I got no business...

Went downtown today for a training session with my successor. Had to take Mason with me. I felt like a fish out of water. I had no business being there. How quickly my appetite for corporate cube farm dwindled.

Here's Mason in all his sitting pretty glory. He's really starting to like sitting up. He'll sit for an hour just looking at toys and watching Cooper. He also took a turn in the jumper [strange child contraption that hangs on a door frame or I beam and allows small children to bounce up and down].

Tomorrow we expect temps in the 70s, so I'm going to try to get the boys to the park and then the library.

Another Year Older

I know you’re all just dying to hear fun birthday stories. So, let me recap my day…

In grand family tradition, when it is your birthday, it is YOUR day. And so this is what I elected to do…

8:00 a.m.
slept in and awoke to Cooper saying, “Hippy Bird-day!”

9:00 a.m.
Steve made breakfast. Fresh coffee, scrambled eggs with cheese and white bread toast (with sugar).

9:30 a.m.
Dress boys in play clothes. Negotiate with Cooper to permit him wearing PJs under clothes.

10:00 a.m.
Bike ride with the boys. First stop: Walgreens. Fun stop: new park. Final stop: home. My legs are screaming after pulling 40 extra pounds of boy and the trailer. Mason sits in grass for the first time!



Noon
Take off for a fun adventure of driving through “dream” neighborhoods. Looking for houses for sale and open houses. Toured a few. Mason babbles very loudly during car ride.

1 p.m.
Stopped at Carl’s Jr. for lunch. Discovered that Cooper likes Chicken Stars. Mason sleeping.

2 p.m.
Continue neighborhood scouting. Cooper walks through houses saying things like, "Ooooo," and "Oh my!" Realtor comments on Mason's bugars and lets me know her 13 yol still has them! I have so much to look forward to.

3:30 p.m.
Pit stop at Tony’s meat market for birthday dinner supplies. Crab cakes and salad caprese. Tempted by peanut butter brownies and asparagus. But I have to draw the line somewhere.

4 p.m.
Mason has to take a bath after pouring 4 ounces of pear-pineapple on his own lap.

4:30 p.m.
Cooper poops in the yard! Steve changes the diaper. Woot-woot.

5:30 p.m.
Steve prepares dinner and I eat it while boys watch Curious George.

6 p.m.
Steve prepares dinner for Cooper – ramen noodles.

7 p.m.
Ice Cream Cake (lots o sugar) and birthday singing. Cooper is so excited he can barely contain himself. Who's birthday is it anyway?

8 p.m.
All my friends and family call me including parents, Devin, and Monica! Got lots of fun text messages from some of my pals, too. Thanks everyone!

9 p.m.
Cooper finds his karoke microphone. I thought I hid it better than that. 12 rounds of "If you're happy and you know it..." ensue.

10 p.m.
Kids are asleep. I’m making journal entries for Mason, Cooper, and myself. And ending my day with a post to the blog.

It’s a good day, a very good day.

The Gun Debate

OK... so I'll admit it, guns give me the heebie-jeebies. [Frank forgive me.] I'll never be a card carrying member of the NRA and I have yet to buy an actual toy gun of any type for my boys. But tonight, Cooper showed me it just doesn't really matter.
While looking through a sticker book about emergency vehicles and response teams he came across a sticker of a hand gun and picked it out to place on the page. I was curious what Cooper thought about this, so this discussion took place:

Mom: Cooper, what is that?

Coop: [smiles] then holds up the sticker, points it and proceeds to make gun noises

Mom: [thinking to self, when has he seen a gun... probably TV... gotta stop watching CSI when he is in the room] Who uses guns?

Coop: Daddy

Mom: [thinking maybe he just thinks men in general use guns] Daddy doesn't have a gun. Do you know what a police man is?

Coop: Yes [points to sticker of police man with police dog]

Mom: How do you know what a gun says?

Coop: does NOT care to answer question, just continues with the gun -- very realistic by the way -- noises


And so you see... I can avoid the issue or have Cooper (and Mason) show me that eventually we all stare down the barrel. What now?

Peaceful weather, finally

So today was fabulous weather. Lots of sunshine and the temps almost hit 60 degrees. After all the snow it was nice to thaw out. Got me thinking about all the Feng Shui I want to do to the yard.

Our family had a surprise visitor today -- Jennifer Something-Or-Other. She's a distant cousin and somehow my mother talked her into delivering a Baskin-Robbins cake to our front door. I can't imagine the sob story she told to pull this off. Anyway, much appreciated. I haven't eaten any, yet. Waiting for my birthday.

Steve took me and the boys to lunch today. We parted ways this afternoon and Steve went with some buddies to a charity poker event. That's not to say that the organizers think Steve is such a novice that they can literally take money from him. But it is an actual charitable event in which poker is the draw.

Cooper, Mason, and I headed down to the Castle Rock outlet mall because it's an outdoor mall and I wanted to walk around a little bit. We walked all over and only bought a stainless steel pepper mill and salt shaker set. I've been waiting to buy the set until I actually needed it. The mill and shaker set we have was given to us as a wedding present and I am sad to report (but secretly happy) that it finally broke. Mom, you'll have to tell Davis' that the wedding gift they gave us has finally met its end and we got 7 very useful years out of it.

And now for the real reason that you all check the blog... PICTURES of the kids.

Mason is doing a fantastic job sitting up. You may think he's just doing the lean. But I've selected two pictures that show how much his balance, and neck mobility have improved. He can turn and look at you if you're behind him and still keep his balance. This is major progress for any baby, but especially Mas.



Cooper is absolutely in love with the movie James and the Giant Peach. We checked it out from the library a couple of days ago and it will be sad when we have to take it back. He calls it, "James and the BIG Peach!" I think he's drawn to all the big bugs in it. He has no idea what a peach is and when he sees it in the movie calls it an apple. We're looking forward to our Utah trip this summer because we will be sure to find him a Utah peach to enjoy. Here's a photo of him mezmorized by the movie.

Got nothing...

Family and Friends,
I apologize that there was no post yesterday. But I tried and tried to write out the events of the day and couldn't do them justice. Let's just say it involved an enormous amount of poop and the Museum of Nature and Science -- and ended in a bath. So, here are the pictures from bathtime, much cuter than the poopcapades.
Love,
outnumbered and overwhelmed

Mason was a completely innocent party to the whole escapade. Can tell from his look of disgust that he's a little cheesed off by the whole scenario!

Faux-hawk!

Love the robe!

Still love the robe!

Born in the year of the dog and quite representative of it.

5 Second Rule

Exhibits A and B: Young child licking yogurt off kitchen counter.











We’re under a winter storm warning, again. Had a little snow this morning and it’s meant to accumulate 3-5 inches by tomorrow morning. Looks like we’re going to the museum of nature and science.

The View from here…

In my last job – the one that I just “retired” from – I was assigned the corner cube. Just short of an office, with its semi-private, partition-walls and location. Windows wrapped around my desk to reveal the brick wall of the building directly adjacent to ours (about 20 feet away), and a parking lot. The parking lot was a true gem replete with a perpetual billboard bedecked with a scantily clad woman touting the faux benefits of drinking alcohol du jour.

And now, this is what I see…

Let it be said that when I upgrade, I UPgrade.