Happy Birthday, Justin!

We had a fabulous week leading up to the big TWO for Justin. Birthday dinners with Uma & Carlo, family dinner, zoo trip, first family Costco trip, and lots of family time.

Here goes...
I went to the bathroom upstairs, and when I came down, I found the boys like this. They dumped all of their snow stuff out of their bins and used them as train cars to watch TV. Creative, right? Just gotta work on them cleaning up their own mess.

 And the next day, Jack took this picture of them...We're definitely in a train car stage.

 Auntie Lori called to sing Happy Birthday to Justin, and Justin kissed the camera the whole time...long enough for me to pull my camera out and take a pic. (Side note: Remember the days when having a flip phone was cool? Yes, I still have a flip phone.)

 For J's birthday dinner, the family came over and we BBQed! We have snow, but that didn't stop Jack from grilling steaks.

 The cousins played all over the house. Justin took his shirt off and refused to put it back on.

 The kids are older now, so the adults didn't really have to run after any little ones. We just ate and chatted. Our house held 16 people!

 Birthday cake time! He blew his candles out about 15 times throughout the night. Look at the cake- the boys and I decorated it ourselves. We did a road with yellow cars. I asked Colin to be in charge of the trees and to think of something green to put on the pretzel sticks. He responded with, "They are winter trees. They don't have leaves, mom."

Sam, Sarah, Justin and Colin going crazy with the last of the birthday cake. Good times...

On Sunday, we went to the zoo. The sun came out for us so we took advantage and headed out! I think this was one of the first times I didn't haul the stroller with me. The boys did great - running and walking everywhere. The elephants are always a big hit.

Just wanted to show you this picture. Colin really isn't a little toddler anymore. He's growing up just so fast.

 

 Have a great week everyone.

Weekend updates...

We have limited options when it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year. But we tried to make the most of it by watching some dancers at a cultural show and doing arts & crafts at Whole Foods. Happy New Year!

 I think they loved their car snacks the most.

The kids are doing well - just playing around the house and cooking for most of our "family days." They are hilarious at home - and say the funniest things. My favorite quotes from the weekend:
Justin: Mommy, candy?
(before I could even answer...)
Colin: Justin, you should go ask daddy for candy. Mommy doesn't give us too much sugar snacks. Go ask daddy.
Justin: DADDY!

Jack: It's family clean up time. Everyone who helps gets a snack.
(everyone but Colin starts to clean up.)
Justin: (as he is putting toys away) Colin, no snack. Colin, no snack. Colin, no snack.
Colin: Hey,I want a snack. (then he starts cleaning up)
(We love it when the kids start parenting themselves!)

If you're wondering what we do at home....

And finally, my birthday boots. I asked Jack to take a picture of me and the kids to show off my boots and this is what I find on the camera...

You'd think I committed a crime by posting 2 days late. Love to all. We miss everyone too. =)

C & J Stories

We had a wonderful, uneventful weekend at home. Jack worked most of the weekend and the weather was chilly. We usually try to get the boys out on errands/outings once a day to run off some energy, but this weekend, we only left once!

Justin vacuums just like his big brother now. And the boys took turns trapping each other in the laundry basket and sitting on each other.

 The boys like to put pajama pants on their heads... odd, I know. And Colin is in a phase of finding and wrapping presents for people. He's wrapping up this box (with J's binkies inside) for Justin.

 Our one outing was for a birthday party...at an ice cream shop and they had a clown who did balloons and magic. The boys, surprisingly, loved the magic and Colin begged to be a volunteer, but they ran out of time.

Other updates....

Colin had his first dentist appointment this week - and, boy, did he surprised us. Jack & I were anticipating much resistance - crying, whining and all! Well, Colin proved us wrong and sat there like a champ. They scraped and cleaned his teeth - and no cavities to report. So proud of him.

Justin woke up and I went to his crib to get him. I walked in and he was pointing to his back saying "nice, nice." The little guy wanted a back rub. =)

Justin didn't eat his dinner.
Me: No dinner, no snack. Colin - you ate your dinner, so you get a snack.
Justin: (looking sad)
Colin: Maybe you can give him a snack because he looks really sad.
Justin: (still looking sad)
Me: You're being a very good big brother.
Colin: Look at how sad he looks. I think we should just give him some snack.
Me: I guess we can this one time.
Justin: (biggest smile ever) Thank you Colin. Thank you Mommy.

Justin: Pee-pee in the potty.
Me: Yay, let's go...
Justin: Pee-pee. see. Yay, Justin!
Me: (clapping, congratulating, screaming) YAY!

Colin crying in time-out...
Justin: Mommy, up?
Me: I'm not going to carry you. No up.
Justin: Colin cry.
Me: Yes, Colin is crying.
Justin: Justin no cry. Up?
Me: okay. =)

Colin: mom, can you come to the potty with me?
Me: No. Ask your brother.
Colin: Justin, if you come with me, I'll give you a present.
Justin: YAY!!!!! (Follows Colin upstairs)

I'm doing dishes...
Colin: No hitting.
Justin: (hits C again)
Colin: Mom, Justin hit me two times and I told him no hitting.
Me: Justin, did you hit your brother?
Justin: (turns to Colin) I'm sorry, Colin. Hug?
Colin: Just stop hitting me.

Colin: I want to play that money game. (as he is dumping the coins out of his piggy bank.)
Me: What money game?
Colin: The one in Hawaii.
Me: I don't remember a money game.
Colin: You know. The one with hi-bachan, with the money in the middle of the table.
Me: ohh....poker!
Colin: Yes, poker. I want to play poker!


Jack worked all weekend...
Colin: I know something.
Me: What?
Colin: Daddy is like Santa Claus.
Me: What makes you say that?
Colin: He comes to our house when we are sleeping. Just like Santa.
Me: Oh, you're right...Good thinking.
Colin: But there are no presents when we wake up. So he's not the real Santa.

And just when you think you're a semi-good mama, you hear your 4 year old get frustrated and say, "oh. my. god. what is wrong with you?" to your 2 year old. I'm not 100% sure that I actually said this to one of them, but it sure sounds like me, right? Reminder to self: Be kind if you want your kids to be kind... They are always listening! =) Gotta work on that.

Have a wonderful rest of the week...

Loving the January sun...

And we're not even on vacation! Oh, how the sun and warmer weather came out in Ohio and treated us to crisp, fall-like weather. We loved every minute and headed outdoors - 2 playground trips in 1 weekend!

Also, spent time with family to celebrate Grandma's birthday. All of the grandkids tried to blow out her candles - so she had to guard her own cake. We made corned beef - and I made cabbage two ways. One traditional and one steamed with bacon. Cabbage + bacon = tasty!

Warning: Don't let the kids read past this point.... C & J found the elf. Jack and I weren't paying full attention, and Colin got into some boxes in the basement. Long story short, he came to me with this in his hands...

 Then they started playing hockey with it... "We're going to hockey it." - C & "HOCKEY IT!" - J

 Not sure what's going to happen now... Perhaps this elf will go back to the North Pole and Santa will still send an elf next year? We'll see....

And lastly, the boys don't really like it when I vacuum, but Colin loves the hand-held sized one. He's already vacuumed twice this weekend. Jack & I are loving it!

Kid updates:
Justin has been peepee-ing in the potty every now and again, but this weekend, I think he did it 3 times. Lots of happy dancing in our house! He's also talking up a storm - literally repeating whatever Colin says. And talking on his own - "c'mon mommy. please help justin." Or when he asks to watch TV, he says "VT, VT, VT!" haha.

Colin has been testing me all week. Pushing his limits and mine. Whining, crying, screaming, negotiating. It's all been a lot. After school one day he wouldn't stop this constant whining noise, so I yelled at him. He got scared and stopped. Later that night, I tucked him in bed:


Me: Colin, mommy was frustrated today when you were screaming in the car.
Colin: I know.
Me: I need you to listen to me the first time. I get very frustrated when you do not listen.
Colin: (quiet)
Me: I need you to listen to me the first time. What's another way mommy can ask you to stop screaming so you stop?
Colin: (jumps up and stands on his bed and starts hula dancing) You can do this.
Me: Huh?
Colin: You can dance like this and I'll stop screaming.

*Perhaps we need to rethink our child rearing...Would I rather spank or hula dance in public?

Ringing in the New Year!

We headed to Ann Arbor, MI to ring in the new year with Matt, Elena, Alex and Ana!

Ann Arbor has a great Hands On Museum.

 There was an entire area of red blocks and the kids could build forts...

 and knock them down. Of course, knocking them down is so much more fun.

 Four floors dedicated to fun ways for kids to learn...

 and play. The kids completely took over this area and had fun for a good 20 minutes. It was supposed to be a dig and discover type of area, but the kids turned it into a bath tub. It was in a room off to the side, so we didn't have any issue with them going crazy. And don't worry, mom, we left it the way we found it so nobody knows how rowdy we were. =)

 At Matt & Elena's house, the boys all played with toys and danced around... even in Ana's crib.

We had a great dinner, but the camera took a rest...so no proof of Elena's signature meaty pie. =) Then we had a new year's eve party (at 8:30pm). Justin was already sleeping in bed. Matt bought a party pack and we had streamers, poppers, blowers, and clappers to bring in the new year.

 Jack & Matt are amazing fathers...Here they are teaching the kids how to party with poppers. The kids loved it!

Justin and Ana continued to stare at each other all weekend. Love them. Jack & I have declared Ana the best baby ever (yes, ours included.) She is so calm, happy and content.

 And no lie, about 30 seconds into our car ride home, Justin passed out.

Thank you for an amazing family weekend. What a great way to bring in 2012! Happy New Year everybody!!!