Determination

During our girls' night, Jules was telling us that when she lays Jasmine on the floor, Jasmine will arch her back and turn as much as possible towards the TV if it's on.  Almost as if on cue, Jasmine started doing it while Jules was trying to feed her.  She is one determined little girl.

Girls' Night

Whenever the Bartletts come into town, the guys like to get together and play Halo.  While they're off doing their Halo thing, the girls get together for a girls' night.  However, the girls always have the kids as well, so it's not really a true girls' night.  We usually have dinner, watch a chick flick, and gab, continually interrupted by at least one of the kids.  Friday night was no different.

While we were getting dinner going and waiting for everyone to arrive, the kids ran amok, occasionally stopping to watch Tarzan.  Grandma had the ingenius idea to have the kids work on a puzzle.  They all helped put together a puzzle that I remember doing when I was little.   It's pretty remarkable that all the pieces are still in the box.  They loved it!

After dinner and clean up, we got the "older" kids situated so they'd leave us in peace to watch our chick flick. 

They all changed into their jammies, grabbed a bowl of caramel corn, and went back into Grandma and Grandpa's retreat to watch The Princess and the Frog.  Once the movie started, all were transfixed on the movie.  Or so it seemed.  They all did great for a while, but before long, Kameron came out to see what we were doing . . . and to eat crackers.  What we were doing was trying to watch When In Rome.  It usually takes us 3-4 hours to watch a 2 hour chick flick, due to the neverending interruptions.  I think we only had to pause this one a few times.  We actually finished early enough that we decided we had time for a second movie.  Dre left at about this time with the girls, and Kameron ended up going to bed, but the others (Kenner, Connor and Riley) were still going strong.  So we put on Toy Story 3 for them, and began watching Dear John.  We were SO CLOSE to finishing the movie, when the DVR decided to go on the fritz.  Overall, it was a better girls' night than some that we've had in the past.  By unanimous vote, we (the girls) have decided the next time the guys want to have a guys' night, it will include all guys, regardless of age or size.

Surprise!

What started as a secret that only Nate, Dre and I knew, turned into everyone knowing except Grandma and Grandpa.  Shortly after Christmas, Jules let me know that Brian had some extra comp days at work, so they wanted to use them by making a surprise visit.  They let Nate and Dre in on the secret when they were visiting them over the holiday.  However, Brian blew the surprise by mentioning it to Kristin while Skypeing one evening.  And well, once she knew, so did everyone else.  Luckily, the secret was kept from Connor.  Otherwise, Grandma and Grandpa would have known too.  We had to come up with a reason for the whole family to be at their house since we all wanted to be there when Brian, Jules and the kids showed up.  We told Grandma and Grandpa that we needed to celebrate February birthdays a bit early due to Nate's school schedule, and the only time before March he would be able to do it was on January 22nd.  There was some resistance and questioning on their end, but they relented and the entire family showed up at their house under the pretense of a birthday celebration.  After eating dinner, we were stalling as best we could before doing cake and presents in order to allow the Bartletts time to show up.  Finally, they arrived.

To say the least, Grandma and Grandpa were surprised and their reactions were fun.  However, it turns out the best reaction was Connor's.  I didn't get it on film, but I think his eyes almost popped out of his head when he realized the Bartletts had just walked through the front door. 

After a blur of hugs, lots of laughing, and everyone talking at the same time, the Bartlette sat down to have a bite to eat.  Grandpa was kind enough to entertain Riley by reading the same book to him several times.  Once the Bartletts were done eating, we settled down to open presents.  About this time, Jules remembered to feed Jasmine since it had been SEVEN hours since she last ate.  While she was taking care of business, Kristin suggested playing a game.  Nate suggested "two truths and a lie," where you say three things about yourself and the others have to guess which of the three is a lie.  Kristin offered to go first.  Then she offered to help Connor take a turn.  Following Connor, Kristin suggested Nate take a turn.  Cue the second surprise of the evening: "Belle is my favorite princess, Dre is pregnant, and [insert another truth here]."  I don't even remember making note of his third statement since I immediately assumed he was lying about Dre.  I was wrong, as was everyone else.  His first statement was the lie.  ("Dre is my favorite princess, not Belle.")  As the light bulb turned on over each of our heads as we realized Dre really is pregnant, there was more hooting and hollering.  Baby #3 is due September 3.  Jasmine and I will have another Virgo amongst us.  Yay!

After presents, I brought out the cake.  Unbeknownst to Grandpa, the cake was for him AND Kameron.  It was the first time we've been able to celebrate their birthdays together.  According to Riley, it was "yummy."  Not only did he ask for "more please," but I think he literally licked his plate clean.  Lucky for us, the Bartletts were here for a full week, so there was plenty more time for family bonding.

Double Take

The boys have recently become fascinated with the digital photo frame sitting on the bar in the kitchen.  It's become a game for them to figure out which one of them is in each picture.  As strange as it sounds, they're not always right.  When it comes to their baby pictures, it can definitely be a toss up.  There's no mistaking that they're brothers.  People used to tell me all the time that Riley looks exactly like Connor. In fact, they called him Mini Connor. Whenever I looked at Riley, all I saw was Riley. Now as I look back at pictures, it's easy to see what people were talking about.  I have to admit that on occasion I've had to take a second glance at a picture to determine if it's Connor or Riley. It's partially my fault because in quite a few pictures they're in the same outfit.  It's usually only a problem if I can't see the hair . . . or the legs. Some examples:

CONNOR .................................................................RILEY

 

 

A few of the pictures date back to a time when Daddy and I were together, but before the kids were around.  Whenever a picture of us pops us, Connor likes to explain the history of the picture to Riley.  For instance, "That's Mommy and Daddy when they got married" or "That's Mommy and Daddy when Daddy came home from the war."  My favorite explanation though is, "That's Mommy and Daddy before I was born and before God put me in the oven."

A New Year, A New Beginning

I keep promising myself that I'm going to update the blog. But here we are, almost a year after my last promise, and no posts in between. Embarrassing! What really spurred me into action is the fact that both my mother AND my mother-in-law joined the social network Facebook just so they could see pictures of the boys. I've now succumbed to the guilt, and instead of trying to catch up the time periods that I've neglected, I'm going to post from this point forward. I may try to throw some flashbacks in at various points. For instance, the fabulous Disneyland trip we took in October 2009 has yet to be documented. But for now, I’ll concentrate on bringing everyone up to speed with current events.

RILEY

My last "real" post left off with Riley's first birthday. He'll be turning 3 years old in just a few months. As mischievous as he is, the best word to describe Riley at this point is that he is an enigma. You never know what you're going to get. He's so random! Each night before going to bed, he helps pick out his clothes for the next day. Occasionally when I go into his room to get him dressed the next day, I find that he has taken it upon himself to swap out various clothing items, whether it's just a pair of socks or the entire outfit. One morning I went in to get Riley and he had unpacked an entire package of wet wipes and stuffed them into the vent in his room. This past weekend I walked in to find he had stripped his bed and pillows of sheets. Of course there was the morning a few months ago that I walked in and found he had smeared the entire contents of a brand new tube of Desitin on his carpet. He was so proud of himself! One thing is apparent though. The boy has a sense of humor. He's constantly doing things to get us to laugh. His newest trick is to hold his breath, close his eyes, and scrunch up his face. Adorable, and gets a laugh out of us every time he does it!

Riley has just recently started expanding his vocabulary. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a matter of him not being able to talk before now. I'm positive it has more to do with him being stubborn and wanting to do it on his terms. With that said, I would estimate that I really only understand about 50% of the words that come out of his mouth. For instance, I would never have known "Missmiss Mime" translates to "Optimus Prime" had the movie Transformers not been on the TV.  After asking him to repeat himself several times, he finally pointed to the TV in frustration.  Connor (or "Nonnor" as Riley calls him) does a pretty good job interpreting the other 50% of what I don't understand, but sometimes even he is baffled. It’s because of this that I’ve only recently been able to take note of some “Rileyisms.” For instance, a conversation that I can count on each weekday when I go in to wake him up:

Mommy: Good morning! It's time to wake up.
Riley: Why?
Mommy: Because you need to go to school.
Riley: Why?
Mommy: Because I need to go to work.

Riley: To get money?

The word “why” is his newest and seemingly favorite word, and it’s enough to drive a person crazy. He will continue to ask over and over again. Regardless of how well you answer his question, he responds with “why?” The only thing that seems to stop the interrogation is to tell him “because.”

Some other examples of his personality have been documented on Facebook:

June 30, 2010: Was on track to be early today, until walking into Riley's room. Again, he stripped himself out of his pajamas and diaper. However today, he filled his diaper before he took it off. Ew!

October 31, 2010: Riley closed himself inside the pantry today. When I figured it out and opened the door, it was to find he had discovered a stash of gum. When I held out my hand for him to spit it out, he gulped and opened his mouth to show me there was nothing in it.

Yep, he's a funny kid. 

CONNOR

As for Connor, I don't know where the time has gone. I tell him almost on a daily basis to quit growing so fast. He seems to outgrow his pants in the blink of an eye. With that said, he came to me on his birthday last year to report he didn’t grow like he was supposed to. “I’m still just a kid.” I used to keep track of the various Connorisms that came up in conversation. Over the past year or two, I haven’t done such a great job, but luckily I occasionally recorded a few of them on Facebook.

July 17, 2010: Was shopping at the outlets today with the boys. Connor was falling behind, so I called out to him to pick up the pace. He replied, "Hey, I can only go as fast as these little legs of mine can take me."

August 10, 2010: Connor's teacher asked him what he's hoping to learn in kindergarten this next year. His reply: "The monkey bars."

August 18, 2010: Connor recently made it known that he knows how to drive, but still needs to learn how to stay on the road.

October 28, 2010: Card from Rita received yesterday: "I love Connor. I miss you."  When I read this card to Connor, he threw his hands in the air exclaiming, "Rita loves me! I feel so alive!"

December 15, 2010: While preparing dinner tonight, I overheard Connor say the following: "Listen here, Riley. I'll tell you how it is. I'm your boss, Mommy is my boss, and Daddy is Mommy's boss." Don't worry. I set him straight.

December 15, 2010: While doing the dishes tonight, I overheard Connor ask Riley if he'd like to hear a story. At first I thought he was going to read him a book, but quickly realized he was looking in his photo album. The story went a bit like this:  “Once upon a time there was a sweet, little girl named Julia. She had two evil brothers named David and Nate, who tied her up to a tree. They kept her there for days and days, never letting her go.  The end."

Anyone who knows Connor knows there’s no bigger fan of Harry Potter than him. When we moved into our new home this past year, I decided it was time to change the theme of his bedroom. When we revealed the room to him, he deemed it “"the most awesomest room EVER." In addition to a couple of HP posters and HP bedding, he now has his very own triwizard cup lamp and a golden snitch. Since then, his best friend Rita has also given him a life size Harry Potter standee.

 

Overall, Connor is a great big brother and does a great job of showing Riley how to sword fight, wrestle, and properly jump from great heights.  He's still as fickle as can be when it comes to eating, which makes putting his lunch together a challenge each day.  It's almost sad to think that he's moved on from favoring Cars, Toy Story, Incredibles, and other Disney movies.  Now it's all about Avatar: The Last Airbender, Phineas & Ferb, Star Wars, just about any superhero, and of course, Harry Potter.  He's officially a "big boy" now.