January Randomness

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Sorry, I took a little break to clear my head and sort of neglected the blog. Well, I am back and recharged. I have several blogs on deck so get ready!!
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And so we start the randomness of 2012. I gotta say, these are probably my favorite posts of the year. They really are a good look into our "normal" life.

We started the New Year by helping PaPa take down his Christmas lights. Man was that a chore. I wish, really wish, I would have taken a picture of all my dad's lights this year. Can you say Clark Griswold?? It was good, good stuff. Anyways, I didn't. Next year, I will.

When you put a PaPa on a big ladder.. the four year-old wants to join. And why wouldn't he??

Teddy took his turn helping too! I stayed inside with the little one.

One afternoon I was taking pictures of the littlest guy........

And I noticed this.. Do you see it? Do you see something "odd" in this picture?

Yep, the 3 month old is sporting a Spiderman ring. This is totally courtesy of his older brother.. Of course.

Gotta say, I have no idea what he is doing here but standing on a stool, making this face is worthy of a post. He makes me giggle.

Chaz had some attachment issues with our elf Pingle. Once he learned he could touch him, as that is allowed after Christmas, he just couldn't let go. He carried him everywhere he went, he took him to bed at night and he had random conversations with him every single day.I thought about telling him we had reinstated his magical powers in hopes Pingle could keep him in check throughout the year but I knew it wouldn't work. We finally told Chaz that Santa had emailed daddy and wanted Pingle to return to the North Pole. Remember, Santa left his belt at our house.. So we packed up Pingle, the belt and the bells that Santa left at our house.. We put Santa's address on the box and our return address just in case it came back. The next morning Ryan put the box on top of the mailbox and told Chaz the mailman would take care of it.. He then called me and told me to go get it before the mailman came. I then took all the items and packed them up in the attic..Chaz was none the wiser. Note: The picture on top is a special treat from Chaz to Santa

Sweet boys taking an afternoon nap.

Chaz got the Cars Monopoly game for Christmas and guess who got roped into playing....Momma.

and guess who beat me... fair and square. Ugh!  BTW if you are looking for a good game in the 4ish age range, this one is awesome. It is easy to play, it teaches simple math and is actually pretty fun for the adults too! Highly recommended by the Hill house!

Happy boy = mommy snapping shots.

When I was still on leave this was my sweet view every morning. Ahhhhhhhhh.

Walmart trips are super easy when this is your sidekick.

Happy baby = happy momma

January also brought Chaz's 4 year check-up. "Four year in January? I thought he turned four in September??" Yep, that is what I thought you would say. Well, here is my advice....never get behind on your yearly check-ups because they cannot back them up to where they need to be.. Yes, this goes for your "woman" exam also. I asked a lot of questions around this little nugget of info and discovered it was the truth. Boo hiss.. Anyways, Chaz is  41 1/2" tall and 36 pounds. He well above the skill level of a five year old, closer to six as Dr Swindle says and is one of the most imaginative kids I have ever known.

He just had to had some "rubrub" aka hand sanitizer.

Doctor Swindle was AMAZED at his level of thinking and learning. Chaz wanted to show his "skills" (his words, not mine) to the doc and requested a piece of paper. He managed to write every single letter Dr Swindle requested. I have to admit, my jaw was on the floor. He is always pretty good but he sure picked the perfect time to show off. Good job buddy. A+
 
Then it was time for shots. I dreaded this more than ever. I literally thought and sweated about it for weeks. I mean it had been WELL over a year since he had shots and this time he really knew what was going on. I was worried he would think we were trying to hurt him. Ugh, the mommy guilt!!!!

So what did I do? Same thing I do every time, I made his daddy sit with him while he got his shots. I sat in mommy-guilt-world on the other side of the room. He watched the entire thing. Wow!  He then crawled off his daddy's lap, with BIG tears welled up in his eyes, and came across the room to me "Momma, that really, really hurt"  Break.my.heart. I told him it would all be ok and then he was fine. Whew! Glad that is over. Yes, it hurt me more than it hurt him. I firmly believe that ;)

Random cuteness... MUAH!!

Dressing up for lunch with Daddy. Sweetness!

I have no recollection of taking this picture with my phone but I was grinning ear to ear when I found it. I heart these two boys!

Playing games with GaGa. What kind of game you may ask? Well that is a tape measure (big brother is at the other end) and small play basketballs.. it is a track. Why not?!?!

I love this picture because this outfit is a favorite of mine. Adorably cute with little alligators all over it.. and my boys (Chaz on the left, Dane on the right) only wore it once. Yes, a favorite.. only worn twice. Geez, Mom of the Year!

One morning while we were chillin' in bed Chaz decided he wanted to take pictures of Dane with my phone. Why not? And he is a pretty good aim!

Trying to roll over.. Can he do it???

Not yet, but he has a great cheering squad!

And then I had to go back to work. It has been so hard for my heart but so good for my brain. Really the ultimate double edged sword. And I have the joy of pumping milk at work. The things you do for your kiddos. It is not fun but totally worth it!  Unfortunately, this was the first go at it. Not sure how the boy is suppose to survive off of this! Luckily it got better..

Oh and here is the best view.. this is where I "get" to pump. In a bathroom. Ugh!

Cuteness..

Cheeks...BIG cheeks

Passed out after a long day at school

Rock star fingers at dinner with Gaga and Papa. I heart these..

Happy boy!! Does that smile just light up your world?? It sure does mine! No matter how bad a day, this smile turns it around 180 degrees.

 A family evening at Damn Goode pies. Goode stuff :)  Chaz loves to write. All.the.time. He is just so incredibly smart!

and he, he is just so incredibly tired..

Is it sad that I really like to go to Walmart by myself? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my family but I loathe taking the boys to Walmart. It is incredibly stressful. Every time I hear Ryan say "Do you want us to go??" I just cringe. "Uh, ok...sure"  I love to just walk around by myself. Mosey in the aisle of things I don't need but am compelled to purchase and simple get lost in the peacefulness of being alone. Yes, alone and peaceful at Walmart. Although, this picture may look as though it was a happy little family trip, don't be fooled. It was hell. I always end up loosing my oldest kid (not Chaz, Ryan) If we don't move fast enough, Dane will wake up and then you have to carry him. Chaz will end up loosing all sense of sanity because Walmart can drive anyone to craziness. And me? I end up being the "crazy mom." Screaming kid on aisle 4, screaming mom on aisle 6 and lost Daddy in the garden center?? Yep, that is my family. Welcome to Walmart!  Note: Although I come close. No children are ever harmed in our "wonderful" family trips to Walmart.

The big BIG milestone of this month. RICE CEREAL!! Yes, the boy is eating rice cereal and he LOVE it!!!

This is every night at 6pm. Dane eating rice cereal, Chaz on the couch waiting for his dinner. I heart my life.

and it isn't a "random" post if it doesn't have a showing of baby feet.

One afternoon Ryan came up to my work to get something out of my car and he had to show a house in Bentonville at 530 so I was on pick-up duty. About 5pm Ryan called and said "Ummmm, I still have your car keys..and I am in Bentonville." Ugh. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I was at work, with no keys to my car and had two kiddos that had to  be picked up in less than an hour.. Oh and Ryan had my cell phone to boot. Really? This isn't really happening.

My sweet coworker offered to take me to my house (WAY across town) to get an extra set of keys, good plan right? Not really as you will soon find out. We got keys and managed to get back to my office around 6 (Yes, this is when the kids have to be picked up from school. I called and told them I was going to be late) I thought "oh no biggy, I will just hop in the car and be there in 10 minutes." I hit the button to unlock my car......ALARM! What?? Really?? Yes, the alarm kept going off and wouldn't stop. I was not going to be driving my car anytime soon. 

Luckily, Sarah stuck around to make sure my keys works and she decided to take me to the kids school. At least I would have them as I waiting for rescue :) I called my Mother-in-law on the way and she met me at the school. She has a car seat for the older grandchildren in her car and Dane's is adaptable without a base. WE WERE SAVED!! Did I mention that it was almost 635 by the time we got to school. I heart the people who take care of my kids. They were more worried about us than anything! My Mother-in-law was also sweet enough to stop and get a slushy and a Happy Meal for Chaz. At this point I didn't care about nutritional value at all!

Oh and as I was going to pick Chaz up from school Ryan called and added this little bit of info to the already stressful situation "So Chaz fell on his face and has an incident report.." Translation of and incident report is: something happened at school and there is a bruise, blood or something else wrong with your child. Nothing required a doctor.  I got there and this is what I found. forehead scrapped and bruised, nose scrapped to crappo and small other scrapes on his face. Ugh. What a day!

"What happened buddy??" "I fell on my face"  Really?? Thanks for the great explanation. After a longer (VERY LONG) story, I discovered that all the kids were leaving the playground in a line annnnnnnnnnnnd dominoes. Yep, one falls down, they all fall down and Chaz took it to the face. I did get him to pose for these pitiful pictures. They make me giggle every time.

A few days later we went to dinner with my parents. Chaz managed to weasel a dollar out of my dad and wasn't letting go. Not even at nap time.

When daddy is in charge of bath time it is much more fun. Call me a bad mom if you want but I loathe bath time. This is why Chaz has been taking showers since before he was one and he only really gets baths at his GaGa's house.

Yep, he peed. But at least it stayed in his little tub. Chaz thought it was hilarious!

Pinterest will probably be the death of my father. Why? Because I come up with ideas and he decides to build them. Case in point, bookshelves for the game room. I wanted some for the corner section that would hold Chaz's and Dane's toys (it was previously just a small shelf that didn't hold much.) Dad built this giant bookcase and my mom and aunt came and painted it while I was at work. God love these people!!

Then the next weekend we decided to get every toy, bring it upstairs and go through everything. We rematched up every toy, donated some things and tossed all the broken toys.

During the process...

After.. Nice work, huh?  This room now makes me SO happy. Chaz loves it so much! I often hear him telling his cousins and friends where things go and that they need to be put back. Really?? I wonder how long this will last..

More rice cereal. I promise he really does like this stuff although you won't believe me if yuo look at the pictures below. This was not our most successful day.

A little moral support from big brother. Hands down, one of my favorite pictures to date.

Ryan often borrows my camera to take real estimate pictures. If he goes on the weekend he often has Chaz tagging along. They make a good team.  Ryan pulled all the pictures off my camera and left me this gem. Yes, that is my kiddo peeing on some bushes. Oh the things that happen when I am not around. God love these boys!

HAPPY JANUARY RANDOMNESS!!!