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We are not tired Mom

Posted on July 19, 2008 6:30 am by TheAngelForever

As previously mentioned, I just started to do a mandatory rest time in the afternoon. JSL is exhausted, but he will not settle in his own crib. This is partially our fault, but more or less thanks to sharing a room with his big brother. NHL goes to sleep slightly before JSL. We never wanted to put an awake JSL into his crib while NHL was already sleeping. Now 14 months old, trying to teach a little one new tricks is very tough. He screams and hoots and has full blown temper tantrums at the sight of his crib.

Thanks to this I had an idea. I wanted to try a rest time for both boys in their room. I figured if NHL was in the room reading/resting (not holding my breath about napping) perhaps JSL would settle and nap. It certainly could not hurt to try. I knew it would not work right away, but was hoping for the best.

Wednesday was my second try at this. JSL stopped screaming a lot faster. He stood up the entire time looking and watching NHL. Tuesday when I tried this he actually cried himself to sleep standing up. Unfortunately I did not get a photo since NHL heard me coming to the room and said something and woke up the little guy.

Back to this past Wednesday. After quite a long time I admitted defeat, for the day, and went into the room. This is what I was greeted with.

Not sleepy, not one bit

Clearly they were not giving in – stubborn little boys! Hmmm. . . I wonder where they get that from?!?!

I asked NHL if he would go into the crib to show JSL how to rest. He thought that was a fun idea and allowed me to put him into the crib. He was quite impressed with the job and quickly got to work.

Here is NHL being a positive role model to his little brother.

Now we just need to work on trying this out when they are both in their own bed/crib. Hopefully they will work with me on this. Tired cranky boys in the afternoon are no fun. When they have energy to play they are much more fun and do not fight. Yes, even at their age they get into arguements and have tantrums to each other. I will enjoy these while they last and do not involved wrestling and physcial additions to the mix.

The one nice part about no naps, both boys go to sleep quite easily at night. Check out how sweet and peaceful they are. Awwwwww!

Categories:
brothers jsl losing my mind nhl photos sahm vent

Boating and beach fun with family

Posted on July 15, 2008 9:14 pm by TheAngelForever

My aunt and uncle own a house that is on a beautiful lake not far from where we live. Last year with the birth of JSL we were not able to go up there and on the boat. Aunt S decided that she wanted to make some special memories for our boys and invited us for an afternoon/evening of fun Saturday. The four of us and my parents went to meet my aunt, uncle and grandmother at the house.

We slathered ourselves with sun lotion before heading up and JL and NHL had their swim suits on just in case they wanted to go in the water while on the boat. Everyone made their way to the boat, a gorgeous pontoon boat that can have up to eleven passengers. The sun was out and the weather was perfect. It was hot, but not too humid. The boys immediately put on their life jackets before we went out and everyone took a seat in order to get out of the dock.

JSL was not too sure about things. He seemed to like the boat, but was very quiet after we put the life jacket on him. The poor little guy was lost in it and likely very warm from the extra heavy layer, but it was not an option.

After going around for a little while and trying to find a spot for JL and NHL to go into the water we were traveling around again. NHL was even able to go on Uncle M’s lap and drive the boat. He literally was steering the boat and controling the speed. . . more than we had originally thought. NHL loved this and was so thrilled that Uncle M allowed him to try again later on.

Did you know that being captain of the boat makes you hungry? It seemed to do that for NHL as you will see.

We all noticed that JSL was curious about what NHL had done. Uncle M was really nice and allowed JSL to sit on his lap and skipper the boat. Much to our surprise he quickly grabbed the wheel and knew just how to move it on his own. He was so happy he finally started to smile. Uncle M definitely made his day!

To cool off we stopped the boat so NHL could dip his feet and splash in the water at the front of the boat. He had an absolute blast. It was hard to pull him away and move the boat, but we told him we were going to the beach soon.

Here are some random photos from the relaxing and fun outing on the boat.

Of course the trip down memory lane would not be complete without mentioning what we found on the lake. When we were going fast we spotted something and went back to see it. JL thought it really looked like a turtle shell with a fin up. Well, he was dead wrong . . . . pun intended. This was the lovely view that had a smell to go along with it.

Once we docked the boat and closed it back up we went to the nice little beach that is part of the community. It is hard to believe, but this was NHL’s first time in the sand and building sand castles. He had a blast and did not want to stop. We were all quite shocked that he loved the water and went in without complaints.

JSL enjoyed relaxing in the shade for a while with Mimi, looking around the beach with papa and hanging out with me (those are my legs). He was not interested in the sand this time around. Next time we may allow him to explore a little more.

Finally both boys went into the water and had a blast playing with their daddy. None of them wanted to leave, but eventually we had to call it a day and head back to have dinner.

A huge thank you to Aunt S and Uncle M for such a wonderful time on Saturday. NHL continues to tell everyone about his fun in the sun and I know JSL enjoys splashing and swimming even more. Both of you are the best and we love you lots.

Categories:
family fun jl jsl nhl photos road trip weekend

Lions, and Tigers and Bears . . . Oh My!

Posted on July 13, 2008 5:49 pm by TheAngelForever

On the 4th of July we were visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece for the long weekend. Uncle I had to work in the morning, so we decided to head to the zoo later in the day when he was done. We had a quick lunch at Moe’s and then went to the zoo.

When we arrived nearby the zoo and parked, NHL decided to lead the way. He has been to this zoo two other times (just a year ago when we went to Aunt M’s baby shower), so he knew the way. The stroller brigade followed with Cousin S sleeping for the start of her first time to the zoo. JSL was awake and curious about all of the fuss.

NHL was on a mission. He wanted to see the lions and tigers. He was a little upset that we missed the last giraffe feeding, but was fine with just going to view them. We made our way all around the zoo and saw a lot of animals. Here is a sampling of the photos that were taken by JL.

It was a very warm day, so many of the animals were resting in the shade, hanging out in their watering holes, or hiding completely out of view by this point in the afternoon. We did have an "interesting" educational moment. The bear area is a crowd favorite. First there were the grizzly bears that were lounging. They could have cared less that we were there watching them. Next the polar bear was pacing. He/she definitely seemed to be sizing up lunch on the other side of the barrier. I have to say it was a little unnerving. Then we saw the Spectacled Bear. This bear was smaller than the rest and was quite active. The spectacled bear put on quite a show of nature. He came over to the edge of the enclosure and proceded to empty his bladder and then do the rest of his business. No, no pictures of that. However, here is a picture when he was done and NHL’s priceless reaction to the event.

At the end of the visit JL asked NHL what his favorite animal was. Without missing a beat he quickly replied it was the spectacled bear. When asked why he immediately replied "Because he peed!" Yes, he is a boy of almost 5 you know so not a shocking response.

Eventually Cousin S woke up to see some of the animals. I believe she may have enjoyed her first bomb pop at the zoo more than the actual zoo itself. Of course it is always fun watching my little brother as a daddy. My question to you, who looks better in the pink hat?

NHL also enjoyed going on the merry-go-round and the zoo’s playground. I have to say the playground is rather impressive. They did an amazing job making it follow a zoo theme.

Fun on the zoo playground

Just before JSL fell asleep from the heat and lack of napping all day, I asked to have a picture of both of the boys. Of course try to get them to look at the camera. Nope, that did not happen. Instead each looked in a completely different direction!

Just before the zoo closed at 5:00 JSL was sleeping and everyone else went to look at the sea lions underwater. JL captured my little niece with her daddy watching them. Too cute!

A fun trip to the zoo. The only part missing was the elephants because their home was being redone and will not be open until August.

Categories:
animals family holidays interesting jsl kid talk laughs nhl photos road trip weekend

Heigh-ho the cherry-o . . . a picking we will go

Posted on July 10, 2008 6:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I think of summer I automatically picture the fruits of the season. Watermelon, peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries to name a few. Talk about tasty healthy snacking. When the weather is so warm and nothing sounds good, fruit is always perfect and hits the spot.

My favorite fruit by far is the cherry. I love cherries! I have fond memories from my childhood of buying bags of cherries from the store to gobble up. One fun recollection is from a summer that my two cousins came to spend time here from the west coast. Cousin M and I went to the store with my mother and we stood there for a LONG time picking out the perfect cherries. We filled up an entire bag with probably 4-5 pounds or possibly more. When we went to our house we stood outside with my father and had a cherry pit spitting contest. I do not recall who won, but I know we had fun eating and spending time together as a family.

It is only fitting that this past weekend while visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece that we made some cherry memories for our children (I wish Cousin M had been there). We heard that there was a cherry picking place not too far from their house that had dwarf cherry trees. Those would be perfect for all of us to pick from.

We all got into my car and wandered out into territory that nobody had been to before. After a while we finally arrived to cherry land. From the parking lot you could see the amazing trees ready to be picked. Our mouths were watering from the view. We had hardly had cherries this year thanks to the ridiculous price ($4.99 a pound and up for the bing variety). We slathered everyone with sun lotion and went to get buckets for collecting our fruit.

Then we were off to find the fields with the sweet cherries. Quickly we were walking in a cherry wonderland.

It was absolutely amazing. There were cherries everywhere. Hundreds of trees chock full of cherries ready for us to pick. We set up a place and I stayed with JSL and Cousin S. Aunt M, Uncle I, JL and NHL set off to fill our buckets.

The two little ones were quite content sitting back and watching everyone. At one point S wanted to hold JSL’s hand. He was sweet and played with his little cousin. This was also where they taste tested some of their first cherries. JSL was quite partial to the white cherries that tasted much like peaches inside.

NHL was really good and asked if he could try a cherry from one of the trees. We told him it was fine. He was too cute selecting just the right one, and then finding the perfect place to taste test.

After a short time both buckets were approximately half filled with both cherry varieties. We had no real clue how many pounds we had, so we figured it was best to stop at that point and check in. We got all of our things together and went to the line to check out, weigh in and pay. As you can see cherry picking made NHL quite thirsty!

And for your viewing pleasure, I present you with our gorgeous cherries. All 22.4 pounds of the juicy summer goodness!

Those buckets are very deceptive in the amount they can hold. We were quite impressed with our haul and went back to the house to eat more cherries before giving the kids tubs and ordering our dinner.

What will our next picking adventure be? Perhaps veggies next time! Do you have any memories of summer time fruit or veggie picking fun? If you do please share.