Our Story: June 2010

James and Maggie are 22 months old...Today!!! (Woo-Hoo...I am posting on time this month.) As you can tell, they were not super excited about sitting in the chair for their monthly picture...

but after several tries we were able to capture the non-screaming version.

They are at such a fun age and talking so well. They are still in school 2 days a week, and they are learning so much. The love to read (be read to), play chase, stack blocks, dance, look out the window and identify everything they see. We are so excited about their growing excitement to learn...everyday they remember something new from the previous day. They love to talk on the phone to their Grandparents, and often ask to call them. They are full of questions and able to use words for most everything they want or DON'T want. They are so loving and want to remember specific things in their nighttime prayers. They can tell you the correct color of anything, after they say yellow (for some reason, everything is yellow to begin...this is very funny to them). They LOVE fruit...they like veggies, but fruit is number 1 and cheese is number 2. I am thankful for good eaters, but I need to plant an orchard to keep up with the demand.

We feel so blessed to be their parents; we only hope to bless their lives as much as they have blessed ours!

The Adventure begins with an invite to a house warming party on the Eastern Shore; I immediately call the Hubby..."can you take a vacation day, I want to go to this party?" Hubby replies...well, I can see if the day is available. To our surprise it is and the vacation day is granted! WOO HOO...party here we come! Wait a minute...we have two kiddos that will need to go, and oh my, it is a 4 hour trip...there and back is not a good idea. We will need to make {AAAUUUUGGGHHHH} "OVER-NIGHT" Arrangements...Luckily, Aunt Llama lives near by and loves house guests! Thus the planning begins to take two adults, two kiddos, and TWO of everything else and pack it in my [Ta-dum]"newly repaired" vehicle...if you missed the "what happened to my vehicle" story, please look here!

Well, not only did we have to pack the entire house, but we also had to make Dog Sitter arrangements for ~~Dumb and Dumber~~ Franklin and Lucy! This begins my frantic state of packing for a SINGLE (that's right, ONE, UNO, UN, Lone index finger, solo) night away from the house. Needless to say, we were prepared to drive home in the middle of the night in the event J&M could not sleep.

Speaking of sleeping, where were they going to sleep...Ah-Ha, the Pack-N-Plays, that we received and used only a few times. But wait, need to check the weight limit and height requirement...hence, we stood the mat up next to our legs and guesstimated that the kiddos would fit. (We have that parent of the year award in the bag...)
So, vehicle loaded...with everything I could imagine: clothes for the party, additional clothes for the party (in the event option one, got dirty), clothes for the drive home, sleeping clothes, extra "play" clothes, bibs, diapers for a week, towels, soap, food (cause they don't have any where we are going), nap mats (have to make those Pack-N-Plays comfy), bears and pa-pai's, books for the ride down, sippy cups, and anything else that would fit not to mention everything the adults on the trip would need. By the time the lift gate closed, the bumper was sagging!!

Saturday morning as we are preparing to leave, the Kiddos were so excited, they kept reminding us...Go, Go, Go Bye Bye door, emphatically spoken as if we would forget. Hello, I was not missing this party...one because it is a family get together and two because I secretly want to be Bob Vila and if you really must know I AM NOSY! {Hello, my name is Jamie, and I am UBER NOSY when it comes to houses and all things DIY...I have just completed by 10th trip to Lowe's in 2 days, just because I like the way it smells}
We survive the ride down...midway through, we reluctantly give pa-pai's to the kiddos along with bears and pillows, and in 15 minutes they were off to the wonderful world of sleepy time...probably will begin providing those things on all trips greater than 1.5 hours. We arrive at Aunt Llama's change and load back up for our trek across the bay. Humming along until the interstate becomes a parking lot...this cannot be. We cannot stop, the kiddos do not like to sit still, we have to keep moving. DETOUR, but where, how, we cannot see. So, I pull out the iPhone and plot our course to an alternate tunnel and away we go, leaving all of those out of towners sitting to bask in the fumes of idling traffic.

We arrive at the party and OH Me OH MY this house is beautiful!

The house was Beautifully designed and had I been at this party solo, I would have asked all the questions and received all the answers that everyone is dying to know...this house was well thought out, strategically planned and built to withstand just about anything. Concrete and Steal infrastructure, concrete floors, granite/marble tile...the list could go on. I was in AWE of the beauty! I hope to discuss this undertaking with my relatives, because I am sure everyone learned something new!
We are greeted by everyone once we walk through those Big Beautiful Wood Doors, and my family is so surprised that we have come. We are a hit and who would not be with such great looking kiddos as we have.

As you can see, J&M were beginning to get fussy and we remembered it was time for FOOD!!! So, we pull out the fresh strawbabies and pine-apple for the kiddos to devour! They must have been starving, because they all but ate the fork with every bite! They also did very well sampling the food from the party...still not interested in hamburgers, but I would rather them crave fruits and veggies any time. [Although, those hamburgers were de-lici-ous!!]

From the Balcony you over look the gardens and some of the most luscious grass...so, green and thick (if only our yard at home were this pretty) and can you really blame J&M for wanting to run around...even during the small rain shower...hop, skip and jump to the sound of the rain drops falling on my head.

James is absolutely amazed by the...

Water Fountain.

He must have stood and looked at that for 5 minutes or longer...I am sure he was just trying to figure out how it worked and why it did not need a noodle to help the water {because, in our pool you need a long swimming noodle held next to the jet to get a water cannon...at least that is how it works at our house}

We manage to hang out at the party for several hours, until J&M are so tired from the lack of a structured nap, that we must leave or ruin the afternoon for everyone else. So, we load back into the vehicle and travel back across the water, to Aunt Llama's house.

Keith and I decide that due to the oil spill, we might not make it to the beach this summer, so we might aught to grab a good seafood meal while we are here...so, off to Wintzell's we go. Can I just say..."WORST DINNER E-V-E-R"!!! The food was good, the kiddos were HORRIBLE!!! I seriously tried to ask for a wooden spanking spoon from the restaurant, but that was a no go...next time I will just bring my own!

Travel to our home away from home and begin our nightly routine. Bath, sippy cup and bed...then we are going to tuck them into the Pack-N-Plays (next to our bed) for hopefully a good night sleep. Keep in mind...the four of us have NEVER slept in the same room...J&M have always slept in their room in their beds since we came home! I am as nervous as a "cat at a dog show" about how all of this will pan out...remember we are prepared to drive home in the middle of the night, if this fails.

After the kids were good and asleep, we {ever so stealthy} crawled into our bed...and then held our breath as not to wake them. We wanted this to work, but this was our first time. IT WORKED...J&M slept the entire night...WHEW...we just might could do this again. The funniest thing happened when James woke...he stood up in the Pack-N-Play and realized that We are in the bed next to him. Talk about a look of shock, confusion and glee all rolled into one. I really think we startled him...and we could not help but laugh!

We broke up the drive home, by stopping at my mom and dad's for lunch and a nice visit. J&M love to go to Nanny & Paw Paw's house. Today, they were engrossed in the R-O-C-K-S! Every time I turned around, they were picking up new ones, dropping the old ones, and trying to give away the pretty ones. The worked together to find loose ones in the dirt, and they played chase if one began to wander away. Maggie was all about me taking her picture, James on the other hand, had the mantra of "you cannot get me to slow down long enough...I am too quick!"

Following a nap on the way home, J&M were still feeling very adventurous; so, they went out on a limb to eat hummus and Romaine lettuce with their dinner. I was afraid they would not like it, but they proved me wrong...they both enjoyed dipping their lettuce leaf into their own hummus and slurping it off. Whatever makes them smile is OK with me!!!