Transformers Battle Scars

I'm going to take a picture of him tomorrow and post it, but Zack has a big gash on his forehead that required and ED visit this morning. He and Daddy were "Transformer" fighting (that's what Zack calls play fighting after he watches the Transformers movie). Zack came running down the hall and dodged a 'hit' from Daddy, but fell right onto the edge of the dining room chair. We both knew immediately that play fighting was over for the day, but we didn't think he would have more than a big bump on his head. That is, until he looked up and there was blood running down his face. We moved him to the kitchen and put ice and pressure on it. And if you've ever experienced a head wound, they bleed...a LOT...I mean, it was gushing from the wound!!! Mark said that, had he not had head wounds of his own, he would have been a little more worried about the bleeding. Xander was even worried about Zack. He was standing in front of him saying (in his own language), "Zacky? Zacky?" Xander also helped by trying to wipe off the dried blood with a baby wipe. I wish I had the camera for that. So anyway, for the second time in less than a year, we took Zack to the emergency room. The good news is that they only had to use derma-bond, a liquid bandage, to close the wound. The bad news, I guess, from Mommy's perspective, is that I have to keep the wound dry for about 2 days (and his hair is matted from the blood) and I have to keep him from running around inside and outside for about 5 days (this is not an easy task with the active child that I have). But through the whole thing, Zack was very brave, only cried in the beginning, and was rewarded with a McDonalds Happy Meal at lunch. We were both so proud of how he handled it.

I know his expression is awful, but it gives you a good look at his battle wound.

Kids say (and do) the darndest...part 2

This could also be titled "How to spank yourself." Zack was in the bedroom watching a movie, and Mark and I were in the living room. Suddenly he comes running out to us, and he said, "Mommy and Daddy, I finally figured out how to spank myself. You just put your hand behind you and slam it down!" I'm not sure why he was so proud of himself, but you know we couldn't help but laugh.

Another short story--Earlier today, I was working on scrapbooking and Xander was at the table drawing with a marker (after he had stuck about 12 stickers on top of each other on a piece of paper). I'm not sure what made me look over at him, but I saw him with the marker on his hand. Of course, I told him, "No, Xander, draw on the paper." So he put the marker back on the paper and I returned to what I was doing. No more than a couple seconds later, he made his little sound that tells me he's asking something, and I turn around again to find him with the marker on his hand. His hand was also covered with brown lines! Unfortunately, I couldn't hide my laugh from him, so he kept doing it!

(I know these were very random, but oh well!)

Remarkable Kid and Cookie Adventure

Xander learned a new skill (?) today! He has a shape sorter that has 6 shapes, with three holes on each end of a cylinder. As he was playing with it today, he would pick up a shape. If it didn't go on the end that was facing up, he turned the whole thing over. I don't think he realized exactly what he was doing, but he was kind of matching the colors. He got almost every shape in the correct whole on the first try. What was really cool was that we could actually see him thinking, see his thought process. He would pick up a shape and hold it close to the holes to see if it matched. It's just a remarkable blessing to watch a child learn something new!

So here's another adventure that we had on Saturday. I decided to make cookies, but not the kind that you take out of a package and place on the cookie sheet. We actually had to measure and mix the ingredients!! I went to the grocery store because we didn't have enough sugar or vanilla. When I got back home, I realized that I didn't have enough flour either (I thought there was some in the cabinet, but we only had what was in the canister). So I had to borrow that from my neighbor. As I was getting back home with the flour, I heard Mark fussing at Zack in the kitchen, and I came inside to find an egg cracked open and all over the kitchen floor. Zack had decided to help, and since he dropped that one, he was getting two more out of the carton. (Mark now knows how hard it is to clean up raw egg from the floor.) The boys both helped with the mixing. Xander fell off the stool and tried to put his teeth through his lip, plus he was covered with sticky brown sugar. Zack was helping to stir the dry ingredients gently, but somehow ended up with flour all over his pants. Oh, and when the directions say to leave the cookies on the cookies for 2 minutes, then cool completely on a rack, they mean only 2 minutes. I had to leave the cookies on the sheet for about 10 minutes while I put Xander down for a nap, and I broke up two or three cookies trying to scrape them off. The good news is the cookies turned out really yummy!!

Kids say the darndest...

When Zack wakes up in the morning, he likes to come to our bed and lay on top of Mark. He always lays on his stomach and fidgets, turning his head back and forth. He also tends to hold his breath for some reason. So I asked him the other morning why he always holds his breath. He said, "Because I don't want it to fall out!"

Winter Wonderland, Day 4!!

Yes, the snow in North Carolina has actually stuck around for 4 days!! The high today was in the mid to upper 50's, but some of the snow that hasn't gotten much sun hasn't melted yet. So, we pulled out the tube again and went to the neighbor's yard. I want you to notice that Zack and Xander are not dressed in snow pants today, and they only have fleece jackets on. After a while, I didn't have any jacket on! So playing in the snow, sledding/tubing, having a snowball fight, all in 50 degree weather!! Only in North Carolina, I think!!

You can see how patchy the snow is.

Once the tube went in the ditch, it went pretty fast and spun around at the bottom.

A Year and a Half

Xander turned 18 months today! I just can't believe that he's been here that long. He is such a sweet little boy, and he amazes me every day. He is learning new words--he says dog, Zack, Daddy, fish, cracker, juice, shoes, jacket, close, cookie, duck, and some others, but no more than one word at a time. He is wonderful at being a copycat--using anything with buttons as a phone and talking to the imaginary person on the other end of the line, copying motions that go along with songs, and playing with cars and trucks like his brother does! He understands tons more than what he can say, and he is a good little helper, when he wants to be. Xander loves playing outside, blowing bubbles, watching dogs, reading books, singing and dancing, and, overall, just being a boy!! He drives us crazy sometimes, as does his brother, but I would not trade these boys for anything!

There's my boy!!
Strike a pose, Xander!
Brother still loving each other (plus, Zack wanted to be in a picture, too)

Winter Wonderland, Day 3

This is day 2 of the snow. We tried to use a rubbermaid container lid, but it just collected the snow instead.

One Day 2, we went to Lowes Foods and found this snow tube. It wasn't in the computer system, so the cashier gave it to me for $3.99! I get very light-headed blowing it up :). Okay, Zack, let's give this a whirl!

Here's an action shot of Xander, coming straight towards me!

Xander was in the way, then he got behind Zack and tried to push him. It turned into a snow face plant.

Mark started making a snowman on day 1, but got discourages and tired. I found his big snow ball in the back yard and made a feeble attempt to finish it. It's kind of cute, right?

Random!!

These are just some pics that I have from various times over the past couple of weeks.

It was just too cute. I had to take a picture.

We went to the Museum of Natural Sciences. It was the second time I had taken the boys since I've been home, but there seem to always be new things to explore. Unfortunately, the butterfly room and the kids discovery room were closed, but we had fun anyway.

Xander was all about the fish. These aren't real, but he layed down on the floor to see under the fake water.

Pooja, Xander and Zack in the dinosaur footprint

Xander and Pooja with the big dinosaur

We had alfredo for dinner that night, and somehow, Zack had gotten it all over his face. This child can have one single cookie and get chocolate everywhere. It baffles me, but it was cute and fun.

Xander has been having a really rough time napping, and he's been making it very hard on me. Today was a new trick, if you can call it that. We had spaghettios for lunch, then I gave them a bath. I wrapped them up in my bed and put in Elmo. Xander was asleep within 10 or 15 minutes, leaning on Zack, and he actually slept a little over 2 hours that day!! It was the longest nap he had had in a long time!

My sister knew the frustrations I was having with the boys and especially Xander's nap issues, so she decided to kidnap the boys for the day. I was able to get work done at home, go the gym, have lunch with Mark at work, visit Andrea and her new baby and have a candle-lit dinner with my husband, all without children.

A Winter Wonderland

Today was really a wonderful day, and it all started very early! Mark was originally going to go to the gym at 5:45am for a spin class, then off to work. When his alarm went off at 5:15, we looked outside and were amazed to see a blanket of snow on the grass and cars. Then we went back to bed. When we got up again with Xander at 7, the snow had covered the driveways, roads, cars, everything!! We had a nice hot breakfast before bundling up ourselves and the boys. Zack and Xander immediately went through the front yard, messing up the fresh, clean snow. Mark decided to use a laundry basket as a sled! We played with the neighbor kids for a while, then headed inside for lunch. We also watched history on tv, with the inauguration of President Barack Obama. We went back outside later and Mark got the crazy idea to use Xander's mattress as a sled (hey, it's waterproof!). We had tons of fun in the snow, making snow angels, snowballs and snow cream. I'm glad that we were able to enjoy it as much as possible while it lasted (because I know it will probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon).

The first footprints...

Xander was trying to make snowballs, too, but the mittens were too big!

Me and my sweet boys

Sledding with the laundry basket...

Xander's turn

Zack loved making snow angels..over and over again!

Daddy and Mommy are kids, too!!

Zack, Pooja, Mark, Xander, Miles, Christina and Lanaysia catching snowflakes on their tongues

Xander loved sliding down the hill-in the laundry basket and on his mattress

The boys "sledding" together

Look at how deep the snow drift was! Almost up to his knees. I think by the end of the day, we had almost 6 inches accumulation, the most that I have seen since we've lived in Knightdale, at least.

Shoveling the driveway..oh, wait, that's the yard!

The sunset through the crabapple tree--we saw God today!

My Birthday Bash

I really wanted to go to Kanki, but the wait was too long for us, so we went to Friday's instead. We had a very nice dinner, the headed to Buckhead Saloon in downtown Raleigh. To make a long story short, I had a couple fruity drinks, a couple Red Bull drinks, and quite a few purple shots (I don't know what they were). Then I did some things that I'm not exactly proud of, and the whole night is sort of blurry. Even so, I had a blast, and I hope that everybody else that was there did, too.

This was the sunset on Wednesday (that freaky, windy day in the Triangle). I love my new camera!!

Me, all prettied up, and Mark, at dinner

Mary, Eileen, Me, Susan (sorry about the umbrella in front of you face) and Lisa...ready to go!

Me, Susan and Katie

Me and Lisa, with Caroline giving us bunny ears


Six out of the ten of us--Carolin, Danny, Me, Maureen, Kevin, and Eileen

I decided to leave out some of the drunker pictures, since this is supposed to be a site about our family, and not just me.

Xander's Breakthough

I was sitting on the couch watching a movie, during which Xander had been sleeping on my lap. When he woke up, he went behind the couch and played. I peeked over the back of the couch to see what he was doing, and he had all of the library books spread out on the floor. After a little while, I heard him "singing." When we clean up, we sing the clean up song, and Xander tries to sing along. Well, he was singing the clean up song (his way, of course) and trying to put books back into the library bag. Yeah for Xander!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

When Zack wanted me to get the kite out today, I was reluctant. The last kite we had, we could never manage to get it up in the air for more than two seconds or so. This one, though, a dollar one from Walmart, once we figured it out, it was flying like crazy!! We had to wait for the wind to be just right and in the right direction, then Spiderman was up and away!! The kids loved it, but I was thrilled, too, because I can't really think of another time I flew a kite like that!!

Pooja managed to get it up in the air!

I was flying the kite with one hand and taking a picture with the other!

Xander wanted to try, but then the wind died down.

We got it to fly a little bit!

All this excitement, and Xander was playing with pine straw!!

Tae Kwon Do

Zack had his first tae kwon do class last Friday. He was so excited, and he did a really great job listening to the instructor. He learned some different moves/forms (I'm really not sure of the terminology at this point). We are hoping this will be a good social experience for Zack, as well as boosting his confidence, coordination, and focus.

Zack in his uniform (with dinner still on his face :) )

He got another stripe--a yellow one--on his belt!!