Bathing Beauties

I'm a terrible blogger, we all know this by now. Facebook has been keeping me busy and let's be honest, I really shouldn't be playing on the computer as much as I am anyway. Regardless, here are some new photos of the boys in the bath (PG rated, of course).

Grady wants to climb in just like his big bro...

Like many boys, he finds his penis to be the coolest thing in the world!

Go Rocks!

Long time no post. Time seems to fly by and I haven't been too great about documenting the time with photos. I'll try to do better in the coming weeks and months.

In the meantime, here's Liam at his second Trinity/St. Xavier game. He and Mark had a big day...they watched the Cats over at the Brown's house, then they headed over to Cardinal Stadium to watch the football game. Liam stayed for the whole game, though I'm sure the pretzel, pizza, and hot chocolate helped a little (considering that was all he talked about the next day).

In the meantime, G and I had a great day together. It's amazing how different it is to just be responsible for one child!

Liam and Luca

Just got these from Katie and couldn't resist posting them. Here are Liam and Luca at Firkin in L'ville...they left the table saying "we have an idea" and then they climbed up to the bar to ask the bartender (you can see him in the background...it's a little fuzzy) for some "new straws".



And then buying some matching toothpaste at Target. So much love!

Chicago

We headed up to Chicago this past weekend to see my gals, just the boys and I. It was fairly eventful because a wreck on I65 kept us stopped for 2.5 hours on the highway. Liam had fun walking around the highway and throwing rocks in median. It could have been much worse...we could have been the ones in the wreck, or the boys could have been rotten. Neither happened, so I consider mysef lucky.

On Friday evening the Brady's hosted all of us gals and our kids. Jess and Haley aren't pictured here, and Tara's Brady (just realized the only girls in our group are both named after mom's maiden name...add Emily to that bunch and it remains the same. That's something!) was sleeping, so this photo is only boys and mommies! So many boys!




Liam had a great time with his "sleepover" at Luca's house. He didn't want to leave Monday morning. Those two just love one another. Here is Liam playing with some of Luca's many toys...

Me and my boys...

And Grady, who always is putting something in his mouth! He pulled up today, which means trouble is on the way!

But he's so cute, I can't ever get mad at him!

Funny Liam

Today while we were eating lunch Liam informed me that we would play "supermarket" after lunch. I asked him where he learned about supermarket, and he said, "Grandmere play supermarket with me". Then he said, "sometimes I call her Jean".

Before playing supermarket, I had to nurse Grady, so I told Liam to head into the playroom and we'd meet him in there shortly. A couple minutes later, he came out and said, "Mommy, I'm frustrated. I want to play supermarket now."

When we finally got around to playing supermarket, he decided that his market was now "closed. I know it's a bummer, but it's closed for the afternoon. Sorry, GradyMommy."

This kid's listening to everything we say. Better watch out!

More of Grady eating

This kid sure loves his food! He's definitely got some Bryan blood in him. Here is he after his THIRD helping of spaghetti and marinara (Emeril's marinara sauce, btw...it's my new fave). He wanted more but I was afraid he was going to get sick!

No more spoons, Ma!

Grady is sick of being fed. He wants to feed himself. But a lot of it ends up on the floor, in his high chair, and in his fat creases, plus he's not that good at picking up slimier objects like fruit with his hands. So I just throw whatever I'm feeding him (here is was plum puree with oatmeal) on his tray and let him go to town. He's surprisingly good at getting the purees into his mouth.

He's obviously not missing many meals.


We've all managed to get sick over the last few days. Mark was the first to fall, then me and G simultaneously. Liam seems to be holding on, but we'll see. I went to Urgent Care this morning because I just knew I had strep throat (I do), and sadly I was excited to go and sit there and read magazines all by myself. They weren't busy, so unfortunately I was out of there in a hour. I only got to read half of my Natural Health! Well, I guess there's always tomorrow at the pediatrician's office...yeah right!

Turn my back for 30 seconds...

And this is what happens. Markers are now hidden in a secret location only to be used under close supervision. Thank goodness they are washable!

Such modesty

Driving down Eastern Parkway tonight, Liam points and says,
"Mommy, that fountain is gorgeous!"
Incredulous, I replied, "Did you say gorgeous?"
"Gorgeous is my middle name, Mommy."

Raindrops keep falling on my head

It has been a wet summer here in the Ohio River Valley. Today was crazy, with two separate severe thunderstorms, one of which dropped an estimated 6 inches of rain over Louisville in one hour. We were very fortunate in these storms. We lost power for a few hours and had some water in our basement, but it's nothing compared to others in the city, some of whom have lost their homes and vehicles. The University of Louisville and Churchill Downs both had several feet of water, and we don't know what kind of damage will be sustained if it keeps raining and the river begins to flood.

Mark has been building a shed in our backyard and his work keeps getting delayed by rain. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and he can get it finished before he goes back to school for an in-service on Thursday. Summer has gone by so fast...I can't believe he's already headed back to school! I feel for him, though I think he's ready to get out of this madhouse and back into a regular routine. Lord knows I am!

I am a lactating jungle gym

Some days in the land of stay-at-home-momdom are rougher than others. It seems like I'm having a lot of rough ones lately...Liam has decided that napping is not for him, both kids are cutting teeth/molars, allergies are rampant because of the mass amounts of rain we've gotten, etcetera, etcetera. I feel like I always have at least one kid hanging off me, while the other one is whining about something they need and/or want.

I'm not intending to ignite a "Mommy Wars" battle here, but there are days when I really just wish I could go to work. At least I could eat lunch in peace. Not that I'm ungrateful, because I feel very blessed and lucky that I get to stay home and spend this time with my kids. I realize that it goes by fast and that I'll never be able to get it back. But there are days when a shower without anyone in the bathroom would be freaking amazing.

Of course, when I'm about to explode, there are moments like these...driving in the car, Liam gets ahold of my Nalgene, opens it up and is pretending that it's Winnie the Pooh's honey pot, sticking his hand all the way in and flinging water all over himself, Grady, and his window. Just when I'm about to give up, he says, "Mommy, I really love you".

Maybe it's not so bad that I haven't bathed today.

Haircut!

I'm attempting to blog more (not that it takes a lot to blog more than I have been) in August. I don't want to make an everyday promise, but I plan to put forth a concerted effort.

Liam got a haircut a few weeks ago, his second. He never really had much hair until he turned two, and then it just sprouted. It was curly and unruly and oh-so-cute, but I didn't want him to turn into Kate Hudson's son, so I caved and got it cut. We went to one of those kid's cut places so he could sit in a car and watch Mickey Mouse while getting the haircut. 5 minutes and $15 dollars later, we were out the door, balloon and sucker in hand. Next time I'll spend $15 on a pair of shears and do the cut myself. I watched her very closely so that I don't have to fork out that kind of cash again.

Liam's curls before...

And the big boy afterward. It made me cry...he suddenly looked old enough to go to college.

We think Grady is going to have hair a little earlier than Liam. Here's a newish photo taken by none other than big bro, Liam.

Bear down

Since Mark has been home this summer, he has taken over the duty of getting Liam down for both his nap and bedtime while I take care of Grady. Occasionally, I hear bits and pieces of their stories and other night time routines, which have come to include singing both the UK and Trinity fight songs (those who know Mark well are undoubtedly shocked by this).

While Mark was busy working outside today, I had to get Liam down for nap for the first time in ages...and I knew that it was inevitable that he ask me to sing the fight songs. Of course, I don't know either one. So I sang the first thing that came into my head, being a child who grew up in the 80's in Chicago: Bear Down, Chicago Bears. I distinctly remember singing this during a Spring Sing at Rockland Elementary in the fourth grade, after the Bears took the Super Bowl in 1985.

Of course, the lyrics were hazy, so tonight before bed time (Mark was still working in the yard...he's building a shed), I googled "Chicago Bears fight song" and found a version done by the Chicago Symphony on YouTube. So I've got Liam on one knee, Grady on the other, watching this video (which consists of a picture of a Chicago "Bear"...literally a bear...holding a Bears flag and flexing his ripping bicep with the music in the background) and singing along. All of a sudden, Grady starts clapping and then Liam follows. It was quite a moment for this former Chicagoan. Mark walked up the stairs just then and saw us all in front of the computer, clapping and singing "Bear Down".

Sweet...it looks like I'm going to give Big Blue some competition after all.

Funny things Liam says

Today while looking for my keys..."I'm losing my mind!" And then Liam says, "No, Mommy, you're fine".

Why?

It's here...the dreaded "why?" question.

Where we going, Mommy?
To the park.
Why?
To exercise with Maggie and Jessica.
Why you exercise, Mommy?
Because it's good for you.
Why it good for you, Mommy?
It gets your heart pumping.
Why, Mommy?
It gets your blood flowing.
Why, Mommy?
Because.
Oh, okay. (brief pause) Where we going, Mommy?

Such a lazy blogger

Each day I tell myself that I'm going to update the blog and obviously it hasn't happened. We've had a busy few months, so I'll try to recap. WARNING: LONG BLOG WITH LOTS OF PICTURES.

Back to April. Mark turned 30, as did our friend Craig. We wives threw a party at a bar down the road. Good times.


Mark and I had a great opportunity to go to Churchill Downs for Oaks Day this year (day before Derby, for those unfamiliar). We got to get all gussied up and I even bought a hat for the occasion.




Liam enjoyed my hat as much as I did.



The next day we partied Derby-style at our friend Bob's farm. More good times.



Somewhere in the midst of all this madness, Liam and I had a date at Coco's Chocolate Cafe down the street, where he got to use colored cocoa powder to paint chocolates and make his own chocoloate popsicles.


We had leftover chocolate from the popsicle making adventure, so Liam drank it.



For Mother's Day, Mark arranged a morning out for my girlfriends Maggie, Jessica, and I. We went to get pedicures and a little shopping on Bardstown Road while the husbands hung out at our house with the six kids (three 2 year olds and three 6-8 month olds) and made us lunch. Well, sort of. We ended up making most of the lunch when we returned, but it was still a nice gesture.


Here is Liam with buddies Will and Savannah.

And our lovely toes.

At some point in May, the Goans came for the day and we hit the Science Center. Liam loves the goggles at the new and improved splash table.

Not to forget Grady, who is a bundle of smiles and laughter. He's sitting up, scooting around, and eating like crazy. And he's got 5 teeth, working on number 6.

The boys just love each other. The best is when Liam makes Grady roar with laughter. It's awesome.

We just wrapped up a great visit with Aunt Allie, who was visiting from her new home base in Portland, Oregon. The boys adore her and we had a wonderful time.

We had a little gathering to celebrate Allie's visit. Here's one of her and Ray, Liam's godfather, and a cute one of Mark and Grady.

We also had a fun visit with Molly, Julian, and Roman from Iowa, but I don't have any photos! I think Molly took some so I'll post them in December when I get around to updating the blog again. Just kidding. I've learned my lesson with this long hiatus! :)

Finally, Liam went to the Louisville Riverbats (Minor League Baseball) last night with Mark and his dad for Father's Day. He was so excited to go, he sat and waited in the window for almost 20 minutes for Paul to get here. Mark said he kept asking when the game was going to start, anticipating the first pitch with a great deal of fervor. And then when the game finally started, he said, "I want to go to the playground now". Classic. He's a mess of words and funniness these days.

Thanks for tuning in. I hope I'll do better in the blogosphere now that Mark's home for the summer!

New photos

Here are some recent pictures of the boys taken while we were in Florida visiting my dad in Pensacola, then my mom and grandparents in Naples. 4 twelve hour legs...and I'm pleased to say it went pretty well. Leg 4 home from Pensacola was a bit rough because we forgot the portable DVD player, which has been the saving grace for Liam. He does okay for a couple hours without it, but then he needs something to focus his attention upon. It's almost scary how it mesmerizes him, his eyes wide and not listening to a word anyone says. But it's a necessary evil.

Now that we are back on the homefront, Liam is a two year old in full force. As I'm writing this post, he keeps climbing out of bed and saying "It's 6 o'clock, not time for night night". Where he learned "6 o'clock" is a mystery to me. Plus, it's nine o'clock, so it isn't even a relevant observation. And he always looks at his wrist, like he's looking at a watch when he says it. Funny kid. He's also become pretty sassy, repeating what I say in a mocking voice when I discipline him. Today he was in time out and kept standing up, and I'd say, "Liam, sit down on your bottom", and then he'd say, "Liam, sit down on your bottom" and giggle. Again, I'm faced with the most difficult part of parenting thus far...not laughing at inopportune times. In case you wondered, he earned the time out by being overly affectionate with Grady for the thousandth time today. He has a habit of laying directly on top of him, and I fear that he will squash him.

Unlikely, since my little Grady is 21 pounds. I had to buy a new carseat for him today because he's about to outgrow his infant carrier. He tried bananas mixed with his cereal tonight and loved it. He cried when it was gone, like "Mom, what do you mean there isn't any more?". Until now, Grady has been a peaceful, quiet baby. And he's still pretty chill, but he's learning that if he cries, he'll get what he wants. You do the math.

All in all, good times. These boys are keeping me on my toes. Up next...my trials and tribulations with motherhood and wifedom as I try to tackle my latest project...One Year to an Organized Life. Wish me luck.

I'm pretty sure that Liam took this with Allison's camera.



At Jazzfest in Pensacola.

In Naples at Nana and Bob's.

Ooh that makes me mad!

Back from 11 day trek through Florida. I have pictures that I will eventually upload and hopefully share with you, my loyal blog followers, but not today.

I met Maggie and Jessica and their kids at the mall today for the "trifecta"...the boat/playground, train table at Von Maur, and toys at Pottery Barn Kids. It's rainy and cool here today, not to mention that it's Good Friday, so most of the catholic schools are out today. Thus, busy mall. We went to Panera for lunch, and I'm sure we deserved some of the looks we got. But all in all, the toddlers were well behaved, and the babies didn't even cry. When we were leaving, we passed a group of women, one of whom was pregnant, for goodness sakes, and I overheard them say, "people with that many children shouldn't take them out". We each have TWO children, not 4 or 5. And even if we did, does that mean we should stay at home all day long? It really ticked me off. Other than retired people, who else really goes to the mall on weekday mornings besides moms and babies? We probably keep the mall open with our patronage.

Clearly, the group of women with flappy gums don't have children. I'd bet what's left of my 401(k) that the pregnant one is having her first. Because most of us moms stick together, even those with older kids, because they remember what it was like to have a bunch of rowdy toddlers or have nightmares about trying to pry open the door to the mall and fit a double stroller through at the same time, all the while fishing in the bottom of the diaper bag for a sippy cup of juice and a kleenex to wipe the baby's nose.

I'm sure the pregnant woman will understand one day. And maybe she'll even remember us and feel bad. I hope so.

Spring Cleaning

New season, new blog template, new title. Time to get this house/family in shape!

Our basement is a mess. Well, was a mess. We had boxes of crap that we hadn't touch since we moved our stuff to storage in August 2007, when we moved to Louisville and stayed with Mark's parents. They moved, untouched and unopened, with us to this house 14 months ago. It was time to tackle them.

My aunt Ginny generously offered to spend the weekend and help us sort through the mess. And did we ever sort. The result? An organized basement. Everything's labeled and tucked nicely away, and there' s a huge yard sale pile for our courtwide yard sale in May, as well as a large Craig's List/Ebay pile. Time for me to get busy!

Here's a few before photos of the mess:

And now, the beautiful organization (keep in mind the piles will be gone in a couple months):

Liam and his godmother (and saint) Ginny at the skate park in downtown Louisville. My uncle, Civil Engineer and Town Planner, is thinking about creating one in their hometown, so we went to visit. Liam was fascinated. Future skateboarder, maybe?

The boys. They sure do love each other. They crack each other up, and it's the best thing ever. I now understand what "heartwarming" means.

I not like that

It feels like the time is just flying by right now...I can't believe it's March already! These boys are keeping me on my toes. Liam is talking more and more every day. His new phrase is "I not like that, Mommy", usually referring to food...often something he loved the night before. Another cute phrase is "Mmm, this is good, Mommy. De-licious!"

We have been spending lots of time with my friends Maggie and Jessica and their kids, which has helped me to maintain my sanity, especially in the cold weather. On Monday, Maggie came over with her kids, and Liam and Savannah were quite rowdy. When they were eerily quiet for several minutes, I figured I should check to see what they were up to. I walked into the living room to find Liam naked from the waist down, holding his diaper in his hand. "Savannah change my diaper!" he said. There were diapers and wipes all over the place. It was hilarious! We always call Savannah the little mother, and she proved it on Monday. We'll need to keep an eye on those two in a couple years!

Grady went for his 4 month check-up today: 19 pounds, 4 ounces, 26.5 inches. A big boy, and still the most happy, pleasant baby in the world! He's trying really hard to roll over and is cooing like crazy...he's probably already learning that you have to fight for air time in this family!

We are gearing up for warmer weather and hope to be outside a lot more soon. I need to put my double jogging stroller to good use!

Granola!

Today we had a playdate with my friend Maggie and her daughter, Savannah. Maggie also has a 5 month old boy, so we have lots in common. I can't say how much she and my friend Jessica (see last post...Will's mom) have made my time as a SAHM a little more sane. We try to get out and do things together once or twice a week, and it is often chaotic, but so fun and almost theraputic! I think people are scared to see us coming...the three of us toting diaper bags, sippy cups, and a infant car seat each, with three 2 years olds running in front of us, looking for action. It's a blast. Today Jessica wasn't able to join us, but Maggie, Liam, Savannah, and I made granola. It is so tasty and we had loads of fun doing it! Next week...muffins!






















Here is the finished product...yum!