Packing

Ugh. I hate it. But, I do have most of the boys stuff packed. And... Aaron found our coats. Yay!! They were in the garage. We (by this I mean Aaron, I just picked it up minutes before they closed) also were able to get Byron's immunization forms all sorted out for school at the last minute. So, we are (almost) all ready to go.

On another note, had another soccer practice tonight. I had to bribe Byron with ice cream to go. He cried for the first 15-20 minutes. However, he turned around while they were getting their team picture taken, and then it was pretty smooth sailing. The coach tried some reverse psychology like, "Do I see a smile? No, don't smile!!!"

Some of the great parenting moments from tonight....

"If you keep crying, Waylon and I will leave and play at the park until you are done."

"No crying, keep trying."

"It's your choice weather you cry the next hour or try and maybe have some fun."

"Do you want a time out? Then, stop crying and kick the ball."

I felt like SUCH a mean mom. However, he said he had fun at the end. We'll keep trying.

Before and After

Before...After...I just finished repainting our nursery last night. I painted it the same pale yellow as the boys room. I was really happy to get this done. :) It wasn't near as hard as I expected. It only took me 3 days of painting (during naps and after bedtime). I want to tackle the entry way now. The only question is which color??
Aaron and I are leaning toward the third one from the left, two down.

The boys are both doing well. Things have just been chaos as usual around here. Case in point...
We're getting read to leave for Colorado in 2 days!! I can't believe that. The trips always sneak up on me.

Oatland Island Wildlife Center

Had a great weekend with the in-laws. Saturday we took the boys to the Oatland Island Wildlife Center. It's about 5 miles from our house. It was a beautiful sunny day, if a little hot. I should have brought the jogging stroller for Waylon. Thankfully, Caroline and I shared carrying duties. They had all sorts of wildlife.

Gators (Our first sighting! I guess they have them around the marshes and lagoons, but we have yet to see one.).
Getting a birds eye view...
Cranes...
Checking out the wildlife with dad...A cougar...
Getting a ride with nana...They also had wolves, foxes and birds of all sorts. Some of Byron's favorites were the snakes and bats. Waylon really liked the turtle.

They also have a farm. I'm excited to take the boys back sometime. We didn't have time to do everything. I guess they have a great toddler time on Tuesdays, but alas that is the same day as our Kindermusik classes. Maybe this spring we'll have to check those out.

A picture is worth a 1000 words

We are loving Byron's masterpiece's from school.

Wilmington Park playground

Found another great park today. It's in the neighborhood one over from ours. We were technically crashing, since we're not members of the HOA. It's very shady and has some neat "old school" equipment including a merry go round. The boys loved that.

Momentous day

It was yesterday. I was just too tired to post about it last night . We had a wonderful weekend. Most notably, we cut Waylon's hair yesterday for the FIRST TIME! He made it 22 (almost 23) months before his first haircut. I cried. (and cried and cried and cried)

During...

After...
Back view...
Each time Aaron (he did great job!) took a snip off, I cringed. I kept all of them.

Curls preserved (with wrong date)...
Both boys (B got a haircut too)...
But, he does still look adorable, just older and adorable. The ringlets are gone, but his hair still flips up and curls charmingly. We tested the new haircut out at the beach.

We also had a birthday party for Ari, our neighbor and Byron's self proclaimed new BF. It was at the "bouncy place". This video sums it all up. You might have to click on the actual web page that baby cakes is on here and scroll down to the post, but it's worth it!

Soccer time

Had Byron's first practice for soccer today. It's through the Y. He did great for about 20 minutes, and then kind of lost it. We'll be practicing this weekend. He was pretty shy, but he looked awfully cute.

Number 3

Hand/arm...
Feet...
Everything went great. All measurements normal. It was a 4-D ultrasound but the way the baby was laying (lying??) over my bladder we couldn't get a good scan of the face. We did see it repeatedly kick me in the bladder. :)

It's so great to have this ultrasound. I always worry a little before it. It's so nice to be able to see our little number 3. No sex, it's a surprise!

Never boring (v2.0)

I'm trying this again from our home PC. I tried posting from my phone, didn't work.

Today Byron got a pea stuck up his nose during dinner. I was just getting ready to call Aaron (he had to go to a dinner thing) after repeated attempts to get him (Byron, not Aaron) to blow the pea out when Byron laid down and the pea fell out. Life with a 3 (almost 4) year old is never boring.

School days

We are adjusting to the life of a preschooler around here. Everything is going great. Byron's been having a great time. Today he told me that he sat next to a nice girl and he thought her name might be Patti, but he wasn't sure. He then went on to tell me that they played out on the playground today but he only slid once. I asked if he climbed with some of the other boys in his class and he said, no, but he did climb with his girlfriend. :)

Byron hasn't been taking many naps lately. I was hoping that preschool would help get him back in a napping frame of mind. Well, it has but not quite the same way. The last 2 days he did his usual read and mess around during quiet time after lunch for an hour. He then fell asleep on the couch both days around 4. He was really out. Waylon and I put together a lasagna in the kitchen and Byron slept through the whole thing.
During quiet time today I was napping on the couch and was woke by a loud thunk. Byron said he was sleeping and fell off the bed. He hit his head on the bedside table and really gave his head a good knock. This picture doesn't do the egg on his head justice...
Waylon woke up last night with a temperature. Poor baby. He's doing ok, with no obvious symptoms other than the fever. He was just pretty clingy all day. I'm hoping/praying for a good night of sleep tonight.
Tomorrow, Brent is coming in town. Wilson and his family are also coming for the weekend. It'll be a fun crazy weekend with the 4 kids around the house.

Labor Day weekend

We had a great whirlwind weekend with some visitors from Chicago. Pete and Alisha flew in on Thursday night and just left today. I hoped we showed them a good time. Aaron and I are exhausted. :)

Friday, we had Byron's first day of preschool (of course!) in the morning and then went out for a celebratory lunch. In the afternoon, we went to the beach where Pete and Alisha both got stung by a jellyfish. That wasn't the best introduction to the beach. Poor guys. Thankfully, the life guards came by shortly after Pete got stung and had some spray to help with the stinging. He really got it bad on both legs. I guess it's been a really bad year for jellies. That night we had the Duttenhaver's over for a barbecue. It was quite the feast (if I do say so myself).

Saturday we rented a boat in the morning. It was fantastic! Aaron was a great pilot and the boys had a great time. We just tooled around, saw some dolphins (really a ton!) and stopped to swim every once in a while. We really didn't go out on the ocean. The waves were pretty big due to Hurricane Hermine (??). We mostly stayed on the inter coastal waterways.

The captain and his co-captains...
Snack time...
Our friend Flipper....
Looking for some snacks (that's Alisha's hand, she's very brave)...
Saturday afternoon Aaron took Pete and Alisha kayaking. I stayed in for movie night with the little men.

Sunday, we were all completely exhausted and took it easy in the morning. In the afternoon, Aaron, Pete and Alisha headed downtown to check out the sites. The boys and I met up with them after naps at Forsyth Park and for dinner. Byron was being completely goofy at dinner, Waylon was a little terror.

We had a great time with Pete and Alisha. It's hard to tell who had the most fun though. The boys were both overjoyed to spend time with uncle Pete.

First day of (pre)school!!

Pretending to be an old man, hence the stick.....
Only pic of him smiling and looking at the camera...

Byron's cubby, so proud....It was our little guy's first day of preschool today. He did great. Aaron was off so the whole family loaded in the car this morning to drop Byron off. He was being the biggest goof! It was impossible to get a picture of him smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.

Once we got to school, we walked him to his classroom. He was excited, but did turn around once we were at the classroom door and wanted to hold hands as he walked in. We looked around and found his cubby where he then hung up his backpack. Aaron and I left soon after that. We didn't want to prolong the goodbye when everything seemed to be going well.

It was not as hard as I expected to drop him off. He was so happy. I got a little sniffly, but no tears. :) It's just such a big milestone. I can't believe he's school age now.

It was only a hr and 1/2 class today. I picked him up at 10:30. He was sitting by the books waiting for me. He said that he had a great time. His favorite part was the snack (pretzles, water and a napkin). He did say that they read two books, colored a little, and then Mrs. Marritt has a parrot and likes carrots and Mrs. Skipper has a zipper. :)

I'm hoping he's always so excited and happy to go.

Pete and Alisha are also in town. We got home and Pete had a early birthday present of a Batman set of Trios. Byron is in heaven. We managed to pry him away from the toys for lunch, but alas, no nap. He's going to be one tired boy this evening. Maybe he'll sleep in.

We're planning on hitting the beach this afternoon and then having a barbecue this evening with the Duttenhaver's. Fun times!