Easter Egg Tree

Easter Egg Tree decorating - live!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGx9U-9W2GU

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit this morning and brought us a new family tradition - Easter Eggs to hang from our tree. Bubba had so much fun helping Grandpa hang them and our neighbor kids think we are the coolest house on the block. Thanks Grandpa & Grandma!

Day 2 of Spring is Much Better Than Day 1

We had a great extended morning with our pals - Tara, Diddy & Polly. Chalk art on the driveway was a big hit. SBG is smiling at her buddy Tara! Thanks again for another great play day ladies and SBG says thanks for such a great nap!

Fresh albeit Brisk Air

No essay today just reporting in to say that tomorrow it's officially spring so even with a rather gusty breeze we headed outside after our naps. Bubba loved it and you can see from the expression on my daughter's face that she really did not.

Adventures in Parenting

Our plan for Saturday was to get up early, drive almost two hours, and have Bubba enjoy his first real birthday party. His buddy Jack turned 3. Surprisingly (for a family with an almost 3 year old, a 3 month old, and a Daddy who isn’t really a morning person) we left only 5 minutes after our scheduled departure time.

The ride was fairly uneventful as were the first 60 minutes of the party.

Birthday Boy Jack

Bubba enjoying his second juice box. SBG wasn't too sure about the Backyardigans Hat.At this point I signaled Thad that I was heading upstairs to the master bedroom to feed our baby. About 5 minutes later I hear my husband coaxing Bubba up the stairs to let me change his diaper. He wasn’t too thrilled about leaving the fun but was saying something to Thad about “bubbles in his bottom”??? Thad ended up carrying him up the stairs at which point I asked him to handle the change since I was still feeding the baby.

Wipes and dipe in hand, he pulled down Bubba’s pants to reveal a light brown liquid rolling down his legs, soaking his socks, and pooling under his back. This might have been all right if he had the changing pad under him but (since all of you parents know what almost-three-year-old poops are usually like) this step had been skipped.

In a very sweet kind voice (in my dreams) my husband requested some assistance and commented on the rather foul, unique odor infiltrating the room. I laid the baby on the carpet and started digging through the diaper bag for the changing pad and anything else that might help. After stripping down poor Bubba who was alternating between saying “Why are my poops so yucky?” and “Mom, do you still love me?”, we swaddled him in the diaper pad. I picked him up by his armpits and Thad held the diaper pad as together we shuffled toward the master bathroom. (That move revealed several brown stains on our friends’ lovely cream carpet.)Here's carpet after Thad vigorously scrubbed it with WetWipes.

Now Thad had to head downstairs to inconspicuously find some garbage bags and carpet cleaner. Many wipes later Bubba is back to normal except for the fact he now has no clothes. Here he is explaining how this all happened.

My sweet husband commented on my lack of preparedness for such an event in not traveling with extra clothes for Bubba (note that I did have 2 alternate outfits for SBG).

I stuck the mess in the washing machine (conveniently located upstairs – thanks for the great floor plan Amy & Steve) Not knowing the cause of the blow out or wanting to further contaminate the other birthday revelers, hid out upstairs for the last 20 minutes of the party. It was during the wait that I decided to take advantage of the situation and do what Blogyn would do and start taking pictures. Which was fortunate because soon the Birthday Boy’s Dad – Steve – came up with the Granddaddy of all Carpet Cleaning machines and the evidence disappeared. As the parents of two small boys, it appears they are well prepared for large-scale messes.

They offered Hank a new ensemble and we made our exit with the wet but clean clothes having not wanted to wear out our welcome and wait for them to dry. (Thanks for inviting us to your birthday Jack. Can’t wait for next year and we’re sure you can’t either!)

Crazily we decided to make a quick stop to see Thad’s uncle who was in town from California. This had been planned in advance, we don’t see him very often, and Bubba is now clean and dry so this seemed fairly reasonable. You guessed it – 2 minutes into our visit Bubba is once again walking like he has a basketball between his knees. This time we’re prepared and the change goes without a hitch but now we have no dry clothes. (Looking back it was probably best that we made the stop instead of having Incident #2 take place at Mile Marker 168)

We put Grandma’s washing machine and dryer to use immediately and dressed Bubba in

“Grandpa clothes” as we waited for his outfit #1 & #2 to become wearable.

I should note that SBG thoroughly enjoyed meeting her Great Uncle Denny.

A couple hours later we once again piled into the car and headed for home where Bubba ate 2 bowls of Stoneyfield’s Banilla yogurt and then went to bed.

This morning Bubba is back to his old self and the cause of the incredibly stinky yuck is still unknown. Bubba might be back to normal but his poor Dad is traumatized for life and still claims to smell it.

Little Helper

Big Brother Bubba loves to help with anything and everything around the house - sweeping, laundry, washing dishes, taking out the garbage cans but most of all cooking. Here he is enjoying the fruit (or should I say chocolate) of his labor.

A Shower for SBG

The MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) Steering Team I'm blessed to be a part of this year had a shower for me to celebrate our SBG. Here's the crew... Thanks ladies!

Dedication Day

What a beautiful sunshine-y spring day to dedicate our Sweet Baby Girl to the Lord! No crying (by SBG but a few tears from her Mommy) and lots of smiling even when our Pastor held her to pray for her. Our verse we shared - Esther 5:4b "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Only God knows what he has in store for our little one and as her parents we pray that God gives us the wisdom to guide her along that path He has for her. Our prayer every day is that she come to know, believe, and trust Him in a personal way and that she will be used by God in a great way!

All 4 grandparents with Mom, Dad & SBG

HOORAY

Direct quote from Bubba "Mom - I think there's some potties coming out!"

A Creek or Crik Depending on your Dialect

After work today - my happy hubby had a little project to do.

Well - let's just say that this is not what our backyard should look like. The ice chunks are blocking the flow of the water so Thad is out there trying to break it up so it doesn't get any closer to our house.

Here are a few shots from our deck. This first shot is looking up the hill to the East. Our neighbor's play park Looking straight south toward the corn field He's not wading for Walleye

Baby LuLu in the Bumbo

Not to sure if she likes it yet or not :)