Zoo

Last Thursday, Matt once again took a day off from work, and we decided to head to the zoo. This zoo is located in Kingwood, which is a rural area, so we weren't expecting much. To our surprise, there were lots of different animals, and the kids had a great time. We bought some food to feed the animals, and Nolan loved letting the miniature horses eat right out of his hands. There were three kinds of bears, lions, tigers, a zebra, kangaroos, a panther, mountain lions, raccoons, deer, and several more animals. Below are some pics of the animals and the kids.

Wing Cook-off

This Saturday, when Nolan came home, we decided to head off to the Wing Cook-off here in town. I'm not a huge fan of chicken wings, but this was a good opportunity to get out of the house. The weather was great, probably around 80 degrees, so we didn't have to worry about the kids getting overly hot. We hung out with our neighbor Matt and his friends. We had a great time, and when we got home, the kids crashed, and so did Matt and I. I'm actually looking forward to football season here, and I think we'll at least get out and socialize at the "tailgating" before some of the games. I've got some friends from college who come up for the games, so this will be a nice change to see some familiar faces! Here are some pics of the kids.

Missing Nolan

Without Nolan here this week, things have been a little less hectic. Natalie and Nathan are such good sleepers, so Matt and I have been able to spend some time together in the evenings after they are in bed. We haven't done anything special this week, just hung out at the house, and I took Natalie and Nathan to McDonald's today for lunch. I was hoping that with Nolan gone, Natalie would ease up on the hysterical temper tantrums that she throws, but that was wishful thinking. She now gets on her back, kicks her legs at the walls or whatever is in range, and then twists and turns with her legs on the wall and the rest of her still on the floor. I'm just at a loss for how to manage this....I'm just holding out hope for now and trying to keep my patience. Of course this pic is of my "sweet" girl...

On a better note, Natalie is now letting us read books to her. It's so funny because out of all the books we have, she gets about the same 5-7 books each time! Sometimes we can still only manage a couple of pages before she loses interest, but usually we can finish one of the smaller books just fine. We also have been playing a lot on the back deck this week. Natalie loves to be outside, and it doesn't matter if it's in the yard, at the park, or just on the deck. I have my mop and bucket out there, and she has been so amused to mop the deck. She has torn up a box and dropped it piece by piece onto the patio below, she also finds amusement in opening and closing the sliding doors. She's pretty easy to please, as long as you know what she wants...but if you don't, watch out!

Nathan has learned to sit up by himself this week, though this pic is of Pop-paw David doing airplane with him before he gives his pop-paw a taste of spit-up. I have to sit close to him because he is still a little wobbly at times. But for the most part, this is his favorite position for play. I have certain toys that I always give to him so that he can gnaw away and relieve his swollen gums. Natalie has payed attention to this because when I bring him downstairs from a nap, she immediately brings him all of his toys. It's really cute to watch her do this, and you can just tell that she is so proud of herself. Natalie is also very possessive about the things she carries with her. It used to just be a blanket. Now, she equips herself with her blanket, juice cup, 2 baby dolls, a little bear, and a pillow. She moves them from chair to chair depending on where she wants to sit. All of her belongings are placed at her desired location, and then she will situate herself.

We get Nolan back tomorrow, and I can't wait to see him. He's had an amazing week from what I've heard. He got to play with Judson and Abby, go to Billy Bob's and Camden Park, swim in the pool (and jumping in by himself), and he got his first "official" haircut. I know that age 3 is a little later than most kids have their first haircut, but poor Nolan has just never had much hair. Matt cut his hair probably 3 times last year, and only once this year! Nolan had made up his mind that Poppy (my grandpa Bailey) was going to be the one to take him to the barber. They said he was just a little angel. The barber gave him 5 suckers, a certificate, and a lock of hair. Since he is a creature of habit, I'm sure that he will want to get his hair cut by this barber every time! And at the rate his hair grows, this may actually be possible. (Thanks for the pic, Teresa!)

Painting

Nolan used to go to Home Depot once a month for Kid's Crafts, but unfortunately we don't have a store in town here. The last project day that Nolan went to involved building a firetruck, but since there was an actual firetruck at Home Depot that the kids got to explore, he didn't get a chance to build his little firetruck that day. So Nolan found the package this week for his firetruck, and Matt helped him put it together.







We then decided that we should paint the firetruck. I knew that it wouldn't be a perfect little red engine, but I thought we may get close. Turns out, Nolan had no intentions of making this thing red...or any other single color that matter. I think it turned out great though...maybe this firetruck will be the new trend, or maybe this is what a broken down firetruck at the dump looks like. Regardless, we had a nice time doing this together.

Toe Lickin' Good

Last night, after we ate our dinner Nolan and I fixed some strawberry shortcake for dessert. Nolan dropped his Cool Whip covered strawberry on his chair, and he got Cool Whip all over his toe. He knew better than to let this go to waste, so he licked it right off his toe. Then, since Natalie mimics everything that Nolan does, she started licking her own foot as well. I'm sure that taking pictures of this may not have been the thing to do, but I couldn't resist!

Company

On Tuesday, JJ and Mary Beth came to our house for dinner and to hang out for a little bit. Matt fixed us all a nice dinner and kids were very well behaved. After we got Natalie and Nathan to bed, our neighbor Matt came over and stayed for a while too. I tried to get Nolan to go upstairs to watch TV so we could have adult conversations, but he knew better than to leave the excitement with the big people. Our neighbor Matt said that when he gets bored, he'll look out the window to see if Nolan is outside, because he is pure entertainment! Everyone left at about 10 o'clock. As soon as they were out the door, Nolan crashed. He didn't get fussy or anything, just exhausted. I was so proud of the kids though for being so good around our friends.

Yesterday, Mom-o and Pops came to visit for a little bit. They are going to meet Matt halfway on Sunday so they can take Nolan home with them for the week. I'm in need of this since I've got lots of tedious work to do around the house, and can be much more productive with only 2 kids here. They are going to take Nolan and Abby to Camden Park next week. Nolan is really looking forward to this. He went last summer, and he actually remembers it! He'll also be staying with Granny and Poppy some too. I'm hoping he will be able to visit with Judson as well.

Matt worked late yesterday, so the kids and I just ordered a pizza and then had some strawberry pie for dessert (thanks JJ and Mary Beth). Nolan had a dish cloth on his head for nearly the entire meal and called it his crazy hair. Natalie enjoyed squishing the strawberry gel in her hands and smearing it on the table. But, when I would hand her a paper towel, she would wipe her hands and mouth by herself and try to clean the table as well...it was really cute.

Nolan is also the "family photographer". Taking pictures is one of his favorite things to do, besides laundry. Anything with a button is fascinating to him. So here are the pics he took of myself and Natalie at dinner last night (please excuse the boxes of diapers in the background...we go through those things like crazy).

To The Pool Again

Yesterday, Matt took the afternoon off from work, and we headed to the pool for another hour long stay (not long, but good enough for the kids). This time, Natalie just stayed in the kiddie pool and always stayed within a few steps from either Matt or me. She sat and played in the water, and used her new jumping skills as well. She really got a kick out of the splash it made when she jumped! Nolan stuck to the slide again. I watched him skip line every time, and surprisingly, none of the kids seemed to mind. I tried explaining to him how he should wait in line until it is his turn, but I don't think this has sunk in yet. He also showed his "boy" behavior at the pool as well. I saw him a couple of times waiting for someone to walk in his path so he could kick some water on them. But, getting splashed is part of the fun in the kids section. There are little steering wheels around the apparatus that allow a child to turn the "waterspouts" on and off. Most kids take a turn or two waiting for a "victim," young or old, to walk by so they can soak them with the shooting water. Nathan sat in the shallow water with Matt or me and seemed so content. Towards the end of the hour though, he was nearly falling asleep in my arms with his feet dangling in the water.

Today, we have decided to stay home. Matt cleaned out our little pool and refilled the water. We've already had the kids out in it today...or at least Nolan. Natalie still prefers to swing outside rather than anything else.

I've also began putting Natalie in the corner just like I do with Nolan. Of course, she only stays for a little bit, but hopefully long enough to get the point. Usually when I put Nolan in the corner, she will walk over to him and cry with him. Yesterday evening, I got on to her about throwing books and told her to stop. She got upset and walked herself to the corner. It was quite comical to see her punish herself (it makes my job easier...hahaha). I think Nolan is appreciating the idea of Natalie being punished too. I guess he is beginning to realize now that she gets in trouble too, and not everything is his fault. He is also taking up for her a little now. This morning I took her blanket away from her to give her lunch. She of course began crying for her "prized" blanket, and then Nolan told me I should give her back her blanket as well. Sometimes I feel I can't win for losing!

Numbers Make Sense

For those of you who know me well, you know my obsession with numbers and how I associate things in my life with numbers. If I can't make things make sense with numbers, then I feel out of sorts. So, I've finally found a way to calculate our birthdays by using some multiplication, addition, and subtraction, though it's not as "simple" as I'd like. I normally only us addition and subtraction and I don't like to be left with numbers that don't mean anything.

29(nathan) - 20(natalie) = 9
9 x 2 (anniversary or the subtraction of matt and nolan) = 18
18 - 10(me) - 6(matt) - 4(nolan) + 2 (anniv.) = 0

In other words: ((29-20) x 2) - 10 - 6 - 4 - 2 = 0

As most of you know, my children's birth times "make sense" as well. Nolan - 2:02 (our anniversary is 2/2/02), Natalie - 3:54 (she was born on the 354th day of the year - yes I'm nuts), and Nathan - 12:09 (he and Natalie are 12 months and 9 days apart). Call me crazy, but this is how my brain functions!