Life with Boys

Anyone who is a parent to those interesting little creatures known as boys knows that they can make you crazy ( I mean CRAZY) but they are so cute while doing it sometimes it makes me want to scream!!  Seamus is beginning to show some small signs of jealousy when I am holding, feeding, paying attention at all to Declan.  This came out in a hilarious way this morning.  First a little back story:  I was able to potty train Seamus about 2 weeks before he turned 2, so around the beginning of December, it went pretty quickly and he really took to it.  (Anyone preparing to potty train feel free to ask questions.  I worked at a day care with young 2 year olds before moving and staying at home so in the last 3 years I have potty trained close to 60 children.)  Before potty training Seamus did not like to wear pants, he would kick them off first chance he got, but his shoes had to stay on :) Fast Forward to this morning.  I am feeding Declan trying to wake myself up since Seamus still enjoys getting up before 7am Seamus is being his normal silly self when he decides not only are his pants coming off but he is going to take his little underoos off as well and run/dance around screaming PAWYEE, PAWYEE, PAWYEE (potty) so I put Declan down take Seamus to the bathroom (he doesn't go) and then he climbs in my lap and asks for Thomas.  Quite a drastic little move to get me to put Declan down and gain my attention.  I can only imagine what his next tactic will be.  Oh boys, boys, boys, gotta love em.

Running, Running and more Running (Weigh-In Wednesday One)

This week on the half marathon training front has not been so fun.  The Knoxville Half Marathon is 12 weeks away and right now in the mountains of North Carolina it is COLD!  We have had some snow and temperatures well below freezing.  So this week I found a gym near town (actually on the Cherokee Reservation just outside of town) that was not crawling with resolution runners or really anyone else for that matter.  It is kind of hidden and does not look like it could hold all that it does from the outside.   It is a very reasonable price (only $40 a month) and they have everything I will need to lose weight/train for this half marathon.  I have talked to one of the trainers and will be meeting with him 2x a week and doing the other day of strength on my own.  It's a pretty nice set up.

That being said I HATE running on the treadmill!!!  I can run 3 miles or more outside with little mental effort, physical sure but mental no problem.  Ugh but running on a treadmill my mental capabilities just disappear, I run for a few minutes and just can't get into any groove or focus on anything other than how long I have been running, which really REALLY sucks. So here's hoping for temps above freezing soon!

Training actually starts 1/9 so next Monday I will really start following the plan instead of just running everyday, which will be a nice.  I hope that I also see some scale movement.   I took a fitness test at the gym and got weighed and measured didn't really like seeing those numbers.  Apparently my scale at home is much more forgiving.  I think I will go with its number instead of the gyms.  But that will help me keep an accurate record so I guess it's a good thing.

I think I am going to start calling Wednesday my weigh in day.  

So Weigh-In Wednesday One : 212.6 YIKES!! and that is all.

Project 365 Day 2 and 3

 Day 2: Sitting by the warm fire as the snow falls outside.

Day 3: Declan is happy and supporting the Vols (even though we don't have a bowl game).

Bed Time

So, we are getting settled in to our new home and to everyone living under one (one very small) roof.  Since staying at my parents house the past few months our bedtime routine suffered (Grandparents have a hard time listening to their grand-kids cry).  Seamus got in the routine of having someone lay down with him until he falls asleep, which with a second child and a husband who is working in the evening does not work.  He also has been and has always fought naps and fought sleep in general.   I am trying to get back into a routine and get a more normal bedtime for him. This has not been easy, sometimes he "naps" at 2:00 and doesn't wake up until 6:00 so putting him to bed at 7:30 becomes very challenging.  Other times he naps at 10:00am and is ready for bed at 6:00.  It doesn't seem to matter what time he goes to bed (even if its 10 at night) he wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 (maybe 7:00 if I am lucky).

What are your bedtime routines/bedtimes.  Is there anything that you have found that really works?

MOVING!!

This is going to be a very short post.  I realize that I have not posted in almost a YEAR!!  WOW time goes by too fast.  We are in the process of completing a move to North Carolina with an almost 2 year old and a 2 1/2 week old.  Needless to say things are a little hectic right now!  With this move I am getting the opportunity to be a stay at home mom with our 2 boys, which will also give me more time to blog.  So there it is (I told you a short post) but I will be back after a little unpacking and organizing.  Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Holiday Catch Up (and a BIG Birthday)

So, I have been offline for a while and now with the new year fast approaching I find myself trying to play a little catch up.

HALLOWEEN:

We attended our church's Trunk of Treat for Halloween and Seamus had a blast! He had just started walking and that evening he really took off. He was so excited to see everyone and make sure everyone saw him :)

Here are some pictures from that night:

I had every intention of making a very cute Charlie Brown costume for my little man's perfect Charlie Brown shaped head, but alas my mom found this skeleton outfit and when we put it on him we knew this was his costume and he ROCKED it :)

THANKSGIVING:

We went with some of Chad's family to the Hemlock Inn for Thanksgiving. The Inn is owned by his Grandfather and currently run by his Aunt and Uncle. We were married there (July will be 5 years WOW) and enjoy the time that we get to spend with wonderful family and good friends. The food at the Inn is AMAZING and Seamus enjoyed getting to try lots of new things.

Here are a few pictures from that trip:

CHRISTMAS:

OK, so I really haven't gone through any Christmas pictures yet so I will get those up at some point. We did our usual and traveled to both mine and Chad's parents houses on Christmas morning. We also all had dinner together on Christmas Day night (my parents, Chad's parents and two of his sisters and their families. It was a lot of fun to have everyone together and Seamus was worn out by the end of the day.

And now the BIG ONE:::

Shay's 1st BIRTHDAY:

Thankfully my college roommate came to visit and helped me get everything together for the party. The party was Robot themed with a lot of Toy Story also. I made a robot cake and a cake for Shay to have for himself. We had a great time and took a nice nap at the end of the day.

Here are pictures from the party:

So that should catch everything up through the end of the year. We are spending the New Year in our "new" basement, those pictures to come soon.

I am hoping to update at least once a week in 2011!! Happy New Year!!

I know its a little late but I wanted to get up at least one picture of Seamus from our trip to the pumpkin patch. We took a trip his cousins to the pumpkin patch at Due West Methodist Church and Seamus got to pick out a pumpkin. He also had a lot of fun walking around and banging on all of the large pumpkins that there were.

My fall classes are winding down so I hope that I can get some more pictures up and write a little more while on my break!