocking the baby Christmas tree.

Dexter’s bed, complete with handmade blankets, Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout, Lamaze Northern Lights Soother, and Kimberly Grant Zoom Zoom Bedding.

Finally, the changing “table.” This is a super old, cheap, and junky dresser that I’ve been using for years because our closets are so small that I have to keep my clothes in a separate room. Well, I gave up the top two drawers for Dexter’s burp cloths, receiving blankets, extra wipes, diaper genie refills, etc. The dresser originally was too low for a changing table, so my awesome father-in-law whipped up the nifty platform that the dresser is sitting on to make it the proper height! He’s amazing. The small tub on top of the dresser hold diapers, lotion, and ointments. Diaper Genie to the right. Rolling plastic storage thingy to the right of that for blankets, extra diapers, and the like.

See? I told you…he is awesome.

Moving on to Theo’s room…

I told you I didn’t clean anyone’s room for this post. Here’s the proof. I do it from time to time, because the fun of playing is apparently the process of dragging everything out, but it proves to be a futile effort if I ever do it for any other reason.

Ahh, yes. The room we actually decorated in great anticipation of our baby boy’s arrival. Sorry Dexter, we will hang something on your walls someday. Maybe.

Theo’s bed, complete with Pillow Pets, Fisher Price Projector, a couple of Elmos, and Migi Alphabet Bedding.

The dark blue ITSO cubes hold quite a few toys, but not enough obviously.

Theo’s changing table could use some re-organizing. We just don’t use it for the things we used to use it for (burp cloths, receiving blankets, etc.) so we could probably make better use of the space.

Ah. I just realized I forgot to take a picture of our giant bookshelf, full of baby/kid books. First thing you see when you walk into the living room. Yes, it is time to move. And when we do move, we will have a playroom where so many of these things can be tucked away. Oh, I can’t wait for that day.

If you want to know what my “dream play space” looks like, just flip through the pages of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. Have you ever seen such rooms!?

Here’s a taste.

Seriously!? Who lives like this!?

Hope you’ve enjoyed the tour!
~C~