Just one of those days...

Yes, that is a little terd at the bottom of the toilet bowl... maybe Bryce is just trying to re-enact the miracle that happened on the Hudson.

Road Trip

Thursday again. Four kids, two 2 year olds (one in each arm)and two 4 year olds holding hands as we walk what seems like a mile to the fitness first in Rockville. (Seriously, what is with the lack of "expecting mother parking or mothers with infant parking?! Okay, so I'm neither, but still 4 kids 4 and under I think should qualify, but why even debate it because they don't have it anyways!- But should!!) Back to this past Thursday... so after getting on coats, shoes, socks, gloves, hats and braving the icy sidewalk and street to the car to drive to Rockville in the first place, and then again getting the kids out of the car and into the gym, I open the door of course at 10:30 (which is what time my class starts) needing to sign in the kids, take off coats, gloves and hats before kisses, hugs and running up the stairs two or three at a time to get to my class a minute or two late (which is okay b/c they are still setting up and the class before is just getting out...) However.... this Thursday, I come in, kids in tow, with the wind blown look and a sweat glistening off my forehead b/c we hike a mile to get in there b/c there is never any parking and the lady at the front desk says to me, "Oh Christy, it was a two hour delay today." (Because of the two inches of snow TWO DAYS AGO!) "There is no childcare until noon. Do you not know fitness firsts school delay policy?" Uhhh....does it LOOK like I know the policy? Does she think I thought it would be FUN to run through the icy parking lot carrying two kids and having the others hold onto my pant leg and eachother? She looks at me, I stare at her and blinked a few times. She says, "no, I guess not." She hands me a flyer with the delayed school policy which is really helpful at this point. Good news is that my class was also cancelled because of the delay so I didn't have to worry about a bunch of people waiting for me upstairs and no place to put the 4 kids 4 and under. So, I gather everyone up again, put on the gloves, hats and coats that have already been torn off in the 30 seconds we've been inside standing in the lobby, pick up the two boys, have the kids grab each others hands and my leg, WALK out in the icy parking lot a mile away to the car and head home after a fun road trip just for the heck of it.

Bryce arm update

(harder than I thought to get a good arm picture. Basically there is one long one and three dot looking ones where the pins were)

We FINALLY started Bryce's occupational therapy yesterday after phone tag, miscommunication, insurance issues... blah blah blah. But everything is good now. The lady that works with him, Tracey is really nice and makes it fun. As soon as he sees his arm, he stops using it, but if it's covered with his sleeve, he's okay. Funny huh? Maybe it's the scar that looks weird to him, or the cold air somehow feels different, I'm not sure, but we have a while until Spring, so in that sense, it's good. He is having a hard time straightening it fully and not rolling his shoulder to compensate for the lack of strength and flexibility in his forearm and upper arm. So, we've got some homework exercises and meet with Tracey twice a week for ten weeks and hopefully we'll see an improvement. Overall, Bryce is in great spirits and is willing to "play" and try anything (as long as he thinks it's playing. As soon as he suspects you are trying to get his arm to do something, you get "the look" which involves him looking up at you, chin down and him looking through his beautiful lashes and he doesn't move. He just stares you down). It's quite adorable, but hey, I'm the mom, so I think most things he does are adorable. :)

Snow! Really this time....

Well...really for a Maryland snow anyways. We got maybe half an inch and that's pushing it. But we made the most of it sledding. The boys had a great time sledding, eating snow, and shoveling up snow off our sidewalk and into their dump trucks. We ended the afternoon of snow fun with hot cocoa of course!

(check out those rosey cheeks!)

(Carter doing "service" for the neighbors)

(Just before I bruised my tailbone going down that stupid hill)



(Boys making a "train" going down backwards on their tummy's)

(Going up is never as much fun as going down...)

Ranch anyone?

I'm not sure exactly why my boys like ranch with everything. If they are having a hard time eating dinner -lasagna, salmon, toast, pretty much anything, I put ranch on their plate, and it's usually gone. This is Carter's idea of making leftover pizza more appetizing. No, the white is not extra cheese, it's ranch. Gross.

Happy Birthday Brady!

Brady turned 31 Sunday the 18th! I can't believe how old he is (over 30!) which makes me old too since I married the man. Carter helped me plan the perfect superhero party since of course that is what daddy is- a superhero! Every time we go to the library Carter asks the librarian, "Excuse me, do you have any Superhero books? Or Spider man books? My daddy loves Spider man. He was Spider man for 3 Christmas's in a row when he was little. Except the books are a little scary for me and give me nightmares, so daddy can just look at them because he loves them." He is quite the little chatterbox! The amused librarian helps him pick out a few while I just stand by making sure Bryce doesn't pull all of the books of the shelves.
We went to five and below and Carter spent his money (insisting that HE pay for it himself) on some spider man games (checkers, bingo, card games). He was SO excited to give Brady his gifts and distraught that we had him wait until his actual birthday.
First thing that morning when Brady returned home from church meetings, Carter ordered him back to bed for breakfast in bed. We had been making pancakes and sausage while he was gone and decorated the house with streamers. We had all eaten and were ready to serve the birthday boy his in bed. Unfortunately Bryce ate most the sausage so Brady only got one a half pieces (the half having been pulled out of Bryce's mouth when I caught him eating it).

Before Brady had the chance to eat Carter had him open the gift he got him and they even played a bit. Bryce got him a few spider man board books which were fun to read. After church, family and the Martin family came over for dinner of bean soup, biscuits, and salad. I had the kids play 'pin the mask on Spider man' and then 'get the bad guy.' I printed out a picture of Dr. Octopus and gave the kids silly-string so they could pretend to be Spider man and get him with their web. The kids LOVED that (and so did Brady). He jumped around the house shooting it from his wrist making all the kids (and adults) laugh. What a sport! We finished the night with Spider man cake that I spent way to long making and ice cream. What a fun night. We love you! Thanks for being a Super-husband and a Super-father! We are so blessed!
(My cake helpers! Check out Carter's face!)

2 Questions answered

While doing dishes tonight, Brady asks me, "what do you think is the hardest thing about parenting?" and then, "what surprised you most about becoming a parent that you wouldn't have understood before being a parent." What interesting questions... here are my answers because they kind of surprised me too.
1- The hardest thing about being a parent is fearing that no matter what I do, and how good my intentions are, I'm not doing something right. Not doing something I should be to love and teach my children, or doing something that is hurtful to them overall. (I'm actually tearing up now thinking about what pressure I put on myself to be the "perfect" parent). I fear my inexperience, my human-ness, my imperfection and how that affects my children everyday. I don't have all the answers, and sometimes the right thing is not clear. Most times the right thing is not clear and just hope I can do my best and give all I can to be the the best parent I can be in spite of me and my human-ness.
2- I was not prepared for the amount of love that has filled my heart and soul. For me, as soon as Carter was laid in my arms, I love him more than I loved anything else in the entire world. More love than I knew I was capable of having. (Tearing up again...) I knew I would always love him and protect him with everything I had (and have). Love of a child is the first time I experienced unconditional love, truly and without question. I was so concerned the entire pregnancy with Bryce fearing that I would not love another the way I loved Carter. That it was not possible. That my heart and soul had filled with love to it's capacity. I remember crying several times throughout the 9 months, afraid I couldn't love the way I wanted to as a mother for this second son that would be mine. So, the second surprise for me was that my love was not "shared" or divided. It was in fact multiplied. My heart and soul somehow doubled in size filling it with just as much unconditional love for my beautiful Bryce. My life would not be complete without either. Without my incredible husband. What an amazing father he is for our two boys who I love more than words. And because their father feels the same way about them as I do, it has increased my love for him two-fold as well. How blessed I am to be a parent. To be a wife. To have so much love for all three of the amazing, beautiful males in my life. I could not ask for more.