Celebrating the Terrible Twos

A little behind, but here are some pictures from Tommy's birthday celebration with family a little over a week ago.  I will let the photos do the talking. 

Now T has his own ride and helmet and the boys can officially quit fighting over turns on Patrick's tricycle.  (I took most of the photos from the party in manual or AV mode, and a lot are blurry or the wrong lighting.  Practice makes perfect...)

 (I completely was hosing up this shot so I switched to automatic mode and used the flash so I didn't miss the big moment.  Love P's expression...)

We had Tommy's two-year well check appointment this past Wednesday.  He weighed in at 24 pounds, but his height was in the 90th percentile at 36".  I measured him on our growth ruler at home and would you believe that Tommy's two-year measurement is sharing the same line as Patrick's 3-year measurement?  In other big news, I brought peanut butter to the doctors and under supervision Tommy had his first taste of gooey deliciousness (because P has a nut allergy, Tommy had to wait until 2 to try peanut butter).  Happy T can have peanut butter  & jelly sandwiches, but more relieved I only have to worry about one kid's contact with food at school instead of two.

Tommy eating his first PB&J!

Tommy's 2nd Birthday (Cup) Cake

I came very close to bailing on my tradition of making each kid their own special birthday cake this year.  I mean, I have a whole floor of unpacked boxes, painting, and a kitchen to RE-pack (more on this).  But good old guilt had me up until midnight on Friday making these adorable guys for our Saturday celebration with family:

Cute, huh?  I followed the online Youtube tutorial  here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i1g5kNepik.  You will note there are only six cupcakes on my tray.  That is because it took me THREE hours to make just six.  I was exhausted.  Thank goodness I wasn't counting on these for a party with twenty kids. 

 I cannot, under any circumstances, cook neatly. 

Each cupcake was about a pound of icing.  Ick.  If you are thinking of trying these out, I recommend buying cupcakes already made and iced, then finishing them with the blue icing.  Tommy liked them, and that's what counts.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Thomas!

Wednesday was Hurricane Tommy's 2nd birthday.   Our birthday present for him, a big boy bed, was delivered Tuesday.  Round one was a nap -after 45 minutes of crying, he finally fell asleep for two hours, and at bedtime, he basically went right to sleep with no tears.  He never got out once his first night.  Day two was even easier.  Day three sucked.  At nap time, he must have gotten out of bed 30 times.  He would grab whatever wasn't nailed down and drag it back onto his bed until I arrived to bust him.  Bedtime that night he went right to sleep, and I haven't had any issues since.  Bed training is necessary before Baby Girl arrives since I am having a scheduled c-section (the docs won't let me try another VBAC after two sections - not that I want to anyway).  I won't be able to lift Tommy in and out of his crib for naps and bed for at least 2-3 weeks.

We celebrated with grandparents and aunts/uncles on Saturday (pictures to follow soon).

 At two, Tommy doesn't quite have the collection of stuffed buddies Patrick had already grown attached to, but he does have his beloved "Boopy" blanket (a Suzy's Zoo quilt that was embroidered by Tom's mom for Tommy's uncle when he was a baby).  As long as Tommy has Boopy, he is a happy camper.  We refused to let him start dragging it around outside the house, so Boopy does not come in the car except for special occasions.

He has finally (and thankfully) graduated out of the hand-in-the-toilet stage. 
When asked his name, he points to his chest and says "Tommy".
He can count to 12, but  lately seems to have forgotten #9.
Colors seem to still baffle him.  He knows pink and green, but all the rest get lumped in with the latter.
He loves Caillou, just like P, and trucks of every sort.
He has no fear of the water (unlike his brother) and loves having water poured over his head.  He tries to swim in the bathtub.
He loves, loves daddy, but is a mommy's boy at heart. 
Just in the past 4 months,  he seems to be finding the patience to sit down and listen to a whole book. 
He is much taller than P at this stage, but just as skinny. 
His newest obsession is carrying around handfuls of Nerf darts. 
The kid is a champion tantrum-thrower.  He will drop, kick and scream over ANYTHING (and I mean anything). 

Happy Birthday, Tommy!

Photography 101 and Week 23 Belly

Did I mention that while in my second trimester, during a move, and while trying to get our house cleaned and turned over to the new owners, I signed up for a photography course with my neighbor?  Tom thought I was crazy, and in hindsight, it probably was not the best timing to finally learn to shoot my camera off of the automatic setting.  I missed the first class, and haven't managed to actually complete any homework assignments, but I am still attending and am slowly learning bits and pieces.

My neighbor shot this belly photo in class last week (22 weeks along):

I have been trying to play around with the camera in manual setting here and there, and took this one today with a tripod of P telling his baby sister how much he loves her (awww):

I weighed myself on our scale at home and got a reading of 173 lbs.  I think I am basically where I was with Tommy at this point (maybe 1 or 2 pounds heavier since I started out this third pregnancy heavier than the other two).  My wedding band is off, and my engagement ring is getting snug, but still on for the time being. 

Sunday evening while sitting on the couch with Tom, I felt some good kicks from this little girl and grabbed Tom's hand just in time for him to feel them also.  Patrick has since been itching to feel his new sister kick, and constantly reminds me to tell him when she does. 

This third pregnancy is taking a toll on my legs (that the other two helped along).  I am most certainly going to have some vein zapping procedures in my future.  So far no stretch marks, but I didn't have them with either boy, so hoping to dodge that bullet. 

That's about it- still feeling fairly energetic and productive, although boy, is it getting harder to get off the couch and floor.  Gearing up for some painting this weekend...

TMI

(Too Much Info)( Probably)

Saturday evening we were invited as a family to a nice dinner at a very respectable place to celebrate the first communion of a sweet girl.  Tom and Patrick had gone to the Saturday evening mass where the first communion was taking place, but we decided I should stay back with Hurricane Tommy.  We would meet up at the dinner.

Slight problem.  Bad, bad, pregnancy gas.  Tums didn't even make a dent.  Bigger problem- not being able to hold in said gas  (oh, how I tried!) during the last 1/4 mile before I turned my car over to the valet.  I opened all the windows and decided I would make a last minute split decision whether a detour would be needed.  Luckily, the windows did the trick. 

Crisis averted.. 

Our Bedroom

Why are curtains so elusive?  My budget always seems to run out before I can get something hung.  The new bedding (which Tom hates) is in place.  Hopefully curtain rods will be hung before baby girl arrives. 

Don't be fooled- more painting looms ahead before July.  Have you met my pink and gray master bath?

It is such a small space, I think it will be an easy project to rip down the dated paper and get a solid paint color on.  Let me know if you are in the market for two brass light sconces. 
There is a rather large painted mural leading to the mudroom that needs a good painting over, and my stairs need touched up with white where the wood stain ran onto adjoining side boards.  Stairs are probably job number one so we can get a new carpet runner installed.  Tommy has been refusing to go up or down the stairs without a carpet runner, and I am about done carrying him unnecessarily at this point in my pregnancy. 

Easter 2013

Easter weekend was so..., so...normal.  No unpacking, no rushing here and there.  Saturday turned into the first mild spring day we have been longing for, and Tom took the kids to play football at the nearby school's field (I stayed home to mop the ceiling of our great room).  He returned with two exhausted children who took nice long naps while escaped outside for one of my ultimate joys- gardening!

Two hours of raking, pulling, and dumping produced a lot of this:

 At the end, I have one upper bed ready for summer planting.  I may have been completely useless by 7pm that night, but I felt great being so productive under the sun.

Sunday morning Patrick was the first up at 6:40am (usually it is Tommy who wakes us from his crib at 7 chanting "Momma, hug").  He burst into our bedroom holding a plastic egg the Easter Bunny had left in the hallway outside his room.  Off they went hunting eggs and baskets downstairs.  P found his basket right away.

Tommy carried these two lollipops around all morning, and carried a box of dots through most of mass.  He never tried to open them.

Uncle Pat, almost 91, drove down from Erie.  Baba is that good of a cook.

P and Grampy

Happy Easter, friends!