photos at the park

Chris's parents are in town and we had a fun picnic yesterday up at a new favorite park (in Oak Glen).

ahhh...

raise the roof

Right now Chris and Cam are at Sports Authority looking for some baseball pants. This past weekend we registered him for his first T-ball league. We don't have hugely high expectations as to whether he'll love it, but at least he'll look super cute and we can get some great pictures!

When Chris got home from registration, he told me the fee comes with a hat, shirt, and belt. I said, "Oh, so he can just wear jeans for his pants, right?". "Not my son!", was his reply. He also informed me that HIS son will have his socks match his shirt and he must get some black athletic shoes. Can you tell Chris played baseball his whole life??? :)

Anyway, here is the picture Chris just texted me. Cam's arms are in the air because we just taught him to do, "raise the roof!!". I know, it's a 90's saying, but how cute is he?? :)

moms

Lately I've been sneaking in a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. The writing is pretty creative, but I LOVE the close relationship between the two main characters (mom and daughter). I think every mom, when she has a daughter, longs to one day be good friends.

While my mom is one of my best friends right now, it wasn't always the case. We didn't fight a ton in high school, we just weren't super close. I think I was so self absorbed and into my own little teen life, I didn't make room for a close relationship with her. I'm bummed now because I know I missed out. :) Seems like there is such a fine line to walk for a mom. You want to be your daughter's friend, but you also need to be the "mom" and not lose her respect. Sometimes I think it mostly has to do with the daughter's personality, rather than a tried and true formula moms can follow to make it happen. Hmm...

monkeys and puzzles

Cam is pretty good about eating whatever we place in front of him. HOW he eats it can sometimes vary. I'll admit that I many times play the, "Eat 15 peas and you can have 1 Cheez-it" game. The other night I decided to get tough and tell him he couldn't get up until he ate all his veggies. Boy was he in that chair a LONG time! He decided to stall by singing 5 Little Monkeys. Who knew that, despite the monkeys supposedly falling off the bed, their numbers actually increased with each verse. :)

The veggies were consumed, it just took QUITE a while.



For Christmas, my parents gave Cam a great floor puzzle. He loved it, so we decided to get him another one. He loves "putting them together", meaning having us give him each piece and showing him where to place it. :)

eating out

My sister and a friend and I were emailing about the pros and cons of eating at a restaurant with kiddos. I thought her description of their experiences was great. I think all parents can relate. Eating out just IS NOT the same anymore when the kids are in tow. :)

When we go out to eat (as a family of 5), usually we are going to Wahoos or Jalepenos or some restaurant that is really kid friendly and has the food ready in less than 5 minutes. The goal is to order and then stall for a few minutes, like at the drink station, or having the children go to the bathroom and wash hands. These 'tactics' delay putting C in the high chair until the food has arrived. Then we have about 15 'high chair minutes' when C will eat and sit and not be too difficult. But still, in those 15 minutes I'm scarfing my food, cutting D's chicken, getting extra napkins, cleaning up somebody's spilled drink, feeding C spoonfulls of what we've ordered (hoping he'll eat something), etc. it isn't relaxing at all. IF we are forced to go to a sit down restaurant, we order the second we are seated. Like BJs, Kelly, the second they show us to the table I say "we are ready to order" and i tell her drinks and food at the same time so we only have to wait one time. And then one of us will walk around with C outside until the food arrives. We have brought a diaper bag with toys too, but those end up on the floor or being thrown.

Ahhh, the days when going out to dinner never involved basing our decision on which restaurant would be noisy enough to cover up our kids' yells, fast enough so they won't get bored, and understanding enough if they throw a plate on the floor!

ugh

Note to self: When you get a gift card for Christmas (like the $50 one to Cheesecake from my parents), put it in a safe place RIGHT AWAY. Otherwise you'll find yourself going through both yucky trash cans outside in the cold.

p.s. I never found it.