My Boy is a Tball player!

I can't believe that my little boy isn't a toddler anymore. I guess I've been in a state of denial, but just in the past few months, I'm realizing that my baby, well... is not a baby, or a toddler, but a little kid! I can't believe how big he is. And what I really can't believe is that he is old enough to play tball!!! This is his firs team sport, and he was SO excited to get started. We had absolutely nothing tball related, so we took Dylan to a sporting good store and bought the whole store! hahah! Not really, but boy did he need lots of stuff! So worth every penny to see my boy light up with joy!

As soon as we got home, Dylan ran outside with his Daddy to learn a few tricks and practice. Right of the bat (no pun intended!), he did a GREAT jobbing hitting the ball.

His games begin in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to see him all dressed up in his uniform.

I bet its going to be soooo cute!

He's already had two practices, and is doing a good job! We have a couple of things that he needs to practices a little extra at, but over all... he's a champ! :) The most important thing at his age is for him to have fun, but we also want to teach him to always give his best to whatever he does.

During his first practice, Dyl hit the ball really well and when the coach told him to run, he ran to third base, rather than 1st. It was the funniest moment. Several of the kids made funny little mistakes like that, and it was just so fun to watch. I think this season is going to be full of giggles.

I was crossing my fingers that Dylan really would love the sport, and its still early yet, but I think he just might! I'm praying that he has natural athletic abilities, just like his Daddy!

And Little Miss Priss loves being Dylan's cheerleader. She stands on the side lines with Daniel and I and just claps and cheers for her bubba! Last practice, when Dyl hit the ball she screamed "Goo Job Buba!" It was SOO cute.

Here's to a great first season of tball!

Back from Vaca!

I'm back from vacation. No, not a sunny paridise kind of vacation... a blogging vacation.

The thing is that I try really hard to not be flaky. I don't want to be a flake with anything that I do. But sometimes I just am. I have a bit of a commitment issue. Well, not so much an issue with committing to things, but an issue with seeing them all the way through. I've gotten much better at this with age, but its still a work in progress. I don't want to be flaky with this blog, I want to be committed to seeing it through. I want to have this to look back to as a journal for the day to day life of my beautiful family. I'm trying. I'm working on it! I've said it a million times already, but "I'm going to do better this time!". haha! Really, I am!

*Whew* Confession time is good for the soul.

Lots of fun things have happend while I was slacking big time taking a small break. I'll try to catch up on them in the day or so (but I'm not committing to that, hahaha!) For now, I'll just focus on our beautiful weekend.

Today, Daniel and I got to take part in the most amazing day of ministry through our church. We spent the morning at a near by orphanage, hanging out with the kids and giving them some love and attention. These kids have heartbreaking stories of abuse and neglect, and are so hungry for someone to love them. The orphanage its self is such a great organization, but the kids just eat up the love from volunteers. It was our first time to visit, but it wont be our last!

After our service time, we picked up our kids from the church, and hugged them a little tighter. Then, we took them out for a special day. We went and had pizza at a new little place in town and then to the town carnival! We all had a great time, but Dylan just had a BLAST! He was so brave and amazed me at how he was just fearless with the rides. One of the rides that he road with Daniel was this thing where you lay on your belly and hold onto the handle bars, so it like you are flying. I've seen them at every fair and carnival, but never have ridden it myself, due to fear of heights. It goes pretty darn high and fast, so I was nervous that my five year old wanted to ride. I wouldn't have let him had his Daddy not gone with him! I was a NERVOUS WRECK watching him. I just knew he was going to freak out once the ride started. But I was wrong. He LOVED every second of it. When the ride first started he looked a little nervous, but within minutes he was smiling the biggest smile I've ever seen. Dylan looooves all the things super heroes, so he just loved being up there and pretending to be flying like one! London stood with me and would just cheer, wave, and squeal when the boys would fly over us. She loved watching all of the rides!

We also rode the faris wheel together as a family. As I stated, I. Hate. Heights. HATE. But, Daniel really wanted us to ride it as a family, and I'm glad I swallowed my fear and did it, because it was a special time together. London wasn't quite sure about it. But overall she did great. And I can't believe I did this, but I left my camera at home (even though I knew we were going to the carnival) so I don't have single darn picture! Poo!

On the way out we bought the kids a bag of cotton candy and I told Daniel that I was going to at least take pictures of the kids eating that. haha! He probably thinks I'm slightly crazy, but loves me so much that he doesn't make me feel bad for it. They both had a couple of bites of cotton candy at the state fair this past fall, but it is a real treat and they both LOVED it.

When I handed them the bag, they looked at me like "Really, just eat however much we want!?" (Of course I didn't let them eat the whole bag though(

And then they started feeding each other! SO cute!

I love how much they love each other.I really do!

Yesterday, I had to work for a few hours and then met my mom in town. We did a little shopping and then I treated her to a pedi. She deserves all the pampering in the world, my mom! We were going to grab a bite to eat there in town, but ended up driving back to my house so that we could pick up food and eat it with my whole family and so the kids could see Grammy! We decided to stop at this little Mexican market close to my house. I mean, it the real deal. The food is AMAZING. you can smell it a mile away. We've gone a couple of times and it always stresses me out. None of the workers speak English, so its really hard for me to tell them my order! haha! I hate the feeling of not being able to communicate well. But let me tell ya, that food is worth the stress!

On the way home from the marker, I had a small blow out in my front tire. Thank the Lord that it was just minor and that I was completely safe. Also, I am so thankful that I was really close to home. My mom was following me in her car, so I just hopped in and went home with her. Daniel was able to go fix the flat after supper. Again, praise to the Lord for safety!

I so enjoyed the time hanging out with my Mom. She is just one cool chick.

I told her that I can't wait for London to be old enough to go with us for mani pedi dates! Its so fun having a little girly girl!

Friday, Dylan had Tball practice and then we went and had dinner at McAllisters. It had been ages since we had eaten there, but Daniel and I both grew up with it and love it a lot. We were also able to run to Target and I picked up all of the kids easter basket goodies while Daniel distracted the kids. I'm so glad to have that done!

I has been just a beautiful weekend with my beautiful family.

Pure Bliss.

My Itchy Girl

This beautiful baby girl of mine is one itchy little thing the past couple of days.

Last winter, when she was just a few months old she developed little rashes all over her back and tummy. We took her to the Pedi. And after going over possible allergies and a couple of visits, we settled on the fact that our beautiful babe just has a mild(ish) case of Eczema.

* Let me just stop here and say that I am so beyond thankful to the Lord that such a small, small, SMALL thing is all that we have to deal with. I can't say Praise the Lord enough for the health of my family. *

Since her Eczema is mild, all we had to do was switch her over to all fragrance and dye free soap, lotion, and laundry detergent. We were just very careful about what touched her skin. I remember the doctor telling me "I know you are going to miss the "baby smell" of that pink lotion, but just remember that smell is all chemicals." :) She was trying to brace me for the fact that the Eucerin she told me to start using pretty much smelled like tree bark. hahah! (Again, such a little thing to worry about!)

My other petty complaint was that this tree bark smelling soap and its lotion cost at least triple what that sweet smelling pink stuff cost.

So, after a few days of changing over to fragrance and dye free items, London's Eczema was really pretty easily controlled. Over the summer, it seemed to go away. Once or twice I thought we were over it and tried using pretty smelling things on her, but each time we had to go back. I have found other all natural soaps that actually smell nice now.

She hasn't had a big outbreak in a loooong time (like maybe then end of last winter), but a couple of days ago, I noticed a little rash behind her knee. I didn't think too much of it, and just put the usual bedtime lotion on it. But then last night and then night before London woke up SO upset about something. Daniel and I couldn't figure it out the first night. She didn't want anything we offered her, she just was so upset. We finally calmed her down and got her back to sleep. I thought maybe she had a bad dream. Last night she woke up again with the same thing. She was just SO upset and there was NOTHING we could do for her. I told Daniel to check her rash and thats when we realized that the Eczema had really flared up. She had small little rashes all over, just like last year. So, Daniel put some more lotion on our poor baby girl and gave her a little bit of Benadryl and she calmed down and went to sleep.

I called her Pedi's office this morning to see if I should bring her in. They said she should be fine without coming in and told me to just keep her VERY moisturized and add this gem to our bedtime routine:

Its sooo thick and kind of greasy, but London didn't mind it. The nurse said to also give her a little Benadryl to help her tonight. If these don't work or it gets worse I'll take her to the Pedi and we'll figure out something else. She hasn't been bothered by it but once, after nap time, today though. So, hopefully its smooth sailing.

Thanks to my sweet hubby being on the ball (it was his idea) I also picked up an oatmill bath for our girl.

We made a spa night out of it. I ran a warm bath in my tub and let the water get good and deep. I threw a bathing suit on and hopped in with both kids and we "reeeelaxed", as Dyl says. I followed it up with massages and "mani peddis" (read finger and toenail clippings). Both of the kids seemed to enjoy it. Dylan told his Daddy "You've GOT to try one of those baths. It was GREAT!" haha! Maybe he'll love a spa as much as his Daddy and I do. Hopefully, London will too and we can do family spa days. haha!

Matchy Matchy

I LOVE matchy matchy family photos. I just do.
So, when thinking about having our family photo taken in the spring, I started thinking of what we should all wear.
I got SO excited when I cam across these for Dylan and London! I think it is PRECIOUS! Both are from Gap Kids.


I was thinking that Daniel and would wear solid blue (as close to the kids' as we can get) or white. But then I saw then dress from
Francesca's.

No really. If ever London and I needed a mother daughter outfit, this would be the case! I mean...

Ahh! I couldn't leave Daniel out of this Matchy Matchy mix though! I mean, if we are going big, lets go big. haha! I haven't found the EXACT match yet, but we are leaning the right way with this from Old Navy. PS. Express, I am so dissapointed in you, I just KNEW you would have the print I needed and you did not. Shame.

As cutesy as all of these are, I'm not sure we will go quite this Matchy. I may stick to the original plan of the kids in the Gap pieces and Daniel and I in solids. Any thoughts, ya'll?

Either way, I think I'm going to have to get the dress for myself for London and I to wear at some point!

My 100th Post is BONKERS!!

This is my one hundredth post!!!!

Today we had a Family Fun Date Night!!! We love taking the kids out to do fun activities, and try to do it pretty often. Tonight, the kids and I met Daniel in the town where he works and had dinner at Wing Stop and then took the kids to Bonkers.

Bonkers is this play place for kids with a HUGE jungle gym. I mean HUUUGE.

The kids had a BLAST. Daniel and I had planned to take turns with one of us playing in the todler area with London and the other in the main jungle gym with Dylan. I stayed with London first. She went through that toddler area like she had built it herself. Then, she decided she was much to old for this area (even though it was meant for ages 3 and under and she is only 16 mo) and ripped out into the main Gym.

It wasn't long before we found Dylan and Daniel and to our suprise little Miss Priss kept up with the her big brother like a champ. Dylan, of course is much faster than London, so he would take off and them come back to meet her when she was climbing up to the slides.

These big yellow slides were both kid's favorite part, I believe. It was so cute to watch them go down together.

The people who made this thing were so smart to have built in little rest areas!

Dylan told us that we should all live at Bonkers. Well, we would have a bed, I guess.

I told him that we couldn't move in, but we would come back to play more often. that made him happy. :)

I had planned on us staying a couple of hours, but we didn't get to stay quite as long. Both of the kids have had a cold the past week, and they seemed to be over it, but as they were getting winded they both started coughing a bit. So I thought it best to head on home. They were both pretty good about leaving early.

Dylan said he can't wait to go back! And I'm pretty sure London can't wait either. :)

It was a great night of food, family, and fun!

Growing Up and Still Little

There are days where the sudden growth of my kids is as clear as a bell. Its like the day before they were so much smaller than the present day. I know that them growing up doesn't actually happen over night, but some changes do come in what seems to be one big swoop. And my little ones both had a lot "growing up moments" today.

London has been leaning towards wanting to sit in a big chair at the kitchen table rather than her high chair. I've let her a couple times, but don't encourage it. Today she woke up from one of her naps pretty fussy. I asked her if she was hungry, only half expecting a response, and she nodded her little head up and down and said "Uhhh HUH!" So I took her into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. She pointed to the fruit drawer and said "Bite!" I asked her if she wanted an apple and she nodded her head and said "Uhhh HUH!". So I cut the apple in half for her (she likes to chomp on it better that way) and while I was doing that she said "Milk!" and was pointing to the milk. So I fixed her a sippy. When I went to give it to her, she was already sitting in the chair at the table waiting on her snack!

While she has done all of these thing separately recently, it was just wild to see her put it all together like that. My little baby is not such a baby anymore!

Later in the day, she came to me and said "Potty." I asked her if she needed to go potty and she told me yes, so I took her to the bathroom. She didn't actually go that time, but it was an exciting step in the potty training direction. She told me three times that she needed to potty and actually went potty once! I have not pushed at all to start the potty training bit, but I might go ahead and keep the ball rolling!

But just when I feel like "Oh NO! She's growing up too fast!" I get a sweet reminder that she is still my little baby...

As for my little man, he is amazing me everyday with the questions he ask about how things work and why. He has such a healthy curiosity about the things around him. Just this evening, I over heard Daniel explaining to Dylan how his brain tells his body what it needs and what to do. The level that Dylan seemed to be understanding all of this on was just unreal to me. He is a smarty, my little man!

He is such a big helper and never minds when I ask him to grab a diaper for me or take something to his room. He has little neighborhood friend that he plays with after school. He isn't a toddler any more. Not at all. He is my little boy now. And such a cute one, if I do say so myself. He is still my LITTLE boy though. He still loves cuddles and kisses. He still wants a bed time story and snuggles. And he still sometimes wants to be held. He tells me "I'll always be your baby, but I'm going to grow up. Don't be sad." If that doesn't just melt your heart!!

When at the grocery store tonight, Daniel put London in the seat portion of his buggy and Dylan wanted to sit in my buggy, so I plopped him in there. I didn't even realize it until the other day, but it had been quite sometime since I put Dylan in the seat, since London has needed it these days. It was a simple moment of pleasure to get to push Dylan and love on him and talk to him face to face as we did our shopping. I got lots and lots of cuddles from him as we walked up and down the isles. And I remembered that he IS still little. I still have lots of years of him and London being a kids before they are grown up. And my heart was happy.

My kids are growing up, pretty quickly. But for now, they are still little. And THAT makes this Mommy very happy.