Memorial Day Fun Weekend!

This past weekend was our first weekend in a really long time where we didn't have very much planned. No running to soccer games, no viewings of the house, nothing but a couple of errands, Reagan's birthday party on Sunday and some odds and ends we wanted to get done around the house. So we took advantage of that and just had an incredibly fun weekend with the kids.

The weather couldn't have been any better and we kicked off the weekend just playing outside Friday evening with some bubbles. Alex is still learning how to blow soft enough to make bubbles and to keep his mouth off the wand but he loves trying and loves popping the ones I make.

I posted this picture on Facebook on Friday with the caption, "The fun and memories are totally worth the bubble solution spilled on both of us." Because I have come to realize that the memories are way more important than the mess.

On Saturday morning we headed downtown Versailles to get Alex and Matt's hair cut. This was haircut #2 for Alex and he just sat there like a champ and never even acted like he minded it. After we left there we walked over to the farmer's market and found some fresh picked strawberries and some really nice tomato plants.

Alex enjoyed his first taste of fresh picked strawberries:

And then decided he could help daddy get the garden beds ready for the new tomato plants:

  

Alex was having a great time playing in the dirt until he saw his first worm. He immediately jumped into my lap and wouldn't have anything to do with it. I laughed and laughed at him being scared of a worm. He eventually got over it and the fun of the dirt won over and back in he went.

Sunday was filled with fun with the family as we celebrated Reagan's 10th birthday. I did a separate post about that fun time.

Yesterday since it was so warm out, Matt suggested having a water day. The kids had a blast!

We kicked it off with some water balloons and Alex just wanted to "pop" them all as fast as Matt could get them filled up. He also learned that it was really fun to stomp them.

During the balloon fun Alex got to knock another first off his list - buying an ice cream from the ice cream truck! I would have gotten a picture but he wasn't so sure of the lady inside so he wouldn't let go of me long enough to let me get one. I made the mistake of letting him pick out any ice cream from the pictures and he of course picked the nastiest one - Strawberry crunch. He didn't even like it. So we both just pulled out the good standby option - freezer pops! He even stole the last of mine once we got all the juice from his. Thankfully spray and wash saved his shirt after this treat.

Next up - make shift baby pool! Matt found an old pool ring and decided to see what it would do if he filled it with water. It turns out, it makes a nice little makeshift pool for the kids to splash around in! Of course the water from the hose was ice cold so it took Alex a little bit to get used to it. But he would squeal and laugh nonetheless and loved every minute of it.

Even took a break and got a drink the old fashioned way!

Just hanging out in the pool!

After all that water fun, that boy was worn out and slept for a full 2 hours before I woke him up for dinner and then slept really good last night. It's hard playing that hard!

I would have to rank this past weekend as one the of the best ever. It was just so nice to spend the time with the kids and Matt and just enjoy the little things. Hopefully we have many more to come this summer!!

We Have a 10 Year Old?!?

On Friday Reagan turned 10. I am still in shock. The first birthday party of hers I went to was 5 years ago. She was a baby faced little girl that celebrated at Kids Place with a Hanana Montana cake. Now we have a beautiful, grown up lady that didn't want a "friends" party but rather just to have family over for a cookout and have a regular cake with a beach scene on it. The party planner in me wanted to make it as special as possible but still keep it low key so we did a "Hang 10" party with surf boards for decorations and a fun hanging thing for pictures. We had a great time celebrating Reagan's 10th birthday and the celebration will continue next weekend as we take her birthday trip (her gift from Matt and I) to Pigeon Forge. Looking forward to a fun weekend with the kids, Matt, my mom and dad and Sandy and John Cox. We have a nice cabin rented and no plans except to have fun!

Regan and Alex "Hangin 10 for Reagan's 10th birthday!"

Daddy and Reagan

Lexi wanted in on the fun too!

Alex wishing sissy a happy birthday!

Sleep Dog Wants to Play...

I absolutely am loving (most of the time) this stage Alex is in. He is learning new things every day and is just so much fun. 

I just have to share a story from yesterday that was the cutest thing:

On the way home yesterday afternoon Alex was busy as usual playing with the iPad. But then I heard "momma broke". I glanced back to see what the problem was and the iPad wasn't responding to him. The reason? Because he decided sleep dog wanted to play the game and was holding sleep dog's paw with his hands, trying to make the game work using sleep dog's paw. It was so cute but how in the world do you explain that an iPad requires a human finger? I just told him to touch it with his finger and luckily he went on with playing. I just thought it was cute how he was holding sleep dogs paw trying to push the buttons on the app.

I could share stories like this every day with all the new and fun things he is doing. He is really smart (probably too smart for our own good) and is always wanting to do things. We are getting a lot of the "I do" now with him wanting to do things on his own. But I am glad he is smart and able to try things on his own. Even if he means taking 10 times longer to cut up dinner. :)

Getting Bigger Every Day!

We had more "big boy" moments this week that I had to share.

First, despite the fact that we are 2 months away from his 2nd birthday, we flipped his car seat around to face forward. His legs had gotten so long after a recent growth spurt that he was all cramped up again the back seat. The first time I sat him in it, he was not happy. He is a major creature of habit and he knew that it wasn't right and wanted it fixed. A new Mickey app on the iPad helped distract him long enough to get bucked in and head towards home. Now I fight him wanting to get out of the seat and come up front with me every day. He thinks he should be able to come up front and play with the radio that he can now see. But he also can now see all the big trucks and loves being able to do that!

The next big step actually started at Nan and Poppy's while we were gone on vacation. In the past he has been obsessed with having his bath ring in the tub during bath time. So much so that if we didn't have it, he wouldn't sit in the tub, he would just squat. However now he has decided it is pretty cool to be able to move around in the tub and "swim" on his belly.

And of course he is very much in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase especially with Reagan. He even had to have his water in the same cup as her at dinner the other night. So he has decided he should brush his teeth now. This started about 2 weeks ago but I got some really cute pictures Tuesday night. First of him after bath time while Reagan was at practice and then later when he had to brush again because she was. You may notice that he is in different pajamas even though it was the same night but he had spilled water on himself and had to change.

Pulled the stool over to the sink, looked at me, smiled and said "brush teeth".

I guess he has heard us telling Reagan to "brush teeth, brush hair" too many times...

"Am I doing it right sissy?"

Sinus Infection and Allergy...

Right before Alex hit the 22 month old mark he had his first prescription written for him. While we were on vacation he developed a sinus infection and Nana had to take him to the doctor. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious and he didn't act like it was bothering him too much. Besides one case of the croup and a few minor colds here and there, we have an extremely healthy boy. This was his first infection and therefore his first antibiotic. Not too shabby for an almost 22 month old!

The day after we got back from vacation, things got a little interesting. As I was dropping him off at Sandy's, I noticed redness on the beck of his neck that had not been there that morning. As we started looking closer we noticed it was all over his back and tummy too. 

After another trip to the doctor we find out he is allergic to penicillin. And also has developed an ear infection on top of the sinus infection. So onto another antibiotic we go, along with Benadryl to knock out the rash. It has now cleared up and you can barely see any rash at all. He is still on the new antibiotic so hopefully it will knock out the infections and he will be back to 100% soon.

I was really worried about this new allergy until reality hit me in the face with the fact that I should be thankful that this is the "serious" problem my son is facing. As I read the blog of a previous co-worker about her little girl that will fight mental and physical disabilities for the rest of her life because of a brain injury, or read on facebook the updates of an old friend who's 2 week old daughter has spend every moment of her life in NICU and has already been through 6 surgeries to repair an over sized liver that grew outside her body, I can only be thankful that my happy, healthy son is only faced with a rash from an allergy and sinus infection that barely seem to bother him. 

We have been so blessed to have 2 very healthy children and I think God for that nightly as I rock my little boy to sleep. I pray for all those mothers that worry nightly about cancer, disabilities, and much more serious problems. I can't imagine how strong they have to be to watch their children suffer like that.

Mommy and Daddy Gone...

Well Matt and I took the plunge last week and went on vacation without the kids. We had left them before for small trips and I have had to be away from them for work, but this was the first full week away from them since Alex was born. To add make things even more strange, we went on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, which meant we had no access to phones, email, text, or any type of communication with home for almost the full week. 

It was a great week and we had a blast together. It was a much needed vacation for us away from the real world and I don't regret it one bit. 

But when we landed in Lexington I was more than ready to see that little boy. And nothing could have made me happier than to see that huge smile when he spotted me and then took off running as fast as his little legs would carry him. It was one of those moments I will cherish forever in my heart.

Nana and Poppy did a fabulous job taking care of him and I don't think they were ready to give him up when we got home. I am so thankful we have family that loves and takes such good care of our boy so we can enjoy trips like this.

What's That??? (Video)

I am pretty sure I have mentioned Alex's all time favorite phrase, "What's That?" I finally caught it on video, complete with the "oh" after I told him what it was. I laugh every time I hear him ask, it is so serious and he is so concerned.