Team Cross

Magical Computer and Cody-fits!

Last week, Cody's new Crocs came in.  I also got him a Lightening McQueen and TowMater to put on them.  He was so happy he giggled.  Austin, however, was hacked.  Suddenly, his Buzz Lightyear 'jibitz' (as they call them) were not good enough anymore, and I caught him on several occassions trying to take Cody's off his shoes so he could put them on his.  He basically threw a fit about it at one point, so, I told him if he was good this weekend, that I would order him some off the computer.  I thought he had forgotten about it, but this morning while getting dressed for gymnastics, he inquired about the stupid jibitz again.  The kid would NOT forget about it, and had been on his best behavior since Sunday.  So, I got out the computer and got on the website for him.  We looked through them and he picked the same ones as Cody...they were out of TowMaters so he settled for 2 McQueens. Anyway as I was going through the process of ordering them, I noticed Ausitn kept peeking at the side of my computer, kind of where the CD slot is.   So I asked him what he was looking at and he said, "Mommy, I am waiting for them to come out."  He was so serious.  I tried to explain that they would not come out of the computer, that the computer would not give birth to McQueen jibitz, but he still kept looking.  I finally got through to him about how they would come in the mail, and he quit looking at the side of my computer.  So, his next statement was, "Hurry up Mom!  We HAVE to get out to the mailbox NOW."  Then I had to explain about the mail, and how it would take a few days for the stuff to come in.  As we were pulling out of our neighborhood to go to gymnastics, we saw the mail truck pulling in.  Austin yelled, "STOP MOMMY!  THE MAIL IS COMING AND WE HAVE TO STOP THE MAIL TRUCK!" Ha!  Boy is he going to be excited when his stuff finally comes in the mail!  Gymnastics was a little stressful because of Cody and Tyler.  Neither one of them coorperated today, but we made it through!  Cody is really trying to flex his little ALMOST 2 year old muscles lately and wow we are having some knock-down-drag-outs with him.  Today's battle at gymnastics was he was not minding me when I would tell him to stay in the play area.  He snuck out after I warned him that he would have to sit in timeout in the stroller, so I had to knee-push the kid in his seat and buckle him in.  I then gave him his paci because he was screaming so loudly and interrupting class.  When his timeout was over, I told him he could get out of the stroller, but he had to give me his paci back.  He refused, so I left him in there.  A few minutes later, I heard him say "mommy" and when I turned around to look at him, he was holding out his paci, and said 'out'.  Monday, I had to wake him up from his nap to pick Austin up from school and he was NOT happy.  I gave him plenty of time to 'get himself together', but he still wouldn't let me change his diaper or put his shoes on.  So, I started putting Tyler in the car and loading up.  Cody just stood in the doorway of the garage.  Every time I would tell him that it was time to get in the car, he would scream 'NO!' so I would move on to something else.  Finally, we had to go, so I closed the door to the backseat and told him goodbye, acting like I was leaving him.  He still stood there not budging.  So, then I got in the driver's seat and started the car and closed my door...Cody came UNGLUED and started screaming and running to the car.  I opened the door and got out, and placed him in his carseat without a struggle.  Thank goodness he didn't call my bluff and continue to stand there!  I guess my next move would've been to start backing out slowly, but how far can that go before I would have to just manhandle the kid into the car?!?!  When we got back from picking up Austin, I went to go and get Cody out of his carseat, and told him to give me his paci back before unbuckling him (he never gave it up after waking him up from his nap).  He said 'NO!'  So I got everyone and everything else out of the car and closed the garage.  I came back to get him, and got the same response.  So I went inside with Cody still in his carseat buckled in (I left his door open).  I came out every 2 minutes or so and would ask him for his paci, he would yell 'NO!' and I would walk back inside.  Finally, again, I heard him calling 'MOMMY!' from the garage, and there he was, holding out his paci.  I took his paci, removed him from the carseat and he ran off to get inside.  Sigh...and so the 'terrible 2s' have begun.  I am a little sad about it because Cody was my easy, mild-mannered, laid back baby, and even though his behavior is still mild compared to what Austin dished out, it's still crazy for Cody.  HA!

Austin and Cody waiting for their daddy to come home.

Night-Night Austin

I forgot to post this picture last night.  Austin has started his bedtime mischief again.  Last night, Scott and I thought he was asleep because we hadn't heard a peep, but when Scott got up from the couch, he noticed Austin chillin' in the hall, and I'm sure, thinking he was hiding and being so sneaky...he ended up falling asleep there!

Trip to the Zoo

Sunday morning we decided that it would be a good idea to go to the zoo since we hadn't been since the summer.  We are not attempting to go to church right now.  Cody screams his head off at the nursery, and ever since Tyler has started crawling, he will not sit on my lap and cries when I won't let him down.  We figure we will start attempting to go back in May.  Right now though, the family time we have been able to spend together has been great for all of us.  It takes a while to recover after a basketball season.  We got to the zoo at 11 and went ahead and purchased a season pass.  We were there for a little over 2 hours and had a blast.  We ate lunch there, and Cody got to get out of the stroller and run around!  Tyler took a great nap and was happy too.  The big hit with Austin was the alligators, and the big hit with Cody was the otters.  He ran and screamed and chased the otters for at least 20 minutes!  It was a BEAUTIFUL day too, and right when we left it was getting crowded, so it was perfect timing on our part.  We left at 1:45 and Cody fell asleep in the car within 10 minutes of driving home, and I tranfered him into his bed...we had to wake him up at 5!!! Tyler was happy as could be when we got home, and spent a good 2 hours playing.  While Cody napped and Tyler played, Scott stayed home and I took Austin for a ride on his big wheel...I mostly just ran after him.  We parked his bike and walked around the lake for a while.  Austin found a great stick and had to bring it home.  We had a great day!  Look at this picture of the alligator right behind and above Austin...it just sat there on that rock with it's mouth open forever.  I wanted Austin to stand up on the bench and get right next to it, but he was too scared!

Major Store Trip and New Park Visit

That's what we did on Thursday...store and park.  It was also MY MOM'S BIRTHDAY!  In the morning we hit the store for some major food restock!  You should have seen our fridge before we went.  Butter and that's it!  At the store I got one bag of popcorn for $1, asked for an extra bag, split the popcorn in half, and gave a bag to Austin and Cody.  That did the trick!  Tyler was too tired to care and just reclined in the cart.  He has been inconsistent on his morning naps.  Sometimes he takes them and sometimes he doesn't.  I imagine in a few months, he will cut out the morning nap completely.  The highlight of the trip was me giving in to Austin and buying some Spaghettios.  He couldn't wait to eat it for dinner.  Cody and Tyler took a great afternoon nap when we got home, and I unloaded and stocked groceries, then played Yahtzee Jr. with Austin.  After nap was over it rained again and so everything was soaked.  I didn't care, and let the boys out for a while.  I guess they got sick of everything being wet and started to come back inside all muddy.  So, I loaded them all up in the car and we went to a new park that I had driven by the week before.  Instead of grass or mulch, I noticed that it had soft turf.  The boys were in hog heaven, and I put Tyler in the backpack and gave Suzanne a call.  She and Knox and Katie came by and played!  Knox is Austin's best friend at school and Suzanne works there as a teacher/asst. director.  She was also one of Austin's teachers his very first year!  Anyway, we got home around 5 and had dinner, baths and bed.  Scott and I put the boys down early (so we could watch basketball) and they were out like a light.  Friday Austin had school and I stayed home with Cody and Tyler.  We just hung out and played, and when they went down for a nap, I got on the eliptical.  Friday night I put Tyler to bed and LEFT.  I met Darcy for dinner at Joe T. Garcia's, and even though a cold front came in and there was no outside seating, our dinner was AWESOME!  It was the first time since I had Austin and she had Anna, that we met without our kids or husbands!!!  We stayed so long talking, that we shut down the place!!!!!  HA!  Today was Saturday and it was freezing outside.  The high was 50 and it was crazy windy.  UGH.  I hate this time of year...make up your mind weather!  We did make it out to the mall this afternoon for a very short trip, then came back home and just hung out.  The only thing we did all day was basically watch basketball, which, in my opinion, is totally productive.

     

Tyler with a plastic hot dog in his mouth!

Another 'Narration of Pictures"!

It rained today and was cold.  Yuck.  BUT, we have had some great days outside prior to today and I have taken some great pics the past couple of days so here they are!

Austin and Cody looking at a Bass Pro Magazine...they were very interested in the fishing section!

Playin' with playdoh...

Cody LOVED the easel and chalk.  He scribbled for a really long time before moving on to the patio...

The boys were so proud of their patio drawings.  Cody is saying, "TA DA!"  because Austin was doing it!

Tyler playing inside...

Cody pushing Tyler in the swing...this was so so sweet and cute!

Tyler LOVES the shoe bucket and was about to start digging in it and pulling out shoes before I called his name.  He was also about to get a bath!

I took this one today because I thought the boys just looked cute.  It was picture day at Austin's school.  Anyway, although neither boy is looking at the camera, I liked it because I told Austin to 'hold onto Cody' because he kept running around...Cody thought it was really cool that Austin was holding his hand...look at his face!

I took this one while making dinner.  Tyler is obsessed with pulling Austin's booster seat off the chair, and he was about to do it!

Austin was VERY proud of the 'dinosaur car' he made at school today and Cody thought it was the coolest thing ever...

How many goji berries does it take to fill a nose?

Here's how it went down:  Yesterday at lunch time, I went to change Tyler's diaper.  Austin and Cody were eating Goji berries (don't know what a goji berry is, click here ) as the last course of their lunch.  When I walked back in the kitchen, Cody started crying and saying, "Nose!  Nose!" and so I wiped him off and got him down.  He was still upset, so the thought hit me that he shoved something up his nose, and that since a sandwich and chips was not likely, it was a Goji berry.  I took him into the other room and realized that the berry was so far up there, that I was going to need my tweezers.  The only way I knew it was there was by feeling the outside of his nose...I couldn't even see it.  I also grabbed my flashlight hoping that it would help.  I got the nose sucker, which didn't work because his nose was blocked and it couldn't technically 'suck' anything out, then squirted some saline up there, which came right back out.  I proceeded to remove the goji berry with the tweezers and flashlight.  Cody did great and stayed still.  He kind of giggled when I pulled it out, and I asked him if he felt better and he said yes.  I grabbed the saline and sucker again, and neither one worked.  I couldn't see anything else, and couldn't feel anything else, so I assumed that there was only one goji berry and that I got it, and maybe his nasal passage was swollen. Well, it was naptime, so I put Cody down for a nap.  He slept for over 2 hours, and when everyone was up we headed outside.  At about 3:30, I noticed Cody needed a kleenex, but when I went to wipe his nose, there was red stuff that was NOT blood coming out of it (goji berries look like red raisins).  I wiped his nose and gave it a little squeeze, and yet another goji berry appeared!  WHAT?!  How could he have fit 2 berries up there?!  AND, he took a nap!  Here is the kicker:  This happened yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, and it's Wednesday afternoon right now.  I just got home from picking Austin up from school.  We were in the kitchen for snack time, and yet another goji berry has just been born from Cody's nose!! AHHH!  That is 3!  CERTAINLY, there is NO MORE!!!

   

It was bound to happen eventually.

Well, Austin finally decided it was time to decorate the wall.  To0 bad he did it with a blue dry eraser marker he found in a drawer in the kitchen.  I'll be 'magic erasering' that bad boy out at some point.  I knew this would happen at some point.  Every kids does something like this.  My sister drew a big fat 'M' for 'Michelle' on our wall.  I don't remember if I ever wrote on a wall, but I can assure you that I did many other shocking things.  Tyler had is well visit today.  He weighs 18 pounds and is 28 inches tall!  Unfortunately, we will be taking another trip to the cardiologist.  His heart murmur is still there, and the doctor thought it was louder than it was in the past.  He was supposed to grow out of it by now, and so we will be heading to the cardiologist next Thursday at 10am.  It worries me and makes me very nervous, but the pediatrician said that she just wants to make sure everything is fine, and that he is doing great and showing no signs of distress.  Tyler is growing, eating well, sleeping well, etc. and has no symptoms of anything major being wrong (out of breath, profuse sweating, blue around the mouth, easily winded, etc.) so it is just something that needs to be double-checked.  Still, I can't help but worry and it bothers me.  Austin had a good day at school today.  We played outside quite a bit when we got home since it was warm.  It was so windy though, and it was very annoying.  The house shook all day!  Tyler longingly watched his brothers play outside from the gate on the door...the minute I put him down outside, he eats grass, sticks, rocks, etc. so he just can't be out there until he starts to walk.  At the rate he is going, it won't be long!

 

Tyler walking behind his lion

Tyler will push and walk behind anything that will move these days. He has two favorite 'pushers', his lion, and the one that his excersaucer converted to. Today, I finally got some good video of him pushing the lion...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Weekend Update

Well, that was a crazy weekend.  My favorite day was today, Sunday.  Friday, Scott stayed home with Cody and Tyler while I took Austin to play at a nearby park before heading to Target to get Anna a birthday present. Austin and I needed the alone time, and it was great.  When we got home, Scott left to have lunch with alumni and to get the oil changed on the Ford, and when he got home we hung out and watched basketball.  I LOVE March Madness.  Friday night Anna had her 4th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Austin fell asleep sitting up in the chair right before we left for it!  The party was great and Austin and Cody had a blast.  I brought the baby backpack and stuck Tyler on my back.  He was happy as a clam.  Saturday was a long day in Garland to celebrate Scott's brother and father's birthdays.  We got there around lunch time, and left after cake and presents after dinner.  Today, the kids slept in a little later and we walked down to the lake, played out in the front yard (Jeremy and Eddie came over), and after a while, I took Tyler and went to make some returns at Babiesrus and Target.  When I got back, Scott, Austin, Cody, Eddie, Caroline, Jeremy and Amy were in the kitchen and the kids were eating lunch.  I know I have said it before, but we are really lucky to have such good friends as neighbors.  It is so convenient!  Naptime was GREAT.  I put Tyler down first, and then Austin and Cody, and I laid down with a very unhappy Austin.  We were trying to get him to take a nap because he REALLY needed one, and he was NOT happy about it.  I only had to lay next to him for about 15 minutes before he was OUT.  He was SO TIRED from all the morning activities.  Austin slept for almost 2 hours, and Cody slept for almost 3.  Tyler took a 3 hour nap!  He was in such a great mood when he woke up!  I wish he would do that everyday...all of them actually!  Around 5 we met Scott's family at Trail Dust for dinner.  The food was terrible, but the kids had fun going down the slide.  We got home early enough to play across the street for a few minutes before bath/bedtime.  Pictures today are of Austin asleep before Anna's party, and of Cody 'hugging' Tyler.  Cody and Tyler have been paling around lately, and sometimes Cody just gets too enthusiastic...it's adorable.  Tyler laughs sometimes, and others, he gets irritated and complains.

       

To answer Uncle Jimmy's comment/question...

Uncle Jimmy's comment/question on the 'interview' post:

And how does that make you feel? Did you pick up on any key things? Will you make any changes because of his answers? Inquiring minds want to know...

Here is my answer:  Austin was right about me telling him to always 'be quiet' because he IS SO LOUD!  He has no inside voice, and I find myself telling him that all the time, especially during Tyler's morning nap and afternoon naptime.  He probably said that I 'wasn't nice' as a child, because I am 'bad cop' around here, or because it was the answer he gave to the previous question!  I know he said that I put Cody and Tyler to bed when he's not around, because when he asks me what we did while he was at school, I usually answer by telling him that Cody and Tyler played, ate lunch, and took naps.  He said my favorite food was broccoli, only because the night before, I had made broccoli at dinner and was trying to get him to eat it by telling him that I 'just LOVE broccoli' and that is it SO good.  He is right on the money about Target...it IS my favorite place to go!  All in all, I know I need to be more patient with Austin and I have been working on trying to spend more time with him since he'll be off to kindergarten before I know it.  Sometimes I feel guily because I had 2 babies so quickly while he was so young, but a part of me knows that is also good for him in a way too.  There are always things I can improve on as a mom, and most of the time, your kids let you know straight up, what those improvements need to be!