4 Years Have Gone Quickly...

Thing 1, it's your 4th birthday already. You have gone through a lot this past year with the addition of your baby brother. You are so smart and active. You have always been talkative but you constantly come up with new phrases and words that we never thought you knew. (i.e. "Are you asking me for my opinion?") You recognize your letters. You always points out the first letter of your name, wherever you may see it. You enjoy the Highlights magazine where you can pick out all the objects that don't belong in the picture. You have made quite a few friends and have had many girlfriends this past year. I enjoy watching you learn and question everything. You have become so independent.

It's hard to believe that next year you will be starting kindergarten. What a big milestone coming up! I know it will be a bittersweet one for me. You are definitely becoming a very big boy! I love you so much. Happy Birthday!

What A Difference A Year Makes...

Happy Birthday to my little one! It's hard to believe that you are already one year old! So many milestones you have reached in this first year...6 teeth, rolling over, crawling, saying a few words (including "not nice"), taking your first steps.

I didn't realize how different two children could be. You have such a different personality than your older brother. You are very much rough and tumble. Often you will grab onto your brother's shirt while he drags you around the room. You find this so funny! Your brother, however, is not so pleased with the situation! You are willing to try anything and will do so with others watching. You are outgoing and active. Nothing stops you!

I look forward to seeing you grow and develop through this next year. I can't wait to see you and your brother become great playmates and friends. I love you, little one. Happy Birthday!

Happy Easter!

Weekend in review - Easter style!

*The Mr. arrived home from his business trip very early Friday morning - try 2am! He insisted that he had to go into work on Friday. I thought he was nuts. Any employer that would make me take a flight causing me to arrive home at 2am is crazy if they think I would then show up to work that day!

*I worked half a day on Friday, meeting The Mr. for lunch and then to Build-A-Bear to purchase a gift for Thing 2's birthday. (Thing 1 has two animals from there, which Thing 2 loves to play with). I then went to do my weekly Target shopping. I remembered everything that I needed and didn't have any unnecessary items. I was about ready to check out when the fire alarm went off. I was very upset! I had items in my cart for both boys birthdays as well as all the items we were running low on. I was told by the Target employees to exit the store. Once in the parking lot, I waited around for about 10-15 minutes until I realized they probably weren't going to let us back in anytime soon.

*On Saturday, we took the boys to an Easter egg hunt at our church and also to have their picture taken with the Easter bunny. Thing 1 really enjoyed himself. He made lots of crafts and found many eggs. So we ended up with tons of candy that we don't need and I will probably end up eating!

*We then took yet another trip to Target. This time the whole family went. I forgot some of the items that I needed and even purchased some frivolous items. One point for Target, I guess, and zero points for me!

*Saturday afternoon, Thing 2 took his first unassisted steps around the house! We were very excited! He knew that he was doing something great, too. He had the biggest smile on his face while taking those couple steps!

*Sunday we took the boys to the first mass at church, in order to beat the crowd. The one thing I remember praying for when we walked in was to have quiet, calm children during church. That prayer was not answered. They were horrendous! Thing 1 kept talking really loud throughout the service and talking to the people behind us. He was also dropping all of his cereal on the floor, which I kept bending over to pick up. Thing 2 was very squirmy. He wouldn't sit still and would holler each time it was quiet! I was glad when it was over!

*The boys discovered that the Easter bunny had arrived at our house while we were in church. Thing 1 was excited to find his basket full of goodies. Thing 2 really enjoyed playing with the ball he got.


*Yes, I do know how scary the Easter bunny looks in the picture. He must take horrible pictures, because he didn't look that scary in person!

Weekend In Review

This was a rather productive weekend as far as weekends go.

*We actually got some cleaning done around the house. Not including our regular weekend cleaning. I find it difficult to do anything during the week except for the bare minimum. Once we get home from work, eat, do dishes, and put the kids to bed, I'm pretty much exhausted!

*I worked a whole day on Friday, which is rather unusual. See, Thing 2 was sick earlier in the week with an ear infection causing me to stay home with him on Wednesday for the afternoon. At work on Friday I got a lot of paperwork completed. I felt very accomplished!

*On Saturday, we did the usual running around. Before we left for our errands we spent some time outside with the boys and the dog. It was great weather even though it was quite windy! I got some great pictures of the boys outside.

*Later in the day on Saturday, Thing 2 decided to try standing on his own again. We took his pants off of him and had him wandering around in his diaper so the pant legs wouldn't go over his feet and cause him to fall. Well, Thing 1 thought it would be a great idea to also go around without pants. So both my boys were wandering around the house in t-shirts and underpants/diaper with Thing 1 saying "We're free!"

*On Sunday, we made it to church rather early. It is Palm Sunday so everyone decides that they must get back into practice in attending church since next week is Easter. I was actually surprised that we were early as the past few weeks we have been so late that we haven't been able to get a parking spot. This has caused us to go get breakfast and then attend the later mass.

*This evening we are also preparing for The Mr. to take yet another business trip. He leaves tomorrow morning and comes back very late on Thursday. Wish me luck in doing the single parenting thing this week. It's always so much harder to get things done when he's not around. By the end of the week I will be exhausted.

My Poor Sick Baby

Thing 2 has been sick off and on since Saturday evening. On Saturday he woke up from a nap with a fever. By Sunday he seemed better but still not himself. We didn't take him anywhere that day in the hopes that he would rest and be as good as new come Monday. On Monday he did seem back to his old self, again. It gave me hope that this runny nose and slight fever business was due to teething. However, when he woke up Tuesday morning he had an awful cough that sounded like he had a very sore throat. I still took him to daycare and informed them that they could call at anytime if he needed to be picked up. After he woke up from his afternoon nap, they called to tell me he sounded horrible with his cough but that he didn't need to be picked up. I called the doctor to make an appointment as he seemed to be getting worse instead of better. At the end of my work day I received another call from daycare stating that Thing 2 had a fever. I picked him up and gave him some Tylenol. He was very sleepy and not acting like the active baby he is. This morning when he woke up he was very unhappy. He looked so sad! I took him with me to work for the morning and then to his doctor's appointment. We discovered that he had an ear infection. I was surprised that he went almost his entire first year of life without an ear infection! Thing 1 had them constantly! So, we picked up a prescription for the antibiotic and bought some Motrin as recommended by the doctor. I took him home for the rest of the day where he ate some chicken and blueberry yogurt and then took a 2 hour nap. We started him on the amoxicillin this evening. I hope he sleeps well tonight and is better in the morning! Poor thing looks so sad when he is sick!

Here's a picture of him when he is actually well.