No More Cribs

Our home officially has no more cribs. Hudson has been out of a "crib" for over 6 months. Actually he has been in his crib with the side taken off. I am not a fan of the toddler size bed. But now he is in an actual twin bed. He loves it. I bought him some great soft sheets and he told me that his bed is nice & fluffy. It made me a little sad realizing that is probably the last time a crib will be up in our house. sniff sniff.

So, I was thinking about potty training. I asked Hudson what he thought and he said "I don't like potty's". I told Connor that every time Hudson uses the potty, they both get M&M's. Connor is motivated to help his brother. Here was their conversation on the way to school.

Connor: Hudson, how 'bout when I get home you use the potty

Hudson: No

Connor: Oh, come on, for me?

Hudson: No

Hudson did watch Connor the other day & then used it and they both got M&M's and all was right with the world. I told Connor that if he potty trains Hudson for me then I will buy him any toy he wants at the toys store. Wrong. Smart, but still wrong!

Start Spreading The News.....

OK, I'm not leaving TODAY. But, I did just booked a flight for the 4 of us to NY. We are going to visit my family in October. It will be 3 years since we have visited. OK, so I kinda hate traveling. With kids, I REALLY hate traveling. What can I say. I am a home body. Though, I am super excited to see everyone back home. My cousin Joe has already offered to host a party for us. And he invited us to stay at his home. I had the kids singing New York, New York on our walk this morning. They are so excited to ride in an airplane. I am not quite as excited. I just can't imagine trying to keep Hudson still for 3 hours. I already called Erin in a panic. They travel with their kids a few times a year and I wanted to ask her what kind of drugs she takes before the flight. Apparently she doesn't take any. She's just brave. That & oh yeah she bribes the kids along the way with toys & treats. I can do that.

Oh, and I am a little freaked out that Hudson has NEVER slept anywhere but his own bed. He is going to be too big for a pack & play. Really I have 6 months before the trip so I should stop freaking out. But, that is not in my nature.

Welcome back

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. I really haven't made any notes on anything we did, so the last two weeks are basically a wash and we will start over from here.

Oh, we did go to the OC Fair. The boys had a blast. Hudson just reached 36", so he was able to ride most of the rides this year. Olivia was only 35", and it was breaking Erin's heart that she couldn't get on any rides. So, Brandon cut up his cup and we stuffed the styrofoam in her shoes. It worked great. We all would have done just about anything to get her on the rides.

I swear I needed another week off to recoup from the vacation. Though I am already thinking about next year. It's nice for parents to have some time away from the kids to kick back and relax. We are so lucky to have that time. So, I am thinking maybe the Florida Keys. Though another cruise does sound good. I really like that I don't have to plan anything.... food, activity, etc. But, I would really like to go on a cruise with less families this time. Not sure how to make that happen.

The new word(s) in our house is "banana pants". The kids call each other banana pants, they call me banana pants. Today they called the clerk at Fresh Market "banana pants". I have no idea where it came from, but it really is a pretty term.

The other night Brandon went to check on the kids before we went to bed. He ran downstairs and told me to go look at Hudson. When I got upstairs I found him in his bed....naked! Well, he still had his diaper on. But, you could tell he had tried to take it off. The funniest part is that if I tell him to get undresses he tells me that he can't take off his own shirt.

Well, blogger wont let me upload any pics right now, so you will have to wait for tomorrow for new pics... Later!

Cruise 2008

The Piano bar Back to reality! We left last Sunday for a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas. We got on the boat just about as early as they would let us. First thing I did was head right to the spa & schedule a massage & facial for that evening. There is no better way to start vacation. Well, except maybe with some rum, so I did that too! After dinner we headed over to the piano bar. We clicked instantly with the piano player. After we closed down the piano bar we went over to the dance club, but we were not feeling it so I think we did something else, but the large amounts of rum have blurred my memory.

Monday: Boat docked in Freeport. Got off boat, bought gifts for the kids, got back on boat. The boys played golf, went on water slide and some other activities. Girls sat by pool, read books and drank rum. At dinner Brandon & Freddy each ate 6 lobsters and 21 shrimp. It was kinda gross to watch. After dinner we went to karaoke and Brett once again brought the house down with "Whoomp, there it is". I can't explain how awesome it is to see this normally reserved white man bust out with a rap. He even knew all the words! Next, we headed over to the piano bar. The place was dead, but we brought the party. By the time we closed it down the place was a blast. Went to the dance club. No one was dancing, but that's OK, we brought the party there too! By the time we left, the dance floor was packed.

(the girls on formal night)

Tuesday: Boat docked in Nassau. Freddy hooked us up with day passes to the Atlantis resort. It was AMAZING!!!!! If you are planning a family vacation, look there. We spent the day acting like 12 year olds. We went on water slides and went on the not so lazy river 3 times. It was so much fun! The aquarium there is outstanding. When we got back on the boat Erin felt very sick & didn't make it to dinner. Turned out she was dehydrated. The rest of us were all so tired we were in bed by midnight. But, I was not complaining.

Atlantis!

Wednesday: Day at sea. Boys played golf again. They also played a game called "water wars" where you shoot water balloons at each other. Then we noticed them on the water slide. They had a stop watch & were timing each other to see who got down the slide the fastest. Freddy won with 6.1 seconds. Boys will be boys! The girls sat by the pool, read and drank rum. That night after dinner it was back to the piano bar. That was the most fun night at the piano bar. So much so that the piano player actually thanked us on his web site.

Our drink waiter, Dennis at dinner was the same waiter in the piano bar. So, let's just say he saw us a lot. He was in love with Katina. Until the last night I don't even think he knew any one's name except hers. Every night he brought Brandon a "special" shot. After Brandon drank it, Dennis would make up a name for it & then tell us what was in it. Only problem was he had a think accent from Uganda. So, really he could have said just about anything.

The food was really good. The piano player was too. We were a little more laid back than last year, but still had just as much fun. Uh, oh.... does that mean we are getting old?

So there is a very brief synopsis of our trip. Many details were left out to protect the innocent. But here are some pictures that won't ruin our reputations, or our future bids for Mayor. Woods/King in 2020!!

Freddy "making change" at the piano baahh (he's from Boston)

Water Wars!

I am pretty sure Brett is saying "What's wrong, I'm good at everything!"

Brandon, getting the hang of it!

Thanks again to our friends for helping us have another great vacation. We bring the party!

Home!

We returned home from the cruise last night. It still feels like the boat is rocking. We are TIRED! I will post for real when I edit through some of the pictures. We had a blast and the kids did just fine. More later....

Top 5

Top 5 ways you can tell you only get 4 days away from the kids per year.


1) You way over prepare for vacation, i.e. pedicure, manicure, whiten teeth, self tanner, waxing.


2) You are the kind of person who doesn't buy a piece of clothing for 6 months, yet everything you wear on vacation has tags on it.


3) You write an encyclopedia for the in-laws to follow while you are gone.


4) You buy a new "going out" shirt for each night you are away because you know that you haven't gone out dancing since last years vacation and you wont go out dancing again until next years vacation.


5) You are slightly giddy at the thought of only cutting your own food and eating french fries with every meal without being a bad influence to anyone.

OK, so we leave for a cruise to the Bahamas on Sunday. I wont post this until after we return because my husband would freak out if I were telling the world we were going away for 4 days. We are going with Brett & Erin and Freddy & Katina. I am so excited! I am a little more worried about the kids this year. Hudson has some major separation anxiety these days. If Connor doesn't see Brandon for 2 days he becomes depressed. But, I know Brandon's parents will take good care of them.

Back to normal

On Saturday I stopped taking the prednisone. Please, no lectures from my nurse friends about what a bad idea that was. The medicine made me hallucinate and put me in a bad place. So, I stopped. I went to the chiropractor 3 times last week and started taking B12. Saturday and Sunday night were hard. I was having prednisone withdrawal symptoms. Monday I had feeling in my thumb and pointer finger. By Wednesday I had full feeling back. Yeah!!! I will never go on the medication again. I am so psyched to have the feeling back in my arm. Thanks for putting up with me!

The terrible 2 at the zoo

Today we met some of Connor's school friends at the local Zoo. They opened a splash zone for the kids with lots of fun sprinklers and water fountains. Connor enjoyed it, but Hudson just wanted to walk around it. He wanted to water to be warm. Welcome to 2 years old! But, more on that later.

Connor had fun with Ethan & Louis. Plus Ethan has a little sister, Eliza who is 1 month younger than Hudson. The kids all played well together for the most part. Ethan's Mom, Tracy told me she would e-mail me the pictures she took, so I am sure I'll be sharing those soon. Like you haven't seen enough pictures of the boys at the zoo.

Ok, so I think, maybe, possibly, Hudson has entered the terrible 2's. I hate to even say that out loud. Connor never went through the terrible two's. Then everyone warned me that the 3's would be worse. But he really didn't go through those either. Their personalities are so different. Connor is a pleaser. He always wants to be good and gets very upset if he thinks he is in trouble. Hudson, notsomuch. He does not care about being in trouble. That is scary. All he wanted to do today was RUN. And usually it was not in the direction that everyone else was going in. Plus, he has been whining lately. This drives us crazy! The kid can talk in full sentences. There is NO reason to whine. We have already started to try and curb this behavior. I just hope Hudson gives in before we fall over.