Remington: 18 Months Old

When did my baby get this old?

 



Remington, you are such a happy boy. You are very loved, and you know it. You enjoy giving hugs and kisses. You are constantly smiling and love to play with big brother. You love to talk on the phone. You like to point things out and can say Mommy and Daddy really well - mostly when you are sad.

Other words you say: apple, more, water, milk, uh-oh, ball, bar, hi, bye

Height: 33.25 inches
Weight: 26 lbs, 4 oz
Sizes: 6-7 shoes, 2t-3t pajamas, 2t shirts, 18-24 mo bottoms, 4 diapers

Right now you are very into Thomas the train. You get excited to see him on the TV, on your clothes, in books, and as toys. You love going to the library and will sit quietly (in Mommy's lap) throughout the entire Storytime, and you don't hesitate to pull yourself onto a chair to sit and play on a computer. You like to color, slide in the backyard, chase and tumble with your brother, pet Dracky, and wear your cowboy hat. You say, "yee haw yee haw yee haw" over and over. You also say that anytime you play with a horse (or a giraffe).

Thanksgiving Weekend is Over

Well our long break for Thanksgiving has come to a close. The boys and I will miss Dustin tomorrow while he is at work. It felt short, but it was fun.

We started off the break with a trip to the doctor's office. Remington had his 18-month well visit (more on that later). We spent the rest of the day at home cleaning house, baking for Thanksgiving, and just relaxing. Then Thursday was a whirl-wind. We saw A LOT of family - and that's a good thing ;)

Our first stop in Yoakum was Great Granny Ehlers' house for the Brandl Thanksgiving. We got to see a lot of extended family, and Southern and Remington got to play with their cousin Weston. They hadn't seen him since last Thanksgiving, and he has really grown (he is now 2 1/2). We also spent time watching some old home movies with the group. The movies were from the 60's, 70's, and a few from the 80's. We didn't have time to see them all, but we watched some one-minute clips, and it was fun to see everyone's reactions. Then it was time for the prayer (which Dustin said) and time to eat. For us, it was time to hit the next stop, so we loaded up a couple tupperware plates and hit the road.

Our next stop was The Country Place for the Wyatt Thanksgiving. We were just in time to eat with them, and Dustin's aunt Andy had brought some toys from her son's childhood. The boys loved playing with all of the little animals, people, houses, etc. We spent time visiting, and Dustin spent time riding around on the Mule with his dad. Then it was naptime (well, beyond naptime really).

So we headed out to my dad's house. Remington needed some time to sleep, and he won't nap anywhere but his crib or the car. We didn't even make it a mile before he was out. Southern fell asleep not long after that. We parked the kids under a shade tree, rolled the windows down, and Dustin fished. (He caught 16 Bass in about 35-40 minutes.)

Then it was time for another meal. We drove over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for more turkey and dressing. (Grandma's dressing is the best!) We ate, hung out, the kids played, Dustin helped Grandma look at something on the Internet, Grandma read to the boys, and then it was time to go.

Our last stop of the evening was the nursing home. We happened to drop in on Hon and Granny while they had other visitors - my Aunt Debi and Uncle Daniel - which was a nice surprise. The kids kept us entertained, and we ended up staying there for about an hour. I was super sleepy (Hon had even started to nod off sitting in his wheel chair) but the boys were still going strong. Southern had a blast "exercising" on the foot rehabilitation exercise bike (you know, the kind where it's just the pedels and you use your own chair). Remington was having fun climbing onto Hon's bed and then getting back down.

And then it was time for our journey home - or so I thought. Dustin decided then to spring it on me that we needed to stop by The River Place on our way home. "Just for a minute." Uh huh. So we drove to Gonzales and made our way onto Hammon Loop. When we were driving in, we noticed that the porch light on Wayne and Cain's house was on, and there was an extra truck in the driveway (Coltin's). And then we saw Wayne walking outside. So we stopped to chat. By this time, it was probably 10-10:30pm. The boys were still running around having fun. I was drooping. After hanging out at their house for an half an hour or so, I decided to go ahead and get the boys' pajamas out of the car. We bathed and dressed them for bed. (Smart idea!) Then we said our good-nights to Wayne, Cain, and Mikayla. We waited in the car for Dustin out by his campsite while he got what he needed, and then we were once again on the highway headed for home.

BUT by then we were all hungry again. So we stopped at Buc-ee's for a potty break and to get some Chex Mix (for the boys), Doritos (for Dustin), and cheesy popcorn (for me). Finally, we were headed home. Both boys soon were asleep. When we made it to the house, Dustin and I carried them up to bed and tucked them it. Then we unloaded the car. Then I decided to head off to Kohl's!! I guess that popcorn gave me energy. While Dustin went off to bed (this was around 1am), I backed the car out of the driveway and drove off. I usually never do any Black Friday shopping, but I had two $10 coupons from Kohl's, and it was only a mile from my house - plus I was already awake! Soooo I went. And I'm so glad I did.

When I got there, it was crowded. Not unbearable, but crowded. The lines for the checkout were probably 40-50 people deep. I heard someone leaving say that they had waited over an hour in line. Yikes! I didn't think I was up to that, but I kept walking. I glanced over at the checkout line near the other door, and it looked about the same. Then I noticed three checkers behind the jewelry counter - and NO line. I walked up to them and asked if I could check out here. They said yes so long as I only got jewelry. Well, that wasn't a problem with me! I took my time browsing and came up with a total bill of $9 for a necklace and two pairs of earrings after the discounts and my two $10 off coupons. Not too shabby. And I was back home before 2am!

 



Friday was spent going by storage to get all of the Christmas decorations and putting up lights outside. On Saturday, Dustin went hunting at The River Place while the boys and I decorated the inside of our house and put up our tree. Today was spent taking family pictures in Gruene. I can't wait to see how they turned out!

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I know I am really blessed - and so thankful for my family!

Happy Thanksgiving

Southern's Special People

Southern made a book this past Monday during his religion class. The topic of the day was Thanksgiving and how much God has given us. The kids were asked to talk about what all they were thankful for in their lives. Southern's list started off with racecars and his Mario game. After prompting from the teachers, it evolved to include macaws, Dracky, his house, different family members, and Thor.

After they were all finished talking about their lists, they were told about their project. It was to make a book titled "My Special People". In it, the kids were to draw pictures of the people that are special in their lives. I think there are so many special people in Southern's life, that his book could have gone on forever! But he only had a few pages, and this is what he drew:

 

 That's Southern on the cover of his book.

 

The next person he wanted to draw was D-dad. I wasn't surprised because my dad's tractor had broken down that day, and he paid us an unexpected visit. We had just eaten supper with him right before class started. I wrote "D-dad" at the bottom of the page, but then Southern decided that he would draw Joyce first. (Notice her glasses and earrings). Then D-dad was drawn to her left. Southern said he gave him a pirate hat.

 

Next up were Grammy and Josh. Isn't Grammy's hair so pretty? It is encircling her head.

 

There's Dustin and me on the left. I had Southern just add me to the page with Daddy on it since we were running out of room. Remington's on the right page.

 

And that was it! Except Southern wanted Dracky in it too. So he drew him on the back. (Southern also asked if he could include Batman, but I explained to Southern that Batman was not technically part of our family.)

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!