March Madness

Where to begin?! March is almost over and Spring has definitely come to the Carolinas! Our weather has been beautiful (for the most part) and some water restrictions have been lifted due to the large amounts of rain that have fallen recently. We're all healthy (yay!) and are grateful to see and feel the sun again!

Stories From the Hurricane:

1. While standing on the Sit-n-Stand stroller today at the mall he shouted, "I'M A BOY!!!" At random passers-by.

2. In Old Navy last week Jack was really pushing my buttons as I was trying to find him some sandals that actually fit his marshmallow feet. After he'd grabbed yet another shirt off a rack I said,

"Jackson! Why are you be such a punk?!"

He reflected for a moment and then adamantly replied,

"I not a punk, I'm a boy!!!"

Humbled by my two-year old, I smiled and said,

"You're right! You ARE a boy!"

Fast-Forward to a few nights later as I'm tucking him in bed. Jack hugged me and happily announced,

"I'm a punk!"

3. Justin and I have been teaching Jackson to just, "shake it off," whenever he falls or runs into something. We had to come up with an alternative to, "Do you want a band-aid?," because he was faking injuries to get the desired 'Curious George' or 'Finding Nemo' band-aids. FYI - licensed character band-aids are expensive! Anyway, I realized our new method was working, but not quite the way we'd planned for, a few days ago:

Jackson had just gone potty and needed help putting his undies back on (he always puts them on backwards). I was cutting up chicken for dinner so I told him to wait and I'd help him in a minute. He went to the living room and shortly after I heard a crash of some sort followed by Jackson's 'that kind of hurt, but I'll live' cry. I couldn't see him over the counter, but I said,

"Jack, are you okay? Did you fall?"

To which he replied with a pitiful,

"Yeeessss."

Just then I turned around to see him walk (naked from the waist down) into the kitchen totally going to town on his wee-wee. I immediately exclaimed,

"Jackson! What are you doing?!"

And he explained,

"Jackson hurt a-wiener, I shake it off!"

EDDISON NEWS:

Loves: Our pet fish, eating soft foods, hugs, climbing, pointing, waving, head-banging, walking with his tongue sticking out and saying, "Da-h!", head-butting Jack, tackling Jack, smiling, bath time

Doesn't Love: Getting 5 teeth within three weeks and about to cut three more, eating hard foods that hurt his poor gums, diaper changes, current state of the economy following the mortgage crisis of '07

Is he naked? Yes. Is he standing and rocking at the same time? Yes. Does he do this often? Yes. Why? I. Don't. Know. (But I think it's cute!!!) Sometimes it's just not worth tackling a naked baby after he's been freed and cleaned from a dirty diaper so I just let him roam wild. (For a few minutes, anyway...Don't want to tempt fate or his bladder!)

Eddie goes Green. I WISH I could hop on the cloth diaper train! This is a prototype of an AIO (all in one) diaper that I made for a potential customer who's looking to use cloth diapers when she has her baby. They're SO soft and the outside is totally water-resistant...BUT - I have a few major hang-ups. 1. Our washing machine is not Energy-Star certified nor is it the most effective piece of machinery. I'd definitely have to wash poopie diapers more than once which would totally counteract the 'environmentally friendly' angle on water usage alone! 2. Our drier gets the job done, but again...not Energy-Star certified and because these little beauties are water-proof on one side they take forever to dry on the inside. 3. Justin REFUSES to try changing a cloth diaper. So for now I just shake my head and look for other ways to do my part for the environment. Secretly I plan on using cloth for at LEAST one of our kids...I'm hoping by the time we get to numbers 5 and 6 Justin will be so busy he won't notice a difference? LOL!! :-)

Newly DARK (almost black) hair! Courtesy of the AVEDA Institute where the 'student' who did my hair must have confused 'dark brown' with 'blacker than coal on a moonless night' when she was mixing the colors. Lucky for her I was able to wash some out when I got home and was pleased with the results! Not a very good picture, but the only one I have of me since I got it done! (Click photo to enlarge and it's easier to see the color.) My next adventure? Bangs. Maybe.

A nice Sunday walk with my three favorite blond-haired and blue-eyed boys.

Our newest family member. He's been with us about a month and yes, it's the same one I bought originally. NOT a replacement for one I've killed! LOL!!! I had NO luck with the goldfish, but this little guy seems to be pretty resilient. We're waiting on Jack to name him...so far no consistent takers, but we'll keep you all updated! Eddison LOVES watching the fish and for some reason finds him very funny. It's pretty cute!

Jack scored a new hoodie at Sprouts this past Thursday! Tiffany snagged a few of them (complete with matching white sweatpants) at a big health/fitness convention and put them on the kids so they could all play outside. When I got to her house to get the boys they all looked like little marshmallows running around the backyard. It was so cute!

Eddison's First Tooth day! That's right - just a couple of weeks past his first birthday Eddie got his FIRST tooth! It's on his bottom left. I can't wait to see a toothy grin!

What a smile! I just love that he actually smiled for me for the picture. It doesn't happen often!

Wednesday nights are Justin's indoor soccer games. This was the best picture I could get. If you click on it to make it bigger you can see Justin (center) in the gray t-shirt looking towards the camera. He's having lots of fun, but has definitely been inspired to get into shape so he can start to play the way he used to! We've only been to one game because I have Mutual on Wednesday nights, but Jack and Eddie LOVED watching their daddy and Jackson kept shouting, "RUN, DADDY!!! HIT A-BALL!!!!"

A typical Sprouts lunchtime at my house. I LOVE having these sweet little girls over every three weeks! We (the other mommies and I) are looking forward to starting Joy School in the Fall. Hopefully I'll be able to recruit some more boys!

Presenting JACKSON....make-up artist extraordinaire!!! Yep - unbeknowest to me he discovered my mascara, put it on (one eye) ALL by himself, and then came to show me the end result! I was entertained and impressed at the same time! Obviously he was pretty satisfied with his work, too. :-)


Believe it or not, Eddison actually enjoys it when Jackson does this. And he does it quite frequently! LOL!!! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE these boys?!

Eddie's new passion is the slide! He LOVES to slide! He also loves riding this alligator-like thing (you can see it in the background) and can climb up it all by himself. He's definitely turning into a little dare-devil with his new-found mobility...but I fear that he has absolutely no self-preservation instinct at ALL! He's completely fearless! I love it and hate it at the same time! :)

Fun in the sun! It's so nice to have a break from the cold weather and the rain! But we LOVE the rain!!! Each drop gives Justin hope for a better lawn this year. As for last year? We do not speak of it... :-)

At Sprouts a couple of weeks ago I came to pick up the boys and found Jackson wearing these pretty pink, flowery undies. Apparently he had 'dribbled' a little on his undies as he was going to the potty and refused to put them back on. (This is a kid who will roll in mud, but won't put on pants when the cuff is even slightly damp.) Nellie's solution? Borrow Riley's! I thought it was hysterical! Justin did not.

What do we do all morning when it's our year to have 1:00 p.m. church? Laundry basket racing, of course! Justin always wins.

"Look, Mama, look! Mr. Atato-head has poops!" I knew he was going to make the connection sooner or later... Really, who hasn't looked at the location of Mr. Potatohead's compartment and wondered? Of course Jackson had to take it to the next level and actually took Mr. Potatohead to the potty and opened his 'bottom' to let his 'bucket o' parts' land in the toilet. The answer to the million dollar question? Yes...he flushed them. And yes. They got stuck. Justin was able to take the toilet apart and found that a ball about the size of the plumbing (that had originally been tucked away in Mr. Potatohead) had perfectly lodged itself, but was easily removed AND discarded by Mommy...who thinks that there should be regulations made concerning the size and flushability of all toys.

SCORE:

Toilets in our home: 3

Toilets that have been clogged by Jackson and then taken apart by Justin: 3

Currently functional toilets: 2

Looks like Jackson has taken the lead here...The boys' bathroom upstairs is still not working, but Justin suspects some sort of crack in the actual toilet somewhere as he's taken it apart and found no more obstructions.

VIDEOS!!!

1. Daddy making Eddison laugh just enough to see that first little tooth on the bottom right! (Eddie's left.)

2. And look who's walking!!! This is the first video we took (last week sometime), but he actually took his first few steps on his birthday and has been progressing quickly ever since! He's now zipping all over the place and I'm truly feeling like I have TWO toddlers! I LOVE IT!!! :-)

Love you all!