And It's All Worth It

So, my friend Chrissy recently got to experience this with her daughter who is the exact same age as Robby, and I was so jealous when I read her post. But, today, it was my turn, and I am telling you--this moment makes any less than glamorous moments completely worth it.

When Bryan and Robby were leaving to take Robby to daycare today, Robby came over and gave me a hug and kiss and said "love you Mama." I am still melting, and every time I think about it I start to smile.

I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing him say that (even when I know he is just saying it to try to get what he wants!)

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Also, an update on Juliet:

I went to the doctor last week, and we had another sonogram. She continues to measure exactly at a due date of October 7th. Maybe she will be less stubborn than her brother and will actually come on time or something close to it. The sonogram measured her at 4lb 9oz. Of course, I am not sure how accurate that really is, but it sounds good! She is also finally in the head down position, which is a huge relief to me. We are 44 days from due date, and I am getting so excited to meet her!

It Was a Great Day

We started out the day singing happy birthday to the birthday boy. He wasn't too sure about that, but he recovered quickly when he discovered donuts were in his future:

Then, he got to go to school where everyone knew it was his birthday, and they had a birthday hat for him. Of course, he also got to share his birthday cookies with everyone.

After school, we came home and opened presents. Robby got a new set of Legos, wooden blocks, three little construction trucks, some new puzzles, and a Nemo baseball and a Cars baseball. All in all, it was a good haul for a 2 year old!

Then we went to feed the ducks at the Botanic Gardens. Robby is a huge fan of ducks these days. In fact, when we sing Old McDonald, ducks are pretty much the only animal that we do (well occasionally we do frog in honor of Cocoa the frog). The problem with this outing is that the ducks were MIA at the gardens. We decided to try to feed the turtles instead, and apparently, these are some hungry, hungry turtles. We started out with one turtle to feed, and we threw him some bread crumbs and Kix cereal, and then suddenly there were three turtles vying for the food. The next thing we knew, we looked up and there were turtles headed our way from all over the pond. By the time we threw out all of the food, I had counted almost 30 turtles that had swum up to us. It was crazy! Robby loved it though.

Then, we went home and Daddy fixed Robby one of his favorite dinners, chicken fettuccine alfredo, and for dessert we had cupcakes from the Cupcake Cottage. They were delicious!

After an immediate bath to clean up the cupcake from all corners of Robby's body and some more time playing with toys, Robby got one last special treat--he got to stay up until 9:15 to watch Finding Nemo. Then, it was bed time and lights out for this special birthday boy!

2 Years

I truly cannot believe that my amazing little boy is turning two years old tomorrow! It has been such a joy to watch him grow from a helpless infant into a true toddler.

Here he is right after birth:

Now flashforward to the present:

Though we are not doing the party thing until next weekend, Bryan and I wanted to make his actual birthday special, so we decided to combine two of his favorite foods--chocolate chip cookies and M&Ms to make these enticing confections to send to school tomorrow:

(yes, yes, we know--the decorations are amazing :) Well, the 2 year olds will like them anyway.

The Things that We Find Normal as Parents

In real life (non-parenting world), it is completely absurd to think that discussing pottys and underwear are normal (unless you are a junior high boy of course). But, today, I found myself at Target cajoling Robby to come over to me by announcing in a non-whisper--"Come pick out some big boy underwear!" That's right--we are starting on that wonderful road called potty training. We bought a big boy potty a couple of weeks ago, and he has been practicing sitting on it (fully clothed) and telling us it is his potty for a couple of weeks now. Then, last night, he decided he wanted to try it out. So, we took off his diaper, had a quick discussion about aim, and surprise, surprise, he actually used it. We have had four successful ventures now, so maybe we are well on our way. We will see. I am pretty sure there is a direct correlation between the fact that we just bought two new boxes of diapers and his sudden desire to be potty trained :)

Tonight before bed he got to try on the big boy underwear, which he really liked, so tomorrow we are really going to get down to business. How amazing would it be if he was actually potty trained before Juliet gets here?? And on that note, how crazy is it that my due date is in less than two months?!?!


On a completely unrelated note, right now at our house it is prepare for fantasy football time. Bryan is much more intense about this than I am even though I am playing as well. But, I do have my scout preparing some cheatsheets for me:

Of course, like many men, he is easily distracted by this sport. He even likes watching it on TV:

Marble Falls

Another tradition in my family is our outing to Marble Falls to stay in this wonderful and secluded cabin on the lake. We have been going for almost twenty years now, though we don't make it every year like we wish. This year was Robby's second year to get to go, however, and he had a wonderful time! He got to swim, throw rocks in the lake, eat junk food, golf, ride in his wagon, and was of course pretty much always the center of attention.

For Bryan and I, the adventure was something of a reality check because there was no internet access at the cabin. It is strange to go from being plugged in virtually all of our waking hours to having no access whatsoever. The catch up when we got home was not pretty, but I must admit that it was probably good to walk away from our computer screens for at least a long weekend.

And, then, at the end of the weekend, I got to watch my maid of honor take her turn as an incredibly beautiful bride. Amber--if you are reading this--you did good! Your wedding was beautiful, and you were beautiful. I was so glad to be there to celebrate with you.

Here are some pics of the weekend:

Afternoon Adventures

It seems like we have had so many fun adventures this summer, and I just haven't had time to post about all of them. And, the ones that seem to fall by the wayside are often the little moments that are so precious but so easily lost amongst all the "big" things that we have experienced this summer.

Here are some snapshots from a couple of my favorite little moments this summer:

Going to the Water Gardens for the first time--





Playing at the park and sneaking into the bulldozer at the elementary school by the house--





Going for a walk in our new fancy Radioflyer Wagon that was an early birthday present from Pahpah and tah--