Bootie

My name is Melissa and I love to pinch booties.

Actually, just my kid's booties.

It really is their fault.

If they weren't such cute booties, I wouldn't have to pinch them.

Delaney knows she has

"the cutest booty in town."

Savannah has

"the most pinchable-ist booty."

Mason has grown out of letting his mom pinch his booty...

that was a sad, sad day in our house.

Willson is so ticklish that he just giggles.

I don't know how, I didn't actively teach this to Willson, but he figured out where his bootie is. I thought he said it one day, so I asked him

"Where's your bootie?"

He immediately reached behind himself and said

"bootie, bootie"

It was so cute. I just busted up laughing.

Then, I caught onto something else he was saying...

"pinch, pinch"

He was actually pinching his own bootie.

To verify what I thought he was doing I called Delaney over. She, obligingly bent over and I told Willson to pinch Delaney's bootie.

He reached out and totally pinched it, while saying "pinch, pinch"

It was so cute and funny. I couldn't believe it!

Apparently we pinch a lot of booties in our house!

Mr. Nakie

Willson has figured out how to get his pajamas off (notice the aqua sleeper in the background). THANKFULLY, he has not learned to take his diaper off... yet. He messes with it when I change it, so I know it's only a matter of time before he remembers that he can get that off too. Looks like we're going to have to go to the onesie all the time stage. He obviously thinks it's hilarious that he can take his clothes off.

Sid

So, for some reason, our cat Sid likes to climb the neighbors tree. This is the second time he got stuck up there. Now, he doesn't have any front claws, so the fact that he can climb the dumb tree is shocking. The kids came running into the house screaming and freaked out. When I got them to calm down enough to tell me what was wrong they said Sid was stuck in a tree. I thought they were totally freaking out and getting upset, well kids tend to do that, for no reason. Then I went outside and they showed me the tree. Holy Crap. He was mewing and whining and pretty upset I could see. After about 10 minutes of watching and waiting for him I was getting ready to borrow a ladder from the neighbor when I was finally able to talk him down. Being the persistent kitty that he is, he made it up the tree and thankfully back down safely too. Then about a week later the kids came running into the house again. So, this time I grabbed the camera. Dumb-Butt Cat.

Diary of a Fit

Willson has recently begun throwing fits. Yay me. I swear he screamed at me for about 2 hours straight yesterday. These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago (Brian don't look at the PJ's-just avert your eyes. They're not really Christmas ones, I swear.) Anyway, when I took these photos it was still funny and cute. We're kind of moving past that point now, but still in the right context it's funny. Now this fit was prompted by me not letting him get into our "junk drawer". It's hard to tell on the pictures, but he actually has a stream of drool coming down...so funny. I never thought I'd be someone who thought drool was funny, but again in the right context... In this picture you can kind of see that's he arching his back and sticking his tummy out, while he screams. He was, of course, standing at the beginning before the whole tragedy/trauma of the situation hit him and he had to throw himself on the floor. I have a couple of pictures of his head down too. Apparently he didn't like me documenting the situation. Oh, to be 16 months old.

Pretty Pretty!

Delaney got to wear her first pair of dangley earrings. She was so excited! It was the only way I could talk her into letting me do her hair! I thought it was so much fun! I have a huge thing for dangleys myself!

Snooze

As any of you who know Andy, you know he is NOT a morning person. Typically, until the last year or so, the alarm clock would go off and this is what would happen...

Me: (lightly shaking Andy) "Baby wake up. Your alarm's going off."

Andy: Snore, snore, snore

Me: (shaking harder) "Babe, your alarm's going off"

Andy: snore "huh" snore

Me: "Seriously Andy. Wake up and turn off the freaking alarm."

Andy: rolls over and slaps the snooze button

Then, 7 minutes later...

"Beep, Beep, Beep"

Me: (kicking Andy) "Get up!"

So, the last few months he's been really good about getting up, even getting ready for work without waking me and waking up the first time I try on the weekends.

Apparently he was really tired last week, because the alarm was going off and I started with the first gentle shake and sweet "Baby..." Andy rolled over and I thought he was waking up, but then all of the sudden he was patting me on the side of my head. Me, being half asleep, was wondering what he was doing, when I realized the alarm was still going off. So, I start cracking up because I've realized that, in his current state, my head has become the snooze button. When I get the words out, between my guffaws, "Did you think I was the alarm clock?" he rolled over to the correct side and managed to turn the alarm clock off and get out of bed.

When I asked him about it later, he was able to laugh too and explain that he was just as confused as to why the alarm wasn't turning off, when he was clearly hitting the snooze button.

This is Willson's latest trick. Andy thought it was hysterical! The two of them were sitting on the couch laughing for about 20 minutes before I actually started taking video of him!

Time Out for Women

I was able to attend Time Out for Women last weekend. It was amazing! I've never been to one before and have vowed to never miss one again. It was so wonderful! I left there feeling so inspired and so thankful for everything that I've been blessed with. So happy too! It was cute when I told the kids where I'd be going, they didn't get it. To them a time out is a bad thing. It was cute when I was leaving, early Saturday morning, as I grabbed my sweater I heard a whisper from the boys room. I poked my head in and Mason, my early riser, said "Are you going to Women's time out?" I told him yes, I loved him, and to wake Daddy up. It was so nice to say that! I think that everyone has felt the difference that day made in my life and in turn theirs also. Hillary Weeks was the musical presenter for the day. Man, I loved her music! I don't own any of her Cd's, so I made sure to remedy that situation by buying one at the event. It's been so wonderful to listen to it and remember the inspiration that I felt while listening to her. Another added bonus of purchasing, at the event, is that you were able to choose a free lithograph, from a table with assorted pictures. I went to check out what they had and so ecstatic to find this amazing print of Jerusalem. After rearranging pictures on my walls, to secure the coveted above the piano spot, for my new favorite print I promptly set out to purchase an inexpensive frame from Walmart and cannot wait until next month when I can afford to have a custom mat made for it. I've already played with my scrap booking paper and have found the color I want to have it matted in. I had to prematurely hang it, for fear that the kids would get a hold of it, but I can see the beauty that it will be soon. I can't wait! It's going to be so beautiful! To add to the day, I was able to see my old college roommate, Carol and her baby sister Wendy, who isn't such a baby anymore (she's married...when the heck did that happen?). I haven't seen Carol in 2 1/2 years, since her wedding. We didn't get to talk for very long, but it was sooo wonderful to see her and I'm so excited that we live in the same state now and can see each other! What a day!

Savannah

My Savannah turns 9 years old today! I can't believe my first baby is no longer a baby. I've been thinking about how much she means to me and how thankful I am for her. I was talking on the phone with my mom this morning and we were talking about how some children are just easier to raise. I, of course, was one of those ; ) as is Savannah.

We had a slumber party, our first birthday one ever. She invited 4 friends. Sarah & Kristen from next door, Alli from 2 houses down (can I just say how much I love our neighborhood), and Erica from school. When I was up with Willson at 1 am, they were still up, winding down, but still up. They didn't disrupt us though, so I didn't really care. Now that I think about it though, maybe they were the reason Willson woke up. Hhm.

Floppy Bunny Ears

I don't know who came up with the idea, but one night the girls wanted floppy bunny ears, to hop around with. So, we broke out the ponytail holders and man did they have fun!

Sick Bed

It all started a few days ago...

Savannah was home sick with a fever, so I made her a sick bed on the couch. Willson was very intrigued by it and kept trying to sit on it. Savannah was good about laying down so that he didn't have room to be on it.

Willson seemed to be fine with it.

That was until Mason came down with the same thing.

I again pulled out the sick bed blanket and proceeded to make one for Mason. Willson watched me intently. As soon as it was made he crawled up onto the couch and sat at the end of it. Now, Mason being a boy, can't seem to sit still, even when he has a fever, so there was always a place for Willson to sit. In an effort to contain germs, we were constantly shooing Willson off the blanket.

He didn't like that at all!

Being the tired Mom that I was, I'm suffering from a nasty head cold, sick children and screaming baby, I needed a solution fast. So, I asked Willson if he wanted a sick bed too. He looked at me in confusion, so I just went with it. I told Willson to come with me to get a blanket from his room. He dutifully followed me, still confused. We grabbed a blanket from the shelf and brought it back out to the Living Room. As I was spreading the blanket Willson seemed to get the idea. He scrambled on to the couch and was so excited to sit on his sick bed. He was sitting there patting the couch saying "spot, spot" over and over.

He was so excited!

For about 5 minutes.

Such is life.

Is this cold?

So, throughout our (almost) 10 years of marriage one of Andy's favorite things to do is anytime he's holding something cold (ice cream, milk, ice water etc...) he'll walk up, usually behind me, and press it against my neck, leg, arm (any exposed skin really, he's not particular) and say, as I gasp, "Is this cold?". Well apparently he's done it enough that now the kids have started doing it too. Mostly Delaney. She's our funny one. So this morning I was making her a bowl of cereal and I asked her to grab the milk from the fridge. She was struggling to get the, nearly full, gallon of milk onto the counter, which she only has 1/2 a head of height on. She pauses as it's nearly to the top, lowers it and presses it against my, thankfully covered, stomach and says "Is this cold?" and giggles. I made the appropriate cries of alarm and then she smiled and lifted the milk onto the counter. Thanks Andy!

I heard a commotion from the girls room. Both girls came running into the Living Room yelling and laughing. Then I heard Mason grunting down the hall. When I came around the corner I saw him hopping down the hall with his feat tied together. The funny thing is he tied himself up! He so sweetly fell to the floor and held his feet out, so that I could take a picture.

Kids say the darndest things

So, on our adventure Saturday the kids said some really funny things...

"I'm not yelling, I'm just a loud talker." - Mason

In determining which elevator is the freight elevator on the ferry...

"Is that the freaky elevator?" - Delaney

While running at the park...

"Can I run like a teenager?" - Delaney

When a Male stranger sat next to Delaney on the Ferry and feeling a need to rationalize moving to my other side...

"I'm allergic to sitting by people." - Delaney

What a fun trip!!

Ferry Cool!

We took the kids on a Ferry ride yesterday, for the first time. We all had so much fun! We didn't tell the kids where we were going, we let them guess when we got there. This picture is the Ferry we road to Bainbridge Island.

It was so windy and cold! Mason and I enjoyed the wind so much! We don't get wind like we do in CA here in WA. so it was so nice to feel it! I was talking to Savannah about going on the Ferry and I said "Very Cool" then she said "No, it's Ferry Cool!"