Cereal, Haircuts, and Terrible Twos. oh my!
It's been a while since I posted because there's so much going lately! I finally got a new memory card for the camera, so here are a few pictures of the latest happenings around here:The kiddos are eating cereal like big kids! OK, they do occasionally like to grab it with their hands, but they are so cute with their little spoons and bowls!
As you can tell by this photo, Ben especially has been long overdue for a haircut.. So, Todd and I decided to take them out for a haircut the other night... they did pretty well!
Look at the fun little cars they get to sit in to get their hair cut!
Lily, although, wanted no part of the cars. She ended up sitting on my lap for her haircut, which is why there are no pictures of her!
A quick out-of-order photo from the other day.. took a quick trip to Epcot with the Netheros. The weather is finally getting nice around here!
And, here are a few post-haircut shots.. don't they look lovely?
Now, onto the "terrible two" reference. In less than a week, my little nuggets will be two years old, and it's as if someone pulled them aside and kindly explained that it is now time to forget those angelic ways and head on over to the dark side. The toy-stealing, the food throwing, the screaming at the drop of a hat.. what is going on?? We went out to dinner tonight with family, and it was a slight disaster. I won't go into detail but let's just say I got a few more gray hairs tonight. I'm thinking about calling the Supernanny.
In other news.. we found an au pair that we are really happy about! We just need to finalize the paperwork/details with the aupair company and we will most likely have her with us by the middle of December!
In other news.. we found an au pair that we are really happy about! We just need to finalize the paperwork/details with the aupair company and we will most likely have her with us by the middle of December!
I Need A Favor... from You!
We have been nominated for an Orbbie! .. Do NOT tell me you have not heard of these awards. They are big, let me tell you. Given by our local newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, these awards will not only give our bloggy street cred a serious boost, it will get us a free ad on their website, which will help us to grow our network even further. Which will help us gain more traffic, get more sponsors, and be able to give away bigger and better prizes!
The only drawback is of course, to vote, you have to start an "account" on orlandosentinel.com. However, it only takes a second and you can easily opt out of getting any further emails from them. Then- you can vote EVERYDAY! We are nominated for Best Overall Blog, and Best Family Blog. Earlier today we were in the top ten for best overall blog, but have since dropped out, so please go vote for us! Voting continues until November 20th, so go back and vote for us every day!
Here's the link: http://www.orlandosentinel2.com/data/orbbies/voting/
Thank you in advance!!
Just Sit Right Back....
... don't worry, I'm not going to sing. That was just a lead-in to show off my adorable Gilligan's Island crew on Halloween. Again, the pictures leave much to be desired, but the cuteness is still overwhelming, no?
My little Skipper.. he loved his hat!!
Lily was not so excited about her 'costume'. In truth, it is a shirt of her brothers', and she wore a pair of white shorts, but you should have seen the fit she threw when I tried to put this outfit on her!
Bad photography, I know, but Ben was a great Gilligan. He too, loved his hat.
It took them a while to figure out what was going on.. they just stared at all the crazy costumes walking by!
We met up with our buddies, the Adams and the Netheros and had a little wagon caravan! Do you think we attracted some attention?
Check out the adorable M&Ms!
And lovely Tink and Peter Pan! Yes, it would have been nice to get a picture of the front of their costumes.. what can I say?
Halloween, Halloween. I can't believe it is over. This means it will be Christmas before I blink my eyes. With going back to work, and everything else going on lately, I didn't get into it this year like I normally do. I didn't even go to Halloween Horror Nights, which is usually my favorite thing to do... ever. But, it was nice to get out and see all the cute kids in their costumes tonight. It was not nice to see all the "sexy" costumes (worn by moms with their kids, no less), but I digress.
As much fun as it is to dress my kids up in what I want them to wear, I can't wait until they can decide for themselves, and really get into it. I wonder what they will be next year?
I don't know if it was just because I was pulling 3 kids in a wagon around town, or what, but it felt about 200 degrees out tonight. Definitely not Halloween weather!!
And yes... I did let them have some candy. Chocolate was pretty much the only thing that put a smile on Lily's face tonight, and the boys enjoyed a couple Lollipops while we strolled. They don't get candy on a regular basis, but I think a treat every now and then is ok.
We came home and played with Daddy, (who had just gotten home from work,) took some baths, and off to bed we went. I am hoping that we wore them out enough to compensate for the hour we may lose tonight with daylight savings! (I know, we really gain an hour, but only if the kids sleep longer too!)
Hope you had a Happy Halloween!
Now Here's Something Scary...
Well.. my camera is still lacking a memory card.. (although I have the old one, which I barely remember how to use- for tomorrow) so I have a real lack of pictures around here lately. But, as an extra scary Halloween treat, I thought I would share a photo of one of the scariest people I have ever, ever seen:
Why?? Just... why?
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So, I came up with (and by came up with, I mean, heard of someone else doing this and thought it was a good idea) the idea to have the kids be Skipper, Gilligan, and MaryAnne for Halloween. I was very conflicted about what to have them wear, as it's really pretty hard to get them to wear anything on their heads, and I didn't know if it would be hot (although, it's a safe bet), and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on costumes either. I actually was able to find most of the clothing for Skipper, Gilligan, and MaryAnne in their current wardrobes (wait.. what does that say?) I feel bad because we have an adorable bee costume for Lily that was passed on to us.. but I have a feeling it will still fit her next year since it's a little big now. So, the Gilligan's Island crew it is. We did a test run of them in their costumes tonight before bed and they are downright adorable. Wait till you see Cameron in that Skipper hat! The only downside, is that none of the kids (mine, or other kids) will have any clue who they are. That show has been off the air for so long now! They will look back when they are grown, and ask me what the heck I was thinking, dressing them as TV characters that were popular 40 years before they were born!
I didn't have to buy anything for my costume either.. I am going as a tired mom:) I think I can pull that one off really well.
The au pair search is going well, mostly. I have a few really qualified candidates to interview, but it's hard to find time to talk when we are in different time zones! It looks like we may have an au pair in time for the holidays, which would be great. We'll see..
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So, I came up with (and by came up with, I mean, heard of someone else doing this and thought it was a good idea) the idea to have the kids be Skipper, Gilligan, and MaryAnne for Halloween. I was very conflicted about what to have them wear, as it's really pretty hard to get them to wear anything on their heads, and I didn't know if it would be hot (although, it's a safe bet), and I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on costumes either. I actually was able to find most of the clothing for Skipper, Gilligan, and MaryAnne in their current wardrobes (wait.. what does that say?) I feel bad because we have an adorable bee costume for Lily that was passed on to us.. but I have a feeling it will still fit her next year since it's a little big now. So, the Gilligan's Island crew it is. We did a test run of them in their costumes tonight before bed and they are downright adorable. Wait till you see Cameron in that Skipper hat! The only downside, is that none of the kids (mine, or other kids) will have any clue who they are. That show has been off the air for so long now! They will look back when they are grown, and ask me what the heck I was thinking, dressing them as TV characters that were popular 40 years before they were born!
I didn't have to buy anything for my costume either.. I am going as a tired mom:) I think I can pull that one off really well.
The au pair search is going well, mostly. I have a few really qualified candidates to interview, but it's hard to find time to talk when we are in different time zones! It looks like we may have an au pair in time for the holidays, which would be great. We'll see..
Wordful Wednesday
Participating with the Wordful Wednesday Blog carnival, hosted by Angie at:
I had to hunt down a white bucket hat for Benjamin's Halloween costume (can you guess what he is dressing as?), and decided all the nuggets needed hats, since I found them for 4.50 each online. Aren't they cute?? We took the kids to a late dinner last night at Downtown Disney, and on a lovely Choo-Choo ride which they loved/hated/were indifferent to. (Ben/Lily/Cameron)
Lily wasn't all that happy about the Choo-Choo ride, but I think Benjamin's excited "Choo-Choo!!!!!!"s, complete with kicking feet and waving arms made it worthwhile. For me, at least. And Cameron, just happy to be on my lap, rested his head on my shoulder or the full 4 laps. Very sweet.
Afterwards we had dinner at, (where else) T-Rex, where the kids were pretty well behaved! As they get older, and more aware, they enjoy it a lot more and pay attention to all the things going on. Ben was trying to feed the animatronic dinosaurs his food (even though hey were a good 20 feet away, he kept holding out his chicken nuggets, like they might swoop down and snatch them from his cute little fingers..) Cameron was an angel, Lily was a little noodgy but overall very well behaved. There was one point where she started waving her fork in the air- with a cinnamon apple on it- and I was really scared it was going to fly off and hit the people at the next table. But we got lucky:)
That's all I have for now:) Have a great Wednesday!
The Great "Baby Einstein Scam"
Apparently, Baby Einstein (Disney) is offering refunds for all DVDs purchased between 2004 and Sept 2009.
Here's a little blurb from the yahoo article by Mira Jacobs:
"The New York Times reported Thursday that Disney is offering a refund to buyers of its ubiquitous “Baby Einstein” videos, which did not, as promised, turn babies into wunderkinds. Apparently, all those puppets, bright colors, and songs were what we had feared all along—a mind-numbing way to occupy infants.
This news has rocked the parenting world..."
Rocked the parenting world? I don't know about you, but I really don't feel rocked. I was never under the impression that playing a DVD for my babies would turn them into card-carrying mensa members.. I just wanted 10 minutes here and there so that I could load the dishwasher or fold a load of laundry, and that's it. (And incidentally, Signing Time worked much better for that anyway.) I just find it hilarious that there are parents saying they were "duped" into thinking that these videos had major educational benefits... for their 6 month old babies.. uh huh, yeah. Sure.
Nevertheless, in an effort to avoid any further bad PR, Disney will now give you your money back for up to 4 DVDs (per address), or allow you an exchange or discount on a Little Einstein product. I wasn't particularly impressed with these DVDs, but it's not worth the 15.99 to package them up and make a trip to the post office..
What do you think about this refund policy? Are you planning on returning any BE DVDs? Do you feel duped?:)
This Time, Last Year
My kids were allowed to roam freely in the kitchen, as they had yet to develop Spidey-like climbing skills..
They had a lot less hair.. and a lot more cheek!
They would actually sit together in one spot for more than 10 seconds..
Is that a travel package of formula in Lily's hands? (Formula!? What's that?)
The kids were still containable in one Little Playzone.. soon to become 4... and then none.
...Ben still had the lingering effects of "fuzzhead"..
Where did my little babies go? Oh, how I miss those bottle-drinking, chubby-fingered, non-harness-resisting, fast-crawling, 2-teeth-having little nuggets. But I have to say, that what I have now is pretty cool too..
Kids that hold hands during dinner... does it get any better than that?
What's Going On? Gigantic update.
Life has been overwhelming me lately and I haven't really been up to taking care of this blog, but it's about time I got back to it. Going back to work has been awesome. All of my old friends are still there, the golf course itself has been redone, and they are getting ready to renovate the entire restaurant and banquet facility, so the course is in a really exciting time right now. Having worked there since 2001, I feel like this place is kind of a part of my family, so this is really exciting. As a catering sales manager, I begged and begged for them to redo the facility so that we could book more events. Now that I am back working as a bartender, it's just exciting to be a part of the course as all these new changes are taking place. They are also changing management companies so that we will now work for Marriott Golf- a great company, which means better benefits!!This leads me to my next big change, which is that we are going to try to find a way for me to go back to work full-time. I am not very happy about leaving my kids with someone else, but financially, it's necessary. We are looking into finding an aupair, which will cost a lot less than daycare or a traditional nanny, and be flexible for our changing work schedules. I'm pretty excited to have an extra pair of hands around, so that I can take the kids to do more things and also have a built-in babysitter. I also think it will be really fun to have a new member of our family, and someone to show around Orlando. It's all still up in the air, who knows if it will work out. I am hoping that the course will let me go back to being fulltime soon, but that is also up in the air.
The kiddos are LOVING their new Britax carseats (THANKS Gram and Pop!) They seriously fall asleep every time they are in the car now- even if it's only a few minutes. You can just tell they are so much more comfortable! And as I had hoped, they are much, much easier to put them into. Cameron actually doesn't fight me when I try to buckle him in now- he buckles his chest strap himself now, saying "Click!"
And speaking of verbal skills, the past few weeks have brought lots of new words, for all of the kids. With Lily, it's easier to list the words she doesn't say than the ones she does:) Ben and Cameron are saying a lot more too. We are still working on "please" and "thank you", but I have heard Lily and Cameron say "pees" a few times. Lily used a 3-word combination today. She apparently is going straight from one to three- and in a very weird way. I was feeding the kids lunch today, when Todd went to take a shower. I walked from the kitchen, past our bedroom door to put something in the laundry, and when I walked back I saw Todd getting dressed in our room, (don't worry, this isn't a dirty story), and I just walked back into the kitchen and sat back down with the kids. Lily pointed to our room and said "Daddy clothes on".
I went in and asked Todd if he had come out of the room at all after he took a shower (he was still getting dressed at this point), and he said no. Is it just me or is that weird? How did she know what he was doing, she never saw him?? (Cue Twilight Zone Theme song)
I went to Seaworld the other day with my old friend Natalie and her twins, J & C. I give her credit for letting her boys out of the stroller- I am so glad mine will still tolerate being strapped in! I could never chase all three of them around a theme park. We got to see the Shamu show again, this time I took each one out of the stroller for a few minutes so they could see better- and they LOVED that. The only bad part was that I allowed Cameron to hold my camera when I put him back in the stroller (yes, to keep him from throwing a tantrum) and he somehow figured out how to open the memory card slot and take out the card, so when I went to take a picture- it was gone. Ugh. Hence, no pictures of Seaworld! We had fun though, and Natalie's boys are adorable! There were about 20 giant pumpkin-fish along the walkways on the way out, and they both had to stop and hug each one for a minute on the way out:)
We did a major clean=up of the house today. I went through the kids closet and cleaned out all the things that don't fit anymore- got about 5 boxes of clothes sorted so that we can pass them on, and put some of the new hand-me-downs into their closet. The boys still have quite a few 12 month jeans that they can wear- they are peanuts! Some they have outgrown, but for the most part they are wearing a lot of the clothes that they got for their birthday and for Christmas last year. They are mostly in 18 month clothing now, and size 5 shoes. Lily is in 18-24 month clothes, and size 5 shoes. She's got a little more of a tushy to hold up those pants than her brothers do:)
Anyway- I got their closets cleaned out, Todd went and picked up a gently used Ikea Trofast storage system that I found on craigslist, and a new gate to replace our packnplay/dining room chair contraption which no longer contains the little climbers. We got the gate installed, then pretty much cleaned the entire house together- mopped, vaccuumed, laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the mats in the playroom and picked up all the toys. We were cleaning until about midnight tonight, but it was a very productive day.
And, since my camera isn't going to work until I get a new sd card, here are some MORE pictures from the petting zoo:
If you have a moment, can you please help out a fellow triplet mom for me? Megan, at Multiple Baby Pileup is the mom of surviving triplets that were born just a month or so before mine, and her blog is up for a great award- with a prize of $1,000! I don't know of anyone more deserving, so please click here and cast your vote for "Multiple Baby Pileup"- you can vote as many times as you want!
