Paging Dr. Mommy

Dr. Mommy to the ER. 

While dropping off a gift at a friend's house, I let Patrick and Tommy out of the car for 5 minutes to stretch their legs.  Patrick managed to fall and scrape both his knees in those 5 minutes, bringing on a waterfall of tears.  After getting him bandaged up and back in his car seat (his legs wouldn't work, he told me), off we went home - or tried.



My best little patient. He held that baby wipe on his knee until he went to bed.

Ten minutes later, and still ten minutes from home, Tommy threw up ALL over himself and the car seat.  Turns out that at some point that day he had eaten a plastic wrapper of some sort and his body had decided to remove said object from his stomach.  I would have just tried to make it the ten minutes home because he was such a mess and the seat was already saturated, but my baby is a stinker.  He started picking up his own throw up and...well, you get the picture.  Luckily my mother-in-law's house was only one minute away, so we pulled in her driveway and got him mostly cleaned up with paper towels. 

Tommy's car seat is now sitting bare-boned in our basement while the straps and cover hang to dry after a good washing.   All superficial pains, so I guess no real complaining allowed. 

Remembering

Our first Aspinwall Memorial Day Parade



Tom decided to stay with us at the parade rather than ride in one of the department's trucks.

This Memorial day, to honor those who have served in our military, Tom and I took the kids to a neighboring town's Memorial Day service at the American Legion, followed up by a small parade made up of the area's police and fire departments and high school marching band. 

Patrick had never heard the Pledge of Allegiance before. 

Our gratitude to all those who gave their lives, and to all veterans. 

The Great Escape

422 miles to Saginaw, MI.  Six hours, 30 minutes.  Grown-up radio stations.  Five minute food/restroom stops.  A silent backseat.  One suitcase.  Getting off the beaten path and exploring because we felt like it. 

Saturday morning Tom and I kissed the kids goodbye (easier to do when we knew they were in great hands), grabbed some McDonald's for breakfast, and hit the turnpike for our 30 hour, whirlwind vacation to Saginaw, MI.  One of Tom's Marine Corps buddies had invited us to his wedding reception and we weren't going to miss it! 

We arrived at our hotel just in time for our pre-reception room cocktails (we always travel prepared) and a shower.

Then we hopped back in the car for a 15 minute ride to the reception site. Umm, was anyone more excited to see this sign than me?  I love bowling.  Tom and I had it all plotted out before we even entered the building.  Wedding reception followed by some serious bowling. 

Tom with the bride, C, and groom, J.

Here we are, scrapping our bowling plans due to sheer exhaustion after the long drive finally hit us. I know, how boring are we?

But yes, it was so tempting. 

We are thankful C and J included us because we had so much fun on our extended date night.

 It was over before we knew it.

We woke up this morning to downpours and thunder, but the skies cooperated just as we got ready to load the car.  Saw lots of great signs on our drive, like the ginormous beef jerky store, but this one was hands down our favorite:

Because some people just need it spelled out for them.

 We stopped at a Meijer so I could go to the bathroom and parked next to a car with this sticker:

Honesty is the best policy.

But the best part of our return trip?  We got off the highway near Sandusky, OH and followed local roads along Lake Erie's coastline for a while until we hit Vermilion.  We hunted and hunted until we found it - a Quaker Steak and Lube on the water.  We sat on the deck and ordered some beers...

...and some fried shrimp.

Then we lapsed into a vacation coma and boat watched. 

Without having to feed little mouths, or wiping sticky hands, or taking turns walking Tommy around the restaurant.

But in all honesty, we did talk about the kids (especially how P would have liked how the fish sticks came in meal boxes shaped like cars).  But not all the time. 

Then we got back in our car, and drove the two more hours home where we got lots of hugs.  Did I mention just how much fun I had on this trip with Tom?  I will escape with him anytime...

Let the Games Begin!

Ever since Patrick turned three, he seems to be growing up into a little man right before my eyes.  I can't put my finger on it, but you know what I mean...

And could it be, you whisper, a photo of both boys looking at the camera?  Granted, they aren't smiling, but I will take it. 

Tommy has been doing a lot of his own growing.  Crawling is now a thing of the past and slowly, his arms are coming down from that standard "goal post" up-in-the-air position new walkers have.  He is teething big time, with three of his four back molars in and another cutting through right now.  He had his first big boy haircut at the salon today (I completely forgot my camera), and sadly most of his curls in the back got the big snip.  He is saying a few words- "ought-oh", and "cookie", although if you aren't aware that he is meaning cookie, I think it would be hard for an outsider to identify that one. 
Tom and I have made the difficult decision to attend church in shifts so we can leave Tommy at home. He is so disruptive to rest of the cry room since he refuses to be held or sit, and we refuse to feed him snacks at church.  I am confident that it won't be long before his attention span is longer and he is better about understanding the need to not climb around the room. 

But overall, things are going great.  I have high expections for a lot of family activities this summer and less house projects (maybe I am delusional).  Let the games begin! 

Laying it all on the Line

Six.
The number of cupcakes I have had since Saturday (I KNOW).

Trillion.
The number of chips I have had since Saturday.

Nada.
The number of pounds I have lost ( I can't weigh myself because I threw away my crappy scale last week).

I am so frustrated with how I have been eating.  I keep wearing the same black dress to all of our functions because it is the only thing that fits, and I don't even look that good in it. 

I never thought I would be that person who had to struggle with weight after having a baby, but here I am.  And the second has been twice as bad - no surprise there. 

I will keep trying.
And trying.
AND trying.

More Bathroom Woes

I am not starting off this week on the right foot.  Our contractor for the bath has been occupied (understandably) with a death in his family, and has not been here.  Yesterday, the two guys he contracts with to do the tile work showed up and re-tiled the lower part of the shower that had to be ripped out.  The problem is they used not only the wrong color grout, but the wrong kind of grout.  So while I still haven't talked with our contractor, it looks like the whole shower floor needs ripped out.  Again. 

I also have a mysterious itchy rash on my back and neck.  Hmmm.

Patrick's Three! (Kinda)

Saturday we held Patrick's birthday party at our house and invited all of P's neighborhood friends and their families, plus our family in the area.  I am ever thankful to God for providing us endless sunshine that day which allowed the throngs of kids to play outside.  It was perfect, or at least Patrick thought so. 

I created a Busy Town on our mantle using printouts from the book glued to cardboard.  Tom did a little photo-shopping:

For favors we used beach pails instead of gift bags to kick off the start of summer. Did I mention the ton of kids that floated through our house?

Here is the extent of my artistic streak.  I covered the ring toss board with white paper then painted a Lowly worm around the hole. It took me almost two hours to paint a worm and he only has one leg and no arms. 

My birthday boy!

Patrick opened his gift from Tom and me first. Can you guess from the box?

P is now the proud owner of his own set of real clubs

Tom hasn't had a chance to take him to the range yet, but they teed it up in the backyard and have been hitting balls.

Still opening presents today!