He hides his eyes and counts (“fa, fov, fa, fov”).
He takes off running in search of his big sister.
He’s nowhere close to finding her but then she makes a noise to help him. (Such a good big sis.)
He goes running toward the noise and screams “Air e is!”
It’s now his turn to hide.
He immediately “hides” right where Nia was hiding – the whole time wearing a huge smile on his face.
Nia counts and says “Ready or not, here I come!”
Nate runs out of where he was “hiding” and yells “Air e is!”
It’s funny because if we still lived in Savannah, I would be able to enjoy the company of good friends whenever I wanted. I would be able to call them up on any random day and say “let’s meet up for dinner.” I would be able to spend any weekend afternoon at the park with them or brave the mall with babies in tow. As much as I would love to be able to do those things, one thing living several hours away has done is require SLEEP OVERS!
I have always loved having friends stay over my house. My mom spoiled me by letting me have anywhere from 5 to 12 pre-teen/teen girls keep her awake with our giggles and screams and New Kids on the Block song renditions (choreographed dances included). Now that I’m older, the sleep overs have changed – we sure don’t stay up very late (1 am was insane!), we are now legally allowed to drink as much alcohol as we dare to, our conversations are about kids and money instead of which boy is cute and clothes/hair/weight – oh wait I’m wrong about that last one – weight is still a topic – but anyway – some things never change – like the comfort and security and sanity that good friends provide.
I loved getting to spend so much time with Ginger, Lee and Cami last weekend. We didn’t even have to do anything and it was fun. Watching the kids play – fun. Sitting on the couch and chillin’ (often with laptops) – fun. Heading out to Winder’s Fall Festival without knowing if it would be lame or not – fun (actually lots of fun). It was just so awesome getting my “friend fix” for 4 days straight and being able to celebrate Ginger’s birthday with her. I can only hope that we always try to do our best to share as many special events as we can together. After all, Ginger was part of one of the most special events in my life (Nia’s birth) and it just feels so natural to have our families grow up together. (And maybe even be able to watch our girls share more sleep overs!)
So Comfy
Nate went pee-pee on the potty! Isn’t that crazy? He can’t even say potty! We just tried it out of the blue and he did it! Now, we make it a routine thing every night before bath time. We aren’t really trying to “train” him yet but we figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least get him used to the idea. We’ll see!
Yesterday we drove to Savannah to celebrate Baby Ella’s birthday. I cannot believe she is 2! Our other little niece is also growing up too quickly! Gabbie-Goose (as Andrew loves to call her) will be 3 in just a few weeks!
I wish we could be there to celebrate with Gabbie but we’re just too far away to make the trek. Going to Savannah for Ella’s still meant we had to brave the Angry-Man-Who-Gets-Really-Peeved-on-Road-Trips (aka Nate) but we knew it wouldn’t be as rough on him (then us) because it’s a much shorter drive. It was so worth the little bit of anger Nate did scream at us though because Ella was very happy to have Nia there and I know Nia and Nate both had a blast!
It’s so hard having to watch the kids grow up from afar. I wish I could be there for them and their mommies and daddies to help them get things ready for parties, to babysit, to watch movies, to play, to hug…WHATEVER! For now though, I look forward to the special times we get to share and the happy memories we make while we’re together.
LOVE YOU FAMILY!
Here are just a few examples of the listening pleasures I get to be treated to each day – courtesy of the kids.
Nia: “Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Naaatttee, looook at meeeee. Nate, look at me Nate. NAAATTTEEE, look at me!”
Nate: “NO!”
Me: “NIA! That’s enough! Obviously, he does not want to look at you right now!”
Nia: “Why?”
Nia: “Momma, if you have green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and blue and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow – does that make a pattern?”
Me: Too exhausted and confused to give a clear answer. (I was trying to cook dinner at the same time.) It came out something like “Huh? Uh-huh.” I mean, I would really have to see that one written down on paper to know for sure if it made a pattern. There was no way I was counting up how many green and yellows she said before and after the blue!
Nate: “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”
Me: My reply to this is either – “Whatever dude.” “I don’t want to hear it.” or “mumble, mumble, mumble, tell me no, mumble, mumble, mumble.”
Nia: “Momma, I’m going to tell you a story. There was a frog and a balloon and a bug and the bug wanted to eat the balloon and the frog was going to the store and the balloon was at the store and the bug wanted to eat it and the frog got it and then a lion came in and said ‘roar’ and the balloon cried because it was scared and the bug felt bad for the balloon and didn’t want to eat it anymore but the lion did so he said “roar, I’m going to eat you up” and he did.”
Me: I would give a few “oh yeahs?” and “wows” throughout the story a “why did he do that” on occasion. One time she told a story during the ENTIRE time we were at the grocery store. That was like a 30 minute story or something. It was so hard to try to listen to her and make sure I got everything on the list! (By the way, the above story is not word for word what Nia said – it’s more of an idea of the kinds of stories she will tell me during the day. It may seem awful but I don’t really remember the stories she actually does tell me because that would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE. I mean, she tells me like two or three a day and it’s usually while I’m trying to think about something else.)
Cutie Patooties
Halloween Bliss
It’s so funny to think that just 10 minutes before these pictures were taken, Nate was having a meltdown because he did not want to be “Dumbo.” We tried on both the Flounder costume and the Dumbo costume a week or so ago and he hated the fish and loved the elephant. Tonight though was a whole different thing. Nia said, “I think he just wants to be in my story Momma.” I think she was 100% correct. Sure Flounder was his costume last year and sure it was a tad too small – it didn’t matter. It was perfect!
It seems Nate’s beloved blankey now has a little competition.
We bought Nate this hat at a Savannah Sand Gnats game back when he was just a baby. Andrew found it the other day and handed to Nate. From there it was hat history.
Loves His Hat
Hat Head
He wanted it on his noggin all day long. While he ate. While he played. While we carved pumpkins. While we changed diapers. He even refused to part with it during his nap time. I would tell him, “Okay Nate. It’s time to say night-night to your hat.” He would scream, “NO! Hat! Hat! Hat!” He was heartbroken so I gave in – I mean what kind of harm would it do to let him sleep with the hat in his crib? He was so comforted when I gave it back to him. He laid right down on his pile of blankeys and put his thumb in his mouth – all the while holding on tight to “hat.”
Andrew thinks I’m a big meanie head but I’ve since put “hat” out of sight so it will hopefully stay out of mind. I just don’t want to have to struggle with the emotional ups and downs that “hat” can create. I think it’s adorable and all but I just don’t want “hat” to be yet another thing I have to lug around with me. I already have to carry two blankeys with us wherever we go (plus the angry man)!
I was feeling pretty blah over these past few weeks but after some yoga, a long, uninterrupted shower and two powdered donuts I have a whole new outlook!
I really don’t know what was making me feel so yuck. I think it may have been because I wasn’t going to the Y to workout because I was having a pain in my chest and thought I had pulled a muscle or something. That lead to me feeling sleepy during the day (even sometimes falling asleep for seconds at a time while I tried to play blocks or puzzles with the kids) and I also felt really cranky. I had zero patience when it came to dealing with tantrums or non-listening little girls. It’s amazing how much I’ve come to depend on exercising and how great I feel after getting my workout fix.
It’s not even like I go to the Y every day. I only go like 3 to 4 times a week but those times hold me over and keep my moods/feelings in check. I was thinking about how much it will stink when I have to choose between my workouts and work! I feel so spoiled and blessed to be able to do this and I hope I wouldn’t quit going once I started working again – it’s just you know how that can be – it can be hard to fit it all in and if I’m working away from the kids then the last thing I’m going to want to do is be away from them even longer so I can listen to my MP3, read People magazine, watch pointless talk shows and burn a few calories on the treadmill! I shouldn’t worry about that now though – I’ll worry about that when the time comes – right now I just know how much I need my visits to the gym. I will never let a pulled muscle or pain come between us again!
It never fails –
Are You Zhazha? 
Say what?