Cars, cars, and more cars

We had Alex's birthday party last Saturday. Nothing too big, just family and a few close friends. It just so happened that Papa Randy was in town, so even he got to join in the festivities. Of course it was a Car's themed party, since Zander is all about trucks. Even though it was not a big affair the boy took home the loot! He got some fall/winter clothes which were much needed, a soccer net, a baseball tee, a variety of trucks and a big truck.

There were a couple of funny moments at the party that I want to remember. Let me start off by saying that I think his baseball tee was one of his favorite gifts and that Daddy could not get it out of the box fast enough. Now lets just think about this. We are inside and a two year old is going to hit a ball off a tee. Mind you everything was plastic but still. Daddy got it all set up and Zander stepped up to the plate and bam, hit the ball. Right into Grandpa's head! Of course we all start laughing, give him the ball back and he does it again. Ok, enough of the tee.

The other one had to do with him blowing out the candles. It is not so much funny as cute. Remember how I said he did so good blowing out his candle on the cupcake? Well not so much at the party. We got done singing and he just sat there and smiled at us. Like what, am I supposed to do something here? It finally took Papa Dave picking him up and moving him much closer to the cake before he would blow them out. I guess he thought he was too far away.

Lastly, Owen one of the youngest party goes gave us some good entertainment. Here he is:

Zander getting ready to open all of his gifts.

A close up of the cakes: Zander's expression while we were singing to him:

I mentioned before the "big truck" that Zander got for his birthday. Well hubs and I went together with Grandpa and Grandma to get Alex a big jeep. He really loved it! Here are some pictures from the first time he drove it.

Hey how do I make this thing go?

You are such a crazy driver! Here let me help you steer:

Finally we decided that Zander was just a little too young to be able to both push the pedal and steer at the same time, so we let Sissy do most of the driving after that.

Two Years Old!!

Dear Zander-boo,
Today you are two years old! I cannot believe that two years have already flown by. At two years old you are quite the little man. In fact I am having a hard time with how "big" you actually are because I am still clinging to my baby. Right now I love how much you love your sister. I am not naive enough to think that it will last long, but I can enjoy it while it lasts. The first thing you ask in the morning is 'ere's Sissy? Then when we get downstairs and you see her, you break into a hugs smile ans say "SISSY!!" You love following her around all day and trying to do what she does.
You also love to read books. In fact I think that the most that you sit still is while you are on my lap reading books. Besides reading you also like to draw and color. Unfortunately you have discovered that markers, pens and even crayons will work on other surfaces besides the paper.
Another one of your favorite things are trucks. You love your trucks (which can actually be cars, tractors, motorcycles, basically anything with wheels). You push them around and love to line them up in straight rows. I love listening to you make the vroom noise. I don't even know how to describe it. It is kind of like a youm sound.
You are a smart little cookie for only being two years old. Your vocabulary astounds me, as does your ability to say sentences. You have also recently started asking the dreaded why. You have such a cute little voice though, that I don't mind. I really need to get you talking on the video camera because I know that the sound of your voice is one of those things that will be forgotten over time.
I am sorry to say that you inherited my gracefulness. Your Grandpa Allison used to call me Grace and when I would fall he would say "There's Grace in action!" I did not understand it at the time, but now when I see you constantly tripping or falling I understand. It is a rare week around here when you do not have some sort of bump or bruise.
I have enjoyed watching your personality bloom over this past year. You have turned into quite the little character. I really cannot wait to see you continue to grow and learn.

Love,
Mommy
********************************

We had a special day for you today as your party is on Saturday. When you woke up I asked you what you wanted for breakfast and you gladly yelled "EGGS!!!" You even got to help Mommy make them.
You are such a little ham these days, you will do things just to make us laugh. Which is why in almost all of these pictures you are doing your "pirate face."

Since Mommy was taking you shopping to get the rest of the stuff for your party I decided to spike your hair for the day. You actually like it when I spike your hair because you like to look at yourself in the mirror and laugh at your hair.

Grandma Cath, Anna and Abbie went shopping with us. Then when we got home we had special cupcakes just for you.

Since it is only your second birthday, I figured you would need a little help with the whole blowing out the candle thing. However, I was very wrong! You blew out the candle before I was ready, so I re-lit it in order to get a picture of you blowing it out.

Your cousins and sissy were glad to be here for your little party. Even if they all only ate the frosting off the cupcake!!

I took your shirt off because I thought you would make a big mess with your cupcake. However I was pleasantly surprised that you barely made a mess at all.

I love you little boodle!

Pink

Tater-Tots-n-Fries has went Pink for October. It took me a good part of the day, because I found the background that I loved and I was looking for a color to put over it. Unfortunately I could only find pink. I admit it is a little over the top, but I wanted to show my support for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I admit that I am not very educated about Breast Cancer, but isn't that what this is all about? Educating people about Breast Cancer while raising awareness? I would like to encourage everyone to go PINK!

Two years ago today....

I was suffering through contractions! I cannot believe that my baby boy turns two tomorrow. I will have a full blown tribute up by 12:43 a.m. so stay tuned.

Random nothingness

This past weekend we had a girls weekend! My mom, my sister, my sister's friend from work, Tater and I went to Cleveland to stay with my brother's girlfriend B. (Wow, did you catch all of that?) We went wedding dress shopping!!! Tater was SOOOO excited to go to B's house and spend that night. She ended up staying up waaay past her bedtime and hanging out with the girls. We then woke up entirely too early and spent the majority of the day looking at dresses. I am proud to say that she did amazingly well for going on that little of sleep. In fact my sister through a bigger fit than the Tater did! We got home late Saturday night which leads me to being overwhelmed.

That is how I am feeling right now. My house is such a disaster right now...um, like scary messy. Like so messy that I should not be on the computer right now, I should be digging through the mess. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, we left on Friday night and the house was pretty clean. We got home late Saturday night and by Sunday night the house was messy. It must have been the fact that I was so tired from all the shopping we did on Saturday that I did not feel like picking up after the kids. Now it is Monday night and I still have not picked up after them. So, yeah it is pretty messy and I am not motivated to get it straightened out...just overwhelmed by the mess.

We still have.not.found.a.house. What is wrong with us people? We have looked at a bazillion houses and still nothing. I am getting so desperate to find a house that I even let hubs go look at houses by himself on Sunday. Still nothing! You would think we were signing over our lives or something. Well I guess we basically are, but still. It is starting to get really stressful around here, and by really stressful I mean I am feeling the pressure and taking it out on hubs. We really need to find a house soon.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

My sister, who it seems is barely old enough to be out of diapers let alone old enough to get married, announced that she is engaged. Her and her boyfriend went on vacation this past week up to Canada and she called home Friday night with the good news. Here is a picture of her and her fiance, taken last weekend at my cousin's wedding:
She also wanted to talk to the Tater to see if she would want to be a flower girl. Of course Tay is very excited that Cara and Zach are getting married because this means that Zach is now a part of our family. However, Zach is her first crush. I don't think she realizes that this should be devastating news as she no longer has a chance to win Zach's heart. Last weekend at the wedding my brother's girlfriend wanted to take a picture of Tater with Zach, so she told Tater to sit with Zach. This is the picture from my angle:

Everybody at the table died laughing when Hannah put her hand up like that! It was soooo cute!
Anyway, congratulations Cara and Zach! We are so happy for you!

No Comment

Literally. I cannot comment on any of your blogs! I mentioned before that something is messed up on my laptop which did not allow me to comment. It always redirects me then my comment disappears into internetland. Which meant that I could comment when I got on the home computer or hubby's computer. Then hubby went out of town and I could only comment from the home computer. Then a few weeks ago the home computer crashed. So, now I cannot comment...and it sucks. I wanted to tell you all that I am still reading your blogs and OMG Kim I cannot believe that you pulled off the move and kept your mouth shut until two weeks before! Seriously!
Katie -- I want to know the secrets of html. Your blog is always so cute and I want to mix things up here.
Anyway, until I get my "puter" fixed just know that I am out there lurking in the shadows!

Leader of the Pack

It all started out innocent enough. You see, hubs has always wanted a motorcycle and I have always vetoed his right to have one. You would have to know my husband to understand that he has quite the wild and reckless side so a motorcycle and him just do not mix. Sometime in late winter he started looking at motorcycles on the internet, just pricing them and watching them on ebay. Then he started talking to me about getting one. We made a deal, he could get a motorcycle if I got Wii, Wiifit, a bike and trailer and a smart phone. I thought he would never go for such a thing...then slowly but surely my treasures started rolling in. First the bike and trailer, but that was just so we could be together as a family. Then when I graduated in May he bought me all the Wii stuff, for a graduation present. The one thing still left of my list was a smart phone. I thought I was safe.

We continued to discuss the motorcycle. Me telling him that he should wait until he had a job and we saw what our finances would be like. Him telling me how much gas he would save. Then June came and he got a job. Uh-oh now the pressure was on. I still told him to hold out...but have I mentioned how stubborn and compulsive my husband is? The day that we were leaving for vacation, the day that we would be stuck together in a car for 14+ hours he decides that would be a good day to buy a motorcycle WITHOUT telling his wife about it.

Seriously, I was so livid the man is lucky to be alive. How could ha make such a large purchase without my knowledge? Let's just say it was a looong ride! However, just look at how cute he looks:
It's hard to stay mad at him when he's so darn cute! Seriously though, I am happy that he has his toy. I'm glad that he has something that he has always wanted and that it makes him happy. However, do you think he could at least have enough sense to wear a helmet? Especially when traveling long distances? He's not invincible ya' know and I wish he would get that through his thick skull!

My Little Fish

We have been spending a lot of time in the pool this summer...and by a lot I mean almost everyday. Tater and Zander just love swimming and both have learned some new skills. Unfortunately Zander was taking his nap during the photo shoot, so I'll have to get some of him later. Here is Hannah just being silly!

A big breath before going "unders" as she calls it.

Here is one of her many tricks. One day I was showing her how I could stand on my hands in the water and she told me that she could do it to. Below is her handstand.

Such an amazing little girl she is. Here she is swimming under the water. It won't be long and she will no longer need her wings.

A Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend we looked at over 20 houses in three days. Yeah, that is a lot. In fact it is so many that they are all starting to run together. When the realtor emails an update about a property I usually have no clue what she is talking about and have to look the property up to refresh my memory. It is like a light bulb that then goes off and I say, oh I remember that is the one with xyz that I did NOT like. However, let's face it I did not like just about EVERY house that we saw. Either the house was to small and the yard was perfect or the house was great with a tiny yard or, or, or...the list goes on.

BTW, thank goodness for awesome family! They are so awesome that they kept our kids Friday evening and all day Saturday (even though it was my brother-in-law's birthday) so that we would not have to drag the kids through that many houses. On Sunday, we did not want to burden them with our children again, so we did drag them with us and thankfully they did surprisingly well.

We did see a few promising ones, most of which were in foreclosure so we would be getting a great deal on them. The one that I liked the most was perfect on the inside. It met all of my criteria, had everything that I have ever wanted in a house except a finished basement. The yard was a bit on the small side and was not fenced in. I keep telling myself those two things are easily fixable. We do not need a finished basement because the house is so big that we can just use the basement as extra storage and then eventually finish it. The yard, well it does not have to be fenced in...we have never had a fenced in yard and it can easily be fenced in. I keep telling myself that over and over. Truly I am in love with the house and I can easily look past those two imperfections, but am I settling? Is there a house out there with an awesome backyard just waiting for me? Will it still have my garden tub, wood floors, fireplace, etc.?

I just do not know what to do. Oh internet, please help me. Tell me if I am being too picky, or if I should keep looking. Will I be settling if we buy this house even though I do love the actual house? While you're at it could you find me that perfect house and sell it to me at a reasonable price?

Yikes Mommy!

As overheard this morning after breakfast. Tater is on the couch in some weird position with her leg up by her face. (We all know how flexible our kids are.)

Tater: "Yikes Mommy! You know what? I have reawwy wong hair on my weg!"

Me: Sort of a stunned silence, thinking that it will stay long for many, many years. " Yes, you do! Isn't that cool?"

9 to 5

Or Monday through Friday of being a "single" Mommy. You know, no reinforcements coming in at the end of the day. Just me and the kiddos all day and all night. This marks the second week of Tony working all week and it actually has not been that bad. I mean seriously I survived two deployments and loads of training activities, I can handle five days (and nights) with the kids...can't I?

Actually we are so busy right now that the days have been flying by. The kids seem to be handling it well. Hannah is such a busy body that I'm not even sure she realizes Daddy is gone half the time. She understands that he is working in Columbus where Riah-roo lives and that we will see him on the weekend. She also enjoys talking to him on the phone and telling him about the excitement of her day. Today it was feeding the horses carrots at Vacation Bible School a*k*a Arkfest.

Zander on the other hand doesn't really understand. In the morning, Daddy has been the one to get Zander up the past few weeks. So Wednesday of last week when I went to get Zander out of bed this is the conversation that we had:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said in his sweet little baby voice with his hands in a shrug position.)
Me: "Daddy's at work, he'll be home on Friday, only two more days!"

That was the end of it he happily came to me. Then Daddy was home for the weekend and Zander was so happy to see him. Then Monday morning came and we had this conversation:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said with same sweet voice and hands out in a shrug position.)
Me: "He had to go back to work baby, he'll"
Zand: Interrupting "No work!" (No more sweet voice.)

If only it was that simple sweetie. So, this weekend we are packing up and heading down to visit Daddy and spend a fun filled weekend looking at houses. I do not think it is going to be pretty. I have a pretty specific list and I'm not really willing to budge on most of it. So wish me some happy house hunting this weekend.


On another note, I think my son is a genius. No really he is! He is only 21 months old and has quite the extensive vocabulary. Not to mention he is saying short sentences. I started counting his words the other day and stopped at 60!!! 60 words, holy cow. I know that he says more than 60, I just stopped there because I felt like it could go on forever. So yah, he's a genius in the making. Of course Hannah is a genius as well. Didn't you know? My spawn, they are all geniuses!

Another Slacker Blogger

Well I do have a good reason for not posting this week so maybe we could hold off on that title for a little bit longer. My power cord died on Sunday, which means I was out of battery by Monday. Oh, and Tony started his new job on Monday, so with him gone it was a bit hard to find any time to myself! I know, I know. I could have went out and bought new power cord...but that would have just been too easy. So, hubby and I are headed out today to buy one.

I do have a whole list of things to blog about so stay tuned. However, I am going to back date them for historical reasons. Haha! No really, I started this blog for family and friends to keep track of Tater when we had moved out of state and also as sort of a journal to keep track of important events. Which is why I like to have some of them dated on the right dates. Anyway, I am working on the birthday pictures now!

Happy Anniversary Babe!!

I cannot believe that today marks SEVEN years!! I guess we have almost made it past the seven year itch. We have been married for seven years, and it does not seem like it has been that long. (That is a good thing right?) Who would have that seven years ago that we would be where we are today? I love you sweetie and I hope that the next seven years fly by with just as much fun and excitement....well maybe a little less excitement like say fewer moves.

A Party Suited for a Princess

We had Hannah's FOURTH birthday party Saturday. (Seriously, I cannot believe that Hannah is four!!) For weeks upon weeks Hannah was set on having a polka-dot party. I was all set for that because it would have been so easy to decorate and plan. I found cute generic polka-dot plates and napkins and making the cake would have been a breeze. Not to mention how easy it would have been to decorate. However when it came time to by the invitations, Hannah came with me to the store. After filling our cart full of polka-dots, we were leaving the aisle and guess what she saw? Tinker Bell! So after a little hard work and creativity we had a Tink party.

The cake and cupcakes Mommy made.

Party decorations

We had the party at Grandma's house because she has so much fun stuff for all of the kids. Hannah had so many family and friends there that she did not know what to do! All of her cousins were there, her friends Reece and Owen were there and Knoah and Kaela came!

It was so much fun and the kids all seemed to have a great time. Now, I leave you with a ton of pictures that I will have to label later because Daddy is telling me that he needs his puter to do homework.

Her big thing is to say: "Three is gone now and I'm four!"

Four

Happy Birthday "Baby" Girl!! Wow! I cannot believe that you are already four! Where has time gone? It does not seem possible. I clearly remember just bringing a little peanut who was swimming in preemie clothes, home from the hospital just yesterday. Has it already been four years?


At four years old you are still a cross between a "baby" and a big girl. I would love to keep that baby in you as long as possible. I just love your personality and how you are always singing and dancing. Even if there is no music you just make up your own. Whenever people meet you, they are always asking if you are a dancer because you dance so much! When we went on vacation this year, the first thing you did at the ocean was to dance in the waves. You are learning so much and can even write your own name! You can draw shapes and people and you love to paint. Another favorite activity of yours is to cut paper. You will sit and cut shapes for hours.


This past year we have moved back to Ohio and you have transitioned so well. You love being close to your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In fact almost every weekend you spend the night with Grandma Cath. You also took your first dance class this year and had your first recital. You were the cutest little dancer I have ever seen and we were so proud of how good you did. We also attended our first LPA convention! We had so much fun and I foresee many years of LPA events in our future. This summer you have turned into quite the swimmer. You are so brave; you will jump off the side of the pool and go under, you love to wear 'noculars and swim under the water and you love to perform you tricks for us.

Tater, you are such a sweet girl. You have such a gentle and fun loving spirit with a little spunk mixed in. You have quite the personality with such determination that I do not think that you will ever meet a challenge in your life that you will not face head on. I hope that you continue to grow in the Lord and love those around you. Keep the spunk girl, keep the spunk!

OBX

We just returned from a week at the beautiful Outer Banks, NC. We stayed on Corolla Beach with Bologna's family and a great time was had by all. I have been pretty busy getting ready for a certain little girl's fourth birthday party, so this is just a little preview of our time at the beach. Enjoy!

P.S. I was very tempted to find Nathan and Patricia's church and show up on Sunday, but I thought that might come across as being a bit stalkerish. Maybe next year!

We "met" the Roloff's!!!

*Warning: Very photo heavy post!*

This past week Hannah, my Mom and I went to the LPA (Little People of America) National Convention. It was held downtown in Detroit at the beautiful Marriott Renaissance Center. We had such a great time and the workshops were very informative. I was a little worried ahead of time because I did not know what to expect and whether or not it would be worth going since Hannah was still pretty young. However, the workshops were great, the people were great...just about everything was great! I attended some really informative workshops that included: Ortho issues in young children, Achondroplasia specific diagnosis workshop, the ABC's of education, Sewing and Alteration, Dwarfism in Ancient Egypt, Dwarfism a world view and how we impact it as well as a couple of others.

The following are a few highlights from the week!
Here is the sign that greeted everyone in the lobby.

I say we "met" the Roloff's, but we really did not. We did get our picture taken with them though. They did a nice presentation about where the met, and how the show has impacted their lives and at the end had a picture time. Even though Hannah does not know who they are, I think it will be a nice photo for her to have when she gets a little older.

During the Newcomer's Reception, Owen decided to take over the International Group and become the leader! As always, he was such a cutie!!

The hotel was located right on the Detroit River and directly across the river you could see Windsor.

Apparently the GM building (which is attached to the Marriott) has spent a lot of money renovating the area. One of the things that they have done is to revitalize the waterfront. Hannah really enjoyed the fountain that the put in as part of the revitalization.

One of her favorite things to do was to step on the water when it would go down and try to block it from coming back up.

Another one of her favorite things was to visit the "water falls" that were located in the GM building. Every time we would enter the building for a workshop she would ask if the waterfalls were on and if we could go see them.

Detroit and Windsor put together one of the Nation's largest fireworks displays. Here is Hannah in awe of the fireworks.

Here she is with some 3D glasses that somebody gave her to try.

Knoah enjoyed the fireworks as well! He is such a cutie and he was such a ham the entire time we were there that I think my mom fell in love with him!

Here is Miss Priss with her sword that Gramma Cath bought for her. She was soooo spoiled the entire time we were there. Pretty much whatever her little heart desired she got. You gotta love Grandmas!

When I got home I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me!!! I have been wanting a Wii for quite some time and my hubs surprised me with one for my graduation present. I think it was sort of a combination of celebration of his exciting news and my graduation.

What I didn't tell you the exciting news? He had a job interview Monday, which is the main reason why he did not go to convention, and he got the job!!! Hooray he finally got the job. It was not the job that he had originally wanted but it is with the same company and he is really excited about it.

So we had quite the week...now wii are having a grand time...I mean getting ready to leave on vacation tomorrow!!

Summer of Meeeeee!

Have you been wondering about my weight loss? I know you are just dying to hear all about it. Unfortunately I kind of fizzled out. I did a great job on cutting down my portion sizes and sugar intake. However, I kind of fizzled out on the whole exercise thing. I would rollerblade here and there, or go for a walk with the kids but nothing to really get me motivated. Summer Slimdown came and went and I only lost 5 lbs. Nothing major. Of course it also could have been my sweet tooth that slowed me down.

So I decided to try again this time it is the Summer of ME. Christie over at Baby Tea Leaves is keeping the fun going. This time I decided that I am going to do an actual program to keep me motivated. I have actually done the program before and had good results, so I know I can do it. I am doing the Couch to the 5k program. It is a fairly "easy" program because it starts off in small intervals and gradually works up to 30 minutes of running. I actually started the program today and boy oh boy are my legs tired! Going up and down the stairs is killing me. I really need to shower but I'm putting it off because I do not want to go up those steps! So, I have my program now I just need to find a 5k to run!

I should also try to start some sort of diet. Does anybody have any suggestions on a good one? I don't care for weight watchers that much because even though it works, I hated having to calculate my points and how much food was worth etc. So, I would like something a little easier to use.

Anyway, feel free to leave weight loss tips, recipes or any sort of motivation to help me keep that ticker moving!! Now I'm off to try to hobble up those darn stairs!

Something to cry about

OUCH!!! Poor little Zander-doodle! We had a serious high chair malfunction last night and it was not pretty. We were eating dinner at my in-laws and we had just sat down for dinner with the colonel. Zander started to squirm and the highchair seat flipped forward (out of the base) and he smacked his face on the table and flipped him completely upside down. Hubby flipped the seat back up and his face was just covered in blood.

It took a while to clean him up and calm him down, but it was not that bad. Of course I was the one wearing most of the blood. We (and by we I mean me) decided to take him to the ER just to make sure everything was ok. He thankfully did not need any stitches, and we were out of the ER in under a half an hour!!!

Apparently over time the screws came loose (although my in-laws have had that chair less than a year) and his wiggling was enough to cause an imbalance in weight. We were blessed that it was nothing more than a bloodied up lip. He hit the table so hard and it could have been much worse, like a broken nose, if he would have been positioned slightly different. Even though it was scary, he was back to his busy little self by the time we got back from the ER. That boy is one tough kid.