Calvin is Three!

Calvin turned 3 back on January 10th.  He is still my "baby" and always will be but he is very much a big boy now.  Here are some things about my (little) big guy:

* Cal is super affectionate.  He is going through a stage right now where he wants you to carry him or give him hugs.  This is usually not a problem, except when you are doing something like the dishes or cooking around a hot stove.

* His favorite toy is anything that sings or makes music.  He got to pick out a toy for his birthday from Mamo and he chose the ugliest pink Dora guitar, but hey, it plays music!  He sits around and pretends to play.  It's adorable.  His other favorite thing is puzzles.  He got puzzles for Christmas and he does them all the time.  

* He still adores Yo Gabba Gabba (I actually brought him to YGG Live back in November and he was AMAZED), Dora the Explorer and Baby Einstein videos.  The Baby Einstein ones because, again, music!

* Cal isn't a super big eater, but that's okay.  He is still 50th percentile for both height and weight so we are not concerned at all.  Some of his favorite foods are:  Toasted bagels with butter, peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches, raisins, any and all fruit, cheese, and bread.  Of course, no vegetables at all.  Typical toddler.

* We just started swim class and I was pleasantly surprised how much he likes it.  He is not a huge fan of getting his head wet and he can be timid when it comes to new surroundings, but on the first day, he got right into the pool.  I think it helps that Jack is also in the class.

* Cal goes to school two days a week.  It's playschool and he really enjoys it.  The first week, he cried when I would drop him off, but now, he practically RUNS to class.  The artwork he brings home is adorable.  I really feel like this helps him be more social and comfortable being around other kids and challenging himself.

* Someone mentioned the other day "Oh, you have a threenager?".  I had to laugh, because age 3 is exactly like that.  Mood swings, tantrums and very sporadic happiness.  Cal is generally a very happy kid but man.......If he doesn't get what he wants, he will be very dramatic and throw quite the fit.  I think he gets that from me.

* Cal still wakes up about once a night, but that is almost always because his legs hurt.  Both my boys get terrible growing pains in their feet and shins.  This just started with Cal so I guess that means he is due for a growth spurt.  I also need to mention that I am so grateful that he still naps.  THANK GOODNESS.

* Cal brings us so much joy and he is incredibly hysterical.  He will randomly throw a "thumbs up" with the funniest grin on his face.  Cracks me up, every time.  He will also say "Oh......my.......goodness!!!!!!!" when something is funny to him.

3 years has flown right by.  I swear, it goes so lightning fast and I am always so surprised by it.  We love you Calvin Wyatt.  Continue to be hysterical and affectionate.  WE LOVE YOU!

Enjoy some pictures from Cal's birthday below.  We had his favorite meal (sandwiches, lol) per his request and some great strawberry cupcakes.

Catch Up Post - Christmas

Now that the holidays have ended, I plan to do a few catch up posts.

Our Christmas was wonderful.  Busy, crazy and hectic, but wonderful.  We had decided beforehand to cut back on Christmas this year.  We would still do gifts for people, but they would be more thoughtful and less of them.  We needed to stick to a budget for obvious reasons.

Our Christmas Eve was spent over at my in-laws where Mamo visited.  We had a lovely dinner and the boys got to open their present from Mamo.  I do believe they were chomping at the bit because they saw the huge stack of presents under the tree and wanted to open MORE!

I have a tradition of getting the kiddos a new set of Christmas jammies every year.  I buy them on sale ($5 each!) and they continue to use them after Christmas is over.  They are warm and look adorable for pictures.

A rare family shot

We rushed home around 8:30 and immediately got the boys into bed.  A quick detour to leave out cookies, milk and carrots, a story and a kiss and they were out like lights.  I was shocked they didn't stay up to wait for Santa.

This year, Santa brought the boys a Lego table that he made himself.  I will do a separate post on the things I made this year for Santa.  Making the table for $40 was cheaper than buying one for $100 or more.  

I had asked the kids beforehand what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas.  Each time I asked, their answers seemed to change.  I made a guess and just bought.  And thankfully, Santa was spot on!  Jack requested a marble run and Cal requested a Thomas toy.  

I stuffed stockings and went to bed around 10:30.  However, I couldn't sleep.  I was too excited for the morning.  I tossed and turned pretty much all night with cat naps thrown in.  

Surprisingly, the boys slept until 7:00.  When they stumbled out of bed, I woke Jason up so the kids could do stockings and open their Santa presents.  Jack's reaction to his Santa gift was priceless.  He shrieked in this high pitch voice that Santa brought him a marble run.  I got it on video and I will watch it over and over because it makes me smile.  Cal seemed so shocked that Santa brought him a Thomas toy since it was just what he wanted.  It was sweet.

Jason went back to bed for another hour while I sipped coffee and the kiddos played with some of their stocking stuffers and new toy.

We packed up our car with the boatload of gifts and made the trek over to my in-laws' house.  We ate a quick breakfast and then tackled the gifts.  My boys were spoiled.  Even though we cut back, I shopped smart, bought on sale and was very savvy in what I purchased.  I bought equal amount of gifts for the boys, although I doubt they would have noticed.

Not only were my kids spoiled, but so was I.  I got so many knitting things and money that I was just so overwhelmed!

Once presents were opened, the house tidied up as much as possible and light snacks were eaten, Cal went down for a quick nap while Jack put together one of his new Lego sets.  This year was the year for Lego for Jack.  He asked for "as many Legos as Daddy has" and he got almost that much. I lost count, but I think he opened about 10 packages that were Lego related.

Once Cal was rested, we drove back home to unload the car, crate the dog and make some appetizers to bring to my Aunt and Uncle's house.  Every year, we go to my family and enjoy time together and a ton of food.  There is something called the "Grazing table".  Instead of a formal Christmas dinner, we have tons and tons of snacks.

This was about half of the food.  There was more hot food in the kitchen.  I brought goat cheese stuffed dates and sausage balls which were all gobbled up.

We laughed with my family and ate and the kids opened gifts.  We don't do an exchange with the adults anymore, which is just fine with me!  I would rather watch the kids open their gifts.

Jack and Cal played with their cousin Hazel and we just let them eat what they wanted.  I had decided that I was not going to worry about nutrition, which is probably smart since Cal single-handedly ate most of the cookies.  Ha!

It was a wonderful Christmas with four events over two days but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Our entire holiday seemed to be stressful but the day before Christmas Eve we received wonderful news and I was able to enjoy the rest of Christmas.

The above two pictures are probably my favorite from this season.  Two happy boys playing TOGETHER with a new toy and our cute little tree surrounded by presents and kitties. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Randoms

I don't have a whole lot of updates but I thought I would share some recent happenings in our lives.

* The boys had a blast on Halloween.  We went to my in-laws' and ate pizza before heading out to Trick or Treat.  We went to about 12 houses and that was plenty.  Here is my special forces soldier and my Elmo in all their glory:

* I have been trying to finish up my Christmas knitting. For some reason, I am procrastinating this year on finishing my mom's sweater and to make my sister's gift.  I have all the materials but just am NOT motivated.  I will do a post soon about all the things I have whipped up lately.

* Speaking of Christmas, I have been worrying about how I am going to buy all the gifts we need for people.  With money being tight this year and us trying to pay down debt, I have spent many a night worrying.  Yesterday, I followed up with someone who owes me a substantial amount of money and they will be paying me this week!  That has greatly reduced a lot of my stress and worry.  I have a few things tucked away for Christmas already but this will help me buy almost everything else.  

* This will probably sound contradictory in light of my money worries, but Jason and I went away for our anniversary.  It was budgeted and we did it fairly inexpensively.  We rented a condo on the Oregon Coast for $69 a night, which is completely reasonable.  It was very important for us to spend some time together sans kids and we had a really good time.  We slept in (7 am for me, ha!), ate really good food, saw a movie, relaxed and spent time with each other.  In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often forget to talk to each other and have good conversation.  Date nights are far and few between so this was much needed.  Here are a few pictures:

This was the shot right outside our window.  What a view right?

The view outside our room at low tide

* I applied for a new position at work.  I interviewed several weeks ago but now I am waiting on some further information from my client - the client also has to interview me in order to approve the promotion.  It has been a month and I am getting anxious.  I wish I would hear one way or the other so I can work on looking for another position if necessary.  I don't discuss my job on here hardly ever.  I love my job.  I can't say that enough.  However, my boss is.........not good.  I won't say anything further about that.

That's about it for now.  I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving next week.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Back To School

It's that time of the year!  Both of my boys are in school this year.  Jack is in his third year with the same teacher, and Cal's first year at pre-school (it's actually called play-school but I digress).

Jack's first day went off without a hitch.  He loves school so he was looking forward to going back.  He attends school Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:00 to 2:45.  This was not an ideal time, but we didn't have much to choose from.  It was either that time block or every day in the morning for 2 hours.  This means that Jack doesn't get a nap anymore most days during the week.  We were expecting a disaster situation with no nap, but he surprised us and it's going well.  This also means that the boys don't have "Nana Day" on Friday.  Instead, they go on Thursday after Cal gets out of school.

He is nearly impossible to get pictures of, so this will have to do:

Cal goes to school on Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9:00 to 10:30.  His first week was rough.  He cried a bit at drop off and kept saying "I don't want to go to school".  After the second week, drop off was just fine.

Now Calvin exclaims "I love school!".  He even painted the other day!  He has a fear of getting his hands covered with paint so this is a big step.

Our schedules are still a little crazy but I am sure that once October comes to a close, we will be in the swing of things.

Summer Fun

This summer, I am trying to get out every weekend and do something with the boys.  Usually, it is something free or cheap.  Oaks Park was a splurge for sure, but playgrounds, splash pads and walks in the neighborhood is free.

I have taken the boys berry picking, to numerous playgrounds, splash pads, we have been to Blue Lake Park, on walks, we spend a lot of "nakey" time at home, trips to Nana's, special treats at Dairy Queen, play time at Dizzy Castle, trips to Target and other random stuff.

If all goes well this weekend and both of my kids stay healthy, the plan is to take them to the Oregon State Fair.

Enjoy some of the pictures of our summer time below!

Oaks Park

We have been packing activities in all summer and this weekend was no exception.  Even though Jack was getting over tonsilitis, he had been fever free for 48 hours on Sunday.  We had discount passes to a local amusement park, so we woke up the boys early from nap and headed out.  Neither Jason or I told the boys where we were going so it was extra fun once we pulled into the parking lot and they figured it out.

It was about 80 degrees yesterday and the park is in full sun with some shade from the trees.  Thankfully there was a nice breeze coming in off the river otherwise we would have sweat to death.

The very first ride the boys went on was this motorcycle ride.  Jack was super excited, but you can tell from the picture that Cal was a little hesitant.  After he realized that there was a horn and the bike did wheelies, he warmed up a bit.

The next ride the boys rode was this frog jumper one.  Jack loved it but this picture fully sums up Cal's reaction:  Not sure what to think.

Jack wanted to go on the little roller coaster so I took Cal on some rides more his speed while Jason braved the roller coaster line.  By this time, Cal was starting to really love the rides.  It was so cute when he would come around the ride and see me.  He would wave frantically and yell "Hi Mama!".  

On the carousel.  Hot as blazes.  Don't mind my gross red, sweaty face.  Cal would say "Up.  Down."  every time the horse would move.  So cute.

This is the only roller coaster picture I have.  It's hard to get one when it's moving so fast.  Jason and Cal are in the green car and you can't tell but Jack is hovered down and Jason's arm is around him.  He claims he loved the ride but Jason said he was really unsure with how fast it was moving.

Thank goodness for Jason.  He took the boys on a lot of rides that I just can't do.  I get severe motion sickness and anything that spins is off the table.  Like this hot air balloon ride.  The height doesn't bother me, but those baskets spin.  No thank you.

We took a quick break to get something to eat, hydrate and sit in the shade.  The boys ate a little - I had packed some healthier snacks so I didn't feel as guilty feeding them corn dogs or hot dogs.  Cal barely ate anyways.  It was nice to sit in the shade for a bit.  By the time we were done eating, it was much less sunny out.  It was getting towards dinner time and the sun was moving.  Thank goodness!

We stood in line for the ferris wheel and both boys loved it!  The boys really wanted to ride the train and it just so happen that there was no line.  By this time, the park had slowed down quite a bit, which was really nice.  

This ride was fun for the kids.  Not only did the boats fly up in the air, they jumped!  Cal thought it was just the best.  This was my attempt at getting the kids to say cheese for the camera.

Let me on, let me on!

Here is another ride that I wouldn't do so Jason took the boys.  Of course, they loved it and they rode it twice.

The rides were almost at closing time (they shut down at 7:00) so Jack and Cal played this fishing game and they each won a duck.  Cal saw another game with a Dora the Explorer poster as a prize and he yelled "DORA!".  Jason played some darts and won the Dora poster as well as two others.

After another ride on the carousel, the park was closing so we headed out.  The boys were promised an Icee so we stopped at the store on the way home to pick up an Icee and a couple of snacks.

Miraculously, bed time was a non-struggle.  Probably because the boys were so tired!  They went down a little later than normal and fell right asleep.

I am so glad we had this adventure.  I tried to be flexible, starting with a short nap and with what the kids ate for dinner, what time we ate, and bedtime.  It is pretty rare that we shift from the schedule and the boys really enjoyed themselves.  It is really fun to watch how excited they get over "kid" stuff.  It makes being a parent fun.  I can relive my childhood through them.