Harper’s Dot

I’m barely able to keep my eyes open tonight I’m so exhausted. The kids keep waking up at the crack of dawn and it’s killing me! Today was even a little more painful than others though because Dakota took a 20 minute nap in the van when we dropped Landon off at the tutors, and didn’t take any other nap. Let me tell you, tired babies are NOT fun, but somehow we made it through another day and she’s in bed asleep now. Phew.

I had to take Harper to see his doctor for his 3 year old well visit. He was so adorable the whole time we were there. He just talked and talked to the receptionist’s and the nurses, he was quite a little flirt. He also noticed that the nurse was using an iPad to log all of his data and he ended up talking to her about all the cool games he plays on his iPad. She was very sweet and listened intently as he talked and he was just laying on the charm. I wish I could have recorded it.

As she was looking through his chart she noticed that he hadn’t had all of his Hep B shots…which meant that he had to have a shot today. I wasn’t expecting it and he certainly wasn’t. I didn’t think warning him at that point was a going to help, but the look of pain on his face when she gave him the shot is engrained in my mind and I feel horrible remembering it. I wish I’d  warned him that he was going to need a shot and that it was going to hurt a little. He just looked so betrayed, and he cried and cried. I held him till he felt better and when we got up to leave he walked over to the desk where the nurse was sitting and said “Hey, guess what? I had to get a dot!” Haha! They laughed and he was instantly better…and he’s called it a dot all night.

Here’s what Dakota enjoyed doing today…

She was so happy about being able to sit in the toy box. She climbed in and out at least a dozen times and I just thought she looked so sweet sitting in there! My little cutie pie.

Alright, I’m off to work on some stuff for the birthday party this weekend…if I can stay awake long enough.

Three

Well, Mr. Harper Thane turned three today. It’s so crazy watching these kids grow up right before my very eyes. Day to day, it seems as if things move at such a slow pace, but all it takes is one simple glance backwards and BAM! it hits you how much things have changed.

Right between the eyes.

He was up super early this morning, around 6:15, and the first thing we talked about was his birthday. Not because he realized it, but because I wanted him to know it was his special day. I rocked him and sang Happy Birthday and he looked up at me and said “I’m three today, and I’m going to be an astronaut”! Ahh…to be three.

This little boy’s big brown eyes melt my heart. Don’t get me wrong, he’s definitely ALL three and can just about drive me to drink, but damn he’s sweet when he wants to be. He gives the best little boy hugs and it is the best feeling to be standing doing the dishes (or whatever) and have him grab my legs to give me the biggest hug he can manage. I just get the warm and fuzzies thinking about it! :)

We had a little cupcake party in honor of his big day (birthday party is this Saturday). We sang Happy Birthday, he blew out his candles then we dug into some ice cream cupcakes. He was in heaven! He got to Skype with Aunt TT, Jaron and Kyle and he talked to Meme earlier this morning. Mema was able to come over here and give him some lovin’ too, so he’s had a full day of Happy Birthdays!

Here’s a little video of him blowing out his candles…

And, a few pictures of the kiddo’s enjoying their cupcakes. (Zoe was at work.)

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet boy. I Love you, Harps!

Early Mornings, Long Afternoons

I’m used to Dakota being up early in the morning, but today both of the littles were awake by 6:20am, and man those early morning sure make the day long!

Harper started his day reading books. He usually wants me to read him a story in the morning, but today he wanted to look at a book by himself.

While Harper was busy with his book, Dakota was checking out a can from their kitchen set.

When she was finished observing this can she went into the kitchen to play her ABC song. She turns it on and dances and dances!

The day started off rainy, but by this afternoon it was clear and not too terribly hot, so we headed outside. Yesterday Tony put together one of Harper’s birthday gifts (he got it a wee bit early) so today we went outside to try it out.

Harper really enjoyed driving that thing around, and as you can see, Landon just couldn’t help himself! After driving that around Landon said “just think, I’ll be driving a real car in 4 years!”. Terrifying!!!

Popsicles are pretty much a requirement every time we go outside to play. They just seem to be the perfect anecdote to keeping cool. Dakota refused to let me help her with hers today, and was thrilled when I just let her have it to herself.

The only problem with giving it to her was she couldn’t figure out how to eat it, and I, under no circumstances was allowed to help. Little Miss Independent, already.

Harper ate his popsicle while listening to some tunes in his new Jeep. (Yes, it plays music!) Check out his foot on the steering wheel! :)

Project Life, Week 25

I just finished my pages for week 25 of Project Life. It turned into three pages because I just had so many pictures I wanted to include. Barely anything for week 24 and tons for week 25…that’s just how it goes sometimes!

Just Another Monday

• I was barely out of the shower when I head Dakota this morning. She’s definitely an early bird. She’s almost always up before 7am and sometimes even before 6. Today was no exception and she was awake and ready to play by 6:30. We did our usual morning stuff and she let me know (by grunting and reaching) what she want. She wanted a snack & drink and then she led me to the living room couch.She held up the remote and I turned on her favorite thing, the Disney Junior theme music. I don’t know what it is about that music, but she just loves it! She ate her goldfish, drank her water and happily watched that theme song over and over…silly girl!

• Harper has always loved to watch the trash trucks when they come around and today Dakota wanted to watch too. We rushed to the windows and they both stood watching until the trucks were out of sight.

• The weather was exceptional today. It was just one of those days that made you feel guilty if you were indoors, so we spent the majority of ours outside. We played with the balls, blew bubbles, went on a walk, played with the little red car, ate popsicles…you know, summer stuff.

• Harper had a few rough moments today. I had to put him in time out at least twice that I remember. He’s just at that age, you know the age where he wants to see how much he can get away with…yeah, that age.  Anyway, the first time I put him in time out was because he hit Landon. He loves to hit Landon, probably because Landon loves to pick on him, but either way I’m really trying to squash the hitting thing. So, he did his two minutes, apologized, and life went on. Another thing Harps loves to do is use inappropriate language, namely the word “dammit”. He says it ALL. THE. TIME. Well, I warned him and warned him about it and told him if I heard it one more time he was going to time out…and I’d barely finished my sentence when he said it again. So, I brought him inside and he did his 2 minutes…and promised he wouldn’t say it again. We’ll see.

• I don’t know if it’s the cooler temps this year or what, but we have a ton of butterflies around here. Huge butterflies, floating around, begging me to grab my camera and get their picture. Today, I obliged.

Project Life, Week 24

I didn’t take many pictures for the week of June 16-22, so I was only able to do one page instead of my regular two. It worked out just fine though because I took a ton of photo’s for the following week.

Here’s week 24.

Happy 21st Birthday, Brandon!!

Brandon, Zoe’s boyfriend, turned 21 today. He chose to have dinner with us, so we tried to make it special. We made a big homemade lasagna, salad and garlic bread. I decided to bake him a cake instead of buying one, and I found one called the Miami Beach Birthday Cake in one of my cookbooks. It was DELICIOUS! It had chocolate chips, graham crackers and walnuts baked right into each layer…yummy! The frosting was really good too, just whipping cream and a tub of cool whip. So, so good.

Zoe could NOT wait to give him his gifts so he ended up opening them well before we’d had dinner or dessert. It was very sweet that she was so excited to give him the gifts that she bought; and he seemed genuinely happy with the gifts she’d found him.

Brandon loves him some coffee, so she bought him a coffee pot as well as some grounds and filters to go with it. She also picked him up a new set of sheets for his bed and an electronic hookah. Yeah, yeah, I know…I think the hookah thing is pretty dumb too, but this isn’t about me…

Crofton Park

We have been having some pretty unusual weather here this summer. We’ve had some scorching hot days, but lately it’s been pretty mild. It’s been especially nice in the evenings and we’ve been taking advantage of it.

One evening, after dropping Landon off at Huntington, Tony and I took the kids to play at a nearby park. Before hitting the park though, I ran in Target to find some shoes for Dakota. Now that she’s really walking I figured it was time to get real shoes. (All her other shoes just wouldn’t stay on.) So, after trying them on her quickly I grabbed two pairs of tennis shoes and we were off to the park.

At first, she wouldn’t even try to walk with the shoes on. She just kind of stood there, holding onto the side of the slide watching everything around her. When she got tired of that she got down to crawl, but I helped her right back up and held her hand so she’d get used to walking in them. She did fine while I held her hand but was still unsure of herself when she was on her own. It didn’t take long before she was walking around without any problem though.

Harper is at the age where he wants to show me all of his “tricks”. He shows me how he can slide, run, walk, swing, jump, hop etc. He wants my eyes on him at all times. I feel like I’m constantly saying “Ok Harper, I’m watching” and he’s always saying “Mama, look at this!” or “Watch me, Mama!” or “Are you watching now, Mama, are you”? He’s really just a little sweetheart, and all he wants is to know that we’re paying attention…and we are.

When we first got to the park he ran right up to that big steering wheel in the photo above and started telling everyone that they were on a trip to Mars. Where he came up with that, I’m not sure, but I love that little guys imagination. He talked and talked about going to Mars and was completely happy to make up his story as he played.

After he landed on Mars he did some sliding and climbing. It took everything I had to let him climb on that contraption (photo below) by himself. I just kept worrying that he’d slip and bust his chin on one of the bars…but, he didn’t fall and he was super proud of himself.

Great Wolf Lodge, PA (Part 2)

We had a lot of fun hanging out at the water park while we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge, but believe it or not, there were lots of other things to do.

Take bowling for instance.

As we walked by the alley we noticed there was hardly anyone there so we thought it’d be a good time to try it out. There were only 10 lanes (I think) and it was duck pin style, which is always fun. Dakota was happy to check things out while the two boys did the bowling. Tony and I decided not to bowl since it was a steep $5 per person per game.

There was also a large arcade.

Dakota, as usual was happy to walk around exploring while the boys got to play some games. The arcade, just like everything else, was pricey. I think it was even more expensive than most arcades, and they’re pretty ridiculous as it is. But, we gave them each a little money on their game card and let them play till their money ran out. What the heck is a vacation without a trip to the arcade anyways? ;)

Inside the arcade there were two small rides for the little’s and they both enjoyed that.

Landon tried his luck on several games and they had some really cool ones we’d never played before. We really enjoyed playing Ballistic, a game that you got to throw balls at the screen to try to “break” things. There was a kitchen scene where you could break dishes, a sweet shop where you could break desserts in glass bowls as well as 4 other scenes you could choose from. Landon, Harper and I had a great time playing that one together.

Another big hit was Magi Quest. We’d heard about Magi Quest before but had never tried it, but after seeing lots of kids running around with their wands we had to figure out what all the fuss was about.

Tony ended up taking Landon and Harper to do it while I got Dakota into bed one evening. They made their wands and then set off on their adventure. Harper didn’t exactly “get” the whole thing, but Landon LOVED it. He thought it was so much fun running around the hotel attempting to complete his mission. Sadly he never did get to finish because we ended up leaving a little earlier than we had originally planned, but hopefully we’ll be able to do it again sometime.

The wands they had opened treasure boxes, made animals come to life, made wall hangings talk and kept track of all the gold and jewels they collected. They were supposed to find things in a specific sequence in order to finish their mission and I believe there was a dragon waiting for a fight at the end. It was pretty neat.

Besides what I’ve already talked about, there was also a miniature golf course, a kids spa and even an adult spa. There was their version of Build a Bear, a Starbucks and giant gift shop. This place seriously had a little bit to offer everyone, and we had a great time.

As I said earlier, we left early. We didn’t want to, but the night before we left Dakota was awake and crying for hours. She doesn’t sleep well in port-a-cribs, and our bed was so small she couldn’t sleep with us either. She ended up waking up around 3am and didn’t go back to sleep until nearly 6am. I held her and rocked her and fed her a bottle and did everything I could think of but she just wouldn’t go to sleep. Around 430am, Tony took her walking around the hotel and she eventually fell asleep on his shoulder and then slept till 830am when Harper got up. Everyone was so exhausted from her nighttime crying and carrying on that we decided we couldn’t do another night of it. So, we had breakfast, did a little more Magi Quest, a little more water park and then packed up and went home.

The drive home was much easier than the drive there and Dakota slept until the last 15 minutes of the drive. It was the most pleasant trip we’ve had in the car since she’s been born! We were all so happy to be home it was ridiculous, but we’re already thinking about the next time we’ll be able to go!