Take me out to the ball game....

We're working on the art of the roll over right now... and it's very hard work! Here's a few pictures of the attempts....

We're almost there... he can already spin himself around on the floor so I'm sure the big roll over isn't too far behind!!

On Friday night, we went to a Lake Monsters game (for my non-local friends, they're our minor league baseball team and are affiliated with the Oakland A's) with our friends Zach and Jennie and their daughter, Sophia. We've never taken Logan before... I always thought he'd get bored with it and want to leave by the 2nd inning. But he actually loved it! He got to give Champ a five and even got his hat signed by him! I didn't think to whip out my camera for any pictures of that as I was too busy watching Logan thoroughly enthralled with the biggest, fuzziest, 4 wheeler riding green mascot he's ever seen! 

Luke however, didn't make it past the 3rd inning... even with the PA system right above our heads and everyone yelling and cheering, he slept like... well... a baby! :)

So at this point, Logan got his hands on the camera... of about 50 (no, I'm not exaggerating!) pictures that he took, here are a few that I thought I'd share. I asked him to take pictures of what he thought was important at the game...

He took quite a few of the people sitting in front of us... apparently, they're integral to the game ;-)

"Just think of the positives...."

This is the advice that Andrew gave me when I was talking complaining to him about having to go back to work. Obviously this has been a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately, as I return to work in only 11 days. So here I am, trying to come up with a list of positive things...

1) I won't have to come up with an answer to the question "But why, Mommy?" I'm not exaggerating when I say that I must answer this question 100 times in a day... "But why is Luke crying?... But why do you have to fold that laundry?... But why do I have to take a nap?" (that last one is usually accompanied by foot stomping and some screaming... I guess I won't miss that part either!)

2) Feeling like I really need to keep up with the laundry/dishes/cleaning... Since I'm home all the time, I sort of feel like I have to keep up with all of the above... otherwise, I'm not really contributing much. I've already informed Drew that once I'm back to working 40 hours a week, he can kiss his freshly made bed goodbye. Chances are he's going to be getting into it the same way he got out of it that morning!

3) Adult interaction. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with the boys and all the chats that Logan and I have had... But theres only so many topics that are interesting to a 3 year old boy... Trucks, trains and poo are 3 conversations that can only go so far before you're saying all the same things over again! And why are little boys so obsessed with talking about poo anyway!?

4) Doses of "Cat In The Hat", "Sid The Science Kid" and "Curious George" are something I will only be subject to on weekends... PBS is great, but when you watch it at breakfast every day.... well, you get the picture!

5) Money... is there really any explanation needed for this one??

So I know it won't be totally horrible. I know I'll get through it and once we get settled into a routine we'll all be just fine. But yes, I still have 11 days to dread it and chances are you'll be reading about it again soon ;-)

a good, old fashioned, stomp your feet kind of tantrum...

Can I just have a minute to throw a bit of a 3 year old tantrum? (trust me, I know all too well how these go down!)

I really, really, reeeeeeally wish I didn't have to go back to work. It's still 2 weeks away and I'm dreading having to leave the boys. It probably does not help that for the past 11 weeks and 5 days, Luke and I haven't left each other's side...

I know, I know. You don't have to say it... I know I need to leave him at least once for a few hours before I have to do it for an entire work day. But this is likely our last baby... (that's another post, however!) I'm never going to have this time again. I don't know if I'm ready to give up this part of my life. When I go back to work, it'll be gone forever. I feel as though we're almost frozen in time right now. I got to freeze my 'normal' life for 3 months. I got to put 100% of my focus into my 2 amazing children and the family Andrew and I have created and now I have to give it up. Monetarily, we both have to work right now so I know there's no way around it, but it just feels so unfair... Bills, mortgage... all of it is just so unfair!

okay... tantrum over.

2 years, really??

It's been about 2 years since I've blogged. Recently, a few of my friends and some fellow March Mommy's have started blogging and inspired me to start again... so here I am.

So where to start... Let's go with since 2009.......

We went camping for the whole fourth of July week with Jen and Kyle in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was HOT.... near 100 degrees every day. We had such a wonderful time and it was a great last hurrah for Jen and Kyle, because.....

This gorgeous little girl made her debut!!! Carly Ann Delabruere was born 8/3/10 about 3 weeks early. She only got more and more beautiful as time went on... here she is now.

Also in the summer of 2010, Andrew and I found out that we would be adding to our little family as well! Logan was so excited to become a big brother. He nicknamed the baby "Baby Popcorn" and for weeks after he was actually born, we still continued to call him that!

Summer faded into fall and then to winter... We enjoyed holidays with our family as my belly grew larger and appointments with our midwife grew closer together. "Baby Popcorn" was due to arrive 4/3/11. My last appointment was 3/30/11. I was 39 weeks and 3 days, and it was also Andrew's birthday. The one thing Andrew had said all along was that he hoped the baby was not born on his birthday was because he wanted him to have his own, special day... So at this appointment, I had my membranes swept (don't worry... it sounds much more painful and gross than it actually was!) and I was on my way. We had dinner at my parents home and went home and put Logan to bed.... I woke up at 11:52. The red alarm clock numbers are for some reason, something I will always remember. I never went into labor with Logan... I had to be induced so I really didn't know how it felt to start contracting on my own. Anyway, I ran to the bathroom... clearly, I was thinking these were a different kind of cramp ;-) Nothing happened. I went back to bed... about 20 minutes later, it started happening again. That's when I first thought this might be it... I started writing down and timing contractions at this point... and about an hour and a half later I woke Andrew up to tell him that I was in labor... he went from half asleep to jumping out of bed with his eyes as wide as quarters all within about 3 seconds! We timed them for a few more contractions and then called Andrew's mom to come stay with Logan. This was definitely it. We drove to the hospital, got lost in the halls on the way up to Maternity and Luke Donald Thibeault made a fast and furious entrance to the world all within ONE hour.

The last 11 weeks have been a blur of diapers, nursing and intermittent sleeping. Everyone has adjusted pretty well. Logan just adores being Luke's big brother. He proudly proclaims to anyone who asks "Luke is MY baby"

So that brings us to now... I have 2 weeks left before I return to work... It's bittersweet... maybe a little more bitter than sweet, I mean, how can you resist these faces???

Christmas really isin't that far away you know....

If you know me at all, you know I'm a planner. I need to know all the "W's" - Who, What, Where, When and Why.... If I don't know all these things before an event happens, I'm completley lost. Some may say it's OCD (Andrew!) I say it's a healthy need to know ;)

But I have to say that tonight, I may have taken it a touch too far (nobody can ever tell Andrew I admitted that!) Tonight, I started making out my christmas lists!! Just what I've bought for whom so that I can keep things even and track my spending. In my own defense, Christmas is really not that far away. Less than 3 months now, as a matter of fact. Andrew, however, found this to be an outlandish and completley un-necessary thing to do in the middle of October. True, I am early, but on the same token, I will probably be done with my shopping before December gets here... then who'll be laughing at who???

All Summer Long...

Another summer long blogging hiatus! With so much going on, I've not really had a lot of time to myself to sit down and actually blog. With Logan in bed early tonight, and the hubby completley absorbed in sports center, here I am! :)

Here's a quick run down of the summer. Rain. And a lot of it. Most of June and July was rain, rain, rain. We still did get a week-long camping trip to Old Orchard Beach, Maine in. We had a few good weather days where we got to enjoy the beach, but of course, there was rain involved too... Still, we made the best of it. Logan wasn't scared of the ocean AT ALL... a little too dare-devilish for Mommy's liking. He really liked jumping directly into the waves. Here's a few pics of the cutest kid on earth, enjoying his first trip to the ocean!

Logan has really started making the transition to a full blown toddler (knock down, drag out tantrums included at no extra charge!) He's talking more and more, and has re-named both sets of Grandparents to boot. Andrew's Mom and Dad are now "Mimi" and "Bampy" and my parents are now "Mema" and "Bepa". It seems as if he comes out with a few new words each day. As of recently, he loves to dance and will show off his moves whenever he can get you to watch. It's pretty much the cutest thing you've ever seen!! (so what if my opinion is biased!?)

In October, we're headed back to Maine to do the Fryeburg Fair with my parents. It's a Thurs-Sun and we camp at the fair. It's a really nice long weekend. One of those places where everything is exactly the same every time you go, and that's the best part :) Between shopping and a LOT of fair food, I'm really looking forward to camping and spending some time as a family!

I took this survey on facebook in my Circle Of Mom's app, and I thought it'd be fun to post it here, too!

1. How old were you when your first child was born?24

2. What month and year was your youngest child born?January, 2008

3. How did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant?EXCITED!!! We were trying to get pregnant for a little while, so when it happened we were very happy

4. Who did you tell first?Andrew, then my sister right after

5. How many pounds did you gain during your first pregnancy?48.... bad, I know!

6. What did you crave while you were pregnant?Salty stuff. Mostly melted cheese and chips!

7. Did you find out the gender of your first child? Why or why not?Yes. Andrew was gung-ho about finding out from the very beginning. I took some convincing. It definitley made it much easier to buy baby stuff. The next time around though, I don't think that I want to know. We already have all the essential stuff. And I think it's one of lifes few really great suprises....

8. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?nope. Completley textbook until the end when an induction didn't work!

9. How much did your first child weigh?8lbs 11oz

10. Was your first child early, late, or on time?2 weeks late

11. What is the most difficult challenge or health issue that any of your children have faced?He recently had Bronchiolitis (as opposed to Bronchitis) and we had to treat him with a nebulizer, which he absolutley HATED. He screamed the entire time we had to do a treatment. It was terrible!

12. What's your favorite part of being a mom?Watching him learn something new. And also kisses. They're very wet, but they're so sweet :-)

13. Do you think it's easier to be a mom or a dad?Dad. It's hard to explain. As a Mom, you've got 9 months on Dad as far as knowing the baby goes, so the baby always wants Mom. She gets far fewer breaks than the dad does!

14. What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is about to have their first child?Sleep! Your democracy is about to become a dictatorship, so enjoy your last few moments of freedom while you have them! :-)

15. Did you always think you'd have kids?Without question.

16. What's been the biggest surprise about motherhood?I was so afraid that I wouldn't know what he wanted when he was crying or how to make him stop... It's weird, because as soon as that baby is born, you just kinda know!!

17. Are there things you miss about life before kids?the ability toleave the house in 10 minutes... now you have to make sure you have snacks and juice and extra clothes and diapers and you have to know how long you're going to be gone so you can pack all of the above accordingly!

18. How many children do you have?1

19. Do you plan to have any more children?probably one more

20. Who's the mom that you admire most?Tie between my Mom and Barb!

The things we carry

I know I haven't written a blog in a while... a long while! I guess I've been in a bit of a rut, and this morning, while I was packing Logan's diaper bag for a small road trip that we're taking tomorrow, an idea struck me, and here I am.

Since it's been a while since I'd actually completely emptied aforementioned bag, I thought, hey, why not... I've actually got time and lord knows what I'll find. So, in no particular order, here's what I found....

1) An empty tupperware... clean. I'm pretty sure I left it at moms and she threw it in before I left... nice and washed of course! Thanks, Mom!

2) A small container of goldfish.

3) A small container of veggies straws.

4) A toy cell phone.

5) 1/2 a Hannaford's Fresh magazine. I think I gave it to him to rip up while we were grocery shopping to keep him entertained... hey, you do what you have to do!

6) A blue plastic dinosaur.

7) 3 pairs of socks.

8) a spare sucky.

9) Baby Tylenol.

10) A lot of crumpled up Kleenex. I'm hoping it's new, and not used.... either way, I threw it out!

11) 2 Onesies. (both too small now)

12) 1 pair of pants. (also too small)

13) swim trunks. (clearly WAY too small... those were left over from last summer!)

14) A bib.

15) 2 spoons and 1 fork.

16) 4 daytime diapers and 1 night diaper.

17) Wipes case, almost empty.

18) Burt's bees cream.

19) A "tool" keyring, that makes various noises.

20) 3 Matchbox cars.

21) 4 Lego Duplo blocks.

22) A lot of snack shrapnel (stray goldfish, teddy grahams etc...)

23) an envelope of grocery coupons.

24) 5 bucks!!!!!!!!!!! yesssss!

25) an envelope with some of his first hair cut in it

26) 2 pens

27) 1 juice cup (also washed, thanks, Mom!)


So after surveying all these contents, it got me to thinking... Do all Mom's carry around this much stuff? Am I just a diaper bag pack rat? It's funny, because there are some aspects of my life where neatness, planning and order reign. My desk at work. Logan's schedule. Planning Jen's bridal shower... And then there are some things, like this diaper bag that looks to be completely out of control! I guess it just makes me normal. Not everyone can be neat and perfect all the time. And you know, I wouldn't have this bag any other way!

I give up!

I think that there is some sort of electronic/ appliance ghost that lives in our house... or maybe anything new and expensive that we acquire knows that it lives in our house now, so it plans an early death.....

We were sitting in the living room on Thursday, watch TV on our BRAND NEW flat screen TV and it died.... the whole screen went completely black... and when you tried to turn it off or on, it made a loud popping noise....

Let me re-count the list of things that have died in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived here: (drum roll, please.........)

1) The first thing that went about 2 months after we moved in was the dryer... keep in mind it came with the house, was extremely old and operated on gas.... so that wasn't a terrible thing. We had some gift cards and coupons for home depot, so not a huge expense for us.

2) Maybe a month later the dishwasher died. My indication on this one was the burnt plastic smell :-)

3) In January of the first year here, the furnace died. That one hurt the wallet a little more... $1700 bucks with installation....

4) Then came our 2nd dishwasher. One of the pipes underneath froze and burst... conveniently when we were not home... we arrived home to a wet dog, an even wetter kitchen and a flooded basement.....

5) Shortly after Logan was born, the TV in our bedroom nearly caught fire. It wasn't even turned on when it started this really high pitched screech, then there was the burning plastic smell and the glow coming out of the back!

6) Just before Christmas 2008, we had a power surge that got both our TV's, all the lights, our circuit box (or whatever that's called!) all the smoke detectors, Logan's monitor and various other electronics

7) our TV this past Sunday.

What the hell?? How do I stop this ghost from ruining all my stuff!? My vote is to move... still working on Andrew on that one..... ;-)

I'm terrible at keeping this thing up!

Let's face it... I am really, really, really bad at keeping up with this blog.... I can admit it. I know, I know. But let me throw this out there... being a Mom of a walking... scratch that, running toddler is EXHAUSTING. Here are some of Logan's new favorite things:

1) Playing in the toilet water.... (you try to get Andrew to shut the lid, or at least the bathroom door... impossible!)

2) Playing in Jake's water dish, and trying to pull it out of the holder (sucessfully, about 45% of the time) and dumping the whole thing all over himself and the floor.

3) Using his sucky as a shovel to rid my plants of all the soil in the pot (now all my plants are off the floor!)

4) While he's walking around with a snack, he'll "show" it to Jake, Jake will lick it, then Logan eats it. GROSS! They say dogs mouths are cleaner than humans mouths, but when's the last time you saw a human lick their own butt!?

5) He LOVES to play with the house phone. No matter where we are, he will find the phone, and then proceed to throw a huge fit when you take it away... ditto for your keys. (My mom is still looking for the keys to her car... sorry Mom!)

6) Durring aformentioned melt-downs, he figured out hitting mommy in the face gets a whole lot of reaction out of her... We're working on "nice touches"... it's getting better. slowly.

7) He's still putting EVERYTHING in his mouth... I thought kids grew out of that by now....

8) He's decided that laying down or me to change his clothes or to change his diaper is not worth his time. Then he throws the fit... refer to item 6 in my list.

9) We're back to a 10 of 5 wake up call. That's WAY earlier than I care to get up!


So yes, every day is an adventure here... but I still wouldn't trade it for the world! I love that little monkey. The smiles and giggles make it SO worth it!