Interview with a 3 year-old

I thought it would be fun to do a short interview with Haeden each year on his birthday. I had to settle for around his birthday because he just wasn't having it on the actual day. I decided to give it another shot last night after his bath. That seems to be when he is the most calm these days. You can tell that he isn't really interested, but he was willing to placate me since I totally bribed him with a surprise toy.  It was just a balloon, but hey, three year-olds are pretty easily impressed.

I love how in the beginning he is trying so hard not to smile. He makes that face all of the time--- usually because he has just done something he knows he isn't supposed to. I've been told he get's that reaction from me, and I can't deny it. I remember laughing at my mom when she would get mad at me. It wasn't smart and it wasn't even out of defiance (well, maybe sometimes). I just laugh or smile when I'm nervous or uncomfortable.  My sister was the smart one. She'd start crying before she even got in trouble.

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A few other gems from the past several weeks:

- There are a couple of steam towers in town and every time we drive  by them he excitedly points at them and calls them volcanoes! 

- The other day I gave him mac-n-cheese (not exactly home-made) and he told me, "You're the best cooker in the whole wide world!!"  

- Every time he sees a baby or a kitty or anything else cute, really, he says, "Awww, aren't they sweet?!" in a really high voice. Kills me dead every time.

- For some reason he feels it necessary to tell everyone when he passes gas... "Hey, MY TOOTED!!"

- When he sees hippos (on tv, in a book, etc) he says, "That's me!!! That starts with a haytch (H) like me!!" Oh, and he calls them "happos".

- When he wants to ask you if he's right about something he says, "You right, Mommy? You right?"

- Anytime I lose my cool or get visibly upset he comes over to comfort me and says, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay!"

- When he wakes in the morning he is a little tyrant and immediately starts to give orders... "My STILL SLEEPING. My need juice and my vitamin!!"

I'm pretty sure this list could go on forever, but I have probably met the "ohmygodmykidisthecuttest" quota for the day. Until next time... 

Twas a Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone and I have to say... Santa did not disappoint this year. We had one very happy little boy that not only received his big, BIG FIRE TRUCK! But also a big, BIG GARBAGE TRUCK! He got to open presents at four different houses and was basically just lavished with gifts, mostly of the vroom vroom variety. The kid? He made out good. 

All of the excitement, of course, got to him in the end. He slept right through Christmas dinner and then woke up in the foulest of moods. One should never wake a sleeping child. It isn't pretty. Oh, and he also now thinks that any and all gifts within his reach, wrapped or otherwise, belong to him. He will absolutely snatch a present out of your hands and tear all of the wrapping paper off before you have time to even think about stopping him. Once he comes to the conclusion that what's inside the box isn't actually for him, he'll toss it back in your general direction."Heeeere!" Isn't that... cute?! No? Okay, we'll work on it.

Now, who's up for video/pictures?! 

 Santa came!?

 Gasp! He ate the cookies and drank the milk!

 Check the stocking. His great grandmother made it last year. Too cute.

 "Christmas moooomie!"

 Continuing the yearly ornament tradition. Mickey Mouse in Space!

 He wanted to get in the stocking...

  

 "CARS!"

 Saved his trucks for last. He was one happy boy!

Christmas donuts. Yum!

 Enjoying a goodie he got from daycare.

Checking out his new camera... think he's a little young for this one. Mostly taking pictures of the carpet.

 Cute though!

At Oma &Opa's house with his new dump truck!

 Trying out his "brand new" big wheel!

 Passed out during Christmas dinner. Must have been his gift to me... eating in peace!

 After he was so rudely awakened. 

 The art station couldn't pull him out of his funk, but the scooter did!

 Trying out the new soccer ball and net.

 Pouty face.

 Such form!

Such attitude!

More pouting. Someone dared to take the ball from him. The horror!

So, now that that's that, we've got family coming into town tonight/tomorrow for the New Year. My SIL had the nerve to go and get pregnant again, so I have no idea if we're actually going out this weekend or if I am going to spend this NYE like the last couple of years... asleep in my bed.  Either way, I'm looking forward to the three day weekend and watching the cousins play!

Santa's Calling

When I was a kid, a family friend used to call us each year pretending to be Santa. In fact, he would still call and pretend to be Santa even after I'd stopped believing... and also in the middle of summer. It's a fun memory and a tradition that my sister and I both wanted to create for Haeden. Her husband jumped at the chance to play the role of good ol' St. Nick and we staged a call Thursday night.

We had to do a little planning for this, of course. I needed to change the picture and name that would pop up on my cell phone. I knew that if he saw Auntie Robyn's name and/or face, the ruse would be  up.We also had to make sure there wouldn't be a lot of distractions because we all know how short a 2.5 year-old's attention span can be, don't we?! Also, I wanted to film it. And I think I'll have to continue to film each year's call so that we can compare his different reactions.

Take a little lookesy...

Have you ever heard a more SOUTHERN Santa Claus?! I think not! I love how Haeden immediately starts telling him that he wants a big, BIG FIRE TRUCK with a LADDER and then reminding him that he saw him the other day in person. Oh, and the fact that he basically talks over "Santa" the entire time. Welcome to my world, folks. He sure can talk, but isn't so much into listening just yet.

I absolutely cannot wait for Christmas morning. I think Dan and I are more excited than he is... Okay, I KNOW we are!  Happy Holidays!

Our Christmas Card Photo

A Very Happy Halloween

Halloween could not have been more fun. Although Haeden didn't have any idea what he was in for, he was raring to go as soon as we wrestled his costume on. We'd been telling him for the past week that candy was involved and that was all he really needed to know.

With all the post-work travel time and the need to eat dinner first, we didn't get dressed as early as we would have liked... which basically just means that we didn't have enough time to get any decent pictures. It was already almost dark when we ventured outside and Haeden was bouncing up and down with anticipation.

Mickey, Minne and Mini-Mickey Mouse! Props to Grandma Ellie for the costumes!

The look on his face when the first trick-or-treaters came walking up to the door. Priceless!

Mickey and Mommy Minnie

Does Dan not rock the hell out of those red pants? hehehe

Right before he tried to pick up that pumpkin next to him and knock over the rest of them...

The loot! We only let him have one piece last night, but he was already asking for more first thing this morning! He doesn't forget (candy) easily!

We really had a fantastic time last night. I knew it was going to go one of two ways. Either he'd be super into it and have a blast or he'd be totally freaked out by all of the people and cling to me for dear life the entire night. He was a trooper though. I only had to hold his hand when we went to a spooky house or if someone answered the door and flipped their lid because of how freaking adorable he was. It happened quite a few times... but mostly we had to keep him from barging into stranger's houses. He would knock on the door, yell trick-or-treat and the proceed to try and open the door to let himself in! And then when they offered the candy bowl he would take one, look up at them shyly and then take two or three more. The little stinker! Once we told him he had enough he would turn around and say, "Let's go to the next house!"

Sometimes the kid just kills me with his cuteness...

VA Tripping: Part 3

Saturday night my eye went from really irritated to really painful. Oh, and swollen. I could barely keep it open. And so I did what every normal twenty seven year-old does. I called my mother. She, of course, told me about all of the worst-case scenarios before suggesting that I call our insurance company's nursing line. After explaining the situation to the nurse, she told me that I'd need to be seen within the next twelve hours. Due to the amount of pain I was in and the fact that it was only one eye (allergies normally effect both), she said there was definitely some cause for alarm.

So, off to the ER my sister and I went. We were the only ones in the waiting room, but it still took an hour to get called back. Then we waited there for what seemed like forever. It was freezing and the room itself was not exactly up to the "Mayo Standard" I'm accustomed to. My sister was pretty grossed out, too. She wouldn't even sit all the way back in her little plastic chair. A nurse took me down the hall for an eye test. It basically was just a poster slapped on the wall at the end of the hallway. I couldn't see past the second line out of my right eye and it would have totally freaked me out except I was too busy being fully aware of the serious audience I had all around me. I guess this hospital had never heard of privacy rights because all of the exam room doors were left open and most of the occupants were staring straight at me. One woman even had tipped her chair back so that she could get a better look at me. Is it wrong that I sort of hoped she might fall and bust her ass?

When the doc finally arrived he didn't have much to say. He told me that I either had a severe allergic reaction or an eye infection most likely caused by my contacts. Oh, and then he non-chalantly asked me if I might have chlamydia in. my. eye. CHLAMYDIA?! My sister and I just stared at him, mouths open. "Whaaaat?" And he says, "Well, it would be really rare and usually it's associated with birth and/or really weird sexual positions." I couldn't even believe the words coming out of his mouth. I just told him that I was married with a two year-old, so no, there wasn't a whole lot of sexual anything in my life, weird or otherwise. And he says, "Well, okay then. I need to get going. There is a very sick person down the hall that I need to attend to." And that was that. I had to check his badge on the way out to make sure he really was a physician and not some janitor playing doctor, or something. Still freaks me out just thinking about it. And then, because we hadn't yet had enough fun, we had to wait another 45 minutes before getting the prescription. We finally got home around 1:30am and promptly passed out.

Taken the morning after starting the antibiotic. "I'm too sexy for my sunglasses, too sexy for my sunglasses..."

As luck would have it, I awoke with a migraine the next morning. I stayed in bed for an extra couple of hours while the boys ran out to get my prescriptions. By lunch time, the fog in my head had cleared enough to allow us all to head out on another little adventure. We drove (for what seemed like forever) out to The Breaks to check out some gorgeous views. I don't recommend visiting that place with a toddler. Especially one who wants to do everything himself. Tantrums will be thrown and all because you don't want them to go toppling over the edge of a mountain. The nerve!

On the way home from the park we decided to stop by a gas station for drinks and snacks. Do you know what happens when you send your husband in for snacks? They bring back m&m's. For a toddler. Who will be strapped in the car for the next hour. Obviously he wasn't sitting in the back seat with him. It could have been bad, you guys, but instead it was hilarious. He put on quite the show.

After arriving back at the house we got in some more trampoline time and Haeden got to ride on Uncle Josh's tractor. His favorite part of the trip, I'm sure!

 

"What are youuuu lookin' at?"

Deep in thought... wondering what kind of trouble he can get into next, I'm sure.

At The Breaks. I love him, but he's an idiot. That drop was, like, straight down. Great influence on the kid, hon!

"OHMMMMM"

So. Many. Steps.

Where's Waldo?!

Tractor ridin' with Uncle Josh!

Probably his favorite part of the entire trip.

Weeeeee!

Look at his face! Priceless!

Who says white men can't jump?! Shoooooot.



HOORAY Virginia!

The drive home felt excruciatingly long. We were definitely smart to break it up over two days on the way up. We also made a very special stop on the way back to FL. It was a bit out of the way, but worth every extra minute on the road.

Haeden got to meet his Grandpa and GrandMary for the very first time. It's too difficult and personal to get into the specifics of why it has taken so long, but I can tell you that a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I had been looking forward to that day for a long time and though we didn't get nearly enough time as I would have liked, it still lived up to my every expectation.

My father, the instigator... about to start a leaf fight...

"BAM, BAM, BAM"

"I'm gonna get youuuuu!"

The trip was, all in all, fantastic. Emergency room excluded. I cannot wait to get back there again. And hopefully, someday, to move closer. Not exactly sure that I can handle being as far out in the "boonies" as my sister, but definitely want to be in the mountains again one day.