Monster Truck Jam

This event created a really, REALLY close call for me....in that I almost had to take the babies to this event!  I am all about creating memories for my kids, but the idea of sitting in a seat for two hours while loud trucks drive around in a circle sounds like hell on earth to me.
Shawn had bought tickets and arranged everything for this splendiferous event.....and then decided to get horribly ill the day of.  I prepared myself to go, but at the last minute he rallied and said he felt good enough to take them.  Thank.  You.  Jesus.
Anywho, he said they loved every minute of it.  Even Sissy, who we were positive wasn't going to like it.  The paid rapt attention, and kept their "ear pluckers" (Sissy's term) on the whole time.

Please excuse the horrible picture quality.  Daddy wouldn't take the camera with him, so these are from his phone.  I started texting and harassing him when they got there to take pictures of my babies...partially because I wanted documentation of their outing, but mostly because I wanted proof that they were still with him and that he hadn't let them wander off into a crowd of strangers.  He had made some (bad) jokes a week earlier saying he hoped there was a nice lady sitting next to them who would offer to take Hayden to the bathroom if she needed to go.  He says these sort of things to get my goat, but just in case he thought that was an okay idea, I made sure to remind him that only HE was to take her to the restroom, and they were to take Cale with them, too.  (Instead of leaving him in the seats, holding the spit cup for some random man seated next to them)
The high points were "the munster truck that looked like a puppy", when they played the "who-let-the-dogs-out-song" and getting to eat BOTH popcorn and peanut M&M's.
The low point (and this is according to Daddy) was the 1.5 mile trek back to the car at the end of the night.  In the rain.  Holding both babies, one who was thrashing around because he wanted to walk on his own like a big boy and not be carried.
Yep, I think I dodged a bullet on this one.

This baby....

....is really something else.  All day, every day, she keeps us laughing, and on our toes!  She is three and a half, but it's easy to forget that because she speaks like she's eleven.  She comes up with words and phrases that make us shake our heads...she remembers EVERYTHING!

At this moment in time:
-she loves books and being read to.
-she hates having her hair brushed, but never balks at letting me fix it.
-She likes knowing what is going to happen next...loves her "routine".
-she loves breakfast and pasta.
-She is the tiny "Meryl Streep" of our family....dramatic, and so good at acting, pretending and performing.
-Says "moka" for milk, and "yesternight" for anything that happened yesterday when it was dark outside.
-She has a HUGE sweet tooth, and even wanted to know what her dessert was going to be after BREAKFAST the other day.
-She is pretty easy going at this age, and isn't hard to discipline, UNLESS she has low blood sugar....then WATCH OUT.  She's just like her momma in this regard.  She can throw a massive fit over a tiny thing if she hasn't eaten.  (Maybe this is more of a girl thing than a blood sugar thing...)
-She still lets me dress her in whatever I pick out in the mornings.
-She loves to be told stories at bedtime...."baby stories" (about when she was little), "Chico stories" (Shawn's stories about Chico the bird who always learns a life lesson the end) and now "Sparkle The Princess Unicorn Stories".  You've got to be on your toes coming up with new material for this one, because she asks for stories all the time!  She loves repeats though, and will request one that I can't even remember telling.  She LOVES to hear about the time a scorpion bit me in the arm....I can't begin to remember how many times I've had to tell THAT one.
-She always asks for us to "lay down with me...for just a little bit" at night.  It's really hard to say no to that one!
-She isn't always affectionate, but gets in moods where she wants to be snuggled, and hugged on.
-She totally marches to the beat of her own drum.  I love this about her...she has such a good sense of self:  of what she likes and doesn't.  She is confident in her choices, and doesn't care yet what other people think.
-She has a fabulous imagination.
-She can be hard across the planet house when she's mad.  The other day, I heard her say, "I don't like you!  You are a.....stupid dang it!"  Of course she was disciplined for speaking that way to her brother, but I giggled a little bit at her rant.  I love that calling someone a stupid dang it was the absolute WORST thing she could think of.
-She loves her bath, and stretches out, taking up the entire tub.  This makes it hard to bathe another kid in there with her!
-She loves going to Mimi and Popo's, and asks about going every day.  She loves that they coddle her, and that they let her dictate the routine.  Mimi says that she gets over there and says, "First we will watch a movie with popcorn, and then I will take a bath.   Then I will sleep in the cradle."  Mimi has a crib at her house, and Sis calls it her "cradle" and insists on sleeping in it every time she's over there.
-She's obsessed right now with "staying little".  She tells me every day, "Mommy, I don't want to grow!  I just want to stay little!"  I want her to stay little, too!
-She can wear 3T tops, but has to wear size five or six pants because she is so long!!!
This little girl is empathetic and smart and hysterically funny!  I look at pictures of her from when she was a baby, and I can't believe what a hilarious, fun, precocious, imaginative little girl she's turned into.  Who knew that little six pound, eleven ounce thing would someday make me laugh so hard, or fill up my heart so much?

Christmas Story: Part 2 (the end you were waiting for)

Christmas Eve found us driving three very tired babies back home to San Antonio, quickly reading them "The Night Before Christmas" (which the baby could only handle until about page three)  and getting them quickly into bed so that we could finish assembling all the stuff that needed putting together.  It didn't take us too long to get set up....we put the baby gate up in the kitchen (the one with the kid proof latch) so that no sneakers could get up in the middle of the night and head out to the living room without us.  At about 2 a.m. we heard screaming from the kitchen...Bubby was scared and wanted to come to our room...Daddy made him close his eyes while he carried him to our bed so that the surprise wouldn't be spoiled.  Fastforward a few hours and imagine us being awakened to the distinct aroma of poop.  My first words to Shawn were, "Did one of the dogs s*&% on the carpet?" (not remembering that my sweet baby was in bed with us) and I heard in response, "No, Mommy!  It was me!  I pooped my pants!"  Yippee!  My first gift of the day involved a load of laundry and scrubbing a three year old in the tub.  I refrain from further details, but let's just say it will be forever known as "The Christmas Mudslide".  My poor baby has been so sick with this stomach virus that he's had a little lapse in potty control...he is FINALLY feeling better so we are hoping for no more repeats of this special event.  

Long story short:  ran a load of laundry, bathed little boy, made him lay back down for a little longer (while we begged him to wait until it was light outside), and listened to his cute commentary in the dark. "Mommy!  I think I just saw Rudolph!"  and "Mommy!  MOMMY!  I just saw Santa walking past our window!!"  Finally we decided to put him out of his misery and we got up.  He was the first one to see the presents, and laughed out loud when he saw their "BIG ONE"...the John Deere ride on tractor!  He immediately had to sit on it and try to drive it inside the house.  Sissy and little one were up by this time and they both had the same reaction to the tractor.  That thing was a HUGE hit.  They spent all morning fighting over who got to sit in the driver's seat.  (Even the baby, who said "CAR" every time she looked at it)  We tried not to go too crazy with their gifts, but by the time the whole thing was said and done I feared they were over indulged yet again.  Even if everyone that loves them just buys them ONE thing, it seems like SO MUCH STUFF.  Oh well, I guess they could have worse problems.  

My family came over for the day and the babies spent all day forcing one adult or another to go outside with them and watch them ride the tractor.  That thing isn't the easiest to steer, and it goes faster than you'd think....at one point Bubby drove it straight through the mountain laurel and they got beat upside the head with branches.  I kept looking out the window to see Daddy running behind them as they rammed into one of my patio plants or drove into a tree.  Fun times! 

 Crazy Christmas morning hair....

 She has her paci in her mouth, but if she didn't, she'd be saying "CAR"

 Loving his Hot Wheels track

 Watch out flora and fauna....these two haven't figured out the art of steering yet! 

 Grandma and Livi...with the baby doll Grandma gave her.  (She loves it) 

 Picking up her baby doll from Popo.  (I think he was babysitting)

 Do you think this baby loves her CAR? 

Mimi, Sissy, and some of her loot. 

Christmas just keeps getting better and better because of these babies in our lives.  I know I loved the holidays before, but I can't imagine ever having loved them as much as I do now...seeing everything through their eyes!