All fun and games

I have really been wanting to sit down and do a post on our little C-bear. As parents, there are things about each one of your children that you just love. This post isn't in any way showing favor to Christian, but things he has been doing lately have been bringing smiles to our face.

The special thing about Christian is that this kid is always happy. At home he is smiling, laughing, singing, running, hopping, galloping, skipping. This kid is just a happy kid. Needless to say, sad Christian, makes us sad. I mean, don't get me wrong, he has his moments of melting down and whining, but that is usually when he is super tired or hungry.

When he was about to turn 3, I started seeing some signs of defiance. All I could think to myself was, "Oh joy, here we go again." When Joseph was 3, it wasn't the highlight of my parenting. I think it was hard for me to see Joseph so defiant and sassy since he had been this really easy baby and toddler and hardly ever had to be re-directed or disciplined. Then he turned 3 and oh my word, I couldn't believe that was my child. Then Joseph turned 4, and awww, how awesome was that year!? He would say, "yes, mama...thank you mama...yes please," and go get dressed first thing in the morning without ever being asked. It was such a delight. So when Christian was about to turn 3, I was preparing my mind, my heart and my attitude to have to correct, discipline and guide this little guy on how to act. Much to my surprise, Christian turning 3 hasn't been that bad and I am so thankful for that. One of the things Christian has been doing since he has turned 3 is, when he sees something or sees Jeff doing something, this kid falls in love with whatever it is. Christian is also really beginning to fall in love with sports and when we go outside to play a particular sport, he has to get suited up for it...just like the pros do.

For example, when we go outside to play soccer, he has to have his shirt that has a soccer ball on it, the matching short, and tennis shoes.



When we got outside to play football, he has to have his Aggie helmet.

 Jeff has recently started playing the guitar for our church and Christian loves the drummer for the church. One day he grabbed my cell phone and I asked what he was doing and he told me, "I'm going to call Jody." He now likes to sit with me during worship time so he can watch Jeff and Jody play.

 Jeff  showed the boys a video of Dave Grohl and when he did, Christian was all about playing his guitar. The particular video they like watching, Dave wraps his hand with some white tape. Joseph came upon some white tape in the garage and so when they play, "FooFoo Fighters," they want me to wrap their hands in the white tape.

 Jeff took Christian to a Rockets game a while back and Christian played basketball the rest of that week. But to play, he has to wear his blue jersey with a basketball on it, the matching shorts and his black converse basketball shoes.

 Jeff showed the boys a video of Dave Grohl on the drums, so Christian had to put on a white shirt like Dave and played to drums for that week.

 Christian loves baseball and asks quite often when he can play. We were telling him he couldn't play until he was 5, but we are starting to feel so bad that he is having to sit everything out when he is so ready to play. I think we are going to crack and put him in something in the Fall. Every Saturday he wants to go and watch Joseph play tball. Christian sits at the end of the bench and goes to the huddles before and after the games. (Oh, and Christian has to have his baseball hat and glove)

 And here is Christian riding the 'bull.' He wanted to do this after he went to the Rodeo with Marnie and Poppy. He had to put on his 'army jacket' and his Aggie helmet, because the bull riders wear vests and helmets when riding. He has told me that he is going to do the Muttin Bustin next year. I am sure he will and I sure he will probably break something ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDc18n8Ma6A&feature=youtu.be

The following are just some pictures of our happy little guy. 



 He loves and adores his big brother so much.

Even though turning 3 hasn't really brought upon the defiant attitude or disrespectfulness, he has had three injuries since January. He fractured his arm right before his third birthday by falling out of the door of the trampoline. Then in March, he dislocated his elbow by being swung around. Then last week, he fractured his foot by falling off the top bunk. I want to say here, that YES we do watch our children, it's just this kid is so careless! I distinctly remember joking when he was a toddler that if there was an edge, he would find it. He fell off of everything. It's one of those things you love about him, but at the same time, we are going to have to pray EXTRA protection over this kid in the years to come. He is fearless! Like, I am serious, hours after having his arm put back in place he wanted to go outside and play football. So, like always, we put his helmet on and he charged right at Joseph, who had the ball. Just like that, Christian busted his lip. This kid is crazy!

Family Staycation 2012

A few months ago, Jeff came to me and said he wanted to take a week off in April and to start thinking about something we could do as a family. So, we both started thinking of fun family things we could do and when we came together to share our ideas, we had two totally different vacations in mind. I really wanted to do a short, during the week trip either to San Antonio Sea World or Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, but Jeff had something else (a little cheaper) in mind. He was thinking more of driving to Arkansas or Tennesee and staying in cabins for a week. As much as I LOOOVEEE camping and the woods, I really wasn't in the mood for the long drive. Plus, I told Jeff that I would rather go to Colorado this summer and stay with the sisters and cousins in the cabin that Kyle's family owns. With the Colorado trip in mind, I really didn't want to do two long road trips less than 3 months a part.

So, back to the drawing board we went and we both settled on the idea of a Staycation. We would plan something every day and make no plans with other families, watch other kiddos or bring any other kiddos along, just the five of us, doing something fun, every day, for an entire week. I was a little worried at first staying put because I thought stuff would come up and we would change plans and be too flexible. I was really proud of us. We stuck to our plans and we were together, doing something fun everyday. I loved the idea of not having all the stress that comes with getting ready to go out of town. I am one of those freaks who likes to have the grass all mowed and trimmed up, house cleaned and picked up before we head out of town, so for our family, getting ready to leave town can be pretty stressful . It was really nice not having any of that for this family vacation.

The vacation, I like to say, started Friday night when Jeff got home. That Saturday was my birthday, so it was a pretty awesome way to start our vacation. Friday night, Jeff surprised me with one of those cookie cakes and I was super excited. I had mentioned wanting one for my birthday, but then we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner, so I told him to not worry about the giant cookie cake and I would just get cheesecake at dinner Saturday night. Jeff went ahead and bought me one anyway and we all enjoyed it very much. 

Saturday morning (my birthday), Jeff let me sleep in and made us a big breakfast. We then went to Joseph's tball game and came home and relaxed until it was time to drop the kiddos off at Marnie's and Poppy's. As we were leaving M & P's, Jeff told me that we were going to pick up one my favorite couples, Mark and Megan. I was so excited and very surprised. We then headed out to the Cheesecake Factory. I have never been, which is acutally pretty surprising since Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. I really enjoyed the meal and of course the cheesecake was awesome!

Sunday, we went to church and just lazed around, not doing much of anything. I actually took a nap Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with the boys. This is a very very rare thing for me to do. I felt so rested the rest of the week!

Monday was our first day to go do something as a family. We really wanted to do things that I always want to do with the boys, but can't do by myself, with all three. So the first day we went to the Houston Space Center and to McDonald's for lunch. The play place at this particular McD's is pretty awesome!

Then that evening, Jeff cooked us all dinner!

Christian looking for space balls.

 I love this picture, because Christian is totally wiping out on one of the balls.

 My little (and big) engineers.

Andddd.......it's nap time for this little guy.

Tuesday, we woke up and went to get Shipley donuts. Such a wonderful way to start the day. Our plan for the day was to go to the Houston Zoo and ride the train. I get to do this often with the boys, and they always have a great time so I wanted Jeff to get experience that with the boys. Well, we made a HUGE mistake by leaving past 10, during the Spring, when field trips are going strong. We arrived at the Zoo close to 11 and we couldn't find a parking spot anywhere!! So, we had a change of plans and drove down to the Children's Museum. I wasn't crazy about the idea at first because we don't have a membership anymore and you have to pay for parking, but it ended up being a fun day. I got to go to the tot spot with Nathan, which I have never been able to do because the older boys are too big to be in there. Nathan had a blast!! We came home, had nap time and then Jeff had arranged for our carpets to be cleaned. They look so puuuuurttty now!!! Since we got the carpets cleaned, we went out for dinner so they could dry. 

Wednesday, Jeff had arranged for a sweet lady, Maria, to come and clean our house first thing in the morning. Since she was coming early in the morning, we didn't want to eat breakfast here, so we went to IHOP and after eating so much and wanting a nap at 9 in the morning, we went to the library to kill some time and stay out of Maria's way. After a while, we left and dropped off Nathan and Jeff and me and the older boys went to see the movie Lorax. Pretty good and the boys seemed to really enjoy it. After the movie, I dropped the older one's off at home and then I went back out to go shopping with all the birthday money and gift cards that I had received. Jeff cooked us dinner again that night! It was yummy!

Then Thursday, we headed down to Galveston and played at Stewart Beach. This was the absolute highlight of our week. It was such a perfect day for the beach. It was overcast and had a really nice, cool breeze so we didn't feel like we were baking in the sun. The water wasn't too bad unless you tried to go waist deep to boogy board, then it was pretty chilly. When we first got there, the older boys were excited and took off. The little one, well, it took him a while to warm up to everything. He reminds me so much of Joseph and that he doesn't like to be forced to do things. He likes to take it at his pace and if you try to get him to do something he isn't too sure about, watch out! After about 45 mintues of a grumpy attitude, I look to where the chairs are and Nathan is sitting behind Jeff playing in the sand and loving it. After that, oh and some lunch, he was loving it. He wasn't crazy about the water when we first got there either, but at the end, he wanted me to put him down and he would crawl into the water. I was so happy that he didn't do what he was doing the first 45 mintues the entire day. It would have been exhausting.

After the wonderful day at the beach, we headed to our hotel and got cleaned up. Then for dinner we took the boys to The Rainforest Cafe. My little animal lover (Joseph) loves this place. Christian, tolerates it, but Nathan, I forgot one thing about him,  he is pretty frightened of thunderstorms. If you have never been here to eat, they have thunderstorm sounds about every thirty minutes where the lights flicker on and off and the animals go crazy. Nathan wasn't thrilled about this at all. Plus, we were right next to this giant elephant, so yeah, we ate quickly. 

Then Friday morning, we had breakfast and then drove to the end of the Island to ride the Ferry  to Bolivar Peninsula. The boys really enjoyed this. We rode the Ferry to Bolivar and right back. We didn't drive around Bolivar at all. After the ferry ride we went to lunch and then to the strand to take the boys to one of our favorite candy shops, La Kings. Then after this, we came home....... :-(

 When Nathan realized he could play in the sand and I wasn't going to tell him to 'Stop,' he went crazy. At home, I have to stop him from playing in the dirt because he loves to eat it. I was really surprised that I didn't catch him putting sand in his mouth.

 This was the start of our beach day. As you can see, Nathan IS NOT thrilled.

 This has been such a fun, relaxing week with my boys. Monday is going to be horrible in so many ways. Not having Jeff home, having to do chores, having to cook, no naps for me and having to get back to my diet. BLAH!!