Welcome Home!

On Sunday we drove down to see Ben's parents who are FINALLY home!! They have been living in Singapore for almost 2 years while Ben's dad was opening a plant there (he's an engineer). It was supposed to be a few months and it just kept getting extended until we weren't sure they were ever coming back! In the meantime, we moved down here and now live about 1 1/2 hours from them. Anyway, we are happy to finally have them back! The last time they saw Noah was at his 1st birthday when they came to visit us in Chicago, right before they left for Asia. They hadn't ever seen Sam in person. So it was especially fun to introduce them to our boys (who gave them hugs and cuddles immediately - I swear, kids just somehow know when they're with family, don't you think?). We're excited to have Grandma and Grandpa nearby. Welcome home!


The boys were pooped by the time we were driving back - it was long past both of their nap-times and we had been to two church services. They conked out in the car. Little cute-stuffs.



Oh, and speaking of church services. Our congregation got a good chuckle when Noah, who had just been told (again) to use a quiet voice, exclaimed very loudly, "But Mama, I want to be LOUD!!" over and over until I was able to escort him out of the chapel. Later when we were returning to our seats after having been up on the stand (Noah sat up there with Ben while I directed the choir number) Noah turned to me and asked (loudly of course), "Okay, Mama, can we go home now?" Ah, the fun of kids at church!

Yard Work

I'm not a real fan of yardwork. Ben says he finds it theraputic. I don't understand that, but I'll take it! Maybe someday I'll get some flower pots and develop a green thumb. But in any event, for now Ben does 100% of the yardwork at our house. Actually, he can usually count on a little helper for at least part of the time while he's mowing the lawn.


While these boys are mowing, Sam and I walk around our cul-de-sac. Doesn't he look thrilled about his new ride? Despite the following picture, I promise he does actually like his car!

Reading

Sam enjoys his books:

You'd think it might drive me crazy having to constantly pick up his books but I actually quite enjoy organizing his book shelf so I don't really mind when he tazmanian-devils his way through it. I put the books away according to size, of course. Then the books that are the same size all go in a certain order too. I have a system. Anyway, here's more of Sam reading:

I have virtually identical pictures of Noah at the bookshelf as a baby (here he is a few months younger than Sam is now):

That Explains a Lot

In general, I don't like parenting books. I haven't read one since Noah was a baby. Every now and then I'll google an issue and read an article here and there, but that's about it. I just find that they all contradict each other and only serve to confuse or make you feel like a crappy parent. I know I'm a good mom, so I don't like reading things that make me feel otherwise. Anyway, we do however have a series of books by Armin A. Brott that Ben starting buying when I was pregnant with Noah and we've kept buying them because they're great. (The Expectant Father, The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year, The New Father:A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years). The author basically just explains normal behavior for each age and gives a run-down of what the child and parents may be going through. And he has good advice without being all preachy and annoying. We've found him to be pretty much dead-on.

For instance, we read this paragraph in his toddler book recently:

Like their teenage counterparts, "first adolescents" [the author's term for late-2/early-3 year olds] are incredible know-it-alls. But the veneer of confidence is pretty thin. "It helps to remember that the child is bossy not because he is sure, but actually because he is unsure," write Ames and Ilg. "The world still seems big and dangerous to him. If he can command even a small part of it (his parents), it helps him to feel secure." . . .

Your "first adolescent" is still quite negative and contrary. But it's critical to keep in mind that her negativity is part of an important developmental stage. "The first step toward a positive self-identity and sense of selfhood is a negative self-identity, a negation of the values and desires of his parents," writes psychologist Fitzhugh Dodson.

This pretty much sums up a big part of Noah's attitude as of late. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G we say is contradicted. We ask him to do something, he says, "No, I don't want to." We say no, he says, "Yes, I can!" I even said to him the other day, "Noah, you have such a cute face," and he said, "No, I DON'T have a cute face!" It literally does not matter what we say - he will respond obstinately with the opposite. My parents got a big kick out of this when we were visiting last month, and it CAN be funny. Especially when he disagrees with something so obviously right, ("It's really hot today." "No, it's NOT really hot today!," insisted as he's sweating in the heat). But it can also be unbelievably frustrating at times. I mean, the person I talk to the most every day disagrees or argues with almost everything I say. That can get exhausting.

At least now I've got a good explanation.

(I should note, though, that I just asked him if he loves his mama, expecting to get a funny, typical contradictory response, but the little sweet thing said, "Yes, I do love my mama. And I love my daddy too. And I love Peanut too." Just when you're about to tear your hair out with a 3-year-old, he goes and says or does something that makes you just want to gobble him right up.)

Extreme Shopping Part II

Well, I had such a great response to my previous shopping post that I thought ya'll might enjoy reading about another exciting shopping moment. I do love to shop. :) So Ben and I have been looking for something to hang above our fireplace. It's a tricky spot because there is a 58x50" area framed out with molding on the wall above the mantel. So we feel like whatever we put there has to be fairly substantial since it will automatically be a focal point. We (I) kept thinking of ideas but we (Ben) weren't really getting excited about any of them. So yesterday I was browsing online and found this at Pottery Barn (when you have an employee discount it's just gonna be the first place you check). So I fell instantly in love and emailed the link to Ben. I got a lukewarm "Interesting." in response, but I was encouraged by his follow-up question about how big our framed-out area was. Long story short, I ordered it yesterday.

But the excitement does not stop there, my friends. Before ordering I thought I'd first check the special employee sale list (sale items are sometimes further marked down for employees). Much to my delight, my votive holder was on the employee sale list for an EXTRA 50% off the SALE price (normally we get 20% off sales), plus free shipping!! So I got it for a grand total of 72.3% off the original price and I didn't have to pay the $14 in shipping. This job is totally worth it.

I have all sorts of plans for this "striking piece of wall art," (to quote the catalog). Votive candles, obviously. But I can get different colored candles depending on the season/holiday. OR I can fill the little glass holders with sand in the summer and get all beachy. Or with acrons in the fall to get all autumnal. Or with cranberries in November to get all Thanksgivingy. Or, as my friend Joy brilliantly suggested, with candy corn in October and conversation candy hearts in February.

I'll be sure to take pictures.

Videos

My old camera had the capability of shooting short videos, but for some reason I never shot any (Blast! I missed some cute stuff). I've actually remembered to use the video funtion a few times on my new camera though. Here are the ones I've shot so far (forgive the novice videographing):


Noah's ABCs (which he learned last year and I just barely got around to recording... yeah, I'm on top of things):

Sam's "fun" snack-time game:

My little cowboy:

So there you go. Our family's video library in its entirety.

Extreme Shopping

Yesterday Noah decided he did not want to take a nap in his bed. He felt that under his bed would make for a more comfortable sleeping environment.



Speaking of random things, the other day I went shopping.
I took the boys in to the Galleria in Houston to hit up Nordstrom and Pottery Barn Kids. I did a little damage. Because it was such a ridiculous sight (and because I'm a little bit nerdy), I recreated the image of my encumbered stroller for you when I got home. As you can see, there was no room left in my make-shift shopping cart for my children. Noah was happy to walk and I carried Sam on my hip while I pushed the stroller with my other hand. My arms got very tired, especially since I met some friends for lunch and the food court is not all that close to Pottery Barn Kids. I got lots of stares and chuckles and, "Well, you have your hands full, don't you!"s. I also got one, "So it looks like Pottery Barn had some things that you liked!" It was pretty comical. The main (and bulkiest) purchase was Noah's quilt.



Cute, huh?