Happenings around here

Washing the car

Everyone helping

These kids love taking showers. They would stay in for hours if I let them.

Another shot of Junior always having to touch Gaga while riding in the car. This time they both fell asleep.

Gaga's infamous pout face

Great One brought this over one day for the kids to see what he had found. We kept it all of two days before taking it back to him and letting him find a place to set it free. The kids enjoyed watching it walk around our back yard in the early mornings. During the day it would just dig a small hole in the corner of the yard and set up camp.

Gaga trying on Junior's bike helmet

Bedtime stories on the couch

4 Year Stats

4 year old stats:
43 1/2 inches tall

39 lbs.

Getting ready for his 4 year check up, I thought I would let him know a few weeks before hand that he would be getting shots at his check up and see if it helped make him less apprehensive. I was not thinking clearly that day because it was of course the wrong thing to do. Anytime we talked about the doctor whether it was for him or not, he would get all worked up again about getting shots and not wanting them. The day of his appointment I didn't even mention to him that we were going until we pulled in the parking lot of the doctor's office building. He quickly asked if he was going to be getting shots and I pretended I didn't hear him and for the moment it worked and we went in to the office.

He was very good about answering the nurses questions about his development and had his blood pressure taken for the first time. I think he was excited to be treated like a big boy! He had his hearing tested and passed with flying colors and also his eye sight tested. Before the eye sight test began the nurse had him up close to the eye chart to make sure he knew what all the symbols were that he was going to have to repeat later. The last one on one of the columns was a plus sign (+). He told the nurse that it was a cross. But later when the eye test was started and he was rambling off all the symbols, when that one came up again he said it was Jesus! The nurse smiled and said she had never heard that one before! Too cute! I wish I had my camera at the appointment because halfway through the eye test, Gaga had been standing by me off to the side and decided that she wanted to play the game Junior was playing also and walked over to the line, stood side by side with Junior, covered one of her eyes with her hand and repeated everything Junior said. Ex: Junior would say "star", she would repeat "dar" and so on. It was hilarious!

After the doctor examined him and gave him a clean bill of health and an A+ for Mommy, I told him that all we had left to do was get the shots and we could leave. You could see the fear in his eyes. :( The nurse wanted him to lay down on the table with his legs over the edge. He refused to lay all the way down and only did partially so he could still see the nurse giving him the shots. Usually they have both nurses give them all at once, but the other nurse went home sick after lunch so it was just one giving 3 shots. The first one was just an "Ow." The second one was a little longer "OWWWWW" and the third was the "I can't stay still on this table I am going to fly off it hurts that bad, OW"! Poor guy was stiff legged and walked with a limp out of the office crying big alligator tears. The doctor came out of his office to give Junior a small bag of cookies to help calm him down. It helped a little, but Junior was still racing to get out of that place. Thank goodness it's a LONG time until we do that again!

Passed out as soon as we got back from his 4 year check up...poor guy did not appreciate the shots that were given :(

Tee ball time!

Besides garbage trucks, another passion of Junior's is baseball! (Daddy loves this!) We had his first practice on Friday night (postponed because of rain) and his first game the next day. Of course he looked so cute in his gear, but the smile on his face the first time he stepped up to the plate, hit the ball and started running to 1st base was priceless! He was on cloud nine!

He was at 3rd base for the first inning and never had the chance to get the ball. All the balls were being hit to the pitching mound or more towards 1st base. Junior must have caught on to that because in the second inning he was ready to head out to the field and asked his coach where to go. The coached asked him where he wanted to go and he pointed to the pitching mound. Smart boy! The coach said to go ahead and Junior was on cloud nine again running out to the pitching mound. He was able to retrieve about 80% of the balls hit and throw them fairly accurately to 1st base. I was one proud mommy! During the second inning Junior must have seen the coach's son all geared up as catcher behind the plate. This sparked his interest because the next thing I knew Junior was talking to the coach before the third inning and then the coach was suiting him up to go behind the plate. He looked hilarious! He was supposed to shag the balls thrown back to the plate and put them on the tee. Although he never did this because he couldn't move with all the equipment on him. After about two batters, he started to walk away and tell the coach that he was DONE!!! Can't blame him for trying.

First Tee ball game

Birthday boy turns 4!!!

Now would be as good a time as any to explain how much Junior LOVES garbage trucks/trashmen. I know many little boys can become obsessed with one thing or another, but I never though mine would be head over heels for the garbage man/truck.

1. He wants to be a trashman when he grows up!
   
2. He can hear them coming from 5 blocks away.
3. He knows what day of the week they come (Friday). When he asks what day it is before we leave to go somewhere and I tell him it is Friday he is then upset for the chance that we might be gone when they come by our house.
4. He knows they do one side of the alley first and in about 10 minutes will be back to do the other side and will need the garage door left open so we don't miss it.
5. When we visit my grandparents or parents and he sees trash bags on the side of the road when we turn on their street, it brightens his day knowing that he will be able to see the garbage truck.
6. One day he asked me how many seats a garbage truck had. I told him probably just two. He was quiet for a little bit and then said, "Well, then Daddy will ride with me in the front and you and Gaga can hang on the back." (I don't think so, buddy!)
   
7. He likes to play garbage man at the grocery store and will JUMP onto the side of the cart as soon as we get there, JUMP off to grab an item I point out to him, THROW it into the cart and proceed to JUMP back on the side of the cart ready for the next "bag of trash". (Our garbage truck has the forklift on the side to pick up the cans, but the one at my parents and grandparents house has the men that stand on the back and jump on and off to get bags of trash. That's where he gets this from.)
   
8. All he wanted for his birthday was a garbage truck, not a toy one, but the real one. When I asked him where we would put it, he replied very plainly, "the backyard". Like that was a silly question for me to ask. Well, he did get his garbage truck, but just the toy one and it even had the forklift on the side to pick up a trashcan just like the one that comes to our house does. He pushes the lever and up goes the trashcan and forklift, dumps the trash and then pushes the lever back down. He loves it!
9. The only other request I had was a garbage truck cake. WHAT?! Are you kidding me...well, I got that done too. I am no artist, but I was pretty proud of that cake and so was Junior!

Happy 4th Birthday sweet boy! We love you!!!

Junior's 4th Birthday

First day of school

This year Junior is in the 4's class going three days a week. He has 4 classmates from his 2's and 3's class the past two years so it made for an easy transition to start a new year. He is still attending speech twice a week for 30 minutes at the local elementary school. He's doing so well, that I don't think he will be doing that much longer, which I am so happy about. First because he's doing better, but second because it sure is hard to get up in the morning!

Ready to go!

Silly face

Gaga had to get in on the action

This picture was actually from his second day, but it was his birthday and he was sitting next to his friends.

Houston Trip 2010

We decided to take a trip and drive to Houston to visit Aunt K and our college friends from Tech. Junior and Daddy had not been down there in over a year. Gaga and I had flown there last year for a "girls trip".

Aunt K had fun events lined up for us almost the entire weekend. We drove in Thursday night and got started early on Friday morning making it out to the Children's Museum. The kids really enjoyed themselves. There was so much to do and see. Later that afternoon we made it to our college friend's house to visit with them and of course meet the newest member of the A family. As from the pictures below, she is just beautiful!!! I couldn't resist buying her and Gaga matching shirts to wear that day. They were too cute! Then we went to dinner and met up with more wonderful college friends and headed back to Aunt K's house ready for another fun-filled day.

Saturday we managed to fit in a tour of Minute Maid park and take a short train ride around Herman park, but not before Gaga fell asleep in the car and slept through the whole train ride in my arms. It was so incredibly hot that we had to stick an ice pack from the lunch we had packed in between our bodies. It was completely thawed by the time the 20-minute train ride was over. Minute Maid park was exciting! I have never been on a major league baseball's field before. Then if it wasn't enough, attended mass and went out to eat.

Sunday before heading home we went to visit Great Granny (she always loves to see us and especially her great-grandkids) and then had lunch with Aunt K's good friend, her husband and their adorable baby boy.

Thanks for the hospitality Aunt K, can't wait till next time!

Houston Trip 2010

Zoo fun and a birthday party

We were invited to a birthday party at a local zoo a few days ago. It was HOT outside but we still had a wonderful time! The best parts were the crafts in the party room and the animal visitors! Thanks to the M family for the invite and great party idea!

Elephants

Junior, Daddy and Gaga

HUGE alligator that Gaga would not get near...I don't blame her!

Large snake...eww!

Gorilla eating lunch

Baby alligator visitor

Penguin visitor (my favorite)

Junior with the birthday boy!

Beck Wedding

A little over a month ago we traveled to Tennessee to see my cousin get married. The trip there was more overwhelming than I expected, but at least the trip back was not as hectic. I figured the kids would take a nap more easily if we were driving but Gaga had a really hard time falling asleep and I don't think Junior ever did (he was too busy watching videos on his DVD player). After a lot of crankiness and frustration we ended up having a great time at the wedding and reception. We made it in town the night before the wedding and celebrated Aunt K's birthday with a few presents and a cake. At the wedding the next day, Daddy and I took turns leaving the church with Gaga who apparently forgot how to be quiet even with a paci in her mouth. :/ After the wedding we stuck around for pictures, then got something to eat and then headed back to our hotel room to sneak in naps for the kids (we had a long break in between the wedding and the reception). Once at the reception the kids were able to let loose! They sure needed it after a long car ride and having to behave during the wedding. They rarely left the dance floor except to grab a couple bites of cake or a potty break. We all had a blast, adults and kids alike! Thanks for a great time and lovely wedding! Good luck to the new bride and groom! Click on the picture below to see all the excitement!

Beck Wedding

Keeping busy

Talking to Aunt K on the phone

Still talking...this girl loves to talk!

Met up with some good old friends! We've known them for years! So good to see them!

Junior loved playing with the girls! Superman!

1st professional family photo in 18 months

Gaga riding a "horse". Junior thought it was hilarious!

Touching a boa constrictor at a wildlife presentation

Say "CHEESE"!

Junior started out in "quiet time" on our bed because he rarely naps anymore and then came out to find me and wanted me to wait a couple minutes and then come "find" him. I guess I took too long to seek him!

Junior's first swim lessons

I always thought since being a competitive swimmer for most of my life I would be able to teach my own children to swim. Two years ago Junior would jump off the side of the pool with no coaxing, go under water and be pulled up by me and want to do it over and over again. Over the last two summers he had become more apprehensive about the water being too deep or as he would say "too much". He rarely would want to jump off the side of the pool and only if we were holding his hands and pulling him in. I realized then that I would not be able to teach this one how to swim. So I signed him up for swim lessons with my old high school swim coach and his daughter. They were excellent teachers! I also had a co-worker sign up her son (and Junior's friend) to be in the same class so he would have a friend and help ease the anxiety. He enjoyed every day he had class and did surprisingly well. I thought for sure he would throw a fit and cry if they asked him to do something he didn't want to do. He was 99% fearless. The teachers even had him swimming a few inches in between them while neither of them was holding on to him. That was a major milestone for him. Of course the fear returns anytime we take him to the pool and ask him to do anything that would make him have to let go of us in deep water. I'm sure it will just take some time and we will work with him throughout the year. Nonetheless, we are so proud of how much he did at his lessons!

Awaiting his turn

Holding his breath and going underwater

Kicking race!

Jumping (being tossed in) from the diving board! He loved it!

All done with his lessons!