Peekaboo Kisses

Sunday, we took the kids back to the neighborhood pool for a little relief from the heat. Todd could barely contain himself when we walked in and Anna started yelling hello to him. Too bad Hayley kept interupting him trying to put the moves on Anna. Sorry Todd, it will be like this for the rest of your life if Momma has anything to say about it!
I think we've established that Todd is more the lover then the fighter. He's been obsessed with kissing lately. Pretty much anyone who picks him up is going to get a kiss and in the interest of full disclosure, Todd goes straight for the lips. Nope, there's no cheek kisses in Todd's kiss dictionary. So when I walked in this morning and found him in a pile of books, I shouldn't have been surprised about the one book he had fished out and was enthralled with.
Yes, he's reading Peekaboo Kisses. It's a romance novel starring Todd (of course) and a sheep, kitten, puppy, and mouse who all want to give him kisses.
And speaking of a Don Juan...

Hayley received a placemat with all the U.S. Presidents for her birthday as a gift from her Aunt and Uncle. We've spent the past week going over the presidents during mealtimes and talking about them. The thing about Hayley... you just have to say something once... regardless of whether you're serious or joking... and Hayley files the information away for later use. She's completely shocked us several times with the things she says. So Sunday (after the pool) as we sat and ate lunch, Daddy started asking her about the presidents. She pointed at and said the names for George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush (who she's actually mistaken for George Tree!!!!), Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama. It was at that point, Todd began dropping food off his highchair tray (which BOTH Todd and Hayley are aware is a no-no). Hayley looked up from her placemat and said, "Hey, Toddy's being naughty like Bill Clinton!" So young, yet oh, so wise...

Of all the Charlie Browns in the world...

... Brian is the Charliest. Because Brian? Well, lately he just can't catch a break. Talk about some bad karma. To make a long story short, we've spent the past two months trying to straighten out Brian's military pay account as well as his new civilian pay account. The problem (or shall I say problems)? Two separate mistakes, made by two separate people, resulting in zero pay for The Roberts family. Not fun. After a frustrating day on Friday, Brian left work, and walked to his car to find this:
Swell. Someone had accidently backed into his car. Luckily, they left a note and are insured so now we get to have some fun coordinating the logistics of a repair with two children, two carseats, and a full time employee who works an hour away from the repair shop that only operates during the convenient business hours of 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.

But on Monday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Brian's civilian pay account had miraculously been fixed! Hooray, our luck was finally turning around... at least until Tuesday morning. After a grueling gym workout, my dear, sweet husband grabbed himself a cup of coffee and with a spring in his step walked down the hallway to his place of duty for the day. Until... a door swung open... right into his face... and his coffee. And my poor guy had to spend the day like this:
Clearly, the cosmos are trying to tell him something. I'd say we're due for some GOOD luck at this point... perhaps we should buy a lottery ticket!

TGIF

Another interesting week in the books. Sunday afternoon we headed back to the swimming pool as Todd was hoping to rekindle his romance with Anna and Brian and I were just hoping for some water plus heat equals child exhaustion to ensure us a good night's sleep. Alas, we've learned. Things never go quite as planned. Within seconds of entering the swimming pool, Hayley was attacked by a vicious lovebug who tried to take refuge in her nose. A level three meltdown quickly ensued as Hayley soon noticed that lovebug season had descended on our tropical paradise. Certain she was being eaten alive, she did her best to defend herself by fighting off the lovebugs with 130 decibel screams. Now, I thought I was quite used to being the Mom with the child that everyone stared at, but for some reason I felt a tad embarassed. I'm guessing it's the fact that Hayley's conniption drew all sorts of attention to me while I was wearing a SWIMSUIT. We did our best to calm Hayley and tell her the "lovebugs" were just trying to give her kisses. She wasn't buying it. So after a long five minutes at the pool, we packed it up and headed home.

Hayley spent Monday and Tuesday living in fear of the great outdoors, convinced that the second she stepped outside she would be devoured. (However, she had no problems watching as Todd and I risked our lives and walked to the mailbox together each day.) As if the week was not off to a traumatizing start as it was, Tuesday evening the kids were horsing around in Hayley's room when she managed to cut her toe on a plastic piece attached to the box springs of her bed. It was bleeding and after nearly passing out at the sight of her own blood, she started in with the screaming. Lately, Hayley has been VERY protective of her boo boos, to say the least. We managed to get it bandaged and carried her to the couch where she demanded that Daddy blow on her toe until bedtime. She limped to bed that night and surprisingly, even remembered to limp the next morning. In case you're wondering whether I'm just being insensitive to my little tot's pain, I assure you, the girl can act. We've had boo boos like this in the past and she'll get confused which foot the boo boo is actually on and limp with the wrong leg. She's definitely well versed in the injury milking department. By Wednesday afternoon she pretty well had forgotten about her injury except when she occasionally saw the band aid on her toe and remembered to limp. I knew bathtime would be a struggle, but oh, I was so unprepared. Hayley refused (and by refused I mean screamed her little head off) to get her foot wet. I knew we had to get this cut cleaned and re-bandaged since all I'd managed to do the night before was slap a band aid on, so I managed to throw some water on her foot before getting her out of the tub. My plan was to cut the band aid off. At this point Hayley was still screaming at me not to touch her boo boo... and this was where my series of questionable parenting choices came into play. I told Hayley I was going to take her band aid off and that if she was a brave girl and didn't fuss, she could have a lollipop when we were done. The shrieks instantly stopped and she asked, "A wollypop?? For meeeeeeeee?" Do keep in mind that until this point, Hayley had never delighted in a lollipop. In fact, I was thinking she probably wouldn't even know what one was. I was wrong. She knew. Taking advantage of the brief silence, I grabbed my scissors and headed for her toe. Obviously aware of my unsleuth actions, Hayley started in with the loudest, most blood curdling screams I've heard in my entire life. Which in turn freaked Todd out who also began screaming. Within three seconds (that felt like three hours), the band aid was off. I set it down, Hayley looked at it, stopped screaming, and said, "Oh, it's all better!" She hopped off the bed and said, "I want my wollypop now, Mommy." At this point, Todd was still crying and I was concerned that we both were going to suffer PTSD as a result. I headed into the kitchen to get Hayley her lollipop, and hoped that the neighbors didn't call the cops on me! Because if the cops did show up on my doorstep, I'd have a lot of explaining to do. Particularly after they took a look at my three year old:"Honestly Officer... it's just a lollipop!!!"

Thursday - Awwww, Hayley's last day of her first year of preschool. Oddly enough, this day was much more traumatic for me then her first day of preschool was. On the verge of tears most of the morning, I made it back to Hayley's school at 11am to watch a video slideshow made by one of the moms that summarized the childrens' year. There were some very cute pictures of Hayley's classmates and the usual pictures of Hayley with a tear streaked, ticked off look on her face. It will definitely be a good remembrance of Hayley's disdain for being photographed. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to Hayley's teachers and classmates and headed for the car. As I strapped Todd into his carseat, Hayley jumped out of her carseat and started to climb into the frontseat of the car before asking me, "Mommy, can I drive?" And as I sniveled the whole way home, mourning the end of my little girl's first year of school, my sweet little guy did his best to remind me that I STILL have one baby!
And as if the week hadn't been strange enough, as I changed and got ready to leave the house and meet my running group Thursday evening, I walked into the family room to find this:
TGIF!!

He's a Ladies' Man

Lock up your daughters, there's a lady killer in town. What started as an innocent morning of family fun at the pool, turned into us getting to witness Todd's "game." Hayley found a little friend who was about her age, Nathan, to run around the pool with. But it was Nathan's older sister, Anna, that captivated Todd. Anna (approximately five) came up to Brian and Todd (apparently Brian is Todd's wingman now) and began talking to Todd. He coyly smiled at her before immediately going in for an (open mouthed) kiss! You would think that such forwardness would be a turnoff to most girls, but not Anna. She played and talked with Todd until it was time to go home. I'm going to have to have a long talk with Todd. I don't think I'm going to get much help from my beloved husband who keeps giving me some line about "The Curse!" In fact, he seems to be rather proud of his little "player!" Who told me boys were easier than girls???!!!

My Baby is Three

Along with Memorial Day, we celebrated Hayley's Third Birthday! It was a nice, relaxing weekend and Hayley was so excited about her special day. Hayley has been watching all the children in her preschool class celebrate birthdays throughout the year, so she was thrilled to finally have "her" day. On Sunday we took a trip to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, a thrilling adventure for a big three year old!

Hayley even got to see how snails live

On Monday, we had family over for Hayley's "party." Hayley was most excited to have a "birt-day cake" of her own. For weeks, this child has been stacking blocks together and bringing them to me and saying, "wook Mommy, it's a birt-day cake for yeewwwwwwwww!" I definitely got the hint and I was pretty sure that my organic, homemade, tasteless cakes that I'd made her for birthday one and two were not gonna cut the mustard this year, so I gave into what I figured would be her heart's delight, and got an ice cream cake. She loved hearing us sing Happy Birthday to her!
A Birt-day Cake? For MEEEEEEEE??????
Wishes do come true! I got a REAL cake!
Playing in the new ball pit

Week Recap

It's been a busy week. Monday began with an early morning doctor visit for Todd's one year checkup and Hayley's three year checkup. I'd told Hayley the night before that we would be going to see Dr. Sevilla in the morning and he would look in her ears, and listen to her heart, etc. I got a little concerned when she told Brian (as he was tucking her in bed) that she was going to see Dr. Seuss in the morning! My lovely husband gets a kick out of egging the kids on to do or say things that will embarass me (like they need any help), so I'm a little suspicious about where the name "Dr. Seuss" came from. Luckily for me, by morning Hayley seemed to have forgotten all about Dr. Seuss and was ready to see Dr. Sevilla. She got a clean bill of health and was very cooperative with the doctor. Little Todd, was a different story. The laid back little boy that I "thought" I had seems to have disappeared and has been replaced with the male version of Hurricane. I've lovingly begun referring to the little guy as "The Tornado." And The Tornado? He's not the least bit interested in Dr. Sevilla or Dr. Seuss for that matter. But, we quickly got through his exam and based on his lung capacity, the doctor granted him a clean bill of health. Tornado surprised us though by ending up in the 95% for length and the less than 5% for weight. So just like his sister, finding clothing to fit a tall, skinny toddler will be my challenge.

On Thursday I attended a parent-teacher conference with Hayley's school teacher. I gotta admit... I did lose sleep about this the night before. After all, this is Hurricane we're talking about. As I sat down with Hayley's teacher, she immediately told me how well Hayley is doing academically. Instantly I could feel my shoulders relax as I exhaled a sigh of relief. Her teacher went on to tell me how impressed they are with Hayley's knowledge and that Hayley seems to pick things up very quickly. By this point, I was feeling pretty darn good... like for once, I was going to escape embarassment when it comes to my first born's behavior! But then, Hayley's teacher went on to explain that they laugh about some of the things that Hayley comes up with (wink, wink)! Uh, oh.... my shoulders instantly tense back up and my mind starts racing with all of the silly things Brian has said to Hayley to try and embarass me. I turn beet red, pretty sure that Hayley's entire preschool knows knows not only Hayley's, but mine, Brian's, and Rush Limbaugh's political views. The teacher quickly added that Hayley has a strong personality and seems to know exactly what she wants. Mmmm, that's my little Hurricane alright!

Todd has been all over the house so between the two, I've had my hands very full. Where Todd lacks in the speed his sister had, he makes up for it in naughtiness. He's relentlessly enthralled with light sockets and things that could easily pinch his fingers. And he's sassy too! Just tell him "no" and he'll tell you what he thinks about it!

On the bright side, Hayley and Todd have really begun to enjoy playing with each other. It's good as long as I can keep Hayley from pummeling her brother and Todd from pulling out all his sister's hair. Somedays it's all I can do to keep from losing my mind. Because when I lose my mind? I go and do crazy, stupid things like signing up for marathons. I'm getting heart palpitations just thinking about it. It's scary when I feel like running a marathon will make me a better parent... that I'll be better able to keep up with my kids. Anyone want to babysit??

Decorating for Memorial Day

Muddy Buddy

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I know I certainly did, despite the fact that I spent the day bruised, sore, and worn out. It was AWESOME! My wonderful husband granted me an entire 28 hours of vacation from the call of motherhood which allowed me to head to Orlando for a "girls" evening before an exciting, early morning race.

Friday morning, seven of us loaded up and headed east.We arrived in time to pick up our race packets at Disney's Wide World of Sports before checking into our hotel and heading straight for the pool. All of us gals are moms to young children and for most of us, this was the first evening we'd had away with girls since having children.We walked to Downtown Disney for some dinner and more laughs and felt so naughty staying out past 9pm!Of course we soon regretted staying out past 9pm (or was it the cramming seven girls into one hotel room?) when the all too early 4:45am wake up call came around. But somehow we managed to get our acts together and still look smashingly cute in our uniforms. I think I did a pretty good job pulling off the "Willie Nelson's half brother" look!After waiting in our corral for over an hour, our wave finally began.
It was time to get dirty! But first, we had to run, bike, crawl, climb, and slide through the seven mile course in the 90 degree heat. And I discovered, that biking? Not so much my thing. This was HARD! But I survived. And my reward? A big, cool pool of mud... the only thing seperating my partner and I from the finish line.Me and my awesome partner!And the crazy thing is, I PAID to do this!

Early Mother's Day

I had the pleasure of attending a Mother's Day Tea with my favorite little girl this morning. I told her yesterday afternoon that I was going to go with her to school in the morning for tea. To which she replied, "a Tea Party? No more taxes!" I then decided that perhaps I should just refer to our morning as a "party." As we were driving to school, Hayley asked me if I was going to come inside with her. When I told her yes, she replied, "but Mommy, I want you to weave!" Because apparently Miss Independent has her "thang" going on at school and she must be worried that I'm going to cramp her style! Once she understood that I would only be staying for a short time, she seemed to think that everything would be okay. Besides, I managed to convince her that she didn't want to be the only child there who didn't have their Mommy. It's nice to feel wanted on Mother's Day!

The "party" started off with the children singing "Happy Mother's Day" too us all. Here they are turning their voices on before singing! To be quite honest, I'm pretty sure Hayley has never turned hers off.
Then the children gave us a sweet card...
... with the answers to some very important questions on the back. Hayley did a pretty good job painting me as the Martha Stewart of the class.
Apparently Hayley is a bit bothered by my empty flower pots. (I spent the rest of my Hayley free morning at Home Depot, flower shopping.)
And while the rest of the kids gave the "I know my Mommy loves me because she gives me hugs and kisses answer," Hayley thought it wise to let everyone know that I only love her on Tuesdays. Yes, Tuesday is her day of the week. Todd called dibs on Wednesday, and I'm going to give Brian Thursdays. I have four days left each week if anyone wants to claim one.

The children then gave each of us a bouquet of flowers (made out of their hand prints) and a special gift... a sweet picture with a homemade frame. What a wonderful Mother's Day it's been already!

NOW he's walking... oh, my!

As of yesterday, May 5, 2009, Todd is what I would declare an official walker. He can now take many (albeit wobbly) steps and tour the house without falling. Although in true male fashion, just simply walking is not enough. No, Todd must pickup heavy objects and carry them while walking. He spent the better part of today grunting, straining, and turning red as he squatted buckets, play pianos, and various other toys. He'd hoisted them up to his chest and walk through the house before throwing them down on the tile floors and grunting. (Have you seen the Strongman Competitions?) It's been noisy here. Chloe is officially at the end of her already short rope. Here he is squatting a bucket... too bad he doesn't realize it's pink... kind of a buzz kill on his tough guy act!

Dancing King

Meet the dancer of the family.

NOT walking

Truth be told, I've been holding off on blogging with the thought that any day now, I'd be blogging about how my precious little boy is tearing through the house on two feet and doing his best to keep up with his sister. But alas, a watched pot never boils and a coaxed Todd turns obstinate. In the past few weeks, my sweet, laid back little boy has been showing more and more of his Hurricane sister's qualities. He's been certain to let us know that he will do what he decides he wants to do when he's darn. good. and. ready. And a full fledged walk? He obviously sees no need. I've told him, if he doesn't start walking soon, he's going to turn into a couch potato.
Now in his defense, I think he is trying. He's up to about four or five steps before he falls. He's a pretty wild walker and therefore seems to have balance issues. This process has been the complete opposite of our experience with Hayley. At ten months, she stood up and took off. Literally. In a matter of just minutes she went from crawler to full speed runner. So while Hayley may just be our sprinter, Todd is showing more of a predisposition towards a linebacker position. He's already got the eating part down. Because Todd? Todd is a bottomless pit. A bottomless black bean pit. I never would have imagined a little boy could love black beans the way Todd hearts black beans. Lucky for me, eh?
An endless supply of black beans, a closet full of fresh Huggies, and a cool sister to rock with. What more could a guy want?

Taxed Enough Already

Brian took a day off work today and we loaded the kids up to head down to our local TEA Party to peacefully demonstrate with several hundred of our fellow American patriots, or "right wing extremists" according to DHS. There were about five parties in our local area, so considering the various locations, attendance was good. We told Hayley about the TEA party last night and she was excited the entire day. After all, a passion for politics is in her blood!

Happy Easter and Todd's First Year

Happy Easter! We've had a fun-filled day celebrating the resurrection of our Christ and hosting a party for Mr. Todd. The kids got an early jump on Easter festivities by getting to open a special Easter gift sent to them from Mimi and Grandpa. Both the kids LOVE their Webkinz and Hayley took the liberty of claiming the horse for herself and naming both of the animals. The horse is named Pegasus and the frog is named Ribs... which I'm assuming is a take on ribbet. Because Froggie is already taken by one of her animals.
Todd dressed in his safari wear for the occasion.
And got a little concerned during the Happy Birthday song that genetic musical talents may have already doomed his singing career.
But a glance at his new, white pony made him quickly forget singing and reminded him of his true calling. Todd? He's born to be a cowboy!

Thank you to all of our family for the special gifts and for celebrating with us!

When Hayley celebrated her first birthday, I created a DVD slideshow to summarize the memories of our first year with her. As much as I'd like to, I don't scrapbook, so we've really enjoyed having the video to occasionally watch to remember our first moments with our little girl.

In honor of Todd's first birthday, I also created a slideshow for him. We showed this to the attendees of Todd's party today, which is why I didn't want to post the link until now. It's ten minutes long, but I know we have some relatives out there that would enjoy seeing this. Be sure your speakers are on as it is set to music!

Happy Birthday Todd

Peter Cottontail is delivering a one year old to us this year! Just a short year ago, we were welcoming the sweetest, happiest, and hairiest little boy into our world. I'll admit... I was nervous about having a boy. Now I can't imagine being without my precious son. Our family feels complete and we thank God everyday for the blessings of health and happiness he has bestowed on us. Here's a picture of Hayley and Todd, right at one year for comparison sake.


We've spent Todd's birthday relaxing as a family and preparing for a combined family Easter dinner and celebration of Todd's birth tomorrow. This morning we headed down to the church for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Todd landed himself in the middle of a sea of yellow eggs...
...while "Hollywood" Hayley refused to accept that she wasn't supposed to open each egg before deciding she was going to take the egg.

After a long search, we visited with the Easter Bunny who with her long lashes and furry white complexion absolutely captivated Todd.