Easter Weekend

We went to Helen's (my SIL) house for Easter weekend. On Saturday Helen's boyfriend, Robert, took Brian to the driving range, and she, Mia (my niece) and her friend took the boys to a park that was beside the range! Brooks saw a Steam Engine as soon as they pulled up and couldn't wait to get on it! They fed the ducks and B played with a few little girls that were there. All the while, I'm sitting on my butt at Helen's house hanging out with my niece Anna and finishing up Water for Elephants! (That book was SO good!) I got a few hours to chill out and have some girl talk...it was wonderful! Once my in-laws arrived we had a wonderful dinner and Helen's friend Terri (we LOVE her...she's like part of the fam) got to join us! We drank some wine and chatted for a while. C decided to entertain us! Robert was holding him and Mia was taking pictures...and everytime she held up the camera (or if anyone held up a camera), he would pose by sticking out his tongue! It was HILARIOUS! I got one good shot, but since the camera delays (this is why I need a nice one!), only one came out good. He only stuck it out when we held up the camera...it was a moment I know I need to write down to remember in the future! After I got the boys to bed, us girls snuck out to see Water for Elephants! I finished the book just hours before I saw the movie...perfectly timed out!

Sticking that tongue out!

Sunday morning, B and C both woke up at the same time. They went to see if the Easter Bunny came...and he did! B was super excited...he was even playing with C's toys! C had a good time crawling around and playing as well. After all the fun, we got ready and went to church for the Easter Service! I wasn't sure how C would do at a nursery he's never been to, but I was never called to come get him! Brooks had a great time with his new friends :) We went back to the house, ate our traditional lunch of ribs, hung out, then packed up and hit the road.

The Easter bunny came!

C loves his new toy

Just crawling around

C's 1st Easter!

Me and my boys....I love B's face HA!

B, Anna, C, Mia

This is the only pic I have of us 4...will have more in a few days!

Me and Anna

Kim with the grandchildren

C fell asleep in Mia's arms....SO sweet!

 Once we got back B was dying to ride in the wagon, so that's what we did. C had a blast! Long after B jumped out I was still pulling C around the yard. So glad he's big enough for it. It was the perfect end to an awesome weekend!

LOVE my boys!!

Spring Break

This week was spring break, and before it started I was wondering how I was going to make it to the end of the week alive...but I made it! Brooks is usually in school 3 days a week, so I was expecting it to be a little rough with both boys, but the week was really great! We had our Monday playgroup at Furman. We let the kids run around and they saw lots of ducks and turtles. Then we had a wonderful picnic in the shade! That afternoon we played outside and C sat in the sandbox for the first time (it lasted about 1 minute bc he kept trying to eat the sand!)

 Tuesday our neighbors came over and we played outside for a couple of hours. Brooks and Christian are only 1 month apart and play so well together :) Wednesday we visited the Easter Bunny! I wasn't sure how Carson would act, but he LOVED him! He kept smiling and pulling his hair and trying to eat it HA! Brooks was SO excited to see him as well. We then went to my Mom's work so I could get a quick eye exam and the boys had a blast playing with all the women. B was wearing these crazy green/red glasses all around and though he was just SO funny HA! Then that afternoon my in-laws came over to give me a break and let me run some errands (when she called and told me she would give me the break, hallelujah played in my head!)! It was so nice to be able to leave my house w/o C. I get breaks from B, but NEVER from C.

Thursday we had an Easter egg hunt with some friends. We did it indoors because of the rain and the kids loved it! They each got 12 filled eggs....B was in heaven with all of his candy! That night we dyed eggs...we made monster faces and dinosaurs!

The egg hunt group!

C was trying to crawl away!

Brooks was trying to make a silly face like his eggs were...

Monster Faces

Dinosaurs

Friday Brian had the day off, so he stayed with the boys while I ran a few last minute errands before we went out of town. Again, SO wonderful...I actually left my house twice w/o any children in one week! How awesome is that!?! We went to my parents house that afternoon so we could see them and my sister, who was in town from school. B and C were so good and played really well. Plus they got a wagon from my parents for Easter....SUPER excited! B couldn't wait to ride in it! We went to North Carolina to my sister-in-law's for Easter weekend and had a blast! (See next post :)) Such a wonderful week :)

Just Scootin

As of last week C is trying to crawl. It's a lot earlier than I thought, but I guess that's how it goes when you have an older sibling. It really picked up on Monday (which happened to be his 7 month b-day).  He doesn't get up on both knees yet, but scoots on his tummy and uses his arms to pull him across. Now, once he sees a toy of B's he's gone! The first thing C went after was a pop-up book and the page was left open. He "crawled" across B's room and ripped it...that didn't go over well with B! He screamed, "My Book! Carson ripped my book!" Yeah, so that was the start of something I'm going to have to get used to. This will continue through the next 18+ years. Every time C crawls or does something awesome I always wish I had my camera. Late Monday I grabbed the camera and tried to get him to crawl. I put him in front of some toys, but he wasn't too interested. I posted a video of him below. He crawls for about 2 seconds, but at least I got him doing it! Also, the music in the back ground is the musical pop-up book C damaged earlier in the day HA! Enjoy!

Mr. Clean and the LockMESS Monster

The differences between Brooks and Carson are astonishing at times. Most of us know that Brooks is a little OCD about being clean. Ok, let me rephrase that. He's a lot OCD about about one thing being clean. His hands! He doesn't like for his hands to be dirty from eating food or having touched something messy. He never touches anything with his dirty hand and will only use his clean hand to do things with. He will ask me to wipe his hands off all the time. I might have encouraged this behavior b/c after he started eating solids I was always wiping his hands and face and it continued on. I'm sure my saying "Don't touch that with your nasty hands!," and "Ahh look at the mess you made!" didn't help any. So he feels a need to be clean.

C on the other hand could care less about being clean. I think he likes the mess and is happiest sometimes when very dirty. My examples:

Everytime, and I mean everytime, C eats, he gets it EVERYWHERE! All over his face, hands, arms, feet, legs, the high chair/bumbo seat, both bibs (there is always one underneath his waterproof one for extra protection), table, floor and clothing. Sometimes he even gets it in his hair. He needs a full hose down after every meal, and it's only getting worse. Some will drop from his mouth onto his bib and his immediate reaction is to pull the bib up to his face and smear it. It happens so fast I don't have a chance to scrape it with his spoon or a paper towel. B of course, was not messy like this.

 WARNING: If you're a clean freak, germ-a-phobe , or just feel nauseated at the thought of really messy things (like baby poop) you do not need to read ahead. Just scroll down to the cute pics of C. You have been warned!

The other mess he had been making lately is with poop. I never had this problem with B. C will poop...half the time it stays secure in his diaper, and other times it goes up his back. Most moms I know have had this problem occasionally. Well, he'll get going in his jumper and get so excited and out it comes! So we go to change him and as I am opening his diaper he immediately puts his hands down there and grabs the poop! He has it all over his hand, so then I grab it so he won't get on anything else, but that requires me to drop his bottom half. I wipe his hands, but then the table and his bottom still need to be wiped (we usually go through about 8-10 wipes in this process). He still somehow manages to get it on his sleeve, bib, shirt, the wall, changing mat and pat. And me as well :( I have tried distracting him with toys. If he's holding a toy and chewing on something, he won't grab his poop, right? Wrong. He'll play up until the diaper comes off, then's its grabbing time! SUPER gross!

I guess I got spoiled with B. I'm seeing what boys are all about now. B is a small minority and C is the majority. Some of you probably aren't too shocked by this, but I am. It's all new to me! I posted some pics below...they aren't very messy ones (I tend to forget to take pics of the really messy ones) and don't worry, there are no poopy ones HA!

Love that kid!

I had to throw in one of him all clean and sweet. I loved how he was hugging his blankie :)

 

 

He's naked so he won't ruin anymore outfits!