Gecko Friends

Nathan noticed a gecko crawling across the outside of our kitchen window a few months ago. We made a joke that he is wanting to eat dinner with us. And then we noticed there were 2 or 3 together another night. Nathan said, "Look, it's our gecko family!" Now, Nathan and Charlotte are always on the lookout for our friends. It is so funny that they are almost always there on our window every night at dinner time.

Mom's Night Out (near disaster)

I just wrote about my two sweet babies and all of the joy they have brought to my life...now I'm going to write about an afternoon from hell! It was this last Monday. I had plans that evening to meet the other moms from my playgroup for a mom's night. We were going to a sushi restaurant and then back over to Erin's house. I was so excited to have a night out with me friends! I wasn't just excited about going out, I was also excited about getting ready...taking a shower, doing my make-up well, fixing my hair and wearing it down instead of in a ponytail, and wearing my new sundress. 

So, we spent the day with Mama going to the spray park, out to lunch, and just playing. We left her house around 4:00, which I thought was perfect because I figured they would both fall asleep in the car on the way home. I'd lay them down on the couch and then have plenty of time to get ready before leaving at 6:30 pm. For some crazy reason, neither one fell asleep in the car. This is so unbelievable to me because they ALWAYS fall asleep in the car if they haven't had a nap and we are driving anytime after 2:00 pm. But oh well, no big deal. I thought I'd just let them play in the bath tub or shower while I take my shower and get ready. They can pretty much play in the tub for over an hour and be happy. So after I take my shower, I get out, turn on my hair straightener, put my robe on, and fix a glass of water. I've got about an hour and a half left so plenty of time. 

I then realized that I left my black sandals outside on the patio so I go out to get them. While I'm standing outside, I take a few minutes to look at my flowers, and then I hear this "click" sound. My heart immediately sinks because I know what that sound is. I heard it once before when Nathan was 2...I look at the door and see a naked, dripping wet little girl looking at me and smiling. I go over to the door thinking maybe, just maybe, she didn't really lock it. Yep, it's locked. I start talking to Charlotte through the glass and try to get her to turn the lock. She kind of tries, but not really. By this time, I'm sweating not only because of the stress of the situation, but also because it's 100 degrees outside! Think, think, think...

"Charlotte, go get Nathan. Please little girl just go get your brother." She just looks at me for a little while, and shakes her head no. "Charlotte, Mommy is serious...One, Two...you're going to go to time out if you don't get Nathan!" Then finally of she runs to my room. I knew Nathan was in the shower though, and I could just see Charlotte trying to get Nathan, and Nathan completely ignoring her or getting annoyed with her because he is playing. So I start to bang on my bedroom window and yell his name. By this time, I'm really panicking (and sweating more). Please hear me Nathan! And then FINALLY, I hear the lock to my bedroom door turn. The door opens and there is Nathan! I give him the biggest hug!!!!

So now, I good 30 minutes has gone by. My hair pretty much air dried (which isn't good for fixing it). I'm still hot, and I only have an hour to get ready. I re-wet my hair so I can blow dry it and start over. By this time, Nathan and Charlotte are tired of being in the shower / bathtub and are getting on each other's nerves. As I start blow drying my hair, the bathroom is getting so hot! I keep telling Nathan and Charlotte to stop splashing the water, stop hitting each other, and stop throwing bath toys. I've dried my hair, and am now trying to straighten it, but that is making me more hot, so I get Wayne's small fan and plug it into the outlet in the bathroom. I thought maybe I'll do my makeup first and cool off. I start to do it, and then I see that Nathan and Charlotte have used half the bottle of soap and have lathered themselves up  more than I thought was even possible. And this is when I really lose it. Nathan starts slapping his head and the suds go EVERYWHERE. Of course, Charlotte joins in, and I go ballistic! "Get out of the shower RIGHT now!!! I mean wash off first, then get out here and dry off! You two are making the biggest mess and Mommy is trying to get ready to go out to eat with her friends! I can't even get my hair dried because I have to keep getting on to you two! I am so frustrated!!!"

And then I hear this cheerful voice come into the bathroom. "Hi! How's my little family? We're going to have a fun night tonight aren't we?" Wayne has no idea he has walked into a minefield. I start crying and tell Wayne that they have been very naughty and all I wanted to do was get dressed up, fix my hair and wear it down, and now it's all messed up so I have to put it in a freaking ponytail. He was like, "Whoa, Mommy...you finish getting ready and I'll watch the kids and do everything else." I get dressed, put my hair up in a ponytail and start doing my makeup when Nathan walks in. He says, "Mommy, I am feeing so sad for you. I can't make my lip stop shaking." I could tell that he really felt so bad that I had just gotten so upset, and then that broke my heart. "Mommy, I feel like I did when I accidentally hurt Charlotte and she was so sad. I am so sorry, and I think you look really pretty. I like your hair like that." He was so sweet and SOOOOOO sincere. I can always tell when he's putting on. But this time, he really meant it.

So I finally got myself all ready, and yes my hair was in a ponytail, but oh well. Nathan and Charlotte gave me a million kisses before I left. I did have the evening from hell, but I ended up having so much fun once I met my friends!!! We had the best dinner and I didn't get home until 1:00!!! Definitely a night to remember.

Growing Up, Part 2

Now it's Charlotte's turn. She just turned 2 in May. Part of me can't believe she's already 2 and part of me can't believe that's all it's been. She is such a wonderful addition to our family. It's almost hard to remember what life was like before she came...I did have more sleep, that's for sure!

Charlotte

You are Mommy and Daddy's sweet girl. We all call you that, even Nathan! I love it when Nathan says, "Sweet girl, do you want to watch Barney?" As you get bigger, the thing I notice most about you is the way you talk more and more. You were slower to talk than your brother, but that just goes along with your personality. You are more shy than your brother, and you don't really like to be the center of attention (unlike your brother) which is why I think you didn't start talking as early. Every time we noticed you saying something new, we would get so excited and tell you to say it again. You just smiled, looked down, and said "No, no" very shyly. But now, you are really getting vocal and you are not so shy to tell us (especially Nathan) what you want or don't want!

If Nathan is bothering you, you will say, "Nay Nay, top it!" and you have even screamed at him. It is kind of funny, but sometimes you have to go to time out if you scream or hit at Nathan. You are very sensitive though, and you always feel bad when you get into trouble. If I tell you "No" you immediately give me kisses. I love it! It doesn't take much for you to feel bad for misbehaving. If Mommy or Daddy ever gets on to you for something, you are so sad! Usually, all it takes is for us to tell  you no once. If you go to time out, you are devastated. You always go without having a fit, but as soon as you get out, you are giving us kisses and saying, "sorry" very sincerely.  So sweet.

Even though Nathan can get on your nerves, you still want to do everything he does. Now that you are older, the two of you can really play together. Nathan knows how much you love your baby dolls still, so he will make up a game that involves babies, and you are happy to play! In one game, Nathan was a dinosaur hunter, and you were a mommy with a baby. Nathan had a back pack with his sword, flashlight, and other random things. And you had your baby in a stroller and a diaper bag packed with bottles and diapers. You and Nathan went all over the house pretending like there were dinosaurs. Nathan would tell you to hide somewhere, and you would do it. It was so cute to see you both pretending in your own way.

Nathan is really such an influence on you. You are doing so well with potty training, and it was all because Nathan was able to get you to go. Now the two of you go together all the time! The funniest thing is that you have heard Nathan say, "privacy please" so now when you go to the potty, you hold your hand out and say, "picey peese."

You are still Mommy's little shadow. Wherever I go, you are not far behind. You want to do EVERYTHING mommy does: put on make up, dust, clean, put the dishes away, paint your nails, and even shop! The other day, we were in a store together and I was trying to pick out a new shirt. If I took Nathan to a store with me when he was your age, I was having to chase after him or tell him not to hide in the racks. You, on the other hand, love to pick out clothes. When we were at the store, you stayed right with me and would point to different clothes and say, "Mommy, um ear (come here)" And then you let me try on one thing after another, and we had so much fun!

You used to love Elmo, and you still do, but now your favorite shows are are Barney and Caillou. Nathan tolerates Barney...after he starts watching it, he likes it but wouldn't choose to watch it. But he does love Caillou so that is something we all watch together every day.

Ever since you were a little baby, you were always so cuddly. Though you are older, that is one thing that has stayed constant. You hug, kiss, and cuddle with me ALL the time. Sometimes it gets a little out of control! The other day, we were at a birthday party. You were being very shy and only wanted me to hold you. As we were sitting at a table, talking to my friends, you started kissing me over and over and OVER! I loved it, but I had to tell you to stop so that I could talk to my friends!

Although you can be shy around new people and in new situations, you are getting quite independent at home. You want to do everything by yourself. If I try to do it for you, you say (more like screech) "No, I do it!" and it's hard for me to type exactly the way you say it. Really, it sounds more like all one word and very "southern"...I'm going to do my best to type it the way it sounds: "No-ahhhhh-do-it!!"And the "ahhhhh" part goes up a few notes.

And you LOVE to tell Nathan what to do especially if you're copying Mommy. There are so many times that I will say, "Come on Nathan, we need to go" like if we're leaving the house to go somewhere. You will stomp your foot like you own the place and yell, "Monn Nay-Nay!"

My sweet girl, you are such a blessing to us, and I can only imagine the adventures you and Nathan are going to take us on. I look so forward to all of our "girl" time we will spend together. You are such a blessing. I love you more than you could ever know!

Growing Up

Nathan and Charlotte are growing and changing so fast! They are both at the cutest ages right now and are so much fun to watch and listen too. The other day, I had the thought, "I wish time could stop right here." But then I realized that since they were babies, I always thought each "stage" was so sweet, and how could it get any better? But then it does! So I thought the best thing for me to do is to try writing down some of my favorite things going on right now with each of them.

NATHAN:

From the time you were little, you had such an outgoing personality! That is one thing that has not changed about you. I remember going to visit Grandma when you were 3 and you would march right through the dining room while everyone was eating lunch and wave with each hand and give hugs and kisses and be so sweet and happy! Mama and I used to joke that you were acting like a little politician. And that is what makes me laugh about your personality now. You are such a thinker, especially when it comes to getting out of trouble (yes, you can be very mischievous at times!)

In the past few months, whenever Mommy or Daddy get on to you about something, we have noticed you saying, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have done that." and you say it with such a sad voice while hanging your head. It broke my heart when I first heard you say it, and I quickly said, "Oh baby, no, it's ok, it was an accident. It's not your fault." Well, you kept saying that for a while off and on. And the other day, I got mad at you because you were swinging a stuffed animal around and throwing it at Charlotte. Even though I kept telling you to stop, you didn't. You ended up hitting her with it and giving her a fat lip. I was so irritated at you for not listening to me, and then you did your "I'm sorry Mommy, it was my fault" speech. And I said, "Yes, Nathan, it was your fault because I told you not to do that." Nathan was so confused and said, "Mommy, if someone says it's their fault, you have to say no it's not your fault and not be mad at them" My little politician.

As you get older, you are also getting more independent. I used to always pick out your clothes, dress you, wash you, and brush your teeth. Now you do it all! It is nice, but it is such a reminder of how you are growing up. Because you love to get yourself dressed now, there will be times that it isn't even close to being time for bed, but you will disappear to your room and come down in your pajamas and pull-up on! Yesterday, you came down in fleece Thomas pj's that you wore when you were 3! I guess I need to clean some stuff out. Now I've put all of your shorts and t-shirts in your bottom 2 drawers so that it's easy for you to pick something out that matches pretty well. And when it comes to taking a bath...actually you are liking the shower nowadays, all I have to do is hand you the soap and you do the rest!

Before our beach trip, you begged me to get you some "big boy" flip flops, not the kind that have the strap in the back. This was one time that you LOVED going from shop to shop in the mall looking for these big boy flip-flops. You ended up getting two pairs, one from Gymboree with surf boards on them and one from Old Navy with skulls! I guess those were the most "grown up" ones. It was so cute to see how proud of them you were. You wore them all day and only took them off as you climbed into bed. You left them right next to your bed and put them on again as soon as you woke up.

But even though you are getting bigger in many ways, you are still so cute about being a little scared to be in a room by yourself. You always ask Mommy or Daddy to go with you to turn the light on upstairs if you want to play or to go with  you to go to the bathroom. At first we did, but then we started telling you to be brave and do it on your own. Well, now you just get Charlotte to go with you! Problem solved! It's so funny that you don't care who goes with you: Mommy or a 2 year old! And the sweetest thing is that you don't always like to sleep in your room by yourself. A few weeks ago, you were so easy to put to bed...which was strange. Charlotte was already asleep, and you told us you were ready to go to sleep too. You gave us each kisses and didn't whine about wanting to stay up or ask me to sit with you while you fell asleep. I knew something was up but didn't say anything. I tucked you in, and you cheerfully said "Good night Mommy!" What in the world is going on here? So I closed the door, confused, waited a few minutes, heard some moving around, and then opened the door to check on you. You weren't in your bed, but the bathroom door and door to Charlotte's room was open. I found that you had taken your nap mat, blanket, and pillow to Charlotte's room, and there you were all cuddled up on her floor. It was so funny to me that you must have planned this earlier in the night and that's why you were so eager to go to bed. As of now, you still sneak in there every once in a while for naps and sleeping.

The last thing that is really a reminder of you getting bigger is the way you talk. You started talking very early and were always learning new words. And as you got older, your baby words became big boy words, but there is one baby word that you still had (until just a few weeks ago). Instead of saying REMEMBER, you always said LIMBER: "Mommy, limber that time I fell off my bike and scraped my hand?" or "Limber when we went to Disney World?" I secretly loved that you still had this "baby" word. In the last two weeks, you have realized  that you are not saying it the right way. You practiced and practiced saying re-mem-ber. And you kept wanting to use it in sentences as much as you could so that you could practice. We have been reminiscing about every little thing lately! And now, you say it the right way. Daddy was proud of you. I'm proud too, but it does make me a little sad. But then I noticed that you still have one more baby word: WISS which stands for WITH: "Charlotte, will you come wiss me to go upstairs?" That makes me happy :)

My little Nay-Nay is growing up! The one thing we are working on right now is being able to go to bed without a pull-up on. His pull-up is still wet in the morning about half the time. I never really thought it was that big of a deal and he didn't either until we were at the family reunion, and we were sharing a condo with Uncle Stuart and his family. Nathan and his cousins, Logan and Landon, slept together in the living room on the pull out couch. They slept in just their underwear and after the second night, Nathan begged us to let him sleep in just his undies. He was so sad because he didn't want to be different. I ended up compromising with him and got him to be ok with sleeping just his pajama shorts, no shirt, but have a pull-up on underneath. It made me sad for him, because that is one thing he really wants to be able to do. So that's our goal this month...we'll see how it goes! He will be 5 in just a few weeks, and I can't believe it! He is such a special little boy and although he can be naughty at times, he is such a sweet, sweet boy. He even tells us that we can go to college with him when he's older...he said he'd sneak us in there in his suitcase! We just love him so much.

Beach Time

We just got back from a wonderful trip to the beach. Papa rented a house in Galveston.In the past, we've gone to Gulf Shores, which we loved, but decided to try Galveston this year because it was so much closer. We left Friday afternoon, and it took us exactly 5 hours. With 2 kids, it was the perfect amount of driving time (which also meant more beach time)! We spent Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and half of Tuesday being beach bums.

Our house was great because it was big enough to fit all of us with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a large, open living area, and a big deck for us to enjoy our coffee! It was also about 10 miles down the beach from where all of the hotels are in a section called Pirates Cove. We were able to walk down a short walkway right onto the beach, and although there were other families around us, it wasn't crowded. Wayne, Charlotte, Nathan and I were there with Carrie and Baby Pearce (Chris was out of town for business) Jen, Alexandra and Robert, and Mom and Dad.

As soon as we woke up the next morning, Nathan was ready to hit the beach!

Nathan and Charlotte loved everything about the beach...the water, sand, waves...Wayne and I were so happy that they didn't care about getting sandy or wet. Nathan and Daddy worked hard to make a sand castle village that turned into a volcano for Spider-Man :) And when the ice cream truck came, they each picked out their favorite "character." Nathan got a Spider-Man bar and Charlotte got Dora. It was so nice to not have to worry about making a mess!

Pearce was the cutest and happiest Beach Baby ever! I think he might have cried once!

After having a full day at the beach, we had a shrimp feast and a birthday party for Aunt Jen. I couldn't believe it, but both Charlotte (my pickiest eater ever) and Nathan LOVED the shrimp. I think Charlotte ate more than her fair share. 

After stuffing ourselves, we spent the evening on the beach taking pictures and waiting for it to get dark so that Nathan could hunt for crabs! Papa gave Nathan and Charlotte their own little flashlight, a container to put them in, and a net. There was another little boy named Blake who was with his family doing the same thing. He was a little older than Nathan but was so sweet to him and loved "teaching" him how to crab hunt. 

The hunt itself was really entertaining for us to watch...we all knew how much Nathan wanted to catch a crab, and his Daddy was determined to help him get one! Nathan would spot one with his flashlight and then Wayne would try to cover it with the net. The only problem was that those crabs were so fast and darted all over the place! Wayne was diving left and right trying to get the net on top of them, and we were all dying laughing! I think he actually almost knocked Papa down trying to get one! 

Nathan and Pearce just happened (no we didn't plan it) to have matching outfits with the same plaid!

Nathan was so excited because he ended up catching several big ones! After looking at them for a while, he let them go...only to hunt them again the next night :)

The weather was really great the whole time we were there. The first day was pretty sunny.The next days were really cloudy, and it even rained off and on. But we loved it because the sun wasn't beating down on us . I put lots of sunscreen on Nathan and Charlotte, but I was glad I didn't have to worry about them getting fried! Plus they thought it was fun to be on the beach when it sprinkled on them! We didn't let anything spoil our fun!

Nathan loved feeding the sea gulls!

Nathan saw Blake again on the beach the next day, and this time he showed us how to hunt for hermit crabs in the water. Blake was a pro at it! We would be in the ocean swimming, and he would feel around for them under the sand with his foot, reach down and pick one up one after the other. I couldn't believe it! I searched and searched for the longest time before I found one! But after a while, we got quite a collection together.

  

On this day, we stayed at the beach until later in the afternoon and then took a drive around Galveston and even went on a ferry ride. Nathan thought it was the coolest thing to be able to DRIVE onto a boat! Once we drove onto the ferry, you could get out and walk around. The funniest thing was that right after all of us got out, I saw something "splat" onto Wayne's back...out of all of the people on the ferry, a seagull picked Wayne to use the bathroom on! The boat ride was really neat because we could see big cruise ships leaving port, and we even saw dolphins swimming! 

When we got to the other side, we drove off the boat and made a stop to get some drinks and snacks and then drove back on to ride the ferry back. It was a little longer of a line to wait in to ride the ferry back, but we had fun in the car playing with Pearce and letting Nathan and Charlotte out of their car seats. Charlotte even helped Daddy drive the car!

Nathan spotted dolphins all over the place.

That night, Mama and Papa kept the kids while we went out on the town! We went to a great seafood restaurant and sat out on the deck. Since Papa was paying (ha!) we went all out...we had drinks, 2 appetizers, an order of oysters for us to try, and the best dinners. Everything on the menu looked so good, it was hard to decide what to get. I ended up getting crab stuffed shrimp and absolutely "stuffed" myself because I ate every last one of them. It was so good!

Robert was visiting his dad so he didn't get to the beach until Monday morning. Nathan loved being with Alexandra and everyone else, but also couldn't wait for Robert to get here. While Jen picked him up and brought him back, we were already out playing on the beach. When Robert ran out in his swimsuit ready to play, Nathan was so happy! They boogie boarded together, made sand castles (Robert actually dug a hug hole that went to Nathan's waist when he stood in it!), buried each other...Nathan helped bury Robert but changed his mind about being buried when it was his turn, and just loved being together. 

The other fun outing we had was going to the pier where they have a big amusement park. We almost went the day before, but waited until Monday night so that Robert could come too. We played on the  beach the first half of the day and then went to the pier that afternoon. It rained on us during the first part, but  then stopped. There were lots of fun, scary rides but also plenty of things for Nathan to do too. My favorite part was the roller coaster. Even though it was a short ride, they packed every scary thing imaginable into it! You can see it in the middle of this picture. It starts out going STRAIGHT up, then it pauses on the top to get you totally freaked out and then, not only does it go straight down, it dips in a little so you feel like you are going to fall out! Then it does all sorts of twirly, upside down, maneuvers. It was crazy. I rode it twice, but Alexandra ended up riding it 5 times!

Nathan's favorite part was the bumper cars and playing the games with Robert and winning stuffed animals. On one game, Robert eneded up winning something but not Nathan. But Robert was so sweet and told Nathan to pick out which animal he wanted and gave it to him. 

When we got back from the pier, we had a taco dinner and then went back to the beach that evening. Nathan and Robert wore their suits but Charlotte had on a cute dress that Auntie Carrie had gotten her the day before. She looked so cute and I couldn't wait to take some pictures of her! She looked precious with her dress on and the wind blowing her hair. I got several great pictures of her "posing" but then she had enough. She saw Nathan and Robert playing in the sand and water and wanted to do the same. I didn't have her swimsuit so I just took her dress off, and boy did she love that! It was like she was free!

I love this picture of all of the grand kids. And I didn't even tell Nathan to pose like that! What a little cutie pie!

Tuesday was our last day, but we woke up early and went to the beach right away to get in one more half day. Nathan and Robert played football with Wayne, and we loved watching everyone have such a good time. 

  

We left around 2:00 pm and all Wayne and I did on the ride home was talk about what a great trip it was and how we loved watching Nathan and Charlotte have so much fun with their cousins and family. Thanks Mama and Papa for a great trip! Who wants to go crab hunting again next year?