Rocket Ruckus

I have been a terrible Blogger lately. I've been taking plenty of pics & video, but getting them onto the blog is a different story.

The other day was quite rainy so we had to make our own fun inside. Little D wanted to go on a rocket ride and this was the result:

Happy Fourth

We had a fabulous 4th this year. Miracles never cease- Daddy was able to be home with us. We spent the morning walking along the Riverwalk, picnicing by the river.

Little D was laying out the facts about all the boats he saw.

After a much needed nap from the river excursion, we met some friends at their country club for some fire work festivities. Much to Little D's delight, there were jumpy castles. And if that wasn't enough, there was even a hot air balloon we got to ride. He's still talking about it, requesting that we go again. Both kids stayed awake for the fireworks and watched in awe (a first experience for both.) Little D appropriately "wow"ed each one as he sat in my lap. It was a great day, one of the best we've had. So good to spend it with our little family and some good friends.

What's the Fourth without some melon? SG was having her own personal little eating contest.

Up Up & Away!

David's first sparkler:

Mother of the Year

At 11 this morning, in the heat of a MS summer, I managed to lock both my kids in my car. SG was playing w/ my keys when I snapped her into her car seat. In a quick and not-so-brilliant move, I shut the door and walked around to go buckle D in, not thinking about the fact that the keys were still in the car.

O h n o .......

For moment I tried to talk David into unlocking the door. By this time, he'd buckled himself in and couldn't reach the door handle. Even if he did know how to unbuckle himself (which I have not taught him, with good reason) I doubt he would have figured out how to unlatch the door (another skill I have neglected to teach him, with good reason.)

Trying to stay calm, I walked back into the gym where I work and announced what happened. Someone with a good head on his shoulders suggested calling 911 (why didn't I think about that 5 min ago instead of trying to explain to a 3 year old how to unbuckle his car seat?!?)

I made the e-call and also gave a dear friend directions to my house to grab a spare set of keys. 30 minutes later (!) the door was finally unlocked (whether it was the police with his slim jim or my friend driving up and clicking my spare remote, I don't know.) Two very wet, hot, red-faced crying children were finally rescued. Popcicles, teddy bears (from the police), and heaps of doting attention from other gym members seemed to ease their trauma fairly quickly.

One more bullet for my MOY resume. After we got home I spent a few minutes teaching David how to unlock the car door. Of course he still doesn't know how to unbuckle his car seat; I'm not going to go there.

Happy Birthday Aunt Julie!

At Julie's request, here is more video of SG walking. (Toddling is still a rough skill. SG usually prefers to still crawl when she's really got places to go, so getting video has been a challenge.)

First Steps!

After dinner tonight, SG stood right up and started taking her first steps. Luckily Aunt Gina had her camera close by so we were able to capture the moment. These little milestones are so very exciting! :)

Spray Park

We had some fun at the spray park the other day! Here are some pictures:;

It Aint Easy Bein' a Rock Star...

...but somebody's got to do it.

Spit

Little D is going through a spitting phase that is driving me nuts. He is especially delighted with all the creative noises he can make in the process.
The Meanest Mom on the Block is one of the funniest blogs I keep track of, and I thought fondly of my bundle of snips, snails, and puppy-dog- tails when I read this recent entry:
http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-daughters-would-never-do-that.html

Happy Birthday

We had a ball celebrating Little D's birthday on Saturday. We took him and his friend Sammy to an inflatable park- aka 'Heaven' for little boys. Then we headed back to the house to swim, pig out, and eat his fire truck cake. Fun Day!

Beautiful Weather

We have been loving the wonderful spring weather this May. Here are a few pictures from the park a week ago.

The Disms keep-a-coming

Peanutses- the plural form of peanut.

I sleeped!- common expression after nap time.

Let me want it- Let me have it. I've had a lot of fun with this expression. "OK, you may want it."

Uh-huh-OK-Sure-Great-Me too!- Yes.
(For example, this is a common response he rattles off if I ask something like, "Do you want a cookie?" I don't get the 'me too' part, but whatever suits him.)

Sweet Little Bug- term of endearment for SG. I guess he picked this up from us. It just sounds funny coming from big brother.

Little Daddy- term of endearment for Daddy. Sometimes Daddy will call him "Little son."

WHAT A DAY!

Daddy had the day off today (TGIF!), so we thought we'd head down to the Riverwalk for a little exercise with the fam. Little D loves to walk out onto a little fishing pier (of sorts) because he can get a closeup look at the water. Today ended up being a little too close for my comfort.

First of all, I need to explain that the Tom Bigbee River is one of the nastiest muckiest rivers out there. I love water, but I will not set foot in this river. There was a fallen tree that had wedged itself between the little pier and a pylon under a bridge so that it managed to catch every twig, branch, log, piece of trash, and bubbly scum that floated down the river. So today the river was filthy x's 10. You could barely see the water for all the trash and debris.

I need to add that the pier doesn't have any rails; it's really just a platform floating in the water. Because of this, I usually am holding Little D's hand or watching him like a hawk. However, today Daddy & I were caught up in a discussion over a very annoying insurance issue so neither of us saw what was coming. (I blame this incident on the North MS Medical Clinic.) Suddenly we hear a splash and look to see 2 little feet kicking wildly above the debris, then sink out of sight.

I am in a PANIC. I'm holding SG, so I start screaming at Daddy to jump in after him. Even though somewhere in the back of my head I know my son can manage in the pool, I don't know how he's going to make his way up amidst all the tree trunks and trash, and I'm petrified that we won't be able to see where he's gone for all the muck.

Seconds later (though it seemed like an eternity at the time), up pops his little head covered in slime. He's treading water. Daddy quickly grabs him out and he looks like a muddy drowned river rat. I haven't felt a surge of adrenaline like that in a looong time. The fear and sudden relief made me feel like I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So I did both. I didn't care that he was a soggy mess, I hugged that little boy so hard.

Infant water survival (actually it's called, Infant Swimming Resource )... WORTH EVERY PENNY. I have never been sooo glad that I put both Little D and SG through this program.

My muddy little river rat. (We stripped his muddy clothes off at this point.)

(In the background you can see part of the little pier and all the muck.)

And if that wasn't enough excitement for one day...
When we got home, I hosed the slime off him and let him run around in the all-together. He was upstairs playing while I was getting lunch ready when he came down extremely excited chattering about something I couldn't understand. I then noticed his back side was a little..um... dirty. UH OH.

I cleaned him up and feared where the real mess might be upstairs. He was so excited to show me, he pulled me up the stairs and straight to THE POTTY!!! HURRAY!!!

For the first time since last summer, Little D hit the target, and all by himself. Maybe we're back on track for potty training. I gave him a little toy ambulance (that was the deal and the chatter I had trouble understanding earlier was him telling me to give him his ambulance.)

Shortly after this scene, Daddy drove up the driveway. Little D raced out to the car at top speed, and while he literally hopped up & down, he screamed "I poo-pooed in the ambulance!!!" Then "Potty! Poo-Poo! Ambulance!" It took one more try for him to tell Daddy that he made it to the potty and actually earned the ambulance. All the while hopping up and down. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen, he was so darned proud of himself. Oh, if I'd only had that on video.

Bubble Bath

Daddy recently added a hot water spigot outside, so the kiddos enjoyed a bubble bath at twilight.

What is it with little boys and the irresistable urge to poor water on a little sister?

Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind much.

An afternoon with cherry jello... outside of course. (Little D loved that it turned his tongue red.)

Little D discovered pool goggles. He'll actually dunk his head underwater to get the full effect. I think he looks like a goofy sea creature with these bug eyes.

Another D'ism

With great enthusiam at breakfast this monring, Little D announced he wanted to sing the truck song.
Hmmm... truck song, truck song....? Not ringing any bells, so I asked him to start it and I would join in.
He happily complied and starts singing, "Trucks, trucks, trucks, trucks, trucks, trucks" to the tune of ABC (or Twinkle Twinkle, your choice.)
Daddy quickly joined in, then commented, "That's a new one, and yet hauntingly familiar."

The Big Day

SG celebrated her first birthday last weekend with quite a bash. Opa & GG and Papa & Grandma Chocolate visited MS to help celebrate. Little D really liked SG's birthday celebration- with the grandparents in town, I think he made out better than she did when it came to birthday loot!

GG picking up SG after her nap. Papa lovin' up the birthday girl.

It's good to be the princess.

Balloons from Uncle Duncan and Aunt Julie.

I can't believe her first year is already over- it seemed so much faster than little D's first year. To see more pictures, click here.

More April Fun

We recently went to Atlanta to watch the cousins while Dave's brother & his wife went out of town. Aunt Julie joined us to help, and a good time was had by all.

Rub-a-dub-dub

I was doing dishes and Julie was talking on the phone after starting to fill the bath. When Julie walked in to check on the bath progress, she discovered a VERY FULL tub. (Seriously, Little D could swim in this tub.)

After a stressful evening at an urgent care clinic, Little D curled up with me on the couch and fell asleep. I savoured the moment because this child rarely sits still for any length of time. (He's fine, but April has been a rough month for this poor little boy. He's had to make a Dr. visit no less than 3 times.)

Dave took SG on a ride in the convertible for the first time. It was so exciting, she promptly fell asleep.

Little D was very proud of this crane he built.

Market Street Festival was this past weekend. David got to climb in a fire truck and shoot the fire hose. Pig in slop.

Sitting on a tractor at the Market Street.

My good friend Sherry visited from Florida for the festival.

Little D'isms

When I ask little D to brush his teeth for bed, sometimes he'll politely reply, "No thank you."


While pushing away his dinner plate, he complains, "I can't want it."


"Who is that?" He will ask me in a loud voice as we pass complete strangers in Walmart.

Yanking on Daddy's leg while Dave greets me with a hug, "Daddy, hug little David."


My job at the Fitness Factor is "The Fittin' Factor"


At the Fitness Factor, he'll greet the hostess, Ms. Vicki, with "Hi Micki!"


"Unkin" Paul is one of his favorite uncles.

When he wants to watch a movie, he'll ask for a "DVDVDVD"

Tippy Tup = Sippy Cup

D: "Mom, I want milkshake milk."
Me: "You want some milkshake milk?"
D: "Um,...OK!" (as if it was my idea...)

The ultimate payback (my mom knows what I mean), while in the restroom at Ingles supermarket, "Mom, are you poopin?"

Where Did April Go?

Spring has sprung and we have either been traveling or fighting off some bug- when one of us gets sick, it takes a month to spread through the rest of the house. Anyway, we've had some fun and I wanted to share these pictures:

Little D painting an Easter egg with colored pudding and marshmallows.

SG is her mother's daughter- she loves a good mint chip ice cream cone.
Duke & Little D enraptured by a Thomas the Train video.
SG has found freedom in a walker and she LOVES it. She is so cute the way she bobs along with such purpose.
Litte D & SG had fun following an egg trail for their Easter baskets. One of the goodies in the baskets were these sunglasses- just in time for an Easter trip to Florida.

Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversary!

Papa recently celebrated a birthday, and I am very belated on getting this post done (the idea was there a couple weeks ago!) Soo...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Papa!!!

Also- Papa & Chocolate celebrated an anniversary, so this post is dedicated to both of you. Thank you for your example of love in our lives!!! Hope you are enjoying Australia and we can't wait to see you when you get back!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Exercises, Exercises, We Must Do Our Exercises!

Little D & Duke were helping me do some aerobics the other night. I had tears coming out of my eyes I was laughing so hard. Enjoy!