A brown wall and some pillows

What have I been up to lately? Well, a brown wall and some pillows have been taking up most of my free time (you know, my time spent before/after/between washing dishes, loading/unloading the dishwasher, washing/drying/folding/putting away clothes, cooking, changing diapers, dressing kids, playing with kids, reading to kids, running errands, etc).

 

Mainly, I have been sewing. And no, I don't have a sewing machine. I have been sewing things by hand. (Yeah. It takes awhile.) But I'm [usually] quite pleased with the results.

 

 

A fabric block with a C for Claire. It has a few little jingle bells inside :)

 

 

A couple of stuffed dinosaurs. The top one is Claire's, and the bottom one is Southern's (he picked out the fabric). Remington's didn't make it into this picture because his came out too scrawny :/ I'm going to make him a new one.

 

And, of course, some Robin shoes.

 

Southern has been begging for Robin shoes since we bought this costume for $3 at Target after Halloween. (I bought another in black for Remington. Since Southern's is red and Remington's is black, they think they are Batman and Robin.) They love them and wear them around the house often.

 

 

Therefore Robin needs Robin shoes. Southern kept asking please can we get some Robin shoes, please, please, please. And I would answer by trying to explain that I don't think there is anywhere to buy them. I don't think anyone makes them. But he kept insisting (because of course, someone makes them. We see Robin wearing them all the time when he and Batman are on Scooby Doo.)

 

 

And then I thought, hey I have some leftover green felt. I'll make them! So I did.

 

 

 Southern kept reminding me to make sure they have points in the back. And they do! Southern loves them. He slept with these in the bed beside him the first night after I made them. Aww...

 

Right now I'm working on throw pillows. I wanted some new throw pillows for our couch and love seat downstairs because I painted the wall behind the couch brown! Another accent wall in our house. I love it.

 

(By the way, Southern has decided he wants his room painted brown and pink with stripes. I'm sure that would go over very well with Daddy.)

 

The living room is not completely finished yet because a couple of pictures need to be hung, I still have 5 more pillows to sew, and the coffee table needs to be moved back into place. My goal is to have it all done by Thanksgiving, and that should be doable.

 

In the mean time, here's a sneak peek.

 

 

And look, our new throw pillows are beautiful and useful! Apparently Hubby has decided it's naptime ;)

 

 

Halloween 2012

I hope you all had a happy Halloween yesterday. The boys and I had fun! This year, Southern really got what Halloween was and was able to participate in everything. And, this was the first year that Remington could walk up to the houses to trick or treat... dragging his little treat bag behind him. He wasn't able to say "trick or treat" but did get the hang of holding out his bag for treats and would wave and say bye while leaving.

 

We started off our day with a trip to the library. They were having their usual storytime, but they asked the kids to come in costumes for a parade afterward.

 

 

We love going to library, and we especially love going to the library in costume! All the adults that ran into us on our way in were telling the kids how cute they were.

 

 

We had a Halloween themed storytime with a few books and songs. The last song of the morning was Dry Bones, and each kid was able to choose an instrument to play along. Southern picked a tambourine, and Remington got a bell.

 

 

After storytime, the kids lined up for a parade around the library. There were a couple stops where the librarians (who were dressed in costumes as well) passed out candy. They also passed out coloring pages and put stamps on the kids' hands.

 

 

Here's Remington showing off his stamp.

 

 

The parade ended in the Children's Room, so we soon went about our usual stuff. The boys played on the computers and we picked out some books and movies to bring home.

 

 

All that fun got our appetites worked up. We splurged with lunch at Sonic. They were having 50 cent corndogs all day!! It was Remington's first corndog! And I think he really liked it :)

 

Then it was time to head home for naps. Remington went down as usual, and I even got Southern to take a nap! After naptime, the boys were hungry again so it was time for a snack.

 

 

Sorry - the picture is sideways - but you can see what the boys and I whipped up to eat. Spiders! We used whole wheat Ritz crackers, peanut butter, pretzels, and Craisains.

 

 

Yum!

 

 

One proud Momma

We were with a new play group this week. There was one little boy who was named Wyatt. He was 4, and Southern took a liking to him right away. They palled around together most of the time. There were some play tents set up, and one was a Thomas the train. It was shaped like him, and my boys seemed to like that one the most. Southern and Wyatt were inside the "train" playing, peeking out of windows, and chatting about "flat tires" and other things going on with their train. Remington was loving Thomas' face and would run around the tent and go back up to the face, point at it, look at me, and say, "uuh" (meaning look, Mommy, it's Thomas!).

At one point, Remington decided to explore Thomas' smokestack. He was standing near it and leaned in a bit too much. To catch his balance, he reached out to Thomas, not realizing that the tent wouldn't support his weight. He managed to stay upright, but had pushed down near Wyatt's head who was still sitting in the tent. Wyatt immediately said, "Hey, watch out!" I guess he thought that Remington had done that on purpose. Remington didn't notice him and was still exploring happily so I didn't speak up. But I was one proud Momma when I heard Southern's little voice come from inside the tent.

He told Wyatt, "No say hey watch out. He just a baby. He didn't know. He just a baby." Wyatt was quiet for a bit and then said, "Oh. I don't have a baby." Southern responded with, "Well, I do. His name is Remington. He my baby." And, with that, he and Wyatt resumed their games.

What a great big brother!

Getting ready for Halloween

Are you getting ready for Halloween?

 

 

 

 

The Wyatts are!

16 Months Old and 3 1/2 years old

It's hard to remember a time when Remington wasn't running around the house and Southern wasn't saying complete sentences. But it wasn't that long ago. Remington is now 16 months old, and Southern is 3 1/2 years old. And I may be biased, but they are so mature for their age! I have had family, friends, and random strangers comment on how much older they look or act, so I know I'm not the only one who has thought this!

Remington is not only walking, he is running. He likes to hold Mommy's hand and suck his thumb while walking most of the time. But, especially when we are at home, he will let loose - and he won't want anyone holding his hand! He will stick out his elbows, say "ahhhh - ah", and start running (I really think he is imitating Southern racing after saying "on your mark, get seeeet, go"). He is learning how to kick a ball. He will run up to it, and stick out one foot to make it roll. He helps me with chores around the house - he loves to hand me clean dishes from the dishwasher, stick wet clothes into the dryer, put his empty cups or plates in the sink, and throw trash away. He can sit still too. He loves to color (though you have to keep an eye on him or he may try to eat the crayons). He can point out which sticker he wants and then stick it on paper. He loves to talk on the phone. He will hold it up to his ear and say "hi". He makes a similar noise for bye. He now says "uh ooooh" when he drops something or sees something out of place. He can cheese for the camera and will hold still to pose. He loves to ride his rocking horse, knock down Southern's lego towers, throw balls (or anything really - he sometimes takes off his shoes in the car and throws them. Let me tell you, I was quite surprised when a croc hit me on the side of my head while I was driving a couple of weeks ago!), look through books, push around cars, and play with little figures or animals. He will comfort Southern when he is crying - either by going up and hugging him or by handing him a toy. He still won't sit still for diaper changes, doesn't like water getting in his face at bathtime, and has been known to walk up to someone and just push them. But he's super sweet, especially in the mornings. He loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He now say "mmm" when he leans in with his mouth closed and lower lip sticking out to kiss. He loves Dracky and tries to pet him often. Most of the time Dracky stays just out of his reach, but those times when he does get to pet him, he's so proud.

Remington wears size 6.5 or 7 shoes, 3t or larger pajamas, 24 mo or 2t shirts, 24 mo pants, and size 4 diapers. He weighs around 24 pounds.

And Southern, well, he's a runner too. He loves races, and he and I will often race in the backyard. Southern likes to do laps around the yard for fun. He is helpful when he wants to be. Sometimes he has a hard time cleaning up his toys because he will get distracted with one of them and forget he was supposed to put it away, not play with it. When he colors, he only wants to use red or pink. And then he will just color for a little bit and want me to color the rest. I think he enjoys drawing more. He often draws "an island with water around it". Last week, he drew "planets and Earth". He loves stickers and will put them on his shirt or on paper. He has gotten really good at talking on the phone. He enjoys talking to family and can talk for a good amount of time when prompted with questions. He has his times when he doesn't want to take a picture - and when he doesn't want to, he doesn't smile that well. But he's usually pretty good about it, and he really loves to pose and stick his tongue out for pictures. He often times wants me to take pictures of his things and then will want to look at the picture on the camera's screen. He loves to play Mario Kart on the Wii, play sports (baseball, tennis, basketball, golf, football, and soccer), build "towers" and "castles" with legos, roll cars, and "read" books (he will go page by page, studying them really well). He's really into Superheros right now (especially Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and Iron Man), but he doesn't like the "bad guys" so I have to be careful about the books and movies we get from the library. (I have found that the older cartoon Batman shows from the '70s are great!) He's pretty reasonable about things once you explain them to him. He loves to learn and is always asking why. My family got a kick out of him correcting them at the beach last month. My Grandpa showed him some wall art and said it was a bird. Southern told him, "no, that's a Macaw". And then a little later, my Grandma said something about the little fish on the pillow. Southern told her they were dolphins. He also impressed his religion class teachers this past Monday with answering so many questions right - the topic of the day was God's creations so he was in his element. He knows most of his letters and can count to 13. He can pick out his name when it's written, and he can tell people his full name. He knows the names of towns - where we live, where family members live, etc. He loves maps and seeing where things are. He likes to watch the GPS as we are driving and will tell us to turn right or left when it's time. He can climb up into his seat and buckle up (though I still check it after he's finished because he doesn't always have the chest snap completely closed) by himself.

Southern wears size 11 or 12 shoes, 5t or larger pajamas, 5t or larger shirts, and 4t pants. He weighs around 43 pounds.

They are both growing so fast, and they're just so beautiful. We are really blessed with these two!

Play time

Southern and Remington are getting old enough to be able to play well with each other more and more. But they both still want Mommy down there with them more often than not. Sometimes Mommy is busy with housework or just wants a little downtime to herself. But this Mommy knows just how happy it makes her kids to get on the floor and play with them. In the end, it makes Mommy happy too :)

 

 

 

And it also means Mommy can create some pretty cool lego robots ;)

Kissed You Good Night

Well, this post isn't about our babies this time. It's about Mommy and Daddy, back when we were just Lindsey and Dustin. On an evening in the fall of 1999.

What brings this up is a song that I recently listened to. I grew up always listening to the radio in the car. In fact, I was 16 years old before I even knew that a radio in a car could be turned off! I knew the volume could be turned down, but I never knew they had a power button! But anyway, now that I'm a mom, I sometimes have the radio off so that the boys and I can chat in the car or so they can hear their toys. And sometimes I have it on. When it's on, I love singing along to the music. (Kissed You) Good Night by Gloriana came on the other day. I have heard it many times and know all the words. I was singing along as usual but really listened this time. And with each verse, it was becoming more and more apparent that whoever wrote this song could have been spying on me and Dustin during the fall of 1999!

Have you every REALLY listened to it?



I dropped you off
Just a little after midnight
Sat in my car
Till you turned off your porch light
I should have kissed you
I should have pushed you up against the wall
I should have kissed you
Just like I wasn’t scared at all

I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight

You couldn’t see me
Watching through the window
Wondering what went wrong
Praying that you wouldn’t go
You should have kissed me
You should have pushed me up against the wall
You should have kissed me
I was right on the edge and ready to fall

So I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight

I turned off the car
ran through the yard
back to your front door
Half scared to death can’t catch my breath
Aren’t these the moments we live for

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight



Yeah, so this is basically what happened to Dustin and me - well, except the "pushed you up against the wall" part and it being midnight. I was just 14 after all.

The evening of our first kiss went like this: Dustin, me, and Dustin's friend Michael had been somewhere together. Probably hunting at the river place. I don't remember that part. What I remember is that Michael and Dustin were dropping me off at home. Dustin walked me to the front door. We said good night, probably awkwardly, and then he left. I walked into the house, shut the door, and went through to the garage. My mom had left the garage door open for me, and I was walking out there to pull it closed. When I got into the garage though, I could hear Dustin and Michael talking from the road. I wasn't really paying attention, but my steps faltered when I heard Michael ask him if he kissed me. And then, I have to admit, I stood still, holding my breath, listening for Dustin's response.

D: No, I didn't.
M: Dude, why not?
D: I should have, right?
M: Hell yeah, you should have. Go back up there and do it right.
D: You think so?
M: Just go.

I heard a car door slam. My heart was beating fast. I ran back into the house and to the front door. I opened it as soon as I got there. He was up to the porch. I had my mouth open a bit (in shock, I guess). Dustin leaned in and kissed me on my lips. He whispered, "I love you," and then turned around and ran back to Michael's truck. My mouth stayed hanging open for a bit. Then I too turned around and ran back into the house. I closed the door and took off running to my mom's bedroom. "Mom!! You'll never guess what just happened!!"

http://youtu.be/MYwDLlsaAGk