New and Improved

So the move is official and we are all settled into the new house. What a difference everything has been since we moved into a bigger house. The sleeping around here has improved by 100% for the kids, which means it has improved 100% for parents too. Nap time has never been so easy and when I put Grace in her crib so I can go lay Silas down, she just lays there or looks through her book until I come and get her all tucked in. It's been just great! It has been a long haul with them and sleeping but we seem to have turned a huge corner and I think we are actually better than ever.

Silas continues to talk all the time and is starting to get quite the little personality. He loves attention and often cracks up when we laugh at him or if he sees something that he deems funny. It's always go time with him and he never holds back his energy until he wears himself out and then he is a great snuggler. Grace, well she is Grace. She is so precise with her decision making and has to have things in order or else she gets all flustered. We were playing in some mud we made by their little pool and Si loved it! As soon as Grace got mud a tiny bit of mud over her hands she went yelling to Sarah to have her wash it off, what a girl. You can't teach that stuff it's just how different some boys and girls are.

Getting a big back yard was the best thing we could have ever done. Not only can we wander for hours but I can let one go alone and still see them in sight and not worry about them getting hurt. We are in need of some outside toys now so were going to figure out what they would like best. For now they love the little pool and putting the mulch into buckets and their little wagon then dumping it out only to start over again. Everyday seems to get a little easier and they seem to improve with talking and how they interact with each other.

Wrestling is still an all time favorite around here and it seems like they take turns on who wins. I end this week sitting here looking out the back yard listening to the birds, in awe at the beauty which surrounds us. Take time to stop and listen, look around, and enjoy how peaceful nature really is if you can.

Mr. MOM Moment of the Week: So we're at the grocery store and we always go and get a cookie at the counter (they are free to little kids if you didn't know). It seems to make the trip easier. Here is Grace with a white dress shirt on and her hands are covered in chocolate. Oops! We forgot to bring in the diaper bag so now what? I did what any Dad would do... I put her little fingers in my mouth and sucked the chocolate right off! She was laughing at me the whole time but I didn't want to ruin her clothes. Someday she will appreciate that...I hope!

What's black, blue, and red?

Well, so far this week things have been pretty good and only a little blood, and some minor bruises. Any week free of major catastrophe I count as a good one. Silas got a bloody lip Tues. and I'm still not sure how. I was putting their lunch (mac and cheese, Annie's Homegrown makes a great kind) in their bowls when I heard a "thud!" When I went to pick him up his upper lip was bleeding, needless to say he was not happy. I didn't see anything around the couch area that could have caused it so it will remain a mystery. He's ok and food always seems to make his tears go away. As for Grace she fell running into the kitchen and hit her head on the transition strip, so she has a bump and bruise right smack in the middle of her forehead. Lately when she gets hurt she does this "ne ne ne" sound and I'm not sure what the heck it is or where it came from. I just say "I know I know" and comfort her. Just within the past week they have really become little chatter boxes and are starting to put together 2 and 3 words at a time like "hi doggy (aye dugdog)" or "hi mailman (aye mayma)". We wave at the mail lady everyday out the window and she gets a kick out of it and waves back.

Silas seems to be the talker of the two and Grace talks when she feels like it, or she has something important to say. The toy taking has started to really get heated and they always look at me as to say "What the heck, aren't you going to do something about this?" I gave them my empty container of coffee and you would have thought it was the greatest toy ever invented. Why is it the silly things like a box or newspaper turns out to be more fun then the toy you buy them? They fought over that thing and played with it for hours and still to this day they love to put things in it and shake it around. We were pretty busy this week going to the park to play with PaPa and then Aunt Britty came to vist. She bought Grace a purple tutu that she loves to wear. Thanks Aunt Bitty!

We went down to the school to play for the last time today and said hello to some neighbors. It takes us a long time to walk down the street because we like to stop and pick up sticks and grab flowers (dandelions) out of the yards. We are growing ever so anxious here to move so most of our toys are packed in boxes ready for the big moving day. It looks like Friday will be our day to move so the countdown begins. This house has been good to us and I have probably upgraded everything in it since we have lived here, so am I sad to see it go? NO WAY! The only one who likes this house and is sad to see us leave it is Malarie and I can't figure out why.

So bye bye neighborhood and hello country. This will be my last post until we move and get our internet, phone and dish hooked up on Monday so until then have wonderful week all.

Mr. Mom Moment of the Week: The sippy cups we have are just now starting to spill out of the tips and the kiddos know it. They shake them to get the milk out and love making a mess. A few days ago, I put them in their chairs for breakfast and gave them their milk as I got the food around. I didn't realize how much they were leaking so when I turned around I was shocked to see they both had a huge puddle of milk on their trays. Ya know what I did? That's right, I said what the hell and threw a hand full of cereal in the milk puddles and called it a morning, who needs a bowl!

I'm Back!

Yes, this is really me this time and I am back in the game after my year long tour of Europe, Scandanavia, and the Sub-continent. If you get that reference then you too are a Blues Brothers fan. I know it's been too long, but school work was taking up alot of the free time I had with the reading,papers, and what not. I can assure you this time I will be posting something every couple of days and keeping you informed on the goings on here at chaos central. So where do I begin? Do I really want to bring you up to speed on everything that has taken place in a year? Not really, I'm just gonna jump right into it like I was never gone. Hey man, a life of a stay at home dad is busy and every spare minute counts.

I can say I probably have every book in our house memorized "Is spot under the stairs? No! Is he in the piano? No!" That spot sure can hide, you would think since he is a dog looking for another dog he could just smell him right? We read alot here and it's Grace's favorite thing to do. We have a ton of words down and can say what every picture in our picture book is, just not super clear, but I can tell they are trying to say it and they do know what it is. Lately colors are tricky and everything is either yellow or blue, or as they say "wellow an boo." But we are getting better everyday. Counting seems to be even harder because rather then count the objects they want to just tell me what it is so we march around the house together counting 1..2..3..and a 1..2..3.. I guess like boot camp but I'm a litte nicer, plus it helps wear them out before naps. I'm sure if the neighbors can see in the window the must think I'm crazy walking around the dining room into to living room and back quite a few times a day.

We have a big move coming up and I can't wait until we have a HUGE yard to run around in. We plan on having a big garden and even getting some chickens so when can have fresh eggs. More to come on the move in later posts. What's the difference between a boy and a girl, other then the obvious? Everything! When Si wakes up he is 100mph all day long until it's time to sleep. He runs everywhere and sometimes into everything which is why he always has a bruise on his head somewhere. Grace is a little spoiled.. ok alot spoiled and she is also so organized in the way she puts things in place and back in the right order. Si just does whatever usually it is rough and tumble. They play together great and fight even better, but for the most part they are best friends. They share with each other better then I would have shared with my brother, but in time I'm ready for the melt downs and "he/she took my toy." So until next time and yes, there will be a next time, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Mr. Mom Moment of the Week: This happened a few months back but I thought I would share it. So I ran out of creamer for my coffee one morning, noticed Grace still had a milk bottle so I walked over got the bottle and squeezed the milk into my coffee. Don't freak out it was whole milk but I thought it was kinda funny.