where's will?

We might have lost him if it weren't

for those blue eyes and pink lips.

splash.

Will, Charlie and I braved the splash park up the street yesterday.
Normally it is full of slightly trashy, slightly too big and old,
slightly not enough clothes on their mamas, slightly too little supervision,
slightly too little swim suit covering up their bums, kids.
Yesterday wasn't so bad and there were only about ten of us.
Will had a B-L-A-S-T.
Since the sun never even poked out he kept coming back
to me saying "mama, my chin is bouncin'!"
SO much fun.
Then it was time to leave.
An hour and a half past both of their naptimes.
Sob city. Scream city. Tantrum city.
Then he realized he HAD nicked his big toe
when he fell down the third time.
And "it hurts Wiiiiiilly (really)bad." sob, sob, sob.
"mama, I broke-ded my fuuuuuut (foot)" sob, sob, sob.
"It hurts wiiiiillly, wiiiiillly bad"....on and on, forever.

Then this morning after putting on his shoes,
he remembered that big toe.
And it was like it had just happened.
Sobbing hysterically.
"mama, it hurts WILLY, willlllly, bad."
"I need the medicine to make it feel better."
"I need some ban-bains (band-aids) and medicine."
"mama, I broke-ded my fuuuuuut."
"I need daaaaaddy. Why isn't daaaaaddy comin' home?"
(chris is golfing for the weekend)
Seriously, I hope your dad is coming home soon
because you must have inherited this wimp gene from him.

Maybe you'll play World Cup soccer...
you've got the drama when you fall part down.

charlie chuckles

Only your brother

or being out WAY past bedtime

can make you so delirious that

you laugh this hard...

we'll have to do it more often.

props

I'm not good at being overly mushy
but I must give props where props are due,
and Chris deserves big props in the dad
AND husband department.

I mean he's not perfect...
but perfect is boring, and not real
and he's THE REAL DEAL.
the bombdiggity
the big kahuna
our superdad.

He works hard all day.
Up early, home late
we don't even let him change his clothes before
we attack (dudes)
and sometime snap (me)
he grins and bears it.
he showers the dudes with kisses
and then heads straight out to play baseball
or legos or cars
or some other mind numbing thing
when all he wants to do
and deserves to do
is put his feet up
and take a deep breath.

I love him because he compliments me everyday.
he makes me laugh.
he makes a big effort to make me happy.
he watches the WORST shows on television.
he knows that if he is embarassed by something
on TV he shouldn't change the channel
because it is my favorite part of the show.
he does ALL the yardwork
and claims to like doing it.
he finally admits he likes romantic comedies.
he knows how to calm me down in ANY situation.

he's understanding.
he's calm.
he doesn't raise his voice.
he's handsome and (newly) skinny.
we've been together since we were 15
and married for almost 7 years
and I would still rather hang out with him
than anyone else.

we all know that he loves us because

he tells us every day.

the kids love him because he's fun.

he's never said no to playing with them.

he's the best book reader.

he buys them gummies.

he takes them to work with him.

he comes back each morning ten times

if asked for another hug and a kiss.

he doesn't put water in their juice.

he lets them watch movies before (instead of) bed.
he takes them to the driving range.

And, he's a sucker for one moment of sweetness

after hours of bad behavior.

thanks for all that you do...

we love and appreciate you!!

9 months and 9 days

9 lbs 9 oz on 9/9/09

9 months and 9 days old

it should be a good day.

actually everyday is a good day with you, Char.

you are such a smiley guy

and you make all of us around you happy.

you started crawling last week and are now a force.

you get into and eat everything you can get your hands on.

you are becoming more opinionated about what you want

and when you want it (which is now!).

you would be held all day if someone would do it.

you worship your brother and dad.

you favorite thing is emptying baskets that we fill with toys.

you still wake up once at 4 am, guzzle a bottle

with your eyes closed and sleep again until about 6.

you pull yourself up onto things and then fall over

and cry about 10 times a day.

you weighed 19 lbs 12 oz at your check-up.

you have a total meltdown at and 12:30 and 7pm...sleepy time.

you'll eat whatever we throw at you.

you LOVE the girls at the Y nursery and they spoil you.

you've started grinding your teeth and it creeps me out.

you are wearing you brother's 12 month summer clothes.

you protest when put in your carseat or stroller

for about 3 seconds then you're fine.

you cried at a stranger for the first time today.

we call you chubs, char, char-yee, bo's and chubby char.

we're lucky to have you little boy.

i am thrilled I get to see you grow up.

i'd love for you to stay just as you are forever

but know you'll only get better with age.

happy 9 month and 9 day birthday sweet boy.

we love you!

birthday mania

It's been 3rd Birthday mania around here.
Zoo party Saturday.
Family party Sunday.
Birthday day Monday.
I'm confident in declaring him a fan
of the world revolving around him.

green is good

"wook at my awesome new shoes!"

He's obsessed with these suckers.

He has a weird obsession with what shoes he will

and will not wear so I am just happy

I don't have to fight with him in the morning

to get them on.

the real culprit

We've been hounding Will about helping to keep

his playroom clean.

The place is a disaster within minutes of cleaning it.

We've been especially annoyed at his habit of

pulling out books and leaving them everywhere.

We've been drilling him about putting those books

back on the shelf he took them off of.

After about a week of these conversations

I was sitting in the room pitching to Will and observed this:Charlie was systematically pulling the books out

one by one and chucking them on the floor.

Now we know the real mess maker.

It's a little (just a little) more pointless to try and teach him

to clean up after himself.

one! two! three!

How is it possible that my first baby is 3 today?!

6 months

1

2

3

My sassy, sweet, busy, opinionated, dude.

How are you possibly 3?

You're an adventure everyday, Will.

You test us, you push us, you melt us, you make

us laugh, you make us want to cry, you exhaust us,

you make us get up and play, you make us HAPPY.

Most of all you make us want to be better...

better examples, better people, better parents.

I love watching your 3 year old brain work.

This morning you woke up whining like it was nobody's business.

You grouched and covered your ears when we sang Happy Birthday.

You wouldn't go potty.

You didn't haaaaave to.

You wanted oatmeal, you didn't.

You waaaaanted cereal.

You wanted Handy Manny, you didn't.

You waaaaanted Curious George.

You wanted your new guitar but you didn't liiiiike it.

You needed a blanket but didn't want it ooooooon you.

Could I take a shower? Noooooo.

and on. and on.

Then about 3 minutes into my shower

you peeked your little head in

smiled your gapped tooth grin

and in the most sweet, polite, heavenly voice asked

"mom, may I please have a Spiderman gummy?"

I said yes.

Worked me over.

Chewed me up and spit me out.

You know your assets and you use them to your advantage.

We often think we've completely screwed you up

but then decide we're skating by because we really like

the little guy you're turning into.

My favorite thing about you right now is

how much you adore your little brother.

He is the only one guaranteed to make you smile

morning, noon or night.

You've taught him how to be gentle.

You play a tickle game with him where you walk

as far away as you can and put your hands into a

tickle claw and come "get him".

He thinks it's hilarious and your dad has copied you

to get a laugh out of Char.

You love sharing your bath and especially playing

splash mania.

I often find you in his crib with him, jumping, making

funny faces or whatever else you have to do to make him smile.

He worships the ground you walk on, and he should.

A few of my other Shooka loves...

I love the way you pucker your lips to give a kiss.

I love your gap tooth grin.

I am thankful we can finally brush those gap teeth without a brawl.

I love that you worship Pump it Up and are sweaty when we leave.

I love that you put yourself to bed and often say

"I need to go shleepy, mooooom."

I love that your fav foods are teriyaki chicken and RTP.

I am thankful your temper tantrums are more spaced out

but they are vicious when they happen.

I love that you love playing with your friends.

I love that you are obsessed with diggers and balls.

I loved that when I asked you to color on you thank you notes today

after each and every one (all 30) you said "does that look-ed nice, mom?"

I love that you've forced me to think outside the box when answering

the question "why?" for the thousandth un-answerable time.

I love that you can finally sit through an entire book.

I love listening to you read to yourself in bed.

I love that you have really weird shoe obsessions.

I love that you'll do ANYTHING for a gummy or a piece of gum.

I just love your smart-mouthed, moody, sassy little guts.

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Shooks!

We love you.

we snuck away...

the bowling

the beach

the kites

the puddles

The dudes and I snuck away to Long Beach

with Liz and her crew on Tuesday night.

We didn't even know we were going until the last minute.

We were only there 33 hours but packed a lot into it.

We got in at 11pm Tuesday and interrupted

Liz's Twilight time.

We were eating donuts by 8 am Wednesday.

We went home and let the kids play

before heading to Astoria for bowling and pizza.

Naps for the kids (and I) came next.

When we woke up it had stopped raining

for the first time in days

so we packed up and headed to the beach.

Charlie played in the sand for the first time.

The weather was perfect for

Will and Henry to fly a kite for the first time.

Liz and I got a huge kick out of the kite, too.

On our trip home from the beach we stomped

and splashed in the huge mud puddles.

Lucy especially loved it

(even when she fell in face first)

As you can see in the pictures,

she was not happy when we left.

Will then rode Henry's bike back to the house

(first time really riding by himself).

Baths all around when we got home.

Liz made super Tuna Casserole for dinner.

Henry barfed it back up.

We read books and the tired rugrats

hopped happily into bed.

We woke up Thursday, stripped the beds

ate some breakfast and were on the road by 8:30.

I can't describe what a treat it was to have a mini vacation,

come home and still have the whole weekend to hang.

I am so thankful for the McDougall's friendship

and willingness to keep inviting us to the beach.

(in spite of Will's attitude and mood swings)

And I'm thankful to Kathy and Mike

for keeping such a perfect little house.

I love it there.

I can completely relax

and feel right at home.

until next time...

our world

Chris: "Will, do you think the world revolves around you?"

Will: "Uhhmmm, uhhh, I think so it does."

caught

Will likes to whip blankets over the top of Charlie.

Normally he piles them on until Char can no longer sit up

and he ends up in the splits with his tummy flat on the ground

crying for his life.

And then Will's fun is over.

Dad caught them playing together in their fort

and both were pleased as punch.

big boats in beautiful b-town

We met Jordan and Lisa on Sunday in Bremerton

for the maritime festival.

Although the actual festival was pretty lame

the boats, waffles and parks were super!

We got to explore the USS Turner Joy

(Will someone else please tell Chris how ridiculous his hat looks?)

Bremerton is kind of boy heaven.

And Will didn't want to leave (or have his picture taken).

Thanks for hosting us, Fosters

and for helping us wear out the dudes

so they would take a long Sunday nap!